I need some finishing touches. [Archive] - Wizards Community

I need some finishing touches. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Radijs
08-24-07, 06:18 AM I’ve been building a new campaign setting for a new group of players and I need a bit of help filling in a few of the blanks.
My first setting wasn’t very involved for several reasons. The most prevalent was that it was because it was the first time I ever DM-ed. The second one was because the PC’s would soon leave the plane on some inter-planar journey ala sliders.

But the general idea I have for this adventure chain will leave the PC’s in this world and though I have the basic premise I need some help filling in the details. Amongst others the way politics are taken care of and how society works.

First let me show you what I’ve got already:

The Celestial Sphere and the empire of ten thousand generations.

Picture an endless sea of clouds. Rolling and billowing out to infinity. Their white and grey mass obscuring all sight. Then in the distance you can just see it. An island suspended in thin air just above the clouds. And there is another, and more. A disc of islands circling in a disc just below a bright sun.

{Excerpt of the scrolls of creation}
At the beginning of time the all-god Amon-Re witnessed the eternal sea of clouds. As his breath fell on the clouds they writhed and coiled. He willed the water and the dust to come together and they came together forming the sacred land Shariah.
But the land lay frozen in the darkness.
Amun-Re cast his gaze down on the new world he had created and said “I will give it my blessing and I shall shine down upon them.”
And so Amun-Ra made Celestis the celestial light and Shariah became warm and the breath of god made it that life teemed in the soil.
Life was harsh for mortals cannot endure the divine power of Amun-Re at all times.
Those weakest of faith shunned the light hiding in the shadows that it cast or deep under the earth where the Celestis was only a memory. Hidden away from the light of god they grew short and wide. They discarded their heavenly right and called themselves Dwarves and gnomes. These are the people of stone and have the least blessing of Amun-Re.

Amun-Re saw that his followers where faithful and he blessed them. He took half of Celestis and forged its power into a diamond. The Ori-lightbringer which he gave to his faithful so they would be master over Celestis. So it would no longer burn them but nourish.
So dawned the first age of day and night and day and with it rose the first empire.
The land was bountiful and the blessed people preformed many great deeds of might, craft, medicine and magic.
But as the empire thrived its people became proud. They no longer honored Amun-Re but worshipped their own kin. Naming themselves gods. This displeased Amun-Re and in his anger he tore of a part of his own skin. It fell short of Shariah and disappeared in the shadow of the world. There it grew in malignancy and hate. Before long it found Shariah and infected the strong twisting them and warping them into Orcs taking away Amun-Re’s blessing and turning them into his own servants. The Sons of Gruumsh.
Gruumsh waged war against the empire. The people once proud now hid in tall towers starving away and becoming gaunt, all traces of true divinity vanishing and their features elongating. They became the elves. Others fled from battle and hid themselves away making themselves small and sneaky. They became known as the half-men (Halflings).
But there where those who met the evil Orcs.
Amun-Re saw this and he blessed them and their kings. He took the mightiest of the faithful and marked him as his brother. Now he would be Kord, god of strength
The armies of the faithful crushed the Orcs and drove them back to the rim.

Shattered world and the time of darkness.

The time of the first empire was long gone and strife wracked the land. The many kingdoms of man and the lesser races fought each other over the relics of the old world and they forgot their faith. False prophets wandered the world spreading lies. This saddened Amun-Re and he wept for his people. His tears fell on Celestis and evaporated into a thick layer of clouds which blocked out all of the divine light.
Darkness ruled the land and gave birth to the great evil. From the blood of a thousand battlefields a black figure rose. Wielding a scythe he went forth and stalked through the palaces, keeps and castles killing all of noble blood. For he was Nerull, Death Incarnate.
He took the bodies and their divinity and brought them together giving birth to Erythnul god of slaughter.

As they walked through the world they gave rise to more evil. Hextor, Vecna and Wee-Jas. And the people despaired and cried out for salvation.
Amon-Re heard their pleas and heeded them. He reached down and touched every one of the blessed. To the dwarves he gave a divine champion, Moradin. To the gnomes he gave Garl Glittergold. To the elves he empowered Corellon Larethian. To the Halflings he gave Olidammara.
This was the war of the gods. During which Kord cut Hextor in half. But the god had tricked Kord and the blow had removed every trace of mercy and valour from the tyrant god. Infuriated with his loss Kord cut himself and let his blood drip on the half of the god lying at his feet. It came to life and became Heironeous, God of Valor.

During this time Gruumsh had been sleeping but the noise of battle woke him. Thinking now the time to strike he rose from the depths his fist raised upwards he smote the world with his fist shattering it into a thousand pieces with a thunderous blow.
With the shattering of the world the fog was blown away and the Celestis again illuminated the world driving the dark gods back to their own domains.

To make a long story short, The world consists of a group of islands suspended in mid-air. The island of the crown in the middle which is surrounded by the five royal isles Arcadia, Austrina, Esparcta, Genanthea and Anubria. Around these islands there are several more islands and finally surrounding all that there’s “the ring” Which consists of slivers of lands. These lands are all illuminated by Celestis a divine light which hands right above the middle island. It brightens and darkens periodically creating the same effect as day and night.
All the islands are mostly stationary compared to each other only shifting a dozen or so meters. The exception is the ring which slowly rotates clockwise. A larger unit of time is so called “A turn” which means the time that’s needed for the ring of islands to come full circle.

I’m still working on this bit because I utterly suck at politics. The basic premise is that the whole of the world is being ruled by the god-emperor. A bit like the Pharaoh from ancient Egypt. His palace and temples to the great god Amon-Re are on the center island. The five inner islands (mentioned above) are owned by the five royal families which are charged with relaying the emperor’s divine mandates and managing the empire. What I thought was that these families aren’t really all nice people and they tend to vie and feud with each other for power within the empire.
One step further outside you get the more wealthy commoners. Merchants, craftsmen etc. make their living on the free islands. They are taxed by the nobility but they can generally make a good living.
And finally the ring where poverty is more or less universal. Its mostly inhabited by peasants who try to scrape by. The inner islands, more or less devoid of any kind of large-scale agriculture are dependant on the grain from the ring. So to provide the grain the royal families have been taxing the ring very heavily leaving them with just enough to survive.

Oh yes travel, I almost forgot.
Most of the islands are too far away and move too much to construct permanent bridges. There aren’t many magicians that possess magic powerful enough to move everyone around magically. However the noble houses have airships at their command. Large zeppelins are kept aloft with air heated by bound fire elementals while bound air elementals provide thrust for the ships to move about. Again binding these elementals are beyond the scope of most people.

If you’ve got any good ideas about what this place needs please let me know.
taradusis
08-24-07, 03:56 PM You seem to have an Egyptian culture and a standard D+D cosmology with the head of the Egyptian pantheon grafted on?Why not use the Egyptian pantheon,then each noble house could worship a different egyptian god?This would give you a set of interlocking theocracies?You also seem to be using the standard races,have you considered a unique race or a minor race that is more important in your world?How about using spelljammer ship plans from Spelljammer.org as a base for your airships?What about some villainous organizations?What is the demographic breakdown of your world?RANDOM THOUGHTS
nimblewright93
08-24-07, 04:50 PM have you considered a unique race or a minor race that is more important in your world?

Backing up what he said you could base a race called jackals(the fox headed guys) off of the Rak'ashik(somthing like That)
They are in monster manual I and II
Radijs
08-24-07, 07:05 PM I've kept the original pantheon because the players in the campaign are mostly new players and they don't have access to a lot of splatbooks. So I've opted to try and keep the original gods in there as much as possible.
Its still a good idea and I will keep it in mind as a plan B.

I haven't yet considered a unique race. Again for the same reason as I mentioned before.

Spelljammer could be an option. I picked dirigibles in this case because it was the first thing that popped into my head. I'll have to read the spelljammer stuff first though.
taradusis
08-25-07, 03:47 PM Well,here is what I'd do.I'd take a player poll.Ask them what sort of character they'd like to play next,then draw up an info sheet on what seems do-able to you.Ask them what sort of monster they like to be,perhaps draw up a list of the best monsters they've faced?I had a Pc who thought my Hobgoblins were so cool he wanted to play one who was an exile from his tribe.RANDOM THOUGHT
Glak
08-25-07, 09:36 PM "I've kept the original pantheon because the players in the campaign are mostly new players and they don't have access to a lot of splatbooks."

I don't see the connection. You can't write up a description of the gods on your own?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Radijs 08-24-07, 06:18 AM	I’ve been building a new campaign setting for a new group of players and I need a bit of help filling in a few of the blanks. My first setting wasn’t very involved for several reasons. The most prevalent was that it was because it was the first time I ever DM-ed. The second one was because the PC’s would soon leave the plane on some inter-planar journey ala sliders. But the general idea I have for this adventure chain will leave the PC’s in this world and though I have the basic premise I need some help filling in the details. Amongst others the way politics are taken care of and how society works. First let me show you what I’ve got already: The Celestial Sphere and the empire of ten thousand generations. Picture an endless sea of clouds. Rolling and billowing out to infinity. Their white and grey mass obscuring all sight. Then in the distance you can just see it. An island suspended in thin air just above the clouds. And there is another, and more. A disc of islands circling in a disc just below a bright sun. {Excerpt of the scrolls of creation} At the beginning of time the all-god Amon-Re witnessed the eternal sea of clouds. As his breath fell on the clouds they writhed and coiled. He willed the water and the dust to come together and they came together forming the sacred land Shariah. But the land lay frozen in the darkness. Amun-Re cast his gaze down on the new world he had created and said “I will give it my blessing and I shall shine down upon them.” And so Amun-Ra made Celestis the celestial light and Shariah became warm and the breath of god made it that life teemed in the soil. Life was harsh for mortals cannot endure the divine power of Amun-Re at all times. Those weakest of faith shunned the light hiding in the shadows that it cast or deep under the earth where the Celestis was only a memory. Hidden away from the light of god they grew short and wide. They discarded their heavenly right and called themselves Dwarves and gnomes. These are the people of stone and have the least blessing of Amun-Re. Amun-Re saw that his followers where faithful and he blessed them. He took half of Celestis and forged its power into a diamond. The Ori-lightbringer which he gave to his faithful so they would be master over Celestis. So it would no longer burn them but nourish. So dawned the first age of day and night and day and with it rose the first empire. The land was bountiful and the blessed people preformed many great deeds of might, craft, medicine and magic. But as the empire thrived its people became proud. They no longer honored Amun-Re but worshipped their own kin. Naming themselves gods. This displeased Amun-Re and in his anger he tore of a part of his own skin. It fell short of Shariah and disappeared in the shadow of the world. There it grew in malignancy and hate. Before long it found Shariah and infected the strong twisting them and warping them into Orcs taking away Amun-Re’s blessing and turning them into his own servants. The Sons of Gruumsh. Gruumsh waged war against the empire. The people once proud now hid in tall towers starving away and becoming gaunt, all traces of true divinity vanishing and their features elongating. They became the elves. Others fled from battle and hid themselves away making themselves small and sneaky. They became known as the half-men (Halflings). But there where those who met the evil Orcs. Amun-Re saw this and he blessed them and their kings. He took the mightiest of the faithful and marked him as his brother. Now he would be Kord, god of strength The armies of the faithful crushed the Orcs and drove them back to the rim. Shattered world and the time of darkness. The time of the first empire was long gone and strife wracked the land. The many kingdoms of man and the lesser races fought each other over the relics of the old world and they forgot their faith. False prophets wandered the world spreading lies. This saddened Amun-Re and he wept for his people. His tears fell on Celestis and evaporated into a thick layer of clouds which blocked out all of the divine light. Darkness ruled the land and gave birth to the great evil. From the blood of a thousand battlefields a black figure rose. Wielding a scythe he went forth and stalked through the palaces, keeps and castles killing all of noble blood. For he was Nerull, Death Incarnate. He took the bodies and their divinity and brought them together giving birth to Erythnul god of slaughter. As they walked through the world they gave rise to more evil. Hextor, Vecna and Wee-Jas. And the people despaired and cried out for salvation. Amon-Re heard their pleas and heeded them. He reached down and touched every one of the blessed. To the dwarves he gave a divine champion, Moradin. To the gnomes he gave Garl Glittergold. To the elves he empowered Corellon Larethian. To the Halflings he gave Olidammara. This was the war of the gods. During which Kord cut Hextor in half. But the god had tricked Kord and the blow had removed every trace of mercy and valour from the tyrant god. Infuriated with his loss Kord cut himself and let his blood drip on the half of the god lying at his feet. It came to life and became Heironeous, God of Valor. During this time Gruumsh had been sleeping but the noise of battle woke him. Thinking now the time to strike he rose from the depths his fist raised upwards he smote the world with his fist shattering it into a thousand pieces with a thunderous blow. With the shattering of the world the fog was blown away and the Celestis again illuminated the world driving the dark gods back to their own domains. To make a long story short, The world consists of a group of islands suspended in mid-air. The island of the crown in the middle which is surrounded by the five royal isles Arcadia, Austrina, Esparcta, Genanthea and Anubria. Around these islands there are several more islands and finally surrounding all that there’s “the ring” Which consists of slivers of lands. These lands are all illuminated by Celestis a divine light which hands right above the middle island. It brightens and darkens periodically creating the same effect as day and night. All the islands are mostly stationary compared to each other only shifting a dozen or so meters. The exception is the ring which slowly rotates clockwise. A larger unit of time is so called “A turn” which means the time that’s needed for the ring of islands to come full circle. I’m still working on this bit because I utterly suck at politics. The basic premise is that the whole of the world is being ruled by the god-emperor. A bit like the Pharaoh from ancient Egypt. His palace and temples to the great god Amon-Re are on the center island. The five inner islands (mentioned above) are owned by the five royal families which are charged with relaying the emperor’s divine mandates and managing the empire. What I thought was that these families aren’t really all nice people and they tend to vie and feud with each other for power within the empire. One step further outside you get the more wealthy commoners. Merchants, craftsmen etc. make their living on the free islands. They are taxed by the nobility but they can generally make a good living. And finally the ring where poverty is more or less universal. Its mostly inhabited by peasants who try to scrape by. The inner islands, more or less devoid of any kind of large-scale agriculture are dependant on the grain from the ring. So to provide the grain the royal families have been taxing the ring very heavily leaving them with just enough to survive. Oh yes travel, I almost forgot. Most of the islands are too far away and move too much to construct permanent bridges. There aren’t many magicians that possess magic powerful enough to move everyone around magically. However the noble houses have airships at their command. Large zeppelins are kept aloft with air heated by bound fire elementals while bound air elementals provide thrust for the ships to move about. Again binding these elementals are beyond the scope of most people. If you’ve got any good ideas about what this place needs please let me know.
taradusis 08-24-07, 03:56 PM	You seem to have an Egyptian culture and a standard D+D cosmology with the head of the Egyptian pantheon grafted on?Why not use the Egyptian pantheon,then each noble house could worship a different egyptian god?This would give you a set of interlocking theocracies?You also seem to be using the standard races,have you considered a unique race or a minor race that is more important in your world?How about using spelljammer ship plans from Spelljammer.org as a base for your airships?What about some villainous organizations?What is the demographic breakdown of your world?RANDOM THOUGHTS
nimblewright93 08-24-07, 04:50 PM	have you considered a unique race or a minor race that is more important in your world? Backing up what he said you could base a race called jackals(the fox headed guys) off of the Rak'ashik(somthing like That) They are in monster manual I and II
Radijs 08-24-07, 07:05 PM	I've kept the original pantheon because the players in the campaign are mostly new players and they don't have access to a lot of splatbooks. So I've opted to try and keep the original gods in there as much as possible. Its still a good idea and I will keep it in mind as a plan B. I haven't yet considered a unique race. Again for the same reason as I mentioned before. Spelljammer could be an option. I picked dirigibles in this case because it was the first thing that popped into my head. I'll have to read the spelljammer stuff first though.
taradusis 08-25-07, 03:47 PM	Well,here is what I'd do.I'd take a player poll.Ask them what sort of character they'd like to play next,then draw up an info sheet on what seems do-able to you.Ask them what sort of monster they like to be,perhaps draw up a list of the best monsters they've faced?I had a Pc who thought my Hobgoblins were so cool he wanted to play one who was an exile from his tribe.RANDOM THOUGHT
Glak 08-25-07, 09:36 PM	"I've kept the original pantheon because the players in the campaign are mostly new players and they don't have access to a lot of splatbooks." I don't see the connection. You can't write up a description of the gods on your own?