The Campaign Builder's Guild

Introduction  

What is the Alacaron Campaign Setting?

I first had the idea when I decided to wallpaper the mirrored closet door of mine with computer paper so I could turn it into a huge DnD map. Crazy? just a little.

The most important thing about Alacaron is that it is Game Neutral. It is designed with no specific Roleplaying Game in mind. It is ideal for Dungeons and Dragons, but also GURPS, Rifts, or your own homebrewed Game System. It is 100% pure fluff, with interesting NPCs, Villains, and magic. It is with the principal of empowering Game Masters, not taking away the preparation. So with all the information presented here you can write your own adventures, stat my monsters your way and give abilities to my artifacts to fit your play style.

Secondly, it is not divided into Countries. Naturally, there are countries in Alacaron, but political lines on a map are not nearly as important as the Zones. A Zone is essentially an area with a common theme that can serve as a whole campaign. It has cities, wilderness, dungeons, and more. This is designed to serve as a menu for Game Masters, you might really enjoy the idea of a Greek/Trojan campaign set in Rhodos, or the bleak Nordic existence of Nordheim. Take what you enjoy the most, leave the rest behind. The Alacaron Campaign is best used when you steal from me and use it in your own campaigns at home. The Alacaron motto is "Steal This NOW!"

Finally, Alacaron is enormous. Remember, that mirror of mine has a lot of room. There are several nations, continents, gods, [note]Below are a whole lot of posts with names of categories, most of them are empty right now. But there is more to come. I want you all to post here, give me feedback etc. I am going to become more active here on the boards and start posting and offering comments. Tell me what you like the most, but also what you want to see, ask questions. The more the better I say :D[/note]  etc. My goal is somewhere around 100 gods or something similar, each racial group has their own pantheon. There are also Alternate Alacarons, alternate universes that are very different from the planes. For example, my favorite is Mirror Alacaron, all the evil is good and all the good is evil. Then of course there is an Alacaron where so and so won the war, etc. etc.

Alacaron is full of High Magic, High Fantasy, and has room for all sorts of roleplaying opportunities. It is inspired by both real world civilizations and histories as well as plenty of other fantasy worlds. It is a diverse and sprawling world, filled with millions of people all trying to make a living by any means necessary.

 Races

There are so many different cultures in Alacaron.

-Wild Elves: In the Emerald Islands, the Wild Elves of Pahlua are influenced strongly by the Hawaiians/Polynesians. They are a tribe of spear warriors.

-Dark Elves: Corrupt by dark magic, they have taken principle of the  [note] A note on Elves: The dark elves aren't evil per say. They are just delusional as a society. In their eyes, the world is there to be controlled, preferably by them. I was inspired by a story my father told me while he was in the Air Force. He had served a little with some soldiers from Saudi Arabia, and was surprised by the culture shock. According to my father, we had given or sold the Saudis tanks to use. However, the Saudi mentality was "I am a Saudi Male, and tank maintenance is beneath me." and so they paid the US army to keep their tanks maintained. This story is nothing against the Saudi Arabian people, and is more then likely a gross misrepresentation. That being said I wanted to take that representation and push to the very extreme. The dark elves are this way, they are self centered and dominant.

The High Elves, you may notice, are a little bland. The hope was that these are your standard high elves. So they can fit in any campaign setting, and they serve as a measuring stick to be compared to some of the other elves, specifically the Wild Elves who are very Hawaiian. [/note] haughty and looking down ones nose to the very extreme, so far to the extreme that ever dark elf is raised with the belief that they are the supreme race dedicated to dominating all other forms of life.

-High Elves: Haughty Cousins of the dark elves, the high elves are long lived (some even living what would constitute as an immortal life) and have plans that have been moving for centuries. They are more or less you're typical Elf.

-Shield Dwarves: steampunk dwarves armed with guns, clockwork golems, and other technological advances. They have made use of the dwarven underground, a series of tunnels for an elaborate steam driven train system. This is the key to dwarven supremacy.

-Gold Dwarves: Another case of extremes. The gold dwarves are greed run amok. A citadel dedicated to excess, it is built of precious metals. Unfortunately, few enjoy dealings with the Gold Dwarves. The shield dwarf guild who is in charge of the underground rarely travels to the citadel due to high fees.

-Gnomes: A race of thieves and pirates. The Gnomes have a strong alliance with the shield dwarves. But are mostly hated by everyone else, especially the gold dwarves. To them, the gnomes represent chaos and communism, two things the gold dwarves cannot stand for ever.

Pantheon
Alacaron is full of gods, goddesses, and other divine beings. Some societies overlap worship, and deities have been known to be worshiped in two different civilizations by two different names. These deities are statless, meaning that there is no number to quantify the infinite might of the strength god. It is up to the GM if she wants to give stats to the Avatars of these divine beings.

 [spoiler]Dark Elf Pantheon
Heraklis, God King of the Dark Elves
Once a Dark Elf sorcerer, Heraklis ascended to divinity when he lead his people to damnation by turning to dark and demonic  powers.  
Areas of Concern: Domination, Trechery, Sorcery, and Dark Elves
Common Worshipers: Most dark elves see Heraklis as their primary deity. Especially nobility, soldiers, and sorcerers.

Heraklis' Concubines
Minor deities who are servants of Heraklis, they are beautiful women who captured the Dark Lord Heraklis' attention and were blessed with power. Together with Heraklis they have spawned thousands of horrible monstrosities through their unholy coupling. The Concubines are worshiped by most dark elves, usually through a small shrine at home or in the temple. Their favor is usually called upon when help is needed in their particular area of expertise. Very rarely does a worshiper pray to only one of Heraklis' Concubines.

 Yamata
Areas of Concern: War and Strength

 Watsumi
Areas of Concern: Enchantment and Seduction

 Kiyohime
Areas of Concern: Slavery and Greed

 Zenya
Areas of Concern: Poison and Assassinations

 Inari
Areas of Concern: Tyrrany and Corruption

 Mizuchi
Areas of Concern: Intrigue and Subterfuge

 Dorga
Areas of Concern: Lust and Plessure

 Wani
Areas of Concern: Vampirism and Undeath
[/spoiler]
 [spoiler] The Nordheim Pantheon

Worshiped by the wild nomads of the frozen north, these four gods take many shapes depending on which tribe you speak to.

 Yord the Storm King
Areas of Concern: Storms, Magic, and Glaciers
Common Worshipers: Storm mages, explorers, and ice mages

 Slad the War Lord
Areas of Concern: War, Death in Battle, and Honor
Common Worshipers: Marauders, warriors, and chieftains

 Svorn the Beast Master
Areas of Concern: Beasts, Druids, and Nature
Common Worshipers: Druids, berserkers, and huntsmen

 Heinrich the Sea God
Areas of Concern: The ocean, sailing, fishing, and raiding
Common Worshipers: Reavers, sailors, and fishermen
[/spoiler]
 [spoiler] The High Elf Pantheon

Worshipers of the many moons of the High Elf Pantheon.

Frey the Shining God of All
Areas of Concern: The Sun and Nobility

Orelinde the Crimson Lady
Areas of Concern: The Red Moon, War, and Swords
Common Worshipers: Warriors

Silimaure the Obsidian Lord
Areas of Concern: The Black Moon, Spying, and Thievery
Common Worshipers: Thieves

Earane the Pure Lady
Areas of Concern: The White Moon, and Healing
Common Worshipers: Healers

Melwasul the Emerald Lord
Areas of Concern: The Green Moon, Nature, and Druids
Common Worshipers: Druids.

Naesse the Golden Lord
Areas of Concern: The Yellow Moon, Prophecy, and the Future
Common Worshipers: Oracles
 [/spoiler]

Albion
Forged thousands of years ago by Kolothor Lagarde, The Empire of Albion is a force to be reckoned with in Alacaron. A puritanical breed, they had  [note]Albion is based a lot on England, but just a little more on America. Now we see a nation that once was a super power but now is a little on the decline (sorry America). Kolothor is a man who after centuries of arcane magic is something of immortal. You might also see some comparisons with the humans in Warhammer, but only barely. I'm doing my best to avoid all that, so no one worships the Emperor or anything. [/note] once had an empire that spanned the globe. Unfortunately, the empire is on the decline, it has spread itself too thin across it's many colonies and Lagarde, now 5,034 years old, is facing the end of a rule he built from nothing.

The state religion of Albion is the Church of the Light, a monotheistic and puritanical religion that stands for a few things:
1. Arcane Magic is the path to eternal damnation.
2. Most other races are lesser then man.
3. Man was put on the world to conquer and rule over the creation of the Light.
4. Do unto others, as they will do unto you. Because all other races will enslave mankind if it were not for the militant arm of the church, the Lightbearers.

Zones

Avalon: The largest city in the empire, it rests as the doorway into the Emerald Islands. It is a major trade hub and is chock full of adventure opportunities. As far as zones go it is a great "got everything" city. Like Sharn or Waterdeep. It is the most progressive out of all of Albion as far as tolerance of other races go.

Stratton: A small colony in the north, it is a stronghold for the Church of the Light and their movement. Here, paladins come to train, priests come to learn, and pilgrims come to pray at the Stone of Tribaltran, a large glowing gem said to bear a small fraction of the power of the light.

Nordheim

The frozen north is home to the Nords, a group human barbarian tribes dedicated to cold and heartless gods. The Nords are known to be noble, brave, and courageous. However to the southlanders they are monsters from the north who swoop in on great longboats and steal from fishing villages. Usually they take only sheep, cattle, and chickens but they have been known to be brutal and violent.

Zones
The Glacial Sea: A long expanse of ice that reaches across the north pole of Nordheim. They say you can walk across it and reach the other side of the world in a few days. However, this is madness and no one who has attempted such a foolish trip has ever survived.

Godthab: The only permanent settlement of the Nords. It is a testament to their powerful ice mages because it is a citadel carved into the ice itself. Although the ice is a flowing and moving thing, the mages work to keep the city stationary.

Zoran
The wild jungle

Kazzak
Domain of the Dwarves

Rhodos
The "Clash of the Titans" adventure

Arbogast
The blasted desert

Eltan
The Realm of Sorcery

Polygos Island

Hundreds of years ago, Thaddeus was a simple fisherman's son with a love for the sea, until a strange woman came to the village. She was vampire, a  horrible  beast of the night. She turned Thaddeus that night, and in his hunger driven insanity he devoured his entire village in a brutal orgy of blood. 153 men, women, and children were killed that night. Including a young witch who cursed the newly born vampire with her dying breath.

Today Thaddeus is a predator, a master of a fleet of vampire pirates who are always on the hunt for prey. Thaddeus has 4 ships under his command: The Blood Spray, The Blood Lust, The Blood Sacrifice, and The Blood Letting. His flag ship is a huge warship named The Irene Sterling which according to witness reports can fly off the sea. But that's just crazy talk.

The Irene Sterling is named for Thaddeus' lost love, the last woman in his village he killed and the woman who cursed him for all eternity. According to sources, the curse was to ensure that Thaddeus would never rest and would never be able to escape his unlife of damnation, she stripped him of all the frailties of Vampirism. Thaddeus' flesh does not burn by the sun, he does not fear the water, he never sleeps, and he cannot die. To some, this would be a blessing, however he will live with his constant hunger for all eternity, a hunger that will never fade no matter how much blood he drinks, and when the world ends his soul will continue on in a horrible state of suffering.

Polygos is his domain now. Once a fishing colony of Albion it is now a dead man's zone, an island surrounded my mystical storms. The Church of the Light in Albion has been spending a lot of resources trying to reclaim the island, it is their hope to rebuild Polygos into a temple-citadel.

The Emerald Islands
Gems of Alacaron and the Empire of Man

Canfield
Dwarven Human Settlement, Gateway to the Dark Moor

The Dark Moor
A blasted land known by many names, the blasted peninsula of the Dark Moor is a horrible place corrupted by dark magics. The soil is poison that has mutated anything that once grew there. The landscape is now a twisted  hellscape. Trees with teeth instead of leaves, a mountain of quiver ceremonies they carry out here in the Dark Moor. quivering flesh, and freakish beasts roaming the wastes. Here live small bands of mutant humans worshipers of dark and corrupt gods. No one knows what evil ceremonies these cultists are carrying out.

Zones
The White Wall: A huge elven fortress stretching from one side of the Dark Moor to the other side. It is here that the High Elves stand against the tide, just as they have for thousands of years.

The Blood Plane: A horrible prairie drenched in the blood of who knows what. It is a war zone, here the elven rangers pick off any horror who comes close enough to the White Wall. It filled with the constant stench of dried sticky blood, rot, and suffering.

Venut
Plagued Lands

Cerellia
Land of the High Elves, Guarding the world from the Dark Moor