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CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 09-30-2015 Campaign Setting Workshop: Gaia This is an idea I had for a setting and possible adventure path based on FFVII. The setting is called Gaia, and it has a history very similar to the events established in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (except with better writing). The campaign itself would be called "The Planet in Crisis" and it would begin like Final Fantasy VII but how it turns out should be vastly different. Right now I only have rough timeline to show, but I'd like to flesh out locations, characters, and religions. Timeline: The Era of Birth -Gaia is formed in the aftermath of Kefka’s sealing. Minerva, the eidolon of Gaia, forms out of the Lifestream. The Era of the Ancients (Before Calamity) -A race of Humes called the Cetra becomes the dominant civilization of the world. They revere the Lifestream and commune with the Planet. Another race called the Nanakim lives in their company. They learn of the prophecy of Omega and the esper Chaos. The Calamity An enormous meteor strikes the surface of Gaia, wounding the Planet, forming the Northern Crater and causing an enormous amount of dust to choke the sky. The Cetra and the Planet channel a lot of Lifestream to heal the damage. In doing so they were able to lessen to environmental impact but they still suffer from countless deaths and mass extinctions. What’s more, the mass of Lifestream near the Crater awakens a dark passenger of the meteor: Jenova. Jenova seeks out living creatures to infect like a virus. Her goal is to not only absorb living creatures but to absorb the life of the Planet itself. Towards this end, she subtly manipulates the intelligent creatures she infected into worshipping her. In the wake of recent events, she uses the illusions of lost loved ones to turn Cetra and other races against their brethren. The Planet becomes aware of this threat and awakens the WEAPONs, living constructs born to protect the Lifestream. However their method is to extinguish life where ever they detect Jenova’s presence because even death of non-infected life strengthens the Planet. In the worst case scenario, they are to eradicate all life on the surface of the Planet so that it could channel the Lifestream into the Omega WEAPON, which would then leave barren world to seed new life into the cosmos. Fearing this possibility, the surviving Cetra wage war on Jenova and eventually manage to seal her in the Northern Crater. The WEAPONs go into a dormant state to await any future threats to the Planet. The war itself was costly to the Cetra The civilization of the Cetra collapses in the aftermath. They live on as a people, but they come to be known as the Ancients amongst succeeding Hume tribes. After Calamity 1st Century AC – Several Hume kingdoms are founded on the Eastern Continent. The Nanakim and Humes on the West Continent instead form into tribes. 2nd Century AC – The chocobo knights of the kingdom of Midgar allow it annex territory in the Kalm plains but they find themselves harrowed by the goblin tribes and other monsters. 3rd to 4th Century AC - The Goblin Wars 4th Century AC – St. Junon leads a campaign that vanquishes the goblins from the Eastern Continent. Mid 4th to 5th Century AC – The Mythril Wars. 10th to 13th Century AC – the Kingdom of Midgar conquers Mideel and Odinheim, becoming the dominant power of Eastern Continent. 14th Century AC – Wutai unification. 15th Century AC – The printing press is invented. 16th Century AC – Colonies are founded in the western continent. Some people settle in the Northern Continent. 17th Century AC - The founding of Nibelheim and Corel. Mid 17th Century AC - Midgar attempts to invade Wutai but they are repelled. 18th Magitek is invented. Discovery of the steam engine. 19th Century AC - The Industrial Revolution. The First Magitek War is fought across the Eastern Continent. 1890’s AC – Kefkanites assassinates the Royal Family of Midgar in order to take their magicite (archaic term for materia) and sow chaos across the nation. They pin the blame on Wutai and spark the Second Magitek War. They also awaken the Jade WEAPON. A group of warriors, including an Ancient Summoner, unite to foil their plot. The desperate struggle ends the war and pacifies the WEAPON, however the warring kingdoms have been devastated. 20th Century AC 1920 AC - The Gi Tribe wages war on the inhabitants of Cosmo Canyon. 1945’s AC – Dreyfus Shinra of Nibelheim theorizes that magicite is formed from the Lifestream crystallizing after centuries of pressure. 1954’s AC – Dreyfus Shinra successfully synthesizes a form of magicite by applying his theory. He dubs the product “materia.” With his son, Arnold Shinra, he founds the Shin-Ra Manufacturing Works. 1959 AC – Shin-Ra Manufacturing Works discovers the process of refining Lifestream into form of fuel called mako. Seto ends the war against the Gi Tribe by sacrificing himself. 1960 AC – The first mako reactor is built in Nibelheim village. Shin-Ra Manufacturing becomes the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company. Computer technology and genetics are discovered. 1962 AC – The Shin-Ra Corporation now has a monopoly over the energy industry. Dreyfus envisions a city powered by mako reactors. The Golden Saucer is founded. 1963 AC – There is a record decline in crop yield at Gongaga. Other settlements will report similar phenomena. 1964 AC - They branch out into other fields such as transportation, entertainment, medicine, and weapons development. 1966 AC – Construction begins on a city in the plains of Kalm. The city is named Midgar after the fallen kingdom. 1968 AC – Mako poisoning, a condition of chronic lethargy found among mako reactor workers, is first diagnosed by Doctor Spurius Crescent. Shin-Ra spends a considerable amount to keep this discovery from the public eye. Dreyfus Shinra himself falls victim to the condition and his son becomes the President of Shin-Ra corp. The Turks are founded. 1969 AC – Dr. Crescent’s daughter, Lucretia, is granted a full scholarship by Arnold Shinra. However this is partly blackmail to keep Spurius from trying to go public about mako poisoning. 1970 AC – Professor Gast Faremis becomes head of the Shin-Ra’s Science Department. 1971 AC – Crisis Theory is introduced by a researcher of the Cetra claiming that prolonged use of mako is depleting the Lifestream of the planet leading to the degradation of the environment. Eventually there will be a Crisis in which energy becomes too scarce to support civilization and the Planet can no longer support life. 1972 AC – Shin-Ra silences any public support of Crisis Theory. Privately they begin several projects to avert the Crisis while maintaining their monopoly. They fund a space program and an expedition to the North Continent, believing the Ancient legend of the Promised Land to be an infinite source of mako. 1973 AC – Dreyfus Shinra passes away. After years of lobbying, Shin-Ra Corp is granted the right to their own private military: the Shin-Ra Security Forces (SSF). An expedition composed led by colleagues Professor Gast Faremis and Grimoire Valentine along with protégés Hojo, Hollander and Lucrecia travel to explore the ruins of the Ancients. Bone Village is founded near cache of fossils. 1974 AC - Rocket Town is founded with the intent of finding a new planet to immigrate to in the event of Crisis. Professor Gast and team are lead by the writings of a corrupted Cetra to a dormant body in the Northern Crater. He believes it to be the body of an Ancient called Jenova. Grimoire and Lucrecia discover the Omega Prophecy of the Cetra, translating the text leads them to a mysterious cave where a unique materia is unearthed. 1975 AC – The expedition returns from the Northern Crater with Jenova. While researching the Chaos Magicite at Shinra Manor, a mishap leads to the death of Grimoire. As an act of contrition, Lucrecia ceases her project and joins Professor Gast’s team. 1976 AC – Midgar is completed, Shin-Ra moves their headquarters to the city. 1977 AC – Local militias dwindle as most potential recruits find Shin-Ra’s privatized military branch to be more lucrative. Midgar’s population swells as local villages continue to experience crop failure. Shin-Ra commissions the Jenova Project hoping to clone an Ancient capable of finding the Promised Land. 1978 AC –Professor Hojo deduces that Jenova is not a Cetra but he keeps that information secret from Gast and the rest of the team. He is intrigued by how Jenova’s cells react to the presence of the Lifestream. The Turks assign Grimoire’s son to guard the research staff. 1979 AC – Lucrecia marries Professor Hojo. She reluctantly volunteers their unborn child for the Jenova Project. 1980 AC – Professor Gast mysteriously disappears. Hojo becomes head of the Science Department after a brief power struggle with Hollander. Shin-Ra takes interest building a reactor in Wutai, but the government refuses to sell them the land they which is considered sacred. The Jenova Project produces three infants: Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis. 1983 AC – In an effort to force Wutai to relent, Shin-RA lobbies high tariffs on all goods imported from the nation. After a mysterious incident at Shinra Manor, Agent Valentine is listed as KIA amongst the Turks. 1984 AC – Lucrecia disappears. 1985 AC – The Jenova Project is deemed a failure at producing an Ancient. However, the children produced demonstrate enhanced abilities giving them military potential. After a brief a sabbatical to the Icicle Lodge, Hojo brings a woman and infant into custody. 1986 AC – Professor Hollander transfers to the department of robotics. Banora White Apple Juice becomes a top export of the village. Select members of Shin-Ra’s army are drafted into a top secret project called SOLDIER. 1987-1988 AC – Many SOLDIER recruits are issued disability decommissions due to cancer and mako poisoning. 1989 AC – Dead land beneath Midgar is noticeable. Information on Crisis theory and mako poisoning is leaked to Wutai. This renews their resolve to resist Shin-Ra. 1991 AC – AVALANCHE is formed as an environmental movement to protect the Planet. At first they practice peaceful protest and civil disobedience, but after being put down violently by the SSF and publicly vilified by the Shin-Ra-run propaganda machine, they eventually resort to increasingly violent methods. 1992 - 2000 AC – The Wutai War, at first the head for the department of Public Safety, General Heidegger, is reluctant to field what he sees as a bunch of mutants created by Hojo. Early in the war, Wutai gains ground with several victories due guerilla tactics and better knowledge of the terrain. After the SSF suffers heavy casualties, President Shinra orders Heidegger to deploy SOLDIER. The elite fighting force turns the tides of the war. 1st Class SOLDIER Sephiroth is decorated as a war hero and presented to the public as the face of SOLDIER, inspiring many volunteers who wish to follow in his footsteps. 2000 AC – Arnold’s son, Rufus Shinra, becomes Vice-President of the corporation. Lazard Deusericus, believed to be President Shinra’s illegitimate son, becomes director of the SOLDIER union. The Mass SOLDIER Desertion Incident. 2001 AC – Godo Kisaragi surrenders to Shin-Ra, officially ending the Wutai War. In response, many disillusioned soldiers desert the Wutai Militia and join AVALANCHE. Instead of building a mako reactor, Wutai becomes a tourist town. Hollander invents the shindroid, an intelligent construct. Shinra sees them as potential replacements for hume mako reactor operators. Wage laborers are unwelcome to the idea. 2002 AC – Nibelheim reports abnormalities with their mako reactor. Fearing potential AVALANCHE involvement, Shin-Ra deploys 1st Class SOLDIERs Sephiroth and Zack Faire to investigate. Nine days later, the town is set a flame and both SOLDIERs disappear. The Incident is covered up by Shin-Ra. 2003 AC – After the failure of the 26th Rocket Launch, Shin-Ra defunds their space exploration program. In response to the numerous layoffs in favor of shindroid operators, the town of North Corel threatens to shut down their reactor. During the dispute, the mako reactor is destroyed in a bombing by AVALANCHE. Shin-Ra accuses the township of collaborating with the sabotage and responds by decimating the population with military force. The surviving foreman, Barret Wallace, believes that the sabotage was a false flag operation executed by the Turks and thus joins AVALANCHE. 2004 AC – The Reunionist Cult sprouts up in the Slums of Midgar. They claim that a day of reckoning is approaching. 2006 AC – A nanaki is captured by the Turks. 2007 AC – Campaign Start. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 10-01-2015 Here's a little rough Outline I've got for Midgar. City Description • Overview o Plates o Sectors o Slums • Upper Plate o Train Stations o Mako Reactors o Sector 0  Shin-Ra HQ  Midgar Highway • Slums o Sector 7  7th Heaven Bar  Train Graveyard o Sector 5  Church o Sector 6  Green Park  Wall Market • Honeybee Inn • Corneo Hall o Sector 8  Reunionist Cult Factions • Shin-Ra Corp. o Executive  President Arnold Shinra  Vice President Rufus Shinra o Science Department  Professor Hojo  Shindroid Development • Professor Hollander o Weapons Development  Scarlet o Space Exploration  Palmer o Urban Development Department  Reeve Tuesti o Public Safety and Maintenance  Heidegger  Security Department (SSF)  Roboguard  Investigative Division of General Affairs • Turks o SOLDIER  Lazard Deusericus • Don Corneo’s Syndicate o Don Corneo o Honeybee Inn • AVALANCHE o Fuhito • Reunionist Cult o Tarquin RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - Viladin - 10-01-2015 Interested to see more of this. My current players are about to invade Midgar. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 10-16-2015 Here is a rough draft for the city description. I think this will be an introductory passage. I want to go into more depth about the Sectors, their layout, and the corresponding Slums. I'm thinking Sector 8 is would have a location like Time Square. Sector 1 would be industrial and manufacturing. Midgar Overview Midgar is a technological metropolis and the current center of civilization in Gaia. The city is composed of nine sectors with one at the center surrounded by the other eight radiating outward all on an enormous elevated platform called the Plate. Each sector is supported by pillars and a Mako reactor. Circling the entire city is the Wall. Some of the populous has taken to calling the Midgar the Big Pizza due to its resemblance to the eponymous dish. Detractors, however, liken it to a rotten pizza; for though the city is a marvel of technology, magitek and engineering, it is plagued with social and ecological issues. The populace is heavily divided by class as only the elite and higher ranking employees of Shin-Ra can afford to live on the Plate. The working class, the infirm, and the poor are relegated to the land beneath the Plate known as the Slums. While both the Slums and the Plate are powered by the Mako reactors, pollution and Lifestream drain has taken a heavy toll on the land around the city. Compounded with Shin-Ra’s aggressive militaristic policies, Midgar is seen as a den of inequality in which the privileged few live at the expense of not only the oppressed many but the Planet herself. Though construction on the city began in 1976 AC, it was first conceived of by Dreyfus Shinra the founder and CEO of Shin-Ra Corp as well as the inventor of Mako powered technology. He first presented his ideas for an elevated radial city powered by Mako reactors at a convention in the Golden Saucer the year of 1962 AC. Dreyfus envisioned it to be a utopian capital of Humekind civilization in which the growth of industry, technology, and culture was promoted by the meeting of minds in an ergonomically planned urban community. Despite his enthusiasm and the company’s monopoly of the energy industry, his investors and fellow business moguls remained cautiously skeptical. Perhaps, it was for this reason that Dreyfus began expanding Shin-Ra beyond the bounds of an electric company into other fields in order to prove the viability of his project. Sadly he contracted Mako poisoning just two years later. Taking the reins from his catatonic father, Arnold Shinra successfully expanded Shin-Ra’s holdings and resources enough to begin construction of the city. The Upper Plate The city proper is built on an elevated base called the Upper Plate or the Plate for short. This super structure is a series of interconnected platforms supported by network pillars on the ground level. The Plate serves as not only as the foundations for the numerous buildings and streets but also as a base for a network of sewers and tunnels that carry waste to the Ground level. The city is divided into 9 Sectors. Around the central district, Sectors 1-8 are arrayed on wedge-shaped divisions of the Upper Plate in clockwise fashion. Each Sector has a Central Pillar that bears the brunt of its weight in addition to its system of support beams. At key locations at the end of each Sector is one of Shin-Ra’s eight city Mako reactors. Named after each Sector, together the reactors provide power for the entire city. Though they extend to the Ground level in order to tap into the Planet’s Lifestream, entrance to the reactors is only accessible from the Plate. At any given time, at least six of the eight plants are providing power to the rest of the city. Encircling both the reactors and the Sectors is a protective structure called the Wall. Though all nine Sectors are divided, a mass transit railroad allows the residents to commute between Sectors as well as between the Plate and the Ground levels. A series of highways extends across the Sectors through tunnels in the Wall, allowing transit in and out of the city. Sector 0 is the central district where Shin-Ra Headquarters stands. Towering over seventy stories high, Shin-Ra HQ is dominates the skyline of Midgar. The building serves as city hall for Midgar’s nominal elected officials and the home office to the whole company. With top grade security, accommodations for all of the heads of the corporation’s divisions, landing pads and its own private Mako reactor, Shin-Ra HQ is essentially a modern age palace complete with a penthouse suite for President Shinra himself. Authority Figures: Mayor Domino is the duly elected official of the city. However, his power to govern is in name only. In truth the elected officials are figureheads to give civilians some sense of control over their lives. It takes the backing of Shin-Ra to win any sort of election. This veneer is so thin that the offices of the mayor and his cabinet are located in the headquarters of the company itself. The Slums Beneath the Plate is the Ground level or the Slums as its residents call it. While the wealthy and Shin-Ra’s VIPs enjoy life in the city proper, the lower class must toil daily amidst the refuse of the former. Day or night, the Slums are shrouded in a constant shadow with only slivers of light reaching surface from between the seams and cracks of the Plate. The Slums are mainly comprised of shantytowns hastily put together by those who could not afford better. Amidst the heaps are old churches and cottages of towns that had once prospered until their lands were purchased and drained to build the city. Such settlements are mere relics now, their names forgotten buried in history books. Though they are supplied with energy like the rest of the city, their public infrastructure has fallen into disrepair due to neglect. Most streets, power lines, and light fixtures are built and maintained by the Slum residents at their own expense being unable to afford the services of the city. In fact learning to rig engines and cords is among the basic skills taught to children raised in the Slums. The only facilities that Shin-Ra goes out of its way to repair and maintain are the Ground level train stations. The mass transit system is one of the only means for residents of the Slums to legally enter the city proper. Typically these “slummers” travel to the Plate to work in the factories of city’s industrial districts. There, they work for long hours in a drab and often hazardous environment on the Plate only tiredly shuffle back to their homes below after the end of their shift. The wage they receive is barely enough to get by. Unfortunately, the slummers have little choice but to endure these conditions. Mako energy has rendered the land beneath Midgar barren. With no means of producing their own sustenance, the city imports food from rural towns like Banora in order to feed the population. In order to afford any marked up goods from the markets of the Upper Plate while being a cheaper alternative to an automated workforce of shindroids, the average slummer is forced to eschew health and comfort as luxuries. Naturally vice and crime grows in the shadows of poverty and neglect. Amidst the dirt trodden streets of the Slums, some residents turn to theft and con; instead of making an honest living, they take the train to pickpocket or scam men and women on the Plate. Others, however, choose to live off their fellow Slum inhabitants instead of risking arrest on the guarded streets. It is not rare for slummers to return from work to ruined houses where their cloths and other valuables have been stolen and pawned off. With little response from local authorities, slummer neighborhoods are forced to rely on street gangs as form of protection. As often as not, the latter may end exploiting and terrorizing the former. Prostitution, gambling, drug use, and alcoholism are common place in the Slums. Men and women who have a harder time finding work on the Plate are forced to sell their bodies to make ends meet. The opportunity to win big in games of chance is often more alluring than the hazards of losing what little they have. Intoxication is one of the few reprieves people from all walks of life can find in under the Plate. If that were not enough, malevolent vermin and hostile creatures infest the Ground level. Some say that the waste of the Mako reactors is to blame for these monstrosities, however none can say for certain. Authority Figures: Don Corneo is the wealthiest resident on the Ground level. Having accumulated power and influence through criminal activities, he owns many establishments including the infamous Honeybee Inn. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 10-21-2015 I learned to stat settlements now. Midgar LN Metropolis Corruption +7; Crime +6; Economy +7; Law +7; Lore +7; Society -2 Qualities Notorious, Defensible, Legendary Marketplace, Planned Community, Population Surge, Under-City Danger +40; Disadvantages Fascistic Demographics Government plutocracy Population 20,000,000* Notable NPC’s Puppet Mayor Domino (N male Hume) President Arnold Shinra (LE male Hume) Crime Lord Don Corneo (NE male Hume) * Not sure about the racial distribution but it should be a hume majority and a shindroid minority. Stating the NPC's will come later. Sector 8 Sector 8 is the entertainment district of the city. Restaurants, theatre spaces, night clubs, dance halls and recreational spaces are all found here. Because it is the center of all sorts of activity, new recruits in SOLDIER and the Turks make routine patrols in this Sector. Condition As a regular destination for visitors and cosmopolitans, Sector 8 enjoys a well maintained infrastructure. During the weekdays, the streets are mostly peopled by commuters and matinee patrons. On weekends, families and couples often enjoy a casual stroll by the Fountain. At nighttime, the sector comes alive as crowds of high society and middle class alike gather in the light of street lamps and neon signs to see a performance after enjoying fine dinner at one the district’s expensive gourmet restaurants. With such a bustling nightlife, street performers and sundry vendors will pop up from the Slums to play and peddle for pocket change. Naturally pickpockets, con men, and thugs flock the streets from the Slums as well. Others merely come to beg or stalk the back alleys of restaurants to raid the dumpsters of half-eaten dinners. While Shin-Ra tolerates the performers and vendors, it will swiftly arrest and prosecute thieves, beggars, and scavengers. Places of Note LOVELESS Avenue - largest site of professional theatre spaces in the world. Over 40 venues including Sirenstage put on shows ranging from classic plays to new musicals to avant-garde pieces. Most visitors try to catch at least one show during their stay in the city. However, tickets to these performances are not cheap. Even the furthest seat in the house costs more than an average slummer’s annual earnings. Box seats are normally reserved for high society patrons who are more interested in the status of the seat than the performance itself. The Fountain – A small plaza where couples may rendezvous for quaint stroll. The occasional performer and vendor can be found here, peddling their wares form pocket change. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - Viladin - 10-27-2015 Pretty awesome, Dingo. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 12-08-2015 Sector 8 Slums This shanty has the greatest concentration of Reunionists in Midgar. Most normal slummers avoid this area due to the disturbing nature of these black cloaked men and women. In the past it was a collection of rural towns and communities that suffered a heavy epidemic of Mako Poisoning during the construction of the city. I'd like a little feedback about how Sector 7 should function. I'm thinking a shopping center/hotel district. Sector 6 would access the docks (still under construction). On another side note: I'm thinking of make DEEPGROUND and Tsviets into an army of advanced shindroids pioneered by Hollander rather than a branch of SOLDIER. I feel that would make them stand out better than the canon. Special Note: Knowledge (Nature, History, Urban) DC 15. Natural grown flowers are hard to come by in Midgar. Usually they are either synthetic or imported from outside the city and are thus very expensive. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 01-10-2016 Be careful traveling in the Slums, you might run into this guy. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 01-15-2016 Here are a few more things I've been working on: Guard Scorpion https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9dzxgEjF-uRMGV3VE5EbW5meVE/view?usp=sharing Rufus Shinra + Dark Nation https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9dzxgEjF-uRUC1YZDVuSi1SUG8/view?usp=sharing Also an FYI, I've been using Kyle Olson's Combat Manager Application to generate these bestiary sheets. It's pretty good freeware. http://combatmanager.com/ RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 01-21-2016 Variant Setting Rules: Diminished Magic In a barely remembered past, magic was a forced that could be wielded as potently as in any world. No one knows for sure why this changed for Gaia; only that it did. The Planet’s connection to the Outer Sphere was disrupted. As a result, spell casters could not command the elemental forces that powered their spells and summoners lost their innate connection to the eidolons and espers. Spell casters are now rare due to these limitations as modern civilization advanced in ways less reliant on magic. However, they are not disappeared altogether. In gameplay terms, spell casting classes cannot learn and cast spells above Level 0 simply by spending MP. A character’s access to spells is limited to materia. However, spell casters are more adept at wielding magic and summoning materia than other classes. Materia in the possessed by a spell caster need not be attached to be used for casting gains MXP simply by being wielded by the caster. A spell caster with a spell materia corresponding to her spell list can spend MP to substitute her caster level for the item’s CL when casting that spell. Still as this can put caster classes at a severe disadvantage during early levels, the GM is encouraged to grant a spell casting PCs a level 1 common spell materia. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 12-01-2017 So after a long hiatus and partially prompted by FFVII Machinabridged Season 2. I've decided to come back here and post the notes I had for some of the other Sectors and the roles they play in the setting. Naturally, since I know jack about urban planning and development, it's probably a poor idea of how a city should be plotted out but I thought that each sector would comprise the lion's share of a different aspect to the city. Like Sector 5 would be the location of warehouses and manufacturing, Sector 7 would be low income housing, Sector 7 Largely a residential district for lower income employees. Places of Note Little Wutai Choco Market Conditions: Roads and walks are in slight disrepair due to neglect. DC checks for Acrobatics and Drive are increased by 2. Sector 7 Slums The land under Sector 7 is the location of the western ground level train station. This makes Sector 7 Slums somewhat busier than most. Though down trodden, the people living there find solace in the local bar: 7th Heaven. Places of Note 7th Heaven West Ground Level Train Station – Train Graveyard Sector 6 At one point, Sector 6 was West Midgar’s bustling mercantile district. However, a disaster resulted in the destruction of most of the Sector 6 Plate. Only a few factories, residential apartments, and warehouses are left. Knowledge (history) DC 10 The incident that totaled the Sector 6 Plate occurred 7 years ago. DC 15 Official sources claimed it was a natural disaster. Survivors only recall being evacuated by SSF and city relief teams. DC 20 Plans exist to restore Sector 6, but budget cuts to Urban Planning Department have delayed these efforts. Only the reactor received any restoration. DC 25 Rumor has it that the incident is related to the Mass SOLDIER desertion incident. Sector 6 Slums The ground level of Sector 6 is the center of “nightlife” for slummers. The aptly named Wall Market is a bustling cluster business. Unfortunately, this economic prosperity is due to the cimelord activities of Don Corneo’s syndicate. The lecherous mobster makes his home in a mansion adjacent to the shopping center. His wealth is accumulated from drugs, gambling and prostitution. Places of Note Wall Market Honey Bee Inn  Corneo Hall  Sector 5 Manufacturing and warehouse district. Sector 4 Initially, this Sector was going to be the a lower income residential district, however Arnold Shinra scrapped these plans in favor of military garrisons, barracks, weapon testing facilities. Sector 3 Places of Note Garuda Aerodrome Sector 2 Center of higher learning and technical development(?) Places of Note The Dreyfus Academy of Higher Learning - tuition goes as high as 7 million Gil a semester without proper sponsorship. Sector 1 Sector 1 is the location of high class residents and commerce...basically the Wall Street of Midgar Places of Note North Edge Station Hilda Square This needs some polishing and some input from anyone who knows city planning would be appreciated. I've also come up with some notes about Dreyfus Shinra's original plans. - He originally envisioned it to be a utopia inspired by the tales of circular cities of the Ancients. Automation would free the residents of back breaking labor and allow them to pursue careers as scientists, artists, and engineers. It would be an egalitarian society under the supervision of an enlightened council - He never intended the company to have a standing army. The only part of the city designed with the military in mind would be the Wall. It was Arnold Shinra and Heidegger who added the barracks and missile platforms to the design. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 10-11-2019 The idea isn’t dead but I’ve been MIA due to life. I’m drawing blanks on further discussion about Midgar and the rest of the setting, so I figured i’d share some of my ideas about the campaign itself. It begins in Midgar similar to how FF VII began, except you choose whether you want the party to start on the side of Shin-Ra or AVALANCHE. You could theoretically run a game where the PCs are divided on this but the overall that’s I’ll advised unless you have multiple GMs on the same page. Both sides have their own agenda, well intentioned extremists, and moral event horizons. They begin at cover the war with one another that takes an unexpected turn. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 10-15-2019 Here’s a rough draft of the Jenovite subtype , there will later be a an acquired template later on. Subtype: Jenovite Description - A subtype applied to any creature with active Jenova cells. Jenova Sense (Su) - functions like Detect Undead, except it only detects creatures with the Jenovite subtype. This ability is considered always on. Call to Reunion (Su) - Jenova cells are drawn by an inexplicable desire. Three times a day, a Jenovite is able to replicate the effects of Dominate, Command, or Confusion against another Jenovite with fewer Hit Dice in a range of close. This is is treated as a compulsion spell-like ability with a caster level equal to the creature’s total Hit Dice and Will Save DC equal to 10 + 1/2 HD + Con Mod. At will, a Jenovite can talk to other Jenovites at close range via telepathy. I’m also coming up with a Vehicular Chase Encounter that RPs the G-Bike sequence of FFVII. The central idea is that it will be an encounter like with combat bit using a different layout and measurement. RE: CSW-Gaia: The Planet in Crisis (FFVII) - RedDingo777 - 10-21-2019 HTo wit, vehicles will have a maneuverability value (similar to Flight) and an acceleration value. There will be a grid layout (tentatively known as Chase Squares) that measures the relative difference in speed between combatants and roles for the driver and passengers. There will be a greater emphasis on teamwork and challenges depending on the condition of the road, traffic, and weather.