The Campaign Builder's Guild

So this forum game would be set in the non-setting-specific, generic dwarven kingdom of Silffdor u-Khazad, located in the Silffdor Mountains and nearby territories, on the continent of... uhm... Baanala. It is a confederation more than a kingdom, made up of several clans who (generally speaking) inhabit their own areas of the mountains. Each clan is led by a Thane, and all of the major clans have their own fortresses. The current king is Krak Hammerhand the Third, of clan Hammerhand. Kings are usually Thanes, although legally speaking, any dwarf (male or, more rarely, female) could become ruler of the kingdom. The king is elected by Thanevote, i.e., each thane has a vote to cast, and he with the majority becomes king.

Surrounding the Kingdom, and stretching East and South to the ends of the continent, lie the Silffdor mountains. These are the traditional homeland of the dwarves, and although such peoples can be found the length and breadth of the mountains and Silffdor u-Khazad is the most powerful of the dwarven kingdoms, only a small minority of the clans come under its rule. The further you get from the heartland of Silffdor u-Khazad, the more different the dwarves become - to the East, they speak human languages and worship corrupted human gods, to the south, they bear gnomish inventions and follow their religions.


Beyond them to the West, the mountains trail down into the Beast Forest, which, predictably, is inhabited by beastmen and all sorts of other horrible creatures. The Beast Forest (or Beastwood) stretches for hundreds of miles, and the only known things beyond it are the Kvellar City States, about which little is known (although they are believed to be the furthest point of civilisation).

North of the Silffdor Mountains lies what is christened in the dwarf tongue 'Veraukzlobund' or 'Where The Orcs Live', vast plains scattered with ruins and orcish fortress-cities. Little is known about what lies north of these lands, mainly because nobody has entered orc lands and lived to tell the tale without taking an army with them.

To the East of the Kingdom lie other races' lands... the Elven Forest (where Elves live), Noomm Laand (where Gnomes live) and, perhaps most importantly, the Human Kingdom of Zangia. Whilst until now Zangia has remained mainly neutral towards the dwarves, expanding slowly towards the mountains but never crossing the set borders - mainly because the dwarves provide a barrier against the orcs. Beyond this coastline lie the Sunrise Islands - halfling lands, from whence nothing (according to a famous dwarven proverb) but 'irritation and horse-urine beer' ever comes.

[spoiler=A typical dwarf map]

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The players of this game would play various clans (at least nominally within Silffdor u-Khazad), who would then govern their own lands and the Kingdom as a whole through diplomacy, skullduggery, and voting in the dwarven parliament. I'll give you more details if sufficient interest is shown. :)

Where are the goblins?

I'll play as the western-most clan whose main job is to be a buffer between the beast-wood and the rest of the dwarves.
My clan is called the Panzjaeger. roughly translated into armored hunter.

How much influence do players have over the flavour of their clans? I might be interested in running a fairly isolationistic clan with odd customs, seen as a bunch of backwoods weirdoes through most other dwarves' eyes.

If we have alot of influence over the flavor I would be up for playing a clan of warriors, well known for being the first to battle and the last to fall back. Dwarves that see honor in such things.

If I played, I think I would be tempted to play a mining clan, who are obssessed with mining the core of the earth (they think its some giant gem)

The Goblins, of course, live with the orcs. Also in the Beastwood. EVERYTHING lives in the Beastwood. Serious.

As for the flavour of your clans - well. You're welcome to do practically anything with them that fits with the general dwarfy flavour. I would suggest that more outlandish clans lie along the outskirts of the dwarven kingdom.

Ok well I am going to play the equivalent of dwarven sparta. Strong warriors with a proud warrior tradition.

Good start. I'll post up more information tomorrow - the dwarven church, various different stances, the economy of the kingdom, and current political affairs. Then you can write up detailed clan sheets and we can be off!

Waitin' for the church stuff (surprised?). . . So are players essentially the Thanes of their clans?

I've got mine's basics out so...

The Dwarven Church

Officially speaking, there are several dwarven churches, one for each recognised deity, with the head of the Temple of Moradin as their 'first among equals' leader. In actuality, the current High Priest of Moradin, Hrang Silvertongue, has so much influence that he might as well be high priest of all the other churches as well. Although they are all 'independent' bodies, each temple has certain things it shares with others - for example, certain shrines are dedicated to more than one god.

The historical three dwarven Gods are Moradin (God of Dwarves), Berronar (Goddess of Family), and Clangeddin (God of War). Also recognised and part of the dwarven family are Dugmaren (God of Innovation), Dumathoin (God of Secrets), Gorm Gulthyn (God of Protection), Haela (Goddess of Luck), Marthammor (God of Travel), Sharindlar (Goddess of Life) and Vergadain (God of Trade). Those following Gods have been declared by various dwarven prophets and have now become part of the mainstream religion. Abbathor is another God who is considered 'awkward' by many priests. He represents Greed, traditionally seen as a negative aspect, and those that steal from others - definitely a bad thing in dwarven society. He is mainly seen as one of the Enemies (see below). However, some minor chapels of Abbathor have been set up lauding him instead as the God of Ambition.

The Enemies

Deep Duerra (psionics), Laduguer (toil), and usually Abbathor (greed) make up this particular section of the pantheon. The former two are Duergar gods - Laduguer is believed to have been an original part of the pantheon, until the Duergar split away from the surfacer dwarves. Abbathor is a dubious matter who is sometimes seen as part of the main pantheon as the God of Ambition. The enemies can be legally prayed to, but generally in requests to smite others or to spare one's family. This is frowned upon but not disallowed in dwarf society.

Clerics

Although divine magic does exist, there are very few who can practise it to any level of great power, and being able to do so does not guarantee you a high place in the Church. Most priests would have, in DnD terms, 1 or 2 levels of cleric (if that), and the High Priest of Moradin would only have 4. The most powerful divine caster in the Kingdom is probably the 'prophet' of Vergadain (self-proclaimed), Bel Farstriding, who would equate roughly to a level 7 cleric. Nobody yet seen can raise the dead, but great acts of healing can be performed.

Inside the Kingdom

 Dwarven stances

There are essentially two main groups of dwarven clans (although many could be considered independent from this), the conservative westerners and the innovative eastern clans. Some of the Eastern clans have been so influenced by humans they do not even speak dwarven any more, and want to follow plans of agriculture and farming rather than the traditional dwarven raid/mercenary/mining/crafting economy that has historically been the base of any dwarven state. Whilst this does not hold true for all clans in the East (some are staunchly traditional) or all clans in the West (some are very modern) it does hold true for a majority. Those in the centre often (but nowhere near always) go for a compromise.

 Current affairs

The present King is an old dwarf by the name of Krak Hammerhand. In his lifetime, he has widened the borders of the Kingdom to the edges of the mountains, and is much appreciated for this. However, he is quite traditional, and has made no important reforms. He is the third in a continuous line of Hammerhand clan Kraks, and it may be that when he dies, the Council will vote for something new.

Zangria is pushing worryingly close to the foothills of the Mountains in the East, but the orcs of the North are still licking their wounds after the last beating the dwarves gave them. The Beastwood seems alarmingly quiet. Trade continues with Zangria and (however much their snobby officials want to deny it) the Elven Forest kingdoms. The goblin tribes living within the mountains have not yet been wiped out, although under Krak their numbers have been almost halved.

The Underdark is now considered partially a legend by many people, and there has been no sign of Duergar or Drow in living memory (and for a dwarf, that's a long time). The same goes for demons and devils.

 Economy

The Dwarven economy is based on four main things: official mercenaries (i.e. bands of dwarves hired out to other nations - historically various powerful baronies in Zangria, other dwarfish kingdoms, etc), raiding orcs and (rarely these days) elves and humans, mining and selling various useful resources, and forging dwarven weapons (in demand from practically everyone). Times are changing, however. Trade with everyone else is mainly sporadic, the occasional trader coming up or down a dirt path into the mountains and searching until he found a settlement. Now, some dwarven clans want proper roads, underpasses, and agriculture to be stepped up immensely. The dwarves do have a currency (the Knut), although they tend to rely more on barter, except to buy truly important things like weapons.

Quote from: Snargash MoonclawWaitin' for the church stuff (surprised?). . . So are players essentially the Thanes of their clans?

Just explaining the role of priests in dwarven society really. And yes, you'd be roleplaying the thane of your clan (particularly at voting time, when agreements and threats and all sorts of things can be made).

Hmmm, is there no God of Mining? Seems that mining would be a mix of Dugmaren (God of Innovation), Dumathoin (God of Secrets) and a bit of Abbathor as God of Ambition.