The Campaign Builder's Guild

[size=30]Dark Silver[/size]

 
 Introduction
[spoiler]Core Ethos
An accepting, diverse culture threatened not only by it's own internal struggles but also by strange, unknowable forces from the distant past.

Who are the heroes?
The heroes could be archaeologists and/or their assistants exploring ancient ruins, psionicists entangled in the shady conflicts of the potential psiocracy, nobles and merchants and so forth dabbling in politics and intrigue, mercenaries involved in a war or staving off bandits and pirates or any one of hundreds of other possibilities.

Threats, conflicts and villains
The struggles between rival cartels of psionicists are a hotbed of violence, intrigue, assassination and politicking. Likewise with more convention politics, both on an international and intranational scale.
Many wise and glorious races have inhabited the world in ages past, and not all of them rest peacefully in death. Spirits, ghosts and demons out of the past, jealous of the living, could emerge from their catacombs and necropolii at any time!
As commerce and negotiations begin to start once more between the west and Klesh-Tassap, a whole world of trouble may, and probably will, emerge to be dealt with.

Genre
High fantasy, with (hopefully) a touch of the bizzare.

The nature of magic
"Magic" is an archaic term for the phenomenon known as psycho-thaumaturgy, or psionic manipulation. Although little scientific fact is known about psionics, even in this day and age, those blessed with psychic power are a valuable, if grossly mismanaged, resource.[/spoiler]

 Races
[spoiler]Western elves
+2 Dex +2 Int +2 Cha â,¬'2 Con
Elven Knowledge (as Bardic Knowledge)
+1 racial bonus to Spot checks and attack rolls with ranged weapons due to keen elven eyesight.
Western elves use the guidelines for gnome aging effects in the SRD except that they reach maturity at twenty rather than forty
Favoured class: Rogue
LA +1
[spoiler]
Elves are the longest lived of the races of the world, capable of surviving up to five centuries. They are tall and slender, with a balletic grace to their movements. They have skin so pale that their veins can easily be made out, and dye their naturally white hair a multitude of vivid colours.
They are considered as somehow enigmatically superior by the rest of the intelligent races, an image that they revel in beneath their unflappable, arrogant exteriors.
Elves have no concept of marriage, unlike the other races, but usually mate for life, as they take affairs of the heart very seriously, and only commit to a relationship when they feel a very deep emotional attraction for their prospective lover.
In aeons past the elves were the most populous race in the world, and their empire covered all of Bel Tammat and most of the Tallens.
This golden age of the elves was shattered when the krugath Horde descended through the Tallens and started the Bicentennial War, ostensibly in order to free the humans from elven slavery.
After the Horde finally forced the shattered remnants of elvenkind to an unconditional surrender, they were the smallest racial demographic in  all the known world.
Nowadays half the remaining elves dwell in the isolationist Opal Citadel, last bastion of their dead empire. The rest live in family groups, scattered throughout former elven territories, while some few of the very oldest and proudest elves still wander the Dusklands of western Bel Tammat, wallowing in self-pity and self-imposed loneliness.
Elves are still treated with the utmost respect by the other races. Humans do so because it is an inherited racial memory from when they would be punished for irreverence. Krugath, due to the heroic defences of the Bicentennial War, when, in the conflictâ,¬,,¢s latter stages, the beleagured elf legions decimated Horde forces which vastly outnumbered them in epic final stands. The gnyrru's respect for the elves stems mainly from the wisdom that most elves assemble over their lifetimes and from an inherent, and for the most part unexplained, feeling of kinship.
[/spoiler]
Krugath
+2 Str
Low-light vision
Powerful build.
Krugath have a faster metabolism than the other races, and therefore gain fast healing 1 for every 5 character levels, but must eat twice as much as other races in order to fuel their powerful bodies.
They are also very tough and automatically stabilize when in negative hit points.
Krugath age according to the rules for half-elf aging effects from the SRD
Favoured class: Fighter
LA +1
[spoiler]
Krugath are a strong people, their bulky forms seemingly composed entirely of muscle and sinew. Their hairless hides, stretched tight across their bodies, can be any colour, although pale shades of blue, green, lilac and terracotta are the most common.
Despite their unnerving enjoyment of violence, krugath are a relatively civilized people. They blended happily into a multi-ethnic society after their victory over the elves in the Bicentennial War when they could easily have imposed their own empire.
Krugath are a practical race, and those who donâ,¬,,¢t follow their violent urges to become soldiers usually follow trades such as carpentry, smithying and masonry. Due to their practical nature and lack of qualms in some areas, many krugath favour philosophies such as utilitarianism and the â,¬Å"survival of the fittestâ,¬Â theory, although most donâ,¬,,¢t do much about it â,¬' They are, for the most part, far from being radicals.
In their early history, krugath lived in matriarchal, traditional clans in the Frostmaine, happily doing war with one another and occasionally the folk of the neighbouring Tallens. However, roughly a millennia ago, a warmistress called Greska the Mighty formed a cross-tribal fighting force called the Horde and took it to war with the elves. Since that violent migration krugath have spread across the Tallens and into Bel Tammat, settling as they went.
Nowadays krugath are valued members of society, blending in well with their neighbours. There are krugath nobles and monarchs throughout the city states and the Ashtan empire, and krugath are highly prized as soldiers, labourers and craftsmen.
[/spoiler]
Gnyrru
+2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Wis
60 ft. darkvision
Gnyrru can attack in melee using their spines and deal 1d4 damage
Natural armour: +2 to AC
Must pay 50% extra to get armour to fit them, and even then only the following types will work â,¬' breastplate, chain shirt and half-plate. It also takes twice as long as usual for them to get in and out of their armour.
+4 racial bonus to Spot, Listen and Move Silently checks.
Gnyrru use the rules for human aging processes from the SRD
Favoured class: Barbarian
LA +1
[spoiler]
Gnyrru are bizzare looking humanoids â,¬' tall and gangling, with huge manes of tough quills running from their scalps all along their backs and in lesser crests along the outer planes of their limbs.
Their skin is most commonly dark grey, tinged with either purple or blue, and their eyes are generally green or red, with no pupils.
As far as their personality goes, gnyrru are emotional and impulsive, prone to acting on their whims. While this sometimes leads to disaster, they claim it gives them a fuller and more intense experience of life than if they were more analytical and responsible.
It has been postulated that they evolved from the demoniac pack hunters of the Klesh-Tassap continent known as howlers, as there is a great similarity in appearance between them.
Indeed the gnyrru of Klesh-Tassap have been known to occasionally train howlers as their mounts â,¬' the only creautres they seem content to ride.
At some point in the distant past it is thought that gnyrru migrated from Klesh-Tassap to the Tallens, where they eventually became caught up with the Bicentennial War, with different tribal groups of gnyrru siding with krugath or elves or staying neutral as their leaders chose. After the war ended gnyrru began to settle into the new societies that emerged, and soon found their niches among the other peoples of what used to be the elven empire.
Their innate ability to move silently has made gnyrru very useful as scouts, assassins, robbers and spies. As far as more respected lines of work go, gnyrru often find themselves drawn to the arts, with many of the worldâ,¬,,¢s finest musicians, sculpters and painters being gnyrru. However the more literary side of the arts is shunned for the most part, due to an ancient gnyrru superstition about the written word.
Contrary to their impulsive natures, gnyrru also have a good head for business and many become merchants or shop-owners.[/spoiler]
Tarthax
+2 Con
Natural Armour: +2 to AC
Raptors can attack with their bite attacks in melee and deal 1d6 damage
+2 racial bonus to Hide and Swim checks
Raptors use the rules for halfling aging processes from the SRD
Favoured class: Any
LA +1
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler]
Eastern elves
+2 Dex, +2 Cha
+1 racial bonus to Spot checks and attack rolls with ranged weapons due to keen elven eyesight.
+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal and Ride checks
Choose any two Knowledge skills - These become class skills
Eastern elves use the guidelines for gnome aging effects in the SRD except that they reach maturity at twenty rather than forty
Favoured class: Ranger
LA +1
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler][/spoiler]

 Classes
[spoiler]Barbarian
There are some warriors within whom a red flame of rage burns, and it is fueled by combat. These berserkers fly into a screaming frenzy in battle and are some of the most fearsome opponents one can face.
 Barbarians function according to their rules in the SRD except that they are not illiterate

Fighter
Soldiers are needed all across the world, and they come in many kinds - the noble warrior, the vicious raider, the unprincipled mercenary or the patriotic volunteer. They all have one thing in common: They are fighters, and they have the determination, skill, strength and grit to potentially defeat anything.
Fighters function according to their rules in the SRD

Psion
Since the dawn of history there have been psions. At first called shamans or sorcerers, it was later realised that these rare individuals were born with the ability and strength of mind to change the world around them using psionics.
Nowadays many groups seek out these gifted folk to use as tools in their power games, and, powerful as psions are, they all too often becomes pawns in others' games.
Psions function according to their rules in the SRD except that their psicrystals are replaced with familiars, like a sorcerer or wizard

Psychic warrior
Sometimes a lesser, latent psionic ability is brought to the fore by a stressful situation such as battle, in much the same way as the rage is brought out in members of the barbarian class. The people whose psychic powers manifest in this way are strong in combat but also capable of using the preternatural powers of psionics, albeit to a lesser degree than Psions.
Psychic warriors function according to their rules in the SRD

Ranger
Hunter, outlaw, scout, forester, all these are examples of a ranger - wily, strong characters who are more at home in the wilderness than in the city. Rangers can survive in the wilds, fight as warriors, track their foes through difficult terrain and use stealth to hunt them down.
In the Dark Silver campaign setting, Rangers use the non-spellcasting variant from the Complete Warrior

Rogue
Rogues can be acrobatic performers, stealthy cat burglars, eloquent diplomats or cunning tricksters, but one thing they all have in common is adaptability and versatility.
Whether as a stealthy scout or as the face of the group, a rogue can be invaluable to any party of prospective heroes.
Rogues function according to their rules in the SRD[/spoiler]

Places
[spoiler]Bel Tammat
[spoiler]The landscapes of Bel Tammat are very varied, encompassing as they do the barren wastes of the Dusklands, the jungle-choked Ranneth peninsula, the pastoral plains of the Ashtan empire and the craggy Torn Hills.

The Ashtan Empire
[spoiler]A century and a half ago the human noble Limor was crowned king of Ashta after a successful coup against the Gnyrru monarch. The ambitious, belligerent Limor started sending his mercenary hirelings out to attack and conquer his neighbours. One after another the neighbouring city-states fell under the Ashtan war machine, until all the flatlands of eastern Bel Tammat lay under Limor's dominion.
Age overcame Limor just as he and his generals were planning the best way to approach the difficult terrain of the Torn Hills. Succession passed to Limor's daughter, Limorea, who had little to no inclination to expand from the wealthy croplands her father had subjugated. Although Limorea is all for securing lucrative trade agreements with the cities of the Torn Hills, her military advisors, many of whom served under Limor, are thirsty for blood and constantly pressure her to continue her father's conquests.

Ashta
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler]
Sarthé
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler][/spoiler]
Ranneth
[spoiler]Smothered in greenery and seething with heat, the peninsula of Ranneth is the home to the world's only purely human society - that of the Rannetti.
Centuries before the Bicentennial War began, the Rannetti managed to escape their bonds and fled into the dense rainforests of Ranneth. Quite how they won their freedom is lost in the mists of time (although it is rumoured that elven scholars know, but are too ashamed to tell anyone).
Ranneth was also home, long ago, to the Hesnaureem, one of the first intelligent races to exist on the world. Though their creators are long extinct from some forgotten catastrophe, the stone totems and shrines of the Hesnaureem have survived the millennia and still dot the peninsula, although most are densely overgrown by now.
The Rannetti adamantly refuse to approach these relics of the ancient civilisation, declaring them haunted and cursed. Although travellers returning from the until-recently isolated Rannetti lands are quick to scoff at this primitive superstition, many have also admitted that in the boiling, stagnant air and emerald gloom of Ranneth it is in fact very easy to believe that malignant spirits stalk the land.
The Rannetti build their towns high in the mighty trees, the houses connected by rope-ladders. They do this so that the jealous and vengeful Hesnaureem spirits cannot reach them when they come out at night. They claim that anyone caught on the ground at night is taken by the Hesnaureem and devoured, although there is no hard evidence of this.
Rannetti society is quite tribal, with each town being governed autonimously by a council of elders.[/spoiler]
The Torn Hills
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler]
The Duslkands
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler][/spoiler]
The Tallens
[spoiler]The Tallens consist of two interconnected landmasses, with the seas in between and around them thick with islands of all sizes. The western landmass, Ammen, is also connected to Bel Tammat at it's southern tip. Thoric, the slightly larger body to the east, joins with the Frostmaine at it's northeastern corner.
First settled by manticores migrating from Klesh-Tassap in the distant past, the Tallens are now home to as much of a commingling of races as Bel Tammat.
The areas of the Tallens near the sea are swampy forests and wetlands, while those further towards the centres of the landmasses tend to be meadows, pastures and crop-fields.
The Tallens are fertile ground for growing crops, but they lack mineral resources such as stone and metal, and therefore these are their principal imports.

Gargantuan Gates
[spoiler]With a population of just over three hundred thousand, Gargantuan Gates is the second largest city in the world. Located in southen Ammen, just a score of miles from the border between the Tallens and Bel Tammat, Gargantuan Gates is a natural stopping point for land-based trade between the two continents, and as such is a rich, thriving metropolis.
The city was originally founded by Greska the Mighty as a semi-permanent camp for the main force of the Horde to winter at in the year they reached Bel Tammat. Since then it has gradually expanded from the hilltop fort it started as into the vast settlement that it is today.
The northern and southern city gates after which the place is named are truly awe-inspiring sights - Huge bronze arches, decorated with lifesize, heroic-looking statues of Horde soldiers charging into battle, each one topped off with a depiction of Greska herself, the Horde banner in one hand, her battleaxe in the other.
To this day Gargantuan Gates is ruled by the descendents of Greska, although the current monarch, Queen Kostri XXIII, is very old, and fast descending into senility.
The Horde is also still stationed in Gargantuan Gates, although it has dwindled to small but elite force of some few hundred  in modern times. Still, there are many strong krugath among the population of the city who would join them should they ever march forth to war again.[/spoiler]
Shebbat
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler][/spoiler]
Klesh-Tassap
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler]
The Frostmaine
[spoiler]::under construction[/spoiler][/spoiler]

Gods
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler]

Psionic groups
[spoiler]The Veiled
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler]
The Cabal
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler]
The Opalites
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler]
The Coil
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler][/spoiler]

Miscellaneous
[spoiler]::under construction::[/spoiler]

MANTICORES?

they better have spikes, man. spikes.

someone else here was doing a troll race, except i think they were small and fey, so i'm not sure you could pull any crunch from them...

I was doing the troll race, and they really wouldn't be much help here...  May I recommend using the powerful build trait for your trolls?  and yes, the manticores need spikes...

Actually I chose the word Manticore as a temporary name for the race. Just the first feline-ish mythical beast to pop into my head so I wouldn't have to use some cumbersome kenning such as "tigerkin". I'll probably rename them by some more original nomenclature when I get stuck into the fluff properly.
Although perhaps some spikeyness would be cool... *ponders*

Also, what is this powerful build thing you mention? It sounds perfect!

It's basically the attributes of large size, without actually being large sized and without a few of the bonuses, such as the typical large size reach.  It's judged to be LA +0, which is nice for a PC race.  I don't have the details, I'm afraid.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicRaces.htm#halfGiants
scroll down to the ability termed 'powerful build'.

When i first saw a humanoid races called manticores, this idea popped into my head.

Take a look at the howler picture in the MM and then imagine a bipedal version of this. Basically, they could be tall gangly humanoids with very skeletal bodies, that have a huge mane of porcupine-like quills (and maybe some quills coming out of the back of their elbows too).

Their rough body shape and quill placement could be similar to the Draegoloths (sp.?) from Monsters of Faerun (Draegoloth), but replace the manes of hair with quills, remove the second set of arms, and make them medium instead of large.

With your permission, supadupaman, the howlerfolk are taking over from the catfolk-esque Manticores. Thanks for that idea!

Oh yeah, and can someone tell me how to put things in the spoiler button thingies? It'll make my fluffy stuff so much neater when I get it up later on.

go right ahead, kindling, that's why i suggested it. (they might also end up in one of my campaigns though)

as for spoilers just put [spoi*ler]some text[/spoiler*] (but remove the asterixes)

so this gives you [spoiler]some text[/spoiler]

anytime you want to learn how to use a new one of those things (like spoiler blocks, or dice rolls, or ooc/ic) just find a spot where they have been used on a thread and click on "quote" for that post. this will show you the original text for that post, including how to do the thing.
there's probably a list somewhere, but i don't know where it is. if anyone who knows could point us in the right direction, that would be appriciated.

In the cogs forum, there is a thread called spoiler tags, which I believe contains all the tas which have been developed for thewse forums.

Okay I've sorted races out fluff-wise, but I still think the stats are unbalanced (please advise)
Also reformatted to make everything look pretty!

The manticore fluff isn't finished as they also will play a fair part in the society of Klesh-Tassap, which I haven't worked out much about yet besides there are gonna be dinosaurs and lizardfolk involved. For now I'm mainly concentrating on Bel Tammat and the Tallens.

Alright, just gonna throw out a whole list of quick thing to think about.
Manticores
first off, they look way too powerful for +0 LA since almost all their traits are signifigant bonuses (i'll list the thing that are frequently counted as a +1 by themself according to SS)
- +6 to stats with only a -2 (also, physical stats are more powerful than mental usually. Str and Dex especially, since all characters need them.)
-natural attacks could be reduced to less than 3 (or 4? are there 2 claws?) Also, the die for the spine seems pretty high. (for that matter, how does the spine attack work? is it melee? ranged? if ranged, how often can they use it?)
- natural armour is also frequently made as another +1 LA (this could probably be balanced out by having trouble with armour)

off the top of my head, i would say make them LA +1, remove the claws attacks (they can just use weapons), remove the bite (if they just have the spine attack, it will seem more important to who they are, rather than just an item in a list), and either remove the +2con or add -2cha (going from your description of them, the "gangly" implies strong and quick, but not really tough, and the impulsiveness might justify a charisma penalty. i would say just use one of these too.)

I am also not fantastic at balancing rules, so these are just some thoughts. hopefully something can be worked out with a 3rd opinion.

Trolls
these guys look cool. they LA might also want to be +1 though. i took a look at the half-giant and they have a bit of psionics, but worse stat bonuses than the troll, which makes me think they should have the same LA. if you're worried about them being underpowered you could add in a bit of quick healing. maybe something like this...

Fast Metabolism
-automatically suceed on checks to stabilise tehmselves when dying
-gain fast healing 1 for every full 5 character levels (i.e. FH 1 @ 5, 2 @ 10, 3 @ 15, 4 @ 20)
-must eat more/more often than most humanoids

elves
look pretty balanced (although i don't know how much the Bardic knowledge should be worth). my one comment would be that +2 on attack rolls seems like too much. this is more than you can get with 2 feats (and halfling only get a +1 and only with thrown weapons). a +1 should be fine though.

These are just my 2 cents (or $.17 or whatever), so use or disregard whatever bits you want.
i'll read the rest and make comments later.

Thanks for the help, Supadupa. Changes shall be made :-)

There were several suggestions for various fast healing abilities for my trolls, there's a link in my sig to the "queries, comments, ..."  The discussion is in there somewhere, maybe I'll pull it out later...

EDIT: I'm curious, why are you making a race based on Manticores?  If it's just for the hell of it, that's cool.  I'm just curious about there being a deeper motive...  Anything specific that you need help on besides the races?

Oh, and trolls should probably have some sort of drawback, maybe an INT or CHA penalty?

Well to begin with I was just using manticore as better name for feline people than "catfolk" but then Supadupa suggested the howler-esque manticores, and I just thoguht "wow, imagine the catfolk personality I had in mind on something that looks as cool as that!"

As for the negative troll stat, I kind of wanted them to be like funny-looking humans, but stronger and more prone to violence. Maybe I should reduce the strength bonus to +2 to counteract the lack of a negative stat?

The best help you can offer, I think, is questions. I like to think of myself as quite a creative person anyway, but with a project like this, I find it much easier to do a write-up for something if I'm doing it to answer specific questions rather than trying to put into words the vague concepts I have in my head.

P.S. I've started work on "Places" and will be adding to it periodically, so check back now and then if you're interested.