Re: Mtal Space : NEW Sphere

Only problem I see is with the eye. (Ok, bad joke I know.) Would it not be
theoretically possible to fly a very small ship such as a flitter right down
the eye? Since the bigger the hurricane the bigger the eye, you could
probably get most small ships down into it. Since their is no wind in it
it'd be quite easy for a spelljammer to fly straight down it, considering
that it would be at LEAST a mile across....
Other than that quite good.

      -Nova
           -The Canadian Geek


-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for the Spelljammer campaign setting
[mailto:SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com]On Behalf Of George "Loki"
Williams
Sent: January 26, 2005 11:40 AM
To: SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com
Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] Mtal Space : NEW Sphere


MetalSpace- Revision 1.5- slightly less rough and still in need of
expansion, but better. This one integrates some ideas Adam had (Thanks a LOT
for those, they have set off a whole new train of thought for me) I am also
contemplating a 3.5 style template for 'Tochian sealife....

Metalspace is the main source of raw materials for the Arcane / Mercane here
on the prime. An unusually large number of gates to the quasielemental plane
of mineral and the elemental plane of earth exist within the primary world
of Garatoch.

This sphere is also very tiny by comparison to other spheres, less than half
the "standard," size. MetalSpace Contains only three celestial bodies, and
no asteroid belts whatsoever.

MetalSpace is a rarity in The Outer Flow, a sealed sphere. The only point on
the sphere's surface where a portal can be created at the center of the
sphere's "top," well above the level of the Phlogiston River it is on. Any
ship entering this gate will immediately be met and boarded by Garatoch's
Adamantium Fleet and possibly by Arcane / Mercane vessels as well. The stars
on this sphere's interior are towering forges of shellstuff at which work
titanic beings, oblivious to any attempt at contact. It is said that the
items they forge are made for the gods and are of purest urdrukar. It is
this concentration of urdrukar that effectively cloaks the sphere from
scrying magics, or so folklore would have it.

The Soul Forge
Planet Type: Spherical Fire Body
Planet Size: H
Escape Time: 24 turns
Satellites: 1 planetoid
Day Length: 37 hours
Year Length: none
Population Analysis: Creatures from the elemental plane of Fire
Climate: as the elemental plane of fire.
Prominent Land Features: The Sun does have certain features, but they are
completely unusable to the standard character races.

Around the Sun, in an orbit 40 million miles out, are three magic-dead
globes known as sargassos. These are 100,000-mile diameter areas that
effectively shut down all helms, and other magic. There are also three wild
magic areas of similar size which alternate with the sargassos in the same
orbital plane in which the effects of arcane and divine magic are
randomized. Neither of these areas have any effect upon The Invisible Art
(psionics).

Garatoch
Planet Type: Spherical Earth Body
Planet Size: E
Escape Time: 4 turns
Satellites: 1 moon
Day Length: 24 hours
Year Length: 365 days
Population Analysis: Predominantly Dwarves, Humans, Illithids, Goblinoids,
Aboleth, and giff.
Climate: Is a varied mix,much like our own Earth.
Prominent Land Features: Garatoch is 99.99% water. The only land on this
ocean covered planet is the island of Garatoch. Extensive underdark.
Resources/Trade: Precious and arcane metals and gemstones. Ioun stones.
Ports of Call: The City of Garatoch

The composition of Garatoch is a little different from other worlds. Instead
of a nickel-iron core, Garatoch has an adamantium-mithril core. The planet
is liberally laced with veins of adamantium, mithril, naturally occurring
Ioun Stones, and many other arcane and exotic minerals and ores. There are
even rare veins of Orichalchum, that mineral so prized by those who craft
items of magic. There are also several varieties of psionically active
crystals found only here.In addition, the high quantitites of urdrukar
present on this world make the planet itself immune to scrying magics of
less than epic scale.

Appearance from Space: From wildspce Garatoch does not look quite like a
water world. The high metal content of the world ocean gives its waters a
rusty red color, shot through with streaks and currents of coppery green.
The planet seems relatively featureless from space when viewed from the
Island side, as the island itself is impossible to make out using the
unaided eye from orbit. Incoming Arcane vessels and Adamantium Fleet ships
use a special guidance crystal that locks in on the city's port in order to
land. Sometimes during the storm season you can see monstrous hurricanes
700-1,000 miles across moving slowly across the surface.

The Hammer of Morradin: This placid seeming smoothness is broken on the
opposite side of the planet, as The Hammer of Morradin (a superstorm, see
climate and weather below) fills fully a third of the surface. Fortunately
for all, The Hammer does not move across the planetary surface, making it
easy to avoid. There are legends that there is another path to the planet's
underdark at the eye of The Hammer. Of course anyone trying to enter the eye
to investigate would find their ship destroyed in the process....

Climate and Weather: The surface of Garatoch experiences a standard range of
climates. Since most of the planetary surface is water the big danger is
storms and hurricanes. Having no landmasses to break up these storms, they
sometimes reach a truly titanic size. The island of Garatoch sits in one of
the more temperate zones of the world and has commensurate weather.

The Hammer of Morradin: A superstorm over 1,000 miles across, this
incredible hurricane occupies a stationary position on the opposite side of
the planet from the Island of Garatoch. Spelljammers be warned, no ship has
survived entering the atmosphere within 300 miles of The Hammer's outer
edges...

Continents: None. The Island of Garatoch is the sole landmass of the planet.
It is an irregular island approximately 400 miles across and rising to
approximately three miles high. The cone of an extinct volcano whose caldera
is ten miles across, the city itself resting within its "Barrier Wall," for
protection from the storms.The surface of the island is barren rock, scoured
by wave and wind until nothing lives. A single river pours forth from the
southernmost wall of the caldera, large enough for a brave captain to sail
upon.

Life Forms: There are three different ecosystems on Garatoch- The World
Ocean, The Underdark, and The City of Garatoch. All lifeforms on this planet
are completely adapted to the high metal content in the water, off worlders
however cannot consume it without purification magics. (Fort Save DC 16; Dam
1d2 Con; Secondary Dam 1d2 Con). The exception to this is the race of
Dwarves. Visiting Dwarves suffer no ill effects from the water, and in fact
praise it as being "hearty, flavorful, and extremely refreshing).

The World Ocean: The flora and fauna of the world ocean are reminiscent of
many water worlds; fish in all their varieties, sharks, squid, kraken,
whales, and according to legend a wide variety of sea monsters. Various
aquatic dinosaurs have been spotted here, and there are rumors of seagoing
aberrations as well. For the most part this ocean, the majority of the
planet, remains unexplored except for the fishermen who hug the coast of the
Island of Garatoch. No sentient seagoing races have been reported.

The City of Garatoch: The City occupies the entire interior of the extinct
volcano that comprises the island. Dwarven architecture predominates,
although a slightly less "monolithic," style of it that on many worlds. The
interior of the crater has been sculpted over the centuries into a
beautifully ornate, yet functional, cityscape. The population is mostly
dwarves, although there are a few other races that have maintained a
prescience here such as the Giff, gnomes, and humans. (For more on the City,
see The City of Garatoch description below.)

The Dwarves are descendants of the original settlers, and they never let
anyone forget it. The giff, gnomes, and humans comprise about 20% of the
population. There is also a large number of visiting Arcane at any point in
time. The city itself is completely geared towards mining and smithing, and
has the highest populations of Dwarven MageSmiths known. The standard of
living here is very high, as shown by the circulation of mithril coins (1
mp=20 pp) amongst the common population.

The Underdark: The shaft of the volcano extends fro hundreds of miles into
the core of the planet, as do the mining operations. The planet is riddled
with caverns and tunnels, producing an extensive, if partially flooded,
underdark. The fauna of the underdark tends mostly towards aberrations and
crystalline lifeforms such as the crysmal. Over the centuries many other
races have been encountered deep within the bowls of the planet including
illithids, aboleth, deep gnomes, and svirfneblin. There are rumors of two
great illithid cities, remnants of their ancient empire, existing deep in
the chasms of the earth. There are also many creatures from the elemental
plane of earth and the quasielemental plane of mineral here due to the many
breaches and gates to these two planes.

Guide to the Groundlings: This sphere was originally colonized by dwarves
under Mercane sponsorship 5,000 years ago. The dwarves were given mining
rights to the greatest treasure trove in the Outer Flow, in return they
would never leave the sphere, and the Arcane / Mercane would be their only
customers.

The single landmass is a colossal volcano jutting up from the surface of the
world ocean. In the centuries since colonization the cone has been sculpted
into a baroque city, the buildings merging with the walls of the cone itself
and extending for many miles below the surface. A harsh but extremely
wealthy mining city, Garatoch exists solely to extract exotic metals,
minerals, and gems from the planet. When not working in the mines or smithys
the residents enjoy a rich cultural life including gladiatorial games,
symphonies, and art.

The dwarves here realize that they could not hold onto their holdings
without the protection afforded by the Arcane. As a result they are
tremendously loyal to the Arcane, even if it is a loyalty built upon self
interest.

Verdigris
Planet Type: Spherical Earth Body
Planet Size: C
Escape Time: 2 turns
Satellites: none
Day Length: 18 hours
Year Length: 365 days
Population Analysis: Garatoch Military (Dwarves), and stranded scro
Climate: cool and dry but very dusty
Prominent Land Features: endless plains of greenish dust.
Resources/Trade: none
Ports of Call: Mithril Base (only for ships of the Adamantium Fleet)

Climate and Weather: There are no open bodies of water on the surface of
Verdigris. The moon seems endlessly flat and featureless, a vista of
flatlands covered with greenish dust. The temperature never rises above 70 °
or drops below 50 °. It is calm, monotonous, and dreary.

Appearance from Space: A featureless coppery green sphere.

Continents: N/A

Life Forms: There are no known lifeforms native to Verdigris. Dwarves,
humans and giff occupy the naval base, and there are renegade scro (castaway
survivors of a mission to raid the City below) eking out an existence in the
barren environment of the moon. There is a minimal amount of flora and
fauna, all to rare and small to prove a threat.

Guide to the Groundlings: Verdigris is populated almost entirely by members
of the Adamantium Fleet. (racial proportions are the same as the City, with
one exception. Giff comprise 25% of the total residents). The giff are the
descendants of mercenary squads hired by the Arcane to help defend the
sphere. They have had a good thing going here for generations, and they know
it. High pay, exotic weapons, and a hereditary commission make this their
ideal contract. The lack of outright conflict most of the time is
ameliorated by guard duty at the Arcane Portal and the hunting down of those
few who manage to escape it and 'jam for the planet and its riches.
George "Loki," Williams
New Orleans Music Reviews http://www.neworleansbands.net
Planescape: Planewalker.Com The Official Planescape Site Section Mgr for
Snail Outfitters http://www.planewalker.com/snail/index.php
Spelljammer: Beyond The Moons, The Official Spelljammer Site Contributing
Artist/Developer http://www.spelljammer.org
Spelljammer:  Into The Void (Coming Soon) Columnist
http://intothevoid.spelljammer.org/index.html


----- Original Message -----
From: "George "Loki" Williams" <chaos93@?????????.net>
To: <SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 10:12 AM
Subject: [SPELLJAMMER] Mtal Space : NEW Sphere


> Here is a quick system chart.
> George "Loki," Williams
> New Orleans Music Reviews http://www.neworleansbands.net
> Planescape: Planewalker.Com The Official Planescape Site Section Mgr for
> Snail Outfitters http://www.planewalker.com/snail/index.php
> Spelljammer: Beyond The Moons, The Official Spelljammer Site Contributing
> Artist/Developer http://www.spelljammer.org
> Spelljammer:  Into The Void (Coming Soon) Columnist
> http://intothevoid.spelljammer.org/index.html
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "George "Loki" Williams" <chaos93@?????????.net>
> To: <SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 8:02 PM
> Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] MEtal Space : NEW Sphere
>
>
> > Excellent points about the planet. I'll be starting the rewrite this
> > evening.
> > As to the Mirrospace stuff, send it to me offlist at
chaos93@?????????.net
> > My productivity is going to take a hit soon, a combination of a new job
> > (finally!) and Mardi Gras.
> > Hope to get MetalSpace finished off before then.
> > Peace,
> > George "Loki," Williams
> > New Orleans Music Reviews http://www.neworleansbands.net
> > Planescape: Planewalker.Com The Official Planescape Site Section Mgr for
> > Snail Outfitters http://www.planewalker.com/snail/index.php
> > Spelljammer: Beyond The Moons, The Official Spelljammer Site
Contributing
> > Artist/Developer http://www.spelljammer.org
> > Spelljammer:  Into The Void (Coming Soon) Columnist
> > http://intothevoid.spelljammer.org/index.html
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Night_Druid" <Night_Druid@??????????.net>
> > To: <SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 4:38 PM
> > Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] MEtal Space : NEW Sphere
> >
> >
> > > > Also, did anyone collate all the Mirrorspace data we were working on
a
> > few
> > > > months back? I am going to introduce it into my game soon and
playtest
> > if
> > > I
> > > > can gather it all up.
> > >
> > >     I did, I can send you the doc if you want.  I was in the middle of
> > > editing when I got inturrupted with something that took top priority.
> > That
> > > and the Florida hurricanes, I believe, disrupted everything.
> > >
> > > > MetalSpace
> > >
> > > > Garatoch
> > > > Planet Type: Spherical Earth Body
> > > > Planet Size: E
> > > > Escape Time: 4 turns
> > > > Satellites: 1 moon
> > > > Day Length: 24 hours
> > > > Year Length: 365 days
> > > > Population Analysis: Predominantly Dwarves, Humans, Illithids,
> > Goblinoids,
> > > > Aboleth, and giff.
> > > > Climate: Is a varied mix,much like our own Earth.
> > > > Prominent Land Features: Garatoch is 99.99% water. The only land on
> this
> > > > ocean covered planet is the island of Garatoch. Extensive underdark.
> > > > Resources/Trade: Precious and arcane metals and gemstones. Ioun
> stones.
> > > > Ports of Call: The City of Garatoch
> > >
> > >     Here's a thought: given the high metal content, the oceans are
> filled
> > > with rust.  Thus the planet would be rust-red, maybe with some streaks
> of
> > > weathered-copper green.  Life, of course, would be adapted to the
water,
> > but
> > > the water is poisonous to off-world humans without a purify water
spell.
> > > Just an idea to make the world a bit more unique.
> > >
> > > > Climate and Weather:
> > >
> > >     Without landmasses to break up the hurricanes, there could be
> > > possibility of eternal storms ala the Red Eye of Jupiter.
> > >
> > > > The Underdark:
> > >
> > >     Could have more than one enterance, and possibly some means of
> keeping
> > > water out (perhaps some magic that prevents water from flowing into
the
> > > underdark or gigantic pumps).
> > >
> > > Adam
> > >
> > > ********************************************************************
> > > The D&D; Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Welcome.asp
> > > The Spelljammer Homepage:
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> >
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> > The Spelljammer Homepage: http://www.darkwoodforest.com/rpg/compendium/
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> >
>

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