Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Omnirahk_half-Rahkshi Nov 23, 2009 22:43:03	Shattered Lands Campaign As in any standard D&D setting, the Shattered Lands rest on the remains of fallen, once-great civilizations.  One key detail sets this setting apart: civilization just fell.  The empires of Arkhosia and Bael Turath fell mere decades ago, with many people still remembering the days of their homeland's glory. The war between the two nations was going poorly for Bael Turath.  That tends to happen when you pick a fight with dragons.  For while Arkhosia was ruled by dragonborn, not dragons, the land was the favored nesting ground of dragons, and the predominantly-dragonborn nation had avoided conflict by virtue of tribute and agreement to leave one another alone.  When the tieflings came rushing in, disturbing dragons' nests... well, let's just say they bit off more than they could chew.  Finding even their infernal pacts inadequate, the tieflings turned to a new source of power: the Far Realm.  Tiefling warlocks pierced the depths of the Realm of Madness to research the Chaos Plague, which they then unleashed on the lands of Arkhosia.  Madness given form consumed the land, warping the eggs of dragonborn and even full-fledged dragons into monstrous forms: dragonspawn and draconians.  Touched by madness, these creatures rended the land in twain, felling even dragons by virtue of surprise, superior numbers, unexpected death throes, and the alliance with a few dragons touched by madness. The Chaos Plague was the undoing of Bael Turath as well.  Although not targeted at this land, an echo of the Chaos Plague has swept through the tiefling nation, creating problems similar to Arkhosia's.  More pronounced, however, was the effect on the ruling caste.  Madness warps the flesh of Arkhosia and the mind of Bael Turath.  No longer guided by reason, the rulers of Bael Turath drove its own nation into the ground, with anarchy becoming the new ruler of the land.  Some say the madness of the Chaos Plague infected all of Bael Turath to some extent, and that is why they tore their nation to pieces. Now the ruling powers of the day are just shattered remains, still cooling corpses.  What was once Bael Turath is a land of anarchy, ripe for any ambitious warlord to make his own.  While dangerous, it offers many opportunities.  Arkhosia is a deadly wasteland, patrolled by insane dragons and warped monsters.  But the dragonborn reside here still.  They are a proud people, and they will not abandon their ancestral home, even in the face of such adversity.  They fight to take back their land, and as such, many bear numerous battle scars.  With the passing years, magical grafts have become commonplace in this land, where loss of a limb is not uncommon - whether it be directly to an attack or due to later amputation, where the infection can be gangrene or Chaos Plague.  Although not pretty, these signs of battle are well-respected among the people of Fallen Arkhosia. New Mechanics: The Daelkyr Halfblood (community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... ) is a new addition to the Shattered Lands setting, a race warped by the Chaos Plague.  Although many are driven by madness as with all other things in the land, the daelkyr halfbloods seem to be less thoroughly warped in mind, some being quite able to function normally in society.  They are available as a PC race. Grafts are something I loved from 3.5, and I hope to bring them back to 4e.  I'll need to stat up a few as magic items, but for now, I'll make them work like a bloodline feat: New Feat: Half-golem Benefit: you have had part of your body replaced by magically animated material, akin to a construct.  You gain a +2 bonus to diplomacy checks against residents of Fallen Arkhosia.  Additionally, whenever a power lets you regain hit points or you use your second wind, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier. This is just a placeholder for until I create a bunch of grafts as magic items (or maybe I'll use this in addition to those magic items).  But that's the basic for how it'll work.  For those of you who have seen my thread on updating the steamborg class from DragonMech to 4e, if I finish that class I'll port it over to Shattered Lands. So there's the basics.  I've definitely seen more fleshed out settings, but I like the basic concept.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?
#2 dulsi Nov 25, 2009 11:03:15	The problem with a setting so close to the fall of Arkhosia and Bael Turath is that the races haven't had time to mingle and drop old gruges.  It might be hard to have a party that includes both a dragonborn and tiefling.  Maybe make a city (or a couple) that have accepted refugees from both sides for defense against the chaos.  Do you have plans for where the other races fit in the world?
#3 Omnirahk_half-Rahkshi Nov 25, 2009 13:33:57	Oh, good point.  That sort of war-recently-ended has worked in other settings (Eberron) because the nations weren't racial nations, so it was possible to play a tiefling and a dragonborn from the same nation, not old enemies.  Well, if it helps any, I was thinking of the two nations as being less racially homogenous than in core.  So Bael Turath is like 60% tiefling, and Arkhosia 60% dragonborn.  That's still a significant amount of other races.  I could see there being sheltering cities where the rivalries weren't pronounced.  Bael Turath and Arkhosia were the two main nations of the day, but plenty of small hamlets and a few independent city-states exist outside the two nations. I haven't given a lot of thought to the other races.  I've covered what I've wanted to be really different thus far - although I guess it gives special attention to dragonborn and tieflings.  I guess the real point is that in recent history, tieflings and dragonborn had formed the dominant nations, so the other races weren't so important to the concept.  Well, abyssal genasi have become slightly more common near Fallen Arkhosia.  The taint of the Chaos Plague has created a few more.  Wilden have been drawn toward the two nations, as the Chaos Plague has upset the natural order.  In fact, wilden raiders were one of the external factors that brought down Bael Turath.  Maybe warforged are golems that have gained sentience thanks to the Chaos Plague - which seems to be the main driver of action in this setting.  Maybe its influence is slowly spreading - that the Shattered Lands are spreading beyond Fallen Arkhosia and the Ruined Turath.