The world is barren.
The devastating magitek weapons boiled the seas and burned the forest, crushed the mountians and poisoned the living.
Survivors are few. They hid in the deep vaults when the Weapons of Doom roared. Now they crawl out and see the problems: undead.
Liches with the sturdiest and most well-preserved phylactelies survived the apocalypse and are now warring over the sand and bones. Some of the dead lords want to rule over the worldno matter what, even if it's no more than stones and corpses. Other liches try to build a functioning undead society and even ally with living. The questions they face are many, but there is one that causes the hottest discussions: Should they destroy the magitek that destroyed their world or should they use it to fend off the mad spooky edgelords?
>>46628877
>not nobledark
>>46629259
Nobledark? Yes, it's cooler than grim one. At least youcan advance the storyline in noble
The war is over, the undead legions victorious. There is no birdsong or wildlife to be found in the forests, only twisted dead trees and barren soil. The hustle and bustle of industrious, wealthy cities is now just ghouls, skeletons and reventants wandering the draughty, empty streets.
Where the living had purpose in their lives, the undead have none. They do not eat or drink, they have no promise of afterlife. They cannot even indulge in pleasures of the flesh or mind-altering substances.
So what do they do now? They find what little meaning they can in their unending existence.
The undead squatters of Necropolis hoard treasure and wager it in games of chance back and forth endlessly. From the lowliest skellingtons playing liar's dice for pieces of copper to powerful liches swapping vaults full of gold, jewels and priceless magical artifacts over games of Texas hold 'em in conquered wizard's towers, gambling addiction has become a way of unlife to the inheritors of the city's ruins.
In the vampire enclave, the last remaining princes of Dracula's bloodline desperately hold on to whatever trappings of humanity they can. But with their mortal souls they gave away that which made them mortal: creativity. The power to create and appreciate art, to find and understand meaning, to pass it on to others by means deeper than simple language.
And so they looked to their blood farms and took favour upon a selection of mortals chosen for their artistic ability: those who had been painters or musicians before the war. They pampered them, gave them a life of luxury within their guilded cage on the condition that they continued their artistic endeveavours- composing symphonies and scultping artworks for their demonic masters, so that they may feel alive again. Or at least pretend that's the case to their fellow vampires.
The ethereal ghasts and spectres that once haunted the tombs and graveyards of their final resting places find themselves an extra step removed from the material world. When they could terrorise their murderers or persuade adventurers to avenge them before, they no simply have no connection or means of altering the physical realm they find themselves bound to.
With nothing left but those who will listen, spirits are prone to trading in stories. Be it tales from before they fell off the mortal coil or a yarn retold around a spectral campfire, a ghost spends its sorry existence as nothing but a reflection of better days.
Is there any youngling lich who wishes to bring back the life? Who researches any means of making the world lush and green again?
>>46629709
There is a rumors up in this dark twisted corners. About drug that can affect even most mindless undead. They say its called Life. The only thing that can make you feel once again. But they also say this drugs is possessed by wealthiest liches and they dare bet all their gold and baubels over another one dose of this Life.
>>46629709
Would play.
Anyone care to see if they can add some grim dark to my setting?
>>46630972
Sure.
>>46631021
The Federation is an empire that's taking down city-states and warlords one by one to build a gigantic, well-organized empire.
100 years ago, a group of researchers fled the Federation's advance and took off way into the uncharted regions. Now the Federation has expanded far enough to bump into the mess these researchers created for themselves- a force field that covers a huge area. This force field blocks all who try to simply walk into it. The only way the Federation can figure out to get into the area is by firing an artillery shell holding a reconnaissance soldier into it. (Think From the Earth to the Moon's spaceship kind of concept)
The soldier arrives and finds the region's basically one gigantic Thunderdome- a group of cultists running around worshiping their God (who is basically a Chaos God from what's basically The Warp) and killing everyone who doesn't worship their God. Chaos God seeks to do Chaos God stuff after he gains enough power. Federation removing the barrier would allow them to conquer the region and push the chaos forces back.
I really want to grim it up, but after reading these descriptions I'm not sure if I have the knack.
>>46631065
Both Federation and its enemies are built on lies, blood, bones of their loyal followers, more lies and ruled by megalomanic tyrants.
Chaos God is already a thing grimdark enough (A FUCKING BIG AND POWERFUL LOAD OF EMOTIONS THAT TOOK FORM TO REWARD AND PUNISH ITS CREATORS HOLY SHIT)
>>46631065
Just make it like Crossed.
Or better yet don't.
>>46629401
>advance the storyline in noble
Why wouldnt you be able to in grimdark
>>46631065
Think about the degeneration of the cultist tribes within the thunderdome. Have they lost technology? Are they bashing each others' heads in with rough clubs made from tree branches? Are guns highly sought-after treasures only held by the rich and powerful and their body guards in their fortresses while the peasants hit each other with swords made from rusty bits of spaceship outside in the mud?
What about cultural degeneration. Have they gone back to might makes right? Maybe Omar the cultist walks into a town and decides he needs to show everyone who's boss so he spears a couple of locals to makes pauldrons out of their skulls. And since everyone in town likes their heads on their own shoulders, they let Omar the cultist have his way so now it's his town.
But really the best way to do it is describe how dirty and broken everything is, and how there's bones strung up everywhere and blood all over the place. Players lap that shit up.
>>46632437
Because grimdark is meant to be hopeless by defintion good for CE types who just want to fuck everyone over for themselves without having to worry about if any one they crushed wasn't a cunt. Nobledark lets you play a hero in a shitty place, light shining in darkness, and his the best setting for paladins.
Can we post grimdark art?
>>46634712
Yeah okay.
Pls no coleslaw wazowski tho
>>46632538
You can advance a grimdark setting...
Provided things get worse, or stay equally awful. Wheee...
>>46628877
>weapons did it
This has never been true.
It's not our simple hand tools that need to go away if you want zero madness and horor and hate and grimdark. Since we've adopted atheism as our state religion, we've no one to blame but ourselves. Only humans have power fantasies. Our mass hysterias have killed more people than gunpowder.
>>46628877
She picked it up with steady hands, but even they are losing the battle against decay.
>>46639972
The problem is that pure rationality leads to nihilism. It's just the way we're built.
If you've got devastating magitech weapons, the setting probably had a 1 or 2 generation Enlightenment period, where old morals and old ways were quickly supplanted, but without time for a new mental system to arise and replace it. Without any points of reference, the future could not be predicted.
The shattered remnants of belief systems are all the weapons left behind. Some say the Gods turned their backs on the world. Others say that the weapons killed them as well. They say heaven is an abattoir and hell an empty tomb.
>>46630039
Where's that picture from
People have stopped reincarnating.
As it has been from time immemorial, the universe recycles everything and nothing can ever be truly destroyed, merely changed. Now that once immutable law has been stricken from reality. The dead rot and shrivel, but do not stop moving, and their souls are confined to some cold, cosmic cell awaiting a wheel that will never turn. There are no new people being born. If a couple manages to conceive a child, it is born dead. Legions of corpses are corralled as fodder for the armies of greedy lords and every person lost in meaningless battle is a person lost forever.
It turns out the gods learned the secret of the universe. When gods die, and they must, they eventually, after spans of millennia, reincarnate into human beings, and then, those humans reincarnate into monsters. Every orc and serpent of the world and every demon and arch-horror of the underworld was once a god. So, the gods, at a great price, stopped the wheel to stop the spread of monsters which threatened to be the end result of the world.
There are heroes who seek to take the world from the zealous paranoia of the gods. But what can they do? Grease the wheel and allow new monsters to reincarnate? Or destroy the wheel and doom the souls of humanity to an uncertain fate? Or comply with the wishes of the gods and stop anyone else who would see the world fall to chaos?
>>46641955
Or figure out who built the goddamn wheel in the first place.
>>46641955 >>46642120
Nice try, Buddha!
>>46642168
Oh, I'm not the sage you're looking for.
>>46632500
>dirty and broken everything is, and how there's bones strung up everywhere and blood all over the place
It's grimderp/edgy
Nobledark is really the best setting for paladins.
In a noblebright setting, a paladin can exist, but he's just like everyone else. Grimderp, he'll break like everyone else. But grimbright? If there's so much as a chance to change the world for the better, one spark to set the world ablaze and fill the darkness with light, the Paladin will sieze it, and wield it for good.
>>46641270
Lipstick Killer, William Heirens
Is grimbright crueler than grimdark?
>>46643528
I would say no, but grimbright gives a contrast that can often make the dark parts seem even crueler
>>46640616
Rationality does not lead to nihilism. Why would it?
>>46643907
The more that is explained rationally the less sense of higher guidance and purpose there is in the world. In short, existence appears to be an accident caused by a bunch of particles smashing into each other in the right way and you are an insignificant speck of dust in a cold, uncaring world. That doesn't tend to sit well with a lot of people
>>46643907
Because the discovery that you're just an animal, that things like "beauty", "truth", "love", "power", and "hope" are all just phantasms your mind builds to keep you healthy and willing to breed, is a startling one. Start pulling and the entire fabric unravels.
When you're nothing but a stack of meat wandering through a cold, uncaring universe, why bother worrying about your fellow man? It's either nihilistic suicide or hedonism - get out or get comfy. Anything else is just irrational self-delusion.
>>46644071
These people being irrational does not say anything bad about rationality.
>>46644073
Not true at all: it is precisely that you are a walking stack of meat in a cold, uncaring world that is the reason to worry about anything at all. If there is some deity that has everything planned out, you can just go with the flow and not care. But if there isn't, the only one who will ever care is YOU. So you invest yourself in your survival, and find out that if everyone helps out those chances of survival will increase. You (and your species) forge your own destiny and follow your own path, winning your own glory instead of that of some deity that you suspect only cares about you for his personal gain anyway.
>>46641955
Very Dark Souls. From the legions of undead swamping the world to the Gods breaking the cosmic cycle for their own benefit, to the hordes of demons threatening to overrun the planet.
Not a bad idea though.
>>46638583
>When people don't understand the difference between advancing and keeping status quo.\
Let me guess... WH40k player?
>>46644073
You need to discover philosophy. Look up Stoicism, more specifically.
Working on a homebrew Nechronica setting... though what you described is basically every Nechronica setting.
>>46632538
>>46632437
Grimdark can be advanced. It can improve for a short time, only to sink into even deeper depths of misery as the world shits on you and your hope is revealed to be a false one. Circumstances can also change within the setting and individual characters can end up happy and overjoyed even if the rest of the setting is misery and woe.
>>46643338
That's not what grimbright is. Here's how the setting idea works.
Noble/Grim = This refers to the people in the setting, the player characters. In Noble settings, they'll have a high rank, be powerful and capable people able to change the world and are generally admirable characters, whether evil or good; they'll always have a sense of grandeur to them. Grim characters in contrast tend to be more low level, mook like characters. Replaceable, small in the setting with little ability to change it and generally less admirable and more realistic. Nobledark would be a vampiric knight fighting against his instincts, a crusading paladin trying to change the world while Grimbright is a lazy, slightly corrupt town guard in a fairy tale castle or a "reformed" minion of the dark lord.
Dark/Bright refers to the setting itself, not the characters. Is the setting a nice place to be or a bad place? Does evil normally win or lose? How common are things like good v good, evil v good and grey v gray? Do things normally turn out good with fairytale endings or is it more likely that everything will descend into madness and sorrow, either in a Shakespearean manner or like heart of darkness.
>>46643907
>>46644071
>>46645994
"Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism, which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value."
Nothing you just said implied that Nihilism isn't true. Nihilism isn't, "Life has no meaning so morality has no meaning so lets all go bug fucking insane and sociopathic", nihilism at its core says "Life has no inherent meaning or value." (cont).
>>46647715
This means that life, really, has as much value as you put in it. How an individual feels about life will affect how they view it and think about it; it's not good or bad, it simply is. So, investing yourself in your survival, recognising that the universe DOESN'T have a plan or meaning for you and it's something you have to choose yourself are all arguments supporting nihilism, especially the "you choose your own path" idea.
>>46646465
Well, that's not true. Being undead doesn't HAVE to be a bad thing. It can be but you could also do "My Neighbour Totoro" in Nechronica and it would work fine. Really, it depends on how the setting was before all that remained were the dead; would it be such a bad thing if everyone in Warhammer 40K died and came back as zombie children going on adventures together or doing "groceries" for their all seeing benefactor? No, that would probably be better than anyone in 40k could hope for and likewise, most grim dark settings. Dying's only bad if living is good and in your setting, living doesn't have to be necessarily pleasant.
>>46644073
>When you're nothing but a stack of meat wandering through a cold, uncaring universe, >why bother worrying about your fellow man?
For those reasons exactly. The universe doesn't care if we live or die, the universe doesn't even consider suffering into its equation. Therefore, with the very human knowledge that we can suffer, it is left up to us to strive against this.
>hedonism
That's basically what this philosophy is, as it values our imaginary construct of happiness over anything else, but it's an unselfish sort of hedonism, one that advocates the spreading of this happiness to others. Happiness, being the most valuable thing in the universe, is worth protecting.
And that's how you make a nobledark setting out of nihilism.
>>46647762
In that case, nihilism isn't a problem and isn't grim dark in any way. The post that I replied to (follow the quotes) talked about it as if it was a problem.
Regardless of that, though, you are wrong. Evolutionary pressure will see to it that those who find rational reasons to think that survival and the right amount of cooperation is the meaning of life will survive.
>>46630972
There are new cities, built from common materials in this world: grey rock and bleached bones. Their inhabitants are eerily cheerful amidst dull houses and silence, reproducing memories from the past with skeletons whose bones never quite fit one another. Families at dinner, speeches of victory, declarations of love. Whole suburbs map out lifetimes of experiences and feelings brought low by dampness and lack of colors.
A spetacle of, urban spaces as undead as their denizens. The latter are quiet at all times, for if any one of them would so much as whisper, all would remember how different their voices sounded when enabled by tongue and breath and ear.
>>46634941
Grimdark art has to include this pic
>>46628877
>What makes Argia different from other cities is that it has earth instead of air. The streets are completely filled with dirt, clay packs the rooms to the ceiling, on every stair another stairway is set in negative, over the roofs of the houses hang layers of rocky terrain like skies with clouds. We do not know if the inhabitants can move about the city, widening the worm tunnels and the crevices where roots twist: the dampness destroys people's bodies, and they have scant strength; everyone is better off remaining still, prone; anyway, it is dark. From up here, nothing of Argia can be sen; some say "It's down below there," and we can only believe them. The place is deserted. At night, putting your ear to the ground, you can sometimes hear a door slam.
