The Campaign Builder's Guild

[This thread is for me to be long-winded about the campaign world I am devision, but others are free to pop in and make comments.  Just realize that I'm not on here every day (or week, for that matter) so it may be a while before I respond to you.]

Now that Wizards of the Coast has moved on to Fourth Edition D&D, it is time for me sit down with all of my D20 books and design the D20 fantasy game that I want to run.  This exercise will result in the creation of a distinct D&D game world, but also a set of house rules and rules selections to represent the type of game I like to run; namely, low-powered fantasy in a relatively 'realistic' world setting.  I'm one of those people that has real trouble developing ideas from whole cloth, but I have a lot of success riffing off of other people's ideas.  Thus, I will be liberally stealing from books I have read, sourcebooks for other games (or other D&D editions), real history, 'what should have been' history, etc.

There will be a number of different posts discussing rules and aspects of the game world.  The rules part is pretty well developed, though the game world itself is still (and maybe will always be) a work in progress.

One important thing to note up front is that I am building this game world explicitly to fit the E6 system.  This is a D20 variant that caps player levels at 6 ('E6' stands for Epic 6).  This keeps the game relatively low-powered, and powerful foes must be defeated through tactics and guile, rather than brute force.  Luck helps, as well!  You can find out more about E6 at http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?t=206323

Here are the rules as they currently stand, divided up by what chapter of the Player's Handbook they affect.  I'm also including my rationale for rules changes, so you can understand why I'm doing what I'm doing.

Chapter One: Abilities
At first level, determine hit points by rolling the class' hit die and then adding the character's Constitution score.  For example, a Fighter with a Constitution of 13 would roll 1d10 and add 13 to the score; so if a '˜7' was rolled on the 1d10, then the starting hit points would be 7+13 = 20.
Rationale: Trying to avoid the problem of "one hit kills" at first level, really.  I call this is 'hero bonus,' because the intent is that player characters are metaphysically important to the game world, so fate helps protect them.  This is the only protection they get, though, other than the player's skill and, hopefully, lack of stupidity.

Chapter Two: Races
Dwarves are as described in the Player's Handbook
There are five types of Elves: High Elves (as described in the Player's Handbook), Drow, Grey Elves, Wild Elves, and Wood Elves (as described in the SRD, with the exception of the Wild Elf, whose favored class is changed to Barbarian; and the Wood Elf, whose favored class is changed to Outdoorsman).
Gnomes are as described in the Player's Handbook
Half-Elves are as described in the Player's Handbook
Half-Orcs are as described in the Player's Handbook
Halflings are as described in the Player's Handbook
Humans are as described in the Player's Handbook
Dromites are as described in the Expanded Psionics Handbook
Xephs are as described in the Expanded Psionics Handbook, though  Xeph Lands is changed to the western island of Naranjas
Aaleear as are described in Mythic Races
Syltath are arctic Artathi as described in Mythic Races.  Their favored class is Barbarian
Coivalds are as described in Mythic Races, but favored class is only Druid
Faeries are as described in Mythic Races
Niomus are as described in Mythic Races
Ooloi are as described in Mythic Races
Grippli are as described in Dragon magazine 324, with psionic modification per the article
Languages are modified as follows:  The common tongue is called Trade Tongue.  All PC humans know their country's base language, as well as Trade Tongue
Rationale:  This is intentionally a D&D game world, so the standard races and sub-races are all there.  I've also added in the races from the Psionics Handbook that seem to make sense for the world, as well as races from other sources that I like.  If you're familiar with the Mythic Races book you'll notice I mainly took the forest dwellers and fey races and left most of the rest alone.  I like my forests to be teeming with all sorts of life, and I like the concept of the 'fey world' and seelie court being in a close, but alternate, plane.

I'll also note that there are other races (orcs, goblins, etc.) that are not allowed as PCs.  And a player would have to do a lot of convincing to let them play a drow or duergar.

Chapter Three: Classes
All classes are capped at Sixth Level, as per the E6 rules.
The following classes are allowed to player characters in the game, modified as follows:
Acrobat '" as described in City Works
Assassin '" as described in City Works
Barbarian '" as described in the Player's Handbook, enhanced by Totem options from the SRD
Bandit '" as described in the Book of Roguish Luck
Bard '" variant as described in The Complete Book of Eldritch Might
Cleric '" as described in the Player's Handbook
Commander '" as described in Path of the Sword
Druid '" as described in the Player's Handbook
Eldritch Weaver '" as described in the Advanced Player's Manual
Fighter '" as described in the Player's Handbook
Gutter Mage '" as described in the Book of Roguish Luck
Hunter '" as described in Path of the Sword
Monk '" as described in the Player's Handbook, modified by the Fighting Styles variant from the SRD
Noble '" as described in SpirosBlaak
Outdoorsman '" as described in Path of the Sword
Paladin '" as described in the Book of Hallowed Might, including the Neutral Good and Chaotic Good options.  Paladins must be dedicated to a specific deity (and that deity must allow paladins), and must follow the code of that deity's paladins
Psion '" as described in the Expanded Psionics Handbook
Psychic '" as described in the Advanced Player's Manual
Psychic Warrior '" as described in the Expanded Psionics Handbook
Rogue '" as described in the Player's Handbook
Samurai '" as described in Complete Warrior
Scout '" as described in Complete Adventurer
Shadowsworn '" as described in the Book of Roguish Luck
Shaman '" as described in the Shaman's Handbook
Shugenja '" as described in Complete Divine
Sorcerer '" as described in the Player's Handbook
Soulknife '" as described in the Expanded Psionics Handbook
Swashbuckler '" as described in Complete Warrior
Thanemage '" as described in the Advanced Player's Manual
Warlock '" as described in Complete Arcane
Wild Defender '" as described in the article Wild Defender from Dragon magazine 324
Wilder '" as described in the Expanded Psionics Handbook
Wizard '" as described in the Player's Handbook
Characters are allowed to multi-class as normal, but this is not encouraged due to the level limitations of the E6 system
Rationale: I like lots of PC options, and they've got them.  I basically allowed everything from my splat books that looked cool without being too high-magic.  The Ranger class is gone because it's spell abilities suck under E6 (capped out at max 2 first level spells).  The Hunter, Outdoorsman, and Wild Defender pick up the slack.  The Favored Enemy ability also becomes a Feat, as you'll see in that section.
Please note that some of these classes will be restricted by race and/or culture, though this isn't all worked out yet.  For examples, Samurai and Shugenja classes are restricted to the Grey Elves only, because their culture will be based on feudal Japan (they intentionally cut themselves off from the rest of the world, and are thus very insular, just like Japan was during part of its history).  Additionally, monks only come from the western part of the world (there's only one primary continent), because that is where the somewhat Asian-influenced cultures are.

Chapter Four: Skills
Use the Maximum Ranks, Limited Choices option from the SRD
List of skills in the game:
All base skills from the Player's Handbook are included
All skills from the Expanded Psionics Handbook are included
Urban Lore from Path of the Sword.  Class for Rogue and Bard, and now called Urban Survival
Craft: Poisonmaking from Complete Adventurer
Knowledge: Streetwise and Knowledge: Tactics from SpirosBlaak
Profession: Military Commander from Cry Havoc
Mimic Voice from Traps and Treachery
All Psychic skills from the Advanced Player's Manual are included
Rationale: The skill system doesn't need many changes, so only a few things got added which looked cool and usable.  I'm using the variant skill rules to make my own life simpler, really.  I've spent too much time agonizing over what skills to pick at each rank, so this way you set it at first level and you're done, unless you pick feats to give you more skills.

Chapter Five: Feats
All base feats from the Player's Handbook are included
All feats from the Expanded Psionics Handbook are included
All but Regional feats from the Player's Guide to the Sovereign Lands are included
Skill Knowledge [General] from SRD is included
All feats from Libris Mortis are included
Resounding Blow and Subduing Strike from the Book of Exalted Deeds
All feats from Path of the Sword are included
All feats from Wildscape are included
Clash of Blades, Count Coup, Improved Rapid Shot, Monkey Climb, Nimble Feet, Sniper, Spear Wind, Stick and Fire, Superior Trip, and Sword Wind from Bow & Blade
Arcane Warrior, Armor Prowess, Brawler, Contortionist, Dextrous, Eagle Eyes, Endurance Swimmer, Favored Enemy, Hawkeye, Impressive Immunity, Inspiring Foreman, Lookout, Master Pilot, Naval Heritage, Port Savvy, Precision, Rope Climber, Sea Dog, Shadow, Smooth Talker, Speedy Recovery, Sprinter, Steady Legs, Storm Sense, Superior Pilot, Swing-By-Attack, Touch of Clarity, and Weapon Kick Up from SpirosBlaak
Acrobatic Attack, Attuned, Channel Touch, Cut Arrows, Epiphany, Feign Death, Flamboyant Display, Improved Inertial Armor, Improved Touch Attack, Manifest on the Run, Precognitive, Psychic Leech, Psychic Turnabout, Rapid Recovery, Spoilsport, Strong Mind, Trailblazing, Unarmed Sunder, Weapon Display, Weapon Flurry, and Whirlwind Defense from Mindshadows
All feats from City Works are included
Favored Enemy Strike and Favored Enemy Strike, Critical from The Book of Hallowed Might
Arcane Battle Feats and Fighting Style Feats from The Book of Iron Might
All General and Eldritch feats from The Book of Roguish Luck
All feats from The Complete Book of Eldritch Might
Bloodline feats from the September 2003 issue of Dragon
Extra feats from E6
All feats from Heroes of Batle are included
General and Wild Feats from Complete Adventurer are included
General and Metamagic Feats from Complete Arcane are included
All feats from Complete Divine are included
All feats from Complete Warrior are included
All Psychic Feats from the Advanced Player's Manual are included
Rationale: Man, there are just too many feats in D20, aren't there?  I've got all these feats in a spreadsheet and it is almost 800 lines.  Every book author felt the need to develop new feats.  However, many of them are good or interesting, so I'm defaulting to letting all of these feats be in my game, and I'll leave it up to players to not pick the sucky ones.
Note that feats can be restricted by race or class.  For example, the Arcane Battle Feats will be limited to high elves only, because only they have the schools that teach such skills; and only Sorcerers can take Bloodline feats.

Chapter Six: Description
Use the Alignment Axis from The Book of Hallowed Might
Religion is changed by having the following list of gods in the game:

Major gods
Kulaj the creator
Urgan the worker
Dorana the water deity
Essoch and Enaul the gods of time
Malloch the treacherous

Minor gods
Akrasia, the thief of time
Chalavar the glutton
Halgrin the screaming lord
Larhoon the blood hunger
Kurzana the builder
Kain the black lord
Luna the protector
Thalander quickheart
Vaath the laugher
Valkon the sky lord
Vogg the firelord
Yaheine the sword maiden
Jode, the guardian of song
Dumathoin the keeper of secrets
Berronar the mother of safety
Hanali Celanil the romantic
Sheela Peryroyl the wise
Segojan Earthcaller the naturist
Flandal Steelskin the forger
Limpang-Lihai
Ehlana
Salamos
Dy'Madra
Syl'Aset

Rationale: My love for Monte Cook's Malhavoc Press comes out here.  I'm using the Celestial River pantheon from the Second Book of Hallowed Might, as well as a bunch of minor gods from a web supplement to another Malhavoc product (Skeyn's Register, maybe).  Each major demi-human race has its own pantheon, and some of the races from Mythic Races that I'm using have their own gods, as well.  Yeah, it's a lot.  You will notice that the standard D&D deities are missing (i.e., Moradin, Carl Glittergold).  I keep waffling on whether to add them or not, but I'm keeping them out for now.  What is here comes from articles in an old Best of Dragon book I have.  The Celestial River pantheon is worshipped all over the world, but the minor gods have very regional followings.

Chapter Seven: Equipment
All base equipment from the Player's Handbook is included
All equipment from the Expanded Psionics Handbook is included
Xephs use equipment from Mindshadows
Wood elves use equipment from Bow & Blade
Other races use equipment from various Dragon magazine articles
Rationale: This one is definitely a work in progress.  The final intent is to give different races and cultures equipment options that reflect their cultures.  For example, the Xeph in my game are going to have a culture that has heavy Indian elements (that's India as in the Asian sub-continent, not Native Americans), as I'm using a lot (though not the battlemechs) from the Mindshadows setting, and I'm making that island the homeland of the Xephs.  And the Grippli, but that's another story, entirely.

Chapter Eight: Combat
Combat Maneuvers and Stunts from the Book of Iron Might are used
Players Roll All the Dice variant rule from the SRD is in play
House rule: negative DEX modifiers can't make Flat-Footed AC higher than regular AC
House rule: five-foot adjusting steps can not be made after making an attack
Rationale:  Not much to mention here, really.  Just adding in some options to enhance the flavor of combat.  The house rule about negative DEX mods and Flat-Footed AC is based on common sense and past game experience.  The house rule about adjusting steps is based on bitter GM experience.

Chapter Nine: Adventuring
No modifications to this chapter

Chapter Ten: Magic and Chapter Eleven: Spells
Due to the use of the E6 system, no spell greater than 3rd level can be directly cast by a character in the game.
The Incantations variant from the SRD is used to handle rituals needed to cast higher-level spells.
Spellsongs (Complete Book of Eldritch Might) are used by the Bard
If a spell exists in a sourcebook, it is an option, but Soul Magic is not used
The Spell Point variant from the SRD is used.  The first metamagic option is used, as well as the Vitalizing variant.
All divine casters use the Spontaneous Divine Casters variant from the SRD
Rationale: The spell point variant gives some extra flexibility to magic users, and the making of all divine casters as spontaneous casters eliminates one of the annoyances from my history of D&D games: that all clerics, no matter their faith, become healers.  While that makes some sense from a metagaming perspective, it doesn't make sense inside the game world.  Why would the god of wisdom grant healing spells?  This way, clerics are encouraged to select spells that reflect their faith.

Now that the rules are out of the way, here is a map of the game world.  This was generated randomly using the fractal generator at the Dire Press website.  This was made months before I ever started this project, but I liked it and think it provides some interesting elements.  World size is roughly the same as Earth, though I think it ends up being a bit larger by 5% or so (I've lost those notes somewhere on my desk).
EDIT: OK, wow, that image upload screwed up.  Let's try that again in another post...

Let's try this...

I will be developing the campaign world slowly.  This will be done through just thinking about it, getting inspired by unrelated readings, talking with people, etc.  Another way it will be developed is through game play.  At this particular time I don't have any specific players in mind; I play with a regular group (when we actually meet...), but their styles and my styles aren't really in alignment.  I like low-powered fantasy, and they want to play epic level superheroes that slay gods.  So, I'll probably never run this world for them.  However, I have no problems playing solitaire games using Mythic or other methods, so I'll occasionally be doing that in the world, to help check for game balance issues and to develop the world.

Thus, I have started working on an area of the world, pictured below.  If you look at the overall world map, you will see a large lake/small sea to the east of the huge inland sea.  This is the one right under the glaciers.  That is the same large lake/small sea in the campaign area map.  This is the western part of a large human-controlled empire that fractured and collapsed around 70 years ago or so.  The land has fractured into a number of different kingdoms, which have been conquering each other ever since.  Thus, there are now roughly a dozen or so different kingdoms vying for dominance.  The game will initially be set in the Kingdom of Lorne, which is NW of the large lake/small sea.  The game will start in the town of New Hoxbee, right at the northern tip of the country, where it borders the unclaimed wild lands (orcs, bugbears, wild elves, barbarian human tribes, ogres, etc.)

I'm currently working on a map of the area, using the old Judges Guild Campaign Cartographer system.  For those of you unfamiliar with it, it is a way of mapping the world.  The base level uses 5 mile wide hexes, each of which contains 25 smaller hexes across.  These smaller hexes are thus each 0.2 miles wide, and contain 25 smaller hexes across, which are each a little more than 40 feet wide.  Heck, you could even have a really large map that had 125 mile wide hexes, though I've not seen that done before.  When I get that to a decent position I'll post it.  I'll note, however, that the final maps I come up with aren't going to slavishly map to the original fractal map of the world; I'm just using that as a basis to get my imagination running.

Ah, screw it, here's a scan of the map of northern Lorne, including New Hoxbee.  The lines connecting settlements are roads; I haven't added any water sources, yet, and only New Hoxbee has been named so far, though the village SE of it will be Brandon's Bridge.  Small villages and thorps are not shown on a map of this scale.  More roads leaving the map will need to be added, as well.

I'm using the map symbols from old classic D&D maps.  I tried to attach it to the post, as well, but it didn't look right.  Ah, well.  Ask questions if you need to.

[blockquote=LR]For examples, Samurai and Shugenja classes are restricted to the Grey Elves only, because their culture will be based on feudal Japan (they intentionally cut themselves off from the rest of the world, and are thus very insular, just like Japan was during part of its history). [/blockquote]
Okay, first interesting snippet.  This makes me happy.  I like some reason for a race to be separate, as most setting have no reason for them to be that way.

I like low-power fantasy, and changed my systems for the same reason.  Your logic of high-power creatures being defeated more 'realistally' resonates for me (the highest PC HP in my setting is 44, for a 12 year old character).

About the Gods, dump the traditional.  No reason to make your campaign more like everyone elses.  But who worships the other gods, if you have racial deities?  Are those then the 'human' gods?

Ish will be thrilled about the Indian/hindu element.  You guys can talk about the variety of ankus' you want to use together.  (and I know you know what that is....)

Looking forward to reading your mana recharge rules from E6, and how they affect change.

All in all, a good read, and I look forward to the world specifics.  

[blockquote LV]About the Gods, dump the traditional. No reason to make your campaign more like everyone elses. But who worships the other gods, if you have racial deities? Are those then the 'human' gods?[/blockquote]

Yes, and no.  Humans don't worship the gods specific to other races (with one notable exception which I hope to write about eventually), but that doesn't mean that demi-human races don't worship any of the 'human' gods, because they do.  This especially relates to the major deities, the Celestial River Pantheon (the first six listed).  These are major gods for the entire planet and worship of one or more of them can be found everywhere, even in the very uncivilized parts of the world if you look hard enough.

And thanks for the kind words.  As I get my myriad ideas out of my head and onto paper (or comptuer file, more likely) I'll post summaries of them here.

Quote from: lionrampantAh, screw it, here's a scan of the map of northern Lorne, including New Hoxbee.  The lines connecting settlements are roads; I haven't added any water sources, yet, and only New Hoxbee has been named so far, though the village SE of it will be Brandon's Bridge.  Small villages and thorps are not shown on a map of this scale.  More roads leaving the map will need to be added, as well.

I'm using the map symbols from old classic D&D maps.  I tried to attach it to the post, as well, but it didn't look right.  Ah, well.  Ask questions if you need to.

OK, so I was sitting around with nothing much to do and whipped this up in an hour or two...

Wow, thanks Steel General!  That looks great.

Since I got that nice color map of north central Lorne, I figured I'd dig out and post what I already have on the kingdom and the town of New Hoxbee.

Kingdom of Lorne
Lorne became independent 62 years ago when the Sundren Empire broke up.  Since then it has expanded its size by conquering some smaller kingdoms and duchies around it.  The throne has changed hands a few times since then, as well.  The current king is from the third family to hold the throne, and he has sat on the throne for 11 years.  He dethroned the previous family in a war.  The previous family had the fortune to have two generations sit the throne.  They also took the throne by war, dethroning the original king that helped break the kingdom free from Imperial control.

The current king, Theodore Delban, has two children: a son and a daughter.  The son, prince Quentan Delban, is from the king's first wife, who died shortly after giving birth.  He is 15 years old.  The daughter, princess Osera Delban, is 10 years old.  Her mother, the king's second wife, was actually a daughter of the previous king.  Theodore Delban took her and made her his wife the night he claimed the throne.  The princess' mother lived a few years before dying under mysterious causes which have never been properly explained.  The prince and princess are quite fond of each other, though the princess hates the king and defies him as much as she can.

King Delban has done a very thorough job of stamping down unrest in the kingdom, and has a penchant for launching wars against surrounding lands whenever the nobility gets uppity, as a way of defusing tension.  The King is very religious, and worships Kulaj, Dorana, and Thalander Quickheart.  The King subscribes to the heretical theory that Kulaj and Thalander mated to create the world.  This is fairly well known, but the local priests play it down as much as they can, as they don't want to have to proclaim the king an apostate.  The priests of Dorana seethe at his apostasy, though, and may do something about it.

The king is 37, and has a new wife, aged only 16.  She is the daughter of a prominent noble family.  Queen Denvey Delban seems very happy with her life, and is currently pregnant.  She does not get along with the prince or the princess.

The Kingdom covers about 100,000 square miles, and has a total population over 3 million.  There used to be more, but there have been a rash of diseases in recent years that have thinned the population from 10 to 15 percent.

Note: The part about the heretical religious beliefs only makes sense when you realize that orthodox Kulaj worship has the world being created by her out of the elements of the Celestial River.  All other gods were created by her (according to orthodoxy, anyway), as well as the world itself, and nobody helped her.  I'll post more about the gods soon, whenever I find where I saved that file...

The Town of New Hoxbee
New Hoxbee is named after Hoxbee, a town hundreds of miles to the SE, in another kingdom that used to be part of the Sundren Empire.
Large Town
Adult population 4,490
Town is led by a baroness, a human level 1 aristocrat.
Town alignment is Lawful Neutral
Everyone in the town is level 1
The town is racially mixed:
80% human
9% halfling
5% elf
3% dwarf
1% gnome
1% half-elf
1% half-orc

The main temple in the town is to Kulaj the creator, though Enaul has a temple as well.  The town covers 109.5 acres of land, and is walled.  The town has seven wards.  The Merchant, Craftsman, River/Bridge, Market, and Gate wards are within the wall.  The Odoriferous Business ward is outside the walls, and is where the tanners and smithy are located.  This ward was recently devastated in fighting against a force of ogres and goblinoids that attacked during the winter from out of the wild lands to the north.  The town walls were damaged, but were not breached in the fighting.

The town is ruled by one power center, the Baroness Elspeth Lorinar

Note: I'm using the wonderful sourcebook, A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe, to develop the details for each kingdom, town, and city.

You're most welcome, glad you like it, and I hope its of use to you.

Steel, I'll check that out soon (already bookmarked it for ease of finding later), but I'm gonna keep dumping out my own ideas for the next few days.