Ancient Tides: A Tale of Sea and Sky

ANCIENT TIDES
A Tale of Sea and Sky

---

The gods are dead. They left a lot behind - a functioning cycle of life and death, a heap of divine servants, corpses magical enough to become worlds in their own right - but they’re not coming back. In the eons since, countless mortal civilizations have risen on these many worlds, and over time, a few have even managed to reach beyond. They crossed the threshold, one by one, into the oldest realm of all. The realm of the gods. The birthplace of souls. The Astral Sea.

For thousands of years now, mortals have spread across the nine known seas, building towns and fledgling nations, constructing great ships, and moving further and further afield from the worlds they knew. On these seas, anything is possible, and even the lowliest of mortals can accomplish wonders - or die trying. It’s time to set sail.

---

Welcome to Ancient Tides, a solo-adventure-focused game based on Pathfinder 2nd Edition, which is assuredly not inspired by any similar games in any way. In this game, you will take the role of powerful characters, living upon the seas of the Astral Plane, pursuing any number of lofty goals, and making their mark upon the grand and ancient realm of the gods. In mechanical terms, all characters will begin at level 10 (or attain that level of power soon after the start) - more than enough to start making a real impact. Beyond that, the game is largely a sandbox - your character’s goals are entirely up to you, and there is no “main plot” other than the plot your character follows.

As it would make for a very complicated game, I will not be constantly adhering to all of the mechanics of Pathfinder. Most things will take place on a more narrative layer, with rolls largely made by me in the background. Characters will have complete character sheets, which I am more than happy to collaborate with anyone on when the time comes to keep things simple.

Gameplay will be text-based and one-on-one for the most part - the primary medium will be PMs on this very forum, but if anyone would especially prefer, I can set things up to do it via Discord instead. I won’t rule out voiced solo sessions either, should anyone be particularly interested. “Crossovers” are also a distinct possibility, where your characters may meet each other for any number of adventures - but I won’t force those on anyone who isn’t remotely interested.

Finally, with regards to character options, all published options are allowed, in addition to playtest material (the Summoner and Magus classes) and approved homebrew options. Lore may differ, sometimes greatly, in this setting, but I won’t close off any specific options (for example, I’ve renamed lizardfolk to Solans and given them more of a Solarpunk Astronaut aesthetic). Feel free to ask me more via Discord if you want to know about some of the extra options or lore in this setting. I’m also allowing more over-the-top character ideas if you have them - if you had a really good idea for literally just playing a dragon, for instance, I wouldn’t rule it out.

Lore on the Seas

Show Content

Spoiler
The Astral Seas
The Astral Seas, collectively known by various names such as the Astral Plane or simply The Astral, form one of the main realms of existence (along with the Mortal Planes and various more esoteric realms). Each is an enormous expanse of matter and magic with differing physical properties, interwoven with the Astral Currents - rivers of magic and life energy that deliver souls to and from the many planes of mortals. Once the realm of the gods when they still lived eons ago, it’s only relatively recently that mortals have moved from their home planes and begun to claim bits and pieces of the Seas for themselves.

The Beating Sun
One of the smaller seas (relatively speaking, of course), The Beating Sun (often known simply as the Sun) is a star of titanic scale, sitting at the apex of the Sea of Stars. The Sun is much larger than the other stars, closer in scale to an actual real-world star. Its most notable property is that it “beats” or “pulses” over time, wavering between extremes of heat and light. The Sun is the origin of the Astral Currents, and plays a key part in the cycle of life and death as both the origin and final destination of souls - a cycle thought to be tied in some way to the solar cycles themselves. Many islands and continents orbit the Sun, some on its surface and some further away. Communities in this sea have to deal with the temperature extremes, one way or another - the furthest islands are freezing cold most of the year, while the nearest are practically superheated.

Common Ancestries: Solans, Leshies, Goblins, Ignans, Dragons, Dragonborn, Wyvarans, Kobolds, Elves, Aasimars, Tieflings, Duskwalkers, Weavers, Merfolk (Solar)

Black Ocean
Notable for being a more “traditional” sea, the Black Ocean is a vast ocean of dark water blanketed with grey clouds and frequent storms. Many islands, ranging from small rocks to entire continents, are spread all across the Ocean, as well as under it - there is no true sea floor in the Black Ocean. Though the exact number of planes connected to the Black Ocean is unknown, a particularly notable one is the doomed world of Aphaea - the plane of origin for humans, halflings, and dwarves. Said world was flooded long ago, and far more recently, its oceans were corrupted by the influence of an angry dead goddess, forcing a near-total evacuation through a series of mysterious mechanical portals known as the Great Gates - and as a consequence, bringing multiple new nations to the Ocean itself.

Common Ancestries: Humans, Dwarves, Halflings, Goblins, Orcs, Elves, Kobolds, Dragonborn, Merfolk, Selkies, Undines, Solans

Deep Wilds
The least-inhabited and perhaps least-explored of all the seas, the Deep Wilds is largely a foggy void, filled with countless floating islands and continents, each entirely overgrown with dense tangles of forest, jungle, and other masses of plantlife. Many of the islands of the Deep Wilds hold the ruins of some ancient civilization, but the sea as a whole resists any new attempts at settlement. The one exception is the city-state of Zenith, a city built at the intersection of two Astral Currents, ruled by seven immortal beings known as the Archons who have thus far managed to hold back the tide of nature. Its location makes Zenith a notable hub of trade, attracting people from all across the many seas.

Common Ancestries: All (Zenith), None (anywhere else)

Special Note: As Zenith and the Deep Wilds will be the core of my upcoming campaign in this setting, I would prefer to not have it be the main setting for any character in this game. It’s a place you can visit or even live in when you’re not adventuring, but I won’t set anyone’s entire plot here.

Eschatos, the Divine Sea
Thought to be the first sea populated after the death of the Old Gods, Eschatos is a great sky filled with many layers of floating islands, great and beautiful continents, and craggy chambers of fire, brimstone, and all sorts of other wonderful things. Eschatos is the home of the many, many varieties of fiends, celestials, and other such beings that once served the Old Gods. Many distinct states exist here, some the fiercely-guarded domains of many of the New Gods, others at least nominally independent of all that. Here, numerous afterlifes exist, shaped by the gods that oversee them - and while there’s nothing physically stopping mortals from entering while still alive, it’s generally very frowned upon. Politically, the Eschatos is mainly divided between two major powers - the Infernal Host and the Celestial Pact, forming a rough political division between fiends and celestials. The squabbles of the two main powers, the affairs and relationships of many gods, major and minor, and the sheer amount of distinct divine states makes this sea a busy place indeed.

Common Ancestries: Aasimars, Tieflings

The Grand Tempest
Put simply, the Grand Tempest is an enormous, eternal storm. The whole sea is filled with dark clouds, raging winds, and precipitation of all sorts. Offshoots of the Tempest regularly drift into other, adjacent seas, forming a wide variety of sometimes-devastating storms. The Grand Tempest is notable for being nearly impassable - no reliable passage has been found through via the Astral Currents, and off-Current travel is, for obvious reasons, incredibly dangerous. Those few explorers who claim to have navigated the Tempest successfully speak of untold wonders in the seas beyond, but their claims are rather hard to verify. Despite everything, the Grand Tempest is not uninhabited, though many of its inhabitants have little contact with the other known seas.

Common Ancestries: Sylphs, Djinn, Dragons, Elementals, Other Unknowns

Midnight Sea
The Midnight Sea is, first and foremost, noteworthy for its total lack of natural light. Darkness is almost tangible in this sea, with massive bodies of supernatural darkness forming oceans of a sort. Even the land that floats here, both on and above the seas of shadow, is dark, made of obsidian and similar materials. The Astral Currents flicker and dim here, and a pall of negative energy is cast over everything - making the Midnight Sea a place where undead thrive. Still, the living thrive in a few pockets - most notably the draconic theocracy of Serkath, where light is worshipped and spread far and wide across this dark place.

Common Ancestries: Undead of all sorts, Dhampir, Kobolds, Dragonborn, Wyvarans, Dragons

Sea of Stars
Both the largest and the emptiest of the known seas, the Sea of Stars is a void with exceptionally thin air, dotted with thousands of stars - enormous balls of life energy, arcane power, and incandescent plasma that wash the void with brilliant light. Gravity is strange in the Sea of Stars, allowing masses of all shapes and sizes to orbit the stars, and navigation requires accounting for these orbital mechanics. The bodies orbiting the stars come in all shapes and sizes, the largest being the size of particularly large moons. A number of these planetoids are inhabited by mortal societies of all sorts, one of the most notable being a coalition of many different worlds known as the Solar Federation. The Sea of Stars is finally notable for being connected to many different seas and planes, forming a starry night sky and allowing for travel to many different places.

Common Ancestries: Solans, Tengu, Catfolk, Wyvarans, Kobolds, Dragonborn, Weavers

Shattered Sea
As the name might imply, the Shattered Sea is a sea that was utterly ravaged in the distant past, leaving it a broken mess. What shape the sea took before is unclear, with much of its land now being shattered, glassed, or melted into a radioactive soup. The sea is flooded harshly by both the formless chaos beyond the universe and by raw, unfiltered life energy from several broken stars, making it incredibly inhospitable. Despite this, though, life does still thrive in places - most notably the broken world of the serpentine ouros, one of the main species of mortal to originate in this place. Speculation is that the Shattered Sea was the site of an ancient battle, as evidenced by the remains of several gods that form the majority of the land in this sea, as well as the Leviathan - a dead creature of truly immense scale, whose surface is home to countless materials of magical value, for those foolish enough to brave the journey.

Common Ancestries: Ouros, Slimes, Proteans, Goblins, Orcs

Subterrane
The Subterrane is a vast network of caverns, connecting between many different seas and planes. It is mainly made up of chambers in a variety of sizes, the largest many hundreds or thousands of miles across - these largest chambers tend to vary greatly in composition and contents, hosting entirely different biospheres and such. The layout of the Subterrane is notable for its inconsistency - while the large chambers remain mostly static, smaller tunnels shift around far more frequently, with major shifting events occurring regularly at the Beating Sun’s apex. As the caves shift, so, do connections to the seas and planes beyond - drawing in new life, minerals, and other matter to populate the caves’ many chambers. New minerals tend to emerge in the Subterrane after these shifting events, with some speculation that the caves regularly feed on new places to produce them. Evidence for the caves being “alive” in some sense, though, is so far inconclusive.

Common Ancestries: Dwarves, Terrans, Humans, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Ratfolk, Dragons, Kobolds, Dragonborn, Wyvarans

The Planes
Beyond the seas, there are many, many planes of existence, ranging in size from a single small planet to an entire solar system. Each plane is formed from the remains of an Old God, who died in an ancient age. The vast majority of planes have developed life, and specifically the sapient sort of life usually called “mortals”. The number of planes is uncertain, and there are potentially hundreds or thousands - certainly there are many more than those currently known. Save for the ouros, almost all mortals have their origins in one plane or another.

Everyone applying should fill out the following character bio first - you can either post it here or just send it to me. I won’t be able to let too many people in, but if I don’t get an excess of submissions I’ll try to accommodate as many people as I can (eight will be my absolute maximum). Once I’ve approved people to play, I’ll help with character creation - but of course, feel free to think about what you want to play as you fill this out.

Name: Your character’s name.
Description: A description of your character, both in terms of appearance and personality.
Place of Origin: The place your character comes from. Town, nation, sea, plane, whichever. Feel free to ask me about more specific options for this.
Bio: You may ask yourself, “How did I get here?” This should explain how your character reached level 10 - or if you want to start at a lower level, give an idea of how you will get there near the game’s start.
Ambition: What do you want to accomplish? This can be general or specific, but this is the section most likely to determine what your character’s story is about, so make sure it’s something interesting.
Contacts: Who do you know? Relatives, friends, business contacts, mortal enemies, etc. Define as many or as few as you want here.