You arrive at a crossorads...
Welcome to everyone taking the time to read this.
My name is Darrick Herring and I'm the creator of Crossroads: The Yzyrra (pronounced "ee-ZEH-rah") Chronicles. I've been a fan of role-playing games for almost 25 years. I originally started with video games, then eventually branched out into table-top role-playing games thanks to some friends that I went to college with. I was GM for a handful of 2nd Edition Big Eyes, Small Mouth adventures and a campaign that ran a year and a half. While all of this was going on, I had dabbled in countless MMORPG's, both big and small while I was kicking around this idea for my own RPG.
While I slowly worked on my own setting, I went through iteration after iteration trying to figure things out, how to design a game with so many moving parts. However one game kept sticking out in my mind, Final Fantasy XI with its sub-job system. I tried countless combinations, some more effective than others. I wanted something along those lines but I wanted more of a dual-class, rather than a system where a character has a sub-job that works at half-strength. I wanted the player to have full access to both of their classes when they reach max level. This was a driving ambition for Crossroads: The Yzyrra Chronicles (henceforth referred to as "Crossroads").
SETTING
Crossroads takes place on a world in an alternate reality where in The Beginning, there was nothing but The Elements vying for dominance. The conflict took such a toll on The Elements that several were on the verge of destruction. Several Elements suggested that each gives up half of their essence to create an impartial referee to resolve the issues of creating the world. The Elements agreed and she was created. Her name was Judge Mother Elementia.
Crossroads takes place on a world in an alternate reality where in The Beginning, there was nothing but The Elements vying for dominance. The conflict took such a toll on The Elements that several were on the verge of destruction. Several Elements suggested that each gives up half of their essence to create an impartial referee to resolve the issues of creating the world. The Elements agreed and she was created. Her name was Judge Mother Elementia.
Elementia went about the process of creating the world. She labored tirelessly, until one day she realized that there was no one but the echoes of the voices of The Elements in her mind to witness these works, deeds, and secrets that she brought to reality. This drover her into and anger creating less hospitable regions. Then the loneliness set in, driving her into a depression. Not only did this impact the design of the world, it drover her into a deep, restless, slumber.
During her slumber, her loneliness led to the rise of societies in her dreams. The underlying anger in her heart led to the dream being corrupted into a nightmare. Tragedies washed across the landscape of her mind and many societies fell to the terrors. Monstrosities not only threatened the civilizations, but also Elementia herself. She was being pursued by the manifestations of her mind. Just as she was about to be consumed by them, a horde of small people swarmed the threats. They clawed, poked, and ravenously feasted on the monstrosities. Elementia had been defended, or had she?
Thankful for the help, she asked to meet the leader of these small people. They guided her to a being that was just as big as her. He went by the name of Emti: The Child of Time. Shortly after meeting Emti, exhaustion overcame Elementia and she passed out, waking herself up out of her slumber. As she came to, she was greeted by the same small people standing around her and Emti stepped forward to get her to her feet. Somehow, Elementia dragged the survivors with her out of the Realm of Nightmares.
Now that Elementia had someone to create for, she was invigorated with a motivation to keep creating and expanding the world. Emti reasoned that he was conceived in her dreams and thus he was a part of her. He was the manifestation of her Time component. He imagined the small people that dwelled in her dreams, but it was her mind that created them. Elementia pondered and decided that if she created gave birth to the Child of Time, then she would do so for the other eight elements. This would be the plan, but she wanted a proper place to serve as the cradle of civilization in the waking world.
Elementia, Emti, and the Halflings all journeyed until they arrived at a massive valley, and Elementia named it Ogari Sundura. While Elementia created the other eight Children, Emti watched over the valley, and the Halflings began the process of creating a civilization. Arts and Sciences flourished. Elementia labored tirelessly creating each of the other eight: Dolfo- The Child of Water, Hate- The Child of Fire, Thera- The Child of Earth, Ria- The Child of Wind, Nus- The Child of Light, Sybas- The Child of Darkness, Apecs- The Child of Space, and Nicos- The Child of Sound. Elementia explained to them who they were, and that they were to create sculpt a race of their own creation. Each one set about the task and after they were all finished, the sculptures were gathered together in the center of Ogari Sundura and placed in a circle facing outward. The collection was called the "Model Citizens". Elementia used the Model Citizens as a guide to create each of the Races.
As Elementia began The Nesting and creating the initial groups of people of each of the races, some Halflings decided to begin The Exodus, exploring outward towards the edge of Ogari Sundura. Once the Nesting was done and all races were present and contributing to the creation of Ogari Sundura, groups started exploring outside of the valley. Some did not make it back, the world outside of the valley was still dangerous.
The people of Ogari Sundura realized that they needed roles for those who wished to go out into the world and see the things that Elementia had told them about. Training camps were formed to teach people how to fight and/or avoid conflict outside the valley to defend themselves as they made their way across the landscapes of Yzyrra. Martial Artists would fend off and eliminate threats while the Priests would heal their wounds. This strategy would allow expeditions to continue forward. The Martial Artists and Priests were the first roles that would later be referred to as "Paths" that adventurers walk in life. To ensure a standardized level of proficiency necessary to successfully walk these Paths, adventuring academies were formed to provide the education needed to do so. As the Exodus would continue pushing ever outward, new civilizations would form and those places would need people to defend them as well. It was a great time to be an adventurer.
Generations had passed and new Paths were developed as society advanced. After Elementia was done with The Nesting, she took a sabbatical and left The Children in charge. As things go when Children are left to their own devices, one of Elementia's rules was broken. This resulted in severe damage to Ogari Sundura, the loss of lives, and the birth & abandonment of Hoacs- The Child of Chaos. When Elementia eventually returned, the city was not the same. She found out why, and the end result was Elves and Velés built resentment towards each other for their creator's part in The Cataclysm.
After things started resolving after The Cataclysm, Elementia formed The Paragons, which would be the governing body of Ogari Sundura while she was away. The Children were to be their advisors & protectors. There were nine Paragons, one of each race. Elementia resumed her mission of creating the world and filling it with secrets for those bold enough to venture out and find them. Though political borders began to shift back and forth, Elementia continues to expand ever outward.
In Crossroads: The Yzyrra Chronicles, players will take on the roles of a person who has decided to answer Elementia's "Call to Adventure" and attend one of the many adventuring academies. In these academies, one will learn about the various philosophies to deal with conflict and strife in the world. These philosophies are called "Paths" that one walks, like The Path of the Fighter or The Path of the Diplomat. Because a person simply can not solve every problem with one philosophy, the academies train adventurers to adopt a second Path. The point where these Path's intersect is one's Crossroads. An adventuring party will achieve increased adaptability when they have members running Crossroads with little to no overlap. Bear in mind, there is nothing to deter a party from any overlap. Some parties may feel it is advantageous to have a second member adopt The Path of the Priest. Ultimately, each party member should be playing a Crossroads that they enjoy.
Next time, we'll go over Crossroads' core mechanics as well as some of the system's unique ideas and executions. If you'd like to keep up with the development of this game and blog updates, I invite you to subscribe! Until next time, Good fortunes be with you!
Elementia, Emti, and the Halflings all journeyed until they arrived at a massive valley, and Elementia named it Ogari Sundura. While Elementia created the other eight Children, Emti watched over the valley, and the Halflings began the process of creating a civilization. Arts and Sciences flourished. Elementia labored tirelessly creating each of the other eight: Dolfo- The Child of Water, Hate- The Child of Fire, Thera- The Child of Earth, Ria- The Child of Wind, Nus- The Child of Light, Sybas- The Child of Darkness, Apecs- The Child of Space, and Nicos- The Child of Sound. Elementia explained to them who they were, and that they were to create sculpt a race of their own creation. Each one set about the task and after they were all finished, the sculptures were gathered together in the center of Ogari Sundura and placed in a circle facing outward. The collection was called the "Model Citizens". Elementia used the Model Citizens as a guide to create each of the Races.
As Elementia began The Nesting and creating the initial groups of people of each of the races, some Halflings decided to begin The Exodus, exploring outward towards the edge of Ogari Sundura. Once the Nesting was done and all races were present and contributing to the creation of Ogari Sundura, groups started exploring outside of the valley. Some did not make it back, the world outside of the valley was still dangerous.
The people of Ogari Sundura realized that they needed roles for those who wished to go out into the world and see the things that Elementia had told them about. Training camps were formed to teach people how to fight and/or avoid conflict outside the valley to defend themselves as they made their way across the landscapes of Yzyrra. Martial Artists would fend off and eliminate threats while the Priests would heal their wounds. This strategy would allow expeditions to continue forward. The Martial Artists and Priests were the first roles that would later be referred to as "Paths" that adventurers walk in life. To ensure a standardized level of proficiency necessary to successfully walk these Paths, adventuring academies were formed to provide the education needed to do so. As the Exodus would continue pushing ever outward, new civilizations would form and those places would need people to defend them as well. It was a great time to be an adventurer.
Generations had passed and new Paths were developed as society advanced. After Elementia was done with The Nesting, she took a sabbatical and left The Children in charge. As things go when Children are left to their own devices, one of Elementia's rules was broken. This resulted in severe damage to Ogari Sundura, the loss of lives, and the birth & abandonment of Hoacs- The Child of Chaos. When Elementia eventually returned, the city was not the same. She found out why, and the end result was Elves and Velés built resentment towards each other for their creator's part in The Cataclysm.
After things started resolving after The Cataclysm, Elementia formed The Paragons, which would be the governing body of Ogari Sundura while she was away. The Children were to be their advisors & protectors. There were nine Paragons, one of each race. Elementia resumed her mission of creating the world and filling it with secrets for those bold enough to venture out and find them. Though political borders began to shift back and forth, Elementia continues to expand ever outward.
In Crossroads: The Yzyrra Chronicles, players will take on the roles of a person who has decided to answer Elementia's "Call to Adventure" and attend one of the many adventuring academies. In these academies, one will learn about the various philosophies to deal with conflict and strife in the world. These philosophies are called "Paths" that one walks, like The Path of the Fighter or The Path of the Diplomat. Because a person simply can not solve every problem with one philosophy, the academies train adventurers to adopt a second Path. The point where these Path's intersect is one's Crossroads. An adventuring party will achieve increased adaptability when they have members running Crossroads with little to no overlap. Bear in mind, there is nothing to deter a party from any overlap. Some parties may feel it is advantageous to have a second member adopt The Path of the Priest. Ultimately, each party member should be playing a Crossroads that they enjoy.
Next time, we'll go over Crossroads' core mechanics as well as some of the system's unique ideas and executions. If you'd like to keep up with the development of this game and blog updates, I invite you to subscribe! Until next time, Good fortunes be with you!
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