The World of Aker-Cosi

[Nolanp01]

Hopefully this is the correct place to post this so here we go!

The World of Aker-Cosi is the first product by Ars Tali Games featuring our very own LEGACY mechanics, which is based on a D100 system. The focus of our world is to utilise storytelling into the development of characters while facilitating diverse skills and character creation. Our initial play-tests have proven that while the game is certainly more complex, it's easy for starting players while having extensive content and depth for veterans of the genre.

Aker-Cosi is a world of fantasy and adventure where magic and technology collide. Thematically focused on the rise of technology becoming accessible to the masses, Aker-Cosi creates an environment where players see not only a fully fleshed out world, but an ever changing one as well.
With new inventions, magical disturbances, political intrigue and the constant threat of war, players will be thrown into the middle of the chaotic and exciting world of Aker-Cosi.

There's a lot of content we're working on and Zac or I would be happy to answer any/all questions you may have. We'll do our best to run a few updates in here, as we update a few various places!

[Jubal]

I guess some basic questions from me:

• Do we have multiple species of sentient being, or just humans?
• What sort of "era feel" does it have? Does the place look 20th century, or 15th, or neither? Are we fighting with swords and magic or guns and magic?
• Is the basic system class-based, or career-based, or just with a set of interchangeable skills?
• Is the technology that's increasing magic-based, or is magic a rare and incidental world feature?
• What kind of production/distribution model are you guys looking at?

[LordAncron]

I'm happy to answer those questions!

Do we have multiple species of sentient being, or just humans?

We have many sentient beings in Aker-Cosi. We have many different human cultures but also have several non-humans

We have the Anceylis, who are more or less the Elves of our setting. They are a race who has, as far as modern history is concerned, fled to Aker-Cosi to hide from the fall of their multidimensional empire, there are many different cultures that the Anceylis make up, including the Arh'laiha who are more typical forest elves, the imperialistic Illvatos and many who have assimilated into human cultures.

There is also the Dhazud, the dwarves of Aker-Cosi. They have retained a very traditional resemblance to their typical fantasy portrayal. Stout and hardy people who live in enormous mountain cities we call Citadels ruled by powerful clans. Though Dwarven kinship isn't as universal as it first appears. Within a citadel relations are as you would expect but Dhazud regard other citadels as foreign powers more than they do brethren and are just as likely to hold stronger ties with their neighbors than distant cities they rarely have contact with.

We have another subterranean race called The Palekin, something akin to Orc's or Uruk's the Palekin aren't necessarily evil but they are aggressive considering warfare a good test of the character of a peoples. The Palekin are Industrious, united and, if I say so myself, an example of working and prosperous communism. Though their author might disagree with me.

We also have a wide range of spirits known as the Ethiba who are Sentient. With the exception of the Ruler of The Hegemony, the Ethiba don't particularly hold much stake in the politics or nations of the world, acting as much as denizens of magically concentrated habitats and as creatures of myth.

There is also the human like Manimathr, eight foot tall Giantkin with immense strength, resilience and tenacity. Whilst associated with the Norse, which is somewhat intended, the Manimathr are a fairly varied people themselves, generally they are Traditional and symbolic people who appreciate the force of nature and animism in their culture it is not always the case.

We have plenty more non-human and human cultures in development too, many of which are intended to be Player Characters.

What sort of "era feel" does it have? Does the place look 20th century, or 15th, or neither? Are we fighting with swords and magic or guns and magic?

Right now we are working at setting the game in a 1800 hundreds feel however we are working on a concept of magical industrialization which will look radically different to technological industrialization that is happening in other nations. Guns, Magic and Swords are all currently a possibility in Aker-Cosi.

Is the basic system class-based, or career-based, or just with a set of interchangeable skills?

Right now we have a Classless and Level-less system. We have in development a huge map of skills that players can progress in any versatile or specialized way they want, along with story and roleplaying focused "Talent" points rather than a direct XP-Level system. Focusing on having less derivative attributes and allowing our core scores come into play more often

Is the technology that's increasing magic-based, or is magic a rare and incidental world feature?

Right now traditional technology does not mesh with magic because the the most technologically advanced culture has a hatred for magic. This isn't the rule of thumb though, empires that are now getting their hands on technology and are not adverse to magic are seeking ways to improve technology with magic. A prime example of Magical Tech is the Union's (the Premier magically industrialized nation) 'Skimmer Ships' which are naval ships who can spend large spans of time over land and can, for short combat bursts, have limited flight capabilities.

What kind of production/distribution model are you guys looking at?

Right now this is something we're totally looking into but don't have a strong answer for. Plenty of options and we've got to decide what is right for us.

[Jubal]

Ooh dwarves

How large are the dwarf citadels? Are they very trade-reliant, or do they have decent sized hinterlands for natural resources etc?

Do all your races have access to magic?

[Nolanp01]

Hi Jubal,

I've been recently working on the Dhazud/dwarves in the last couple weeks and their citadels are largely dependent on the clan itself. Some mountain ranges are large and plenty, while others are sometimes lacking - however this isn't to say that dwarves who live in the poorer resource zones are disfranchised from prosperity, it just means reduced precious materials, for iron is common throughout the world.

If we consider dwarves in their traditional roles as stone masons and blacksmiths, they tend to be valued almost where-ever they may go, thus their wealth is often decent. The larger cities are easily over a few hundred thousand while the smaller ones might only boast tens of thousands - not to mention there are quite a few, "expeditions" and smaller groups where it ranges from a dozen to a few hundred.

Our world is massive, to best associate what the dwarves are like on averages would stipulate that while most of the greater dwarven societies trade, it does not define them. They are often more than not a self-reliant type of people, they have their mountain homes and we've created a few concepts for terrace and underground farming. I like to think of them as being able to not *need* trade with other civilisations, however it is something which certainly happens; Often to the benefit of the dwarves.

As for magic, technically speaking anyone could obtain magic/arcane through sorcery, however not everyone is able to access magic via birth/genes. I think I'll leave this question to Zac/LordAncron.

[Jubal]

That's neat I've always been a fan of Dwarves going for Inca-style terraces.

Which leads me to yet another question. Is the world biologically familiar to us? That is to say, are most of the native species the same as our own (with deer, rabbits, wolves, whatever)? Or are they similarish but varied, or totally different?

[LordAncron]

The world has a lot of earth-like similarities. We've done a bunch of work so that the climate is relatively realistic (With a few magical exceptions). We have plenty of real world equivalents, I don't think the RPG community would forgive us if they couldn't have a wolf animal companion, but we also have many magical and non-magical creatures unique to Aker-Cosi.

We're working with people who are actually rather interested in getting morphology right for creatures we have ideas for so they come off as somewhat natural and make sense as a creature. Something that I find very satisfying as a to-be scientist haha.

Expect to see creatures you are familiar with, variations of real world creatures and entirely new life-forms as well!

[Jubal]

Ooh good That's roughly the approach I've taken with GS&S too, and it seems to work well.

[stormwell]

Just reading through I get the feeling that Aker-Cosi seems to sit somewhere between Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura and Eberron.

Am I close to being on the money or horribly, horribly off course?

[Nolanp01]

Hi Stormwell,

One of my favorite games of all time was Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura and it certainly has had an influence over my vision and writing, however I've never played Eberron; Though Zac has! Ultimately I don't know if it is a mix between both worlds, but it does have elements the late 1800s, minus the overly steampunk theme - I wanted to really focus on the good and bad of the industrial revolution and create a world where the struggle inside of an ever-changing society is both destructive and illuminating.

Magic is.. interesting because we have this idea of what magic can do and in both high and low settings, however it isn't all-consuming throughout the world, it's merely a part of it - like a rare material which some may utilise and others may not. For a few societies, it's the backbone of their civilisation, whereas with others it is either rare or scorned - there's definitely a complexity which is easily matched by real world elements.

Like I've said earlier, never played Eberron but perhaps there are some similarities? I'll have Zac respond to this as well, he'd be a bit more knowledgeable on this.