Welcome to the Afterworld Discussion Thread! This world has only come into existence in the last few weeks and as of such is only just beginning to take shape. As I get more and more of my ideas typed up and onto the Wiki, I will update this page with current news and to discuss ideas and comments with all you guys. So lets have it! I want to hear those comments!
The below is simply an overview of the campaign setting just to get you guys started. For more information please see the Wiki (http://www.thecbg.org/wiki/index.php?title=Afterworld)
AFTERWORLD OVERVIEW:
Being one of the few who still remain alive, I remember the time when the sun wasn't covered by the dust and ash that keeps the world perpetually in a state of shadowy existence. I remember the enormous cities and towering spires before their defenses were destroyed by the magic eaters and their buildings turned to rubble by invading forces. I remember a time when common folk did not have to fear the shadows that stalked the night and would tear the flesh from your bones in an instant. I remember a world before Afterworld, a world where people dreamed of attaining higher things, a world where people didn't hide inside their small towns for fear of their lives and slowly wither away.
And yet remembering it only calls back the pain of what has been lost. That world is gone. Our previous lives are gone. Everything is gone, except the small points of light amid the sea of darkness. The world has changed, and with it, we must change. Man must once again fight to avoid its own extinction in the new place we call Afterworld.
Afterworld is a world in which the former glories of an age of magic have been demolished by an onslaught of otherworldly creatures. Now much of the world lays in ruins and what few points of light in the darkness still glow, cling together to fend off the overwhelming shadows.
AFTERWORLD WIKI LINK (http://www.thecbg.org/wiki/index.php?title=Afterworld)
Okay, so I'm a huge fan of this introduction. But, that having been said, what races are we looking at? You've mentioned to me that this is your fourth edition world - should we expect fourth edition races?
Yes, expect 4th edition races, however we will not be necessarily using them how they are portrayed/or how their civilization is described in 4th edition. While Afterworld will be built largely using 4E Rules, it will be playable with all other editions, so don't expect gnomes to be monsters ;)
The races themselves are only just starting to be discussed, so expect alot more information and more refinement coming soon.
4/29/18 11:53 - Updated with a major persona in the Afterworld cosmology as well as some notes on the magic and a anti-magic creature found in the world.
Okay, as I'm reading through the creation story, I really like the whole feel of a chain of events; the idea that "first there was this, which created that, which eventually created something else, which ultimately created something entirely different". Particularly, my favorite touch is that there was something even in the beginning. Too often, I think, many such stories tend to fall along the lines of, "at first there was nothing. Then, inexplicably, there was something."
I also like the narrative before the creation story, but I have to ask, is the narrator him(/her)self an important character to the setting? If so, I'd love to hear more about them!
All in all, I like what I see so far. Keep up the good work!
The Main Narrator is Alexius Carthwall, Cartographer by Trade. He is a high ranking member within the League of the Unknown, a Guild devoted to expanding peoples knowledge of the world and it's history. Alexius Carthwall, While not the leader, is often considered to be the greatest explorer and cartographer to every live.
4/30 - 11:56:Updated the Cosmology Page, and Placed links on the Main Afterworld site near to the top of the site for easier access. Currently working on a navigation bar, but it is not turning out the way I want it to.
More updates coming soon!
Just added a section to the Wiki on Notable Locations around the world. One that I have been working on for a while though is called Trials of Auinaeth. I have reposted what I have wrote on the Wiki here, and was looking for some opinions/ideas.
Trials of Auinaeth
* Located in the City of Del'san, in the Central Plains.
* While not one of the largest cities on the continent, it has some of the best smiths and craftsmen in the world residing within it's walls.
* Huge Temple like structure. Contains tavern, meeting rooms, training rooms, as well as the Entrance and Exit to the Trails of Auinaeth.
*** Tavern: Rooms for over 200 people, with several sectioned and varying styles of bars and restaurants. People who have completed parts of the maze can be found flaunting their accomplishments regularly throughout the bars, and for a few drinks, many are willing to give newcomers a few hints about what they will encounter.
*** Meeting Rooms: Meeting rooms of all sizes and can be rents from the tavern for low prices. Tipping the tavern will often get free drinks brought to your room.
*** Training Rooms: Magically enchanted rooms built to allow people to test their skills and train before entering the Trials. They will provide a challenging, but short encounter for adventurers. See John in Tavern for more details and booking information.
The Trials of Auinaeth:
* The Entrance:
*** The Entrance to the Trials is located on the front side of the temple, and consists of a massive stone arch reaching well over sixty feet high, flanked on either side by two giant stone statues; One of a Man in full plate crossing his sword with a staff held by a man in flowing robes on the other side.
*** As you walk towards the arch from the massive town square in front of it, your path is lined by 12 Slaughterstone Eviscerator, 6 on each side, and right before you reach the massive statues, are 4 Slaughterstone Behemoths, 2 on each side. The Constructs are empowered by the maze and given a limited intelligence/telepathic powers. If they feel you are not worthy/ready to enter the maze, you find you mind bombarded with laughter and taunting in an attempt to sway your choice.
*** The only other thing that stands between you and the door is a small mutt that lies in front of the gate. It has been there for as long as anyone can remember and a rumor has spread that if you feed the dog on your way in to the Trials, it will bring you good luck. Many people claim that the dog is able to tell if you are truly ready to enter the maze or not, and stories are told of it leading people away from the gate.
*** As you pass through the arch, you enter a tunnel that rapidly diminishes in size till it is no taller than 15' and no wider than 10'. To outsiders the party/persons that entered rapidly seem to fade from view. About 100 feet down the tunnel you find a single obsidian pedestal that holds a large tome upon all who enter must write their names. This is also you last chance to back out of the Trails of Auinaeth. Another 100 feet down and you may not leave until you have passed the first tier of trials (assuming you live), to you, the tunnel through which you just came appears to be a solid wall, immune to any attacks or attempts at penetration.
*** The entrance is only guarded by:
***** Slaughterstone Eviscerator: Six squat, powerful legs support this stone automaton's thick, insectoid body, which is wider and lower to the ground than a horse's. The creature's stable bulk supports four serrated blade-arms that are able to whirl around with vicious speed.
***** Slaughterstone Behemoth: This massive automaton resembles a six-legged stone cat. Four huge, hammerlike arms jut from its front two pairs of shoulders, and it has a low, squat build.
* Inside the Trials:
*** The Trials of Auinaeth was constructed by a wizard by the name of Auinaeth over a 800 years ago. It was made to test the limits of peoples skills who entered it and while commissioned by the king of the state, became and obsession of perfection for Auinaeth. For most of his life, Auinaeth worked to improve his tests, and eventually gave the construct a sentience of it's own to adjust the contents to better suit the people entering it. Over time it became smarter and smarter, but lacked true intelligence and the power to fully manipulate the environment inside of itself, and so upon his deathbed, Auinaeth had his mind melded with his creation's so he could continue his work eternally. 750 years later (give or take a few) the creation, now called the Trials of Auineath, has reached a level of power and knowledge from those who have passed through it to be considered of demigod status by many. In fact it may be even more powerful than that, seeing as it has actually constructed another plane of existence for itself, so that it can better modify the environment inside of itself better.
*** It draws its power from the magic that seeps from the intersection of leylines beneath the city.
*** The environment within the trials depends on where you are, sometimes it is a labyrinth like design, other times open fields or forests.
*** Consists of nine tiers of Trials, each progressively harder.
*** The Trial will spawn new creatures as necessary to keep the trials well populated and at a stable level of difficulty.
*** Once you have entered the Trials, you may only leave at the end of one of the tiers. Once you have completed a tier, when you re-enter the trials, you may choose to enter at any of the towns whose trials you have passed. The ninth layer has no town at the end of it's trial, however once you have completed the ninth layer, you may re-enter the trials at any location you choose.
*** All that is known about the Ninth Trial is that there is a tome that rests at the end of the trial for those who have completed it to write their names in. Past this, no information has been disclosed by those who have completed it. Many speculate that the challenges faced in the Ninth Trial are so trying that the prestige of completing the trial means little to those who pass it, as those who emerge speak little of what occurred in side, and never seek recognition or fame for their achievements.
*** After a tier of trials is completed, a thin black band appears on the upper arm, one for each tier completed. These bands are like tattoos, however they cannot be removed and any attempt to cover them up with other tattoos or markings fade within a day.
**** Anyone found to have placed fake rings on their upper arm, is magically tattooed with 9 lines across the forehead and exiled form the city. However, people who have falsely boasted of having passed the ninth trial have been known to disappear and never be heard from again.
***** The towns located at the end of each trial are largely self sufficient and have a commerce of their own as people pass through from one trial to another, seeking to resupply or sell items they found on the way. The towns at the end of each trial are located in a large field area, at least one mile square and is filled with farmland to supply its inhabitants with food. Most of the towns consist of a wooden stockade and all the basic shops along with an Inn or two. The higher the trial you progress to, the smaller the towns get, until eventually at the end of the 8th trial, all the town consists of is a small Inn.
During the Invasion:
* During invasion the city would only fight to protect itself, however it did not discriminate against anyone seeking to enter the trials. As of such many creature from the invasion still reside in the city, training and seeking to enter the Trials.
* While attacked several times during the war, and hit hard by the plague, the city held on, one of the few places that was able to wether the storm. This was largely due to the constant influx of adventurers who sought out the Trials located within the city. These adventurers supplied the city with a well trained defensive force and the leaders to tactically guide them. Only when two Dark Energons were brought to bear on the city, did the invading army breach the walls. From there, a small elite force slipped through the defense in a dash to the city center. As adventurers streamed out of the temple to defend the Trial Gateway, the constructs guarding it's entrance exploded into a frenzy of killing, decimating the attacking force within minutes. Very few people noticed that through the whole fight, the mutt that lay under the archway simply watched on, only standing up to growl when one of the invaders came within 15 feet of the entrance. An attack was not attempted on the city again.
I've hosted the map I am beginning to work on for Afterworld. It's a bigin, but take a look at the link and let me know what you think!
AFTERWORLD MAP (http://gmwsolutions.com/Alex/DND/5.13.08/Afterworld.png)
-So far only the mountains have been placed on the computer, more to come soon.
-Black Lines are leylines.
Updated the Afterworld Wiki with a new Location of Note The Roost (http://www.thecbg.org/wiki/index.php?title=Afterworld:_Locations_of_Note#The_Roost)