Goodman Games

Carved of black basalt and squatting like a malignant toad over the mouth of the Gray River Delta the city state of Barasbor has held sway over the eastern Desert of Gol-Than and the Bay of Sorrows for many thousands of years.

An ancient evil city, Barasbor has grown and shrunk organically over the millennia as its fortunes have waxed and waned. The oldest part of the city, the towers of the Star Men also known as the twelve towers stood vigil over the star ships and space boats of the Star Men and still stand like sentinels over the city. The oldest and most noble families have turned these crystalline spires into fortresses, each housing hundreds of loyal slaves, mercenaries and bondsmen in addition to the nobles that rule the city. Some of the greatest treasures in the world are contained within these spires. Ancient technologies and sorceries long since forgotten by the rest of the world, jealously guarded and passed down within the great families.

During the Age of the Severing great walls made of a strange gray metal were built around the twelve towers to defend the city against the great war machines that the Star Men unleashed against each other. Remnants of this apocalyptic conflict remain. The length and breath of the walls bear the scars of the conflict and entire redoubts have been rebuilt using basalt and other materials as the sorceries used to create the original walls have long since been lost. Since the Severing a labyrinthine palace structure has been built within them housing the dozens of lesser houses. Every night blood runs in the corridors and streets among these houses as the lesser houses jockey for position and power within the city.

Outside the old walls lies the New City. This is as far as most visitors will ever enter into Barasbor. From the taverns to the weapon foundries to the slave markets the new city is the beating heart of Barasbor. The nobles of the old city are too concerned with their own power plays and position amongst their peers to pay the New City much mind and so long as the tithes of gold and slaves make their way into the noble coffers the New City is left to its own devices.

Surrounding the New City and outside its much more primitive (though still imposing) basalt walls lies a massive sprawl of shanties eeking out a living in the swamps that make up the delta the city was built on. Years ago the delta was made up of fertile flood plains that served as the cities breadbasket. Over the years however much of the delta has become a stinking mire. The arable land is shrinking and the the poorest inhabitants of Barasbor have begun to feel the squeeze as food prices have climbed.

I like the widening circles and their hierarchy of sophistication. Presumably, if you're really treading similar ground to your cited source material, beyond the sprawling shantytown mire there lie vast wildernesses dotted with bizarre and isolated cultures long forgotten by the folk of the metropolis.

As for the origins of magic, I would be a little concerned that nanites bear too much of the stamp of modernity to fit into a true sword and planet setting. Vance and Burroughs wrote science fantasy that knew little or nothing of computers -- in ERB's case because he predated them and in Vance's because they tend to interfere with the primacy of human ingenuity. So the leap past computers to nanotechnology seems out of place to me. For my money, some kind of rift in space and time, resulting from the unspeakable weapons of that ancient war, would feel like a more appropriate source of magic. Alien entities from beyond might have slipped through the rift, and while some would be so foreign as to be incomprehensible to man, others might latch on to the human subconscious and manifest themselves as beings that appear either godlike or demonic. These could explain both arcane sorcery and clerical powers alike.

On the other hand, you and your players may have a totally different view of nanites that would make them perfectly suitable. In that case, maybe there could simply be many different flavors or "brands" of nanites, some of which evolve into consciousnesses resembling immortal deities, and others of which remain unthinking swarms of micro-machinery, awaiting the proper commands of a carefully attuned human mind.

A second idea I had was an ancient, self aware (and extremely powerful) war machine (Are you thinking OGRE? I'm thinking OGRE) that still patrols the desert of Gol-Than. A camp of fanatical followers have attached themselves to it and in exchange for maintaining their 'god' it provides direct and very real protection in addition to granting 'spells' to its most loyal followers.

I'm planning on reskinning a lot of the classes too. For example I want 'elves' to actually be the decedents of the leadership caste of the star men. 'Dwarves' (as well as Orcs, Ogres, Giants and many other humanoid monsters) will be the decedents of genetically engineered/vat grown soldiers deployed during the wars. Halflings will actually be an alien race that were the planets original inhabitants. I'm also thinking that Dragons and their assorted offshoots (drakes ect) will be native to the planet as well, potentially opening up another spellcasting class available only to 'halflings'.

A second idea I had was an ancient, self aware (and extremely powerful) war machine (Are you thinking OGRE? I'm thinking OGRE) that still patrols the desert of Gol-Than. A camp of fanatical followers have attached themselves to it and in exchange for maintaining their 'god' it provides direct and very real protection in addition to granting 'spells' to its most loyal followers.

A second idea I had was an ancient, self aware (and extremely powerful) war machine (Are you thinking OGRE? I'm thinking OGRE) that still patrols the desert of Gol-Than. A camp of fanatical followers have attached themselves to it and in exchange for maintaining their 'god' it provides direct and very real protection in addition to granting 'spells' to its most loyal followers.