Setting:Heavy mythril

Heavy Mythril is a setting where rock, punk, and metal are real, tangible forces.

Races

Humans

Humans are divided into three general ethnicities, but all are about the same. The ur-man is the first ethnicity, the people from which all mankind descended, tracing their lineage back to the titanspawn that sired the world, dusky-skinned and powerful. They can live in places that the rest of the world would consider uninhabitable, and indeed, they thrive there. The ice-men live to the north, the pale-skinned and fair-haired raiders; rumors claim that they inherited these traits from mingling with the elves in ancient times. Lastly, the westerners serve as a general melting pot for those that live across the blasted lands, the islands of Sattai, and the distant continents, tan of complexion, dark of hair, and smaller of build than their kin in the near world. Humans may be of any alignment, usually deferring to the most common alignments of their class.

Elves

Rumors abound about the fate of the various elven peoples, of the black elves that lived beneath the crust, of the fair elves of light that were said to watch over the lands from the peaks of the distant continents. Now, there is but one race of elves left in this world; the winter elves, elemental spirits bound into the forms of flesh; they are literally the fury of the winter's storm given shape and soul. As such, they are not a race to be trifled with, calm, emotionless, and lethal. It is said that their nearly unnatural skill with a bow is due to being able to see how the winds blow from them to their targets, and that they actually manipulate the air about them when singing. No one knows if it is true; for their part, the elves remain silent. Elves are almost universally Metal in alignment, usually Power Metal or Glam Metal. Black Metal elves are usually necromancers, outcast from their own people.

Dwarves

There are yet two races of dwarvenkind in the world, separate and distinct, and not on particularly good terms with each other.

Magma dwarves - or "dorfs", if one was to transcribe their accent - are said to be insane by birth. Any race that can design an instrument as bizarre as the bagpipes must be a bit off in the head, and to use them for such rapid, twisting ballads... they are shorter than their cousins at about four feet in height, with blazing red hair and dark eyes. It is said that the magma dwarves do not fear fire in any form, for their skin is nearly impervious to heat; whether this is hyperbole or reality is generally unknown. The iron dwarves, by contrast, are taller and fairer, with pale skin, black hair, and shining yellow eyes. They are on generally friendly terms with the winter elves, a rare thing. While the magma dwarves are gregarious, the iron dwarves are restrained. While the magma dwarves live to the fullest and shower death upon their foes, the iron dwarves seek to prolong their own lives, obsessed with death. It is said that the true passion of an iron dwarf is immortality in all its forms. Magma dwarves are usually rock in alignment, while Iron dwarves are usually metal, favoring black metal.

Munchkins

The smallest race of all the civilized folk, standing a good three feet tall on average, munchkins were one gnomes, halflings, hobbits, or a dozen other such races; now they are a single race, a race that controls... a single city. The City of Rain is a quiet place, a citadel struck by poverty and chill, a town where one must bundle up tighter than in the frozen north if he is to survive. It is a poor town, a town kept alive barely by industry, and a town that the munchkin strive to keep running. Most of the youth are disaffected nihilists, loathing their own existence, while the blue-collar workers that run the city, magewrights and engineers, are still quite proud of the place they grew up in. Munchkins are almost all of Rock alignment, ranging from arena rock to grunge/punk.

Orcs

Shunned by most of the gods, only the most twisted patrons will have anything to do with the orcs. Considering the world to be fine without the influence of the gods, they seek to destroy every deity, claiming the only song they need is the one created by their own breaking of things. Huge and bestial, orcs are rarely a race to be trifled with; the only ones that can be trusted are those that have forsaken the ways of their kin and have embraced one of the deities. There are a handful of small orc tribes that have done so, mostly followers of Akkdekk - who call him by his orcish name, Teyente. Orcs are usually thrashmetal in alignment, while orcish renegades may be of any alignment; those that follow Akkdekk are arena rock.

Hobs

Hobs are a race that is said to have been created from the nightmares of small children. This is their most horrible quality, and their saving grace - kids can think up some creepy shit, but none of it is really terrifying, and they're scared of some pretty stupid things, as well...if magma dwarves are insane, hobs are completely bonkers, with no fear, no restraint, and no remorse. At the same time, they have a sort of strange innocence - while they will split a man's head open on the battlefield, their reaction will be a sudden burst of glee, followed by a cry of "WHOA, COOL!" Older hobs lose this joy, replacing it with deep, impotent, pointless rage directed at everything and everyone - but it is a rage that is easy to manipulate, easy to direct, and incredibly shallow, so few pay it any mind unless a sword is backing it.

Gods

There is a vast pantheon of gods in the world of Heavy Mythril. The Song that brought the world into existence, the song that forges the souls of all sentient beings, has been discovered by some men. As they shape it, bring it into the world in new forms, they become gods themselves. It takes a true connection to the Song to be a god; not every two-bit bard can hack it.

The Four

The first "true" gods to ascend, Jahn, Pol, Gerog and Rhyngol were quarrymen - miners. It is not recorded how they ascended, other than an incident at Sullivan's Tavern. What is known is that they began spreading a message of peace, love, and freedom across the world. They traveled to the north, to the frozen wastes, to halt the invasion of the ice titans, where Jahn alone was forced to save his comrades - they had been turned into eggs by a sorcerer, whom Jahn defeated by taking the form of a great dire walrus.

Now... the Four are mostly dead. Jahn died, slaughtered by the seducer demon Yog-Koa. Pol has begun to steal his songs back from the world, receding as a bitter tyrant. Gerog also died, succumbing as to a dread disease, the cause of which is unknown. Only Rhyngol is constant, the deity living beneath the waves in his manor, Octopus' Garden. He still tours the world yearly, answers prayer personally, and his power alone still fuels the great artifact Maxwell's Silver Hammer, which is passed down through the archclerics of their faith.

Zepp

From humble beginnings arose the closest thing to an overgod that the pantheon of this world has ever known. While his history is ambiguous before his ascendancy. Some priests claim that he was a druid with a love of avians; others claim that he was an ordinary, if witty, young Ice-man named Nobs - a "man from the land of the ice and snow". His silence on the matter tends to suggest that it does not matter to him. In fact, Zepp is one of the less blunt, more retiring, calm gods, preferring to work through his worshipers than disturbing the world by descending in all his glory.

Zepp is, much like the Man in Black, a constant foe of the demons that haunt the world, although he seems to believe that they can be purified. In one notable instance, he confronted a seducer demon simply called the White Lady that was drawing men into the thrall of a technocrat, claiming that they could buy their way into heaven, and showed her the futility of her ways; such was the power of his message that she turned from darkness, becoming his prophet on the crust.

Interestingly enough, Zepp is also one of the few gods that has prohpecised a figure that will come after them, a figure that is greater than them - the Piper, a being who will be the last avatar of The Song, and who will call all of creation to join him in the heavens.

The Man in Black

A bodhisattva from before the rise of the Four who later ascended to "true" godhood, the Man in Black is a devout follower of the Song who wanders the crust, teaching the people of this world through his songs and seeking justice. He and his followers are implacable foes of demons - the Man in Black himself has fought with the Dark One himself and lived to tell the tale - and the most successful, well-known paladins of history claim him as their patron. Notably, the Man in Black, while an honorable, noble being, is not without a sense of humor - he loves spreading stories of his followers far and wide, such as the man who decided to steal a Thunder Chariot one element at a time from a technocrat's assembly plant, not realizing that they were changing the design slowly over time.

Lord Alice

The god of Dragontown, the punishing afterlife of the damned, Lord Alice is a terrifying figure. His hair is wire, his eyes scarred from the burning tears that flowed from his face upon his ascension, lips scarred in the same manner.

He's also a really nice guy.

Sure, his worshipers are horrifying, and he will gladly torment any damned soul that enters Dragontown until nothing remains of their sanity - but he is a god of karma and justice, and the innocent - or righteous - have nothing to fear from him. His consort and equal, Lady Floyd the Pink, is followed more by the general populace, a goddess of empathy who preaches the connectedness of all things and the need to step away from the material.

Akkdekk/Teyente

Akkdekk - called Teyente by the orcs - is an enigma. A god of hobs, goblins, and the like, he is always depicted as a short, ugly little fellow, immaculately dressed (but for the fact that he's wearing shorts) and with a soft, dapper cap. He is a god of mischief, of love (read: sex) and of vengeance. When a goblin clan's warriors were wiped out by invaders, he led the women of the clan against them, and singlehandedly defeated the raiders by charging into their midst - and exploding. He came back a moment later, coated from head to toe in black, clinging soot, but otherwise unharmed. Akkdekk's other side is a bit of a mystery - he loves the trappings of courtly life, and is actively steering the orcs under his sway and the goblins toward a system of nobility. Amidst the gods, it has been outright stated that Akkdekk holds the grandest balls of them all - and while there are those that take that to an entirely inappropriate place, perverts like that are best left out of religious discussion.

The Tyrant

None remember the Tyrant's original name. What is known is that he hoards his songs jealously, and killed the archmage Napp for daring to steal them. While some claim that he has relaxed his grip in recent years, his tyranny restricted to the nations beneath the grip of his followers, none can say if that is true or not yet. A god of warfare and terror, favored by fighters and conquerors, the Tyrant surrounds himself with an army of Things that Should Not Be, Harvesters, and other such eldritch horrors. His lieutenant is Old Boh'Geimon himself, the Sandman, sower of nightmares - although rumor has it that the Bogey doesn't like his employer much nowadays. The Tyrant's armies are fierce, and his strategies are cunning - and yet, he has one downfall. Alcohol - his fuel, his fire, and the one vice he desires.

Zhikae the Blackstar

It is said that a single song haunts the strings of all guitars, it is a melody that when the stars are right, will reveal all liars and thieves... when it was written by a mediocre peddler, he was visited by a voice from beyond the heavens, who sold him the world for his song.

He now drifts through all time, forward and back, up and down, inside and out, wearing a million masks to a million men (and women), a genderless, lithe merchant of sorrows, inspiring and terrifying men and gods alike- haunting the strings and voices of those who would reach beyond their grasps... he is the mad laugh in the dark.... he is the master of spiders and outsiders.

The Caged One

His true name is lost to the sands of time. He is the god of darkness, decrepitude, and isolation. In the past he was one of a dark pantheon, but he betrayed another member of that pantheon and was cast down by the rest for it. In his isolation he has sung to many an unwary and life-hating soul, luring them to his worship with his call and reminding them of the lost glories of the past swallowed by the light.

He has attempted many times to escape his fate, but was imprisoned time and time again by those who would rather his darkness and insanity stay put. Rumors have it, however, that this time he has escaped for good, and seeks to ascend to his former throne...

The Elf of Rainbows

Test not the temper of this god, and tease not his name, for to invoke it is to invoke one of the most powerful occult presences since the Ur-Men first tamed the song into spell.

A mortal once accepted into a wandering band of elves, he was the first to divine the mysical influence of the manual symbol the crone, known among the Orcs as the Horns. After reaching the peak of his prowess as a mortal among the elves, his body subsumed itself into light, becoming one with the Rainbow in whose beauty he first found the Apotheosis of the Song.

He was said to have traveled with the Brotherhood of the Sabbath after his ascension, but parted ways with them at times.

The Elves perpetuate a myth that he was one of them in mortal life. A fickle god, he both honors their pride in their adopted son and shames their greed for his fame by starting cults that bear the truth of his human heritage; these cults savagely war with and surreptitiously sabotage the widespread Church of the Rainbow. These smaller sects revere him as the Holy Diver, and the Man on the Silver Mountain, among other names. His human name is sacred to them, and while they claim to know it, they dare not reveal it.

He is oft worshipped by those who seek his guidance in the realm of the arcane, and is the most common god of Wizards and Shamen. His symbols include the Tiger, dark figures, and the most potent gesture of all: the Horns, sign of the Crone.

The Airsmith

It is said that when the universe is torn apart and reformed, when the next world is created, there will be only two things left over from our creation; cockroaches, and the Airsmith. Nearly as old as the Four, the Airsmith has remained unlessened, untainted, and unconquered, although his age has caused him to change his focus somewhat, as has the fact that he has weathered things that would slaughter any other god. When he was young, he was mostly a god of freedom and love; his age has made him realize just how many jaded, broken lovers he has created from his endless flings with mortals, and how many problems there are in the world that simply cannot be solved by ignoring them. This frustration, this cynical edge that seeped into the Airsmith's being that was once simply vented into song, reached a dramatic crescendo during a worker's revolt in one of the citadels. Denied food by their slavers, the Airsmith delivered a grotesque message to his followers, who had reached out for succor from him in their time of need:

Eat the rich.

The war was brief, the workers entirely successful, the acts of cannibalism forgotten by the world at large afterwards - and even by the ones who committed it, as the Airsmith added something to the victory wine to help ease their minds, once he realized just what he had done.

The Sired

Implied to be the son of the Airsmith, and explicitly the offspring of a fling between a god and a mortal woman, the Sired is a sarcastic, biting young deity who has begun collecting like-minded individuals who just want to tear down the walls of this world, to build something better. Pranksters, wannabes - he cares not for who they were before. In his care, they are urged to come out swinging, to drive their foes before them, to defy those that would dehumanize them.

While most gods have a fairly liberal view of sex - glorifying it to an extreme - the Sired isn't afraid to show the other side of such relationships. As many of his songs describe how sex is used as a tool, a weapon, a thing that only hurts those it touches when one isn't careful, his followers are far more likely to be chaste - or at least monogamous - than those of other gods. And while the Sired is a deity without much respect for the establishment, a rebel god, he is also one with a sense of humor - he has devoted an entire holy track to advice for his followers that have been imprisoned, though it boils down to "don't be no one's bitch!"

As a final consideration, while few of his songs deal with it, the Sired is a genius, and a patron of many mages - particularly transmuters and those that deal with the creation of new life.

The Tenacious Duo

Jables and Kage, two penny-ante bards and devout followers of the great Elf of Rainbows, were able to - through a musical duel with a shining demon - tap into the Song and ascend to a position of minor godhood. The only catch? While they undoubtedly rock, they have been unable to tap into the Song as they did that night - they are even unable to remember the song that they played to vanquish their foe. Of course, this hasn't stopped them from proclaiming their brilliance loudly and to whomever is within listening range, and the powers vested in them with their godhood are still fairly impressive - great physical strength, such that the weakest external part of their bodies can support their half-ton godflesh, and the ability to destroy great beasts from a distance - with MIND BULLETS.

The Queen

Once a poor boy from a poor family, Frederich the Mercurial grew to be one of the most worshipped bastions of Rock. As a mortal he had many interests (hence his name), including bicycling and seducing the local callipygian gentry. However, his main love was singing; through this, he earned the love of not only his local people but those of many races from around the world, letting them believe in true friendship and that they were the champions. As he grew older and more renowned, he soon grew to rival the king of the land in popularity; knowing that to call himself king would be treason, he jokingly pronounced himself Queen instead, and the name stuck.

He is the patron of many a warlord, helping them convince those under their command that their enemies will be rocked and bite the dust. But also he is the patron of lovers, helping many a young bard to find another and cling together.

The Ever Marching Battalion

The Ever Marching Battalion is not a single deity, rather it is a force which has joined with the one true song and is revered as a pantheon. There are those who believe that they are the reincarnation of these warriors, and seek to ensure that their tale is forever told, and one day return to their comrades.

Long ago, the much of the world was ruled by a single government which claimed to be masters of all they surveyed. A theocracy, claiming to be the heralds of the one true God. Ever paranoid of rebellion, or of schism within their ranks, they fortified every holding they could. They mowed down any that dissented brutally. Their soldiers were cold and heartless on the battlefield. They left their wounded as they died and called it God's will. They employed horsemen whose sole duty it was to spread fear of demons in the people, so that they would rely on their blind faith and not question their leaders. All who lived feared these shadows of murder.

Inevitably, a rebellion arose. A million men, secretly biding their time in the military until the time was right to strike, marched upon the capital. Their mark was the distinguishing spiked iron boots they wore, to symbolize how they would trample the corrupt government. Thousands of feet marched in despair that day as they slew their former comrades and neighbors. When they laid siege to the capital, mages in its towers conjured a winter the likes of which had never been seen before. In the beginning days, thousands died in the mud, in coming months, many more died from the freezing cold. Those left carved the names of the fallen into stones and sang songs of their glory to keep them alive in their hearts.. They vowed that they would honor their names along with their fallen foes forever. Months passed, and eventually all of the rebels in the spiked iron boots passed on. Though they did not know it, they had defeated their enemy, the pure power of the mages' spell is all that kept the cold winter storms going. When the storms had subsided, the people realized that both sides were dead. It is said that now, in the long cold winter, in the raging of storms, that one can hear the marching and singing of those brave warriors in sabatons. There are those who revere them as a deific force, given tribute by those that seek to throw off the shackles of tyranny.

The Keepers of the Seven

It is said that there are seven divine truths in the world, and that there are some who have found them and ascended to godhood through their righteousness. They hold them secret, so that only those are worthy of their power may partake in their glory and be truly alive. In any other hands, this would seem to be a tale that does not end well; however, the Keepers are benevolent, and beckon others to follow the signs that lead to divinity, look into the sky above and see the gods beckoning, and make their choice to initiate themselves into the mysteries. The Keepers do this so that when the gods enter their twilight, the world of the future will remain glorious and bright for at least a little time. To this end they also encourage normal worship, following the basic principles of the Seven without revealing the divine totality of them. Their worshippers gather once a year in a festival called Helloween.

Notes

Artificers are an allowed class, but are rarely player characters, as the Artificers are usually trained in guilds run by the evil Technocrats. Artificers that follow a god devoutly, following their commands to the letter, are called Roadies, for their role; making sure that the other champions of the gods are able to stay on the road successfully.

All spells have a verbal component. Silence and Zone of Silence are profane spells that are only able to be cast by followers of demons. Any spells with a material component cost of less than 100 GP are considered to have no material components.

Druids are not the neutral protectors of the wilds that they are in most settings - in this world, they are the embodiment of the fury of nature, as much as any barbarian or ranger, and they live to give voice to the laws of nature. As every living entity, whether plant or animal, is connected to the song, this is more possible than most think it to be.

The civilizations of the world are connected by the Black Roads. A living, vital construct, the webwork of black stone was an experiment in self-replicating constructs gone awry, and yet, the result was greater than anything the wizard had considered. A self-creating series of roads, smooth, hard, and needing no maintenance, that would stretch from sea to sea, seeking out outposts of civilization, growing in places that would make good spots for a road to be - the construct obviously had some sort of intellect. The black roads grew for twenty years; they have now ceased, but the entire continent is neatly webbed by them. Rumors - or superstions - persist that it is bad luck to drive slowly on the Black Roads, lest the road itself curse you, and that one day they will start burrowing beneath the crust, delving to Dragontown itself, creating an actual highway to Hell.

Breaks

HEAVY MYTHRIL uses (optionally) a version of Earthflame's Break system.

At first level, characters receive one Break - their Lucky Break, a manifestation of the Song within them. When dramatically appropriate, they may use the Break Point, and when they do, something gets broken, be it the rules of the game (almost always), an object within the game, or the fabric of probability. If the break is described in a suitably epic way, it occurs, and the player earns at least one break point back - however, the player himself is "broken" temporarily, fatigued greatly for the remainder of the day, or sickened.

If the Break is used in a weak, pointless, or flavorless way (IE, with no descriptive roleplay behind it - you miss someone and you say "okay, I'm using my Break to hit him anyway) - the Gods of Rock frown upon you, and the Break is lost completely. If it was your only Break, you're SOL until the next level, when you get another Lucky Break.

Now, Breaks can be used in many ways - here's an example of things you can do with a break. -Shatter a wooden gate or simple stone door (but not a metal or hugeass reinforced stone door) -Bend the very winds so that an arrow - or indeed, a volley of arrows - come down upon a particular point. (Effectively add +10 to a group of attacks, changing their target) -Convert lethal damage dealt to a target to nonlethal. -Counter a spell as it is being cast. -Roll 2d20 on any given roll instead of one. -ETC

Breaking Points are the more potent version of Breaks. They are absolute, and cannot be Broken themselves - using a Breaking Point means that you accomplish whatever single task you set out to do, as long as it's not something balls-insane like "Conquer this kingdom in two minutes" or "Kill the Airsmith". It must be described in full, as Breaks must. A Breaking Point costs seven Breaks.

The catch? When you use a Breaking Point, things you don't intend to break get broken. There are horrible consequences that spread throughout the world, consequences you did not intend - a Breaking Point may very well kill you if used.

Lastly, there are Worldbreakers. Costing Seven times Seven plus Seven breaks, (56, for those keeping track), Worldbreakers tear the universe asunder to accomplish their goals. There is NO limit on what a Worldbreaker can accomplish, but the widespread devastation is so great, that... well, only a few people have ever broken the world in this way, and they have all done it to ascend to godhood. The Tenacious Duo did this when they ascended, though how they acquired the requisite number of breaks without killing themselves is a mystery.