eulmanis12
2011-11-15, 08:59 AM
Ok, I'm designing a world for use with (mostly) standard D&D rules, maybe a few minor variations here and there. Its NOT for any sort of publication, If it turns out well I may use it in my group, or I may not. This is my first serious attempt so I may make some glaring errors, please comment/point them out. The more input the better.
spoilers for length
Major nations
and intro stuff
First noteable differance between this world and standard D&D.
Language.
Standard D&D languages such as Common, Dwarfish, elvish, gnomish etc. exist but are considered ethnic/unused languages. They are like latin or Native american languages in the real world. People study them and learn from them, but they are generaly not for everyday use. Each major nation has its own language that is generaly a fusion of the "orrigional languages" this will be explaned later. Barbarians/minor nations speak the older languages. Component languages are listed alongside major languages for ease of reference.
2nd noteable difference
Inter-Species relations
Many major empires are formed by a coelition of multiple species each loyal to the same governing body. this helps shape the major differences between the empires.
3rd Notable difference
Religion. the Standard gods of D&D do not exist. There are 4 Gods here, everyone worships either one of them, or some sort of folk religion.
The Gods are Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall. More detail will come later.
Land:
The world is spherical (like earth) is set in fairly standard D&D era.
There are two main continents, Ostland in the east, and Kami in the west. about halfway between these continents are two Island clusters, the Kameyan Islands in the north and Attolia in the south.
Ostland is elongated running north/south and has a major mountain chain known as the Vertebrae del Mundo running along its western coast then splitting in the north into two chains that Isolate a section. (the mountain chain is Y shaped) in Ostland there are two major nations.
On the Eastern side of the Vertibrae is El Imperio Rhemo, or the Rheman Empire. (this is a historical pun on the Roman Roman empire which was named after the mythical Romulus, the Rheman empire is named after Rhemus who according to myth was Romulus's brother) It occupies almost two thirds of the continent.
The basic outline of the nation is as follows.
Languages: Rhemish (Common, Gnommish)
Rhemish as a language is a mixture of Gnommish and Common, someone who understands Rheman can usualy comphrehend common and gnommish but may not nessesarily speak either of the two (similar to someone who speaks modern english being able to understand the general meaning of Chaucer's english, they are related but not the same). For Role playing purposes Rhemish sounds similiar to a mix of Spanish/Latin
Population: Mainly human with a large Gnome population, say about a 70%/30% split.
Government: A senate and an Emperor, The current emperor is Scipio Sparticus Maximus, a young charismatic expansionist, his only real goal in life is to complete the conquest of the whole of Ostland.
The people of the Rheman Empire are charecterized by a love of inventing, possibly because of the large Gnomish population. There is no real tension between the humans and the Gnomes each seeing the other as valuable allies and close friends.
Noteable cities: The capital of the Rheman empire is a major trading center located inland at the intersection of the 3 largest rivers of Ostland (this intesection forms the Aguamadre River). Due to the practical nature of the Rhemans this city is unsurprisingly named Aguascruz (literal Waters Cross).
The Northernmost port city in the empire is a very wealthy port and serves as the headquarters for the Rheman navy, it is full of bars, brothels, inns and all the other assorted buisnesses ascociated with a navy town. Its name is Puerto Norte.
At the massive delta of the Aguamadre river is the wealthy port of Deltora, which is easily the largest city on the continent due to the immense amount of trade that passes through it and the massive amount of farmland created by the delta.
At the South edge of the Vertebrae mountain range is the newly established town of Orocastile, it sits atop the largest known goldmine in existance and as such is a highly fortified and well garrisoned town. It supplies the finances for the empire's endless wars of conquest.
Rheman soldiers: short swords, tower shields, and banded mail armor are standard equipment. Formations are the key to their battlefield success and their soldiers are highly disciplined, field artillery in the form of ballistas and magonels are also employed frequently.
Rheman forces are organized into legions of 10000 men, each divided into Maniples of 1000 men which are divided into centuries of 100 men.
The most common classes for a Rheman to take are Fighter, Cleric, and Paladin.
The Chief diety of the Rheman Empire is the god of Spring, also known as Lord March
The Rheman empire was founded by Rhemus about 1000 years ago and has been expanding ever since, eating up small bordering kingdoms. The only nation on the continent that is large enough to win a direct confrontation is Stahlhiem. (see below) The Rheman empire has waged no less than 8 unsuccessful wars in order to conquer Stahlhiem. Rumor has it that they may attack again soon.
North of the Rheman Empire, just across the mountains, is the Nation of Stahlheim.
Stahlhiem has a long winter, a short summer and a tough population.
Its population consists of a mix of dwarves and humans. It is governed by a dual monarchy of the Dwarf "Slayer King Helmfist" and the human King, Frederick The Archer.
The spoken language is Stahlspaek, a mixture of dwarfish and common. (For roleplaying purposes it sounds like a mix of english and german)
Population is about a 50/50 split between humans and dwarves, "half-dwarves" are rare but not unheard of, citicens of Stahlheim are known as Stalwarts.
The economy of Stahlheim revolves cheifly around mining and metalurgy, (dwarvish influence), most of the finest metal goods come from Stahlheim. The second largest industry in Stahlheim is logging as much of the land is covered with great pine forests, (think Sequoias and giant redwoods).
Stahlheim is much less developed than the other large nations, it has almost no paved roads, stone bridges, or large public works. A large amount of its human population lives in small villages and are considered barbarians by the rest of the world.
Stahlheim's military is divided into three groups.
The Dwarf Battalions, as the name implies consist entirely of dwarves. They act as shock troops and heavy infantry.
The Ranger Corps is the largest force of Rangers employed by any nation. The Ranger corps patrols the mountains for Rheman attackers and provides the Stalwart military with an unmatched asymetric warfare capability
The Militia is the largest branch and is mustered as nesscessary from the cities and countryside.
The predominant deity of Stahlheim is Hrorick, the god of winter.
The most common classes for a Stahlwart to take are Ranger, Barbarian, or fighter.
The Odachin empire (also known as Odachi) is the third and final major nation.
its population consists of mostly elves with a sizeable human minority
its language is Odachinese (similar to japanise), a mixture of elvish and common.
It is located on the southern 2/3 of the second continent, (Kami)
Its primary religion is the worship of Yamata, the Goddess of Fall.
The Empress of Odachi is the head of state and is worshiped as the heir of Yamata.
Odachin nobility are known as samuraii (as a title not a class, like Miko in OOTS)
Odachin military officers must all have at least one rank in Samurai
The Odachins worship the Idea of falling in battle. Only warriors who fall in battle are believed to be accepted into the afterlife. All others wander as ghosts until one of their heirs manages to die in battle. A northern sect of Odachin religion takes this to an extreme, lead by the Black Shogun (a necromancer of immense power) any samurai who are members and fail to fall in battle are raised as undead and sent into combat in the Valley of Kings to the north against the nomadic tribes in order to "die" in battle.
Odachin Warriors place extreem emphasis on individual combat, it is said that an Odachin army does not go to battle, Its members go to duel. The capital of Odachi sits on the west coast of kami and is named Yotoki. On the other side of the mountains running up the center of Kami is the city of Mamayoto, also known as the "City of One Hundred Blades" because of its religious purpose of creating exactly 100 starmetal Katanas for the use of specialy selected Samurai each year. These starmetal blades are of the finest possible quality and unlike normal katanas it is Illegal for an Odachin to pass them down to his/her her, thus ownership must be earned and carrying one of these weapons is one of the highest honors in Odachin society. Other minor cities dot the odachin landscape as it used to be a very fractured area of citiy states until the start of the Kokoyama dynasty just 200 years ago. Odachi has a major bandit problem to this day and its Samuraii are constantly patrolling the mountains and roads looking for members of the Black Wardens, a resistance group dedicated to the death of the empress and the end of the empire.
Other locations
The Valley of Kings is an arid desert loated between the northern and southern mountains of Kami. It has two very large riverbeds running through it, though they have been dry since before recorded time. Older even than the dead rivers is the largest known structure in the world, the Black Pyrimid (its a tryangular pyrimid in case you were wondering, its shaped like a D4), it is taller than the largest castile of the Rheman empire, wider than the entire Forbidden palace complex of Yotoki, (Seriously the one at giza looks like a halfling next to it, a short halfling at that). It has a single entrance on the north side and sits at the exact center of the Valley. The valley of kings is not devoid of population however, small oasises appear here and there and Dobedin nomads (humans and orcs can both be members of a Dobedin tribe, the name comes from the city of Dobed, the only city in the valley. Dobedins speak Orcish as their native language, though many have learned Odachin to facilitate buisness.) travel constantly between them, often serving as guides for those who wish to travel to the black pyrimid, though local superstitions prevent any of them from actualy entering the pyrimid. The Valley of Kings is so named not because it has many kings, but because so many kings sought to claim whatever riches sat inside the Black Pyrimid and died in the attempt. Skeletons of unsuccesfull adventures and explorers pour forth from the pyrimid on the 3rd full moon of each decade, wreaking havoc of desert traders, Dobedin tribes, and those unfortunate enough to wander into their path.
The East Shore. The Eastern Shore of Ostland is separated from the rest of the continent by the Vertebrae mountains. It has no unified government and is instead home to a constantly shifting and changing set of city states. The Eastern Shore is one of the few places where Common is still spoken as a major language, Its simply too fractured politicaly to develop its own major language. Pollticaly the many nations of the eastern shore tend to remain in good relations with Stahlheim, as it is the only nation large enough to act as a counterweight to the Rheman empire which makes no secret of the fact that it intends to conquer all of Ostland, and the East shore looks like easy pickings. East shore nations can be as big or small as a GM needs, they can be made up of just about any race/class. Pretty much anyone with access to adecent sized army can carve out a kingdom on the eastern shore.
The Kamayan Islands: A volcanic island chain lying halfway between Ostland and Kami, the Islands range in size from the southern Islands which are too small to support any sort of population, (some being just a lump of rock with a solitary palm tree) to the larger northern Islands which are home to a disunited race of kolboids. Though the inhabitants lack the knowledge to create metal goods, The fact that the Islands are rich with tropical foods and are a convienent stopping point for traders, means that the wealthier chieftans and their personal warriors will have aquired Iron and steel weapons by trade. There is constant inter-tribal warfare between the kolboid inhabitants.
International entities
The Mages Guild.
ALL wizards are members of the mages guild. The mages guild is a mercenary organization which supplies magical support to all nations that are willing to pay for it. Guild members are constantly on the watch for those who exhibit arcane abilities. Anyone detected is first aproached by a guild representative, and offered a chance to join. Most aspiring wizards immediatly accept as the idea of free lessons from masters and access to vast libraries of arcane knowledge is rather tempting. Those who refuse are killed. The wizards of the mage's guild ruthlessly exterminate sorcerors, they feel that those who have not earned their power through years of study do not deserve to retain it. Thus the few sorcerors who manage to escape the attentions of the Mages guild, be it by luck or skill, tend to harbor deep grudges against wizards. It is unusual in the extreme for a wizard and sorceror to willingly travel together.
There are however a few sorcerors that have, if not made peace with, at least managed to coexist with the Mage's guild. Without exception they are rather powerful individuals who have secured the protection of monarchs that find the Idea of emplouing a mage who's first loyalty is not to a mercenary organization rather attactive.
spoilers for length
Major nations
and intro stuff
First noteable differance between this world and standard D&D.
Language.
Standard D&D languages such as Common, Dwarfish, elvish, gnomish etc. exist but are considered ethnic/unused languages. They are like latin or Native american languages in the real world. People study them and learn from them, but they are generaly not for everyday use. Each major nation has its own language that is generaly a fusion of the "orrigional languages" this will be explaned later. Barbarians/minor nations speak the older languages. Component languages are listed alongside major languages for ease of reference.
2nd noteable difference
Inter-Species relations
Many major empires are formed by a coelition of multiple species each loyal to the same governing body. this helps shape the major differences between the empires.
3rd Notable difference
Religion. the Standard gods of D&D do not exist. There are 4 Gods here, everyone worships either one of them, or some sort of folk religion.
The Gods are Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall. More detail will come later.
Land:
The world is spherical (like earth) is set in fairly standard D&D era.
There are two main continents, Ostland in the east, and Kami in the west. about halfway between these continents are two Island clusters, the Kameyan Islands in the north and Attolia in the south.
Ostland is elongated running north/south and has a major mountain chain known as the Vertebrae del Mundo running along its western coast then splitting in the north into two chains that Isolate a section. (the mountain chain is Y shaped) in Ostland there are two major nations.
On the Eastern side of the Vertibrae is El Imperio Rhemo, or the Rheman Empire. (this is a historical pun on the Roman Roman empire which was named after the mythical Romulus, the Rheman empire is named after Rhemus who according to myth was Romulus's brother) It occupies almost two thirds of the continent.
The basic outline of the nation is as follows.
Languages: Rhemish (Common, Gnommish)
Rhemish as a language is a mixture of Gnommish and Common, someone who understands Rheman can usualy comphrehend common and gnommish but may not nessesarily speak either of the two (similar to someone who speaks modern english being able to understand the general meaning of Chaucer's english, they are related but not the same). For Role playing purposes Rhemish sounds similiar to a mix of Spanish/Latin
Population: Mainly human with a large Gnome population, say about a 70%/30% split.
Government: A senate and an Emperor, The current emperor is Scipio Sparticus Maximus, a young charismatic expansionist, his only real goal in life is to complete the conquest of the whole of Ostland.
The people of the Rheman Empire are charecterized by a love of inventing, possibly because of the large Gnomish population. There is no real tension between the humans and the Gnomes each seeing the other as valuable allies and close friends.
Noteable cities: The capital of the Rheman empire is a major trading center located inland at the intersection of the 3 largest rivers of Ostland (this intesection forms the Aguamadre River). Due to the practical nature of the Rhemans this city is unsurprisingly named Aguascruz (literal Waters Cross).
The Northernmost port city in the empire is a very wealthy port and serves as the headquarters for the Rheman navy, it is full of bars, brothels, inns and all the other assorted buisnesses ascociated with a navy town. Its name is Puerto Norte.
At the massive delta of the Aguamadre river is the wealthy port of Deltora, which is easily the largest city on the continent due to the immense amount of trade that passes through it and the massive amount of farmland created by the delta.
At the South edge of the Vertebrae mountain range is the newly established town of Orocastile, it sits atop the largest known goldmine in existance and as such is a highly fortified and well garrisoned town. It supplies the finances for the empire's endless wars of conquest.
Rheman soldiers: short swords, tower shields, and banded mail armor are standard equipment. Formations are the key to their battlefield success and their soldiers are highly disciplined, field artillery in the form of ballistas and magonels are also employed frequently.
Rheman forces are organized into legions of 10000 men, each divided into Maniples of 1000 men which are divided into centuries of 100 men.
The most common classes for a Rheman to take are Fighter, Cleric, and Paladin.
The Chief diety of the Rheman Empire is the god of Spring, also known as Lord March
The Rheman empire was founded by Rhemus about 1000 years ago and has been expanding ever since, eating up small bordering kingdoms. The only nation on the continent that is large enough to win a direct confrontation is Stahlhiem. (see below) The Rheman empire has waged no less than 8 unsuccessful wars in order to conquer Stahlhiem. Rumor has it that they may attack again soon.
North of the Rheman Empire, just across the mountains, is the Nation of Stahlheim.
Stahlhiem has a long winter, a short summer and a tough population.
Its population consists of a mix of dwarves and humans. It is governed by a dual monarchy of the Dwarf "Slayer King Helmfist" and the human King, Frederick The Archer.
The spoken language is Stahlspaek, a mixture of dwarfish and common. (For roleplaying purposes it sounds like a mix of english and german)
Population is about a 50/50 split between humans and dwarves, "half-dwarves" are rare but not unheard of, citicens of Stahlheim are known as Stalwarts.
The economy of Stahlheim revolves cheifly around mining and metalurgy, (dwarvish influence), most of the finest metal goods come from Stahlheim. The second largest industry in Stahlheim is logging as much of the land is covered with great pine forests, (think Sequoias and giant redwoods).
Stahlheim is much less developed than the other large nations, it has almost no paved roads, stone bridges, or large public works. A large amount of its human population lives in small villages and are considered barbarians by the rest of the world.
Stahlheim's military is divided into three groups.
The Dwarf Battalions, as the name implies consist entirely of dwarves. They act as shock troops and heavy infantry.
The Ranger Corps is the largest force of Rangers employed by any nation. The Ranger corps patrols the mountains for Rheman attackers and provides the Stalwart military with an unmatched asymetric warfare capability
The Militia is the largest branch and is mustered as nesscessary from the cities and countryside.
The predominant deity of Stahlheim is Hrorick, the god of winter.
The most common classes for a Stahlwart to take are Ranger, Barbarian, or fighter.
The Odachin empire (also known as Odachi) is the third and final major nation.
its population consists of mostly elves with a sizeable human minority
its language is Odachinese (similar to japanise), a mixture of elvish and common.
It is located on the southern 2/3 of the second continent, (Kami)
Its primary religion is the worship of Yamata, the Goddess of Fall.
The Empress of Odachi is the head of state and is worshiped as the heir of Yamata.
Odachin nobility are known as samuraii (as a title not a class, like Miko in OOTS)
Odachin military officers must all have at least one rank in Samurai
The Odachins worship the Idea of falling in battle. Only warriors who fall in battle are believed to be accepted into the afterlife. All others wander as ghosts until one of their heirs manages to die in battle. A northern sect of Odachin religion takes this to an extreme, lead by the Black Shogun (a necromancer of immense power) any samurai who are members and fail to fall in battle are raised as undead and sent into combat in the Valley of Kings to the north against the nomadic tribes in order to "die" in battle.
Odachin Warriors place extreem emphasis on individual combat, it is said that an Odachin army does not go to battle, Its members go to duel. The capital of Odachi sits on the west coast of kami and is named Yotoki. On the other side of the mountains running up the center of Kami is the city of Mamayoto, also known as the "City of One Hundred Blades" because of its religious purpose of creating exactly 100 starmetal Katanas for the use of specialy selected Samurai each year. These starmetal blades are of the finest possible quality and unlike normal katanas it is Illegal for an Odachin to pass them down to his/her her, thus ownership must be earned and carrying one of these weapons is one of the highest honors in Odachin society. Other minor cities dot the odachin landscape as it used to be a very fractured area of citiy states until the start of the Kokoyama dynasty just 200 years ago. Odachi has a major bandit problem to this day and its Samuraii are constantly patrolling the mountains and roads looking for members of the Black Wardens, a resistance group dedicated to the death of the empress and the end of the empire.
Other locations
The Valley of Kings is an arid desert loated between the northern and southern mountains of Kami. It has two very large riverbeds running through it, though they have been dry since before recorded time. Older even than the dead rivers is the largest known structure in the world, the Black Pyrimid (its a tryangular pyrimid in case you were wondering, its shaped like a D4), it is taller than the largest castile of the Rheman empire, wider than the entire Forbidden palace complex of Yotoki, (Seriously the one at giza looks like a halfling next to it, a short halfling at that). It has a single entrance on the north side and sits at the exact center of the Valley. The valley of kings is not devoid of population however, small oasises appear here and there and Dobedin nomads (humans and orcs can both be members of a Dobedin tribe, the name comes from the city of Dobed, the only city in the valley. Dobedins speak Orcish as their native language, though many have learned Odachin to facilitate buisness.) travel constantly between them, often serving as guides for those who wish to travel to the black pyrimid, though local superstitions prevent any of them from actualy entering the pyrimid. The Valley of Kings is so named not because it has many kings, but because so many kings sought to claim whatever riches sat inside the Black Pyrimid and died in the attempt. Skeletons of unsuccesfull adventures and explorers pour forth from the pyrimid on the 3rd full moon of each decade, wreaking havoc of desert traders, Dobedin tribes, and those unfortunate enough to wander into their path.
The East Shore. The Eastern Shore of Ostland is separated from the rest of the continent by the Vertebrae mountains. It has no unified government and is instead home to a constantly shifting and changing set of city states. The Eastern Shore is one of the few places where Common is still spoken as a major language, Its simply too fractured politicaly to develop its own major language. Pollticaly the many nations of the eastern shore tend to remain in good relations with Stahlheim, as it is the only nation large enough to act as a counterweight to the Rheman empire which makes no secret of the fact that it intends to conquer all of Ostland, and the East shore looks like easy pickings. East shore nations can be as big or small as a GM needs, they can be made up of just about any race/class. Pretty much anyone with access to adecent sized army can carve out a kingdom on the eastern shore.
The Kamayan Islands: A volcanic island chain lying halfway between Ostland and Kami, the Islands range in size from the southern Islands which are too small to support any sort of population, (some being just a lump of rock with a solitary palm tree) to the larger northern Islands which are home to a disunited race of kolboids. Though the inhabitants lack the knowledge to create metal goods, The fact that the Islands are rich with tropical foods and are a convienent stopping point for traders, means that the wealthier chieftans and their personal warriors will have aquired Iron and steel weapons by trade. There is constant inter-tribal warfare between the kolboid inhabitants.
International entities
The Mages Guild.
ALL wizards are members of the mages guild. The mages guild is a mercenary organization which supplies magical support to all nations that are willing to pay for it. Guild members are constantly on the watch for those who exhibit arcane abilities. Anyone detected is first aproached by a guild representative, and offered a chance to join. Most aspiring wizards immediatly accept as the idea of free lessons from masters and access to vast libraries of arcane knowledge is rather tempting. Those who refuse are killed. The wizards of the mage's guild ruthlessly exterminate sorcerors, they feel that those who have not earned their power through years of study do not deserve to retain it. Thus the few sorcerors who manage to escape the attentions of the Mages guild, be it by luck or skill, tend to harbor deep grudges against wizards. It is unusual in the extreme for a wizard and sorceror to willingly travel together.
There are however a few sorcerors that have, if not made peace with, at least managed to coexist with the Mage's guild. Without exception they are rather powerful individuals who have secured the protection of monarchs that find the Idea of emplouing a mage who's first loyalty is not to a mercenary organization rather attactive.