Random Penumbra setting fun: naughty stuff and theme rambling!

I have been enjoying exploring an urban fantasy idea I've had rambling around since literally 2000. So many tropes are built into the litRPG setting of this idea that it needs a touch of explaining. So far it's Shadowrun if it's soul was a D&D campaign, so urban dungeonpunk D&D in the far year of 1999, and have fun deconstructing D&D tropes with a bit of poking fun at modern life. One of the things I've been batting at is kind of the fun of making up setting details to really flesh out your weird fantasy world. So kinda, going over some aesthetics and vibes, as may sneak some little stories and games in this setting. Also joke's on you, a lot of my little stories already basically take place here, just without the adventure world vibe.

Speaking of adventure world, this one has your usual generic human-led Coalition conquers most of the world, and is now becoming an interplanar empire. And yes, they're so "MURRICA! themed it should hurt, go have fun with it. It's inspired by very 80's anime, comic, and animation tropes. That punk rock, rage against the machine vibe. Their own cities tending to be very 'citizen only' and monsters don't usually count of course. Though the namesake city is the major monster city of the setting, that is super loosely based off the Seattle metro area (Seattle downtown is Coalition territory, Bellevue area is Penumbra, the main monster city and setting). Think modern tech, but D&D magic, so resurrection insurance, spellcasting, monsters, extraplanar jumpships, and some super tech via magic usually. Some early cyber/magictech replacement stuff too.This is a game heavily inspired by Scion, where belief and prayer power the gods, who then grant those powers back down to their followers.

Aesthetically it's very 80's anime. Lots of neon, signs, railway and subways. Cars are slightly less common, because oil is a pain to get, because there's so many frickin annoying monsters out in the world =D Internet is still 80s ish. Tech overall is like, early 80s + magical enchanted super tech, so it's very schizotech vibed. A bit less plastic in this world, a lot more aluminum, wood and glass. Bakelite might be a legit option =D And like, plastic and stuff exists, just only when it's really necessary and is a bit expensive. Go have fun with it, think Horno's Magic Item Hole. This is a world that has gone through 3 major ages. The very old mythical age (think gods duking it out to create the world), then the medieval classic D&D, and then the industrial revolution and all the fun of fiat currency, credit cards, mathcoprocessors, and 4 megabytes of smoking hot RAM worth a literal kingdom's ransom. Mechs and power armor exist, but they're expensive. Go dig into some fun 80s cyberpunk because it's just fun. Plugging yourself into a public telephone box to hack from =D Magic wise everything exists, but it has a vague D&D vibe. Schools of magic are discussed, wizards are more common (generally most people can learn about a level worth of wizard magic without any ascensions (gaining levels). Sorcerers less so (generally monsters don't breed across. Though outsider beings can grant you powers and stuff, so you know, being TF'd into a half dragon is legit. also extraplanar beings themselves, all the usuals exist. Obviously I can't use the sexy ones, but you know there's hot illithid porn videos out there on the Penumbra 'net.



The game has a few big rules as a setting, to just kind of capture the vibe I want. big rule 0 is "Go make it your own, but here's the broad strokes to think about when making a race for the game." Really want kind of a Traveller vibe more, really play out being an alien species than just "pointy human" =D But if you don't like it, go ahead and switch it out. A lot of time it presents options like Eclipse Phase does, you can adjust how racist or fascist the Coalition is. It is the 'murrica! and had the classic 'rebellion against tyranny slips into tyranny' story we all know perhaps too well >< but you roll you on how you want it to hit =D Remember, it's night city though, a lot more alien than just normal modern world, to encourage 'adventurers' (aka paid killers) to blossom and do crazy fights while ignoring the sheer casualties of super powered combat in urban centers.

The Rule 1 is Sentient species only, so can't be feral, or so murderous/evil they couldn't control just killing everyone =D How far you push that can be tricky, so a very good idea to have the party discuss their ideas and RP goals of their characters to make sure you don't end up with the party of: Druid Gnome exploring her sexuality in shapeshifting, nervous ace kobold dad, gnoll who necrorapes anyone who offends him, and horny satyr bard lady... *record scratch* ugh, really. horny bards? laaame. But you can guess how #3 could land you with the police these days... and yes, that's canon, and probably less weird than the hyenas eat corpses of gnoll victims that foregotten realms uses. We'll just call the necrorape some profane rituals, yeah. it's a profane ritual, not hot kinky necro fucking >.> =D so make sure everyone's on the same kink level, and try to not just super outedge everything. but totally feel free to play up some facehuggers and stuff if you want >:3

So shadowrun type worlds with cheapish resurrection ( thinking $10K for revivify, $50K for Raise Dead, $100K for resurrection, $1M+ for the weird things like true resurrection and wish. these are 1999 dollars, so $25K and up in modern US dollars) means lots of kinky fun to do. So in a vague meandering of exotiness, some tropes and ideas for sex while living around Penumbra. One first law is generally, gender doesn't mean quite as much. Some cultures may have gender norms, but Coalition tends to usually shrug. There is a traditional encouragement to have a lot of kids, since you know, dangerous world. Resurrection is still pretty expensive, but you know, get some insurance and stuff. Ha, probably some people 'on ice' waiting payment >.> The interplanar conflict does lead to a ridiculously dangerous world in some ways. Lots of minor armed conflict, dangerous monsters (like, actual monsters like feral gryphons, not everyone non human, gnome, elf, or dwarf =D, and natural disasters. I mean, this is a world of "MIMIC WATCH, USE A POLE TO INTERACT WITH ALL GARBAGE CANS, DO NOT TOUCH" and a literal garbage can might vore you. This way does not lead to Valhalla.

Despite the usual hubbub and gossip of interspecies relationships, they happen all the time. Though lots of races are a fair bit more alien and non human so actual compatibility could get tricky. Size variations, genital differences, or heck, even having genitals once you get to the outer planar beings. Though usually, inner planes all feature generally natural biology, but biology of all types. Cultural and morality differences can also bump up there. There are cosmic alignments, but good and evil aren't on them. There is order, chaos, creation, and destruction. These do tend to vaaaguely correspond to the usual good, evil, law, chaos of a D&D 3.5 game. So going to bump uglies with a Slaad, deity, Divine Beast, Modron or any other such nonsense may or may not leave your body in the same configuration it started in. Make sure everyone's cool and fine before you start handing out the claw pinchers courtesy of Slaanesh. But I loved the curses of ADOM and "You are what you eat" trope, and those exist. So yes, eating monster can give you super powers >.>

As teased above, there's lots of curses, mutations, and other TF options. And lots of TG goodness as well, I mean, a simple spell and poof~ changed gender. There's still a modest amount of crossdressing and genderqueer, depending on species and culture. Some critters won't show gender the same way, my kobolds in this world are quiet, shy mole people about the size of a lalafell. Females don't show breasts unless lactating, and males are on the smaller end with small sheaths and slender penises. So casual nudity is like, eh, who cares, we live in the dark most of the time with thermal sight. So I already know what your junk looks like BTW. Also for those kobolds I offended with my cutebolds, don't worry, world is very fractal, so just, hey, your version of Penumbra has classic bolds, and how might they fit into these setting questions. If a setting detail is too weird or gross for you, go ahead and tweak it. or give your mole'bolds tiddies, I won't mind =3

Fucking wise, all the usuals, coalition tends to be a bit more conservative to sex stuff, monstertowns tend to be pretty who cares =D Penumbra tends to the gay half, but also some things might be herms, agender, or non compatible (like, hive drone). so the Coalition's views of sex are kind of quaint, but shit gets weird out there in the rest of the planes so who cares what's in someone's pants. Normal consent rules and regulations, so yes, go ahead and take a seat over there. Various races will have various ages of consent, so stop perving on that metapod =D Normal views on incest and stuff. Though I'm sure you can sneak in all your fun kinks. Again, another where it depends. Succubi have some very fun mother's day celebrations. But assume general modern western view but illegality exists people probably pay money for it >.< (update added here)

Then we get to the fun kink tropes. In one case, porn exists. there's VHS equivalent (I've considered crystals as an idea, with a very "Huge crystal ball in a wooden frame, used as a TV" vibe, with video game equivalents existing. adult games for that exist, written by multiple species from their POV") Porn of course often is interspecies. The more exotic and rare, often the more valuable. Getting actual godlike beings on a recorded porno is still the biggest goal. Betting on Aphrodite might be the best bet, though most gods may not wish to have their own vision so perverted. Your character arc and tropes can and will be used against you once you get into deep magic and godlike beings. But otherwise, if it's a big sexy talking monster, there's porn of it. (if it doesn't talk, there might be anyways, but now we're into actual bestiality, and deep taboo. It exists, whether you want your game to hit that is your own game, mate =D I tend to encourage following our good pal Harkness and his test.

Vore exists, as a kink. And now there's a LOT of things that could eat you. Generally it's exactly how it would work in modern, it would be a crime to feed someone to something. people probably feed themselves. Of course, for funsies, there's probably willing vore, resurrection exists, so I mean, if you got the bucks and wanna have a dragon eat you, you're probably not gonna like it =D but hey, go ahead and die in dragon guts and get resurrected out of their.. .well, you know. and yes, accidental vore happens a lot more. Dire animals exist, and might predate on people. Being out of major urban areas can be dangerous, like, Australia but now the emus can flick razor spines because now there's manticores there. Major convoys and trains exist, and they're armed for a reason. Because sometimes a purple worm really makes a mess of the I-5

And yup, murderporn exists! hurrah? if you got BTL type recordings (or magical sensory recordings) then you get the classic 'murdered by kinky snuff death porn sensory-recording, set to max power' trope =3. BTL in shadowrun were recordings of normal type things, but the sensory output blasted above legal settings to make them feel way stranger. so extra die as you experience a memory recording, magic or tech based =D they probably both exist, in a variety of forms. but like most things, actual recordings of death are pretty rare. And yes, people pay to get killed! Actually, it gets more fun.

See, you level up from doing dangerous things in heroic ways. So of course, fighting is usually that. So dangerous sports and activities are way more common, partly, because hey, you can get resurrected. But also, adventuring literally can make you superhuman. It's a known thing, and all players are going to be Heroes, people who have ascended more than a few levels. Most people are like, levels 1-4 in D&D 3.5, and then it gets progressively rarer as you go up in levels, with probably a dozen level 20 characters. The 3.5 hierarchy of threats exists, and level 20 characters would be pretty weird by the end of it all. =D So yes, go ahead and play with those super hero tropes, D&D 3.5 so was just low to mid level supers =D

So why not, say, just straight up do armed combat as training for soldiers. It happens. it's a rarity, very, Spartan/Special Forces/Section 9 vibe, the most elite anti-terrorist/mercenary/soldier/terrorist vibe =D er, wait. But, we can lean into the fun of it. it's televised baby! the most X-Treme of extreme! NFL sports anthem blazes as armed soldier squads run out arms pumping. I mean, I may have to call it the X-Crawl for shoutout vibes. But mine is more literal armed force squad to company sized armed forces fighting for realistic objectives, like securing a gas station for supplies in an urban setting. With literal full might of enchanted gear and magic and tech. And various mercenary, professional, national, and interplanar forces duke it out to prove who's the scariest fuckin' soldier. and get their champions levels =D But yes, the tournament arc is a legit thing =D

Want to have more fun. Go all world tree. Execute people and resurrect them a punishment. Repeatedly. And make them pay for the revivifications. >:3 So yeah, people do some really dark things in the game. Especially in Hell, Gehenna, Ravenloft, Limbo, and all those fun weird, dark, nasty areas of the interplanar realms. Underdark exists as a plane, and it's as nasty as it is in foregotten realms. Souls exist, and can be damaged or destroyed, but most commonly they're eaten by demons to gain some of your power (or occasionally, power other things), it's kind of crass to burn souls,but eh, there's a lot of you out there killig eachother and fucking eachother in kinky ways, so hell's getting kind of full ^.~ yes, goofy D&D heaven and hell exists, and you can planeswalk through them, and even jumpship to them. but yes, you could permadeath with soul vore, and there's known magical devices to help protect souls even. (and scams, or worse)

Being turned full body horror probably isn't fully my thing, but it's a fun trope. Getting turned into a shambling mound sucks, but you should have had body corruption selected in your insurance policy like I told you, Paul. But definitely have full consent from all players before you turn them into shambling mounds. Oh, the setting loves faustian horror and silly, kinky sex as payment vibes. If you can monetize a sin, it's so in the game, because that's how the cyberpunk tropes go =P Amusing realizing this is like, world of darkness with magical girls now.

heh, you could die, and pcs could visit you in heaven, while you wait to get rezzed, Dragonball Z style. (and yes, give you head in heaven =D you can see why this setting has me cackling, just a very 'go have fun and play with D&D tropes') Idea of this ramble is to kind of set a baseline, so others can play with the idea as well, Wild Cards style.