THIEVE'S WORLD Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 12:50:03 -0500 From: Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim) To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [TORG:2090] "Thieves' World" cosm (preliminary) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: The Torg Mailing List Every time this past week I've sat down to do a full-blown writeup I've had a computer problem of some kind or another interrupt me so I'm going to spit out the basics now and hopefully get around to a fleshed-out writeup sometime soon. "Thieves' World" was a dozen or so anthology novels and five or six single-story novels published in the late 70's and 80's. I've managed to reread the first eight and that's probably enough of a foundation to determine the axioms and WLs. Anyone who's familiar with the books feel free to jump in and comment. AXIOMS ------ Magic - 15 The Magic axiom is affected by one of the WLs, this represents the level of effects possible; some aspects of magic in the cosm work as if the axiom were lower and some aspects work as if the axiom were higher. There are no magical creatures native to the cosm despite the high axiom level but there are numerous fringe realities and pocket dimensions in which such creatures can be found and summoned to the main cosm. Spirit - 14 Ditto here, for the most part the gods of Sanctuary do not grant miracles so the axiom represents the level of effects the gods are capable of producing in the cosm from their home realms. Technology - 11 Not too advanced. Social - 12 Also not too advanced here and most social conventions are probably still down around 11 but they have a few of the things listed under 12. WORLD LAWS ---------- The Way of Magic - magic is not open to everyone, learning is more difficult which encourages specialization rather than a wide range of abilities (except in the very old, very powerful wizards), spells are not as defined as they are in other cosms (similar in some ways to Orrorshan Occult), existence of magical traits in some bloodlines (for example, S'Danzo fortunetelling.) The Law of Curses - magic or miracles delivered in the form of a curse are much easier and more common than other kinds of magic. The Way of the the Gods - dieties cannot fight their battles against each other directly, how gods can be killed and created (such as the Stormchildren), divine intervention, avatars (Tempus), demigods (Shadow- spawn), etc. The Obi-Wan WL ("You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany") - while there are good people in Thieves' World they're definitely the minority. Effects similar to other 'negative' WLs like LoSuspiction, LoIntrigue, Power of Corruption, etc. (This is the WL I have the least worked out on.) MISC STUFF ---------- Examples of magic items (Cappen Vera's amulet of protection, Nisi Globes of Power), types of magic (the Purple Mage's water-powered spells, Ischade's necromancy, the Order of the Blue Star), curses (Enas Yorl, Tempus, One-Thumb), maybe a couple of character writeups. Kansas Jim (jogle@aoc.nrao.edu)