The Campaign Builder's Guild

Presented below are the details of the campaign, Shadowfell.  It is not a complete world-bible for the campaign, because currently, I need to finish tidying up a certain area, which will be the main campaign area, known as the Crescent.  I will put up various final details, including what I have thus far on races, classes, religion, and magic (which has a lot of work to do).  Here we go...

The Premise and the Conflict
Shadowfell is what would be termed as a dark fantasy.  The mood and tone of the campaign is that of dark foreboding, and lurking evil.  Danger is always on the horizon, and sometimes it's not even that far away.  The campaign is based on the world of Ord and the continent of Alsa Eru, which is the stage for several major conflicts.  The most prominent conflict is that of the Humans vs Monsters.  In this conflict, especially in the main campaign area of the Crescent, the humans (and a few other races) are relatively new to the area, and in the recent history, have supposedly exterminated several clans of the terrible drumen and gretches.  The monsters that were not exterminated completely during this Great Cleansing have dug themselves deep into the bowels of the ancient Holds, and make constant raids upon the people of the Crescent.  The second-most prominent conflict in the Crescent is that of Historical Grudges.  There are a few grudges that run extremely deep in Shadowfell mythology.  Firstly is that of the sydhi's conflict with humans.  Hundreds of years ago, the humans of a faraway kingdom chased all the sydhi out of the land, after a terrible and bloody war.  The sydhi left the lands and traveled west, but not before cursing the land and all the descendents of the Arúdorans.  Though the humans of the Crescent harbor no ill wills in particular against the sydhi, their memory is not nearly as long as the fey-folk, who still hold a definite grudge against humans.  The second historical grudge that plays an important role is that between the drumen and the trakloks.  Several important myths and religions claim that drumen and trakloks are descended from the same common stock, and both races find this offensive.  It was the initiative of the trakloks that started the Great Cleansing a few dozen years ago, though it didn't take long for humans and other races to be swept into the struggle.  While the hatred does not have as much motive as that between sydhi and Arúdorans, it is a much more bitter animosity, and confrontations between the two very rarely end without bloodshed.  Finally, the third important conflict in Shadowfell is that of The Shadow.  The shadow is the term used to signify the increase in evil-doings all around the continent for the past few hundred years.  People of the Crescent every often "fear the Shadow," and have various protections against the lurking doom.  In a much more literal form, the Shadow also represents the rise of the shadowfells across the land, the largest in the Crescent being about 15 miles east of Haven.  Few have much useful knowledge on these abominations, but all agree that they are deadly, and steer far from them.

What's New and What's Not
Even as I type this message, things are changing.  I cross off the items I disagree with, I put an asterisk by the items I do like, and everything changes and changes again.  Much of what I posted on the  WotC Shadowfell Page is already obsolete, though it was only posted a couple months ago.  The biggest change is that of races.  I've thought over many options available to me, and have discarded most of them.  When I first started writing Shadowfell two years ago, my plans were for an anthropomorphic racial system; most of the races were going to have been directly evolved from animals.  However, that idea seemed silly to me, and I decided to keep the standard races with a few modifications.  Well, those races are gone.  While I'm not doing the animal-races thing, I am completely rewriting all the races of the setting.  There will be some similarities between sydhi and elves, and there will be some similarities with other races (myari are going to be somewhat of a conglameration of halflings and gnomes, but they will be related to the sydhi).  So that's the biggest new thing: the races.  There will be several new classes as well.  Some classes are getting a complete rewrite, and some classes are getting the simple write-off.  There will most likely be more than eleven core classes, as I have to have several classes based around the different forms of magic.  There is no arcane and divine magic separation.  That which we currently call arcane magic is divided into many different groups, including elemental, runic, summoning, and magic based on music and chant.  That which we call divine magic is going to be divided between auric and shadow magic.  So there are six core classes right there, each with a different method of play.  There is no alignment in Shadowfell for player races.  Alignment is more limiting than the founders of D&D could have ever conceived, and there will be no place for it in Shadowfell.  There will be an Absolutes system, where the demons are considered evil beyond redemption, and the araels are considered non-corruptable, but there will be no such system available for the races and people of Shadowfell.  Technology is on a rise.  Not so much that Shadowfell could even remotely be considered steampunk, but enough to set it apart from the traditional medieval and feudalistic European-style settings.  There are beings who have researched for years the deadly darkpowder, and there are beings who have researched for centuries different methods of transportation.  Not that those will be the only two technological advances, but they will play the most prominent role in most campaigns.  

Things To Do
There are a few goals I have to accomplish here, to get the campaign up and running correctly.  The most important goal I have at the moment is the completion of a system (or several systems) of magic to use in the campaign.  Below is a list of the things that will eventually get posted here.

Magic System(s) * Religion and Mythology * Important Cosmological Aspects * Classes * Races * Details of the Land, in particular the Crescent * Stats on several new monsters: * -- Drumen * -- Gretch * -- Grihm * -- Coldfey * -- Kers

That's it for now...  Cheers!

Presented below are the details of the races of Shadowfell.  There are many changes from the standard D&D system.  For all intents and purposes, the core races of elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome, and any half-breeds can be considered non-existent.

Races of Shadowfell
The difference in races play an integral role in Shadowfell.  There are three very distinct races, each of which is divided into several subcategories.  Some of the races were created by the gods, some of the races evolved over millions of years, and some of the races were created magically as slaves and servants.  The races listed below are going to be the playable races for PCs in this Shadowfell campaign, and eventually, the non-playable races will be listed..

Humans
What can be said about humans that hasn't already been said before?  They're numerous beyond belief, they have a short lifespan, and they tend to not be able to find a satisfiable niche in society, which leads them to conquer and control rather than settle.

The first humans of Alsa Eru landed almost three thousand years ago.  They were the ancestors of those today we call the Gaardans.  They landed their ships in a great bay, and traveled up the Lyre River to settle in the northernmost reaches of Alsa Eru.  They didn't have time to expand, however, because of constant threat from gretches, drumen, and coldfey.  They focused their time on building up defenses against the vast hordes of creatures that would slay them, and in time, grew to be a powerful nation.

Barely four hundred years after the Gaardans settled to the north, more humans came to the south of Alsa Eru.  These humans were from the distant empire of Laon-has, which rumored to span an entire continent and now needed more room to expand further.  Hundreds of ships sailed across the sea and landed a Sylizh Stone, a lone mountain at the very southern edge of Alsa Eru.  They quickly established dominance over many of the native races, and expanded around the southern tip. The empire of Laon was formed in less than thirty years.  Other ships took a turn to the northwest, and found a place on the very western tip of the continent.  Passing through dark and deadly winter straits, they found a land that didn't need conquering, as very few other beings lived there.  It took them only fifty years to cover thousands of square miles with their new empire of Erim-has.  Any direct descendant of the peoples' of these two nations is known as a Laon.

Finally, less than two thousand years ago, the third humans arrived.  These humans were expansionists from the great Tlekian Empire far south of the Chulgeth.  They found the center of the continent habitable, and quickly declared war on the Gaardans, the Laons, and the native races, in particular, the sydhi.  The Gaardans were unbeatable, as they had spent centuries defending against much deadlier foes.  The Laons and Tleks struggled over several plains until a truce was called.  The sydhi, however, were never given leave.  Very few know of the reason behind the terrible hatred the Tleks felt for the sydhi, but it was a hatred absolute.  It took them over a thousand years, but finally, with the end of the War of the Nine Sins, and the rebuilding and renaming of Tlek to Arúdor, the sydhi were driven from the land.  The descendants of Tlek, even though they now live in Arúdor, are still called Tleks by most other peoples.

Sydhi
The sydhi (or sydha, singular) lived on Alsa Eru for uncountable years and centuries.  It is they who gave the continent the name, which in their tongue means Green Fields.  For centuries they built great cities across the lands, and covered much of the continent.  They had peaceful relationships with most of the native races.

Today, all the sydhi live in the great woodland realm that Gaardans call the Erdharte Forest.  The sydhi refer to the forest as Nalimoseo, or Bowl of Silver, for seen from afar, the forest has a slight silvery sheen to it.  About the massive woodland realm, there are several smaller sydhi cities, and deep within the center, is the last true sydhi city, Zheratos'a, meaning Last Home.

Physically, the sydhi are a small race.  Males and females both grow to slightly taller than five feet.  They are slight, seemingly brittle, with elongated fingers and toes.  Close observance shows the reason for the elongation; sydhi have an extra joint in their fingers and toes.  Males and females alike tend to have long, flowing hair, always straight, and of any color found in nature.  The most striking feature, however, is their eyes.  Their eyes are reminiscent more of a cat's eyes than a humans, tilted upwards with vertical pupils.  Their eyes are always a gold or silver color.

The sydhi name for themselves, in their own tongue, is Telikeyen, or Dawn Children.

Myari
Living deep within the earth, in huge caverns of stone and crystal, live the myari.  They are an ancient race, having lived on Alsa Eru since the time of the Ancients, and speculation places them as slaves of the Ancients.  Currently on Alsa Eru, they mostly live in a few underground cities, though some have migrated into human lands to live amongst the sunlight races.  These myari have found a niche as wonderful sailors in the sunlight realm.

Myari are very small, barely growing over three feet.  They are extremely nimble, and have often fooled the unaware by their older-looking appearance.  They have loose, wrinkly skin, and crinkly black or gray hair.  Those that still live underground have a mottled gray skin tone, while those that have come to live in the sun have a brownish hue to their skin.

The sydhi have a name for the myari:  Sherayen, or Mountain Children.

Traklok
Trakloks have lived in Alsa Eru for thousands of years.  They lived on the frozen Xardrith continent for millenia, before crossing a land bridge to Alsa Eru.  They arrived on the easternmost point of Balorand, the land of the giants, and spent centuries carving themselves a safe place to live, near the Greyhelms.  Some of them traveled far west and settled in the southern Holds of the Crescent, fighting constantly with gretches and drumen.  Then, about a thousand years ago, their small kingdom was overrun by drumen and giants, and they were forced to come to the heartlands of Alsa Eru.  Some found a place around the Bhaeron Sea, between the Bhargrest Crests and the Greyhelms.  Others traveled far west, and found their brethren in the Crescent, and worked on establishing a home there.

Trakloks are often considered monstrous humanoids, and are thought to be ancestral cousins to drumen.  They stand six and a half feet tall, with thick, hairy skin of reddish-brown to dark gray.  They have large, yellowish eyes, topped by bushy brows.  Their large, powerful hands have sharp claws that are useful for the mountain climbing they do a lot of.

Though it is a grave insult to do so, some have taken to calling them goblins.  The sydhi have no name for them other than their chosen name.

Sul
Born of magical crossbreeding between humans and the ferocious shadakin, the sul are an enigmatic race.  They were created hundreds of years ago, during the War of the Nine Sins, to be used as fodder for the human armies against the sydhi.  However, the sydhi felt pity for the dark race, and instead of slaying them, they captured them and gave them a home.  The largest sul home on Alsa Eru is in the ruins of the ancient sydhi city, Sherasu'a.  There, they live with myari, freely.  Like the myari, many in recent years have decided to come out into the world of daytime.  Though they are sensitive to direct sunlight, they find places for themselves in many cities all across Alsa Eru.  In Arúdor, where memory if their creation still stands, they are barely tolerated, but in the Southern Confederacy and in Riddesgaard, they have homes amongst the humans.

Sul look like black-skinned humans.  Not like the dark tans of the Chulgeth, and not like the cocoa colors of the Shaernfolk, but more of a solid, coal black, with traces of silver or blue where the their veins show through.  They have either silvery hair, or pure white hair, and their eyes tend towards gray, brown, and black.  They are roughly the same size as humans, though not quite as broad in the hips and shoulders.  The women are considered of the most beautiful in the world, with smooth curves and flowing hair.  Many men will stop to stare at a female sul with unabashed rapture, until their wives come along and elbow them in the stomach.

Though the sul are not related to the sydhi, they have been given a name nonetheless:  Liseuilyen, or Sunset Children.

Presented below are the details of the race known as the sydhi.

Sydhi
For countless thousands of years, the sydhi have dwelt on Alsa Eru and Ord.  It was the sydhi who gave the continent its name, meaning "Green Fields."  Though they are currently very sparse across the continent, they once spread across the lands, building beautiful cities.  There are few places left on Alsa Eru which have not felt the presence of these people.

Sydhi have an alien-like appearance, most humans say.  They are smaller and slimmer than humans, with broad shoulders, but small waists.  Their limbs appear stretched, partly because of how thin they are, and partly because their digits actually are longer; sydhi have four joints in their fingers, as opposed to three.  They have broad heads, with sharp angles for noses and chins.  Their hair is silky, and can be any color under the sun.  most remarkably perhaps, are their eyes; a sydha's eyes are almond-shaped, with vertical pupils, like a cat's.

Strangers who encounter a sydha for the first time often speak of their cool, almost arrogant demeanor.  They are often described as being aloof to non-sydhi.  this is because, firstly, they don't trust most races (especially humans), and secondly, because of their long lives.  Sydhi live for hundreds of years, if not thousands, and the way they view things is completely alien to how the sorter-lived races do.  They are patient in ways that humans cannot conceive, and their opinions are those of one who has spent centuries pondering on a subject.

The sydhi language is unique amongst the reasoning cultures of the world, in that it has no written form.  They believe that the practice of writing things down and archiving them makes both the writer and the reader take their own memory for granted.  If something is written, then there's no need to remember it, since it's archived in an easily accessible book or document.  For millenia, the sydhi have practiced nothing but memorization when it comes to passing down lore, history, and culture.  Thus, every sydhi knows their history and past just as well as another, and every sydhi song can be sung by every sydhi boy, girl, and adult.

Verbally, the sydhi language is beautiful to hear.  It is a very melodic language, where different pitches of the same word can mean different things.  The tones and sounds of the language often bring to mind the wind of a storm rustling through the trees of a forest, wit a brook tinkling in the background.  Because the sydhi use different parts of their mouths, throats, and vocal chords than most other languages, it is extremely hard for non-sydhi to speak the language.

Sydhi have positive relationships with most races on Alsa Eru.  Humans and sydhi do not get along well on most occasions, and sydhi and shurns will usually kill each other on site.  The myari have a special place in the hearts of sydhi.  Myari are welcome in sydhi cities with no qualms, and vice versa.  Trakloks are well-received, and trade with sydhi for many things, especially stone and brass-works.  Because of their unfortunate creation, sul are usually avoided by sydhi, though sometimes, they are welcomed with open arms, since sydhi tend to feel guilty about their creation.  Shaernfolk will trade with anyone, and allow sydhi to cross the Shaernlands with no harassment, and sydhi allow the desert-dwellers to pass their forests with no trouble.  The hirissas have strained relationships with the sydhi, due to helping the humans during the War of the Nine Sins, but the old grudges are slowly being forgotten.

Nice layout... presenting conflicts. Conflicts make up the meat of a story, and it's good to see them clearly and right away. I know that in Shadowfell the fights are between man and beast, grudge versus grudge, and all against the shadow. I like the idea that humans are relatively new to the world, and there might be a bit of a frontier-life feeling, where they've been struggling to eke out an existence. One thing I would request is more info on some of the terms used: drumen and gretches, Gaardans, Laon-has, Tlekian Empire, shurns, hirissas... Where can I find more info on these things?

Why was the war between the Sydhi and the Tlek Humans called the war of the nine sins? What were the nine sins? This sounds like interesting stuff.

I fully support your descison on alignment. I think the alignment system can detract from good roleplaying. Other games get along fine without one, as a player simply directs his character based on that characters world view. There simply aren't enough alignments (and indeed, new one would be created all the time) to represent complex realistic world views. Give someone an alignment, and you're restricting them in some way. Good and evil are important in certain circumstances... and I plan to keep track of a characters tendancies towards one or the other. It's your actions that define you, not a self-assigned narrow worldview. You are what you do.

What exactly are the shadowfells? I hunger for information. If it's located elsewhere, do you want me to post my comments here or where its found? It sounds like a really cool idea, something horrific and terrible, beyond anyones control. I can imagine players fighting villains, countries having disputes, and various smaller conflicts being... "shadowed" in comparison to a problem like the shadowfells. Sounds kind of like a Deadland from the game of the same name... not that I'm accusing plagarism, just that it's a cool idea I've seen before that I like.

So far, it seems pretty good. I'll admit it's not entirely my cup of tea, but I recognize effort being put into it, and anything with a good amount of effort in it is worthwhile. I do like the nordic mythology elements.

Quote from: Velox121One thing I would request is more info on some of the terms used: drumen and gretches, Gaardans, Laon-has, Tlekian Empire, shurns, hirissas... Where can I find more info on these things?

Drumen[/b] are large (9-ish feet tall), hairy humanoids with large, tusked mouths, and drooping arms and claws (something like a tall, tusked ape).  They rarely use weapons (for they are generally not smart enough), and usually react to situations purely on instinct - usually either hunger or fear.

Gretches are medium-to-large (between 7 and 9 feet tall) humanoids that are extremely fearsome to beholdj.  They have huge, hideous mouths, filled with razor-sharp teetch, and devilish horns on their heads.  They have no eyes, and instead, have 2 large, empty black sockets that glow red at night.  Large, bat-like wings protrude from their backs, but they are not strong enough to support the gretches for extended periods of time; they are more for floating and hovering than serious flying.  Here is a picture of a gretch:



Gaardans should be relatively self-explanatory ;)  They are simply a sub-culture (or, mechanics-and-statistics-wise, a sub-race) of humans, the first humans to arrive to the continent of Alsa Eru and make their home there.  I'm not going to post stats here (because I'm currently revising them), but culturally, they are reminiscent of the Scythians of ancient Russia.

Laon-has is an asianic culture/empire from far across the ocean.  It is spoken of with great love and adoration by the people of both Erim-has and Laon (the two descendent kingdoms of Laon-has).  Erim-has and Laon both spawned from the settling of people from Laon-has, but only Erim-has, far to the west, resembles it's ancient ancestor.  Laon-has has very little to do with the campaign, other than as a point of historical reference.

The Tlekian Empire is the name of a large, expansive empire south of the Chulgeth (which is a land of mountainous jungles and archipelegos near the equator).  Old Tlek is what people of Arúdor refer to it as, for when the Tleks arrived, the formed New Tlek and waged war on all the races around them.  They eventually made peace with most of the races (except, of course, the sydhi), but New Tlek's name changed to Arúdor with the death of XXXXXXXXXXX (currently unnamed, cuz I didn't like the original name I gave him) at the end of the War of the Nine Sins.

Shurns is a bit of a misnomer, because I have actually decided I don't like that name :)  I have not decided on a new name yet, but simply put, they are the antithesis of the sydhi.  Many scholars believe them to be of the same original race as the sydhi (though both sydhi and shurns deny this with flashing swords!).  Shurns live beyond the Frosthorns, in a land known as the Frostfells.  They live for and worship their queen, the Silver Lady, and despise everything and everyone in the "Lands Below the Icy Peaks."  This hatred seems to stem from a belief that the shurns believe they should rule the land, but feel that they were pushed into their icy wastes by the sydhi many millenia ago.  Though there is nothing defined as black and white as good and evil in Shadowfell, the shurns are the closest one can get to true evil as a race.

Hirissas are just another race I have developed for the campaign that I haven't yet added to my "races" section up above.  According to myth, they are descendent from ancient pairings between humans and a mythological lizard-race known as the Quizarrsh.  Though they do not look like standard lizard-folk, they do have reptillian-like qualities, such as clawed hands and feet, elongated faces, and a tough, scaly-like skin.  They live in desert areas.  More on them later.

Quote from: Velox121What exactly are the shadowfells? I hunger for information. If it's located elsewhere, do you want me to post my comments here or where its found? It sounds like a really cool idea, something horrific and terrible, beyond anyones control. I can imagine players fighting villains, countries having disputes, and various smaller conflicts being... "shadowed" in comparison to a problem like the shadowfells. Sounds kind of like a Deadland from the game of the same name... not that I'm accusing plagarism, just that it's a cool idea I've seen before that I like.

Discussion on shadowfells[/url]

Quote from: Velox121So far, it seems pretty good. I'll admit it's not entirely my cup of tea, but I recognize effort being put into it, and anything with a good amount of effort in it is worthwhile. I do like the nordic mythology elements.

Thanks so much for the comments.  Hopefully my answers have met some sort of satisfaction, and please ask me anything else.  I'm finding myself much more inspired to type things up as answers, instead of as articles ;)

http://www.shadowfell.org/pics/SF_transparent.png" alt="Shadowfell" />


Below is presented a map of the central portion of Alsa Eru, the continent where most of the action takes place.  Currently in the process of making a CSS map in which to have clickable links (very similar to daggerhart's "Jaggerfell" map).  For now...


http://www.shadowfell.org/newImages/alsaEru.jpg" alt="Map of Alsa Eru" />

The Lay of the Land

Shadowfell is the name of the campaign that takes place on the continent of Alsa Eru on the planet Ord. Alsa Eru is the largest of four named continents (though many scholars dispute whether or not Xardeth makes its own continent, when the much-larger Chulgeth is considered part of Alsa Eru), stretching for thousands of miles north-to-south from the Frostfells to the islands of the Chulgeth, as well as thousands of miles east-to-west from ancient Erim-has to the stretches of Balorand. The continent is composed of many kingdoms, empires, and nations, both ancient and new.



In the center of the continent (pictured at the northwestern-most corner of the map) is Erdharte, the vast, ancient forest where most (if not all) of the sydhi of Alsa Eru now live. It stretches for over a thousand miles, and is composed of large, long-leaf pines in the far north, and older oaks, birch, and willows in the south. The sydhi have lived in the Erdharte since before time-remembered, but not until recently did the great forest become their only home on Alsa Eru. Up until a six hundred years ago, the sydhi had never warred with the other races of Alsa Eru, but that changed with the War of the Nine Sins. Since that time, they have secluded themselves in their forest, and have not come out much since then. Rumor has it that they will allow any humans other than Arúdorans safe passage. Arúdorans who travel through the forest disappear forever.



To the west of the Erdharte, there is a land of vast stretches of rock and clay, with little plant life, known simply as the Shaernlands. The land is known for terribly hot days and forbiddingly cold nights. The people who live there are known as the Shaern. They are clansmen, divided into eleven clans, and descendents of an ancient warrior named Shaern who led thousands of his people to safety during the First Great War. Recently, in the past hundred years or so, the Shaernfolk have been allowed a trade route through the Erdharte, to trade with Gaardans. They are excellent harvesters of silk and jewels, as well as proficient farmers of goats and sheep. They trade with the Gaardans for iron and cotton.



Beyond the Shaernlands, on the westernmost shores of Alsa Eru, is Erim-has. It is a land of mistrust and deceipt, where the emperor rules the land with an iron fist, and demons and devils walk the earth. Few from the east travel to Erim-has, and fewer still return. Little is known of the empire's history, other than the founders came from Laon-has - far to the south - several thousand years ago. A little over a hundred years ago, word came from the Shaernfolk that Erim-has had built a huge wall around their entire empire, spanning thousands of miles, and being tall enough that only birds could reach the other side.  What this means, few speculate on, and fewer know, but it doesn't seem to bode ill for the rest of the people of Alsa Eru... .yet.  It is rumored that Khamael the Harvester and Ishmayl the Darkclaw were both spawn from Erim-has, but this statement has no proof.



Riddesgaard is the first kingdom on the east side of the Erdharte, and is home to the Gaardans, the first humans to arrive on Alsa Eru. It is a cold land of rugged mountains and tundras, and sits as a barrier or borderland between the Frostfells and the rest of Alsa Eru.



Southwest of Riddesgaard is a small area, bordered on all sides by mountains, known as the Crescent. It is a land of travelers, adventurers, and dangers. Though it is not technically part of Riddesgaard, the people of the Crescent and Riddesgaard are extremely close, helping each other out in all manner of circumstances.



Duarmenstor, directly east of Riddesgaard, is an ancient kingdom of trakloks. It was founded after the Second Shattering, and has been the home of trakloks on Alsa Eru for over three thousand years now. It consists of the Bhargrest Crest and Greyhelm mountain ranges, as well as the massive inland Bhaeron Sea.



South of Duarmenstor and Riddesgaard is Arúdor, the mixing pot of Alsa Eru. It is currently a land where Gaardans and Laons have mixed and intermingled with ancient Tleks, forming their own unique cultures and heritages. The nation follows the west coast of Alsa Eru, and is bordered on the east and south by the Greyhelms. The kingdom of Tlek once stood here, but that name is being erased from the memory of all on Alsa Eru as fast as the Arúdoran kings can force it from the peoples' minds.



At the southern tip of the peninsula that begins with Arúdor, the land widens into a fertile, temperate area of mountains, lakes, and plains. This land is known as the Southlands, and consists of five kingdoms, each smaller than those up north. They are Garriston, Kapal, Laon, Mhelkhanne, and Weisolyn.  These lands stretch to the east and northwards (beyond the realms of the provided map), and meet a large sea, known as the Sea of Fallen Angels.  Beyond this sea to the north (which happens to be on the eastern side of the Greyhelms), is the massive Balorand, the Land of the Giants.  Though many other races and creatures live there, the giants have had empires and kingdoms there for centuries, and rule absolutely.



Finally, beyond the southern tip of the peninsula seen on the map, is the Chulgeth, an archipelago of tropical jungles, mountains, volcanoes, and swamps.  The hirissas claim to descent from these balmy lands, which few humans have explored entirely.  Rumors abound of massive, island-spanning ruins, as well as underwater ruins that existed in a time when more land was above water.  Of course, these rumors are usually quelled as myths by scholars who say that the landscape of Ord has never changed.

Here's a list of some topics I'll be working on over the next little while, most likely in this order:

Magic Level
--Nature/Source of Arcane Magic
--Nature/Source of Divine Magic
--Nature/Existence of Psionics
Degree of Historical Accuracy
Number/Involvement Level of God(s)
--Nature of Divinity/Conflicts Between Gods
------Individual God Descriptions
------Individual Religion Descriptions
Political Nature of Nations
--Major Empires/Influences
------Individual Nation Descriptions
Organizations/Guilds/Syndicates
------Individual Organization Descriptions
Cosmology
History of World
--Recent History
--Ancient History
--Key Event/Turning Point
Classes Used/Unused
--Prestige Classes
Details of Everyday Life in World
--Transportation
--Economics

I kinda need some help jump starting this thing again.  I want to work on it more and I have plenty of ideas, I'm just not all that super-inspired to type anything up at the moment.  Anyone out there interested in a collaboration?  Or anyone have any ideas that may induce some crazy, whacked-out inspirational thinking on my part?

While I'm probably too busy at the moment to offer any sort of collaboration, I can recommend a nice source of inspiration: Wikipedia.  Every time I go there to look up one simple thing, I end up taking three or four hours longer than intended and finding half-a-dozen things that inspire me to write something.

Wikipedia has always been a source of inspiration.  I think it's the best damned site (after theCBG) on the internet nowadays.

Shadowfells
Okay, here's something to get me started.  I want to talk about shadowfells.  They are, afterall, what my campaign is named for.  First, the world itself is a bit of a double entendre.  It refers to both the nightmarish regions on the prime material plane, as well as the fact that the world itself has become a dark, gloomy, desolate place over the past several hundred years (ever since the War of the Nine Sins).  Secondly, most of this information was just transferred from my old WotC thread, with a few updates and additions.  With that being said...

What is a shadowfell?
[spoiler=What is a Shadowfell?]
Shadowfells are magical aberrations on the landscape that merge the prime material plane (Ord) with the plane of shadow (Shavaar, or "The Shaded Realm").  According to the lore of great sages, "a shadowfell resembles an amorphous dome, settled on one location. From the outside, it appears black, writhing with blue and purple lines of energy."  This description can be a bit misleading, because shadowfells actually do appear rather translucent, and can escape the eye. The best way to describe it would be this. If you look directly at a shadowfell, you will see a dome. This dome will be dark (black as night, or black as shadows), and there will be writhing energies swirling along it. You can still see through the shadowfell, and see the other side. The shadowfell blurs what you see, as though you're looking through an oil-stained window. A shadowfell can be extremely large. The larger a shadowfell is, the darker and more opaque it becomes. The largest and oldest one, centered over Alas'a, covers the entire ruinscape, a diameter of about nine miles.  You can see this one, on a clear day, from miles away, as a dark, writhing half-bubble on the land. It is more opaque than translucent; standing thirty feet from it, you cannot see within its boundaries. Many are much, much smaller. The average one that will be in play in the campaign is about fifteen miles east of the city of Haven, in the Crescent. It is about six hundred feet across, and appears dark enough to notice. There is a smaller one south of the Devileye lake that is only fifteen feet across, and it is almost invisible. This means that the smaller ones can potentially be much, much deadlier to the casual traveler.[/spoiler]

What's it like in a shadowfell?
[spoiler=What is it like in a shadowfell?]
Upon entrance to a shadowfell, a person's memory begins to cloud and fade. This will eventually be represented by a table that will represent both madness and diminishing corporealness. A victim would realize up front that something had changed, and that something potentially terrible had happened, because all light would dim (or at night, light would appear, because in a shadowfell, it's always twilight). All color would be muted. The world would appear almost black-and-white, with just a few hints of some of the sharper colors. Distance would be blurred as well. Angles would be harsher, and lines would be stretched. Tree branches would appear as towering spikes. Building corners would seem to stab towards the onlooker, and the buildings' walls would seem to stretch far away. If a person moved his head side-to-side, he would see distances changing; objects that seemed far away out of the corner of his eye would suddenly rush up to within a few feet of him when he's looking straight at it. It makes for a rather disorienting and maddening time.

There is never wind in a shadowfell, which means other sounds that would usually be covered by the winds are more distinct. However, these sounds tend to have a distorted, or even corrupted quality to them. A bird passing overhead may sing, but it will sound harsh to the ears, perhaps even painful. High pitches sound even higher, registering in very high frequencies, and low pitches sound even lower, producing more of a "feeling" than an actual sound.

Taste and smell are effected much the same way. Items don't become bitter; they simply do not have a taste or smell. A rose will smell like a mudpuddle will smell like a carcass will smell like a shirt. Food becomes ashy, and it is hard for most travelers to eat while in a shadowfell.

Touch is mostly uneffected, except when it comes to temperature.

It is always noticeably colder in a shadowfell than without. A summer days feels like an autumn evening, and a summer night feels like a crisp winter day. With no wind is present, but the air is frigid nonetheless. Items also feel cold. To touch a tree feels as though it is frozen, even though it is obviously not. Metal objects become most unpleasant to hold, though they do not have any mechanical effects on play.

There is no visible boundary from within the interior. One would see everything for miles to be in twilight grays, even if he was only three feet from the boundary. This makes it difficult to escape, because many people will simply wander the wrong direction to try to get out. And of course, the uneducated travaler may not know what a shadowfell is to begin with, and wouldn't know that he needs to immediately get out of there, or perish.

If the person tried to leave, he would make a check upon hitting the boundary. If he passed, he would be able to step through. If he failed, he would lose consciousness for a randomly-determined amount of time. Upon awaking, he would have to make a check to determine whether or he remembered where he was and what was happening. If he remembered, he could attempt to escape again, but at a higher DC. If he could not remember, he could wander around, and perhaps accidentally come across the boundary again.

Every hour in a shadowfell reduces a person's constitution score by 1. There is no saving throw against this, it just happens. If a person's constitition reaches zero while in the shadowfell, he does not die, but falls unconscience. When he awakens, he will be a grihm.[/spoiler]

So, what is a grihm?
[spoiler=What is a grihm?]
Grihms are shadows of the person they once were. They remember everything of their life, but they remember it in a twisted way, almost as though all emotions formerly felt were the opposite of the true emotions. His love of his birthplace would become a hate for it. His friends would become his enemies. In essence, he completely changes alignment, but since alignment doesn't exist in shadowfell, it's not quite that simple.

Grihms can leave a shadowfell at will. They have no restrictions at all once they've been changed. However, they can only move through darkness and shadow. Twilight and night are the only times grihm can move about in the world. Light does not kill them, but it becomes a wall for them, the same as a stone wall is for a human. If a grihm approaches the edge of a shadow that merges with sunlight, it simply cannot move any further in that direction. If it is suddenly blanketed in light (such as a light spell), it becomes paralyzed until it is in darkness again.

Grihms do not have enough coherent and cohesive thought to form raiding parties or communities. If one grihm comes across another grihm, they usually just ignore each other. They have become wandering, essentially soulless apparitions. They wander from shadow to shadow, rarely attacking unless provoked. The one exception is that of the grihm's former friends. Anyone the grihm knew in its previous existence is immediately attacked with a vengeance. The grihm will not stop attacking until it, or the victim, is dead. Scholars debate on the reason for this, and can only come up with that the grihm must harbor some sort of deep loathing for those who did not become grihm with it.[/spoiler]

Magic in Shadowfell
Okay, magic has always been a big deal for me.  Do I want to keep things pretty low-magic and focus on other aspects, or do I want high-magic Forgotten Realms-esque magic?  Do I change the magic system to fit my ideal "elemental-based" magic, or do I keep things standard?  Do I keep the same, normal classes, or shake things up a bit with Tome of Magic and other supplements?  Well, I've figured out what to do for the most part, but still have awhile to go.

Firstly, about the classes...

Magic Classes
[spoiler=Magic Classes]
There are going to be several additions to the core casting classes.  The Tome of Magic will be in use.  Listed below are the tentative plans for the classes that are casting classes:

Binder (ToM)
Cleric (Ultimate Cleric)
Druid (Ultimate Druid with updated polymorph)
Fane (ToM - Shadowcaster)
Sorcerer (Ultimate Sorcerer)
Wizard (Ultimate Wizard)

The paladin has been replaced with the knight-errant, and the bard only exists as a prestige class.  The ranger has been replaced by a non-casting variant (probably ultimate ranger).
For the Tome of Magic classes, there will be a few changes.  Firstly, I most likely won't be using any of the vestiges presented in the book.  I will be making my own.  Stat/Mechanics-wise, they will be very similar to those in the book.  Plot/Story-wise, they will be the remnants of a once-proud, super-civilization that covered the entire planet of Ord before Aune sealed them away beyond time and space.

Shadow magic will be mostly just as presented in the book, but their name will change to reflect the fact that, though they are not inherently evil, they are largely mistrusted and regarded as unscrupulous sort-of characters.

[/spoiler]

Besides the fact that magic classes are changing, there are a few new things that deal with the magical nature of the world.

Spirit Nexuses
[spoiler=Spirit Nexus]
A spirit nexus can be anything from a waterfall with a trapped water spirit in it to an entire mountain that is walked by the gods. Gnomes discovered spirit nexuses thousands of years ago, and quickly found that they could use the nexuses to enhance their magic. There are many known spirit nexuses on the world, and still many yet undiscovered.

The power within a spirit nexus is finite, and if it is used too often, or as a conduit for too much magic, it can be drained forever. Different nexuses hold different amounts of power, and the amount of power is completely independent of the size of the nexus.

Spirit nexuses' power is represented in a mana point system. These points can be drained for two principle uses: to power spells and to allow permanent magical items to be created. Forging magic items within a spirit nexus is the only way to create permanent magic items in Shadowfell. When the nexus is done being used for the day, it recovers its mana points at a rate of 1/10th its total mana points a day. If a spirit nexus ever reaches zero mana points, it ceases to function and any physical manifestation of the nexus is destroyed - usually violently and dramatically.[/spoiler]


MORE TO COME....