The Magicant, The Heartstone

10 Things You Need To Know

This is a fantasy campaign setting, and it contains most of the traditional game elements that we all know and love. However, it is also unique in many ways. This section highlights those differences, by listing ten things that people familiar with other settings should keep in mind when using this one.

1. Renaissance time period

The setting resembles the Renaissance more than the middle ages. Although there are still plenty of knights in shining armor around, dashing gents with rapiers are more common. The economy is becoming more mercantile, and governments are becoming more centralized and less feudal. Religious devotion and military conquest are taking a back seat to more progressive pursuits, such as exploration, magical research, higher education, and the arts.

2. Magic is a resource

Casting spells requires a magical fuel called essence. The production and distribution of essence, as well as the right and ability to cast spells, has shaped society throughout the ages and continues to be a driving factor it modern times. Essence is produced in limited quantities, emitted from giant, immobile crystals called magicants. The noble families own the magicants, and use the essence produced as currency more valuable than gold. Spell casting characters will need to buy essence regularly to power their abilities.

3. Powerful centralized Church

Clerics gain spellcasting ability by ingesting essence during their daily prayers, after which they receive visions from the gods, granting them spells. For centuries, the Church of the Pantheon has united most clerics under a single doctrine, worshipping all the gods equally. The Church weilds enormous political power as both spiritual leaders and the only source of spell casting, having oppressed the half-human sorcerers and the druidic religion of the Old Ways.

4. Wizard spell casting is a recent discovery

A newly developed technology is upsetting the old balance of power: heartstones. A hearstone is a small crystal that can be extracted from a dead magical creature, retaining some of that creature's power. It can then be used as a focus for casting arcane spells: wizard spells. Wizards are those who learn to use this new technology, driving social progress and threatening the Church's monopoly on spell casting.

5. Monsters are rare and getting rarer

Magical creatures are being hunted for their heartstones, some driven to the brink of extinction. Armed with new weapons, a growing population, and increasing philosophical differences, humanity is expanding and driving its old foes further from civilized lands.

6. Magic is weak, but widespread and important

High-level spell casters, powerful magical monsters, and potent magic items are very rare. However, low-level spell casters, domesticated magical creatures, and minor magic items are common. Magic is the ultimate technology, and its application -- intelligent use of low-level spells -- is a major focus of the setting and the people in it.

7. Player characters are major figures

Characters with class levels are rare; the most powerful NPCs in the world are around level 10-12. This means that player characters, as they advance, will quickly become some of the strongest and most influential people in the land. In a world so full of political maneuvering, this can be a blessing or a curse.

8. Alignment restrictions are removed

Alignment still exists, and spells and magical effects based on alignment function normally. However, all class alignment restrictions are removed, as are most racial alignment tendencies. This setting puts more emphasis on shades of grey and shifting alliances than on moral absolutes or the cosmic battle of good and evil.

9. Altered racial roles

All of the player races are part of a larger society, but each has its own role in that society. Elves are typically nobles, gnomes are usually farmers or rural folk, and halflings are nationless wanderers. Dwarves are often wizards, and are on the forefront of magical research. Half-orcs are often nobles; the orc race, now extinct, is regarded as couragous, not wicked. Goblins are a common PC race; they are militaristic in nature, not the ugly, filthy wretches described in the MM.

10. Altered class roles

As mentioned, wizards are a new phenomenon, not an ancient tradition. A new core class, the elite, is a "light fighter" who typifies modern swashbuckling combat and is more common than the normal fighter class. Monks do not exist, but scions (nobles infused with essence) use the class rules for the monk. Other classes have some minor changes, but basically follow the roles outlined in the PHB.

House Rules

The setting also includes a number of house rules -- original feats, modified skills, new equipment, and a host of unique prestige classes -- but none are as essential as the campaign world elements outlined above.

A Tale of Rebirth

The Magicant

Imagine a shard of crystal, 5 to 20 feet tall, glowing with an eerie light. Where-ever this light falls, a thin film of fine colored dust gradually builds up. This crystal is a magicant, and the dust it produces is essence: pure magical energy, naked and ripe for the harvest.

For thousands of years, those who control the magicants -- the nobility -- have ruled the land. It is through ingesting essence and experiencing visions that clerics are able to communicate with their deities and cast magical spells. Although the nobles own the magicants and are the driving force behind the essence trade, only priests of the Church are allowed to harvest this magical substance.

With the aid of spells cast by the Church (particularly sending), the major noble houses maintain far-flung holdings, although each country is ruled by a single family. The life of a noble is one of wealth, decadence, and privledge, but also intrigue, struggle and family loyalty. In olden times, the continent was ruled by an empire of elves, giants, and goblins, but it fell to an invasion of humans and orcs led by the prophet Jordana, so most of the current nobility is descended from humans, orcs or elves.

The priests of the Church of the Pantheon does not concern itself with petty matters like controlling essence trade routes or squelching rebellions -- they are concerned for the souls of their congregations. Only the teachings of the Prophet Jordana can lead individuals to be at harmony with the universe and the gods. The Old Ways, a druidic tradition still followed in remote areas, is a terrible heresy akin to demon worship, but an even greater problem is the newly formed Independant Temples. Although they claim to follow the teachings of Jordana, they do not bow to the Church hierarchy, and some are dangerously sympathetic towards heartstone users.

Most people, though, from dwarf merchants to halfling fortune-tellers, just try to eke out a living, working the land or plying their goods as their ancestors did. Although a high-stakes world of magic and politics constantly unfolds around them, they do not get to take part in it. Only the most talented of individuals -- wealthy half-orc bankers, gnome essence smugglers, ogre cavaliers, dwarven monster hunters -- are able to break into the big time.

The Heartstone

The art of wizardry, practiced by giants in ages past, consisted mystical symbols, words and gestures that could draw magical power directly out of a magicant, creating more sophisticated and powerful spells than those available to clerics and druids. But with the Church's iron grip on the magicants and the impractical nature of a 20-ton spellcasting focus, the art was lost, studied only by a few eccentric nobles. One of these was Elbrecht Lauthgard, of house Lauthgard, now famous for his development (some say discovery), 60 years ago, of a simple cantrip: extract heartstone.

Magical creatures carry the power within them. Requiring no essence or extra foci, creatures such as dragons, fey, and outsiders have long travelled the land, a source of danger and awe to ordinary people. From the body of a slain monster, this power can be extracted and solidified into a physical form: a heartstone. About half the size of a human fist, the heartstone is a clear, colored crystal. If supplied with essence on a regular basis, it can be used as a focus for casting spells -- wizard spells.

Elbrecht was an academic, and shared his discovery with his colleagues, who met it with eager excitement. Finally, the powerful art of wizardry was portable -- with enough heartstones, it could be available to all! Research exploded; the price of essence skyrocketed; the Great Monster Hunt was on; and the Church was not happy. Within 10 years, heartstones were officially proscribed by the Church of the Pantheon, afraid of losing their monopoly on spellcasting. Deemed a wicked perversion of magic, posessing a heartstone was illegal in many countries. But other countries split with the Church entirely, forming Independant Temples. Many nobles -- particularly the dwarves of the Mountain Duchies -- kept experimenting and continued to hunt monsters, driving several species to extinction. The gnomes, a hardy people of woodsmen and rangers prone to secretly worshipping the Old Ways, withdrew further from society, in disgust over the use of intelligent magical beasts for harvesting of heartstones. The Church reversed its previous position on sorcery -- declaring sorcerers normal people, not the "tainted souls" they had been decades past -- yet most sorcerers kept themselves secret anyhow, afraid of the heartstone hunters. Eventually the monsters began to strike back; cooperating like never before, they congregated in remote strongholds and defended them vigorously. It wasn't long before full war broke out, and for three decades, various nations, peoples, factions, and religions struggled for dominance. A peace was finally achieved with the Compact of Lienne. By the terms of the Compact, only nobles can wield heartstones, and these may only be extracted from evil creatures. Nobles may allow Independent Temples to operate within their lands, but the Church of the Pantheon still has the right to harvest essence from all magicants.

The end of the war was a load off of everyone's back. With peace came prosperity, the exchange of ideas, and the rekindling of old friendships -- and old enmities. Academies of higher learning sprung up, and many nobles used newfound wealth to sponsor the arts. Food production soared, and there was a new need for skilled craftspeople and entertainers. Wizardly magic improved infrastructure and living conditions in major cities, and the retreat of many monsters opened up new areas to travel and settling.

So much has changed in the world... yet so much remains the same. For most people, the possibilities of owning land, getting an education, or enjoying the fruits of the heartstone renaissance are only a dream. Those in power still fight one another over petty nonsense; only the sides have changed. And yet never has the future presented more opportunity for those skilled enough, lucky enough, and bold enough to seize it.

Summary of The Magicant, The Heartstone

Basic Description

The Magicant, The Heartstone is a world undergoing magical Renaissance, full of politics and intrigue as various factions (noble, religious, merchant, and humanoid) struggle to dominate the ever-changing social landscape and take the most advantage of new inventions and discoveries. Of particular importance is the discovery of wizard magic, enabled by a spell focus called a heartstone. heartstones are extracted from the dead corpses of magical creatures; any person with the proper skill can use a heartstone to cast arcane spells, provided they supply it with a magical fuel known as essence. This new technology threatens the longstanding power of the Church, which for hundreds of years had a monopoly on spellcasting — clerics can ingest essence to receive visions from the gods and gain spellcasting ability. The nobility controls giant crystals called magicants which produce the essence in limited supply. Competition for these magical resources continues to shape the world.

Selling Points

Lots of opportunities for roleplaying. There are a lot of competing factions, using diplomacy, subterfuge, or force, as necessary. All alignment restrictions are lifted (CG paladins, NE clerics of LG deities), as NPCs and their schemes are more complex than in typical D&D.
It's a high-magic world, but only recently -- wizardly magic is still poorly understood and restricted to the nobility. But it does give the PCs a chance to explore the use of magic and how society reacts to it.
Social changes that the PCs will be able to impact directly. Also gives the DM lots of leeway to invent variant fringe cultures.
Low-Level NPCs allow any PCs that reach even mid levels to be significant, important people.
All the D&D staples are here -- dwarven miners, half-orc outcasts, red dragons, and dungeon adventures -- but the world is full of unique twists -- dwarven wizards, half-orc nobility, red dragon freedom-fighters, and urban adventures.

Interesting Races/Creatures

Half-orcs are commonly nobles. Orcs (now extinct) are venerated as a race of courageous warriors.
The known world used to be controlled by an empire of elves, giants, and goblins. Giants are now rare and isolated, but elves are commonly nobility. Goblins are a playable race and are very militaristic and team-oriented.
Gnomes are more wilderness-oriented. They tend to live out in the forests. They generally dislike the use of heartstones, because each heartstone was taken from a slain magical creature.
Ogres and half-ogres are playable races. Ogres are primitive tribal people known for riding dire elk.
Halflings live in nomadic caravans with their own colorful culture, and are very gypsy-like.

Organizations

Dozens of noble houses rule the world. These own the magicants, which produce essence, the "fuel" of spellcasters. They are the only people legally allowed to weild heartstones as wizards.
The Church of the Pantheon is a unified religion that has worked with the Nobility for centuries, tending to the magicants and casting spells on their behalf.
Independant Temples are new religions created by those dissatisfied with the Church.
Wizard orders, explorers' guilds, universities, and other academic institutions are on the rise.
Merchant organizations are still dominated by the nobility, but indepenant middle-class merchants are on the rise and trying to assert more power.
The Old Ways is a primitive, naturalistic faith practiced by druids out in the wilderness. Most people think of them as dangerous heathens.
In response to being hunted for their heartstones, the monsters have organized into several resistance organizations.
A number of secret organizations try to sway the course of events from the shadows.

Magic

The Nobility owns giant glowing crystals called magicants. Housed in special chambers, whereever the light from the magicant falls, a fine dust called essence builds up. This is used by spellcasters as a sort of magical fuel.

Clerics ingest essence to gain visions from the deities. In these visions, they also get spells they can cast later in the day. (Druids work the same way, but they get their essence from the fruit of great trees planted over top of magicants.)

Wizards sprinkle essence onto their heartstones when preparing spells, and can then cast spells out of the heartstone later (the heartstone acts as a focus and is not consumed by spellcasting). Magical creatures are the source of the heartstones -- each creature, when slain, can be made into a single heartstone. The stronger the creature the higher level spells can be cast from that heartstone.

Sorcerers & bards are decended from magical creatures and cast spells normally, but are rare because of persecution.

Locations

The main location is the city of Lienne, in the republic of Renflour (ruled by a council of noble houses, as opposed to most countries which are ruled by a single noble house). There are also a lot of countries. Most noble houses are spread out, with holdings in multiple countries (thanks to long-distance communication magic).