Here are some questions and answers from other threads detailing more information about the
Nevermore campaign setting. Feel free to use them as a spring board for your questions:
So how about a brief synopsis of the new setting?
Nevermore is an epic fantasy setting caught between the forces of hope and doom. It is a reverie on the verge of madness where the Seelie and Unseelie courts struggle against each other, each hoping to shape Nevermore to their noble dreams or vile whims. But mortals have established themselves within the world of Nevermore bringing their own conflicts into the dreamland of the fey. These men and their dreamlords have changed the landscapes, inhabitants, and essence of Nevermore for both good and ill over its history. The stage is set for the fortunes of the dreams of the fey to be decided, and only time will tell whether the world will flower around a pool of peace or wither in the fires of vengeance.
Nevermore sounds like something I could really sink my teeth into, as I love horror (Ravenloft) in any form. What inspired Nevermore?
Nevermore was inspired by the work I did on Dreamscapes for Adamant Entertainment. While exploring all the possibilities of running a dreamscape campaign, I was inspired to start writing a campaign setting based on the twist that it existed as a dream... the collective dreamland of the fey. Then I imagined what could happen in such a place. Would the fey so prefer the reverie created for them that they would want to give up their lives outside the dream and be "reborn" into the reverie. What would happen if the fey split into two opposing courts (Seelie and Unseelie) with different visions of the future? What would happen if a pregnant woman was brought physically into Nevermore? What if one of the inhabitants of Nevermore revealed the existance of the world to mortals in order to save his mortal lover and her family? How would both fey courts respond? How would Nevermore respond? What if to protect the mortals one of the Seelie Court opened a rift into a plane of forgettfulness that dispersed the Unseelie army and sent the world into a Forgotten Age? What if by the time this age ended the mortals had learned the secrets of dreamweaving becoming full-fledged dreamlords? How would the fey react to this new world? What would the mortals do with their new found powers? Would the conflicts of the mortal world cross over to Nevermore? Or would their conflicts become even more frightening than before? What would happen when Nevermore experienced the murder of a dreamlord and the unquenchable vengence of his children? Would the land of dreams turn into a land of nightmares? What if the tears of a child awoke the world from this time of dread and brought a sea of tranquilty to this scarred land? How long could the mercy of a little child and her siblings hold back the gathering fires of hatred seething beneath the surface? What would the next age of Nevermore bring? Hope, terror, both?
Based on your knowledge of True20 how would the system fit for running a Raveloft game and could Nevermore slide into it easily?
Hmmm... there are definately areas of Nevermore, such as the nightmarish Dreadlands, that would lend themselves to running a Ravenloft-genre horror game... in fact that was one of the main reasons I designed Nevermore in the way I did. I want Game Masters to be able to use any fantasy setting they want in conjunction with it. Now the only difference is that in Nevermore both the heroes and villians can preform fantastic feats improbable, if not impossible, in the real world. In addition, trueborn (those born within Nevermore), both good, evil, and inbetween gain surreal powers, which accent their inner psyche and allow them even greater ability to shape the world to their whims.
As a big fan of Changeling, Underworld, Neverwhere and Dark Ages: Fae, what things can I expect to like about Nevermore?
Good question... I think you will come to enjoy Nevermore more for its differences from the above than the similarities, but that being said there are many similarities and echoes of these settings within the world of Nevermore (at least from the cursory knowledge I have of them)...
The central role the fey play in Nevermore's history and its future comes to mind. This world is full of all kinds of fey (and the rules provide the information needed to create a reborn fey character) from the noble Seelie to the malicious Unseelie. After all, this was their reverie, before it was revealed to mortals.
There is also a dark edge to the setting, the world has a melancholy note that hangs over an otherwise fanciful opus. That is one of the reasons I named it Nevermore, using Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" as some small inspiration. There is a raven hanging above the door of the world, one the fey see quite clearly and they despair in the end that their world will end in the shadow of a demon's dreaming... and they will be nevermore.
Of course I also wanted their to be a sense of wonder and hope in the setting... after all not all dreams are nightmares. So I also wanted to also focus on the fantastic possibilities of living in a dream. What marvelous sights one could see, what tremendous structures could arise from the imaginations of fey and mortals, what bizzare and beautiful creatures could populate such a world. It is these surreal features I think that will draw GMs and players alike into the world of Nevermore.
Last but not least, though not necessarily a similarity, Nevermore is designed to be weaved into and out of any other fantasy worlds (such as the above) with as much or as little effect on a campaign as the GM wants it to have. Also the malleable nature of the world allows GMs to use whatever adventures they would like in conjunction with the setting as anything (even modern landscapes) could be found in Nevermore. This flexibility and openess to the integration of other settings will hopefully make Nevermore even more useful to a GM than a campaign setting might normally be.
Is Nevermore a modern fantasy?
Nevermore is a epic fantasy setting with a surreal twist, first and foremost. However, the setting itself leaves open the possibility of including modern material as Nevermore has many "unmappable" and maleable regions where one can find anything from ancient ruins to modern skyscrappers... thus allowing GMs to use whatever material they want in their own Nevermore campaigns, even material from other settings!
Now the main focus of the world will be exaggerated fantasy, but depending upon the interest I may be talked into at least putting out a "How to run Nevermore as a Modern Fantasy" web-enhancement (or even a product), but Nevermore will need to succeed as a fantasy first, then it can start branching out into other genres.
Is the feel more horror or fantastic discovery with the fey elements?
The world is designed to do whatever the GM wants it to do. There are horrific elements found throughout Nevermore and its five domains: the Dreadlands, the Wyrd, the Heartlands, the Hedge, and the Eye.
The Dreadlands being a domain of living nightmares where the landscape and its inhabitants are almost all bent toward some evil end, especially the three terrible dreamlords who live here.
To foil this there is the Wyrd where fantastic locales and creatures can be discovered and explorered and the only limit to the world is one's imagination. The realms within this domain wander from place to place as the thoughts of their dreamlords roam around the world's endless possibilities.
The Heartlands, where the fey rule, are split between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, the former led by King Oberon seek a peaceful existance with the growing number of mortals entering Nevermore, while the latter led by Queen Mab want to cleanse the world of the taint of mortals. The world of Nevermore was created for the fey as a retreat from the world for those fey being driven back by mortals from their ancient homes.
The fey are major influences over the development of Nevermore's history, but mortals have grown in power ever since their arrival centuries ago and have changed the face of the land forever. As evidence of this power, the humans have joined the ranks of dreamlords founding their own realms and even establishing two new domains within Nevermore, the Hedge and the Eye.
The Hedge was created to protect the Eye from incursions by the various nightmarish and chaotic forces within Nevermore and does so with extremely dangerous and difficult natural and unnatural obstacles.
The Eye, on the other hand, is the most populous and stable of Nevermore's five domains. Four of the most powerful dreamlords dwell here. Allied together their cities have prospered since Nevermore's last great war, the War of Songs, but the hard won peace is slowly drying up as the fires of old hatreds flare and new ones are sparked.
Are the characters going to be from this world, or from another place and cross the boundary into this world?
The setting is designed to be played with characters coming from another world into Nevermore or with characters born in Nevermore (known as Trueborn or Reborn Fey). This allows a GM to use Nevermore as an occassional element in their main campaign, as a dual-campaign with another setting (or more than one), or as the main campaign setting itself. Trueborn characters leaving Nevermore and entering other campaign settings is also an interesting possibility though not one that will be focused on.
Are PCs all human??
The setting supports all the classic fantasy races and in addition introduces the concept of the "trueborn", these individuals are creatures who are born in Nevermore from mortal parents. The trueborn are the same race as their parents, however their psyches are reflected in their physical appeareance and manifested in supernatural powers. These aspects range from the alignment of one's spirit with a particalur element to an intrinsic connection to a specific totem animal, and anything imaginable inbetween.
What additional mechanics (if any) to True 20 does Nevermore use?
Nevermore builds off of the True20 mechanics that are already there and exagerates them in such a way to accentuate the surreal nature of the world.
One of the primary systems used in Nevermore is a modified Conviction system, which allows supernatural and super heroic actions. In addition, Dream Conviction can be used to influence the world of Nevermore itself by shaping it and its inhabitants to one's whim. Of course pushing Nevermore too far and too fast creates its own problems and so a backlash rule is included, which represents the will of the dream itself and let's just say that the dream doesn't like to be pushed around.
We also include a Dreamer role for trueborn and reborn fey characters. This role focuses on wielding the surreal energies within Nevermore and controling the supernatural aspects each trueborn manifests within the world.
