World Tree

World Tree
publication
Author (s)	Bard Bloom & Victoria Borah Bloom
Original publisher	Padwolf Publishing
Original publication	2000
original language	English
World and system
genre	anthropomorphic , fantasy
Game world	World tree
Ascent	experience based
cube	D20

World Tree is a fantasy - pen - & - paper role-playing game , in which players mostly anthropomorphic being called Primes play. It was published by Bard Bloom and Victoria Borah Bloom in 2001 through Padwolf Publishing . World Tree was nominated for Best Anthropomorphic Game and Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration at the 2001 Ursa Major Awards .

World Tree's focus is on species and civilizations. These are composed for the most part of anthropomorphic animals or, to a much lesser extent, of classical mythological creatures or their modifications. Together they live on a huge collection of world trees. These are trees with branches that are thousands of kilometers long and that protrude several million kilometers into the depth, insofar as they are limited at all. Magic is just as present and common in World Tree as the gods , who constantly observe their creation from heaven.

The world of World Tree

The world tree on which World Tree plays consists of innumerable trunks, all of which are thought of as connected by the inhabitants of this world. Each of these trunks has a trunk diameter of approximately 300 kilometers and an estimated height of 4 million to 900 million kilometers. The branches of these trunks are about 75 kilometers wide and tens of thousands of kilometers long. The branches continue to divide and allow the transition to neighboring trunks. Since these branches are flattened on their upper side, a comfortable life is possible on them. On them there is everything that we can find in our world: forests, rivers, lakes, mountains, steppes and much more. Most civilized races live here, especially the so-called Primes , the eight races that are at the center of creation. The sides, the so-called verticals , are also overgrown and more or less habitable, as is the underside of the branches. However, in these areas there are outsiders of society and especially monsters and other varieties of creation that make life difficult for the civilized races. In general, the primes live on the uppermost branches of the world tree, where there is still enough sunlight and the climate is therefore most pleasant. The further down you go, the more terrifying monsters and stranger creations you encounter.

The most striking difference between the sky of the World Tree and our sky is that with World Tree the gods are actually and permanently visible in the sky. They observe their creation from above, more or less motionless, but without actively interfering with it. Even the cardinal points are determined according to them, even if cardinal points are rarely used as directions. Usually, directions are used that relate to the tree trunk. But otherwise the sky is hardly comparable with the real one. The crystalline sun does not orbit the world tree, but moves over it in a circular path. Day and night arise because it self-ignites or goes out at regular intervals. There are two moons in the game world. One of them is so close that airship pilots are able to fly to it. There is no limitation of the atmosphere in this sense. The second moon moves in confused, incomprehensible paths across the sky. A moving stardust snake or three fencers constantly dueling with each other can also be found in the sky.

There are many materials known to man in the world of World Tree , but with some significant differences. There are countless different types of wood , especially those with magical properties. On the other hand, there are in fact no metals and even less stone . Metals can only be found in rare plants that bear it as a “ fruit ”, or whose leaves are metallic, or can be created by magic.

The technology of World Tree is about the 18th century. By working intensively with magic, however, technology can also be created that goes far beyond today's level.

Magic is omnipresent in World Tree . The whole world is created and sustained through them, every living being is alive through them. Every or at least almost every living being is able to work magic from childhood. This is done using cley , raw unformed magical energy commonly referred to as mana in other regulatory systems . Magic flows seamlessly into everyday life and makes it far more pleasant than it would be without magic. Of course, this also has a significant impact on the adventure experience, as each character can work at least a little bit of magic. The presence of spontaneous magic, which is thought up from one moment to the next, enables completely different approaches and possible solutions to many problems.

At the center of creation are the so-called primes . One knows through the gods and their actions that they are the most important of all races. All other races are referred to as non-primes according to their relevance in the overall picture of creation . A key feature of World Tree is that there are no humans or human-like races such as elves , dwarves , trolls and the like.

The eight prime races live together in city-states in peace and harmony . However, there are striking differences in politics , legislation and society between these city-states . Almost every form of society can be found in World Tree , from absolute monarchies and dictatorships to democracies and ochlocracies .

Primes

The seven gods created a total of eight prime races.

Cani are anthropomorphic dogs . They are extremely socially oriented, have close social ties and complex networks of loyalties .
Herethroy are anthropomorphic crickets or beetles . They have six limbs and a hard chitin shell, but they spend their lives mostly in harmony on and with the land. They are either working in the fields or singing harmoniously together in the evening and night.
Orras are anthropomorphic otters . They are wild and easy to arouse, picking up new interests just as quickly as they drop them again when they get bored.
Rassimel are anthropomorphic raccoons or skunks . They are extremely smart, invest all their energy in a few lifelong interests, up to and including obsession.

In addition to these four common breeds, there are four more. However, these combined make up less than 1% of the prime population.

Goromor are anthropomorphic bears . They are wild and heroic, always ready for a good fight .
Khtsoyis are hovering octopuses . They have seven tentacles and five eyes, are not considered very intelligent, and are often violent and criminal.
Sleeth are great panthers . They are dangerous predators and solitary animals, making them a breed feared by many.

Zi Ri are little dragons . They are the rarest breed of all, not affected by natural aging processes and therefore immortal in this sense.

Non-primes

There are thousands of other races besides the primes. These are as diverse as the Primes themselves. Some of them are their friends , some trading partners, and some bitter enemies .

Control system

The game uses a skill-based role-playing game system , which is based on an independent D20 -based system. Also coming poker cards to determine the initiative in combat situations are used. The awarding of experience points is also a learning-by-doing system. In addition to the D20 for all skill rolls, numerous other dice (D2, D3, D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D100) are used. A distinction is always made between simple throws and stress throws. Simple throws are written with dN, where N denotes the side number of the cube. They represent all unproblematic processes that require a die roll, but for which failure or success has no serious consequences. Stress throws, however, are written with sN. Here a 1 rolled can lead to a catastrophic failure if the next saving throw does not achieve the highest possible result. Whenever the character can fail catastrophically or achieve phenomenal success, Stress Throws are used - most commonly in combat situations.

Attributes

All World Tree characters have ten attributes . These are usually in a range from −6 to +6, with no lower or upper limit and 0 being the average.
(The following attribute names are freely translated from English into German. The original English names are in brackets.)

Strength (Strength) represents physical strength and is relevant for the damage with weapon damage.
Endurance (Stamina) is the resistance of the character, it contributes to the life points at.
Dexterity (Dex) represents the dexterity, including the ability with a gun fall to meet his opponents.
Dexterity (Agility) is the dexterity of the character, decisive for the evasion of hits.
Perception (Perception) is all the senses for the attention and focus.
Faith (Faith) is relevant, among other things, how much Cley is the character available.
Memory (memory) is the pure cognitive ability, it is very important for Pattern spells (learned spells).
Acumen (wits) represents the character's ability to understand and combine quickly, and is therefore very important for spontaneous magic.
Will (Will) is the willpower of character, relevant to many time-consuming and strenuous (magic) activities, such rituals.
Charisma (Charisma) stands for the combination of physical appearance and spiritual charisma, a decisive attribute for all social dealings.

Skills

All attributes are used in combination with the skills. These are divided into nine different categories, each category in turn comprises between eight and twelve individual skills. The game master is urged by the authors to assign additional skills to the skill groups if specific skills are missing for a chronicle with special needs. In particular, the skill category craft and knowledge are predestined for this.
(The following attribute names are freely translated from English into German. The original English names are in brackets.)

Magic (Magic) includes magical skills that are not necessary per se to form the spell.
Noun (Nouns) includes nouns, which are necessary for forming casts and are used in combination with other nouns and one or more verbs.
Verbs (verb) includes verbs which are necessary for forming casts and are used in combination with other verbs and one or more noun.
Fighting (Fighting) includes combat and weapon skills.
Athletics (Athletics) includes physical and athletic skills.
Thief crafts (Rogue Arts) has fewer legal skills.
Sociality (Social) covers all social colloquial and speech skills.
Crafts (Crafts) includes craft skills of all kinds.
Knowledge (knowledges) comprises all knowledge and language skills.