The Campaign Builder's Guild

Note about Savrilas: Until about four hundred years ago, Savrilas was forbidden territory. Legend had it that this was where the dragons went, and nobody really wanted to anger them.

However, bands of treasure-seekers began sneaking onto the island, and they found it deserted. Eventually, they founded a colony of sorts, which has flourished in Savrilas' gentle climate and rich soil. Savrilas isn't entirely under the control of the Empire, it's more of an associated territory. The agreement between the Savrilans and the Empire is that the Savrilans agree to pay any taxes the Empire asks for provided the Empire promises never to asks for any. Instead, the Savrilans pay an entirely voluntary annual donation...
It's not a perfect agreement, but it works and keeps the Dragonisle happy and productive.

Been a while since my last post...here's a little bump, and a start on some history and mythology. It's not very organized yet, I'm basically just writing down ideas as I have them.



'In the beginning, there was only the Land below and the Sky above. Both gave birth to gods, the first beings to ever enter the world. Formed from the raw elements of creation, they were its firstborn children, and their birthright was magic.
For a while, the children of Sky and the children of the Land didn't know of each other, and all was peaceful.
When they met, peace ended. The Godswar lasted eon after eon, and neither side was able to claim victory. The gods of the Land crafted great towers to ascend to the Sky, and the gods of the Sky sent storms of wind and rain to smash them down again. The gods of the Sky created the Dragons as their soldiers, and the gods of the Land created Giants to destroy them. On and on the battle raged, and it shaped the world. Wounds torn into the Land by dragon claws or giant magic became valleys, ruined siege towers mountains.
Agilar the Singer was the son of the Lord of the Sky. Though a mighty warrior like his father, his heart was saddened by violence and his songs were dark and haunting.
Nareen the Shaper was the daughter of the Lord of the Land, a healer and artist without peer, but her heart was saddened by the pain of the great war, and her works were twisted and sad.
One day, Agilar saw Nareen walk outside the shelter of her father's castle...'
---Beginning of the Song of Land and Sky, the creation myth of the Firstfolk.


Basically, 'history', for the people of the Empire, begins with the first Emperor who united the warring little kingdoms and city-states two thousand years ago. Even further back there's only the mythical Magewars, when the human nations banded together with the dwarves to destroy the magic-wielding elves and gnomes.

The Magewars happened for a good reason. Magic was causing the walls of reality to grow thin, and fiends managed to creep through into the world. The elves and gnomes (and human spellcasters) didn't want to give up magic even though it was clear that to go on would invite desaster, so violence was the only answer. Sorcerer bloodlines typically date back to the Magewars era when extraplanar beings, called into this world either by accident or design, went marauding across the continent.

The Magewars ended with a decisive victory for the foes of magic...or so the story goes. Heretic scriptures claim that it wasn't quite as simple, and that it had something to do with the dragons leaving for Savrilas...

Ever since the Magewars, the Church has worked hard to keep magic in check. The lower ranks don't even truly know why, but the upper echelons realize what could happen if magic ever returned to its old level.

Some stuff about setting number one...

The larger regions of the Empire (and the dominant cultures):

Heartlands: Medieval Europe with a graeco-roman touch. Philosophy: 'Carpe Diem'.

Shieldlands: Small feudalistic fiefdoms. Philosophy: 'My Home is my Castle'.

Garraine: Pseudo-celtic, touches of dwarf culture in the south. Philosophy: 'Life is short - Enjoy it.'

Scalia: Similar to early renaissance spain, zealous and proud. Philosophy: 'In God's Name'.

Savrilas: The Dragonisle, colonized by a wild mixture of cultures. Philosophy: 'Winner takes Everything.'

Northern Trade Cities: Mixture of Savrilan and Scalian cultures. Mercantile city-states mostly thriving on trade with the northern continent. Philosophy: 'Everything and Everybody has a Price.'

Great River: Laid-back, quiet farmlands. Philosophy: 'Go with the Flow'.
Wolfscrown: 'Civilized' Cragsfolk. Proud of its warrior kings and legendary heroes. Philosophy: 'Steel and Honor!'

Sordane: Mixture of Heartlanders and Cragsfolk, mostly dominated by the latter. Philosophy: 'Things just happen.'

Gray Coast: Cragsfolk and dwarves, mostly in small villages and isolated holds. Philosophy: No time for that, winter's coming.

Wintergrim: Cragsfolk and dwarves, cold island kept habitable by countless hot springs. Yeah, it's more or less Iceland. Philosophy: 'You call that a winter? That's not even chilly! Let me tell you about REAL winters!'

Western Marches: Mostly half-orcs with some shieldlanders added in. 'Wild West' attitude, huge herds of cattle included. Philosphy: 'Out here, I am the Law.'

Non-human:

Korrosh: Oldest and most prosperous dwarven kingdom. Not an imperial province, just 'associated'. Mixture of mercantile and traditionalist attitudes. Philosophy: 'With our ancestors' blessings, let us do business.'

Dethreia: Stronghold of elves, gnomes and fey-folk. Humans and other races decidedly unwelcome. Trespassers are either found wandering aimlessly, with no memory of what happened, or never seen again. Philosophy: Nobody really knows.




The main ethnicities are Garin, Heartlander, Cragsfolk, Scalian, Shieldlander and Firstfolk.
Garins are the natives of Garraine, Heartlanders should be self-explanatory. Scalians are descended from Heartlanders, as are Shieldlanders. Firstfolk are the ancestors of the Garins and inhabit the Great River province. Cragsfolk are semi-barbaric, clannish people heavily influenced by dwarf culture.



I attached a map...note that this continent is on the southern hemisphere.

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawOne thing I'd have to ask you is whether you plan on integrating the behavior of the ancestral animals into the morphs?  Try not to make them stereotypical, but really thing about how animals of their type behave and how that might translate if they were sentient.

I have a few morph writeups done already. For others, I've got a fairly clear mental picture.

Here's two examples:

QuoteMost morphs are omnivores, with a few notable exceptions (such as the rabbits), although various tribes have varying diets (wolves, for example, are almost completely carnivorous even though they can also live on a vegetarian diet). All morphs walk on their hind legs and have fully functional, humanoid hands (although the number and size of fingers can differ).

Morph PC races:

Fox: +2 cha, -2 wis FC none
Foxes are extrovert and naturally charming, but physically average and prone to impulsive and rash behavior. They have no preferred classes, instead picking up new skills as needed.

Appearance and physical traits:
Fox morphs are short (averaging about 1.60m) and slim. Their fur is typically red or reddish-brown, but grey, yellow or -rarely- white or silver varieties are also known to exist. The fur is usually not patterned, although most foxes have brighter or darker areas, typically on the chest or abdomen. Their eyes can be almost any color, with brown and green being the most frequent.
They have a non-prehensile tail and walk on their toes like most predators.
Foxes are omnivores although, like all the canines or felines, they prefer meat when they can get it. Fox males and females are about the same size.

Personality and mental traits:
Foxes are smart and capable survivors and opportunists. A fox will do whatever he can to make a living, be that honest work, wilderness foraging or thievery. This behaviour has earned them a reputation for untrustworthyness and made them unwelcome among some of the more conservative morphs. Many others, however, welcome the semi-nomadic fox families, as they provide valuable services, either as somewhat skilled hands during harvest season, or as entertainers. The latter is especially important, since as the fox families travel, they pick up news and stories from all over the known world, and their naturally charming personalities make them perfect storytellers and bards. While foxes typically put their own well-being over that of others, that is not true when family is concerned - most foxes wouldn't hesitate to put their own lives on the line for family members, and while foxes generally appear cowardly, a fox in defense of his or her family is virtually fearless (+4 morale bonus on will saves in such situations).
While they are cheerful and easy-going with others, they are extremely reluctant to trust anyone who isn't part of their family. Once they do come to trust others, that trust is absolute, and occasionally fox families 'adopt' especially close friends, even those from other tribes.
Foxes prefer their clothing both practical and colourful. Standard fare for a fox is a leather or cloth tunic and britches, with decorative patterns stitched on and a wool cloak.


Dog: FC Ftr
Dogs are physically average when compared to other morphs, however they fit into military roles easily due to their personality.

Appearance and physical traits:
Dogs are the most diverse morph type, and while a certain 'mongrel look' is the norm, dog morphs exist in almost all shapes and sizes. All dogs walk on their toes and have non-prehensile tails, dogs are also carnivores by preference.
Dogs prefer clothing that indicates station, from simple cloth tunics and pants for 'commoners' to elaborate brocade dresses and suits for 'nobles'.

Personality and mental traits:
Dogs prefer to live in a well structured society, with clearly defined rules and responsibilities. Hierarchy comes naturally to them and unfortunately, so do politics. In the average dog morph settlement, most inhabitants spend the greatest part of their energy in constant struggles for position and influence. This behaviour, sometimes jokingly referred to as 'chasing their tails' by other morphs, prevents the dogs, who would otherwise be quite formidable, from ever becoming a major power. This is not to say that dog settlements are weak: Against an outside opponent dogs work together like a well-oiled machine to deal merciless destruction to the interloper. Afterwards, of course, they go right back to their pointless bickering. As a result, dogs are largely left alone by the other tribes, and they also remain neutral in most inter-tribe conflicts.
Some dogs -most of them possessing exceptional intelligence and/or wisdom- tire of the constant squabbling and prefer instead to live in solitude, away from the noise of dog society. Those hermit dogs typically spend their time with 'hobbies' like philosophy, art or various sciences and often become respected experts in their chosen fields. However, even those 'atypical' dog morphs prefer to live strictly reglemented and ordered lives.
Most dogs share a certain aloofness bordering on full-blown arrogance, as they believe that their ancestors were the closest to the humans. This claim is -albeit tentatively- supported by the rats' records and has gone a long way towards inflating the dog morphs' collective ego.

is[/i] regarded as a form of might), aggressive (think nonevil orcs).
Elk: Self-appointed 'defenders of the woodlands', perceived as arrogant (kinda elfy)
Ferret: Craftsmen and inventors with a serious case of ADD.

That's the races the game gave some detail on. The personalities and traits aren't by any means fixed yet, I'm considering changing a few to make them more credible.

First off, really nice place. I've taken a look around and I think I'll like it here.


That said...to 'business'.

I've been working on two settings for ages now...I've never really managed to make a lot of solid progress (mainly because I have a hard time finding players for them).

The first one (working title 'Halcyon' after a prominent NPC) is almost standard DnD fare and should only require minimal conversion work. It's a world low in magic, where humans are the dominant race and the only nonhuman races are dwarves (who live in a few enclaves), half-orcs (who inhabit a frontier province) and half-elves (who move around in gypsy-style caravans and are generally distrusted by everybody). The reason for this lies in the past, when a war between magic-users and those opposed to it ended in a crushing defeat for the mages. Elves and gnomes withdrew into a fortified, magical realm. Halflings have gone extinct. Dragons and other highly magical sentients have vanished.
The campaign setting (a single continent) has been dominated by the Sacred Empire for over a millenium now. The Empire survives by careful application of politics, a small amount of violence and the backing of the powerful Church. However, as the campaign starts, a schism in the Church is causing support for the Emperor to falter, and powerful and influential nobles of the Empire see their chance to break free or take over...
A massive war with countless fronts erupts. But that's not the only issue, because there's also the problem of magic to deal with...it apparently doesn't want to stay dead.
Witches' covens and druid circles try to protect or expand ancient sites of natural magic. Scholars secretly trade forbidden knowledge. Warlocks and Sorcerers, relics of the Magewars, bargain with extraplanar entities for power.
All in all, the setting is fairly dark in theme. In a war with constantly shifting frontlines and alliances, everybody suffers. And the breakdown of the imperial administration results in the near-collapse of trade, famines in provinces and cities relying on imports, uprisings of impoverished peasants...
It gets even worse when magic becomes involved. All magic is outlawed, and the Inquisition is quick to find and destroy careless magic-users. Some of them aren't above torturing or executing innocents to achieve their goals either. That'd make them fairly obvious villains, if it weren't for the fact that they have a point. Magic almost destroyed the world once, and it is likely to cause similar trouble again should it ever be allowed to rise to its old prominence.

As a result, both a game involving magic-users trying to fight against the oppressive regime and one dealing with a heroic band of inquisitors protecting the peasantry from demon-worshipping cultists are equally possible in this setting.

I've managed to draw a map of the continent and most of the larger regions already, and I've got a fairly good idea of how the power structures work. What's missing in this setting is detail, and that's where I'm open for suggestions. I'm looking for ideas on nobles, cities, regions...


Oh, well. This post was only for a brief intro anyway.


The second setting I've been working on is trickier. For one thing, it'd require a fairly extensive retooling of DnD rules (I've considered converting it to GURPS, actually).
For another, well...the characters wouldn't be humans, elves, dwarves or so on, but anthropomorphic animals. Yeah, it's a furry setting. That by itself tends to put a large portion of the internet off :P.

The reason for this is that, ages ago, I played an adventure game called 'Inherit The Earth'. It was one of those classic Lucas-Arts-style click-verb-click-object-solve-puzzle games, but it had a very unique setting: Our own world, but in a future where humanity has vanished and uplifted animals have taken over and reached a medieval level of technology and culture. It's a world where ancient ruins could be things like old bunkers, or where the 'desert of death', where all living things get sick and die, might be the site of a nuclear reactor meltdown.

I kinda liked that 'post-human' concept, so that's what I built my 'tribute' (a.k.a. Ripoff I hopefully won't get sued for :P) setting around.

I also borrowed a bit from a heavy metal album (since that, in turn, was based on a real-world 'prophet').


Anyway...the main thing I have for this setting is the 'deep' backstory, the foundation, so to speak. Players would rarely learn of it, and even other GM/DMs probably wouldn't have or need access to it. Even the most powerful NPCs know only bits and pieces of this 'secret origin'.
So why write it up (and post it) anyway? Well, I called it a 'foundation' earlier, and that's what it is for me...a framework I can build the rest of the world from. I've 'spiced things up' a bit in terms of writing, but mostly it's something I wrote for my own reference.

Quote from: 18pxIn The Beginning[/size][/b]

Quote from: 18pxThe Rise of Atlantis[/size][/b]

Quote from: 18pxMa'at and the Fall[/size][/b]

Quote from: 18pxThe Death Of Balance[/size][/b]

Quote from: 18pxDark Ages[/size][/b]

Quote from: 18pxRediscovery and the New Renaissance[/size][/b]

Quote from: 9pxLost evermore the essence of truth, although
she tried in vain to bring us peace, it will
ever rest in our hands
We've cried a thousand tears for all we had,
and all the things we could have been,
we must find our way again

Rediscovery (Part II)[/i]
[/size]

The wait was long, however. The centuries passed, religions rose and fell, and prophets proclaimed the End Times so many times that the world lost count. Christ was born and died. Mohammed lived and preached. The year 1000 AD passed. 2000 AD passed. By the time the apocalypse actually began, nobody still believed in it. That, perhaps, is the insidious nature of destiny revealed...it likes to sneak up on you, and catch you unprepared.
Destiny continued to lie low throughout the 21st century. Apocalyptic paranoia had a slight revival near the end, when the mid-east region finally collapsed on itself in a conflagration of genocidal violence after the discovery of controlled fusion and high-efficiency fuel cells thrashed the oil market. By the end of this violence, the area had been hit with every Weapon of Mass Destruction known to mankind then - nuclear, biological, chemical, they used them all. The wars achieved what generations of diplomats had failed at: For once, there was peace in the desert. But that was merely another footnote in history...one of many. The world went on, the wheels turned. Another century began, and passed.
Then, in 2197, destiny struck with a vengeance. An archeological dig in what had been, before the wars, the country of Egypt, unearthed an unmarked tomb. Intrigued to find something this large - the team of archeologists had expected at best some pottery shards and discarded tools - they breached the burial chamber...and were surprised to find only a few shards of an unidentified crystalline substance.
One of the archeologists, Professor William Clarke, was notable for having a rather strange hobby...strange, that is, in a professional scientist: Professor Clarke loved parapsychology. Ghost stories, tales of ESP, reports of psychokinetic and poltergeist activity, he collected them all. While his fellow researchers were dismayed by the unknown nature of this material - harder than diamond, refracting light in strange patterns and stubbornly resisting all attempts to discover its chemical composition -, Clarke was fascinated by it. To him, it was a dream come true...a real, tangible mystery. A find that couldn't be explained away by rational science. Perhaps this willingness to accept the unknown, the impossible even, was the catalyst for the events that followed, perhaps it was chance, perhaps even destiny...nobody knows. What is known, however, is what followed. Clarke discovered that, with one of the crystal shards in hand, he could 'hear' the thoughts of others, sense their presence and even perform minor feats of psychokinesis. He had, quite by accident, rediscovered the ancient Atlantean's greatest creation, the Matrix Crystals.
The discovery turned the scientific community upside down. Dozens, hundreds of scientists cried out in rage, claiming Clarke to be a fraud, a trickster, a disgrace to 'real' science, but the phenomena described by Clarke could be reproduced under any conditions, no matter how close the scrutiny. Eventually, even the most ardent sceptic came to accept that the rules had changed. The various psychic phenomena associated with the Matrix Crystals were studied, categorized and catalogued. Clarke was able to stun the world on two more occasions: First, when he discovered how to create new Matrix Crystals, apparently from thin air, then again by postulating his Matrix Field Theory. The theory provided the best explanation of psychic phenomena of all kinds, and was soon accepted as quasi-canonical.
Based on Clarke's works, a whole new branch of science sprung up, and new marvels were discovered daily. Matrix technologies and psychic abilities became commonplace and changed life in more ways than anybody could have imagined. It was a time of wonders, a new Golden Age of scientific magic. It was a time that would later be called the New Renaissance.

Project Genesis

Quote from: 18pxCreation, Fall and Transcendence[/size][/b]

Quote from: 18pxI.T.E.[/size][/b]

QuoteA voice from the past echoes the fate -
a tale of all things yet to come
as it once was, so it shall be again
modern day Children of the Sun

Seek the hidden rhyme and there you'll find
a new world order
Feel the mystery - so much to see through the
eyes of hope

The Thoughts of Ma'at, forever secured -
locked in the Ages
Goddess of Truth speaks eternally
from the depths of the pages

Seek the hidden words - as time unfolds
you'll find the answers
Feel the mystery - look to the Sea, under
Skies of Hope

Rediscovery (Part II)[/i][/size]

I.T.E.
Three simple letters, but they stood for the single most ambitious plan humanity had ever seen.
I.T.E.. Inherit The Earth.
Simply put, I.T.E. meant the end of humanity's dominion. It meant handing over the reins to a new generation of sentient beings. It meant fading away into obscurity and myth.
To the near-transcendent human survivors, it meant peace, and a purpose.
I.T.E. was put into effect immediately. Teams of human survivors and their morph allies struck out to recover as much of humanity's technology and knowledge as possible, and destroy what they could not carry. Others searched through archived information for ancient skills and crafts. Basic agriculture. Tool construction. Simple metalworking.
The goal was to give the new-born races the tools and crafts they would need to survive on their own in an untamed world, without giving them too much. The humans remembered all too well an age where everybody had learned to depend on technology to such a degree that the basic tools of survival had been all but forgotten, and they remembered too the terrible consequences of hubris.
The morphs, it was decided, would build their own world. Humans would fade from view, exist in hiding, and only aid or intervene if absolutely necessary. The survivors found two things that aided them in this quest: Their powers, while not on the level of true transcendent thought, were even more useful in a world without technology than they had been in the Golden Age, and they, too, had been changed by the cataclysm.
This change was subtle and hardly noticeable at first, but it proved to be the most profound of them all:
The surviving humans had been touched by transcendence...and stopped aging.
Twenty years after the cataclysm they first began to notice. Fifty years after, they understood that they had been changed.
But even now, a thousand years after the world of humanity died and the new world was born, many still struggle to come to terms with their immortality.
And this is how the world looks, a thousand years after the end: The morphs have survived, and multiplied, and prospered. In the early years, surviving Genesis scientists produced several new morph races, but it has been centuries since the birth of the last. The morphs have settled six continents, watched from the shadows by a secret order, the Wardens. The remaining humans hide behind elaborate masks and live in secluded places. None have shown themselves openly for centuries, and to the morphs, they are only legends. Morph culture has rediscovered many lost arts of humanity. They speak in countless languages and dialects, and write in a multitude of signs and letters. They farm, they herd, they hunt and gather, they trade. Their nimble hands craft tools and works of art...but also weapons.
For it is still a wild world. Civilized enclaves stand surrounded by vast wilderness areas, where the lines between animal and morph are blurred. Tribal hunter-gatherers face off with farmers and traders. Warriors raid, and small skirmishes are fought.
Still, the new world has so far avoided a large-scale war. Survival was always more important than victory.
But times are changing. The adventurous, the free-spirited, they feel it, and it drives them to explore the wastes, but outcasts and exiles feel it too, and they follow the siren call of new lands where they can live again.
It is an age of exploration.
In dark caves and dusty libraries, on tall mountains and in deep forests, mystics study ancient powers, and craft wonderful artifacts from spirit-stone. The Power, the morphs believe, is in all creatures, but only some are strong enough to wield it. They are shapers, dreamers, callers and weavers.
It is an age of magic.
Ancient ruins lie hidden in shadowy forests, relics of a previous age. Some of these still hold treasures from a distant past, and adventurers and scholars set out to retrieve these relics and study them.
It is an age of mystery.
And through it all still rages the ancient conflict of forces: Order against chaos, light against darkness. In the darkest corners of the world, things from beyond the dawn of time stir, awakened from their slumber by their dark master...
It is the age of awakenings, the time when the destiny of the new lords of the earth will be decided.
It is the year 3230 AD, and the world is holding its breath.

'It's my birthday. I almost forgot. Out of idle curiosity only I calculated my age.
How easy it would have been for me to miss this date...how easily I have lost track of years.

I am, today, one thousand years old. One thousand years. The young cannot imagine what such an age represents. They think of immortality only as a gift. And a gift it is indeed...to think of all the great things I would never have seen, never have experienced...I was given the chance to observe history. And to shape it.
But the gift carries a burden. Experiences accumulate. The mind becomes...cluttered. Memories fade, or run together like ink on wet paper.
And I have so many memories.

I have seen an age of science and an age of magic. I saw the end of one world and the birth of a new one. I was there when this world was passed on to those we created. Our heirs.
I was a part of it.

But now, even those memories grow unclear. I have long ago learned to live in the present and not dwell on the past, but I feel a growing regret at the prospect of these memories, these eye-witness accounts forever becoming lost to posterity.

This is why the truly old write books. My wife -my beautiful, wonderful wife-, for all her wonderful intelligence and quick wit, cannot comprehend this, cannot understand why these images of the past are so important to me.

Maybe it is because she was born to it.

She stands behind me even now, gently teasing me about my feeble attempts at handwriting.

Perhaps the only skill I never picked up.

But I will persevere. I will write this down, and preserve this account of the past for an unknown future.

I have time.'

I hope at least some of you got through the whole thing without falling asleep. Any comments beyond 'TLDR' would be appreciated :D.