Help/Critiques of my Setting, and a Name [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help/Critiques of my Setting, and a Name [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Teh_username
08-04-07, 12:53 PM A Brief Introduction:
The idea for this world came about from a simultaneous interest in using some of the races from Eberron despite my dislike of the Eberron setting, à la Races of Eberron. Though still highly a work-in-progress, I've coalesced what ideas came to me so far.

I come to this board to request critiques of what has been written so far, questions about things which are unclear, suggestions on improvements, and a request for a name (as I can't come up with one).

Basics:
[SETTING] was once a world much like many other Primes, if a little more peaceful. That all changed in the wake of what is now simply referred to as The War, a generations-long struggle that forever altered the face of [SETTING] and every culture residing therein.

The Dreaming:
The Realm of Dreams and Nightmares once had a name, but is now simply referred to as "The Dreaming" - after the devastation wrought by its denizens, most believe that simply referring to it by name draws too much attention to do anything but cause bad luck. Once a realm of possibility, it slowly became corrupted by the most horrible nightmares that could possibly be dreamed of, growing infested with demonic creatures.

The War:
Simply put, bizarre entities from The Dreaming slowly began to exert their influence over the mortal races of [SETTING] as they slept. What began as the simple insertion of somnambulic suggestions to agitate peoples against one another ended in near-possession of peoples driven near-to-madness by constant manipulations of their sleep and dreams. Those races ordinarily immune to such suggestion were not influenced, but were also primary targets of The Dreaming, and were hit hard by Dreaming-influenced mortal races and demonic creatures alike.

The War was finally brought to an end (of sorts) thanks to what amounted to a suicide charge against The Dreaming by those mortal races suited to battle it, as many of the most powerful spellcasters (along with their deities) sacrificed their lives in a feat of High Magic the world hopes to never see again - cutting the mortal races off from The Dreaming and enacting barriers between the planes.

The Present:
Less than five years after The War, the inhabitants of [SETTING] continue to rebuild, forced out of necessity to unite and unable to trust in their history or memories. Though mortals may continue to sleep, they will never dream again.

Religion:
The faiths of [SETTING] are mainly divided up by race, though the pantheons have grown smaller in recent times. During The War, their worshippers were changed so severely that most deities were similarly forced to adapt or fade away - although many of them did choose the latter (or sacrifice to power the High Magics that ended The War) rather than compromise themselves. Some of the deities have begun to return their churches to their original states, but just as many others have not, leading to a wide variety of alternate styles of worship and sects within each church.
Teh_username
08-04-07, 12:53 PM Humans:
The nations of man were hit hardest by The Dreaming, and were often their favoured minions - their adaptability and ability to learn quickly combined with their lack of any natural resistances to Dreaming manipulations meant that they excelled at whatever task they were manipulated towards. These same traits led to humanity adapting to rebel against The Dreaming, however, and has made humanity one of the greatest enemies against The Dreaming now that [SETTING] begins to rebuild.

Kalashtar:
An offshoot of humanity that emerged during The War, the Kalashtar are fierce enemies of The Dreaming and were among those races that brought The War to an end. Their origins are murky at best, however; those Kalashtar that were around long enough to remember were among the sacrificed and slain, and if the Elves know they aren't talking either.

Planetouched:
It can be argued that the deities of [SETTING] have suffered more than even the mortal races. Even the luckiest and strongest among them have been forced to loosen the restrictions placed upon their faithful and adapt to changes in mortal worship rather than vice-versa. Less-fortunate deities found themselves slowly fading away due to the waning of their churches and the lack of worship during The War, and counted among these now include a number of dead gods, be they weak deities who faded away to nothing over the course of the war, deities singled out by forces of The Dreaming and destroyed while weak (eliminated before they could be a threat or simply drained of energy by powerful denizens of The Dreaming), and those deities who gave so much of themselves during the final moments of The War that they effectively ceased to exist as sentient forces.

The death of a deity is rarely final, however, as there is something about their essence that cannot ever truly be destroyed. The world of [SETTING] has been saturated with the essence of these dead gods, changing many of its inhabitants forever in ways that are only now becoming fully apparent.

Aasimar:
{See "Changelings" for a general idea; deity in question will be Amaunator, lesser god of the sun (whose portfolio had long been mostly adopted by the deity of light)}

Tieflings:
{See "Changelings" for a general idea}

Changelings:
One of the deities that faded into relative obscurity rather early on was a nameless god of masks and trickery. Its church was mostly subverted by The Dreaming in the early phases of its incursion due to the benefits of agents already proficient in stealth and trickery. What few faithful that remained resistant to The Dreaming (and were not discovered and slain over the course of The War) did the best they could to hide and preserve their deity's essence. In the end, the deity and its followers joined the assault against The Dreaming in a desire for revenge, and most were slain in the process - including the deity itself.

Those mortals who "soaked up" some of the remaining essence of this nameless deity have shown abilities related to its affinities. As with all of the deities who created "Planetouched", the essence of the nameless god was seemingly unaffected by limitations of distance or the predisposition of those mortals it affects, and appears to have asserted its changes at random.

High Elves:
However immune to the influence of The Dreaming, the High Elves were the first of its targets, and were constantly beseiged by demons and mortal minions alike. It is from the High Elves that the magics used to end The War came, and many of their greatest heroes died to power its magics.

Though in a position to be the greatest source of knowledge about life before The War (as well as the events during), the High Elves are entirely unwilling to discuss such matters for reasons yet undisclosed, a practice which has driven a severe wedge between them and the rest of [SETTING].

Drow Elves:
Insular and reliant on slaves, the Drow were unprepared for The War. Many of their cities were destroyed before the Houses could regain control and put down the "rebellions".

As Lolth simply looked on, unwilling or unable to help her children, many of the Drow turned to other deities for aid - from elemental evils such as Ghaunadaur to to more primal forces such as Vulkoor.

In the end, however, the Drow survived as they always have - through intelligence, magical power, and sadistic opportunism.

Hyltari Elves:
Calling themselves as "Hy-tel-quessir" (crudely shortened in Common to "Hyltari"), the Half-Elves of [SETTING] are more likely to be a "truebreed" descendant of two other Hyltari than an actual half-breed (roughly 75%/25%, rather than the 50%/50% of earlier times).

Known to be diplomats, traders, and liasions writ large, Hyltari have finally been formally recognized as a race unto themselves by humans and elves alike due to their work in ending The War (Hyltari generally refrain from mentioning the fact that this concession was forced before they agreed to assist).

Warforged:
Creations of Dreaming-influenced humans yet resistant to their influence by their very nature, Warforged present a dichotomy that the other mortal races would prefer not to dwell on. Though they were of great martial aid during the end of The War, they are still reminiscent of their original purpose as Dreaming soldiers.

Shifters:
None are quite certain where these savage humanoids came from (save possibly the elves, who aren't talking), but they were bestial allies and vicious enemies of The Dreaming alike, due to their emotional nature. They have mostly retreated into isolation with the end of The War, and are known for their pack and racial loyalty: a common Shifter proverb is "Me against my brother; my brother and I against our neighbor; all of us against the foreigner."
Teh_username
08-04-07, 01:01 PM • Yes, other races than those written so far are planned to be in the world: Changelings and Planetouched are the first that come to mind. I just haven't had particular ideas for them yet.

• The references to "demonic creatures" in The Dreaming are indeed Tanar'ri, to an extent. I see them as chaotic manifestations of the primal fears of mortals, with Devils/Baatezu being the actual "fiends of the underworld". This probably means that Hell and They Abyss are both fundamentally changed somehow, but it wouldn't come up in-game for long enough that it doesn't matter yet.

• I see the remaining deities as having a "darker" bent than standard D&D; most Paladins would be of Kelemvor rather than Pelor, for example.

• Any connections to the Far Realm weren't really intentional, but I can see where they might exist. Aberrations will probably be around, possibly as creatures physically warped by The Dreaming into nightmarish forms.

• Yes, the "everyone is ignorant of the past and can't trust their memories" thing is intentional. No, I don't know where I'm going with it yet.
Aneutralshadeofblack
08-05-07, 08:48 AM Sounds quite good so far, and I like it. Remember, you don't need to try and incorporate every current D&D race or class or magic type - in fact, a setting tends to be much better if it's not a melting pot, so you can go easy on the number of races you include. :P

Other than that, I hope that none of your races can dream at all as a consequence of the barrier between reality and the Dreaming. It'd be a shame to waste an important and distinctive element of your setting by having it have no effect other than making the ultimate baddies unable to come back.
Artifact
08-05-07, 10:33 PM I'm curious: Is the Dreaming merely a backround aspect of your setting or will it play an important part in its pospective future? Will PCs adventure in the dreamscape? How "firm" is the barrier between worlds? Maybe the PCs set out ambitiously to restore the Dreaming to its un-nightmarish state. In any case I really like your ideas.

I'm personally fascinated by the nature and meaning of dreams, especially an area of study known as lucid dreaming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dreaming).

Dreams can be fun as a gaming enviroment, because almost anything can happen, literally you are free to test the bounds of reality. There are broad rules for Dreamscapes presented in Heroes of Horror.

I've ran a few games where the PCs took on Dreamscape versions of themselves. It was back in 2nd edition, using the Nightmare Lands accessory. It describes how some dreams are insubstantial illusions, while some are even real as as the waking world (depending on the "depth" of the dream). If you can locate a copy, I highly recommend it. Also, the Sandman comic series by Neil Gaiman is an excellent source of inspiration. There are many others, but these are good starters.
Teh_username
08-06-07, 03:11 AM The "Races" post has been edited to include an intro to Planetouched and the Changeling race; sorry to post-and-run but I'm quite sick at the moment.

Sounds quite good so far, and I like it. Remember, you don't need to try and incorporate every current D&D race or class or magic type - in fact, a setting tends to be much better if it's not a melting pot, so you can go easy on the number of races you include. :P
Of course, of course. As I said, the general idea was to try and incorporate the races of Eberron, along with a few others that fit the setting.

Some of the core races won't fit the setting. ;)

Other than that, I hope that none of your races can dream at all as a consequence of the barrier between reality and the Dreaming. It'd be a shame to waste an important and distinctive element of your setting by having it have no effect other than making the ultimate baddies unable to come back.
Oh, absolutely. I definitely intended the inability to dream to be a recurring plot-point, actually; it's something that will start to get quite detrimental to the mental health of [SETTING]'s inhabitants. Planned encounters include those driven mad by the inability to resolve mental and emotional troubles in their dreams, twisted and bitter cults who seek to undo the barrier in order to be able to dream again, and even simply artists attempting to uncover the secrets of the elven reverie now that they can now longer gain inspiration from their dreams.

I'm curious: Is the Dreaming merely a backround aspect of your setting or will it play an important part in its pospective future? Will PCs adventure in the dreamscape? How "firm" is the barrier between worlds? Maybe the PCs set out ambitiously to restore the Dreaming to its un-nightmarish state. In any case I really like your ideas.
Thanks! Any adventures to The Dreaming would probably wait until the players are higher-level; as time goes by (and they gain experience), the PCs will definitely start to realize that something else needs to be done about The Dreaming, for the sake of the mental health of the mortal races. Not to mention the inevitable evil cultists who preferred the "purpose in life" they had during The War under Dreaming influence and want to get it back....

Dreams can be fun as a gaming enviroment, because almost anything can happen, literally you are free to test the bounds of reality. There are broad rules for Dreamscapes presented in Heroes of Horror.
That'd be a good part of why I'm waiting until higher-level for adventures involving The Dreaming and its inhabitants: I want it to be as truly alien and surreal as it should be.

And I just got Heroes of Horror a day or two ago, and have started reading it. :D

Also, the Sandman comic series by Neil Gaiman is an excellent source of inspiration. There are many others, but these are good starters.
I've been a big Neil Gaiman fan for quite a while; like the Far Realm, he might have been an unconscious influence on the setting. :P

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Teh_username 08-04-07, 12:53 PM	A Brief Introduction: The idea for this world came about from a simultaneous interest in using some of the races from Eberron despite my dislike of the Eberron setting, à la Races of Eberron. Though still highly a work-in-progress, I've coalesced what ideas came to me so far. I come to this board to request critiques of what has been written so far, questions about things which are unclear, suggestions on improvements, and a request for a name (as I can't come up with one). Basics: [SETTING] was once a world much like many other Primes, if a little more peaceful. That all changed in the wake of what is now simply referred to as The War, a generations-long struggle that forever altered the face of [SETTING] and every culture residing therein. The Dreaming: The Realm of Dreams and Nightmares once had a name, but is now simply referred to as "The Dreaming" - after the devastation wrought by its denizens, most believe that simply referring to it by name draws too much attention to do anything but cause bad luck. Once a realm of possibility, it slowly became corrupted by the most horrible nightmares that could possibly be dreamed of, growing infested with demonic creatures. The War: Simply put, bizarre entities from The Dreaming slowly began to exert their influence over the mortal races of [SETTING] as they slept. What began as the simple insertion of somnambulic suggestions to agitate peoples against one another ended in near-possession of peoples driven near-to-madness by constant manipulations of their sleep and dreams. Those races ordinarily immune to such suggestion were not influenced, but were also primary targets of The Dreaming, and were hit hard by Dreaming-influenced mortal races and demonic creatures alike. The War was finally brought to an end (of sorts) thanks to what amounted to a suicide charge against The Dreaming by those mortal races suited to battle it, as many of the most powerful spellcasters (along with their deities) sacrificed their lives in a feat of High Magic the world hopes to never see again - cutting the mortal races off from The Dreaming and enacting barriers between the planes. The Present: Less than five years after The War, the inhabitants of [SETTING] continue to rebuild, forced out of necessity to unite and unable to trust in their history or memories. Though mortals may continue to sleep, they will never dream again. Religion: The faiths of [SETTING] are mainly divided up by race, though the pantheons have grown smaller in recent times. During The War, their worshippers were changed so severely that most deities were similarly forced to adapt or fade away - although many of them did choose the latter (or sacrifice to power the High Magics that ended The War) rather than compromise themselves. Some of the deities have begun to return their churches to their original states, but just as many others have not, leading to a wide variety of alternate styles of worship and sects within each church.
Teh_username 08-04-07, 12:53 PM	Humans: The nations of man were hit hardest by The Dreaming, and were often their favoured minions - their adaptability and ability to learn quickly combined with their lack of any natural resistances to Dreaming manipulations meant that they excelled at whatever task they were manipulated towards. These same traits led to humanity adapting to rebel against The Dreaming, however, and has made humanity one of the greatest enemies against The Dreaming now that [SETTING] begins to rebuild. Kalashtar: An offshoot of humanity that emerged during The War, the Kalashtar are fierce enemies of The Dreaming and were among those races that brought The War to an end. Their origins are murky at best, however; those Kalashtar that were around long enough to remember were among the sacrificed and slain, and if the Elves know they aren't talking either. Planetouched: It can be argued that the deities of [SETTING] have suffered more than even the mortal races. Even the luckiest and strongest among them have been forced to loosen the restrictions placed upon their faithful and adapt to changes in mortal worship rather than vice-versa. Less-fortunate deities found themselves slowly fading away due to the waning of their churches and the lack of worship during The War, and counted among these now include a number of dead gods, be they weak deities who faded away to nothing over the course of the war, deities singled out by forces of The Dreaming and destroyed while weak (eliminated before they could be a threat or simply drained of energy by powerful denizens of The Dreaming), and those deities who gave so much of themselves during the final moments of The War that they effectively ceased to exist as sentient forces. The death of a deity is rarely final, however, as there is something about their essence that cannot ever truly be destroyed. The world of [SETTING] has been saturated with the essence of these dead gods, changing many of its inhabitants forever in ways that are only now becoming fully apparent. Aasimar: {See "Changelings" for a general idea; deity in question will be Amaunator, lesser god of the sun (whose portfolio had long been mostly adopted by the deity of light)} Tieflings: {See "Changelings" for a general idea} Changelings: One of the deities that faded into relative obscurity rather early on was a nameless god of masks and trickery. Its church was mostly subverted by The Dreaming in the early phases of its incursion due to the benefits of agents already proficient in stealth and trickery. What few faithful that remained resistant to The Dreaming (and were not discovered and slain over the course of The War) did the best they could to hide and preserve their deity's essence. In the end, the deity and its followers joined the assault against The Dreaming in a desire for revenge, and most were slain in the process - including the deity itself. Those mortals who "soaked up" some of the remaining essence of this nameless deity have shown abilities related to its affinities. As with all of the deities who created "Planetouched", the essence of the nameless god was seemingly unaffected by limitations of distance or the predisposition of those mortals it affects, and appears to have asserted its changes at random. High Elves: However immune to the influence of The Dreaming, the High Elves were the first of its targets, and were constantly beseiged by demons and mortal minions alike. It is from the High Elves that the magics used to end The War came, and many of their greatest heroes died to power its magics. Though in a position to be the greatest source of knowledge about life before The War (as well as the events during), the High Elves are entirely unwilling to discuss such matters for reasons yet undisclosed, a practice which has driven a severe wedge between them and the rest of [SETTING]. Drow Elves: Insular and reliant on slaves, the Drow were unprepared for The War. Many of their cities were destroyed before the Houses could regain control and put down the "rebellions". As Lolth simply looked on, unwilling or unable to help her children, many of the Drow turned to other deities for aid - from elemental evils such as Ghaunadaur to to more primal forces such as Vulkoor. In the end, however, the Drow survived as they always have - through intelligence, magical power, and sadistic opportunism. Hyltari Elves: Calling themselves as "Hy-tel-quessir" (crudely shortened in Common to "Hyltari"), the Half-Elves of [SETTING] are more likely to be a "truebreed" descendant of two other Hyltari than an actual half-breed (roughly 75%/25%, rather than the 50%/50% of earlier times). Known to be diplomats, traders, and liasions writ large, Hyltari have finally been formally recognized as a race unto themselves by humans and elves alike due to their work in ending The War (Hyltari generally refrain from mentioning the fact that this concession was forced before they agreed to assist). Warforged: Creations of Dreaming-influenced humans yet resistant to their influence by their very nature, Warforged present a dichotomy that the other mortal races would prefer not to dwell on. Though they were of great martial aid during the end of The War, they are still reminiscent of their original purpose as Dreaming soldiers. Shifters: None are quite certain where these savage humanoids came from (save possibly the elves, who aren't talking), but they were bestial allies and vicious enemies of The Dreaming alike, due to their emotional nature. They have mostly retreated into isolation with the end of The War, and are known for their pack and racial loyalty: a common Shifter proverb is "Me against my brother; my brother and I against our neighbor; all of us against the foreigner."
Teh_username 08-04-07, 01:01 PM	• Yes, other races than those written so far are planned to be in the world: Changelings and Planetouched are the first that come to mind. I just haven't had particular ideas for them yet. • The references to "demonic creatures" in The Dreaming are indeed Tanar'ri, to an extent. I see them as chaotic manifestations of the primal fears of mortals, with Devils/Baatezu being the actual "fiends of the underworld". This probably means that Hell and They Abyss are both fundamentally changed somehow, but it wouldn't come up in-game for long enough that it doesn't matter yet. • I see the remaining deities as having a "darker" bent than standard D&D; most Paladins would be of Kelemvor rather than Pelor, for example. • Any connections to the Far Realm weren't really intentional, but I can see where they might exist. Aberrations will probably be around, possibly as creatures physically warped by The Dreaming into nightmarish forms. • Yes, the "everyone is ignorant of the past and can't trust their memories" thing is intentional. No, I don't know where I'm going with it yet.
Aneutralshadeofblack 08-05-07, 08:48 AM	Sounds quite good so far, and I like it. Remember, you don't need to try and incorporate every current D&D race or class or magic type - in fact, a setting tends to be much better if it's not a melting pot, so you can go easy on the number of races you include. :P Other than that, I hope that none of your races can dream at all as a consequence of the barrier between reality and the Dreaming. It'd be a shame to waste an important and distinctive element of your setting by having it have no effect other than making the ultimate baddies unable to come back.
Artifact 08-05-07, 10:33 PM	I'm curious: Is the Dreaming merely a backround aspect of your setting or will it play an important part in its pospective future? Will PCs adventure in the dreamscape? How "firm" is the barrier between worlds? Maybe the PCs set out ambitiously to restore the Dreaming to its un-nightmarish state. In any case I really like your ideas. I'm personally fascinated by the nature and meaning of dreams, especially an area of study known as lucid dreaming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dreaming). Dreams can be fun as a gaming enviroment, because almost anything can happen, literally you are free to test the bounds of reality. There are broad rules for Dreamscapes presented in Heroes of Horror. I've ran a few games where the PCs took on Dreamscape versions of themselves. It was back in 2nd edition, using the Nightmare Lands accessory. It describes how some dreams are insubstantial illusions, while some are even real as as the waking world (depending on the "depth" of the dream). If you can locate a copy, I highly recommend it. Also, the Sandman comic series by Neil Gaiman is an excellent source of inspiration. There are many others, but these are good starters.
Teh_username 08-06-07, 03:11 AM	The "Races" post has been edited to include an intro to Planetouched and the Changeling race; sorry to post-and-run but I'm quite sick at the moment. Sounds quite good so far, and I like it. Remember, you don't need to try and incorporate every current D&D race or class or magic type - in fact, a setting tends to be much better if it's not a melting pot, so you can go easy on the number of races you include. :P Of course, of course. As I said, the general idea was to try and incorporate the races of Eberron, along with a few others that fit the setting. Some of the core races won't fit the setting. ;) Other than that, I hope that none of your races can dream at all as a consequence of the barrier between reality and the Dreaming. It'd be a shame to waste an important and distinctive element of your setting by having it have no effect other than making the ultimate baddies unable to come back. Oh, absolutely. I definitely intended the inability to dream to be a recurring plot-point, actually; it's something that will start to get quite detrimental to the mental health of [SETTING]'s inhabitants. Planned encounters include those driven mad by the inability to resolve mental and emotional troubles in their dreams, twisted and bitter cults who seek to undo the barrier in order to be able to dream again, and even simply artists attempting to uncover the secrets of the elven reverie now that they can now longer gain inspiration from their dreams. I'm curious: Is the Dreaming merely a backround aspect of your setting or will it play an important part in its pospective future? Will PCs adventure in the dreamscape? How "firm" is the barrier between worlds? Maybe the PCs set out ambitiously to restore the Dreaming to its un-nightmarish state. In any case I really like your ideas. Thanks! Any adventures to The Dreaming would probably wait until the players are higher-level; as time goes by (and they gain experience), the PCs will definitely start to realize that something else needs to be done about The Dreaming, for the sake of the mental health of the mortal races. Not to mention the inevitable evil cultists who preferred the "purpose in life" they had during The War under Dreaming influence and want to get it back.... Dreams can be fun as a gaming enviroment, because almost anything can happen, literally you are free to test the bounds of reality. There are broad rules for Dreamscapes presented in Heroes of Horror. That'd be a good part of why I'm waiting until higher-level for adventures involving The Dreaming and its inhabitants: I want it to be as truly alien and surreal as it should be. And I just got Heroes of Horror a day or two ago, and have started reading it. :D Also, the Sandman comic series by Neil Gaiman is an excellent source of inspiration. There are many others, but these are good starters. I've been a big Neil Gaiman fan for quite a while; like the Far Realm, he might have been an unconscious influence on the setting. :P