Re: Planejammer

On Aug 28, 2007, at 1:17 PM, David Shepheard wrote:

> I think it would be fun to have an entire pantheon of Arcane/ 
> Mercane gods, all of whom are in charge of various aspects of  
> commerce. Evil gods could encourage shady deals and confidence  
> tricks, while good gods could encourage honest trading and  
> subsidised prices for poor communities. Lawful gods could encourage  
> accurate measurements of weights and measures and thorough  
> accounting techniques, while chaotic gods could encourage wandering  
> bard-like traders and the sale of random goods in "lucky dip"  
> sealed boxes.
>
> The religion of the Arcane/Mercane could literally state that  
> everyone *can* buy their way into heaven. The trading activity of  
> the Arcane could then give each individual Arcane kudos among his/ 
> her peers, with the most successful traders having the highest  
> status in their communities. Arcane can even be forced to buy the  
> right to marry the person they want (with higher status wives or  
> husbands costing more cash) and a private education system can give  
> the children of rich Arcane a much better start in life.

I would caution against presenting anything resembling cultural or  
background development on the Arcane. This for the same reason that I  
think there should never, ever be player character Arcane in the  
Spelljammer setting: the Arcane are your indispensible deus ex  
machina. You're not supposed to know a lot about them; they're rare,  
yet ubiquitous, familiar and yet mysterious. They seem to have  
exactly what you want, and are willing to sell it to you for --  
surprise! -- either exactly as much cash as you presently have on  
hand, or exactly as much treasure as you will earn from the next  
adventure that you will somehow be sent on right after meeting them.

If you define the Arcane beyond the degree to which they are already  
defined (note that we do not know anything of Arcane gender or  
reproduction in core products, nor do we know of the Arcane  
homeworld, or society, culture -- or religion) you rob them of their  
defining enigma that makes them such an attractive feature in the SJ  
campaign.

Just my 2cp.