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Let's consider how dwarves are portrayed in D&D 4E: Stereotypically short and strong with a penchant for building and craftwork, yet they live above-ground, without any sort of ability to see in the dark, and were once enslaved by the giants. Let's riff off that. Modern dwarves are, in fact, a slave-race bred by giants for manual labor, selecting them for strength, hardiness, and ability to do tedious work (and losing darkvision in the process). They eventually revolted and won their freedom, spreading out into the world.

"Zounds, the Visigoth has kidnapped the members of the Senate and is holding them ransom unless we pull out from Gaul! Quick, light the signal pyre to call the Justice League. The Gladiator, the Praetor, the Fascist, and Purple Toga will make short work of this problem!"

So on a flight last weekend, they showed the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, and it got me to thinking…

What if the Red Tooth Rite worked when used by one Noble on another? If you kill a Power and eat his heart, his Domain becomes one of your secondary Domains and you grow in might. Consume enough Domains, and you become an Imperator, tearing free from your old superior to become his equal. Now, you just have to watch your underlings to make sure they don't eat too many hearts themselves, for if you lose all your Domains, you will fade into nothingness.

As is typical, the dead rise up from their graves and shamble around, seeking to slay the living. Civilization collapses and chaos reigns. After a few months of this, the survivors see three great glowing presences in the sky, which identify themselves as Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the gods of humanity. Long ago, they used to visit the Earth regularly and do battle with the dark god Lucifer, but that ended when all swore to a pact to leave humanity to its own devices.

So, two recent threads on the Technocracy have combined in my head with wishful thinking regarding Victorian Age Mage and my current reading of Castle Falkenstein to produce a total trainwreck of a setting idea: Alternate universe steampunk Mage, with the Technocracy as actual good guys.

Continuing with my ideas for alternate settings for RPGs, I present Exalted High! It's just a typical high school filled with teen angst…and earth-shattering kung fu!

So, in one of my random insane musings, I had a flash of insight regarding a new setting for Paranoia. It would take place inside the Omega Complex, where all Comrades work loyally for the good of the people's collective. (Remember, the Collective is your family.) Everyone is ever wary about the threat of Capitalist agents, who can often be identified by their lack of furry hats and/or mustaches. People without mustaches might also be throwbacks who do not possess proper mutant powers.

The History

In another world, everything was much as our own for a great many eons, and we pick up the story shortly after humans come onto the scene…

The Eden Experiment

Humanity was dirty, cruel, and small-minded—but some angels proposed that within them they must possess a certain divinity, otherwise God would not protect them. Lucifer proposed an experiment, with which he hoped to satisfy everyone's curiosity.