The Campaign Builder's Guild

I've been working on this campaign setting for a few weeks. I envision it as a blend of sci-fi, steampunk, and fantasy. I've drawn on Spelljammer and Eberron for inspiration, and I hope to incorporate some stuff from Dragonmech.

Oleron
Oleron is a world shattered by war. More than two decades ago, massive rocky masses approached. Soon enough these asteroids were discovered to be the Hives, inhabited by alien creatures seeking a new world.

The aliens who lived in the Hives, dromites and thri-kreen, soon settled Oleron's mostly watery moon, Peralion. For a few years, contact between the Hives and the native races of Oleron was almost nil.

The Invasion[spoiler]Eventually, Hive expansion led to border conflicts with the elven colonies on Peralion. Soon after, the elven nation of Vareth declared war on the Hives and mobilized their steamships to ferry troops and siege engines to Peralion. In response, the Hive revealed a startling capability to use massive crystals to focus psionic energy rays, literally blasting steamships out of the skies before they could reach Peralion.

The war escalated quickly, and soon all seven nations of Oleron were forming alliances with one another to repel the alien invaders. The Invasion, as it came to be called, lasted for eighteen years before Peralion's shattering.[/spoiler]

The Shattering of Peralion[spoiler]As the war grew ever more desperate, the most powerful arcane masters gathered on Peralion. In utmost secrecy and in hopes that they could cripple the Hives, they unleashed a force too powerful for them to contain. The blast lit up the skies, visible even in the bright light of day. Peralion was torn asunder, killing all inhabitants of the moon, Hive and Oleronian alike. The remains of the moon formed a ring around Oleron, changing the course of the war.

Soon after the Shattering of Peralion, the leaders of the Hive and the Oleron Coalition of Nations arranged for peace talks. After extensive discussion and minor continued hostilities, a ceasefire was signed, and the Invasion was over.[/spoiler]

The Hive
The Hive came to Oleron escaping the destruction of their homeworld. Composed of the dromites and thri-kreen, the Hive sought peace at first, but soon came into conflict with Vareth colonies on Peralion.

The Hive brought psionics to Oleron. Most Oleronians are still wary of psionics, as it is not the magic that is so pervasive of Oleron society. Arcane magic is rare but not unknown to the Hive, but psionics is far more common.

QuoteThri-kreen
In Hive society, thri-kreen are usually warriors or spiritual leaders. Soulknives and clerics are particularly common, and nearly all thri-kreen are capable of creating a mindblade.

QuoteDromites
Dromites tend to take a less combat-oriented role than their thri-kreen cousins. Kineticist psions are well-known among the dromites, and in the wake of the Invasion, rogue skills have become common.

Permia
Hoping to once again gain a foothold in the skies, Vareth sent a team of its best arcanists and steam scientists to the largest remaining piece of Peralion. Over the course of a year, Vareth established a colony known as Permia.

As Peralion's atmosphere was dispersed during the Shattering, a shell was constructed of steel and wall of force spells that surrounded the small colony.




I'll have more tomorrow, but I'm too tired to continue tonight. Thanks for looking!

I like it. Some great ideas floating around. Keep it up!

Thanks! I got some more ideas and concepts written up today for a few of the races and one of the deities of Oleron. This is all still a very rough draft, and I haven't gotten a decent map drawn yet.

Dwarves
[spoiler]The dwarves are widely considered the masters of steam technology. While they don't generally mix steam tech with magic as the elves do, the dwarves have steam tech far more advanced than that of any other race.

The dwarves have integrated steam tech into their daily life, even building their greatest cities atop gigantic mech walkers, miles long with hundreds of mechanical legs.

Of all the races, the dwarves were the first to propose a peace treaty with the Vekk Hives. They share an affinity with cramped spaces, like that of caverns or the crowded interior of mech cities, with the Vekk, and they presided over the peace discussions.[/spoiler]


Elves
[spoiler]The elven nation of Vareth suffered the worst during the Invasion. The initial conflict was between the Vekk and the Varethian elves, and the Vekk focused their attacks on Vareth. Ironically enough, the worst damage to the elves was caused by themselves. After the Shattering of Peralion, chunks of the moon rained down from the sky, causing more damage to Vareth than any other nation. The elves' most prominent cities were utterly destroyed, and many Varethians perished.

Varethian elves have blended steam technology and arcane magic in ways new to the world. The results of this experimentation included the vaunted steamjammers, ships capable of flying in the sky and through space to Peralion. While their mastery of mech walkers is sorely lacking compared to that of dwarves or humans, flight seems to come naturally to the elves, and their flying ships are second to none.[/spoiler]


Halflings
[spoiler]The halflings of Oleron almost always eschew steam tech and arcane magic. As ardent worshipers of the Goddess of Nature, Olera, they believe that arcana and steam tech are unnatural and thus don't belong. The most zealous and radical of them believe that anything outside of nature, such as arcana, is an abomination and must be instantly and utterly destroyed. Of course, only the most radical subscribe to such destructive tendencies.

More info soon. The halfings as a race aren't completely fleshed out just yet.[/spoiler]

Vekk Hives
[spoiler]The Hiveships brought the Vekk to Oleron. Composed of two insectile races, the dromites and thri-kreen, the Vekk invaded, first the moon Peralion, and eventually Oleron itself.

The Vekk rode the cramped, dark, and stuffy Hiveships for over a century after fleeing their doomed homeworld. They eventually came upon Oleron, a world well suited for their survival.

More Vekk info to come soon.[/spoiler]

Thanks for reading!

What was it that doomed the Vekk homeworld?

I like the halflings. I am interested to see how they interact with the other races, including the Vekk. Do they see the Vekk as an "utter abomination?".

I haven't really decided about what destroyed the Vekk homeworld just yet. So far I'm thinking either some other invading race destroyed it, or the Vekk did something similar to the Shattering of Peralion and accidentally let a psionic experiment go awry and damage the planet.

As for the halflings, they see the Vekk as the worst sort of abomination. Psionics, technology to travel the stars, not of Oleron, and utterly alien. It's safe to say that the majority of halflings aren't fond of the Vekk.

I like much of it, especially when you hint at obscure technology/magic/psionic mixes.
I must admit that i find the space travel a bit superfluous if there is only travel between Peralion and Oleron. You might as well have the Hives land on Oleron then. Are the Vekk adapted to aquatic conditions in your setting since you mention that Pelarion is mostly watery?  
I like the idea of a halfling pagan crusade against tech/magic/psionics.
The elves reminded me a bit of France during WWI; where the US (possibly the dwarves here) attempted to make peace with Germany, France wanted to ruin the country completely so it could never make war again because France had suffered so much during the war... i could imagine a similar reaction from the elves.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowI like much of it, especially when you hint at obscure technology/magic/psionic mixes.
I must admit that i find the space travel a bit superfluous if there is only travel between Peralion and Oleron. You might as well have the Hives land on Oleron then. Are the Vekk adapted to aquatic conditions in your setting since you mention that Pelarion is mostly watery?  
I like the idea of a halfling pagan crusade against tech/magic/psionics.
The elves reminded me a bit of France during WWI; where the US (possibly the dwarves here) attempted to make peace with Germany, France wanted to ruin the country completely so it could never make war again because France had suffered so much during the war... i could imagine a similar reaction from the elves.

Thanks! I hadn't really considered the WWI angle, but I see the similarities.

I want to emphasize airships and steamjammers later in the campaign, when I'm planning on the party gaining access to a damaged ship, and having Peralion helps to get the PCs up into the sky. And, as Peralion was mostly inhabited by the elves, some other nations have less of an incentive to get involved with the Invasion than if the Vekk had landed on Oleron itself. The other nations figured that the war would end on Peralion and that it would only concern the elves. They were later proven to be wrong, of course, but I think it helps emphasize the reason why the other nations might not have been entirely prepared for the war's expansion.

The shattered moon also adds kind of a stronghold for the Vekk, especially as certain factions on Oleron are highly anti-Vekk. But, it is a work in progress, so anything can happen at this point.

are the pieces of the ring inhabitable?

Some of the bigger pieces are, and the Vekk Hives are now spread throughout the ring.

Okay, i thought it was completely ruined :)
Have their been any attempts to travel beyond Pelarion? And did they succeed in any way?

I'd definitely like to see much more on the specific applications of technology seen in the setting. Most of what I'm getting images of involves airships and related steam technology, but what kinds of things does the technology in Oleron do currently, what's in the works, and what hasn't been thought of or implemented?