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View Full Version : Favorite Homebrew Settings



drawingfreak
2009-08-30, 09:37 PM
We all have them. Whether it be a rousing game of Dungeons and Dragons, or an action packed adventure in the Savage Worlds, homebrew settings are quite the common element in RPGs. Let us know what are your favorites. List the name of the setting, what game ruleset you used, and a favorite moment in it.

RULES

The setting MUST not have been published prior to playing within it.

The setting must have been used in a continuous adventure, perhaps a minimum of 5 to 10 games.

You must have created, GMed, or played within the setting.

Aaaaaaaand...GO!

Lost Demiurge
2009-08-31, 09:52 AM
The Dragon Reaches. Definitely the Dragon Reaches.

I made this one a few years ago, but didn't get to run it until D&D 4E came out. Worked just fine with the new edition, and a good group of PC's.

The basic idea behind this one, was that the world used to be a standard high-fantasy setting. Uber-wizards churning out great items, mighty empires clashing, plucky adventurers saving the day from ancient evils, gods very much present and meddling with mortal-kind... Think Faerun with less stupid and GMPCs.

Then, almost a century ago, that all changed.

Seventy years ago, a man who would come to be known only as the Necromancer used intrigue to gain control of the evil nation of Bael Soth. (The place where a lot of refugees from Bael Turath had settled, after the original empire sunk.) Biding his time, he built or adjusted ruins around the land, to act as lures and tests for adventuring parties. Those who did well, he slew and reanimated, until he had thirteen powerful undead bound to his will. These thirteen would come to be known as the Fallen. With his generals ready, the Necromancer revealed the vast horde of undead that he had been secretly animating, and began his conquest.

The names of the Fallen were stripped from them, and lost to history. But they were given new ones, based on their exploits... Kinslayer. Devourer. Warpcaller. Locust Lord... These and nine more, are names that parents use to frighten unruly children, to this day.

Fifty years, the war raged on. Fifty years, kingdom after kingdom fell, empires poured men and gold into holding back the dark tide, and the land was ravaged and blighted.

Finally, with the hordes howling at the great wall of the Holy land of Metariana, the Necromancer himself took the field. The dragonriders of Matra, and the remaining forces of the light fought the Necromancer and his minions, and sacrificed life, blood, and soul in one last doomed struggle to hold back the darkness. Gods themselves took the field, and died just as mortals before the necromancer's might.

Somehow, the forces of light won. But something changed that day...

The Council of Thirty, the highest wizards in the land, used their magic to ensure that the Necromancer's demise was permanent. They succeeded, but the unexpected backlash killed them all, as well. Their successors didn't have the raw power to ensure the destruction of the Thirteen Fallen... Instead, they settled for sealing them away. In doing so, they traded their lives... The magic they were working with was warping as they used it!

After that day, the remaining mages throughout the land found that some of their spells simply didn't work. Priests found that prayers which had worked just fine before, were no longer answered. Something BIG had changed... The nature of magic itself was altered. Floating castles crashed out of the sky, long-standing teleportation portals failed, and enchanted beasts of burden lost their loyalty and ran amuck.

It took years for sages to work out exactly what had changed. In the past, magic-users had been able to cast spells of all types. Now, most non-combat spells were activated through rituals. These rituals took time to discover, and to this day new rituals are being found by ivory-tower researcher and adventurer alike.

However, this had a troublesome side-effect. Areas which were dependent upon magic for basic staples such as food, medicine, water, and trade, suffered. With no easy access to disease-curing magics, plagues ravaged the lands, reducing an already-depleted population. The poor grew poorer, as trade became first interrupted, then absent for those not dwelling in cities.

It was a dark time, and a harsh lesson learned. The world could no longer depend on high magic, the way it once had. People adapted, and survived.

Twenty years have passed. Most of the old kingdoms are gone, most of the old empires are either fallen, or much reduced. Towns are few and far between, and the things in the wilderness ensure that villages must struggle to survive. There is much danger, much to set right.

It is a time for heroes...

XiaoTie
2009-08-31, 10:10 AM
snip

Oh whouw! That is one cool premise for a Setting. I'd play in it.

Cyrion
2009-08-31, 12:17 PM
Verensa
GURPS 3e

This was set in Renaissance Italy and ran for almost a decade IRT. The basic premise was that Columbus didn't come back. The result was that without the opening of the New World colonies, France, Spain and England did not rise as world powers and Italy remained the economic, political, technical and cultural center of Europe. Also, with no place to send religious malcontents, the Thirty Years War was earlier and more savage and resulted in a tentative religious tolerance- as much from countries being tired of war as from real tolerance. (This seemed reasonable, but it's real reason was that my knowledge of religion wasn't nearly good enough to run a good Europe in which religion was a driving factor.)

Also, magic worked, though it wasn't common. Technically, the Inquisition still tried to burn witches at the stake, but this was frowned upon by the witches who had the power in this world to make their frowning carry some punch. It was also frowned upon by the elves...

All PCs were human, but there were four non-human races, each affiliated with one element and each having a particular strength. Elves were the wizards of the world, lived mostly in Russia, a dark and savage place, and were associated with air. They flew. Think Beastie from Tull's Broadsword and the Beast album cover.

Dwarves were earth, lived underground, and were the technical marvels of the world. They had railroad, air cannons and other interesting toys. They looked like overgrown aye-ayes, and they weren't very friendly.

Gnomes were fire and looked like the Fieries from Labyrinth, right down to being able to take off their heads and play with them. (One character failed a fright check upon seeing this for the first time and came up with a major delusion about people doffing their hats.) Gnomes specialized in alchemy, a system I "borrowed" from a friend from college. It was more permanent than magic but took longer to perform: essential distillation, condensation, crystallization, ignification and oubliation were some of the skills.

Goblins were water and were shapechangers. This was a secret they kept very jealously, though the party started to figure it out when they realized the goblins were well-adapted for almost every situation.

One of the favorite moments of play was when the goblins living in the basement of one character's estate filled in his well. When asked about what happened to the well she tried to pass if off as "rats." Until another character the next night saw them at work and then had several interesting comments to make about "zee leetle rats and zer leetle rat shov-els." It became a running gag for a long time after. Other favorites included the "Nobody said it breathes fire!" moment and the ice skating harlequins combat.