Post/Author/DateTime	Post
painfool 10-28-07, 12:22 PM	Admittedly I'm still in the fairly early stage of world creation, but I was hoping to get some input as I'm going along. Any comments or criticisms are helpul. I'm not sure what's the best way to format this information, so I'm kind of just going to post it all as it comes. WORLD MAP http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/numbvox/mapsmall.jpg HOUSE RULES --For the time being at least, we are sticking to only the three core books for players. We may later allow players to take feats or prestige classes from additional material, but mostly for simplicity's sake we'll be starting out as if the three core books were all we had access to. --Sorcerers get automatic eschew materials feat. Frankly, I just think this fits in with the concept of how a sorcerer casts magic vs. how a wizard does it. To me it seems that if they have "raw talent" they shouldn't have to rely on components the way wizards do, they can just pull the spell out of nowhere. --"Titans" are effectively removed from the MM. Deities are called Titans and are unrelated to those from the MM. Again this is mostly a semantic matter, but let's just say it makes a couple of my players more comfortable to call them "titans" rather than "gods." Since it doesn't really effect anything in the game, I have no problem making that change. --No half-orcs. I treat the races as different species and thus unable to cross breed. Half-elves still exist, but they're basically only called that because they're similar to elves - they exist as a separate race and not as a matter of cross-breeding. --Common doesn't exist as a language. The Human language replaces it, and only humans and half-elves know it automatically. It's considered a fairly simple language though, so all intelligent races may learn it. --Melee attacks that miss can deal damage equal to STR mod. (Stealing a bit from 4e previews) Melee attacks that roll equal to or higher than touch AC but not total AC deal damage equal to the attacker's STR mod (obviously no negative though) but do not count as "hits" for the sake of any hit effects. --Redoing the lifespans of PC races. If elves live to be 700+ years old, I honestly can't see how human society could possibly have any lasting effect on the world. So I'm cutting the longer-living races lifespans down a lot. Elves now live to be a maximum of 400, dwarves live to be just over 200, and gnomes can reach as old as 250.
painfool 10-28-07, 12:24 PM	MYTHOLOGY 0 Jupiter (the Overlord) Jupiter is the creator of everything that is. Jupiter is entirely all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing. Jupiter is the very embodiment of all existence. He does not appear to have much direct interest in anything, instead giving domain over his creation to his Titans, deities created specifically for that reason. HIGH TITANS 1 Kaali Male, NE (the Despot) Domains: Death, Evil, Magic, Trickery Kaali was the first of the Titans, born to encompass the concepts of life and death. Originally he was known to be a good being, warm and comforting to those he ushered into the afterlife. He was romantically involved with his sister Moraino, and the two had a child together – Velora, the first of the Lesser Titans. Kaali was a proud father and loved Kaali endlessly, even when her nature began to turn dark and she began maliciously playing with the mortals through famines and disease. Moraino recognized her daughter's actions as evil and saw it as her reluctant duty as champion of good to strike her down. Kaali's heart was broken by the loss of his daughter and lost all faith in the very nature of good for what he saw as Moraino betrayal. He swore never to forgive his former lover. His relationships with the rest of his siblings were affected by his gradual descent into evil as well. He found himself better understand and often allying with Zah'Caban, enjoying the foul games he played on mortals with Manaan, and took some joy out of continually attempting to damage Fayenth's mood. He still passionately hates Moraino and now extends those feelings to her current lover Gom Hos as well. Evil sorcerers, wizards, and clerics are the most common worshippers of Kaali, but his devotees fair numbers of nearly all of the classes except Druids and absolutely no Paladins. Many worship him out of either a respect for the forces of death or in belief that through worship they might find a way to overcome death. Kaali is typically depicted as a black robed humanoid with a dragon's skull wore as a helmet. His devotees say that he most commonly appears on the material plane as a thick cloud of hovering black smoke. His favored weapon is the scythe. 2 Moraino (the Champion) Female, LG Domains: Good, Healing, Protection, Strength Moraino is the champion of good, despising all evil throughout the plains. She once loved Kaali before he became the despot of evil, and even once bore him a daughter, Velora. She lost her love for Kaali shortly after the birth of their child, partly jealous of the amount of love Kaali was lavishing on the child. Gom Hos had tried to comfort her during this period, and eventually she grew to love Gom Hos for the amount of care and attention he was showing her. They united and gave birth to a son, and have stayed together as devoted lovers since. Much later, when her daughter Velora began acting out with unbalanced deeds of evil, Moraino believed it her duty as both mother and defender of good to stop her daughter from ever doing evil again. After taking the life of her daughter and seeing the power that her remaining son Thaolmund and the two children of her Fayenth had, Moraino convinced the other High Titans to agree on removing the Titans' ability to have further children. She has high regard all of her siblings but Kaali, for whom her opinion is conflicted between hating him for his evil and a remaining flicker of love hoping he will return to the man he once was. Almost all paladins follow Moraino, and members of all of other classes are fairly common amongst her worshippers. Moraino encourages her worshippers to spread good across the land, helping those in need, protecting those in danger, and helping to remove as much evil from the world as they can. Moraino is typically depicted as a paladin in shimmering gold armor with long red hair down to her waist. Is it said that when she visits the material plane, she most commonly appears true to her depiction, sized according to the size of whomever she is appearing before. Her favored weapon is the longsword. 3 Zah'Caban Male, CN (the Conqueror) Domains: Destruction, Fire, Strength, War Zah'Caban is a war-like Titan whose job is to facilitate conflict amongst the mortal beings. He believes that without wars and fights and other sorts of confrontation, people would never grow or develop. He is also charged with helping Kaali usher civilizations that have reached beyond their peak into the afterlife through various means of war or other misfortune. Zah'Caban considers Kaali his ally, Moraino a good friend as well as often a guiding voice for his rage, and Gom Hos a meaningless sissy. He is passionately in love with Fayenth and continually enraged at her refusal to commit herself to him alone. He hates Manaan for his relationship with Fayenth. Zah'Caban fathered Fayenth's daughter Zaleen, but only long after Fayenth had given birth to Manaan's child. Barbarians and fighters are often followers of Zah'Caban, but rangers, rogues, and chaotic clerics are common worshippers as well. Zah'Caban stresses the important of strength and conquest to his followers, and they worship him in hopes of his blessing on the battlefield. Zah'Caban is typically depicted as a massive brute of a man wearing the torn hides or tarnished armor and a thick iron helmet. He is said to visit the material plane as a great mass of blue-hot fire standing before his devotees. His favored weapon is the warhammer. 4 Manaan Male, CG (the Gambler) Domains: Chaos, Luck, Sun, Travel Youngest of the Titans, Manaan originally was only responsible for the rising and falling of the sun, but quickly grew bored with his limited position. Desperately bored, Manaan filled the rest of his time by playing various games and tricks on his brothers and sisters and the mortals that worshipped them. He has also been known to gamble with Kaali over matters regarding the lives of mortals, though he considers this to just be in good fun rather than anything malicious. Despite his antics, Manaan is well-liked by all of his brothers and sisters except Zah'Caban, with whom he competes for the affection of their sister Fayenth. Manaan takes great pleasure in reminding Zah'Caban that Fayenth bore his child Jerach a good deal before she bore Zah'Caban's. Bards are perhaps the most common follower of Manaan, though it is not uncommon to see clerics, rangers, and chaotic sorcerers amongst his devotees as well. Manaan encourages his followers to keep high spirits, smile often, take plenty of risks, and experience as much of the world as possible rather than spend their lives in the same place doing the same few things. Manaan is typically depicted as a beautiful young man adorned in the most regal of clothing. He is said to very rarely visit the material plane, instead preferring to appear to mortals in their dreams often as a small cat. His favored weapon is the rapier. 5 Fayenth Female, NG (the Nurturer) Domains: Air, Animal, Earth, Plant Fayenth is the ruler of all of the lower animal and plant life, and is regarded as a champion of love and beauty. Immediately after her creation, she looked at the formless shape of the planet and lovingly molded the mountains and valleys to make it more beautiful. She is known to be sympathetic to all mortal creatures in need regardless of their situations, intentions, or alignment. She loves all of her siblings deeply, even feeling deeply compassionate for Kaali. She is romantically involved with Manaan and Zak'Caban, having bore them both a child. She is also involved with Thaolmun, but she chooses to keep that relationship a secret having seen the severity of Zah'Caban's jealousy over her relationship with Manaan. Druids worship Fayenth more than any other Titan, and she counts numerous bards, rangers, and rogues amongst her followers as well. She wants her followers to have love for all being, large and small, and generally do good for the overall global community. Additionally her followers do no believe in traditional marriage, feeling that being committed to one person is to put a limitation on the amount of love you can express. Fayenth is renowned for her beauty, known for her long curly brown hair and illicitly curvaceous body. She appears to her followers as a pure white hawk, but has been known to appear on the material plane also as any of many different male or female forms to make love to mortals as she chooses. Her favored weapon is the short bow. 6 Gom Hos Male, LN (the Scholar) Domains: Knowledge, Law, Magic, Water Gom Hos is considered to be the wisest amongst the Titans. He is devoted to researching and recording all of the events of the universe, those of both the Titans and the mortal realm. He is in charge of regulating and making sense of all magic on the planes. He also created the oceans of the world, so that he might have a better place to observe the material plane where he can easily hide or disguise himself. While he is the least social of the Titans, he fell in love with Moraino and managed to woo her after the incident with her daughter. He and Moraino are entirely devoted to each other and their son Thaolmun. Aside from his wife and child, Gom Hos has only limited interaction with the other Titans, usually when they have need of his vast knowledge. Wizards make up the largest section of Gom Hos' devotees, though off the magically-inclined classes are not uncommonly his followers as well. His followers seek understanding in all things: magic, math, science, and even love. Since Gom Hos believes that all things are structured, the majority of his devotees are lawful. Gom Hos is typically depicted as a short, frail man with a hunchback and extraordinarily long white beard draped in simply robes. He is said to often appear to his followers as reflections of themselves, or as a flying blue fish. His favored weapon is the quarterstaff. LESSER TITANS 1 Thaolmun, son of Gom Hos and Moraino Male, CN Domains: Magic, Travel, Water Thaolmun spent most of his youth with the oceans his father created as his playground. He considers them to be his true homeland, spending more time in his in oceans than any of the other Titans spend on the entire material plane. He doesn't socialize much with the other Titans, save for a secret relationship with Fayenth behind the backs of both Manaan and Zah'Caban. Bards and water-centric druids commonly follow Thaolmun, though anyone who spends much time on the water is likely to be a worshipper. Thaolmun is typically depicted as a massive merman with long blonde hair and beard. He spends most of his time on the material plane in the oceans, but appears to the intelligent mortal races most often as a giant head or water rising up from the water's surface. His favored weapon is the spear. 2 Jerach, son of Manaan and Fayenth Male, LN Domains: Knowledge, Law, Strength Jerach saw the conflicts and socializations of the other Titans as disorganized, and decided he would act to bring them balance. He believes in a system of order, discipline, and enlightenment apart from whims and personal desires, so he often offers to act as a sort of arbitrator between the Titans when they are unable to come to fair agreements amongst themselves on their own. Aside from when called upon to balance discussions, Jerach spends most of his time alone in meditative thought, or keeping the company of Zaleen his lonely sister. Nearly all monks follow Jerach, as well as a decent number of wizards. Jerach is typically depicted as a bald man with broad shoulders in simple clothing who is quite imposing even by Titan standards. He is said to appear most often on the material plane as a body-less voice speaking to his followers. His favorite weapon is the sling. 3 Zaleen, daughter of Zah'Caban and Fayenth Female, CE Domains: Choas, Evil, Trickery Zaleen grew up noticing the great amount of attention her mother was constantly getting and how little of it she herself was receiving, making her incredibly jealous of Fayenth. She couldn't help acting out in rebellion - stealing from behind the backs of other Titans and trying to seduce her mother's mortal lovers for herself. She desperately seeks the attention of the other Titans, especially of her father Zah'Caban who often seems too preoccupied with Fayenth to spend time with his daughter. The only Titans that appear to pay her much attention are her half-brother Jerach and his father Manaan, with whom she occasionally joins in his games of trickery. Most thieving rogues and bards align themselves with Zaleen, though a few evil sorcerers and wizards (especially illusionists) are also among her followers. Zaleen is typically depicted as a thin girl with pale white skin and short jet black hair wearing a dull teal colored dress. She often visits the material plane in a great number of different humanoid forms to steal her mother's lovers or otherwise tarnish Fayenth's name. Her favored weapon is the dagger. 4 Velora, daughter of Kaali and Moraino (deceased) Female, CE Killed by her own mother for her unchecked evil, Velora once cursed the mortals with a countless number of diseases, famines, infestations, and various other disasters to sastify her thirst for pain.
painfool 10-28-07, 12:31 PM	Some quick additional info: -There is no underdark. -There are basically only three planes in this game. The material plane (the real world), the outer plane (where all the Titans and any other supernatural type beings live - basically all of the standard outer planes pressed into one large one), and the Void (a empty travel space between the two places, also where lost souls often end up - sort of a combination of the Astral and the Etheral planes). (unsure on this one) -The Titans above are it for official deities - there are still other powerful beings on the outer plane that others may worship (mainly monsters), but they're more like angels or demons than actual deities. (unsure here too - may edit entire mythology). -Where the south pole would be is basically undiscovered - the entire southern-most section of water is caught in a continual impassible storm. update: I thought of some more notes to mention -The Titans don't have stats because they're beyond them. The represent the very laws of the universe, and even a party of one hundred epic characters could never do them any real harm. They can however be upset, angered, and even hurt emotionally. The only feasible way a PC could ever "kill" a Titan is if they managed to convince it to kill itself.
painfool 10-29-07, 12:28 AM	Updating with some pictures of what will probably be the main city, Moraban. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/numbvox/argos.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/numbvox/morabanfar.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/numbvox/morabancastleyard.jpg (within the castle walls which are inside the main city walls) The pictures are crude admittedly, but I'm just trying to put my thoughts down somewhat quickly so I know what is where for the time being. It's too late to go into details on the city though, so I'll come back and write more about it later.
painfool 11-26-07, 10:09 AM	Minor update to the information here, if anyone cares. The world/campaign still has a long way to go before it's anywhere close to complete though.
Tovec 11-27-07, 02:38 PM	There is a problem with your chart. It is a G-E axis and a L-E axis. Not L-C? I also like the idea of no titans, they haven't existed in my game since its early days. I find they are another remnant from the multiple pantheon days and I don't like them. I probably need to read more about your mythology but why are the gods titans? Can you give me/us a little more on how the gods exist or why. Same with the world. How big are these islands? Are they continents or islands? I'm assuming this is a world that wraps back in on itself, its kind of hard to tell from the picture. Also nice picture by the way, did you make it or where did you get it?
painfool 11-27-07, 02:50 PM	There is a problem with your chart. It is a G-E axis and a L-E axis. Not L-C? Oops! Just a mistake, it's supposed to be L-C - thanks for catching that one! I'll fix it as soon as I get a chance! I also like the idea of no titans, they haven't existed in my game since its early days. I find they are another remnant from the multiple pantheon days and I don't like them. I probably need to read more about your mythology but why are the gods titans? Can you give me/us a little more on how the gods exist or why. Same with the world. The gods are called Titans to make a certain couple of players more comfortable. They prefer not to use the term god. Doesn't really bother me, so I don't mind making the change. As for why everything exists - frankly it exists because it does. I like the idea of not knowing how or why you came to be. It's like the real world. Even the Titans don't really know why they were created, just that Jupiter did so. How big are these islands? Are they continents or islands? I'm assuming this is a world that wraps back in on itself, its kind of hard to tell from the picture. Also nice picture by the way, did you make it or where did you get it? They're continents. The world is a little smaller than earth, and the map is just a flat representation of a round planet. If you sailed east from the ring islands, you're eventually hit Mimbar. Urde probably has more water on it's surface than earth though. The largest continent, Argos, is a bit bigger than Africa. As for how the map is made, I did it all 100% in photoshop from scratch. I put just about everything in it's own layer to make it easier to edit though - that helped me out a lot.