The Player's Guide to Alacaron [Archive] - Wizards Community

The Player's Guide to Alacaron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Gnomemaster
05-01-07, 05:09 PM Introduction

Alacaron is a campaign setting that I have been working with off and on over the years. Sometimes I will go months without thinking about it then I will get back to tinkering with it. One of my major snags is that I will look at too large of a picture. So What I plan on doing is writing several small articles that pertain to Alacaron. So that if someone wanted to play they could flip through these boards and go "Wow, that sounds cool!"

Alacaron is a high fantasy setting with a mixed community of races. There are Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes, Orcs, and more available for Players. However, the flavor of idea behind Alacaron is to take these staples of Dungeons and Dragons and convert them into something completely new.

The Humans are exiles from a far away land because of their worship and general use of undead. Elves are jungle hunters similar to the ancient Hawaiians. Dwarves are greedy pirates and rogues, a race of thieves with their own Thieve's Code of Honor. Halflings are creatures of Chaos who worship a pantheon made of millions of deities, almost all of which are made up on the spot by a Halfling. Gnomes are dealers in demonic and devilish rites, often using the fiends for their own ends (which sometimes happen to be for the greater good). Orcs are a race of samurai warriors and ninja assassins, they adhere to their own code of honor known as Kai.

These Articles will address the religions, regions, races, and other unique aspects of Alacaron in an orderly fashion. if you are impressed, please say something. If you think I'm wrong about something, please say something.
Gnomemaster
05-01-07, 06:47 PM The Church of Zhuud

A Church of Exiles

"Service in undeath is the greatest glory."
-Banafrit, Priestess of Zhuud

Zhuud was once a powerful warlock-hunter who lead to the executions of several dark and evil spellcasters. Zhuud's hate for all that is evil lead him down dark alleys, leading him to practice dark rites and spells to become more efficient. After a long drawn out fight with an ancient Lich, Zhuud collected the dark mage's spellbooks and returned to his adamantine tower high in the mountains. After weeks of pouring over the Lich's rambling notes Zhuud constructed himself a phylactery and crossed the line between life and undeath.

Zhuud turned to his followers (many of whom were shocked at their master's sudden transformation) and he shared with them the skills of creating Undead. After a century of fighting the dark wizards who terrorized the land, Zhuud and his many students were pressed upon by a Paladin named Theorys. The knight claimed that the use of Undead was an evil act, no matter what they were being used for, he faced off against Zhuud in an epic battle that destroyed the Lich. The Paladin crushed the Phylactery beneath his boot, but during the fight the Lich's followers boarded two ships and set sail.

For two months the Zhuudists floated through the endless ocean. One of Zhuud's most powerful apprentices took charge of the exiles and took the time on the boats to pen the Holy Book of Zhuud, a 700 page tome covering the life and undeath of his lord. After two months adrift, the Zhuudists finally found Alacaron, a new world away from religious persecution.

The Church of Zhuud in the World

Humans found in Alacaron tend to be Monotheists, worshiping only Zhuud, who promotes the cycles of life. Very few Humans stray away from this teaching, and those tend to be Humans who have lived in mixed communities. The followers of Zhuud tend to be Humans with a few half-elves who favor their Human heritage, it is also not unheard of for an Orc to abandon their faith in the Code and to join the ranks of Zhuudist Paladins or Monks. However, to become a Cleric of Zhuud a player must be Human or at least have Human blood (this includes any Half-Ogres, Half-Elves, Half-Fiends, or Half-Dragons.) A few people find the use of Undead to be deplorable (Especially some of the Elven Druids of the Order of the Volcano) However, the Church uses the undead as useful tools for building cities, guarding homes, and various other tasks deemed as holy work by Zhuud.

Priests of Zhuud are easy to spot thanks to their helms shaped to look like grinning skulls. Paladins and Monks tend to wear skeletal motifs in their clothing and armor, but only a Priest of Zhuud could ever wear one of the Helms. It is punishable by death (with no raising) to ever wear a helm and not be a full fledged priest of Zhuud.

Zhuudist Priests often offer their services as healers, their intimacy with death makes them some of the most skilled medics. However, the cleric will just as often refuse to raise or heal someone because Zhuud demands their death as they will offer their spells to help.

Tenets of Death

To the church of Zhuud, the worst punishment in the world is to be killed with no hope of being raised. Often times those who fail will have their bodies cursed to keep from being turned into any kind of Undead. To Zhuddists, any mindless undead can be a tool for the greater good (Zombies, Ghouls, Wights, etc.) Zhuudist Adventurers will, however, try to control these undead. If they are tainted with evil or too feral to be controlled the priest has no scruples about killing it. Intelligent Undead however (Liches, Vampires, Etc) are given a choice, submit or be destroyed.

Zhuudists hunt evil undead across Alacaron, and usually are sent on missions to either help bolster the power of the church or to put a stop to evil wizards or Undead (or other entities that the Church decrees evil. The church of Zhuud is ruled by three powerful undead, the Mouth of Zhuud (LN female Vampire Wiz 5/Clr 5/Mystic Theurge 8), the Hand of Zhuud (LN Male Lich Wizard 19), and the Heart of Zhuud (CE Death Drinker Demon).
Zhuud
The Master, The Harsh God
Greater Deity
Symbol: A white skull
Alignment: LN
Core Worshippers: Humans
Favored Weapon: Heavy Mace
Domains: Law, Balance, Death, Deathbound, Renewal, Undeath

Knowledge (Religion)
DC 10: The Church of Zhuud is a popular religion that focuses on Life, Death, and Undeath.
DC 15: Humans are descendants of Zhuudist pilgrims who escaped from persecution.
DC 20: To Zhuudists, nothing is more wonderful then becoming undead. Those who fail to raise as undead are seen as failures. That's why often Zhuudists will have a Contingency spell cast on them that triggers and raises them as zombies when they die.
DC 25: Most of the more powerful priests in the Hierarchy are Vampires, Liches, and other intelligent Undead.
DC 30: Zhuud is an extension of an ancient Demon Prince.
First of all, part of the design behind Zhuud was taking something that was all know is evil and making it not so much. So I flipped through my Book of Vile Darkness and found Orcus, an old school favorite. I took Undead and made them into tools and cohorts for good characters. Now, you might be asking about turn and rebuke. The ability is still available to Clerics of Zhuud, in fact a lot of them will take extra turning, just because the Zhuddists use Undead does not mean that they aren't more then prepared to destroy them.
Gnomemaster
05-01-07, 11:31 PM The Infinite Gods of the Pantheon

A Church of Billions

"By the orange beard of Buritis, god of tavern brawls!"
-Heritan, Priest of the Pantheon

No one knows where The Pantheon really came from. It sparks debate among scholars, one thing is for certain however, the Halflings seem to make it up as they go along. Halfling priests are well known for ad libbing ancient prophecies and legends about their gods. Halflings often make up their deity of the day on the spot. In the morning, when a halfling cleric prays for her spells, she chooses who she will be worshiping that day. Attempts to keep track of all the different gods by Gnome scholars failed when they learned their test subjects were leading them along.

Halflings often incorporate themes of other religions into their own and claim there is a god and goddess for everything in the world. The Pantheon is based upon the idea that there is a deity ruling over every aspect of life. The halflings will often read from a bible (which is blank) to their flock.

When playing a cleric of The Pantheon, choose an alignment related domain (Law, Chaos, Evil, Balance and Good) that reflects your character. Then, each morning, choose a new domain and a new patron deity. Priests of The Pantheon never worship the same entity more then once, and are not as skilled at turning and rebuking undead. A cleric of the Pantheon gains the ability to turn like a Paladin (at fourth level instead of first).

Example: Name: Porfolio. Domain.

Buritis: Bar fights. Strength.
Talilim: Gambling with dice. Luck.
Uopaos: The morning. Sun.
Iburmey: Rivers. Water.
Mejo: Revenge against neighbors. Wrath.
Bheml: Bets. Pact.
Yirm-Recizyul:Stars. Air.
Kheu-Tpoe: Laziness. Sloth.
Taexyaanah: Masochism. Suffering.
Leqyotiagy: Sadism. Suffering.
Dudili:Abjuration. Spell.
Tefujot: Gelatinous Cubes. Slime.
Etaqu:Minutes. Time.
Qisiqip: Maps. Planning.
Fuca: Sex. Lust.
Ruril: Freedom from Prison. Liberation.
Pabutas: Campfires. Fire.
Gabil: The Ocean. Ocean.
Ohilahojonef: Masks. Trickery.
Joabarie: Mothers. Family.
Ditoi:Bravery. Courage.
Adriehl: Three legged races. Competition.
Hikibenef: Traveling across roads. Celerity.
Gaticeqikapugit: Dark rooms. Darkness.
Bigamebi: Copper Dragons. Dragon.
Codrahra: Tall pointy eared people. Elf.
Datahi: Fat bearded people. Dwarf.
Dran: Big green people. Orc.
Garahra: Tall and scary pointy eared people. Drow.
Girui: Weird Halflings. Gnome.
Gogara: People jealous of Halflings. Envy.
Jilorah: Craziness. Madness.
Jiregan: Copper. Metal.
Maodabir: Lizard things. Scalykind.
Piorarar: Scribbled ramblings. Rune.
Prahigug: Traveling through the planes. Portal.
Ragagmor: Demons. Abyss.
Ratrahe: Dragon hoard plunderers. Wealth.
Seda: Ex-Dragon hoard plunderers. Death.
Sespram: Modrons. Mechanus.
Spiran: Books. Knowledge.
Tieyaba: Good looks. Charm.
Uieree: Full bellies. Gluttony.
Ulahrong: Sitting around and waiting. Patience.
Yamamaga: Creepy bugs. Spiders.
Yapi: Zombies. Undeath.
Zimonyao: Believing you are better then you actually are. Pride.
Ziramang: Boats. Ocean.
Zisatro: Animals. Animal.
Lonya: Shrubs. Plant.
Gnomemaster
05-02-07, 01:27 PM The Infinite Pantheon in the World

The Pantheon is worshipped all over the world, however, 90% of the faithful are halflings. One of the weaknesses of the religion is the anarchy that runs the religion. There is no central leader or organization leading the group; it is a religion made of nomadic priests who spend most of their time traveling from village to village preaching about their god that day.

A lot of people (most notably the Church of Zhuud) see the Pantheon as a group of beggars, representing the worst possible heresy, worship of anyone other then Zhuud. Zhuudists tend to be peaceful towards those of other religions if not tolerant. However, in some of the communities ran by extremist arms of the church, practitioners of the Pantheon have been known to be run out of town, arrested, or even killed. However these are small incidents that more moderate Zhuudists find disgusting.

Tenets of the Pantheon

The Pantheon revolves around the worship of each individual god. Gerathan, a Pantheon scholar, has studied the Pantheon for centuries; his theories address the changing of patrons every day.

“What looks to an outsider as a halfling making up stories as he goes, is actually the birth of deities. As soon as someone begins to believe in it (an act which begins when the cleric begins preaching) the entity that is a deity is created. It is a real thing that grants real spells as well as any other, however, that godling is never referred to again by that cleric for the rest of their life.

“I interviewed fifty different priests, each one told me different deities every day (and any attempt to talk about the god from yesterday was answered with disgust). No halfling spoke of a similar god, each one was unique and new. I am convinced that there must be some other force that perhaps these halflings do not make it up, but are in fact driven to talk about each of these godlings.”

First, I've always tried to make a huge pantheon just like in Forgotten Realms but never quite made it. Alacaron deals a lot more with the fact that people in Alacaron really don't know how the magic of religion works. They see clerics pray and receive spells, but they don't travel to the god's stronghold, kill it, and take over as the new god of death. In fact, Zhuud may not be his real name. So we have the halflings (who are hard for me to fit into Alacaron, but are a core race so I want to use them) who are pure chaos. I spent a long time researching any rules that allow you to change Domains (a feat or something similar) and decided instead to weaken the rebuke/turning in exchange for the ability to switch from the war domain to the air domain daily. A priest can only do this once per day while preparing their spells (while praying). That's when a cleric would decide who they are worshiping that day.

When creating your god, remember that it is going to be something random. pick a domain, then pick a portfolio that is a small portion of that domain. For example, you like the war domain: you can worship the god of soldiers, medics, tactics, trenches, archers, ingenuity, valor, bravery, or brilliant last charges.
Gnomemaster
05-03-07, 02:41 AM bump

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gnomemaster 05-01-07, 05:09 PM	Introduction Alacaron is a campaign setting that I have been working with off and on over the years. Sometimes I will go months without thinking about it then I will get back to tinkering with it. One of my major snags is that I will look at too large of a picture. So What I plan on doing is writing several small articles that pertain to Alacaron. So that if someone wanted to play they could flip through these boards and go "Wow, that sounds cool!" Alacaron is a high fantasy setting with a mixed community of races. There are Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes, Orcs, and more available for Players. However, the flavor of idea behind Alacaron is to take these staples of Dungeons and Dragons and convert them into something completely new. The Humans are exiles from a far away land because of their worship and general use of undead. Elves are jungle hunters similar to the ancient Hawaiians. Dwarves are greedy pirates and rogues, a race of thieves with their own Thieve's Code of Honor. Halflings are creatures of Chaos who worship a pantheon made of millions of deities, almost all of which are made up on the spot by a Halfling. Gnomes are dealers in demonic and devilish rites, often using the fiends for their own ends (which sometimes happen to be for the greater good). Orcs are a race of samurai warriors and ninja assassins, they adhere to their own code of honor known as Kai. These Articles will address the religions, regions, races, and other unique aspects of Alacaron in an orderly fashion. if you are impressed, please say something. If you think I'm wrong about something, please say something.
Gnomemaster 05-01-07, 06:47 PM	The Church of Zhuud A Church of Exiles "Service in undeath is the greatest glory." -Banafrit, Priestess of Zhuud Zhuud was once a powerful warlock-hunter who lead to the executions of several dark and evil spellcasters. Zhuud's hate for all that is evil lead him down dark alleys, leading him to practice dark rites and spells to become more efficient. After a long drawn out fight with an ancient Lich, Zhuud collected the dark mage's spellbooks and returned to his adamantine tower high in the mountains. After weeks of pouring over the Lich's rambling notes Zhuud constructed himself a phylactery and crossed the line between life and undeath. Zhuud turned to his followers (many of whom were shocked at their master's sudden transformation) and he shared with them the skills of creating Undead. After a century of fighting the dark wizards who terrorized the land, Zhuud and his many students were pressed upon by a Paladin named Theorys. The knight claimed that the use of Undead was an evil act, no matter what they were being used for, he faced off against Zhuud in an epic battle that destroyed the Lich. The Paladin crushed the Phylactery beneath his boot, but during the fight the Lich's followers boarded two ships and set sail. For two months the Zhuudists floated through the endless ocean. One of Zhuud's most powerful apprentices took charge of the exiles and took the time on the boats to pen the Holy Book of Zhuud, a 700 page tome covering the life and undeath of his lord. After two months adrift, the Zhuudists finally found Alacaron, a new world away from religious persecution. The Church of Zhuud in the World Humans found in Alacaron tend to be Monotheists, worshiping only Zhuud, who promotes the cycles of life. Very few Humans stray away from this teaching, and those tend to be Humans who have lived in mixed communities. The followers of Zhuud tend to be Humans with a few half-elves who favor their Human heritage, it is also not unheard of for an Orc to abandon their faith in the Code and to join the ranks of Zhuudist Paladins or Monks. However, to become a Cleric of Zhuud a player must be Human or at least have Human blood (this includes any Half-Ogres, Half-Elves, Half-Fiends, or Half-Dragons.) A few people find the use of Undead to be deplorable (Especially some of the Elven Druids of the Order of the Volcano) However, the Church uses the undead as useful tools for building cities, guarding homes, and various other tasks deemed as holy work by Zhuud. Priests of Zhuud are easy to spot thanks to their helms shaped to look like grinning skulls. Paladins and Monks tend to wear skeletal motifs in their clothing and armor, but only a Priest of Zhuud could ever wear one of the Helms. It is punishable by death (with no raising) to ever wear a helm and not be a full fledged priest of Zhuud. Zhuudist Priests often offer their services as healers, their intimacy with death makes them some of the most skilled medics. However, the cleric will just as often refuse to raise or heal someone because Zhuud demands their death as they will offer their spells to help. Tenets of Death To the church of Zhuud, the worst punishment in the world is to be killed with no hope of being raised. Often times those who fail will have their bodies cursed to keep from being turned into any kind of Undead. To Zhuddists, any mindless undead can be a tool for the greater good (Zombies, Ghouls, Wights, etc.) Zhuudist Adventurers will, however, try to control these undead. If they are tainted with evil or too feral to be controlled the priest has no scruples about killing it. Intelligent Undead however (Liches, Vampires, Etc) are given a choice, submit or be destroyed. Zhuudists hunt evil undead across Alacaron, and usually are sent on missions to either help bolster the power of the church or to put a stop to evil wizards or Undead (or other entities that the Church decrees evil. The church of Zhuud is ruled by three powerful undead, the Mouth of Zhuud (LN female Vampire Wiz 5/Clr 5/Mystic Theurge 8), the Hand of Zhuud (LN Male Lich Wizard 19), and the Heart of Zhuud (CE Death Drinker Demon). Zhuud The Master, The Harsh God Greater Deity Symbol: A white skull Alignment: LN Core Worshippers: Humans Favored Weapon: Heavy Mace Domains: Law, Balance, Death, Deathbound, Renewal, Undeath Knowledge (Religion) DC 10: The Church of Zhuud is a popular religion that focuses on Life, Death, and Undeath. DC 15: Humans are descendants of Zhuudist pilgrims who escaped from persecution. DC 20: To Zhuudists, nothing is more wonderful then becoming undead. Those who fail to raise as undead are seen as failures. That's why often Zhuudists will have a Contingency spell cast on them that triggers and raises them as zombies when they die. DC 25: Most of the more powerful priests in the Hierarchy are Vampires, Liches, and other intelligent Undead. DC 30: Zhuud is an extension of an ancient Demon Prince. First of all, part of the design behind Zhuud was taking something that was all know is evil and making it not so much. So I flipped through my Book of Vile Darkness and found Orcus, an old school favorite. I took Undead and made them into tools and cohorts for good characters. Now, you might be asking about turn and rebuke. The ability is still available to Clerics of Zhuud, in fact a lot of them will take extra turning, just because the Zhuddists use Undead does not mean that they aren't more then prepared to destroy them.
Gnomemaster 05-01-07, 11:31 PM	The Infinite Gods of the Pantheon A Church of Billions "By the orange beard of Buritis, god of tavern brawls!" -Heritan, Priest of the Pantheon No one knows where The Pantheon really came from. It sparks debate among scholars, one thing is for certain however, the Halflings seem to make it up as they go along. Halfling priests are well known for ad libbing ancient prophecies and legends about their gods. Halflings often make up their deity of the day on the spot. In the morning, when a halfling cleric prays for her spells, she chooses who she will be worshiping that day. Attempts to keep track of all the different gods by Gnome scholars failed when they learned their test subjects were leading them along. Halflings often incorporate themes of other religions into their own and claim there is a god and goddess for everything in the world. The Pantheon is based upon the idea that there is a deity ruling over every aspect of life. The halflings will often read from a bible (which is blank) to their flock. When playing a cleric of The Pantheon, choose an alignment related domain (Law, Chaos, Evil, Balance and Good) that reflects your character. Then, each morning, choose a new domain and a new patron deity. Priests of The Pantheon never worship the same entity more then once, and are not as skilled at turning and rebuking undead. A cleric of the Pantheon gains the ability to turn like a Paladin (at fourth level instead of first). Example: Name: Porfolio. Domain. Buritis: Bar fights. Strength. Talilim: Gambling with dice. Luck. Uopaos: The morning. Sun. Iburmey: Rivers. Water. Mejo: Revenge against neighbors. Wrath. Bheml: Bets. Pact. Yirm-Recizyul:Stars. Air. Kheu-Tpoe: Laziness. Sloth. Taexyaanah: Masochism. Suffering. Leqyotiagy: Sadism. Suffering. Dudili:Abjuration. Spell. Tefujot: Gelatinous Cubes. Slime. Etaqu:Minutes. Time. Qisiqip: Maps. Planning. Fuca: Sex. Lust. Ruril: Freedom from Prison. Liberation. Pabutas: Campfires. Fire. Gabil: The Ocean. Ocean. Ohilahojonef: Masks. Trickery. Joabarie: Mothers. Family. Ditoi:Bravery. Courage. Adriehl: Three legged races. Competition. Hikibenef: Traveling across roads. Celerity. Gaticeqikapugit: Dark rooms. Darkness. Bigamebi: Copper Dragons. Dragon. Codrahra: Tall pointy eared people. Elf. Datahi: Fat bearded people. Dwarf. Dran: Big green people. Orc. Garahra: Tall and scary pointy eared people. Drow. Girui: Weird Halflings. Gnome. Gogara: People jealous of Halflings. Envy. Jilorah: Craziness. Madness. Jiregan: Copper. Metal. Maodabir: Lizard things. Scalykind. Piorarar: Scribbled ramblings. Rune. Prahigug: Traveling through the planes. Portal. Ragagmor: Demons. Abyss. Ratrahe: Dragon hoard plunderers. Wealth. Seda: Ex-Dragon hoard plunderers. Death. Sespram: Modrons. Mechanus. Spiran: Books. Knowledge. Tieyaba: Good looks. Charm. Uieree: Full bellies. Gluttony. Ulahrong: Sitting around and waiting. Patience. Yamamaga: Creepy bugs. Spiders. Yapi: Zombies. Undeath. Zimonyao: Believing you are better then you actually are. Pride. Ziramang: Boats. Ocean. Zisatro: Animals. Animal. Lonya: Shrubs. Plant.
Gnomemaster 05-02-07, 01:27 PM	The Infinite Pantheon in the World The Pantheon is worshipped all over the world, however, 90% of the faithful are halflings. One of the weaknesses of the religion is the anarchy that runs the religion. There is no central leader or organization leading the group; it is a religion made of nomadic priests who spend most of their time traveling from village to village preaching about their god that day. A lot of people (most notably the Church of Zhuud) see the Pantheon as a group of beggars, representing the worst possible heresy, worship of anyone other then Zhuud. Zhuudists tend to be peaceful towards those of other religions if not tolerant. However, in some of the communities ran by extremist arms of the church, practitioners of the Pantheon have been known to be run out of town, arrested, or even killed. However these are small incidents that more moderate Zhuudists find disgusting. Tenets of the Pantheon The Pantheon revolves around the worship of each individual god. Gerathan, a Pantheon scholar, has studied the Pantheon for centuries; his theories address the changing of patrons every day. “What looks to an outsider as a halfling making up stories as he goes, is actually the birth of deities. As soon as someone begins to believe in it (an act which begins when the cleric begins preaching) the entity that is a deity is created. It is a real thing that grants real spells as well as any other, however, that godling is never referred to again by that cleric for the rest of their life. “I interviewed fifty different priests, each one told me different deities every day (and any attempt to talk about the god from yesterday was answered with disgust). No halfling spoke of a similar god, each one was unique and new. I am convinced that there must be some other force that perhaps these halflings do not make it up, but are in fact driven to talk about each of these godlings.” First, I've always tried to make a huge pantheon just like in Forgotten Realms but never quite made it. Alacaron deals a lot more with the fact that people in Alacaron really don't know how the magic of religion works. They see clerics pray and receive spells, but they don't travel to the god's stronghold, kill it, and take over as the new god of death. In fact, Zhuud may not be his real name. So we have the halflings (who are hard for me to fit into Alacaron, but are a core race so I want to use them) who are pure chaos. I spent a long time researching any rules that allow you to change Domains (a feat or something similar) and decided instead to weaken the rebuke/turning in exchange for the ability to switch from the war domain to the air domain daily. A priest can only do this once per day while preparing their spells (while praying). That's when a cleric would decide who they are worshiping that day. When creating your god, remember that it is going to be something random. pick a domain, then pick a portfolio that is a small portion of that domain. For example, you like the war domain: you can worship the god of soldiers, medics, tactics, trenches, archers, ingenuity, valor, bravery, or brilliant last charges.
Gnomemaster 05-03-07, 02:41 AM	bump