So, as we start getting submissions and we develop characters, we'll need to start defining the world.  I'm okay with leaving great swath of things undefined until we need to pull something together.  But your various back-stories will need some world-building creation...

So... here are some of my core influences:

Artesia, Mark Smylie & Artesia: Adventures in the Known World RPG
So much I'd love to pull from... many diverse and intriguing magical systems and approaches.  Some good depth of cultural development.  A setting that is constantly at war.  Not huge battles, for certain.  No armies of thousands.  But armies of undreds can still be lethal.

Luck in the Shadows (and the rest of the "Nightrunner" trilogy), by Lynn Flewelling
While it's been over a decade since I read these books, this is where the idea of the "Fantasy Espionage" theme really came from for me.  Conspiracies are big and important, but it also doesn't really change that everyone has to do the day-to-day stuff.  And while not everything is as it seems, the relationships you build are often precisely what they seem.  How do you live with secrets?

Assassin's Apprentice (and the rest of the "Farseer" trilogy) by Robin Hobb
Loved the magical systems in this setting.  Loved the intrigue and the examination of the depth of responsibility a leader has to his people...

Earthdawn, FASA, etc.
Well Earthdawn has such a beautifully thought-out setting.

I love the idea of items of power having their own Aspects and mantles, which can be unlocked by identifying them...  If you know this is the sword that slew the Keenan, you can unlock that Aspect for an advantage against other Gath.  It might still work against the Gath, but you won't be able to invoke an Aspect you're not aware of...

I don't know if we are supposed to post here, but I'll be drawing heavily from:

The House of Shattered Wings, by Aliette do Bodard.
For inspiration around my character and her House.  For magic heavy societies, I appreciate exploring the economies of magic, and what it looks like to hoard and stockpile magic.  For House Yisil, the idea will be hoarding and stockpiling Mantles, and what that looks like.

You're quite welcome to post here.  This is a discussion.  I'll change the thread prefices to make that a little more clear.

If I don't want you posting somewhere, I'll close the thread.

Super, super into this.

So, while many of my primary influences involve multiple "name-giver" races, I am envisioning this as nmostly humano-centric.  I can certainly adjust this view if you guys want to go otherwise.

If there are other PC races, I want to keep it real limited to two or maybe three.  I just don't buy the idea of half a dozen physical and sociologically-different races living together in relative harmony.  And I certainly don't see them rallying under one human ruler.

Creating and designing a whole new faction is certainly possible.  I don't mind borrowing from other settings, but we'd need to put some work in to make them a fundamental part of this setting.

I tend to like the dynamics of human-centered games, so I have no complaints there.

I'm intrigued with the idea of fallen Khadid. I have ideas related to broken or even anti-magic originating from that realm. Does that mesh with your thoughts about how Khadid fell?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:41, Sat 21 Mar 2020.

I'm a big fan of the Robin Hobb books, too.  Fitz was not completely absent from my mind in designing Etzagith, though the slight similarity of the names is coincidence.  (All my character names have 'zag' in them somewhere, to there's a limited lexicon to work with.)  I'm not familiar with any of the others you've mentioned, but I did look into the EarthDawn game some years ago.

I was thinking of writing up something about the thieves' guild.  I have to admit that most of my knowledge of organized crime comes from Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese so it's a little Hollywood-ized (and the leaders tend to have Italian names), but if you're ok with that, I'll march ahead.  (To fit in this thread, I'm suggesting the Godfather movies and Goodfellas as source material.)

I was thinking that the city would be split into two factions, known as The Family and SouthSide.  The two groups have clearly defined borders and generally don't cross them with their illicit activities, but there are skirmishes and rivalries at the lower levels.  In addition, the City Watch can be considered yet another criminal organization, mostly running a protection racket and a city-wide numbers game.  They do not respect the borders but also are a lot less competent than their more professional competition so are often just ignored by them.  Both the Family and SouthSide have enough paid-off members of the Watch that they are never surprised by them.

I would need a map of the city and a better understanding of races to be able to get more into details.  Let me know if you want me to do more.

The mob is very modern world, not high magic fantasy, and I'll admit Italian named mob families are going to be hard on immersion unless you world build around them.

I think criminal families can absolutely be an interesting angle to add to any campaign, especially an espionage high fantasy game, but they have to be shaped by the world they inhabit.  What would a criminal family look like in a city where the Queen herself has a personal spy network?  How does the City Watch get away with being their own protection racket?  Does the Queen know?  What does she think about all these criminal enterprises operating under her nose?  What would they look like in a city where the College of Mages is one of the major powers?  Do they have Mages in their employ?  Are the College trained Mages in these families, or does the College frequently press gang their members?  If they have sounding Italian names in a non-Italian sounding city and culture, where are they from?  Are they recent immigrants?  Are they an underclass that has always been there?

Not trying to dismiss your idea, I want it too, just wanting to develop it and expand.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:06, Sat 21 Mar 2020.

No problem with challenging the ideas.  I'd prefer it to you quietly disliking the approach.

It is a a fairly modern myth that police forces are NOT protection rackets. In medieval Europe, it was built into the system, where tax collection and city watch were the same organization.

I guess that the Cosa Nostra is a more recent phenomenon than I had thought -- I was going to attribute it to a reaction against the Medici family, but it started later than that (as far as anyone knows).  Chinese Tongs reach back to the 1600s, and appeared when the Ming dynasty was overthrown by the Qing dynasty.  The first was attempting to bring the Mings back into power, and became a criminal organization because they were outlawed by the rulers.  Being outlaws anyway, they turned to illegal activities to finance their operation.  I'm not sure that an approach like that works with Control's history of the land.

If there is such a thing as a Thieves' Guild, it would certainly be what we consider organized crime today, a hierarchy of criminals that take a cut of whatever illegal activity is going on.  It might be a source of training and education, but it would be for profit motives that it is offered.

I don't know enough about the motives of our King and Queen to know what their opinions are of it would be.  If we assume there is some sort of Guild, then the leadership might know about it but not care, or know about it but not be able to eliminate it.

I agree that such a group would not just consist of thieves, but would include Mages, as well.  A Godfather who didn't would quickly find himself side-lined, permanently.  Any power-hungry clannish society would be promoting each of their members to contribute with their own best abilities, including if some showed a magical gift.  They'd get the best training and would rise according to their abilities.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:09, Sun 22 Mar 2020.

-rubs hands together-

Alright, now we are getting to potential conflict and storytelling.

• What does the College of Mages think about its members joining the crime families?  Do they try and stop it, do they kick people out if they get caught, or do they endorse it?
• Are the crime families locals (the underclass rising above their station through grift), or foreigners who have seized some measure of power and control?
• What do they feel about outside forces coming into town, like say the Agent of a foreign House (with the idea that Oathsworn Houses are themselves not native to Kumlar, but rather an interloper to the established order)?

Slight edit to name of nation: Kumlar. --Control
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:13, Sat 21 Mar 2020.