The Campaign Builder's Guild

[spoiler=boring and unnecessary background information]This setting is, at it's heart, not my idea. It is based upon two other role-playing settings, which sounded great when I heard the first time of them, but were not half as great in reality as I had wanted them to be; one of them was the Banestorm Setting for Gurps, the other one was Changeling: The Dreaming by White Wolf.

Though both are good settings, they had flaws '" Banestorm wasn't to get in German (or in Germany, to be exact) when I read the first time about it. I only found one paragraph about a Fantasy setting called Yrth which is invaded by medieval humans from Terra who continue the Crusades while parallelly meeting typical Fantasy creatures. I was completely fascinated by the idea. In my imagination, this was like the best premise for a Fantasy game I've ever heard of. It explained how a medieval society with all that chivalry and multiple facets of true history (because most fantasy games are a line of constant flat clichés) could fit in a Fantasy game and it would explain why there are monasteries and all that. I was totally fascinated, I imagined like a true miracle of a background and I was fully convinced that a game with such a great premise would be like the Holy Grail.

I spent a lot of money and time to get my hands o a copy of Gurps: Fantasy. And it was one of the most disappointing and frustrating readings I ever had. The book isn't bad '" but it was not nearly the pure Ambrosia I did expect and therefore it was a great disappointment. Really, under other circumstances, I would have loved that setting. I was 16 or so back then.

One year later, I picked up a copy of Changeling. I liked the moot and especially the different races in the book, but the German translation of the game's rules were completely incomprehensible. I did only understand the rules for magic in this system after I read them in English. Roughly five years later. Until then, I had a game, that I did not understood and no one but me wanted to play. It was, mostly, a nice reading, without me ever playing it.

Somehow '" I really don't know how, I had the idea to create my own standard Tolkien clone fantasy setting (apparently because there aren't enough yet). The ingenious idea was to combine these two biggest disappointments into one great, breath-taking setting of pure inner happiness, combining the great Banestorm premise with the very likable Changeling species '" Based on the questions how a Fairy world would develop after a group of mean, destructive yet well organised beasts (called humans) invaded it. I started to write, formed worlds, developed to a point, met a new girlfriend and forgot about it. I was 19 or so then.

Last month I found the old manuscripts and drafts for the setting. I knew I wrote a lot of crap back in the Sturm und Drang days, and most of it wasn't worth the paper it was written upon, but I was fascinated by it. Seriously, I find it hard to believe that I had that many, at least not really bad ideas.
I decided that I will rework and continue this obviously quite unnecessary Tolkien clone Fantasy Setting. I still think that the 'Real humans in a strange world' is the best idea for roleplaying since the d20.
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Ashkardia (the world's name, an extremely clever combination of Arcadia and Asgard) is in its core a typical fantasy world like dozens of others. I don't claim that this is the best setting ever created, but I think it is the optimum for me (and hopefully a small group of individuals with a similar taste). I hope to give all elements an unique and unspent twist or two, but the setting is not for everybody or is it intended to be for everybody. (I would be happy though if at least someone likes it). I'm already actively sabotaging my concept of that 'unique and fresh elements' by using real medieval human cultures. I will try to make them as authentic yet playable as possible, but, everyone knows Vikings. Or Saracens. Or feudal European nobility and clergy. Or at least they think they do.

Ashkardia is also about creating a more gritty, plausible Fantasy world without repeating the same (enter stream of curses hear) grind of ever repeating clichés of typical fantasy settings of superhuman, beautiful elves, ugly subhuman orcs or the other typical fantasy world racism. I want a setting where questions of good and evil are always debatable and subjective and almost completely dependant from the point of view. Especially the idea that morals and behaviour are dependant from the race of someone is disgusting to me.

Ashkardia should also be a setting where magic is not exclusive from rationality. Magic does not replaces any laws of nature, it complements them. Water still consists of two hydrogen and one oxygen atom per molecule, and the good old laws of thermodynamics are in full use '"
And yet there is magic. I have only very basical knowledge of physics, but I will try to make magic fit with the laws of thermodynamics. Because no one else does.

And, as a last point, Ashkardia is a world without the intervention of gods. It just does not feel right, to give God/Allah/JHVH or any other real object of faith something as profane as a portfolio or domains. God, Zeus, Mithras, Odin or Tezcatlipoca are as present and real (or as unpresent and unreal, if you prefer that interpretation) in Ashkardia as they are in the real world '" perhaps there are miracles and wonders, but not in a D&D sense.

Themes:
True Middle Ages
There are no artificial and often very stupid fantasy cultures- it's more like the real world. There is no mystical old language of the intellectuals, there is Latin. You don't have to explain how the society works or looks like, because it'sd the known stuff.With Elves. And Orcs, And magic.

Humans as monsters
I am not a friend of the often very humanocentric fantasy interpretations; perhaps I'm too misanthropic, but I don't think we are a very likable species. Humans normally don't need any monsters to justify almost any imaginable atrocity. And I like the idea of the other point of view '" describing the humans in a less euphemistic way. But, the others will not be much better, so much I can promise.

Sense of Wonder
Probably the most important element of a truly great fantasy game is the sense of wonder when great things happen. The fascination with the unreality of the setting, the feeling that there are strange and wonderful things to discover and explore. This feeling can easily be destroyed by an overkill of magic, spectacle and special effects on every corner. One magical airship from ancient times is a great and fascinating artifact, which is wort an own adventure or two. Whole fleets of flying ships destroy the feel of speciality and kill the awe. I want the awe, and therefore I want quality, not quiantity in exotic.

Structure:
The first chapter, A brief history of Ashkardia, describes how things came to pass, what happened and what consequences it had.
The second chapter What is Adventuring in Ashkardia like? describes the special circumstances and rules of Ashkardia, special circumstances and ideas.
The third chapter Humans and other monsters describes the different species and cultures of shkradia both in the background information and game statistics.
Chapter four: Magic in a world of Myths describes how magic works like and looks like in Ashkardia and how it mechanically works in the game.
Chapter five: An explorer's Almanach offers a map and a regional description of Ashkardia, plasces of interest and different groups of power and influence.
Chapter six: Low moral standards and high adventure offers several plot hooks and adventure ideas.


Ashkardia was always known to men; they dreamt of it, their legends where formed there. It is open to speculation if the legends were formed by the Ashkardians based upon a contact of both worlds in the dawn of man, or if the legends of men and their common subconsciousness formed Ashkardia to the lands of mysticism and magic it has become.

A Brief History of Ashkardia
(This background information is slightly coloured and was supposed to be a ingame source, like an excerpt of a chronic or something similar. I tried to write it that way, but I fear my language skills have failed me in more than one instance. I'm not entirely content with the text, but I'm not in the moot to rework it. Again.)

Ashkardia was always known to men; they dreamt of it, their legends where formed there. It is open to speculation if the legends were formed by the Ashkardians based upon a contact of both worlds in the dawn of man, or if the legends of men and their common subconsciousness formed Ashkardia to the lands of mysticism and magic it has become.

Ashkardia was called Asgard, Olymp, Tir Nan Ogg or Elysium by the humans, they called the Otherland, the Eternal Hunting Grounds, sometimes Paradise and often Hell. It was the cradle of dragons, the lair of the Echidna, the place the people thought off when they scribbled 'there be monsters' on their maps.


The Time of Travels
Arcadia was always near to what we call 'Terra' or Earth. In the old times, magic was strong enough on both sides of the gap between the different layers of reality to allow travels between the worlds. Ashkardians came to Earth and left legends of fairies and trolls, of gods, dragons and monsters. Heroes of human origin 'descended into the Underworld' and sometimes came back to tell the story. Ashkardian travellers where the origin of many human legends and myths. It was a glorious time, a time of adventure and exploration, when the worlds where still young and optimistic. Back then, there were monsters, and heroes, ad what was supposed gods came to earth and brought miracles and wonders with them, as beautiful as they were terrible. What later historians and archaeologists described as myths and legends were nothing but the reports of the wondrous meetings between men and beings from an other facet of reality.

The oldest of the Ashkardians '" apart from those who called themselves gods, and travelled the lands to satisfy their endless hunger '" were the Elder Races, those who were as old as the gods themselves and savvy in the ways of warfare and magic. The Elder Races were the dragons, bound to the elements and terrifying in every aspect, the Trolls, the Rockborn, who had the strength and patience of mountains, and the Elves, called Sidhe in their own tongue, nimble and fair and with an unmatched insight in the hidden truths of magic.
There were other people as well '" galloping Kentaurs and sylvan Satys, the winged Hawkpeople and the playful Selkies on the beaches.


The Shattered Bridges
As the time went by, the humans eventually found a new source of power: iron. Iron broke the magic of Ashkardia and it burned the flesh of the world travellers. Iron the most profane of all metals was poison for those who needed magic as much as oxygen to survive. Magic withered on Terra and the gates between the different world closed. Ashkardians found it harder and harder to cross the gap, and the humans lost their aptitude for magic even faster. And suddenly, their magic gave little protection against the black iron and crossing the gap of the world became a perilous adventure at best. Around the time that mighty Ilion was sacked the first time, the gates closed, seemingly for ever. And the visitors of a stranger world didn't come anymore. Humanity was alone, and prospered, declined, and prospered again through the changes of centuries.

The Godswar
Suddenly, those who were used to travel the worlds where captured in there own reality. The Ashkardians weren't used anymore to have such burdens on their freedom, and conflicts between the different people grew. The gods, oldest and most powerful of the Ashkardians claimed their superiority over all others, and those who refused, where attacked. War became first a threat, than a normality throughout Ashkardia. The gods subjugated those who refused to worship them, or exterminated them. Millions cried. Millions died.

There were only nine gods who travelled across the land and sea of Ashkardia
Artukash the Horse, Aztev the Child, Arkiva and Rorkeva, the Big and the Small Leaper, Iourestma the Owl, Makutha the Bear, Nilestri the Hare, Rorkashah the Lion, Ushtkar the Mole and Zultumak the Boar.

In the end, the three eldest people united to defend themselves against the wrath of the gods. These three were the Dragons, old and wise, the tall Trolls of the World Spine mountains, vigorous and brave, and the Sidhe from the golden Garden Palaces, cunning and apt in the way of magic. An alliance was forged between the three Elder Races and they fought back, hunting the rampaging gods. And killing them. One by one the gods were slain by dragon poison, troll kryst axes and elven witchwood arrows. There were those who tried to protect the gods, but they, too, couldn't resist the united force of trolls, dragons and sidhe.

After a century of war and carnage, Makutha the Bear, oldest and most powerful of the gods, was killed by trolls and elves '" the dragons had retreated, after taking the heaviest losses of the godslayers. With his last breath, Makutha cursed his murderers and their blood with immortality. The godslayers laughed at the curse, took it as a blessing and feasted over their triumph.

And after the last god's death, their alliance broke. The dragons flew away, and hunted down the remaining dwarves, the only Ashkadian species that stood always loyal to the gods; and the dwarves suffered heavily for their loyalty. The armies of trolls and elves did not part in friendship, but in scorn and distrust; the oldest of the races were always rivals, and only the mutual struggle bound them together. But the Trolls were annoyed by the scrupulous tactics of the Sidhe and the Elves were disgusted by the Troll's blood rituals and scarification.

The Time of Fire
The triumph of the Godswar faded, and what seemed as a glorious battle for freedom while it lasted, was soon recognized to be genocide. The victors were ashamed of their actions. And the curse of immortality took its price; overpopulation, spite and increasing profanity overcame the trolls in their mountain halls as well as the elves in their garden palaces. The Ashkardians were isolated in a world which soon grew to be to small for them. Old rivalry grew into struggles about land, struggles into skirmishes, and skirmishes into war. Only two centuries after the last god was slain, his murderers turned on each other.

Troll warriors and Sidhe archers met on the battlefield more and more often. In the beginning, these '˜wars' were highly ceremonial duels between single champions or small bands of warriors, but the conflict escalated, and even though the Elder Races couldn't die from age, they still could die from a blade.

The escalating war was also important to ease the population pressure in societies, where illness were rare and noone died from age. In thousand battles, trolls and elves clashed together. Uncountable heroic deeds were fulfilled, praised by the bards and soon forgotten. In thousand battles, troll bearers of the Witch Warrior Rune and Sidhe Spellswords spilled the blood. And with every dead who was denied the immortality, the hate on both sides grew.

The warriors of both sides were equal in their martial power and their deep knowledge of magic. The endurance and sheer physical power of the trolls were matched by the agility and quickness of the Sidhe. No side was predominant, and no side was ever able to get a significant advantage. This all changed when two persons came to power who were exceptional even for the standards of the Elder Races. Aggdegg the Prophet, the Farseer, Elfdoom '" he earned many names. Aggdegg, was born with an unique Gift: He could see in the future, and he erred rarely. His augury gave him knowledge about the things to happen, and this gave him an enormous tactical advantage over any enemy who faced him. Aggdegg became a great leader of his people, combining success and the enormous force of personality only a True King has. He lead the Witch Warriors under his command from one victory to the next, avoiding the traps of the Elves, finding their weakest points with ease and shattered the Sidhe forces that opposed him. For the first time in an age old war, the balance began to shift. The war has long lost its meaning, and no side can remember what started it, but Aggdegg was sure that he was the one that was destined to end it.

After a decade under the leadership of Aggdegg, the Trolls ad broke the elvish armies. No mercenary was wiling to waste his life against the seemingly unstoppable Troll army, and the noble born elves declined in decadence awaiting their end. After a dozen years, Aggdeggs troops lay flame on one of the oldest Garden Palaces, and the Elvish core lands were in immediate danger.

The elves seemed willing to let it happen. Their ageless life and the futile resistance drank them in apathy. All of them, as it seems, but one.

Vilanai of the waters was a reputed Sidhe wizard, old and very crafty both in the light and dark sides of magic. For centuries, she delved I the secrets of life, in the arts of vivisection, anatomy and transmogrification. She was no fighter, and was never involved in the war of her people, but she was old enough to remember the Godswar. It is said that all her forty two sons and daughters were killed by the Trolls during the sack of the tree fortress of Yòl and that she grew spiteful and insane after she heard of their descendants. She disappeared from the eyes of the world, and soon from its memories.

Around the time, the Troll warriors and their auxiliaries and mercenaries closed in on the core lands, Vilanai returned '" with an army. She had brought the Ritual of Chimera to perfection, and created from captured trolls and Shidhe 'voluntaries' a new species of hybrids, a servitor race of great power and fury. Within merely two years, a legion of the servitors clawed their way out of the artificial wombs of Vilanais Breeding Trees and collected in troops of artificially aged warriors. Vilanais children. Orks. The new breed of servitor warriors came over the surprised Trolls '" and killed them. Armed with weapons made from iron and protected against magic, they attacked the trolls like mastiffs attack bears. Aggdegg himself, astonished by the failure of his oracle died under an iron blade.

The bloody and cruel the constant state of war between Trolls and Elves ever was, no side ever used iron weaponry. It was the greatest atrocity a honourable warrior could think of. And yet, there it was '" packs of Ork warriors, armed with iron blades, eager to kill, driven forward by the powerful enchantments of their creator.

No one knows how Vilanai's ritual worked. But it tipped the scales in the war.

Without Aggdegg and his prophetic visions, the troll armies were left in decay. Without a leader, Aggdegg's generals had a hard time to cooperate. Apart from the war against the advancing Elves and their Ork shock troopers, an internal power struggle weakened the Trolls.

The next years of the war gave the Time of Fire its name. Aggdegg's successes where repaid most cruelly. For every Elf who died under the axes and spells of the Witch Warriors, a family was wiped out. This wasn't a honourable war of noble fighters anymore; it was genocide, and the Elves were out for extinction. Aggdegg was able to treat his enemies with honourable arrogance in the knowledge that they couldn't compete with his strengths, but the Elves were infuriated and out for extermination. The vast army of orcs left no survivors behind. The settlements were burned, their inhabitants raped and killed and the land was scorched and salted. The rugged and tired remains of once proud troll clans fled back to their homelands in the Spine of the World.

Through the mountainous ranges and the dirt white glaciers of the Spine, the Ork armies pushed on, even though hundreds of them were killed in ambushes and rockslides. But for every Ork that felt, a new one seemed to rise from the artificial wombs. The noose of advancing Orks grew tighter and tighter around the last refugium of the Trolls: The Mil' Varat, the holy mountain of the whole species, the very rock from where in the oldest of times the ancestors of all Trolls came into existence. There the remnants of the noblest of Elder Races gathered for a last glorious battle before descending into darkness. Sullen determination was written in the defender's faces, but the Council of Elders, those Trolls who once signed the pack which was the beginning of the end of the Godswar, came together for a last time, and came to a desperate decision.

The Arrival of mankind and goblinkin
For millennia, the bridges between the worlds were cut. But the oldest trolls tossed the closed gates opened, sacrificing themselves to the greatest summoning ever to happen in any facet of reality. A storm of magic crossed the gap between the worlds and called those who had long mastered the secrets of iron and forgotten the secrets of magic; the lords of steel and fire, the iron apes. Us. Us who were never supposed to enter this realm.

The largest group of men arrived in Ashkardia were the glorious founders of our Holy Order '" together with the Saracen warriors they ware eager to kill. It is said that both armies, clad in steel and ready to attack manifested among the approaching Orks and Elves. Ur ancestors were glorious men, and when surrounded by strange shapes of demonic appearance, old enmity was forgotten. The Saracens my be heathen and heretics, but they are still formed after the image of god, and they are still born with a soul '" and the knights and the camel riders attacked. The Orc warrior slaves and their Sidhe masters were completely taken by surprise and were not able to react as the humans spread death around them swinging deadly steel. The Sidhe's troops were scattered and the valley beyond the Mil' Warat was covered in blood.

The Troll scholars' sacrifice had called them, but somehow, the summoned humans did not disappear after the spell ended; they had come to stay. The armies of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Saracen warriors were by far not the only humans who arrived in their new world. Humans from different continent and even different times arrived, summoned by the very force of magic. Like in a cyclone, the humans were blown away and landed in a land far away from the world they lived in. Our ancestors were victorious, but confused. Under strange stars and at the foot of a majestic mountain, they felt left alone. The short-termed alliance of Cross and Crescent Moon ended as fast as it began and both armies parted peacefully.

The Trolls were not able to control the summoning, men and other creatures came like locusts over the war-weakened land of Ashkardia. From the depths of a meagre wasteland, the goblinoid people arrived '" not as numerous as the humans, but fascinated by the lush and fertile lands that suddenly were all around them. From a true Amoebus Loci, the Golden Ones arrived and cried as they were ripped from Paradise. It seems that people from every facet of reality was drawn to Ashkardia, but none were as numerous as the humans and the tribes of the Goblinoids.

The history of Gondaran
Gondaran is a strange place to us Northerners. While the Goblinoids and Humans devastated the northern continent Ashkardia, the southern lands were invaded by something stranger. There are humans as well, but they are only slaves of different masters. In the jungles, the hidden towns of the lizards kingdoms rule and worship the dragons.
On the coast, the Vivisectionists live and rule over their slave armies. It is not known what those vivisectionists really are, but their magical powers are even stronger than those of the Elder Races, and there are only a few them, hiding in high towers and ruling through their priest caste over the northern coast of Gondaran. The population of these towns are only slaves and are forced to worship their rulers as if they were gods, and the vivisectionist city states are in a constant of war, where the rulers send ever new magical creatures created in the transmogrifying chambers of their towers and striving through the sunburnt land.

I like what I'm seeing a lot. The basic premise is similar to what I'm trying to do with my own setting, Haveneast - but I took a different approach in making the other world reachable primarily through sleep and dreaming. You've got a good, captivating start to your setting, and a great twist with the humans as monsters perspective. I look forward to seeing more. I love the references to real-world nations and organizations in a different place. :)

Thanks. Veery flattering.
I fear that compared to a lot of th settings presented here, Ashkardia is really unimagined and somewhat... normal.

The conquest
The least newcomers were as martial as the Saracens and Crusaders; most of them were simple people, peasants and craftsmen, simple women and uneducated men '" the salt of the land. Stranded in a strange world, surrounded by even stranger beings which controlled magical powers long forgotten on Terra, they panicked and leashed out. Mankind grew together and overcame the native Ashkardians. In those days, the newcomers still had iron tools and iron weapons and the first years were a series of easy victories over surprised Ashkardians. It is the irony of our blood: The only time that mankind was ever united was to bring doom and violence over people we did not understand. Our bloodlust still embarrasses your humble chronist. Our ancestors forced the Ashkardians in the wastelands and claimed the fertile soils for themselves. Those who dared to resist were wiped out. The only rivals were the goblinoid tribes in the East; everyone else was no match for the black swords of iron.

It needed seventy years until the thirst for blood was stilled.

After this time of blood and murder, new empires were found. In the north, the descendants of the proud knights of Jerusalem created the Ordensland, ruled by the grand abbots of the faith militant. Nominally, the knights of the faith militant are vassals of the king of Gildfurt, but they are vastly independent.

The king in Gildfurt and his vassals are the dominating force in the centre of west Ashkardia. The ruling family claims to that the powerful Carolingians were there ancestors and it is true that they have the charisma of kings. Their land is fertile, but the nobles under the crown are unruly and do not bend their necks easily.

In the West, near the still impressive Palace Gardens of the Sidhe, the Caliph claimed his throne, and founded the Caliphat. The Caliph and his followers were the first of the human rulers who hold in the bloodshed and accepted Ashkardians and Goblinkin among them when those accepted to convert to their heathen faith; now, people from all races live among the rule of the caliph.

The descendants of Cathay and stranger coasts live on the south western coast. I do not speak their language, but it is said they call their land the Cradle of the Dragon and that it is ruled by powerful clans who are steadily warring each others but united against al foreigners.

In the wastes on the other side of the Spine, there are vast kingdoms as well, but the contacts are rarer. The goblin sailors report of a harsh steppe where the Horse People live; and it is said that they travel around on their small horses following their large herds of livestock.

In the east, the pyratae danii and the Saxons settled; they intermarried and grew into one people, but they have more kings than it is beneficial for any country; their lands are called the Heptarchiat, for there are seven kingdoms under one crown. It is known that no other nation has that many great warriors.

In the Southeast, bordering to the Hobgoblin lands and the Spine of the world, the Africans landed. They are a strange people, some as tall as the greatest men in Christianity, others as small as children. Dozens of kings and rulers have divided the land among them, and led skirmishes against each other and the HGobgoblins on their border. We call these lands the Black Kingdoms, after the skin of their inhabitants.

On the southern isles, the strangest of all human kingdoms can be found: The empire of the militis aztecae, warriors who dress as animals and plunder the coastal villages.

And in the South, in the fertile lands of the five fingers of the hand rivers there are the remnants of the once most powerful of all empires '" the Eagle Empire, founded by powerful hobgoblin centurions and their cohorts.

It is common knowledge that there are humans as well on the far side of the spine and beyond the Hobgoblin reaches and the Wandering Mountains, but they are strange to us and we hear little of them but rumours. The horse people are the most famous among them, who are said to be like the White Huns of older ages.

The Trolls did not only summon our ancestors - they also summoned the doom to the realm.

I like this setting immediately. It's nice to be able to review what I'm going to call a clean setting; one that doens't mess around too much with the standard concepts, but still has that one twist that keeps your attention. For me, that's definitely the insertion of real humans.

Your real middle ages part made me giggle. No 'artificial and often very stupid fantasy cultures,' but I assume you keep the artificial-feeling and often moronic cultures of the real world. Nice.

You're taking the focus off the humans, right? So the Elves and such just happen to have been running the same culture as other humans this whole time? I don't buy it, but I'm not ready to call you a liar yet, so I'll see how this plays out.

Your history bit; excellent. I want it expanded, not reworked. the end brought to mind the quote from Capt. Barbossa, 'You're off the edge of the map now, here there be monsters.' And bringing Pirates of the Carribbean to mind is never a bad thing. I like that trolls are going to get the rep they deserve, good on ya.

Iron, why is it always Iron? People had iron since 1200s BC, but they still choose that. It annoys me to no end, and implies that everyone not human is running about with wooden or bronze weaponry.

I like that the dragons seemed to get off rather well. Dragons have a soft spot in my heart, and it's always nice to find someone else who roots against St. George.

The orks are the only part that has yet smacked of Tolkein. But I liked his version of their creation, so I'll let it slide.

I like the main crux of your setting, the summoning. It's as if the trolls tried to plug in one too many appliances to an outlet, and are now watching in surprise as flames lick up the wall.

i can't wiat to see more of this, especially what the dragons were up to this whole time.

Quote from: SatyrThanks. Veery flattering.
I fear that compared to a lot of th settings presented here, Ashkardia is really unimagined and somewhat... normal.

I'm not sure how many people will agree with me, but the "unimagined" quality of your setting is more refreshing or anything. Like Stargate said, it's nice to see a clean setting with a few simple twists.

Quote from: Stargate525Iron, why is it always Iron? People had iron since 1200s BC, but they still choose that. It annoys me to no end, and implies that everyone not human is running about with wooden or bronze weaponry.

The orks are the only part that has yet smacked of Tolkein. But I liked his version of their creation, so I'll let it slide.[/quote]I like the main crux of your setting, the summoning. It's as if the trolls tried to plug in one too many appliances to an outlet, and are now watching in surprise as flames lick up the wall.[/quote]

To be exact, the trolls had little to lose... it doesn't matter that much, if you're killed by a Sidhe, a Sidhe's Orkish Bladeslave or a Human. Or a Klacker, for that reason.

The walls breach
For three hundred years, there was peace '" more or less. The bloodletting of the first decades had disappeared., and humans, other Newcomers and the Natives build contacts '" shyly first, but more bravely later. Trade caravans travelled the lands. The others still feared our ancestors and hated them, and your humble chronist fears that will never change after all we did to them, but it was a time of peace and rebuilt. The unity of mankind broke but internal skirmishes and small border wars were the most dangerous what happened.

Than they appeared. They weren't neither Ashkardian nor Terran; nor did anyone knew about them in their old legends. First, they were only a few, vermin in the dry plains south of the Snake Pass, the frontier of the Hobgoblin Eagles back then. But they seemed to prosper, and others of their kind came along as well. Rumours spread about swarms of gigantic insects, of blood red mountain ranges wandering north. And then it all escalated when the rumours proofed to be true. The Klackers had arrived.

Nobody, not even the oldest sages of the Elder Races knew who or what the Klackers are. They are strange our lands and vision, they are even stranger than anything native to Terra or Ashkardia. They are like insects, but of towering height; they seem to be soulless animals but yet they move with the discipline and coordination of battlefield veterans. There are a hundred different races among them, but they all seem to be one big tribe. They are very strange '" and even more dangerous. Their hides are tough as Courboule armor, their claws are razor sharp and their warriors are strong enough to kill a horse in one blow. And they travelled north, towards the realms of men. While they move, they built their fortresses out of sand and their own blood, forming the Wandering Mountains and turn the land into a dry and dust red waste.

The mighty armies of the hobgoblin empire rallied against the Klackers. We all knew that the powerful warrior caste of the hobgoblins was unmatched, and only the bigger numbers of humans had saved many a fiefdom from a life as hobgoblin vassals. The hobgoblins paid good gold for mercenaries, and many young reckless warriors followed their lead.
As the Wandering Mountains grew northwards, the Hobgoblin armies marched to intercept them. It was a shining force of swelswords and the elite of Hobgoblin warfare. A great host of warriors marching against an unknown enemy.
The armies met and saure of victory, the hobgoblin vanguard charged. The Klackers resisted and proofed to be a much more dangerous enemy than anyone had ever suspected. The Hobgoblins lost, and they lost bitterly. The forces of the Eagle were annihilated. Only small troops returned and no one really believed it '" this enemy, the Klackers seemed invincible, and the mighty eagle does not soar anymore.

The Simber battle
On the Simber, the large river that was the natural frontier between the southern and northern parts of the hobgoblin empire, a vast human army gathered. Humans from all the Ashkardian kingdoms came, as well as the remaining hobgoblin forces and a broad alliance of Asahkardians fought side by side. It was the first time, that such an alliance was formed, and I am glad to report of the great bravery of this pact against the Klackers. And, with the assistance of god, we were victorious. Hundreds of noble fighters and brave knights died on the Timber riverbanks, but somehow, the advancing hordes of the Klackers were stopped. We must slain thousands of these vile beasts, but the blood price was high. We know that they will come again, and it will be hard to form an Alliance like this again. But we must, we must or we will all perish. The Wandering Mountains will only stop when there is no more land to conquer. Or we will have destroyed the last of them.

I like this setting as well, and second what Stargate said.  It's a clean setting with some twists, and that makes it all the more interesting.  It's not one of those damn settings that changes everything and you basically have to relearn the laws of physics and everything based on them in order to understand the world (read: my world).

I don't know if this goes against your master plan, but could we get a list of races?  We got the klakers and we've got all of these other fantasy races, but is there a complete list?  Just wondering.

Oh, and I wanna know more about the klakers.

QuoteI don't know if this goes against your master plan, but could we get a list of races? We got the klakers and we've got all of these other fantasy races, but is there a complete list? Just wondering.

Askardian Races[/b]


The Ashkardians:
These are the native species of Ashkardia; they have a much easier access to magic than the newcomers (esspecially the notorous antimagic humans) but they share a common vulnerability to iron.

Sidhe (Elves)
One of the two Elder Races, the Sidhe lives on Ashkardia since the dawn of time. They are nearly immortal and only die because of violence, never because of age. Sidhes are masters of magic and arts and have created the most astonishing pieces of art known to any sentient species. Sidhe tend to recognize their immortality more as a curse than a gift, and fight an eternal conflict against the creeping boredom that comes over than when all experiences start to repeat. Elves are known to be beautiful, easily bored, very cunning and often very cruel; their century old conflict with the Trolls have reduced them to a shadow of their former greatness, and by now both elder races have lost their predominance to the minor race of humans. The remaining Shide lives in separated and breathtaking beautiful garden palaces in the far west of Ashkardia.
Sidhe are taller but much slighter built than humans, but resemble them more than any other Acadian species; like all Ashkardians, Sidhe are vulnerable to iron, but they are one of the most powerful magical species in Ashkardia.

Trolls
The Trolls are the other Elder Race of Ashkardia, and like the Elves, they are immortal, but contrary to the Sidhe, Trolls have learned to deal with eternal life without declining into decadence and airiness. There are only a few hundred Trolls left in the world, but they refuse to vanish, or to bow to anyone. Trolls are probably the physically and mentally moat impressive species in Ashkardia. The remaining Trolls live in their holy mountain range of Mil'Varat. Trolls are powerful magic wielders, and like the Sidhe there are no trolls without the Gift.
Trolls are reasonably bigger and stronger than humans and have an often very dark and leathery skin and canine teeth. Despite their physical prowess, trolls have a deep understanding and a natural link to spiritual magic.

Orks
Orks are a magically created hybrid of Elves and Trolls. They were raised to be the shock troopers of the Elves to destroy their Troll rivals, and therefore they were created to kill extremely powerful warriors. Orks combine the features of both their parent species, but to a much lesser extend. (They are mortal like the other younger species as well.) Ashkardian Orks are of similar height than humans, but they are built more heavily and feature both Elvish and Trolllish traits, such as the canine teeth of the trolls and the elongated and pointed ears of the Elves.
There are two major Orkish cultures in Ashkardia: On the one Hand, the Abiders, who are still loyal to their Sidhe masters and on the other hand the free Orks who are no slaves anymore. While the Abiders serve the Elves as cheap labourers and legionnaires, most of the free Orks were assimilated into the surrounding human cultures or retreated in depopulated areas where they can live free in small tribes.
Orks are physically strong and resilient, but their masters created them to obey and not to think for themselves.

Pixies
The Pixies are another chimera slave species of the Sidhe. They are small and very similar to the Shide in appearance except of their insect wings. They serve the Sidhe as man-servants and pets and are bred for the most interesting or beautiful appearance. There are only very few Pixies who left the golden cage of serfdom to the sidhe and those are regarded as traitors by the majority of the race. To the Sidhe, the pixies are little more than a small diversion.
Pixies are very slender built and have roughly the size of a ten year old human child.

Satyrs
Satyrs are small inhabitants of the remaining wilder places of  Ashkardia: They are native Ashkardians, like the ancient Trolls and Elves, but they are not immortal. Satyrs live in remote areas and shun the contact with the humans or other people. They are living in little clans as semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers and rarely appear in the human settlements.
Satyrs are slightly smaller than humans and have a slighter frame; and are easily recognized by their horns and goat legs.

Centaurs
Before the humans arrived, vast hordes of Centaurs travelled through the lands of Ashkardia. They were feared plunderers, great hunters and expert herdsmen who fought as mercenaries on both sides of the war between Trolls and Elves. Their way of life, travelling along their large herds of livestock, needed a lot of free space, and this lead to early and very bloody conflicts with the new human arrivals. The centaurs lost, and they lost heavily. Not only because of their normal, Ashkardian sensitivity to iron, but to newly introduced diseases as well- A century after the World Wall Breach, 90% of the Centaurs were dead And the remaining survivors retreated to the northern tundra. The remaining centaurs live in small and scattered prides and dream of revenge.

Selkies
Selkies are a small race of slightly humanoid sea otters. It is not known if they are truly an own species or of they were created through magic and abandoned as a failed experiment. Selkies live both on land and in the water and their great swimming skills helped them to flee from the blood thirst of the humans; from all Ashkardian native people, the Selkies had the smallest losses during the human conquest. But since they were never among the most numerous of the Ashkardian inhabitants. Selkies live in small clans on rocky islands and deserted coasts.
A Selkie has a thick fur that covers his whole body, black beady eyes and roughly the size of a twelve year old child.

The Deep Ones
Also called the pale ones, are the remnants of the once proud dwarf people. The dwarves were nearly wiped out in the last days of the Godswar by angry dragons, and while the dragons suffered as well, the dwarves faced extinction '" and they decided to descent into the greatest depths to hide from their foes.
That was a millennium ago, and caught in the darkness and alone, without contacts to anyone else (and a fairly shallow gene pool) the dwarves changed into the Deep Ones, the Night stalkers.
The Deep ones aren't that rare, they live in caves and rifts almost everywhere in Ashkardia. They rarely leave their hideouts, and mostly do so to plunder and carry of new victims. Their attacks are no real threat to the population, but the commoners fear and hate the pale ones more than everything else.
The Deep ones are as big a regular dwarf, but much skinnier. Their eyes are bigger and very bulgy, and they completely lack hair.

Dwarves
Not all Dwarves fled into the depth of the mountains '" other remained on the surface and as refugees of the dragon's wrath, they travelled the lands. Most Dwarves live now on the northern coast of Gondaran, as prized craftsmen, travelling merchants or expensive slaves. Before the Godswar, the Dwarves were praised as excellent craftsmen and warriors, but their decision to fight along with the gods and against the victorious elves and trolls has marked them since then. The dwarves are probably the last who still worship the old Ashkardian gods.
Dwarves are stout and even  though they are smaller than humans, an adult dwarf weighs as much as an adult human.

The Newcomers:
These are those who were summoned to Ashkardia, the strangers in a strange land. After the numerous atrocities and genocides of the Conquest humans and hobgoblins are also the most numerous species in Ashkardia by now.

Humans
Humans are not native to the lands of Ashkardia, but by now they are probably the most numerous species in the lands. They have arrived only 4 centuries ago, but due to their fast reproduction and aggressive expansion, they were able to supersede the native Ashkardian peoples. Distrust towards humans is a very common trait among the Ashkardians, especially because humans can easily wield weapons made from iron which is deadly to most native Ashkardian species. From all the people in Ashkardia, humans are the least magical ones. No other species bears that little magical gifted people in their lines. And humans are the only known species where magical aptitude is bound to sex; there are only very few male human mages and even less powerful ones. Since male humans tend to be physically stronger than females, humans live normally in patriarchal structures where female power wielder are rare, with the exceptions of the sorceresses.
The human realms which formerly formed the mighty Iron Throne Alliance are the probably biggest state structures in Ashkardia.

Goblins
Similar to humans, Goblins are not native inhabitants of Ashkardia but they were summoned to the world in the process of the World Wall Breach. If they had arrived in similar numbers as the humans, they would probably be the dominant species of Ashkardia by now. Goblins are of small stature and slighter frames than humans and have little hair and green to ochre colour of skin. They are pretty intelligent (and tend to have an extremely short attention span). Goblins are fascinated by all kinds of magic. There are different forms of Goblin culture- a significant minority of so called 'civilized' goblins live within human or hobgoblin settlements as craftsmen and often as hired magicians, the majority olives on the Bear Isthmus and form an own and very colourful society of their own. Goblins are renowned as daring sailors and expert alchemists, and their fast and elegant ships export wares to all harbours in Ashkardia and Gondaran.

Hobgoblins
Hobgoblins are next to humans, the most dominating species in Ashkardia, even though they are not very numerous.  They share a lot traits with humans '" including expansionism and cooperation '" but they tend to be more aggressive and very pragmatic. Nonetheless, before the Klacker Arrival, the hobgoblin Eagle Empire and other similar fiefdoms were seemed as the most powerful realms in Ashkardia due to their overwhelming military power. Since they were never as numerous as the humans, they did not participate in the genocides of the conquest (or at least not in the same scale). Therefore, the hobgoblins are better accepted by most of the Ashkardians.
Hobgoblins are strongly muscled and on average a little bit taller and heavier than humans. Like humans, Hobgoblins have only a very limited access to magic. Other than humans, they tried to eradicate this weakness by creating the Firebloods.

Bugbears
Bugbears are the biggest and physically most impressive of the Goblinkin, second only in size and Strength to the mighty Trolls. Bugbears are also quite rare and bread slower than their smaller brethren. There is no unique Bugbear culture in Ashkardia, but they are assimilated into the Goblin and Hobgoblin communities were the Bugbears serve as physical labourers and soldiers. Even though Bugbears are strong, they somewhat lack the determination of the hobgoblins or the curious ingenuity of Goblins.

Firebloods
Firebloods are a very rare subspecies of Hobgoblins, created to bypass the natural lack of Gifted Hobgoblins. Firebloods are a magical crossbreed between hobgoblins of noble stock and beings from the Plane of Fire. They have '" compared to regular hobgoblins or humans - a stronger affinity to magic, but the outsider blood makes them somewhat impulsive and unpredictable. In some hobgoblin communities, the Firebloods are revered , in others they are outcasts.
Firebloods resemble hobgoblins, but their skin is fiery red and their hair is golden like a flame.

The Golden Ones
Where ever the homeworld of the Golden Ones once was, compared to Ashkardia it was Paradise and pure bliss. The Golden Ones felt punished to be ripped out of their old world into the banal and cruel reality of the human conquest and the almost constant conflicts of Ashkardia. But they survived.
The Golden Ones resemble humans, but their skin has a golden, or golden red metallic gleam and they lack hair. The Golden Ones are rare, and scattered all over Ashkardia '" and strangely their melancholic ways are accepted by almost every warlord, chief or noble, so that the Golden Ones have become the heralds and messengers of Ashkardia. That works well for them, because they travel a lot and learn as much about travel as possible '" to find a way home some day.
[spoiler] To my defense, I have written this around five years ago. It's not my fault that the humanoid form of the dragon in Beowulf looks like my Golden Ones. Stupid coincidence.[/spoiler]

Shame on me.
Stupid double post.


But I can use it for one of the shorter category lists.

The Lizard Kingdom
It is hard to describe the many tribes and species within the lizard kingdom, since there see to be an enormous variety of different species all formed and trained for a specific function.
[spoiler] There is no deficit of strange reptilian or pseudoreptilian ('˜draconian') creatures in D&D. I don't know if I would use them all, but if they have a place in Ashkardia than as a part of the big, mysterious dragon worshipping reptile kingdoms. [/spoiler]
The most common (but by no means the only ones) are:

The Snake Priests
Snake Priests combine elements of humanoids and snakes and worship the dragons and their own strange gods. They use a strange and powerful magic and their natural poison is deadly for most mammals (like humans).
Snake Priests have the lower body, heads and scaled skin of vipers and a pair of humanoid arms.
[spoiler] they are essentially Yuan-Ti. But with a quite different fluff.[/spoiler]

The Skrreyn
The Skrreyn are the most common inhabitants of the lizard kingdoms. They are the hunters, gatherers and warriors of the kingdoms, and in these functions, they excel. Skrreyn are big and strong and resemble upright walking crocodiles. Their bite and their whipping tails are excellent natural weapons.
[spoiler] Lizard Folk. In all varieties. But more organized and involved in one big poikilothermic utopia. With a sweet toth for mammal flesh. Esspecially biped mammals. [/spoiler]

The Budaiki
The Budaiki are smaller and more primitive than the more elaborated species of the inner lizard kingdoms. Budaiki are the shock troopers and scouts of the kingdoms, and their first perimeter of defence.
[spoiler] Budaiki are jungle dwelling troglodytes. Who came up with the '" extremely stupid -  idea of reptiles living under the earth, without the warmth of the sun?[/spoiler]

Dragons
I have several ideas how the Ashkardian Dragons could look like or should look like, but none of these ideas are satisfying. My first idea were more wyvern-like, with the spiked skin of sharks and the defensive ability to throw up their flesh consuming digestive enzyme and bone dissolving gastric acid on attackers (that would be what wannabe dragon slayers would describe as a breath attack, because it burns). These dragons would have hollow bones, very large wings and a very slend built, to be light enough to fly. But they wouldn't be very dangerous, because, well they have hollow bones and are somewhat clumsy on the ground.
I still like that idea, but I like other ideas as well.

There could be different kinds of dragons, one per classical element - the airborne dragons of the air above, gigantic swimming dragons of the sea (as big as whales, and like them not survivable outside of the water), more snakelike or crocodile like earthdragons (more robust than their flying cousins but without the ability to fly) and a rumored fourth variety, deep red and living inside volcanoes, fire dragons.

And, I don't like the cliché of dragons as age old schemers; this is an ecological and dramaturgical niche that is occupied by the Sidhe and, to a lesser extend, by the Trolls. Ashkardian dragons are... not among the smartest inhabitants in the world. They are sentient, but if they were humans, they would need both hands to find their own nose without a map. Dragons should be very dangerous, perhaps too dangerous to fight them, but a clever hero can outsmart them with a bit of luck and a good plot.  

Only time for a quick peek...
[blockquote=Satyr]Last month I found the old manuscripts and drafts for the setting. I knew I wrote a lot of crap back in the Sturm und Drang days, and most of it wasn't worth the paper it was written upon, but I was fascinated by it. Seriously, I find it hard to believe that I had that many, at least not really bad ideas.[/blockquote]
Hah!  I know that feeling!  Once in a while my players run ionto one of my older areas and I'm looking at something written...we'll just say a long time ago.

Love the chapters of info idea...very useful...especially compared to my stream of consiousness mishmashmoshes...

Very happy with the non-humancentric world.  I never found humans that wonderful either...the other races would have to be a bunch of complete losers to not be able to compete with us.
Can I also compliment you on your cultural integration?  Again, this is something that makes perfect sense to me.  Whenever I read a setting where species specific tribes exist across the meadow from each other but don't really interact, I know it is probably time to stop reading, or at least get out the pixie dust...
(I have cultural integration vs tribal xenophobia as a major racial conflict in my setting)

Also, I like the Firebloods...makes for nice flavor...

The transporting of human civs is an interesting idea.  I wonder how they really would have done vs magic, however...depending on the pwoer of magic, I guess.

Quote from: LordVreegVery happy with the non-humancentric world.  I never found humans that wonderful either...the other races would have to be a bunch of complete losers to not be able to compete with us.

Also, I like the Firebloods...makes for nice flavor...[/quote]The transporting of human civs is an interesting idea.  I wonder how they really would have done vs magic, however...depending on the pwoer of magic, I guess.[/quote]

Think of it as a planet full of rather weak Supermen that are attacked by hordes of rhesus monkeys with cryptonite clubs. Magic is powerful (but not as ridiculously powerful as in the standard D&D roles) but iron breaks magic and is poisonous to the magicians - that helps.  

Chimeras
The term chimeras describe all species which have no natural origin but which were created by transmogrifying magic. Technically, this includes Fireblood, Orks and Pixies, but in the actual use of the word, only obvious humanoid/animal crossbreeds are considered as chimeras, and because of the often quite lacking social or mental abilities, the term is often used derogatory (especially for Orks).
Not all Chimeras are sentient and humanoid; scorpionmen, owlbears, pegasi and seacats are examples for non humanoid or monstrous chimeras which are very common. Like the Vodrag,

Catfolk
Catfolk were once a very common breed of chimeras, but like the Goatfolk, they were replaced by the much more effective Gnolls. The now sunken Vivisectionist city state of Arte'byrah employed the largest number of Catfolk troops and scouts, but the city was razed and the army was wiped out (and eaten alive) by Gnolls. The remaining Catfolk are fugitives that live in the wasteland and slowly die out. Being considered a delicatessen by the Gnolls only accelerates their extermination.
[spoiler] Seriously I hate cat people. And there are not enough RPGs were they suffer accordinly to make me happy. I want to fill this hole. Cat people are only included in Ashkardia to be spayed, wiped out and being miserable. [/spoiler]

Gnolls
One of the more successful chimera breeds, Gnolls were created by several of the vivisectionist rulers of Northern Gondaran as shock troopers and warriors. While Gnolls excel in those tasks, they are much too undisciplined to serve in a normal army, and marauding Gnoll packs are one of the many scourges of the Gondaraian lands. Nonetheless, Gnolls breed fast and expect little from life than food and reproductive activities and therefore replaced most human sized war chimeras like Goatfolk or Catfolk.
Gnolls resemble tall, bipedal hyenas, they are taller than humans, but they are lean and better build for endurance and speed than for hulking strength.

Goatfolk
Theoretically, the Goatfolk are the predecessors of the Gnolls and other, more aggressive war chimeras, but they are widelöy considered to be a failure., but most vivisectionist transmogrifiers believe that carnivorous animals are more aggressive and therefore more effective shock troopers. Their still remaining Goatolks, both as servitors and as free roaming groups, but most of them are used for physical labor where their muscles are of great help.

Kobolds
[spoiler]I never liked the newer variety of kobolds as some kind of humanoid micro dragons. They seemed too noble and cuddly to me. But I want my kobolds to be disgusting and filthy.[/spoiler]
Kobolds are a rather new chimera, a chimera of dire rats and a few unlucky goblins that were captured in the vivisectionist city states. Kobolds are small, ratlike creatures, hiding in sewers and caves and breed like rats. They are considered to be little more but biped vermin, but they are very hard to come by. Once a canal system is infested with kobolds, one needs powerful mercenaries and battle mages to get rid of them again. Kobolds are only around for fifty years or so, but they are constantly expanding and almost every civilized country in Ashkardia pays a bounty for dead kobolds.
Kobolds are the low end of the totem pole; they are the smallest, they are the weakest and everyone thinks it's not only okay, but a good idea to wipe them out. They are still sentient '" and often very malnourished, hungry and desperate little beasts  with nothing to lose - but the big ones see them as little else than upright walking rats.

Ogres
Ogres were created to insult trolls. They are so old, that it is almost ridiculously to still call them chimeras (and especially humans who do not understand the finer differences between chimeras and true Ashkardians fail to make this distinction). Ogres were created in the early years of the Sidhe Troll conflict as Mock '"Trolls, large, hulking beasts with great power and very limited mental capacities. Ogres were long used as heavy shock troops by the Sidhe armies, but because they breed much slower and are less self-sufficient than orks, they were eventually disbanded. Now, the remaining ogres roam the more rural areas of Ashkardia, after Humans and especially Trolls who hate them almost as much as their Sidhe creators nearly exterminated them.

Snake Infiltrators
The infiltrators are a rare breed of the Snake Priests of the Lizard Kingdoms; they are still considered to be a part of the lizard kingdom, but they look almost like humans. The reptiles of the jungle do not trust any mammals and therefore created their own chimeras as spies among the scaleless. The infiltrators are fascinating beautiful to humans and hardly recognizable as the snakebreed they are (they can even regulate their body temperature to be warmblooded), but they are still'¦ well pretty alien in their thinking.
Snake infiltrators are not a true race, since they are not able to reproduce on their own '" every infiltrator is created through a transmogrifying ritual, that also involves several implanted enchantments that guarantee their loyalty.

The Power of Black Iron
There are several distinct differences between Ashkardia and most of the other D&D worlds. First of all, Ashkardia has a much lower Magician per capita ratio than almost any other world. Magic is here but it is not a collection of fancy special effects and omnipresent manipulation of cosmic forces. That does not mean that Ashkardian magic is weak (or at least weaker) it's more subtle (at least most of the time) and it needs more time for preparation and execution. And in the big scales, Ashkarian Magicians are scarring powerful. Creating life, crossbreed different, completely unrelated species into Chimeras, summon thousands of people at once'¦ that is pretty big stuff, isn't it?

Ashkardia doesn't offer much iron. There are iron ore mines, but they are rare and not very profitable. Iron in Ashkardia is rare, and expensive. While most human noble houses own a set of iron weaponry and armor, this is far from true for commoners. To own an iron dagger or knife is a sign of wealth and status. To own an iron broadsword is a true sign of great power. Blacksmiths (who works with iron, contrary to redsmiths, who work with bronze and brass) are renowned and often very rich craftsmen who jealously protect the secrets of their craft. Real experts among them are praised like the most powerful wizards.
Most tools, weapons and armor in Ashkardia are made from bronze or brass. These materials are harder to process and are in many inferior to black iron, but much cheaper and easier to get.
The Elder races have their own, magically advanced materials, like Wichwood (a fast growing sort of trees that are excellent material for bows ) or Kryst ( a very sharp chrystal used by the trolls to form blades).

Iron is not only a superior material for weapons, it is also an antimagic metal, that hurts the creatures of Ashkardia who are dependant on magic to survive and it protects its wielders from spells.
An iron item has a saving throw bonus +4 (or more when it is especially massive) to resist any magical manipulation or destruction. An iron item also protects its wielder from magical harm; an iron helmet, tiara or crown offers a protection against minds affecting magic, while a suit of iron armor grants protection against most damaging spells.

This is a well constructed setting, and I'll be looking for more updates. I really like the sprinkling of traditional folklore. It gives the world enough of a spice to be different from the two poles of Tolkien fantasy and the fairy-tale fantasy that has dominated a lot of the settings I've read, both here and elsewhere. I like the use of the Chimeras, and find it an excellent reason for the number of sentient species capable of communicating with each other. I'll write a more lengthy response to this tonight.

Keep up the good work!
~Helix

I never had my kobolds associated with Dragons either.  In my world they are anothEr variation of the ogrillite races...DRAGONS?  No more like rat-folk.  I Like your term of Chimera, and how they are not only a good explanation, they put the dep and strange magic of Ashkardia on display.
We've spoken about magic before, but I can easily imagine artification and druidism meshing in your setting.  

Magical items and Equipment
Magical items are comparatively rare in Ashkardia. On the one hand, because it is harder to enchant items than in most D&D worlds and on the other hand, because the two great magical societies '" the Elves and the Trolls '" never really got into it. Trolls prefer not to be dependant on anything else but themselves and created bloodgems, magical tattoos and similar enchantments of their bodies. The Sidhe preferred transmogrification to create new servitor species, and rarely use more classical items (with the exception of magical armor and weapons in the times of fire). Therefore, a lot of enchantments are still unknown to Ashkardian spellcasters and most spellcasters are not firm in enchantment practices. Goblins are the one great exception, and roughly about 80% of all non weapon magical equipment is of goblin origin.

Unique magical equipment of Ashkkardia

Bloodgems
Bloodgems are magical stones, often made out of Kryst or jewels which are filled with magical essence. The first bloodgems were used by the Trolls who claim that the first bloodgems were found by them in the depth of the Mil'Varat and they only copy the natural magic of these stones.
Bloodgems are implanted into the forehead of its wearer. A very painful and cruel procedure, but after the implantation, the stone is awakened by the life force or magical flame of its wearer and grants him a magical bonus to abilities, access to memories within the stone - other Bloodgems are foci or gemstones.

Bloodgems are very common in Ashkardia, and belong to the most common magical items around.

Tattoos of Power
Trolls never liked to use magical items or to be dependant on any kind of equipment, and therefore they learnt how to enchant their blood ritual scars and other emblems on the skin. The process is similar painful as the implantation of a bloodgem, but it is irreversible; if a tattoo of power is in place, it can't be removed (with the exception of flaying). A tattoo of power is a magical sigil carved into the skin of its bearer which grants him an enchantment bonus. The more powerful a tattoo is, the more elaborated and big is the tattoo.
Tattoos of Power grants an enchantment bonus to abilities. There were once other, more elaborated and exotic tattoos of power who granted other, more exotic powers, but the near extinction of the Troll people and the self-sacrifice of their council of elders have destroyed the knowledge how to create those.
The price of a Tattoo of Power is the same as an ability enhancing magical item. However, no one can tattoo and enchant the one back or face, therefore the tattoos must be purchased from those who are able to use the magic of scars and ink.
Magical tattoos change under the skin and move slowly when they are active and gleam dimly. It is quite easy to identify them.

Glowstones
Glowstones are a common tool of spellcasters '" these are gems that storage magical energy and offers it to the user. A Glowstone can greatly expand the magical energy of any spellcaster.
There are two different kinds of Glowstones '" unaligned stones can feed about any spell, while dedicated Glowstones only energize one specific one specific school of spells.
A Glowstone of any kind regenerates one Spellpoint per day, but the wielder can pump his own magic into the stone to recharge it on a 2:1 ratio: For every two spellpoints the magicians spends, the Glowstone regenerates one.


Foci
Foci are magical items that simplify the spellcasting. Foci can have about any given form (common are jewels, jewelry, wands and rods). A Focus concentrates the magical power of spellcasting and allows to cast certein spells with a higher efficiency. Unlike Glowstones, Foci are always aligned; every Focus only works for one school of magic, and ignores others. Powerful (or rich) magicians therefore often use more than one Focus, dependant on the magic thy want to cast.
In the religious donminated Magical Orders, Foci are often formed as religious symbols, in at least one case, a Focus was included in the hilt of a sword. Foci can be implanted in the casters like bloodstones, but rarely happens.


Special Materials
More than - the often very boring and dull and rarely as fascinating purely magical items, special materials are an acceptable reason why better or supernatural items which identical or similar attributes are that common. I tried to gave Ashkardia some interesting and unique materials like iron. Which is, obviously, extremely mysterious and exotic.


Witchwood
Witchwood trees are magically created trees which were used by the Sidhe to fletch powerful bows. Witchwood is dark grey as ashes, but the wood is extremely stable and flexible. Witchwood can be formed by magic quite easily, and Sidhe fletchers knew magic songs of creation that helps to give the wood the expected form. A witchwood bow can be enchanted much easier than regular wood.

Kryst
Kryst is the deep blue to sea green crystal used by the Trolls to create extremely sharp weapons. The stone can be clipped into blades sharper than anything made out of metal, but it is brittle. It is not possible to build a sword or a similar long blade out of Kryst, but the material is excellent for axe blades, arrow points or other smaller blades.

Klackhide
A rare material for armors, which is almost completely reserved for veterans of the Klacker front, the skin of the outworldish vermin is an extremely good raw materiel for armor. Klackhide can be used to create both leather armor and hide armor and grants a natural +1 Enchantment bonus and the weight is reduced by 25%. Klackhide can not be enchanted, and the armor must be cooked and salted carefully or it starts to rot.
Klackhide costs as much as a +1 enchanted armor of the same type (either hide or leather armor).

Trollhide
An uncommon sight today, but in the times of the great war, veteran sidhe warriors praised their armor made out of dead troll's skin. Trollskin is tough and leathery, and it grants good protection, but, and this is the most important, it is a great way to infuriate any troll.
Trollhide uses the same stats as moon ivy, but the wearer should not be seen by a troll.

Laws concerning Ashkardian magic (in the following just called magic):
Magic does not 'tell the laws of physics to shut up and sit down'. Magic just transforms one form of energy (raw magic force) into an other concentrated, specified form (the spell and its effects). In this, a magician is remarkable similar to a light bulb. Only more flexible. And less transparent.

Magic does not create new energy, it just transforms it. A spellcaster collects the magic raw energy around him and most important inside of him and channels it through him in a new form.  If the inner flame of magic energy burns low, the spellcaster can't form new effects, until it regenerated. In fact, a spell caster is a big transformator, pressing raw magic energy into formed effects via spells.

And don't think that magic is that much more powerful in battle '"obviously this is not true in Ashkardia, where completely unmagic knights and Saracen warriors could beat an army of powerful Elven wizards and their orkish dogs of war. In Ashkardia, the Sword is more powerful than the spell '" especially when the sword is made out of steel and iron.

There are two ways to use magic in Ashkardia '" quick and dirty, without much preparation time and a high risk to fail or even to backfire, which is normally described as spell casting, in contrary to the slow and secure way of ritual magic, which has a much lower chance to fail '" or to kill the magician in a terrible loss of control over the magical powers.

To mimic the effect of an inner flame of magic, as an energy source for spells, Ashkardia uses the Satyrs Sadistic Spellpoint System.

Satyr's Sadistic Spellpoint System
I never liked the Vancian magic system. And 'never liked' is a great euphemism. It is the reason why I hate playing spellcasters. Therefore I searched for alternatives, but never found something I really liked. Therefore I did it myself.
  Instead of a fixed number of spellslots, spellcasters get a number of spellpoints which can be distributed among his or her spells. Casters who have to prepare their daily spells still afford to do so. Three spellpoints can be three level 1 spells as well as one level 3 spell. Every spell takes his level of spellpoints to be casted, cantrips or other Level 0 spells count as 0.5 spell points. The number of spellpoints which can be channeled per turn are limited though, therefore more powerful spells need a longer time to be casted.
On 1st level a full spellcaster can channel 1 spellpoint per turn and can channel one additional point per turn, while a weaker caster can channel one additional spellpont every 8 levels.


A 15th level wizard (spelllchanneling 3/turn) could cast a lvl. 3 spell every turn, a lvl. 4, 5 or 6 spell in two turns or a lvl. 7 spell in three turns.

Spellpoint channeling is a Standard Action. Metamagic Feats need as many spell points as their modified level indicates. The Quicken Spell Feat doesn't exist.
Spellpoints are gained like hitpoints , meaning somewhat random. A typical full caster would get (1D6 + ability bonus) spellpoints per level. This is maximized at 1st level.

Spellpoint regeneration: Per day, a spellcaster regenerates his caster level + main ability x2  per day, and an additional d4 per hour of meditation (this does not include sleep). For example, a lvl. 15 wizard with Intelligence 18 would regenerate 38 spellpoints per day, +3 d4 if he meditates for three hours.

To summerize, spellcasters are a lot more flexible what spells they wish to cast. Overall, they can cast a lesser total amount of spells, but they have much more influence which spells they want to cast. Spellcasting times are prolonged, making low level spells more attractive, because they are faster to cast.

Magic, and the risk of embarassing perils
Magic comes at a price. The biggest (and from my perspective almost unforgivable) mistake of the normal D&D rules is the easiness of magic. It can hardly fail, and with the exception of running low on fuel,  there are no affiliated risks. How boring. How completely and utterly uninteresting.
Power must have its price '" or it kills anything like balance (as shown in the standard D&D rules) and even the worth of magic '" it must have a downside, or it is, essentially, worthless.

Therefore, Ashkardian magic comes without the guaranteed spellcasting success of the standard rules.

Spell casting '" the risky and dangerous way of magic -  needs a Concentration check to be successful. The DC of these checks is 15+Spell level. (A 1st level spell would be DC16, a 7th level spell would be DC 22). If the check fails, the spell is fizzled and the invested spellpoints are wasted. Armor Check penalties are applied to these checks, but the Arcane Spell Failure Chance plays no role anymore.

A natural 1 on the Concentration check always means a failure and needs a confirmation, just like a critical hit, but against the Concentration skill. If the confirmation succeeds, nothing more happens. The spell points are wasted, but, that is the only negative effect. If the confirmation fails, the caster has made a critical mistake and suffers for it. The target of the spell is a different (in the case of damage dealing spells it's almost always the caster himself), the effect is turned around (Cure spells become Harm spells for example), etc. The more powerful the spell was, the more devastating is the effect of a critical failure. As a rule of thumb, a damage dealing spell will deal its full damage to the caster.
A botched spell should bring a spellcaster in serious, in the case of powerful spells even life threatening peril.

Yes, that means that a 1st level wizard has a chance of fail around half the spells he or she casts at least on the short term. But with feats like a Concentration Skill Focus, the risk of blasting yourself isn't that high. But the risk is always there as it should be.

Ritual Magic is much safer and reliable. A ritualized '˜spell' needs twenty times as long as a fast cast, but it does not require a Concentration check and therefore can only fail horribly when the ritual is interrupted by outer means.

Ashkardian spells rarely use material components. Doing this is in most cases not necessary, but helpful and grants an additional +1 bonus to the Concentration check, but it is by no means necessary.

Maagic and Thermodynamics
It is much easier to destroy than to build something up. Think about it. Compared to the amount of labor, energy or time you need to let almost anything grow or construct something, it is extremely easy to destroy it. Why should it be different with magic? In Ashkardia, at least, that is how magic works.- You can create with magic, but it hurts. Destruction is much simpler (and it hurts, too, but at least not you).
All Spells, that heal, restore hitpoints or have similar numerical effects are only half as effective as listed; Cure spells uses D4's instead f D8's, Heal heals only 5 hitpoints per Caster Level, etc.
Spells that create, gives life or similar effects (like e.g. Plant Growth) are treated as one level higher. The Spell Mend does not exist at all.
Destruction is easy though '"spells that hurt, kill and injure just stay as they are.

The different varieties of magic
There are three different greater categories of magic '" hereditary magic, like those of sorcerers (with innate magical abilities and charisma as a basic attribute), hermetic magic (with spellbooks, long training and intelligence as the basical ability - the magic of wizards) and spiritual magic, based on the spirit world and a deep understanding of the supernatural.
Hereditary magic simply is and is only based on the will and character strength of its user; hermetic magic is based upon an inner logic. It works on a base of rationality and an almost scientific approach. Spiritual magic on the other hand is almost completely based on intuition and emotion; it is not based on logic and thought but on dream and passion. Hermetic magic works within a prefixed set of rules, spiritual magic doesn't.

Hermetic magicians '" Wizards '" uses more or less the same rules as in Standard D&D. Apart from the complete different magical system.
Likewise, hereditary magicians '" Sorcerers '" resemble their predecessors.
But the spiritual magicians  are different. The two major spiritual magicians are Shamans and Druids, and the Scholars of the Trolls, who were always the most apt spiritual magicians .

Undeads in Ashkardia
Undeads in Ashkardia are rare. There are no large hordes of brainless zombies or animated skeletons (which I personally despise, because I always found them extremely contalogical). Ashkardian undeads are created when a "soul" is forced back into its body after it died. Since animals can be animated in this way as well, the "soul" part is up to dispute. The undead remember their life, even though they rot. Undeads dissolve without a constant supply of life energy - and therefore they hunt for the living to get this supply. The form in which they consume it varies widely - from flesh and blood of the most primitive undeads up to the "breathstealers" who can feed on a sleeper without waking him up and leaving only a dried out hull behind.
Unmdeath is a curse, and often the victims of undeads become undeads themselves.
There are numerous names for the living dead in Ashkardia - draugr, vampire, wights, ghouls, gyonshi or revenants. The single names do not refer to single, different species but to a wide number of different undeads.
The power of different undeas vary widely - the more life essence a living dead has absorbed or absorbs regularly, the more powerful it becomes. As a rule of thumb, an undead needs 1 D6 of hitpoints per week to not further decay (they still decay, but the changes are purely cosmetical). When they consume the flesh or blood (or essence...) of the living, they regenerate damage both from injuries as well from rotting as well from decay. An undead that starves becomes more and more feral and rots faster, while their decaying joints make their movements slow and staggering. An undead needs a steady supply of essence to maintain a human-like intellect; if they regularly consume more essence than they need, they will develop additional powers and often a very life-like appearance. The most powerful undeads are as old as the oldest dragons and Sidhe and more than equal in powers. Many undeads can feed of magical energies as well, which makes all kinds of magicians a favorite targets for them. There are therefore quite a number of undeads which have the Gift themselves, but like they can't heal their bodies on their own anymore, they need the essence of the living to cast spells. The Dark Portals are very common among them.

Undeads in Ashkardia
Undeads in Ashkardia are rare. There are no large hordes of brainless zombies or animated skeletons (which I personally despise, because I always found them extremely contralogical). Ashkardian undeads are created when a "soul" is forced back into its body after it died. Since animals can be animated in this way as well, the "soul" part is up to dispute. The undead remember their life, even though they rot. Undeads dissolve without a constant supply of life energy - and therefore they hunt for the living to get this supply. The form in which they consume it varies widely - from flesh and blood of the most primitive undeads up to the "breathstealers" who can feed on a sleeper without waking him up and leaving only a dried out hull behind.
Unmdeath is a curse, and often the victims of undeads become undeads themselves.
There are numerous names for the living dead in Ashkardia - draugr, vampire, wights, ghouls, gyonshi or revenants. The single names do not refer to single, different species but to a wide number of different undeads.
The power of different undeas vary widely - the more life essence a living dead has absorbed or absorbs regularly, the more powerful it becomes. As a rule of thumb, an undead needs 1 D6 of hitpoints per week to not further decay (they still decay, but the changes are purely cosmetical). When they consume the flesh or blood (or essence...) of the living, they regenerate damage both from injuries as well from rotting as well from decay. An undead that starves becomes more and more feral and rots faster, while their decaying joints make their movements slow and staggering. An undead needs a steady supply of essence to maintain a human-like intellect; if they regularly consume more essence than they need, they will develop additional powers and often a very life-like appearance. The most powerful undeads are as old as the oldest dragons and Sidhe and more than equal in powers. Many undeads can feed of magical energies as well, which makes all kinds of magicians a favorite targets for them. There are therefore quite a number of undeads which have the Gift themselves, but like they can't heal their bodies on their own anymore, they need the essence of the living to cast spells. The Dark Portals are very common among them.

ok, playability question (which is eventually going to feed another META posting)...
what races out of all these wonders are player races?  I'm not a fanatic about balance as some of the crunchies sometimes floating around in here, as I believe that a good game allows good players to get ahead, no matter what minor advantages character creation gives them.

Magic system makes me happy.  Spell success%, spell points, ritual magic are all faves and are used heavily in my setting, so I approve very much.  Next, your level added to DC is a nice clean generalized rule of thumb.
I also like the reasoning behind magic item rarity, though after reading your sidhe thread it rings false.  I would rather think they would be enchanting every frigging ponytail holder and spoon, with their magic-heavy lifestyle.  Also one of the few things that might keep life a little less tedious.

Quote from: LordVreegMagic system makes me happy. Spell success%, spell points, ritual magic are all faves and are used heavily in my setting, so I approve very much. Next, your level added to DC is a nice clean generalized rule of thumb.
I also like the reasoning behind magic item rarity, though after reading your sidhe thread it rings false. I would rather think they would be enchanting every frigging ponytail holder and spoon, with their magic-heavy lifestyle. Also one of the few things that might keep life a little less tedious.

Not necessarily - Why should I do the tendious and draining work to enchant something if I can have three or four oks or pixies who can do anything for me? The Sidhe do not really enchant items - they change living things into fitting forms for their usage. Like magical biotechnology.