THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH (Morning Stars Directory)

George Frederic Watts

THE world and this—whatever other name men have chosen to designate the sky whose vaulted roof encircles the universe, is fitly believed to be a deity, eternal, immeasurable, a being that never began to exist and never will perish. What is outside it does not concern men to explore and is not within the grasp of the human mind to guess. It is sacred, eternal, immeasurable, wholly within the whole, nay rather itself the whole, finite and resembling the infinite, certain of all things and resembling the uncertain, holding in its embrace all things that are without and within, at once the work of nature and nature herself. 
— Pliny, Natural History

 Some years ago, I started posting about a world I wanted to run and play games in. It turns out, other people liked that, too. So, I posted more: a full array of classes, adventures, monsters, and the like. Simple fact is, I have a lot written down for Morning Stars, and I may as well collect as much as I can in one post so people don't have to chase links in search of scattered bits of lore and house rules.

So, here it is. Expect semi-frequent updates.

The Absolute

Every wheel needs a hub to spin on. If you read nothing else, read these:
  • MORNING STARS, the history of an imaginary world and the people that live in it.
  • THE GRISTLE, detailing languages, money, and important houserules for G24.

Unknown, in the style of Rembrandt 

The Core Classes

Fighter, rogue, cleric, wizard, monk. They're classics.

Secondary Classes

Freaks, monsters, and other oddballs. Utility may vary. 

Monsters

Things to kill and be killed by.
  • STRAIGHT FLUSH 1 (1-2 HD): Dire Fowl, Goblins, Giant Locusts, Imps, Shades; Orcneas, Humanmen, Genomoi, Star Angels, and Observator Birds.
  • STRAIGHT FLUSH 2 (3-4 HD): Cockatrices, Elfs, Ghuls, Giant Spiders, and Star Rot; Myrmecoleons, Ogres, Salamanders, Sleepers, and Sylphs.
  • BANDITS: Roetmessen, Gentlemen of the Road, Boucaniers, Ghouls, Sons of Cawr Madog, Sin-Eaters, Hatchetmen, Bashi-bazouks, and Kryptai.
  • DRAGONS: Drakes, Wyverns, and Dragons.

John Martin 

Adventures

Places to go and things to do.
  • CRY ME A RIVER: Why you don't go to the devil for infrastructure. A dungeon with 20 rooms. Untested but written with low levels in mind.
  • HIGH NOON SOMEWHERE: A prodigal son returns with an army at his back. 7 keyed hexes with a 4 room dungeon. Written and tested for an A Template party.
  • SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER: Sometimes, the worst thing you can find is exactly what you were looking for. An 8 room dungeon, untested. Probably not as difficult as it should be.
  • WATER OUT OF ROCK: A deceit crueler than any mirage. An 8 room dungeon, tested with a mixed A-B Template party.

Thomas Cole

Miscellaneous

Lore, extras, and other things not under the categories above.
  • OTHER FACES, four more people to inhabit the world: Arragousets, Changelings, Sunmen, and Yakshas.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Old

I've been working on this for years, so it's only natural that things are going to change and I may find myself unsatisfied with past works. These might get replaced, they might get updated, or I might let them languish forever. These are only broad strokes canon, so if newer information contradicts them, assume the newer information is correct.

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