# Runthrough for Group Template This document has been created to outline certain questions that need to be answered regarding new and important groups for the pills lore. Answering these questions can help the lorecrafters and the loremaster gain valuable insights into the inner workings of a specific group, how they fit in with the larger universe, and most importantly, how they can be used in conjunction with new ideas and developments for the lore. When creating a group, try to answer each of the questions listed in this template as fully as you can, don’t worry about writing too long, these templates have been designed mostly to get as much information about your lore contributions as possible, and they can be condensed later as your ideas develop. Working through these questions as a whole can also help you gain greater perspective on what you’re creating, chances are you may encounter questions here that you didn’t think of before, or find answers that open up new possibilities for your group. For brevity, you could just answer the first three questions and come back to the rest of the questions later. The first three questions give the most rounded idea of what your group is, but it’s recommended to answer all of the questions. You’ll also find specific examples along with the questions to help demonstrate the kind of answers being looked for (these sample characters have no connection to the pills lore at the moment). --- ### Describe the group in a single sentence. Treat this single sentence like a blurb, describe both the group and give their intentions. The idea behind a single sentence description is to be able to give a very quick impression to those that haven’t heard about the group before, it sums them up for others to gain a quick understanding. I’ve provided a couple of examples below: * The Devotee Clan are a group of wandering aliens that are looking for their lost god in the cosmos. * The Loir are a group of refugees from a destroyed planet that traverse the universe, looking for and draining gigantic stars to power their incredible arcs. * The Cult of Diabolism is a dedicated group of various races that have come together to manufacture evil in the universe, they summon half-deities through fiendish rituals and set them upon tasks to spread suffering. --- ### What are the group’s objectives? Outline in the briefest of terms what the group’s objectives are and why they’re pursuing them, in most narratives their objectives directly tie into what kind of group they are (like refugees, or wandering aliens, or a cult); this should expand on what’s been hinted at in the single sentence description. * Ralltax’Dem was a merciful God that taught the people of Tarr great feats of engineering, how to achieve pure spirituality, and who gave them the power to transcend their corporeal forms to become ethereal spirits. Then Ralltax’Dem disappeared. With his absence the people of Tarr became lost, confused, and disconnected from his teachings. Now with their planet on the brink of collapse, the Devotee Clan are scouring the universe in search of the mighty deity, in hopes that they can bring him back before their world is forever gone. * The Loir once possessed a powerful empire, known as the Empire of Loir, that spanned across several hundreds of planets; a feat that was made possible with their understanding of the stars. Their incredible technology could harness the power of the sun, draining it and powering their society as a whole. Unfortunately, the same technology that gifted them with a fierce fortitude was also their undoing. The native son of their home planet, Loirinsa, exploded into a supernova and wiped out close to ninety percent of their race. The rest are now refugees, surviving on arcs built before the colossal explosion, and searching for powerful suns that can regenerate their lost technology. * Of all the fiendish cults, there are none greater or more evil than the Cult of Diabolism. They exist only to spread misery and suffering through forbidden rituals that have existed since the dawn of time. Their group consists of numerous different races that have been brought together by the Eye of Harmon, a powerful demon that has promised each and every member an eternal life in return for their service to his diabolical plans. In return, the demon can sow chaos and impress his own masters. --- ### What is the group’s history? How did it form and why? In many cases, you can integrate both the history or the group and the description of the group into the same paragraph (as I did above with two of the three groups), but it’s always useful to expand upon the group’s history and explore their specific exploits. * Until the Age of Ralltax’Dem the people of Tarr were truly lost, involved in petty wars against one another and divided into various countries with pointless borders. None are sure where Ralltax’Dem came from, but it is said that he first appeared in the dreams of the Tarrians. Through dreams, he convinced them to put their petty differences aside and unite for the good of Tarr; he did this by bestowing gifts to them that were quickly put into practice. All was good until the benevolent deity disappeared. Now the people of Tarr are lost, and with his absence, have fallen back into their old ways. In a desperate attempt to save their people, the Devotee Clan was born, containing individual members from each of the former continents of Tarr. They now search the cosmos in their impressive ship, hoping to one day make contact again with Ralltax’Dem. * The Loir doesn’t need to be expanded with another paragraph on their history, their objectives and histories are so intertwined that expanding on the initial paragraph here would simply repeat what has already been said. * It has only been 10 years since the Eye of Harmon assembled the first members of his cult. To do this, he sought out the blackest souls to exist, those with an inclination for evil with motivations beyond innocence that would not care about who got in their way. He appeared to them in his truest of forms, a full-blooded demon, and convinced them to do his bidding. Now the cult spans hundreds of members, from all walks of life, each working towards the immortality of their souls and the complete corruption of the cosmos. --- ### What does the group look like? Do they wear cloaks, do they have common distinguishing features, etc? This question is fairly self-explanatory, the idea behind it is to give a visual impression to readers learning about the groups for the first time (although, this can be achieved a lot more efficiently with images and visual examples). If you can’t provide any illustrations, this part of the group write-up can provide the common elements that separate this group from others (be it a faction or race or something else entirely), which is also really helpful to both readers and other lorecrafters in utilising the group for their own lore. * The Devotee Clan can be recognised quickly by their impressive cosmos-spanning ship, known as the Tur. The Tur, meaning Devotion in their native tongue, is a crystalline ship that mirrors the universe around it, making it nearly invisible. Only those looking for the ship can find it, and often when they do, they are awestruck by its impressive size and design. The Devotee Clan themselves resemble any other of the Tarrian people, large blob-like creatures that slither sluggishly on their many legs. The clan can quickly be differentiated from their kin by the colourful robes they wear about their bodies. * Any other creature could not stare at the Loir without being blinded, their bodies glow brightly and are constructed of pure starlight. It is a feature of the Loir that you cannot find elsewhere, and they use their natural brightness to great effect. Through distinct waverings of their body, shifting the radiance of their glow, they can communicate with one another and control their powerful arc ships. * You can recognise a member of the Cult of Diabolism only by the scars they carry upon their forearms, or similar appendages. Each member, when initiated into the group, is said to be touched by the Eye of Harmon which leaves a devastating scar that represents the black mark on their very souls. --- ### Who runs the group? And what is the group hierarchy? This is a chance to go into and develop the identity of the group, how their internal organisation works and what hierarchy exists that readers and other lorecrafters should be aware of. If your group is a race, this could be a king or emperor, perhaps even a god that runs the show. In terms of factions, this would be the leader or leaders that run the group and impart their will to the members beneath them. If you can, try to bring them into what you’ve already established, how do these leaders fit in with what you’ve already explained, give them a firm footing in your lore. It’s also really helpful to go into, very briefly, the potential motivations of these individuals for being a part of the groups. * When it comes to the Devotee Clan, there is none higher than Jarav Io. The main financier of the operation, Jarav invested everything he had into the formation of the clan and used his immense reputation on Tarr to bring in some of the best and brightest to help with his search for their missing god. Jarav has a personal connection to Ralltax’Dem; he was one of the first to be approached in dreams by the deity and he became rich with the creation of the many technologies Ralltax’Dem brought to him. Now his wealth and influence is being used to save his home world. * The Loir worship their leader, the Tavax, a sentient cloud that exists at the heart of every arc. Once, there were many of these clouds, but now with the death of their home world, Tavax is the only survivor. The cloud imparts its will through the use of telepathy, and has, on occasion, taken over the bodies of his subordinates to take on various actions. Tavax is said to be one of only ten (now none) to have transcended into a new form when their empire was at its peak, and he is also said to be at least 10,000 years old. * There is none greater than the Eye of Harmon, but the demon has entrusted the running of the cult to the first ten members he recruited for its formation. Each of these members controls a certain aspect of the group and guides a large membership beneath them after that, all in the service of the Eye of Harmon. --- ### Are there any prominent figures? Besides the leaders of the group, are there any particularly important figures that should be known about? These figures don't necessarily run the group or have anything to do with the running of the group, they could simply be famous/infamous figures with large reputations, characters that others outside of the group may have heard of? There could be multiple members here, so feel free to embellish, you don't have to stick to just a single member if there's a group of people you have in mind. This helps expand the groups and makes them feel a little more real, that's there more to them than just the surface explanations. * Daylesha Sha, outside of Jarav Io himself, is perhaps the most well known member of the Devotee Clan. Before she signed up for the clan, she was devoted only to her country and maintaining the borders, even after the god spoke, but now she seems to have turned a corner. Daylesha now recognises the good of Ralltax'Dem, seeing what its absence has done for her world, and has become a great defender of the ship in which the Tarrians gather. * People perceive the Loir as strange and alien creatures, in the most alien of places, who communicate with light and dance with fire. Most are distrustful in their first encounters with the Loir, but those negative feelings soon disappear when they meet Yegrun. Yegrun is a young Loir and priest that serves Tavalax, who has become gifted in the art of telephathy. Yegrun is the closest thing the Loir have to a diplomat and his gentle words have become legend outside of the Loir. Some races even go as far to percieve him as some kind of deity. * The Cult of Diabolism houses many different members, but perhaps the most brutish, the most thuggish, is a gigantic creature known as Brash. Brash, unlike his fellow cultists, does not contribute to the rituals, but he does bring the sacrifices. It has become a personal hobby of his to hunt down members of other races and slay them before the alter. To most, he is seen as an executioner, a terrifying monster. In a previous life, before he joined the cult, he was a soldier for his own world, and that training has given him a particular talent in hunting and a taste for killing. --- ### What are the Real-World Mirrors? Describing the real-world influences and how they’ve informed the group’s creation can provide a massive insight into how they work and how they fit into the overall story. These mirrors can provide readers with useful information that they can use to go and perform their own research into the topics, and could, if used right, be a stepping stone in forming an idea about a certain aspect of the lore (both fictional and non-fictional). I’ve provided some examples below for the groups that have been constructed, these examples are purely imaginary: * The Devotee Clan is based on the real-life story of Edward Munns, who was a heroin addict that claimed to have both met god and then subsequently lost them. Edward Munns formed a cult of several thousand loyal followers who partook in several strange ceremonies, which included actively searching areas of America for traces of god. * The Loir are based on a technology think tank called the ‘Sun Shaders’ who are actively developing applications that can reduce/increase the brightness of laptop screens remotely. Their innovative technology communicates through a system of light flashes, similar to how fibre optics works, in order to send quick bits of data across a secure connection to dim or brighten a screen. * The Cult of Diabolism is based on the writing of Samantha Fletcher, who published a paper called ‘Evil only exists incarnate’ where she argues that the prevalence of evil in a society can only be perpetuated by society members contributing to the cause of evil, in short, people do evil because evil has been done to them. --- ## Other Developments Have you created a new character or a species for this group? We have other easy-to-use templates you can use to expand these aspects of the lore. You can find links to them below: *Species Template* — <https://hackmd.io/HRPUa_6IQl6jL6ECw8XQbQ> *Character Template* — <https://hackmd.io/i-eUp0nYSP2FQdVeytLkhQ>
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Runthrough for Locations Template

This document has been created to outline certain questions that need to be answered regarding new and important locations for the pills lore. Answering these questions can help the lorecrafters and the loremaster gain valuable insights into the inner workings of a specific location, how they fit in with the larger universe, and most importantly, how they can be used in conjunction with new ideas and developments for the lore. When creating a location, try to answer each of the questions listed in this template as fully as you can. Don’t worry about writing too much; these templates have been designed mostly to get as much information about your lore contributions as possible, and they can be condensed later as your ideas develop. Working through these questions as a whole can also help you gain greater perspective on what you’re creating; the chances are, you may encounter questions here that you didn’t think of before, or find answers that open up new possibilities for your location. For brevity, you could just answer the first three questions and come back to the rest of the questions later. The first three questions give the most rounded idea of what your location is, but it’s recommended to answer all of the questions. You’ll also find specific examples along with the questions to help demonstrate the kind of answers being looked for (these sample locations have no connection to the pills lore at the moment). What is the name of your location? Most location names tend to lean into what the location actually is and give insights into what someone should expect going in. The Abyss can be a harrowing empty space full of horrors, the Forestlands are full of robust tall trees that house all manner of life, the Endless Ocean is a...well, endless ocean (these are just examples but you get the idea right?). A name, especially one for a location, is an immediate impression on what your location actually is. It is the first thing a person will encounter, when it comes to your location, is its name. So, what is the name of your location? It’s also worth remembering though that your name doesn’t have to be insightful, your location could be intentionally mysterious with a name that only heightens the mystery. The choice is yours.

8/7/2021
Runthrough for Objects Template

This document has been created to outline certain questions that need to be answered regarding new and important objects for the pills lore. Answering these questions can help the lorecrafters and the loremaster gain valuable insights into the inner workings of a specific object, how they fit in with the larger universe, and most importantly, how they can be used in conjunction with new ideas and developments for the lore. When creating an object, try to answer each of the questions listed in this template as fully as you can. Don’t worry about writing too much; these templates have been designed mostly to get as much information about your lore contributions as possible, and they can be condensed later as your ideas develop. Working through these questions as a whole can also help you gain greater perspective on what you’re creating; the chances are, you may encounter questions here that you didn’t think of before, or find answers that open up new possibilities for your object. For brevity, you could just answer the first three questions and come back to the rest of the questions later. The first three questions give the most rounded idea of what your object is, but it’s recommended to answer all of the questions. You’ll also find specific examples along with the questions to help demonstrate the kind of answers being looked for (these sample objects have no connection to the pills lore at the moment). CLARIFICATION — WHAT IS AN OBJECT? Just to clarify, when we’re speaking of objects, we’re talking about any inanimate object you’d consider to be important to the lore that you’re building. These objects can take the forms of ancient artifacts, vehicles, specialised equipment, accessories or gear, and anything else you can think of. The type of object is up to you as long as you consider it important to understanding an aspect of the lore. What is the name of your object?

8/1/2021
Runthrough for Characters

This document has been created to outline certain questions that need to be answered regarding new and important characters for the pills lore. Answering these questions can help the lorecrafters and the loremaster gain valuable insights into the inner workings of a specific character, how they fit in with the larger universe, and most importantly, how they can be used in conjunction with new ideas and developments for the lore. When creating a character, try to answer each of the questions listed in this template as fully as you can, don’t worry about writing too long, these templates have been designed mostly to get as much information about your lore contributions as possible, and they can be condensed later as your ideas develop. Working through these questions as a whole can also help you gain greater perspective on what you’re creating, chances are you may encounter questions here that you didn’t think of before, or find answers that open up new possibilities for your character. For brevity, you could just answer the first three questions and come back to the rest of the questions later. The first three questions give the most rounded idea of what your character is, but it’s recommended to answer all of the questions. You’ll also find specific examples along with the questions to help demonstrate the kind of answers being looked for (these sample characters have no connection to the pills lore at the moment). What is the name of your character? The name of your character can be very telling as to who your character is and what they are, or, it can be just a simple name you thought up on the spot — either way works. If your character’s name is inspired by something or based on something specific, we’d love to know, but again it can be as simple as you thought it sounded cool. Check out some examples below: Dargus Finn — Yeah, there’s no reason behind why I picked this name, it just seems like it would be fun to say aloud.

7/28/2021
Runthrough for Species Template

This document has been created to outline certain questions that need to be answered regarding new species for the pills lore. Answering these questions can help the lorecrafters and the loremaster gain valuable insights into the inner workings of a specific species, how they fit in with the larger universe, and most importantly, how they can be used in conjunction with new ideas and developments for the lore. When creating a species, try to answer each of the questions listed in this template as fully as you can, don’t worry about writing too long, these templates have been designed mostly to get as much information about your lore contributions as possible, and they can be condensed later as your ideas develop. Working through these questions as a whole can also help you gain greater perspective on what you’re creating, chances are you may encounter questions here that you didn’t think of before, or find answers that open up new possibilities for your species. For brevity, you could just answer the first three questions and come back to the rest of the questions later. The first three questions give the most rounded idea of what your species is, but it’s recommended to answer all of the questions. You’ll also find specific examples along with the questions to help demonstrate the kind of answers being looked for (these sample species have no connection to the pills lore at the moment). What is the name of your species? This question is fairly straightforward, what are you calling your species and why? Sometimes a name is just a name, but if you have any background to the formation of your species name, this is the perfect place to state it! There’s some quick examples below: The Clank — The name is just a name, there’s no background, I just thought it was an apt way of describing my species.

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