The Campaign Builder's Guild

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In this thread I will be posting my campaign setting bit by bit as I finish it. I will try to start with an overview and go from there.  I will also post links to related threads.

A History of the Island Continent (Work In Progress, Looking For Feedback)[/size]
Discussion of Languages and Dialects
Humans (Looking For Feedback.)[/size]
[spoiler=Design Notes : Humans]
Entry One : Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 11:15AM
I decided early on that I wanted humans to be the focus of this setting, just as they always have been for me.  It isn't really that I don't like the other fantasy races as much as they never seem to belong.  Anytime an elf or a dwarf pops up, they just don't feel right unless they are surrounded by their own kind.

Still, I didn't want to chase players aways by making this a human only setting.  While I might enjoy that and a few rare others might as well, I know that most would not.  That, of course, would be a problem.  What is the point of creating a setting that no one would want to play in?

When I first started writing up the races for the setting, I tried to stick with humans as they are in the 4E PHB.  I wanted to leave them open with little detail so that a player could make a human character that acted like anything and was from anywhere.  Many questions in my first CBG thread about this setting made it clear that doing so would be rather difficult.  Then I saw how Xeviat had presented humans in his setting and I liked the idea of there being main human cultures...so I guess you could say I stole it.  I think he had three human cultures and I also have three but that wasn't intentional.

The first human culture I began working on once I chose this path was the Imperials.  I wanted them to be heavily Roman, just as the people called Imperial in the Elder Scrolls games were.  I didn't intentionally steal that name but I couldn't think of what else to call a people that fill that role.  Imperial just works.  Anyway, the purpose of the Imperials is to kind of show that the now fallen empire that was called Drozia is gone but not forgotten.  However, the Imperial people have fallen far from the true people of Drozia, most without realizing it.

The Imperial people are strict and often quite religious.  It was later pointed out to me that their stat bonuses would make them great Paladins and Clerics in 4E.  While I didn't really think about that going in, I believe that it works out quite well.  I primarily just wanted them to be charismatic and I added the Wisdom bonus for balance and because it seemed the most logical way to go from there.

I put huge amounts of detail into the Imperials.  While working on them I read a little bit about Romans and became interested.  Xeviat was the one that pointed out to me that the strictness of the family unit in Imperial society seems very much like that of the stereotypical hardcore Christian family.  Again, since these people are the remnant of a great Roman-like civilization, I feel this worked out quite well.  I'm not going to say I'm so clever as to have planned that out, though.  Most of my good work just kind of falls into place on its own.

The more that I worked on the Imperials the less I wanted to work on other things.  You'll notice that they are far more detailed than any of the other human cultures and will probably be the most detailed culture in the setting, at least right away.  I can justify this, though.  In truth, the Imperials took the least creating on my part.  If you look at them, they do seem to draw on solid real world things the most.  The other two main human cultures are more abstract ideas and things that I do not know much about.  Also, as I stated before, the Imperials were in part inspired by the race with the same name from the Elder Scrolls games and I had recently been playing Elder Scrolls games (mostly Morrowind but also a little Oblivion) in most of my free time for the last several months.  Lastly, Imperials will probably play a large part in the first campaign that I run in this setting.  A campaign that some of you who read this may even take part in.

Moving on...I mentioned above that the Imperials were often quiet religious.  Their religion was easy for me.  I just infused it with some of the basic principles that I wanted the culture to run on and made up some basic gods.  Okay, I didn't make them up so much as I took Roman deities and D&D deities and combined them (in purpose as well in name).  I then made up a little story about how they relate to each other and that was that.  I even left a bit of room for interpretation.  I also let the religion of the Imperials run into their calendar (which will be used pretty much by all humans and by other races when dealing with humans).  One thing that I tried to suggest there or at least leave open is the idea that Belres may be annually disloyal to Vallor to calm Voltune.  This has potential to work it's way into roleplaying, I believe, and give the culture more real personality to the players.

Of course, I still feel that the Imperial religion (as well as, more obviously, the Highlander religion and, to a lesser extent, the Noma religion) is not fully fleshed out.  I may work on that more as time goes on when I start doing regular articles to expand on the basic framework of the setting.  That may be a long time however, and while I am not begging or actively recruiting at all, if anyone would like to work on this themselves and share the results with me, they are very much welcome to.  Again, I'm not trying to recruit anyone to do my work for me but if anyone would enjoy doing so, they may do so with my blessing.

I'm sure that I could go on for quite a while longer yet...and I very likely will later on.  But I will end this, my first entry of my Design Notes articles here.  It seems that this first one was almost entirely about the Imperials and I am fine with that.  In fact, I think it seems quite fitting.  For now, though, I will go and ready myself for the day.  Since I do not have internet at the moment, I am likely to come back to this later today.  My next topic is likely to be the Highlander people.  (I am currently amused that OpenOffice Writer is telling me that 'internet' is not a word.)  So for now, farewell and I hope I have provided some form of insight or at least been entertaining enough that you will return for more of this later;

--- D!

Entry Two : Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 12:00PM
Alright, I'm cleaned up and ready to face the day.  The next part of that day : a second entry on my Design Notes.  This is probably mostly for me since it is unlikely that many people, if any at all, will read this.  I'll understand if no one wants to since it would likely not be interesting to most people.  Still, if you choose to read what has come before this and what shall come after, I thank you very warmly.  This should give some insight into what I am going for with my setting, if I have not been clear enough (which I believe that I probably have not been).

Now I should probably explain HOW I am doing this.  In truth, I should have explained that last time but I did not.  These 'entries' or 'articles' that I am calling simply 'Design Notes' (because that is more or less what they are) will be pretty much stream of consciousness.  Sure, I'll go back and correct things from time to time, but this is pretty much straight from my brain, to my fingers, to the keyboard, and to the screen.  As such, I will miss things and this may get disorganized.  That's fine, I'm just putting things down.  And, like I said before, no one else is likely to be reading this, anyway.  Of course, if you are, don't let this talk stop you.  Please continue.

There was another thing that I should have mentioned about the Imperials in my last entry.  Because of the way I am doing this, though, I forgot and I will do it now.  Imperials are very xenophobic.  They can tolerate other humans and even get along with them, particularly the Noma, but dislike other races.  Imperials are most at home with only other Imperials around.  This is part of their fall from grace as Drozia was not at all this way.  In fact, I picture Drozia kind of like the D&D default as far as racial interaction, though less extreme.  When Drozia was in power, there were likely Hill Dwarves and Middle Elves living in the cities of the empire.

That brings me to a little bit of back story of the setting that I haven't really put out there before.  On this island continent, there is an organization called the Order of the Watchers.  Yes, they were partially inspired by the Watchers from Highlander.  Anyway, The Order of the Watchers was founded by the first known formal nation on the island continent.  That, of course, being the ancient Elvaan state known as Mhyt.  Yes that is just Myth rearranged but no that nation is no myth.  It actually existed but I want it to have that kind of odd, mysterious quality to it.  The only ones that are likely to know much about Mhyt are the Order of the Watchers and the oldest of the Dragons...and neither group is likely to tell anyone much, even if one manages to find them.  Moving on; The Order of the Watchers serves one purpose that is very obvious, given their name.  They observe and record things.  The observe and record everything.  Originally, that was only within Mhyt.  Eventually, though, the Order got something called the Gift from the hags of the Goblii.  The Gift allows whoever has the ability to see some of what has been, some of what could be, and much of what is.  Problem is, it changes people...which is the one way I may allow something like Tieflings into the setting, though probably not ever as a playable race.  It also takes a great power to make it work (which is probably what actually causes the change) and in stealing inspiration from Dune and kind of from the setting that is floating around called The Residuum Must Flow (which is by a fellow called clark411, I believe, and if you can find it on any forum you should read it, it's absolutely brilliant) that power probably comes from residuum, which will not be common in my setting at all.  

Okay, now I have to go back and read so I can figure out where I'm at...got it.  The Order of the Watchers has the gift, which they got from the hags of the Goblii.  The hags are the only female Goblii.  They used to have special powers (the Gift) long ago but that was lost to them after the magical fallout that changes all the inhabitants of the island and created many of the current races or subraces or whatever.  Also, the Gift is unable to accurately see things related to those races that were changed.  That is its greatest flaw.  Again, moving on with this; Drozia was an empire built primarily by humans (with the help of others) and maintained by all.  Particularly the Middle Elves and the Hill Dwarves through all their support behind Drozia but also, to a lesser extent, the High Elves and the Mountain Dwarves.  They all believed that Drozia was THE thing to bring peace to the island continent.  Drozia to them was civilization.  Well, the humans messed it up.  Different ideas and ideals, within the framework of Drozia popped up and humans started infighting, just as humans always do.  Each human faction believed that they were right and thought that everyone else, even the other races should be on their side.  The other races didn't take sides.  They stayed out of the infighting and Drozia fell.  The thing is, though, most of the ideas and ideals that caused these problems were brought in by the other races trying to help.  They worked to make Drozia great and caused its fall in the process.  Because of this, all elves and dwarves were bound to something called the Shadowpact by the Grey Council (the leading council of the Order of the Watchers).  This Shadowpact is an agreement that they will now stay out of the affairs of humans, who they all see as a kind of child race by comparison to themselves.

Wow, that was a lot.  It wasn't what I had planned to talk about, either.  Well, it does seem like full entry anyway so I guess I will end here.  I'll be starting on the next one pretty quickly, though.

--- D!

Entry Three : Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 12:30PM
I'm back.  Now I think I shall pick up where I had planned to last time.  That is with the Highlander people.  This time I will also look over what I already have written about them so I am less likely to miss things.  Here I go.

The basic idea for Highlanders was that they would be humans but influence more by other races.  Mostly by the dwarves, specifically Hill Dwarves, but also a bit by elves.  I wanted to hint a bit at possible dwarven blood in their ancestry by having them be a bit shorter and heavier than Imperials, who serve as kind of a baseline human in this setting.  They also have hair and whatnot more in line with the dwarves.  All the names that I included in their entry are Norse first names that I found on a baby name website.  Even what I have listed as family names for the Highlanders are Norse first names that I though would be fitting family names.  I think most, if not all, of them had meanings related to hills or rocks or stones or whatever.  That works for me.

I considered different names for the Highlanders.  The first name I was going to go with with Hillfolk.  However, that sounded almost like a slur against them.  Also, it seems to indicate that they live in hills and not mountains (they actually live in either) and it sounded like a better name for a monster if I chose to make one.  I ended up going with Highlanders and I will probably stick to that.  It works.

My idea was that the Highlanders were kind of the generic rough and tough mountain people.  They hunt for their food and generally just live a simple kind of life.  I like that about them and it serves to further relate them to the dwarves.  Because of where and how they live, I decided that there would be a lot of interaction and probably a lot of trade between Highlanders and Hill Dwarves.  I even kind of left in the possibility that communities could exist that are made up of Highlanders and Hill Dwarves together.

Highlanders didn't really start to show up until near the end of the time of Drozia.  They didn't like the 'civilized' city life and so they left.  They're still human, sure, but they're very different from what is 'normal'.  In this setting, they effectively replace Half Elves (which I have never really been a big fan of) and Half Dwarves (which I always felt there should be if there are Half Elves).  Also, I suppose they are kind of in place of Half Orcs, though some kind of Half Goblii race could one day show up in this setting, probably alongside Highlanders.  I'd like to see what WotC does with that race first.  If I like it, I'll steal it.  If I don't like it, I'll leave it or create it on my own.  It's certainly not overly important for this setting.

Highlanders are not overly religious but a Highlander religion does exist.  I am admitting that I am not finished with that.  What I have so far is the basics of the religion, which are more focused on the people than on their gods, and some Imperial deities with how they work for the Highlanders.  The rest of the Highlander pantheon will probably be taken from the dwarves.

Mechanically, I kept the Highlanders much like the Imperials, just reflavored (including different stat bonuses and whatever).  Highlanders obviously are more likely to serve as fighters or something along those lines.  They're tough and not overly fond of magic.  Works for me.

--- D!

Entry Four : Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 12:50PM
Originally, this setting was just going to be me taking the core stuff and deciding how it would fit into the world when I ran the game.  I'm incapable of keeping things that simple, though, and have since begun building this entire continent (as well as ideas for other parts of the world which will serve as different settings one day).  That is mostly why this setting seems very generic.  That's kind of what I wanted.  Something simple where I can say the humans are here and they're just like us (full of potential with a habit of screwing things up majorly), the dwarves are here and they're like this, and they elves are here and they're like this.

I had a hard time with some of the races of the PHB.  I already covered the half elves.  Good riddance.  The Tieflings were mentioned previously, too.  They will not really be around, though there may be a small place for them.  I'm not a fan of them.  I think they're silly, to tell the truth.  The Dragonborn were another issue but I got that one figured out.  They'll be in the setting but they'll be called Dragonfolk, they'll be different, and they'll be rare.  If you hadn't noticed yet I've been changing some names to make this all more my own.  It should usually be clear what I'm talking about, though.

Finally we come to the halflings...those silly little halflings.  Obviously, halflings were originally only in D&D because of JRR Tolkien's Hobbits.  Hobbits are silly, too.  They worked for those stories and for that world but they should have just stayed there.  Don't get me wrong, I like the halflings of core D&D...in core D&D.  They have their own place and their own style.  I might even get around to playing one in 4E eventually.  Just because I like them in the core, though, doesn't mean I like them in my world.  At first, I was going to have halflings...then I changed my mind.  Instead, I will have just the Noma.  They are humans and are very gypsy-like.

Noma are nomads...obviously.  The name comes from 'Nomad' and 'Roma'.  'Noma'.  It works for me.  Anyway, the Noma are nomads, in a way, that travel from settlement to settlement to celebrate Sojoho, the never ending festival dedicated to their goddess, Sojo.  In these settlements, the Noma sell, entertain, and steal so that they can get all they need to continue their journey.  They're always on the go and very communal.  They can effectively replace halflings but are my own.

Mechanically, I chose to make the Noma like halflings in medium size.  Maybe slightly unbalancing, I'm not sure.  It works, though, as that is the role that they are supposed to fill.  I might get to changing that someday but not right now.  For now, that is good enough for me.

--- D!

Entry Five : Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 1:15PM
I realize that the main problem people are likely to take with my humans is that they all have predetermined stat bonuses and that they all have a purpose, a role, and they're own place.  People will only ever see this as an issue with humans.  It's kind of sad, in a way, but we all seem incapable of thinking of another race as being capable of the same level of adaptability as we are ourselves.

Mechanically, I do see the purpose for the standard human.  They are adaptable and able to fill any role you can dream up that nothing else really works for.  That is why I decided to allow the standard human to remain.  It will represent settlements or tribes where the people don't fit one of the three main human cultures and are their own thing.  It will also represent those who live among one of the three main cultures but are not just like everyone else.  They don't fit in, they don't belong, whatever.  The point is that they are not the same.  

With this, I think I have covered all the bases I reasonably can with humans.  I did this to try to encourage a party that is mostly, or entirely, human.  To me, that feels better.  It feels more real and allows for getting into the game a lot more.  I will still allow players to create characters of other races, just like I said I would in the beginning.  I have just tried to make the human more appealing.  Also, regardless of what race the character is, they will always have to have a good explanation for why they are where they are and why they are doing what they are doing.  That is a big thing for me.

I may make a continuation of this someday, most likely when there is more information about humans in my canon to discuss, but for now I will draw this particular line of Design Notes to a close.  I hope someone has read these and gained something from them.  So long;

--- D![/spoiler]
The information on the humans of the island continent that had been posted in this thread is being removed as it is being updated.  To see the current versions and participate in the discussions that will bring about the updates, click here.[/font]

On Languages and Language Dialects of the Island Continent

The many and diverse inhabitants of the island continent speak almost as many different languages.  Today more languages are spoken there than at any other time during the course of history.  It is easy for the trained ear of a skilled linguist to identify that most of these languages, while spoken by different peoples in different environments, have descended through time from a much smaller number of root languages.  The changes have taken place gradually, influenced by countless factors, but the result is a peculiar one.

It is common for people of two distinct cultures, who speak very differently from one another, to need to communicate.  When these people speak dialects of the same root language it is quite possible, though with a little difficulty.  Sometimes different pronunciations for like words are used and slang is an ever present problem.  However, with a little effort, successful communications can be achieved.  

What This Means

Distinct language dialects will be considered their own unique languages.  Each language will now also be given a root language.  

When two individuals attempt to communicate using different languages that share a common root language, they are able to do so, only with some difficulty.  This difficulty is represented by a -4 penalty on skill checks for Bluff, Diplomacy, and Insight.  This -4 penalty will also be applied to Intimidate and Streetwise skill checks that are made involving verbal communication (such as making verbal threats, gathering information, ect...).

When two individuals attempt to communicate using different languages that do not share a common root language, the results are the same as normal (no language-based verbal communication is possible).

On some occasions, differences in the way of speaking may vary even within the same language dialect.  This is due mostly to slang that is used in on settlement or region but not in another.  In most situations, this is easy to work past.  However, in extreme situations, this may also cause a penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy, Insight, and even Intimidate or Streetwise.  This is to be done at DM's discretion but the penalty should never exceed -2.

Root Languages

Drozi  Drozi is the name now used for the language spoken by the first humans to arrive on the island continent.  It is likely that this was not it's original name.  Instead, it is believed that the name was given to and named after the empire that made use of it as an official trade language.  

Dwarven  Dwarven is the name given to the language first spoken by dwarves when they came to the island continent.  (Note this name comes not from the dwarves but from outsiders, most likely humans.)

Scripts

Drozi  Drozi is the name of the human script normally used for the language with the same name.

Dvergmal  Dvergmal is the complex runic script used by the dwarves for writing in their ancient language.

[th]Language[/th][th]Root[/th][th]Script[/th]

Dwarven	Dwarven	Dvergmal
Highlander / Dwarf Trade*	Drozi / Dwarven	Drozi / Dvergmal**
Imperial / Drozi***	Drozi	Drozi
Noma	Drozi	Drozi

*The languages Highlander and Dwarf Trade are not actually the same language.  However, they are similar enough that those who speak one of them can easily communicate with those who speak the other.  As such, they do not get the -4 penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Insight.  Due to certain differences in word usage and slang, however, the DM may choose to apply a penalty in a manner as described above, not exceeding -2.
**Highlanders would use Drozi as their script while Hill Dwarves would use Dvergmal.  The languages are particularly similar though not identical and so if one is choosing the language to learn (in other words, is not a Highlander or Hill Dwarf) the particular language chosen is most important when determining what script they learn to write the language with.  Many Highlanders or Hill Dwarves that do a lot of trading may know both.
*** Imperial is the most direct descendant from the Drozi language and the two are alike in almost all respects.  The languages Imperial and Drozi are not actually the same language.  However, they are similar enough that those who speak one of them can easily communicate with those who speak the other.  As such, they do not get the -4 penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Insight.  Due to certain differences in word usage and slang, however, the DM may choose to apply a penalty in a manner as described above, not exceeding -2.

Version 1.3
Discussion of this should be directed  here. [/font]

The information on the humans of the island continent that had been posted in this thread is being removed as it is being updated.  To see the current versions and participate in the discussions that will bring about the updates, click here.

The information on the humans of the island continent that had been posted in this thread is being removed as it is being updated.  To see the current versions and participate in the discussions that will bring about the updates, click here.

The information on the humans of the island continent that had been posted in this thread is being removed as it is being updated.  To see the current versions and participate in the discussions that will bring about the updates, click here.

Great setting! I'm looking forward to seeing how you fit elves in. I understand your not using Halflings or Teiflings, what about Dragonborn?

Oops...so sorry for posting. Really, I went back to read something and I realized my mistake. Sorry!