World of Ere Campaign Setting

[Vaal]

The only rule is: Evolve or Die

This thread contains bare-bones information on the World of Ere Campaign Setting. The full setting, still in development, can be found at  The World of Ere site[/note]The World
Since Saintâ,¬,,¢s Landing, demi-humanity has gone to great lengths to carve out their place in the harsh environs of Ere. For thousands of years, divinity sparks; naturally occurring phenomena consisting of random manifestations of raw arcane power within an area or a living thing have altered living beings, instilling in them new abilities and birthing the manifold monsters of the world. Because of their influence, the wild places of Ere refuse to be conquered.

Faced with the ever changing threat posed by these random sparks, not just in the creatures of the wild â,¬' dubbed â,¬Ëspirit beastsâ,¬,,¢ but within their own people, demi-humanity has been forced to adapt just as quickly. Advances in the sciences, both physical and metaphysical have given rise to a new renaissance and industrial and cultural revolutions.

Society has been shaped by this danger, with every community rushing to find or develop new and better defenses while still trying to earn a living on the land. Nature and civilization clash, often bloodily and the rule above all rules has become â,¬Ëevolve or dieâ,¬,,¢. Battle is a realty for all but the most sheltered and coddled of beings.

Morality is relegated to a personal issue, rather than a source of conflict as survival forges strange alliances and friendships. But even in a world where virtue is not in the forefront, it is still honored and valued.

In the constant rush to keep up with the constant, natural refinement of the Spirit Beasts, mighty organizations have stepped to the fore to promote their own methods and agendas. Conflict between these colossi are often just as destructive as the Beasts they were founded to deal with.

In short, life is dangerous and often harsh on Ere, but demi-humanity still seeks to not only survive, but to carve out its place in the world. In the midst of a new age, opportunity for adventure is infinite; from leading expeditions into the spirit beast ridden wilds, to joining archeological expedition, to partaking in political intrigue.

The Campaign
World of Ere is a high powered, high magic campaign setting for the Dungeons and Dragons â'žÂ¢ role-playing game. In this world, the traditional moral and ethical themes that are prominent in the default cosmology are cast aside in favor of themes of survival, allegiances, and improvement of the self.

Inspired by comic books and anime, Ere is designed around the idea of larger than life characters living in a world that is larger than life. Everything is geared toward being exciting and intriguing while fitting into an internal logic that is unlike that of our own world.

Ere is a campaign where all people face some sort of struggle and a special few take the initiative to change their fortunes. This is what adventurers in the World of Ere are made of.

A campaign in the world is best suited toward focusing on conflicts between factions, the ongoing struggle against spirit beasts, or delving into the rich history of the world more than cosmic battles between good and evil. Additionally, games should be fast paced, tense and unpredictable with myriad twists as loyalties or necessities change.

When discussing the World of Ere, there are some very important concepts, unique to the world to keep in mind. These terms and concepts form the basis of the world and are referred to often in setting discussions. These core concepts are noted here:

Divinity Sparks
The single greatest contributor to the nature of the world of Ere is one that could not be seen or detected for the vast majority of Ereâ,¬,,¢s history. The one thing that has influenced the culture, the attitude and indeed the very ecosystem of Ere is no spell, or beingâ,¬Â¦ instead, is it the smallest of all forces â,¬' a spark.

Divinity Sparks are random, uncontrollable magical events that spontaneously occur all across the surface of Ere. A single burst of magical energy that causes a chain reaction within living things that transforms them into something more than themselves.

Depending on the timing, and strength of the spark, the results can be minor, such as the color shifting roses that grow along the Rizeni coast, or spectacular, like the mighty spirit beasts that walk the land. In general, the spark awakens mystical power within living things, granting new abilities or enhancing existing ones.

The fundamental changes created by a divinity spark is often hereditary, meaning that parents altered by a divinity spark can pass on the changes to their children or even generation further on. It is theorized that it was this property of divinity sparks that made dragons into the powerful and fearsome creatures they are today. More practical observers point to the existence of inborns such as inborn casters for their evidence.

Spirit Beasts
Spirit Beasts were once normal animals, magical beasts, plants, or elementals that were infected with a divinity spark. Often, they are merely the inheritors of the trait, but newly infected specimens are just as common.

Blessed with human level or better intellect, but often animal impulse, spirit beasts are deadly adversaries and dire dangers to anyone who crosses them. Territorial creatures, such as wolves, apes, big cats and eagles also grow to view larger territory as theirs and seek to remove any humanoids that might be living there.

Still others have more than one spark in their bloodline, each one changing and improving them in mind and body. Known as Greater Beasts, they are the true lords of their territory and are bereft of their former animal instincts. Greater Beasts often lead or tend to lesser spirit creatures of their kind.

Like humanoids, Greater Beasts are prone to all of demi-humanityâ,¬,,¢s foibles in place of their animal ones. They know hate, pride, lust and greed and sometimes, they act on it. Those that do call on their natural inborn powers to takes what they desire and wreak havoc on settlements. Some even use their lesser spirit kin to do their will.

Inborns
Just as there are long bloodlines of beasts with divinity sparks, so too are there similar lines of humanoids. Those born with the spark of divinity manifesting in their blood are called inborns. Often, this manifestation is purely cosmetic if not an outright gross deformity (eyes that glow and sparkle, claws, hypertrophied limbs, multihued skin, etc). But then, there are those who are granted powers by their heritage.

Inborn Casters and Shapeshifting Adepts are examples of Inborns nurturing their gifts in the form of class levels. Other Inborns have less spectacular abilities in the form of feats, or more powerful ones in the form of Prestige Classes or Templates.

Depending on their locations, inborns can be widely accepted as gifted individuals, or spurned as cursed or dangerous.

Occasionally, a divinity spark manifests within a person, but not in the innocuous way it does when it forms in Inborn Casters. The personâ,¬,,¢s mind warps and they may become terribly violent and wreak havoc using the powers bestowed before they can be put down by the people that were once their friends and neighbors.

Spirits
As Ere does not possess outer planes and as such, the after life is treated very differently. While most souls the cease to inhabit a living body got to an inaccessible demi-plane called the Well of Souls to await resurrection or reincarnation, many persist in the world in the form of spirits. Spirits on Ere, however do not all exist simply as undead ghosts.

Many persistent spirits take the form of fey, elementals and even some types of aberration, relinquishing all ties to their former lives. These spirits have deep ties to the Well of Souls and their powers flow from that place. A fey, elemental or aberration with spell-like abilities that find themselves on a plane that is not adjacent to the Well of Souls cannot use their spell-like abilities.[/quote]

I will be more than happy to answer any questions or address any comments you may have about WoE on this thread. I will also announce updates here as well.

[Ghost]

I'm reading through the website, and so far it looks awesome. I like the variation on the half-dragon, as well as your detailed history. Very nice.

Although, i'm wondering what makes them demi-humans, as opposed to regular humans? I apologize if you've already written about this in your website - it will take a few more minutes for me to read all the excellent materials you've gathered.

[Vaal]

Thanks for checking it out. :)

Demi-human is just a short hand term for humans, halfling, elves, dwarves, et al that live in 'civilization'. Humans are still just human.

[Numinous]

I've seen your setting before, but I held out on reading it.  I'm almost glad I did, or you might have just stayed back at WotC.  Anyway, two quick question, and hopefully a more detailed review later on.

Are you planning on porting the setting over to the boards in it's entirety, or just moving tiny pieces and posting about updates?

Also, how static is your world?  Do you have a group that's used to it, or is it just a pet project?  How much will/would you change based on feedback, and what iss et in stone?

Just gathering info before I dive in.  Also, any advice on where to start reading?

[Vaal]

Are you planning on porting the setting over to the boards in it's entirety, or just moving tiny pieces and posting about updates?

Also, how static is your world?  Do you have a group that's used to it, or is it just a pet project?  How much will/would you change based on feedback, and what iss et in stone?

Just gathering info before I dive in.  Also, any advice on where to start reading?

- It'd take way too much work to port all of it over here, so pieces, updates, more detailed info (I plan on posting a lot about individual organizations here for example.)

- Ere's been in development for about four years, with the help of my gaming group. However, I have changed things in the past due to feedback. The only things I'm set in stone about is the lack of alignment, Divinity Sparks and the scattred nature of magic/technology.

- As to where to start, what's posted here is the entirety of the introduction section. Other sections of interest would be History and Religion which are pretty key points and also Outsiders and Undead because the attitude we've take to both of those subjects is pretty abberant.