Worlds Without Number and the Sine Nomine Shared Universe: The Nine Immortals

A short(?) sequel post to this one, which discussed how the various Sine Nomine games could actually be a form of shared universe. This idea was one I used (in an earlier, cruder form) when running my old Godbound game, where Red Tide was made into a distant Realm to the custom one I was using.

The Nine Immortals

Art by M-Ing.

First described in Red Tide, a Labyrinth Lords supplement (and as far as I'm aware, one of the earlier Sine Nomine products), the Nine Immortals are the main deities of the Ninefold Celestial Empire and are described as nine semi-abstract beings (each tied a color and key domain) which appear to be the result of a composite of a centuries-old, if not a millennia-old ever evolving empire constantly syncretizing various beliefs into key archetypes.

In truth, the Nine Immortals (under this version of a shared 'verse) are not simply an accumulation of beliefs, although this does describe them perfectly at the same time. The Immortals began as part of a subsystem or alteration to the Legacy by ancient posthumans seeking to achieve a perfect system which would encompass all aspect of human nature and society, perfectly organized and maintained and they share many common roots with the ancestors of the Ren people found in Godbound. These systems for a perfect and virtuous society began as disturbing totalitarian systems which counted various aspects of people's very lives and nature and while there were indeed malicious roots to it, in time this system would break and reform. Ancient space colony algorithm which calculated the ideal way of life, ideal routine and more of people aggregated into more complex systems of artificial intelligence. Yet as much as these systems were cold, callous artifices which sought to control every single aspect of near posthuman life they also began to subtly change. The exact history and trajectory of these ancient systems are quite unclear and lost to time but some rare sages of Latter Earth believe that these social systems became so all-encompassing in their attempt to simply measure human lives and souls that these very concepts it sought to regulate in turn contaminated the system. From revolution to bloody coup to attempt at peace to more totalitarian rules to more bloody coup, the leftover of these all encompassing systems became more human-like. Human imperfections, archetypes and beliefs infected what was once mere synthetic thought control.

The next evolution of the system came from the concept of Made Gods and Arrayed Godbound, which became icons and eidolon, representing various concepts and social ideals. Great thinker, philosopher kings and also horrific tyrants emerged from this era but they too tapped into the same leftover synthetic systems which had connected society and evolved from a purely electronic form to something more complex as what would become the Legacy truly developed. The Nine Immortals are born of the synthetic patterns combined with human belief. They themselves aren't really self-aware beings but rather exist as thought-form or massive Iterum-spanning idea-spheres as egregores. They are recurring archetypes combined with a broken social control system which has evolved into myth-made-reality. Anywhere that has the influence of these proto-Ren people often tap into this system of archetypes and ideas, which has real power. Generations of Godbound, Legate and Imperator have subsumed themselves (often accidentally) into these 'power grids', which empower Clerics of the Nine Immortals across many worlds. What began as a cold system to crush human will and subordinate it has been taken over by human thoughts, emotions and ideas. It rules over them as God(s), but it is a set of Gods which are entirely controlled by humans. This create a rich tapestry of belief, ideas, heroes and gods which is ever-living and evolving.

Random World Variations: Different systems, different styles

Ah, the Random World: originally a short experiment for fun which ended up as a pseudo-setting I'm quite fond of. The reason it is branded a 'pseudo setting' is that, really, there's never going to be a 'true' or 'canonical' version.

A two-headed troll eating, Art by Albert Urmanov.

The notes, right now, primarily rely on Basic Fantasy (or Labyrinth Lord) and the choice of races and classes are very much influenced by it. By default, the presentation of the Random World is just generic enough that I can decide to use it by running Basic Fantasy or Labyrinth Lord right off the box with little to no homebrew. In its default form the setting may have some odd idiosyncrasies but its generally written to work with all the most basic and simple assumptions of a D&D game. However if I want to, this is a setting which can be modded or altered to work off different games and different D&D editions or OSR games. The setting can vary in presentation and style to be a bit more grim and gritty and morally gray or I could make it much more clear cut high fantasy with good and evil. I could also run it with D&D3e/Pathfinder and add more unusual magic forms such as Psionics or Akashic among others. For what its worth, I consider the modularity and re imagination potential to be a feature, not a bug. After all the entire point of the setting was a deliberate loose canon, core D&D elements and some gonzo whatever-the-hell-goes. It is a setting that is fleshed out enough to be gameable but its not a serious write up in the sense it harken back to those kind of mish mashed settings made from whatever I found cool when running D&D in high school.

Variations Upon A Theme

So what could possibly change depending on the game and/or mixture of supplements for said game or edition? Here is a non exhaustive list:

• Scarlet Heroes or Exemplars & Eidolon: Nothing is changed setting-wise, but the characters are more powerful and noteworthy individuals rather than starting as impoverished yet brave nobodies. Likely the most obvious pick after Basic Fantasy or Labyrinth Lord.
• Dungeon Crawl Classics: The opposite happen and the characters are even more pathetic and vulnerable than by default. The world is presented as more grim, chaotic and brutal.
• +Hubris: One of my favorite DCC settings. The setting remain as the above but even more bleak and horrifying. Classes taken from Hubris add new layer and setting elements, such as Mutants (briefly mentioned as possibly existing here and here) and Half-Demons add a bit more of a dark and/or weird fantasy vibe.
• Pathfinder: There is a crapload more of options and rules, maybe too much! The general power level of classes is vastly increased especially for spellcasters. It might be wiser to use E6 for sanity's sake. Overall, the fantasy level is vastly increased.
• +Psionics: By default I have not written in Psionics into the setting but that doesn't mean they can't exist and fit in. Adding psionics greatly add to the weird fantasy elements. One way to make psionic distinct would be to very much tie it to 'mortals' as the power of their mind rather than the primordial powers of the cosmos that arcane and divine magic both channel. Another option, which could be interesting, is to make it a relatively new and poorly understand phenomena which has slowly crept up over the past centuries, with mages and clerics fearing it might eclipse magic.
• +Akashic: It was called Incarnum in 3e, while the 3rd party Pathfinder remake is called Akashic. Being based off Vedic mythological concepts is great and it would add quite a bit of exotic and mystical elements too. Unlike Psionics this would definitely be an ancient and well-established power (but not necessarily a common one).
• Dungeons & Dragons 5e: Much like Pathfinder, it too is essentially boiled down to 'alot of options' and greatly increase the overall amount of fantastical elements. Unless...
• +Low Fantasy Classes: I've got no clue who wrote this PDF I found (it likely isn't a paid product as it lack any indication of a person or company having published it) but its certainly right up my alley when it come to playing the 'Random World' with D&D 5e as, since it was written with baseline OSR in mind the classes aren't as filled with weirdo powers as they are in 3e, 4e or 5e. In particular, it has an order of Knights (their low fantasy not!Paladins) tied to fey and elves which fits in perfectly with what has been established with Waywood's knights and druids.
• Black Hack: Not much change except the system is different, I guess?