Games

Eidolon: the Dreamscape Opera

• Fascinating
• Beautiful
• Weird

The Dreamscape Opera

Eidolon is a gaslamp fantasy setting, set in the year 1900. The characters represents the nobility of the era, mortals whose flesh is quickened with the essence of stories. In this Realm, stories revolve around the nobility and their stately affairs. The eight great nations of the Litoral Continent are all bounded under the sovereignty of the Imperium of Emperor Friedreich and his policy of Absolute Enlightenment. From the smallest domain to the greatest empire, the Empire is a tapestry of politics, coloured by romance, intrigue, and vendetta. Travel, trade, and politics are hampered by the borders made by the bramblewoods, and not all domains have left the feudal era behind.

They stand on a firmament of orderly ground, the largest gear in the celestial orrery. Overhead, the great pendulum swings to cast the alternating lights of day and night, and by night glimpses of the great celestial mechanisms can be seen in the Aether. On the edges of the empire, the faerie border marches seek independence from colonial rule, and underneath the elemental kadmon pose a cthonic threat. The heavens have been opened up to the ethernauts, and there are Imperial colonies on Barsoom and Amtor. 

It is a Realm where electrodyne technology is fuelled by the maddening alchemy, the illusions of dreams. Automatons serve the elite, etherships ply the heavens, and worrying portents of the 20th Century preclude the shadow of total war.

You can see the website for this project at: http://www.eidolon.me

You can also download a sample of the project at the address above.

Modular Setting

Most of the content of this book is dedicated to setting. With over 230 pages of setting material without a single word of rules. The setting is broken down into five Chapters: Scene (background, mythology, and environments); Mask (society, politics, and customs); Actor (the characters, factions, and beliefs); Prop (objects, and technology), and Trope (mysteries, theories and lore).

The intention is to create the framework of a highly immersive setting that can be adapted to the particular needs of any particular narrative. Stories can be small and local, set to the backdrop of the Imperium and international politics, or the scope can run headlong into those dramatic climates. Effectively, a story teller can partition and cordon off aspects of the setting in such a way as to focus only on the parts of reality you wish to explore. 

By way of example, the section on history is probably something that most stories will not interact with directly, but it does provide a rich backdrop that gives context to the motivations of nations and powers. It's there to provide a sense of scope, even if not all the characters are intimately knowledgeable on their history.

Stories can engage purely in the drama of the noble's lives, immerse into international politics and relations, work on kingdom building and trade, or even go on a wild adventure in the dangerous border marches.

Narrative Rules

The setting will be an immensely rules light setting. They will be narratively driven, designed to reward role playing, characterisation, and negotiation of the outcome. 

The rules will be designed as an optional add on, meaning that if you have a system that you prefer to use, you can modulate it to suit this setting. 

History of the Project

Eidolon is a roleplaying project that I have been developing for over 4 years. It's now reaching the end of drafting phase and is now seeking to raise funds for its art work. Good art requires money, and I have a team of artists that I have been paying directly to bring this project good art.

It is my intention to treat this venture more like a creative project, more than a commercial venture. This means that profit is not my priority, but I do want to create an end product that is polished, well edited and exciting to hold. 

Fuelling this Project

The money raised here will go a long way to making this project beautiful. RocketHub is not an investment or charity. It is an exchange: funds from fans for rewards from me.

It's an All & More funding mechanism: if I don't reach my financial goal I get to keep what I raise. But if I do reach my goal, I get access to exciting opportunities.

However, just to be clear: I will not be keeping this money. All money raised will be going towards paying artists who will be contributing illustrations to the project. Each illustration can cost anywhere from $40 up to $400 and more depending on the quality of the artist and time it takes to make. 

For a sample of some of the art already acquired:

http://www.eidolon.me/files/dragons.pdf

http://www.eidolon.me/images/air.jpg

http://www.eidolon.me/images/earth.jpg

http://www.eidolon.me/images/fire.jpg

http://www.eidolon.me/images/water.jpg