If you were handed this printout would you play in my game?

[LoA]

So I've decided to go back and try organizing Panorah into a cohesive document. I'm referencing the Athas.org 3.5 edition version of Dark Sun as a template.

If I handed you this introduction and asked you to read it, would you play in this game?

[spoiler]

Introduction


Most contemporary fantasy traces it's roots right back to J.R.R. Tolkien and his legendary works The Hobbit, and his The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Dungeons and Dragons is no exception to this rule. Many of the tropes in DnD that have become the standard for Tabletop Roleplaying come straight from the tales of Bilbo Baggins and his nephew Frodo. Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits (Halflings), Orcs, and who could forget Red Dragons, are staples of Fantasy Roleplaying. There isn't anything wrong with this standard. It's endured through decades of gaming evolution for many reasons. Most people have at least read The Hobbit, and so the familiar tropes of humans, halflings, dwarves, and elves fighting dragons and orcs is something that many people well be familiar with. Not to mention the immense popularity of The Lord of the Rings movies, assures that these standardized tropes will remain with us for a very, very long time.

However, Tolkien Fantasy isn't the only fantasy. Nordic epics, Arthurian legends, and Celtic ballads all offer their own flavors and plots that add to the fantasy ephemera. Even within the confines of modern literature though there are plenty of other subgenres of fantasy to draw from. One such Genre is often overlooked, however I couldn't find an appropriate name for it, so I have dubbed it "Small Talking Animal Fantasy".

Many of you reading this are familiar with Beatrix Potter and her seminal work Peter Cottontail, and many other short stories. These little fables often center around the exploits of tiny woodland creatures such as rabbits, squirrels, mice, and other woodland mammals. But perhaps the most popular fantasy novels ever written around this concept are the Redwall Abbey books written by the late Brian Jacques. Mice, badgers, otters, hares, hedgehogs, shrews, and many other races of "Beasts" inhabiting a large brick abbey named Redwall contend against the wretched "Vermin" forces of rats, foxes, stoats, weasels, and other foul pest races. This is the primary source upon which this setting draws its inspiration.


Ten things to know about Panorah

1.   Panorah is Different from Traditoinal D&D: Many monsters, and classes that are available in the standard D&D settings are not available in this setting. And certainly none of the standard races are available for play. Which brings us to...

2.   A World Without Humans or "Humanoid" Races:  No humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, orcs, trolls, goblins, hobgoblins, giants, outsiders, or any human-like creatures exist in this world, Instead....

3.   A World of Creeps: In place of humanity and other such races, small woodland mammals have evolved sentience in their place. Mice are the most common of the races, but also the smallest. Still they flourish in almost every environment across Panorah. Badgers are masters of the mountains and forge mighty weapons with legendary alchemy. Otters roam the rivers, and Hares roam the fields. Squirrels rule the Canopy tops of Forests, and the Weasels are the masters of the Hills.

4.   A World of Magic: Magic flows through Panorah like a river to the ocean. Magic is very mysterious and while all members of the races have some magical inclination lying deep within, it's not to be trifled with but by the few who can truly wield its mighty power.

5.   Grey and Gray Morality: Unlike Brian Jacques world where morality is defined by species, this world is more complicated than that. Good and Evil are more like a sliding scale than absolute codes of righteousness or vileness. For instance, most Weasels revere and respect their ancestors, and hold to the old magics found in Isstohr which seem outright barbaric. Dead ancestors lead the clans of weasels and possess there preserved corpses. The spirits return through their own will, though they never reveal the exact method by which they do this, but it doesn't appear to be any kind of magic known to Creepkind. This seems very macabre to someone not born and raised in the culture, but Weasels are among the bravest beings in all of Panorah. Why fear death when we will clearly return to our ancestors afterwards? The only thing the average weasel fears is living in cowardice, for what ancestor could even gaze upon such a creep? So are weasels evil because they are so close to death? It's not like necromancy where you are using foul magics to revive corpses and do you're bidding. You're merely preserving a vessel for your ancestors to return to when they are ready. No necromancy is involved. Is it wrong? To most weasels, absolutely not. But to most other creeps, they stay far away from the hill-lands in fear that the Weasels will

6.   A world of Light and Darkness: Divine magic exists in this world, and it all revolves around two great spirits; Tarlia, and Bzzltr. Tarlia is called many things, the great serpent, the holy mother, the Queen Celestial, but all accounts point to her being a great winged serpent (was she some greater Coutl?) that was larger than any scale could measure, and she was the source of light and life in this world. She caused the forests to grow, and the waters to flow through the land. But for every light there is a shadow, and that shadow's name is Bzzltr. The Corrupter, the beast, the twisted, whatever he was called he was an alien and corrosive being that destroyed everything he touched and created chaos. In the end Tarlia and Bzzltr battled it out in one last conflict. Tarlia sacrificed her physical form to destroy Bzzltr. Tarlia became a great energy being of goodness and light, but Bzzltr became a dark and powerful force in his own right. Now these two battle it out and maintain a delicate balance.

7.   A Primeval World: The world of Panorah is teeming with life that has been extinct in our world for eons of time. Dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals, and plants permeate the world with color and diversity. However as stated before, magic flows through the planet and changes the world around it. Many magical creatures have been roaming the world since the beginning, and still do so to this day. Fey in this universe are nature bound insects that act as guardians of nature against the horrors of Bzzltr. The horrors of Bzzltr in exchange are the warped beings that exist at the bottom of the ocean. More of them arose and began to rampage through the Urthlind scape after the day of fire, which leads many to believe that horrors exist underground as well. Dinosaurs can be found with elemental power.

8.   A World with Dragons: Dragons inhabit the icecap of Panorah, and have been stirring lately. No one knows anything about the dragons, taking into account few have been brave enough to attempt contact. Still what is known is that they are long lived, and utterly intelligent. Still there isn't much on their behavior or demeanor. Are they cruel, are they compassionate, are they bloodthirsty, are they selfish, selfless? No one quite knows, and frankly very few seem to care.

9.   The Day of Fire: The land of Urthlind was a land of great kingdoms and prosperous trade. The races more or less got along. The Badgers and the Weasels would always have their contentions that dated back to the beginning of the ages, but that was to be expected at this point. However, that was twenty years ago, before the day of fire. Mt. Varova was a mighty mountain that loomed over Parlon, a trade city that was the center of commerce for the several factions that ruled the kingdoms. The weasels, otters, squirrels, and badgers all traded with each other without any problems, and goods and services moved between the kingdoms with little trouble. However unbeknownst to most creeps in the city, Mt. Varova had a belly of fire. One day the earth shook, and then the mountain began to belch ash and fire. The following days were ravaged with darkness, fire, storms, lightning, and many other catastrophes. By the end of it all, Parlon had been consumed by ash, killing almost everyone in the city except for the creeps dwelling in the sewer systems underground.

10.   Political Intrigue: The Day of Fire completely devastated the order in Urthlind, and everyone began to fight for what resources were available. Crops had been ruined, water contaminated, and cities burned. There were several wars that broke out between the species, and now there are festering wounds between factions, even though the disaster itself has passed and the land has begun to heal from the turmoil. While many are striving to rebuild the community that existed before the volcano erupted, many are fighting for isolation and vengeance.
[/spoiler]

[Lmns Crn]

Your question is confusingly worded!

Upfront, your world sounds awesome. If these are the top ten cool facts about your setting, I'm intrigued.

I think the way you're packaging the information is important. If the above text was on an easy-to-find page on a website or wiki, it seems like a great launching-off point in an encyclopedia of Panorah. If this is the quick-reference for players to consult at the table, to remind them of facts about the setting, I think it could be streamlined a lot-- strip it down to bullet points and maybe a map, or some political infographic perhaps, and it'd be a more useful resource.

But if this is the pitch for an upcoming game, I think it's kind of a bad one. If that's the context, I'd like to see some stuff about what the players are going to be doing, or about the specific corner of the world where things are starting up, or what kind of action is involved. To use a well-worn cliche, if I were to start a Forgotten Realms game, I'd go with a pitch that puts the action front and center-- "Let's play a high fantasy political intrigue game" or "let's raid crumbling temples of eldritch horrors" or whatever-- rather than just a list of facts about an established world. And I don't think the first three paragraphs really add anything at all to this.

Regardless, your world sounds really cool and if I had the invitation handed to me, I'd be down to start creating a character. (Weasel, obviously.) I just think the packaging of this particular handout could be spiffed up, to better show off your setting ideas.

[LoA]

Your question is confusingly worded!

Upfront, your world sounds awesome. If these are the top ten cool facts about your setting, I'm intrigued.

But if this is the pitch for an upcoming game, I think it's kind of a bad one. If that's the context, I'd like to see some stuff about what the players are going to be doing, or about the specific corner of the world where things are starting up, or what kind of action is involved. To use a well-worn cliche, if I were to start a Forgotten Realms game, I'd go with a pitch that puts the action front and center-- "Let's play a high fantasy political intrigue game" or "let's raid crumbling temples of eldritch horrors" or whatever-- rather than just a list of facts about an established world. And I don't think the first three paragraphs really add anything at all to this.

Yeah I could streamline it a bit.

I meant to say "If we were in the same group, and It was my turn to run the game, and this is what I presented as an intro, would you play it?"

[Tensen01]

I know this is all about building the worlds and such, but if I was handed that I would say "Depends on the system..."

[LoA]

I know this is all about building the worlds and such, but if I was handed that I would say "Depends on the system..."

Pathfinder?