New Blackmoor (4e Setting)

[DiscipleofBob]

Imagine if the typical Dungeons & Dragons setting we all know and love, with elves, dwarves, dragons, demons, magic and everything in between, progressed in its era to the modern era. Instead of ancient castles and cobblestone huts, there's modern skyscrapers dotted by brick apartment complexes and white-picket fenced suburbia. Instead of heaven and hell, demons and angels reside in corporate meeting rooms. Swords and lances are replaced by .45 pistols and AK-47's. Good and evil take a backseat to the right side of the law and the wrong side of the law. This is the largest metropolis in the world, a mishmash of cultures grating up against each other, just waiting for a chance to explode into conflict. This is the city of New Blackmoor.

Contents
1. Introduction
2. Races
3. Classes
4. Places
5. Other Info
6. Character Options

[DiscipleofBob]

Races:

Dragonborn: The Dragonborn, or Dragünbjorn in their native tongue, are considered nobles in their ancient homeland. The Dragonlands, as they are called, are ruled by the true dragons, powerful immortals who rule with an iron fist, worshiped as gods. A strict caste system locks in individuals by their race to their status within the community. Dragonborn in this system, are fairly high class. Born into nobility, they fall only short of the priesthood or political positions. Afforded most available luxuries, the Dragonborn who come to New Blackmoor do so out of a desire for independence and creativity. The first Dragonborn who came to New Blackmoor did so and started various art movements, everything from rock bands to museums to fashion trends to hip coffee shops. The majority of the current New Blackmoor population came forth to follow their trend and their music. The Dragonborn of New Blackmoor are a strong, proud, creative people but occasionally naïve. This makes Dragonborn a prime target for the drug trade to help facilitate their “creative processes.”

Dwarves:
The dwarves built the city of New Blackmoor, as it is the site of the homeland they conquered from giants and ogres back in the days of old. Due to elven trickery, the city was signed over into the hands of the elves, the dwarves placed in the lower classes, never to regain any status or control over their city. Although the deal which cost the dwarves their city was one that resulted in par because of their ancestors' naïvete and trust, the dwarves blame the elves, eladrin, and the other inhabitants of the city. Most dwarves harbor at least some bitterness towards other residents of the city. Dwarves come in three main factions: The Builders are the most peaceful, handling all the construction and maintaining the infrastructure of the city. The Diggers mine deep beneath the earth, presumably for precious ores and other natural resources, but some question their motives. Some say the dwarves are trying to find their way back to their ancestral underground home beneath New Blackmoor, others say the Diggers are conspiring to collapse the entire city of New Blackmoor as a means of revenge. None of these rumors have any real evidence to substantiate them, they are just rumors believed by those who distrust the dwarves. Finally, there are the Parkers. When New Blackmoor was constructed, several parks were built using nature magic. When the elves swindled the dwarves out of their own city, the Parkers in retribution no longer restrained and maintained the parks, letting them grow wildly out of control into vast forests. Now, if you aren't an expert survivalist and you wander into these parks, you are at the mercy of nature and the Parkers' wrath.

Eladrin: At some point in history, too much arcane magic was used until the essence the magic was made of began to run dry. Mankind looked for alternative sources of magical essence, and eventually the search turned to alternate planes. The Astral Sea and Elemental Chaos have gods and primordials to contend with for Divine and Primal magic. The Shadowfell is so full of taint that relying on it as a source of magic corrupts even the most willful wizard. That left the Feywild, and no one has better access to the Feywild than the Eladrin. The Eladrin have since worked to retain that source for themselves while at the same time working to make other sources of magic unusable, giving the Eladrin a monopoly on arcane magic. The Eladrin kept this monopoly, using it to swindle the city away from the dwarves, cement their political power in New Blackmoor, and establish business relations with devil and angel corporations. The Eladrin retain these powers and influence to this day, delving into some other trades as well such as prostitution.

Elves: The Eladrin's cousins of the material plane, elves lack the Eladrin's natural affinity for magic. What they lack in magic, they make up for in skill. Elves and eladrin share power in the mafia. While eladrin control the magic reserves, prostitution, and business deals, elves provide the muscle, acting as enforcers and assassins. They also provide some management, such as controlling a strip of hotels and casinos, their main hotel being the Rivendell Hotel and Casino.

Half-Elves: Half-elves are fairly common, being descendants of mixed races, the ancestors of which usually involve elves or eladrin. A major outlet for half-elves, who were never able to access the high ranks of their ancestors' mafia, became the film industry. Half-elves, like Dragonborn, have an affinity for anything creative. The most famous musicians and actors in New Blackmoor are half-elves. The entire credit roster of a film, including producing, directing, and technical work is almost all half-elves. Of course half-elves blend in that they can take a variety of other professions and excel in many of them.

Halflings:

Humans:

Tieflings:

[DiscipleofBob]

Classes:

Martial:

Arcane:

Divine: Divine magic is no longer gained through prayer and devotion, but through legal contracts and bureaucracy, specifically with the devil and demon corporation of D-Corp or the angel corporation of Arkan.

Primal: Most citizens of New Blackmoor believe that the primal elemental forces of old have been stamped out or bound by the constraints of civilization, but this is far from the truth. Besides the overgrown parks, primordials and elementals have simply evolved with the city. Earth elementals consist of brick, mortar and concrete rather than mountain stone.

[DiscipleofBob]

Places:

D-Corp.

Arkan:

Las Lego Strip:

(More to come)

[DiscipleofBob]

Other Information:

Other facts about the setting that don't fit in the other sections will go here.

[DiscipleofBob]

Character Options:

Setting specific rules, such as gun statistics, will go here.

Any questions or suggestions for this idea are welcome.

[vicente408]

I unfortunately don't have any specific comments, ideas, or criticisms, but I want to say that I adore the idea of Divine power coming from business contracts.

[Toll Carom]

Hi!

You know what's funny about this? The new version of the classic Blackmoor setting (which gave us the D&D game) just came out, so there already is a "4E Blackmoor" setting. :)

You can buy it online here (http://www.rpgshop.com/default/dave-arneson-s-blackmoor-4e-gsl.html), or at your FLGS.

Game on!