Here's the nifty prologue. This has not been edited, so it's cut and paste-tastic right now
Vhraeden is a dichotomous mix of High Technology and Magic. Vhraeden, the chaotic jewel of the universe. Vhraeden, where gods and devils battle in the heavens, the hells and the streets. Vhraeden, where magic and technology coexist. Vhraeden is a world where dragons rule countries, cults infiltrate international business and deities vie for government contracts.
Vhraeden is Black Banks and Chop Shops, Shadow Ops and Corp Cops, easy money and hard living, Elven supremacists and Dwarven separatists, high magic and ultra tech, elementals and constructs, ancient cults and megacorps, aquiculture and slave farms, arcologies and castles, dragons and gods, angels and demons, guns and swords, rocket launchers and magic staves, helicopters and wyverns, airframes and steam trains, science and alchemy, psionic amplifiers and empathic dampeners, fast cars and magic horses.
Corporate boards and magic cabals vie for power. Dragons work to limit the power of the gods. Ultratech and Alchemy compete for dominance. A world of High Magic and High Technology, where elves aren't happy, Orks aren't stupid and Humans are not the dominant species. What if "Human nature" was actually sentient nature and actions had consequences in this world as they do in our own. This is a world where culture determines more than the language you speak, it determines how you see the world and is the dominant force in a beings' life. Welcome to Vhraeden, a game setting unlike any other.
Vhraeden is a place of contrasts. There are all of the traditional fantasy role playing elements such as a relatively low tech environment, high magic, dragons, undead, dungeons, castles, wizards, swords, gods, clerics, rogues and bards. Kings and Emperors rule their lands with an iron fist, in a feudal system with armored knights as the pinnacle of society. Mages live in heavily enchanted towers exploring the limits of the occult. Rogues engage in all manner of unsavory activities to further the plots of the guilds and adventurers are seen with a mixture of awe, fear and contempt. All of that is found on Vhraeden.
There are also a lot of traditional sci fi/cyberpunk elements such as mega corporations, high technology, secret experiments, conspiracies, spies, mercenaries, contracts and lots of guns and gadgets. There are also angels and demons, humans and orks, powered armor and ancient ensorcelled armor, elven supremacists and feline freedom fighters, swords and autocannons, wyverns and attack helicopters, weapons and rituals of mass destruction. Think Blade Runner meets Lord of the Rings.
This is a world where there are no limits for those cunning or violent enough to make their own rules and carve their own destiny. Vhraeden rewards intelligence, strength and internal motivation over outside influences.
The title of this work is descriptive of the setting. Vhraeden is a complex and dark world where billions of sentient beings live and interact with each other as well as gods, devils and other unique beings. Within this milieu, conflict is inevitable. Blood symbolizes the violence inherent in a world with over three billion beings spread over scores of nations, tens of races, hundreds of cultures and countless loyalties. Make no mistake, this is a violent setting, but unlike other settings, the nature of conflicts are explained and none of them are as bland as good versus evil, since this setting is purposefully and heavily shaded in grey. Blood will be spilled, there is no question of that. The only variables now are whose, when and how much.
Steel and Iron Will describes the other central conflict within this setting, technology versus magic, or more generally the conflict between cultures. This is a world where magic has existed for thousands of years, but its presence has not somehow stopped progress, but assisted it. The reason for the dichotomy is that magic is an art and a science that takes a lifetime to truly master, and the longer lived races simply have more time to learn the most difficult of rituals and spells. The shorter lived races faced a severe shortcoming when dealing with magically inclined races until the invention of hard technology, so called because technology continues to progress beyond the level of those who developed it. Technology allows for rapid development, while magic does not. A being does not have to know how an internal combustion engine works in order to use it. The reverse is true of magic or psionics, a being must be intimately familiar with the theories of magic and the mental disciplines in order to use even the most simple of these abilities. Thus, magical societies and beings are forced to be specialized in their skill sets, while technological societies and beings are allowed to be much more general in their skill sets while still enabling them to be competitive with magical cultures.
This setting was developed, on and off, over the course of thirteen years. The basic premise that began this process, and guided it the entire time was "would magic have stopped progress in this area?" The design process I used, basically, was to take a generic magical medieval world and extrapolate eight hundred to a thousand years in the future and this is the result. I tried to maintain the purity of the multitude of genres by allowing many of the conventions to simply coexist.
To answer the question of "what is Vhraeden?" requires three answers. First, Vhraeden is a world where anything is possible. It is a place where magic and technology coexist, as well as psionics, shamanic magic, elemental magic, empathic abilities, divine magic, biotechnology and alchemy among others. This is a world where time and progress have worked the environment into its present state.
Secondly, Vhraeden is a one of a kind setting that can be added to almost any pre existing campaign. There is a wealth of organizations, innovative ideas, spells, powers, equipment and rules that I hope this setting will be useful in some manner for every gamer.
Third, this is a complete role playing game in the classic style. More that a simple collection of rules, stats and small adventure hooks, Vhraeden is all of that plus a complete worldbook. Simple rules and quick combat surrounded by vibrant, complex world full of history, personalities, plots, secrets and lots of equipment. You have our word that we will not publish a book that we would not buy ourselves.
In other words, all that you need to provide is dice, imagination and paper.
-STS