Notes on my campaign setting based on Eternal Arcadia (Dreamcast) / Skies of Arcadia (GameCube re-release).
There are two main purposes for the modifications I have made:
finding a place in Arcadia for D&D’s core character classes; and
expanding the world—like many video RPGs, Arcadia’s world map is far too small to support the number of characters involved in the game’s plot.
The GM should play through Skies of Arcadia. It would probably be best if the players did not, though it might be good to watch the intro. This campaign setting is meant for campaigns set shortly before the events of the game, possibly leading into those events.
The Moons
Instead of gods, there are six coloured moons. Each moon is associated with a particular kind of magic and a particular aspect of life.
Moon | Magic | Lands | Climate |
---|---|---|---|
Green | Healing & poison | ? | ? |
Red | Fire & strength | Nasr Sultanate | Desert |
Yellow | Lightning & energy-drain | Valuan Empire | Constant thunderstorms |
Silver | Life & death | Scattered independent islands | Temperate |
Blue | Wind, water & speed | ? | ? |
Purple | Ice & knowledge | ? | ? |
Each moon strongly influences the climate of the lands that lie beneath it, and thus the culture of the people living there. Moonstones fall from the moons like shooting stars. Divine magic draws directly on the power of the relevant moon, while arcane magic requires a moonstone of the relevant colour as a spell focus (no material components). When you cast any spell, the moon’s crest appears beneath your character’s feet. The symbol appears designed by sentient being, but opinions differ on its origin. Learning new spells, especially divine spells, requires tuning in to the spirit of each moon (which is not identical with the culture of the people who live under that moon).
The people living under each moon have quite different levels of technology and isolation. In particular, the airships of each culture have quite different capabilities to deal with phenomena that make it difficult to travel far from land. There are shoals of flying fish of many different kinds.
People living under the land of a given moon are generally aware that the other moons exist because it is possible to see them on certain nights of the year, if you point your telescope in just the right direction. Further, moonstones from other moons occasionally make it round to land on the land under other moons.
Moonstones can be purified to various degrees. In a relatively impure form they are used to power the engines of airships. In a much purer form, they form the blades of weapons.
The moons are visible 24 hours a day, and loom much larger in the sky than the moon of our world.
The Land
Nasr
This desert kingdom is at an unstable peace with Valua.
Thematic renames
Magic items
Core rules name | Arcadia name |
---|---|
Potion of healing | Sacri crystal |
Potion of greater healing | Improved sacri crystal |
Potion of superior healing | Sacres crystal |
Potion of supereme healing | Sacrulen crystal |
Spells
Core rules name | Arcadia name |
---|---|
Cure Wounds | Sacri or Sacres, depending on spell slot used to cast it |
Mass Cure Wounds | Sacrum |
Thunder Wave | Electri |
(Eventually there will be an entry in this table for each spell from the video game.)