The Campaign Builder's Guild

[note]I've been on medical leave for the last month and a half, and it's put me in a bit of a depression, what with feeling a little useless and what-not. I had thought I could use this time to get some serious writing done, or at least keep my house clean, but that wasn't the case. I've also entirely failed my New Years Resolution. So, in an attempt to keep busy, I will be around the boards more, and I am resuming my work on my setting. Until 4E comes out, there will be little to no mechanical design work for my setting, aside from placing some generalities on racial abilities and thoughts on classes.[/note]

I am going to take my setting design in a new direction. Rather than beginning with myth and history, as I've done in the past, I want to get right down to what matters to players the most. I intend to discuss the races of the world, how the classes fit into the world, and the different cultures/regions of the world. While I hope to develop most of everything to a sense of completion, I've recently realized that what players need to know right away is much smaller than I previously thought. So this thread will be structured with my new insights. I hope it works.

Three Worlds
Terran is a massive world older than any of its people. Long ago lived The Ancients, who were destroyed by the last of their gods, allowing the world to begin anew. Gone are their grand cities of iron and glass, replaced by fantastic stretches of wondrous wilderness. Three Worlds is a world where Law and Chaos do battle, as do the new and the old, and the civilized and the wilds.

I will first be focusing on the continent of Krellshah. Krellshah used to be the center of the Hunurst empire, which rose from the humans formerly enslaved by the giants. As history seems to repeat itself, Hunurst was destroyed by the giants after a thousand year reign. Now a republic has grown from its remains. Krellshah is in contact with the rest of the world, but travel isn't common for normal folk; the other continents will be mentioned in passing, but full details will have to come in time.

I still need much help at this stage, especially with getting jump-starts for newer cultures I need to develop. I welcome all assistance, and my players will appreciate anything that makes the world more alive. I thank you all in advance.

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Races of Krellshah

Humans: Krellshah was once the center of the Hunurst Empire, and thus its humans possess every variety of skin and hair color (even possessing colors found in other races due to half-bloods intermingling). Humans possess great adaptability and resilience, showing much eagerness and determination. Humans reside in the cold south, the temperate middle, and the warm north of Krellshah.

Dwarfs: The children of the Earth Dragon, dwarfs reside in under the World Spire Mountains to the north, and the Southern Rim Mountains to the south. They are shorter than humans, but possess builds so broad that they generally weigh the same. They have dark brown to stony gray skin, with thick hair ranging from black to sandy blond; dwarfs typically keep their hair thick and long, preferring to not cut or trim it. They are a hardy and tough race, with a great knack for craftsmanship of all forms.

Elves: Originally hailing from the Fey of Avalon, Elves have since adapted to the wilds of Krellshah, and can be found in small numbers all over. They are taller and thinner than humans, with a rugged but beautiful and otherworldly look. Their skin is a rich tan, their hair comes in rich greens when they are young, fading to yellows, oranges, and reds as they age, and they possess large green eyes and long pointed ears which sweep back following the angle of their brow. Elves are a wild race, at home in almost any wilderness environment, living as excellent hunters far from other civilization.

Halflings: Originally hailing from the island of Draconia, Halflings were brought to Krellshah by the Hunurst Empire, who found them in their explorations of the world. Since then, Halflings have integrated into most of the races of Krellshah; on their own they are nomads of the waterways who help facilitate trade between the various races. Halflings stand about two-thirds that of humans, only weighing half as much. Their skin is pale and their hair is soft brown and short, possessing a feel more close to fur than hair; most notably, halflings have a furred two-foot long tail. They are nimble and courageous, possessing great fortune and a knack for opportunity in all forms.

Ifriti: The children of the Fire Dragon, Ifriti reside in the cool eastern deserts and the hot northern jungles. They are tall and broadly framed, possessing lengthy limbs that give them a slender look from far away. Their hair is like coarse spines, their eyes are fiery reds and oranges, and their skin is like polished obsidian in their youth, becoming like craggy black stone as they age. Ifriti are never bothered by normal temperature ranges, and thus wear little clothing that is not ceremonial. They possess strong bodies and powerful presences.

Tritons: The children of the Water Dragon, Tritons call the Thousand Islands to the North and the Crescent Island to the West home. They are slender and slightly shorter than humans, with hairless waxy skin that ranges from dark blue to sea green. They are accomplished swimmers, though they lack the ability to truly breath under water. Tritons are highly intelligent, with a special knack for alchemy and invention.

Valkyries: The children of the Air Dragon, Valkyries are nomads who possess hidden cities at the tops of many of Krellshah's mountains. They are taller than humans, and their broad frames belie their light weights. They have skin which ranges from white to pale blue, and pale blond or white hair; most noticeable are their wings, with thin hair on the back, made of a fleshy membrane stretched from their back to a single digit running its top length (like a bat wing with only the first "finger"). They are capable of gliding from a young age, but only those Valkyrie who strengthen their wings are able to fly. They are a warrior people, often serving as mercenaries in other race's battles.

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My intent is to have multiple cultures from each race within the continent of Krellshah. I don't want to fall into the trap that other settings have where there are many human civilizations but few others. Above were quick descriptions which I will refine; these descriptions should allow players to look over their racial options at a glance before deciding which races interest them enough to read further; I've tried to utilize racial stereotypes for what they're worth, so hopefully it shouldn't take too long for players to create an image.

One aside; I'd like help coming up with names for these races that would fit in an Asian themed continent. There are a few I can think of (Korobokuro for Dwarves, Tengu for Valkyries, Spirit Folk for Elves, Vanara for Halflings), but not all of them.

I'm open to all ideas to help color and define these races. Here are a few things I know I want so far:

*Dwarfs will be very communal and are organized in clans. Clans are lead by the direct descendant of the clan's founder whenever possible (tracked from first born to first born). Marriages are within different families but generally within the same clan, and are typically arranged. Love isn't an issue as much as duty; in fact, "lovers" has a connotation of infidelity among dwarfs. Of course, they will be miners. Just to be different, my dwarfs don't make their own alcohol (they are strict meat and fungus eaters, as grain is difficult to grow underground); alcohol is one of their favorite luxury imports.
*My Elves will be using the 4E elf stats, and I'm quite happy with 4E's splitting of the High Elves and Wood Elves. Elves live in small tribes, and they have more connection with their community than they do with their parents and siblings (most elves don't care who their parents are). Elves are not monogamous, and the whole community helps care for the youth (with teenagers taking the brunt of child rearing). I will be using 4E's Eladrin as my Fey, but I've decided to downplay the physical and statistical differences between Drow and other elves; they will exist as the Seeley and Unseeley Fey of Avalon.
*Ifriti are a deeply passionate people. They are quite fond of music and sports, especially precision instruments and sports which favor the strong (like wrestling). Because their effective immunity to normal ranges of heat and cold, they wear little clothes and have developed a liking for branding and vibrant red tattoos (the red tattoos are reserved for important and wealthy individuals). Their culture is very possessive, with spouses owning their mates. They have two kinds of leaders: the warlords who functionally rule but are constantly overthrown, and the priesthood who advise but are quite permanent.
*I haven't done too much work on Tritons. I really need a lot of help here actually.
*Valkyries are thought of by most of the other races to be only female, as women make up the vast majority of Valkyries who travel far from their settlements. I'm trying to come up with believable reasons for this, but I cannot make them egg laying as they are related to humans (more on this later).

Again, any ideas will be appreciated.

One meta element of the world which should be noted is that I am seeking to create this world as "realistically" as possible. Of course there is magic, but I'm trying to develop things as naturally as possible, exploring what our world would be like if the divinities could not be disputed and if magic was real. I will not be dwelling too far into metaphysics to explain magic (short of saying it is a way of utilizing an omnipresent energy in the universe that isn't possible for creatures who don't believe in it). Lastly, the setting is revisionist, assuming that the mythologies of the past were real (the stories of Avalon in England were referring to Avalon in the setting, the spirits recognized by different cultures were real ... etcetera).

It should be noted early that Three Worlds is an animistic setting; everything has a spirit. Some of these spirits are personified, others are like powerful animals. The more grand an object, the more powerful its spirit (the spirit of a mountain is stronger than the spirit of a hill, for instance); likewise, the reverence of mortals empowers these spirits (the spirit of a river which feeds a civilization is stronger than the spirit of a river through empty lands). There are also ancestral spirits. Other than these spirits, there are the Elemental Dragons who are essentially the spirits of world spanning concepts (embodying seasons and whole aspects of magic and what-not).

Thus, I've gotten my work cut out with me to create interesting local spirits, but the world will also be more open to cleric players since they will be able to make up their own deities easily (essentially being able to pick whatever domains they want, or what ever the 4E equivalent will be). I will be incorporating those that I and other posters can come up with, but I'll also be able to add them as players come up with them.

Also, Terran is Earth in the future, quite some time after the next ice age. The ice age nearly killed off humans ("The Ancients"), and the awakening of magic and powerful creatures who became the deities almost sealed mankind's destruction. Halflings finished evolving on their own; they are related to monkeys like humans are to apes.

Before their destruction, the "ancient" humans genetically engineered the feral races (anthropomorphic animals, with bat, cheetah, wolf, rat, and bear varieties) and the reptilian races (draconians following a general Therapod build, and kobold, lizardfolk, and "snakes" filling out the rest). The feral races can breed with humans (creating "beastfolk"), but the reptilian races were modified too much to interbreed.

The Fey are natural races of Avalon (a reflection of Earth, like 4E's Feywild, which my setting assumes to have existed throughout all time), while Orcs are one of the natural races of Sylphenhest (the shadow of Earth, like 4E's Shadowfell); both races can breed with humans because they are reflections of each other.

Lastly, the Elemental Dragon Gods created the Giants, Dwarfs, Ifriti, Tritons, and Valkyries by infusing humans with elemental energies. Thusly, they can breed with humans as well.

While I'm not seeking to explain the "hows", I hope that having these justifications in mind will help things to make more sense.

ANIMALS OF TERRAN If I forgot to mention, Terran is the name of the "middle world", the one I've been discussing the most. I believe I mentioned it, but I wanted to be sure.

It has been somewhere between 10 and 20 million years from now until the present within my world. This is more than enough time for many new species to have arisen, both through plain old evolution, magically triggered evolution, and the genetic engineering The Ancients practiced. Many species would also have died off, but their niches would have been quickly replaced.

A program called "The Future is Wild" aired on Animal Planet a while back, and I have the DVDs. 3 episodes are focused on the "ice world" that scientists believe will exist in 5 million years. They suggest that cats and dogs will have gone extinct (following trends of what is endangered currently), and that rodents and mustelids (skunks, badgers, wolverines) would have been prime to fill these niches (as they're currently small and would be able to adapt to the climate changes easier). The rain forests of the world would have died off during the ice age (because the world would become dryer, and the equatorial region would become much less tropical), so much biodiversity would have been lost. But, their thought experiments had taken humans out of the picture for simplicity; species important to us would have remained (domestic animals like horses, dogs, small cats, as well as food animals like cows, chickens, and pigs).

There are some decisions to make. The classic fantasy "X with parts of Y" animals like Griffins and Hippogriffs could have arisen through genetic engineering, and thus keep their classic looks, or they could have evolved and be redesigned with more sensical body structures (both would be birds, having evolved from a common ancestral bird which had a mutation giving it 6 limbs, 4 legs and 2 wings); in such a case, the griffin would be a predatory member of the family, while hippogriffs would be an herbivorous member (I'm actually liking this leaning, and I might go with it).

I want to follow the "if it walks like a duck ..." cliche here, and wolves are a good example. If it is so similar to a wolf in every degree, I'm going to call it a wolf. I know I want wolves, but they could either be descended from domestic dogs (growing more and more wild till they revert to their proto-dog origins, like wolves and dingos), or they could be a rodent or mustelid. I'm not going to make you all come up with ideas for every single animal, but some general discussion would be very helpful and quite fun I think (I just pulled the griffin/hippogriff stuff from thin air, and I think it turned out good).

Suggestions?

I like the look and feel of the setting, and am always prepared to lend a helping hand.

Some first thoughts: You say that this is "future Earth" gone magic. Which I think helps to give both an origin and background to most of your races, if you think about how we (humans) as a race would face a coming ice age. I can think of four main ways to avoid it: 1, leave Earth impractical and expensive at best. 2, Undersea colonies The seas, especially around the equator, are often safe havens from environmental change. 3, Underground extended mining colonies that use the heat of the earth to protect them. 4, utilize geothermal heat such as a volcano to warm and power your area.
If we had been in the midst of such exercises in survival when the Elemental Dragons "awoke", I think the birth of the variant races could be a logical next step.

second, How did magic arrive? My first thoughts: dimensional tampering. We tried to use portals in reality for something, and opened up Avalon and Sylphenhest, waking up the ancient dormant magics.

more later, I have to go.

To follow the chain of thoughts brought on by "AllWillFall2Me":
..or some sort of rift between another plane and the world to open and magic "pouring" out over the world. I am visualizing it as Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, except the effect is permanent (possibly). That could also would help the ancients ward off some of the dangerous elements you said awoke. New generations or the engineered races would have to be taught the skill of magic (or it could be random whether a being would have the ability to do it or not - depending on what you are looking for in your campaign setting).


While reading your posts, I also thought about the following.

Valkyries are thought of by most of the other races to be only female, as women make up the vast majority of Valkyries who travel far from their settlements. I'm trying to come up with believable reasons for this, but I cannot make them egg laying as they are related to humans (more on this later).
Maybe it is just genetics playing a role here. If the women are used for more tasks and the men mostly for breeding, then nature will automatically adjust.
This also means that there might be several women sharing one man, or they have a "use and throw away" mentality. Maybe even to the point of the man being killed (as is the case with spiders).


I haven't done too much work on Tritons. I really need a lot of help here actually.
Have you considered letting them hold their breath longer than normal people?
Maybe they have a bit of skin between their toes (webbed feet?) to emphasize the water-aspect.

Getting some more ideas from looking at the "characteristics" of the sea, you could either make them very calm, but when they finally do get angry, there is nothing to stop them from getting their revenge. Or you could make them easily angered in general.

I suppose they would mostly eat fish and other parts of the sea?

Also, have you thought about how burials might be performed? I could see the Tritons giving something back to the sea, by "feeding" it with their dead.


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I think I need some more explanation of what the spirits are. Can they be seen and/or touched?
Can a spirit be "killed", and if so, what happens?

Thanks both of you. You've given me a few things to think on.

I don't want to go too far back and science out where magic came from; it just is, and I'm sticking to that (the only explanation I'd try to make for it is it is a new way of tapping into the potential energy within everything, a power modern humans lack because we don't believe in it; idealism at its peak). Also, the setting assumes that the spiritual beings believed by the cultures from our world and past were real, and that mythologies and other legends were based on fact (which is why my Spirit World is named Avalon ...).

I was working with my girlfriend on the Valkyries, and I think we came up with something that works. It's actually very close to Neubert's proposal ...

Male births are incredibly rare amongst Valkyries, about 1 in 10 actually. Thus, males are highly prized. They are "owned" by powerful families, and males are shared amongst the females in the family (family is strictly a female institution, males are traded). Males aren't exploited per say, but they are coddled and protected. They aren't able to participate in dangerous activities (sports, war), and they are relegated to taking care of the children and pregnant women. Female Valkyries do not have breasts, so this takes away any physiological reasons for females to be the primary care takers.

As for Tritons, I have their appearance and general statistics down (at least my 3E versions). Tritons are shorter and much thinner than humans, with webbed fingers and toes. Their skin is thick and smooth, like dolphin skin, and it comes in varying shades of blues and greens. They are entirely hairless (aside from "whisker" hairs around their lips, but they aren't large enough to notice, just there to enhance their sense of touch). Their nose and ears are just holes, which can be sealed. They have large eyes that are entirely black.

They are able to breath under water as readily as on land. They also have a camouflage reflex which is both extraordinary and magical, changing the color of their skin and clothing to match their surroundings (my 3E version requires a move action and grants a +10 bonus on hide checks; unsure what the 4E version will have to be, probably their per encounter power).

What I'm having trouble with is establishing their culture. My setting focuses on elementalism, and the Tritons are obviously the water race. Water magic governs healing/cursing, water, transformation, and illusions. It is also the element of inventiveness and adaptability. I want them to be the setting's alchemists, but I don't want them to turn into comic relief characters like gnomes often are.

Looking at the characteristics of the sea, as you suggest, I should first look at the simple characteristics of the elements in my setting. You can define the four elements based on activity and aggression. Air is active and defensive (would rather avoid danger), Earth is passive and defensive (stands firm against danger), Fire is active and aggressive (assaults danger), while Water is passive and aggressive (turns danger against itself). Using that, I can imagine Tritons being calm on the surface, but manipulative behind the backs of their enemies.

Tritons were created by the Water Dragon, and some of them should be deeply religious. I can see burials at sea making perfect sense. In fact, I want one of the Triton groups to live entirely at sea, either on large merchant/pirate ships or in towns made of many boats roped together.

Again, thanks for the input. Keep it coming please.

What about the the spirits? (the very bottom of my previous post - easy to miss :))

You might also be able to draw something from the 4E dragons, as each color will have a different role. I suppose the Black dragon is most what you are looking for (though not much info is released yet), and it defines it as a Lurker type of monster. That goes well with the manipulative trait as well.

I had the same question as I read where the magic came from.  Concentrate on what you need to, but I find it intersting it's come up a few times.  

As to the Tritons, I think you should not fear the gnome-thing.  They sound like like true explorers, adaptable and self sufficient.  Possibly the most sought after sailors in the world, perhaps being the well paid mercenary officers in the best navies.  
In terms of the culture, what type of family units do you want to have?  I can see their folk going on long stints in the service of others, so perhaps a strong family unit with the children belonging to the family as much as the parents, with family/clan names with great honor and specializations.  

Spirits come in several varieties. Some spirits are simply spiritual, just energy present within an object; this is true for weaker spirits. For instance, a warriors sword has a spirit. When that weapon is made into a +1 sword (which can happen through craftsmanship or spontaneously by being involved in grand deeds), the spirit becomes more powerful, but it still lacks sentience or its own form.

Other spirits have a physical form separate from their object. Dryads are a good example of this sort of spirit. Spirits of other natural features are like this as well, such as the spirit of a river or the spirit of a forest. For example, a forest to the South of the Republic has 3 spirits: The protector of the forest, who is a great Buck, the fury of the forest, who is a giant wolf, and the heart of the forest, a massive oak served by hundreds of dryads. Many of these deities reside solely on the Spirit World, but most can travel freely between the two worlds.

Ancestral spirits are not tied to physical objects like nature spirits are. Some Ancestral spirits rise to the status of deities, but most are echoes of their former lives; most people who die are reincarnated, but their life leaves an echo upon the Shadow Plane, the land of the dead.

Lastly, some very powerful deities are simply personifications of grander concepts. The Elemental Dragons are examples of this; they are personifications of Elemental Magic.

All spirits can be killed. Killing a lesser spirit or a nature spirit will "kill" the object they're tied to. If one were to draw out the spirit of a river and kill it, the river would dry up or become toxic. Nothing particularly bad would happen if you killed an ancestral spirit, aside from that family loosing a protector (ancestral spirits congregate around their family's residence, protecting it from malicious spirits on the Shadow Plane). Killing a greater spirit (the personifications of grand concepts) would kill the spirit, but that spirit would simply be reborn eventually (this has actually happened already, the Dragon of Light and Dragon of Darkness killed each other, an event which marked the end of the first age. Neither spirit has been reborn yet, but their priesthoods are watching for any sign.)

I do want Tritons to be obscenely devoted. Traitors would be the worse criminals imaginable. Mates would be together for life. Families would be considered singular entities (when you add water to a single vessel, the water becomes one, even though you can separate it).

Them acting as mercenaries for other races' navies sounds perfect.

As for where magic comes from, I don't expect it to come out because I'm not going to present the reality of the setting in the open, it won't be spelled out in the writings; I want to leave the reality as little hints to be found. I'm talking about it here because it's necessary for the formation of the world, but otherwise it exists to give me direction for things.

It's seems like such a long time since I've read your setting, and I know I did multiple times, but it seems I've forgotten most of it. I like the three worlds you've got going and the history of Terran specifically (plus, being able to use a real Earth world map is always fun :D).

I like the animism - always the coolest religion form to see in a setting, in my opinion. Do you have the typical roadside shrine sort of thing going on? Do travelers often stop at small altars or well-used circles of stone and the like to say a prayer or ask for good luck, burning incense or other small objects? Is there some other sort of method?

I'm assuming your valkyrie women still carry unborn children. If they do, perhaps they could simply not suffer the downsides to it (as long as they eat healthy) and develop some sort of extra natural protection against the harm of these unborn children? Could they possibly have a sort of calendar for their communities and how their people work and hunt and go to war? I'm seeing them as possibly determining mating seasons either for their entire race or for individual cities, though only certain families would mate at the same time. Then they could continue to go about their regular business assuming they have the aforementioned protective evolutions, but return home to birth their children after a certain time.

I like your halflings and ifriti. If the ifriti wear little or no clothing, how do other races react to this? I'm assuming they have roughly similar anatomies to humans - would other races be appalled or confused by it, would this influence a more casual and less modest kind of dress in other races, or both?

Good to see you again WT. I haven't been posting stuff on my setting for some time. In the past, my setting was really just a construct for my mechanical changes. Waiting for 4E has given me the opportunity to start from scratch.

Yes, there are roadside shrines. Less common in The Holylands Republic (as their state religion is Chivalry, the faith of the Knights, and they worship the spirits of the first Knight's swords as the spirits of the Knights). Shrines to spirits who would be known as deities are large shrines with at least one priest dwelling inside. Lesser spirits have their shrines tended by priests who haven't sworn themselves to one deity (who were druids in 3E, but might be changed if the druid changes drastically), who typically travel the land making stops by multiple shrines through the seasons.

Different spirits prefer different things to gain blessings at their shrines; air spirits prefer songs to be sung to them, earth spirits prefer the leaving of beautiful stones (or coins), fire spirits prefer the burning of incense, and water spirits prefer water or pure alcohol (clear distilled liquors, not aged) to be added to their pool. That's just generalities, as not all spirits are tied to just one element, and some spirits would have much different likes. Stealing from shrines, even small rode side shrines, is taboo, and it is typically avoided because misfortune will follow a thief.

Valkyrie women do still carry their unborn children. I was thinking that either their gestation is short, or they would suffer no ill effects as you've suggested. I think I'll go with your suggestion, as they are a warrior people and I find something interesting about pregnant warriors still going into battle. I really like your idea about the calendars; they are nomadic, possessing two mountaintop cities in the region which they travel between as the seasons change. War would not be made while they are traveling, and I think traveling would be a good time for them to be pregnant as well. There would be a time they would have hunting parties out (which would both gather food, trade with other races, and scout out potential threats), while another season they would have war parties out who would deal with threats found (or serve as mercenaries to bring money and other resources back with them). Thanks, you gave me some great ideas to work with!

I'm fond of halflings as well. 4E's nomadic water traders worked perfectly for my setting, as that was already what I had made them out to be (except they weren't water travelers, but that gives them their own habitat). Their tails amuse me, and they will have a racial paragon path or racial feats which let them learn to make their tail prehensile. They have many of the same social stigmas as gypsies.

Ifriti do have the same anatomies as humans (they can breed with humans after all). They don't wear pointless clothes, so they will wear ceremonial things (such as their priests) or functional things (belts they can carry items with are common). Hiding what other races find to be shameful is a purpose, so they would have learned to hang loin cloths from their belts when dealing with other races. Ifriti are very chaotic. Their government has two halves, the priests and the warlords. The warlords are just that, powerful ifriti (as often warriors as magicians) who command all they have the strength to. The priests are advisers to the warlords, but the priests are permanent. One of the Ifriti cultures in the region dwells in the northern jungles, building their cities near or around volcanoes; these cities have large central temple pyramids. The priesthood here worships the Fire Dragon, their creator, and they are deeply devout. The Ifrit who dwell in the north eastern desert (a cool desert, actually the Gobi) worship the spirits of the desert more broadly (though the Fire Dragon is still chief of these spirits); these Ifriti's priests have less power than those who live in the jungles.

Again, thanks for all the input and questions. It's really helping me to develop everything more. One of my goals is to make none of these races/cultures strictly good or evil (that was a problem when I was still using goblins and orcs as primary player races). Conflicts can arise over more natural issues, while there are omnipresent threats everyone can band together to face (such as orc incursions from Sylphenhest, the Shadow Plane). I will follow the 4E "points of light" theme, but instead of points of light in a sea of darkness, I want my setting to be "points of knowns in a sea of fantastic unknowns". I want the world to be vast, wild, and fantastic.

I'm adding a section to the first posts for discussion of new Animals which have evolved or were created in the time between now and then (the setting exists more than 5 million years in the future, as 5 million years is a projection for a large ice age). Rather than creating a new thread, I'll keep all this conceptual work here, as much progress is being made.

ANIMALS OF TERRAN If I forgot to mention, Terran is the name of the "middle world", the one I've been discussing the most. I believe I mentioned it, but I wanted to be sure.

It has been somewhere between 10 and 20 million years from now until the present within my world. This is more than enough time for many new species to have arisen, both through plain old evolution, magically triggered evolution, and the genetic engineering The Ancients practiced. Many species would also have died off, but their niches would have been quickly replaced.

A program called "The Future is Wild" aired on Animal Planet a while back, and I have the DVDs. 3 episodes are focused on the "ice world" that scientists believe will exist in 5 million years. They suggest that cats and dogs will have gone extinct (following trends of what is endangered currently), and that rodents and mustelids (skunks, badgers, wolverines) would have been prime to fill these niches (as they're currently small and would be able to adapt to the climate changes easier). The rain forests of the world would have died off during the ice age (because the world would become dryer, and the equatorial region would become much less tropical), so much biodiversity would have been lost. But, their thought experiments had taken humans out of the picture for simplicity; species important to us would have remained (domestic animals like horses, dogs, small cats, as well as food animals like cows, chickens, and pigs).

There are some decisions to make. The classic fantasy "X with parts of Y" animals like Griffins and Hippogriffs could have arisen through genetic engineering, and thus keep their classic looks, or they could have evolved and be redesigned with more sensical body structures (both would be birds, having evolved from a common ancestral bird which had a mutation giving it 6 limbs, 4 legs and 2 wings); in such a case, the griffin would be a predatory member of the family, while hippogriffs would be an herbivorous member (I'm actually liking this leaning, and I might go with it).

I want to follow the "if it walks like a duck ..." cliche here, and wolves are a good example. If it is so similar to a wolf in every degree, I'm going to call it a wolf. I know I want wolves, but they could either be descended from domestic dogs (growing more and more wild till they revert to their proto-dog origins, like wolves and dingos), or they could be a rodent or mustelid. I'm not going to make you all come up with ideas for every single animal, but some general discussion would be very helpful and quite fun I think (I just pulled the griffin/hippogriff stuff from thin air, and I think it turned out good).

Suggestions?

A general explanation for many types of mythical creatures (if you want them) may be better than a specific one for each--that  is, if you redefine griffins, hippogriffs, and the like, you commit yourself to basically rewriting the bestiary. Furthermore, anything that would be known be normal inhabitants of the world, you'd need to make sure players understood.

So it depends on how much work you want to do, really, and how much new info you want players to have to learn.

I don't intend on changing the statistics of the Bestiary, just their appearance and origins really. Even if Wolves are a big carnivorous rodent, they'll have all the characteristics of wolves (If you've played Final Fantasy 12, their wolves have horns and spines and other non-dog-like characteristics, but they're still wolves).

I guess I could start with the 3.5 MM and write a couple of sentences per creature. Then I can look over the animal families and decide the fate of each.

Note: I updated a few posts to make mention that I'm revisionistically assuming that the spirits, divinities, mythologies, and legends the people of the past believed in were true. That is why my spirit world is named Avalon. Because people have widespread access to magic, they are able to communicate with the spirits now, and thus there is 100% agreement in their existence (which doesn't mean that everyone worships them, just that they can't be disbelieved, like how everyone believes that dogs and the moon exist).

I'm getting ready to fully detail the Valkyries, but there are a few more things I need to deal with.

First, I need a good reason for why the Valkyries migrate en mass twice a year; both of their home sites are south of the equator, so it can't really be to escape winter (their further south home would have harsher winters, but that would suggest that they'd stay in their north home year round). It definitely needs to be of religious significance, so perhaps not all Valkyries make the migration.

Their southern home could be the home of a very important holy site, and there would be a massive city built around it. There would be a small number of valkyrie priests who reside there year round, but the region cannot support more than this small population during the harsh winters. Thus, the main population of this city travel north during the winter. Over the ages, as valkyrie population increased, many valkyries would have fallen out of the old ways, choosing to reside in the North year round, but the majority of the population would still make the trip.

With the valkyries having been created by the Air Dragon, it is fairly safe to say that a large number of them would be willing to make this long trip twice a year (we're talking about a mass migration from Tibet to Southern Russia; I need to figure out how long that journey would take). Most Valkyries cannot fly for extended periods (an unfortunate necessity for game balance), but perhaps they will have access to a large enough flying mount to make these migrations easier (I'm thinking of something like the Sky Bison the Air Benders have in Avatar ...).

I am happy that valkyrie culture is developing on its own paths, rather than being modeled after an existing human culture. I'd like to continue this trend, but I definitely know that one of my Ifrit cultures will have strong Aztec influences; perhaps when I get to them I'll be able to make their culture unique as well.

Does everyone think this explanation for Valkyrie migration makes sense?

I don't remember if you were planning on going into 4th edition, but in case you do: From what I have seen or heard Wizards will have an ability to fly which only lasts 5 minutes or to the end of the encounter. But it is believed that they might have a spell/ritual that allows them to increase overland movement (which would obviously last longer). Even if it is not very believable, you might have something similar for the Valkyries when moving longer distances.

A holy site sounds good. Have you put any thought into what kind of site it is yet? It might be something that most feel they need to visit twice a year (like pilgrims in our world).
It might be the location of an important event, that relates to some legend of theirs - maybe in regard to the air dragon?