I love worldbuilding, creating new worlds from scratch, and seeing what adventures occur there. But as any good GM does, I also love stealing ideas and tweaking them to make them my own, and in this case, what I want to steal is history. Using an event or time period as a basis for our world can help ground it and ensure anything we build on top of it feels more believable to our players—if done correctly. Granted, if done incorrectly, it could also be jarring. 

In future posts, I will attempt to smooth the lines between the grounded and the fantastical as I figure out how things work in my world. Today, I want to talk about the period I am focusing on—the 1500s—and what it is about that era that I am pulling on to ground the world and provide its general look and feel. 

The 1500s were a wonderful transitional time in history: armor, guns, bows, and swords were all in use. This time is also in the middle of the Age of Exploration, so ships were sailing from All over Europe, but most frequently and successfully from Portugal and Spain in hopes of discovering “new” lands and trade routes. What better setting for adventures than one inspired by an adventure-heavy point in history? 

I plan to incorporate different aspects of real-world sixteenth-century history and cultures in my worldbuilding. Since the Skies of Mor-ladron has had a strong emphasis on exploration and travel, mostly by airship, I’m looking mainly at the naval technologies, weapons, and armor common to Spain and Portugal during this era (and MCDM is a game about fighting monsters, after all!). At the end of the post, I discuss the printing press, as it drastically changed the world. Adding the printing press to a fantasy world changes how that world feels, at least compared to more traditional medieval fantasy settings. 

Ships

First off, we have the all-important sailing ships. Ships in Skies will mimic ships from this era, with appearances along the lines of caravels, carracks, and galleons. They’re good old classics but not quite as big and imposing as a ship of the line. Standard ships can carry cannons/culverins and a swivel gun or two. 

Obviously, one of the major differences between real-world history and my world is that these ships fly in the Skies of Mor-Ladron. As I revise the world, I’m leaning toward ships being made of light-as-air wood. The trees that produce this wood probably came through an open rift to the realm of endless skies (the elemental plane of air equivalent) and now exist in the Skies of Mor-ladron. More on this in a future post.

Sailors will have spyglasses (sure, these were invented in 1608, but they are too iconic not to have!), and there will be charts and magical devices for navigation. Airships need to concern themselves with altitude as well as direction, so ships in Skies will be modified from the classic sailing ship look. Most important among these changes: some sort of crow’s nest or lookout area below the ship is a must-have so that they can tell if someone is sneaking up on them from below. 

Weapons and Armor

Sailors and pirates primarily use cutlasses and boarding axes (a large hatchet-type axe with a spike and a shaft long enough for two hands), but other melee weapons exist. A player could use a longsword or a rapier if they wish. Firearms are one of the newer magical and technological weapons in the Skies of Mor-ladron (and I probably need to come up with another name for them). A guild of artificers created firearms using magic, not gunpowder. Bows and crossbows are common, as they are cheaper and quieter than firearms. 

At the time of writing, we don't have the latest update on what the MCDM kits will look like (kits are their take on weapons and armor, basically a preset loadout that affects your stats and gives you an ability). I'm assuming that my firearm kits will be similar, mechanically, to those containing bows or crossbows. A firearm kit would have the loud tag and a different ability, but I am not planning on making guns OP. A player’s choice of a bow, crossbow, or firearm will mostly be up to the flavor they want to create. 

In addition to firearms, bombs with fuses will also exist in Skies. Bombs could be big or small but will probably not be precise enough to be used as reliable grenades. 

As for armor, people primarily used plate mail or leather in part of the Age of Exploration, as plate was the only thing that could stop bullets. You’d either wear armor to protect against the threat of being shot or use little to no armor. On ships, where agility can be important, most armor consisted of a breastplate, backcovering, and maybe a helmet. Full plate was not used as much except by cavalry. (Knights on hippogriffs, anyone?) I won’t stop players from creating the look they want, but most NPCs will follow these styles. 

Printing Press

In the real world, the printing press was invented in 1440 and, by 1500, had spread to over 250 cities in Europe. The rapid development of print made books much cheaper, made it easier to spread ideas, and contributed to rising literacy rates. The printing press is one of the if not the most impactful inventions in human history. 

The printing press or its equivalent will exist in Skies of Mor-ladron. Printing presses mean there will be more books than tomes or scrolls in civilized parts. (Don't worry; tomes and scrolls will still appear in the ruins and dungeons.) Books will be relatively expensive, however, so players will mostly encounter them in libraries/academic settings and the homes of the ostentatiously wealthy. Members of the working class might own a book or two. 

Newspapers may also play a role in Skies. In the real world, the first newspaper was started around 1602, right at the end of the period I'm looking at. It was only a weekly print. I’m still deciding whether I want any newspapers in my world or not. It might be cool to have one or two. Newspapers could be an interesting way to let players know things are happening in the world and make it feel more alive. If I don't use newspapers, I might include pamphlets, either as single pieces of paper or folded to make several smaller pages. 

Tangent Warning!

Ah, crap: paper. Books and newspapers or pamphlets involve copious amounts of paper! Sure, trees can grow on floating islands, but large enough forests to enable print publishing? Maybe… but what to do if it doesn't make sense? 

I already have to come up with a fantasy wood to keep the ship aesthetic I want, so I probably don't want to do that again for books and newspapers. Plus, I have to consider all the other things made from wood/trees that we take for granted. I had already planned on most houses being made from stone. Mining is simpler since all of the minerals are easier to get to when they’re floating in the sky. What about furniture, wagons, tools both big and small, barrels, treasure chests, water wheels, or, heck, even arrows? (Would a light-as-air wood make better or worse arrows? *jots down note to look into it!*) I’ll probably research cultures that don’t have access to a lot of wood and see what they do. 

I’ve mentioned it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again: yes, I realize that most people playing the game probably won't notice this sort of thing, and I don’t really expect them to. It’s fun to think about!

What’s Next?

The Patreon playtest packet for the MCDM RPG should be coming out soon, hopefully this week or next. I plan to review that once I get my hands on it. In the meantime, I have been working on a general timeline of the history of the Skies of Mor-ladron since the great catastrophe, when cities and nations were forced to abandon the world below and take to the skies. However, I admittedly have been distracted by hippogriffs, so we might get a blog post on those and their place in history first.