The Campaign Builder's Guild

Well, I joined this community with the intention of getting advice on campaign building, so I might as well mention the world I'm trying to frankenstein together.


Urth is a fairly large world, with 6 major comtinents (well, 5 and a bloated supercontinent, actually) and thousands of islands of varying size.

Now, I've borrowed heavily from other campaign settings, so two of the continents are already someone else's work, and copyrighted work at that. I'll mention those in a moment.


The first continent and nominal campaign setting is the Lost Continent. A goodly-sized portion of this continent was inhabited and controlled by a magically-advanced empire, known as the Visaryn Empire. They had magically-based mass-transit (lightning rails ala Eberron), intellient contructs that were used as servents/slaves and disposable shock troops (mannikins and warforged, respectively), and a host of other goodies that come with this sort of knowledge. While not an evil empire, per se, the imperial family was far removed from the concerns of the lower classes and the beauraucracy was smoothly and monolithically impersonal, more intent on keeping the empire running for its own sake than any real concern for the poor shmucks that were ground to paste under its wheels.

This led to the outermost provinces being fairly independent; they payed their taxes, provided their qouta of warm bodies for the army, and weren't too obvious in their petty corruption, debauchery, and treasonous thoughts, and in exchange, the imperial government left them pretty much alone. In one coastal province in particular, this resulted in a curious ruler sending a few exploratory ships east, over a very large and uncharted ocean. When a chain of islands were discovered, nobody really cared. But when a new continent was discovered, it was noteworthy. Imperial expansion to the west and south had been stiffled some very nasty nations and beings, and here a new place to exploit without the aggrevation of major warfare first.

Before the land-rush could begin, however, several catastrophes struck the empire all at once.
1) The Imperial family believed that power should be kept in the family, and so tended to marry as closely into the bloodline as possible. The occasional infusion of an acknowledged royal bastard wasn't enough to offset the inevitable defects that crop up in such bloodlines, and the rulers grew progressively more inbred and mentally deficient. While the beauraucracy generally worked around these individuals, the last emperor was the worst and most troublesome; the intellect of stagnant stump-water, the power of an archwizard, and the personality of a sociopath.
2) A general decline in divine prescence over the last few centuries allowed fiendish influences to creep in undetected and set up their operations, mostly infiltrating the government and working their evil from the inside.
3) Some treasonous nobles who weren't content to just talk about it.
4) Constant low-level skirmishing with neighbors who weren't up for being made slave-states, depleting and spreading out the imperial armies.

The various evil outsiders infiltrating the government found and encouraged the treasonous nobles. They in turn openly rebelled against the empire. In response, the emperor rode out and brutally suppressed anyone he could find regardless of their guilt or innocence in the matter. The level of brutality displayed, however, only served to encourage more rebellions by outraged citizens across the kingdom. The armies, caught between the fighting at the borders and the rebellions in the interior, were unable to respond effectively to either (not to mention the units that deserted and joined the rebels). The various evil power groups all took this as sign to throw their own hats into the ring, and the empire sank into bloody anarchy. And when the fiends acted openly, either supporting one power group or another, or working for their own interests, brought other fiends in to take advantage, it only got worse.

Those who lived (or wanted to) fled the empire in droves, going anywhere the general warfare wasn't. In the previously mentioned coastal province, the ruling lord gathered as many refugees as he could and evactuated from the old continent to the new, even as the city-guard sacrificed itself to keep bloodthirsty enemies out of the harbor-front. The people who survived the long, ghastly sea journey set up a small kingdom which ultimately grew into an empire of it's own.

In the aftermath, city-states ruled by intelligent undead arose, battling fiendish elves (fey'ri) for suppremacy, and keeping humans and demi-humans as cattle. The intelligent contructs withdrew to fortified mountain cities and set up allied realms where "meat-creatures" are not allowed on pain of death. And in the center of broad, lifeless plain surrounded by three mountain ranges, the crumbling capitol of a former empire sits, ruled by an insane, megalomanical lich who dreams of rebuilding his empire.


The second continent is Kerden. Settled by the refugees of the Visaryn Empire, it's a small but orderly empire ruled by the descendants of the ruler of that long-ago coastal province. Humans and demi-humans live fairly peacefully together, determined not to repeat the mistakes that lead to their arrival on these shores. Recently, they sent an exploratory mission back to distand land of their ancestors in an attempt to find out what's happening there, setting up a small colony in the very province (and city) their ancestors fled.


The third continent is a modified version of Dark Sun's Athas. Rather than an entire world, it's a large continent. When Rajaat and his Slayers began their genocidal purges of various sentients, the deities and spirit powers of Urth combined their power to erect a barrier around the continent, forever sealing it from the rest of the planet (and giving it seperate, self-contained planar linkages to retain the needed structure and fabric of reality). Go far enough into the deserts or the silt seas of Athas, and you'll see a vast, raging storm wall that stretches high into the skies. Do something stupid, like enter that storm wall, and you'll be pummeled by hail, innundated with water, struck by lightning, frozen solid, and ripped apart by the winds.


The fourth continent is a generic arabic/african setting. Nothing concrete here yet, except the name; Ukalya.


The fifth continent is a generic central/south american campaign. Consisting of large mountain ranges cutting up through the verdant green floor of ancient jungles, Laxthaca is inhabited by the tribes of feral halflings and dwarves, who battle each other and the humans at will.


The last continent is Ningaiyao. Containing a generic chinese setting, it's also home to Rokugan and Mahasarpa, as well as a modified version of the Legend of the Burning Sands world (of which Rokugan is a related part).


Beyond Urth, I've got limited spelljamming going on.



That's it, there it is. Let fly with questions or suggestions as you will. And before anyone mentions it, I know it's big. I want it big. I'm greedy like that.

well first off, welcome to the guild.

Ive only read part of your post and i will refrain from posting any comments until ive had time to read your post fully, but so far its sounds very interesting

Sounds good. I like the fact that you're using some published material in addition to your own areas. The limited history given works great, and it gives me a strong picture in my head.

Keep posting and welcome to the Guild. :)

Thank you for the positive vibes. In return, I offer some more info for your enjoyment.


When the assorted divine beings and spirits constructed the barrier seperating Athas from the rest of Urth, it took power. Lots of power. (In game terms, all the participants dropped in divine ranks, with the current greater powers once much more than they are now, and numerous beings drained below the level of demigod ceasing to exist entirely.)

This caused a large-scale restructing the various pantheons as old deities were suddenly gone, new ones were cropping up, and everyone was scrambling to consolidate their portfolios and areas of influence. On the mortal side of things, this time was marked by a noticeable drop in divine spellcasting (in terms of the amount of casting done, the highest level of spells available, and the actual power of the spells that could still be cast).

This general level of divine chaos and disinterest was what enabled the large-scale fiendish infiltration the ultimately helped bring about the end of the Visaryn Empire. It was a bad time for the forces of goodness and light across the board, and the recovery is only now beginning (some 3,500 years after the Athasian wall went up, and some 3,000 after the Visaryn Empire came crumbling down).


Now, some more details on Kerden, the continent and the empire. Kerden is a small empire, as these things go. While there have been expanionist rulers in the past, sane and wiser heads have generally managed to channel those urges into more useful avenues. The last major expanion was against the orc tribes of the Great Eastern Range.

The empire currently consists of 14 provinces, one autonomous district, one colony, and 3 penal islands. From west to east, in no particular order, some of the areas within the Empire are:

1) Helshool -  The shipbuilding center of the Kerdenian Empire. Also home to the Imperial Navy's academy and headquarters. Major feature are the shipyards themselves, surrounded by a heavily fortified city on the land and numberous artificial islands, deep-water piers, and more fortifications on the water.

2) Tharsus - The autonomous district. A forest measuring 800-odd miles across and nearly half that wide, Tharsus is perhaps the largest woodland on the continent. It's ruled entirely by fey and druids. In exchange for their having uncontested control of the forest, the rulers of Tharsus gave the empire generous terms and preferred status on the forest's bounty. A carefully managed program of harvesting and replanting ensures the bounty keeps coming. (The resources are sold directly to the empire's agents, cutting out any chance for the middlemen to get involved. The empire then directs these resources as needed to its own projects and sells the rest to civilians at a slight profit. This civilian surplus is what people actually see at market and in trade caravans.)

3) Kerdas - Capitol of the Kerdenian Empire, this magnificent walled city is a province unto itself. Site of the original explorer's landing point, Kerdas grew into a small fortress, then a sprawling slum of refugees, and finally an intricate, stately capitol, for the Free Kingdom of Kerden first and the Empire of Kerden today. Kerden reflects the spirit of cooperation and friendship among the various races of refugees as they struggled to survive in a new land. The walls and all governmental buildings are built of solid, dwarf-carved stone. The intricate stone carvings and statuary that grace the buildings and green areas are of gnomish make, while similarly intricate wooden detailing in the many rooms were done by halflings. Outside, enormous free gardens and parks were carefully grown and tended by dedicated elves (some of whom are still doing this work today).

Overall, the city is a fitting capitol for an empire built from the work of many races. Even the rare few slums in Kerdas are cleaner and better looking the slums of other cities (though this is hardly an official endorsement of such things).

4) The Free Lands - A wild frontier area that was only recently (200 or so years ago) brought under Kerdenian control. The most noteworthy here is that all the rulers in the Free Lands are orcs, as are most of the citizens. After dealing with numerous humanoid invasions since its founding, the Empire sent out secret negotiators to the ruler of the largest tribe in the Great Eastern Range, the orc mostly likely to lead the next horde down into the settled lands. Successful conclusion of these negotiations brought this orc chieftain over to the Empire's side, and when the horde did indeed invade, this orc and his tribe stood with the Empire's elite legions.

This chieftain was given some of the lands he had just helped to defend in exchange for his pledge of loyalty to the Empire and his tribe settled down. While still retaining the rowdy, chaotic nature that orcs are known for, the population of the Free Lands is remarkably restrained and well-behaved compared to other orcs, and are generally accepted by the other citizen of the empire (excepting the usual mindless bigotry). While initially, some orcs howled loudly about the betrayal of their kin and the accomidation with the soft races (particularly the clerics and adepts of Gruumsh), a wave of carefully executed atrocities by the newly-minted orc king stiffled the loudest voices. Today, the orcs of the Free Lands enjoy all the benefits of Imperial citizenship they care to claim (trade, advanced medical and civil knowledge, etc.) and are actively sought out by the Imperial Navy and Army for their fighting strength (the most famous example of this is the Bloodwing, a troop ship with a mixed crew of orcish and elven soldiers who are considered the absolute elite of the Imperial military).

I find that typing out stuff here not only helps clarify my ideas, but even helps me come up with new ones as I type. So here's a bit of information on the Kerdenian colony region (and the intended setting for my future campaigns).


The people of Kerden had always known the location of the continent their ancestors had fled, but had never expressed any desire to return to what must surely be a dead, fiend-ravaged land. This changed with the ascension of Ulsires Kerden to the Imperial throne.

In his youth, Ulsires was a noted explorer. The 9th child, he was far removed from any possibilty of taking the throne, and so was able to indulge his interests quite freely. But a plague sweeping across the empire unexpectedly took the lives of nearly every member of the imperial family with a legitimate claim to the throne, save Ulsires, who was on an extended voyage to the continent of Ningaiyao. Conspiracy theorists bandied about unsubstantiated rumors that Ulsires himself was behind the sudden and thorough wave of deaths, but such claims were proven false by the priests of Hema'at (deity of Truth, Oaths, and Rulers) upon Ulsires' return to the empire.

Ulsires reluctantly assumed the throne when it became clear that none of the other survivors were suitable to the task, and set aside his wandering to concentrate on providing good leadership to his plague-ravaged people. When things had settled somewhat, however, he dusted off his passion for exploration. Unable to go on voyages himself, he instead threw his support behind the efforts of others. While some doubted the wisdom of expending resources on such things when the empire was only just recovering from its recent troubles, Ulsires pointed out that the miraculous cure that had been effected among the surviving populace was provided by a Laxthacan merchant.

Because nobody had ever explored Laxthaca, this cure was made available only through the purest chance. Who knew what other valuable medicines were being missed because no one ever thought to look for them? In addition, the drive to outfit ships, catalogue new discoveries, and handle the influx of new goods would stimulate the damaged Kerdenian economy, provide something for the people to focus on besides death and decay, and broaden their knowledge of the world in which the lived.

Thus Ulsires became known as the Explorer Emperor. In his time on the throne, the empire mapped the coastlines of 4 continents, established contact with dozens of advanced civilizations, and increased the general level of knowledge in the empire's libraries a hundredfold. In the twilight of his life, having long ago turned over the throne to one of his children, Ulsires once more returned to sea with the intention of traveling to the Visaryn Empire. His now-famous discoveries paved the way for the gradual colonization of the eastern coast, and now 300 years after his death, the city of Reznor is once more the capitol of a thriving coastal province ruled by a Kerden.

A little more information has percolated through my brain.

As stated earlier, the Visaryn Empire made great strides in magical engineering with the creation of the mannikins and warforged. But the road leading to these pinnacles of creation was a long one. The artificers and mages of the empire created numerous varieties of constructs, with increasing levels of specialization (most of it geared toward military uses). And when the Empire collapsed, there were lots of left-over constructs without masters... [In game terms, one-fourth to one-third of the overall Visaryn wandering monster table entries are for constructs of some type or another. Fiends and undead make up the bulk of the remaining entries, with a few standard monsters of varying CR rounding things out.]



Laxthaca is covered in thick jungles, with 4 major mountain ranges cutting across the continent. In the jungles, the remnants of a dwarven civilization live in savagery, with only vague legends about their own past as masters of metal and stone remaining, and legends of ancient evil in the mountains. They live as semi-nomadic tribes, fighting with equally savage halflings for reasons only they can fathom. Vanara dwell in tree-tops, living in orderly, fortified cities built in the crowns of the largest trees available.

On the few coastal plains, three seperate nations engage in an ever-shifting array of alliances and intrigues against each other, sacrificing captives from each other's armies in bloody rituals to appease and propitiate their gods.

To the north is the Nation of the Couatl. A (relatively) peaceful nation populated by humans, they venerate nature deities primarily, relying on the power of their clerics to win in battle, and the skill of their diplomats to win in peace.

In the middle is the Nation of the Jaguar. Far more militant, they spend their time either planning campaigns against whomever seems weakest at the moment, or executing their plans. Their deities reflect their focus, being more martial and interested in blood sacrifice than any others.

And to the south is the Nation of the Spider. Ruled by half-drow, this nation is the only surface link to the enigmatic drow. Webs festoon nearly every permanent structure, spiders are considered the messengers and agents of the gods, and when the Spider rouses to war, arachnids of truly disturbing size and vigor accompany the armies.

And in the swamps, the amphibious mahkim keep to themselves as much as possible, guarding a powerful secret.

Read your first three posts, and I like very much what I see. The world seems coherant, logical, and makes internal sense. Good going.