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The image from the very start of Gramarie

Gramarie is a homebrew subsystem for 3.5e Dungeons & Dragons created by Kellus on Giant in the Playground forums, originally described as "Magitek that doesn't make me cry myself to sleep.", and is based around using science and magic in a manner better focused for world-building. In addition to the "official" Gramarie system, fans started creating content such as new Disciplines and Prestige Classes, expanding the project even further than Kellus's work.

On the 3rd day of 2014, Kellus returned after a long disappearance and released control over Gramarie by saying that it was the community's system; since then a council has been formed and the system is currently undergoing a revision.

There are multiple Campaign Settings being designed for these rules:

  • Dying Echos: A Birthright like setting with influences from the Assassin's Creed series. Setting started by Arcanist.
  • Fractured Horizons: A universe created from the destruction of many others, which is designed to have a sci-fi feel to it and also facilitate over the top shonen-style fights. Setting started by Milo v3.
  • Jerall: A destroyed wasteland with heavy influences from the Fallout series. Setting started by Arcanist.
  • Nevermorph: Ravenloft which has been changed by the universe's destruction, inhabited by elves which planned for such destruction. Setting started by thethird.
  • Shattered World: A world destroyed by powerful magic; much of the land has been reduced to floating islands orbiting a molten core. Setting started by Alcyius.

The Gramarie system is currently at "My Little Gramarist: SCIENCE! is Magic", despite Milo's disgruntlement at it. A compendium of the non-Kellus material can be located here, though it hasn't been updated in a while because of the absence of Arcanist.

There is also an IRC Chat for Gramarie; the link will connect you using mibbit and should you wish to connect using another client it is #Gramarie at irc.rizon.net.


This subsystem provides examples of:

  • Abnormal Ammo: Ballistic Engines can turn nearly anything into a projectile. Arcanodynamic transformer outputs can be used as weapons as well that fire things from fire and lasers to sonic blasts and health. Note, both engines and transformers can be shaped like normal guns.
    • Anabolists can gain an Evolution to fire their limbs as short range projectiles.
  • Absurdly Sharp Claws: Claws grafted onto a Biojack are much sharper than they otherwise would be.
  • Ancient Artifact: Voidwalkers are artifacts left from Monolith beings when there were testing to make sure the Universe of Fractured Horizons was recycling the multiverses correctly.
  • Arcology: Must easier to accomplish when you can make materials more durable and strong, and modify gravity.
  • Artificial Gravity: Easily accomplished with Yggdratecture gravity fluxes.
  • Auto-Doc: Silver Output Transformers convert ebbs into Vital Energy, which heals those nearby (including undead).
  • Ballistic Bone: Anabolists can use their ELDK 219: Atypical Ballistic evolution combined with a natural weapon formed of bone to do this.
    • Interestingly, the Ballistics Engine uses bone for fuel.
  • Bio-Augmentation: Grafts of various kinds can accomplish this and the Biojack class is focused towards around improving the biollurgical augmentations.
  • Body Horror: Biollurgy can play this straight. Also, there is no reason Anabolist's transformations cannot be flavoured this way.
  • Blob Monster: Ooze typed Biollurgical Chassis.
  • Brain/Computer Interface: Heuristics allows for this.
  • Brain Uploading: Transcholar can do this in a manner.
  • Cloning Body Parts: Biollurgical Savant can grow organs to be used for grafting.
  • Closed Circle: Nevermorph exists as a closed circle, stopping the inhabitants from escaping.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Kaleidomantic Filters are colour coded to show what they filter and act solid towards.
  • Combat Tentacles: One of the many grafts that can be grown onto a Biollurgical Chassis.
  • Comm Links: Nanites can function as these.
  • Cool Starship: Thanks to Eldrikinetics this can be easily done without having to worry about the aerodynamics of the cool design. Or you could use gravity fluxes and have the ship fall into them. Or you a living ship that flies the distance.
  • Deflector Shields: Both Arcanodynamic input transformers and Kaleidomantic Filters can be used to form shields around a vehicle.
  • Do-Anything Robot: It's possible to have a biollurgical chassis which functions as an eldrikinetic engine, arcanodynamic transformer, a geoccult pole, and have a copper divining rod embedded in it.
    • If Reshar could change between modes faster they would fit this trope rather well, especially with Mode Feats adding in flight, invisibility, burrowing, and shields.
  • Dowsing Device: Divinentropy's 'Divining Rods' likely took at least abit of inspiration from dowsing rods, but are very different in the end.
  • Drop Pod: A simple form of Drop Pod can be made from a semi-space inside of a Alchemetry enhanced metal shell.
  • Drop Ship: Can be made with Biollurgy, Eldrikinetics or Fluxes.
  • Dyson Sphere: Could be created with enough gold input transformers.
  • Elemental Weapon: Some types of Filter weapons are made of things like Corrosive Gas, Heat, Steam, Stone or even Water.
  • Energy Beings: Ebb Elementals are beings made out of raw puissance.
  • Energy Weapon:
    • Arcanodynamic output transformers can shoot energy from lightning to fire to even radioactive energy.
    • Lasers can be created with Gold Output Transformers, though have a maximum range.
  • Everything Sensor: Averted with Divinentropy. Each type of rod has specific things it detects.
  • Fantastic Science: Gramarists play this straight.
  • Faster-Than-Light Travel: This can take many forms through gramarie:
    • Planejumping Engines are Jump Drives creating a portal in front of them and then pass through to another place in the setting.
    • Alternating Fluxes can swap two areas instantaneously accord any distance (including planar), getting a big enough one could teleport a whole ship into empty space.
    • Joined Semi-spaces allow for instant travel.
    • Stellar Cartographer's can navigate vessels to any location they have mapped instantaneously, though it requires destroying the map.
  • Flaming Sword: While technically not flaming, a sword superheated to be liquid or boiling but forced into it's normal shape through yellow filters can be immensely hot and are effectively sharp molten blades.
  • Flying Car: Can be easily created using silver and wood engines.
  • Force-Field Door: Can be created with Kaleidomantic filters, violet filters specifically stops living things from passing through it. Note, filters do not require a power source to function.
  • Genetic Memory: There are two straight examples: The Cora's hivemind memory that contains the knowledge of every human and cora that has lived in any of the worlds, and the Theory of Soft Characteristics which grants a parents class levels and feats to it's child.
    • The Elves of Nevermorph campaign possess a magical subversion of this trope, with ancestors appearing in their trances.
  • Good Thing You Can Heal: Regeneration is available as a graft for people and to be grown onto chassis. Autopilots also get the ability to regrow their limbs when they enter or leave their chassis form.
  • Hard Light: Kaleidomantic Filters are hard light, but they are only solid to certain things depending on the filters colour.
  • Hollywood Acid: Both acids and bases deal acid damage in Gramarie, and this acid damage automatically bypasses the hardness of most objects causing them to melt nearly anything. Though some materials like tin are highly resistant to acid, and barely take any damage from it.
  • Hollywood Magnetism: Using Alchemetry, you can make basically anything ferromagnetic.
  • Hologram: Easily created through Immachination.
  • Human Aliens: Cora and Nordae both have human appearance; except the Cora are generally blood red in skin colour, and nordae are much shorter (though still in proportion).
  • Humanoid Aliens: Reshar are humanoid shaped, but are completely metallic on the outside and can have a variety of robotic appearances, ranging from things like Iron Man armour to Collector-like bodies.
  • Human Popsicle: Stone divining rods can place someone in stasis, doing this trope except without any of the cold.
  • Humongous Mecha: Construct typed Biollurgical Chassis can have a cockpit to function as these.
    • Biojacks can turn any mindless Biollurgical Chassis into a Mecha.
    • Autopilots can turn themselves into these.
  • Invisibility Cloak: Immachination can create these.
  • Insectoid Aliens: Xendrik are a race of giant spider people.
  • Jet Pack: Silver Engine strapped to your back? Add some wood in aswell so you can go forward. Another option is to use gravity fluxes and "fall" wherever you want.
  • Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: Created through Eldrikinetics, specifically Atypical Ballistics.
  • Laser Blade: Red filter swords are transparent weapons that superheat anything the "blade" passes through.
  • Laser Sight: Could be made with sight based Immachination.
  • LEGO Genetics: Transvolution plays this straight.
  • Living Ship: These can be easily made by converting an existing ship into biostructure, or you can make the ship from biostructure in the first place.
  • Magitek: Played Straight.
  • Mechanical Life Forms: Can be made with Biollurgy.
  • A Mech by Any Other Name: Construct Biollurgical Chassis are effectively Mechs.
  • Mind-Control Device: Psychomantics can control entire populations through good smart use of transmitters.
  • Mind Rape: Dreamasons can do these, and Experimental Thoughts can be used offensively by linking someones mind with an Allip or Eiko's favourite Cthulhu.
  • Natural Weapon: Anabolist and Biollurgical Chassis often have a large amount of these grown into their bodies.
  • Neural Implanting: Psychomantics 101 implants a transmitter into an individuals brain.
  • Omniscient Database: Once you reach Doctorate technology, there's no reason for EI with this amount of information and function to not exist.
  • Organic Technology: Biollurgy plays this straight, and can be used to make living armour, weapons, mechs, ships, and basically anything else that's made of metal.
    • Reshar are a race of robots, but are completely organic on the inside.
  • Our Elves Are Different: Nevermorph has several varieties of elves.
  • Portal Network: Joined Semi-spaces and the discipline of Travelemetry can be used to make these.
  • Power Pincers: One of the modes of Reshar.
  • Psychic Powers: Some Prestige classes require the use of psionics, and some Jerall base classes incorporate psionics.
  • Ride the Lightning: One Eldrikinetic engine converts it and whatever it is attached to into lightning
  • Seers: Use of Divinentropic Rods can make anyone a Seer.
  • Shapeshifting: Anabolists are shapechangers and it's also possible to grow biollurgical chassis which can take alternate forms.
  • Sky Surfing: Can be made with silver and wood engines, though you probably want to use the Intricate Engineering discovery so it's not huge and heavy.
  • Some Kind of Force Field: Averted. Kaleidomantic Filters are highly visable and are a specific colour.
  • Starfish Aliens: Xendrik are invertebrates, have non-human physiology, can reproduce many tiny "drone" males asexually, and require another female to reproduce another female. Plus, they look like giant spiders but with more legs.
  • Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Sorta the point of this subsystem.
  • Sufficiently Advanced Alien: Fractured Dragons.
  • Superhuman Trafficking: This can happen with Biollurgical Chassis, and specifically occurs within Xendrik culture.
  • Talking Animal: The Erina are effectively talking giant ravens, except for the tails and assimilation of eaten creatures.
  • Telepathy: Can be made through Heuristics. Cora also have a species exclusive form of telepathy.
  • Transhuman: Multiple methods:
    • Transcholar prestige class transcends the character into an EI
    • Grafting
  • Trick Bullet: The basis behind several Gunslinger Deeds.
  • Unobtainium: Magicite from Shattered World plays this straight.
  • Virtual Ghost: Transcholars can do this.
  • Wall Crawl: Xendrik can do this, and it is also a graft that can be grown onto Biollurgical Chassis.
  • Walking Transplant: Biollurgical Chassis can be designed, simply so they can be harvested for grafts.
  • We Have Reserves: When you can create a near infinite amount of creatures with mid-level Biollurgy, you can quickly stop worrying about losing a few hundred soldiers.

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