The Campaign Builder's Guild

Some of the bigger pieces are, and the Vekk Hives are now spread throughout the ring.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowI like much of it, especially when you hint at obscure technology/magic/psionic mixes.
I must admit that i find the space travel a bit superfluous if there is only travel between Peralion and Oleron. You might as well have the Hives land on Oleron then. Are the Vekk adapted to aquatic conditions in your setting since you mention that Pelarion is mostly watery?  
I like the idea of a halfling pagan crusade against tech/magic/psionics.
The elves reminded me a bit of France during WWI; where the US (possibly the dwarves here) attempted to make peace with Germany, France wanted to ruin the country completely so it could never make war again because France had suffered so much during the war... i could imagine a similar reaction from the elves.

Thanks! I hadn't really considered the WWI angle, but I see the similarities.

I want to emphasize airships and steamjammers later in the campaign, when I'm planning on the party gaining access to a damaged ship, and having Peralion helps to get the PCs up into the sky. And, as Peralion was mostly inhabited by the elves, some other nations have less of an incentive to get involved with the Invasion than if the Vekk had landed on Oleron itself. The other nations figured that the war would end on Peralion and that it would only concern the elves. They were later proven to be wrong, of course, but I think it helps emphasize the reason why the other nations might not have been entirely prepared for the war's expansion.

The shattered moon also adds kind of a stronghold for the Vekk, especially as certain factions on Oleron are highly anti-Vekk. But, it is a work in progress, so anything can happen at this point.

I haven't really decided about what destroyed the Vekk homeworld just yet. So far I'm thinking either some other invading race destroyed it, or the Vekk did something similar to the Shattering of Peralion and accidentally let a psionic experiment go awry and damage the planet.

As for the halflings, they see the Vekk as the worst sort of abomination. Psionics, technology to travel the stars, not of Oleron, and utterly alien. It's safe to say that the majority of halflings aren't fond of the Vekk.

Thanks! I got some more ideas and concepts written up today for a few of the races and one of the deities of Oleron. This is all still a very rough draft, and I haven't gotten a decent map drawn yet.

Dwarves
[spoiler]The dwarves are widely considered the masters of steam technology. While they don't generally mix steam tech with magic as the elves do, the dwarves have steam tech far more advanced than that of any other race.

The dwarves have integrated steam tech into their daily life, even building their greatest cities atop gigantic mech walkers, miles long with hundreds of mechanical legs.

Of all the races, the dwarves were the first to propose a peace treaty with the Vekk Hives. They share an affinity with cramped spaces, like that of caverns or the crowded interior of mech cities, with the Vekk, and they presided over the peace discussions.[/spoiler]


Elves
[spoiler]The elven nation of Vareth suffered the worst during the Invasion. The initial conflict was between the Vekk and the Varethian elves, and the Vekk focused their attacks on Vareth. Ironically enough, the worst damage to the elves was caused by themselves. After the Shattering of Peralion, chunks of the moon rained down from the sky, causing more damage to Vareth than any other nation. The elves' most prominent cities were utterly destroyed, and many Varethians perished.

Varethian elves have blended steam technology and arcane magic in ways new to the world. The results of this experimentation included the vaunted steamjammers, ships capable of flying in the sky and through space to Peralion. While their mastery of mech walkers is sorely lacking compared to that of dwarves or humans, flight seems to come naturally to the elves, and their flying ships are second to none.[/spoiler]


Halflings
[spoiler]The halflings of Oleron almost always eschew steam tech and arcane magic. As ardent worshipers of the Goddess of Nature, Olera, they believe that arcana and steam tech are unnatural and thus don't belong. The most zealous and radical of them believe that anything outside of nature, such as arcana, is an abomination and must be instantly and utterly destroyed. Of course, only the most radical subscribe to such destructive tendencies.

More info soon. The halfings as a race aren't completely fleshed out just yet.[/spoiler]

Vekk Hives
[spoiler]The Hiveships brought the Vekk to Oleron. Composed of two insectile races, the dromites and thri-kreen, the Vekk invaded, first the moon Peralion, and eventually Oleron itself.

The Vekk rode the cramped, dark, and stuffy Hiveships for over a century after fleeing their doomed homeworld. They eventually came upon Oleron, a world well suited for their survival.

More Vekk info to come soon.[/spoiler]

Thanks for reading!

Permia
Hoping to once again gain a foothold in the skies, Vareth sent a team of its best arcanists and steam scientists to the largest remaining piece of Peralion. Over the course of a year, Vareth established a colony known as Permia.

As Peralion's atmosphere was dispersed during the Shattering, a shell was constructed of steel and wall of force spells that surrounded the small colony.




I'll have more tomorrow, but I'm too tired to continue tonight. Thanks for looking!

I've been working on this campaign setting for a few weeks. I envision it as a blend of sci-fi, steampunk, and fantasy. I've drawn on Spelljammer and Eberron for inspiration, and I hope to incorporate some stuff from Dragonmech.

Oleron
Oleron is a world shattered by war. More than two decades ago, massive rocky masses approached. Soon enough these asteroids were discovered to be the Hives, inhabited by alien creatures seeking a new world.

The aliens who lived in the Hives, dromites and thri-kreen, soon settled Oleron's mostly watery moon, Peralion. For a few years, contact between the Hives and the native races of Oleron was almost nil.

The Invasion[spoiler]Eventually, Hive expansion led to border conflicts with the elven colonies on Peralion. Soon after, the elven nation of Vareth declared war on the Hives and mobilized their steamships to ferry troops and siege engines to Peralion. In response, the Hive revealed a startling capability to use massive crystals to focus psionic energy rays, literally blasting steamships out of the skies before they could reach Peralion.

The war escalated quickly, and soon all seven nations of Oleron were forming alliances with one another to repel the alien invaders. The Invasion, as it came to be called, lasted for eighteen years before Peralion's shattering.[/spoiler]

The Shattering of Peralion[spoiler]As the war grew ever more desperate, the most powerful arcane masters gathered on Peralion. In utmost secrecy and in hopes that they could cripple the Hives, they unleashed a force too powerful for them to contain. The blast lit up the skies, visible even in the bright light of day. Peralion was torn asunder, killing all inhabitants of the moon, Hive and Oleronian alike. The remains of the moon formed a ring around Oleron, changing the course of the war.

Soon after the Shattering of Peralion, the leaders of the Hive and the Oleron Coalition of Nations arranged for peace talks. After extensive discussion and minor continued hostilities, a ceasefire was signed, and the Invasion was over.[/spoiler]

The Hive
The Hive came to Oleron escaping the destruction of their homeworld. Composed of the dromites and thri-kreen, the Hive sought peace at first, but soon came into conflict with Vareth colonies on Peralion.

The Hive brought psionics to Oleron. Most Oleronians are still wary of psionics, as it is not the magic that is so pervasive of Oleron society. Arcane magic is rare but not unknown to the Hive, but psionics is far more common.

QuoteThri-kreen
In Hive society, thri-kreen are usually warriors or spiritual leaders. Soulknives and clerics are particularly common, and nearly all thri-kreen are capable of creating a mindblade.

QuoteDromites
Dromites tend to take a less combat-oriented role than their thri-kreen cousins. Kineticist psions are well-known among the dromites, and in the wake of the Invasion, rogue skills have become common.

Syonicus has many psijammers that will only carry passengers to other regions on the same world, but some do fly into space to ferry passengers and goods to other worlds.

At this point, I'm in need of ideas for other planets. I'm drawing a total blank here, so I'd really appreciate it if anyone has any ideas. I'd be thrilled to listen, if anyone wants to post some.

Thanks!

Dragonfolk Culture[spoiler]
Dragonfolk are extremely religious. Religion, the worship of True Dragons, is the central binding force that holds the four species together. Each dragonfolk decides which of the Three Dragon Gods to worship, in addition to all True Dragons. The highest allegiance of any dragonfolk is not to the country of Ilvorn, but first to whichever one of the Three that is worshipped, and second to all True Dragons.

In the home of each dragonfolk, there are two shrines. One is a shrine to whichever of the Three that particular dragonfolk worships, and the other is to True Dragons. A dragonfolk's home is almost always constructed in such a way that the dragonfolk can see the shrine from any room in the home. Dragonfolk feel comfort in knowing that their lives have purpose, and see their shrines as visible, tangible symbols of that purpose.

Dragonfolk settlements are laid out similar to that of a dragonfolk home. In the exact center of any city lies a temple dedicated to True Dragons and the Three. Just outside that, a ring of buildings dedicated to the religious orders are laid out in a circular pattern. Beyond that is land that is built in a circular pattern that can be used by the citizenry for either residential areas, warehouses, shops, etc.

Dragonfolk government is very strict. The ruling body of any city is made up of a triad with one member from each Church: Dhlorm (basically Bahamut), Kelzyn (counterpart to Tiamat), and Sardior (neutral balancing force to Kelzyn and Dhlorm). The Three Churches usually stand for strong discipline and strict readings of religious dogma. Since the entire purpose of the nation of Ilvorn is to regain favor with True Dragons, the Triads believe that the only way to achieve this is through incredibly strict and disciplined lives dedicated body and soul to Dragonkind.

A ruling body that governs all of Ilvorn is made up of Seven Advocates of Dhlorm, Seven Advocates of Kelzyn, and Seven Advocates of Sardior. The Council of Twenty-One is the highest form of law in all the land, and rules over all Ilvorn. Their word is law, and the punishment for breaking of religious laws, even minor infractions, is usually death. [/spoiler]

Actually the flying dragonfolk are LA+0 races, as I'm using the stats of raptorans from Races of the Wild. I probably will rename Poison Dusk as soon as I think of a better name. Poison Dusk are LA+1, but one of my players is using one now, so I figured I'd include them in my playable races list. I'll try to make the dragonfolk and Diamondscale dragonfolk LA+0, but that's still in the making. I'm really working on fluff a lot more than crunch at this point. Maybe I'll put my description of them on the WotC forum and see if someone has a homebrew race with stats that fit the bill.

I think I'd have to agree with the comment about orcs and scars now that I think it over. What I meant was that orcs dislike scars because scarred skin leaves them less room for their magnificent tattoos.

As for dragonfolk being from DragonLance, I have to agree. I didn't really think about it, but DragonLance was one of my major subconscious influences here. Personally, DragonLance is my favorite fantasy setting, so I'm sure I'll be using concepts from there at some point.

Thanks for the comments, and I hope to have more posted soon!

Orcs[spoiler]
Orcish government is mostly tribal. Orcs favor small, isolated villages. Orcs don't like cities, they feel that urban environments get them too far from the natural world that they love. Orcs know that power corrupts, and they fear that. They see what happened to the hobgoblins of Morgak and they fear the same thing happening to them. For that reason, orcs embrace a democratic system in their tribes. Many factors are looked on when choosing a leader for themselves: battle strength, intelligence, leadership experience, and the story of their tattoos. Orcs typically won't elect a cruel, evil orc as chieftain, as they fear having a leader who thinks only of conquest and death.

A surprising amount of orcs like to live in trees. Several tribes on the border of Quinlan built their homes high in the trees to give them a tactical advantage of height over any enemy that would try to attack them. Several of these tribes actually joined with groups of wild elves. These combinations of wild elves and orcs are some of the most dangerous places for an enemy to attack on the entire planet. The orcs wade into melee combat while elves fire their precise, deadly longbows as covering fire. The only weapon these elves and orcs don't use is anything flammable, as that could destroy their homes.  [/spoiler]  

If you plan to use the campaign for an extended amount of time, I would suggest making some of the skybergs large enough to support adventuring for a while. Having to ride an airship from place to place constantly would not only get boring and commonplace, but also expensive. But, at the same time, in the middle of an adventure having a PC look up and see a massive zeppelin or other skyberg fly by with people waving would be a sight that players wouldn't forget for some time.

I thought some more about the orc race, so here's what I've got so far.

Orcs

 [spoiler] Orcs undergo ritual tattooing during any major event in their lives. These tattoos document the story of that particular orc, and as such are extremely important. The more important the event, the more elaborate and detailed tattoo. A set of tattooing equipment is an orc's birthright. Each orc is taught as a child how to ritualistically give themselves tattoos.

An orc's tattoos are an orc's most important possession. An orc will reapply the tattoo if portions are scarred or destroyed. Orcs view psionic tattoos with scorn, since psionic tattoos disappear after they discharge the psionic energy within them. However, orcs see tattooed monks as exemplars of the power of tattoos.

Orcs despise scars. Scars get in the way of their tattoos. Scars, to an orc, are ugly and despicable. Though orcs have a fierce love for battle, they prefer to show their prowess as warriors through their artistic tattoos. Orcs don't like scars, but they respect others who look on scars as orcs look on tattoos. [/spoiler]

I've decided to rename lizardfolk to dragonfolk for the moment. It reflects their draconic nature more than lizardfolk does.

 [spoiler] There are four species of dragonfolk. The lowest order of dragonfolk, the commoners, have the basic stats as lizardfolk from the Monster Manual. These dragonfolk don't rise to any decently high place in dragonfolk society. Common dragonfolk hold basic positions in society, most commonly trades like weaving or carpentry. Common dragonfolk aren't looked down upon per se, but the high orders of Ilvorn dragonfolk believe that it was the flaws of common dragonfolk that led to their decline in favor with True Dragons.

The second species, slightly higher in class than the common dragonfolk, is the Diamondscale dragonfolk. The Diamondscales are the warrior class of dragonfolk, being powerfully built and having a love for warfare of all kinds. Diamondscales make up the elite knights of the Ilvornum military. The Diamondscales command conscript commoner troops for the most part, though all in the nation of Ilvornum report and are subservient to higher species of dragonfolk.

Poison Dusk dragonfolk are magic users. They are the only truly abundant users of arcane magic anywhere, since most other races favor psionic power over arcana. However, Poison Dusks, who lay equal in status to Diamondscales, almost always prefer arcane power over psionics. No one is truly sure why this is, but Poison Dusks refuse to worship Sardior due to their perceived view that the Ruby Dragon has an obsession with psionic power, without acknowledging arcana at all. In this, they are somewhat against their cousins, most especially the Ilvorn dragonfolk who are raised to worship Sardior with all their heart and soul from birth.

Ilvorn dragonfolk are the rulers of the nation of Ilvornum. They are the only species of dragonfolk who were granted wings due to, they say, their dedication and love for their True Dragon idols and the god Sardior. The winged dragonfolk are the only dragonfolk who, according to them, are loved by Sardior enough to wield clerical powers. Ilvorn dragonfolk are raised from hatching to believe strongly in both Sardior and their superiority. The Ilvorn do not view themselves as superior merely to dominate their less worthy cousins, but they are brought up to believe that their purpose in life is to promote worship of Sardior and to help their cousins of lower status learn the error of their ways. Both of these purposes, however, serve to advance their ultimate goal: Bringing all dragonfolk back into the fold as the most beloved of True Dragons.

Thousands of years ago, dragonfolk were cast from their True Dragon masters due to a horrific crime, a crime that defies any description, a crime vile enough to condemn all four races of dragonfolk. A group comprising of the unheard-of unholy alliance of members of all four races of dragonfolk worked together, outside of dragonfolk law and society, and KILLED a powerful True Dragon. True Dragons from all corners of the world came together to discuss this, the first killing of a True Dragon by a lesser species. The True Dragons were outraged, and cursed the dragonfolk to spend thousands of years in penance trying to regain their lost status. Dragonfolk were no longer accepted as servants or followers by True Dragons, and the race was exiled from the True Dragon homeland upon the Crystal Moon. Dragonfolk were sent to Syonicus as a punishment for the death of a single True Dragon. The dragonfolk continue to serve this punishment in homage to their wondrous, benevolent but stern True Dragon idols.
[/spoiler]

So far that's all I have written for the dragonfolk, but I'm still working on it. I'm not completely sure if I like the name dragonfolk, but it's all I have for the moment. Any and all feedback is welcomed and truly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and Happy Holidays to all!

I don't really want to use psionics as the only source of "magic" or "energy" in my world. For one, I already have a sorcerer and a cleric in my party, but I like the flavor of a lot of magical stuff. Besides, my players aren't that enthusiastic about psionics just yet. So, I want to keep arcane magic, but it is definitely going to be very rare. The sorcerer in the party is an exotic Poison Dusk lizardfolk, so I can explain his magic by saying that he's from a culture where arcana is more commonly accepted than psionics, or that in his culture psionics was only allowed to be used by the elite, upper society. Clerical magic is fairly common though, for the most part.

I like the idea of lizardfolk being a dragon worshipping race. Maybe they fell from grace long ago and have been trying to recover their lost status by retreating into the jungles and trying to build a huge empire.

Happy Holidays!

Since the beginning of the Last Dragon Wars 36 years prior to the start of the campaign I'm running, many technological advances have come into being. The warforged are perhaps the most obvious and influencing on the lives of most people. However, the destructive power of a properly-equipped, military-operated psijammer is second to none.

Today psijammers ply the skies, from the smallest two-seat scout ships to the largest ships, capable of carrying hundreds of warriors from continent to continent. Psijammers originated in Zylnar, but elves from Quinlan managed to steal the plans shortly after psijammers began appearing as troop transports in the combined armies of Zylnar and Morgak.

Today, after the Last Dragon wars have ended, psijammers are owned not only by the military arms of the various nations, but commercial tradesmen have managed to acquire psijamming technology. Only the most wealthy of these merchants can afford to operate psijammers, as the psions necessary to maintain them do not come cheaply, especially as they must first have military training in how to operate the flying ships.

Psijammers can't get out to any other planets yet, though many have tried. The psions of Zylnar and Droxik have been working to understand why this is, but so far no progress has been made on their goals of reaching other planets.