The Campaign Builder's Guild

If you have any questions or comments on the material presented in my CS thread in the homebrew forum, please place them here.  Thanks for your time! :D

This seems to me to be a rather awkward way to construct things.  Might I ask why you want to run things this way?

As far as commenting on what you have so far, I have one question.  What are the denizens of Heaven and Hell?  Do you compress demons and devils into a single plane, and all of the celestials into a single plane?  Does one sort dominate in each?  OR have you made up completely new forms of devilry/angelry for these worlds?

Well, the reason I'm doing it this way is because I don't really feel like having conversations on my other thread...    I guess I'm just wierd like that, so please pardon it's oddness.  As for the Heavens and Hells, there will be Demons on one of the 9 hells, devils on another, perhaps the blood war on another...  I'm not really sure how it will work out yet...  These are not to be taken as the D&D versions of these planes either, even if the names are confusing...  Did I answer your question?

QuoteThe 7 heavens -

The 9 Hells -

The Shadow Realm -

The Dream Ethereal -

Egridar -

The Divine Realm -

Add two more heavens and there are enough planes to make some fun.

Is the divine realm still home of the older lawful gods?  
And the younger gods still live on Egridar?

Is this still the basic deity list?


Opifesca:CG, creation, power, life, maybe force...

Next, we have twelve powerful deities, all LN.
Intonsus: dwarf father, earth, darkness, stone
Optimas: elven father, tradition, nobility, nature, beauty.
Versutus: gnome, magic, knowledge, stars, fate.
Gestamena: halfling god, ancient stuff, history, merchants, tradition.(maybe music)
Proeliarus: god of battle, strength.
Ignixus: fire, sun, Wrath
Hircus: animals, plants
Perficeus: death, entropy, decay
Papilia: luck, air, travel
Testudia: protection, water, peace
Fasa: law, justice, revenge,
Vastator: destruction.



These are the Ancients, who made war against Opifesca, driving her from Godsplace.
They assumed she had been destroyed, but she has taken refuge on the prime material plane, where she has been quietly recovering her power and granting power to her chosen.

(maybe not destroyed... But perhaps she used(the last of) her power to prevent the ancients from interfering directly on the prime...)
Enter the Ascendants.

Corvus: god of adventure, wisdom, wealth, and freedom.
Renovara: goddess of lycanthropes ,goddess of change,
Patron goddess of doppelgangers, changelings, and civilization, (lies), water,
Life goddess, healing, plants, nature, light, positive energy, earth.
Accipita: lady of flight, creator of the Raptorans, winds, travel.
Atroxis: beastmaster, appears as a gnoll, god of the wilds, values strength, warriors, the hunt.
Furarin: Lord of cats, trickery, stealth, lies, espionage, larceny.

yes, old gods lists are being updated on the thread, I put them up the other day.  And yes, the goda are still in the locations you just mentioned.  I like the planes as they are in number, as it gives the planes a familiar ring.  perhaps the shadow realm prevents the planar powers from making direct war on eachother...

Quote from: Natural 20yes, old gods lists are being updated on the thread, I put them up the other day.  And yes, the goda are still in the locations you just mentioned.  I like the planes as they are in number, as it gives the planes a familiar ring.  perhaps the shadow realm prevents the planar powers from making direct war on eachother...

Had to try.  Twenty is a rough number for my brand of insanity. %-6
But I will struggle onwards.

Alright, the setting is being reworked now, I'm going to shake up the story of the CS.  However, the gods themselves might see a bit of concept change, but should remain largely the same.  Please stay tuned, and ask questions on what I have.  Also, I'll be putting questions throughout my information, so I'd be happy if you provided input on some of those.

EDIT:  I'll also be putting up specific ideas that I need help on here, so please check back.

I need help with the races of my world, can anyone help me compile a list of suitably original creatures?  For example, I have elves, dwarves, gnomes, giants, dragons, etc.  They don't necessarily be PC races, but I would like them to be connected.  Like giants have half-giants, dragons have kobolds, etc.

For information, I am trying to set up the 12 other divine races of my world, with humans being the 13th.  I appreciate any help given.

EDIT:  Just start throwing races out here.  Not too many crazy variants, as I don't want 25 elf sub-species.  Use any 3.5 splatbooks if needed, I don't have them, but I'll be getting them soon.

I have always been partial to hobgoblins and goblins as PC races.

I've always thought trolls needed a more definitive place in most settings. There a bazillion variants of them, and yet they still just get plugged in almost randomly.  

Alright, here's the list.  I'm still taking suggestions, and I'll edit this post to reflect what I like.

The divine races
1.Dragons
2.My elf variant(real hippies)
3.My gnome variant(higher magic)
4.Giants
5.Trolls (I'll see if I can talk to Raelifin about building a PC race variant)
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Humans

second to trolls, man. maybe make them smarter, though, or give them some sort of niche besides 'can grow own head back'. Crafting, or historian, or some kinda non "beat-things-into-the-ground" talent. just my 2 cents.

i personally like trolls given in this: http://www.septemberquestion.org/lumpley/pdfs/cnc.pdf, but ymmv.

Alright, what counts as a "Divine Race"?

And, yes. I'll crunch up some PC Troll stats if you tell me a few things:
1. What ECL do you want?
2. I need a list of at least 10 traits (Trolls are strong, etc.) or a long paragraph of general fluff.

what qualifies as a divine race is listed in my story in the crossroads.  Short version: 12 Gods made the world, and each made a race especially emblematic of their portfolio.

ex. Dragons were made by the god of destruction, etc.  I'll get to the troll traits tomorrow.

Quote from: RaelifinAnd, yes. I'll crunch up some PC Troll stats if you tell me a few things:

i've also got some (pretty unfinished) stuff i made for 'ecl 1 troll' sitting around in my dnd junk folder, if you'd wanna idea mine it.

Sure, you can try and put it up here, or e-mail it to me.  I'm going to sleep now though.  Bye-bye

Wouldn't it make sense to associate each race with a god? Here are some ideas.

 Intonsus: Dwarves
Optimas: Elves
Versutus: Gnomes
Gestamena: Halflings
Proeliarus: Trolls?
Ignixus: Flameshapers? (New Race?)
Hircus: Gnolls? (I know you like them)
Perficeus: ???
Papilia: Faeries? (New Race?)
Testudia: ???
Fasa: ???
Vastator: Dragons

Indeed.  I debated doing it through larger species though.  ie one god is for giants, and it's PC race is half-giants(enter psionics).  I'm not sure I want gnolls to be that important, but at this point it's certainly a possibility.

Gnolls make a great core PC race.

For papilia, I thought of using the Raptorans from RoTW.  I like gnolls, but I'm thinkin gof just generifying it into goblinoids as a whole or something...

Ok, as a note to everyone, the gods are not final.  The only thing sure about each of them is that there will be 3 tied to each of the basic elements.  As for trolls, I want as low of an LA as possible, preferably 0.  some traits I'd like to see are...

1. Regeneration(maybe a faster healing or something.
2.natural weapons(claws?)
3. Tribal society
4. respect nature
5. fear change
6. high land speed
7. still weak to/fearful of fire
8. more coming soon...

Let's call them Thrin, cuz it sounds cool.

Both regeneration and natural weapons are, by themselves, worthy of an LA. Unless, of course, the creature has HD, but I assume that you meant you did not want any ECL adjustment whatsoever.

-Elven Doritos
Maximum Power

Quote from: EldoBoth regeneration and natural weapons are, by themselves, worthy of an LA.

meh, screw that. natural weapons are frontloaded--it's really hard to improve them. at 12th level, you've basically got a normal, unimproved shortsword or dagger that you're paying la for.
and regeneration is just too good for a pc race--my suggestion is to make up something with similiar effects and use it instead.

Don't worry. I can still see an ECL 0 race here. I still need at least 3 more traits though.

i'll cook up some troll stats real quick, raelifin, you throw down with what you go?
(most of this i had sitting around already, just added some things in to meet w/ description)

medium-size humanoid ('trolling') humanoid is best type for pc. others screw up both pc buffs and give weird, sporadic immunities against npc attacks
speed: 40 ft.
Ability adjustments: +2 con, -2 cha (fear of change?)
Skill bonuses: +2 to Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks naturalness?

Tough hide (Ex): (regenish ability) Whenever a trolling takes physical damage, he gains a natural armor bonus equal to his constitution score during his next turn, as his hide thickens in response to injury. con based means it can scale with player level. you could use minor DR or something instead. fast healing or full regen is just too much, imo..

Adaptive skin (Ex): Whenever a trolling takes acid, cold, electricty, or sonic damage, he gains energy resistance 5 against that specific type of energy for a number of rounds equal to his constitution bonus, starting on his next turn, as his skin adapts to injury. This resistance increases to 10 at 8th level, and 15 at 16th level. scales with level to remain important, duration based on con so it can be improved.more than 1 round duration so it can help against dragons ;)

Fire weakness (Ex): Whenever a trolling takes fire damage, he is shaken until the end of his next turn. shaken is the lowest level fear effect (-2 attack, saves, skills, ability checks) you could change this to a stronger effect, or something like nausea, but that might not be fun for a pc.

Claws: trollings gain improved unarmed strike as a bonus feat. their unarmed attacks deal slashing damage, instead of bludgeoning. they can still choose to deal nonlethal damage instead of lethal. good enough for natural attacks, in MY opinion ;).

I originally wrote most of this up while messing around. (i wanted to create a race with 'roving' resistances, as opposed to the weird, arbitrary resistances and immunities most ecl 1 races have, as well as fun-player oriented abilities. i don't know if these guys would be worth ecl 0 or 1, if they're too tough, their bonuses could be dropped.)

you could change it however or not use it at all, just thought it might be helpful. i never wrote descriptions for them. some of the abilities may be hard to keep track of, i dunno.

How about instead of regeneration, you've just got some sort of "Quick Recovery" ability that comes natural to the race?  Or maybe, you could create some paragon troll levels, and make that "Quick Recovery," an ability for the paragon level, thus, they don't even have to have LA for it, because it comes as a level-based ability.

Those tough hide and adaptive skin abilities seem very cumbersome. Not too weak or over-powered but kind of awkward.

The fire weakness seems perfect

On improved unarmed strike, but it counts as slashing damage? what's up with that? Are claws dealing 1d4 slashing damage too good?

I don't think fast healing would be too bad if it scaled. Say they got fast healing 1 at level 5 (or five HD), and for every four levels more itÃ, goes up by 1. Sure it's buff, but you could off-set it with more ability score penalties. -2 to intelligence as well, because trolls are notoriously dim-witted.

Am I nuts here?

You could also just make their healing rate faster, say triple the normal amount of hp healed per day.  This would be a good bonus for adventuring long-term, but wouldn't unbalance combat.

You could also do something combat related but more minor: Say, trollings are always stable at negative hit points, or that they gain fast healing 1 as long as they are at less than 0 hp.  Perhaps you could also give them limb regeneration, so that severed limbs grow back by natural and magical healing just like regular wounds.

I also like the fire weakness, that's a good effect.  I may have to "borrow" something similar.

QuoteAre claws dealing 1d4 slashing damage too good?

You could also just make their healing rate faster, say triple the normal amount of hp healed per day.[/quote]

is that actually a good ability? i see it in several feats/races, but i got my doubts. every game i've played in, natural healing was ignored after 3rd level or so, unless someone was just missing a handful of hitpoints. if a 'triggered' ability is too cumbersome, maybe a small dr (dr 2/-, dr 2/bludgeoning, or something). fasthealing in small amounts seems like it would be cumbersome, cuz between fights you'd be asking like "has it been 2 or 3 minutes since we fought?". that's what i'd think, at least. i may be wrong.

is that actually a good ability? i see it in several feats/races, but i got my doubts. every game i've played in, natural healing was ignored after 3rd level or so, unless someone was just missing a handful of hitpoints. if a 'triggered' ability is too cumbersome, maybe a small dr (dr 2/-, dr 2/bludgeoning, or something). fasthealing in small amounts seems like it would be cumbersome, cuz between fights you'd be asking like "has it been 2 or 3 minutes since we fought?". that's what i'd think, at least. i may be wrong.

<where'd the quote option go?>

Yeah fast healing is a little bit of a pain in the neck, but you don't have to figure it out after each attack either. You just need to keep track of time.

Quote from: brainfaceis that actually a good ability? i see it in several feats/races, but i got my doubts. every game i've played in, natural healing was ignored after 3rd level or so, unless someone was just missing a handful of hitpoints. if a 'triggered' ability is too cumbersome, maybe a small dr (dr 2/-, dr 2/bludgeoning, or something). fasthealing in small amounts seems like it would be cumbersome, cuz between fights you'd be asking like "has it been 2 or 3 minutes since we fought?". that's what i'd think, at least. i may be wrong.

How useful it is depends on what kind of campaign is being played.Ã,  If most of the combat in the game is in "dungeons" that take only a day or two to complete, separated by weeks or months of non-combat activity, no, it won't be very useful.Ã,  If combat is something that occurs on a more regular basis, or overland travel with random encounters is common, it will be useful, at least until your party has a powerful enough cleric such that he can get everyone in the party healed up regardless of injuries sustained the previous day.

Just fyi, I'm not moving 'till I get at least 10 facts 'bout Thrin. ;)

If my demands are not met by friday I shall blow up the ocean! Oh noes!

I can't help much now, although I like what everyone has put up.  I'm now unofficially groundedm so I have no idea when I will be able to get on for a while...  i'lll try to get on in school, but who knows.  I don't like the unarmed fighting, but the fire/shaken thing is just awesome.   I'm leaning towards DR or greater natural healing for the regeneration abilities.

Ok, here's the traits, and maybe a bit of fluff

1. DR or healing mechanic
2.natural weapons or some type of interesting bonus, maybe natural camoflauge or something
3. Tribal society
4. Historians, knowlege seekers
5. fear change, highly chaotic, freedom of the individual
6. high land speed
7. still weak to/fearful of fire
8. some sort of spellcasting improvement
9. small size?, still having normal speed?
10. perhaps a spellcasting theme, tribal magic.

I think this should be my gnome replacement.  Maybe give them a higher speed, satill small, some magical inborn abilities, chaotic bent, and a tribal culture.  creepy, huh?

Ok Raelifin, feel free to work some magic, here's a turtle to help  !turtle

Oh cute, little trolls. Actually being small sized and quick like goblins is kind of neat. Slimy little nasty things...with claws...and green skin...and they're sounding like gremlins to me now.

Well, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  If the idea grows, and becomes an independent, unique, and new concept; then i have a nice homebrew race that gives something to my world.

Quote5. fear change, highly chaotic, freedom of the individual

8. some sort of spellcasting improvement
10. perhaps a spellcasting theme, tribal magic.
[/quote]Tribal sorcery (Su)[/b]: A troll casts harmless spells at +1 caster level, so long as the spell targets another creature.
(encourages ally casting. is that what you meant by tribal?)

Regenerative Magic (Su): Whenever a troll casts a harmless spell on another creature, both the troll and the other creature heal a number of hitpoints equal to the spell's level.
(just throwing something out)

[i really should stop using edit to add to my posts ;)]

Actually, I know several people who are afraid of change but are highly disorganized. "Chaotic" can mean many things.

I'll get to work on the stats.
/me uses cape of the mountibank.

thanks Raelifin.  for the fear of change, chaotic.  I was trying to build a race which has a very free society of loosely connected tribes.  They are extremely paranoid of the dangers of radition and society, so they place great value on the rights and freedom of the individual, does that make sense?

Anyway, I have homework which I've been putting off, so goodnight all.

A few notes: These thrin are immortal creatures of the swamps that eagerly watch the exploits of other races. They have strong ties to nature, due to their innate bond with magic and are quite similar to fey.


 Thrin
Humanoid (Troll)


 -2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Cha
Small Size
30ft Speed, 30ft Swim (or replace the swim speed with a 10ft climb for more â,¬Å"rockyâ,¬Â thrin)


 1/Day: Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound.
 2 Claws, 1d3 damage each

 Tribal Casting (Sp): When thrin gather, their innate magic can work wonders far beyond their personal power. Three thrin together may cast Sleep once per day. Five thrin together may cast Rainbow Pattern once per day. And thirteen thrin together may cast Control Weather once mer month.
 Low Light Vision
 Kindling (Ex): Thrin are incredibly weak to fire. If a thrin ever takes 1 or more points of fire damage they immediately catch fire with no save. In addition, if a thin ever comes within 5' of an open flame they must immediately make a DC 15 will save or become shaken until one minute after the flame is out of the area. If the thrin catches fire they must still make the will save.
 Regrowth (Su): Thrin bodies regrow at a quicked rate, this is what gives them their immortality. Thrin heal damage at the rate of 1 hit point per hour per character level. Thrin may also reattach lost limbs by placing the limb against it's stup and holding it there for an hour or two. Thrin still die as normal.  Fire damage never heals naturally. +4 Racial bonus on Knowledge (History). Thrin may also choose two other knowledge skills, these skills receive a +2 racial bonus. All knowledge skills are class skills.
Favored Class: Druid

Sorry about the formatting. These boards are coo-coo.

Ignore this post.

I'm liking what you came up with there Raelfin. It fits what Natural 20 was looking for perfectly. Nice job.

Thanks.

GAH! Do attachments work at all!?

I like it really, but now I am thinking if it might be better to call them fey...  Would that change stats too much?  Perhaps different 0-level spells could be arranged...  I'm not sure I like the swamp theme, but I could change that.  I feel this concept needs to become better defined before a final stat makeup.

Just in case this sounded ungrateful and over-criticising, THANK YOU RAELIFIN!  I appreciate your effort, but I want to be sure the race is what I want before using it.

No problem. ^_^

I went on what you gave me. If it doesn't fit I'll just blame you. :P

Making them fey wouldn't do much at all. It would just make them immune to Charm Person and all that rabble.

would those immunities affect the LA?  Because i like the idea of having fey as a PC race...

Not much. The fire weakness gives you a LOT of leeway anyhoo.

changing away from humanoid also takes away a couple buffs (enlarge person, for one). enlarge person wouldn't matter much for a small creature, though, as they'd get no reach bonus anyway.

would it be good to change the claws to 1d4 damage? it doesn't affect the damage much, but it might be easier for the player to roll. ~

hmm....  I'll come back later and see if I can trim this up a bit for use.  Maybe I should just use all homebrew races...  Anyway, what if tribal spellcasting was changed to provide a bonus to another character's spell DC or something, instead of needing a large number of thrin to be ever really useful.

d3 is the standard. If you want to break away from that, fine, but I don't think it should be done. Just my (INSERT FREAKING 2 CENTS EMOTICON HERE!)

On a side note, we need the 2 cents emoticon to be loaded. -_-

there's a two cents emoticon?


(i'm quite confident that dodge.png will eventually turn into a simley)

<-- Crit donated this in the Request (for Ishy) thread a while ago. It still hasn't seen the light of day.

Alright, here's my big update and summary for now.  The way things have been set-up so far area a problem.  I now intend to give you the solid truths of my CS as of now.  The thread in the campaign workshop is no longer corect, as I have edited it to say, but since that appeared to have been missed, i will say it here.  As of now, the following truths are correct...

1.There were four ancient gods, each representing a different element basic element.  They are each also representative of certain concepts. Fire is destruction, Air is Fate, Eath is light, and Water is magic.  These are subject to change, but I'll leave them like that for now.

2. These four made 12 "Ancients" to create and watch over my multiverse, including the Realm of Darkness, Dream space, The 7 heavens, and the 9 hells.  They also made Egridar(The Prime material), but for some reason they cannot bring their full powe to bear upon it.  Thus, they are left to influence it through their servants and subtle machinations.

3.  For currently undefined reasons, 12(maybe 13, unsure) more gods, known as the "Ascendants" were created upon Egridar, which they are unable to leave, for some reason still undefined.  The  "Ancients" are upset that the new gods were made, feeling it a slight to their honor, and so they have declared aggression agains the "Ascendants".

4.  Because of #3, their is a conflict on Egridar between the forces of the Ascendants and the Ancients.  the Ascendfants do not yet have a great number of worshippers, but the fact that they are manifest on Egridar gives them great influence.  Gods in my world, besides the four elements, have their power based upon their worship base, but it is not totally dependent upon such.

5.  Souls of the Dead pass through the Dream space, into either a heaven or hell.  The dead spirits then become classic outsiders. Great lords of these outsiders have influence in the divine war, dealing with specific deities on either side of the war according to who they feel they should aid.

6.  There are 12 Ancients, and three are tied to each element.  When they created the 12 divine races, each of them also fit the theme of a particular element.  Humans were the last, and #13, of the divine races and were a conglomeration of the efforts of all the Ancients.

7.  (This idea is still  :construct: )  The world is flat, and laid out like a massive compass.  Each compass point is represented by an element, or a para-element if walking in the necessary direction.  As one progresses further into the direction of a specific element, the land assumes the traits respective of it.  Example, if you walk towars water, you will eventually reach an ocean, towars earth is an impassable mountain range, etc.  There is a broad space in the middle of this compass where the elements combine to form a relatively temperate zone where the majority of civilization rests.

that was long, and I apologise, but it should clear up many, if not all, current misconceptions associated with my setting.

Cool. I like.

Now for the "We love updates!" song!

Alright, so now for what needs to be decided.  

I need to sort out which gods go with which element and have which domains/portfolios.

I need to figure out which are the divine races and which god(dess) they go with.  Plus, whichever ones are homebrew must be statted.

I need to lay out a map, but probably not anytime soon.

I need to tighten up my creation story and figure out precisely where everyone and everything came from.

I need to refine my cosmology.  Fix heavens, hells, and other transitive planes.  This also includes placing outsiders.

Look at this, I think I'm making progress!

QuoteAs one progresses further into the direction of a specific element, the land assumes the traits respective of it.

cool. quasi-surreal realms are neat, i think.

Wow! My old setting had four elemental gods who created the world, and people who had ascended to godhood to rule in their absence. They were called the Ascendants...that's really wierd.

Granted I wrote mine about 15 years ago, so I got first dibs.

-Scary-

P.S. I'll see if I can get all my old notes back from my cousin. He's running D&D in my old campaign setting. I might be able to help with your portfolios, but there were no domains back then.

Thanks nasty, and if the prtfolios are around, then the domains caould just be assigned accordingly.  

I've always had a thing for elemental themes, it just feels so balanced, symmetrical, etc. to me that I can't help but love them.

The divine race out line

Earth - Trolls, Giants, ?
Air - Gnomes,
fire - Dragons, Goblinoids
Water - Lycanthropes, Doppelgangers

alright, if anyone understands what I'm trying to do here, can you help?

Fire = destruction, air = fate, earth = creation/life, water = magic

Wait, so is the one race for each ancient out then? I'm confuzzled.

Yes, one divine race for each ancients, plus humans as the odd-ones out.

So what are the elemental races then? Sub categories? I'm going to make a PbP game tonight fyi...

Yes, as there are going to be 3 Ancients for each element.  Dang, i think i'll put up the Ancients, at least by prtfolio tomorrow, er...  later today, hehe.  goddnight for now.

Okay folks, a little bit of fluffy goodness for you...

For my whole life, I watched the village priest preach from his pulpit.  He claimed that he fought in the realms beyond for our protection.  One day, I dared to ask why he didn't answer any of our prayers for food, or fortune, or even good health.  The priest then told me that to speak in such a manner was heresy, that perhaps my pathetic devotion was not enough to call our lord's attention, and that I should fast for such foolish talk.  Then, for a year and a day after I would sit and ponder why the gods did fight eachother and not care for that which they made.  One day, in my meditation, I stared out into the great forest, and there I did see emerge 12 radiant figures.  I thought they were the gods, finally answering my prayers, but then I realised the truth.  They could not be the gods for they would never set foot on our lowly mortal lands.  But if they weren't the gods, then what were they?  As they approached me, one spoke in a voice as rich as the fields of wheat I farmed enedlessly, "Fear not young one, for we are the Ascended, and we have come to care for that which the uncaring have brought upon you."  At that moment, I kneeled, and I realised the world I had known was lost, as the gods had come.

alright, I've gotta do these sometime, it might as well be now.

The Four Elements...

Fire: Destruction, Savagery, purification
Earth: Life, nature, wealth
Water: Magic, time, change
Air: Travel, knowledge, trickery/illusion

The 12 Ancients (by portfolio)...

(fire 1)Destruction, dragons, fire, hate, revenge
(fire 2)Freedom, liberty, chaos, nobility
(fire 3)Cleansing, force, purity, regeneration
(Earth 1)Decay, entropy, disease
(Earth 2)sun, positive energy, protection
(Earth 3)wealth, greed, merchants, minerals
(Water 1)Magic, change
(water 2)Time, fate,
(water 3)curses, luck, chaos
(wind 1)Travel, roads, horizons
(wind 2)stealth, deception, catslies, spies, and shadow
(wind 3)The librarian, history, Trolls

The Ascendants...
(fire 1)war, tactics
(fire 2)rebellion, murder, wrath
(fire 3)Passion, love, penguins
(Earth 1)Life, animals, kindness, protection
(Earth 2)wilds, storms, guardian of nature
(Earth 3)trade, community
(Water 1)The mind, enlightenment
(Water 2)the unnatural, free will
(water 3)Raven, adventurers, luck
(wind 1)The winds, travel, trickery
(Wind 2)stealth, deception, cats
(Wind 3)wisdom, lore, music, bards

Ok, comments?  help fleshing out their concepts?  EDIT: Ascendants added

All hail the flaming penguin god and his flightless favored souls! :hail:

you have no idea how much I wish that was off-topic so I could smack you for it.  I think you're the first person to ever make me regret involving penguins in D&D.

you asked for it

I don't understand... passion, love, and penguins?  Am I missing some inherently obvious connection that everybody else is seeing?

Royal Penguin is his AIM name

Right, I know that.  But how are penguins tied with passion?  That's what I'm asking.

QuoteRight, I know that. But how are penguins tied with passion? That's what I'm asking.

No sense of humor... :fish:

I was just trying to test and see if anyone was actually reading this thread anymore.  The community world-building thread has been stealing much of my traffic as of late.  

The semi-final list of deities for Godswalk, now with names!

The Four Elemental Creators

Ignis(Fire): Destruction, Savagery, purification
Gerras(Earth): Life, nature, wealth
Qued(Water): Magic, time, change
Anentus(Air): Travel, knowledge, trickery/illusion

The 12 Ancients (by portfolio)...

Tisis(fire 1)Destruction, dragons, fire, hate, revenge
Arithera(fire 2)Freedom, liberty, chaos, nobility
Kathar(fire 3)Cleansing, force, purity, regeneration
Tabes(Earth 1)Decay, entropy, disease
Hutor(Earth 2)sun, positive energy, protection
Plavar(Earth 3)wealth, greed, merchants, minerals
Keia(Water 1)Magic, change
Moira(water 2)Time, fate,
Duprax(water 3)curses, luck, chaos
Epos(wind 1)Travel, roads, horizons
Onacium(wind 2)stealth, deception, catslies, spies, and shadow
Gnent(wind 3)The librarian, history, Trolls

The Ascendants...
Rassis(fire 1)war, tactics
Caetheria(fire 2)rebellion, murder, wrath
Pathos(fire 3)Passion, love, penguins
Turamos(Earth 1)Life, animals, kindness, protection
Kheimon(Earth 2)wilds, storms, guardian of nature
Poriam(Earth 3)trade, community
Phrenos(Water 1)The mind, enlightenment
Atormis(Water 2)the unnatural, free will
Corvus(water 3)Raven, adventurers, luck
Tulos(wind 1)The winds, travel, trickery
Ailum(Wind 2)stealth, deception, cats
Mosik(Wind 3)wisdom, lore, music, bards


EDIT:Freaky greek/latin names are up, expect them to be tweaked soon.

Regarding penguins, associating them with passion is no less silly than Lovecraft choosing to prominently feature giant albino penguins in a horror story, something that he has indeed done.

Quote from: Epic_MeepoRegarding penguins, associating them with passion is no less silly than Lovecraft choosing to prominently feature giant albino penguins in a horror story, something that he has indeed done.

LOL! You're reading waaay to munch into this. It really is just a joke.

Alright, I think i finally have my pantheons worked up to the point where I can start building other things...  so can anyone tell me where to go next?  I realize I definitely haven't done everything, but i'm lost as to where to go next...  any ideas?

start describing the people of Godswalk. I want to hear about these troll/fae and other interesting races. Where do they live? What are their cultures like? what kind of nations do they live in?

I also want to know about the goegraphy of Godswalk. Continents, regions, jungles, deserts, plains, mountains, etc.

I plan to keep up on your stuff, so whatever you write next I'll be there.

-Nasty-

Ok, the troll/fey are called Thrin, and i'm not quite sure where to go with them as of yet.  The way things are set up right now, each Ancient created one race, like dragons, trolls, etc.  I plan to put trolls in as the hisorian/loremaster niche.  Perhaps the guardians of history or something.  Anyway, the Thrin are going to be a PC race version of trolls.  I'm leaning right now towards also making them a bit dwarven in their aspect, but making them less Xenophobic.  Perhaps the adventurers of their race are knowledge-seekers who want to bring home lore and gain prestige.  They also can tend to be reclusive, dwelling in rugged mountain ranges where they build massive collections of knowledge, in preparation for a day when they will become as strong as their somewhat brutish ancestors...

wow, honestly, that just came out as I wrote, i like it myself...

I really need help assigning species to the ancients though, help there would be appreciated.

The Thrin as a race could be mostly content to keep to themselves, but they can't just hide in their swamps and let history pass them by now can they?

Enter the PC Thrin, who will be explorers and historians who travel the world and document the events, people, places, and cultures outside of Thrin-land. They return home with their findings, which are added to the great libraries of their people. Then they set off once again.

What do you think?

-Nasty-

Umm... Besides the fact that I said they live in the mountains, it was very much like what I had envisioned.  I guess that means it's time to call Raelifin in here to update the racial stats.

Alright, so what I have for divine races, not yet matched to ancients are...

Not quite sure how this will work yet, but Each Ancient created a powerful species symbolising their ideals.  Each of these divine races will have a weaker counterpart which can be played as a PC.  I might want to change this later, but it will probably stay this way for a while anyway.

-Giants-->Half-giants
-Ogres-->Dwarven variant
-Dragons-->Kobolds
-Trolls-->Thrin
-Yuan-ti abominations-->Snake-assassins(stats coming soon)
-doppelgangers-->changelings
-Lycanthropes-->shifters
-Goblinoids-->goblins  (long story)
-Illithids-->complete psionic apparently has a solution here, i'll wait and see
-Help please?

QuoteUmm... Besides the fact that I said they live in the mountains, it was very much like what I had envisioned. I guess that means it's time to call Raelifin in here to update the racial stats.

my bad. But you got the idea

Indeed, so any ideas for divine races?  Maybe I should throw in a nice and shiny psionic race, but I currently don't own the XPH, any ideas?  It's for my psionic god...

dude, use the srd, you don't need no xph.

http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/psionicRacesClassesSkillsSpells.htm

given, that won't have a lot of fluff, but surely you can write some?

QuoteRegarding penguins, associating them with passion is no less silly than Lovecraft choosing to prominently feature giant albino penguins in a horror story, something that he has indeed done.

dude, which one was that? i remember no giant white penguins :/

Quotedude, which one was that? i remember no giant white penguins :/

I am suddenly reminded of Billy Madison

Yeah, that was where all the penguins that influence my life came from...  that movie should not be shown t children at an impressionable age...

Hiya kids! Bet ya thought that I was dead! But I just fell down, and cracked my skull, and got a hemorrhage in my head!

EDIT: or impressionable adults for that matter...

alright, solidifying the concepts of Tha Anciens and matching races up.  wow, I can multi-task.

Tisis- The Dragon-father and master of battle.  He created the Dragon, which then split into the various incarnations seen today.
Arithera- god of freedom and rebellion.  He created the Ogres, which in my CS are beings who value the indivual and the spirit over all.
Kathar(fire 3)Cleansing, force, purity, regeneration
Tabes(Earth 1)Decay, entropy, disease
Hutor(Earth 2)sun, positive energy, protection
Plavar- god of wealth and greed, creator of
Keia(Water 1)Magic, change
Moira(water 2)Time, fate,
Duprax-Goddess of the cursed and mistress of the maelstrom.  instead of making a race, she poisoned the creation of the others.  By making lycanthropy, she unleashed her fickle nature and terrible whimsy upon the world.
Epos(wind 1)Travel, roads, horizons
Onacium- Goddess of devious lies and deceptions.  Creator of the Yuan-ti, and patron of all their devious schemes
Gnent- god of lost knowledge and lore.  This od made the trolls to gather and watch over the world's istory.

Reminder for me:write fiction on the dragons color-split

Umm...  The gods are supposed to match with the races...  This could be a problem...

This is what I came up with for the deity -> race connections based on the info you gave.

Tisis -> Dragons
Arithera -> Ogres
Kathar -> Pheonix
Tabes -> Goblins
Hutor -> ???
Plavar -> Gnomes?
Keia -> Dopplegangers
Moira -> ???
Duprax -> Lycans
Epos -> ???
Onacium -> Yuan-Ti
Gnent -> Trolls

Quote from: RaelifinThis is what I came up with for the deity -> race connections based on the info you gave.

Tisis -> Dragons
Arithera -> Ogres
Kathar -> Pheonix
Tabes -> Goblins
Hutor -> ???
Plavar -> Gnomes?
Keia -> Dopplegangers
Moira -> ???
Duprax -> Lycanthropes
Epos -> ???
Onacium -> Yuan-Ti
Gnent -> Trolls

alright, thanks for the help, here's the next draft


Tisis -> Dragons
Arithera -> Ogres
Kathar -> Pheonix
Tabes -> Goblins
Hutor -> giants
Plavar -> Gnomes?
Keia -> Dopplegangers
Moira -> Illithids
Duprax -> Lycans
Epos -> some sort of traveler race
Onacium -> Yuan-Ti
Gnent -> Trolls

alright, now on to defining the concepts of the gods better and finding some homebrew goodness!

Epos -> some sort of traveler race (like a nomadic tribal people?)

not sure yet, maybe something that can fly?  It's based on the god of horizons, so you never know.  

On second thought, yeah, probably some type of nomadic culture.

Thri-Kreen Psions (nomads) and rangers spring to mind, as does the horizon walker PrC.

Currently, Several homebrew races are being made.  I'll give you some short blurbs, and what I could use some help with.

-Gnomes, if nothing else, are getting a revamp towards the mercantile.  Currently, I am looking for another idea for a monster that accurately an represent the spirit of commerce.

-A race that is descended from the phoenix itself.  Perhaps some divine and fiery abilities.  Any ideas on how to further define them?

-Apparently, Complete Psionic contains some sort of PC illithid race, if that comes out alright, then I will use it.  If not, looks like another homebrew...

-I'm curently trying to work out a mobile aristocracy for the nomadic race.  I also need a sort of monster to base it upon...  what are the air genies?  Are those just djinni, because that could be an idea...

-The Yuan-Ti created a new species as a tool to help them i their devious plots.  However, the "tools" didn't take too kindly to being used as disposable assassins, so they rebelled and now roam the world.

-Finally, we get to the Thrin, another race that has bad blood between it's progenitors.  The Thrin are a mountainous Fey that gather information in massive underground vaults located in the far mountains.  Adventurous Thrin venture forth from the caves to gather new knowledge and experience history firsthand, so that it can be catalogued in the great libraries of their homelands...

Quote-A race that is descended from the phoenix itself. Perhaps some divine and fiery abilities. Any ideas on how to further define them?

The Elan spring to mind as creatures reborn from mortal men, with fiery red hair and eyes...maybe not so divine, but they just popped into my head when I read this.

-Nasty-

I thought the Maenads were the fiery ones?

QuoteCurrently, I am looking for another idea for a monster that accurately an represent the spirit of commerce.

eh, there's these guys:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/mercane.htm

maybe...  I thought of them already though...  Maybe some monster that is the epitomy of greed?

hmm, when you ask for monsters, are you wanting the fluff preprovided? cuz that could make a lot of difference in what i would suggest--i've been assuming you would rework a group of stats to have whatever story you wanted.

http://www.planewalker.com/downloads/products/released.php
chapter 4 has the khaasta. reptilian merchant race. pretty greedy. (fiend folio also has them, i think?) another greedy race could be another type of geniee (efreet, dao, madrid), or maybe one of the demons, you could strip of some of the demonicness and emphasize the greedy part.

that pdf also has a slightly beefed up genasi (frcs genasi are just awful, i could rant for hours), some other races.

hm...  The greedy lizards sounds fun...  I guess I was hoping for something stronger than CR 5 to be honest...  The Mercanes just feel really weak when compared to Draons and trolls, y'know?

dude, trolls are CR 5 :D

You could just have every mercan/khaasta/whatnot encountered have 3/4 class levels. (thought tha'd req. more stating).

I'm not sure if there's gonna be many high CR creatures based entirely around merchantry. if i were you, i'd consider stealing the fluff from one creature and putting it with another creature's stats. ;)

May I point out that I've been haunting these forums so much that I may have put less than the required effort into memorizing my MM?  Looks like mercanes it is...  Very greedy mercanes...

â,¬Â¢  +2 Dexterity, -2 Strength.
    â,¬Â¢ Small Sized
    â,¬Â¢ __________ base land speed is 30 feet.
    â,¬Â¢ +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Sense Motive
    â,¬Â¢ Cold Weakness (Ex): Whenever ______ take cold damage they must make a fortitude saving throw, DC = damage dealt, or become fatigued.
    â,¬Â¢ Poison (Ex): ________ have poisonous fangs that they can use to bite with. When making an unarmed attack they may chose to attack with their mouth dealing 1d2 damage + poison. This poison is injury delivered and has an initial and secondary damage of 1d3 str. Optionally, a ________ may milk their fangs producing enough poison for one dose. _____ may milk themselves once per hour and the poison stays potent for twelve. _______ are immune to their own poison (including that of other ______). The DC for the poison is equal to 10 + half the ________â,¬,,¢s HD + their con modifier.
    â,¬Â¢ Favored Class: Rogue.

Thanks Raelifin, I wait anxiously until our next greatly productive meeting.

EDIT: In case anyone is wondering, the stats Raelifin posted are for the yuan-ti PC race.

For the record, I have been following this thread. I just don't have too much to contribute.

EDIT:  The gods are going to be defined in this post.  I stole ElDo's format for presenting deities and I find it quite useful, so give him credit for that.  I've posted the template for your, and my own, convenience as well.

Deity Template[spoiler]
Name (Faction, Rank)
Titles
Alignment:
Portfolio:
Domains:
Worshippers:
Symbol:
Cleric Alignments:
Favored Weapon:
History/Relationships:
Appearance:
[/spoiler]

Tisis[spoiler]
Tisis (Ancient, Intermediate Deity)
The Great Dragon
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: Dragons, destruction, hate, and greed
Domains: Destruction, Evil, ?
Worshipers: Chromatic dragons, kobolds, blackguards
Symbol: A black claw on a red field
Cleric Alignments:NE, LE, CE, TN
Favored Weapon: Claw (longsword)
History/Relationships: Tisis was the first Ancient to seize upon the power of the First Ones when he came into the world.  Hurriedly stealing as much power as he could find, he used his divine might to create the first dragons in his image.  These great beasts terrorized the early inhabitants of the multiverse, making him quite unpopular amongst the other Ancients.  Once the war agains the Ascendants started, he quickly gained respect for his sheer strength in battle.
Appearance: Tisis either appears as a massive black dragon with smoke spewing forth from it's nostrils and flames flickering in it's jaws or as a knight clad in black blood-drenched armor with a shield bearing his holy symbol.[/spoiler]

Arithera[spoiler]
Arithera (Ancient, Intermediate Deity)
The Barbarian Queen, Mistress of the Forge, The Iron Maiden
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: Ogres, smithing, steel, and mountains
Domains: Earth, ?
Worshippers: Ogres, blacksmiths, barbarians
Symbol: A hammer in front of a fire
Cleric Alignments: CN, CE, CG, TN
Favored Weapon: Warhammer
History/Relationships: Arithera was the crafter of lands, forging the world itself.  She then used her great forge to produce a race of tough warriors, capable of surviving the mountains where they would live.  Upon entering the war with the Ascendants, Arithera has dedicated herselves to forging weapons worthy for the gods themselves to wield.
Appearance: Arithera appears as a female ogre, wearing an apron with scorchmarks and holding a massive warhammer in one gloved hand.[/spoiler]

Tabes[spoiler]
Tabes (Ancient, Lesser Deity)
The Emperor Beyond
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Goblinoids, law, and honor
Domains: Law, ?
Worshippers: Goblinoids,
Symbol: a guantleted hand holding a katana with a red hilt
Cleric Alignments: LN, LG, LN
Favored Weapon: Katana
History/Relationships:
Appearance: Tabes appears as a hobgoblin outfitted in golden armor, wielding a flaming katana.  He has also been known to appear as a serene old hobgoblin in white silk robes.[/spoiler]

Hutor[spoiler]
Hutor (Ancient, Intermediate Deity)
The Enlightened, The Benevolent, The Protector
Alignment: Lawful Good
Portfolio: Giants, the mind, and safety
Domains: Good, healing, protection, and Sun
Worshippers: Healers, giants, metallic dragons, and paladins
Symbol: A hand holding the sun
Cleric Alignments: LG, NG, CG, TN
Favored Weapon: Fist (unarmed)
History/Relationships:
Appearance: Hutor appears as a perfectly shaped giant wearing simple white robes and radiating a soft white light.[/spoiler]
Sunetos[spoiler]
Sunetos (Ancient, Intermediate Deity)
The windmaker
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio:  Birds, Desert, horizons, purity
Domains: Air, Force, Travel
Worshippers: Rocs, raptorans, travelers
Symbol: a hawk's outline against a setting sun
Cleric Alignments: NG, TN, CG, LG
Favored Weapon: Longbow
History/Relationships:
Appearance: Sunetos appears as an absolutely massive pure white Roc, with eyes that are so deep you can lose yourself in them.  In humanoid form, She appears as what appears to be a celestial, but is actually just a perfectly formed lithe humanoid with great white wings behind her, garbed in robes of pure white.[/spoiler]

Keia[spoiler]
Keia (Ancient, Intermediate Deity)
The Hexmaster, The Gambler
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Portfolio: Luck, curses, and the ocean
Domains: chaos, trickery, water
Worshippers: Thieves, outlaws, adventurers, and doppelgangers
Symbol: a die with alternating black and white faces
Cleric Alignments: CN, CE
Favored Weapon: Sling
History/Relationships:
Appearance: Keia never appears in the same form twice, although he almost always appears in a humanoid form.[/spoiler]

Duprax[spoiler]
Duprax (Ancient, Intermediate Deity)
Queen of the Wilds
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Nature, freedom, lycanthropes
Domains: plant, animal
Worshippers: druids, rangers, and lycanthropes
Symbol: a tree being struck by lightning
Cleric Alignments: CE, CN, TN
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
History/Relationships:
Appearance: Duprax appears as either a massive Wolf, bear, or other animal of the were-variety.  when manifesting in humanoid form, she will often take the shape of a hybrid-form were-wolf garbed in ragged green clothes.[/spoiler]

Onacium[spoiler]
Onacium (Ancient, Lesser Deity)
The Dark Serpent, The Plotter
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Portfolio: Snakes, lies, espionage, shadows
Domains:
Worshippers: Yuan-Ti, assassins, murderers, spies
Symbol: a snake wrapped around a pair of red eyes on a black field
Cleric Alignments: LE, NE, LN
Favored Weapon: Fang (Dagger)
History/Relationships:
Appearance: Onacium appears in any of two forms. Either a massive black snake with emeralds for eyes, or a green-scaled humanoid wearing a tattered grey cloak.[/spoiler]

Gnent[spoiler]
Gnent (Ancient, Lesser Deity)
The Loremaster, Librarian of Time
Alignment: True Neutral
Portfolio: Magic, knowledge, history, secrets
Domains: Knowledge, Magic
Worshippers: Trolls, sages, and wizards
Symbol: a closed book in a clawed hand
Cleric Alignments: TN, LN, LG, LE
Favored Weapon: Claws (Longsword)
History/Relationships:
Appearance: Gnent almost always appears a bespectacled troll bearing a satchel bulging with scroll-cases and musty tomes.[/spoiler]

God/race connections[spoiler]
Tisis - Dragons - Kobolds
Arithera - Ogres - Dwarves, make more barbaric
Tabes - Goblinoids - goblins
Hutor - Giants - Half-giants, make gentler
Plavar - Treants - woodsy homebrew
Keia - (aquatic)Dopplegangers - (aquatic)Changelings
Duprax - Lycanthropes - Shifters
Onacium - Yuan-Ti - Assassin homebrew, edit: change poison to 1d2 con
Gnent - Trolls - Thrin, lessen fire weakness...[/spoiler]

The divine races, along with tidbits on their cultures.  I would like feedback on how to further define the doppelgangers and the Dragons.

Dragons - In the beginning, dragons were fire-breathing behemoths capable of great destruction.  After a great schism, they were divided into the many dragon species which are present on Egridar today.  Most today fly throughout the lands, either helping or harming the denizens of Egridar.

Ogres - In godswalk, ogres are masters of the forge.  They live high in the mountains with a social structure based on varying clans.  Many use their great strength and take up the path of the mercenary, as they find their violent tendencies hard to contain.  Thus, many leave their mountainous homes and venture out into the world to seek their own fortune.

Goblinoids -  The many goblinoid races were created in an effort to defile the world and spread mayhem far and wide.  The savage nature of this people led them to spread decadence wherever they went, calling upon their dark god to give them the plague as a weapon and sabotaging civiliation wherever it might take root.  However, after attacking the ogres and breaking down their budding empire, they found themselves trapped in a feud with this powerful enemy, so now they must struggle merely to survive.

Giants - Giants are the protectors of the weak in Godswalk.  They use their great strength and size to help those less forunate or less capable than themselves.  Though they may seem naiive in helping anyone who asks, they are actually quite wise.  They merely trust to the rule that the one who manipulates a giant, raely lives to manipulate another.  Many giants are peaceful, harboring a great respect for life, however many young giants venture forth into the world in an effort to even the field for good in the moral conflict.

Doppelgangers - Many doppelgangers are insidious and manipulative, using their natural talents to obtain wealth and power.  However, there are a few who use their abilities to become that which they desire most and acquire an identity.  Many successful guilds of assassins and spies were founded by doppelgangers, and so their influence is widespread throughout much of the realm.

Lycanthropes - The embodiment of nature's most feral aspects, natural lycanthropes reside in the unamed wilds of egridar, living as the beasts they are.  Many form tribes for protection, as much of the "civilized" world persecutes them for being wild, and living as they believe their god intended.  Many fo the more devoted lycanthropes take up the mantle of protector, using their great skills to halt the advances of civilization into the frontiers which they call home.

Mercanes - The masters of commerce, the mercanes rule trade on Egridar.  Using their abilities to persuade potential customers and using cruel business tactics to get what they want, the mercanes have a near-monopoly on the economy of Egridar.  Only restricted by their small umbers, they subtly manipulate others to gather ever greater amounts of wealth for themselves.

Yuan-ti - The yuan-ti inhabit the dense tropical forests of Egridar, and from there they influence and nfltrate other cultures, attempting to gather enough power that they can eventually rule the filth they spy upon.  Their belief of natural superiority is often their downfall however, as they refuse to cover weaknesses in their plans due to sheer arrogance.  They have little respect for life other than themselves, and as such ruthlessly perform experiments in attempts to "improve" the humanoids they so despise.

Trolls - Trolls in Egridar aren't just simple-minded brutes, they are the great historians of the world.  Using their great physical strength to stand in the middle of wars and obseerve first-hand, they have no problem gathering witnesses to history.  Sometimes, they will even use their considerbale power to intervene for the sake of an interesting development.  Many venture forth to observehistory as it happens, then retreat to their mountain strongholds and record their observations in great vaults where the knowledge of every generation is kept.

Ooh goody, inspiration's finally come...  There will be 9 ancients, 9 ascendants.  One for each alignment.  The four elements are the source of all arcane magic, as well as the building blocks of the world.  I'll rebuild them soon, but first I'm gonna do some god clipping...

EDIT: The gods that make the cut are...

Tisis, Arithera, Tabes, Hutor, Keia, Duprax, Plavar, Onacium, and Gnent.

I'll work on finishing up the races and Gods now, sorry about the current disorganized state of this project.

Alright, I ask for everyone's help here.  The way things are set up now, goblins are very standard, and gnomes are just going to be a slightly altered version of their prior selves.  I was wondering what everyone thought of making goblins into greedy and grubby little merchants, and replacing gnomes with a winged homebrew?  ust curious of what eveyone thinks about that...

EDIT:  I just started feudal japan in global today, and I'm thinking of making the goblinoids into a pseudo-japanese culture where the actual species defines their caste.  By placing an archipelago by the mountain range of the dwarves, I can still have their conflict.  Make them a group of sea-faring merchants, maybe with some other races adopting their customs to take some of the oriental classes.

Feudal Japan is a great place to draw upon for goblinoid culture. Both are particularly lawful, and the cast system based upon race played a big role when I was writing up Hazra'Ghalduur for Sulos.

Have you considered some sort of military dictatorship like the Shogunate? Maybe a puppet emperor? What kind of role will faith play in their culture?

I've always been fascinated by the early Christian movements in Japan, which frequently came into conflict with the establishment.

Just tossing out some questions for you to think about.

-Nasty-

I was definitely thinking of a military dictatorship.  I was going to use the hobgoblins as samurai, with similar status as they were aforded in feudal japan.  Right now, I am unsure of where to place the bugbears in the goblinoid social structure.  It seems that they lack the mental capacity for maintaining any sort of rule, but they also don't seem like they'd take too kindly to being treated as lower-class citizens.

I debated using a limited form of animism which is present only in the goblinoid homeland.  Thus allowing a pseudo-Shinto as a major religion.  

Right now I am encountering problems with introducing the japan based base classes into other races.  aybe I could advance the cultural diffusion a few years...

Update:  I have decided to make hobgoblins samurai, bugbears serve as peasants, and goblins are merchants.  I have also decided that the relevant oriental base classes of samurai, ninja, wu jen, and shugenja will only be available to the goblinoid races barring specific exceptions based upon extenuating circumstances.  A more barbaric culture formed from outcasts and outlaws will have formed in the mountainous kingdoms of the dwarven homeland, where the two races have fallen into conflict.  

As of now, I need help building a race to fit the wizard niche, and I really need a better way to define the doppelgangers, as they seem to heavily overlap the yuan-ti in theme.

Quoteand I really need a better way to define the doppelgangers

maybe emphasize their formlessness/adjustability over trickery?

i think it'd be neat to have humans as the sub-race of doppels, as the stats kind of jive from a 'formless' perspective. i dont know how well that'd work in your world, though :)

Since that last post, I have come to the conclusion that they will be thrill-sekers.  They use their powers of anonymity to enjoy themselves utterly, as they cannot be caught due to their ability to change shape.  Check out the post on gods a few posts up, Ive been busy there editing, and it's coming along nicely.

Does anyone have any formats for presenting deities?  I feel like the one I'm using could use some modifications...

Still catching up, so I don't know if you've came to a decision on your Trolls yet or not, but I think I came up with a valid compromise for fast healing (since trolls should have some variation of it). Simply boost the amount of healing they gain while resting. Normal races heal 1 hp/level/day of rest, double if they do nothing but rest, and more if they're tended to.

Let Trolls heal at a rate of 1 hp/level/hour of rest. Not hour of travel, they have to be truely resting. But this allows a troll army to move quickly; they sack a town, hunker down in town and rest for a few hours, then move on.

Perhaps let them regenerate lost limbs (something PCs don't typically deal with) within several weeks.

To make these logical, require a troll to consume tripple the required food and water when they're regenerating in such a way. The extra tissue has to come from somewhere.

The Thrin, as they have come to be called, have the fast healing issue settled.  Right now I am trying to adjust their tribal spellcasting ability to provide bonuses to other spellcasters instead of only being useful with 13 Thrin around.  I thought of the Thrin being able to add a metamagic feat to another caster's spell by sacrificing spell slots equal to the difference between the original apell's level and the new level + metamagic

I like the updated gods listed above. When can we expect to see history/relations and appearances for the rest of them?

-Nasty-

In my setting, as it stands now, Dwarves have been reduced to a Bbn like stereo-type.  furs, mountain forges, etc.  I am currently trying to establish a desert culture in my world.  so far, 2 options have been made to appear.

1.  I make dwarves into a LG culture that uses the desert as a place to purify their spirits to beter prepare themselves for when they embark to fight evil.  In this model I use Raptorans descended from Rocs as barbarian tribes in the craggy cliffs of the worlds mountains.  Problem with this model is explaining Dwarves forging metals in a n already uncomfortably hot environment, and whether i can successfully move the metal-working theme over to the raptorans.  in this model, dwarves favored class becomes Paladin and their racial ability modifiers are +2 Con, -2 Int.

2.  Use Raptorans as the desert culture, dwarves stay as they are now.  Problem with this is that paladins are built to use heavy armor, and Raptorans cannot fly with heavy armor.  However, the desert feel I think complements the raptoran's as a desert race.

So, opinions, comments?  please help...

Quote from: Natural 20In my setting, as it stands now, Dwarves have been reduced to a Bbn like stereo-type.  furs, mountain forges, etc.  I am currently trying to establish a desert culture in my world.  so far, 2 options have been made to appear.

1.  I make dwarves into a LG culture that uses the desert as a place to purify their spirits to beter prepare themselves for when they embark to fight evil.  In this model I use Raptorans descended from Rocs as barbarian tribes in the craggy cliffs of the worlds mountains.  Problem with this model is explaining Dwarves forging metals in a n already uncomfortably hot environment, and whether i can successfully move the metal-working theme over to the raptorans.  in this model, dwarves favored class becomes Paladin and their racial ability modifiers are +2 Con, -2 Int.

2.  Use Raptorans as the desert culture, dwarves stay as they are now.  Problem with this is that paladins are built to use heavy armor, and Raptorans cannot fly with heavy armor.  However, the desert feel I think complements the raptoran's as a desert race.

So, opinions, comments?  please help...

I can easily see raptorians descended from rocs as a desert dwelling race. Dwarves actually could be too, with shaved heads and beards perhaps, but then they start to feel like Dark Sun dwarves...so forget that. Stick with the raptorians.

What's up with the paladins? Couldn't lawful good rangers fill the same role, and actually fit the desert climate and raptorian race better? If you've got some particular reason why you want paladins enlighten me. The class could be tweaked a bit to accomodate desert environments and light armor if you really need paladins out there.

-Nasty-

I suppose I could do this without paladins, i just shortened out everything, and i realy liked the idea of using the desert to purify the soul.  Anyway, i had an idea for a variant Palain that was CG, enter the "Crusader".

Now time for a good news break.  Since all the divine races and their PC-friendly races have been decided upon, i will be tightening up the assignment of domains and the concepts behind the Ancients shortly.  

I'm not so sure about the Ascendants yet, I'm debating building them up in a more random fashion to highlight their uncoordinated rise to power.  

I'm planning on stripping down dwarves now, Removing their Stonecunning ability, bonuses on attacks agianst orcs and goblins, and their dodge bonuses against giants.  i'm just curious if it would be balanced to give them a +2 racial bonus to strength in exchange for the loss of these abilities.  

Thoughts?

QuoteI'm planning on stripping down dwarves now, Removing their Stonecunning ability, bonuses on attacks agianst orcs and goblins, and their dodge bonuses against giants. i'm just curious if it would be balanced to give them a +2 racial bonus to strength in exchange for the loss of these abilities.

Thoughts?

No way! strength bonuses are powerful, and the abilites you are cutting are almost trivial. Just replace them with similar abilites that would useful in their environment, Like bonuses to survival checks or something similar.

-Nasty-

That's why I asked, thanks Nasty.  Maybe I'll just give them a +2 bonus to survival.  Take them down a peg, y'know?

Update:  I will also be starting the ascendants soon.  aking a page from Oakspar77777, I will be avoiding making the setting too cute, and there will be an as of yet undetermined number of gods with fairly random concepts to represent the fact that  they all rose somewhat randomly and therefore shouldn't form a perfectly meshing pantheon.

QuoteSunetos (Ancient, Intermediate Deity)
The Wind Above, Watcher of the Veil
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: birds, roads, death
Domains: Air, Travel, Death
Worshippers:
Symbol: a roc eclipsing the sun
Cleric Alignments: CN, CE, CG, TN
Favored Weapon: Shortspear
Race: Rocs
Ideals: Sunetos is the master of death, and the surveyor of all that there is. His purpose is to bring death to those who deserve it and take it from those who don't. The followers of Sunetos are attuned to the cycle of life and death, and so are not (as) afraid to pass through the veil as others around them. They take devotion to their deity very seriously and will sacrifice almost anything to fulfill his goals.
Appearance: Sunetos appears as a shadowy avian form with glowing white orbs for eyes. alternately he appears as a skeleton garbed in white robes.

I like, alot. Great flavor. Here's a few thoughts I have:

1) Chaotic Good: from your discription of his actions and cleric alignments, he seems more like Chaotic Neutral to me. It's hard for Death Gods to be good in DnD, and I don't see how he is.
2) Intermediate: Is he the only god of Death? if so, it seems to me he would have to be Greater - Death is so common, it would grant him power.

Those are the only things I question. The rest is great. I love the wording you used for his Ideals, and the discription for him is amazing. I'll have to read more stuff later - you captured my interest.

I love the dwarven creation myth. I would however like some explaination about why the ogres carved statues in the image they did. Was it some divine inspired art? I can't really see ogres thinking of tiny little statues as defensive totems; am I missing something?

Also are your ogres lawful? They seem to be based upon the structure of their society, but I am curious. I have no issues with alignment deviations from the norm...in fact I encourage it (it makes things interesting w/o changing stats or mechanics). It's nice to see the ogres in some sort of image other than barbaric brute, and a lawful society would do the trick.

Keep me posted if you add anything else.

-Nasty-

Yes, the ogres aee lawful and the dwarves are chaotic, a bit of a role change for both.  I'm not sure yet how to explain the totems, but I felt that the myth was too good to discard, and I'm sure I will think of something eventually.

The Ancients have been added to the Godswalk website. Please tell me if you have anything to add or a format you'd prefer. Worshipers only has one "p" btw. :)

OK, this is the schism wars so far...

When dragons were originally crafted by their god, they were cunning beasts capable of unparalelled destruction.  After several generations of these terrible creatures came to be, some variation in the mindset of these beasts came about.  Certain dragons looked upon the world and began to see the beauty in what they were destroying.  Unfortunately, there deisre for destruction was built into their very bodies and could not be overcome.  In a mad attempt to purify themeselves, this small draconic minority sought out help among the more peaceful gods of the pantheon.  Of these, only Hutor lent his aid, granting them new forms of beauty and peace, although still reminiscent of the grace they had previously.

Tisis, greatly angewred by the corruption of his creations immediately launched a religious war against Hutor.  Alliances were caled upon, and the heavens themselves burned with the fires of war.  As the sky above roared, followers on Egridar engaged in a mirror war on the material plane.

During the chaos that ensued, divine power was scattered about carelessly from the wars above.  Several mortals managed to claim this power and rise to a level of godhood themselves.  With this ascension, they began to collect worshipers and rapidly increased in power.  This soon caught the attention of the Ancients, causing them to make a shaky peace in order to fully prepare themselves for this new threat.  Now, these newly arisen mortals hold desparately to their divine gifts, gathering great kingdoms on the world of mortals.  A divine staring contest ensues as the powers probe at eachothers weaknesses, alliances are formed, and the fate of the world is plotted out.

Nice. It's rough, but the Schism Wars tie all your concepts together quite well. I kind of wondered where the ascendants got their power, and now I know. How long ago was this?

-Nasty-

I'm thinking about setting this up to be, at least the truce and ascension, at about 250 years ago.  That way, divine politics can be at their peak, and the ascendants are still resonably new, but have had time to establish themselves.

Raelifin has summarised the schism wars quite well, so I though I'd put his impression up here.

Quote from: RaelifinLet me see if I can summarize: Tisis creates dragons (chromatic), dragons wreak havok, some dragons sympathize, Hutor changes good dragons (metalic), Chromatics attack metalics creating the schism wars, Hutor and Tisis draw alies and create a world-war, Heroes of the war are fueled by the divine energy of the creators and become the acendants, the ancients fear for the sake of/their hold on the universe and cease the conflict...

Ok, Raelifin, NastyNate, and Xathan know about this, but I'm gonna put it up for further review and so I have it somewhere...

Tanultsep
The Decaying lord
Portfolio: Undeath, control
domains: Domination, evil, ?
info: Tanultsep was the greatest servant of sunetos, at least before he ascended.  Now he rules the desert kingdoms of the raptorans, patron of their zombie forces...

Raelifin's summary

Quote from: RaelifinSunetos creates the ultimate manefestation of his will, the roc. Priests around the world see the roc as a powerful omen of the greater god and worship the rocs.  The schism wars create a bounty of food for the scavenging monstrocities and the clerics of Sunetos follow the great birds to the battlefields where they feast. Emulating the rocs, the deranged worshipers engorge themselves in mad feast, cannibalizing everything in sight. Scores of clerics die from disease. Those that survive seek to make a better race and manage to do so by magically cross-breeding with rocs. The unholy union creates the raptorans (please rename) who kill their creators in a mad fury. ...  FACK!

Tell em about the giant fiendish cannibal zombie chickens and the priesthood that sustains their people by eating the flesh of their zombie slaves...I'm not kidding!

-Nasty-

The followers of Tanultsep have mastered the powers of death and undeath in their lust for power.  They often launch raids on the more isolated parts of the world to capture corpses, which they reanimate and bring back to their desert lands where they are used as labor and a food supply.  

Zombies, part of this complete breakfast!

Ok, I had a brainstorming bit tonight, and here's what i've got...

[spoiler]
-Ogre champions, disgraced in battle and retreated into frozen mountains

-Yuan-Ti in forgotten temples deep within foreign jungles, plotting for control

-An aquatic trade culture of Dppelgangers, with a coastal population of changelings who are half-breeds.  the changelings possibly replaced the humans who originally dwelled there

-possibly elves hidden somewhewre, but more woodsy

-a magocracy of some sort

-the libraries of the Thrin

-What do I do with kobolds!?

-a feudal human set of kingdoms

-archipelago for goblinoids
[/spoiler]

Hey, I support the use of the Homebrew/Element+Design seperation... keeps the campaign world looking sleek and clean, with this messy but wonderful discussion going on in the background.

NOTE: I wrote the "spoiler" section based off of the "Godswalk" page in the Homebrew section, with little influence from the discussion here in the Element/design section.

[spoiler]Cool and different take on Ogres... I like forge gods, and I got kind of a nordic germanic barbarian feel from the whole thing... like the begging of "Conan the Barbarian"... very nice!

Hey, I just might become a follower of Hutor myself! Haha... joking... but a cool idea though. So... why the desicion to make giants the benefactors of the world? Their patron being the god of purity and good... I'm not sure how I feel about the race decision, but I am curious as to your thought process.

Duprax symbol seems kind of busy. Good shapeshifters are cool, people like being able to play animal-people. Cursed stupid animals are allright, but I've always liked the old whitewolf-ish take on the Werewolf.

Hobgoblins who emphasize honor in an eastern way is very cool... but I have a hard time seeing those crazy little green mini-goblins having any association with a god of "law". They always seemed chaotic to me, but it would be different and unique to paint them as being lawful.

Onacium is very cool. Evil plotting snakes has a nice flavor to it (garden of eden, anyone? gotta play on those things we learn early in life). This also made me realize something... with all the evil bad-guy races DnD has to offer, why not make a few of them more playable, more inclined to good and neutral? You can take a race like the Yuan-ti, and make them the dominant bad-guys, and take another more common and expected foe like the Hobgoblin and make him an ally of man and dwarf and elf. I don't know what you're going for, but congrats, you've shaken my fragile little mind into an epiphany.

Sunetos is ridiculously evil. He's like Mum-Ra or other cartoon villians, where he has nothing you can relate to, no agenda you can see even a little merit in (even if it's an insane agenda). He's just "Lets poison candy and kick puppies! Burn the crops and kill the livestock! Rape the women and enslave the men!". I'm not sure how I feel about that... but he is one evil "got to be defeated" kind of god. I guess gods are supposed to be like that... hard-to-relate with. So I guess this idea is pretty good.

Hah! Bespectacled troll! That's awesome. It's a little less entertaining now that I've read the "critique" section... but it's still good.

Very very very cool take on dragons. I'm not even sure why I like it so much... maybe it's because they seem so human. Some of them want to do good, but have parts of the bad in them (or did), some are just greedy callous monsters, who have now galvinized into little strongholds who squabble and bicker and politic.

Also, I love the dwarven creation story. They were carved out of rocks, animated to fight a war, then they just took off after pimp-slapping an ogre. Freakin awesome. They were carved from rocks![/spoiler]

You have some great ideas, and you need to write more or post more. The racial and diety stuff is pretty good so far, and I'm interested to see what kind of conflicts and adventure opportunities you (and we; the CBG) can come up with. The new gods versus old gods sounds like fun.

Elves are naturally an air or water race, to point out the obvious... I'd lean towards water.

Dopplegangers can breathe underwater? Makes sense... I suppose they could just will themselves to have gills.

You mentioned that dragons have little city-nations... well then the kobolds could be the subjects of these nations. Thousands of squabbling grubby little kobolds all struggling for the attention and favor of their master.

Magocracy? Those are fun. You mean where the magical rule, and the non-magical serve? Who decides who gets to learn magic? Or is it a hereditary thing, like a monarchy? Maybe the elves live in a magocracy, or one of the human kingdoms.

Feudalist humans in fantasy games is like a T.V. in the living room, or sex in a bed. It's a standard, it's what you're used to, it's comfortable, and it's a set-up for the things you love; but things can get interesting if you move it around, change it a little, or just get rid of it. You can  have castles and dudes in plate armor without feudalism; but you can't have kings, dukes, knights, or peasants. I was going to say you can't have mass ignorance, but we all see how easy that is in a modern democracy. I don't know where I'm going with this, but I'd like to suggest considering any and all options. Maybe they're a semi-autonomous commune? Maybe different people have different forms of government, and perhaps think that if they could just force (i.e. occupy) their neighbors to try their system out for a few years, they would love it. Ok, I'm done ranting about politics. Back to the cute trolls.

I do like this troll/gnome/fey alternative. Gnomes can get a little droll, and these little buggers sounds like fun. I'd want to play one! I just love 'em, and they definately add a unique flavor to the game. You might want to get real creative with their mountain homes, though. Don't want to make them seem too dwarfy. Maybe they live in monasteries high in the mountains, as opposed to inside the mountain. Maybe they have some sub-set spellcaster who can shape rock, making their cavernous homes more natural and weird than dwarven halls carved from rock. Small people make small homes, so big-uns would find Thrin towns hard to access... which I'm sure the Thrin don't mind. Maybe they live in mushroom houses inside caves?

Raptorans sound cool. I really like the creation story (I generally like any story than involves cannibalism in the name of a god), and I think raptoran is a good name. Not stupid sounding, not super-obvious, and it has a decent ring to it.

Good, this is good. I am interested. I don't usually like high fantasy god-fests, but this is fun. I'll be back.

First off, I would like to say thanks for providing some feedback on this, it's pretty much been the same people for a while now, and while their help is appreciated, a new opinion never hurts.  Now on to the setting!

You had questions, I've given answers![spoiler]

Quote from: velox121Hey, I just might become a follower of Hutor mysel
f! Haha... joking... but a cool idea though. So... why the desicion to make giants the benefactors of the world? Their patron being the god of purity and good... I'm not sure how I feel about the race decision, but I am curious as to your thought process.

Hobgoblins who emphasize honor in an eastern way is very cool... but I have a hard time seeing those crazy little green mini-goblins having any association with a god of "law". They always seemed chaotic to me, but it would be different and unique to paint them as being lawful.[/quote]Sunetos is ridiculously evil. He's like Mum-Ra or other cartoon villians, where he has nothing you can relate to, no agenda you can see even a little merit in (even if it's an insane agenda). He's just "Lets poison candy and kick puppies! Burn the crops and kill the livestock! Rape the women and enslave the men!". I'm not sure how I feel about that... but he is one evil "got to be defeated" kind of god. I guess gods are supposed to be like that... hard-to-relate with. So I guess this idea is pretty good.[/quote]Elves are naturally an air or water race, to point out the obvious... I'd lean towards water.[/quote]You mentioned that dragons have little city-nations... well then the kobolds could be the subjects of these nations. Thousands of squabbling grubby little kobolds all struggling for the attention and favor of their master.[/quote]Feudalist humans in fantasy games is like a T.V. in the...[spoiler] living room, or sex in a bed. It's a standard, it's what you're used to, it's comfortable, and it's a set-up for the things you love; but things can get interesting if you move it around, change it a little, or just get rid of it. You can  have castles and dudes in plate armor without feudalism; but you can't have kings, dukes, knights, or peasants. I was going to say you can't have mass ignorance, but we all see how easy that is in a modern democracy. I don't know where I'm going with this, but I'd like to suggest considering any and all options. Maybe they're a semi-autonomous commune? Maybe different people have different forms of government, and perhaps think that if they could just force (i.e. occupy) their neighbors to try their system out for a few years, they would[/quote]
Wow, long statement...  I think I want to do feudal humans for two main reasons, because it has been done before, and therefore it will give players an area of stability.  And two being the fact that I like feudal kingdoms, and I think they can be done well, if politics are applied judiciously.

Quote from: velox121Raptorans sound cool. I really like the creation story (I generally like any story than involves cannibalism in the name of a god), and I think raptoran is a good name. Not stupid sounding, not super-obvious, and it has a decent ring to it.

Quote from: Velox121Good, this is good. I am interested. I don't usually like high fantasy god-fests, but this is fun. I'll be back.

Well, that's what I'm going for...  High Fantasy is what I like personally, and I've seen far too many low magic, high tech worlds.  I have nothing against them, but it gets old when the entire community tries to be different in the same way.  The more fantastic it is, the greater the amazement, for me at least...

more crazy ideas, make 9 great cultures, one for each of the divine races, then fit in ascendants who have followers and make their own way in the world.

-Halfling nomadic culture

-Humans fit in everywhere, as a tribe among the noamds, a family of butlers for the aristocratic nations, a monastic order amon the iants, etc.

-Just thoughts, more soon

a rough draft of the beginning...

In the beginning, there was only the mist, a shapeless fog of potential.  All the thoguhts and dreams, the very future, past, and everything there ever is was in this vast expanse.  In this great place, the nine-fold dragon Io came to be, and from his great mind came all the world.

He molded 10 entities fromt he mists(enter 10 gods, one dragon for each alignment, plus really really evil for black)

{insert bit about planes froming here}

Each of the great dragons then claimed a piece of the rapidly forming world, making it their own.  The worlds changed as each god laid claim to them, forming to his mind.

Then each god made a race, a people to carry out their will.

I'll now assign random alignments to every dragon but Black, cuz he is so beyond alignment(NE)

Each god will have one of the races, with Reds getting Dragons, being the power hungry monsters they are.

not sure what else yet...  more later...

EDIT:Gem dragns can be included through some cataclysmic collison of the plane of mirrorrs with the Prime.

10 Dragon Gods, one for each "normal" color.  Not sure how, or even if I should put in prismatic dragons.

Gold:LG, Silver:LN,

What do people think about a change in the standard dragon psychology and role?  I was planning to alter red dragons, make them with the white dragon psycholgy or a big-ass carnivore.  Maybe give whites the whole cool and calculating angle.  

Also, I'm trying to assign alignmernts to Dragons, not the MM given ones. one dragon for each of the alignments, with black left out, any ideas on which ones should go where?

PLEASE HELP!

Like I said online, I agree with the changing white and reds, especially since it suits their chosen element so well.

As for alingments, I'm thinking:

Gold: LG
Silver: LN
Blue: LE
Brass: CG
Copper: CN
Red/white: CE (depends on which one is the bestial preadators)
Bronze - NG
Green - TN (forest and all that)
White/Red:  NE (depends on which one is the evil schemer)

Hope this helps. I might have brass and bronze mixed up, so I'll just say for clairty that CG should be whichever one loves to talk (or if that is Coppers, that CG should be whichever one pulls pranks)

New stuff on random ideas...

Driders have been promoted to a divine race, with Dromites as their PC race counterpart.  Driders altered their eggs to create both colossal living spider cities, and dromites to tend them.

I think I will set up the world with three primary continents/regions.  One will be filled with steampunk era technology, surrounded by a thickfog, and have some serious evil associations.

Another will be closely tied to the source of magic, perhaps through a close planar boundary.  This will be the home of wizards towers, rivers that flow uphill, magocracies, theocracies, etc.

Another idea is to have a closely grouped bunch of islands for use as extra adventure sites, pirate adventures, random places, etc.  Seafaring trade cultures would also fit here quite nicely.

A couple other random thoughts were an island filled with dragons who tended an altar to the ancients.  Perhaps it is a theocracy, where they follow the collective will of the pantheon.

another option for the tech continent is to diide it's themes, have a dark continent cloaked with fog and smoke, harboring terrible evils deep within it's mysterious realms and a somewhat pleasant technological realm of clanks and inventions.  A border with the plane of shadow or the negative energy plane could help w/ the evil continent.  Maybe undead roam the lands at night, terrified by only the greatest of evils, the...

Well, that's it pretty much.

QuoteDriders have been promoted to a divine race, with Dromites as their PC race counterpart. Driders altered their eggs to create both colossal living spider cities, and dromites to tend them.

I have some minor suggestions. Alter the appearance (flavorfully) for the driders and dromites to make them look like they're related in some way, and make sure to divorce the driders from the drow completely. I would suggest something like spider heads on the driders, and making the dromites black to match their forebearers.

QuoteI think I will set up the world with three primary continents/regions. One will be filled with steampunk era technology, surrounded by a thickfog, and have some serious evil associations.

Try not to have the evil people have too much technological advantage over the rest of the world. Unless you like the idea of Nazi Germany (who had the most advanced technology and science of their era). It's scary when the bad guys have a huge power advantage over their enemies, and unlike magic, technology does not depend upon powerful wizards to command it; tech is only limited by money. I myself would have no issues doing something like this, but I would make sure to provide some sort of leverage against which to balance the power of the evil tech races.

QuoteAnother will be closely tied to the source of magic, perhaps through a close planar boundary. This will be the home of wizards towers, rivers that flow uphill, magocracies, theocracies, etc.

Sounds fine, just make sure it's unique and interesting. The magocracy is a staple in D&D, and you probably want to pick a handful of characteristics that makes yours special, and focus on them.

QuoteAnother idea is to have a closely grouped bunch of islands for use as extra adventure sites, pirate adventures, random places, etc. Seafaring trade cultures would also fit here quite nicely.

Pirate adventures you say?  :yarr:

QuoteA couple other random thoughts were an island filled with dragons who tended an altar to the ancients. Perhaps it is a theocracy, where they follow the collective will of the pantheon.

A draconic theocracy sounds great! Don't forget kobolds.

Quoteanother option for the tech continent is to divide it's themes, have a dark continent cloaked with fog and smoke, harboring terrible evils deep within it's mysterious realms and a somewhat pleasant technological realm of clanks and inventions. A border with the plane of shadow or the negative energy plane could help w/ the evil continent. Maybe undead roam the lands at night, terrified by only the greatest of evils, the...

perhaps both the benevolent and the evil tech people could live on the same continent, and the benevolent ones keep the evil ones in check. a simple natural border between them (like mountains) could make this pretty easy. One side touched by shadow, and the other touched by the light.

-Peace-

P.S. Mind you all suggestions must be taken with a grain of salt. I naturally extrapolate upon vague ideas and concepts to try to envision them in my head. If my visualization conflicts with yours, that just means you need more detail (not neccessarily the specific details I suggest).  :happy:

Something I thought you would all like, enjoy.  I warn you though, this is not for the faint of heart.

In a dark mountain pass, the sound of colossal gears grinding together echoes across the canyon walls.  Two great plates of iron grate across the stone floor of the valley, and through this dismal crevice, another world can be seen.  A vast field of tall grasses and low brush can be seen through a crack in the gates, stretching out in imitation of eternity.  This peaceful scene is framed by oppressive clouds in the sky above, black as death.  Great flashes of lightning streak down like bolts of divine brilliance.  The light of flames can be seen shimmering against columns of smoke barely visible as they rise against the hopeless expanse of sky, and the stinging particles of ash make your eyes water and your nostrils burn.

From this vast realm of darkness, the terrible screams of women and children fall upon your ears, reaching out from the abyss spread before you.  Shapes can be seen scrambling to reach the safety of the gates, as shadows of fear sweep across the fields.  Spears fly forth from the darkness, whistling death.  As the shapes stumble and fall, now clearly visible to be halflings of the plains, dark laughter fills the night.  Great and terrible voices wheeze out of the darkness, raising prayers to a dark god in a blasphemous tongue.  One man, small as a child falls, his lips can be seen moving in prayers to a god who will never listen.

From atop the battlements, dwarven watchmen avert their eyes to the slaughter below, doggedly working to operate the great engines which would seal the iron portal.  Finally, with a great boom and thud the doors slam shut, and survivors collapse in safety within the confines of the Citadel.  Worse than anything yet mentioned however, are the pathetic echoes of the portal's lock, tiny poundings on the door, fists beating at the gates to salvation, ever closed to their pleas.  Then suddenly, all the noise stops, as even the muffled screams fade once death has been visited upon the frames of the fearful.

Looking out over the horizon, the flames have spread, and illuminated by their terrible light looms a terible evil.  A truly colossal arachnid of epic proportions looms out of the darkness, it's eyes containing an insatiable hunger for both blood, and fear.  eerily, the night is once again filled with the wheezing cries of the damned, praising their cruelty, their deed painted upon the grass in blood.

any comments?  I've heard this is my best work...  and honestly, I'd like to hear it again.

I said it before and said it again: Wow. never again claim you can't paint, my friend. Awesome stuff here. The images are amazing.

Quoteany comments? I've heard this is my best work... and honestly, I'd like to hear it again.

It's the best thing I've seen so far for Godswalk...bring on the nasty arachnoids!

This is your best work.

Really, this is quite good. You can feel the fear of the people fleeing and the helplessness as the gate is sealed.

I feel really warm and fuzzy inside now...  most of the time people tell me to stay in the real world, but...  I've never felt so appreciated in my life...

I only hope I can continue to live up to the expectations.

:jawdrop: Man, I knew my gut feeling* about you was accurate. You're going to be a kick-ass writer some day.  :jawdrop:


[/size]

I agree. This is the best by your hand I've read so far.

"The Fog"

A thick and choking fog writhes through the dark trees, flowing betwen your feet, snaking across the water, and obscuring sight in any direction.  The noise of this place is muffled.  Footsteps are silenced, as though dire punishment should result from a noise too loud or conspicuous.  An intense feeling of chlostrophobia fills the air, as if the fog were solid and an impenetrable cage resigning you to a dismal fate.

As you lean back against a tree, your platemail grates horribly along it's trunk, setting your teeth on edge.  As you shift to become more comfortable, making every effort to silence your armor, realization sets in, and you swiftly jump away and turn to face the terror you felt.

You then find yourself staring at an ancient stone column, wreathed in a slightly less stone viper, it's venomous glare fixed upon your faintly glimmering holy symbol.  It then descends swiftly from it's perch, but once it reaches the ground, your comrade cleaves both the fog and it's body with a swift strike from his axe.  As the blade hits a previously unseen stone hidden below the fog, sparks spray and a blasphemously loud report pierces the fog and echoes endlessly, echoing throught the jungle like a bell tower calling midnight.  Now the fog is stilled, yor comrades freeze, and silence is heard.

Slowly, a soft crackling sound emerges from the fog to your left, as the undergrowth is parted by what sounds like a serpentine form.  It then rises into a hiss, but now it comes from the left.  Another voice joins it from above even, and behind you an unheard voice approaches.  now, a rhythm is audible, as the hiss rises to a pulse spread by a choir of evil.  The rhythm changes, forming an exotice rhythm, now it's an incomprehensibe chant booming forth, the voice of the Serpent's Fog.

From the gaps in the trees, gems shine forth.  Within these reservoirs of darkness, emeralds of astounding beauty and perfection gleam forth.  Wait!  A foul mistake, these are not gems but eyes.  A pair of these eyes now peer out of eachshadow, from behind every tree, and from every direction.  One pair catches your attention, and your breath.  A pair of rubies pierces straight into your soul, cruelly analyzing the components of your resolve.  then, the eyes widen in fear, or is it hatred?  They have found the divine purity of your paladin's oath, and their hatred surfaces unbidden. The sound of many forms writhing in disgust and unbridled loathing.

Once again, the silence comes.  A whistling soon replaces it, a terrible symphony of airborne death.  A dart blooms forth from your chest, piercing your plate-mail like canvas, and painting a crimson blossom upon it's surface.  As you cry out, fury in your voice, more pierce the fog around you, finding the forms of your comrades as flawlessly as they did yours.  you can see your friends fall to the earth, as you fall with them.  Your cold hands grip your holy symbol, your lips moving in prayer, but as you scream vengeance, only blood comes forth.  Bubbling over your futile efforts, a crimson stream trickling down your pale face.


Now as you lay, rasping your final breaths, the rhythm returns, a puls reachign out from the ground and gripping your pure soul in an asphyxiating grip.  Despair fills your soul, when your mental clarity tells you that your quest has failed.  A final glimps of the world shows you a terrible scene, the true nature of your surroundings revealed to you.

A cruel and uncaring face leers down at you, with scales covering what could almost be deemed a cruel smile.  It's almond eyes close as it's mouth widens to an impossible size, revealing two fangs the size of a man's hand, dripping a malicious venom more deadly than the arrow embedded in your chest.

Behind him, you can see the "trees" you had wandered among earlier, a vast court filled with crude but carefully carved pillars, depicting vile rituals completed in ages past.  A stone path can be seen, winding through the columns and rising ever upward, crested by a crumbling ziggurat, a relic from a terrible past age. Above everything is the sun, a holy disc which burns through the fog and turns the tattered remnants to gold.  The lair of unfathomable horrors, illuminated before you.  In the sun it gloats, just like your executioner as his great maw seeks a taste of your dying flesh, illuminated by a halo from the rising sun...

But this one is at least as good. Bravo!

Moe random ideas jumbled together.  I'll organize them into a semi-coherent form sometime...

The dark continent will house driders, dwarves, and halflings, along with another as of yet undetermined race.

The Yuan-Ti will have steamy jungles for a homeland, where they follow an ancient religion devoted to a green dragon god.  They silently plot, unseen by the world, to establish an empire and wipe out all of the "lesser" races.

There will be 3 main regions/continents.  The first is the "dark continent".  Made up of a long curving peninsula to the north, it is great for trade with it's many ports.  following the peninsula down, a mountain range is encountered.  within these mountains lies an industrialized dwarven nation.  I'm unsure about this, but either in the tallest peaks of this range, or on the southern edge of this continent live the ogre race.  anyway, beyond the mountains is a vast plains, where halflings live in nomadic tribes, with a culture to be based upon the plains Indians of North america.  On the southern edge of the continent is either more mountains, a dark and spider-infested forest, or both.  I'm unsure how or where the driders live on this contenent yet, but I know they hunt for sport and sadistic pleasure.  They follow the teachings of a savage red dragon god, who reaches the glory of the hunt and speaks of embracing the carnal instincts within.

An undersea doppelganger empire is in the works, perhaps some form of Atlantis, where islands remain above the surface of their sunken metropolis.

THERE WILL BE NO DROW!

I want a vast desert somewhere, not sure yet how to work it in, maybe use the half-giants or raptorans there.

Raptorans follow a copper dragon deity, and their divine race is the phoenix.

Still sketching out the rest, I hope to get this project back on track by next monday.  Hopefully the fiction will attract more attention, as people semed to enjoy it.

Wait, I'm confused. I thought raptorans were the divine children of the rocs.

Yay for no drow!

Do you need me to keep the Godswalk page at Raelifin.com up?

You might want to keep the page up for the time being.  I've got a lot on my plate right now, with finals coming up and such, so just leave things as they are for right now.

I'll write up the divine races and their gods in a final draft soon, I hope.  Guess we'll all just have to wait and see how much work I get done.

basic alignments for the 10 dragon Gods are as follows...

LG- Gold, looks to be god og peace and happiness, etc., though not sure yet.

NG-Copper, god of magic maybe?, divine race phoenix

CG-Brass, unsure as of yet...

LN-Silver, god of skies and order, ?

TN-Bronze, god of the sea, ?

CN-Blue, not sure yet...

LE-Green, god of lies and deceit, divine race are the Yuan-Ti

NE-White-not sure on the details yet...

CE-Red, god of primal destruction and violence, divine race are driders.

Exiled God - black, EVIL!, undead

The new godswalk project, yes I am copying ElDo, is starting soon.  The main difference is that there will be no ascendants, and the ancients will be placed directly on the prime material.

The great wheel spins above sigil, but on the opposite end of Sigil is the prime, centered between the planes.  I thought that it would make more sense to have the gods rule the multiverse from the center rather than the outer planes, so Egridar is now home of the gods.

As usual, this is succeptible to change, so don't get too attached.  But I really like it, and it lets the setting tie in with a lot of published material, and prevents the planes themselves from overshadowing the CS.

I hope I can bring you more information soon.

Gah! Talk about big changes! O_O But if you like it, that's all that maters, sight?

The world of Egridar has a relatively simple geography, laid out in a relatively simple manner.
There are three continents, the Dark Continent, The Wilds, and the Empire.

The Dark continent is a miserable land where evil does not lurk but treads the land openly, where technology has spoiled the pristine utopia it once was and could have been.  Great dwarven factories belch forth clouds of soot into the skys, blotting out the sun over this gloomy realm.  Their mountain fortresses loom over the vast plains below.  On these plains live tribal clans of halflings, who gather roots and hunt herd animals for food.  Clans of Driders call the plains home as well, striking out to terrorize trespassers and just create bloodshed in tribute to their terrible god.  I'm not sure yet of what other race to place out here...

The wilds is a vast and untainted continent where magic in it's raw form ahs combined with the might of nature to create vast and beautiful landscapes.  There are dark forests, great plains, perhaps even tundras or a grand bay, I'm not sure yet.  The basic idea is a place of magic and nature combined to form incredible things.

The empire is a very undefined concept I'm working on...  I want to make a realm where good most definitively has the upper hand, a realm of knights and churches, and a place where life is calm and beautiful.  I'm really unsure of how to work with this...  very rough idea...

The wastes surround all of this, a vast plain of lifelessness where even the gods dare not tread.  Undead walk this great and desolate region, serving the bidding of their malicious masters.  The land was once rumored to have been beautiful int he far past, but when the great god of death and madness was destroyed, his blood tainted the world, and it's effects are evident here.

The world of Egridar is surrounded by the wastes, a terrible region of lifelessness and horror.  The wastes are ruled over by 4 great lords, a Dracolich(White) in the North, a Mummy Lord in the south, a Dread Wraith in the East, and A Vampire in the West.  I purposely have chosen the greatest and most diverse gathering of powerful undead I could make, and each one will be named after a greek wind, like Zephyr.  These lords plot for power, and are exiled by the gods themselves.  I'm thinking that they could have been servants of the terrible god of death whose destruction created the wastes themselves.

EDIT: I now have names for the lords of the Wastes!

Boreas is a dracolich, the remains of a white dragon, and Lord of the Northern wastes
Zephyr is a vampire of incredible power, and Lord of the Western wastes
Notus is a mummy lord, crafted from the remains of a titan, Lord of the southern wastes
Eurus is a Dread Wraith, known as the Nightmare, and is lord of the Eastern Wastes.



Thoughts?  None of this is permanent, I'm just toying with ideas right now...

QuoteThe empire is a very undefined concept I'm working on... I want to make a realm where good most definitively has the upper hand, a realm of knights and churches, and a place where life is calm and beautiful. I'm really unsure of how to work with this... very rough idea...

Peaceful isn't all that fun to be honest. The Shire was peaceful, but none of tha action happened there...

My suggestion is to make the "empire" a collection of sovereign kingdoms with different cultures, people, and races, who have forged treaties between them. They may not even have an emperor...there could be a council of kings or something.

The reason for this is simple really. It's too hard to write worthwhile adventures in a peaceful happy kingdom. I myself have run into this issue before, and it stinks. You write this beautifully detailed paradise, and then in order for anything to happen, you have to tear it apart. With the collection of smaller kingdoms, they plot and scheme against one another, and yet the people and the lands of their kingdoms can be peaceful and happy. Shift the conflict (which D&D needs to thrive) to something political, if you want peace.

QuoteThe world of Egridar is surrounded by the wastes, a terrible region of lifelessness and horror. The wastes are ruled over by 4 great lords, a Dracolich(White) in the North, a Mummy Lord in the south, a Dread Wraith in the East, and A Vampire in the West. I purposely have chosen the greatest and most diverse gathering of powerful undead I could make, and each one will be named after a greek wind, like Zephyr. These lords plot for power, and are exiled by the gods themselves. I'm thinking that they could have been servants of the terrible god of death whose destruction created the wastes themselves.

This is PHAT!

QuoteThe Dark continent is a miserable land where evil does not lurk but treads the land openly, where technology has spoiled the pristine utopia it once was and could have been. Great dwarven factories belch forth clouds of soot into the skys, blotting out the sun over this gloomy realm. Their mountain fortresses loom over the vast plains below. On these plains live tribal clans of halflings, who gather roots and hunt herd animals for food. Clans of Driders call the plains home as well, striking out to terrorize trespassers and just create bloodshed in tribute to their terrible god. I'm not sure yet of what other race to place out here...

The Dark Continent is great so far, but I would like to see more. I want a finished idea, nation, people, something...you have tons of big ideas but don't see them through; you need to change that. It's heart breaking to follow Godswalk and offer suggestions and help only to have the whole thing scrapped and started over. Don't abandon a good concept when you come to a bump in the road; you're better than that.

QuoteThe wilds is a vast and untainted continent where magic in it's raw form ahs combined with the might of nature to create vast and beautiful landscapes. There are dark forests, great plains, perhaps even tundras or a grand bay, I'm not sure yet. The basic idea is a place of magic and nature combined to form incredible things.

This is all for now...I'm not sure about the rest yet, because nothing specific has really been mentioned. The Wilds has the potential to be cool, but also the potential to be a cliche version of every elven kingdom ever written (lol).


-Peace Out-

I should mention that for the "Happy continent" I was planning to have politics upped a bit in scope.  Also, I had a nifty idea for how the evil in this place is kept "under control".  Perhaps the Council of Kings you mentioned secretly has a treaty with these beings, and pays tribute or something.  Maybe the people even know of this but do not interefere because the majority of the population lives happily because of this.  People will almost always trade freedom for security, as it is said.  I'm thinking the Yan-TI might be good for this role...  They present themselves as respectable traders, but their real home of jungles and temples is hidden carefully, and this is where they sacrifice the virgin maidens and all of that.  These same Yun-Ti could still be plotting to rule this continent, biding their time and spreading their influence.

How's that for conflict?

Of Driders and Dromites

Since there have been requests for developing a specific region, I have decided to disclose my ideas for the Drider culture from the Dark continent.  Due to their intimate connection, the story of the dromites will be touched upon here as well.

The Driders are a tribal people, spread out in various tribal groups across the plains of darkness.  their patron god and creator is a Savage deity who speaks of the glory battle brings, the value of victory, and the purity of vioence.  The savage drow often make sacrifices in his name, celebrating the end of a hunt or raid with ceremonies heavily involving the use of blood.  Many small stone shrnes dot the plains, places of worship for the wandering Drider and a sign of the presence of their sanguinous god.

Driders often use wooden lances and longbows int heir hunts, as they are naturally mounted and use their speed to their advantage.  They are especially fond of setting up ambushes in small stands of trees and near water, using their webs as nets to ensnare foes.  honor does not exist in their culture, there is only a lust for battle, and strength is the only language understood by these "people".

The dromites were created as slaves and spys for the Driders, jet black, small, and deadly.  After a few years of slavery, the dromites used their own power, refined through years of stress, to escape.  Once they escaped, they began to create great beats, monstrous spiders apable of traversing the and at great speeds.  These beasts were mindless, and their thoughts were formed by a melding of all the dromites who inhabited this "city".  

Right now I'm usure of several things, namely the following.

How and why the dromites were created.  How they escaped.
How or why they created the great spiders...
Why dromites would adventure, I'm thinking something about revenge on the Driders.
I have an idea of exiled white dromites as adventurers, not sure about it...
I'd like to divide the drider clans by various qualities, speed, stealth, strength, stuff like that...

So, there's what I've got for now...

Recap

School lets out in two days for me, so progress on the Godswalk project will resume this weekend/tonight, depending on time restraints.  My current out line looks something like this...

~ Create the rough world map and post
~ define the major regions of Egridar
~ create and define the characteristics of the Three Ages
~ create and post the Pantheon
~ brainstorm and create a list of important ascendants
~ explain why the ascendants exist
~ define the four Dead Lords
~ place the races and develop skeletal cultures for each
~ rewrite my core ethos statement

~~~~~~~~~~~hopefully this generates some questions~~~~~~~~~~~~

Longterm Goals: Prepare the setting for review in the Campaign Showcase and a possible PbP to be hosted on the CBG forums.

So, question: Most of what you said in that last post is something I've heard before, but what the frell are the four Dead Lords?

The Dead Lords

The Dead Lords are four undead of immense power, located in the far corners of Egridar.  They were once the most powerful agents of Tanultsep*, master of entropy.  Each holds a share of his power since his passing, and should they work together, they might be able to revive their dead lord.  Thankfully, they're endless webs of plots and schemes have left them opposing eachother at every turn and they are therefore unable to cooperate successfully.

The four Dead lords, or the Masters of the Wastes are...

[note]The information presented here about the dead lords applies to the Second Age, the time where order reigned supreme.[/note]

[spoiler=Boreas]Boreas is a cunning master of deception, and was in charge of the spies and informational resources for the church of Tanultsep.  A Great wyrm White Dragon, Boreas was a powerful supporter of his lord, and often lent his considerable personal might to the aid of his master.  After Tanultsep's power corrupted the Wastes, Boreas undertook the ritual to become a dracolich in order to extend his life.  He now pursues any leads which might enable him to resurrect his lord and place himself in his risen master's good graces.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Zephyr]Zephyr was once a devout member of the clergy in Tanultsep's following, closely adhering to it's teachings.  He swiftly rose through it's ranks through both diplomacy and brutal violence, becoming the Arch-clerical adminstrator in an astoundingly short period of time.  with this position, he was granted a great gift, as he became the first true vampire.  With the most charming face of death, he was soon able to convert even more to the faith of his dark god.

When the church collapsed at the time of their god's fall, Zephyr's faith went on unharmed, as he believed that the lord of death cannot truely be killed, as his domain is eternal.  Since the obliteration of his followers, Zephyr works to spread the teachings of his lord subtly throughout the world and prepare the realm for his return from beyond the veil.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Notus]A great general, notus was a brutal man during his time.  Contrary to the usual mannerisms of his race, this titan was a brutal fighter and cruel commander.  Appointed to be the commander of the military forces loyal to his divine master, he led his armies to many victories.  His cunning and tactical knowledge were renowned throughout the land, and even his enemies respected him.  When Tanultsep fell, all of his troops left him, and his position was stripped from him by the rival churches.  After this travesty against his honor, he was forced to retreat into the southern wastes, where he acquired aid from the other dead lords and was mummified ao that he could be ready for his lord's return.  Since he was awakened by a rather unfortunate group of adventurer's however, he has become quite insane and has begun spreading his influence again.  This is no harmless madness however, but an intelligent psychotic manner, a brutal and crazed mind.  The other Lords now see him as a liability, as he ironically is the epitomy of his master's teachings in that he represents pure and unrestrained violence and evil.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Eurus]Eurus was a powerful mage and necromancer since a time just after the beginning of time.  With his great powers, he would create grand armies of undead to purge his "kingdom" of the living so that he could pursue his studies in peace.  Once, he obliterated a group of missionaries spreading the message of Tanultsep.  Now, instead of destroying this archmage, tanultsep saw a valuable agent on the world of mortals, and so attempted to gain the trust of this mortal.   appearing to him in a dream, Tanultsep offered Eurus immortality and an inability to suffer in exchange for his services as an arcane consultant, a church in his realm, and an undead army.  To this Eurus did agree, and so he became a most powerful wraith.  now, after his master's departure, he seeks to bring bak his lord out of fear that the gifts he has been granted will be taken away and he will be left mortal once again.[/spoiler]

*Tanultsep is a tentative name for the god of entropy, disease, and death.

Love them, Crit. Great stuff there - I think Eurus is my favorite of the Dead Lords, since he was so powerful that Tanultsep turned him rather than outright destroyed him. Plus, wraiths are some of the creepiest undead to me.

A piece of fiction about a dragon and his dinner.  Just some background, coldeyes is a sorceror, a goblin. and he is in the very cold mountains.  I think that's enough...

[ic=Coldeyes Sherak]The snow never stops up hereâ,¬Â¦  sighâ,¬Â¦  What am I even doing out here?  I should be back home, eatinâ,¬,,¢ my potatoesâ,¬Â¦  but no, I had to have a vision!  So now Iâ,¬,,¢m out here freezing to death just to find some damned treasureâ,¬Â¦  Wha?  What was that?  

A shadow passes over the ground in front of you, shortly followed by a flurry of snow and a roaring sound.  When the icy cloud clears, you can see a massive beast in front of youâ,¬Â¦  Itâ,¬,,¢s scales prove a striking contrast to the snow, as their crimson seems to melt the snow just from their hue.  You know this is not the case however, as before you lies a beast of fire.  You stare cruelly at itâ,¬,,¢s fangs, doing your best to hide your shaking knees.

â,¬Å"Why, hello little earthkin.  What are you doing so far from the village this late at night?â,¬Â  Itâ,¬,,¢s voice rumbles across the hill, making your chest constrict from fear.   You know that he will not let you go, only the strongest live to tell of a dragonâ,¬Â¦  So instead, you make a choice, quite possibly your lastâ,¬Â¦  Ã¢,¬Å"I was out on a mission from the elders, they sent me to speak with you.  I was to give you thisâ,¬Â¦Ã¢,¬Â.  Reaching your hand into a belt pouch, your tiny red hand clutches the bird-skull totem your grandfather left you.  Calling upon energies deep inside you, you fling your hand forth, right into the dragonâ,¬,,¢s curious face.  With a guttural cry, you send forth a blast of color into at the beastâ,¬,,¢s orbs of sight.  Swiftly now, you turn around to the sound of the beastâ,¬,,¢s thrashing in the snow and sounds of rage.  Hopefully, youâ,¬,,¢ve bought enough time to make it to the forestâ,¬,,¢s edge.  Hopefullyâ,¬Â¦
[/ic]

The second person naritive there threw me off. It just looks a bit odd.

Sorry about that, I'm still trying to work out some of the bugs in my writing style right now.  

Also of note, there have been updates on the official thread, which can be found here (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?2882).

Just a small update for y'all who actually read this.  I'm working on the setting during the First Age right now, so that I can actually run a PbP in it.  My current project right now is races, and i'll tell you what I've got.

The plan right now is to make 6 tribes, known collectively as the "Lesser Peoples".  Each will vary based on their culture and region of origin, with minor cosmetic differences reflecting this.  These races are expected to inter-breed to the point of becoming standard PHB humans by the Second Age.  There will be one race with a bonus to each ability score, and a respective race with each penalty.  I'm also toying with the possibility of allowing a human to play one of the "tribes" in the second age as well, if only for a more exotic character.  Anyway, here are 3 of the Tribes that I've finished so far.  Keep in mind that these are just sketchy outlines.  If you can help in balancing them though, please do.

[spoiler=Northspear Tribe]Northspear Tribe
Medium Humanoid
+2 Str, -2 Dex: Members of the Northspear tribe are physically strong, but slow in action.
Speed:30 ft.
+2 Racial bonus on survival checks
Members of the Northspear tribe have are automatically proficient with the Spear and Longspear.
Cold Acclimated:  NorthSpears have a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against all cold spells and effects. NorthSpearss are accustomed to enduring Low temperatures.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Horsebrother Tribe]Horsebrother Tribe
Medium humanoid
+2 Cha, -2 Wis: Members of the horsebrother tribe have an endearing nature, but tend to be simple-minded.
Speed:30 ft.
+2 Racial bonus to Handle Animal, Ride, and Spot checks
+1 racial Bonus on attack rolls with thrown weapons, and an additional +1 on attack rolls made from horseback.
(Ex) 1/dayâ,¬'speak with animals (horses only, duration 1 minute)[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Leafwhisper Tribe]Leafwhisper Tribe
Small Humanoid
+2 Dex, -2 Con: Members of the Leafwhisper Tribe are extremely agile, but their light bodies aren't very durable.
Small: As a Small creature, a member of the Leafwhisper Tribe gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
+2 racial bonus to Jump, Climb, and Balance checks.
Low-light vision out to 60 ft.
All members of the Leafwhisper Tribe have Martial Weapon Proficiency(Shortbow) and Martial Weapon Proficiency(Longbow) as bonus feats at first level.
The skill Craft(Trapmaking) is always treated as a class skill for a member of the Leafwhisper Tribe.[/spoiler]

I'm really inexperienced with actually writing out statblocks for races, so if anyone wants to point out mistakes, please do.

So, what do you think?

Due to the limited mounts of feedback which I have received, and my apparent dependence on this feedbeck, I have decided to "disappear".  I will still comment where I can on the boards, but Godswalk has now officially become top priority for me.  Hopefully by the time I return, I will have something worthy to show for my efforts.  So, my work now officially joins Xathan's pattern as entering te guise of secret project #1, #2, etc.  Have fun wondering, and hopefully I'll have some reasonable quality material posted in the coming months.

Good luck and good inspiration, Critical Threat!