My World Ancient Lands - Sword & Sorcery Campaign Setting, Take 3 [Archive]

Yora

2012-10-06, 08:55 AM

Yes, it's me once again. :smallbiggrin:
As I've mentioned a few times ago, my method of working on my setting is a constant two steps forward, one step back. Trying some things out until it turns out that the setting doesn't work as I want, then peddling back and trying again with those things that did come out really well. And something things get so warped up and twisted that I can't untangle it anymore and I go back to a new clean blank map and a big box of all the elements I want to keep from my last attempts. And I think it's time for that again, this is actually more like the 5th or even 6th take on the world, but I have a feeling that this might turn out to be the final one. Or at least the one after this will be. :smallwink:

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/7554/barbariankings.jpg

Design Concept
Mostly I play D&D 3rd Edition or Pathfinder because I know how these games work and all the others don't really seem to offer any major benefits to them. Depending on how 5th Edition is turning out, I might consider it as the game this setting will be based on when it's finished. Otherwise Pathfinder is a strong candidate, but I also plan to make the world more generic or original and not exactly a D&D world, and it should be easily adaptable to pretty much any game system.

Sword & Sorcery
Or call it heroic fantasy, if you must, but there is more than just the scope of things that is strongly influenced by that literary genre. The Ancient Lands is not a world about conflicts between cosmic powers or the politics between great kingdoms, but a setting for rather ordinary people who happen to get involved in some extraordinary things. There's no Dark Lord, no big invasions, or political conspiracies, just people dealing with the dangers of a wild and often hostile world and the threats posed by other people like them.
The common role of the protagonists is to defend their villages and clans against the many dangers of the world that surround them and to discover magical artifacts and knowledge that bring greater power and prestige to their people and themselves. Warriors, hunters, shamans, lorekeepers, and healers are among the many on which the chiefs may call in times of need and danger.

Bronze Age
Or actually a kind of pseudo-Bronze Age. Unlike most generic fantasy settings, the Ancient Lands is neither a medieval nor a renaissance world, but set in a much earlier stage of civilization. The Stone Age lies well in the past and the use of steel is not something terribly uncommon, but mostly life for the people consists of independent and self-reliant villages that are often bound in loose alliances that shift as individual positions and situations are changing. Most weapons, armor, and farming equipment are made in the villages that use them and each community has to provide it's own food. There are some powerful warlords who have the loyalty of numerous villages surrounding their own home, but other than that there are no real kingdoms or empire that hold political power over large areas of land.

Status and Allegiance
In the Ancient Lands, the things you can or can't do depend just as much on your personal station as on the local laws. All have their duties to maintain the stability and safety of clan and village, and the good of the group often has to come before what one would rather chose to do instead. While a slave has none of the freedoms and previleges of a warrior, it does not mean that he will never have them. Status is not something defined by birth, but defined by ability and respect. A true warrior is not someone born to and raised by warriors, but someone who has the heart and the skill of a warrior, and those who desire to rise up in rank have to prove that they serve it.
The rank and status of a person make a great difference for what things they can get away with and how they will be treated. A high ranking member of a chiefs family can not only demand but will be given hospitality in the homes of their peers. But at the same time, there are places where only slaves and peasants can go, and assistance that only they will recieve. Even more so than a characters race or clan, his rank and status have a major impact on where his adventures will take him and how he will fare in distant places and foreign lands.

Points of Light
This paradigm holds very well for the Ancient Lands. Most of the world is uninhabited and unexplored, and never has been before. While all villages, towns, and castles are connected with many of their neighbors for trade and to lend some assistance in times of trouble, there are few roads and it often takes days or weeks to get from one place to another, during which one is completely cut off from any form of civilization and entirely reliant on oneself and ones companions.

Spirits and the Wilderness
The Ancient Lands are an animistic world, in which everything holds some life force and as such as least a tiny trace of a spirit. Where the life force is strong and concentrated, rocks, trees, lakes, and the land itself become sentient and powerful beings that can be both kind and hostile to mortal creatures. Being in good standing with the spirits is something that is of great important to all humanoid people at any time. A helpful spirit of the land may grant a village rich harvest and a steady suply of water while keeping away plagues and dangerous beasts, while the wrath of a spirit can spell certain doom for everyone who draws their ire. As such, a major role in society falls to the shamans, wise men and women who can hear the will of the spirits and commune with them on behalve of their villages and clans. Without a shaman, no village can hope to endure and survive, but a wise and powerful one who is able to keep the spirits beneign is one of their greatest defenses against the dangers of the outside world and any evil that may come from within.

An Ancient Past
While the civilizations of mortal humanoids are still young, the world itself is an ancient one with a long history. When mortals still lived in caves or like beasts in the forests that cover the land, fey people build grand castles and palaces their like has never been seen again since. But eventually most of these citadels fell empty, their masters returning to a life with their kin in the Spiritwold. It was not long until the first brave elves and lizardfolk discovered and explored the abandoned ruins, now that there wasn't anyone left to guard them. From artifacts left behind in the halls and from encountering the mortal slaves the fey had discarded as well, knowledge of metal and farming reached the humanoid races and became the basis for their new civilizations.
Even thousands of years later, many of these magical ruins lie still hidden deep in the forests and mountains, still undiscovered and unexplored. The value of objects and knowledge found within them can often be imeasurable and they often bring a lot of power to those who gain their possession.

Yora

2012-10-06, 08:56 AM

Barbaripedia (http://barbaripedia.eu/index.php?title=Main_Page) - Ancient Lands archive
Lands of the Barbarian Kings (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213778) The previous thread for the early development of the setting.
Image Gallery (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/)

Geographic Layout (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14022405#post14022405)
Magic and Spellcasters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14058596#post14058596)
Weapons and Armor (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14064041#post14064041)
Deities, Demigods, and Religion (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14103631#post14103631)
Backgrounds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14158159#post14158159)
Factions and Power Groups (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14284690#post14284690)
The Role of PCs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14305592#post14305592)
Character Archetypes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14308195#post14308195)
Creatures of the Ancient Lands (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14312181#post14312181)
Spell Schools (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14487727#post14487727)
Wildlife of the Ancient Lands (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14516526#post14516526)
Clans and Settlements (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14620569#post14620569)
Clan Warfare (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14628529#post146285299)
Void Domains and Mindscapes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14808084#post14808084)
Creature: Dark Folk (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=150023184#post15002318)
Domain Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15258714#post15258714)
Character Races (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15263551#post15263551)
Domain Leadership Roles (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15284623#post15284623)
Spellcasting (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15298023#post15298023)
Honor and Allegiance (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15348228#post15348228)
Taint (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15361962#post15361962)
Ancient Lands Personal Names (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15361962#post15361962)
Generic NPC Warriors (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15375983#post15375983)
Magic Items in the Ancient Lands (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15399393#post15399393)
Magic Items I (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15405872#post15405872)
Ancient Lands - Players' Introduction (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15420444#post15420444)
Ancient Lands - General Knowledge (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15425802#post15425802)
Ancient Lands - Specialized Knowledge (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15431694#post15431694)
Downtime and Capital (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15432822#post15432822)
Variant Feat: Leadership (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15437798#post15437798)
Factions and Organizations I (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15443583#post15443583)
PC Classes: Adept and Shaman (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15462496#post15462496)
Major Cities of the Ancient Lands (as of now) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15547404#post15547404)
Elves (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15646693#post15646693)
Gnomes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15646705#post15646705)

Zireael

2012-10-07, 07:49 AM

Love the first post - I might use the design concepts presentation thing for my own world.

I especially like the Bronze Age and Points of Light and Status. Looks like you and me work with similar stuff.... only mine is Dark Ages instead of Bronze Age.

Yora

2012-10-09, 04:00 PM

Work is coming along nicely and I feel quite positive about the reboot. I think I now have a baseline that is much more true to my original idea of having a setting that takes place at the beginning of the lost golden age of most generic fantasy worlds. The last version was turning more and more into a world of desert empires. While I still lake anything that would look like a map, the world pretty much falls into four tightly connected mini-settings. They run basically from north to south with an ocean in the east and unexplored wild lands to the west.

One of the most central premisses of the setting is a huge expanse of wilderness that surrounds the small islands of settled lands. The main centers of civilization in the Ancient Lands are not cities but strongholds. Strongholds come in many forms but most of them are large fortresses or heavily fortified towns that also double as the home castles of the clan chiefs. Some strongholds can be exceptionally large towns that have gained great riches with trade, while others consist of nothing more than a single keep. However most of the people of a clan live in farming villages within a days travel from the main stronghold. Larger clans often have more than a single stronghold, which are then usually the garrisions of the chiefs most trusted senior warriors and their soldiers.

The Northlands
The Northlands are heavily inspired by Scandinavia and Canada, drawing lots of ideas from the northern lands of Middle Earth like Forochel, Angmar, and the Blue Mountains, and from Skyrim.
At the center of the Northlands lies a large but not very high range of mountains that in many places is relatively flat and forms large moors and highlands. North and East of the mountains lies the sea while in the south are the Great Forests and in the west cold open plains, which are seperated from the Great Forests by a chain of hills starting in the southwest of the mountains and running into a southwest direction.
The Northland are home to four different people of which none is clearly dominant. Near the northern coasts lives a tribe of tall humans with brown hair and fair skin that does not seem to be related to any of the other human people in the Ancient Lands and might have mixed with elves a very long time ago. They are mostly hunters and fishers, as there is not much farmland in their coastal farmlands. Throughout the mountains are many gnome strongholds, which lie mostly underground and are much bigger than they look from the outside. The gnomes mine and produce most of the iron and steel found anywhere in the Ancient Lands. On the southern slopes, there are also some wood elves who don't have much contact with the elves of the Great Forests. The Plains in the west and the hills on the border of the Great Forests are the homelands of the kaas, 7 feet tall humanoids with coarse light brown fur and dark brown manes, and faces that resemble lions, wolves and humans. Despite their appearance they are not evil peoples and explorers and mercenaries can be found throughout the Great Forests and as far south as the Plains.

The Great Forest
This is basically the core and centerpiece of the world, building on the High Forest from the Forgotten Realms, which is the original starting point for the entire Ancient Lands. It's a massive temperate forest that is also inspired by Mirkwood and the Anduin Valley from Middle Earth, the Eldeen Reaches from Eberron, and the planet Kashyyyk from Star Wars.
The most numerous people of the Great Forests are wood elves. Gnomes can be found in many of the hills and clans of kaas can be found in the northwest and many human clans have settled the southwestern parts near the Plains in recent centuries.
The Great Forests are home to many ruins of the shie, a race of fey people from the spiritworld who had created numerous citadels in the world of mortals thousands of years ago only to abandon all of them at a later point. Many of the elven strongholds and a few human villages are build on or inside the remains of such ancient ruins.

The Plains
The name is mostly a placeholder, but large warm grasslands are the centerpiece of this region. There are also a number of large warm and dry forests with a Southern European climate, which are obviously much smaller than two really big forests, but still considerably big. Inspirations come from Tethyr, the Chondalwood, and Shaar in the Forgotten Realms, and the Barrens and Azshara regions from Warcraft. Maybe a little bit from the Talentia Plains from Eberron, but I actually don't know almost anything about those.
The Plains are where the northern and southern lands come together and they are home to dark elves and wild elves. The dark elves are pretty much based on the Dunmer of Morrowind from the Elder Scrolls games, with non of that spider stuff and fetish outfits. Instead they are a lot more like... well, Steppe Elves. The wild elves are the southern clans of the wood elves and more wild and primal. And I think somehow humans will have to fit in, as I intend to keep them as new arrivals from the West, and the plains would make an obvious primary route for their migration to the coast and into the Great Forests, and they would leave some cultural marks of their presence.
Another new race is currently running under the name "Nezumi", though they are not actually ratfolk. Instead they are a race of 4 feet tall humanoids with sand colored shaggy fur, who have some similarity to ferrets and faces similar to desert dogs. They have more of a stone age culture with no widespread use of metal in weapons and armor, and they live in large villages in the thick forests at the edges of the plains. While they are from a primitive culture they are clever and fast and often seen as rather fearless or even reckless.

The Southern Jungles
The south consists of huge sub-tropic and tropical jungles similar to the Amazon and the Congo, and also the jungles of Indonesia and Thailand. Inspirations come from the jungles of Chult in the Forgotten Realms and Xen'drik from Eberron.
Taking the idea from Eberron, the jungles are home to surface dark elves that are a bit more savage than most other elves but still belong to the three major races. They are found in the western parts that border the Plains.
In the western parts are the lizardfolk dominant, with some remote corners still being under the control of naga lords who never abandoned their citadels in the thousands of years since most fey strongholds were abandoned. The lizardfolk draw not a lot of inspiration from the D&D creatures but are instead based mostly on the Jungle Trolls from Warcraft and the Turians from Mass Effect. The lizardfolk had their own civilizations long before the elves and anyone else, as they overthrew their naga masters in some of their citadels and took over, preserving a great deal of their knowledge on architecture, metalworking, agriculture, and even magic. While elven slaves were left behind by their fey masters centuries earlier, they had only access to whatever those slaves remembered from their own tasks and lacking many of the tools and resouces needed for their professions, so it took them much longer to catch up with the lizard peoples. Still, lizardfolk are generally not great thinkers and most of them outside the great strongholds live with pretty much the same comforts and using the same equipment as most dark elves and wild elves, and live in small villages of hunters in the jungles and on the coastal islands.

Mordenkainen

2012-10-09, 08:19 PM

I always love your interesting setting ideas. You never go with anything generic. Love the idea of the "Ancient Past". Sort of what I was going for in my campaign.

ReaderAt2046

2012-10-15, 10:09 AM

I highly like this idea. Main question is how will magic work in this setting. I would suggest using one or both of two ideas:

1. Very animistic/druidic magic. Not so much calling lightning or moving mountains as asking the lightning nicely to strike there rather than here. Also much more emphasis on buffs and empathy.

2. Extremely volatile and haphazard arcane magic. The rare few who have access to arcane spells generally are either sorcerors who have no clue how to direct the magic flowing through them or wizards who have discovered arcane scrolls in some of the fey ruins and thus have a haphazard assembly of spells they don't fully understand. Expect a lot of spells misfiring or going off spontaneously.

sktarq

2012-10-15, 04:09 PM

Okay I've read the last two of these things and have a question for you Yora.
What exactly are you doing here? These things seem to start with a Campaign Setting but grow and gross until you need totally new mechanics and gameplay.
I think you may want to pick a game mechanic set and then set some limmits on how far you are willing to stretch things. Adding a class/station mechanic seems easy enough. Eberron added action points, Ravenloft had its Dark Powers checks. But really how much farther do you want to go? Playable and done is bette than unfinished, hyper complex, and near perfect.
Good Luck

Yora

2012-10-16, 04:27 AM

I'm working on the world first and worry about adapting specific game systems to it later. Though I don't think there's actually that much that would need adapting. Character races, equipment lists, and some new monsters should be covering almost everything. The only really setting unique things that come to my mind are mechanics for demonic corruption and a kind of blood magic, which I havn't really developed yet.

Magic and Spellcasters

In the world of the Ancient Lands, there is only a single supernatural force at work. Life force, magic, spirits, demons, souls; it's all the same basic energy that is found inside and between everything. This energy is what gives living creatures their strength and make them grow and heal injuries and disease. It is also what creates the souls of mortal creatures and in places where the energies of the landscape are strong, they manifest in sentient spirits of imense power.
The arts of magic are the mastery of the ability to not just call on the life energy within oneself, but to extend ones mental control to the energies around one and even inside other objects and beings. When casting a spell, a spellcaster is sending a ripple through the energies surrounding him to manipulate the energies within creatures and objects to their desire, just as normal people control the energies within their arms and legs. Magic spells can make plants grow or move, split or shove away rocks, create lightning and set things on fire, and even take control of other creatures thoughts. To be able to manipulate the life force and magical energies at a distance, a spellcaster needs to build up a reserve of energy separate from their own life force, which they accomplish by many years of training and meditation. Once this reserve is spend, they can no longer cast any spells until the energies are restored. People who have mastered magic, and creatures that are naturally magical, require almost no effort to regain their spend magical energy. Their energy reserve has become a natural part of their own being and during rest energies from the surrounding environment automatically move in to fill the void and restore the natural balance of energies, like water after a bucket has been filled from a lake. Compared to the amounts of energy in the natural world, even the most powerful spellcasters can store only such a small amount that there is no noticable drain of life force in the creatures and plants arround them.

Blood Magic
In the earliest days of the humanid peoples the magical abilities of spirits and other magical creatures was not yet entirely understood and the earliest spellcasters did not yet have the ability to create reserves of magical energies to power their spells. But they realized that magical energy and life force is essentially the same and in no other part of a mortal creature is its life force as strong and concentrated as in the blood. Not only could these early spellcasters use the energy in their own blood to cast their spells, they could also use the life force of other living creatures.
When the more common forms of magic, or spirit magic, were discovered, this blood magic was soon abandoned. The storing of magical energies from the environment is not only much more effective, but also much less painful and gruesome. However, unlike many shamans and wizards would like to believe, the traditions of blood mages never entirely disappeared and continued to exist in some small remote places for all the thousands of years. Pure, traditional blood mages are almost unheard of in the present age. The advantages of using the magical energies of the surrounding natural world are just too great for any spellcasters to ignore. But there are still some advantages that blood magic has over spirit magic, which allowed the ancient traditions to survive. By drawing the life force from their own blood, blood mages can significally extend their reserves of magical energy and even make their spells stronger and more powerful than they would usually be able to. And by using the life force of other living creatures, blood mages can have access to vast amounts of magical energy for prolonged rituals and large scale magical effects, that would take ordinary spellcasters days or weeks and the use of rare and highly expensive substances to store for later use. Because of the violent and gruesome nature of blood magic, most people regard it as savage and horrific, but contrary to common believes, blood magic itself does not have a corrupting effect on those who use it or are affected by it.

Demonic Energy and Corruption
Outside the natural world that consists of the material world and the Spiritworld exists a realm of infinite time and space that is simply called the Void. Just as there are spirits in the natural energies of the spiritworld there are also beings born from concentrations of the energies of the Void, called demons. When spellcasters learns a way to create a connection to the Void, it allows them to draw some of its energies to their own world and use it as an additional source of magical power in addition to their own. With these energies they can create spells that can not be cast with magical energies of the natural world and it also greatly increases the number of spells they can cast before their reserves are exhausted.
However, the natural world and the Void are realms of completely different laws that are conflicting with each other and bringing energies from the Void into the natural world causes it to become warped and twisted, an effect known as corruption. The demonic energies are toxic to any living things that are affected by it. Spellcasters who have mastered their use can learn to resist its effects and may show only very little signs of the massive exposure they recieve from many years of casting demonic spells. However the land around their homes and lairs becomes significantly affected, making these places hostile to all living things, turning them weak and sick and eventually killing them.
But corruption is not simply a drain of life force, but a warping and twisting of it, and corrupted life force is still able to support life, at least in a manner of speaking. When creatures becomes entirely corrupted but do not simply fall dead, they turn into the undead. Zombies and skeletons are corpses that have become powered by corrupted energy after their death, while those who have never really died become ghouls or wights. In rare cases, a person dies but the corrupted energies that have been part of him continues to exist as a faint afterimage of a creature known as a shadow. When the corruption has been so complete that the soul itself has become corrupted, it continues to exist even after the body has died as a wraith.

ReaderAt2046

2012-10-16, 06:02 AM

sktarq

2012-10-16, 12:55 PM

Yora

2012-10-17, 07:15 AM

Weapons and Armor

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mc1e7pUqNF1rz7r1oo1_500.jpg

Textile Armor
The most basic and common type of armor in the Ancient Lands is textile armor, which is made from several tightly packed and glued together layers of cloth that become stronger and tougher than leather. Simple armor of this type consists of a breastplate and armored skirt, but it can also include shoulder guards and protection for the arms and legs. Better made and more expensive suits of textile armor are often covered in an outer layer of leather that keeps water from getting inside the fabric.
Textile armor is used almost everywhere in the Ancient Lands except for the steaming jungles of the south where the hot and humid climate takes its toll on the glues and greatly increases the chance of rot and molds.
d20/3.5e/PF stats: 100 sp; Light; AC +2; max. Dex +6; armor penalty -0; spell failure 10%; 15 lb.
D&D 5th Ed. stats: 100 sp; Light; AC 12; max. Dex +4; 15 lb.

Hide Armor
While most leather is not durable enough to withstand spears and arrows, some rare beasts have hide that is strong enough to make efficient armor. Found mostly in southern lands, hide armor is often made from crocodile skin, wyvern hide, or the carapaces of giant beetles.
d20/3.5e/PF stats: 150 sp; Medium; AC +3; max. Dex +4; armor penalty -3; spell failure 20%; 25 lb.
D&D 5th Ed. stats: 150 sp; Medium; AC 13; max. Dex +2; 20 lb.

Scale Armor
Scale armor is the most common form of metal armor and also the most simple to make. Scale armor is made by sewing numerous small metal plates on a backing of leather in an overlapping pattern and because each of these scales is very small and not subject to a lot of stress, they can be made from relatively low quality iron that can be found almost anywhere. Scale armor made from bronze is also not uncommon and works just the same, but is generally more expensive. Most suits of scale armor cover at least the chest but may also protect the shoulders or include a scale skirt that protects the upper legs.
d20/3.5e/PF stats: 500 sp; Medium; AC +4; max. Dex +3; armor penalty -4; spell failure 25%; 30 lb.
D&D 5th Ed. stats: 500 sp; Medium; AC 14; max. Dex +2; 30 lb.

Chainmail
Chainmail is made from thousands of small metal links that are connected together to form a flexible yet very strong fabric that is practically impossible to cut through. Below the chainmal comes a layer of padding that not only makes the armor less uncomfortable to wear, but more importantly reduces the impact of clubs, spear thrusts, and axe blows, that can still break bones even without piercing the chainmail itself. While narrow tipped arrows can quite easily pierce chainmail by breaking just one or two links, the padding works remarkably well in keeping the arrows from penetrating deeply and causing serious injuries. Lighter chainmal armors cover only the torso and have short sleves that end just below the shoulders, while heavier and more expensive ones also have half- or full-length sleves and a slit skirt that protects the legs.
Since the metal links are relatively delicate they need to be made of quality steel that is made by gnomes and some elves and kaas clans in the north.
Chain shirt
d20/3.5e/PF stats: 1,000 sp; Light; AC +4; max. Dex +4; armor penalty -2; spell failure 20%; 25 lb.
D&D 5th Ed. stats: 1,000 sp; Light; AC 13; max. Dex +4; 20 lb.

Chainmail armor
d20/3.5e/PF stats: 1,500 sp; Medium; AC +5; max. Dex +2; armor penalty -5; spell failure 30%; 40 lb.
D&D 5th Ed. stats: 1,500 sp; Heavy; AC 16, max. Dex +0; speed -5 ft.; Stealth disadvantage; 40 lb.

Lamellar
Lamellar armor is very similar to scale armor but more advanced and sophisticated. In lamellar armor, each metal scale is not just sewn to the leather backing, but instead tightly laced together with all the other scales next to it. This makes the whole armor a lot stiffer and stronger and allows to effectivly make rather large sheets of metal from smaller individual plates.
A simple suit of lamelar armor consists of only a breastplate while the rest of the body is protected by either textile or hide armor. A full suit of lamellar armor also includes shoulder guards, protection for the upper arms, and slit skirts to cover the upper legs. Lamellar armor is almost always made by gnomes, but they often make them to be sold to elves and kaas, while some of the most advanced lizardfolk clans also have developed their own techniques.
Lamellar breastplate
d20/3.5e/PF stats: 2,000 sp; Medium; AC +5; max. Dex +3; armor penalty -4; spell failure 25%; 30 lb.
D&D 5th Ed. stats: 2,000 sp; Medium; AC 15; max. Dex +2; 30 lb.

Lamellar armor
d20/3.5e/PF stats: 3,000 sp; Heavy; AC +6; max. Dex +1; armor penalty -6; spell failure 35%; 40 lb.
D&D 5th Ed. stats: 3,000 sp; Heavy; AC 17, max. Dex +0; speed -5 ft.; Stealth disadvantage; 40 lb.

Shields
Shields are easy to make and also very cheap, while at the same time providing a significant amount of protection, which makes them by far the most common and widely used type of armor. Most shields are made from wood and covered in hide or leather to increase their durability and keep them from splintering.
Almost every warrior who does not fight with a bow or a glaive carries a shield into battle, and even those often prefer to have a light shield at hand if they have to fall back to their axes and swords.
Light Shield
d20/3.5e/PF stats: 30 sp; AC +2; armor penalty -1; spell failure 5%; 5 lb.
D&D 5th Ed. stats: 30 sp; AC +2; 5 lb.

Heavy Shield
d20/3.5e/PF stats: 70 sp; AC +3; armor penalty -2; spell failure 15%; 10 lb.
D&D 5th Ed. stats: 70 sp; AC +3, 10 lb.

Daggers
Daggers and knives are by far the most common type of weapon and almost every person has at least one. In addition to being a weapon that can be easily carried around all day, they are also tools with countless possible uses and in most places are considered part of everyday dress rather than weapons of war.
Dagger: 1d4 piercing, 20 sp
Kukri: 1d4 slashing, 80 sp

Spears
The weapon used by most warriors of all the races is the spear. It's very easy to make and requires only a small amount of metal to make a powerful weapon that can kill almost any beast and pierce most types of armor with a strong thrust. Less common are glaives, which have a longer blade designed for slashing rather than thrusting, and halberds that are similar to long hafted two-handed axes with a spike for thrusting at the end.
Shortspear: 1d6 piercing, one handed, 10 sp
Spear: 1d8 piercing, two-handed, 20 sp
Glaive: 1d10 slashing, two-handed, 80 sp
Halberd: 1d10 slashing, two-handed, 100 sp
Javelin: 1d6 piercing, ranged, 5 sp

Bows
In addition to javelins, the most important ranged weapon is the bow. Bows come in all shapes and sizes but most hunters, scouts, and mounted archers stick to more averaged sized ones while the more powerful longbows are almost always found in the hands of elite archers of high rank.
Short Bow: 1d6 piercing, ranged, 100 sp
Longbow: 1d8 piercing, ranged, 150 sp

Clubs
Clubs are carried as secondary weapons by many warriors of lower rank who can not afford axes or even swords as secondary weapons to their spears. While essentially just heavy pieces of wood, they still have no problem with breaking bones and killing fully grown warriors. Maces are more expensive variants that have added heads of heavy iron bands near the end that makes them even more devastating. Large two-handed version of the mace called greatclubs are somewhat slow and quite heavy, but often found in the hands of strong and powerful warriors who use them to fell even the best amored foes.
Club: 1d6 bludgeoning; 1 sp
Mace: 1d8 bludgeoning, 50 sp
Greatclub: 1d10 bludgeoning, two-handed, 80 sp
Staff: 1d6 bludgeoning, two-handed, 2 sp

Axes
Handaxes are often carried by warriors as backup weapons and are not much different from the common woodworking tool and they are often used for either purpose interchangeably. Battleaxes have much longer cutting edges but are significantly thinner than logging axes, which makes them more effective in cutting through armor and penetrating deep into their foes bodies. Some kaas wariors use larger two-handed versions of the battleaxe that are probably the most powerful weapon used anywhere in the Ancient Lands, but they require great strength and leave the weilder wide open to attacks. They are rarely used in individual combat but mostly in larger battles in the hands of shock troops that have other warriors to watch their backs.
Handaxe: 1d4 slashing, 40 sp
Battleaxe: 1d8 slashing, 80 sp
Greataxe: 1d12 slashing, two-handed, 120 sp

Swords
Swords are relatively rare and become even more so the larger they get. Because of the limitations of bronze and the types of steel used in the Ancient Lands, the length of swords is relatively limited, but there is not much difference between individual swords made of either material. By far the most common types of swords are short swords, which are shorter than a mans arm in total length. They are similar to very large daggers and often used as backup weapons as their range is significantly shorter than that of spears carried by most warriors. More expensive and as such more rare swords are longswords and scimitars. They are of similar size but can be either straight and with two edges, or curved and with a single edge. Either of the two types is mostly used by elves. In the south, many lizardfolk warriors of high rank also carry falcatas, very heavy iron swords that resemble single edged cleavers with the thickest point of the blade near the tip, which allows for very powerful chops like an axe. As they make very effective weapons to penetrate armor, they have also found their way into the hands of dark elves and humans that live close to the lizardfolk jungles.
Short Sword: 1d6 slashing, 100 sp
Scimitar: 1d6 slashing, 150 sp
Longsword: 1d8 slashing, 200 sp
Falcata: 1d8 slashing, 200 sp

Ranged Weapons
Other weapons that are found in many places of the Ancient Lands are the boomerang, dart, and sling. Boomerangs are used mostly by dark elves who use them to stun enemies and prey from significant distances with a heavy blow. While they rarely kill anything but the smallest animals, they are very useful to weaken or slow a target before engaging into combat. Elves in the north use darts for similar purposes. Smaller ones consists of metal tipped wooden needles to deliver poisons, while larger ones take the form of heavy iron spikes thrown at the enemy as a distraction before attacking them with another weapon or getting a chance to escape. Slings may not look like much but are actually rather difficult to master and can cause tremendous damaged in the hands of a skilled slinger. Stones hurld by slings can punch through lighter armor and even penetrate deeply into the bodies of unarmored foes.
Boomerang: 1d4 bludgeoning, ranged 5 sp
Dart: 1d3 piercing, ranged, 5 cp
Sling: 1d6 bludgeoning, ranged, 5 sp

Its not that you have to work the mechanics out now but by having a framework in mind you don't want to create something that later becomes very difficult to deliver on when the time for mechanics rolls around.
I still don't see the problem. There's nothing particularly strange or unusual about the components that make the world and how it works.

Yora

2012-10-24, 07:14 AM

Deities, Demigods, and Religion

The Ancient Lands are an animistic world. Everything is filled with life energy and therefore has a spirit. The spirit of a stone or an apple is so minor that it doesn't have any sentience or individuality but the spirits of mountains and ancient trees can become, and often are, very powerful beings. Often these spirits can take the shape of nymphs or plant beasts to interact with the physical world and the most powerful of them are called demigods. Most religious practice and worship is focused on these spirits of the land and demigods who provide the people who live in their domains with plentiful harvest and protect them from wild beasts and disasters. In the Ancient Lands it is impossible to maintain any settlement without the protection or at least the consent of the local spirits. Services to the spirits and demigods is a very practical thing that consists of showing gratitude and consulting the spirits will before important decisions that affect the village. While the spirits are highly revered, the relationship to them is usually not very different to that of a mortal lord. There are hundreds of demigods in the Ancient Lands and the number of other powerful spirits of the land is beyond counting.
However, there are even spirits more powerful than the demigods, which are the greater deities or true gods. They are spirits of such magnitude that their power and influence is not limited to any specific area but affects the entire world equally. While it is possible to visit the homes of the demigods and even come face to face with their physical manifestations in the spiritworld, the true gods are far above such limitations. Gods do not reside anywhere and are so high above the nature of mortal beings that they do not have any shape or it would be possible for mortals to communicate with them. Worship of the true gods is very different from services to the demigods and spirits, as they neither reply to the pleas of individual people nor grant any gifts or favors. Temples to the gods are much more rare than shrines to the spirits and they have more resemblance to spiritual and philosophical schools or monasteries. Worship of the gods is more similar to pursuing wisdom and meditation and mostly lacks the prayers and offerings found in the shrines of the spirits. While most people visit the shrines regularly to show gratitude to the local spirits, temples are not found in most settlements and perform public services only on certain sacred days of the year. But the gods are well known to most people and it is the common believe that by concentrating ones mind and emotion on the gods allows a person to take part in their divine nature. Reciting short prayers or invoking the deities names before a challenging task or during times of danger is believed to give a boost to ones own abilities and shift the odds in ones favor. By calling on the deity of the seas, sailors hope to avoid storms, reefs, and sea monsters, or one might call on the deity of healing to aid the recovery of someone in ones care, as focusing on the nature of the seas or the nature of healing focuses ones own soul to excel in these areas.

Major Gods
The major gods are the most fundamental forces of nature and the world and known and revered by almost all people all over the world even beyond the borders of the Ancient Lands. The vast majority of temples are dedicated to them.

Deity of the Earth: The deity of the earth is widely regarded as ancient and one of the first beings that existed in the world. She is the deity if growth, mountains, and caves as well as the deity of the home and the family, which makes her one of the most important deity in almost all regions of the Ancient Lands. Many druids are both shamans for the local spirits as well as priests of the Earth Deity in a single role.
Deity of the Sea: The deity of the sea is also the deity of water in general, but people living next to rivers and lakes often focus much more on their individual spirits rather than the deity itself. In coastal and island villages, the deity of the sea often is the most important deity and it is very common that the local shrine to the spirits is also a temple to the deity of the sea, who is worshiped in similar ways as the spirits of the land. The deity of the sea is of major importance to everyone whose life depends on the oceans like sailors and fishermen, who call on him to prevent disasters and see them safely reach their destinations without taking them to his depths.
Deity of the Moon: The deity of the moon is the goddess of wisdom, dreams, emotions, and time, and also often regarded as a deity of the night. Temples of the moon are the most monastic ones with priests rarely taking major roles in public affairs, but most are open to laymen for meditation ceremonies after sunset. Priests of the moon also often guidance and tend for the needs of those in great trouble and despair. Most temples of the moon are found in the lands of wood elves, but there are also some among the dark elves and the moon is a major deities with the seminomadic humans of the far north.
Deity of the Sun: The deity of fire is usually represented in the image of the sun, but its domain encompasses fire in all its forms. Fire is usually associated with vitality and determination and priests of the sun usually take great care about physical health and promote training of the body beyond the activities of ones everyday work. Temples of the Sun are relatively rare in the Ancient Lands, but it is the main deity of the lizardfolk in the southern jungles, who attribute their freedom from the slavery by the naga to the strength and determination the Sun had provided for them. A few smaller temples are found in some dark elven towns, but worship of the sun is relatively rare in the northern lands.
Spirits of the Sky: The deity of the sky is not a single being but rather the combined essence of all the spirits of the air, wind, and storms. As they are constantly in motion and struggling among each other, there are almost no individual spirits to make out and instead they always speak in hundreds or even thousands of voices at the same time, that combine into a single voice that is different from each individual one. The spirits of the sky are the gods of weather, change, and fate. They do not determine what any given persons fate will be, but rather personify the randomness of things. They are both the gods of luck and misfortune and prayers to the sky usually consist of both warding off bad luck and providing fortune to a person. They are also the gods of travel and of storms, as well as rain, so they are very often called upon, but have very few temples or priests dedicated to them. What small groups of priests of the skies exist are usually treated as somewhat odd people who are regarded more similar to witches living at the edge of the village instead of shamans who usually take a very central role in the community.
Deity of Darkness: While the deity of darkness is not evil, she rarely has any place in public life and usually is not mentioned in reputable company. She is the deity of the night, secrecy and fear, but also a deity of sleep and even protection. While all the creatures of the night fall into her domain, she is also the protector of sleeping people and a provider of rest and peace. In addition to being called upon by those who need to hide or evade notice, there are also many prayers and charms that ask for peace and safety during the night and to ward of any nightmares or evil spirits that prey on the sleeping. These prayers are often handed down within the family and far away from any other listeners, but the number of people who know them is much greater than most would expect as the deity of darkness is surrounded by a large number of social and ritual taboos that make it highly impolite and dangerous to talk about her in public.

Minor Gods
The minor gods are mostly identical in nature to the major gods, but they represents aspects of the world that are not as universal and they are not known and worshiped in all places. While there are probably dozens of minor gods, only a relatively small number has worshipers in the Ancient Lands.

The Deity of Forests: While the deity of the earth is the goddess of growth and plants in general, the deity of forests is focused more specifically on the great woodlands of the Ancient Lands and their creatures. He is worshiped mostly by those who make their living in the forests like hunters and loggers, who hope to avoid falling victim to the many dangers of the forests and increasing their chances to find the best places for hunting and cutting lumber. Temples of the forest god are rare and usually take the form of small communities of hermits living deep in the forest far removed from all civilization.
The Deity of the Hunt: The deity of the hunt is also the deity of tracking and travel. She is worshiped not only by hunters, but also by many scouts and traveling merchants, and many consider her to be a goddess of horseriding as well. While being a minor goddess, she is quite popular and altars dedicated to her can be found on roadsides at the edges of many villages where travelers prey for a safe journey and give thanks when they reached their destination. Temples to the deity of the hunt are very rare and are only found in a few towns that have a long history of hunting rare animals for trade. She is most commonly worshiped by wood elves but also has strong support among many dark elven clans, and she also is one of the deities traditionally worshiped by the human clans that have migrated into the Ancient Lands in the last centuries.
The Deity of Peace and Healing: While she does have few major temples, small communes of her priests that consists of only two to five people are quite common in many villages and small altars dedicated to her are found in the homes of most healers. Though some of her priests are actual druids dedicated to the healing arts, most are simple herbalists or alchemists who lack any real magic ability.
The Deity of Snakes: The snake god is a relatively obscure deity but has significant followers among the naga and the lizardfolk that still live under their rule. The snake god is a deity of snakes, poison, and deception, but also of courage and pride. He is sometimes worshiped by dark elves as well as a few clans of wood elves that live in the south.
The Deity of Beasts: The Deity of Beasts is the god of wild animals, monsters, destruction, and carnage. Very few people see any good reasons to call upon his power, but he is popular with several clans of savage warriors, mostly lizardfolk and kaas. Among the other races, he is mostly regarded as evil.
The Deity of Twilight: The deity of twilight is an enigmatic goddess that even her followers find hard to pin down. She is a goddess of dusk and dawn, as well as mist, illusions, deceptions, and uncertainty. There are only a few cults devoted to her and their goals are a mystery to everyone, but her name is frequently invoked by many people who find themselves in situations of doubt or high risk, hoping to gain her power to see through the mists of uncertainty and make the right decisions and judgments. She is actually one of the Ancients, the oldest of deities that are usually associated with the underworld and its horrors. But being what she is, she can not be really put in either category and as such is often included with the other deities of the spiritworld.

The Ancients
The Ancients are beings of the underworld, a part of the Spiritworld that seems to have been isolated from the passing of time and still resembles a world as it has been many eons ago. The most powerful of the Ancients go back to the earliest days of the world and the beginning of time, being neither fully spirit nor fully demonic. As the world above changed, so did it's spirit and the spiritworld. But deep within the earth things change much slower if they actually ever change at all, and the Underworld is still home to horrors completely alien to the world of the present and so are it's gods.
While many people naturally associate the deities of Darkness and Twilight with the Ancients, only very few are really aware that the same thing is true of the deity of the earth. Some sages believe that the deity of the earth and the deity of darkness were the first spirits that were born when the world formed from the chaos of the eternal Void and they only changed gradually over time to conform to the world of the present, but never were replaced by new spirits and deities as the world changed from its primordial state.
While considered horrible monsters by most people, even the Ancients do have some worshipers. These cultists are usually regarded as dangerous madmen, and many of them are; but quite often there is much more to them than that and they consider their work just as sacred and important as that of the other temples. To most people the Ancients and their gods are the subject of whispered rumors. While the existence of the Ancients deep in the Underworld is well known, very few people have any desire to learn anything more about them and it takes the aid of sages who are well learned in very unusual matters to get any accurate information on what things are actually lurking in the deeps of the Underworld.

The Defiler: Aside from the Deity of Twilight, which has some acceptance among most humanoid people, the best known of the Ancients is the Defiler. The defiler is usually described as the most repulsive and frightening being that ever existed and it is the manifestation of the alieness of the Underworld itself. What stories does exist of this abomination often describe it as a writhing mass of black and purple that haunts the caves and tunnels of the Underworld in countless places at once and it lacks any defined size or mass. Cultists of the defiler are usually regarded as the most deranged and abhorrent ones as few can ever get even a glimpse of what their motivations might be.
The Mother of Beasts: While the deities of Earth, Forests, and Healing as well as the deity of beasts are usually considered to be the gods of animals, plants, and other creatures, the Mother of Beasts represents the greatest inevitability of life, that life itself is inevitable. There is no space as barren and inhospitable that life would not eventually find it's way there. There may be no life inside a rock, but eventually the rock will split and crumble and it is only a matter of time before lichen and fungi are making their approach. Life can be destroyed and it can be held back, but it can never be stopped and will find its way even in the most hostile places. Cults of the mother of beasts are the ones that are the most likely to not be hunted to extinction and in some cases are allowed to persist on the edges of larger villages. In the Underworld, the mother of beasts is often worshiped by driders.
The Keeper of Secrets: The keeper of secrets is said to be at home at the deepest bottoms of the sea where the world is still in its primordial state, as it is in the deepest reaches of the earth. The keeper has existed for a very long time and might have even been around in the earliest days of creations. He has stayed hidden in the deeps through all the eons. noticing the passing of time and the events that shaped the world. It is believed that the keeper knows the answer to any question that can be answered and since the earliest days of civilizations there have been persistent rumors of almost forgotten rituals that can bring forth a manifestation of the keeper that can answer any question imaginable. However, the knowledge will always come with a price that is so terrible that no story tells of it. While there are a few mad cults in coastal villages that attempt to recover the instructions for these ancient rites, most of the keepers followers are aboleths.
The Lady of Madness: The Lady of Madness is the manifestation of insanity and fear. She is said to wander the Underworld in a shape resembling a humanoid form and completely destroying the minds of anyone who sees but a glimpse of the ghostly white light emanating from it, or a small part of her shadow. In many ways, she is even more unfathomable than the Defiler and her only people with any interest in her are the Derro, who are far to mad and violent to ever provide any useful information of what she is and what her purposes are.

Zireael

2012-10-26, 08:48 AM

Love the post on armor and weapons. The deities are nice.

Yora

2012-11-02, 10:08 AM

Background Traits (D&D 5th Ed.)

Social rank is an important defining feature of characters in the Ancient Lands. I tried a couple of things with the Backgrounds in the current D&D Playtest rules (10/29/12) and selecting four skills for each social ranks turned out to be too restricting and creating a background for every possible upbringing and profession would get far too cluttered.
Instead, I think I will go with only a Background Trait and a couple of suggested skills that would be appropriate for a character of that background, but not neccessary. A person of the Highborn class would be likely to have the Persuasion and Knowledge (Heraldry) skills, but if this specific character also has the Knowledge (Warfare) and Ride skills, or rather Profession (Scribe) and knowledge (History) is left entirely to the player. Background Skills are a a suggestion anyway and players who want to get through this stepp quick are already presented with a selection of five or six skills, from which they can chose four and leave it at that.

Since social rank is somewhat fluid, characters can change their Background Trait at a later point, but even if Skills were selected from the suggested Background Skills, these don't change.

Highborn
Highborn is the highest social class in the Ancient Lands. It includes the chiefs of the clans, their sub-chiefs, and their immediate families. They are the people with power and who grew up in previleged families. Rising up to the highborn class is usually achieved only by marriage into a highborn family, or when a member of a clansmen family is raised into the inner circle of the chieftains most trusted warriors.
Highborn Station (based on the Knights Station Background Trait): As a member of the highborn class, you can expect to recieve accomodations and food for yourself and your companions by the leader of any community you are passing through. This previlege is denied only to enemies of the clan, but even those might be granted hospitality if they are on their way to negotiations with the local chief or king. Most clan leaders make sure that all of their subjects also treat visiting highborn with the respect appropriate to their station. As members of the ruling families, the actions of a highborn have a very high effect on the clans reputation so abusing this previlege might lead to repercussions by your chief, which could include paying for gifts send to the other clan as signs of gratitude for their hospitality.
Suggested Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (Heraldry, History, Warfare), Profession (cook, herbalist, scribe, tailor, woodcarver), Persuade, Ride, Sense Motive.

Clansman
The Clansmen are the old and powerful families of a clan that often make up between one third and one half of the clans members. The clansmen families make up the vast majority of a clans warriors and landowners and the leaders of each family has a say in the politics of the village or stronghold. To rise into the clansmen class, individuals have to either marry into a clansmen family or be adopted into it by the leaders of the family. Sometimes warriors who have proven their worth and have performed a great service to the clan are adopted by the chief and either become part of his family or a given a small home in the clans lands.
Clan Loyalty (based on the Salt of the Earth Background Trait): Loyalty towards the members of ones own clan is not based on personal relationships or if one even likes one another, but a matter of survival and safety against hostile clans and raiding bandits. In times of danger, a clansman can always count on the help an protection of his fellow brothers and sisters of the clan. Showing outsiders that the clan does not always stand together as one only makes it a target for enemies who would think they can assault warriors or raid farms without repercussions. When threatened by outsiders, clansmen always stick together, even when at other times they might be trying to kill each other. Allowing outsiders to attack fellow clansmen or even assisting them in it is considered a crime against the clan and could even lead to exile or death if found to be commited for personal gains.
The duties and benefits of this trait also apply to Highborn characters and most Shamans.
Suggested Skills: Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Nature, Warfare), Profession (brewer, cook, farmer, herbalist, hunter, miller, sailor, woodcarver), Ride, Survival.

Shaman
Shamans are a special group within the society of every clan. They are the priests who maintain the peace between the people of the clan and the spirits of the land they inhabit and as such they have a great amount of power and respect regardless of the wealth and power of their families. When speaking on behalf of the spirits, even kings can not refuse the advice of their shamans.
People who have a talent for communicating with the spirits and being aware of the spiritworld often become apprentice shamans at a young age. While they usually tend to life somewhat removed from the rest of the clan and mostly keep to each other, some gifted people who are not druids or clerics themselves live with them as their assistants and servants and might also be treated as members of the shaman class.
Spirit Advisers (based on the Researcher Background Trait): Shamans know how to cummune with the spirits to gain access to their knowledge and wisdom. The words of spirits are often cryptic, but they can tell shamans what to do or where to look for clues that will help them get the answers they need.
Suggested Skills: Heal, Knowledge (Arcana, Forbidden Lore, History, Nature, Religion), Persuasion, Sense Motive, Survival.

Hermit
Hermits are people who have forsaken their former lives as members of their clan and instead have isolated themselves from society to follow a higher calling. While people without a clan are usually regarded as suspicious and unworthy of trust, hermits face none of these resentiments and are instead highly respected throughout all society. Many hermits are wizards or druids who are not shamans of a clan, but some are simple scholars or monks who seek out solitude to persue their spiritual development.
Free Passage (based on the Licensed Fool Background Trait): Hermits live outside the normal rules of society and are respected and wellcome among all social classes. Even if they spend the last night sleeping in a cave or cared for the sick and poor they will not be seen as unfit to be invited into the homes of even the most wealthiest and respected families. Hermits can go everywhere and talk to anyone without any damage to their reputation, and those with sufficient charisma can even get away with refusing the invitations and wishes of chiefs and kings. Hermits are sacred men and women wherever they go and whatever they do, as long as people regard them as sincere in their removal from daily life. A hermit who is seen acting without dignity or being rude and offensive, might very soon lose the respect of people from all classes.
Suggested Skills: Heal, Knowledge (Arcana, Forbidden Lore, History, Nature, Religion, Sciences), Persuasion, Sense Motive, Survival.

Freeman
The Freemen are people who don't belong to the old families of a clan but are still granted permission to live and work on the land of a clan and recieve some form of protection. While freemen are not granted the previlege of protection against outsiders that is given to members of the clan, simply living on the land of a powerful clan provides a great amount of safety and many clansmen families do not approve at all of any troublemakers near their homes, even if they don't target members of the clan. Freemen are basically guests of the chief or one of his sub-chiefs and as such have no say in the politics of the clan, but they are also treated as being trustworthy if a chieftain allows them to live among the people of his clan.
Since they have no own land, freemen usually work as servants or farmhands, or sometimes as craftsmen or even advisers to the chiefs, which can make them quite wealthy and respected and is a good position to be elevated to clansmen one day. Some trade towns exist outside the lands and control of any clan, and these are usually ruled and governed by wealthy and powerful freemen.
Background Trait: Still open.
Suggested Skills: Gather Rumors, Knowledge (Folklore), Persuade, Profession (any), Sense Motive.

Commoner
At the bottom of society are the commoners. In theory they belong to the clansmen and freeman classes, but most are poor, uneducated, and work as servants and farmhands for the wealthier families. Even though they have the right to take part in descisions that affect the village, those who have their own small farms and workshops usually have no influence in the councils at all.
Common Ground (based on the Salt of the Earth Background Trait): Life for commoners is pretty much the same everywhere and in all clans, and most commoners are not nearly as commited to their clans and chiefs as the clansmen would wish to believe. Instead, most commoners regard each other as equals regardless of their clans and masters. While commoners are lacking the power and influence of clansmen, they have good chances to find shelter or even a hiding place among commoners of any clan, even hostile ones. Most commoners will be reluctant to extend such favors to any of the commoners companions who are clansmen or even highborn, as it puts them at a much higher risk than sheltering mere commoners nobody really cares about anyway, but some might be persuaded to do so.
Suggested Skills: Drive, Gather Rumors, Handle Animal, Knowledge (Folklore, Nature), Persuade, Profession

Outcast
At the very bottom of society, even below the commoners, are the outcasts. Outcasts are people who have no clan and are forced to survive on their own or in small desperate groups at the edges of civilization. People who are without any clan are considered inherently unworthy of any trust as they have either done something terrible to be exiled from their clan, or at the very least their parents did, and no child of such parents could be trusted either. As a result, many outcasts eventually resolve to becoming thieves or bandits, or even more dispiseable things, which only reinforces the bad reputation given to all members of their class. Outcasts have to hide their status at all time when traveling to civilized areas and usually can't stay long before they are expected to petition the local sub-chief to be granted permission to live on his land, which would only expose their irreputable background.
Underworld Contacts: As outcasts are always hiding and have to avoid being detected, they are familiar with all the secret signs and customs of the underworld that exist in almost every larger settlement even if most locals are not aware of it. Outcasts can make contact with local smugglers, thieves, and other criminals in any given town or city without putting them on allert and getting potential doors closed in front of them. Outcasts who have gained the trust of any traveling companions of higher status usually have to make the initial contact alone as members of the underworld are always weary of being exposed.
Suggested Skills: Bluff, Gather Rumors, Intimidate, Sense Motive, Sneak, Spot, Survival.

Zireael

2012-11-02, 11:01 AM

Love the post. Have you considered giving each social class a feat a bit like Highborn Drow?

Yora

2012-11-02, 01:55 PM

No, I think that wouldn't fit with the way magic is supposed to work. Humanoids are completely nonmagical creatures, except for the casting of spells.

ReaderAt2046

2012-11-02, 03:42 PM

I'd suggest making the Freemen class feat sometihing along these lines:

Greater Detachment: Neither limited by deprivation like the commoners and outcasts, nor by duties like the clansfolk, the Freemen are uniqely suited to officially move between clans as merchants and diplomats. Noone finds it odd for a party of Freemen to move between clans regularly, and they tend to know the roads, the geography and the politics better than any other class.

Yora

2012-11-02, 05:45 PM

And interesting idea. Doesn't fit at all with what I had in mind for that class, but it might even be something better.
But it would remove the element that people without a chief to vouch for them and take responsibility for their actions aren't worth anything. Finding a chief to take them in would be rather important and negate the element of wandering the world.

Yora

2012-11-04, 10:30 AM

So now that the style is sufficiently defined, it's time to get to the substance.
Though I like using D&D rules systems for several reasons, I don't want this to be a D&D world that has everything from the PHB and takes most other stuff from splatbooks. In recent years, both Dragon Age and Mass Effect have been great examples for settings that are original and have both cultures and creatures that are different from the generic kitchen sink stuff.
I did have a couple of ideas, but those really didn't work out to become something great, like lizardfolk being the most numerous race with the largest empires.
So while I am working on this, you are invited to throw in suggestions yourself.

What I have so far:
- Wild/Wood elves as the "primary race". They have a couple of major strongholds the size of small cities, but mostly it's small villages that do some farming for fruits and vegetables, but live mostly on hunting and keeping sheeps and goats.
- Wild Dark Elves, as in the Eberron setting. They are basically drow that live like wild elves, but are mostly nocturnal and spend most of the day in cave homes and come out only after the sun disappears behind the trees of the jungle during the afternoon and village squares and markets begin to really fill around sunset. They are also influences by Dunmer from The Elder Scrolls, which I like quite a lot.
- Gnomes as the only short guy race, as they can be both like dwarven miners and smiths and halfling thieves at the same time. Calling them gnomes also helps to reinforce the notion that these guys are not the generic rude alchoholic scottish viking miners. Whatever you do with dwarves, they always turn out that way and I don't like that culture. And with having gnomes, halflings become redundant.
- Humans have to be in the setting becuase otherwise everyone will think this is an elven fanboy setting and nobody would play it. :smallamused: The difference is, that humans are one of the minor races who are not particularly numerous and lack big cities and great armies. They are what the Greek and Romans would have called barbarians, simply for the fact that they are not part of their culture and not as advanced as they are. There are enough of them to run entire campaigns limited only to the small human lands and they can also be played to start with something familiar and the set out into the wider world, where both characters and players learn more about the rest of the world.
- I still want to keep lizardfolk, but I think I keep them down to be savages and either live in small camps in the southern jungles, or as the legions of servants and soldiers for naga, who are and ancient and highly advanced race from the spiritworld.

If it needs to, this would be enough races for a setting, but I think it's also an opportunity to ad some really new and original things to it.

ReaderAt2046

2012-11-05, 09:39 AM

You mentioned that a big setting point is that everything has its own soul, including trees and rocks. Maybe you could make a couple of these playable races, like dryads and naiads?

Also, you could have races of beast-men (merging human/elf with various animals)

Yora

2012-11-05, 07:54 PM

I plan to have the four elemental genasi as kind of aasimar races, but I think I'll keep them rare in numbers so they don't effectivly constitute a distinct culture in the world.
Other fey will be quite alien and supernatural and very inhuman. That's something where the blurring has to be kept very low to work. Nymphs may almost look like elves, but that's where the similarities end. Most other spirits will be closer to elementals and animal ghosts.

Beastmen have been quite high on my list for a long time.

One version, which I will almost certainly include, is based on a mix of Tauren/Cathar with the visual style of the Fearai from Primal. [1] (http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090722164119/primal/images/b/bd/PrimalJared.jpg), [2] (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ilXWE-mozIg/T-iCr4XUK_I/AAAAAAAABGU/9EuqOX-4m5M/s1600/primal-feraibody.jpg), [3] (http://www.redknuckle.com/concept_pages/ferai/Ferai01_200306_r4_c4.jpg) Even though I want them to take the place of civilized orcs, I don't want them to be like either orcs or hobgoblins but something else. Something similar to a predatory version of the Warcraft Tauren perhaps. Earlier attempts didn't really result in anything but their general appearance, but this time I might try to come up with a unique culture and lifestyle for them very early on before thinking about where they are living and how they interact with their neighbors. That always just resulted in another type of civilized orcs.

Another thing would be something like Ratfolk/Shifters/Mithra. Shorter than humans, taller than gnomes, and also quick and clever, but not siginificantly advanced culturally. I think they could work similar to the non-cannibalistic halflings from Dark Sun.

I also want the primitive fish people that everyone has kept coppying for the last 100 years, be they Deep Ones, Kuo-toa, Murlocs, or whatever else you want. It's always the very same thing, and I like them. However, I think they would almost entirely monsters and pretty much never appear as one of the civilized races. Some remote coastal villages might trade with them, but that's it. They don't visit the markets or have any visitors to their settlements.

For the Underworld, I have planned goblins, grimlocks, and derro, but that's more like an alternative nightmare dimension inhabited by the descendants of mad cultists from the normal world, so I wouldn't count them among the civilized races either.

I think this might actually be more than enough races for a setting with a good variety of races and cultures, but they are all things I've been dragging along through my setting notes for years, and I still hope to come up with something fresh that could give the setting a unique character. Like planescape has the Gith and Dark Sun has the Thri-kreen.

Yora

2012-11-12, 05:54 PM

Tribes of the Ancient Lands
I've been thinking a lot on how to approach the many peoples of the ancient lands, going with sub-races, city-states, clan alliances, small empires, and so on. And I think what works the best for me is to go by culture. Each culture is represented as a tribe, which consists of a couple of hundred thousand people to a few million. These people share the same language, customs, rites, clothing, technology, and so on.

Northland Elves: These elves live in the northern parts of the Ancient Lands, in the sub-arctic forests and hills. They are relatively small in number compared to the other elven tribes and have few major settlements. They tend towards taller sized for elves and have dark hair and fairer skin than most other people of the ancient lands, only tanning slightly in the short summers of their homelands. The elves of the northlands usually work with stone and their homes and keeps can withstand almost all storms without any real damage. They dress mosty in wool and furs in winter, with finer cloths mostly being reserved for shirts and underskirts, as most of them are traded from peoples to the south. Many of the clans know how to work steel and warriors of the northland clans often wear chainmail and carry straight one-handed swords in addition to their spears and bows. In addition to their druids, who often live in small groups outside of the villages, northland elves also have many witches who serve as healers and protectors against magical beasts and evil spirits.
Northern Wood Elves: The Northern Wood Elf tribe is one of the larger tribes of the ancient lands. Most clans live in small villages of wooden huts, which are sometimes located up in the treetops, but not as often as with the southern wood elves. Members of the northern wood elf tribe have light brown skin and brown hair that is often in darker shades. Warriors usually dress in armor made from layers of textiles and plant fibres, covered by backings of leather, or more rarely scale armor and lamellar made from bronze. In addition to spears and bows, they often carry short swords and they are also the only elven tribe that uses hatchets and battleaxes in large numbers. Most villages have their own druid but witches are less common and are often hermits who do not belong to any specific village of their clan.
Southern Wood Elves: The southern wood elves resemble the northern wood elves in many ways, but are often distinguishable by their lighter hair colors that include dark blond and red similar to autumn leaves, which are very rare anywhere else in the ancient lands. Many towns and villages of the southern wood elves lie close to the sea and most ships that travel along the coasts of the ancient lands are manned by southern wood elves. While most of their weapons and armor is made from bronze, high ranking warriors often carry steel scimitars as symbols of their station and know how to use them.
Wild Elves: Closely related to the wood elves, the wild elves are more reclusive and live by a more primal lifestyle. Wild elves tend to have deeply tanned skin and usually dark brown hair. Armor is rare and usually made of plant fibres and leather, with bronze mostly used in spear and arrow tips and in daggers. Armor is often limited to a simple breastplate, but hunters and warriors often wear elaborate warpaint as well, with identifies their station. However, wild elves of other professions also often have their own painted markings. While wild elves don't trade as much with other peoples as most other tribes do, their reaction to outsiders depends entirely on the specific village and can differ greatly even within a clan.
Grey Elves: The grey elves are neighbors of the wild elves and have a very similar culture, but are easily told apart by their dark elven appearance with charcoal black skin and pale blond to light grey hair. Unlike other dark elves, their hair can also be a naturally dark grey, which is mostly found in clans that have close relationships with wild elf clans. Grey elves are generally more welcoming of outsider than either Wild elves or Dark elves and much of the trade from dark elven lands passes through their merchants.
Dark Elves: The dark elves are one of the larger tribes like the northern and southern wood elven tribes. Their skin is charcoal black and they have hair in many shades of pale blond and light grey. While dark elves use only very few iron and steel, they produce very sophisticated goods from bronze like short scimitars, kukris, scale armor, and lamellar. Among dark elves, druids are the nobility and have their homes on hills and around groves located above the rest of the town. While not welcoming of outsiders, their main enemies are the lizardfolk that live just beyond the borders of their territory.
Dusk Elves: The Dusk Elves are a small and diverse people of dark elves that live scattered throughout the northern lands, often isolating themselves from the wood elven clans that populate those areas. They have only a few major settlements that are well hidden and usually underground, mostly living in camps and having a reputation of vagabonds who are not much better than clanless outcasts.
Vandren: The Vandren are the major human group in the Ancient Lands. Originally from lands in the west, they arrived in the region only a few centuries ago as guards for caravans crossing the uninhabited plains west of the ancient lands. The Vandren have medium tanned skin and deep black hair, which makes them unmistakable for any of the few native human clans. The Vandren brought with them cattle, which are much larger than the goats, sheeps, and reindeer traditionally kept by the peoples of the ancient lands, and which are a great symbol of pride for their culture. They lack any main homeland in the ancient lands, but their settlements are often clustered along trade roads and rivers that run along the territories occupied by the other tribes.
Surri: The Surri are a small human tribe that has lived in the ancient lands for as long as anyone knows and who have been neighbors with the Northland elves ever since. The surri live mostly from raising reindeer and fishing in the many lakes and rivers of the northern lands, with some coastal villages also making their living by whaling. Like the elves of the region, the skin of Surri is relatively fair and they have bright brown hair of a much lighter shade than found in almost any of the other tribes.
Amakari: Like the Surri in the north, the Amakari are a small human tribe that has lived in the ancient lands long before the first Vandren arrived. The amakari have dark skin and black hair and beards, and are at home on the islands off the coast of the lands inhabited by the dark elves and lizardfolk. They have no armor and barely any metal, but they are great sailors who often trade with merchant ships passing through their home islands.
Hill Gnomes: Though not very large in numbers compared to other tribes, hill gnomes are the larger of the gnome people. They often make their home in mountainous terrain and the foothills of larger mountain ranges and are somewhat scattered around the northern lands. In addition to digging their homes in the ground, they are also highly skilled miners who produce many of the valuable metals in the ancient lands from ores mined deep within the rock of the mountains. Because of this, they are also the best smiths to work in steel and the guards of their towns and strongholds are often well equiped with steel scale armor and lamellar, and halberds and battleaxes.
Forest Gnomes: Forest Gnomes are mostly found in less rocky terrain and deeper within the great forests of the northlands. Their villages tend to be more accessible from the surface than hill gnome settlements but often just as hidden and secluded with few outsiders knowing where to find them. Forest gnomes rarely have to rely on hunting and instead tend to make it even through longer winters entirely with food they grew in their fields and the sheep they are raising. Unlike hill gnomes, forest gnomes rarely chose to bunker up and sit out and threats and instead rely much more on secrecy and evasion to deter any bandits or hostile neighbors.
Hill Kaas: The largest tribe of the kaas lives in the hills and plains west of the great forests of the ancient lands. They make their homes in large well protected camps and live mostly by hunting and herding and the farming of a few sturdy crops that can survive in the often harsh weather of the region.
Mountain Kaas: North of the hills and plains live the mountain kaas whose culture is centered around sturdy fortresses and strongholds up in the mountains. They are bigger and stronger than even the other kaas tribes and only their druids have a status that rivals that of their warriors. Larger clans often keep a few enslaved trolls for heavy labor, but usually only in small numbers to keep them from trying to fight back against their masters.
Forest Kaas: The forest kaas are a relatively small and dispersed tribe, consisting mostly of solitary clans that live on the edges of the wood elf lands. Their villages are led by their druids and hunters are not an uncommon sight in towns that are open to outsiders for trade.
Naga Tribe: The most powerful of the lizardfolk clans are those still under the rule of the naga. While there is a clear hirarchy with the naga at the top and lizardfolk at the bottom as slaves, the lizardfolk outnumber the naga to such a degree that they often hold positions of power such as town leaders and military officers. Though the naga dictate the course of action and make all the important descisions, most of the day to day administration is done by high ranking lizardfolk officials. The naga themselves are far from a unified power and often at conflict and even war with each other, but to outsiders there is very little difference between the clans.
Jungle Tribe: The lizardfolk of the jungle tribe overthrew their naga masters long ago and since then have returned to governing their clans themselves. There are thousands of clans all over the jungles and they are highly diverse, but they all share the heritage of the knowledge and magic their naga masters once possessed and still exist in small fragments among them.
Island Tribe: Off the coast of the southern jungles lie many islands that are home to some human clans and large numbers of lizardfolk. These lizardfolk were never ruled by the naga to any significant degree and they still preserve most of their ancient culture. Items made of bronze are rare among the island tribes and they still mostly rely on stone and obsidian for their weapons and make their armor out of plant fibres and whale bones.
Savage Tribe: Similar to the island tribe, the savage tribe is a loose collection of wild lizardfolk clans that have always existed beyond the territory controlled by the naga during the height of their rule. The savages are the most primitive of the lizardfolk tribes and also the most agressive. Savage clans are hostile to almost everyone, be it naga tribe clans, jungle tribe clans, or dark elven clans. They are also bigger and stronger and often eat their killed enemies.

Zap Dynamic

2012-11-13, 12:47 AM

Really glad to see this again! Ker-bookmarked!

Yora

2012-11-13, 06:13 AM

Okay, now I have the list of tribes wrapped up. Should be about 19 so far, which seems a good number. Now they need a lot more of fleshing out, making them into distinct cultures with social orders, customs, and religion. After this is done I can continue to coming up with a more specific geography for them to inhabit. This is a rather upside down approach, but since the setting is all about the cultures and the environments they inhabit, I think this works better than starting with a map and then comming up with ideas what people might live in those places.

As this is a relatively early stage, I am open to suggestions of any kind. Anything that you think might be an interesting aspect or element for a tribe of the ancient lands is welcome. Even if I don't go with a suggestion for a specific tribe, I still might use the idea for another one. So feel free to blurt out anything that comes to mind.

ReaderAt2046

2012-11-13, 08:20 PM

Some random thoughts:

The Vanderen would probably be looked down on by nearly everyone else, sort of the way Freemen are looked down on by Clansman. They would also probably compensate by a sort of tribe-wide ambition.

The Northern Elves and the Northern Wood Elves would probably have a bit of ideological squabble between the ice of the northern elves and the growth of the wood elves.

Yora

2012-11-14, 12:34 PM

That's something to consider. Thanks for the input.

Here's a couple of images that could help showcase the kind of style I am going for with the cultures.

Northland elves, Surri, and Hill Gnomes (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/35272131412)
Surri-Northland Half-Elves (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/35272024619/yavanna83-cold-day-by-michalivan)
Northern Wood Elf (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/30991298138)
Surri (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25500554158/a-human-warrior-by-ben-wootten)
Northland Elf and Surri (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/28207437305/yavanna83-dans-les-pas-de-romane-by-yogh-art)
Surri (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/26270740960)
Surri (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/26068830503/human-from-the-northlands-by-florian-stitz)
Planetouched Northland Elves (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/26485332317/fey-warriors)
Northern Wood Elf (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/30863715443/a-perfect-example-of-elves-in-the-ancient-lands)
Air Genasi in Northern Wood Elf gear (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25566813353/an-elven-air-genasi)
Northern Wood Elf, Vandren, and Forest Gnome in winter outfits (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/30991064226)
Hill or Forest Kaas (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/26486312336/spirit-warrior)
Dusk Elf and Northern Wood Elf (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25637281503/dark-elf-and-wood-elf-by-jeremy-jarvis)
Hill Gnome (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/31339376136/russianinsanity-gilius-by-marctaro-at-cghub-com)
Forest Gnomes (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/30884613085)
Vandren (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/29634220601/defenestrador-nomad-by-sang-han)
Vandren Shaman (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/26150635567/yavanna83-shaman-by-anotherwanderer)
Vandren (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25510411909/human-warrior-by-egek)
Southern Wood Elves (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25500273418/some-elves-by-vinod-rams)
Southern Wood Elf-Vandren Half-Elf (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25500951421/a-half-elf-warrior-sorceress-by-jason-engle)
Southern Wood Elf (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25658744256/an-elven-warrior-by-wayne-reynolds)
Southern Wood Elves (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25637328922/wood-elves)
Southern Wood Elves (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25637300154/elven-archers-by-jeremy-jarvis)
Southern Wood Elf and Naga (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25567923248/elf-rogue-and-naga-by-jason-engle)
Southern Wood Elf Druid (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25567545683/an-elven-shaman-by-steve-argyle)
Wild Elf (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/29965433788/an-elven-warrior-on-a-riding-beast-by-taopaint)
Grey Elf (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25500579124/spirits-sorcerers-by-ben-wootten)
Grey Elf Shaman (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25567696893/a-dark-elf-shaman)
Grey Elf Shaman (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25511331479/a-dark-elf-shaman-by-steve-argyle)
Grey Elves (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25501143131/dark-elf-warriors-by-jon-hodgson)
Dark Elves (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/26485285002/dark-elves)
Dark Elf Sorcerer (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25567680589/a-dark-elf-sorcerer)
Undead Dark Elf Warrior (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25566759290/an-elven-wight-by-james-zhang)
Island Lizardfolk (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/26485188531/lizardfolk-hunters)
Island Lizardfolk (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/26068882784/lizardfolk-sorcerer-by-jim-pavelec)
Naga Tribe Lizardfolk (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/26067298631/snake-people)
Earth Genasi (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25637367275/earth-genasi-by-vinod-rams)
Fey Shaman (http://ancient-lands.tumblr.com/post/25500488911/a-spirit-shaman-by-sandara)

Also, I made this basic graph to show who is sharing borders with whom. Gets a bit cluttered in the North, with both Vandren, Dusk Elves, and Forest Kaas being no cohesive groups and often overlapping with the other tribes, but I think it gets you a basic image of what people might come into somewhat regular contact with each other.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdhngst7dY1rud7mxo1_500.png

Zireael

2012-11-18, 06:54 AM

No, I think that wouldn't fit with the way magic is supposed to work. Humanoids are completely nonmagical creatures, except for the casting of spells.

Well, maybe I used a wrong example. In an early draft of my world, when it was still based on 3.x, every social class had a feat, which granted them bonuses to certain skill checks. Small bonuses, like +2.

Yora

2012-11-18, 07:47 AM

That's what I use the background traits for. They just provide a non-nummerical bonus to interactions than a specific modifier to certain rolls.

Yora

2012-11-19, 06:24 AM

To make the world unique and not just another generic fantasy setting, I want to include some "asian visuals" to make things a bit different. Like the Night Elves in Warcraft combine Japanese and Scandinavian architecture.

Here's some stuff I already have:
Bamboo
Straw Hats
Turtles
Rakshasa (though still the D&D type)
Oni
Naga
Hengeyoukai (natural lycanthropes from the spiritworld)
Lamellar armor
Naginata (as glaives)

More ideas are welcome.

Zireael

2012-11-19, 07:00 AM

Nice idea. Will you use Asian names, too? They might go nicely with your idea of hierarchical society...

Yora

2012-11-19, 07:21 AM

Depends. Somewhere I have a long list of names for NPC which is compiled from all over the place, about 350. Mostly names that you can't immediately pinpoint to a specific country unless you are familiar with the local names. It's not supposed to be an English or German setting, and not a Chinese or Japanese either.

Yora

2012-11-26, 04:15 PM

Main Factions

Looking at my favorite setting, one thing that really makes them great are the longstanding grudges and hostilities between major groups within the greater population. When two peeople of opposing factions meet, you can instantly see trouble brewing and have to account for keeping their grudges from endangering the common goals. Even more so than alliances, old hostilities really provide grit and color to a setting.

Thinking about it in the context of the Ancient Lands, I've come up with seven main ideological factions that exist paralel to the politics between individual clans. Even within a faction individual clans can get into war with each other and do so all the time. But if you have to groups from opposing factions, than there's a fight waiting to happen.

Druids
Pretty much the mainstream faction and by far the largest. The only thing that makes them a single group is their shared stance towards the other factions, which is hostile to pretty much everyone.
Druids adher to the belief that civilization is vulnerable to natural disasters, monsters, and bandits, but can endure with the cooperation of the spirits of the surrounding land. If the spirits turn against the villages and strongholds, their existance is doomed and they will surely fall to calamity within short time. But if the land and its spirits are treated respectfully and corruption by demons and the ancients is contained and repelled, civilization can flurish, providing safe sustenance and harmony for the community.
The vast majority of clans and villages follow this ideology and place their trust into the good work of the druids who maintain the favor of the spirits for their communities.

Druids are usually either treated as members of the Highborn or Hermit class, depending on how deeply they are integrated into the clans society. Acolytes, guards, and servants either rise to at least Clansman status when they become members of the shrines, or are also treated as Hermits like the druids.

Shadow Druids
The shadow druids can be reagarded as a faction within the druid indeology, but their views differ greatly in some aspects. They share their opposition of demons and ancients and the people who serve them and are constantly fighting their corruption, but they mostly regard the idea of sustainable civilization as futile. With the aid of the spirits, villages and towns can be errected and grow to great wealth, but all will sooner or later fall victim to one calamaty or another and perish, and the shadow druids expect it to be sooner rather than later. The larger a settlement becomes the more vulnerable does it become to plagues and famines, as it increasingly relies on other settlements for certain goods or services critical to their survival. The shadow druids are not outright hostile to large and highly civilized communities, but they regard them as foolish ideas that only put their people in uneccessary danger. Instead they promote small semi-nomadic camps that survive or perish only by the results of their own actions without their fate being tied to that of a larger society that becomes more vulnerable and fragile as it grows. If one group or village perishes, the damage is only limited to them without dragging everyone else with them.
While the shadow druids rarely attack towns and villages, they are usually relucatant to assist with any crisis that threatens their survival. Large villages shouldn't have been build in the first place and they won't lift a finger to drag the inevitible out for another generation or two. However, this quiet contempt can often be the seed for personal grudges and hostilities between their camps and other communities that don't really have anything to do with conflicting believes and ideologies.

Shadow druids are usually either Hermits or Outcasts, depending on how good their relationship to nearby settlements is.

Cults of the Ancients
The cults of the ancients are usually small and local communities that are both low in numbers and individual size. Their members agree with the shadow druids that entrusting their survival to the goodwill of spirits is foolish and doomed to fail and they are usually found in isolated villages far removed from the rest of civilization. Instead, they have turned their attention to other powers and found their new masters in the Ancients. The ancients are spirits from the beginning of the world, when the border between the Material Worlds and the Void were still not fully formed and spirits could pass between the realms freely. The Ancients are the spirits of environments very different from the way the world appears today and predate the spirits of mountains, forests, rivers, and even oceans by eons, which only came into being when these features of the land were created. But deep within the earth and below the bottom of the sea, the world is still pretty much the same as it had been in the beginning and in these hidden depths the spirits have been unchanged throughout all the eons. Eventually, mountains, forests, and rivers will disappear and be replaced by new landscapes, but the caverns deep beneath the earth and the seas will always be the same and their spirits are the only ones that are truly immortal. In worshipping the Ancients, their followers hope to find a path that lets the humanoid races join the ranks of the eternal creatures that will endure until the very end of time.
The downside is, that the Ancients in the Underworld are beings from a world that is now alien to the world that has evolved on the surface and as such carry with them the currupting Taint that is also spread by demons. Most cultists are aware of the dangerous effects on their health and their minds and take measures to limit direct exposure, but in the long term they view it as the source of their transformation into eternal creatures unbound by the changing laws of the surface world. This puts them at odds with the druids and shadow druids, who regard the Taint as a poison that destroys the surface world of mortal beings and the spiritworld and will hasten the decay of the universe before it eventually vanishes back into the Void from which it once was created. They also tend to use blood magic, which makes them even less welcome in most reputable places. And even most of the irreputable as well.

Cultists of the ancients either stay hidden within larger communities practicng their rites in secret, or live in small remote communities, whose members are treated as Outcasts by all other clans and villages.

Sorcerers
The sorcerers are wizards who have devoted their studies to the Void and utilizing its magical energies. As these energies are not part of the natural world, they spread the Taint and cause curruption both to the land and its creatures. As such, they are opposed by druids and shadow druids, but the more responsible and careful ones also often clash with warlocks.
While individual sorcerers and small cabals can be found anywhere, they have the most influence in a group of wood elven clans, in which they constitute the aristocracy. In these clans, sorcerers are highly respected wizards and hold great political power. Ordinary people from these clans usually don't stand out as exceptional to other clans, but sorcerers are viewed with great mistrust and even outright hostility in places where the influence of druids is exceptionally strong.

Individual sorcerers either practice their studies in secrets or are Outcasts. In the clans were sorcerers are respected, they are almost always Highborn.

Warlocks
While sorcerers regard their studies of the Void and its magial properties as dangerous work that needs to be done with proper care and saveguards to limit the spread of Taint, warlocks have no such reservations and reach out directly to demons to make pacts for vast magical powers. The curruption they cause is usually substential which makes even many sorcerers appaled at such careless dustruction and naturally draws the hostility of both druids and shadow druids. Some make pacts with demons merely as a shortcut to great magical power, but within their ranks exist many cults that hope to achieve true immortality by transforming themselves into demons that will continue to exist in the endless eternity of the Void long after the material world has come to an end.
Warlocks often work alone or in very small groups of just two to five people, but are very often well connected among each other, forming a large network that covers almost all of the Ancient Lands. If discovered, warlocks can expect to be hunted down and killed, but occasionally some amass enough power and allies in secret that they have become too strong to be easily opposed when they chose to reveal themselves. These warlocks are often powerful warlords with large armies that can cause great damage and trouble for many decades or even centuries before they are brought down.

As wizards and rarely druids, most warlocks belong to the highborn class. A few who practice their research in remote isolation are Outcasts, but might deploy deception to be regarded as Hermits.

Warrior Orders
The warrior orders could be ragarded as a larger movement that has its origin in the bands of human mercenaries in the wars that formed the great elven powers. While they do not oppose druids and their teachings in general, most of the warrior orders follow an ideology that emphasises complete reliance on ones own ability and ones brothers and sisters in arms. Most won't go out of their way to antagonize the spirits, but they do not ordinarily plea with them for aid and assistance. This does at times lead into heated arguments with overzealous druids which on occasion can turn sour and grow into greater conflicts, but usually these warriors apply their believes only to the actual members of their orders and don't expect any commoners to live up to their standards. Some of the orders have become very large and powerful, rivialing the greater and more influential clans, with their leaders also serving as lords over great strongholds and the surrounding lands and villages. Because the orders consist entirely of warriors, they are even more likely than other chieftains to go to war and seek conquest, but just as often individual companies fight as mercenaries in the wars between other clans, just as their founders did.
The warriors have no real stake in the conflicts bewtween druids and those who worship the ancients or use demonic magic, but their companies often mean trouble for any place they are comming through and especially for the places they are heading to. Proud of their prowress, they are likely to treat any opposition or resistance as a challenge and very few people wish to get into a war with them.

While individual orders and companies can vary greatly, about 4 out of 10 warriors are humans, 3 elves, and 2 kaas, with only small numbers of lizardfolk, trolls, gnomes, and nezumi found among their ranks and only in some rare companies. Members of the Warrior orders are often Freemen, with the highest ranking leaders being Highborn and everyone else living on their territory being Lowborn.

Naga
The Naga are the remnants of the great naga empires that once dominanted most of the southern jungles. They greatly resemble the Sorcerer clans but form a distinctly separate faction that is often opposed to them. The actual members of the faction are most of the naga that still live in the mortal world, but under their command are numerous large clans of lizardfolk and fish people. They are opposed by druids and shadow druids for the same reasons sorcerers are, and their goal often come into conflict with those of warlocks. Within their territory, they are also always hunting for any cults of tha Ancients, in fear of rebellions that have access to magic that can oppose their own sorcerous powers. Outside of the jungles controlled by the naga, their agents rarely make their presence known and act in secret, mostly to steal magical lore from sorcerers and warlocks or that has been hidden away by druids.

Yora

2012-11-27, 10:08 AM

Reputation
This isn't neccessarily the finished system but an idea I am working on. In a setting where social status and clan allegiance is important, I think Reputation is worth being made part of the rules.

The Reputation score is based Class Levels and modified by the Background and Charisma modifier. In addition, characters can gain a +1 bonus every time they perform a great deed that becomes well known at the GMs discretion. I think roughly one deed per characer level should be a good rule of thumb.

{table=head]Lvl.|Druid/Fighter|Barbarian/Wizard|Ranger/Rogue
1st|1|0|0
2nd|1|1|0
3rd|2|1|1
4th|2|1|1
5th|3|2|1
6th|3|2|2
7th|4|3|2
8th|4|3|2
9th|5|3|3
10th|5|4|3[/table]

Highborn +3
Hermit +2
Clansman +1
Freeman +0
Lowborn -1
Outcast -2

A famous general could easily have a Reputation score of 18 to 20. [Fighter 9 (+5), Highborn (+3), Charisma 14 (+2), nine deeds (+9)]
For a well known local witch, it could be 9 to 11. [Wizard 5 (+2), Hermit (+2), Charisma 12 (+1), five deeds (+5)]

Big question is what real effects the Reputation does. Here's one starting idea:
{table]0|Unknown
1-2|Known in the village
3-5|Known locally
6-9|Known among the clan
10-14|Known throughout the kingdom or tribe
15-20|Known throughout the world
21+|Legendary figure[/table]
People will most likely not recognize a characters face if they never met him and the higher up it goes they might not even known the name. But within the Elk Clan, pretty much everyone will know what it means when someone is introduced as the leader of the villages on Eagle Lake or the witch who lives on the Pine Island. (Reputation 6-9).

I also like followers and the Reputation score can easily be also the Leadership score. I intend followers to be mostly servants and assistants that either stay home or guard the camp and the horses while the PCs go into dungeons. Maybe even guard prisoners and tend to wounded, stuff like that.
D&D 3rd Edition has tables for that, but in another d20 game I saw the alternative of just picking followers whose combined class levels can be as high as the Reputation score while none can be of a higher level than half the Reputation score. Also limiting maximum level of any follower to 2 levels below the PCs level as in Leadership also seems fine. Classless 1 HD servants could be treated as having half a level. Unlike henchmen, these followers want to help and are not just in it for the payment. They won't be bribed to betray the PC, but might be blackmailed, and they don't leave as soon as they don't get their wage, but within the setting servants would probably not get much but food and housing anyway.
Average PC level in an Ancient Lands game should probably 3rd to 7th. That would be Reputation scores ranging from 5 to 15. A generic clansman 3rd level fighter would have a basic Reputation score of 6.
Since the level range is only from 1st to 10th, I guess having the minimum level for followers at 4th. At 4th level, warriors are experienced veterans who sit on the big table in the castle. These are powerful enough to have their own crew instead of being croonies to other warriors.

Yora

2012-11-28, 11:58 AM

I am thinking of using level based defense bonuses to AC and armor as being purely a form of damage reduction.

I expect characters to get into fights without their armor quite often, be it when the village is suddenly attacked by raiders, assassins get inside the great hall, or their camp gets attacked. Characters of higher level should be able to last longer in such fights than characters of lower level, but this is already covered by hit points. I think a good way to approach hit points is not to treat successful attack rolls as a single hit, but rather just as a check if one is wearing the enemy down to any degree within that six second timeframe. How many hits are landed and what kinds of specific injuries they cause is completely ignored in that.

Almost all d20 games that have defense bonuses have them available only when not wearing any armor. But wearing armor would always make you better protected than not wearing armor, even if it's the most crappy armor. And there is nobody that fast and dexterous that being unarmored would actually be safer than wearing armor. However, one could change the rules further and replace the AC bonus from armor with Damage Reduction and always keep the defense bonus to AC.

{table=head]Armor|Type|Damage Reduction|max. Reduction
Fabric|Light|2|2
Chain Shirt|Light|3|2
Hide|Medium|2|1
Scale Armor|Medium|3|1
Lamellar Breastplate|Medium|4|1
Chainmail|Heavy|3|0
Lamellar Armor|Heavy|4|0[/table]

Fabric and Hide reduces damage by 2 points.
Chain and Scale reduces damage by 3 points.
Lamellar reduces damage by 4 points.
Light armor can reduce damage only to a minimum of 2 (and has no effect if the damage roll is a 1).
Medium armor can reduce damage to a minimum of 1.
Heavy armor can completely negate damage (and therefore also all secondary effects of the attack).

This may not look like much, but character level goes only up to 10th and most of the common monsters in 5th Edition only deal an average of 5 to 8 damage.

Small shields give a +2 bonus to AC, large shields a +3 bonus. That makes shields really, really good, being better than the Dexterity bonus to AC most characters will have. Just as it should be realistically.

{table=head]Lvl.|Barbarian/Fighter|Ranger/Rogue|Druid/Wizard
1st|+0|+0|+0
2nd|+1|+0|+0
3rd|+1|+1|+0
4th|+2|+1|+1
5th|+2|+1|+1
6th|+3|+2|+1
7th|+3|+2|+1
8th|+4|+2|+2
9th|+4|+3|+2
10th|+5|+3|+2[/table]

Adjusting the numbers will be a case of playtesting once the 5th Edition rules get closer to being finalized. But what do you think of the idea in general? Is it worth the trouble of adding setting-specific combat and equipment rules, or do you think the gain from it is too marginal to bother with it?

Bluecap

2012-11-29, 11:47 AM

If I can jump in from a new viewpoint, Yora -

What kind of stories actually get told (played out) in Ancient Lands?

What are the "iconic" Ancient Lands adventures?

I'm guessing "Local Monster Needs Slaying" is on the list, but is "Holy Relic Stolen, Needs Retrieving" on there? Is it expected that the players will have to quell war within their clan or halt the advance of the Northland Elf war machine?

It's worth thinking about.

Yora

2012-11-29, 12:12 PM

Sure, that's actually the kind of question I always ask when other people start with a setting idea and asking for first oppinions. I probably forgott about this because I've been working on it on some times and already had gone into it in one of the older threads.
But instead of copy-pasting it, I think I'll write up something new in the next couple of days. Thanks for the reminder.

Yora

2012-11-30, 04:50 PM

The Role of PCs
While players are almost entirely free to come up with any type of character they can imagine and fits within the parameters set for the campaign by the GM, the Ancient Lands are created with certain assumptions of the characters position and role within the world in mind.
Even though the Ancient Lands are not a particularly hostile environment, a major overarching theme is survival and securing the safety of the community. Society in the Ancient Lands is mostly tribal, with most people living in relatively small villages that have to rely on themselves for safety and protection as help from the chiefs stronghold or allied settlements can often be several days away, if a messanger can be send at all. With a world that is mostly unsettled wilderness and few urban centers where mercenaries would find short and well paying work, most dangerous tasks fall to the warriors, leaders, and wise people of the villages, which make for the best backgrounds for player characters. Wandering adventurers are rare and the search for treasures too unreliant to make any kind of living from it. Player characters do not need to be confined to their home village, as each clans consists of dozens or even hundreds of such settlements that all fall under the rule of the chief and looking out for each other as good as they can. Not only would player characters work for the good and safety of their own village, but often their help will also be required by neighboring villages that are in danger, or serve their chief to fight the enemies of the clan on the outside as well as the inside.

Defende the village against wild beasts: While the animals of the wild rarely come close to humanoid settlements, every so often dagerous beasts emerge from deep within the great forests and jungles, stalking the outlying farms at night and preying on lifestock or attacking hunters or woodcutters. With the more dangerous monsters it usually falls to the warriors to hunt down these creatures and make it safe to leave the pallisades around the village again.
Fight of marauders and bandits: Be it warriors from enemy clans or outcasts who have banded together and survive by raiding outlying villages, attacks from other humanoids can often be as dangerous to a village as the most ferocious monsters. While small gangs of bandits are easy enough to dispatch, one first had to find them out in the wilds, and larger groups of marauders often require the combined effort of warriors from several villages to drive them out of the area.
Preserve the villages food and water: Though there are few deserts in the Ancient Lands, food and water is not always plenty, especially in the winter months. Everything that makes the rivers poluted or dry up, or causes the crops to fail and the herds to fall to disease poses a greater threat to the survival of the entire village than almost any monster or invading army. With only a few miles around the villages being relatively safe, finding the cause for such calamities and setting things right again is a task that requires the knowledge and experience of the villages shamans and warriors.
Placate the spirits: Every settlement in the Ancient Lands requires the aid and protection of the spirits of the land to prosper and survive. Against the will of the spirits, no land can be settled without being harrased by wild beasts, and the ground will not allow any crops to grow. Maintaining the goodwill of the spirits is a constant task for the shamans of the clans, but the spirits are always unpredictable and often make demands or take offense at things that hard for the people to understand. Shamans often set out on quests to fulfill the will of the spirit and restore the harmony between the village and the spiritworld, and more often than not they require the assistance of strong and skilled warriors.
Fighting the enemy from the inside: Bandits, monsters, and ill tempered spirits are constant dangers that put the survival of the villages and entire clans at great risk. But in addition to the dangers of the wild and the wrath of the spiritwold, doom and destruction can also come from inside the protective pallisades as well. While few people ever encounter them knowlingly, warlocks and cults of tha Ancients can take root anywhere and the corruption spread by their tainted powers can be more terrible and destructive than a raging dragon. Many of the best protected and secure strongholds have fallen to demons or the undead and any hint at the practive of tainted magic is a matter of serious concern for any chief or village elder that requires immediate investigations.
Securing the magic of the past: Long before the earliest humanoid settlements, fey people created mighty castles and strongholds in the wilds of the mortal world, where they ruled over the savage humanoids for countless generations. While long abandoned and mostly crumbled into rubble overgrown by vines, countless ancient ruins lie hidden within the unexplored wilds and sometimes even just under the castles and temples of the humanoid peoples. In rare cases they include chambers and hallways that had been untouched for hundreds of generations and still hold great magical wonders from ancient times. The value of such artifacts can not be measured in gold or jewels and every clan will go to great length to secure them and gain whatever magical knowledge from it that they can, to strengthen their position over the other clans. Unknown ruins are discovered only rarely, but every time will rush to secure any mystical treasures before word of the discovery gets around. But even so, many of the known ruins have never been explored in full, as they often contain dangers that have led many brave warriors to their doom.

Yora

2012-12-01, 07:13 AM

Character Archetypes

In the Ancient Lands, Backgrounds are covered by the characters social status. Specialties take the form of Archetypes. These are suggestions how to make a character quickly and can be modified to suit personal ideas.

Clan Warrior
Clan warriors are the protectors of the clan and professional soldiers. They have learned to fight from a young age and their role in the clan is entirely to fight of any attackers that threaten the clans people and to fight for the chief during wars against other clans. Many clan warriors live in the stronghold of the chief or local sub-chief, though many are also quite wealthy and own small farms that are worked by their servants.
Classes: Fighter, Ranger
Background: Highborn, Clansmen
Skills: Climb, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (warfare), Ride, Survival
Feats: -
Equipment: Hide or Scale armor; small shield, spear or battleaxe, dagger, shortbow or three javelins.

Clan Hunter
Though they are quite skilled in the use of weapons, the hunters of the clan spend most of their time in the wilderness hunting for food and pelts and are used to guard the village and the leader only in times of great trouble. When it has to be they also done armor and follow the warriors into battle, but most lack much experience in going to war.
Classes: Ranger, Rogue
Background: Clansmen
Skills: Climb, Handle Animal, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Sneak, Spot, Survival, Track
Feats: -
Equipment: Fabric armor, spear, dagger, shortbow.

Clan Shaman
The clan shamans are the druids that serve as protectors of the village and messengers of the local spirit to the people of the clan. They are of very high status and highly respected, but usually live slighly removed from the rest of society. Except for the smallest and most remote villages, most settlements have a number of shamans and several apprentices, which serve the head shaman both within the shrine and on missions to far away places.
Classes: Druid
Background: Highborn, Clansmen
Skills: Heal, Knowledge (arcana, forbidden lore, nature, religion), Persuade, Sense Motive, Survival,
Feats: -
Equipment: Fabric armor, club or staff, sling, dagger.

Scout
Scouts are professional trackers who are not only skilled in hunting down their target, but also in keeping themselves hidden and spying at enemy camps and setting up ambushes. They are found among both the warriors of the clans as well as mercenary armies.
Classes: Ranger, Rogue
Background: Clansmen, Freemen, Handle Animal
Skills: Balance, Climb, Heal, Knowledge (dungeoneering, nature), Listen, Ride, Search, Sneak, Spot, Survival, Swim, Track
Feats: -
Equipment: Fabric armor, short sword, dagger, shortbow.

Sentinel
Sentinels are warriors found mostly among elves, who engage their enemies from a distance or hiding, and preferably both. They are skilled both in stealth and archery and often serve as the first line of elven defense. They keep watch for any intruders and either drive enemies away before they reach the elven villages or slow them down and weaken them before they are engaged by the clans warriors.
Classes: Fighter, Ranger
Background: Clansmen, Freemen
Skills: Climb, Knowledge (warfare), Listen, Sneak, Survival
Feats: -
Equipment: Fabric armor, short sword or handaxe, longbow.

Berserker
Berserkers are strong warriors who possess a powerful battle rage that makes them the most feared and dangerous warriors on the battlefield. They usually form their own small groups among the warriors of the clan and there is often only a couple of them throughout the lands of any clan. While some of the larger villages have their own small groups of berserkers, most serve directly under a chief or sub-chief.
Classes: Barbarian
Background: Clansmen
Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (warfare), Survival
Feats: -
Equipment: Hide or scale armor, small shield and battleaxe or greataxe.

Mercenary
In addition to the warriors of the clans there are also many small armies of mercenaries who sell their services to chiefs and other lords who need additional warriors in their battles against their enemies. While most mercenaries are part of large companies, sometimes they leave the group over disagreements with the commander or a company falls apart after having sustained too heavy losses. Usually they try to join a new company as soon as possible, but in the meantime they are sometimes able to get temporary jobs as bodyguards. While mercenaries are rarely trusted by most people, some may catch the attention of a chief and may be offered to join his clan. Since war is their only source of income, mercenaries are often extremely well trained and have very good equipment and in many cases are considerably superior to most clan warriors. Those who don't have a hard time finding work and are often not much better than brigands and bandits.
Classes: Barbarian, Fighter, Ranger
Background: Freemen, Outcasts
Skills: Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (warfare), Ride
Feats: -
Equipment: Scale armor, small shield, spear, battleaxe.

Thief
In the small villages of the clans, criminals have a very hard time as they are easily identified and there are very few places to hide from the authorities. However in the larger towns where lots of travelers come to trade, it's much easier oto steal from strangers and evade the guards. Most thieves are lowly criminals who survive on stealing both coins and other things they need to live. Some are wandering from village to village, posing as travelers who only stay for a short time and are gone before their stealing is detected. While they are dispised by almost anyone, there are occasionally cases when people can make use of the skills of someone who knows how to stay hidden and get into places they are not supposed to be.
Classes: Rogue
Background: Freemen, Lowborn, Outcasts
Skills: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Listen, Persuade, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Sneak, Spot
Feats: -
Equipment: Dagger, thieves tools.

Agent
Among the followers of chiefs and other lords, there are usually a few people who know how to solve problems that are plaguing the clan without causing great commotions and conflicts with other clans. While some highly delicate matters are worth the hiring of an experienced mercenary, most of these agents come from the highborn families that are most close to the chief and have his full trust. While their position is usually an inofficial one, they are the people the chief turns to when he needs criminals captured and traitors exposed.
Classes: Rogue
Background: Highborn, Freemen
Skills: Bluff, Disable Device, Disguise, Gather Rumors, Intimidate, Knowledge (heraldry, history), Listen, Persuade, Search, Sense Motive, Sneak, Spot, Track
Feats: -
Equipment: Fabric armor or chain shirt, short sword, shortbow, thieves tools.

Witch
Witches usually live at the very edge of society or isolated in the wilds. They know many secrets of magic and the wilderness and people sometimes seek them out in matters that are beyond what the shamans can do. People usually come to them with things that are unaccepted at best or outright illegal at worst, which does not help the witches reputation. While they are generally feared even more than shamans, not all witches are treated as evil and are sometimes honored as magical protectors of outlying settlements that are far away from their shaman.
Classes: Wizard
Background: Clansmen, Freemen, Hermits, Outcasts
Skills: Heal, Knowledge (arcana, nature), Survival
Feats: -
Equipment: Staff, dagger, sling, ritual tome.

Sorcerer
Sorcerers are scholars of magic who have devoted their studies to the energies and beings of the Void. Even the most careful and honorable of them are usually mistrusted for their dealings with demons as more than one of them has fallen to demonic possession and caused great death and destruction. Many sorcerers practice their magic in remote hideouts but in some places they are part of the nobility, living in grand manors and possessing great wealth.
Classes: Wizard
Background: Highborn, Outcasts
Skills: Knowledge (arcana, forbidden lore, sciences), Persuade
Feats: -
Equipment: Staff, dagger, ritual tome.

Hermit Druid
Sharing the secrets of the druidic magic with the shamans, these hermits have isolated themselves from their clans and live in remote groves, seeking the closeness of the powers of nature and its spirits. Though highly respected in most places, they have only limited contact with other villages and leave their homes only for specific reasons.
Classes: Druid
Background: Hermit
Skills: Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (arcana, forbidden lore, nature), Survival
Feats: -
Equipment: Staff, dagger, sling.

Hermit Warrior
Throughout all of the Ancient Lands exist a couple of old warrior traditions that combine the abilities of the body with the powers of magic. Most of them live in small retreats away from other people where they train with older masters and younger novices, but many take up wandering the land and visiting civilization on their own and occasionally end up among the followers of chiefs, where they can attain positions of great status.
Classes: Fighter/Wizard
Background: Hermit
Skills: Balance, Knowledge (warfare), Listen, Tumble
Feats: -
Equipment: Fabric armor; spear, scimitar, or longsword.

Yora

2012-12-02, 07:09 AM

Creatures of the Ancient Lands

After many many revisions, I think I have the list of creatures in the setting pretty much nailed down at roughly 120, which is about half a Monster Manual.
Homebrew creatures are in italics.

Humanoids
Elf: Elves come in both wood elves and dark elves, but they have identical stats except that dark elves trade low-light vision for darkvision and light blindness.
Fish People: A race of 1,50m to 1,60m tall humanoid fish that can breath air but can surive out of water only for a few hours. Most are bands of savages that live in coastal waters far from civilized settlements, but they can also survive in the great depths of the oceans and flooded caves that connect to the sea.
Giant, Hill: Hill giants are of roughly human proportions but stand up to 3 meters high and tend to have very lean builds. Their skin and hair is of sand or dust colored brown and most dress in hides and leather and fight with bronze tipped spears or enormous bows.
Giant, Mountain: Mountain giants stand significantly higher than hill giants and can grow to height of up to 3,80m. They are more muscular in build than hill giant and more resemble stong humans and their skin leans more towards grey shades and males often have long beards. Mountain giants are among the few people that make use of great amounts of iron and often wear scale armor and carry steel axes and iron banded clubs.
Gnome: Gnomes in the Ancient Lands combine characteristics of dwarves, gnomes, and halflings. Except for their slightly bigger heads, they are of about human proportions and stand between 1m and 1,20m high wenn fully grown. They have round faces and big round noses that makes them look very different from human children.
Goblin: Goblins are the only true subteranean humanoids in the Ancient Lands. They can be as tall as 1m but also significantly smaller and are all of a very thin build with flat faces and large eyes and ears and black hair. They are rarely seen on the surface, especially during daytime, but they are sometimes hired as guides by people who explore deep caverns or seek to find entrances to the underworld.
Harpie: Harpies are wing and feathered humanoids that are of roughly elven stature but rarely taller than 1,50m. They have three claws on the joints of their wings that are just as agile as human fingers and their feet are those of large birds of prey. Harpies live in forested mountains in warm and temperate climate and have a very simple culture that doesn't use many tools and many are relatively simple minded when compared to humans.
Human: Humans have all the standard abilities. (Unless they stay as they are in the D&D current playtest rules, in which case they would instead be much more similar to 3rd Edition.)
Kaas: Kaas are tall and strong humanoids that stand about 2m tall and are covered in short brown fur. Their faces have some resemblance to wolves and lions and the hair on their heads is a thick mane of darker brown color. Their limbs are exceptionally strong and they are great climbers even on extremely difficult terrain.
Lizardfolk: Lizardfolk tend to stand somewhat taller than humans and are significantly heavier. Most have green scales and often markings of brown or black along their backs. They can hold their breath for a very long time and are excelent swimmers, but are not truly aquatic creatures and always make their homes on dry land. While not as smart as most other humanoid people, their culture is very old and can easily compare to humans and kaas.
Troll: Trolls are very strong and powerful humanoids that stand about 2,5m tall but are much more muscular than humans or even kaas. They have grey skin and flat faces with small eyes and noses but big jaws with small fangs. Trolls are the least intelligent of the humanoid races but people are often suprised that many of them can speak perfectly well and often in several languages. They sometimes wear simple armor made from hides and scavanged scale armor, but usually their thick skin is enough to protect them against most arrows and fangs and their massive strength usually ends any fight very quickly.

Beasts
Bear Dog: These animals resemble extremely powerfully build lions with heads that mix attributes of both bears and dogs, but they are larger than any of these creatures. While being one of the largest and strongest animals in the Ancient Lands, they are solitary with does put them at a real disadvantage against other predators like wolves, hyenas, or humanoids in a fight.
Bear Men: These creatures resemble both grey bears and heavily muscled humans, but they are not very intelligent and rarely use any weapons more complicated than clubs. While they can speak, they rarely know any other language than their own.
Bull Hyena: This that lives in the open lands north of the southern jungles is very similar to a hyena but of the size of a very large auroch. Unlike hyenas, they are mostly solitary like tigers. While not as fast as most of their prey, they can keep a relatively high pace for a few minutes, which is often enough to tire their prey down and catch up with it.
Bunyip: A bunyip is a very large and furred seal with long and very sharp teeth that often terrorizes the northern coasts of the Ancient Lands, attacking both sea and land creatures and even preying on humans, elves, and kaas when the opportunity presents itself.
Carrion Crawler
Dragon, Black
Dragon, Bronze
Dragon, Green
Dragon, Red
Dragon, Silver
Dragonhawk: Dragonhawks are large feathered flying reptiles with orange, brown, and green feathers. They resemble giant birds of prey in many respects and a big enough to carry light riders. They are found mostly in the south of the Ancient Lands and do reasonably well in somewhat cooler climates, but require very great care to survive in winter conditions.
Giant Beetle
Giant Centipede
Giant Ferret Hound: These massive animals resemble a cross between a ferret and a fast hunting dog and reach sizes and weight significantly above any warhorse. Relatively rare, they are at home in the forested hills of temperate climates, but can be trained as beasts of war. Though extremely expensive and requiring significant amounts of meat as part of their diet, they are highly prized and can even carry their handler on their back.
Giant Lizard, Pack: These large monitor lizards have been bred to be quite docile and for wide backs that can carry great loads. While slower than mules or donkeys, they are often used by lizardfolk and dark elves as they do much better in the hot and humid environment and are better suited for the terrain.
Giant Lizard, Riding: These reptiles have long necks and and tails and run entirely on their hindlegs, and are often used as riding animals in the southern jungles. Being predators they are not easy to keep, but this also makes them very valuable beasts of war that pose a serious danger to enemies by themselves.
Giant Snake
Giant Spider
Giant Squid
Giant Turtle: These large turtles are relatively slow but have strong spiky shells and very sharp and powerful beaks that make fighting them directly quite dangerous.
Giant Wolverine: These animals look like wolverines the size of bears and are found in the mountains of the northlands.
Hippogriff
Owlbear
Sabre Cat: These oversized mountain lions have very long fangs that cause incredible damage and kill most creatures instantly.
Shrieker: Shriekers are small monkey-like creatures that have some degree of intelligence but are not smart enough to speak and don't use any kinds of tools except for sticks and stones they find lying around. They somewhat resemble lanky baboons and have bluish-grey fur and dark manes, but their faces are very flat and don't resemble monkeys at all. When angered they scream a lot and often attack quite visciously in large groups.
Worg
Wyvern

Spirits
Air Elemental
Beastfolk:Several races of shapeshifters that can shift between humanoid and animal form. In rare cases people from the mortal world can be found worthy and gain an animal spirit that grants them the power to shapeshift.
Briar Beast: Large plant creatures with bodies that somewhat resemble a cross of a lion and a buffalo. Their bodies appear to be made of twisted thorny vines and even though they have sharp wooden fangs in their maws, they gain their nutrients from the soil and do not feed on beasts and humanoids they slay. Briar beasts are often the guardians of the groves of very powerful spirits and demigods.
Earth Elemental
Fey Giant: 3m tall humanoids with pale green skin that live in the spiritworld and have great control over plants and animals.
Fire Elemental
Hybsil:Centaur-like creatures with the lower bodies and antlers of deer.
Lamia: Humanoids with the upper bodies of humans and lower bodies of lions. Many of them are powerful wizards.
Naga, Lesser:Lesser naga have the upper bodies of humanoids but the heads and tails of snakes. They have many castles in the southern jungles and often rule over large clans of lizardfolk. While most live on land, many can stay under water indefinately.
Naga, Gereater:Giant snakes with many magical powers. They are rare in the mortal world but can be found in the spiritworld where some of them have the power of demigods.
Nightshade: A plant creature of somewhat elf-like stature that is extremely stealthy and has both natural poisonous attacks and attacks with poisoned arrows.
Nymph: Includes naiads, dryads, and oreads in a mostly unified format with equal power.
Oni
Pixie
Rakshasa
Raptor Man: Vaguely humanoid bird spirits that are knows as excelent archers that prey on all kinds of dangerous beast and sometimes attack mortals.
Reaver: Large bestial humanoids with long manes and horns, the fangs of lions, and large claws on their hand. They travel in warbands of a few dozen individuals and sometimes make it to the mortal world to plunder and seek battle. (Use minotaur stats.)
Shambling Mound
Shie:Very tall elf-like humanoids that possess great strength and magical powers. Like the naga they have many great castles, but almost all of those in the mortal world have long been abandoned.
Spriggan: Genderless humanoids seemingly made from wood and leaves that never talk in any way but have control over plants and animals.
Spirit Animal:Very large and intelligent forms of wild animals that often have the ability to talk in many humanoid languages.
Treant
Water Elemental
Winter Wolf
Wisp: A small semi-sentient sprite in the form of a small globe of light. Often serve more powerful spirits as lookouts.
Yeth Hound: Large dogs with slender builds that hunt other fey creatures during the night and are never seen during daylight.

Ancients
Aboleth
Doppelganger
Derro
Drider: Driders seem to be somehow related to dark elves and they sometimes do work together, but nobody can really say where they originally come from.
Grimlock: Grimlocks might possibly the descandants of humans or elves who have been trapped in the underworld thousands of years ago, or the even originally have been cultists that have been changed by their gods to survive the harsh environment.
Hive Swarms: These creatures look like spiky beetles and have the size of wolves. Unlike normal giant bettles they live in huge swarms of thousands of individuals and the tunnels of their hives can go on for miles. They mostly live deep in the underworld, but ocasionally hives are found just below the surface in remote mountains and jungles.
Insect Man: These creatures are of humanoid stature but taller than humans and elves, and have strong resemblance to insects. Since they have no facial expressions they are very hard to read and only very rarely communicate in the languages of other races. They are almost never seen on the surface and explorers in the underworld usually make a wide circle around their strongholds.
Kraken:Some believe that the kraken are ancient creatures that have endured the eons almost unchanged.
Ooze Man: An intelligent ooze that can shapeshift into a humanoid guise.
Skum
Umber Hulk

Demons
Dread Beast: The corpse of a predatory animal possessed by a demon.
Dread Warrior: The corpse of a humanoid possesed by a demon.
Erinyes
Hell Hound
Imp
Succubus
Void Horror: A living humanoid body whose soul has been devoured by a demon and that has been horribly twisted and mutated.
Void Soul: A living humanoid whose soul has merged with a demon, retaining all the memories of both the person and the demon and a personalty made from the merged two beings. Many are warlocks who volunteered to give their bodies as a host for the demon for a few centuries in return of becoming immortal as part of the demons spirit.
Fire Demon: Molten rock shrouded in flames possesed by a demon.
Ice Demon: A floating chunk of ice possesed by a demon that attacks with cold magic.
Iron Demon: An old suit of armor possesed by a demon.
Shadow Demon: Semi-solid shadows possesed by a demon.
Rock Demon: An animated pile of rocks possessed by a demon.

Undead
Ghost
Ghoul
Shadow: When a person corrupted by Taint dies but the spirit does not turn into a wraith, the tainted energies (negative energy) may separate from the life force (positive energy) and continue its existance as a shadow.
Skeleton
Specter: Specters are the spirits of the dead that have been cursed by tainted magic. Unlike ghost they are almost mindless and feral, attacking until destroyed and then reappearing the next night.
Wight: While they are also called the undead, wights have never actually died and risen again. Instead they are the remains of humanoids who have been throughly corrupted by taint. The process is mostly gradual until at some point there simply isn't any life left in them and they have no more need to breath or eath. Yet they never die and simply continue moving and thinking. Many wights are sorcerers and warlocks who have become entirely corrupted by their work and most others are their former servants who were also exposed to the Taint for many years. Since they never died and their spirit left the body, wights have all the memories of their former life. To create more wights under their command, their victims need to be near dead and exposed to strong Taint for a full day. If they are moved away the process might be reversible or at last stoped with magic, and if they die during the process they might only become animated as zombies or simply remain as corpses if the taint is not strong enough.
Wraith: Wraith are souls that have become entirely corrupted by Taint and linger on after the body has been killed. Exactly what makes a person become a wight or a wraith is barely understood, but wraiths are significantly more rare and also more dangerous.
Zombie

Plants & Constructs
Wood Golem
Ice Golem
Bone Golem
Clay Golem
Stone Golem
Obsidian Golem
Fungus People
Swamp Strangler: A vaguely human shaped creature made from vines that lives in swamps and kills people either by strangling or drowning.
Zombie Mold: A type of mold found in some swamps that grows inside corpses and replaces the brain and digestive system. The bodies then wander through the swamp to pick up fresh corpses to sustain new colonies as they rarely last longer than a few weeks before the rot makes them fall appart.

Yora

2013-01-07, 11:59 AM

I'm back, this time with spells.

Instead of the usual spell lists for every class, I think I prefer to go with several spell list from which every spellcaster selects a few to which he has access.

Creation Spells: Creation spells are closely tied to life energy and they bolster the health and resilience of living creatures, and also include light spells and the summoning of spirits.
Elemental Spells: Elemental spells affect the four elements, including fire and ice spells but also flight and levitation as well as spells that shape earth and stone.
Entropy Spells: Entropy spells are opposed to Creation spells and drain the life energy of living beings, making them weak and more vulnerable to magic and injuries.
Spirit Spells: Spirit spells deal with the immaterial like tricking and manipulating the minds of others and interfering with magic itself.
Blood Spells: Blood spells manipulate the magical energy that is found within the bodies of living creatures, combining elements of both Creation and Entropy spells. Blood spells are not usually accessible to most spellcasters until they learn the secrets of blood magic.
Fel Spells: Fel spells are powered by the demonic energies of the Void and have to power to summon and control demons, but also to use the demonic taint as a weapon. Only sorcerers and warlocks who use Fel energy can cast Fel spells.

I think a good start is to have spellcasters start with access to two of these Spheres. More can be learned later with feats. I think of either making Creation spells only available to divine spellcasters and Elemental spells only available to arcane spellcasters, or making Creation mandatory for divine casters and elemental spells mandatory for arcane casters, with only the second sphere being free to chose from all the other spheres (if requirements for Blood and Fel are met).

The 5th Edition spell list is still short, but it should provide an idea of what to expect:

Creation
0 - Cure Minor Wounds
0 - Light
0 - Mage Hand (Summon)
0 - Resistance
1 - Bless
1 - Cure Light Wounds
1 - Divine Favor
1 - Shield of Faith
2 - Aid
2 - Cure Moderate Wounds
2 - Lesser Restoration
2 - Phantasmal Force (Summon)
2 - Spider Climb
2 - Web
2 - Spiritual Weapon (Summon)
3 - Cure Serious Wounds
3 - Daylight
3 - Haste
3 - Prayer
3 - Water Breathing
4 - Cure Critical Wounds
4 - Divine Power
5 - Cure Wounds, Mass
5 - Raise Dead

Elemental
0 - Ray of Frost
0 - Shocking Grasp
1 - Burning Hands
1 - Create Water
1 - Feather Fall
1 - Thunderwave
2 - Levitate
2 - Melf's Acid Arrow
2 - Scorching Ray
3 - Fireball
3 - Fly
3 - Lightning Bolt
4 - Ice Storm
4 - Stoneskin
4 - Wall of Fire
5 - Cone of Cold
5 - Flame Strike

Entropy
0 - Chill Touch
1 - Cause Fear
1 - Inflict Light Wounds
1 - Sleep
2 - Darkness
2 - Hold Person
2 - Inflict Moderate Wounds
2 - Silence
3 - Hold Person
3 - Inflict Serious Wounds
3 - Stinking Cloud
4 - Inflict Critical Wounds
5 - Cloudkill
5 - Hold Monster

Spirit
0 - Guidance
0 - Lance of Faith
0 - Mage Armor
0 - Minor Illusion
1 - Charm Person
1 - Command
1 - Detect Magic
1 - Detect Undead
1 - Disguise Self
1 - Identify
1 - Magic Missile
1 - Protection from Evil
1 - Sanctuary
1 - Shield
2 - Augury
2 - Invisibility
3 - Dispel Magic
4 - Death Ward
4 - Dimension Door
4 - Divination
5 - Commune
5 - Dispel Evil
5 - Dominate Person

Blood Magic
2 - Cure Light Wounds
2 - Hold Person
3 - Cure Moderate Wounds
3 - Speak with Dead
4 - Cure Serious Wounds
4 - Polymorph
5 - Hold Monster

Fel Magic
1 - Inflict Light Wounds
2 - Inflict Moderate Wounds
3 - Inflict Serious Wounds
4 - Inflict Critical Wounds

Yora

2013-01-12, 12:12 PM

To make the setting look less like standard England and Scandinavia, even with elves, goblins, and dragons, I assembled some list of wild animals that are found in the Ancient Lands based on the pacific coast and islands of Asia.
There still is no fixed map, but a basic geographic layout of what environments there will be. The region consists primarily of a great mixed forest in the north and a tropical jungle in the south, which are both separated by a central mountain range the size of the Alps. To the East lies the ocean and to the West there is a large steppe in the center of the continent. Then in the very North, north of the temperate forest, is a small strip of sub-arctic coast like Scandinavia, and several large islands off the coast of the jungles similar to Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Far North (cold forest, mountains, and coast)
Predators:
Brown Bear
Polar Bear
Dire Bear
Fox
Wolf
Dire Wolf
Lynx
Puma
Dire Lion (sabretooth cat)
Rat
Dire Rat
Bat
Badger
Dire Badger
Weasel
Dire Weasel
Snake, Viper
Wolverine
Dire Wolverine

Aquatic:
Orca
Baleen Whale
Cachalot Whale
Medium Squid
Huge Squid
Seal
Leopard Seal
Walrus

Birds:
Hawk
Eagle
Large Eagle
Owl
Medium Owl
Large Owl
Crow
Giant Crow
Pheasant

Herbivores:
Hedgehog
Wild Goat
Mountain Goat
Yak
Reindeer
Elk

Monsters:
Giant Spider
Owlbear
Wyvern
Bunyip (Dire sea lion)
Beardog

Northern Forests (temperate forest, hills, and coast)
Predators:
Black Bear
Brown Bear
Dire Bear
Fox
Wild Dog
Wolf
Dire Wolf
Cat
Lynx
Puma
Dire Lion (sabretooth cat)
Rat
Dire Rat
Bat
Badger
Dire Badger
Weasel
Dire Weasel
Monkey
Wild Boar
Dire Boar
Lizard
Monitor Lizard
Snake, Viper
Snake, Constrictor
Snake, Giant
Wolverine
Dire Wolverine
Otter
Giant Otter
Pangolin
Tanuki (Asian raccoon)

Aquatic:
Dolphin
Orca
Baleen Whale
Medium Squid
Seal
Plesiosaurus
Mosasaurus
Giant Eel
Turtle
Giant Turtle

Birds:
Hawk
Eagle
Large Eagle
Owl
Medium Owl
Large Owl
Crow
Giant Crow
Crane
Songbird
Pheasant

Herbivores:
Porcupine
Hedgehog
Donkey
Pony
Horse
Sheep
Wild Goat
Mountain Goat
Deer
Elk

Monsters:
Giant Spider
Giant Beetle
Giant Centipede
Owlbear
Wyvern
Bunyip
Beardog
Shriker (Weasel-monkeys)
Hippogriff
Dragonhawk
Carrion Crawler

Central Mountain Range (temperate mountains)
Predators:
Brown Bear
Dire Bear
Fox
Wild Dog
Wolf
Dire Wolf
Cat
Lynx
Puma
Leopard
Dire Lion
Rat
Dire Rat
Bat
Badger
Dire Badger
Weasel
Dire Weasel
Monkey
Lizard
Snake, Viper
Wolverine
Dire Wolverine
Tanuki

Birds:
Hawk
Eagle
Large Eagle
Owl
Medium Owl
Large Owl
Crow
Giant Crow
Vulture
Songbird

Herbivores:
Porcupine
Pangolin
Wild Goat
Mountain Goat
Deer

Monsters:
Giant Spider
Giant Beetle
Giant Centipede
Owlbear
Wyvern
Beardog
Hippogriff
Dragonhawk
Carrion Crawler

Southern Jungles (warm forests, hills, and coasts)
Predators:
Black Bear
Wild Dog
Jackal
Cat
Puma
Leopard
Tiger
Dire Lion
Hyena
Dire Hyena
Rat
Dire Rat
Bat
Badger
Dire Badger
Weasel
Dire Weasel
Monkey
Baboon
Dire Baboon
Wild Boar
Dire Boar
Lizard
Monitor Lizard
Large Monitor Lizard
Snake, Viper
Snake, Constrictor
Snake, Giant
Deinonychus
Velociraptor
Otter
Giant Otter
Pangolin
Tanuki

Aquatic:
Large Crocodile
Huge Crocodile
Dolphin
Orca
Baleen Whale
Medium Squid
Huge Squid
Medium Shark
Large Shark
Seal
Plesiosaurus
Mosasaurus
Giant Eel
Turtle
Giant Turtle

Birds:
Hawk
Eagle
Large Eagle
Crow
Giant Crow
Vulture
Crane
Parrot
Songbird

Herbivores:
Porcupine
Wild Goat
Antelope
Deer
Tapir

Monsters:
Giant Spider
Giant Beetle
Giant Centipede
Owlbear
Wyvern
Shriker
Hippogriff
Dragonhawk
Carrion Crawler

Islands (temperate and warm forest, hills, and coast)
Predators:
Black Bear
Fox
Wild Dog
Cat
Puma
Leopard
Tiger
Rat
Dire Rat
Bat
Badger
Dire Badger
Weasel
Dire Weasel
Monkey
Baboon
Dire Baboon
Wild Boar
Dire Boar
Lizard
Monitor Lizard
Large Monitor Lizard
Snake, Viper
Snake, Constrictor
Snake, Giant
Deinonychus
Velociraptor
Otter
Giant Otter
Pangolin
Tanuki

Aquatic:
Large Crocodile
Huge Crocodile
Dolphin
Orca
Baleen Whale
Medium Squid
Huge Squid
Medium Shark
Large Shark
Seal
Plesiosaurus
Mosasaurus
Giant Eel
Turtle
Giant Turtle

Birds:
Hawk
Eagle
Large Eagle
Crow
Giant Crow
Crane
Parrot
Songbird

Herbivores:
Porcupine
Deer
Tapir

Monsters:
Giant Spider
Giant Beetle
Giant Centipede
Owlbear
Wyvern
Hippogriff
Dragonhawk

Western Steppe (temperate to warm plains and hills)
Predators:
Black Bear
Brown Bear
Dire Bear
Fox
Wild Dog
Wolf
Jackal
Dire Wolf
Lynx
Puma
Leopard
Dire Lion
Hyena
Dire Hyena
Rat
Dire Rat
Bat
Badger
Dire Badger
Wild Boar
Dire Boar
Lizard
Monitor Lizard
Large Monitor Lizard
Snake, Viper
Pangolin

Birds:
Hawk
Eagle
Large Eagle
Owl
Medium Owl
Large Owl
Crow
Giant Crow
Vulture
Pheasant

Herbivores:
Porcupine
Donkey
Pony
Horse
Sheep
Wild Goat
Cattle
Antelope

Monsters:
Giant Spider
Giant Beetle
Giant Centipede
Wyvern
Beardog
Dragonhawk

Any ideas for additions are highly welcome.

Yora

2013-01-15, 05:46 PM

Minor update. I've come up with a distribution how common characters with class levels are in the Ancient Lands.

In the region covered by the Ancient Lands, there are about 20,000,000 individuals of the five major races elves, lizardfolk, human, kaas, and gnomes, including children and other noncombatants.

95% of all people are classless, level 0, 1st level commoners, or whatever else the specific system in question is calling them.

The other 5%, which includes all PCs, range from 1st to 10th level with roughly the number of individuals of a given level being one third the number of the people of one level below it.
This results in:

600,000 1st level characters
200,000 2nd level characters
70,000 3rd level characters
23,000 4th level characters
8,000 5th level characters
3,000 6th level characters
1,000 7th level characters
300 8th level characters
100 9th level characters
30 10th level charcters

And this can be expanded to also include some 11th (10), 12th (3), and 13th (1) level "epic" NPCs with exceptional powers.

Since it's a setting leaning towards barbarian warriors, all warriors are at least 1st level fighters and not just some guys who have been given a spear, a shield, and two weeks of training. Those are people who have trained for it half of their lives before becomming adults. They don't just know the theory but are professionals who are well trained by people who have seen considerable combat themselves. So even the average guy at the pallisade at night does have at least 1 class level.

1st level Player Characters are assumed to such people who have proven themselves in a handful of skirmishes and know the real deal, but just havn't accomplished any great deeds on their own so far. (Rogue and spellcaster characters are assumed to be similary experienced.) Compared to all the children, farmhands, and servants in a settlement, it is no suprise that 1st level PCs belong to the top 5% of the toughest and most powerful people. In an average village of 60 houses and 400 people there are 250 adults of which 230 are farmers and craftsmen, 18 such warriors, scouts, and apprentice shamans, and 2 older veterans who lead the warriors.

At 3rd level PCs and NPCs have made names for themselves, have performed deeds, and gained status among the other warriors, as well as being people that are approched by villagers when there is trouble.
In an average village there are 2 or 3 such people. In larger towns and the castles of chieftains, there may be up to 30 or 40 of them, who are the honored warriors who eat in the chiefs hall, lead patrols, or are posted at the main gates of the town or the castle.
Most freelance specialists are also of 3rd or 4th level, like mercenaries or assassins, but also shamans in charge of most shrines and small temples. They are people who make most common warriors wait for two or three of their friends to arrive before starting a fight with them.

At 5th level, characters usually have gained positions of great respect and authority. They are the warriors and mages that ordinary people don't want to fight with because they would be hopelessly outmatched. Out in the country they are usually responsible for the safety and defense of several villages and the people to which messengers from endangered villages will come for help. In the castles of chiefs they are often his personal advisors and companions in battle, and command their own bands of men. In smaller clans, the most powerful warriors might be only 6th or 5th level.
5th level characters can begin to gain followers who will stay with them even when silver runs out and food gets short and any other servants leave and hired swords stop caring about their contracts.
Ordinary adventuring campaigns reach up to and include these levels.

At 7th level characters are real heroes and belong to the top tier of warriors, shamans, and mages. They are the movers and shakers of the Ancient Lands, as there is a mere 2,000 of them in the region. They are the generals, champions, high priests, and archmages.
If Player Characters reach these levels, they can be expected to have their own keeps and rub shoulders with kings and chiefs, as well as having their own bands of warriors and retainers. If they still do work for hire, they are among the best that can be found in all of the Ancient Lands and called upon for tasks that affect the fate of entire clans and dynasties.

Characters of 9th level and beyond are very rare with only about 200 of them being presently in the Ancient Lands. If PCs reach these levels it's no longer about defending their home and working contracts for pay. At these levels, they are living legends known throughout the lands and with the power to dictate the fate of the entire region. Only very few clans have even a single warrior of such power among their own, and a large portion of such characters are mages and shamans that either live in reclusion or have large armies at their bidding.

Characters of 11th level and higher are unique and bordering on immortal. Skill and experience is not enough to gain such incredible power and it is out of reach of Player Characters. As there is only 14 of them, I intend to fully stat out at least half of them. These would be the Manshoons, Vols, and Flemeths of the setting. But even under 3rd Ed./PF rules 12th level wizards are far from undefeatable by determined foes of lower levels.

simval

2013-01-17, 10:26 PM

Hello,

I won't be of a big help here, but I wanted to write how much I like this setting ! The low-tech-low-adventuring theme is amazing for me, I dislike when adventurers can do supernatural things and a Sword and Sorcery like this one is perfect because it doesn't permit it.

I didn't read it entirely, only the big lines and the first post, but if I can think of something to help you out, I will tell you.

Amazing job.

Yora

2013-01-22, 05:59 AM

I've been spending some more thought on organizations in the Ancient Land and I think the solution that works best is to stick with the main ideologies I described at the top of this page (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14284690#post14284690).
Individual factions are relatively small and local, but there won't be any major world-spanning organizations with contacts and agents in every major town. I plan to write up a good collection of these specific groups that are active within areas that I will describe in detail, as well as guidelines for other GMs to create their own groups for their games.

An additional type of group are Mage Covens. They are groups of often six to thirty mages of different levels that band together for mutual assistance in their magical work by pooling together and sharing their resources and individual knowledge. They don't really have any common ideologies and if they are one of the major factions within one area, their concerns and the reason for their involvement in the campaign are usually something local.

Also, the 5th Edition barbarian will be presented on a convention this weekend and probably be in the next playtest package a week later. I'm exited to see what interesting hooks the class will have to add more flavor to the setting.

Yora

2013-01-28, 12:31 PM

I started to stat up some average settlements and clans and noticed that my original estimates for the commonality of class levels were rather low and so I doubled the numbers and now it better.

However the first step is establishing what kind of important NPCs would be found in a village or town to begin with. I got some basics covered, but I'm very much open to further suggestions.

Chief: Every clan is lead by a single chief. Usually chiefs are succeeded by one of their sons or daughters who have shown themselves to be a capable military and political leader, but chosing a brother, nephew, or cousin is also not uncommon if no suitable child is present. Since most chiefs also have a ceremonial role as the direct descendant of the clans founder, new chiefs have to be related to at least one previous chief. As most chiefs have been raised to be able successors to the clans leadership and given positions of leadership at an early age, chiefs are usually Fighters of 6th level or higher, but some are mages instead.
Sub-Chief: Most towns and strongholds are not lead by a commoner but rather by a veteran warrior of high standing within the clan. Town leaders are usually the heads of the established leading family while castle leaders are most commonly selected by the clan chief and can be removed from their post at any time. Most clans have about one to two dozen subchiefs, depending on the size of the clans territory and population. Sub-Chiefs are usually Fighters or Barbarians of 5th to 7th level, but in towns they might also be rogues or mages of any level, as they are selected by family politics.
Pinces and Princesses: As chiefs and most sub-chiefs are usually succeeded by their children or their siblings children, these are often raised to be able leaders of the clan from an early age. Given the best training as warriors and being introduced to lead others early on, many master combat and leadership at relatively young ages and are given important positions in the chiefs courts. While most rank below champions and marshals, it is not uncommon that they speak and travel on behalf of the chief, even if they are unlikely to ever gain that position themselves. Princess and Princesses are often Fighters, Ranger, or Rogues of 4th to 6th level and some of them are Mages as well.
Village Elder: Villages are usually led by one of the older farmers who has gained the most respect by his fellow villagers. Most such elders are classless commoners who have training in the Skills Persuade/Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Knowledge (local).
Champion: The champion is an advisor, battle companion, and the bodyguard of the chief. Given the importance and status of the chief, the champion will often speak and act in his stead if great danger is expected. Sending the champion instead of negotiating with enemies in person is not considered a sign of weakness or cowardice for the chief, but usually sends a clear message of distrusting the other side. Champions are usually the most powerful warriors of their clan and tend to be Fighters and Barbarians of 8th to 10th level.
Marshal: Since the duties of chiefs and sub-chiefs often consist mostly of political matters, the leading, training, and maintainance of their troops are usually taken care of by a senior warrior whose only duty is the security of the castle or town. These marshals have almost complete power when it comes to commanding the warriors and taking care of crime and can only be overruled by their lords themselves. They can often be rather troublesome in their single-minded persuit of their duties, but are often the most loyal and trustworthy lieutenants of a lord. Marshals are almost always Fighters and at least of 6th level.
Warrior Leader: Most villages have a number of warriors but no standing guard or watch. Many of them own farms and often work in the fields and with the herds themselves, but their high social status allows them to have others do most work for them and they often spend considerable time keeping watch over the surrounding lands and the entrances to the village. While under the command of the chiefs and sub-chiefs during war, village warriors do not have much of a formal hierarchy, but usually one of them is recognized as their semi-official leader of a rank equal to the village elder. Most of the time this leader is the most powerful and experienced warrior of the village and a Fighter or Barbarian of 3rd or 4th level.
Chief Hunter: While most villages have no exact distinctions between different professions and both warriors and farmers often go hunting for rabbits or deer, there is usually a small group of people who could be called proffessional hunters. They spend most of their time in the wilds hunting not only for food but also pelts and and less common animals. Since they know the wilderness surrounding the village very well and are expert trackers, they often provide first warnings about strangers and dangerous creatures comming into the vicinity of the village and search for missing people and the like. In times of war or great danger, hunters normally join the other warriors to combine their strength. As with the warriors, there is usually one of them who is recognized as a kind of leader and the first to whom people turn when they require the hunters skills or knowledge. These chief hunters are mostly Rangers of 2nd to 5th level.
Shaman: Almost every village of meaningful size has at least one shaman who is responsible for maintaining the relationships with the spirits of the surrounding lands. On remote farmsteads, this role usually falls to the heads of the family, even if they have no real shamanistic training. Shamans are Priests of usually at least 3rd level and commonly have training in the Heal and Knowledge (spirits) skills. Often, the shaman is one of the characters with the highest class levels within a settlement.
Apprentice Shaman: Since the services of a shaman are vital to the survival of any village, town, and stronghold, they usually have a number of apprentices who assist them and can take over in case of the shamans abscence or death. Apprentice Shamans are usually Priests of 1st or 2nd level, but it is not uncommon for older and more powerful shamans to have apprentices of 3rd and 4th level, even though their power exceeds that of many young village shamans.
Healer: While most shamans are skilled healers in their own right and possess healing magic as well, their other duties as advisers, diviners, and mediators to the spirits often lead to lesser injuries and diseases being tended to by specialist healers. Healers are usually classless commoners with training in the Heal, Knowledge (nature), and Craft (Herbalism) skills.
Witch: Unlike shamans, witches do not use magic to preserve the continued wellbeing and safety of the settlement, but are rather consulted for specific individual and personal requests. Mostly the make alchemical potions or create amulets that do not depend on the blessing of a particular spirit. Often they are visited by people who don't want to bother the shamans or would prefer to keep their requests a secret, which gives most witches a doubious reputation and makes them especially mistrusted by shamans. Witches are usually Mages of 2nd to 5th level, but some are much more powerful and often keep the true extend of their magical power secret.

Yora

2013-01-30, 09:21 AM

Sample Clans and Settlements

Large Clan
Population: ~300,000
Warriors: ~20,000

Large clans are the major powers of the Ancient Lands. There are only one or two dozen of them and their chiefs are unchallenged in their claims to call themselves kings and queens. In addition to their own considerable forces, they are usually allied with many of the sorrounding smaller clans, which often are efectively vassals of the more powerful king.
Because of their power and wealth, the castles of kings are usually very large and are either surrounded by a large town or even a city, or have one very close by.
King: Fighter 8
Champion: Fighter 9
General: Fighter 8 (leader of the clans armies in war and chief military advisor)
Heir: Fighter 5
Great Shaman: Priest 9 (priest of the clans ancestor and patron spirits)

Medium Clan
Population: ~100,000
Warriors: ~7,000

The average size of a clan is around a hundred thousand people, of which most are farmers living in villages and another major portion are warriors of some kind merchants and craftsmen of special goods are rare and mostly found in towns and castles. While villages usually defend themseves or can call on aid from neighboring settlements, chiefs can gather several thousands of warriors, but this leaves large parts of their land weakly protected and most of the man have important other duties at their homes, so this is a relatively rare event. In times of war, clans often band together to form alliances against a common foe and create greater armies than they could individually.

Chief: Fighter 7
Champion: Barbarian 8
General: Fighter 7
Heir: Fighter 5
Great Shaman: Priest 7

Small Clan
Population: ~30,000
Warriors: ~2,000

At the lower end of the scale, smaller clans range in the low tens of thousands of people. Since they can only field some hundreds of warriors into battle, their political power is usually very limited and they have just enough military strength to defend their own independence. As a result, they are mostly found at the fringes of settled regions or vassals of more powerful clans.

Chief: Fighter 6
Champion: Barbarian 7
General: Fighter 6
Heir: Fighter 4
Great Shaman: Priest 6

Large Town
Population: ~6,000
Warriors: ~250

Large towns are most commonly found surrounding or next to the castles of chiefs and sub-chiefs. The townsfolk are mostly craftsmen, merchants, and their servants and families. Most warriors in a town belong to the lords private troops and either live in the castle or small homes in the town. They get paid by the lord and don't live by what their family produce on their farms, as village warriors would.
Large Towns are relatively rare and there are often only one to three in the lands of a clan, or even none at all.

Sub-Chief: Fighter 5
Heir: Fighter 4
Shaman: Priest 5
Castellan: Commoner (chief administrator of the town)
Marshal: Fighter 6 (leader of the warriors)
Constable: Fighter 4 (leader of the town watch)

Small Town
Population: ~3,000
Warriors: ~150

Most towns are of smaller size and have grown out of prosperous villages. Such towns are usually surrounded by farms that come right up to the towns pallisade. While most small towns are the residence of the local sub-chief, some are governed mostly like oversized villages.

Sub-Chief: Fighter 5
Heir: Fighter 4
Shaman: Priest 4
Castellan: Commoner
Marshal: Fighter 5
Constable: Fighter 3

Fort
Population: ~400
Warriors: ~150

Forts are castles build at strategic locations that primarily serve to guard the clans lands and secure the surrounding area. They often have several villages nearby that benefit from the additional security and provide the forts warriors with most of their supplies.
Since they are vital to the defense of the clans lands, forts have a much higher number of warriors for the size of their population, who are often of higher level than in a village of similar size.

Lead Warrior: Fighter 6
Lieutenant: Ranger 5
Castellan: Commoner
Shaman: Priest 3

Keep
Population: ~80
Warriors: ~40

Keeps are smaller than forts and have the purpose to guard specific places, like important bridges, passes, and roads. Their purpose is purely military and they almost always lack any of the amnities provided by forts and castles. Half of it's inhabitants are warriors with the rest being cooks, stableboys, smiths, and whoever else is needed to cover the base neccessities.

Lead Warrior: Fighter 5
Sergeant: Barbarian 4
Shaman: Fighter/Priest 3

Large Village
Population: ~800
Warriors: ~50

Large villages consist mostly of farms, but often offer an in and two or three traders as well, where travelers can find supplies rarely available in smaller settlements.

Villag Elder: Commoner
Lead Warrior: Fighter 5
Shaman: Priest 4
Chief Hunter: Ranger 3
Witch: Mage 4

Average Village
Population: ~500
Warriors: ~40

Most villages consist of a few dozen farms scattered around a central square that usually houses the local shrine, a tavern, a blacksmith, and possibly a trader.

Villag Elder: Commoner
Lead Warrior: Fighter 4
Shaman: Priest 3
Chief Hunter: Ranger 2
Witch: Mage 3

Small Village
Population: ~200
Warriors: ~20

Small villages conist of only one or two dozen farms and houses and usually have only a small shrine and maybe a simple warrior hall, but nothing else of much interest. Quite often these villages focus on producing specific rare goods, like fishing, lumber, or mining, and trade with larger settlements for other things they need. In such cases there is usually a blacksmith who makes and repairs tools, but they rarely make armor or more complex weapons than spears and knives.

Villag Elder: Commoner
Lead Warrior: Fighter 3
Shaman: Priest 2

As always, feedback is highly appreachiated and maybe even more so this time. With characters of 8th or 9th level being so incredibly rare, you could also think of it as an E6 setting. Do you think the levels for NPCs are appropriate? Wandering adventurers of 4th level would be professional mercenaries while the warriors of the villages would only have been in two or three skirmishes with bandits and not hardened warriors of many battles.
At the same time, what do you think of the high level NPCs like chiefs and marshals? In this setting, military rank is based on prowess as a warrior and warriors mostly run the show together with spellcasters, so it would make sense that the leaders are also among the strongest warriors of the clan.
Please share your thoughts and impressions.

Yora

2013-01-31, 04:34 PM

Clan Wars

While the Bronze and Iron Ages mostly evokes thoughts about mediteranean city states and middle-eastern empires, this is mostly due to the fact that these early urban societies created pretty much all the writing that has survived from that era. But they are far from representative for the people living outside the great cities. While most people in the Ancient Lands use lots of bronze and often have access to iron weapons and some armor, the cultures are much more tribal and so are their approaches to warfare. A lot of this is actually based on the early middle ages, but for the parts of Europe that were not part of the Roman Empire there shouldn't actually be much of a difference, even with a 2,000 year gap taken into account.

Warriors
Warriors are simply people who have some training and experience with fighting and have their own weapons and shields, and occasionally armor. Every village has warriors, who are usually the strongest and bravest men and the occasional particularly fierce women. However, they mostly pursue other professions like farmers, hunters, or craftsmen, and take up arms only when the village is in danger or their chief assembles an army. They are very much like a militia in that regard.
Warriors are usually clansmen or sometimes freemen and mostly Fighters, Ranger, or even Rogues of 1st to 3rd level.

Soldiers
Why generally called warriors as well, these people have fighting as their main and often only profession. They are the personal permanent guards of the chiefs and sub-chiefs and depend entirely on their lord for their livelihood. Their lord provides them with food and lodging for them and their families, as well as maintaining their weapons and armor. While soldiers have great prestige, they are also much more depending on their lord and would have to find shelter with relatives if they were to lose their positions.
Soldiers are mostly clansmen and highborn and tend to be Barbarians and Fighters of 2nd to 5th level.

Mercenaries
Mercenaries are similar to soldiers in many respect, but don't owe allegiance to a particular lord and instead offer their services to whoever hires them. Since their wages have to support them even for the times when there are no battles for them to fight they are very expensive, but they do provide their own weapons and armor and don't need to be housed and fed all your round, and they often have more experience than most soldiers.
Mercenaries are either freemen or outlaws, and most are Fighters of 2nd to 5th level, with smaller numbers of Barbarians and Rangers in their ranks.

War Strategies
Wars of conquest are rare in the Ancient Lands. Unclaimed land is available to anyone who wished to settle it and claim its resources, and the vast stretches of empty wilderness make it difficult to rule large realms in which it can take weeks before help can arrive in times of raids or uprisings. If a chief gains control over another clan, it is usually through weaker chiefs pledging their allegiance and submitting to his authority in exchange for permanent protection of the clans people from other hostile clans.
Most warfare is a form of extremely agressive negotiations. Usually, war is preceeded by long political conflicts over valuable resources on the border between the clans territories, military disputues, or compensations for real or imagined offenses. If no diplomatic agreement can be reached over longer amounts of time, chiefs may send raiding parties to attack the other clans lands, causing damage until their opponent gives in and surrdenders to the attackers demands. Raids can consist of the plunder or destruction of valuable goods or food stores, destruction of bridges, forts, and ports, or even the taking of slaves and valuable hostages. The longer the defending chief refuses to give in, the more damage his lands and people will suffer and the greater the demands of the attackers will be before they stop their attacks.
However, such raids are not without danger for the attackers as well. Being inside enemy territory always includes the risk of running into enemy warriors attempting to chase the attackers out, or falling victim to traps and ambushes by the enranged villagers. If raiding parties are lost, this can mean a significant loss in bragaining power for the attacking chief, especially when highborn warriors are taken captive and held as hostages. In the worst case, the defenders might gather together an army and go on the offense themselves, attacking a clan that has lost an important part of its military strength. More often than not, clans are allied with several other clans and while most chiefs will come to the aid of an ally who has come under attack, they are much less willing to be drawn into wars their allies started in the first place.

Raids are usually done by soldiers, accompanied by twice as many additional forces of warriors and mercenaries. Warriors that take part in raids are often from many different villages to leave them not too underdefended in case they come under attack themselves. Villages under attack are usually defended only by their own warriors, especially when the attackers have the suprise. If raids continue for a long enough time, the defending clan will gather an army of their own and attept to find and destroy the attacking raiders. Usually, raiders will try to avoid such open battles if possible, but if they remain victorious it can instantly end the war since the defenders will be almost helpless against any further raids.

To protect against enemy war parties, clans often have fortified keeps or forts in strategic locations. Since the success of raids depends to a great deal on suprise and the avoidance of defending troops, war parties can ill afford to enter hostile territory while there are still enemy warriors sitting in their back and knowing of their presence. If they can get reinforcements or warn nearby settlements, the attackers are at much greater risk of being ambushed or having their path blocked when they need to retreat back to their own clans lands. However taking a keep or fort is very difficult and often requires a long siege, for which the well supplied defenders are much better prepared than raiding parties that need to stay mobile.

Most chiefs are reluctant to have large numbers of their soldiers being outside the clans territory and the warriors are needed at their homes to work the field and protect their own villages, so wars tend to be relatively short. In some cases it can be a valid tactic to hold out until the attackers have to give up their attack instead of giving in to their demands. However, this still tends to hurt the defenders more than the attackers and they will need a better plan if the attackers return in the next year.

When it comes to these things, I'm just an amateur historian. So if anyone sees any glaring flaws or has additional suggestions, comments are always welcome.

Yora

2013-02-01, 08:20 PM

Sub-Settings

This is still very much work in progress, but I want to outline roughly what I'm am planning to do in the comming updates. Once again it has come to the point where things get specific and the focus shifts on individual settlements and power groups. Taking hints from other settings I quite like, I notices that in most cases settings consists of several quite clearly defined regions that tend to have their very own distinctive style. In the Forgotten Realms, the North is almost like a complete setting in it's own right and possibly larger than the whole Dark Sun setting in terms of content. Sourrounded by natural borders on all sides, it's quite isolated with almost all the actors being local and all the major things that happen being local affairs. Then and now you have foreigners who either settled down in the region or are on the hunt for some magic item, but most of the time it's actually completely irrelevant who these people are in their homelands and what's going on there. Recently I played Skyrim and there it's pretty much the same thing. There is a larger world out there, but unless you dig deep into all the books and other games, it mostly serves as decorative details to people and items that are currently right here and dealing with things right here and now. If they want to send a legendary object back to their homeland when it's found, you still don't need to know anything that land and why people there care for the object.
Since the Ancient Lands focus on the things going on between small clans and not between large countries, I think this is an approach that would work very well for the setting as well. Basically what I plan is to have three "playable" main regions that work like sub-settings, and leave the rest of the setting only roughly outlined and possibly presented as in-universe history books. Similar to how in a Star Wars or Mass Effect games, you have an entire galaxy, but only a handful of planets can actually be visited. Campaigns can still include travel to distant lands, but those would be one of the other two sub-settings that are fully detailed. When the setting one days is in a publishable form, GMs could come up with places and people for the other parts that are only briefly outlined themselves, or I might possibly one day decide to pick up one of these pointers and write up a full fourth sub-setting. But for now, I want to keep it to three fully described sections, which not only makes it easier for me in the creative department, but also cuts down the workload significantly, so there can be a playable "final" version much sooner.

Northern Sub-Artic Region
I'm almost certain I'll be calling this one completely unimagitively "Northlands". It has the climate and landscape of Scandinavia or Canada, and is inhabited by wood elves, gnomes, the kaas, and small human clans of reindeer-herders and seal-hunters.
The North (Forgotten Realms), Skyrim (Elder Scrolls), Mirkwood (Middle-Earth)

Central Warm to Temperate Region
This region will have a climate like southern France and northern Italy, or the warmer parts of China and Japan. It's mostly a huge forest of giant trees and some larger islands off the coast, and the focus will likely be on small port cities inhabited by wood elves and human clans that have arrived from the west a couple of generations ago.
Here I am still not 100% decided on the themes and tone of the sub-setting. But I do have something in mind about sorcerer and warlock societies, and somewhat political plots related to powerful magic.
Ashenvale (Warcraft), Chondath (Forgotten Realms), Knights of the Old Republic

Southern Jungle Region
The jungles of the south are massive, bis this sub-setting will focus on a much smaller section next to the coast, where most of the activity is going on. It's where the homelands of the dark elves and the lizardfolk come meet and also where the ancient naga still have considerable influence. In addition, the nearby islands are also inhabited by roughly polynesian humans. This is all about Snake cults, temple cities, and evil priest-kings, taking ideas from both ancient India and South America.
Chult (Forgotten Realms), Xen'drik (Eberron), Island of Dread (Greyhawk)

Since the whole idea is to have these three sections to be actively interconnected and have power groups from one section have their fingers in things inside the other, and good and merchants travel between them, I will be developing all three sections simultaneously side by side. Finishing one up before starting with the others would mostly defeat the purpose of having a continent-sized map to begin with and not just a single country.
As I mentioned I am only really set on a few specific locations I really want to include, and most else is still pretty much open. If you have suggestions for elements that might fit into any of the three sections, like giving certain creatures a greater role to play, or specific customs that make the cultures more unique, all feedback is highly appreciated as always.

urkthegurk

2013-02-02, 03:08 PM

What about for the southern area, having a roughly greece-like equivilant, of farmers and island-dwellers, but before they've united or become city-states. They can be flavored with 'polynesian' culture, minoan culture, and the islanders can be kinda phoenician...

Yora

2013-02-02, 03:30 PM

I think that's what I'm going to do with the coastal parts of the central region. There it actually fits quite well, since I want to make that the place where the larger and more sophisticated towns are located.
The south will be "Green Hell", with monsoons, insects, snakes, and tigers. But now that I think of it, I like the idea of some swamps around the city states, where naga and lizardfolk can hide to gain a foothold and find local thralls to spy on the elven mages.

urkthegurk

2013-02-02, 03:53 PM

How about a city-state near one of the swamps, where they've built the city like a maze, around an actual labyrinth (one that was maybe there from some even earlier civilization.) They send in sacrafice, and worship the great beast that is trapped inside. Meanwhile, troglodytes live in the swampy caves under the city, pushing ever closer to the center of the maze. They're those amphibian-reptile-mammal kind of trog, and the lizardfolk partly make a point of sticking near the town so they can make war on their subterranean cousins and foil their plans. The scattered but powerful naga serve as power brokers between these three (four?) factions, each snake's head filled with its own nefarious goals...

Yora

2013-02-02, 04:06 PM

People worshipping the aberration-spirits of the underworld was always planned to be a major thing in the setting. Building a whole major town around such a cult does indeed sound like a really fascinating idea.

Yora

2013-02-18, 11:13 AM

Plans for Outsiders and Resistances

Outsider (demon)
Senses darkvision 60 ft.
DR 5/silver or magic (weak); 5/silver (moderate); 10/silver and magic (strong)
Immune poison, polymorph
Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10
SR 5+HD (low); 10+HD (high)

Magical Beast/Monstrous Humanoid (demon)
Senses darkvision 60 ft.
DR none; 5/silver or magic
Resist acid 5, cold 5, fire 5, +4 vs. poison
SR none; 5+HD (low)

Since demons in the material world always possess a body that is not their own and warp it, polymorph doesn't work on them. In the void, the bodies are only manifestations of the spirits, so it doesn't work either.
Magical Beasts and Monstrous Humanoids with the demon subtype are the descandants of creatures taken to the Void, which have manged to adapt. As they have real bodies, they can be polymorphed.
Lightning is kind of "raw energy", so I leave that as the one energy that still hurts them with full force.

---

Outsider (spirit)
Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision
DR 5/cold iron or magic (weak); 5/cold iron (moderate); 10/cold iron and magic (strong)
Immune mind-affecting, petrification, polymorph
Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10
SR 5+HD (low); 10+HD (high)

Magical Beast/Monstrous Humanoid (spirit)
Senses low-light vision
DR none; 5/cold iron or magic
Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5, +4 vs. enchantment
SR none; 5+HD (low)

Spirits have energy resistance that allows them to handle the extreme weather of the Spiritworld very well. Also, they can not be petrified and polymorphed. In addition, they are also immune to almost all mind-affecting effects. Mortal magic can not mess with the mind of a spirit and only a few creatures of the Spiritworld have such abilities, like the baying of yeth hounds that can even cause spirits to panic.
Magical beasts and monstrous humanoids with the spirit subtype are native creatures of the Spiritworld, but still mortal. They include oni, shie, naga, winter wolves, and so on.

---

Any creature that has a change shape ability ignores its own immunity to polymorph effects.

Now I am thinking that demons might have use for a third immunity, but I am also not entirely sure if giving complete immunity to all mind-affecting effects might be a bit too much. It certainly has nice flavor, with spirits seeing through every spell or magic items that make a person seem more trustworthy or likeable immediately and not being impressed by them at all. But that also means immunity to all fear and morale effects.

Yora

2013-03-01, 09:05 PM

I am currently working on the demons, but since the crunch is based on the fluff, and the fluff directly linked to the setting, I'll be doing those here.

--

Void Domains and Mindscapes

As previously described, demons are a kind of spirit that are native to the Void, a dimension outside the universe that has neither time nor space. It's all just energy and thoughts. I originally thought about making characters travel there physically as to the Astral Plane, but now I think making mind travel the default variant is a more practical and effective way to do it.
In the Void, minds can come into contact with each other and interact, both demons and mortal minds. But since mortals minds can't comprehend being without a body in a place that has no time or space, they create a virtual reality. Like turning a text adventure game into point and click adventure game. So when mortals send their minds to the void, they will find an environment that is mostly similar to their own world, and appear in their own forms. Since in the Ancient Lands even inanimate objects are filled with life energy, the equipment you are wearing also affects what equipment your Void-body will have. So statistics and combat mechanics are all completely unchanged. Also, the demons will appear as corporeal beings as well and when they try to force their minds on those of mortal visitors, the mortal minds makes the mental struggle appear just like a fight between corporeal creatures.
There isn't any real distance in the Void, but minds are either in contact with each other, or they are not. All the minds that are currently in contact with each other form a single Mindscape, which pretty much is the same as a Dreamscape from Manual of the Planes and Heroes of Horror. This mindscape appears to mortal minds as some kind of landscape as familiar to them, but the most powerful mind in the mindscape defines the "tone" of the environment. Which usually is the a very powerful demon of the two or three highest ranks. If characters enter the Void and are not immediately joined by demons, the mindscape would be pretty much identical to their homeland, because that's what's normal for them. If they are part of a mindscape dominated by a greater demon, or his "Domain", it's landscape will appear as something that seems fitting to the demons personalty. Which can easily be completely alien and horrific. However, strong demons also have the ability to influence almost any aspect of their domain, depending on how strong their dominance is. A truly powerful demon could simply make doorways disappear and pits with fire open in the ground, but for that their mind would have to completely dominate the minds of all other demons and minds in the mindscape. So there are no hard rules for this aspect. It's left to the GM if the dominant demon can alter specific details of the mindscape, or this is limited to changes in colors and decorations, as the demons mood changes.

Since usually the characters leave their bodies safely behind in the material world, they can not truly be harmed in the Void. All items with charges can be used and will count as used during the mind travel, but the real counterparts do never lose any charges that way.
Casting spells and using spell-like abilities works normal in the Void, but any Spell Points and daily uses are actually spend and do not return when the character returns to the body.
Also, characters can not really be injured in a mindscape, since their bodies are just visual representations of themselves. But what actually happens is that demonic minds are doing terrible things to their minds, so when they return to their bodies, any mind injury will have real affect on their minds.
When characters return to their bodies, all the hit point damage they have taken gets devided by their character level. This number is then evenly split and converted into Wisdom and Charisma damage. (As always, round up if it's an uneven number.) This can potentially cause characters to fall into a coma when their minds return, since their Wisdom or Charisma scores might be reduced to 0. Unlike normal ability damage, this damage can push an ability score into the negatives. Only when both scores have been returned to at least 1 by natural or magical healing, does the character awake, and will most likely still require a couple of days to come fully back to normal. Since it's based on hit points, magical characters are acually more at dangers than warriors, but a good explaination for this would be that having magic powers makes them more susceptible to demonic damage and that characters with very strong physique tend to have a more "stable" life energy that isn't as much damaged by disturbances from demon minds.
When a character dies in a dreamscape, they immideately return to their body and take 1 negative level.

Demons
In theory demons could appear in any imaginable form in a Void mindscape. But for practical reasons, I still would like to have some kind of default form. Here input from you is really highly welcome:

Demons only know the Void and are pretty much immortal and have no beginning or end. They only can be mentally shredded to being completely powerless, but will eventually reform themselves, with some of their memories and personalty remaining and others changed. But everything from the material worlds is completely new to them and incredibly exiting. Most demons never come into any contact with the material worlds, but those who do often want to experience what material existance means.
Demons fall into seven categories, defined by their instinctive reaction to being confronted with mortal minds or in rare cases possessing a body in the mortal world. As a starting point, I imagine something like the Quori, but with seven distinct forms that somehow reflect their personalties. Number of legs, tails, and horns, as well as scales, hides, or fur, all don't really matter and can be different for each individuum, but all demons of a type still have the same stat block.

Wrath Demons are the most basic demons and the first and only thing they crave is cause destruction. The simple act of ending something or turning one thing into something else is everything that's on their mind. They are not very smart and very rarely have any other ideas what to do with something than to simply destroy it. They virtually possess no creativity at all. Wrath Demons are simple frontline brawlers. (Wrath Demons are medium size and CR 4.)
Hunger Demons are a small bit more sophisticated. They don't just want to destroy, but to consume. Usually by eating. They are fascinated by the idea of adding something to themselves. Since they have to find things first before they can consume them, I think one interesting theme for hunger demons would be as hunters and trackers. They get both scent and tracking, and Survival, Stealth, and Perception as major skills, and their main attack should be a bite. (Hunger Demons are medium size and CR 6.)
Greed Demons resemble hunger demons in many aspect, but instead of consuming everything, they rather want to have their cake than eating it, and they compulsory desire to hoard things. I think they could have a kind of thief theme, using both stealth and climbing to get to their objects of interest, and also have very high scores in both Bluff and Intimidate to get whatever they want in whatever way neccessary. (Greed Demons are medium size and CR 8.)
Desire Demons are a major step up from Greed Demons, in that they just don't want to hoard things, but fully understand that everything is always only of any value if you actually get to use it. Desire demons crave exitement and pleasures and they form actual long-term plans with more concrete goals. They are not especially strong offensively, but highly charismatic and skilled in getting people to serve them. Some smarter and more charismatic desire demons have their own domains in the void or arrangements with mortal mages interested in the Void and demonic powers. (Desire Demons are medium size and CR 10.)
Sloth Demons belong to the more powerful demons and their cravings are much more defined than those of the lesser ones. Sloth demons take enjoyment in all kinds of corruption and subversion, prefering to keep a low profile and manipulate others to do most of the work. While they seem gloomy and lazy, they are as skilled as manipulation as desire demons and even though they seem rather slow, they are extremely tough and can take huge amounts of punishment. They also have many magical powers. (Sloth Demons are large size and CR 12.)
Dominance Demons are not satisfied with simply manipulating but instead compulsory need to to exert complete control and have ultimate authority. They are tyrants and almost always have large numbers of lesser demons under their control. Dominance demons are extremely intelligent. I think Dominance Demons might have a better, more shorter and snappier name. Maybe someone with English as a first language has a good idea for that. (Dominance Demons are large size and CR 14.)
Pride Demons are the most powerful demons and without exception every single one of them has delusions of being a god. They are not satisfied by having both mortal and demonic slaves that obey out of feer, but only truly desire to be worshipped. (Pride Demons are huge size and CR 16.)

urkthegurk

2013-03-04, 12:59 AM

Dominance... some possibilities: Mastery Demon, Sovereign Demon,Supremacy Demon, Primacy Demon, Glory Demon, Ascendency Demon.

Yora

2013-03-31, 06:27 PM

An early draft on the classic creatures from the fiend folio. They even got their stats in Pathfinder (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/darkStalker.html#_dark-stalker), which are quite close to the original version. Interestingly, they never got any actual backstory or anything elaborate regarding goals and behavior, but they still seem to have a couple of big fans, since even the very basic concept is quite intriguing.

Dark Ones

http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/images/441171/Dark_stalker.jpg
Like grimlocks, derros, cave giants, and skums, the Dark Ones are a race of humanoid creatures at home in the Underworld. As it appears, they seem to consist of two distinct types of beings, the small Dark Creepers that are about the height and weight of gnomes, and much taller Dark Stalkers, that have a much closer semblance to elves. What makes the dark ones stand apart from these other Underworld people, is their much more sophisticated culture that shows almost nothing of the savagery displayed by the other races, and even exceeds that of goblins quite considerably.
Dark ones are comperatively few in numbers copared to the other Underworld races, even considering that the primeval depths are mostly a barren wasteland of rock. They also have the ability to see perfectly even in total darkness and are very silent, traits that provided them with the name by which they are known to surface people. Accodringly, of the few people who ever journeyed deeper into the Underworld and returned back to the surface, most never saw any signs of them and even in cases where other Underworld races were willing to talk to the visitors, they never could direct them to any dark folk villages.
Most that is known about the dark folk comes from what the dark ones have been telling themselves, when they chose to reveal themselves to strangers in their underground homelands. All dark creepers and dark stalkers that have been reported were wearing tight fitting outfits of black leather, cloth wraps, and cloaks, that also covered most of their faces. Since they are all rather thin and rarely show themselves openly to strangers, its usually impossible to even discern their gender, even their faint whispering voices giving not much of an indication. Dark creepers are almost always encountered in groups, but it is quite possible that they show themselves only when outnumbering any outsiders they spot. However, dark stalkers are usually seen alone and never in groups greater than two or three. Stories that tell about encounters with mixed groups of dark ones all match in their description that the dark stalkers always seem to be in charge and the dark creepers never showed any traces of hesitation or disobedience. Bickering and arguing amongst their own kind doesn't seem to be uncommon, though.
There are not many first hand accounts of encounters with the dark ones, but a great number of them appear to have been non-hostile or at least not having ended in bloodshed, which is quite rare in the Underworld. However, there is also the possibility that the dark ones rarely fail in killing those they decide to attack. Since they live in total darkness, dark ones are very uncomfortable around bright lights. They do use fire for cooking and metalworking, but it's usually covered or shielded, and they often use their darkness powers to surround it with a dark haze that reduces the light to a barely visible glow that comeplete disappears after just a few meters of distance. People usually smell the smoke of a dark folk campfire before they get close enought to see it.
Since some dark ones speak some languages from the surface and their clothing and weapons are quite similar to those made by other humanoid races, it seems highly likely that they were originally surface people and have been living in the Underworld only since relatively recently. Except for their uncanny sneaking ability and their ability to create magical darkness, the dark ones seem to be by far the most normal appearing creatures ever found in the Underworld and they are clearly none of the local monsters or creations of the Ancients that have ruled over the endless tunnels since the beginning of time. The most likely source of their origin seems to be that they were once gnomes and either elves or humans that journeyed into the Underworld and never made it back to the surface. Since they have been living there for at least several centuries and have been seen in widely apart places (as much as such a thing can be said in the Underworld), the original people must have been quite numerous. Most people who know of the dark ones believe that they once were a cult that worshipped one of the Ancients many centuries ago, and set out on a journey to find their terrible master. And given the darkness powers they now posses, it seems likely that they were successful.

As NPCs
The dark ones are not outright hostile to anyone they encounter in the Underworld. They usually avoid showing themselves to other creatures travelling through the dark tunnels, but ambush grimlocks, cave giants, and skum if there appears to be a chance they might find clues leading to a dark folk village. Preferedly, such intruders are killed in places where anyone who might come looking for them, won't have any leads which area the dark ones are protecting. Travelers from the surface can usually be told apart easily by their equipment and behavior and the dark ones tend to be much friendlier to anyone who is not in league with their Underworld enemies. If a group of travelers from the surface is indeed causing trouble for the dark ones, they are confident of being able to deal with just four or six people who barely know anything about survival in the Underworld.
While they usually don't mention it in any first encounters or warnings to leave an area, the worship of their dark master is a central aspect in the culture and society of the dark ones. The attributes they give to this ancient spirit don't match any of the Ancients known on the surface, so their original cult must have been fairly isolated or have died out on the surface long ago.

I think there is still room for some additional details, but overall there should be much more info on how to interact with the dark ones than about their background and how they live, since that is something PCs never learn and even if they do, they would know it applies only to one specific village and not neccessarily to the race as a whole.

Yora

2013-04-09, 02:26 PM

I am currently in the middle of moving to a new city and starting university again, so any posts and updates have been rather spotty in recent weeks and probably will continue to be so until early to mid-may. But the whole thing is still very much alive, though currently more hibernating than kicking.

That said, there is one issue that has been troubling me for weeks now and so I am turning to you again to get some helpful advice, or even just some slight nudges into the right direction.
The question basically is To Jedi or not Jedi?
Magic in the world is pretty much Chi-based. A mage trains his body and mind to become aware of the energies that are in everything and power all processes, and by using his own energy he can manipulate his body and mind, and those of others by affecting their energy as well. The Jedi from Star Wars and the Elemental Benders from Avatar seem to be the closest well-known examples of similar mechanics of magic. Biotics from Mass Effect also have many similarities to that. And these characters are very strongly physically oriented. They don't just cast spells, they much more enhance their physical combat abilities. And I think it kind of would make sense to have such characters in the Ancient Lands as well. And I really do love such characters.
But I am not entirely sure if they would really be right for the world. The idea of having arcane and devine spellcasters be primarily scholars who use nature magic to heal, curse, and enhance their perception, seems really quite attractive. And most importantly, it's a world in which barbarians, fighters, and rangers are supposed to be the heroic warriors. If you have magical warriors, wouldn't you expect those to fill out the complete Top Ten of most important people in the world?

I think it is a considerable problem. As I see it, there are basically two options. Finding an explaination why the magical warriors do not outclass the common warriors, or scrapping them entirely and comming up with an explaination why magic doesn't synergize welll with physical combat.

Zireael

2013-04-10, 10:21 AM

This is getting better and better. I especially like the demons, the dark ones and the archetypes.

Yora

2013-04-19, 02:43 AM

Here's an idea I had sitting on the train for the who knows how many time this week. (Moving to a different city sucks.)

There often is a justified complaint or it's at least pointed out, that in lots of settings, the world doesn't change at all for the tens of thousands of years their history is spanning.
Now the Ancient Lands are intended to cover a much shorter length of time and being set in a rather early point in the evolution of civilization and technology, but there is still some differentiation that can be made when comming up with historic events, artifacts, and ruins.
I think it pretty much comes down to four phases of cultural development:
- The time when humanoids first started to use salvaged equipment from abandoned fey ruins and former slaves of the fey spread the knowledge of technologies they have been tought.
- Then there is the period in which these individual family groups evolve into a more universal civilization and culture of large clans.
- Third is the phase in which these clans form larger alliances, fight for valuable natural resources, and small kingdoms are founded.
- The last phase is the current one, in which the kingdoms have become relatively stable and trade throughout the whole region is really setting off.

The next list is listing what technologies and forms of society are first showing up in each period. So when I'll later get to write up legends of ancient and more recent heroes, and landmarks of historic significance are created, these are a guideline of what things can make an appearance in each of these phases.

Dawn Age: (Neolithic)
Weapons: Dagger, spear, club, bow, sling
Armor: Hide armor, leather scale, wooden shields
Materials: Copper, silver, wood, bone, obsidian
Transportation: Raft/rowboat, cart, pony
Engineering: Roundhouses
Magic: Blood Magic (later mostly discontinued)

Age of Clans: (Early Bronze Age)
Weapons: Composite bow, short sword, mace, greatclub, rhomphaia
Armor: Fabric armor, scale armor
Materials: Bronze, gold
Transportation: Horse, mule, saddle, wagon, sailing ship
Engineering: Wooden castles, longhouses
Symbols: Thrones, coins

Age of Conquest: (Main Bronze Age)
Weapons: Falcata, kukri, scimitar, halberd
Armor: Chainmail, chain shirt, metal shields, helms
Materials: Wrought iron (also fragile Cold Iron)
Transportation: Longship
Engineering: Stone castles
Magic: Sorcery (demon magic)
Symbols: Crowns, banners

Age of Kingdoms: (Early Iron Age)
Weapons: Longsword, glaive
Armor: Lamellar armor
Materials: Steel

Zap Dynamic

2013-04-19, 08:45 AM

I'm a huge advocate of time actually passing in campaign settings, so it's cool to see it implemented here! I think the early days of civilization's progress are not only really cool to watch, but also pretty easy to implement. Not only do you make it clear what kind of adventures are appropriate in your setting, you also do a nice, concise job of showing the material and cultural essence of each era, which will be invaluable for any GM or player.

Have you read much by the Lord Dunsany? He's a British writer from the early 20th century, and was a huge inspiration on Tolkien, Lovecraft, and a bunch of others. I haven't read much of his stuff, but he has a tendency to write things about very old times that I think you might enjoy. In particular, there's a story in his book A Dreamer's Palace called "The Sword and the Idol" that's a really cool stone age fantasy story. You can find the book here at Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8129/pg8129.html) if you're interested in giving it a read.

Yora

2013-04-30, 10:19 AM

Thanks, such encouragement is always highly welcome.
I finally finished moving and expect to have regular internet access again next week. Then updates should be a bit more regular.

Yora

2013-05-14, 10:33 AM

I've been doing some homebrew creatures, which can be found here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=282642). Any comments regarding the stats should go into that thread, but any comments regarding the role of the creatures within the setting can be shared here, and would probably be more at place in this thread.

Yora

2013-05-18, 05:31 AM

Building and Maintaining a Domain
The Pathfinder adventure path Kingmaker includes a relatively short and simple system to control and expand a territory that is ruled by PCs. These rules, along with rules for battles between armies, are going to be reprinted in the Ultimate Campaign book that will be released at the end of this month, and will then be put in the Pathfinder SRD for easy open access. However, the rules themselves are already open content since the release of Kingmaker, so replicating some of them here is not an issue in any way.

Now the Ancient Lands are not intended as a setting for campaigns of conquest or politics, but PC are expected by default to belong to one of the countless small clans that have staked out their small territories and have to defend them from outside threads and also make sure they won't be devastated by famines, monster infestations, or rebellions by challengers to the chiefs rule. Even if the PCs don't rule over the clan themselves, the Kingdom building rules might still be useful for GMs to see how the clan is doing and what happens in battles between armies, in which the PCs are only a few warriors among many. For this reason, I want to see how the rules can be adapted and what you are thinking about it. In any way, it would always be a completely optional element to games set in the Ancient Lands.

Domain Building
Not every chief or warrior who has a handful of followers behind them would be called a king, and in the Ancient Lands, that title is reserved for the most powerful rulers who have the loyalty of several major clans behind them. As such, I will instead use the term Domains, which is more general and generic enough to represent almost any territory. Also, not every major settlement is a city, as that term is used in the Ancient Lands for less than a dozen places that are almost legendary in wealth and power. Instead, the rules for building and running cities are simply refering to Town.
A village is any cluster of farms, but might also be a logging or mining camp. In the Domain Building rules, they are not tracked individually. The amount of villages and what people live and work there is not really relevant. Either a region is producing resources, or it is not. (More on that later.) A town is a commercial center where the people from the villages come to sell their food to the townsfolk and in turn buy all the things they can not make themselves at home. All the specialized craftsmen and merchants in a domain are assumed to be living in the towns and this also is where all the governing takes place.

Domains are based on a Hex-map. Every hex represents an area about 12 miles across. A hex can be either wilderness, farmland, or a town. A chief can lay claim to a wilderness hex, but that it pretty much meaningless until it is inhabited by people loyal to the chief and his warriors patrol the area. Again, the number of farms and villages is not relevant here. Also, it doesn't matter what kind of resources the area produces, it is simply counted as income for the domains treasury. There can of course also be farms and villages in the same hex where a town is, but for simplicity they are not counted towards resource generation and income.
There are rules for annexing a hex and converting it from wilderness to farmland, but I won't go into those here as they don't really matter right now. You can look them up when they are in the PRD.

Now the real meat of the Domain Building rules are the towns. Again, for simplicity, the normal homes of the townspeople that make up the majority of the town are not tracked. All that matters is the special buildings, like specialized craftsmen, temples, castles, and so on. At the end of every month, all the farmland hexes plus some buildings in the towns are generating income, but a great deal of it will also be consumed by the people living in the domain. But if you have a surplus in income, it is added to the treasury in the form of Build Points. You can spend these BP to increase your farmland by expanding it into new wilderness hexes or by creating new special buildings. This might include actually building new constructions like a castle or temple, but could also represent making special arrangements to get an alchemist to settle in your domain. Like offering tax breaks, providing infrastructure, giving bribes, and so on. :smallbiggrin: While you don't actually build a new house with your own money and pay for the training of the alchemist, it still puts a dent in your resources.
Following is a list of special buildings you can build in any of your towns. If you conquer a town it obviously comes with already existing buildings. You might also decide to turn a small irrelevant village that the PCs have visted on their journeys into a town. In that case you could have the town already start with certain buildings for free, like a witch the PCs had dealing with earlier.

Town Stats:
Defense Modifier: (See army rules later.)
Economy: Indicates how much income your domain generates.
Loyalty: Indicates how far your Unrest counter goes up.
Magic Items: Once per month, this building may have a magic item of this type for sale.
Stability: Indicates how reliable your income is and how well your domain fares against plagues, famines, and so on.
Town Base Value: Everything priced lower than this value can usually found in a store in the town.
Unrest: All kinds of unpopular measures increase the domains unrest counter. If it goes too high, economy suffers and some parts of the domain may rebel and are lost.

Update, 01.06.13

Buildings
This is a list of buildings that are available in any town in the Ancient Lands. A large number of buildings from those in Ultimate Campaign have been removed and some slightly altered. Buildings with asterisk (*) are new additions.The buildings listed here do not include any information used for the Settlement stats in the Gamemastery Guide, except for the amount of magic items available. These numbers will probably be adjusted down at some point in the future to reflect the relatively low amount of magic items in the Ancient Lands.

Businesses

Alchemist - 18 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House
Magic Items 1 minor potion or wondrous item
The laboratory and home of a crafter of poisons, potions, or alchemical items.

Black Market - 50 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +2, Stability +1, Unrest +1
Discount Dance Hall
Limit Adjacent to 2 Houses
Magic Items 2 minor items, 1 medium item, 1 major item
A number of shops with secret and usually illegal wares.

Brewery - 6 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +1
A building for beer brewing, winemaking, or some similar use.

Dance Hall - 4 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +2, Unrest +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House
An establishment for dancing, drinking, carousing, and holding celebrations.

Foundry - 16 BP, 2 Lots
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1, Unrest +1
Discount Smithy
Limit Adjacent to water district border
Special Increase the Economy and BP earned per turn by 1 for 1 Mine connected to this settlement by a river or Road
Processes ore and refines it into finished metal.

Herbalist - 10 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House
Magic Items 1 minor potion or wondrous item
The workshop and home of a gardener, healer, or poisoner.

Inn - 10 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House
A place for visitors to rest.

Market - 48 BP, 2 Lots
Kingdom Economy +2, Stability +2
Discount Black Market, Inn, Shop
Limit Adjacent to 2 Houses
Upgrade From Shop
Magic Items 2 minor wondrous items
An open area for traveling merchants and bargain hunters.

Mill - 6 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1
Limit Adjacent to water district border
Special With GM approval, you can construct a windmill at the same cost without the water district border requirement
A building used to cut lumber or grind grain.

Shop - 8 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House or Mansion
Upgrade To Market
A general store.

Smithy - 6 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1
The workshop of an armorsmith, blacksmith, weaponsmith, or other craftsman who works with metal.

Stable - 10 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House, Mansion, or Noble Villa
A structure for housing or selling horses and other mounts.

Tannery - 6 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1
Limit Cannot be adjacent to House, Mansion, Noble Villa, or Tenement
A structure that prepares hides and leather.

Tavern - 12 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House or Mansion
An eating or drinking establishment.

Trade Shop - 10 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House
A shop front for a tradesperson, such as a baker, butcher, candle maker, cobbler, rope maker, or wainwright.

Witch Hut* - 30 BP, 1 LOT
Kingdom Economy +1, Unrest +1
Magic Items 3 minor items, 2 medium items
The home of a witch or sorcerer.

Infrastructure

Bridge - 6 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1
Special Shares the space with a river or Waterway lot
Allows travel across a river or Waterway, easing transportation.

Cistern - 6 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Stability +1
Limit Cannot be adjacent to a Dump, Graveyard, Stable, or Tannery
Special Can share lot with another building
Contains a safe supply of fresh water for the settlement.

Dump - 4 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Stability +1
Limit Cannot be adjacent to House, Mansion, or Noble Villa
A centralized place to dispose of refuse.

Granary - 12 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +1
Special If Farms reduce Consumption below 0, store up to 5 BP of excess production for use on a later turn when Consumption exceeds the Treasury
A place to store grain and food.

Graveyard - 4 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Loyalty +1
A plot of land to honor and bury the dead.

Jail - 14 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Loyalty +2, Stability +2, Unrest –2
A fortified structure for confining criminals or dangerous monsters.

Monastery - 16 BP, 2 Lots
Kingdom Stability +1
A cloister for meditation, study, and the pursuit of various other scholarly paths. These are usually associated with a local shrine or temple.

Monument - 6 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Loyalty +1, Unrest –1
A local memorial such as a bell tower, a statue of a settlement founder, a large tomb, or a public display of art.

Paved Streets - 24 BP
Kingdom Economy +2, Stability +1
Limit 1 per district
Brick or stone pavement that speeds transportation.

Pier - 16 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1
Limit Adjacent to water district border
Upgrade To Waterfront
Warehouses and workshops for docking ships and handling cargo and passengers.

Shrine - 8 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Loyalty +1, Unrest –1
Upgrade To Temple
Magic Items 1 minor potion, scroll, or wondrous item
A shrine, idol, sacred grove, or similar holy site designed for worship by pious individuals.

Temple - 32 BP, 2 Lots
Kingdom Loyalty +2, Stability +2, Unrest –2
Discount Graveyard, Monument, Shrine
Upgrade From Shrine
Magic Items 2 minor items
A large place of worship dedicated to a deity.

Town Square* - 8 BP, 2 Lots
Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +1
Discount Cistern, Dump, Jail
A central square for public gatherings, making proclamations, and holding court.

Waterfront - 90 BP, 4 Lots
Kingdom Economy +4
Discount Black Market, Market, Pier
Limit Adjacent to water district border, 1 per settlement
Upgrade From Pier 
Special Halves Loyalty penalty for Taxation edicts
Magic Items 2 minor wondrous items, 1 medium wondrous item, 1 major wondrous item
A port for waterborne arrival and departure, with facilities for shipping and shipbuilding.

Waterway - 3 BP, 1–2 Lots
Special Counts as water district border for adjacent buildings
A river or canal occupying part of the District Grid. At the GM’s option, a natural Waterway may already exist on the grid, requiring no action or BP to build. If you construct a City Wall that touches or crosses the Waterway, you must also build Watergates on the same turn.

Housing

Highborn Manor* - 24 BP, 2 Lots
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1, Stability +1
Discount Mansion
Upgrade From Mansion
A sprawling manor with luxurious grounds that houses a noble’s family and staff.

House - 3 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Unrest –1
Upgrade From Tenement
Special The first House you build during the Improvement phase does not count against the total number of buildings you can build during the phase
A number of mid-sized houses for citizens.

Mansion - 10 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Stability +1
Upgrade To Highborn Manor
A single huge manor housing a rich family and its servants.

Palace - 108 BP, 4 Lots
Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +6, Stability +2
Discount Highborn Manor, Mansion
Special You may make two special edicts per turn, but take a –2 penalty on kingdom checks associated with each special edict
A grand edifice and walled grounds demonstrating one’s wealth, power, and authority to the world, as found only in the largest cities and build by the most powerful High Kings.

Tenement - 1 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Unrest +2
Upgrade To House
Special Counts as House for buildings that must be adjacent to a House
A staggering number of low-rent housing units.

Military

Barracks - 6 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Unrest –1
Upgrade To Warrior Hall
Special Defense +2
A building to house conscripts, guards, militia, soldiers, or similar military forces.

Castle - 54 BP, 4 Lots
Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +2, Stability +2, Unrest –4
Discount Highborn Manor
Limit 1 castle or keep per settlement
Special Defense +8
The home of the settlement’s leader or the heart of its defenses.

City Wall - 2 BP
Kingdom Unrest –2 (once per settlement)
Limit Land district border
Special Defense +1
A fortification of one side of a district with a sturdy wall. The GM may allow for cliffs and other natural features to function as a City Wall for one or more sides of a district. You may construct gates through your own city wall at no cost.

Keep* - 34 BP, 2 Lots
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1, Stability +1, Unrest –2
Limit 1 castle or keep per settlement
Special Defense +6
The home of the settlement’s leader or the heart of its defenses.

Warrior Hall* - 28 BP, 2 Lots
Kingdom Loyalty +2, Stability +2, Unrest –2
Discount City Wall, Jail
Upgrade From Barracks
A large building to serve as a gathering place, training ground, and housing for the clans warriors.

Moat - 2 BP
Kingdom Unrest –1 (once per settlement)
Limit Land district border
Special Defense +1
A fortification of one side of a district with an open or water-filled ditch, often backed by a low dike or embankment. The GM may allow a river or similar natural feature to function as a moat for one or more sides of a district.

Watchtower - 12 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Stability +1, Unrest –1
Special Defense +2
A tall structure that serves as a guard post.

Yora

2013-05-19, 06:59 AM

Since currently all signs are strongly pointing towards Pathfinder, I think it's time to finally get the races nailed down:

Character Races

Elves
+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution: Elves are nimble but lack endurance compared to other races.
Medium: Elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Elven Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Keen Senses: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.

Dark Elves
The following traits are in addition to those of common (wood) elves.
Darkvision: Dark elves can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Light Sensitivity: Dark elves are dazzled in areas of bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell (–1 penalty on attack rolls and sight-based Perception checks).

Gnomes
+2 Constitution, -2 Strength: Gnomes are not very strong because of their short stature, but they are incredibly enduring and resilient.
Small: Gnomes are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Slow and Steady: Gnomes have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Low-Light Vision: Gnomes can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Keen Senses: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Hardy: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Obsessive: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on a Craft or Profession skill of their choice.

Half-Elves
Medium: Half-elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Half-elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Half-elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Elven Immunities: Half-elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Keen Senses: Half-elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Mixed Blood: Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race and have both the elf and human subtype.
Skilled: Half-elves gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.

Humans

Medium: Humans are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Humans have a base speed of 30 feet.
Bonus Feat: Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Skilled: Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.

Kaas
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence: Kaas are exceptionally strong and tough.
Medium: Kaas are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Kaas have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Kaas can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Armored Hide: Kaas have a +2 natural armor bonus from their thick fur.
Fearless: Nezumi receive a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear.
Intimidating: Kaas receive a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate skill checks due to their fearsome nature.
Sure-Footed: Kaas receive a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and Climb skill checks.

Kaas are tall and powerful humanoids who frequently grow to seven feet of height and beyond. Their bodies resemble muscular humans covered in light brown hide and their heads resemble both mountain lions and wolves with horns like those of a wild goat or ibex. Their heads are covered in dark brown manes like those of a lion. Kaas are at home in the northern mountains and are strong climbers, but they have spread out into the lowlands many generations ago and can be found all over the colder climates of the Ancient Lands.

Lizardfolk
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence: Lizardfolk are exceptionally strong and tough.
Medium: Lizardfolk are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Lizardfolk have a base speed of 30 feet
Swim Speed: Lizardfolk have a swim speed of 15 feet. They can always take 10 on Swim checks and receive a +8 modifier to Swim checks.
Armored Scales: Lizardfolk have a +4 natural armor bonus from their scaly hides.
Hold Breath (Ex): A lizardfolk can hold its breath for a number of rounds equal to 4 times its Constitution score before it risks drowning.
Natural Attacks: Lizardfolk can make two claw attacks dealing 1d4 points of slashing damage and one bite attack dealing 1d4 points of piercing damage. (All three attacks are considered primary attacks.)
Racial Hit Dice: Lizardfolk begin the game with 2 Hit Dice of humanoid. Because they are more powerful than most other races, lizardfolk characters count as one level higher for calculating XP to advance a level. Racial Hit Dice count as character levels for the purpose of gaining new feats and maximum skill ranks.

Nezumi
+2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma: Nezumi are agile but often erratic and short tempered.
Medium: Nezumi are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Nezumi have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Nezumi can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Armored Hide: Nezumi have a +1 natural armor bonus from their thick fur.
Fearless: Nezumi receive a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear.
Keen Senses: Nezumi receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Sure-Footed: Nezumi receive a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and Climb skill checks.

Nezumi are humanoids standing somewhat under 5 feet tall and are found in many of the southern jungles of the Ancient Lands. They are covered in short sand-colored fur and have faces resemling those of rodents or dogs. Often making their homes in the trees above the forest floor, they are very good at climbing and even jumping from tree to tree. Nezumi are very daring and at times might even seem suicidal when it comes to taking risks, but it has served their race very well against the many threats of the wilderness.

--

The gnomes are pretty much a blend of the standard gnomes and dwarves. I am even considering giving them darkvision instead of low-light vision, but since they are a race that lives more in hobbit-houses than underground cities, low-light vision would probably be more appropriate.

The Kaas are inspired primarily by the Ferai from Primal with generous additions from the Cathar from Star Wars.
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/076/6/0/ferai_jen_by_alimination602-d3buhku.jpghttp://www.redknuckle.com/concept_pages/ferai/Ferai01_200306_r4_c4.jpghttp://cdn-static.gamekult.com/gamekult-com/images/photos/00/00/28/75/ME0000287556_2.jpghttp://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo10/NightBlood-09/Sonic%20all/Primal/Jen-Ferai-Ingame.jpghttp://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090715141606/primal/images/c/c8/PrimalHerne.jpg
http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com/a05b43a9e861ba23ea6ffc083fce7d13/http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o8/wolfswordvx/commission__joska_al_kesari_by_turin_the_forsaken-d33su0c_zps5c7750d0.jpghttp://25.media.tumblr.com/1e4200c893b038c6e788a72064dfe428/tumblr_mk2vfnXzfH1r3e7wgo1_500.jpghttp://www.starwars-universe.com/images/encyclopedie/especes/cathar1.jpghttp://kaboomshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/cathar08.jpg

The one thing I am still not quite happy about are the many traits of the kaas and nezumi that are identical to those of the other races. With the kaas I started with half-orcs as the base and for the nezumi I took halflings. Pretty much every trait the nezumi have is identical to that of another race, and kaas ability modifiers are the same as those of lizardfolk. Also kaas may be a bit strong compared to the other, so maybe I should remove the bonus to Constitution?
What do you think?

Grinner

2013-05-19, 07:17 AM

Wow. You've got almost 11,000 views on this thread. People must like it a lot. :smallbiggrin:

Yora

2013-05-19, 07:25 AM

It suprises me as well. I assume having links in most of my forum signatures does it's part.
Malamundus and Exile have similar numbers of views compared to the amount of posts.

Yora

2013-05-22, 12:55 PM

Ultimate Campaign has been out to pre-orderers and while it still takes a week for the pdf release, there is still considerable info floating around on what's inside it.

Specifically the leadership positions for the Kingdom Rules, which I mentioned briefly in the last post on Domain Rules. I also did a post on social roles and official position some times back, which you can see here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14608295&postcount=45). In this post, I'm combining the two to cover the leadership positions in the Domain Rules.

Leaders of the Clans

Ruler - The Chief/King
The ruler is obvious the supreme leader of the domain. In most tribes the chiefs are chosen by the heads of the most powerful families of the clan after the old chief has died, or more rarely has been forced to step down if he lost the support of the other leaders. But most often, a single family wields sufficient power that most of the smaller families will support them, making the title of chief somewhat hereditary, with the leaders rarely voting against the choosen successor of the former chief. (In the Ancient Lands, the position of ruler can not be shared by two individuals.)
If a chief rules over more than just his own clan, he is called a king.
Benefit: If the domain has a size of 1 to 20, the chief or king adds his Charisma modifier to one of the domains statistics of his choice; Economy, Loyalty, or Stability. If the domain has a size of 21 to 80, he adds his Carisma modifier to two of the statistics. If the domain has a size of 81 or higher, he adds his Charisma modifier to all three statistics.
Vacancy: If a domain is currently without a ruler, it can not expand its territory and every month the domains Unrest score increases by 4 until someone assumed power.

Viceroy - Vassal Chief
If minor chiefs pledge their allegiance to a king, they still retain their title and rule over the lands of their clan. However, they accept their king as their superior commander in times of war and have to pay tribute to the king. (More information once it becomes available.)

Consort
Heads of families, particularly chiefs, can be married to several spouses at the same time in most tribes. In some cases, the first or favored spouses can become members of the clans leadership in their own right, gaining significant amounts of power. There can be only one Consort among the clans leaders at any time.
(More information once it becomes available.)

Heir
The heir is a person chosen by the current chief to be his favored candidate as his successor. Often these are sons or daughters, but usually any person of clansman status can succeed a chief on the throne. Heirs are usually selected for their promissing talents and leadership skills and also have to prove their abilities before they can take over leadership of the clan, so they are generally quite deeply involved in the clans governance.
(More information once it becomes available.)

Councilor - Town Elder
The position of the senior town elder is usually a highly informal one and involves no official selection or rank. The senior town elder is the chosen representative of the common people living in the town around the chiefs castle or manor. Since he has the most contact with the clans chief, he often is in close contact with the elders from the other villages, making him the spokesperson for all of the clans lowborn and freemen.
Benefit: The town elders Wisdom or Charisma modifier is added to the domains Loyalty.
Vacancy: If a domain has no town elder, usually if the chief refuses to hear the representative of the commoners in his court, the domains Loyalty decreases by -2 and Unrest increases by 1 every month. In addition, the domain does not gain any benefit from festivals being held.

General
The General is the primary military leader of the clan after the chief himself. In larger kingdoms, he even ranks above the vassal chiefs. The duty of the general are to see that the domains troops are well trained and equiped and he is in charge of scouts patrolling the domains borders.
Benefit: The generals Strength or Charisma modifier is added to the domains Stability.
Vacancy: A domain without a general takes a -4 penalty to Stability.

Grand Diplomat - The Herald
Heralds are among the most trusted assistants of the chiefs and have the duty to speak on their chiefs behalf when visiting or recieving the leaders of other clans. The position of herald is often given to a sibling or child of the chief or one of his most closest friends as any of their mistakes or errors in judging their chiefs responses can have dire consequences for the clans alliances or lead to war with other clans.
Benefit: The herald adds his Intelligence or Charisma modifier to the domains Stability.
Vacancy: If a domain has no herald it recieves a -2 penalty to Stability. The domain can also not issue any promotion edicts (any kind of effort to raise morale other than festivals).

High Priest - The Shaman
While every major village and town has a shaman (who often has a couple of apprentices as well), the shaman of the chiefs town has a particularly important role in the clan. He is not just a massenger for the people of the surrounding land, but also for the clans ancestors or guardian deities. As such, he is an important advisor for the chief and his word also has a great influence over the clans warriors and commoners.
The Shaman must be an oracle of at least 3rd level or higher.
Benefit: The high priest adds his Wisdom or Charisma modifier to the domains Stability.
Vacancy: A domain without a shaman takes a -2 penalty to both Loyalty and Stability. Every month the domain has no shaman the Unrest score increases by 1.

Marshal/Spymaster/Warden
The marshal is a senior warrior in charge of security within the chiefs castle and the local town, as well as maintaining order within the domain. His warriors see to the safety within the domains villages and hunt thieves, smugglers, and other criminals.
In the Ancient Lands, the positions of Spymaster and Warden usually tend to overlap with that of the marshal.
Benefit: The Marshal adds his Dexterity or Intelligence modifier to any one of the domains statistics; Economy, Loyalty, or Stability. He can change his focus once every round.
Vacancy: If a domain has no Marshal, it takes a -4 penalty to Economy. Also, the domains Unrest increases by 1 every month.

Royal Enforcer - The Champion
Next to the general and marshal, the champion is one of the clans senior warriors. His primary role is to see to the safety of the chief and his family, but he also is frequently given the task to deal with any kinds of trouble that falls outside the marshals responsibility. Ocasionally, he will also act as a kind of ambasador for the chief if sending the herald would give the wrong impression.
Benefit: The champion adds his Strength or Dexterity modifier to the domains Loyalty. In addition, the domains Unrest decreases by 1 every month.
Vacancy: There are no penalties to not having a champion.

Treasurer - The Steward
The steward is the chiefs most important advisor and the overseer of the domains economy and finances in addition to directing the servants and slaves of the chiefs household. As such, the steward often works closely together with the senior town elder as they see that the domain prospers. Many chiefs have no interest in dealing with keeping the people fed and the warriors paid and often leave it entirely to their stewards to handle these things as they see fit. In most tribes, these things are traditionally the resonsibilities of the wife of the head of the family and the majority of stewards are the wives or sisters of the chief.
Benefit: The stewards Intelligence or Wisdom modifier is added to the domains Economy.
Vacancy: A domain without a steward takes a -4 penalty to Economy. Also, the domain can not collect any taxes while the position of steward is empty.

--

I put the positions of marshal (police), spymaster (espionage), and warden (militia) together, as tribal societies usually don't have such a sophisticated system of law-enforcement and intelligence. The position of warden is easily scrapped, since defence is either the domain of the general or the marshal.
However, the spymaster might possibly be better included in the position of champion. The royal enforcer has the job of beating up and killing enemies of the nation, while the spymaster collects information on inside and outside threats. Maybe that would be a better combination, what do you think?

Yora

2013-05-24, 02:04 PM

Spellcasters & Spells
Now that I feel commited to the Pathfinder rules as much as someone like me probably can ever get, I want to get the whole issue of spells get hammered out.

I've gone once more over the spell lists for oracles and sorcerers in Pathfinder and even this spontaneous variant of vancian spellcasting simply doesn't work for what I have in mind how magic in the world work. And I really don't want to have magic work one way in the rules of the game while saying it works differently when it comes to narrating things.
The best magic system in any RPG that I've seen to this day is Bruce Cordells Expanded Psionics Handbook system. Since it is also made specifically for d20 games, this will be what I use as the baseline. The system is very simple. A character knows a number of spells like a sorcerer, but when casting a spell it does not use up a spell slot for the day but a number of spell points. With 10 spell points, you can cast 10 spells costing 1 SP or 2 spells costing 5 SP, or any other combination imaginable. However, the best thing is, that spells are augmentable, which is a bit like a build-in metamagic option.
The basic charm spell costs 1 SP to cast and works like charm person. When you are 3rd level you can cast the spell using 3 SP and having it work as charm magical beast for example. Once you are 5th level you can cast the spell paying 5 SP and have it work like charm outsider. If you want to. The number of SP you pay can be anything from as low as the minimum number to cast the spell, to as high as your caster level. Similar, a fireball costs 5 SP and deals 5d6 fire damage. Pay 8 SP (for which you need to be at least 8th level) and it deals 8d6 points of damage. Very easy, but much more flexible than prepared spell slots.
The XPH has a form of metamagic feats that require an extra mechanic, but in an Ancient Land games characters will be mostly 3rd to 8th level and with just 2 to 4 feats there are much better options to pick. (Like gaining more spell points per day or additional spells known beyond your normal limit.) And since almost every spell automatically comes with the option to make it stronger, I decided to simply forget about metamagic feats altogther, which also means we won't have to bother with the special mechanic that enables characters to use them.

Schools
As I mentioned in an earlier post some time ago, there are six schools of magic. Four general schools and two specialized schools.
Creation: Creation spells make creatures stronger and more resistant to damage, heal injury and illness, and also make plants come to live and summon spirits to fight for you.
Entropy: Entropy is the opposite of creation and entropy spells drain creatures of their strength, make them more vulnerable to damage, and cause fear.
Elements: Elemental spells control the basic elements, using fire to deal damage, moving earth and stone, using the wind to lift yourself and blow away enemies, and so on.
Spirit: Spirit spells affect the minds of creatures, making them obey magical commands and creating illusions, as well as seeing to distant places and create protections against spirits and demons.
Blood: Blood magic is one of the specialized schools that deals directly with the life-force within living creatures, causing both terrible injuries but also providing great srength.
Fel: Fel magic is powered by the magical energies of demons and the Void. Fel spells primarily deal with demons and undead, but also include spells useful to overcome magical barriers and protections.

Learning Spells
There will be two spellcasting classes, probably being called the Adept and the Shaman. The adept is a straightforward mage or witch while the shaman is a priest who is a more durable fighter and has special powers to deal with spirits. As of now, I don't plan on having separate spell lists for them.

{table=head]Class Level | Spell Points | Spells Known | Max. Spell Level
1st | 2 | 3 | 1st
2nd | 6 | 5 | 1st
3rd | 11 | 7 | 2nd
4th | 17 | 9 | 2nd
5th | 25 | 11 | 3rd
6th | 35 | 13 | 3rd
7th | 46 | 15 | 4th
8th | 58 | 17 | 4th
9th | 72 | 19 | 4th
10th | 88 | 21 | 5th[/table]

In addition, adepts get additional spell points based on their Intelligence score and shamans based on their Wisodm score.

{table=head]Ability Score | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th
10-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
12-13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5
14-15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
16-17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15
18-19 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20
20-21 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 25[/table]

Since the maximum spell level is 4th, any spellcaster who can reach an Intelligence or Wisdom score of 14 by 7th level has access to all spell levels. So making a character that starts with only a 13 in that ability score at 1st level is not severely limited. (But still a bit weak when it comes to the save DCs of his spells and the amount of bonus spell points.)

Spells
This list is not complete yet. The aim is to get to a total of about 50 spells.

Animate Corpses
School: Fel
Level: 2
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: one or more corpses
Duration: 1 min./level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Spell Points: 3

With this spell, you can temporarily animate nearby corpses as skeletons and zombies with up to 5 HD in total.
The undead can be made to follow you, or they can be made to remain in an area and attack any creature (or just a specific kind of creature) entering the place. They remain animated until they are destroyed or the spell ends. A destroyed skeleton or zombie can't be animated again.
Regardless of the type of undead you create with this spell, you can't create more HD of undead than twice your caster level with a single casting of animate dead. Any additional undead you create are not under your control. You can chose which ones to release from your control.
Augment: For every additional spell points you spend, you can create additional undead worth 1 HD.

Beast Sight
School: Creation (polymorph)
Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: personal or touch (see text)
Target: one creature
Duration: 10 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: yes (harmless)
Spell Points: 1

This spell alters your eyes to give you the sight of a wild animal. Your eyes gain the appearance of a cats eyes and you gain low-light vision.
Augment: You can augment this spell in one or more of the following ways.
1. If you spend 2 additional spell points, the spells range changes from personal to touch.
2. If you spend 2 additional spell points, you gain darkvision 60 ft. instead.
3. If you spend 4 additional spell points, you gain blindsight 30 ft. instead.

Charm
School: Spirit (Charm) [Mind-Affecting]
Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One humanoid
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 1

You reach out with your mind, finding the emotional strings that most apply to your target. With delicate influences, you twist those emotional strings, making your target view you as a friend (treat the target’s attitude as friendly). If the creature is currently being threatened or attacked by you or your allies, however, it receives a +5 bonus on its saving throw.
This does not enable you to control the affected person as if it was an automaton, but it perceives your words and actions in the most favorable way. You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn’t ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.) An affected creature never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders, but it might be convinced that something very dangerous is worth doing. Any act by you or your apparent allies that threatens the charmed person breaks the effect. You must speak the person’s language to communicate your commands, be good at pantomiming, or have some other method to communicate, such as mindlink.
Augment: You can augment this spell in one or more of the following ways.
1. If you spend 2 additional spell points, this spell can also affect an animal, magical beast, or monstrous humanoid.
2. If you spend 4 additional spell points, this spell can also affect an aberration, dragon, or outsider in addition to the creature types mentioned above.
3. If you spend 4 additional spell points, this spell’s duration increases to one day per level.
In addition, for every 2 additional spell points you spend to achieve any of these effects, this spell’s save DC increases by 1.

Based on the charm person and charm monster spells, and the empathetic connection power.

Cloak of Shadows
School: Entropy (Darkness)
Level: 2
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Effect: Cloud of shadows covering you
Duration: 1 min./level (D)
Spell Points: 3

You wrap a hazy mist of shadows around you like a cloak. You remain visible within the translucent, amorphous enclosure. This distortion grants you concealment (opponents have a 20% miss chance), thanks to the rippling haze shrouding your form. This spell also allows you to use Stealth without having any cover to hide begind. You can pick up or drop objects, easily reaching through the haze. Anything you hold is enveloped by the cloak. Likewise, you can engage in melee, make ranged attacks, and cast spells without hindrance.
Augment: If you spend 4 additional spell points, the shadows can spread and affect one creature adjacent to you. If the creature moves away from you, it loses the protection.

Based on the concealing amorpha power.

Dominate
School: Spirit (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting]
Level: 4
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level); see text
Target: One humanoid
Duration: 1 day/ level; see text
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
Spell Points: 7

You can control the actions of any humanoid creature through a telepathic link that you establish with the subject’s mind.
If you and the subject have a common language, you can generally force the subject to perform as you desire, within the limits of its abilities. If no common language exists, you can communicate only basic commands, such as “Come here,” “Go there,” “Fight,” and “Stand still.” You know what the subject is experiencing, but you do not receive direct sensory input from it, nor can it communicate with you telepathically.
Once you have given a controlled creature a command, it continues to attempt to carry out that command to the exclusion of all other activities except those necessary for day-to-day survival (such as sleeping, eating, and so forth). Because of this limited range of activity, a Sense Motive check against DC 15 (rather than DC 25) can determine that the subject’s behavior is being influenced by an enchantment effect (see the Sense Motive skill description).
Changing your orders or giving a dominated creature a new command is a move action.
By concentrating fully on the power (a standard action), you can receive full sensory input as interpreted by the mind of the subject, though it still can’t telepathically communicate with you. You can’t actually see through the subject’s eyes, so it’s not as good as being there yourself, but you still get a good idea of what’s going on.
Subjects resist this control, and any subject forced to take actions against its nature receives a new saving throw with a +2 bonus. Obviously self-destructive orders are not carried out. Once control is established, the range at which it can be exercised is unlimited, as long as you and the subject are on the same plane. You need not see the subject to control it.
If you don’t spend at least 1 round concentrating on the power each day, the subject receives a new saving throw to throw off the mind control.
Protection from evil or a similar effect can prevent you from exercising control or using the telepathic link while the subject is so warded, but such an effect does not automatically dispel it.
Augment: You can augment this spell in one or more of the following ways.
1. If you spend 2 additional spell points, this spell can also affect an animal, magical beast, or monstrous humanoid.
2. If you spend 4 additional spell points, this spell can also affect an aberration, dragon, or outsider in addition to the creature types mentioned above.
3. For every 2 additional spell points you spend, this spell can affect an additional target. Any additional target cannot be more than 15 feet from another target of the spell.
In addition, for every 2 additional spell points you spend to achieve any of these effects, this spell’s save DC increases by 1.

Based on the dominate person and dominate monster spells, and the mind control power.

Entangling Vines
School: Creation
Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./lvl.)
Area: Vines, roots, and branches in a 40-ft.-radius spread
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 min./lvl. (D)
Saving Throw: Reflex partial; see text
Spell Resistance: No
Spell Points: 1

You call upon the spirits to manipulate matter in the affected area, including wood, grasses, bushes, and even trees, to entwine creatures in the affected area or those that enter the area, causing them to become entangled. Affected creatures can break free and move half their normal speed by using a full-round action to make a DC 20 Strength check or a DC 20 Escape Artist check. A creature that succeeds on a Reflex save is not entangled but can still move at only half speed through the area. Each round you concentrate, you may once again direct the debris to attempt to entangle all creatures that have avoided or escaped entanglement.
Augment: This spell may be augmented in one or more of the following ways.
1. For each additional 2 spell points spent, this spell can affect an area 5 ft. larger in radius.
2. By spending an additional 4 spell points, this power causes 2d6 points of damage per round to creatures that failed their Reflex save.
3. If you spend 2 additional spell points, the duration becomes 1 round/level.
In addition, for every 2 additional spell points you spend to achieve any of these effects, this spell's save DC increases by 1.

Based on the entangle spell and entangling debris power.

Faerie Fire
School: Creation [light]
Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area: creatures and objects within a 5-ft.-radius burst
Duration: 1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: yes
Spell Points: 1

All creatures within the burst are outlined, and shed light as candles. Outlined creatures do not benefit from the concealment normally provided by darkness (though a magical darkness effect functions normally if more spell points were spent on the darkness effect than on the Faerie Fire spell), Blur, invisibility, or similar effects. The light is too dim to have any special effect on undead or dark-dwelling creatures vulnerable to light. The faerie fire can be blue, green, or violet, according to your choice at the time of casting. The faerie fire does not cause any harm to the objects or creatures thus outlined.

Fear
School: Entropy [fear, mind-affecting]
Level: mage 1, priest 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: one living creature with 5 or fewer HD
Duration: 1d4 rounds or 1 round (see text)
Saving Throw: Will partial
Spell Resistance: yes
Spell Points: 1

The affected creature becomes frightened. If the subject succeeds on a Will save, it is instead shaken for 1 round. Creatures with 6 or more Hit Dice cannot be frightened by this spell, only becoming shaken even on a failed save.
Augment: You can augment this spell in one or more of the following ways.
1. If you spend two additional spell points, the range of the spell increases to Medium.
2. For every two additional spell points spent, the spell can affect an additional creature.
3. If you spend two additional spell points, instead of becoming frightened on a failed save, the subject becomes panicked.
In addition, for every additional spell point spent on augmenting the spell, the spell can frighten a creature with one more HD. For every two additional spell points you spend, the save DC increases by 1.

Fireball
School: Elements [fire]
Level: 3
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area: 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Reflex half
Spell Resistance: Yes
Spell Points: 5

You create an explosion of fire that deals 5d6 points of damage to every creature or object within the area. The explosion creates almost no pressure.
Augment: For every additional spell point you spend, this spell’s damage increases by one die (d6). For each extra two dice of damage, this spell’s save DC increases by 1.

Based on the fireball spell and the energy ball power.

Fire Bolt
School: Elements [fire]
Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: Ray
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
Spell Points: 1

You create a bolt of fire that shoots forth from your palm and strikes a target within range, dealing 1d6 points of fire damage, if you succeed on a ranged touch attack.
Augment: For every additional spell point you spend, this spell’s damage increases by one die (d6). For each extra two dice of damage, this spell’s save DC increases by 1.

Based on the energy ray power.

Flame Blast
School: Elements [fire]
Level: 3
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 20 ft.
Area: Cone-shaped spread
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Reflex half
Spell Resistance: Yes
Spell Points: 5

You create a cone of flames extending outward from your hand, that deals 3d6 points of fire damage to every creature or object within the area.
Augment: For every additional spell point you spend, this spell’s damage increases by one die (d6). For each extra two dice of damage, this spells’s save DC increases by 1.

Based on the burning hands spell and the energy cone power.

Featherfall
School: Elements (air)
Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Until landing or 1 round/ level
Spell Points: 1

You recover instantly from a fall and can absorb some damage from falling. You land on your feet no matter how far you fall, and you take damage as if the fall were 50 feet shorter than it actually is. This power affects you and anything you carry or hold (up to your maximum load). You can cast this spell with an instant thought, quickly enough to gain the benefit of the spell while you fall. You can cast this spell even when it isn’t your turn.
You can either glide carefully to the ground or let yourself crash into the floor without any damage to you.
Augment: You can augment this spell in one or both of the following ways.
1. For every additional spell point you spend, this spell reduces your damage as if the fall were an additional 50 feet shorter.
2. If you pay 4 additional spell points, the spells range changes to close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) and you can target any creature or object.

Based on the featherfall spell and catfall power.

Fog
School: Elements [air, water]
Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 20 ft.
Effect: cloud spreads in 20-ft. radius from you, 20 ft. high
Duration: 1 min./level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Spell Points: 1

You create a bank of fog, which is stationary once created. The fog obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature 5 feet away has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker cannot use sight to locate the target).
A moderate wind (20+ kph), such as from a gust of wind spell, disperses the fog in 4 rounds. A strong wind (30+ kph) disperses the fog in 1 round.
This spell does not function underwater.
Augment: You can augment the spell in one or more of the following ways.
1. If you spend 2 additional spell points, the spells duration is 10 minutes per level rather than 1 minute per level.
2. If you spend 2 additional spell points, the spells range increases to Medium (allowing you to create banks of fog not centered on you).

Based on the obscuring mist and fog cloud spells.

Hold
School: Entropy (compulsion) [mind-affecting]
Level: 3
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target: one humanoid creature
Duration: 1 round/level (D) (see text)
Saving Throw: Will negates (see text)
Spell Resistance: yes
Spell Points: 5

The subject becomes paralyzed and freezes in place. It is aware and breathes normally but cannot take any actions, even speech. Each round on its turn, the subject may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect. (This is a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.)
A winged creature who is paralyzed cannot flap its wings and falls. A swimmer can't swim and may drown. A creature on solid ground is immobilized in a statue-like manner, not falling down unless pushed (it automatically fails all strength and dexterity checks to resist being tripped).
Augment: You can augment this spell in one or both of the following ways.
1. If you spend 2 additional spell points, this spell can also affect an animal, magical beast, or monstrous humanoid.
2. If you spend 4 additional spell points, this spell can also affect an aberration, dragon, or outsider in addition to the creature types mentioned above.
3. For every 2 additional spell points you spend, the spell can target an additional creature within range.
In addition, for every 2 additional spell points you spend to achieve any of these effects, this spells save DC increases by 1.

Based on the hold person and hold monster spells.

Illusory Image
School: Spirit (figment)
Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect: visual figment that cannot extend beyond five 10-feet cubes (S)
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: Will disbelief (if interacted with)
Spell Resistance: no
Spell Points: 1

This spell creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force, as visualized by you. The illusion does not create sound, smell, texture, or temperature (but see Augments, below). You can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect.
Augment: You can Augment the spell in one or more of the following ways.
1. If you spend 2 additional spell points, sounds (but not understandable speech) are included in the spell effect.
2. If you spend 2 additional spell points, smell and thermal illusions are included in the spell effect.
3. If you spend 2 additional spell points, you can move the image within the spells range for its duration.
4. If you spend 2 additional spell points, the spells duration changes to 1 min./level, rather than lasting only while you concentrate. You must still concentrate in order to move the image.
In addition, for every additional spell point you spend this way, the size limit of the illusion increases by one 10-feet cube.

Based on the silent image, minor image, and major image spells.

Illusory Terrain
School: Spirit (glamer)
Level: 3
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area: one 30-ft. cube/level (S)
Duration: 10 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: Will disbelief (if interacted with)
Spell Resistance: no
Spell Points: 5

You make natural terrain look, sound, and smell like some other sort of natural terrain. Structures, equipment, and creatures within the area are not hidden or changed in appearance. You can use this spell to hide trails, caves, ponds, and similar features that fit within the spells area.
Augment: You can augment this spell in one or both of the following ways.
1. If you spend two additional spell points, the duration changes to 1 hour/level. If you spend four additional spell points, the duration changes to 1 day/level.
2. If you spend two additional spell points, you can alter artificial structures and object like masonry walls, bridges, or carts as well.

Based on the hallucinatory terrain spell.

Invisibility
School: Spirit (glamer)
Level: 2
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: You or a creature or object touched weighing no more than 100 lb./level
Duration: 1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) or Will negates (harmless, object)
Spell Resistance: yes (harmless) or yes (harmless object)
Spell Points: 3

The creature or object touched becomes invisible, vanishing from sight. If the recipient is a creature carrying gear, that vanishes, too. If you cast the spell on someone else, neither you nor your allies can see the subject, unless you can normally see invisible things or you employ magic to do so.
Items dropped or put down by an invisible creature become visible; items picked up disappear if tucked into the clothing or pouches worn by the creature. Light, however, never becomes invisible, although a source of light can become so (thus, the effect is that of a light with no visible source). Any part of an item that the subject carries but that extends more than 2 meters from it becomes visible.
Of course, the subject is not magically silenced, and certain other conditions can render the recipient detectable (such as stepping in a puddle). The spell ends if the subject attacks any creature. For purposes of this spell, an attack includes any spell targeting a foe or whose area or effect includes a foe. (Exactly who is a foe depends on the invisible characters perceptions.) Actions directed at unattended objects do not break the spell. Causing harm indirectly is not an attack. Thus, an invisible being can open doors, talk, eat, climb stairs, summon monsters and have them attack, cut the ropes holding a rope bridge while enemies are on the bridge, remotely trigger traps, open a portcullis to release attack dogs, and so forth. If the subject attacks directly, however, it immediately becomes visible along with all its gear. Spells that specifically affect allies but not foes are not attacks for this purpose, even when they include foes in their area.
Augment: You can Augment this spell in one or both of the following ways.
1. If you spend 4 additional spell points, the spell doesn't end if the subject attacks.
2. If you spend 2 additional spell points, this spell can affect an additional target within range.

Based on the invisibility and greater invisibility spells.

Read Thoughts
School: Spirit [Mind-Affecting]
Level: 2
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 60 ft.
Area: Cone-shaped emanation centered on you
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: Will negates; see text
Spell Resistance: No
Spell Points: 3

You know the surface thoughts of the mind of any creature in the area that fails a Will save. A target that succeeds on its save is not affected by this manifestation of the power, even if it leaves the area and then reenters the area before the duration expires.
Creatures of animal intelligence have simple, instinctual thoughts that you can pick up. If you read the thoughts of a creature with an Intelligence of 26 or higher (and at least 10 points higher than your own Intelligence score), you are stunned for 1 round and the power ends. This power does not let you pinpoint the location of an affected mind if you don’t have line of sight to the subject.
Each round, you can turn to use this power in a new area. The power can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.
Augment: For every 2 additional power points you spend, this power’s save DC increases by 1.

Strength of the Beast
School: Creation
Level: 2
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 min./level
Spell Points: 3

You call on the power of an animal spirit to increase one of your physical ability scores (choose either Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution). The spell grants a +4 enhancement bonus to the ability score you choose, adding the usual benefits provided by a high ability bonus.
Augment: You can augment this spell in either one or both of the following ways:
1. For every 5 additional spell points you spend, this spell grants a +4 enhancement bonus to another ability score.
2. If you spend two additional spell points, the spells range changes to touch and its target to any creature.

Based on the bears endurance, bulls strength, and cats grace spells and the animal affinity power.

Yora

2013-05-24, 05:26 PM

NPC Compendium
So far only a list, but these are all the generic NPCs I've planned out as of now. Might get to writing down the stat blocks tomorrow or early next week.

Warriors
{table=head]Name | CR | Class | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | Gear
Militia Recruit | 1/3 | War 1 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 8 | fabric armor, spear, sling
Militia Warrior | 1/2 | War 2 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 8 | fabric armor, light shield, shortspear, 3 javelins
Militia Veteran | 1 | War 3 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 8 | leather scale armor, heavy shield, battleaxe, 3 thrw. axes
Militia Leader | 2 | War 4 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 8 | scale armor, heavy shield, longsword, 3 throwing axes
Archer | 1/2 | War 2 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 8 | fabric armor, longbow, dagger
Veteran Archer | 1 | War 3 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 8 | fabric armor, longbow, short sword
Elite Archer | 2 | War 4 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 8 | leather scale armor, composite longbow, short sword
Hunter | 1/2 | Exp 1/War 1 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 8 | fabric armor, handaxe, shortbow
Tracker | 1 | Exp 2/War 1 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 8 | fabric armor, dagger shortbow
Scout | 2 | Exp 2/War 2 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 8 | leather scale armor, short sword, composite shortbow[/table]

Soldiers
{table=head]Name | CR | Class | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | Gear
Warrior | 1/2 | Ftr 1 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | hide armor, spear, 3 javelins
Veteran | 1 | Ftr 2 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | leather scale armor, heavy shield, battleaxe, 3 throwing axes
Sergeant | 2 | Ftr 3 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 10 | leather scale armor, heavy shield, longsword, 3 throwing axes
Elite | 3 | Ftr 4 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | chainmail, heavy shield, longsword, 3 throwing axes
Light cavalry | 1 | Ftr 2 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | leather scale armor, scimitar, composite shortbow, warhorse
Heavy cavalry | 2 | Ftr 3 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | scale armor, heavy shield, battleaxe, 3 javelins
Berserker | 1 | Bbn 2 | 17* | 11 | 16* | 8 | 10 | 9 | hide armor, heavy shield, battleaxe, 3 throwing axes
Veteran Berserker | 3 | Bbn 4 | 18* | 11 | 16* | 8 | 10 | 9 | scale armor, greataxe, 3 throwing axes[/table]

Bandits
{table=head]Name | CR | Class | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | Gear
Thug | 1 | War 1/Rog 1 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 9 | fabric armor, battleaxe, light shield, dagger
Bandit | 2 | War 2/Rog 1 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 9 | leather scale armor, light shield, short sword, shortbow
Mercenary | 3 | Ftr 2/War 2 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | scale armor, heavy shield, battleaxe, 3 throwing axes
Bounty Hunter | 3 | Rng 2/War 2 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 8 | chain shirt, short sword, composite shortbow
Bandit Veteran | 3 | Rog 2/War 2 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 9 | scale armor, greataxe, 3 throwing axes
Bandit Leader | 4 | Rog 2/War 3 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 11 | scale armor, heavy shield, longsword, 3 throwing axes
Pickpocket | 1/3 | Exp 1 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 8 | dagger
Thief | 1/2 | Exp 2 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 8 | fabric armor, 3 daggers
Burglar | 2 | Exp 2/Rog 1 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 8 | fabric armor, 3 daggers
Spy | 3 | Exp 2/Rog 2 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 11 | masterwork dagger, 2 daggers
Assassin | 2 | Ftr 1/Rog 2 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 8 | fabric armor, short sword, 3 daggers
Master Assassin | 4 | Ftr 2/Rog 3 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 8 | chain shirt, masterwork short sword, 3 daggers[/table]

Spellcasters
{table=head]Name | CR | Class | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | Gear
Apprentice | 1/2 | Adept 1 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 8 | dagger
Witch | 1 | Adept 2 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 10 | dagger
Junior Mage | 2 | Adept 3 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 10 | dagger
Senior Mage | 3 | Adept 4 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 10 | masterwork dagger
Novice | 1/2 | Shaman 1 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 10 | quarterstaff, sling
Acolyte | 1 | Shaman 2 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 10 | fabric armor, light shield, mace, sling
Junior Shaman | 2 | Shaman 3 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 10 | leather scale armor, light shield, mace, sling
Senior Shaman | 3 | Shaman 4 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 10 | leather scale armor, light shield, masterwork mace, sling[/table]

Yora

2013-05-27, 09:56 AM

Traits
Once more I come with both ideas as well as a request for feedback regarding what you people are thinking about them.

Traits in Pathfinder work pretty much as you expect them to. You get two traits at character creation that give a little bonus to something or another. A bit like additional racial features.
However, Ancient Lands is always about people and stories and not about character builds and optimization, so traits might potentially be an addition of questionable benefit. Players are supposed to get as much as possible away from the idea of overcomming obstacles with their character sheet and instead consider what a person within the campaign might do. So I believe limiting traits significantly from the hundreds of options in the SRD is unavoidable.

As I see it, I think a good way to start is to set what kinds of traits characters can have. Based on things I've been working on earlier, I would say one good category would be Background Traits, as a way to pick up the concept of all characters being of specific social backgrounds, like highborn, freeman, or outcast.

With the second trait, things are not so clear and there is a wide range of options available. One which I think could be quite interesting would be a Terrain Trait, to indicate in what kind of environment the character grew up. With the Ancient Lands being almost entirely wilderness and the people being highly exposed to the forces of nature, that could be a quite important theme. Characters from an arctic region would be able to cope better with cold, characters from an aquatic region better in dealing with being in water, and so on. However, the basic concept of the Ancient Lands lends itself very strongly to having all the characters in a group be from the same settlement, so they would usually all share the same regional background, making it a bit less notable.

This is just the first bunch of ideas I am having, but I'm not entirely sure where to go with this exactly. So any form of input and comments would be very much appreciated.
We didn't have a lot of those in the last weeks.:smallamused:

Zap Dynamic

2013-05-27, 03:28 PM

If you're looking to build a setting that focuses on people and stories, have you done much looking into storytelling games? Games like Microscope (http://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/93970/microscope), Pilgrims of the Flying Temple (http://rpggeek.com/rpg/10771/do-pilgrims-of-the-flying-temple), and others (many of which are free material) are written in such a way that characters are given a huge amount of creativity established from a set of small, elegant rules.

For traits, one idea you might consider is telling players that they can choose any 1 "Benefit" for their characters, but it must be accompanied by any 1 "Hindrance." These would be sentences the players write themselves (e.g. "Gram the Barbarian can smell a thief from a mile away, but can't spot a liar in broad daylight."), and they would need to work with the GM to settle on benefits and hindrances that would make a meaningful contribution to their game.

Benefits and Hindrances could be considered storytelling "trump cards," that allow the player to totally forsake the rules (probably only once per day), or their actions could be more strictly codified. Either way, they should be sentences that give the player both an advantage and a drawback that will do interesting things to the stories being told.

You could provide a little more structure to this system by adding in your idea of "terrain traits" and the like. You could establish a given number of categories (terrain, people, creatures, history, etc.) and require that each Benefit and Hindrance must relate to one of those categories. These could be as specific or as general as you want, and the list of available categories could be custom-tailored to each campaign.

Actually, I think I may do something similar in my own setting. Thanks for spurring the thought! :smallsmile: Of course, you're welcome to use any or all of this idea if you'd like.

Yora

2013-05-28, 03:15 AM

That's an interesting idea to approach it. I have to think about that.

Yora

2013-05-29, 02:06 PM

Spells (cont.)

Cone of Cold
School elements [air, cold, water]
Level 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range 30 ft.
Target cone-shaped spread
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half
Spell Resistance yes
Spell Points 3

You create a cone-shaped blast of supercooled air that deals 3d6 points of cold damage to every creature or object within the area.
Augment: For every additional spell point you spend, this spells damage increases by 1d6. For each extra two dice of damage, this spells save DC increases by 1.

Daze
School spirit (compulsion) [mind-affecting]
Level 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one humanoid creature of 4 HD or less
Duration 1 round
Saving Throw Will negates
Spell Resistance yes
Spell Points 1

This spell clouds the mind of a humanoid creature with 4 or fewer Hit Dice so that it takes no actions. Humanoids of 5 or more HD are not affected. A dazed subject is not stunned, so attackers get no special advantage against it. After a creature has been dazed by this spell, it is immune to the effects of this spell for 1 minute.
Augment: This spell can be augmented in one or more of the following ways.
1. For every additional spell point you spend, this spell can affect a target that has Hit Dice equal to 4 + the additional points.
2. For every additional spell point you spend, increase the duration of the effect by 1 round.
3. If you spend 6 additional spell points, the target is stunned for 1 round instead of dazed.
In addition, for every 2 additional spell points you spend to achieve any of these effects, this spell’s save DC increases by 1.

Lightning Arcs
School elements [electricity]
Level 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target up to five creatures or unattended objects; no two targets can be more than 15 ft. apart.
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half
Spell Resistance yes
Spell Points 3

You create arcs of lightning that hit up to five targets within range. The lightning deals 3d6 points electricity damage. You can not hit the same target multiple times.
Augment: For every additional spell point you spend, this spells damage increases by 1d6. For each extra two dice of damage, this spells save DC increases by 1.

Lightning Bolt
School elements [electricity]
Level 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range 120 ft.
Area 120-ft.-line
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half
Spell Resistance yes
Spell Points 5

You create a blast of lightning that deals 5d6 points of electricity damage to every creature or object within its path.
Augment: For every additional spell point you spend, this spells damage increases by 1d6. For each extra two dice of damage, this spells save DC increases by 1.

Magic Weapon
School spirit
Level 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one weapon or fifty projectiles (all of which must be in contact with each other at the time of casting)
Duration 1 minute/level
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless, object)
Spell Resistance yes (harmless, object)
Spell Points 1

This spell gives a weapon a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls. An enhancement bonus does not stack with a masterwork weapon's +1 bonus on attack rolls.
Alternatively, you can affect as many as fifty arrows, darts, or bullets. The projectiles must be of the same kind, and they have to be together (in the same quiver or other container). Projectiles, but not thrown weapons, lose their transmutation when used. (Treat darts as projectiles, rather than as thrown weapons, for the purpose of this spell.)
You can't cast this spell on a natural weapon, such as an unarmed strike.
Augment: You can augment the spell in one or both of the following ways.
1. For every 4 additional spell points you spend, the enhancement bonus increases by +1.
2. If you spend 2 additional spell points, the spells duration increases to 1 hour/level.

Ray of Cold
School elements [cold, water]
Level 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect ray
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none
Spell Resistance yes
Spell Points 1

You create a blast of cold air that deals 1d6 points of cold damage if it hits a target.
Augment: For every additional spell point you spend, this spells damage increases by 1d6.

Ray of Electricity
School elements [electricity]
Level 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect ray
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none
Spell Resistance yes
Spell Points 1

You create a blast of lightning that deals 1d6 points of electricity damage if it hits a target.
Augment: For every additional spell point you spend, this spells damage increases by 1d6.

Suggestion
School spirit (compulsion) [mind-affecting, language-dependent]
Level 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./level)
Target one creature
Duration 1 hour/level or until completed (see text)
Saving Throw Will negates
Spell Resistance yes
Spell Points 3

You influence the actions of the target creature by suggesting a course of activity (limited to a sentence or two). The suggestion must be worded in such a manner as to make the activity sound reasonable. Asking the creature to do some obviously harmful act automatically negates the effect of the spell.
The suggested course of activity can continue for the entire duration. If the suggested activity can be completed in a shorter time, the spell ends when the subject finishes what it was asked to do. You can instead specify conditions that will trigger a special activity during the duration. If the condition is not met before the spell duration expires, the activity is not performed.
A very reasonable suggestion causes the save to be made with a penalty (such as –1 or –2).
Augment: You can augment this spell in one or more of the following ways.
1. For every 2 additional spell points you spend, this spell can affect an additional target.
2. If you spend 4 additional spell points, the duration increases to 1 day/level and you can delay the suggestion from taking effect until a set of specified circumstances triggers it. The target makes a single Will saving throw when the spell is cast and does not get a second saving throw when the suggestion is triggered.
In addition, for every 2 additional spell points you spend to achieve any of these effects, this spell’s save DC increases by 1.

Summon Demon
School fel (summoning)
Level 1
Casting Time 1 round
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect one summoned demon
Duration 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw none
Spell Resistance no
Spell Points 1

This spell summons one 1st-level demon that attacks your enemies. It appears where you designate and acts immediately, on your turn. It attacks your opponents to the best of its ability. As a free action, you can mentally direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions. The spirit acts normally on the last round of the spells duration and dissipates at the end of its turn.
Augment: For every 2 additional spell points you spend, the level of the spirit increases by one.

Summon Spirit
School creation (summoning)
Level 1
Casting Time 1 round
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect one summoned spirit
Duration 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw none
Power Resistance no
Power Points 1

This spell summons one 1st-level spirit that attacks your enemies. It appears where you designate and acts immediately, on your turn. It attacks your opponents to the best of its ability. As a free action, you can mentally direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions. The spirit acts normally on the last round of the spell’s duration and dissipates at the end of its turn.
Augment: For every 2 additional spell points you spend, the level of the spirit increases by one.

Thicken Skin
School creation
Level 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range personal
Target you
Duration 10 minutes/level
Spell Points 1

Your skin or natural armor thickens and spreads across your body, increasing your natural armor bonus by +1.
Augment: You can augment this spell in one or more of the following ways.
1. For every 3 additional spell points you spend, the bonus increases by 1.
2. If you spend 2 additional spell points, you can cast this spell on another creature with a range of touch.
2. If you spend 6 additional spell points, you can cast this spell as a swift action.

Spells that are still missing but planned are light, darkness, hold monster, fear, sleep, cure wounds, heal disease, restoration, resist energy, web, shape wood, shape stone, change body, invisibility, remove fear, read thoughts, illusory image, and illusory terrain.
Really pretty basic stuff, but it's meant to be relatively simple and straightforward magic.

But if anyone has ideas for spells that should be added to the setting, they are as always highly welcome. Particularly in regard to blood magic and demon magic there is still much need for more spells.

Yora

2013-05-31, 08:43 AM

I think I am getting pretty close to getting spellcasting wrapped up. But there are still some open issues that need to be taken care off, and maybe some of you might have something helpful to say about them.

Arcane Spell Failure:Divine spellcasters and psionic manifesters in D&D and Pathfinder can cast their spells in full armor just fine without any restrictions. An oracle or a kineticist psions are pretty much sorcerers and nobody gives them a second thought, so I would say arcane spell failure has no meaningful effect on class balance, so I simply won't bother with it. Everyone can cast in armor with no restrictions.

Spell Lists: There really aren't that many spells. Less than 70 as of now. And I feel that between a witch and a shaman there really isn't that much of a difference. Now a shaman would probably not cast fireballs and a sorcerer might not now a healing spell, but I don't feel it's worth making two separate spells lists just for that. In the Conan RPG, priests are just sorcerers who also work in a temple, in the Wheel of Time game Initiates and Wilders are also mostly interchangeable, and in Dragon Age the elven druids have all the same spells as all other mages. If someone wants to make a fire and lightning shaman, so be it.

Material Components: Since nobody ever keeps track of them or even remembers them, I say scratch those as well. Restoration is the only spell that has an expensive material component under the standard spell system, but you don't really have to remove permanent negative levels that often and to tell the truth, negative levels suck anyway.

Verbal and Somatic Components: Psionics does not have them and again nobody ever complains that it makes them overpowered. However, in psionics, lightning arcs and fireballs can simply shot from your forehead, which I think would be a bit inappropriate.
So I would say I leave them in, where it would be weird to cast the spell with the hands tied or without using your voice. They are not really important though.

Metamagic: Personally, I am very much inclined to not use metamagic at all. With augmentation, you can improve almost any spell as it is without any metamagic feats. And since most PCs will be 3rd to 7th level, most metamagic feats are either not that useful, or too expensive to use. So I don't think it's much of a loss.
The main reason is that in the psionic rules, metamagic requires the use of psionic focus, a mechanic I really don't want to include just for the few situations in which a character actually does happen to use a metamagic feat.
An alternative would be to use metamagic feats, but handle them like for bards and sorcerers, in that you can use them at any time, but it increases the duration of the spell to at least 1 full-round action. Which I frequently have people start ranting about, since they make sorcerers super bad or something.
Another possibility would be to allow metamagic without any restriction. Any spellcaster can use metamagic feats every round without an increase in casting time.
I'm really not sure what to do with this one.

Yora

2013-05-31, 02:26 PM

Today, TriOmegaZero from the Paizo forums gifted me the new Ultimate Campaign as a pdf with leftover money from a Kickstarter, because I was unable to use Paizos shop with my German bank account. Since there's a lot of stuff regarding non-combat activities, and managing small kingdoms, and armies, I consider it a donation to this little project, which certainly is worth mentioning here. :smallbiggrin:

Zap Dynamic

2013-05-31, 02:57 PM

I haven't had a chance to look at it myself, but have you looked at Adventurer, Conqueror, King (http://www.autarch.co/)? It's all about moving from the adventuring phase into domain-level play, and is supposedly the modern authority on stuff like that. The information in the book is based on medieval data, but it could be adapted pretty easily.

At the very least, I think these posts from their blog would be great research for you.

Starting From the Ground Up pt. 1 (http://www.autarch.co/blog/starting-ground-upliterally)
Starting From the Ground Up pt. 2 (http://www.autarch.co/blog/starting-ground-part-ii)
Demographics of Heroism (http://www.autarch.co/blog/demographics-heroism)
The Secret Ratio (http://www.autarch.co/blog/secret-ratio)

Enjoy!

Yora

2013-05-31, 05:02 PM

Thanks for the links, this is highly appreciated.

But it seems to go in the direction of actually calculating such things and keeping track of an "economy" and populations, and so on. While that is often tempting, I've personally come to embrace fudging and handwaving such things. The "1 in 2000 is 6th level or higher" thing I quite like, as I did something very similar (also with a 3:1 ratio for each increasing step), just with a lot more 0 level NPCs.
But when it comes to counting populations in a country or settlement, as well as what's in store in the shops and how much loot you can sell, I've come to feel a lot more comfortable with just not bothering about it. With few magic items and no magic shops in the games I run as well as in the setting, loot and cash becomes rather meaningless pretty soon. At 4th level you want to deck yourself out with masterwork weapon and armor and maybe stock up on potions and buy yourself a horse, but mostly it's just that little stuff for food and lodging, that isn't worth counting the copper pieces for.
Also ACK is a BECMI retro clone, a type of game I am particularly not too thrilled about. But they might have some good books on society fluff that might still be worth looking into.

Which brings me to something I just read in Ultimate Campaign. It has a system that tracks the more abstract resources of Good, Labor, Influence, and Magic. Goods is all the material stuff you have, like building material and trade goods; Labor is how much laborers you can call on to build stuff for you; Influence is how many favors you have with the locals; and Magic your stock in potions, magical ingredients, scrolls, which aren't tracked in detail. If you want to build houses or recruit followers, you don't "pay" in coins but in these resources. If you want to build a small keep, you need to have material, workers, and some favors to call in. You can reach deep into your coffers and simply buy them on the open market, but that's a lot more expensive than using material you already have, workers you got cheap, and services you already earned from people in your debt.

As I mentioned with the Kingdom rules, most of the "adaptation" work for Ancient Lands will probably consist of cutting out a great deal of the options. Clockworkshops, greenhoses, and scriptoriums would be of no use and running a trading company or inn would be a bit out of place for the theme. But there is still lots of fun stuff to build your own little stronghold and gather a bunch of tough men to hold the fort and patrol the countryside while you become one of the big fish in the area.
I still have to get through those whole 180 pages and I hope the sub-systems are going to be up on the SRD in a month or so (which paizo already planned, but it takes some time).

Zap Dynamic

2013-05-31, 08:12 PM

Hahaha, as I was reading your first paragraph I started brainstorming ideas to streamline ACKS' stuff. Then I got to your second paragraph, and realized what a great idea that is! I'm working with a system called Warrior, Rogue, & Mage over at my own campaign setting, and I think Labor, Goods, and Magic are great analogues for the three main stats. Influence could be calculated cumulatively for the whole party, and all four of these things could be added into treasure tables.

Since I don't have Ultimate Campaign, I think I'll see if I can build my own mechanic based on those four resources, with a lot of that "secret ratio" stuff thrown in.

Thanks for the idea!

Yora

2013-06-01, 04:23 AM

I only browsed it, but I think Goods, Influence, Labor, and Magic are meant to be also used as quest rewards.
Complete a quest and in addition to the payment in gold, you also get some Influence. If you raid a bandit camp, you not only take their weapons and armor, but also some Goods from their storerooms.

Yora

2013-06-01, 09:01 AM

Allegiance
In the Ancient Lands, the PCs are not just wanderers passing through new villages all the time, but are expected to have some kind of outstanding role in the society of their clan and homeland. Allegiance is a simple systems that has only a minor impact on the stats of a Character, but can be a very strong reminder to players for what their characters believe in and stand for, which often can quite easily fade into the background. By having them as defining traits of a characters ability and written down on the character sheet, it becomes easier to remember that many characters are created to have different views and morals than their players.

Allegiance
Allegiance is a simple system from d20 modern that replaces Alignment in settings that don't have clear distinctions of good and evil or care in any way about order and chaos. Somehow the Conan d20 RPG seems to be the only other game that ever made use of it, and I think it is very much appropriate for the Ancient Lands setting as well.

Every character has up to three Allegiances which can be set at character creation or added and even switched at a later point during play. An Allegiance is a strong conviction and loyalty to some sort of ideology or moral system, which can be a philosophy, religion, organization, person, or even a concept. A character with an Allegiance believes truly in whatever ideals the group, person, or religion stands for and in many situations these ideals determine what they consider to be right or wrong. Simply being a member of an organization or follower of a person does not automatically mean the character also has to have an Allegiance to them. A warrior might join the guard of the town because he wants to do everything he can to protect the townsfolk, but if the rest of the guards are brutal thugs who use their position for their own gain and bully those weaker than themselves, the warrior surely would feel no loyalty to them and also not have any Allegiance to the Town Guard. On the other hand, the bodyguard of a highborn leader might have been wrongly accused of treason and forced into exile, but still be loyal to his master who thinks him a traitor and therefore retain Allegiance to him.
The main purpose of having Allegiance is to serve as a guideline to what a character would do in a situation where the player is not entirely sure what would be the right or wrong thing to do. Assume a mercenary has Allegiance to his company, but notices some of his brothers in arms stealing from their current employer. Should he report them or cover for them when the theft is detected? Having an alignment of Lawful Neutral would be of no help in this situation and the player might feel that it would be the right thing to report them based on his own understanding of justice. But he wanted his character to be a cold and ruthless mercenary so he gave the character the Allegiance "Mercenary Company". A quick peek on his character sheet reminds him of this and he can take this as a guideline to cover for the other mercenaries. While it goes against the players ideals, his character puts his loyalty to his companions over everything. A priest might have Allegiance both to his order as well as to the High Priest. If the High Priest starts to oppose the order in some way, which side will the character pick? If the player is torn about whether the High Priests actions are justified or not, checking which allegiance is ranked higher might be a basis to make this descision.
Particularly in the Ancient Lands setting, where things are never meant to be black and white, and players are highly encouranged to make characters who are sometimes of questionable character but not outright bad people, Allegiance appears to be a very useful tool to keep focus on this aspect.

A character can have up to three Allegiances, ranking from highest to lowest. Probably the most common Allegiance in the Ancient Lands is loyalty toward ones own clan, which almost any character should have. Even those people who don't actually do still at least pretend to do so. The closest followers, retainers, and the companions of a lord usually have their master as one of their loyalties as well. If a character with the Leadership feat has a cohort or followers, these also surely have their master as one of their Allegiances. Other common allegiances are loyalty towards a specific organization, like a mercenary company, a band of warriors, or the shamans of a shrine.

When a PC is dealing with an NPC and they both have a way to learn that they share an Allegiance, the PC gets a +2 bonus to all Charisma checks made to influence that character.
On the other hand, if the NPC knows that the PC has an Allegiance that is opposed to one of his own, the PC suffers a -2 penalty to these checks.

Honor
Honor is a very simple system from Ultimate Campaign that also serves as a system for Reputation (which in UCam is the name for a different system). Since people from different cultures and even from different groups within the same culture, have quite different ideas about what is right to do and what makes a person respectable, the Honor system rather focuses on something that could also be called Integrity, Trustworthiness, or being firm in following your own principles. A brutal warlord might be feared and hated, but if he always stays true to his conviction of sparing those who surrender to him and never mistreat his warriors and their servants, this still creates a certain sense of trustworthiness. If people have to deal with him, they know what to expect and which of his offers and promisses they can trust and rely on.

Having a Honor Code is optional and there are no penalties for not having one. But if a character choses to follow a code of honor, he must take it as one of his three Allegiances. Only if the code of honor is one the most important loyalties for a character does it actually mean something.

A new character begins play with a Honor score equal to his Charisma Score plus his Character Level (or HD). For an NPC who isn't known to be either particularly honorable or dishonorable, the Honor score is equal to his CR × 5. The Honor score rises and falls depending on the characters actions and his honor code. The Honor score can get as high as 100 and as low as 0, however a character who does not have a code of Honor has no honor score at all.
The Honor score is not only an indicator of fame and reputation, but also a way to call in special favors that go beyond the normally reasonable. By throwing the weight of your reputation onto the scales, you may convice another person to grant you the favor, but in doing so your reputation also gets slightly blemished and you lose a small amount of Honor that decreases your Honor score by 1d6 to 5d6 points depending on the favor. After all, a truly honorable person follows his ideals out of personal conviction, not for his own gain.

Yora

2013-06-01, 01:03 PM

Turns out comming up with some Honor Codes isn't actually that easy...

One step is to come up with what codes there should be, the other one is to come up with specfic rules about what is honorable and what not. I've got some ideas so far but nothing definite yet. So I think I just share them here so you can tell me what you think.

Highborn Code: The highborn code applies to chiefs, the members of the "court", and all other highborn or clansmen of high reputation who aspire to greter "political" power. More than for anyone else, people following the highborn honor code are expected to see after the interest and safety of their clanspeople and speak up on their behalf. Any insults or threats against the clan are also an offense to the highborn themselves and their honor demands that they defend the reputation of their clan.
Actions that show that a character is a capable leader and willing to stand up for the clans interest increase the honor of a character with the highborn honor code.
Warrior Code: Warriors respect strength and expect that a person does not give in or retreat needlessly, but also that the power of a clearly stronger opponent is recognized and accepted. While being defeated bring shame, disrespecting a stronger warrior is even worse. Followers of the warrior code increase their honor by defeating powerful opponents and winning battles, as well as defending the people of their clan and its guests.
Hunter Code: While turning ones back towards ones own people is usually considered a deep character flaw, people who do so can still earn the respect and recognition of both highborn and warriors. Followers of the hunter code increase their reputation by performing great feats of skill and courage, and by risking their lives in protection of even those whom they owe nothing.
Mercenary Code: Characters who follow the mercenary code can never be of highborn or clansmen status, but it is their reputation that earns them the status of freemen instead of common outcasts. Mercenaries increase their honor by completing contracts for honorable employers and showing great acts of professionalism and being reliable. They lose honor for abandoning their employers and engaging in wanton slaughter and pillaging.
Shaman Code: The shaman code applies both to shamans as well as their novices, acolytes, and even common servants that work in a shrine or temple. Followers of the shaman code increase their honor by performing tasks for spirits and serving the people who come to the shrine in search for help. They dishonor themselves by being disrespectful to spirits and failing in their duties to their people.

One thing I notice very often is that I tent to slip into a way of thinking of the Ancient Lands as a world of Mongols, Vikings, and Cimmerians, while loosing the focus on elves, lizardfolk, and gnomes out of sight. I think this is one point at which these things might start to get a more solid grip on the whole setting one way or another. I rather want to avoid to create another Conan world and really want the ancient elves to be a major central theme of the setting, so whatever ideas you might have to give elven and lizardfolk culture a greater hold in the overall society of the Ancient Lands, please share them, everything would be useful.

Yora

2013-06-03, 02:42 PM

(This is a copy from an older thread two years ago. Still love the idea and want to keep it.)

Taint
Demons and undead have no place in the natural order of things and their mere presence causes a corruption of the life energies of the land and living creatures near them. This corruption is known as Taint, and it warps and twists everything it comes in contact with. Negative energy is tainted life energy in its purest form, so all undead creatures and spells that use negative energy or death effects carry the Taint. Demons are another source of Taint, since their nature is completely different from the natural order of the Material World and the Spiritworld. Even the most well meaning and benevolent demon has this effect on anything it comes in contact with outside the Void. Demons who want to avoid causing damage to mortals usually refrain from passing over from the Void unless absolutely necessary and rather communicate through magic or lesser servants whose smaller life force is less corrupting on the natural world.
Taint is a disturbance in the natural energies of the worlds of Mortals and Spirits and will eventually disappear. However, this process is slow and may take years or even centuries, depending on the strength of the corruption. Places and objects become tainted by their continuous exposure to Taint, which is often found in the lairs of necromancers or the temples of demonic cults. Another common source of Taint are warlocks, sorcerers and more rarely shamans, who channel the powers of the Void to increase their magical power.

Gaining Taint
Characters gain Taint by being exposed to highly tainted places or objects, or by casting spells powered by demonic energy, or by being targeted by such spells.
In places with mild taint, characters have to make a DC 10 Fortitude save for every full day they have been exposed to the taint. In areas of moderate Taint, characters have to make a DC 12 save for every full hour, and in areas of strong Taint a DC 15 save for ever minute. The DC increases by +1 for every interval during which the character stays in the area. On a failed save, a characters Taint score increases by 1. Characters who have never been tainted have a Taint score of 0.
For tainted objects, a character is exposed by having the item in his possession, but he has to make a first check immediately on touching the object, just as if he had been exposed to it for one full interval.

Effects of Taint
A characters Taint manifests as a penalty to his Constitution and Wisdom scores. A character with a Constitution score of 14 and a Wisdom score of 11 who has a Taint score of 3 effectively has a Constitution score of 11 and a Wisdom score of 8. Characters with the Taint Suppression feat take no penalty to Constitution and only half the penalty to Wisdom.
When a character with a Taint score of 1 or higher is reduced to an effective Constitution score of 0, he dies and turns into wight after 1d4 hours. If the Wisdom score falls to 0, the character dies as well and turns into a wraith after 1d4 minutes.

Cleansing Taint
Some spells can reduce a characters Taint score.
Remove Affliction (remove curse, remove disease): This spells reduces a characters taint score by 1 point, but it cannot reduce a taint score below 1.
Restoration: This spell reduces a character’s taint score by 1 point per four caster levels, but it cannot reduce a taint score below 1 unless augmented.

Cleansing entire places is very difficult and requires a long series of difficult and expensive magic rituals. It is only very rarely done and usually tainted places are simply abandoned.

Taint Supression
Prerequisite: Con 13, Wis 13, character must be tainted.
Benefit: You take no penalty to your Constitution score for being tainted and only half the normal penalty to your Wisdom score.

I want to keep this relatively simple, but if anyone has ideas how to improve it, please speak up.

Adventure Site: Stormkeep
Deep inside the forest, three days from the nearest elven settlement, stands a single mountain that rises high above the surrounding trees. The entire top has been carved out into a large castle, which is the largest known fortress in all of the Barbarian Lands and if fully inhabited would easily be the continents greatest city. Despite being one of the largest and best preserved ruins of the fey, pretty much nothing is known about it at all. There are no hints whatsoever, who build it for what purpose, and why it was abandoned. The size of stone tables and benches, and the staircases that run everywhere through the ruin indicates that it was probably inhabited by shee, but that is where common knowledge ends.
While storms are not particularly common in the area, those who have been in the city all reported extremely strong wind that almost constantly blows through the narrow allies and makes it dangerous to get to close to edges that don't have high railings. There are no large flying beasts like griffons or wyverns living on the cities spires, and even on the inside it's mostly rats, bats, and other vermin. The most probable reason for this is, that the entire place is haunted. Reports are conflicting about what kinds of being are haunting the place. Some say it's spirits, ghosts, or wraiths, and there are even occasional claims of demons. How many of these creatures are haunting the massive fortress is anyones guess. What is known is that the whole place is mildly tainted. Even explorers who have left the place before nightfall report of feeling an unnatural fatigue that often lasts for days afterwards. For attempts to delve deeper into the ruins magical protection is needed and some adventurers tell of halls that made their protective charms break and rot away the moment they set foot inside it.
The outer parts of the city are relatively easy to explore, with the strong winds being the only thing that may be difficult to deal with. However, it is believed that the corridors and stairs reach all the way down to the mountains base and that the whole mountain has been hollowed out by the castles builders. There are some open shafts that provide air and a slight amount of light to parts of the deeper chambers, but once one leaves the outer streets and the rooms directly adjacent to it, the entire ruins lie in complete darkness. Only the outermost portions of the ruins have been explored, and there are no known tales of anyone ever making it up all the way to the highest spires.

Since it has been thousands of years that the entire place stood empty, almost all wooden furniture and tapestires have been rotten away ages ago. But there are some rooms that are remarkably well preserved, assumedly by magic, and still show some of the cities original splendor. Even while the outside streets are covered in dust and small plants have cracked open many of the stones, one can still see that the original architecture was much more advanced that anything mortal masons can do in the present age. Unlike most fey ruins, the stone blocks that make the outer buildings added to the rock have no rounded edges and are seamlessly fitted together.

Character Names
Lizardfolk: f: Bisra, Dakra, Dara, Draga, Enra, Iskra, Kire, Majai, Matei, Mihal, Mukai, Nada, Raija, Ruka, Ruza, Soia, Vorja, Yaga; m: Adon, Aran, Atar, Ator, Bogan, Bragor, Dajen, Dragan, Enyo, Goran, Hakar, Hazan, Karoj, Kero, Komur, Magjar, Rato, Razan, Ruzar, Sarka, Tagaj, Toron, Utam, Verko.
Wood Elf: f: Adven, Aina, Anya, Asta, Birte, Bodil, Eha, Elin, Elren, Hanna, Kaya, Maren, Maya, Nea, Valdis; m: Anerin, Arvid, Asger, Bevin, Dag, Dagfin, Fannar, Frey, Gunne, Haldor, Halvad, Keld, Keran, Kivan, Kyell, Nevin, Raga, Raiken, Sarel, Sevrin, Sindri, Stian, Teven, Tyge, Tyko, Yalma, Yan, Yeven, Yngwe.
Dark Elf f: Aiko, Airi, Akane, Akio, Aya, Ayaka, Ayane, Chika, Hanako, Kazue, Kyo, Mayu, Mika, Miku, Ran, Shiori, Umeko, Yua; m: Ayumu, Daiki, Haru, Jiro, Juro, Kaoru, Katsu, Kazuo, Kenta, Kohaku, Kuro, Masaru, Naoki, Noboru, Riku, Shin, Shun, Taiki, Takuma, Yasu.
Gnome: f: Aderyn, Afanen, Alis, Brid, Brona, Dagna, Dorean, Eadan, Filda, Fiona, Hailyn, Helmi, Ida, Kadi, Kaili, Katriona, Kerwen, Kora, Maewe, Mair, Mari, Moirin, Mona, Moyra, Murna, Naomi, Roshin; m: Aban, Ahren, Aidan, Anrai, Aran, Bran, Dulin, Garin, Goban, Gorim, Kahal, Kean, Kevan, Kolan, Konn, Neirin, Nial, Oran, Rogar.
Northern Human: f: Agi , Aino, Alma, Amu, Anu, Anya, Dora, Ella, Enni, Hanna, Inka, Kadri, Kati, Mara, Mari, Nora, Pinya, Rina, Ruha, Sara, Satu, Seiya, Taika, Taru, Terye, Trinu, Yana, Yanne; m: Ahti, Akos, Alvar, Ari, Artu, Arvo, Atto, Bandi, Bran, Elek, Iva, Kai, Kimi, Mika, Miksa, Oren, Pavo, Simo, Veli, Vilyo, Yani, Yaska, Yuha, Yuhan, Yuka.
Western Human: f: Aga, Agata, Alma, Aneta, Anka, Anna, Anya, Bara, Borna, Branka, Dana, Dariya, Darya, Dora, Draga, Elena, Ena, Ida, Ines, Katka, Katka, Maya, Mila, Nika, Nina, Sara, Sona, Stana, Tonka, Yaga, Yela, Yelka, Zoya; m: Alen, Davor, Edi, Eney, Fedir, Goran, Ivika, Matei, Matik, Mato, Miran, Pavo, Taras, Yaksa, Yaku, Yanes, Yanko.
Island Human: f: Batari , Cinta, Eka, Kanya, Kasi, Kaya, Kiri, Mawar, Mayli, Mona, Utari; m: Adi, Aku, Anaru, Batar, Dian, Hata, Kimo, Ruha, Sunan, Surya, Yuda.

Ghost Paint
Ghost paint is a special kind of warpaint used by the dark elf barbarians of the southern jungles. It consists of a white paste made from bone powder, chalk, and mud that is painted on the skin of warriors and enables them to channel the totem spirits of their clan. The complete patterns are only known to the high priests while apprentices learn only their most basic forms and are thought more advanced forms as they rise in station and magical power. When applied by a shaman, fragments of the totem spirits take possession of the warriors, granting them parts of their power.

First level shamans can make level 1 patterns that provide a +1 bonus to all skill checks based on a single ability score. First level patterns take 1 minute to apply.
Third level shamans know how to make level 2 patterns. These grant the warrior a +2 bonus to one ability score. It takes 10 minutes to create a level 2 pattern.
Fifth level shamans can create level 3 patterns which can grant either a +4 bonus to a single ability score or a +2 bonus to two ability scores. Level 3 patterns take one hour to make.
At seventh level shamans are tought the secrets of making the complete level 4 patterns. These allow the totem spirits to take complete possession of the subject.

Ghost paint lasts for an entire day and ends when the wearer falls asleep. However, it is considered highly dangerous to sleep with ghost paint and all warriors and shamans who recieve it know the ritual to end the effect when it is no longer needed. Sleeping while the spirit is not yet dismissed is believed to allow the spirit to take permanent possession and devouring the soul of the subject. Simply washing away the paint does not end the effect and the ritual must be performed even if the wearer fell into water and no traces of the paint are visible.

Level 1 patterns are applied to to temple guards and veteran hunters and scout every morning before they begin their tasks, usually those of a spirit that enhanced their awareness or skill at stealth. Shamans also often wear them once they have mastered their creation. In war, almost all warriors are given such patterns. (In the case of dark elf shaman NPCs, patterns can be treated as permanent magical items.)
Level 2 patterns are reserved for high ranking shamans and the clans most seasoned veteran warriors. They are sometimes given to other scouts and hunters for special tasks.
Level 3 patterns are only used for special occasions, like important rituals or to prepare high ranking warriors for important duels or great battles.
Level 4 patterns are very rarely made and only in the most desperate time. Very few shamans know the complete patterns that allow the totem spirits to take full possession of a warrior or shaman. Except for very special cases, complete patterns are never removed and their wearers slain after the emergency has passed. Once someone has been completely possessed by a totem spirit, it is regarded as completely unpredictable when and under what circumstances the spirit might return and be a terrible danger to anyone in its presence.

Timeline of the Ancient Lands

Age of Spirits
ca. -8,000: The naga start to capture lizardfolk and make them into a slave race to build and maintain their new and growing kingdoms.
ca. -6,300: Giants leave their primitive lifestyles behind and found a number of early kingdoms using weapons and armor made from heavy black iron.
ca. -6,000: The first castle of the shee is build in the mortal world.
ca. -5,670: Naga mages discover the existence of the Void and begin the creation of sorcery.
-5,109: An unnamed naga sorcerer makes direct contact with a highly powerful void spirit and becomes the first warlock.
ca. -4,500: In the northern forests the shee start to pay closer attention to the wild elves and teach some the basics of working bronze and magic.
-4,371: Careless naga warlocks cause the first large scale invasion of demons into the Ancient Lands. For several centuries demons rage through the Southern Jungles.
-3,811: With powerful magic the demons in the southern jungles are trapped and defeated, leaving behind the Black Jungle, a large and blasted wasteland that is haunted to this day.
-3,046: In the Southern Jungles the naga experience the greatest uprising of their lizardfolk slaves, which successfully overthrow their masters and found the Sun Empire.
-2,413: A group of elven warriors slay an old green dragon, gaining the respect of many shee and causing quite a commotion among both the shee and the elves, regarding the relationship of the two races.

The Age of Clans
ca. -2,000: Elves educated by the shee set out into the world to create their own nations.
ca. -1,200: Dark elves discover huge hives of large insects in the southern mountains.
-657: During an intense battle between rival factions, naga sorcerers accidentally sink an entire city below the Inner Sea. While first protected by their dark magic, the surviving inhabitants are slowly transformed into water genasi.
-512: The Smoking Mountain collapses, leaving behind the Demon Pit, a series of underground portals to the Void.
-372: Gnomes of the Great Northern Mountains master the creation of steel, but do not share their secrets with other races. However, they create many of the oldest and greatest magical weapons still wielded by great warriors throughout all the Ancient Lands.
-252: In a meaningless war between clans of the elves and kaas, an elven sorcerer general summons a horde of demons that consume most of both armies and turning the surrounding valleys into the Ashlands, haunted by the fallen warriors.
-71: Elven explorers encounter the human nomads of the great plains beyond the Western Border Mountains and return to the Ancient Lands with many new and wondrous goods.
1: The Alliance of Stars is formed, establishing the first elven kingdom on the mainland.
154: The Dark Fortress is build to guard one of the two major passes through the Border Mountains that separate the Ancient Lands from the Great Plains in the west.
162: A powerful kraken takes over the sunken naga city, soon becoming the greatest power below the Inner Sea.

The Transition Wars (73-417)
173: As competition for control over the lucrative trade with goods from the west starts to heat up, wars over the few trade routes erupt, marking the beginning of the Transition Wars.
214: Gnomes start to trade their famous steel with other races, making many of their cities incredibly wealthy but also drawing the Northlands into the Transition Wars.
248: To secure their hold over important trade routes, elven lords hire human mercenaries.
303: On the coast of the inner sea, elven sorcerers become the permanent rulers of a major port city.
332: After decades in the service of elven lords, many human clans migrate permanently into the Ancient Lands, settling mostly in the marshlands south of the Northern Forests.
379: Adventurers discovers tunnels leading down to the Underworld under the ruins of the Dark Fortress, rebuilding the fortifications to trapping the aberrations below.

The Age of Kings
417: The Transition wars come to an end and the first true city states arise.
(426: The oldest living elves are born)
(636: The oldest living humans are born)
726: The present day.

--

I decided to not make use of Traits for the Ancient Lands. You simply select a Background (mandatory) and Allegiances (optional). That's already enough to keep track of and customize your character.

Under the Domain Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15258714#post15258714), certain buildings affect what magic items can be found for sale in any settlement. I don't make use of the Settlement rules that deal with population numbers, crime rates, and so on, and magic items would be the only thing. Since there are no actual "magic item shops", I think it might be for the best to leave out these additional magic items from buildings like a temple or shrine. Nobody needed those lists for 30 years, so I don't see why to change it now.

Yora

2013-06-05, 03:05 PM

Generic NPCs

Notes: The fabric armor and leather scale armor are identical in their stats to leather armor and studded leather armor respectively.
Shield bonuses are calculated into touch AC but not included in flat-footed AC (that's simply not how shields work).

These NPCs include no modifiers for race. To make NPCs of a specific race, a GM only has to add the racial modifiers and traits, but in many cases that is not neccessary and they can be used just as stated here.

Warriors

Militia - CR 1/3
XP 135
Warrior 1
Medium humanoid
Init +0; Senses Perception +1
DEFENSE
AC 12, touch 10, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor)
hp 6 (1d10+1)
Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee spear +3 (1d8+1/x3)
Ranged javelin +1 (1d6+1)
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 9 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +1, CMB +2, CMD 12
Feats Weapon Focus (spear)
Skills Perception +1
Gear fabric armor, spear, 3 javelins

The regular militia man is usually a lowborn or freeman, or a clansman farmer who expects to take up arms to defend his home and his village. While these people have their own weapons and are trained with them, they usually have not much experience if any, and can hardly be called warriors.

Veteran Militia - CR 1/2
XP 200
Warrior 2
Medium humanoid
Init +0; Senses Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +1 shield)
hp 13 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +0
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee battleaxe +4 (1d6+1)
Ranged javelin +2 (1d6+1)
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 9 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +2, CMB +3, CMD 13
Feats Weapon Focus (battleaxe)
Skills Perception +2
Gear 3 javelins, leather scale armor, light shield, shortspear

Veteran militia are militia men who have already seen some amount of actual combat and have made real experience. They are more hardened that the simple militia men and often make up a major part of a villages defenders, sometimes even the bulk if the village is in a particularly hostile area.

Elite Militia - CR 1
XP 400
Warrior 3
Medium humanoid
Init +0; Senses Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +2 shield)
hp 22 (3d10+6)
Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee battleaxe +5 (1d8+1/x3)
Ranged javelin +3 (1d6+1)
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 9 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +3, CMB +4, CMD 14
Feats Toughness, Weapon Focus (short sword)
Skills Perception +3
Gear battleaxe, heavy shield, 3 javelins, leather scale armor

Elite militia have seen their fair share of battle and often have earned their place among the actual clansmen and highborn warriors, but they are still primarily farmers and craftsmen and only take up arms in times of war or attacks.

Light Cavalry - CR 1
XP 400
Warrior 3
Medium humanoid
Init +0; Senses Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +1 shield)
hp 19 (3d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee scimitar +5 (1d6+1/18-20)
Ranged javelin +3 (1d6+1)
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 9 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +3, CMB +4, CMD 14
Feats Mounted Combat, Weapon Focus (scimitar)
Skills Perception +2, Ride +3
Gear light shield, 3 javelins, leather scale armor, scimitar

Few people can afford a horse and train to ride it into battle and almost all of them are highborn or clansmen. While light cavalry troops consist of experienced warriors, they often lack the training and equipment for direct charges and instead are mostly used to quickly attack the enemies rear or chase after fleeing enemies.

Archers

Archer - CR 1/3
XP 135
Warrior 1
Medium humanoid
Init +1; Senses Perception +1
DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 11, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 6 (1d10+1)
Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +1 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged longbow +3 (1d8/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 9 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +1, CMB +1, CMD 12
Feats Weapon Focus (longbow)
Skills Perception +1
Gear dagger, fabric armor, longbow

Like militia men, common archers come usually from humble backgrounds. They often support the main forces of the clan during battle.

Veteran Archer - CR 1/2
XP 200
Warrior 2
Medium humanoid
Init +1; Senses Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 11, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 13 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +0
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee handaxe +2 (1d6/x3)
Ranged longbow +4 (1d8/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 9 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +2, CMB +2, CMD 13
Feats Weapon Focus (longbow)
Skills Perception +2
Gear fabric armor, handaxe, longbow

Veteran archers tend to be more skilled and experienced than common archers. They often accompany patrols and particularly in elven lands often serve as the main sentries for remote villages.

Elite Archer - CR 1
XP 400
Warrior 3
Medium humanoid
Init +1; Senses Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 19 (3d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee short sword +3 (1d6/19-20)
Ranged longbow +5 (1d8/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 9 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +3, CMB +3, CMD 14
Feats Deadly Aim, Weapon Focus (longbow)
Skills Perception +3
Gear leather scale armor, longbow, short sword

While usually rarely found in any large numbers in most clan armies, elite archers are more common in elven clans. They are often used in ambushes to weaken enemies before the main battle.

Cavalry Archer - CR 1
XP 400
Warrior 3
Medium humanoid
Init +1; Senses Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 19 (3d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee short sword +3 (1d6/19-20)
Ranged shortbow +4 (1d6/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 9 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +3, CMB +3, CMD 14
Feats Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat
Skills Perception +2, Ride +4
Gear leather scale armor, shortbow, short sword

Cavalry archers have extensve training in shoting from horseback, which makes them very valuable troops in combat.

Hunters

Hunter - CR 1/2
XP 200
Expert 1/warrior 1
Medium humanoid
Init +5; Senses Perception +4
DEFENSE
AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 10 (+1 Dex)
hp 10 (1d10+1d8)
Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +2
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee handaxe +2 (1d6+1/x3)
Ranged shortbow +2 (1d6/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 10 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +1, CMB +2, CMD 13
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Climb +6, Handle Animal +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Perception +4, Stealth +5, Survival +4
Gear handaxe, shortbow

Hunters not only possess great skill and experience with their bow, but also numerous woodland skills, which can often be a great boon to any warriors they accompany into the wilderness.

Tracker - CR 1
XP 300
Expert 2/warrior 1
Medium humanoid
Init +1; Senses Perception +5
DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 11, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 14 (1d10+2d8)
Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +3
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +3 (1d6+1/x3)
Ranged shortbow +3 (1d6/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 10 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +2, CMB +3, CMD 14
Feats Skill Focus (Survival)
Skills Climb +6, Handle Animal +5, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception +5, Stealth +6, Survival +8
Gear dagger, fabric armor, shortbow

While not really warriors as such, trackers are experts in reading tracks and finding trails of both intruders and refugees. They often accompany the warriors when hunting for escaped captives or hunting down enemy scouts in the clans territories.

Scout - CR 2
XP 600
Expert 2/warrior 2
Medium humanoid
Init +2; Senses Perception +5
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 20 (2d10+2d8)
Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +3
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee shortsword +4 (1d6+1/x3)
Ranged composite shortbow +5 (1d6+1/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 10 Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +3, CMB +4, CMD 16
Feats Skill Focus (Survival), Stealthy
Skills Climb +6, Escape Artist +3, Handle Animal +6, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception +5, Stealth +7, Survival +8
Gear composite shortbow (+1), leather scale armor, shortsword

Scouts are not only good hunters and trackers but also tend to have quite an amount of battle experience as well. They often patrol the outermost borders of a clans territory and are send out before advancing armies to inform them of any enemies nearby and also give detailed accounts of their numbers and strength.

I hope all the numbers and the equipment is correct. If anyone notices any mistake, please let me know.

Yora

2013-06-06, 11:30 AM

Dealing with the dreadful issue of spells again. Right now, this is the list of spells I have:

Animate Corpses
Beast Sight (low-light vision, darkvision, blindsight)
Charm
Cloak of Shadows (20% concealment)
Cone of Cold
Cone of Flames
Control Air
Control Body (blood magic body control)
Darkness
Daze
Detect Magic
Dispel Magic
Dominate
Drain Life (life stealing)
Earth Walk (spider climb)
Entangling Vines
Ethereal Form (incorporealness)
Faerie Fire
Fear
Featherfall
Fireball
Fire Bolt
Fog
Grease
Gust of Wind
Heal
Hold
Inflict Pain
Illusory Image (silent image and other)
Invisibility
Jump
Light
Lightning Arcs
Lightning Bolt
Magic Weapon
Ray of Cold
Ray of Electricity
Ray of Fire
Read Thoughts
Remove Affliction (disease and poison)
Remove Fear
Resist Energy
Restoration
Share Pain (take half of allies damage)
Sleep
Speak with Nature (animals, augmentable to plants and rocks)
Stone Shape
Strength of the Beast (bulls strength, cats grace, bears endurance)
Stunning Blast (daze in cone area)
Suggestion
Summon Demon
Summon Spirit
Thicken Skin (barkskin)
Transfer Life Energy (heal hp by taking damage)
Transformation, Minor (alter self, beast shape I)
Transformation (beast shape II, polymorph)
Vulnerability to Energy (double damage from energy)
Vulnerability to Weapons (double damage from weapons)
Wall of Fire
Water Breathing
Weakness (-2 to all rolls)
Web
Wind Wall
Wood Shape

I think this covers almost anything that would not be better served with a lengthy ritual. Spells that could be added are fly and levitate, but I am not sure if I should. They are cool, but give the PCs a lot of additional potential. Any thoghts on those? And additional effects that you think would be great, but are not on the list yet?

Yora

2013-06-08, 03:21 AM

So, it is done. For now.
Since it's 25 pages, I just link the pdf and won't reformat everything for the forum.

Ancient Lands Magic System (http://barbaripedia.eu/downloads/Spell_Point_Magic.pdf)

I might do some minor tweaks in the future and maybe add some more spells, escpecially fel spells, but this is pretty much what spellcasters will be working with.

The Adpet class will be a basic spellcaster like a wizard, and for the Shaman class I have planned to give access to the mysteries of the Oracle revelations. Adepts will need some other boon in compensation, but I'm not yet quite sure what that one will be. Maybe some additional spells known, or a simple bonus feat on 1st, 5th, and 10th level like wizards and psions have in D&D.

Yora

2013-06-09, 09:30 AM

Magic Items
Yes, more "system" and still not a lot of "setting". But I feel like establishing what things exist and which things don't is a rather important part in creating a coherent world that is in itself plausible. And I think soon this part is finally covered completely. After that there are still spirits and demons that need to be statted, but then it's really going to be about cultures, places, and people. :smallbiggrin:

Overall, the main guideline is that characters don't really need to have any magic equipment. Healing potions and restoration potions, as well as scrolls of summon spirit and energy resistance are expected to be relatively common for PCs from early levels on, but permanent items are rather rare. I actually intended that magic is always temporary and that the normal laws of physics take over again once the spell effect has ended, so they have a duration of hours at most. Not yet sure how I explain that a magic weapon can stay magic for thousands of years, but this is another detail that explains why magic items are special.

The magic item tables in Pathfinder have minor, medium, and major magic items. For the ancient lands, minor and medium items are instead classified as lesser and greater items, while anything that would be a major item is instead a lesser artifact (since no mortal alive can make them). Or as another reference, everything with a price greater than 30,000 gp would probably be out of the power range that is appropriate for the Ancient Lands.

Personally, I tend to to favore enhanced equipment over items that go into the overly fantastic and the magic item tables here are probably showing it. As a result, the tables are mostly enhancement bonuses that can be added to pretty much any piece of equipment or clothing, with relatively few specific items.

General Enchantments
{table=head]Effect | Base Price | Example
Ability bonus (enhancement) | Bonus squared x 1,000 gp | Belt of Strength +2
Armor bonus (enhancement) | Bonus squared x 1,000 gp | +1 chainmail
AC bonus (deflection) | Bonus squared x 2,000 gp | Ring of protection +2
Natural armor bonus (enhancement) | Bonus squared x 2,000 gp | Amulet of natural armor +1
Save bonus (resistance) | Bonus squared x 1,000 gp | Cloak of resistance +2
Save bonus (Fort, Ref, or Will) | Bonus squared x 300 gp | Boots of Reflexes +2
Save bonus (specific) | Bonus squared x 250 gp | Ring of Fear resistance +3
Skill bonus (competence) | Bonus squared x 100 gp | Cloak of elvenkind
Spell resistance | 10,000 gp per point over SR 12; min. SR 13 | Mantle of spell resistance
Weapon bonus (enhancement) | Bonus squared x 2,000 gp | +1 longsword
Effect | Base Price | Example
Single use, spell completion | Spell level x caster level x 25 gp | Scroll of lightning arcs
Single use, use-activated | Spell level x caster level x 50 gp | Potion of remove affliction
50 charges, spell trigger | Spell level x caster level x 750 gp | Wand of fireball
Command word | Spell level x caster level x 1,800 gp | Cape of the mountebank
Use-activated or continuous | Spell level x caster level x 2,000 gp² | Lantern of revealing
Special | Base Price | Adjustment Example
Charges per day | Divide by (5 divided by charges per day) | Boots of teleportation
No space limitation³ | Multiply entire cost by 2 | Ioun stone
Multiple different abilities | Multiply lower item cost by 1.5 | Helm of brilliance
Charged (50 charges) | 1/2 unlimited use base price | Ring of the ram
Specific Enchantment | Base Price | Example
Energy Resistance 10 | +18,000 gp
Low-light vision | +3,000 gp
Darkvision 60 ft. | +7,500 gp
Blindsight 30 ft. | +15,000 gp
Concealment (command word) | +21,600 gp
Total Concealment (command word) | +50,400 gp
Invisibility (command word)| +21,600 gp[/table]

Magic Weapon Enchantments
{table=head]Special Ability | Base Price Modifier
Bane | +1 bonus
Defending | +1 bonus
Distance | +1 bonus
Flaming | +1 bonus
Frost | +1 bonus
Ghost Touch | +1 bonus
Impact | +2 bonus
Keen | +1 bonus
Mighty Cleaving | +1 bonus
Returning | +1 bonus
Seeking | +1 bonus
Shock | +1 bonus
Spell Storing | +1 bonus
Throwing | +1 bonus[/table]

Magic Armor Enchantments
{table=head]Special Ability | Base Price Modifier
Arrow Deflection | +2 bonus
Bashing | +1 bonus
Ghost Touch | +3 bonus[/table]

Rods and Staves do not exist. Rings fall under wondrous items, since there really is nothing special about them except that you can wear two of them.
I also think that it's really not worth it to have Item Creation Feats. Instead, when PCs should for some reason attempt to make a magic item, the crafting DC is 15 + the caster level for the item. This is 10 higher than normal, since you basically ignore a major prerequisite (which is normally +5 to the DC and can not be done with the Item Creation feats).

The prices for items with specific saving throw bonuses are not 100% fixed yet, as I have to think some more on how useful they are in practice.

As always, if anyone has any items or enchantment that might be working great for the Ancient Lands, please share them in this thread.

Marcus Amakar

2013-06-09, 05:54 PM

Just posting to say that I really like what I've read in my skimming of your work.

Yora

2013-06-10, 12:49 PM

Magic Items I

BRACERS OF DUELING, GREATER
Aura moderate creation; CL 8th
Slot bracers; Price 25,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
These wristbands look like normal protective wear. The wearer gains a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls and a +1 competence bonus on damage rolls with melee weapons. Both bracers must be worn for the magic to be effective.
CONSTRUCTION
Cost 12,500 gp; crafter must be proficient all simple and martial weapons

BRACERS OF DUELING, LESSER
Aura faint creation; CL 4th
Slot bracers; Price 5,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
These wristbands function as greater bracers of dueling, except that they grant a +1 competence bonus on attack rolls and no bonus on damage rolls.
CONSTRUCTION
Cost 2,500 gp; crafter must be proficient all simple and martial weapons

FALCON HELM
Aura faint creation; CL 3rd
Slot helm; Price 2,500 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
This helmet is plated in copper and brass and etched with motives of bird wings. It grants a +5 competence bonus on Perception checks.
CONSTRUCTION
Cost 1,250 gp; beast sense

MASK OF NIGHT
Aura moderate creation; CL 5rd
Slot face/eyes; Price 9,000 gp; Weight —
DESCRIPTION
This is a simple black wooden mask that covers the upper half of the wearers face. It grants the wearer darkvision with a range of 60 ft.
CONSTRUCTION
Cost 4,500 gp; beast sense

SHADOWCLOAK, GREATER
Aura moderate entropy; CL 7th
Slot cloak; Price 50,400 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
As a standard action, the wearer of this cloak can shroud himself in a cloud of dark wisps of shadows, granting him total concealment (50% miss chance).
CONSTRUCTION
Cost 25,200 gp; cloak of shadows

SHADOWCLOAK, LESSER
Aura faint entropy; CL 3rd
Slot cloak; Price 21,600 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
As a standard action, the wearer of this cloak can shroud himself in a cloud of dark wisps of shadows, granting him concealment (20% miss chance).
CONSTRUCTION
Cost 10,800 gp; cloak of shadows

WINTER WOLF CLOAK
Aura moderate creation and elements; CL 5th
Slot cloak; Price 34,200 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
This cloak is made from the pelt of a winter wolf and protects the wearer from the deepest cold, granting him resistance against cold 10. If the hood with the winter wolves head is worn up, the wearer can exhale a 20 ft.-cone of frozen air that deals 5d6 points of damage (Reflex save for half damage) three times per day as a spell-like ability.
CONSTRUCTION
Cost 17,100 gp; cone of cold, resist energy

I am always in search for more items that fit the setting, so anything that you think might fit can be posted here as well, be it complete descriptions or just ideas for items I could make. (But put them into spoilers, to keep them easily separate from the "official" entries.)

Yora

2013-06-12, 08:42 AM

I probably have reached the stage where it now really is all about cultures and geography, but I don't feel like working on that right now.
Does anyone have suggestions for any other things that need to be adressed in a setting that have not yet been written up in this thread?

Zap Dynamic

2013-06-12, 08:59 AM

Have you updated the table of contents in the 2nd post? It looks like you've added some stuff to the thread beyond what's in that post.

In general, I think it's a good idea to keep unnecessary info out of the setting. Players aren't likely to read pages and pages of information anyway. If it feels like it's time for cultures and geography, then it's best to start working on them. :smallsmile:

Yora

2013-06-12, 03:55 PM

Ancient Lands - A Players' Introduction
So, here we are going into the culture and geography of the Ancient Lands, but in a way that still lets me do this by simply filling out a number of preexisting questions, one last time. :smallbiggrin:

These questions are from the Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide in the chapter on worldbuilding, and I think they are actually quite useful both to set the parameters of the setting to the creator, as well as explaining all the basics to the players, who don't know anything about it yet.

What's the PCs base of opperations?
While the player characters can be from any background and occupation that exists in the Ancient Lands, the default assumption around which the settins is designed, is that the PCs are either all or at least partially members of the warrior class of one of the countless small clans that inhabit the region. PCs can also be apprentices of the village shaman or a witch serving the chief of the clan, but it is these circles of chiefs and their trusted followers in which most of the interactions between player characters and NPCs is assumed to be taking place.
As such, the PCs are usually not wandering adventurers, but have a home base which can be either in the court of the chief itself, or their private homes both in the center or at the edge of the village they are from. More specialized alternatives would be the shrines of shamanistic circles, ranger camps, or even the hidden stronghold of a cult, but generally it is expected that PCs are members of some kind of greater organizations that both support and backs them, and in which they can rise in influence and station.

Do I look different from everybody else?
As it will so often be the case with these question, the answer is both yes and no.
Yes, in that the PCs are expected to stand out from the ordinary rabble of farmers and craftsmen. Even as 1st level characters they are part of an elite that is occupied with warfare and protecting the clan from all kinds of threats from the outside and also betrayal from the inside. Their occupation is a highly dangerous, but also highly rewarding one, and just by belonging to this group within the society provides them with a certain amount of prestige and respect. Warriors immediately are recognizable as such, which clearly sets them apart from the commoners and farmers. Within their own clans, most people will even know them by name and know their rank and status among the clanspeople.
But they are also very similar to a great number of other people, in that they are usually ordinary warriors, hunters, and apprentices, which are found in every clan and of which every clan has several dozens, if not even more. At 1st level, PCs have an elevated station and are given special respect, but they have to share it with lots of other people just like them. As they advance in level and distinguish themselves through their deeds, they are going to rise above their fellow peers, becoming people of special reknown and joining the ranks of the most capable and trusted followers of their chief. And eventually might even rise to become chief themselves.

How do I make a living?
As warriors and shamans who protect their fellow clansmen from all kinds of deadly dangers, the PCs are primarily supported by their clan and have both food and payment provided by their chief. Some PCs might come from a wealthy family that owns a large farm, which can support them as well. As they rise in station and gain wealth from loot they have taken and rewards they have been granted, PCs may even decide to build their own farm or homestead, where servants work for them to provide them with a steady income. (See the Downtime system in Ultimate Campaign/the SRD.)
As long as they are in good standing with the chief and serve him well as warriors and advisors, player character will not have to worry about food, lodging, and maintaining their equipment. While they may not become particularly rich, there are relatively few expenses that need to be payed in the tribal society of the Ancient Lands.

Have I been doing this long?
For warriors in the Ancient Lands, training is usually very informal and often begins at an early age, when parents and older siblings teach them the use of spears and bows. Those who show talent and promise often make it to the ranks of the full warriors of the clan when they become adults. Others gain apprenticeship with a shaman or a witch, who teaches them in the basics of magic and the traditions of the craft. In any way, it is assumed that player characters in the Ancient Lands are fully trained in the basics of their occupations and have reached full status as adults who perform their role in the protection and support of the village and the clan. Games might also start with characters who are already veterans who have seen many years of combat and are hardened by experience. But it is generally assumed that PCs have already proven themselves in the eyes of their fellow clanspeople, but have not yet attained an outstanding reputation.

Are we at war or at peace?
In most situations the answer is most likely to be a bit of both. Unlike a campaign is specifically centered around a major conflict, long and open war is a relatively rare event and most of the time that passes is dominated by relative stability.
However, at the same time both raids and skirmishes, as well as attacks by wild monsters are a common occurance. While times my be stable, they are far from safe, and there is always some trouble brewing somewhere that keeps the warriors and protectors of the clan vigilant and on their toes.

What am I doing with these other guys?
Most player characters are asumed to be some kind of warriors serving under the chief of their clan. This applies to fighters and barbarians, but also to many rangers and rogues. Such characters tend to be companions, often of a similar age and experience, who have proven themselves to work well together and are assigned to deal with any problems threatening the clan as a team. However, often a task requires the assistance of specialists, such as shamans, witches, trackers, or even thieves. These are good opportunities to bring adepts and shamans into the group, as well as rogues and rangers who are not really members of the warrior class.

How are lives affected by magic?
Both a lot and not much at all. In the Ancient Lands, magic is everywhere and all the time, but it usually tends to be rather minor and subtle. Spells cast by shamans and adepts are a relatively rare things that common people rarely get to see themselves, if at all, and magic items are fabled treasures possessed only by kings, chiefs, and the most outstanding warriors. But at the same time, shamans and witches are serving their villages all around the year with minor forms of magic. Shamans keep the peace and the good relations with the spirits of the land surrounding the villages, and they investigate strange and supernatural occourances and see to it that they don't endanger the people of the clan. Witches often make amulets from substances that, while not magical itself, can help ward of harmful spirits and protect against spells and curses. Runes of warding and protection are found everywhere, as are prayers and blessings which might or might not keep the spirits beneign towards the people who use them.

How are lives affected by religion?
Religion playes a major role in the Ancient Lands, but very often it takes place in the background and is of a rather practical nature. The Spiritworld overlapps with the material world and spirits are found everywhere. Spirits have power over nature and as such can greatly help and harm the people whose life depend on it. If the spirits are benevolent, even poor farming land might allow the people to keep themselves fed and they would be spared by diseases and disasters. But if the spirits are angered, they also have the power to destroy every clan or kingdom, no matter how large and mighty, by punishing the people with plague and famine, or even floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes. As a results, people tend to be aware of the spirits at all time. While the shamans do their best to maintain good relationships between the spirits and the people, it is often hard or simply impossible to tell apart neccessary ritual from mere superstition. But the presence of spirits is everywhere and people usually tend to be on the cautious side and obey to rules and traditions, even if the spirits might not actually care much about them.

Who or what is going to try to kill me??
While there are countless dangers in the Ancient Lands, the two primary threats to and opponents of warriors are wild monsters and the warriors of other clans. Monsters are usually the more immediate threat, as they simply attack on sight and have few concerns other than defending their territory and getting fed. Warriors of other clans and raiders pose a more difficult to handle and anticipate, but equally dangerous threat. The motives of other people can be very varied and are often hidden by deception, and no attack is more danerous than the one you do not expect. While in former generations, the people of the Ancient Lands often fought for farmland and other natural resources out of a basic need of survival, wars and conflict of the present day are more often about influence and wealth. While raiding and pillaging is still a major aspect of war as it has always been, motives are often more complicated, often involving the elemination of rivals, the subjugation of smaller clans, and controlling the highly profitable trade with goods from distant lands.

Where can I sell this loot?
While silver and gold are highly values in the Ancient Lands and used for trade with all kinds of goods, there is not actually a lot of wealth gained for most warriors by the claiming of ancient treasures. And at the same time, there is not much that one would need to buy. Warriors are usually supported by their families or their chief, and magic weapons and armor rarely make it into the inventories of merchants. Instead, the really valuable resources in the lands of the clans are Goods and Influence. It is rare to buy a house with coin or hire servants who are paid a monthly wage. Instead it depends a lot more on status, influence, and favors as well as being in possession that other people would trade for. The Downtime system from Ultimate Combat introduces the resources of Goods, Influence, Labor, and Magic, which are indicators for both the amounts of favors you can rely on and wealth that comes in other forms than coins. In the Ancient Lands, these are very good indicators to measure both the wealth and station that PCs gain throughout their adventures and asignments. The reward for destroying a group of bandits might come in a small box filled with silver coins, but also in other valuable goods that the badits have stolen (increasing the PCs score of Goods or possibly Magic) and gratitude they gain from the locals and recognition by their chief (increasing their scores of Influence and Labor). PCs can then use these resources to expand their homes and find followers to serve them by working the fields or raising horses, or whatever the PCs descide to spend their wealth on.

Yora

2013-06-13, 12:18 PM

Ancient Lands - General Knowledge

Who's in charge?
The people in power are almost all chiefs, kings, and powerful shamans. The chiefs are the leaders of their clans and most of the time can rely entirely on the loyalty and support of their warriors and clanspeople. Groups of neighboring villages are often led by a sub-chief, who is a member of the old highborn families and takes care of most of the chiefs responsibilities in his name. Some chiefs have becomes especially powerful and have gained the loyalty of other vassal chiefs, and as such can call themselves kings. But in a powerful kingdom, even the vassal chiefs may possesses greater actual power and influence than the free chiefs of smaller clans. In all clans and villages, the shamans almost always wield considerable power as well and few chiefs can afford to make descisions that are in direct opposition to the will of their shamans.

Who has the biggest army?
Every clan has its own warriors, who are often the elite and among the more wealther member of their villages. Since they are needed to guard and protect the villages, large armies are rare and usually often assemble for short amounts of time, before the warriors have to return home. Kings can call on the support of their vassal chiefs and as such can amass much larger armies than individual clans would be able to.

Who has the most money and power?
Most wealth and power is controlled by a relatively small number of old families that are known as the highborn class. They have the largest homes, farms, and herds, and also can afford the best weapons and armor, which give them a very strong position in the politics of the clan. In fact, many of the poorer people of the clan work for the highborn on their farms, or live on land owned by the highborn families in exchange for part of the food they grow. Almost all chiefs come from highborn families and more often than not they are also by far the richest people of the clan.

Who maintains law and order?
Except for the few large cities, there is no town watch in most settlements that maintains public peace. Instead, some of the warriors who do not have to work on their own farms patrol the villages and towns to defend them against attackers more than to catch thieves and put an end to illegal trade. How much these guards interfere with criminal activities and fights in public varies greatly between places. Offenses and other grievances are brought before the chief or his marshal, who will deal with the problems according to the traditions of the clan or the village.

How hard do poor people have it?
Since there are few large cities and most people grow their own food on their small farms, there are not a large number of overly poor people and most of them are scraping by reasonably well, even if deprived of most luxuries and amneties. In the large cities, where clan and family relationships are not of much relevance, many people who fall on hard times end up as beggars or have to make a living as unskilled laborers, taking whatever jobs become available.
However, for those who have no clan to back them at all, live is particularly harsh. People who have been cast out of their clans are trusted nowhere and neither are their descendants. Outcast sometimes can take refuge in larger towns and cities, where they might have a chance to work themselves up to become recognized as freemen, but most of them have to live in small camps with others of their kinds or completely cast off fro civilization as hermits. Since many outcasts are people of particularly bad character, life for those who have to live among or under them usually have a very harsh lot in life.

How do people travel, and how easy is it?
One of the most effective way to transport goods overland is by ox cart, but these animals are not very common among most people and were almost unheard of before mercenary clans from the west brought them to the Ancient Lands from the Great Plains. The more common beasts of burdens are donkeys and mules, with horses usually being too expensive for most people to own and keep. Everyone else has to travel by foot.
For journeys of longer distances and to transport large amounts of goods, the main means of transportation is by ship, both on the many great rivers than run from the mountains and highlands in the west into the inner sea, and also along the coast and to the nearby islands. There are not a great number of roads and only two major highways that are used by traders comming from the Great Plains west of the Ancient Lands.

What are the best-known landmarks?
Almost every village has some kind of common hall, that is both a tavern and a meeting hall for the villagers, and the best point for travelers to find a place for the night.
In towns and larger villages, the heart of the settlement is usually the mansion of the local subchief or chief, or sometimes the chiefs keep or even castle. This is the seat of the government and also the place where many of the settlements warriors can be found for most of the day. Some villages and towns have a separate warriors hall close by the chiefs mansion, where warriors spend much of their free time training and exchanging news and stories. Towns also have a central market square where farmers from the surrounding villages come to sell their goods and aquire harder to get tools and materials that they can't make on their own. Next to the market there are often a couple of inns and taverns catering mostly to traveling merchants.
In addition, every village and town has a main shrine, where the head shaman is residing and overseeing all the settlements business with the local spirits.

Why is everybody celebrating?
Hollidays and festivals are mostly based around the passing of the seasons. Life in the villages and on the farms changes drastically throughout different times of the year, and these periodic changes are often the time for large festivals. In most places, the primary festivals are at midsummer, harvest, mid-winter, and the beginning of spring, but many villages also observe numerous rites related directly to the local spirits that watch over the settlement.

What do people do for a good time?
People in the villages are usually not rich and live rather simple lives with the basic neccessities. The heart of any leisure activities is often the common hall or tavern where people mingle after the days work and engage in all kinds of games and contests of skills. Singing and music is also a common pastime, but usually takes place in completely informal settings, with few bards or minstrels gaining any particular notoriety or fame.

How weird does it get around here?
While the spiritworld touches every point of the material worlds and spirits are everywhere, they rare interact directly with mortals in highly visible or dramatic ways. Usually the influence of the spirits is very subtle, affecting the weather and the growth of plants, often being invisible to direct observation and only becomming evident over longer periods of time or to the knowing eyes of the shamans. Many people never directly set sight on a spirit or rare monstrous animals throughout all their life, other than seeing the faint lights of wisps near the edges of forrest.
However, once one leaves the relative securite of the villages, things are soon becomming very different and alien. Deep in the forest and hills are numerous creatures that usually avoid the proximity of humanoid settlements, many of which possess strange or even magical powers, and can display many dangerous suprises even for experienced warriors and adventurers.

Yora

2013-06-14, 10:46 AM

Ancient Lands - Specialized Knowledge

How did the world come to be?
People in the Ancient Lands are very well aware that nothing in the world is permanent. Even though life does not change much and most people live very similar lives to their ancestors, longer lived people like elves and gnomes can make their homes in the branches or under the roots of massive trees that did not even exist when they were young, and floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes can change the landscape in many different ways. Myths and legends tell of times before humanoid races walked the lands and the ruins of ancient naga and shie civilization can still be found in many places. But there were even earlier times in which the world was even more alien and hostile, and the knowledge that everything that currently is part of humanoid will one day also disappear as lands fall under the sea and new islands rise up. While few people know many details, it is generally part of common knowledge that the world has not always existed and will end again at some point in the distant future. Most local cults are based on the assumption that the world is impermanent but that there are also other worlds that exist alongside their own and also before it and will come into existance in the future.
Only a few sorcerers and shamans who delved into the knowledge of the Great Ancients know that there is an infinite number of universes that spontaneously form from the Void until they dissolve and vanish again after some millions or billions of years. A universe is basically a bubble of reality in which the formless chaos of the Void takes shape and over the eons develops its unique laws of nature. There is no real difference between demons and spirits. The spirits of the spiritworld are merely demons born from the energies of nature instead of the energies of the Void and the Great Ancients are being from the early ages of the universe, when the differences between the material world and the Void where not yet as great.

What is the nature of the gods?
The gods are not substentially different from the common spirit that inhabit the Spiritworld and can be found anywhere. The gods could be called the greatest of the spirits, being the spirits of very large areas and more abstract concepts, like the Sun, the Ocean, Darkness, or Healing. Because they exist at such vast scales, the Gods do not directly interact with individual mortals or might not even be actually aware of them.
The Gods are the object of worship in more spiritual and philosophically minded cults. In everyday life, the spirits of the forests, hills, and rivers surrounding a village play a much greater role, as they react directly to the activities of mortals and may even communicate with them through shamans or in person.

What is the source of magic?
The most important thing to understand about magic is that magical energy is identical to natural life energy that is found in every person, animal, and plant. It is a universal force that allows creatures and objects to change and affect their environment. The casting of spells is merely a use of this energy in ways that are not availale to most beings. There is nothing substentially different from bending a brench with ones hands or a wood shape spell. Most people use their life force to move the muscles in their arms, while adepts and shamans can focus the same energy dirctly at the wood itself.
One important limitation of magic is that it can not change the rules of reality and nature, only utilize them in unusual ways. Also, the effects of magic are not permanent and when a spell ends the normal rules of nature apply again. Magic can move stones to form a wall or cause wood to burn. But once the spells end gravity will affect the stones normally and the wall might collapse if the stones are arranged in an unstable way. And a fire started by magic might even continue to burn like any other fire, or be extinguished in the same ways.

What happens when you die?
The soul of a creature is simply the life energy that animates it. When the body dies and no longer draws energy from food, light, and warmth, the energy present in the body starts to slowly fade away and mix with the energies of the ground and surrounding plants. The energy does not cease to exist, but without a body to focus it into the shape of a soul, it simply dissolves within a matter of days or a few weeks.
There are some powerful magical rituals that can return life to a dead creature by restoring the body and replacing the energy that has been lost to the fading soul. The longer a body has been dead, the harder it is to rebuild the soul until it eventually becomes impossible. Many people also have their doubts if the soul would even be the same one as the original soul; a question similar to whether the flame of a candle that has been blown out and lit again is the same flame. To some there is no difference, but to many it is an unsettling idea.
When a person dies, most funeral rites attempt to channel the energies that escape from the dead body to join and mix with the enrgies of a particular place or spirit. Often, the storage for these energies is a shrine or tomb in the center of a village or the home of a family, so that this energy will be part of any new children that are born in the nearby houses.

What cycles or events define the calendar?
The main cycles by which time is measured are the passing of the seaons and the phases of the moons. The times of seeding and harvest are the most important in almost all cultures, with winter and summer being times or relative leisure where few work needs to be done. Summer is often a time for constructions but also for war, while the months of winter rarely see anyone leaving their villages and travelling to other places.

What do you see when look at the sky?
During the day, the sky is an ordinary blue or covered in clouds, and only the almost permanent presence of winds from the sea being noteworthy of any kind. Modarate wind is almost everpresent except inside forests. In plains, mountains, and near the coast, there is a always 25% chance of severe wind (-2 to ranged attacks), and on the open sea and along the coasts, there is an additional 10% chance of strong wind (-4 penalty).
During the night, when the weather is clear, the sky is dominated by the two main moons. The largest moon is about three fingers wide in diameter at arms length, while the second largest is about one finger wide. Two additional moons are much smaller and can sometimes be mistaken for very bright stars on hazy days or when they are high up in the sky. On clear evenings and mornings, they are easily recognized as small moons.
The moons all have very different orbits and phases and there are few people who can precisely predict the paths of the moon some weeks in advance. The third largest moon is the fastest one and can travel over the sky in just a few hours, on rare occasions even rising once in the morning and once in the evening on the same day. The smallest moon is much slower than the others, but travels across the sky in an opposite direction to the other three.
In addition, polar lights are not an uncommon occourance in the Ancient Lands, often being visible relatively far to the south, but generally not being very bright and more of a slight green haze among the stars.

What constitutes cutting-edge technology?
The most advanced and highly prized weapons and armors are those made from steel. While many elves and some lizardfolk cities forge their own steel, gnomes are clearly the masters of these arts. Gnome forges produce both common equipment in much larger numbers than those found in other lands, and also can create blades of much higher quality that have no rival anywhere else. Humans and kaas mostly make equipment from bronze and the material is used by most elves and lizardfolk as well.
The other most important technology is shipbuilding, which is dominated by elven clans that life along the coast of the inner sea and on its islands. Ships are the most important way to transport goods over large distances and most goods that human caravans bring from the west are soon loaded onto ships once they reach the major rivers leading to the sea, from which they are transported to the rest of the Ancient Lands. Elven ships are often larger or faster than those of other people, with humans being relatively new to sailing and lizardfolk relying mostly on small boats.

Where do monsters come from?
There is no real difference between most monsters and particularly rare and dangerous animals. While a wolf would never be called a monster, a sabre lion or giant crocodile might very well be regarded similar to a worg or a wyvern.
The most common supernatural creatures are native to the spiritworld and are collectively known as spirits. Many of these spirits are actually mortal beings that are not that different from other animals or humanoids, but being at home in the spiritwold they possess many strange magical powers. The more powerful spirits are manifestations of the life force of nature itself, that takes form in a material shell, with nymphs, treants, and spriggans being among the most well known kinds. These beings are basically immortal and while their physical bodies can be destroyed, they will eventually manifest again in a new body, unless the area from which they spring is drastically altered in some way. The only way to really kill the nymph of a lake is to drain the lake and fill it in, after which the "identity" of the area would no longer be that of a lake. But even then, the plants and rocks of the area might simply bring forth a different type of spirit that represents it. Deep underground lightless caves and lakes have remained the same since the earliest days of the world and many of their spirits have persisted throughout the eons. These spirits are known as the Ancients and are the most alien and horrifying creatures native to the world, as they are from a time when the world itself was a very different place than it is today, where humanoids and animals of today could not exist.
A third type of monsters that most people only hear from in rumors, are demons. Demons are very similar to spirits, but they are not manifestations of the life energies of the spiritworld, but arise from the raw chaotic energies of the void. These demons are even weirder than the Ancients, but they rarely interact with the physical world or the spiritworld unless contacted by sorcerers who have discovered ways to see beyonf the borders of this world.

Which is strongest: magic, gods, or nature?
In the end, magic is a product of nature, and gods and spirits are manifestations of these magical energies. While spirits and gods are powerful, they too are bound by the laws of nature in the same way as mortals are, and often in even more intricate ways. The primary force and source of everything else in the world is nature itself and no mortal or spirit, regardless of the magic they wield, can ever really defy it's laws. The world has always been changing and will continue to do so until its very end, and both spirits and mortals have to accept its supremacy and make their lives in the best way they can and try to addept as things are changing. But they can never be stopped.

If I drop this off the balciny, what happens?
The laws of physics are not unusual or different from what most people would expect in any meaningful ways. This applies both in the material world and in the spiritworld, and only outside the university in the Void are all rules cast off. The world of the Ancient Lands is one of very strong natural forces, with strong winds being always present in virtually all places, and some minor earthquakes and volcanoes being common to most regions. In the spiritworld, these natural forces are a lot stronger than in the material world though, and much more than hungry monsters, they are the main dangers that mortals are facing in this realm, with visitors being as likely to be struck by lighnting or falling trees during a storm, as thery are to freeze to death during the night or succumb to the heat of the midday sun.

Yora

2013-06-14, 02:05 PM

The Downtime (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/downtime) and Kingdom Building (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/kingdom-building) rules are now in the SRD at d20pfsrd.com.

Both system will be incorporated in the Ancient Lands setting, but they remain purely optional and if the GM uses them it is even up to the individual players if they character is using the options or not. As the systems are designed, they can be added to a running game at any time with no need to plan or prepare for it in advance.
The Kingdom rules are really only of relevance to groups which are actually in charge of a domain and have any of the Leadership Roles. However, it also includes the mass combat system, which is useful for anyone leading groups of people into battle and it becomes impractical to roll dice for every indivudual combatant. Even if it's just a ten villagers with spears and another ten with bows laying an ambush for 25 goblins, while the PCs are trying to sneak into the unguarded goblin camp and find the goblin shaman, it's a simple system to see if the villagers can kill all the goblins, flee before all goblins are dead, or fail in their attack. This could determine how much time the PCs have before the goblin warriors return and how many they would be dealing with. (The Mass Combat system is not in the SRD yet, as of now.)

The Downtime system is playing a larger role, as PCs can use it right from the start. Instead of creating a business that provides with a small but steady income of silver pieces, it's primary purpose in the Ancient Lands is to build a home base and personal stronghold, which the PCs can use expand their prestige and influence, and gain power and status within their clan. Not every warriors has to strive to claim the position of chief, but any one who would do so would be required to have an estate that shows his wealth and power, and followers to back him up. The machanics for this are described below.

Gaining and Using Capital
In the Ancient Lands, player characters do not have as much use for gold and silver as they do in other games. Once you have weapons and armor of masterwork quality, an expensive warhorse, and a well stacked stash of potions and scrolls, there are not a lot more things that money can buy. PCs can go on quests to claim magic weapons and armor and find wondrous items in the loot they take from their defeated enemies, but these things won't be found in stores to be bought with small chests of gold. As a result, characters won't have much use for even more silver pieces if all the can spend it on is extravagant entertainment.
Instead, many PCs will probably want to improve their rank and status within their clan or other type of community they are living in. Doing so is very hard to do by just going on quests for the people who rank above you and doing favors that increase your reputation with the common people. It also requires putting your wealth to use and gaining the favor of other powerful people. Doing so is done by using Capital.

In the basic meaning of the word, capital is the amount of wealth, physical goods, and immaterial goods that you possess and can put to work for you. This can be boxes full of silver that you have in your vault, but also land and other natural resources you control, debts other people have to you, and prommises of assistance that other people have given to you. Even the knowledge of a rich vein of silver that nobody has claimed yet is a form of capital. You could share this knowledge with someone else in exchange for money, or build a mine that provides you with silver ore, and so on.
Since capital can be hard to track, the Downtime system from Ultimate Campaign introduces four resources in addition to money.
Goods: Goods are the most basic and simple form of capital. Goods are all kinds of objects that have a value for someone other than silver pieces. This can include building material, metal ores, grain, spices, cloth, and so on. For ease of use, the exact nature of Goods is not tracked individually and instead it is assumed that you can barter the goods you have for other goods you need without problem at a 1 to 1 rate. If you just got a shipment of grain worth 4 points of Goods and you need 3 points of Goods as building material for a shrine, you don't need to sell the grain and buy the building materials, it simply us assumed that the person providing the building material accepts your grain in exchange or you find a trader who does the exchange for you.
Influence: Influence is an immaterial form of capital and represents favors that the local people in power are owing you. As with goods, the exact nature of these depts and favors does not need to be tracked individually. In some situations it might be appropriate to have the player characters visit a specific NPC and make their request in person rather than simply substracting the Influence point from their capital count. But instead of having to bicker and argue with the NPC and making Dimplomacy or even Intimidate checks to convince him, the favor will be granted and the characters Influence count reduced.
Labor: Labor is similar to Influence, but represents favors and goodwill with the common people who may not have any popitical power but still can express their gratitude and repay their debts through service. If you want to build any constructions, you need laborers to do the work. You could simply hire those people, but it may be a lot cheaper to simply call in those depts that the local craftsmen and commoners are owing you. (For simplicity, workers for construction are always counted in Labor points. If you need to hire laborers, you can simply "buy" the Labor points that you need with silver pieces.)
Magic: Magic capital is very similar to good and merely a more specialized form. Magic can take the form of rare herbs, minerals, the horns and claws of rare beasts, poisonous plants, special containers for alchemical substances, and so on.
Silver Pieces (sp): Money in the form of cash that you own is a type of capital as well. You can use your silver to buy both mundane and magical goods, hire laborers, and bribe or compensate people in power for favors you are asking. But a coin as an object has no use in itself until you give it away to get something else.

Gaining Capital
There are a number of ways to increase your Capital count.
Buying Capital: The easiest and fasted way to get the Capital you need for any specific project is by spending money. You can always buy goods you need and hire people for the neccessary work, but that often is quite expensive. Goods 200 sp, Influence 300 sp, Labor 200 sp, Magic 1,000 sp.
Earning Capital: A slower, but more effective way to gain Capital is to work for it. You can cut trees, mine ores, help other local leaders with minor tasks, and so on. You can also have your followers do this work for you, if you have any. You could send a group of woodcutters to cut wood or a group of warriors to patrol the area for bandits, gaining you the goodwill of the locals. Gaining Capital this way is slower and while it still requires spending some of your resources, (paying your woodcutters and warriors for the day) the cost is only half as much. Goods 100 sp, Influence 150 sp, Labor 100 sp, Magic 500 sp.
Loot: If the Downtime system is used in a campaign, the loot taken from many defeated enemies could come in the form of Goods and Magic. The lair of bandits might not only hold some boxes with silver and other valuables, but also crates with cloth or sacks of grain the bandits have stolen. While not usually useful to player characters, these could also be claimed and added as points of Goods. The horns and claws taken from a slain dragon could be added as points of Magic. (One point of Goods would be worth 200 sp of treasure, one point of Magic worth 1,000 sp of treasure.)
Rewards:In a similar way, every time the PCs are doing something that benefits other people in a significant way as well, they could earn points of Influence and Labor. Labor would be most appropriate when the PCs made life a lot safer for the common people, while any quest taken on behalf of a powerful leader should also gain some points of Influence in addition to a payment of silver and magic items. (In situations when it would be relevant, one point of Influence would be worth 300 sp of treasure, and one point of Labir worth 200 sp of treasure.)
Converting Capital: While any types of Goods are considered equal and can be changed to any form that is needed, characters can also trade one type of capital for another, but this comes at significant expenses. 3 points of any resource can be exchanged into 1 point of either Goods, Labor, or Influence. It is assumed that you get someones favor by giving him Goods, or get access to his goods by using Influence you have with others for his benefit. In special situations, the exchange rate may even be 2 points spend for 1 point gained. Trading other forms of Capital to gain magic is more expensive and it takes 5 points of either Goods, Influence, or Labor to gain 1 point of Magic.

Zap Dynamic

2013-06-14, 04:23 PM

I haven't looked at Kingdom Building yet, but Downtime is a really great read! Thanks for pointing this out to me; I had thought about creating a 1 page mechanic for the same idea, but this is way cooler.

Yora

2013-06-15, 12:19 PM

Variant Leadership Feat
With character levels ranging from 1st to about 8th level, the regular Leadership feat is not really practical in an Ancient Lands campaign. It becomes available at a too late point and players have few opportunities to gain a high Leadership Score and attract any meaningful amount of follower.
Effectively, characters get a +3 bonus to their leadership score to determine the number of followers, and a -3 penalty to determine the level of a cohort (already included in the table).
Also, the special modifiers are now defined in a clear way.

Leadership (AL variant)
You attract followers to your cause and a companion to join you on your adventures.
Prerequisite: Character level 5th.
Benefits: This feat enables you to attract a loyal cohort and a number of devoted subordinates who assist you. A cohort is generally an NPC with class levels, while followers are typically lower level NPCs. See Table: Leadership for what level of cohort and how many followers you can recruit.

{table=head]Leadership Score | Cohort Lvl. | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th
1 or lower | — | — | — | — | —
2 | — | — | — | — | —
3 | — | — | — | — | —
4 | — | — | — | — | —
5 | 1st | — | — | — | —
6 | 2nd | — | — | — | —
7 | 3rd | 5 | — | — | —
8 | 3rd | 6 | — | — | —
9 | 4th | 8 | — | — | —
10 | 5th | 10 | 1 | — | —
11 | 5th | 15 | 1 | — | —
12 | 6th | 20 | 2 | 1 | —
13 | 7th | 25 | 2 | 1 | —
14 | 7th | 30 | 3 | 1 | 1
15 or higher | 8th | 35 | 3 | 1 | 1[/table]

Leadership Modifiers: Several factors can affect your Leadership score, causing it to vary from the base score (character level + Cha modifier). Your reputation (from the point of view of the cohort or follower you are trying to attract) raises or lowers your Leadership score:

{table=head]Leader's Reputation | Modifier
Great Reknown | +2
Fairness and Generosity | +1
Aloof | –1
Cruelty |–2[/table]

Followers have additional priorities to cohorts. When you try to attract a follower, use the following modifiers.

{table=head]The Leader... | Modifier
Has a stronghold, base of operations, guildhouse, etc.* | +2
Moves around a lot | –1
Caused the death of other followers | –1[/table]
* See the Downtime system.

Leadership Score: Your base Leadership score equals your level plus your Charisma modifier. In order to take into account negative Charisma modifiers, this table allows for very low Leadership scores, but you must still be 5th level or higher in order to gain the Leadership feat. Outside factors can affect your Leadership score, as detailed above.
Cohort Level: You can attract a cohort of up to this level. Regardless of your Leadership score, you can only recruit a cohort who is two or more levels lower than yourself. The cohort should be equipped with gear appropriate for its level (see Creating NPCs). A cohort can be of any race or class. The cohort's allegiances my not be opposed to your own allegiances. (Cohorts always have allegiance to the character they follow.)
A cohort does not count as a party member when determining the party's XP. Instead, divide the cohort's level by your level. Multiply this result by the total XP awarded to you, then add that number of experience points to the cohort's total.
If a cohort gains enough XP to bring it to a level one lower than your level, the cohort does not gain the new level—its new XP total is 1 less than the amount needed to attain the next level.
Number of Followers by Level: You can lead up to the indicated number of characters of each level. Followers are similar to cohorts, except they're generally low-level NPCs. Because they're usually 5 or more levels behind you, they're rarely effective in combat.
Followers don't earn experience and thus don't gain levels. When you gain a new level, consult Table: Leadership to determine if you acquire more followers, some of whom may be higher level than the existing followers. You can also chose to upgrade some of your followers to a higher level and fill the vacated slots with new followers.

Yora

2013-06-16, 01:18 PM

Brace yourself, fluff is comming.

As I mentioned before, designing game rules is a lot easier than the creative work of creating a setting. But now that the crunchy part is really pretty much wrapped out (everything that's left is really just doing a clean writeup, and that's as fun as it sounds), there is now no more avoiding it.
One of the most praised campaign setting documents is the Forgotten Realms Grey Box, and while there is probably a huge amount of nostalgia speaking, there are good arguments while that one is working so well. It keeps things simple and basic, describing the background and leaving the specific details to the GM. Also, I am going to throw in a couple of ideas that I have now, that are likely to change quite a bit as more things are added and the individual aspects become interconected with each other.

Comments and ideas are very much appreciated and welcome. The reason I am writing these things down in this thread is to get feedback on what people think about it. Even if it's just "I like this one" or "Could you give more details on that one", it will actually help me quite a lot. I know this is purely creative work and it's hard to tell someone that you don't like a certain thing and would leave it out, but don't be shy. This isn't colaborative worldbuilding or crowdsourcing, but not every idea I have is neccessarily a good one. If you think that I should take another look at some things because it looks odd to you, it could very well be that I missed something important myself or wrote down nonsense that I didn't really think through. Just speak even, even if it's just to let me know people are reading this. :smallbiggrin:

The geography is not yet 100% fixed, but for a very long time I had something in mind that looks pretty much like this:
http://barbaripedia.eu/downloads/map01.png
This is an old and unfinished map, and you have to ignore the markers for cities, but it should provide a general idea about the geography of all of it. The size of the map covers about an area like the eastern half of China, Korea, Japan, and the southern parts of Siberia. The sea in the north is regularly frozen, while the forest in the south are similar to India or Bangladesh. There are also some island groups in the large gulf, which are not yet added on the map.

Factions and Organizations I

The Temple of the Sun
The Temple of the Sun is one of the major and most important centers of power in the Ancient Lands. In the late centuries of the Age of Spirits, when the power of the naga and shie had already been declining for a long time, lizardfolk slaves rebelled against their naga masters, led by a group of shamans who had secretly created a cult dedicated to the power of the Sun. Despite all odds, the revolting slaves overwhelmed their naga overlords and took control over one of the largest cities in the jungles of the south. Their victory was attributed to the assistance of the Deity of the Sun, and it has ever since been considered the actual supreme ruler of the lizardfolk that inhabit the city and the surrounding jungles to this day. The government and the military of the Kingdom are lead by a king, who is chosen and appointed by the high priests of the Temple of the Sun, according to the will that their deity reveals to them. The lizardfolk kingdom is probably the single most powerful realm in the Ancient Lands, but the continuing presence of naga citadels to the east, and the large numbers of dark elf tribes to the west has kept them from expanding their control beyond their current borders.

Harbor City of Elven Sorcerers
This city of 16,000 elves is one of the major centers of civilization in the Ancient Lands. While the realm of the Sorcerer Queen is relatively small, her domain is exceptionally rich and her soldiers one of the major military powers in the region. Most of the city is located at the base of a steep cliff, with the mansions of the sorcerers and highborn families sitting on a large outcropping that rises high above the sea and the rest of the city, while being protected to the north by the cliffs.
Despite its wealth and power, the city is most well known as one of the few places where sorcerers are not only openly tollerated, but actually have a high status in society and constitute a major portion of the rulling class. While most people have a certain amount of distrust for sorcerers, only few of them have more detailed knowledge about the exact nature of their magical research into the powers of the Void, and the corrupting effects these energies have on the material world of mortals. However, the great profits tha can be made by trading in the cities port are too tempting for most merchants to let their predjudices get in the way and most common people treat the realm with a certain amount of respect and tollerance. Behind the scenes, the sorcerers are involved in numerous conflicts with the adepts and shamans from the surrounding lands, who have a much more critical view about their dealing with demons and use of fel magic.

The Warrior Order
From the countless mercenary companies and barbarian clans that came from the human lands west of the great plains to pledge their services to the elven kings, one managed to rise high above the others, becomming one of the major powers in the Ancient Lands in their own right. The leaders of the order are silent about their origins, but some elves remember the army fighting in battles almost three centuries ago. But it has only been in the last 80 years that the power of the mercenary company has started to rival that of the larger clans and kingdoms.
The leader of the order is the Lord General (human Fighter 11), a tall warrior and great tactician who is more commonly recognized by his armor than his face, which people have often described as entirely unexceptional. Numbering some 30,000 warriors, their ranks also includes about twice the number of freemen servants and slaves. The order itself is more of an ideology, with idividual companies resembling small clans that are almost entirely self reliant and seek out employment on their own. Sometimes companies of the clan are even fighting on both sides of a battle, but they will refuse any order that has them attacking other members of the order. When work for mercenaries is scarce, the Lord General often compensates for it by extending the area of his own influence into the lands surrounding his main stronghold, providing plunder and an occupation for his warriors.
While shamans are allowed in the Order, their ideology stresses reliance on ones own power, particularly martial strength. Service to a strong master is deemed honorable, as long as one does not hide behind his power for protection.

--

As a little extra, the nymph and oni as they appear in the Ancient Lands, and the spriggan, a new creature.

The nymph and the spriggan use the special abilities of kami, a new outsider type from Bestiary 3 and The Jade Regent. In fact, the stats of the spriggan are basically those of an advanced kodama kami. The oni is reduced from CR 8 to CR 5, so you can use small gangs of them before the PCs reach 9th level.

Nymph
Nymph - CR 8
XP 4,800
Medium outsider (spirit)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +14
Aura blinding beauty (30 ft., DC 21)
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 23, flat-footed 17 (+7 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 76 (8d10+32); fast healing 5
Fort +13, Ref +18, Will +16
DR 10/cold iron; Immune mind-affecting effects, petrification, polymorph; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 18
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee mwk cold iron dagger +14 (1d4/19–20)
Special Attacks stunning glance
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +15)
3/day — "shift to spiritworld"
Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +10); SP/day 56
4th — bestow curse (DC 17)
3rd — dispel magic, stunning blast (DC 16), water breathing
2nd — lightning arcs (DC 15), resist energy, restoration, toughen skin, wood shape
1st — charm (DC 14), entangling vines (DC 14), faerie fire, fog cloud, heal, summon spirit
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 21, Con 18, Int 16, Wis 17, Cha 25
Base Atk +8; CMB +13; CMD 31
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Casting, Dodge, Weapon Finesse
Skills Diplomacy +18, Escape Artist +16, Handle Animal +15, Heal +11, Knowledge (nature) +14, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +16, Swim +19
Languages Common, Sylvan, telepathy 100 ft.
SQ merge with ward, unearthly grace, ward (tree, lake, isle, or mountain), wild empathy +21
Gear masterwork cold iron dagger
ECOLOGY
Environment any natural
Organization solitary
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Blinding Beauty (Su) This ability affects all humanoids within 30 feet of a nymph. Those who look directly at a nymph must succeed on a DC 21 Fortitude save or be blinded permanently. A nymph can suppress or resume this ability as a free action. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Merge with Ward (Su) As a standard action, a nymph can merge her body and mind with her ward. When merged, the nymph can observe the surrounding region with her senses as if she were using her own body. She has no control over her ward, nor can she communicate or otherwise take any action other than to emerge from her ward as a standard action. A nymph must be adjacent to her ward to merge with or emerge from it. If her ward is a tree, the nymph can emerge sitting on it. If its ward is a location, the nymph may emerge at any point within that location.
Spells A nymph casts spells as a 7th-level shaman.
Stunning Glance (Su) As a standard action, a nymph can stun a creature within 30 feet with a look. The target must succeed on a DC 21 Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Unearthly Grace (Su) A nymph adds her Charisma modifier as a racial bonus on all her saving throws, and as a deflection bonus to her Armor Class.
Ward (Su) A nymph has a specific ward—a tree, a lake, a mountain, an island, or another natural feature or location similar to these. Several of a nymph's abilities function only when she is either merged with her ward or within 120 feet of it. If a ward is destroyed while a nymph is merged with it, the nymph dies (no save). If a ward is destroyed while a nymph is not merged with it, the nymph loses her merge with ward ability and her fast healing, and becomes permanently sickened.
Wild Empathy (Su) This works like the ranger’s wild empathy class feature, except the nymph has a +6 racial bonus on the check. The nymph’s effective ranger level is equal to her HD for determining her total modifier to the check.

Oni
Oni - CR 5
XP 1,800
Giant kuwa oni
Large outsider (shapechanger, spirit)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +10
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +4 natural, -1 size)
hp 42 (5d10+15); regeneration 5 (acid or fire)
Fort +9, Ref +3, Will +6; +4 vs. enchantment
DR 5/cold iron or magic; Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5; SR 15
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft. (40 ft. without armor)
Melee mwk greatclub +11 (2d8+9)
Ranged composite longbow +6 (2d6+4/×3)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +8)
3/day — darkness, fly
1/day — charm (DC 16), sleep (DC 14), invisibility (self only)
STATISTICS
Str 22, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 17
Base Atk +5; CMB +12; CMD 24
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Power Attack
Skills Bluff +11, Disguise +7, Intimidate +11 (+15 vs. medium creatures), Knowledge (arcana) +9, Perception +10, Sense Motive +10, Spellcraft +3, Stealth +1, Use Magic Device +11
Languages ???
SQ change shape (medium or large humanoid; transformation)
Gear masterwork greatclub, composite longbow [+4 Str], scale armor
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary or gang (1 plus 3–10 trolls)
Treasure standard

Spriggan
Spriggan - CR 6
XP 2,400
Medium outsider (spirit)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft. low-light vision; Perception +14
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +1 Dodge, +4 natural)
hp 60 (8d10+16); fast healing 3
Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +9
DR 10/cold iron; Immune mind-affecting effects, petrification, polymorph; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 18
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +10 (1d4+2)
Special Attacks distracting gaze, sneak attack +2d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +10)
At will — speak with nature (trees only)
3/day — charm (DC 16), entangling vines (DC 16), "shift to spiritworld" (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only)
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 15
Base Atk +8; CMB +10; CMD 23
Feats Dodge, Great Fortitude, Nimble Moves, Power Attack
Skills Climb +13, Escape Artist +14, Knowledge (nature) +10, Knowledge (spirits) +6, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +14, Survival +14
Languages ???, speak with nature, telepathy 100 ft.
SQ merge with ward, ward (wild trees)
ECOLOGY
Environment any forest (Spiritworld)
Organization solitary, pair, or group (3–5)
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Distracting Gaze (Su) Staggered for 1d4 rounds, 30 feet, Will DC 16 negates. This is a mind-affecting effect that requires the spriggan to be visible to those it wishes to affect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

A spriggan is a tall and gracefully build humanoid spirit that seems to be made entirely from branches and vines, with leaves covering much of its body. Their only facial feature is a pair of bright green or amber eyes. Spriggans are among the most powerful spirits that take physical shape and rank only behind nymphs in power. They don't like visitors in their parts of the forest and become highly agressive if anyone tries to approach their trees.

Yora

2013-06-19, 09:27 AM

New PC Classes: Adept and Shaman

I think I never posted the new spellcasting classes, even though I had them pretty much finished and written up for quite some time. So here they are.

Adept
Role: The adept can fulfill a variety of different roles depending upon the spell choices he makes. Regardless of their choices, all adepts are masters of magic and capable of helping their allies against any danger.
Hit Die: d6.

{table=head]Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | SP/Day | Spells Known | Max. Spell Level
1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Bonus feat | 2 | 3 | 1st
2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | — | 6 | 5 | 1st
3rd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | — | 11 | 7 | 2nd
4th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | — | 17 | 9 | 2nd
5th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Bonus feat | 25 | 11 | 3rd
6th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | — | 35 | 13 | 3rd
7th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | — | 46 | 15 | 4th
8th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +6 | — | 58 | 17 | 4th
9th | +4 | +3 | +3 | +6 | — | 72 | 19 | 4th
10th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Bonus feat | 88 | 21 | 4th[/table]

Class Skills
The adept’s class skills are Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (spirits) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features
The following are class features of the adept.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Adepts a are proficient with all simple weapons. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor does not, however, interfere with the manifestation of spells.
Spell Points/Day: An adept’s ability to cast spells is limited by the spell points he has available. His base daily allotment of spell points is given on Table: The Adept. In addition, he receives bonus spell points per day if he has a high Intelligence score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spell Points). His race may also provide bonus spell points per day, as may certain feats and items.
Spells Known: An adept begins play knowing three spells of your choice. Each time he achieves a new level, he unlocks the knowledge of new spells.
Choose the spells known from the creation, elements, entropy, and spirit spell lists. An adept can cast any spell that has a spell point cost equal to or lower than his caster level.
The number of times an adept can cast spells in a day is limited only by his daily spell points.
An adept simply knows his spells; they are ingrained in his mind. He does not need to prepare them, though he must get a good night’s sleep each day to regain all his spent spell points.
The Difficulty Class for saving throws against adept spells is 10 + the spell’s level + the adept’s Intelligence modifier.
Maximum Spell Level Known: An adept begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level spells. As he attains higher levels, an adept may gain the ability to master more complex spells.
To learn or cast a spell, an adept must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the spell’s level.
Bonus Feats: An adept gains a bonus feat at 1st level, 5th level, and 10th level. This feat must be a metamagic feat, the Expanded Arcana feat, or the Magic Talent feat.
These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gains every other level. An adept is not limited to any of the feats listed here when choosing these other feats.

Shaman
Role: Shamans typically use their spells and revelations to further their understanding of their mystery and to protect their community, be it through fighting mighty battles or tending to the poor and sick.
Hit Dice: d8.

{table=head]Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | SP/Day | Spells Known | Max. Spell Level
1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Mystery, revelation | 2 | 3 | 1st
2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | — | 6 | 5 | 1st
3rd | +2 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Revelation | 11 | 7 | 2nd
4th | +3 | +1 | +1 | +4 | — | 17 | 9 | 2nd
5th | +3 | +1 | +1 | +4 | — | 25 | 11 | 3rd
6th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +5 | — | 35 | 13 | 3rd
7th | +5 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Revalation | 46 | 15 | 4th
8th | +6/+1 | +2 | +2 | +6 | — | 58 | 17 | 4th
9th | +6/+1 | +3 | +3 | +6 | — | 72 | 19 | 4th
10th | +7/+2 | +3 | +3 | +7 | — | 88 | 21 | 4th[/table]

Class Skills
The shaman’s class skills are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (spirits) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int). In addition, shamans receive additional class skills depending upon their shaman mystery.
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features
The following are the class features of the oracle.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shamans are proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, and shields.
Power Points/Day: A shaman’s ability to cast spells is limited by the spell points he has available. His base daily allotment of spell points is given on Table: The Shaman. In addition, he receives bonus spell points per day if he has a high Wisdom score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spell Points). His race may also provide bonus spell points per day, as may certain feats and items.
Spells Known: A shaman begins play knowing three spells of your choice. Each time he achieves a new level, he unlocks the knowledge of new spells.
Choose the spells known from the creation, elements, entropy, and spirit spell lists. A shaman can cast any spell that has a spell point cost equal to or lower than his caster level.
The number of times a shaman can cast spells in a day is limited only by his daily spell points.
A shaman simply knows his spells; they are ingrained in his mind. He does not need to prepare them, though he must get a good night’s sleep each day to regain all his spent spell points.
The Difficulty Class for saving throws against shaman spells is 10 + the spell’s level + the shaman’s Wisdom modifier.
Maximum Spell Level Known: A shaman begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level spells. As he attains higher levels, a shaman may gain the ability to master more complex spells.
To learn or cast a spell, a shaman must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell’s level.
Mystery: Each shaman draws upon a divine force of nature to grant him powers and spells. This mystery also grants additional class skills and other special abilities. This mystery can represent a devotion to one ideal, prayers to deities that support the concept, or a natural calling to champion a cause. For example, a shaman with the waves mystery might have been born at sea and found a natural calling to worship the spirits of the oceans, rivers, and lakes, be they benign or malevolent. Regardless of its source, the mystery manifests in a number of ways as the shaman gains levels. A shaman must pick one mystery upon taking his first level of shaman. Once made, this choice cannot be changed.
Revelation: At 1st level, 3rd level, and 7th level, a shaman uncovers a new secret about his mystery that grants him powers and abilities. The shaman must select a revelation from the list of revelations available to his mystery. If a revelation is chosen at a later level, the shaman gains all of the abilities and bonuses granted by that revelation based on his current level. Unless otherwise noted, activating the power of a revelation is a standard action.

The mysteries available to shamans are the same as for oracles, except that a shaman does not get any additional spells known. Shamans still get the addtional class skills and can take any revelations for which they qualify.
The available mysteries are Flame (fire, sun), Heavens (moon), Life, Nature, Stone (earth), Waves (water, oceans, rivers, lakes), Wind (air, sky), and Darkness (not yet written up).

Bonus Spell Points by Caster Level
{table=head]Ability Score | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th
10-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
12-13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5
14-15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
16-17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15
18-19 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20
20-21 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 25
22-23 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 27 | 30
24-25 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 24 | 28 | 31 | 35[/table]

Grinner

2013-06-19, 02:36 PM

Comments and ideas are very much appreciated and welcome. The reason I am writing these things down in this thread is to get feedback on what people think about it. Even if it's just "I like this one" or "Could you give more details on that one", it will actually help me quite a lot. I know this is purely creative work and it's hard to tell someone that you don't like a certain thing and would leave it out, but don't be shy. This isn't colaborative worldbuilding or crowdsourcing, but not every idea I have is neccessarily a good one. If you think that I should take another look at some things because it looks odd to you, it could very well be that I missed something important myself or wrote down nonsense that I didn't really think through. Just speak even, even if it's just to let me know people are reading this. :smallbiggrin:

Okay.

First, where did you get the idea for Ghost Paint? It's really cool.

Second, what program did you use to make that map?

Third, in the Harbor City of Elven Sorcerers section, you misspelled the word "tolerated". Additionally, that name seems a bit underwhelming. Perhaps there's a historical figure the city could be named after?

Yora

2013-06-19, 03:06 PM

Like most people, I am rather bad at naming things. :smallbiggrin:
I usually use placeholder descriptions and push the naming out until I am completely sure I will actually be using the location or organization.

The idea for ghost paint was a combination of images of drow from the Eberron setting and a type of psionic magic item, but also inspired by a tradition from Thailand or Malaysia, where people would have magic symbols tattooed on their bodies, which then would be charged with protective powers by a shaman for one year.

I think I did the map with GIMP, using a plugin called "HexMapper" or something like that. If you have GIMP, just search for "GIMP hex map plugin" and you should find it.

Yora

2013-06-21, 12:26 PM

I am sorry, but more feats... :smallbiggrin:

New Feats
I've come to the descision that metamgaic feats for adepts and shamans just work the same as for oracles and sorcerers, with the only difference that a metamagic spell costs them 2 additional power points instead of every additional level for a spell slot. Casting time is a full round action, but there is nothing like psionic focus.

Blood Magic
You can expand your spell point total at the expense of your health and gain access to the Blood Magic school of spells.
Prerequisite: Caster level 1st, Con 13.
Benefit: You can recover 2 spell points by taking 1 point of ability burn damage to each of your three physical ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. You can recover additional spell points for a proportional cost to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. These recovered points are added to your spell point reserve as if you had gained them by resting overnight. Ability burn recovers like ability damage through natural healing, but can never be restored through magical means.
You also gain access to the Blood Magic school. If you can learn new spells on the level at which you take this feat, you can immediately pick blood magic spells as your new known spells.
Special: Only living creatures can use this feat.

Expanded Arcana
Your research has revealed new spells.
Prerequisites: Caster level 1st, see Special.
Benefit: Add one spell from your class's spell list to your list of spells known. This is in addition to the number of spells normally gained at each new level in your class. You may instead add two spells from your class's spell list to your list of spells known, but both of these spells must be at least one level lower than the highest level spell you can cast in that class. Once made, these choices cannot be changed.
Special: You can only take this feat if you possess levels in a class whose spellcasting relies on a limited list of spells known, such as the bard, oracle, and sorcerer.
You can gain Expanded Arcana multiple times.
This feat is from the Advanced Players Guide, but important enough to list it here.

Magic Training
You are trained in the basics of magic.
Prerequisite: Knowledge (arcana) 1 rank.
Benefit: You have received a basic initiation in magic, conferring upon you the designation of a spellcaster. As a spellcaster, you gain a reserve of 2 spell points and can take item creation feats and use scrolls and wands. (Your effective caster level is 0.) You do not, however, gain the ability to cast spells simply by virtue of having this feat.

Powerful Summons
Your summoned spirits and demons have more abilities.
Prerequsite: Caster level 1st.
Benefit: When you summon a spirit or a demon, you can give it one additional special ability from any menu that the creature currently has an ability from.

Summon Familiar
You call a small animal to you, with which you form a magical bond.
Prerequisites: Caster level 1st, Knowledge (arcana) 1 rank.
Benefit: You gain the ability to summon a familiar with an effective wizard level equal to your adept or shaman class level.

--

New Spell
I am not entirely sure if this should be a 4th level spell (available to 7th level adepts and shamans), or be replaced by a special spell-like abilitiy for all outsiders with the plane shift SLA.

Spirit Gateway
School creation
Level 4
Components V, S
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range personal
Target you, plus up to seven willing creatures joining hands
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Will negates
Spell Resistance yes
Spell Points 7

You move yourself and other creatures from the material world to the Spiritworld, or the other way round. As many as eight creatures can be affected by the spell at the same time. Due to the shifting nature of the Spiritworld, the spell does not always transport the targets of the spell to exactly the corresponding location in the other world. The chance to arrive directly on target is 70%. Otherwise the targets appear 6d10x100 feet in a random direction from their destination. Spirit gateway transports creatures instantaneously and then ends. The creatures need to find other means if they are to travel back (including casting spirit gateway again).
Augment For every additional spell point spent, the chance to arrive at the right destination increases by 5% (for a maximum of 95%).

Yora

2013-06-22, 11:24 AM

Spell Lists

These are the spell lists organized by school. The Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats apply to all spells of a school.

Creation Spell List

1st Level Creation Spells
Beast Sight: Gain low-light vision, darkvision, or blindsight.
Entangling Vines: Vegetation entangles everyone in the area.
Faerie Fire: Outlines invisible creatures.
Grease: Makes surface or item slippery.
Heal: Heals hit point damage.
Jump: +10 enhancement bonus to Acrobatics checks to jump.
Light: Object sheds light like a torch.
Speak with Nature: Allows you to communicate with animals, plants, and rocks.
Summon Spirit: Summons a spirit for fight for you.

2nd Level Creation Spells
Alter Self: Assume form of a Small or Medium humanoid.
Resist Energy: Grants energy resistance 10 against one type of energy damage.
Restoration: Heals the effects of diseases and poisons.
Spirit of Fury: +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls.
Spirit of Warding: +1 bonus to AC and saving throws.
Strength of the Beast: +4 bonus to Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
Thicken Skin: Grants natural armor bonus.
Web: Creates a web of sticky strands.
Wood Shape: Reshapes dead or living wood into a desired form.

3rd Level Creation Spells
Beast Shape: You take the form and some of the powers of an animal.
Remove Affliction: Removes disease or poison.
Water Breathing: Subjects can breath underwater.

4th Level Creation Spells
Spirit Gateway: You and up to seven additional creature travel to the Spiritworld.

Elements Spell List

1st Level Elements Spells
Blast of Water: Bull Rush enemies with a blast of water.
Featherfall: Slows descent and reduces falling damage.
Fog Cloud: Creates a thick cloud of fog that grants concealment.
Ray of Cold: Ray deals 1d6 or more points of cold damage.
Ray of Electricity: Ray deals 1d6 or more points of electricity damage.
Ray of Fire: Ray deals 1d6 or more points of cold damage.

2nd Level Elements Spells
Cone of Cold: Cone deals 3d6 or more points of cold damage.
Cone of Flames: Cone deals 3d6 or more points of fire damage.
Control Air: You have control over wind speed and direction.
Earth Walk: Allows you to climb on stone walls with ease.
Gust of Wind: A strong wind knocks down and blows away small creatures and objects.
Lightning Arcs: Deals 3d6 or more points of electricity damage to a group of enemies.

3rd Level Elements Spells
Fireball: Deals 5d6 points of fire damage within 20-ft. spread.
Lightning Bolt: Deals 5d6 points of electricity damage in 120-ft. line.
Stone Shape: Reshapes stone and earth into a desired form.
Wall of Fire: Creates a wall of fire that deals 2d6 points of damage to nearby creatures.
Wind Wall: Wall of wind deflects missiles and blocks surrounding wind conditions.

4th Level Elements Spells
Fly: Fly through the air for 1 minute/level.

Entropy Spell List

1st Level Entropy Spells
Fear: Causes targets to become frightened for 1d4 rounds.
Sleep: Makes creatures fall asleep.

2nd Level Entropy Spells
Cloak of Shadows: Shadows grant you concealment.
Darkness: Creates a region of magical darkness.
Vulnerability to Energy: Doubles damage from energy attacks.
Weakness: Target takes –4 on attack rolls, or –2 if he makes the save.

3rd Level Entropy Spells
Hold: Holds target paralyzed, allows a save every round to escape.
Vulnerability to Weapons: Double damage from weapons.

4th Level Entropy Spells
Bestow curse: Bestows several penalties to target.

Spirit Spell List

1st Level Spirit Spells
Detect Magic: Detect magic auras from spells and items.
Charm: Makes a creature your friend.
Daze: Target loses next action.
Illusory Image: Creates a simple illusion.
Magic Weapon: Gives a magical enhancement bonus to weapon.
Remove Fear: Grants new saving throw against fear effects and +4 bonus on saves against further fear effects.

2nd Level Spirit Spells
Invisibility: Makes you or another creature invisible.
Read Thoughts: Allows you to read surface thoughts.
Suggestion: Implants hypnotic command in a creature.

3rd Level Spirit Spells
Dispel Magic: Dispels magic effects.
Stunning Blast: Stuns targets in 20-ft. cone.

4th Level Spirit Spells
Dominate: Controls the mind of one creature.
Ethereal Form: Target becomes incorporeal for 1 round/level.

Blood Spell List

2nd Level Blood Spells
Rend Flesh: Foe takes 2d6 damage.
Share Pain: Subject takes some of your damage.
Share Life Energy: Target heals 2d10 points of damage, you take half the amount as damage.

3rd Level Blood Spells
Drain Life Energy: You heal up to 50 points of damage, target takes equal amount of damage.

4th Level Blood Spells
Control Body: Takes control of corpse or living creatures body.

Fel Spell List

1st Level Fel Spells
Summon Demon: Summons a demon to fight for you.

2nd Level Fel Spells
Animate Corpses: Temporarily animates nearby corpses as skeletons and zombies.
Creation, Elements, and Spirit spells are looking great, but Entropy and Blood magic are still quite empty, and there barely is anything for Fel magic. Any ideas?

For fel magic, I think a good theme might be, that there is an infinite amount of energy in the Void and you could cast fel spells all day without ever running out of power, but it's an unnatural energy that corrupts everything it comes in contact with, including the spellcaster who casts the spells. Maybe I make a feat that lets a Fel magic caster take Taint damage, instead of paying spell points. But there should also be four or five more spells that do things that can only be done with fel magic. And I'm not so sure what that could be.

Yora

2013-06-23, 10:03 AM

With great pride do I present to you a first version of

The Ancient Lands Player Character Reference Guide (http://barbaripedia.eu/downloads/AL_PC_Reference_Guide_0.1.pdf)

Probably still full of errors, still missing the flavor text for the races, and the sections on Honor and Taint, but this is pretty much it.
The reference guide is intended to include everything you need to create PC and NPCs if you are familiar with Pathfinder. Meterial from pretty much any other book can also be used, but the options presented in the guide should cover about everything you would need for a moderatly optimized campaign.

Yora

2013-06-28, 02:37 AM

Grinner

2013-06-28, 10:10 AM

Just a small idea that's been in my head these last days. Instead of making the river that separates the temperate forest in the north from the subtropical jungle in the south just run through a big valley, I think I am going to turn it into a huge canyon. Since it's the best way to get from the sea east of the Ancient Lands to the plains in the west, there could be all kinds of old ruins left in the area, and of course there would be lots of bandits and raiders to attack the caravans passing through. It also happens to be the area where I wanted to do something with "wild elves".
Still just a rough idea, but I think this could be something really cool.

I think there were Native American tribes that built their homes into the sides of cliffs...I can't remember their names, but I'm pretty sure they used adobe in the construction of their homes...

Edit: Pueblo! That's it! They were called the Pueblo.

Relevant Wikipedia articles:

Ancient Pueblo Peoples (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Pueblo_Peoples)
Ancient dwellings of the Pueblo peoples (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dwellings_of_Pueblo_peoples)

Yora

2013-07-03, 11:07 AM

Havn't really been updating in a while, but I think sharing the current state of the major settlements might be interesting. Some people who have been following me for a while may recognize some of the ideas here.

Major Settlements of the Ancient Lands

City of the Kaas Tribes: In the far northwest of the Ancient Lands lies the only major city inhabited by kaas. Located in the open sub-arctic plains and marshes, the settlement is situated among and on top of a group of hills, which make it a natural site for settlement. No single clan has full control over the city, which serves as a central market for the many clans and family groups that inhabit the plains, forests, and hills of this cold land.
The city itself consists of mostly of relatively small wooden houses as one can find in many villages and small towns, but his home to about 6,000 people at any time. Four of the major local clans have small keeps sitting atop the larger hills, which are surrounded by wooden pallisades.
(Think of something like a huge Mongol tent camp, but permanent.)

Northern Elven City: Several hundred miles to the east of the kaas city, located in the hills between the tall mountains to the north and the vast marshes to the south, lies a large fortress inhabited by one of the local elven clans. While far smaller and less powerful than the greater realms in the south, the ruler of the city is called a queen, as she is by far the single most powerful leader in all of the Northlands. The city sits protected by three taller peaks on every side and has an open view on the marshes below to the southeast. A paved road leads up a narrow valley to the fortress walls, which is very well defended and makes it incredibly difficult to assault the city by force. The city is home to about 6,500 elves.

Elven Trade City: In the very east of the Northlands lies the northernmost port city of the inner sea. It is located several dozen miles from the sea and sits on the shore of one of the countless large lakes of the region, which are connected by river both to each other and to the sea. No clan rules over the city and it is instead gverened by a council of rich and powerful merchants. The city itself consists of winding narrow streets flaned by tall and narrow houses that are often three stories or even more in height. It's a major center of trade for the region, but with the relatively sparse population of the surrounding area, it's still barely more than a large town. Only about half of the 5,500 inhabitants are elves, with gnomes, humans, and kaas making up the rest.
(This city could also be anywhere in the eastern Baltic Sea region, like Finnland, Latvia, or Poland.)

Sorcerer City: Several hundred miles south of the Trade City lies one of the richest and most powerful realms of the Ancient Lands. The Sorcerer City is located at the base of a tall cliff and home to about 15,000 people, most of them elves. A large flat platform above halfway up the cliffside is home to an additional 3,000 people, who make up the cities aristocracy. In addition to being one of the major centers of trade, the city is also well known for its sorcerers, who not only practice their magical studies in the open, but also wield significant power and influence in the cities politics.
Except for trading ships, the city is not particularly welcomming of strangers, and visitors are mostly confined to the harbor.

Elven Forest City: The next major city from the Sorcerer City lies about 200 miles to the west and to the south, inside the large forest that dominates most of the northern Ancient Lands. With a population of 9,500 people, it is still one of the larger cities of the Ancient Lands, but the houses are spread out over a relatively large area with lots of old and massive trees found throughout the whole settlement. While several clans share the government of the city, the main power lies with the druids, a group of powerful shamans who have no ties to any individual clans. The druids are very strong opponents of warlocks and anyone persuing sorcery, which puts them at permanent odds with the sorcerer city. The last war between the two powers has been well over a century ago, but their agents are still deeply engaged in the hidden conflict.

Gnome Forest City: Less than a weeks travel from the city of the elven druids, one of the Ancient Lands gnomes major settlements is located inside a massive cave that is open to the surface on the south side. The roof of the cave is supported by numerous large natural pillars, some several dozens or even over a hundred meters in diameter. Inside the cave, stone houses are build into the cave walls and cover the cave floor, with several large mansions and small castles among them.
The city is home to about 8,000 gnomes and a few other inhabitants, who are ruled by a queen, who is also the head shaman of the tribe.

Gnome Mountain City: Somewhere in the northern parts of the Ancient Lands (not quite yet sure where to put it) lies the largest known settlement of gnomes anywhere in the world. It is located underground inside a mountain and consists of about a dozen large caverns of various sizes, which have the homes and workshops carved into the cave walls. Below the city lies a huge network of mines, and the city is by far the greatest producer of iron and steel anywhere in the Ancient Lands. The gnomes sell both weapons and armor, as well as unfinished steel ingots to places all over the Ancient Lands, but their prices are steep and the amount of steel that is exported in any given period of time is closely regulated by the cities king and the ruling council.
At about 15,000 people, it is one of the largest cities in the Ancient Lands.

Crystal City: (Yes, this one is back.) Not far from where the great river, that devides the Ancient Lands in a northern and southern half, reaches the sea, a large city is located inside a series of caves that are open to the waters. The caves have been formed from massive sinkholes in the cliffs and most of them are open to the sky to let in air and light.
The city is located near the great river, which is the primary trade route between the Ancient Lands and the Western Realms, as well as on the coast of the inner sea, which sees most travel from the northern ports to the southern ports. As such, it's the most bussiest port with one of the most diverse populations. The 20,000 inhabitants of the city are highly mixed, consisting of 40% humans, 25% wood elves, 20% gnomes, 5% dark elves, and considerable minorities of lizardfolk, kaas, and even some nezumi and undines.
While the city is governed by a council, the real power resides in one of the cities deepest caverns. A large formation of rare crystals, that are virtually uncorruptable by taint, is the home to seven demons that have voluntarily trapped themselves inside the crystal to contain their corrupting effect on the material world and its creatures. Though alien in mind, these demons are not looking for destruction, but have instead come to develop an appreciation of the natural world and desire to preotect it from other demons who show no such constraint. The demons use their power and their knowledge to help train a large number of demon hunters, who seek out all demons who spread Taint in the material world, and anyone who assists them.

Human Hill City: The city is located on an ancient site that has been home to numerous settlements in the past, but the current inhabitants moved into the site just a century ago. Located in the center of a large formation of rocky hills, the city is a natural fortress that is easy to defend and soon became a popular resting point for caravans bringing goods from the Western Realms over the land route instead of using the river and sea. Eventually, the site and the old ruins that covered it, where claimed by a human chief who never had pledged himself and his clan to any specific elven lord, to create his own domain in what had long been considered a worthless wasteland. But with caravans passing through the area on regular basis, the natural fortress has become a location of great strategic importance. While the position of chief has always been changing hands on a pretty regular basis, leadership is firmly in the hand of a single clan, who has managed to keep any other human clans or eleven lords from taking it from them.

Dark Elven Port The southernmost of the major ports on the inner sea is located in the southern half of the Ancient Lands and inhabited primarily by dark elves. At 12,000 people, it's one of the largest cities of the Ancient Lands. Unlike most dark elves, who pride themselves greatly on their independence and self-reliance and generally avoid trade with outsiders, the ruling clans of the port city have been very open to adopt new ways to create weapons and armor and to efficiently govern a large city based primarily on trade.

Jungle City: More than two weeks of travel through the jungle, southwest of the Dark Elven Port, lies the ancient temple city of the dark elves, which has been one of the main cultural and religious centers of most dark elven tribes and clans for countless generations. Most of the cities larger buildings are ancient ruins that had been abandoned by their original inhabitants thousands of years ago, but everything that can be said for certain is that they were not build by naga. The city itself is more of a collection of relatively mundane villages build inside massive courtyards or ruined palaces and impresses mostly through sheer size than by any cultural achivements. Most of the cities 7,500 dark elves belong to a single tribe, which is ruled by a queen known to be a both ancient and very poweful shaman.

Sun Lizard City:Some distance east of the jungles inhabited primarily by dark elves, lies a large region that is the ancestral home of the lizardfolk. Near the center of the city lies an ancient naga city that is now ruled by a powerful lizardfolk king and a council of high priests of the Sun. The city was the site of one of the first rebellions against the naga by their lizardfolk slaves, and the victory was attributed primarily to the magical powers of the shamans who led the rebellion. To this very day, the lizardfolk consider the Sun to be the supreme ruler of their kingdom, whith the king being merely a regent appointed by the high priests. While the kingdom rules only over a fraction of the lizardfolk inhabiting the southern Ancient Lands, the Sun King is ususally considered to be the single most powerful ruler anywhere in the Ancient Lands and at 24,000 inhabitants, the city even dwarfs the Crystal City and the Sorcerer City in the northern Ancient Lands.

Naga City: While the power of the naga has greatly diminished since the end of the Age of Spirits 4,000 years ago, they still have significant control over large parts of the eastern sections of the great jungles in the Southern Ancient Lands. Not much is know about most of their remaining strongholds, as few are welcomming to any visitors. One of the cities is a notable excetption and frequently engages in trade with the humanoid tribes and kingdoms of the Ancient Lands. Few captains have ever sailed to this remote port and even though the naga pay very well, most traders prefer to stay in less dangerous waters. Outnumbered by their lizardfolk slaves more than ten to one, the city still boasts a large population of about 9,000 individuals.

--

I am quite happy with this arangement in general, but there is of course still need for much more detail. Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions are very much wellcome as they might give me some inspirations on how to expand on them.

Yora

2013-07-04, 03:20 PM

Themes and Worldviews
I had some canceled classes today and spend the time working out the details about the thematic focus of the setting some more. Some of this is old, other things are new.

View of the Cosmos
Very few people know anything about the Void and most havn't ever even heard that name, but it is a very common believe among all the humanoid peoples that the Material World of the Ancient Lands and the Spiritworld are not the only worlds and neither the first. Nobody really knows how this knowledge first came to be discovered, but it is most likely that it was told to the earliest shamans by ancient spirits. (The Great Ancients of the Underworld might even remember the earliest days of this world.) The number of worlds is considered infinite, and that does not just include other stars and planets. There are whole other universes out there and new ones come into existance as old ones disappear for all eternity. In practice, this is entirely hypothetical knowledge, since nobody has ever seen or made contact with any of these other worlds. But from this derives a very important fact that shapes the worldview of people in the Ancient Lands to a great degree. Not only did this world have a beginning, it will also have an end. How long a universe will last, or the stars and planets inside them, is not known, but it is universally agreed that it is an unimaginable long time with the end still an incredibly amount of time in the future.
But based on this, people know with certainty that nothing ever is eternal, except for possibly the Void itself. And with many older elves having seen new islands rise from the sea and major rivers shift their course, even mountains and the stars are understood to be temporary things. The most important lesson taken from this for most people, is that their own cultures, with migrating peoples and constantly changing alliances and kingdoms, are not going to last forever. And are in fact particularly vulnerable to disasters and major disruptions. As a result, great importance is given to the ancestors and founders of any give clan or kingdom. The shared connection to this founder is what defines a clan or a realm in the eyes of the people (though in practice these connections can be of a highly ideological nature). With it comes a certain sense of fatalism. Everyone who builds a new farm or founds a new village does so with the knowledge that it will last for maybe ten or twelve generations, but possibly even not much longer than their own lives. But since virtually everyone grews up with that knowledge, it is genrally not considered anything particularly dreadful. It's just a simple fact of live as a humanoid mortal, that the landscape of the world slowly changes over time and that any signs of humanoid settlement will eventually be swept away by the wilderness. However, there is no real sense of conquering the wilds and making the forces of nature subjects to humanoid will. Any such attempt would be folly and a waste of effort and resources. Instead, it is considered much better to create places where the people currently alive have an easy time to grow and hunt food, and are protected from weather and wild beasts. It is good to work hard to create a save home for ones children and grandchildren, but having goals that reach even more into the future are mostly nonsensical.

The meaning of Fate
The common believe is that every person has a free will, but there are few moments in anyones life when a descision will really have a great impact on the future. One might chose to buy a fish instead of a rabbit, or to go to a tavern instead of sitting at the river, but it won't change ones fate or that of anyone else in almost all cases. Because of this, there are limited ways to predict a persons future. A seer can not see into the future, but the present does reveal more to them than to other people, and often can they predict with quite considerable accuracy how certain events will turn out. But in every persons life, there are a few moments in which even a small and seemingly unimportant descision will change everything. Usually mostly for themselves, but sometimes for whole villages, clans, or even entire regions. People who are aware when they are at such crossroads are considered greatly gifted, but not all of them also have the insight to know what results any of their choices will bring. Sometimes powerful spirits recognize that a person will have to make such an important descision but will also most likely pick a choice that will result in great suffering for anyone involved. Such people are considered cursed.
Seers and spirits can reveal to people what their immediate future will hold for them, and that they will come to such a situation where they will have to make a descision of great importance. But what exactly will result from that choice is almost impossible to determine in advance. (Not only is this a great way to deal with fate and divinations in an RPG, it can also be used as a tool by GMs when designing campaigns. In practice, most minor choices of the PCs won't affect the plot of the adventure, but quite often there will be different possible paths that a GM has prepared and it's left open to the players actions which one will actually happen. By using oracles and premonitions, this can be taken from the metagame and made part of the game itself.)

Duty and Responsibility to the Clan
In the Ancient Lands, there are no real states and even the few kingdoms are more formalized alliances of clan chiefs without written law codes and clearly defined separations of power. The primary unit of society is the clan. The members of a clan protect each other against attacks from the outside, as there is strength in numbers. But even if a crime is commited against a member of the clan, all the other clan members have to make sure that they are not considered weak and easy targets. As a result, every crime must be avenged. It is not about fairness, retribution, or reparation, but a basic neccessity to show everyone that any attacks against this clan will result in harsh retaliation. If any crime goes unavenged, it is just an invitation for other bandits and hostile clans.
Showing unity to others and participating in the defense and protection of other clanmembers is vital to survival. Even if you don't like your neighbor, you have to stand with him against attackers from outside, because otherwise you make yourself and your own family a target for the next attack in the future. There is usually some degree of wrigling room, when it comes to take sides in a conflict. There is never just the black and white choice of either being loyal to your clan or betraying it. But in situations where things are not entirely clear, supporting ones clan is much more important in the Ancient Lands than it is in the modern world. Sometimes outsiders have to be sacrificed to protect members of ones own clan, even if one would side with the other group if both or neither were part of ones own clan. Not just the players, also their characters don't have to like making such descisions. But in the Ancient Lands, loyalty to ones own clan is not only a philosophical or moral idea, but a neccessary element of protecting ones own friends and family. Because of this, almost any character who is not an outcast or hermit, should have have his own clan as one of his three allegiances. A highborn or clansman with no such allegiance would be a noteworthy exception from the norm, that should be part of what defines the characters personalty.

Loyalty to the Chief
A great part of what makes a clan strong and able to protect and avenge its people, is unity and obedience to a common leader. Disobeying the chief is not only breaking the loyalty to him, but also a violation of the duty towards the clan, since it makes the whole clan weaker. But at the same time, the position of chief is an appointed and elected office, not a right of property or divine will. It is simply customary that a son or nephew of the old chief is the most able person for the job, as he has assited with leading the clan for many years (and shares all the wealth and political power of his family).
The chief also has a duty to his clan to lead it successfully. If a chief ever takes actions that threaten or severely weaken the clan, he himself is breaking his duty and betraying the clan. In such a situation, it is the duty of the people of the clan to remove such a traitor from power. Ideally, loyalty to the clan ranks above loyalty to the chief (that means, its allegiance is ranked higher), but very often this is not the case and the chiefs most loyal companions and retainers will continue to support and protect him even when his rule becomes unpopular.

Warrior Duties and Honorable Battle
While warriors who fall in battle are highly praised and honored, the actual ideal of a warrior is to serve his clan and protect him, not to be killed by a weapon instead of age or sickness. Dying an inglorious death is not considered a shame as long as the warriors always gave all he had while he still had the ability to do so. Seeking a death that makes for a glorious story is even frowned upon, if the warrior could have escaped alive and continued to serve his clan for many more years.
But defending the clan always comes first and if a warrior can serve his clan better by facing certain death than saving his life, this is considered the ultimate service to the clan.

Yora

2013-07-06, 12:10 PM

Solving the Jedi Problem
I've been talking about this before some time ago. Basically, when you allow warriors to have magic powers, why do these warriors not always outshine everyone else? And in Star Wars that's exactly what the Jedi do. But Ancient Lands is supposed to be relatively low-magic, and lots of magic warriors being the champions of every army won't do. But I don't want to simply not have magical warriors at all either. They are just too cool for this.
So what I came up with is this. The role of fighters who have some adept levels would be similar to that of monks, or more specifically of Sohei as in Oriental Adventures or the PF archetype. Of course, player characters don't have to conform to that, as they can be some of the rare exceptions. This is more for the world in general and the creation of NPCs. These magic warriors do not neccessarily form a hierachical order, but are still a distinct tradition in which teachers train their students over many years, instead of it just being some skill that normal warriors just picked up somewhere. They are mostly fighters and have only two or three levels in the adept class.

I've been spending some thoughts on reflecting it in their stats that magic warriors are not just plain better than normal warriors, and I think it works resonably well.
Since adepts are based on psionics, there is no arcane spell failure and casting spells in armor is not an issue. Adepts need Intelligence, but fighters need at least Strength and Constitution, plus some Dexterity as well. There simply won't be the point to get Intelligence very high and as I have planned it, there are no spells like foxs cunning, owls wisdom, and eagles splendor and no magic items that replicate them. So dipping into adept levels means low save DCs and a rather small pool of spell points. With two levels in adept and Intelligence 13, a character has only 7 sp, and at 6th or 7th level, that is nothing. You can do some cool stunts with that, but it won't really replace your attacks with weapons and your armor. And I think the Practiced Spellcaster feat should not be available in an Ancient Lands campaign. It can give a quite nice bump in spell points and the ability to augment spells four levels higher is a rather significant bost. Which I think such characters don't need.

With low spell points and barely any augmentation options, shoting fire and lightning would be simply a very poor choice and it would be much smarter to focus on spells that buff your combat abilities, like cloak of shadows, jump, thicken skin, or featherfall. Magic warriors could still learn cone of flames or illusory image, but NPCs of this archetype wouldn't usually do that.
If you don't have stuff like fly, dimension door, hold person, or stone skin, I don't think it would appear implausible that really well trained mundane warriors can still beat them up badly. Magic would be a slight edge for which they have to trade attack bonuses and damage bonuses, which in the 5th to 8th level range with few magic items wouldn't be trivial.

Mythic Adventure Rules
Mythic Adventures is going to be released in a month and I just took a peak at the playtest version (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8voq) from last november. It's an interesting concept. In addition to class levels, which are advanced by gaining XP, there are also mythic paths which are advanced by performing a certain number of impressive heroics. By advancing the tiers of your mythic path, you gain bonus feats, ability increases, and a bunch of special abilites that are not dependant on your class levels.
How a character starts a mythic path is left to the GM for the specifics of any given campaign. I think it could be an interesting option to let any PC or NPC that reaches the maximum level of 10th automatically ascend to mythic status as well. From that point on, they would no longer get any XP (as PF doesn't really have any ways to lose XP), but might still ocasionally qualify for additional mythic tiers by performing the neccessary heroic acts. Characters get no hit dice, skill ranks, or increasing saving throws though, which is somewhat similar to E6. I'll have to see how the final rules will turn out when they are released next month, and maybe it won't really be worth it to deal with this hazzle. But since mythic rules can easily added to any running campaign at any point, a small sidebard that says "if your campaign reaches 10th level, consider having the PCs ascend to mythic status as a way to allow for continued character advancement".

The Marshal path might be great for the Lord General of the Warrior Order, and the King of the Lizardfolk Empire would be a great Guardian, being a divinely appointed protector of his people.

Yora

2013-07-13, 02:28 AM

Turns out I can take the big and quite difficult Japanese exam next semester, so I now can again spend more time working on the setting.

Something that might be of interest to some of you, is that the rules from Ultimate Combat are now in the PRD. Of which I want to include the Downtime system (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCampaign/downtime.html) (building a stronghold), Honor (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCampaign/campaignSystems/honor.html), and the Kingdom (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCampaign/kingdomsAndWar.html) and Army (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCampaign/kingdomsAndWar/massCombat.html) rules as part of the setting.

Honor will be included by default and part of NPC stat blocks, but still be an optional choice for every individual player character.

Regarding the Army rules nothing will really be much different in the Ancient Lands, but I might write up stat blocks for some common troop units that are often found in the setting, as a quick reference for GMs and player.

For the Kingdom rules, I've already wrote up a revised list of buildings you can build in the Ancient Lands, with the addition of some new ones. Now that the complete rules are openly accessible, I'll probably do another clean writeup of those this weekend, so everything is in order and you can read them within the context of the rules and tell me your impressions.
And maybe, I'll also get the new Honor codes done.

Sythirius

2013-07-15, 08:18 PM

Thanks for posting this great thread, I've been looking at a lot of your stuff with great delight.

Lately, I've been designing a setting in the bronze age as well, and I will pretty surprised at the similarities between our work, though yours has a lot more development, and a lot of differences from mine.

Biggest difference is probably my strong focus on a very harsh world (using an improvised wound points system), and heavily revised classes.

Yora

2013-07-18, 02:32 PM

Thanks, that's always the best kind of reply one can get. :smallbiggrin:

Having had two weeks to think about it, I still really like the list for major cities (#106 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15547404&postcount=106)). And usually I scrap such things after two days because it doesn't really fit the original vision I had. But I think this one can now considered to be finalized.
Also, I havn't really made any changes to the set of main power groups that are fighting with each other about things other than territory and trade. The list from last year (#32 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14284690&postcount=32)) has only slightly changed. The Shadow Druids are no longer a major faction, though I still intend to have them stick around as a radical branch of the general druid group.
New are the demon hunters, who are based on the underground port city in the central region of the Ancient Lands, and the order of hermits. The hermits are a movement that rejects clans and backgrounds, and instead follows an ideology of equality of all people. Often quite radically and without compromise, but they have very strong loyalty to each other, which makes them a major faction. Very losely based on early buddhists and muslims with a rather strong communist leaning. Effectively, they are a single massive clan that is spread all over the Ancient Lands without any true homeland. If their interest match with those of local clans, they can be a really poweful ally. If their interest conflict, they become a major problem than the other clans can't ignore.

With races, geography, major cities, and main organizations set, I'd say this is no longer just a style concept or a campaign model. I would say we have ourselves now an actual distinct campaign setting!
Or as they say in video game development, an early alpha build. Still far from finished, but now the foundation and the frame is standing. From here on, it's all details.
Yay! :smallbiggrin:

Yora

2013-07-18, 03:24 PM

This is basically a repost of something I found in the old thread, that hasn't really changed much. I only updated it slightly to accomodate what minor differences there have come to be in the meantime.

Elves
The elves are one of the humanoid races that inhabit the Ancient Lands. Along with the lizardfolk, they established many of the first and oldest humanoid civilizations in the known world.

Physical Description
Elves and humans share a great resemblance when compared to other races and can in fact be mistaken for one another at a distance or by people not familiar with either race. Elves typically stand between 5'6" and 5'10" in height and of noticeably slender build. Elven muscle structure is noticeably more dense than humans, which tends to obscure an elves actual physical strength and makes even very strong elves appear very lean. While highly agile, the lack of fat and low body mass puts elves at greater risk from long term exertions, exposure to cold, poisons, and malnutrition, which is the cause for the elven reputation of weakness and frailty. However, this does not translate into a lack of physical strength and many elves are quite capable at hand to hand combat. However, as they tire faster than humans, kass, or even gnomes, elves prefer to not draw fights and battles out and make decisive strikes or retreat.

On shorter distances, the differences between elves and humans become more noticeable. Compared to humans, elves have pointed and slightly elongated ears, which usually are a dead giveaway, but also the easiest part to conceal. Elven faces are usually more narrow and have less prominent features, like short noses, thin eyebrows, and narrow lips. Only noticeable at very short distances is that elven eyes have relatively larger irises and show less white, making them appear slightly more animal-like.

A well known trait of elves, that get frequently exaggerated, is their comparatively long life span. It is not uncommon for elves to live over 300 years before they succumb to old age, but given the long time span, the majority dies at an earlier age from accidents, injuries, or disease or from generally failing health caused by hardships at an earlier age. Elves are regarded adults at age 24 and aging significantly slows down during their 30s. It's usually when reaching ages over 200 years that the age of elves truly starts to show, with graying hair, aging skin, and slowly diminishing endurance. However, only the few truly ancient elves show signs in age as commonly seen in humans that live for more than 70 years before they reach the natural end of their lifespan. Judging an elves age is quite difficult for non-elves and even among themselves elves mostly use hints from small differences in clothing and speech, and the behavior to other elves of known age, to discern the generational differences between elven strangers. Age doesn't play such an important role in elven society than it does among other races, which usually only recognizes children under 16, youths under 32, adults, and elders who have lived for over 200 years. Age differences between adults barely play any role and close friendships and marriages with over 100 years of age difference are quite common. Elves encountered outside the lands of their clans are usually at least in their late 30s or 40s.

Elves do in fact have as many children as humans, but often with much greater time spans between births and it's not uncommon for elves to have uncles and aunts younger than themselves.

Elves possess a remarkable sense of perception, which manifests in heightened hearing shared only by gnomes, and the ability to see without difficulty in only very dim light.

Wood Elves
Most elves living in the Barbarian Lands are wood elves, but are usually simply referred to as elves by most people outside the southern jungles. Wood elves generally have lightly tanned skin and hair ranging in colors from dark brown to almost black, though lighter browns and shades of blond and green are common among the Moreshin. Wood elves most commonly have green eyes or occasionally brown. In the northern parts of the Ancient Lands, gray eyes also occur, with blue being exceptionally rare and often attributed to fey ancestry.

Dark Elves
In southern Jungles, most elves one encounters belong to the dark elves. The most striking difference to wood elves is their dark skin, which ranges through several shades of ash gray, that sometimes even reaches to charcoal black in some clans. In stark contrast, dark elven hair is often, white, silver, and very pale blond, but a bluish gray is also not uncommon. Dark elven hunters, who usually hunt at dusk and night, often dye their hair dark to better blend in with their surroundings. The eyes of dark elves most commonly have the same shades of green found among wood elves, but red, purple, and blue also appearing frequently in some family lines.

Dark Elves are semi nocturnal and are mostly active from noon until deep into the night. Their ability to see in darkness is even much greater than that of wood elves, but they are also slightly sensitive to bright light and either live in areas with very thick foliage overhead or remain inside until the sun is low on the horizon. Some dark elves, especially the Keiyashei, even live mostly underground and only come to the surface when absolutely necessary.

Culture and Society
Many of the unique and unusual aspects of elven culture are closely connected to elven longevity. As age differences among siblings often span decades, families are usually small and elven children form much closer bonds with others of similar age, with which they grow up together. These childhood friendships are often the most important relationships of elves, right after their parents, and usually rank higher than the bonds of blood. Once elves reach their mid thirties, they stop visibly aging for almost two centuries, which makes it almost impossible to tell an elves age even for other elves. As a result, age plays a much smaller role in elven society than for any other race and only true elders, who have lived well over two hundred years, are treated with any kind of special respect and reverence. Instead, personal ability becomes a much larger factor in determining social hierarchy. Elves take great pride in their crafts, as it determines their social standing.

While elves are well aware of the changes in perspective and ideals as they become older and new generations follow, this is a fairly slow and gradual shift. In practice, even age differences of forty or sixty years are not considered great enough to be an obstacle to friendships and romantic relationships, and even much larger time spans are not regarded as something improper. As a result, it is a common experience for elves to see their friends and spouses become elders and eventually die of age while they still have more than half of their own life ahead of them. And that is in addition to the numerous dangers that all people in the Ancient Lands face on a daily basis. To elves, this is simply a part of life. Over the span of up to three centuries, an elf does not attempt to live a single life, but in his lifetime will leave an old life behind and begin a new one several times. As a side effect, elven villages and especially towns frequently gain new residents that become part of the community and are much less stable than communities of other races. The one exception to this fact of elven life are the childhood friendships, which are the most stable and long lasting relationships among elves. While even elves change greatly over the span of more than twenty decades, the connection of being the only people from their childhoods that are still alive is extremely strong for elven elders. Many elves who feel that it is time to permanently settle down for the last station of their life return to their birth places to find any traces of their friends from their childhood who are still alive. This strong bond between many elven elders is also a part why they are regarded with special reverence. Often it is only two or three who find back together, and with the other elders, who share similar experiences, they form their own small segments of society within a community, which nobody who hasn't reached that stage of life yet can fully understand. While elders are usually not active leaders, it is no surprise that they wield very great powers, both because of the special reverence they are shown and the exclusivity of their group.

While gender roles exist in elven society, they are usually much less pronounced than in other cultures. While certain professions have clear tendencies to be performed by either men or women and there are slight differences in male and female dress, gender is much less of a barrier for elves to find their chosen calling and there is generally a rather high tolerance for deviations from the average. Given the great variations in upbringing and experiences among members of an elven communities, certain eccentricities are also very much permitted and rarely cause for ostracism as long as it doesn't upset the common peace.

Yora

2013-07-18, 03:26 PM

Gnomes
Gnomes are one of the major humanoid races that inhabit the Ancient Lands. While they are both short in stature and small in numbers, they play a comparatively major role in the affairs of the taller people.

Physical Description
Gnomes have similar statures to humans and elves but stand noticeably shorter at less than four feet. With their round faces and noses, their heads appear proportionally bigger in relation to their body, and they are usually somewhat stout and broad shouldered in stature, which clearly makes them stand apart from human children. Gnomes have light brown skin in shades of earth or clay, brown or gray eyes, and brown hair, while males grow short beards. Like elves, gnomes have slightly pointed ears, but this is usually much less pronounced and less notable.

Despite their small size and lack of physical strength, gnomes possess a remarkable endurance and resilience towards exertions. Gnomes can walk or work in mines for hours without breaks and possess phenomenal resistance to disease and poison and even can tolerate the corruption of Taint much better than almost anyone else. The toughness of gnomes rivals that of the kaas, which are several times their size and more than twice as tall.

And addition, gnomes are also very long living and surpassed in that only by elves. Gnomes are generally considered to be adults in their early thirties and can live well over two centuries. Unlike elves however, gnomes age visibly throughout their whole lives and are much more similar to humans in that regard.

History
Like elves and lizardfolk, gnomes have been living in the Ancient Lands for a very long time. However, very few is known about their early history before the Age of the Clans. Gnomes have always been most at home in hills and mountains where the majority of their present settlements are located. There are only a few gnomish clans living in the foothills of the Northlands, which always have been especially secluded.

Relations between gnomes and the other humanoid races have increased significantly since the dawn of the Age of Kings, when elven merchants showed an immense demand for gnomish steel weapons and quality steel ingots, which had a major effect on elven clan politics.

Culture and Society
Even when compared to humans, gnomes live in very densely packed communities of large inter-related families. Gnome houses are often home to one to two dozen people.

In gnomish society, gender roles are quite similar to those of humans. Fieldwork and hunting is mostly the domain of men, while women have almost complete control over the homes. Business is one of the fields of gnomish society where men and women are roughly equally involved as it is related to both the male and female sphere of responsibilities, though finances and bookkeeping are generally regarded as female skills. Gnomes do have a concept of nobility, but it includes few legal privileges and is more an aspect of social standing, which is mostly determined by wealth and success of certain families. In larger towns, they do form a patrician elite that holds the most political and economic power.

Gnomes are perfectly aware of the fact that they are the smallest and physically weakest of the humanoid races, which greatly influence how they interact with people of other races and face the outside world. Generally, gnomes try to avoid open confrontation as much as possible as there are few situations in which they could easily overpower their opponents. Instead appeasing the other side is usually their first course of action. While they do have their pride, most gnomes are quite willing to accept temporary humiliations instead of being drawn into a fight with unfavorable odds. Seeing this as a sign of weakness or gnomes being pushovers can prove to be quite dangerous however. When a direct, and potentially lethal confrontation seems inevitable, gnomes will often concede defeat and initially give in to the demands of their opponents. Which particularly larger and stronger opponents are often much too willing to take at face value. When armed fighting breaks out, fast but ordered retreat is often the first priority. However, it is a mistake to believe that gnomes are easily defeated as they will often use that opportunity to prepare for the next confrontation in which they will have the odds decisively in their favor. Only if everything is in place will gnomes strike back, with very underhanded business practices, ambushes, or even outright assassination, after their enemies thought them defeated and themselves in safety. This has given gnomes a reputation of being liars or cheats, as they will often make promises they have no intention to keep, to get themselves out of tight spots.

Life in gnome burrows is very cramped with lots of people living living tightly packed together. Politeness and respect for personal privacy have an extremely high value in gnome society to compensate for that. Provocations and insults are frowned upon greatly and while gnomes can show great restraint to not respond to them in kind, it significantly affects the respect gnomes have for other people and their willingness to compromise or provide help. People who unnecessarily aggravate arguments and disagreements will fiend very few friends among gnomes, but if their enemies are willing to do the same, gnomes are generally trying their best to remain civil and find mutually acceptable compromises. Life in the communal areas of gnome burrows is often loud and crowded with everyone trying to take part in the cheerful spirit. As most gnomes see it, bad mood and anger can easily be pushed aside for a few hours just by being willing to go with the flow. With the living condition in gnome settlements, one has to learn to swallow personal pride and restrain oneself from being rude to others who are getting bothersome. As a compensation, private quarters, which are often very small and belonging to no more than one to three gnomes, are absolutely forbidden places for everyone else. Only when offered may anyone enter the private room of a gnome, and even asking for permission is a serious taboo. Secretly entering, or even forcibly intruding into the private rooms of others is a very severe crime and an almost irrevocable breach of trust. Because gnome settlements have few open spaces, gnomes may appear as quite bold in how they show up at other peoples homes and expect immediate entrance, but they are usually very reluctant to enter sleeping quarters and private studies. And while some might go as far as helping themselves at food and drink, only the most unscrupulous would even touch any personal items of other people or search through bags and backpacks of others.

Settlements
Gnome villages often consists only of a few houses, which are mostly located underground. On the surface, villages consists mostly of barns, stables, and some workshops that produce a lot of smoke and fumes, while living quarters are mostly below ground. Only the main gates of most gnome homes are visible on the surface, which lead to an entrance hall from which tunnels and staircases lead down to the majority of rooms. It is not uncommon that villages and towns also have large communal spaces underground, which are connected to the homes by tunnels that serve as underground streets. Unlike real underground living races, gnomes spend a great deal of time outside on the surface where they tend to their fields and herds. Only during winter does public life move almost entirely underground with many gnomes not taking a step outside for weeks.

Craft
Most gnomes take their crafts and professions very seriously. In the high buzz activity of gnome homes and villages, concentrating on ones work is a highly valued distraction and it is considered very impolite to disturb other peoples work. Workshops and kitchen are often used by many people, but most gnomes learn very early in their lives to tone out the drone and chatter that is occurring right behind their backs.

Gnome craftsmanship is often sturdy and simple, made from solid and durable materials and eschewing delicate details for more stylized shapes. Since gnomes are well at home underground, they are also the greatest and most experienced miners anywhere in the Barbarian Land. Their most well known and most appreciated handiwork are the arts of metalworking. While gnomish smiths and craftsmen also work very well with bronze, silver, and gold, it is the steel produced in Komkaren foundries that is their most prized, and most valuable industry. However, their craftsmanship in forging weapons and armor is also among the best and frequently surpasses the work of the most talented elven smiths. Masterwork weapons and armor are almost always made from gnomish steel and most suits of heavy armor found among any of the humanoid races has been made by gnomish armor-smiths.

Yora

2013-07-21, 11:11 AM

Two new creatures: Fish People and Dragonhawks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15663366#post15663366)

Nothing too unusual, just my take on these rather common creatures that are not covered by the Pathfinder Bestiaries.

Yora

2013-08-03, 07:08 AM

Travel Distances and Times

One of the biggest problems I have when designing the geography of the world is forgetting how vast and uninhabited it is. So I sketched up a rough map to get some estimates for the distances between the major cities, which when combined with my plans for mountains, forests, and rivers, allows me to calculate some rough projections for travel times. I though I share those with you here.

Kaas Trade City to Snow Elf Mountain City: 400km, 20 days on foot or cart, 12 days by horse.
Snow Elf Mountain City to Northern Coast Trade City: 1,200 km, 50 days on foot or cart, 30 days on horse.
Northern Coast Trade City to Elven Sorcerer City: 700 km, 14 days by ship or horse, 24 on foot or cart.
Elven Sorcerer City to Elven Druid City: 200 km, 5 days by ship or horse, 8 days on foot or cart.
Elven Druid City to Cave Port City: 600 km, 12 days by ship or horse, 20 days on foot or cart.
Elven Druid City to Dark Elven Port City: 1200 km, 24 days by ship.
Cave Port City to Dark Elven Port City: 700 km, 14 days by ship.
Dark Elven Port City to Dark Elven Jungle City: 800 km, 20 days on foot.
Dark Elven Port City to Lizardfolk Sun Warrior City: 800km, 8 days by ship plus 20 days on river.
Dark Elven Port City to Naga Port City: 1000 km, 20 days by ship.
Caravan Route from Cave Port City to Western Lands: Ca. 3 months by cart.
(Snow Elf Mountain City to Cave Port City: 1800 km, 120 days on foot.)

Those durations are given for the easy routes by ship and the few major roads and highways. Once you head into the wilds with only some basic tracks or no paths at all, travel speed will often be cut down by half.

There are no reliable forms of teleportation and very few ways of flying for prolonged times, so even kings and high priests can not have their agents get from one place to another much faster than this. Unless you can catch passage on a ship, overland travel between the major cities will take a couple of weeks most of the time. There are of course hundreds of smaller towns and countless villages, but mostly the few big cities are unique places unlike any other settlement within a weeks distance and they are not in direct contact with each other.

The whole ancient lands region is on a map about 4000x4000 km, so about the size that could hold all of Europe or modern China.
For comparison, during the Roman Empire, depending on the wind, crossing the mediterranean sea would often take about 10 days, longer if you also wanted to get some distance to the east or west. So think of the major cities of the Ancient Lands not so much as the greek city states of the aegian sea, but rather of an area considerably larger than the mediterranean sea. Going from the wood elf port cities to the dark elf cities could be compared to getting from Spain to Turkey or from England to Russia. Or from India to Thailand.

--

In addition, I think I'll drop the Honor system. With backgrounds and allegiances already in place, I think there are enough character elements that define the characters personalty and standing in society. Adding honor to this, it probably just gets a bit too much to keep track off and there is only little gain from having it.

Yora

2013-08-05, 03:52 PM

I got a new map:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/77275d7f5a16b57fcee5d4bcf49e35a8/tumblr_mr2si520Qd1rz7r1oo1_500.png

Larger size (http://24.media.tumblr.com/77275d7f5a16b57fcee5d4bcf49e35a8/tumblr_mr2si520Qd1rz7r1oo1_1280.png)

In this version, the northern part is much too small, while the jungles in the south are way bigger than they need to be. That's also why the lower part looks so empty. But from the general layout, that's about how I think the final version will eventually look like.
Every field is 48 miles across, or four days of travel under most conditions.

Zap Dynamic

2013-08-05, 08:23 PM

I got a new map:

Looks awesome! I particularly appreciate that the body of water is to the east, not the west. There are too many European-influenced fantasy maps! :smallsmile:

When you say each "field" is 48 miles across, are you talking about the hexes?

In the "Travel Distances and Times" post, you mention that there are hundreds of cities and countless villages... do you have any specific numbers there? Or a population count for the entire region? I'm just asking for my own geography nerdiness!

I just checked out The Sword & Sorcery Anthology (http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Sorcery-Anthology-Robert-Howard/dp/1616960698/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375751517&sr=8-1&keywords=sword+%26+sorcery+anthology&tag=s601000020-20) from the library, and I've been thinking of this setting as I'm reading it. You're doing a great job cultivating the primal feeling of the setting! If you get a chance, you should read "Gimmile's Songs" by Charles R. Saunders. It's only 20 pages or so, and it paints a vivid picture of iron age Africa (disclaimer: I say that with no knowledge of the African iron age).

Keep up the great work!

Yora

2013-08-06, 03:44 AM

The overall population of elves, lizardfolk, humans, kaas, gnomes, and nezumi is about 20 million. That number was based on the estimated world population in 1,000 AD and reduced to about 40% or so, to account for other people living in the other parts of the world. Though the map is quite big, it still covers only about 5% of the entire planet (though most of it is water).

Yora

2013-08-08, 01:58 PM

Ruins and Ancient Cultures

When creating a dungeon that does not look like random rooms drawn on graph paper, the two most important questions are who build the place and for what purpose. Personally, I love it in games and movies, when the world has been detailed to such a degree that you can draw your own conclusions about what's going on just by looking at the environment in an unknown place, so for the Ancient Lands, I want to achive something similar by creating a number of distinct architectural styles that most ancient ruins follow.

Square Towers: Ruins of the square tower type have a number of distinguishing elements that make them very easy to identify even to people who don't know anything about the ancient past. Square tower ruins usually consist of a number of connected buildings that each have a square base, slightly slanted walls, and flat roofs. Many of these buildings are much higher than they are wide and most ruins are dominated by two or three large main towers.
Square Tower ruins are made from large irregular blocks of stone that have been precisely cut to fit together seamlessly, which has proven to be an extremely durable design. Even if no traces of buildings can be found on the surface and only underground levels remain, these types of ruins can be easily identified by their distinctive doorways, which are almost always made from two large stone blocks leaning inwards serving as the posts, and a single block of the same diameter serving as the beam. When intact wooden doors are found, these usually consist of a regular rectangular door set into a wooden wall that covers the opening of the stone arch, but these do not seem to be part of the original design and latter additions. Rooms almost always have a square floor and corridors tend to be exactly three, four, five, or more times their width in length.
Square Tower ruins are quite common throughout all of the Northern Ancient Lands and many currently inhabited keeps and castles are rebuild or expanded ruins of this type.
Rock Carvers: The rock carvers were probably a culture of shie, as their buildings seem to be perfectly proportioned for human-sized humanoids. The most distinguishing element of all rock carver ruins is that most buildings are entirely constructed by digging doors, rooms, and corridors inside the walls of mountains and rocky hills. From the outside, these ruins are easy to miss as most of the time the only visible signs are holes for windows and doors, with occasional balconies on the larger and more opulent castles.
Newly constructed masonry walls are rare and appear to be additions made by later inhabitants. Rooms also have precisely angled corner and rooms and doorways that have been dug later can often be identified by their more rounded edges. Because of their construction, rock carver ruins are extremely durable and only damaged by significant earthquakes or volcanic erruptions.
Not much is known about the ancient rock carvers, but they seem to have had a strong affinity to the earth and most ruins include large forges. Since the these ruins are mostly found in places with few vegetation and away from major rivers, they are often relatively easily accesible and only rarely burried by landslides. As a result, most of them have been looted for valuables a long time ago, but when one can discover one that has remained undiscovered throughout all the centuries, chances are quite good to find ancient enchanted swords and axes. Rock Carver ruins are mostly found in the warmer regions of the Northern Ancient Lands, but a few are known to lie in the cold mountains in the far north as well.
Tree Weavers: Tree Weaver ruins are among the most exotic and unusual ones, as they are build from living trees. The Tree Weavers had the ability to make trees grow to immense size and probably at considerable speed, and direct their growth to form large towers and pallisades, with interwoven branches forming platforms high above the ground or even entire pavilions and small huts. Since they are made from living plants, many tree weaver ruins are still in excelent shape, as any minor damage caused by the elements or fires simply grows back in a couple of years. Even where the trees have died, the wood is often well enough preserved to keep the whole structures stable, though some are known to have suffered dearly from lightning strikes and rot. Tree weaver ruins are found in the large forests of the northern ancient lands and are often home to groups of druids or harpies, but also all kinds of guardian spirits, like tree nymphs and spriggans, who are not fond of humanoid visitors.
Magical items are rarely found in tree weaver ruins, but many include magical springs in caves below the trees roots.
Black Castles: The black castles are large fortresses made universually from large blocks of black granite of regular size and shape. For humanoids, everything in these fortresses seems to be oversized, with stairs often beeing about knee high and windows too high up for smaller people to look out from. The castles are clearly meant for defense and are often inhabited by warlords or bandit leaders and their men. One of the greatest mysteries of the black castles is the origin of the granite, since the stone is not found anywhere within several weeks of travel from any of the known ruins.

(five more to come later)

Yora

2013-08-10, 11:34 AM

Ancient Lands Campaign Guide (http://barbaripedia.eu/downloads/Ancient_Lands_Campaign_Guide.pdf)

I suddenly and unexpectedly found myself being GM for a new group and couldn't pass on the opportunity to give the Ancient Lands another practice run. I put together some information for the players, who are mostly not familiar with RPGs, and I think it might be an interesting read for some of you as well.

Currently, I am trying to get away from focusing on the map. I have a very basic geographic layout figured out, but I think I am constantly turning back to trying to build a world like the Forgotten Realms or Eberron, while I really want a universe like Star Wars or Mass Effect, which are all about cultures and a few specific towns instead of modeling entire countries.

While writing the guide, I noticed that writing these small entries on specific aspects of the world really is much easier and enjoyable than trying to hammer down a full master plan for the entire world. There is a slight risk that I end up creating stuff that is not really fitting the original vision, but I think the basic framework is really nailed down now and not much going to change anymore. (I just looked up the first thread from over two years ago, and noticed that pretty much all the important parts are allready there on the very first page. Everything since has really been about polishing up those things and experimenting with different ways to represent it in game rules.)

And from what you here when snooping around, most great settings really started with an initial idea and then going out there in the world and figuring out all the details as they are encountered. The complete settings like Eberron seems to be rather the exception than the norm.

Zap Dynamic

2013-08-10, 12:24 PM

Ancient Lands Campaign Guide (http://barbaripedia.eu/downloads/Ancient_Lands_Campaign_Guide.pdf)
While writing the guide, I noticed that writing these small entries on specific aspects of the world really is much easier and enjoyable than trying to hammer down a full master plan for the entire world. There is a slight risk that I end up creating stuff that is not really fitting the original vision, but I think the basic framework is really nailed down now and not much going to change anymore.

Have you created an adventure path for your setting? Or at least a list of possible adventure hooks? I've found that hammering those out is a huge help in helping to clarify the vision for my own setting. Thinking about it in terms of what I would like the players to do has allowed me to look at what I have and determine what's absolutely necessary at the table. It's also been pretty cool because I've been able to sprinkle the most vital bits of flavor into specific scenes/dungeon rooms... everything is becoming reinforced through gameplay! :smallsmile:

Yora

2013-08-10, 12:34 PM

I agree. A setting becomes great by the stories that takes place in it, and the characters that appear in them. Just having some locations and static organizations simply doesn't cut it like that.
You have to have some underlying events that are going on into which the players can jump in and participate.

I did roughly define the role and purpose of PCs in the Ancient Lands and a quite early stage, but some examplary storylines that are taking place in the world, with player involvement or not, are clearly still something that is needed.

Right now, I feel like all the parameters have been defined. Now it's time to have some things happen within these boundaries.

Yora

2013-08-13, 07:45 AM

Random Encounters, Wilderness Travel, and Dungeon Design (Introduction)
These last days I've been spending a lot of time trying to work out something different. Given that adventures in the Ancient Lands will take place in the wilds to a great deal and PCs are not supposed to completely clear out dungeons and be able to defeat everything in combat, random encounters are an element that will actually be really quite important. I've never really been using random encounters in the past, because they were usually presented as simply four rounds of combat that happens between one segment of the adventure and the next. And for an Ancient Lands game, that is obviously not going to be working.

Wilderness and Dungeon Terrain
One of the things I never liked about D&D 3rd Ed. and that wasn't improved in any way by Pathfinder, are the overly complex rules for wilderness environments. There's 9 pages describing the different types of underground that all have special modifiers to combat and skill checks, but unless the GM can memorize all of them, they are completely useless. And then there are 6 pages of listing the rules for moving on floors and climbing walls inside dungeons. This isn't going to work and will have to be significantly simplefied.

Random Weather
Same problem with weather and wind. There's just way too many variations with tiny differences to be practical. For this, I already have come up with something new.

Table: Random Weather
{table=head]d% | Weather | Cold Climate | Temperate Climate | Warm Climate
01–70 | Normal weather | Cold, calm | Moderate, windy | Warm, windy
71–80 | Abnormal weather | Moderate (01–30) or very cold (31–100) | Warm (01–50) or cold (51–100) | Moderate (01-30) or hot (31-100)
81–90 | Inclement weather | Snow | Rain (1-70) or fog (71-100) | Hot, storm
91–99 | Storm | Snowstorm | Thunderstorm | Duststorm
100 | Powerful storm | Blizzard | Windstorm | Downpour, hurricane[/table]

Calm: Wind speeds are light (0 to 30 kph).
Cold: Between -20° and 5° during the day, 5 to 10 degrees colder at night.
Cold Snap: Lowers temperature by –5°.
Downpour: Treat as rain, but conceals as fog. Can create floods. A downpour lasts for 2d4 hours.
Heat Wave: Raises temperature by +5°.
Hot: Between 30° and 45° during the day, 5 to 10 degrees colder at night.
Moderate: Between 5° and 15° during the day, 5 to 10 degrees colder at night.
Powerful Storm (Windstorm/Blizzard/Hurricane): Wind speeds are over 80 kph (see Table: Wind Effects). In addition, blizzards are accompanied by heavy snow (1d3 feet), and hurricanes are accompanied by downpours. Windstorms last for 1d6 hours. Blizzards last for 1d3 days. Hurricanes can last for up to a week, but their major impact on characters comes in a 24-to-48-hour period when the center of the storm moves through their area. Tornadoes are very short-lived (1d6 × 10 minutes), typically forming as part of a thunderstorm system.
Storm (Duststorm/Snowstorm/Thunderstorm): Wind speeds are severe (50 to 80 kph) and visibility is cut by three-quarters. Storms last for 2d4-1 hours. See Storms, below, for more details.
Warm: Between 15° and 30° during the day, 5 to 10 degrees colder at night.
Windy: Wind speeds are moderate to strong (30 to 50 kph); see Table: Wind Effects.

Table: Wind Conditions
{table=head]Wind Conditions | Wind Speed | Ranged Attacks | Checked Size | Blown Away Size | Fly Penalty
Calm | 0-30 kph | — | —| — | —
Windy | 30-50 kph | -2 | Tiny | — | –2
Storm | 50-80 kph | -4 | Small | Tiny | –4
Powerful storm | 80–300 kph | Impossible | Medium | Small | –8[/table]

Wind
Calm: A gentle breeze, having little or no game effect.
Windy: Gusts that automatically extinguish unprotected flames (candles, torches, and the like). Such gusts impose a -2 penalty on ranged attack rolls and on Perception checks.
Storm: In addition to automatically extinguishing any unprotected flames, winds of this magnitude cause protected flames (such as those of lanterns) to dance wildly and have a 50% chance of extinguishing these lights. Ranged weapon attacks and Perception checks are at a -4 penalty. This is the velocity of wind produced by a gust of wind spell.
Powerful Storm: Powerful enough to bring down branches if not whole trees, windstorms automatically extinguish unprotected flames and have a 75% chance of blowing out protected flames, such as those of lanterns. Ranged weapon attacks are impossible, and even siege weapons have a -4 penalty on attack rolls. Perception checks that rely on sound are at a -8 penalty due to the howling of the wind.

Rain, Snow, and Fog
Fog: Whether in the form of a low-lying cloud or a mist rising from the ground, fog obscures all sight beyond 5 feet, including darkvision. Creatures 5 feet away have concealment (attacks by or against them have a 20% miss chance).
Rain: Rain reduces visibility ranges by half, resulting in a -4 penalty on Perception checks. It has the same effect on flames, ranged weapon attacks, and Perception checks as storm speed wind.
Snow: Falling snow has the same effects on visibility, ranged weapon attacks, and skill checks as rain, and it costs 2 squares of movement to enter a snow-covered square. A day of snowfall leaves 1d6 inches of snow on the ground.
Heavy Snow: Heavy snow has the same effects as normal snowfall but also restricts visibility as fog does (see Fog). A day of heavy snow leaves 1d4 feet of snow on the ground, and it costs 4 squares of movement to enter a square covered with heavy snow. Heavy snow accompanied by strong or severe winds might result in snowdrifts 1d4 × 5 feet deep, especially in and around objects big enough to deflect the wind—a cabin or a large tent, for instance. Snow has the same effect on flames as moderate windy conditions.

Storms
Duststorm (CR 3): These desert storms differ from other storms in that they have no precipitation. Instead, a duststorm blows fine grains of sand that obscure vision, smother unprotected flames, and can even choke protected flames (50% chance). Most duststorms are accompanied by storm strength winds and leave behind a deposit of 1d6 inches of sand. There is a 10% chance for a greater duststorm to be accompanied by powerful storm strength winds (see Table: Wind Effects). These greater duststorms deal 1d3 points of nonlethal damage each round to anyone caught out in the open without shelter and also pose a choking hazard (see Drowning, except that a character with a scarf or similar protection across her mouth and nose does not begin to choke until after a number of rounds equal to 10 + her Constitution score). Greater duststorms leave 2d3-1 feet of fine sand in their wake.
Snowstorm: In addition to the wind and precipitation common to other storms, snowstorms leave 1d6 inches of snow on the ground afterward.
Thunderstorm: In addition to wind and precipitation (usually rain, but sometimes also hail), thunderstorms are accompanied by lightning that can pose a hazard to characters without proper shelter (especially those in metal armor). As a rule of thumb, assume one bolt per minute for a 1-hour period at the center of the storm. Each bolt causes between 4d8 and 10d8 points of electricity damage. One in 10 thunderstorms is accompanied by a tornado.
Powerful Storms: Very high winds and torrential precipitation reduce visibility to zero, making Perception checks and all ranged weapon attacks impossible. Unprotected flames are automatically extinguished, and protected flames have a 75% chance of being doused. Creatures caught in the area must make a Fortitude save or face the effects based on the size of the creature (see Table: Wind Effects). Powerful storms are divided into the following four types.
Windstorm: While accompanied by little or no precipitation, windstorms can cause considerable damage simply through the force of their winds.
Blizzard: The combination of high winds, heavy snow (typically 1d3 feet), and bitter cold make blizzards deadly for all who are unprepared for them.
Hurricane: In addition to very high winds and heavy rain, hurricanes are accompanied by floods. Most adventuring activity is impossible under such conditions.
Tornado (CR 10): All flames are extinguished. All ranged attacks are impossible (even with siege weapons), as are sound-based Perception checks. Instead of being blown away (see Table: Wind Effects), characters in close proximity to a tornado who fail their Fortitude saves are sucked toward the tornado. Those who come in contact with the actual funnel cloud are picked up and whirled around for 1d10 rounds, taking 6d6 points of damage per round, before being violently expelled (falling damage might apply). While a tornado's rotational speed can be as great as 500 kph, the funnel itself moves forward at an average of 50 kph (roughly 250 feet per round). A tornado uproots trees, destroys buildings, and causes similar forms of major destruction.
Still a lot of numbers, but a lot less than originally.

There really only need to be weather tables for cold, temperate, and warm conditions. Sub-artic areas in summer count as temperate, temperate areas count as cold during winter and warm during summer. Easy as that.
I think random weather should definitely be used. Simply by stating that an encounter happens during rain or fog makes it more than "you run into 5 wolves".

Wilderness Survival
I generally like the idea that characters have to keep track of their supplies, in particular food and water. However, since there are few barren landscapes in the Ancient Lands and most characters will have some ranks in the Survival skill, it should rarely happen that there is any risk of running out.
One important thing about finding food and water while traveling overland is that it reduces the speed at which the group progresses by half. When the speed at which the PCs reach their destination is a factor, they have to decide to press on or keep their supplies well stocked. While this probably won't result in them ending up without food and water, as they can always make the descision just on the day they run out, it might still cause them to end up with very little supplies. And if they get trapped in a dungeon or a forced to cross a barren landscape, it will be a problem.
So I suggest that the GM and the players should always keep track of how much food and water the PCs are currently carrying with them. You don't want to end up without supplies when you have to start chasing raiders for four days straight. And there might on occasion be NPCs like prisoners or trapped adventurers in a cave, who are in dire need of food that the PCs could share with them. I looked at the rules for thirst and starvation and did some research, and it seems to be quite realistic. Even people who are not particularly fit to begin with will usually survive for well over a month without food before they die. It still means being permanently fatigued once a character has been going for three days without food. That's a -1 penalty to all Strength and Dexterity checks, including AC. And if then anything happens that would make them fatigued, it becomes -3 and they can move at only half speed. That really hurts a character at 3rd or 4th level.
So I say, just keep track of it and remind the players that running out of food and water might become a problem at some point. The fear of a threat is often much more interesting than the actual threat itself.

Dungeon Design
In all the 3rd Ed. and Pathfinder adventures, dungeons are a long winding corridor with a boss fight at the end. I think that's where dungeon and adventure design went wrong. When you look at older AD&D modules, dungeons are often open adventuring sites where the PCs have all kinds of options which paths to take to get to certain locations within the dungeon. With one of the important themes of the Ancient Lands being that the PCs should consider carefully which fights to pick and when to avoid or flee combat, that is actually a much better approach. The PCs usually don't go to a dungeon to clear out all the rooms and collect all valuables. They are looking for something or someone, or exploring what is inside the place. Neither of which requires that everything that is inside the dungeon needs to be defeated or even engaged at all. There can be lots of excitement in sneaking by creatures or making a wild dash right through them to get to the other side of the area and lose them in the tunnels.

Also, personally I would rather go with flowchart dungon maps rather than graph paper maps. Such dungeons can be a lot bigger and include numerous empty rooms or simply rooms that are irrelevant. In a video game, you will often have lots of doors that won't open and players accept it that the designers did not build lots of unique but empty apartments and offices, because it really won't matter. In a similar way, a flowchart map only has the relevant rooms and corridor crossings where there is anything special. You can leave out the 20 doors leading to identical priests quarters in a dark cults temple.
http://angrydm.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Library-Zone-Map.jpg

Random Encounters
With random encounters I am struggling with an apparent paradox: Encounters that are not pre-scheduled by the GM are a good way to represent that the PCs have to chose carefully which routes to take and where to make their campsites. But at the same time, truly random encounters mean that any of the players descisions are absolutely meaningless and don't affect what they have to deal with at all. That's the real issue I am currently struggling with and that I will have to figure out somehow before we can start the first session of our new game.

Another thing about random encounters is, that I think they need to be more than "1d4+2 goblins". It has to be something like "1d4+2 goblins setting up an ambush at a ravine flanked by 15 feet high stone walls and 60 feet in length". A random encounter does not take place in the middle of a wide empty plain, but environment must be an element. Or in the case of an encounter actually happening in a wide open plain, the PCs would have to see figures in the far distance and decide to face or avoid them, and if they want to make a run if they are heading towards them. Just anything but simply having some enemies pop out from nowhere.
Except for maybe some skeletons comming out of the ground... :smallamused:

Another thing is environment encounters. It doesn't have to be creatures, but can also be a terrain feature that poses an obstacle to the characters progress. They can either try to get over it, or circle around the whole thing, adding some additional hours of travel to their journey.

--

That's the kinds of thing currently on my mind. If I can work this out well, this could be kind of "the thing" of the Ancient Lands campaign setting. I am looking into learning more about hex-crawl sandbox games, of which I am normally not a fan of at all. But I think the fact that the PCs are heading to specific locations to do a specific thing there on behalf on NPCs as part of a larger storyline shouldn't make much of a difference when it comes to facing the wilderness and exploring large dungeons.

Zap Dynamic

2013-08-13, 08:38 AM

It looks like we have almost identical thoughts on dungeons! However, I think you're setting up challenges for yourself with the "flow chart" style of dungeon mapping. You said that dungeons should be nonlinear, sprawling complexes with a host of options for players. It seems like you're using the flow chart style to keep track of only the most important information about a dungeon. By doing that, it's like you're saying "Dungeons should have a lot of empty rooms, but I'm only going to keep track of the important ones."

While that saves you a lot of prep time, it makes me wonder how you're going to implement the two ideas together. Will you roll randomly for the empty rooms just before the PCs enter?

Yora

2013-08-13, 08:56 AM

The nodes on the map should of course not only be the locations where something really special and plot related is going to happen. What I think about is simply having a node that says "priests quarters" that comes with a short description what the average room looks like and maybe a note that says "if the PCs spend 10 minutes of searching through the rooms, they find a small box with 3 potions of cure light wounds". But I wouldn't draw up a map that has all the 20 rooms with furniture and storage rooms and toilets, and so on.
Drawing a scale correct map of large castles would take forever, and then you also have to draw a map for the players every time they open a door or come around a corner. I want to avoid that. However, in rooms where encounters are likely, there should be a detailed description of the "terrain", like mentioning if there are pillars, holes in the floor, barricades, big tables to climb on or turn over, and so on. But I think it's not neccessary to make a map that puts all these things into a precisely defined square.

Zap Dynamic

2013-08-13, 02:59 PM

I see what you mean now! I think that's a good idea; literal representation can fill a lot of unnecessary pages. :smallsmile:

Yora

2013-08-14, 08:05 AM

On making random encounter tables
Some thoughts I've been having on approaching the random encounter tables:

First, I think I will be making eight different encounter tables, one for each type of common environment: Plains, forest, marsh, jungle, hills, mountains, arctic, and ocean. That should cover about all the wilderness environments that can be found in the Ancient Lands.

Second, I think the composition of each table should be roughly like this: 40% monsters, 30% natural features, 20% humanoids, 10% artificial structure. Except for ocean encounters, I think that balance should work for all environments equally well.
Monster encounters are wild animals and other beasts that might want trouble with the PCs or not, depending on their type.
Humanoid encounters are any kind of NPCs, which again might have all kinds of interests.
Natural features are mainly obstacles found in the environment that the PCs either have to overcome or circle around, which adds a significant amount of additional distance to their journey.
Artificial structures are mainly ruins, but maybe I also have some ideas for other buildings.

And I am also thinking that maybe these encounters make up only 80% of the encounter tables, with the remaining 20% to be filled with things that are specific to the current situation of the campaign. If the PCs are on a patrol along the border during a conflict with a neighboring clan, those additional encounters could be enemy scouts or raiding parties. If they are crossing a valley known for it's infestation of giant spiders, they could be additional monster encounters with giant spiders (increasing the chance to run into spider well above normal) or the remains of the spiders victims.
This cuts down work for the GM significantly since 80% of the encounter table are already ready and it also means that characters in the valley of spiders won't be running only into spiders and nothing else.

An encounter table could look like this.

{table=head]d% | Encounter
01 | Monster encounter
... | Monster encounter
32 | Monster encounter
33 | Natural feature
... | Natural feature
56 | Natural feature
57 | Humanoid encounter
... | Humanoid encounter
72 | Humanoid encounter
73 | Artificial structure
... | Artificial structure
80 | Artificial structure
81-100 | See special encounter table or roll again.[/table]

That leaves still the question how often to roll for random encounters, and how high the chances are to not get any encounter at all.

--

Here is a nice idea based on a proposal by Kol Koran: Changing the chance of having an encounter based on whether the PCs travel on the roads for greater speed, through the wilds, or try to stay out of sight for reduced speed. You can improve your speed by increasing your chance of running into something, or you can avoid encounters by accepting slower progress.

Yora

2013-08-14, 01:14 PM

Hex Movement
Here is an improvement of the Hex movement and exploration rules from Ultimate Campaign, based on the rules from AD&D, in particular Dark Sun.

Each hex is about 12 miles in diameter (since I treat a hex as an aproximation of a circle, it doesn't matter if it's side-to-side or corner-to-corner), just like in Ultimate Campaign.
Characters movement speed is given in Movement Points per day (8 hours of marching): 15 ft. = 3 points; 20 ft. = 4 points; 30 ft. = 6 points; 40 ft. 8 points; or simply one point per 5 ft. of movement speed.
Crossing a hex takes the following number of Movement Points.

{table=head]Terrain | MP
Highway | 3
Trail (forest, marsh, plains) | 3
Highway (mountains) | 4
Trail (jungle, hills, mountains) | 4
Trackless (plains) | 4
Trackless | 6
Trackless (jungle) | 12[/table]

The frequency at which you would roll for random encounters would depend on whether the group travels highway, trail, or trackless.

Yora

2013-08-15, 11:22 AM

Magic Items II

This is an important plot item for the campaign I am starting, so any of my players who look into this thread to learn about the setting, don't read this.
The campaign I am starting consists of a couple of individual adventures set around one of the major villages in a valley at the very edge of human settlement in the Ancient Land, bordering the territory of some elven clans that live in the nearby forests. The situation in the valley is disturbed even more than usual after an elven hunter is drawn to an overgrown cave and disturbs an ancient artifact that has been hidden there for an unknown eternity.

The Box

http://www.universalhartland.com/medium/buckr251.jpg

- "What's inside the box?"
- "Pain."

The Box is a major artifact of the Ancient Lands. The box itself is a small block made from a rock-like green mineral and about 20x15x15 cm in size. The material is the same mineral that aboleths are using in the construction of their underwater strongholds, as it has the property of being completely resistant to any forms of molds, mosses, or algae to grow on it. The outside of the box is carved with patterns of thin curved lines and barbed arrow heads and closed with a simple latch held in place by a a flanged screw that can be easily opened by hand. The box itself has no magical enchantments on it. Putting a hand close to it causes an uncomfortable tingling in the fingers and aching in the joints, which gets worse when the box is held, but does not have any other negative effects.

"But even a dead god can dream. A god — a real god — is a verb. Not some old man with magic powers. It's a force. It warps reality just by being there. It doesn't have to want to. It doesn't have to think about it. It just does."

Inside the box is the proper artifact. It's a piece of flesh torn from the body of one of the Great Ancients in a battle far in the distant past. Even after all the time, the piece is still alive and occasionally writhing in small movements. It doesn't have a mind or any kind of consciousness, but it is still in constant terrible pain and projecting it as a psychic impression. One of the effects of the artifact is that it spreads a great ammount of Corruption whenever the box is left opened, which can affect the local wildlife or any people exposed to it for a long time.
The piece has very high Spell Resistance and Regeneration that can not be overcome by any ordinary means or mortal magic. Casting cold spells on it can freeze for a time, but it simply returns back to normal once it unfreezes.

--

That's about what I have so far. Though as of now, it's just a hazard with no useful application. There should be a temptation to use the artifact, though the players are not supposed to be so attracted that they will actually do it.

When the box is found and opened by the elven hunter, the piece tried to reattach itself to the rest of its body, but only succeeded in draining some life energy from the hunter to invigorate itself after having used up all its energy a long time ago. The elf slowly turned into a horrible aberration and while the box was left open, the Corruption spread and affected all types of animal living nearby. When he awoke as a monster, he closed the box again and took mental of the other corrupted creatures, setting out to destroy some elves and humans he barely remembered from his previous life.
In the first adventure, the PCs will hunt him and probably destroy him, and eventually find the small cave where the box is still hidden. Not quite sure yet how to make sure they don't play around with it and know that it's EVIL (TM). Eventually, word will reach a cult of the Great Ancients, who want to have the artifact, because they are cultists and that's what they do. The leader of the cult is an elf who isn't exactly evil and wants to learn more about it to use it to make him and his followers divine. However, his human assistant wants to take it for herself and create an army of mind-controlled monsters and replace the leader.

If anyone has idea what specific powers to give to the box, speak up! :smallbiggrin:
Just use spoiler tags, since this thread is also were I'll be sending all my players interested to know more about the setting.

Yora

2013-08-17, 03:51 PM

Powerful Merchants?
Here is an idea that might be really great, but could also be entirely wrong for the setting, so I would really appreciate what other people are thinking about it.

The roughly outlined history of the Ancient Lands has it, that about 500 years ago, certain advances in agriculture became common, that allowed the farmers of the clans to get enough food for the clan even from land that isn't of the highest quality grade. As a result, it became much easier for everyone to expand into areas that previously did not produce enough food for everyone rather than to keep fighting bloody wars for the best patches of lands.
With the battle for farmland mostly over, the powerful chiefs set their focus on fighting for control over other valuable resources like metals, gems, and salt, and also trading for rare goods from more far away places become a worthwhile endeavor. Eventually, buying goods from the Western Lands from human nomads who live in the Great Plains became the most prized and lucrative form of trade, which led to the hiring of human mercenaries to guard the caravans and eventually to the Vandren settling down in the Ancient Lands.

Now in history, merchants seem to have most often been private businesmen, who might have had the protection and patronage of a lord, but would still operate under their own control. Having the lords send out caravans to buy exotic goods would probably be rather unusual.
So what I am thinking of is introducing a handful of rich and also somewhat powerful merchant companies. They would be relatively small and only have some guards but no territories of their own, and would also be closely allied with some lords. Those lords would help with their protection and in turn get first call on the goods the merchants bring back at very good prices. This wouldn't be anywhere near the scope of the big merchant empires of the middle ages, but I would imagine even the Greeks and Romans had lots of merchants who owned a few dozens of ships and had their own warehouses in several cities. And of course, there were the Phoenicians, who are really known for their traders with barely any mention of their governments.

I think adding merchant companies could add another interesting dimension to society in the Ancient Lands, with only having the chiefs possibly being a bit bland. Does this seem like a good idea, or do you think that seems too advanced and out of place for the setting?

Yora

2013-08-19, 03:38 PM

Some new critters. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15852860#post15852860)
The Shriker (little monkey-beast), Fey Giant (ogre-sized cloud/wood giant), Intelligent Spider (underworld aberration), and a new version of the Reaver for CR 2 rather than CR 4.

Zap Dynamic

2013-08-19, 05:45 PM

I think adding merchant companies could add another interesting dimension to society in the Ancient Lands, with only having the chiefs possibly being a bit bland. Does this seem like a good idea, or do you think that seems too advanced and out of place for the setting?

From a mechanical perspective, creating a powerful merchant faction would be exactly the same as any other major faction. From a gameplay perspective, it makes sense that you would see caravans or ships out peddling their wares from one settlement to the next. If you're worried about the "merchant lords" being too advanced for the setting, maybe only the most powerful and successful merchants can afford their own warehouse? And maybe they continue to send out caravans once they've got that far along, but they make just as much money renting out warehouse space to other caravans? That keeps the operations small enough that it still feels pretty ancient, but it still adds depth to the game world.

thorr-kan

2013-08-22, 02:07 PM

Yora, have you seen the Sword and Sorcery.org's d20 conversion notes?
http://www.swordandsorcery.org/toolkit.asp

Yora

2013-08-22, 02:40 PM

No, I've actually never seen this. Thanks a lot for the link.

I've been thinking some more about the major conflicts that shape the history of the Ancient Lands and local events, and came up with a second one in addition to the basic Druid-Warlock opposition (which is basically Preserver-Defiler from Dark Sun or Jedi-Sith from Star Wars).
The other big source of conflict is between the Naga who have their center of power in the jungles of the south, and sorcerers, who have a major power base in the realm of the elven sorcerer queen. Both groups consist more or less of dozens of independent group but often cooperate with others of their kind. The naga were the original sorcerers of the Ancient Lands, long before the humanoid races knew anything about the magic of the Void. Now that particularly elves but also humans are dabbling in sorcery, they tend to find and collect all kinds of materials and artifacts that could be very useful for sorcerous research, and the naga sorcerers are very much interested in stealing them or snatching the away before the elven sorcerers can take them. Since naga are big, 6 meter long snakes, they can't simply crawl around in elven and human lands, so they have agents working for them instead. Naga agents are always spying in the northern Ancient Lands, particularly along the coasts. They look out for clues about any finds that might be valuable for the naga sorcerers and try to get them first. Basically, this conflict is all about artifact hunting. Anything left behind by dead naga sorcerers, remains of Ancients that found their way to the surface, and ocasionally magic items created by the shie that have lots of magical power and could be converted to sorcerous magic. There's usually no armies fighting wars or even just big assaults on single strongholds, but there's always lots of spying, thieving, and assassinating going on, and both sides want to trick others to do the dirty work for them.

I also decided that the idea of a large brotherhood that rejects clan status and creates a society of equals doesn't really work. All ideas I had for them go instead into the warrior societies (loosely based on the Mandalorians and Qunari). Having just one such group is probably better than two that are both not quite as well developed. And maybe I can come up with a good idea how to involve them in a third major conflict, that drives the interactions between power groups in the Ancient Lands. Simply roaming the lands and conquering everything would be too simple, it needs to be something with more facets.

--

Two more ideas to increase the amount of interconnections and getting both the kaas and the dark elves more involved. (Who as of now really don't play into things at all.)

Given the mindset of the kaas, they are strong supporters of both the druidic tradition that is all about keeping the Spiritworld strong and opposing Corruption spread by warlocks and sorcerers, as well as the warrior orders, which are all about self-reliance on personal power and turning away from the guidance of spirits. Of course, those two views don't match at all, which should lead to much tension between kaas belonging two the two groups.

With dark elves, I considered making them a strong element of the warrior orders as well, but actually it might be a lot more interesting if they violently oppose them. The warriors would be strongest in the River Valley where most humans have settled, which is just north of the jungles of the dark elves. With the dark elves making a major deal about having created a civilization all by themselves without guidance from shie or naga (as did the wood elves and lizardfolk), they would never dream of joining and outside power or letting them take hold in their lands. And the warriors of course love a good challenge. So the southern side of the River Valley can be a common battleground between Order Troops and dark elf warriors who don't fight so much about territory or resources, but mostly out of principle. Which also means that they love to start a fight even in far away places where their fighting wouldn't have any impact on the main conflict at all.

Yora

2013-08-23, 05:49 PM

Another aspect I've been thinking about.

One goal of Ancient Lands is to have a world that is something different than a basic "Invasion of Evil" setting like Lord of the Rings, Warcraft, Record of Lodoss War, Midnight, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and so on. So both demonic invasion and return of the Old Ones are both out right away.
However, one of the big themes of the setting are the warlocks and sorcerers and the Corruption spread by their sorcery. The world is not in danger of being invaded by hordes of demons, but there's risk of widespread Corruption of large areas, which become uninhabitable and spawn all kinds of undead. Warlocks are more like Defilers from Dark Sun or the Sith from Star Wars in that way.
Demons can however take a corporeal form by possessing object, corpses, and creatures, and the most refined form is taking over a living person while mostly preserving the body in its original state and completely absorbing the mind and memory into the demon. These creatures are intended to fill the role of vampire lords, who live secretly in high society and gain lots of wealth and influence.
Now since such possession of a person requires extensive preparations performed by warlocks, these warlocks would already be minions of the demons that want to come over to the physical world for a century or two. What I am thinking of is, should I make these possessing demons the top tier rank of the warlocks? In earlier posts, I mentioned that many warlocks seek immortality by having their soul being absorbed into a demon and being taken back the Void once the demon returns. In that regard, it would only make sense that many of the most powerful warlocks would invite their demonic patrons to possess them. Question is, should these only be a a few individual and rare cases, or should they be the masterminds of warlock cabals everywhere? I think it would be a really cool idea, but I'm not entirely sure if that makes the whole setting shift too much into the generic high fantasy direction.

Yora

2013-08-24, 12:17 PM

Magic Wells
A magic well is a natural conduit of strong magical powers. Most are found in places that are very rich in pure elemental essence, like natural springs or inside volcanoes. Wells tied to the elements of air and earth are believed to be just as common but usually a lot harder to locate and most likely found high atop mountains or in very deep caves.
A spellcaster or a creature with spell like abilities can make a DC 20 Spellcraft check to tap into the power of a magic well. When doing so, their caster level increases by one point for every point of the wells strength. For example a 6th level adept tapping into a magic well with a strength of 3 would raise his caster level to 9th.
Adepts and shamans get additional bonus spell points based on their temporary caster level, and creatures cast their spell like abilities as if augmented to a spell point cost equal to their temporary caster level. The bonus provided by the magic well decreases by 1 for every day after tapping into it.
Magic Wells can be found both in the material world and in the Spiritworld. Those in the Spiritworld tend to be of a higher strength than those found in the material world.

Ancient Well
Found mostly in deep caves in the material world and are connected to the Underworld. (Specific effects yet to be determined.)

Void Well
Void Wells are not natural occurances by rather creations of sorcerous magic that oppened a conduit to the Void inside a magic well. By adding void energy to the well it becomes more stronger (usually increasing the strength ba +1 to +3), but anyone who uses their power is causes by the same corruption as sorcerers and warlocks. (Which I havn't yet entirely nailed down.)
Void wells are very important to warlocks, as they provide them the power they need for many of their arcane rites, which no mortal sorcerer could provide from their own magical energies.

Tzi

2013-08-24, 09:05 PM

One goal of Ancient Lands is to have a world that is something different than a basic "Invasion of Evil" setting like Lord of the Rings, Warcraft, Record of Lodoss War, Midnight, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and so on. So both demonic invasion and return of the Old Ones are both out right away.

I wouldn't write those plots out completely just yet.

I had a version of that sort of plot in one world I did. Basically it was a sword and sorcery ancient earthlike world of just humans. The former King of one such civilization had sacrificed a great many of his people to absorb a lot of magical power and ascend into the chaotic "other realms," basically other planes and was himself part of a multigenerational plot by the leaders of many of the worlds great magic wielding civilizations (All having a common bloodline) to eventually amass great armies, unite the whole of the world and then open a gateway to another world and invade it as vengeance for a genocide done so long ago and so distantly that humans weren't even on that world at the time.

Basically a Human-ish person became the demon from the great beyond manipulating the world and plausibly setting himself to return to it as the King of the World.

Yora

2013-08-25, 05:50 AM

Tzi

2013-08-25, 10:35 AM

It can of course still work as an adventure plot or even a campaign plot. But what I don't want is for the entire setting to be defined by an ancient evil that is about to return and bring an end to all life as we know it. Those can be interesting on occasion, but they work for a story, not for a world. Because once the big event happened, the story is over and the world completely changed. Either everything is in ruins or the big defining element that shaped all events no longer is around anymore.

Ah, good point if its the big bad of all big bads it can quickly consume basically every plot. My friend definitely ran into that in his setting. Thankfully mine wasn't as all consuming as it seemed. Basically one character had foreknowledge that this malevolent spirit was seeking a way back into the world and that a baby would be born to royalty in a specific city and they basically had to kill said child or its mother before predicted events might occur. More or less the party was working to prevent the the game worlds equivalent of the birth of the Anti-Christ. Though a relatively obscure and unknown event the Oracle foresaw the impending doom actually his birth and bloodline would spawn. Kinda a grizzly campaign in the end but they managed to work through it. From the perspective of the world it was just another war between the various city states in a region known for it. One City State using assassins to kill a specific princess during the course of a grizzly war.

Not sure if that sort of campaign or quest line might be too much. My setting or that particular setting was set in a region akin to Mesopotamia and Fertile Crescent so it might not necessarily be in line with the Ancient Lands. But its a thought if you ever have an Oracle in the party to throw them horrific visions of doom.

Yora

2013-08-29, 03:12 PM

Now that I am working on starting an actual campaign in the Ancient Lands, a few things that I thought were really cool in theory turn out to be a bit more complicated.
One big issue I've been running into is the idea of making the clans sticking very close together and welcomming nobody to their lands who isn't from an allied clan. Cool idea, but really quite an obstacle for a great deal of possible adventure plots.

Two of my favorite settings when it comes to the way they are designed, are Star Wars and Mass Effect, which somehow happen to be both in Space and have lasers, which is kind of at the completely opposite end of the technology spectrum. But for the cultures and the dynamics between the races and organizations, the lasers and spaceships are completely irrelevant, it all would work exactly the same with sailing ships and swords. Which is kind of what I am aiming for.
But a very important element of these settings is that you travel between places inhabited by very different people. If nobody wants to talk to you and you're not allowed into any of the interesting places, that just doesn't work. Even in Dark Sun, which is technologically and culturally very close to the Ancient Lands, you still move between cities and travel with strangers. Unless you play only war campaigns or games where you drive monster and bandits from the clans territory, being isolist just doesn't work. I wanted to avoid the common "wandering adventurers" background for PCs, but making every quest an assignment of the lead warrior of the village turns out to be too restrictive. And especially at low levels, it's rather hard to justify sending some of the weakest warriors around on important tasks. The older warriors can't be doing something more important all the time. Some snooping around on their own initiative is rather critical for low-level PCs.

As of now, I am not quite sure what this would mean for the character backgrounds. If a characters reputation is not so tightly tied to the name of his chief and his standing within his clan, the categories are no longer that clear.
A simpler scheme could be "Landowners/Freemen/Slaves/Outcasts".
Landowners are people who work their farms not only to feed themselves but as a business, and who also employ servants or keep slaves. They would obviously have a monopply on power and influence.
Freemen are the free peasants who either have their small plot of land to grow their own food, or are employed servants for the richer families. Since they have no money they have no power and generally no say in the politics of the village and the clan.
Slaves are not free but in some form of unpaid servitude, mostly to landowners.
Outcasts are the whole bad crowd, who are technically equal to freemen, but usually almost everyone knows that they are raiders or bandits and they don't mix with the rest of society. In a world where communites are small and the locals all know each other, even those outcasts who are not criminals are not welcome in the places where landowners and freemen gather. However, in places where they are not known, outcasts have a good chance of passing as freemen, at least until people ask questions where they are from and why they left that place. Unless there's been a war or disaster that left large numbers of people displaced, people are usually rather suspicious about strangers who can't provide references for their honest background.

Zap Dynamic

2013-08-29, 04:58 PM

Switching the reputations and loyalties from cultures to classes of people is a nice move. Also, you could say in your guide that clans have a tendency to form alliances and exclude any outsiders, then just leave it at that. GMs and/or players can figure their own clan alliances and enmities on a by-campaign basis, adding a sense of tumult and chance to the reputation system.

Yora

2013-08-30, 09:06 AM

Originally the backgrounds were intended to give skill bonuses and special social abilities, but with that aspect dropped long ago, I think social rank really isn't that important anymore, at least when it comes to character creation.
But in most games, I got the very strong impression that it's pretty much out of question for a PC to be of lower nobility and get all the perks that come with it.

For Ancient Lands, this is very much encouraged, however this goes together with creating player characters as a group, not as a bunch of random strangers joining forces out of opportunity.
Commonly, the PCs should know each other well and have some kind of home base and affiliation to a clan, merchant house, or magical society.
Clansmen have some responsibility towards their clan and are expected to help protecting it, but don't neccesarily have to be members of the "standing security force".
Freemen characters are either for groups who have no association with a clan or for individual characters of a different race or culture who are basically "guests" of the other PCs clan or people the PCs vouch for.
Slaves would commonly be owned by one of the clansmen or freemen PCs. Alternatively they might be slaves of one of the PCs superior but for the duration of the campaign still be under the command of one of the PCs. Sending a slave to aid strangers without any supervision would be highly unusual.
Outcast characters would require the explicit permission of all the other players to be allowed to accompany their PCs unless the entire group is outcasts. Outcasts not being trusted by honest people is a major aspect of the setting and players have every right to say that their characters would not allow such a person to follow them around. Exceptions might be made for escaped slaves or if the outcast character is a later addition to the party whom they got aquainted with during their adventures and whose temporary assistance they need. It's not impossible to have an outcast PC in a group of non-outcasts, but no player can be expected that his clansman or freeman character would just team up with a known outcast or a total stranger.

Even with the aspect of social rank within the clans being significantly reduced in importance, the default assumption is still that the PCs know each other well and are integrated into a larger community which they want to keep safe and that also supports them. Wandering mercenaries are possible, but within the context of the world it would be unusual for any significant settlement to rely on those people instead of having their own take care of things, at least at the 1st to 3rd level tier. Once characters make it to the higher tiers of 7th to 9th level, it wouldn't be that unusual that settlements that are hard pressed by a major threat would plead with their neighbors for help, who are known to have exceptionally strong warriors and mages among their ranks.

Yora

2013-08-31, 03:16 PM

Now that my players have decited on their characters, I am ready to start planning the campaign.

As of now they are:
Wood elf ranger (freeman)
Half-elf bard
Human shaman (clansman)

So we're going to start in a human village. It's set on the border of the lands settled by the human Vandren clans some 200 years ago, which occasinally led to clashes with local wood elves. The ranger is from an elven clan who is still particularly hostile to the humans and he got kicked out for siding with humans against his own people. They are pondering about how to get the half-elf included in that backstory as well.

It's a good combination for a party, which includes someone good with nature and stealth, someone good with talking and lore, and someone good with magic and spirits. That should cover about everything. Except heavy combat, which suits me just fine.

As for the plot, I've decided on a meshup of the wood elf-opening from Dragon Age, the Dungeon magazine adventures Depths of Rage and Within the Circle, and Feros-Storyline from Mass Effect.

The campaign starts with the PCs catching some trespassers on their clans territory and getting from them the location of a previously unknown ruin not that far away. They either check it out or bring the information back to the village, where they will get the order to check it out. (That's how the elf-intro in DA goes.)
The ruin is almost entirely underground and mostly empty, but includes some large caves. And as the PCs are pretty far in, a small earthquake colapses some of the tunnels and bridges, but also opens some new passages and upsets the local critters. Finding a way back out is where the real meat of the adventure lies. (Taken from Depths of Rage. Not sure if there will be goblins or not yet.)
Should be a good introduction.

The next adventure is a modified version of Within the Circle. One of the clans leaders get the PCs on an assignment to travel to a cluster of farms on the edge of the clans territory to help them deal with some outlaws who poisoned the river and demand tribute or they'll do it again. However, he approaches the two outsiders and the shaman instead of some of his regular warriors, because he has also some special orders for them. Some years ago he did some work for a secret society and got rewarded with all kinds of favors they arranged for him, that helped him greatly with his rise in power. He's starting to suspect that they might not have his best interest in mind, but now he's too tied up in their activities that he can't simply quit without having to explain things to his warriors. The society in the adventure is a yuan-ti cult, which for the Ancient Lands becomes one of the lookout teams for the naga-sorcerers, who are searching for clues to any items or sites that might be of value for sorcerous research, and the sub-chief has become a quite useful help to their activities.
The sub-chief wants the PCs to deal with the outlaws, but also try to find another underground ruin near the farms, where he once burnt down a hideout on order of his associates. He hopes that the PCs can find anything that might help him learn more about who those people are and why they wanted that place destroyed in the first place. And that ruin just so happens to be the current camp of the outlaws they are send to deal with.

This next part is still a bit uncertain, but the PCs find a few secret rooms that were not burned down and still hold some artifacts and papers that belong to the naga-sorcerer who used the ruin as a base. From those the PCs learn that the naga have agents in the area.

In the third part, a small group of naga-sorcerers and their snake-warriors tries to find and take control over a site of great value to them. That part is basically the plot of the planet Feros from Mass Effect.
The place is a big old ruin which since then has become the site of a human settlement, that makes use of the old walls for their houses. The naga are snooping around in the catacombs below the settlement where they free a powerful aberration from it's magic prision. This is what the sorcerers were looking for, as they want to steal its arcane knowledge. The creature tries to defend itself by telepathically controlling the villagers, but since the PCs might actually have a better shot at getting rid of the naga, he commands them to "act natural", which they of course don't do quite right. I think some kind of unique aboleth might be a good choice for the creature. They have a mind-control thing going on and also have huge amounts of knowledge from their ancestors.

Since the naga-sorcerers have a big conflict with the elven sorcerers of the area, this might actually be a good opportunity to have the rangers old clan make an appearance. Maybe the PCs want to take sides and help one of the sorcerer groups? Or they find a good way to play them against each other. Or they ally with the creature to destroy the sorcerers. So many options.
In the end, the PCs probably will want the villagers to be freed from mind control. They could either kill the creature or might be able to work out a way that allows it to return to the underworld. If I use an aboleth, it would require help simply because it's a giant fish and trapped in a pool.
I'm quite sure the player will figure out the mind-control going on pretty soon, but I rather doubt they will recognize it as a recycled plot, at least until they meet the creature. And from that point on everything will go in a new way anyway.

Yora

2013-09-05, 11:51 AM

Here's an idea for a small, but maybe important detail:
How about requiring every chracter regardless of class and race, to have at least 1 rank in the Linguistics skill to be able to read?
I imagine most places in the ancient lands don't use any written documents or records at all. It's not something most people ever get the opportunity to use and in Pathfinder giving up one skill rank isn't too bad a thing.

Yora

2013-09-08, 01:27 PM

Some dragons I made today. They seem a lot more practical and easier to handle than those GM nightmares from D&D.

Young Dragon - CR 7
3,200 XP
Large magical beast
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +11
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 19 (+10 natural, -1 size)
hp 82 (12d10+22)
Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +8
DR 5/magic; Resistance acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5; SR 17
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 80 (poor)
Melee bite +15 (2d6+4/19-20) and 2 claws +10 (1d8+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (30-ft. cone, once every 1d4 rounds, 4d10 fire damage, Reflex DC 18 for half)
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 12
Base Atk +12; CMB +17; CMD 27
Feats Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (fly)
Skills Bluff +4, Fly +6, Perception +11, Sense Motive +5, Stealth +5
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure double

Adult Dragon - CR 10
9,600 XP
Huge magical beast
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +18
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 7, flat-footed 22 (-1 Dex, +15 natural, -2 size)
hp 129 (14d10+52)
Fort +13, Ref +8, Will +9
DR 10/magic; Resistance acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 20
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft., fly 100 (poor)
Melee bite +20 (2d8+8/19-20) and 2 claws +15 (2d6+4)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (40-ft. cone, once every 1d4 rounds, 8d10 fire damage, Reflex DC 21for half)
STATISTICS
Str 26, Dex 8, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 14
Base Atk +14; CMB +24; CMD 33
Feats Cleave, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (fly)
Skills Bluff +8, Fly +9, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (history) +6, Perception +18, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +6
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure double

Old Dragon - CR 13
25,600 XP
Gargantuan magical beast
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +25
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 4, flat-footed 24 (-2 Dex, +20 natural, -4 size)
hp 195 (18d10+102)
Fort +17, Ref +1, Will +12
DR 15/magic; Resistance acid 15, cold 15, electricity 15, fire 15; SR 23
OFFENSE
Speed 60 ft., fly 120 (poor)
Melee bite +26 (4d6+12/19-20) and 2 claws +21 (2d8+6/19-20)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (50-ft. cone, once every 1d4 rounds, 12d10 fire damage, Reflex DC 25 for half)
STATISTICS
Str 34, Dex 6, Con 22, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 16
Base Atk +18; CMB +34; CMD 42
Feats Cleave, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Skill Focus (fly)
Skills Bluff +12, Fly +12, Knowledge (arcana) +13, Knoweldge (history) +13, Perception +25, Sense Motive +13, Stealth +7
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure double

Yora

2013-09-09, 05:05 AM

Demonic Possession
This is a first draft, it still needs some refinement. In particular, the effects of corruption on a possessed creature.

Demons can not normally exist in the Material World or the Spiritworld. They have to possess a body in some way.
When a creature comes within 5 feet of a conduit to the Void or an artifact that holds a demonic spirit, the demon can attempt to possess the creature. The creature must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 demons HD + demons Cha modifier) or become possessed.

When a demon possesses a creature, it can remain quiet and stay hidden, take control over the creatures body, or consume its soul and take the body for itself.

If a demon stays quiet, it can make a Bluff check to avoid detection by magic. The Bluff check works like a saving throw, even of the detection spell does not usually allow a save. The demon can also give commands to the possessed creature, but it can make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 demons HD + demons Cha modifier) every round to resist it. However, even on a successful save, the possessed creature does not automatically know that it is possessed.

If a demon wants to take full control of the possessed creature, the host must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 demons HD + demons Cha modifier + 1 for each previous failed save against control that day) every round. If the creature makes three successful saves in a row, the demon can not control it for the next 24 hours.
The possessing demon automatically maintains control of its host for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 fiend’s HD + fiend’s Cha modifier + 1 for each time the demon has controlled this specific creature before. When the demon’s control lapses, it can attempt to reassert control if it chooses.
While in control, the demon uses its own Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, but it adopts all the possessed creature’s physical ability scores. If a demon with at least 9 Hit Dice and an Intelligence score of 15 or higher can maintain control for at least 10 rounds per day for seven consecutive days, it can also draw upon the possessed creature’s spell- like abilities and use them at the same caster level as the possessed creature did.
The demon retains the host’s type and is affected by spells and effects as if it actually were the possessed creature.

If a demon want to take the possessed creatures body for itself, it can consume its soul and mind and permanently replace them. The demon can make one attempt per day, which forces the possessed creature to make a Will save (DC 1/2 demon’s HD + demon’s Cha modifier). If the creature fails three such consecutive saves in a row, it's soul becomes permanently a part of the demon. Even if the demon is driven from the body or the body destroyed, it retains all the memories and the original creature can not be returned back to life.
The new creature retains the original abilities and stats of the possessed creature, but gains the half-fiend creature and advanced creature templates. However, its mental ability scores are at least as high as those of the original demon.

Any thoughts so far?

Grinner

2013-09-09, 05:26 AM

Where do demons come from?
Why do they come here?
Why would a demon settle for temporary possession when he could permanently possess someone? Is there a drawback to permanent possession?
How are demons meaningfully different from spirits?

Yora

2013-09-10, 05:00 AM

There's info on the Void and a bit about demons here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14808084#post14808084).

Why they don't just take over every body permanently is a god question.
I would say a good reason might be that they could still hop from one body to another without being send back to the Void. That way, it would be best for them to not take over a body until they found one they really want to keep. Otherwise they have to kill their current body and go through the whole process of getting a warlock to open a conduit and provide a good body again.
Also, the demons are not stupid and simply hiding in a humanoid and staying quiet to observe can be more useful than completely taking it over and turning it into a monster.

Yora

2013-09-15, 09:16 AM

Morale
Not exactly a setting thing, but I think a rule that would be quite important to run an Ancient Lands campaign as I envision it.

When enemies take serious casualties, they have to make morale check. It's a Will save against fear with a DC of 10 + the average party level. (Since a larger party means more or stronger enemies, the size of the party doesn't change this number.)
As the Will save bonus is based on hit dice and Widsom scores, stronger enemies automatically have a better chance to make their save.
If the enemies fail the check, they turn around and run and if that is not possible try to surrender.

Situations that cause the enemies to make morale checks are left to the GMs descision, but common situations should be the loss of 50% of allies (killed or fled), loss of 75% of allies, loss of the leader, or loss of the most powerful creature in the group.
If an enemy leader is considering a retreat to regroup and prepare for a counter attack, this is not covered by a morale check. He can give the command at any time the GM thinks it is appropriate. A failed morale check means that the enemy abandons the fight and runs for his life, leaving his allies behind if they have to.

Yora

2013-09-16, 05:53 AM

A little querry: I want to once more get started with writing up some major clans for the Ancient Lands, since they are the worlds nations and political powers.
I've started this with going through all the fantasy settings I know about and making a lists of clans that might work as good examples I can use as reference.
A clan is a group of usually about 5,000 to 10,000 people (including slaves and freemen servants) and rarely up to 40,000 or 50,000. It has a chief whose town or stronghold is the capital of the clans territory.
The Elder Scrolls is a big one, with the Dunmer houses from Morrowind and the Holds of Skyrim being great examples of what I have in mind for the clans.
Forgotten Realms has the Uthgardt tribes, which also work as a good reference.
There might be a bit to take from Dark Sun and Dragon Age, but I think those have few specific examples of actual clans.

Any ideas where else I should look into?

Yora

2013-09-17, 02:44 PM

Creating a Clan
Playing around a bit with the numbers for the populations of the races of the Ancient Lands, I came up with a final total of clans of about 2,000. That's of course way too high to make a complete writeup of all of them, which also isn't either neccessary nor desirable. The campaign setting will include a maybe a number of 40 or 50 clans with varying grades of detail, which can be used directly or as examples and inspirations for other clans. GMs are very much encouraged to create their own clans to be best suited for specific adventures and campaigns.
Here are the guidelines I am using for my clans:

Clan Size
The size of clans can vary widely, but most commonly they number about 4,000 to 6,000 people in total, including slaves and freemen servants.
For quick reference, there are four categories of clans: Greater clans, major clans, minor clans, and lesser clans.
Greater Clans: Greater clans usually range in size from 18,000 to 50,000 people. There's less than two dozens of clans this large, most of them being lizardfolk and high elves. Clans of this size can rival many smaller kingdoms all by themselves.
Major Clans: Much more common that the greater clans, major clans range in population from 6,000 to 18,000 people. They are usually the most important clans in any given area.
Minor Clans: The vast majority of clans has population numbers ranging from 2,000 to 6,000 individuals. In many of these, members of the clansmen group are at least somewhat familiar with all the other clansmen families.
Lesser Clans: Lesser clans have a size of fewer than 2,000 people, often just a few hundred. Clans of such size are rare and most of them are former bands of outcasts that have settled down or the remnants of clans that were defeated by their enemies. In many cases, members of such clans are treated as either outcasts or slaves, regardless of what claims to a higher station they are making. Cults of the Old Ones are mostly found in such lesser clans, where all members of the clan are following them.

Social Ranks
The specific composition of each clan depends largely on its culture and can vary between individual clans.
{table]Clansmen | 30-40%
Freemen | 30-60%
Slaves | 10-30%[/table]

Clan Warriors
In most clans roughly 5% of the full population are warriors (which includes rangers and rogues, but excludes NPCs of the warrior class), who are almost always members of clansman rank. In times of war, another 10% can be called to battle as a kind of militia, primarily consisting of NPCs of the warrior and expert classes of either clansman or freeman rank.

Clan Leaders
Chief: The leader of every clan is the chief. The role of the chief is primarily as the military leader of the clan and the first of its warriors, so most chiefs are fighters or barbarians. Rangers or adepts are not unusual and occasionally the role is even held by a shaman, ranger, or expert. The administration of the villages is mostly handled by the local elders.
Marshall: The marshall is the leader of the chiefs personally warriors and responsible for the security and defence of his personal keep and the nearby village, as the chief often has additional duties to attent to. As the chiefs second in command, marshalls can become very powerful, especially when their chiefs are not warriors themselves. When the position of chief goes from one family to another, the marshall or one of his son is usually strongest candidate.
Sub-Chief: Particularly in larger clans, neither the chief nor his marshall can lead all the clans warriors by themselves. Usually there's a number of sub-chiefs, who are tasked with keeping villages and farms on the outer edges of the clans territory safe. In general, a clan has one sub-chief for every 1,000 to 2,000 people. Unlike the positions of chief and marshall, the positions of sub-chiefs are much less heredatary and a chief can usually replace any of his sub-chief without great opposition from the clans most influential families.
High Shaman: Most clans revere an ancestor or protector spirit who watches over the entire clan as a whole. In these clans, a high shaman is responsible for maintaining the relationship between this spirit and the clan. Often the shrine for the protector spirit lies next to the keep of the chief or even within it, in which case the high shaman usually has very high political influence. In other cases, the shrine can lie in a very remote location, which significantly reduces the high shamans influence in clan politics.
Shamans: In addition to the high shaman, most villages of sufficient size have their own shrine attended by a shaman. Usually, a clan has one shaman for every 500 to 1,000 people. Most shamans have two or three novices who assist them and will eventually succeed them in their position.

To quickly generate the leaders of a clan, use the following tables.

{table=head]Clan size | Size modifier
Greater | +2
Major | +1
Minor | +0
Lesser | -1[/table]

{table=head]Leadership role | Class | Level
Chief | Ftr | 5 + size modifier
Marshall | Ftr | 6 + size modifier
Sub-chief | Ftr | 4 + size modifier
High shaman | Shm | 5 + size modifier
Shaman | Shm | 4 + size modifier
Novice shaman | Shm | 2 + size modifier[/table]

Yora

2013-09-18, 12:21 PM

Ran into this little thing completely by accident:

Found a great word the other day: Scurrier. (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/7152/roleplaying-games/adventuring-party-scurriers)

It’s an old term referring to “one sent out to reconnoiter or scout”. It originally seems to have applied specifically to military scouts (who would be sent out to “scour” the countryside), but in the 16th century it seems to have migrated into more domestic concerns as a sort of “special agent” before abruptly disappearing from the language.
I think that might really be the answer to defining the common role of PCs in an Ancient Lands campaign. Chiefs would send out a dozen 6th level fighters if they already know what the source of the current troubles is and where to find it. But quite often, things start with vague rumor of something going on outside the borders of the clans territory before they get really bad, and a chief can't send his best soldiers on a wild goose chase every time that happens. Those warriors are needed to guard the clan against attacks from raiders and monsters. When they leave it has to be for something really important.
Instead, a first response would be to send out some people to keep their eyes and ears open and roam the lands of neighboring clans and the countryside to see if they find anything that might become a problem later. And for that task it makes perfect sense to not only send 1st and 2nd level characters, but also to send rogues and adepts rather than a pure force of fighters and barbarians supported by one shaman.

At low levels, that may sometimes mean to return to the chief and report of the danger the PCs discovered, so a larger band of elite warriors can be gathered to crush it. Having NPCs get all the glory is usually a bad thing in a campaign, but getting the neccessary information to war the chief, and even more so getting that information back to him, can often be a rather serious challenge and epic adventure all by itself. The first part of the Lord of the Rings, where the hobbits have to get the ring to Elrond could be regarded as one such example. They are very low level and while they are trying to reach a group of epic level NPCs who can just sweep away all the challenges they encounter on their trip, nobody knows where they are or even that they are trying to make that journey in the first place. Still it's not like that adventure was made irrelevant by the fact that all they did was to make a delivery of something important so that more powerful NPCs could deal with it properly.
And many things can be solved by low-level PCs all by themselves without really having to call in the cavalry. And even if they get back and get reinforcements, they will also have to guide this stronger force to the place where the danger is coming from. And given that the setting is kind of E6-ish, they can actually join the final offense in the second rank or the flanks.

So yeah, scurrying around in the wilderness looking for trouble is an idea for low-level adventures that I want to wholeheartedly embrace.

Yora

2013-09-30, 07:15 AM

Thought I give a little update on what I've been working on these last weeks. Which has been mostly monsters.

Names in italic are new creations. Those marked with an asterisk have been slighly altered, mostly to conform to the new spell system or changed to a different creature type. (Like all fey being outsiders with the spirit subtype.)

{table=head]Name | CR |
Centipede, Tiny* | CR 1/8
Name | CR
Centipede, Small* | CR 1/4
Spider, Tiny* | CR 1/4
Name | CR
Dark Elf* | CR 1/3
Derro* | CR 1/3
Dog | CR 1/3
Goblin* | CR 1/3
Merfolk | CR 1/3
Rat, Dire | CR 1/3
Shrieker | CR 1/3 | A small, tail-less monkey-like creature with grey-purple fur and bluish-black manes and flat faces with tiny eyes and noses. Hunts mostly in swarms in forests and caves.
Skeleton | CR 1/3
Wisp | CR 1/3 | A tiny, gaseous forest spirit that often serves as sentries for more powerful spirits.
Wood Elf* | CR 1/3
Name | CR
Badger | CR 1/2
Centipede, Medium | CR 1/2
Dolphin | CR 1/2
Eagle | CR 1/2
Horse, Pony | CR 1/2
Monkey, Baboon | CR 1/2
Mosquito, Giant | CR 1/2 | A hand-sized insect covered in sharp armor plates with a powerful stinger.
Reptile, Compsognathus | CR 1/2
Snake, Small Viper* | CR 1/2
Snake, Tiny Viper | CR 1/2
Spider, Small* | CR 1/2
Zombie | CR 1/2
Name | CR
Centipede, Large* | CR 1
Dog, Guard | CR 1 | (riding dog)
Ghoul | CR 1
Goblin, Greater* | CR 1 | Goblin with the giant creature template
Grimlock | CR 1 | Powerful, eyeless humanoid that lives in the Underworld.
Harpy* | CR 1
Horse | CR 1
Hyena | CR 1
Lizardfolk | CR 1
Petitioner* | CR 1 | Souls of humanoids who made a bargain with demons to be taken to the Void as servants.
Rakurai | CR 1 | Stocky humanoids with both legs and fish tails and piranha-like heads who live at the bottom of the sea and in some coastal caves.
Sea Scorpion | CR 1
Serpent Warrior | CR 1 | Elf-sized humanoids with reptilian skin and eyes, created as elite servants for the naga.
Snake, Medium Viper | CR 1
Spider, Medium | CR 1
Wolf | CR 1
Name | CR
Ape, Gorilla | CR 2
Badger, Dire | CR 2
Bat, Dire | CR 2
Boar | CR 2
Cat, Leopard | CR 2
Centipede, Huge* | CR 2
Crocodile | CR 2
Darkling | 2 | Roughly human sized creature of wolverine-like stature and great strength, that prowls the Underworld in small packs and can climb on cave walls and ceilings.
Hippogriff | CR 2
Imp* | CR 2
Monkey, Dire | CR 2 | A larger and more ferocious version of the baboon.
Rakurai, Greater | CR 2 | Rare breed of rakurai with the giant sized template.
Reaver | CR 2 | Violent humanoids from the spiritworld who resemble somewhat undersized shaggy trolls with large horns.
Reptile, Pack Lizard | CR 2 | Herd reptile with the size of a camel.
Reptile, Monitor | CR 2
Reptile, Velociraptor | CR 2
Shark | CR 2
Skum | CR 2
Snake, Medium Constrictor | CR 2
Snake, Large Viper* | CR 2
Wolverine | CR 2
Worg | CR 2
Name | CR
Ant Lion | CR 3 | Large burrowing insect that hunts by ambushing its prey from holes in the ground.
Ape, Dire | CR 3
Assassin Vine | CR 3
Doppelganger | CR 3
Dragonhawk | CR 3 | A large feathred flying reptile with the head of a bird of prey.
Drider* | CR 3
Ettercap | CR 3
Giant Mantis | CR 3
Giant Weasel | CR 3
Hell Hound | CR 3
Hyena, Dire | CR 3
Reptile, Deinonychus | CR 3
Shadow | CR 3
Snake, Large Constrictor* | CR 2
Spider, Large* | CR 3
Swamp Strangler | CR 3 | Roughly humanoid plant creature made from coiled vines.
Troll | CR 3 | Large and strong humanoids with grey, stone-like skin.
Wolf, Dire | CR 3
Yeth Hound | CR 3
Name | CR
Bear, Grizzly | CR 4
Boar, Dire | CR 4
Cat, Tiger | CR 4
Crocodile, Giant* | CR 4
Gray Ooze | CR 4
Myceloid | CR 4
Owlbear | CR 4
Pixie | CR 4
Reptile, Giant Monitor* | CR 4
Reptile, Megaraptor | CR 4
Reptile, Bull Lizard | CR 4 | Herd reptile with the size of a bison.
Shark, Giant* | CR 4
Shie | CR 4 | Tall humanoid spirits with some resemblance to elves, who build most of the ancient ruins in the Ancient Lands.
Snake, Huge Viper* | CR 4
Wolverine, Dire | CR 4
Name | CR
Basilisk | CR 5
Bog Beast | CR 5 | A roughly humanoid shaped plant-creature the size of a troll and covered in moss.
Dolphin, Orca | CR 5
Giant Sloth | CR 5
Green Hag | CR 5
Hill Giant | CR 5 | A large humanoid with seemingly thin arms and legs and earth-colored skin and hair.
Insect Man | CR 5 | Human-sized, winged creatures from the Underworld with strange telepathic powers.
Naga | CR 5 | Large humanoids with the skin and lower bodies of snakes.
Ochre Jelly | CR 5
Oni* | CR 5
Snake, Huge Constrictor* | CR 5
Spider, Huge* | CR 5
Name | CR
Cave Giant | CR 6
Fey Giant | CR 6 | Large humanoid spirits with pale green skin and powers over plants and animals.
Intelligent Spider | CR 6 | A spider-like creature from the Underworld that enslaves other creatures to work for it.
Spriggan | CR 6 | A tall, humanoid plant spirit that can control the plants around its home.
Swamp Squid | CR 6 | A big squid-like creature with ten arms that lives in the Underworld and some swamps on the surface world.
Wyvern | CR 6
Name | CR
Aboleth | CR 7
Bear, Dire | CR 7
Black Pudding | CR 7
Dragon, Young | CR 7 | A large flying reptile with fire breath and slightly below human intelligence.
Mountain Giant | CR 7 | A large humanoid appearing mostly as a 12-foot tall human.
Reptile, Elasmosaurus | CR 7
Name | CR
Deep Worm | CR 8 | Large burrowing worm of the Underworld.
Golem, Bone | CR 8
Nymph* | CR 8
Treant* | CR 8
Reptile, Tylosaurus | CR 8
Name | CR
Dragon, Adult | CR 10 | A huge flying reptile with fire breath and human intelligence.
Golem, Clay | CR 10
Underworld Worm | CR 10 | A huge creature resembling a giant earthworm with centipede legs and a big maw and a tail stringer. Highly intelligent and known for its terrifying howl.
Whale | CR 10
Name | CR
Golem, Stone | CR 11
Name | CR
Titan | CR 12 | Huge earth spirit resembling a giant humanoid made from stone.
Name | CR
Dragon, Old | CR 13 | A gargantuan flying reptile with fire breath and slightly above human intelligence.[/table]

I still have about 50 more on my list, that I still have to make stats for. Right now it's about 100 on 60 pages, so it should be a total of about 150 creatures on under 100 pages. Which is still less than half of a single Monster Manual or Bestiary

Yora

2013-10-01, 11:25 AM

I am currently finalizing the spirit forms for demons (corporeal forms tomorrow perhaps) and while I have the basic framework done, there's still the special abilities left to be considered. Here's what I got so far:

Wrath Demon: CR 6, medium. Some ability to deal massive carnage.
Hunger Demon: CR 7, medium. Powerful bite attack, scent, rangers bonus to tracking.
Greed Demon: CR 8, medium. Stealth and sneak attack.
Desire Demon: CR 9, medium. Change shape, fly, high charisma.
Sloth Demon: CR 11, large. High Constitution, high natural armor, high mproved spell resistance, very high deception skills, Knowledge (arcana) and Spellcraft skills.
Tyranny Demon: CR 13, large. High intelligence.
Pride Demon: CR 15, huge. Very high strength, constitution, intelligence, and charisma.

At the lower end, things are quite clear: Wrath demons are heavy shock troops, hunger demons are hunters, greed demons are assassins, and desire demons are spies.
With the bigger ones, it's more complicated. Sloth demons are liards, deceivers, and corruptors, but I have no specific special abilities for that concept. Tyranny demons are commanders, but here I am even more at a loss how to represent that with special abilities. And pride demons believe they are the greatest BAMFs there are, and they are even mostly right at that. Making them shrug off any attempts to harm them could be one way to approach them, but I don't think that would make for a very interesting boss monster and villain.

Any ideas for special abilities? If it's abilities taken from existing pathfinder outsiders, that would make the work even easier.

Yora

2013-10-15, 07:05 AM

Demons (Void Forms)
These creatures are demons in their natural forms, at least as much as a purely nonphysical being can have one. When mortals project their spirits into the Void, these demons will be the ones they are most likely to encounter, unless they are visiting a demiplane created by a demon lord. Spells of the summoning subschool also create a temporary physical form for summoned demons that use the same statistics.

Wrath Demon

Wrath Demon - CR 6
XP 2,400
Medium outsider (demon)
Init +5; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+1 deflection, +1 Dex, +6 natural)
hp 68 (8d10+24)
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +6
DR 5/silver or magic; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 16
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +12 (1d6+3) and bite +11 (1d8+3)
Special Attacks double damage against objects
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 12
Base Atk +8; CMB +11; CMD 22
Feats Cleave, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (claws)
Skills Climb +14, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +10, Perception +11, Stealth +11
Languages Infernal
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–12)
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Double Damage Against Objects (Ex) A wrath demon that makes a full attack against an object or structure deals double damage.

Skill Ranks: Climb* 8 ranks, Intimidate* 8 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 8 ranks, Perception* 8 ranks, Stealth* 8 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Even though they are among the last powerful beings of the void, wrath demons are still formidable foes and highly dangerous creatures. Wrath demons come in many different shapes, usually resembling a mix of both man and ape running on two or four legs, but often having additional demonic features like black horns and spikes, bony plates and ridges, brightly red or orange colored fur, large tusks and whipping tails. They are easily recognized by their brightly glowing red eyes and those who fought them up close tend to describe them as emanating an unnatural heat as if they were made from glowing coals.
Wrath demons are fairly simple minded and their usual reaction to comming into the physical world is to revel in mayhem and wanton destruction. Wrath demons rarely show any concern for their relative fragile physical bodies when in the material world and simply engage in as much carnage as possible before their immaterial spirits have to return to the Void. As a result the possession of living humanoids by wrath demons is almost unheard of, since it is not worth the great amount of preparation and magical resources required for the ritual.

Hunger Demon

Hunger Demon - CR 7
XP 3,600
Medium outsider (demon)
Init +2; Senses scent, see in darkness.; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 21 (+2 deflection, +2 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 85 (9d10+36)
Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +7
DR 5/silver or magic; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 17
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +14 (2d6+4/19–20) and 2 claws +13 (1d6+4)
Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 1d6+6)
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 14
Base Atk +9; CMB +13; CMD 25
Feats Cleave, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (bite), Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Climb +16, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +12, Perception +13, Stealth +14, Survival +13
Languages Infernal
SQ track +4
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–8)
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Track This ability works like the ranger class feature of the same name.

Skill Ranks: Climb* 9 ranks, Intimidate* 9 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 9 ranks, Perception* 9 ranks, Stealth* 9 ranks, Survival* 9 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Hunger Demons are stronger, more powerful, and more intelligent than wrath demons, but the one aspect that makes them especially more dangerous is their desire not just to destroy, but to consume. Hunger demons can be as violent and destructive as wrath demons, but their craving is usually more focused and they have a stronger drive to seek out specific targets. Like most demons, hunger demons that come into the material world through possession develop a quite specific target which they desire. For some it is such simple things as roasted boar or ale, which they will consume in as large amount as they can get, but it is not uncommon for them to have a craving for much more appaling things like the hearts of gnomes or the eyes of elves. Even if the object of their hunger is something more mundane, they will go to any length to get it, which makes them no less dangerous.
The most common form for hunger demons is one that resembles a large boar or badger with the legs of a bear and the head of a large wild cat with huge fangs and covered in shaggy dark brown, green, and black fur. Hunger demons will do almost everything to consume the object of their craving and they will gladly use their skills of hunting and tracking down prey for any master who can provide their favorite meals. Hunger demons possessing living humanoid bodies are rare, but it happens occasionally when a powerful spellcaster is in need of their tracking skills.

Greed Demon

Greed Demon - CR 8
XP 4,800
Medium outsider (demon)
Init +9; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 25, touch 19, flat-footed 19 (+3 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +6 natural)
hp 105 (10d10+50)
Fort +8, Ref +12, Will +10
DR 5/silver; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 18
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 15 ft.
Melee 2 claws +13 (1d6+3)
Special Attacks sneak attack +5d6
Spell-like Abilities (CL 8th, concentration +11)
At will—cloak of shadows (self only), darkness, invisibility (self only)
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 21, Con 21, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 16
Base Atk +10; CMB +13; CMD 28
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Stealthy
Skills Acrobatics +15, Bluff +16, Climb +24, Escape Artist +15, Intimidate +16, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +15, Perception +14, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +20
Languages Infernal
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary, pair, or gang (3–4)
Treasure standard

Skill Ranks: Acrobatics 10 ranks, Bluff* 10 ranks, Climb* 10 ranks, Escape Artist* 5 ranks, Intimidate* 10 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 10 ranks, Perception* 10 ranks, Sense Motive* 5 ranks, Stealth* 10 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Where hunger demons simply crave to consume things, greed demons are driven by the desire to possess and hoard things that have some sort of value to them. Since demons in the void have no use for wealth or any material possessions and their presence in the physical world is always only a temporary one, no matter how many years or decades it may last, it is very hard to predict what types of things their craving will focus on. Some greed demons desire to hoard gold and jewels, but will only spend them if they regard it as an investment to even greater riches. But more commonly their greed focuses on more abstract or even apparently illogical things, like paintings, sculptures, fine clothing, exotic beasts, and valuable slaves, or even just rare seashells or collections of expensive wines.
The most common form for greed demons has some vague resamblance to both humanoids and big dogs and cats, being able to stand up on their lower legs, but also to crawl and climb using their arms as well. Their bodies are often covered in bluish black scales and shimmmering fur. They can be almost perfectly silent and have many abilities that help them to avoid being seen. Usually they use their abilities in the material world to steal objects they are craving or to ambush and kill people who carry them, but their natural greed also makes them very willing to sell their skills to anyone who can reward them. Greed demons ocasionally manage to take possession of a mortal body, which is most common when spellcasters do not dare to call a more powerful demon. Sometimes those demons take off on their own devices, when their master is slain or proves too weak to keep the greed demon under control. But most greed demons are too short sighted and not smart enough to gather large groups of minions and rarely have more than a handful of weak underlings.

Desire Demon

Desire Demon - CR 9
XP 7,200
Medium outsider (demon)
Init +10; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 28, touch 22, flat-footed 19 (+6 deflection, +6 Dex, +6 natural)
hp 114 (12d10+48)
Fort +10, Ref +14, Will +12
DR 10/silver; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 19
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (good)
Melee 2 claws +16 (1d6+4)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 9th, concentration +15)
At will—charm (DC 21), daze (DC 21), invisibility, read thoughts (DC 21), suggestion (DC 21)
3/day—dominate (DC 21), hallucination (DC 21), hold (DC 21)
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 23, Con 19, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 22
Base Atk +12; CMB +16; CMD 32
Feats Combat Reflexes, Deceitful, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +23, Diplomacy +21, Disguise +23, Escape Artist +21, Fly +25, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +18, Perception +17, Sense Motive +17, Stealth +21
Languages Infernal
SQ change shape (alter self, Small or Medium humanoid)
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary, pair, or gang (3–6)
Treasure standard

Skill Ranks: Bluff* 12 ranks, Diplomacy* 12 ranks, Disguise* 12 ranks, Escape Artist* 12 ranks, Fly* 12 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 12 ranks, Perception* 12 ranks, Sense Motive* 12 ranks, Stealth* 12 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Desire demons usually have the most humanoid appearance, though in their natural forms they are covered in black, purple, and silvery scales, bony plates, and spikey horns, with a large pair of bat-like wings. They have the ability to change their appearance to any humanoid form, which they retain even when possessing a living humanoid mortal.
Desire demons are similar to greed demons in many ways, but unlike those lesser demons, they desire not simply to possess things that are rare and valuable, but to enjoy all the pleasures and luxury they have to offer. This makes them even more dangerous in many respects as they are also more intelligent and have greater self control.

Sloth Demon

Sloth Demon - CR 11
XP 12,800
Large outsider (demon)
Init +4; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 28, touch 18, flat-footed 24 (+5 deflection, +4 Dex, +10 natural, -1 size)
hp 175 (14d10+98)
Fort +15, Ref +13, Will +14
DR 10/silver; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 15, cold 15, fire 15; SR 26
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +22 (2d6+8/19–20) and 2 claws +22 (1d8+8 plus poison)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 11th; concentration +16)
At will—charm (DC 20), detect magic, dispel magic, sleep (DC 16), suggestion (DC 20)
3/day—hold (DC 20), weakness (DC 20)
STATISTICS
Str 26, Dex 19, Con 25, Int 18, Wis 17, Cha 20
Base Atk +14; CMB +23; CMD 37
Feats Cleave, Deceitful, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (bite), Iron Will, Persuasive, Power Attack
Skills Bluff +24, Diplomacy +22, Disguise +11, Climb +21, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (arcana) +18, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +21, Perception +20, Sense Motive +20, Spellcraft +18, Stealth +17
Languages Infernal
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Poison (Ex) Claw—injury; save Fort DC 24; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d4 Con damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Skill Ranks: Bluff* 14 ranks, Climb* 10 ranks, Diplomacy* 14 ranks, Disguise 4 ranks, Intimidate* 14 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 14 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 14 ranks, Perception* 14 ranks, Sense Motive* 14 ranks, Spellcraft 14 ranks, Stealth* 14 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Sloth demons are often underestimated and considered much of a threat, but they are in fact among the greater types of demons and even more devious scheemers than desire demons or even tyranny demons. While desire demons indulge in luxury and other pleasures, the cravings of sloth demons are considerably more complex, and in a sense more refined. While many sloth demons in the physical world chose indeed to lead a life of opulence and decadence, their real desires are not material luxury, but to spread corruption and decay and to twist their victims into mockeries of their former selves. To sloth demons, wealth and power are means to an end. Their plans usually span over many years or even decades, during which they gladly spend all their resources to undermine society and bring down people of power and influence. The plans of sloth demons often seem paradox and are difficult to detect, as they will often resolve to methods that seemingly harm their own base of power and take a heavy toll on their minions. But creating large, hidden organizations of power and then abandoning their unsuspecting partners and co-conspirators in their moment of triumph is one of their greatest delights.
The most common form of a sloth demon resembles a large bear or badger, but sometimes also a starving lion or demonic buffalo. More often than not they are covered in shaggy and dirty fur of dark colors, but their sickly appearance belies their great strength and toughness. Sloth demons are highly resistant to almost all mundane attacks and almost immune to magical ones and their claws are vovered in poison, which makes them extremely dangerous to fight in open battle. But in practice, it's their extensive magical powers of controling other creatures minds and perception that makes them one of the most dangerous types of demons.

Tyranny Demon

Tyranny Demon - CR 13
XP 25,600
Large outsider (demon)
Init +10; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +7
Aura fear (10 ft., DC 19)
DEFENSE
AC 28, touch 20, flat-footed 22 (+5 deflection, +6 Dex, +8 natural, -1 size)
hp 175 (18d10+98)
Fort +14, Ref +19, Will +17
DR 10/silver and magic; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 15, cold 15, fire 15; SR 23
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 claws +26 (1d8+8)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Spell-like Abilities (CL 13th, concentration +18)
At will—charm (DC 22), fear (DC 22), read thoughts (DC 22), suggestion (DC 22)
3/day—dispel magic, dominate (DC 22), hold (DC 22), stunning blast (DC 22), summon demon
STATISTICS
Str 26, Dex 23, Con 27, Int 22, Wis 19, Cha 20
Base Atk +18; CMB +27; CMD 43
Feats Alertness, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Persuasive, Power Attack
Skills Acrobatics +27, Bluff +26, Climb +29, Diplomacy +23, Escape Artist +24, Intimidate +26, Knowledge (arcana) +24, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +27, Perception +27, Sense Motive +27, Spellcraft +24, Stealth +25
Languages Infernal
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure double

Skill Ranks: Acrobatics* 18 ranks, Bluff* 18 ranks, Climb* 18 ranks, Diplomacy 18 ranks, Escape Artist 18 ranks, Intimidate* 18 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 18 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 18 ranks, Perception* 18 ranks, Sense Motive* 18 ranks, Spellcraft 18 ranks, Stealth* 18 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Tyranny demons are among the most powerful of all demons, second only to the mighty pride demons. They resemble sloth demons in many ways, but they have a lot less pations of scheemes and manipulation and tend to be quick to take action themselves. Tyranny demons, above all other things, crave to controll and dominate other beings in any way they can. To most tyranny demons, there are only a few beings which they consider temporary allies. Everything else is either a minion or an enemy to be enslaved. Unlike pride demons, tyranny demons simply demand unquestioning obedience. If it is because their underlings fear or admire them does not make much of a difference to them, as long as nobody ever steps out of line and follows their order without delay. Tyranny demons will ocasionally cooperate with other powerful demons or mortal spellcasters, but such alliances are always difficult as the tyrannny demons will complete their part of the deal only in the way they seem fit and can be quite unpredictable if their allies fail to perform their parts exactly as planned.
Tyranny demons often take the form of tall androgynous humanoids with serpentine features, which are both highly strong and agile and known for their fast speed. But they are also known to be amongst the most intelligent of all demons and almost infinitely smarter than any mortals.

Pride Demon

Pride Demon - CR 15
XP 51,200
Huge outsider (demon)
Init +9; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +7
Aura fear (10 ft., DC 22)
DEFENSE
AC 30, touch 20, flat-footed 15 (+7 deflection, +5 Dex, +10 natural, -2 size)
hp 290 (20d10+180)
Fort +17, Ref +17, Will +19
DR 15/silver and magic; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 20, cold 20, fire 20; SR 25
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 claws +31(2d6+11/19–20)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th; concentration +23)
At will—charm (DC 25), cone of flames (DC 25), darkness, dispel magic, fireball (DC 25), fly, lightning arcs (DC 25), read thoughts (DC 25), suggestion (DC 25), summon demon
3/day—bestow curse (DC 21), dominate (DC 25), hold (DC 25), stunning blast (DC 25), weakness (DC 25)
STATISTICS
Str 32, Dex 21, Con 29, Int 22, Wis 21, Cha 24
Base Atk +20; CMB +34; CMD 49
Feats Awesome Blow, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Deceitful, Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (claws), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack
Skills Acrobatics +25, Bluff +30, Climb +31, Diplomacy +30, Intimidate +30, Knowledge (arcana) +26, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +29, Perception +28, Sense Motive +28, Spellcraft +26, Stealth +18, Use Magic Device +30
Languages Infernal
SQ change shape
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary
Treasure double
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Change Shape (Su) A pride demon can assume any animal or humanoid form at will as if using polymorph.

Skill Ranks: Acrobatics 20 ranks, Bluff* 20 ranks, Climb 20 ranks, Diplomacy* 20 ranks, Intimidate* 20 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 20 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 20 ranks, Perception* 20 ranks, Sense Motive* 20 ranks, Spellcraft 20 ranks, Stealth* 20 ranks, Use Magic Device* 20 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Pride demons are the rarest and most powerful of all demons and each of them is a demon lord in its own right. Like all demons they are driven by a deep craving and for them this craving is nothing less than to be recognized as the ultimate and perfect beings in all of existance. Everyone has to bow before them and they will never serve any other being. Many of them are not above making pacts with lesser creatures and mortal spellcasters, though, but as they see it anyone who request their help does so by begging for their asistance in recognition of the pride demons superior power.
All pride demons are unique, but most commonly they take the forms of huge and powerful two-legged giants, often covered in metallic spines and bony plates of various colors.

This is a pretty advanced version of the demons and I don't think there will be any drastic changes to these in the future. However, there is still room for tweaking, so if anyone of you has idea how to improve them and to give a stronger focus to their particular niche, comments would be very highly appreciated.

I'll probably do the possession forms of demons tomorrow, or maybe tonight.

Yora

2013-10-16, 06:10 AM

Demons (Possession Forms)

As they lack any kind of physical form, demons can not exist in the material world. To remain in the material world for a longer time than the duration of a summoning spell, they have to possess physical bodies to serve as vessels for their spirits. One of the most common vessels possesed by demons are the bodies of dead humanoids or animals, but in theory a demon can take possession of any physical substance that has been exposed to high degrees of corruption. Usually it requires the work of a sorcerer or warlock to prepare a vessel that a demon can possess, but in places of very high corruption demons are occasionally able to take over a body through their own power given enough time.

Dread Warriors and Dread Beasts

Dread warriors and dread beasts are the corpses of dead humanoids and animals that are possessed by the spirits of wrath and hunger demons, but more rarely even greed demons. More powerful demons usually shun such lowly forms.

Iron Demon

Iron Demon - CR 5
XP 1,600
Medium outsider (demon)
Init +1; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+1 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 63 (6d10+30)
Fort +10, Ref +3, Will +5
DR 5/magic and bludgeoning; Immune bleed, disease, polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 15
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee greataxe +11 (1d12+7) or
Melee 2 claws +11 (1d4+5)
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 13, Con 21, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 22
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Power Attack
Skills Climb +14, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +5, Perception +9, Sense Motive +6, Stealth +6; Racial Modifiers -4 Stealth
Languages Infernal
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–12)
Treasure standard

Skill Ranks: Climb* 6 ranks, Intimidate* 6 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 3 ranks, Perception* 6 ranks, Sense Motive* 3 ranks, Stealth* 6 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Iron demons are old suits of armor, which are often the only remains of soldiers who died in ancient battles, that have been left in areas of high corruption for long enough to become suitable vessels for demonic possession. They are commonly hunger and greed demons, but also occasionally wrath demons as well.

Ice Demon

Ice Demon - CR 6
XP 2,400
Medium outsider (cold, demon)
Init +3; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +14
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +6 natural)
hp 76 (8d10+32)
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +7
DR 5/magic and bludgeoning; Immune bleed, cold, disease, polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, fire 10; SR 16
Weaknesses fire
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 slams +12 (1d6+4 plus 1d6 cold)
Special Attacks breath weapon (every 1d4 rounds, 15-ft. cone, 8d6 cold damage, Reflex half DC 16)
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 14
Base Atk +8; CMB +12; CMD 25
Feats Alertness, Cleave, Great Fortitude, Power Attack
Skills Bluff +9, Climb +15, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +7, Perception +14, Sense Motive +10, Stealth +14 (+22 in snow), Survival +8; Racial modifiers +8 Stealth in snow
Languages Infernal
SQ icewalking, snow vision
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–12)
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Icewalking (Ex) This ability works like the spider climb spell, but the surfaces the ice demon climbs must be icy. The ice demon can move across icy surfaces without penalty and does not need to make Acrobatics checks to run or charge on ice.
Snow Vision (Ex) An ice demon cam see perfectly well in snowy conditions. An ice demon does not suffer any penalties to Perception checks while in snow.

Skill Ranks: Bluff* 4 ranks, Climb* 8 ranks, Intimidate* 8 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 4 ranks, Perception* 8 ranks, Sense Motive* 4 ranks, Stealth* 8 ranks, Survival* 4 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Ice demons are roughly humanoid or primate shape hunks of ice and small frozen rocks that are possessed by hunger or greed demons.

Shadow Demon

Shadow Demon - CR 7
XP 3,200
Medium outsider (demon, incorporeal)
Init +9; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +14
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+5 Dex, +3 deflection)
hp 68 (8d10+24)
Fort +5, Ref +13, Will +7
Defensive Abilities incorporeal; DR 5/silver and magic; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 17
Weaknesses sunlight powerlessness
OFFENSE
Speed fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee 2 incorporeal touches +13 (1d6 plus 1d6 cold)
Special Attacks shadow blend
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; concentration +10)
3/day—charm (DC 17), cloak of shadows, suggestion (DC 17)
STATISTICS
Str –, Dex 20, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 16
Base Atk +8; CMB +13; CMD 23
Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes
Skills Bluff +14, Diplomacy +10, Escape Artist +13, Fly +20, Intimidate, +14, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +13, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +16
Languages Infernal
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary, pair, or swarm (3–8)
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ATTACKS
Shadow Blend (Su) During any conditions other than bright light, a shadow demon can disappear into the shadows as a move-equivalent action, effectively becoming invisible. Artificial illumination or light spells of 2nd level or lower do not negate this ability.
Sunlight Powerlessness (Ex) A shadow demon is utterly powerless in bright light or natural sunlight and flees from it. A shadow demon caught in such light cannot attack and can take only a single move or standard action.

Skill Ranks: Bluff* 8 ranks, Diplomacy* 4 ranks, Escape Artist* 4 ranks, Fly* 8 ranks, Intimidate* 8 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 8 ranks, Perception* 8 ranks, Sense Motive* 8 ranks, Stealth* 8 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Shadow demons are composed of nothing but shadows, but somehow areas of extreme corruption can make even these suitable vessels for demoninc possession. Greed, desire, and sloth demons are the most common demons to be found in this form.

Fire Demon

Fire Demon - CR 8
XP 4,800
Large outsider (demon, fire)
Init +8; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +15
Aura flaming body
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+4 Dex, +8 natural, -1 size)
hp 115 (10d10+60)
Fort +9, Ref +11, Will +11
DR 10/silver; Immune fire, polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; SR 18
Weaknesses cold
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 slams +15 (1d6+6 plus 1d8 fire)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks burn (2d6, DC 21)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 8th, concentration +14)
6/day—cone of flames (DC 20)
3/day—fireball (DC 20)
STATISTICS
Str 23, Dex 19, Con 22, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 22
Base Atk +10; CMB +17; CMD 31
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack
Skills Acrobatics +17, Bluff +19, Climb +19, Diplomacy +11, Escape Artist +12, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +16, Perception +15, Sense Motive +15, Stealth +5; Racial Modifiers -8 Stealth
Languages Infernal
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–12)
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Flaming Body (Su) A fire demon's body is covered in dancing flames. Anyone striking a fire demon with a natural weapon or unarmed strike takes 1d6 points of fire damage. A creature that grapples a fire demon or is grappled by one takes 4d6 points of fire damage each round the grapple persists.

Skill Ranks: Acrobatics* 10 ranks, Bluff* 10 ranks, Climb* 10 ranks, Diplomacy 5 ranks, Escape Artist* 5 ranks, Intimidate* 10 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 10 ranks, Perception* 10 ranks, Sense Motive* 10 ranks, Stealth* 10 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Fire demons are large humanoids composed entirely of flames and lava, having a strong resemblance to fire elementals. But very often, the flames have unnatural shades of green, pale yellow, and even blue, which can indicate their demonic nature. Fire demons are usually either tyranny or pride demons.

Rock Demon

Rock Demon - CR 10
XP 7,200
Large outsider (demon, earth)
Init +2; Senses see in darkness.; Perception +20
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 11, flat-footed 21 (+2 Dex, +12 natural, -1 size)
hp 150 (12d10+84)
Fort +15, Ref +6, Will +13
DR 10/silver and bludgeoning; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 19
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee 2 slams +19 (2d6+8)
Ranged rock +13 (1d8+12)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks adamantine slams, rock throwing (120 ft.)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th; concentration +15)
At will—stone shape
3/day—hold (DC 20), stunning blast (DC 20)
STATISTICS
Str 27, Dex 15, Con 24, Int 18, Wis 17, Cha 20
Base Atk +12; CMB +21; CMD 35
Feats Alertness, Awesome Blow, Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Iron Will, Power Attack
Skills Bluff +20, Climb +31, Diplomacy +20, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (arcana) +19, Knowledge (forbidden lore) +19, Perception +20, Sense Motive +20, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +13 (+17 in caves and mountains), Use Magic Device +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth in caves and mountains
Languages Infernal
ECOLOGY
Environment any (the Void)
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–12)
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Adamantine Slams (Ex) A rock demons slam attacks count as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and hardness.

Skill Ranks: Bluff* 12 ranks, Climb* 12 ranks, Diplomacy* 12 ranks, Intimidate* 12 ranks, Knowledge (arcana)* 12 ranks, Knowledge (forbidden lore)* 12 ranks, Perception* 12 ranks, Sense Motive* 12 ranks, Spellcraft 6 ranks, Stealth* 12 ranks, Use Magic Device* 6 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Rock demons are one of the most powerful forms of demons possessing inanimate bodies. These large hunks of rock and dirt are easily distinguished from earth elemental by the colorful demonic energies that flicker where the rocks are joined. Rock demons are often sloth or pride demons, but tyranny demons are not unusual either.

This still leaves demons possessing living vessels, but I still need to spend more thoughts on that. Also, I am not entirely sure what to make of hell hounds and imps, which I think I would like to have as creatures, but I don't know how to make them fit with the nature of demons I've created so far yet.

Yora

2013-10-18, 09:47 AM

Dread Warriors and Dread Beasts

Dread warriors and dread beasts are the corpses of humanoids and animals that have been exposed to corruption to a high enough degree for demons to possess them. Most such demons are mere wrath or hunger demons. They can come into existance spontaneously from corpses left in areas of high corruption, or be created on purpose by warlocks to serve them.

Creating a Dread Creature
“Dread creature” is a template that can be added to any creature of the humanoid (dread warrior), animal, or vermin type (dread beast), referred to hereafter as the base creature.
The dread creature template combines the modifications of the advanced creature, fiendish creature, and zombie templates, but the base creature does not lose its Intelligence score and instead has an Intelligence score of 7 and does not gain the staggered quality.

Challenge Rating: Depends on Hit Dice, as follows:
{table=head]HD | CR | XP
1/2 | 1/4 | 100
1 | 1/2 | 200
2 | 1 | 400
3–4 | 2 | 600
5–6 | 4 | 1,200
7–8 | 5 | 1,600
9–10 | 6 | 2,400
11–12 | 7 | 3,200
13–16 | 8 | 4,800
17–20 | 9 | 6,400
21–24 | 10 | 9,600
25–28 | 11 | 12,800[/table]
Type: The creature's type changes to undead. It retains any subtype except for subtypes that indicate kind, and gains the demon subtype. It does not gain the augmented subtype. It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Armor Class: Natural armor is based on the dread creature's size:
{table=head]Dread creature Size | Natural Armor Bonus
Tiny or smaller | +2
Small | +3
Medium | +4
Large | +5
Huge | +6
Gargantuan | +9
Colossal | +13[/table]
Hit Dice: Drop HD gained from class levels (minimum of 1) and change racial HD to d8s. Dread Creatures gain a number of additional HD as noted on the following table.
{table=head]Dread creature Size | Bonus Hit Dice
Tiny or smaller | —
Small or Medium | +1 HD
Large | +2 HD
Huge | +4 HD
Gargantuan | +6 HD
Colossal | +10 HD[/table]
Dread creatures use their Charisma modifiers to determine bonus hit points (instead of Constitution).
Saves: Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +1/2 HD + 2.
Defensive Abilities: Dread Creatures lose their defensive abilities and gain all of the qualities and immunities granted by the undead type. Dread creatures gain SR equal to new CR +5, and DR and energy resistance as noted on the table.
{table=head]Hit Dice | Resist acid, cold, and fire | DR
1-4 | 5 | 5/slashing
5-10 | 10 | 5/slashing and silver
11+ | 15 | 10/slashing and magic[/table]
Speed: Winged dread creatures can still fly, but maneuverability drops to poor. If the base creature flew magically, so can the dread creature. Retain all other movement types.
Attacks: A dread creature retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature. It also gains a slam attack that deals damage based on the dread creature's size, but as if it were one size category larger than its actual size (see Natural Attacks).
Special Attacks: A dread creature retains none of the base creature's special attacks. It gains corrupted smite 1/day as a swift action, which adds Cha as a bonus to attack rolls and a damage bonus equal to its HD against a non-demonic foe. Smite persists until the target or the dread creature is dead.
Abilities: Str +6, Dex +2. A dread creature has no Con score, and its Int score becomes 7, and its Wis and Cha become 12.
BAB: A dread creature's base attack is equal to 3/4 its Hit Dice.
Special Qualities: A dread creature loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks.

Dread Warrior - CR 1
XP 400
Medium undead (demon)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 11 (2d8+2)
Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +4
DR 5/slashing; Immune undead traits; Resist acid 5, cold 5, fire 5; SR 6
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee slam +6 (1d6+7)
Special Attacks corrupted smite 1/day (+1 attack, +2 damage)
STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 12, Con —, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +6; CMD 17
Feats Great Fortitude
Skills Perception +6, Stealth +6
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization any
Treasure none

Skill Ranks: Perception* 2 rank, Stealth* 2 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Dread Wolf - CR 2
XP 600
Medium undead (demon)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +10
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 16 (3d8+3)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +3
DR 5/slashing; Immune undead traits; Resist acid 5, cold 5, fire 5; SR 7
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft.
Melee bite +6 (1d8+6 plus trip)
Special Attacks corrupted smite 1/day (+1 attack, +3 damage)
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 17, Con –, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 12
Base Atk +2; CMB +6; CMD 19 (23 vs. trip)
Feats Great Fortitude, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Perception +10, Stealth +9, Survival +1 (+5 scent tracking); Racial Modifiers +4 Survival when tracking by scent
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–12)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Trip (Ex) A dread wolf can attempt to trip its opponent as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity if it hits with its bite attack. If the attempt fails, the wolf is not tripped in return.

Skill Ranks: Perception* 3 ranks, Stealth* 3 ranks.
*Class Skills.

Yora

2013-10-18, 10:39 AM

Abominations (Demonic Possession)

The rarest form of demonic possession of a physical body is the possession of a living humanoid. The humanoid creatures spirit and all its memories are permanently and irreversibly absorbed into the demons spirit resulting in a new creature known as an abomination.

When a humanoid creature is turned into an abomination, it gains the half-fiend and the advanced templates. (Thinking of it, advanced might be a bit much.) The abominations Int, Wis, and Cha score are at least as high as those of the original demon. The abomination also gains all the demons spell-like abilities, special attacks, and special qualities.
In addition, an abomination gains the change shape ability but can only assume the appearance of the original humanoid creature or return to its normal half-demonic shape. (Desire demons also retain their normal change shape ability, which allows them to change into any humanoid form.)

Hunger Demon possesed Berserker - CR 5
XP 1,600
Barbarian 4
Medium outsider (demon)
Init +3; Senses see in darkness; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +1 natural); 16 when raging
hp 42 (4d12+16); 50 when raging
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +3; +2 to Will when raging
Defensive Abilities trap sense +1, uncanny dodge; DR 5/magic; Immune polymorph, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 15
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee greataxe +10 (1d12+7/x3)
Melee bite +9 (1d8+5) and 2 claws +9 (1d4+5)
Ranged throwing axe +5 (1d6+5/x3)
Special Attacks rage (14 round per day), rage powers (powerful blow, strength surge)
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 12 Wis 14, Cha 14
Base Atk +4, CMB +9, CMD 22
Feats Power Attack, Weapon Focus (greataxe)
Skills Climb +8 (+10 when raging), Intimidate +9, Perception +9, Survival +9, Swim +8
SQ change shape (alter self, own forms only), fast movement, track +4
Gear greataxe, hide armor, 3 throwing axes
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Powerful Blow (Ex) The barbarian gains a +2 bonus on a single damage roll. This power is used as a swift action before the roll to hit is made. This power can only be used once per rage.
Strength Surge (Ex) The barbarian adds his barbarian level on one Strength check or combat maneuver check, or to his Combat Maneuver Defense when an opponent attempts a maneuver against him. This power is used as an immediate action. This power can only be used once per rage.

old school man

2013-11-02, 06:48 PM

Yora I think I have seen you over at dragonsfoot a time or two unless I am wrong and if I am I am sorry to bother you oh and by the way this is some good stuff you have posted here.

John

Yora

2013-11-07, 08:07 AM

Yes, that's me.

Sorry about the lack of updates, but I've finally finished moving into my new place and hopefully will have internet access again early next week. Then I'll be posting all the work I've done in the meantime soon.

Yora

2013-11-19, 08:15 AM

Okay, finally back into business.

And once again, my crativity is stagnating. Working on monsters goes well, but I am not making as much progress with the world itself as I would like. There is a pretty solid framework of geography, cosmology, races, magical creatures, and so on, but it's still more of a collection of good ingredients that have not yet come to life. What I think is missing is to give everything some real texture, which creates a specific feel that is unique to the setting. It's missing some "spice".

Since I've written a huge amount of mostly disconnected stuff so far, here once more a condensed list of the basic traits that define the setting:
A Bronze/Iron Age world, in which humans have not yet become the dominant race and most of the land is still wild and unsettled.
There are three primary geographic regions. A northern part based on the landscape of Scandinavia and Canada; a central part roughly based on the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and China; and a southern part inspired by Vietnam and the Amazon.
A moderate level of magic, with spellcasters being reasonably common in the form of shamans in almost every village, but with relatively subdued magic spells and items and characters only up to 10th level.
The otherness and danger of the spiritworld and its inhabitants should recieve significant attention, with superstitions and reverance of spirits being a common element relevant to the stories.
Culturally, it's a blend of Northern Europe and East Asia, without trying to imitate either.
Player Characters are generally expected to be important members of their local society who defend their clan and ultimately serve their chief or king in some way.
Combat is treated as non-trivial, and even though it is not meant to be a highly lethal world, armed fighting should not be treated as filler and entered lightly.
Conflicts focus much more on survival than ideology, and PCs should frequently get into situations where it would be a good idea to make compromises with terrible people and withdraw from battles that are not your own.

That's the basics of the kind of world I am having in mind. What I am currently searching for are design elements that help supporting these traits and avoiding falling into a generic rennesaince setting with 21st century western values.
That could be customs, laws, and traditions, but also more basic things like forms of food production, animal ecology, style of dress, warfare, and so on.
Some places where I am currently looking for inspirations are the Finns and Sami from Scandinavia, the Mongols, and the Cambodians.
Any ideas to share with me?

Yora

2013-11-26, 07:20 AM

I started a new website to post stuff related to my work on the Ancient Lands but also some more general talk on setting creation, game design, and running campaigns in general.

http://www.rpgba.org/imagecache.php?type=smallsitelogo&wid=1571&op=clear&time=1385468197 Spriggan's Den (http://spriggans-den.com)

Detailed presentations on my new creations for the Ancient Lands setting will continue to be posted here.

Yora

2013-12-29, 05:58 AM

I'm currently in the middle of planning a new campaign, which we will starting tomorrow, so there hasn't rally been much to update here.

Special Features

However, one thing that occured to me while preparing for a specific actual campaign, was that in many way the Ancient Lands still look and feel a lot like a basic european medieval fantasy world, and I think it could be a lot more. Take for example Dark Sun, Morrowind, or Final Fantasy games, which not only add nonexiting creatures and landscapes to remote dungeons and other dimensions, but liberally cover everything in a good coating of purely fantastical elements.

Some things I want to give a more prominent role, to make the Ancient Lands distinguish themselves more from generic fantasy worlds.
- Giant Fungus Trees: These are the one big thing that really makes Morrowind look very different from any other well known fantasy setting, even those of the other Elder Scrolls games set in the same world. Of course, it's not an original idea now, but I think by including them, it's adding a certain look to the setting that is still rare.
- Magic Ponds and Wells: I like the idea of water being a substance with inherently supernatural traits. As the Japanese say, water is the only substance that can clean itself. It evaporates at the ground and when it returns as rain, its perfectly clean and unsoiled by anything, which is the reason it's so important in cleansing rituals. In Warcraft III, the night elves can build Moonwells that replenish the health and mana of nearby units, and there are also natural magical fountains found throughout the world. The spring in Treebeards house in the Lord of the Rings would be another example. Given that the spiritworld plays a prominent role in the Ancient Lands, magic springs seem right in place as locations of strong magical power, which I prefer a lot over ley lines and the like.
- Giant Insects: Giant Spiders are one of the most generic fantasy creatures and giant beetles, centipedes, and scorpions are also quite common. Much more rare is the use of domesticated insects. Dark Sun has them, as the world isn't very hospitable for most mammals, and again, Morrowind has giant long-legged beetles as transports in swamps and other difficult terrain. Not quite sure how to implement such things in the Ancient Lands, but it's something I want to come back to and give some more thought.
- Giant Lizards: Dinosaurs in fantasy are always a difficult subject. They don't feel a lot out of place in cavemen worlds, but usually people tend to feel that they just don't belong into a world of knights and wizards. However, the Ancient Lands is not such a world, but one of barbarians and witches. Outright using dinosaurs still doesn't feel right to me, but there's a middle ground here. Instead, I am going with large reptiles that are very similar to dinosaurs in all respects, but not actually based on real species. Crocodiles and comodo dragons are still existing species, and many extinct dinosaurs had an anatomy not much unlike rhinos or cattle. I created two new creatures some months ago, which really were just a bison and a camel with a different appearance. A feathered deinonychus might look a bit strange to people who grew up with dinosaur books from the 90s, but I think it makes a cool fantasy creature. I think they make good replacements for bulls and horses in the southern jungle regions of the Ancient Lands.
- Limestone Karsts and Sinkholes: While not exactly rare in Europe and North America, large areas of limestone erroded by water has formed amazing landscapes in many parts of Southeast Asia, that actually look quite unreal and fantastic if you're not commonly used to it. Particularly in coastal areas you get this massive monoliths rising out of the water at vertical angles, sometimes riddled with caves and forests growing on top. A bit inland, you get huge mazes sretching out of sight into all directions. It's a natural and not that uncommon landscape feature, but one much more exotic than meadows and marshes.

Yora

2014-01-10, 03:57 PM

Good artists borrow, great artists steal.

Since I started my new campaign (and I've been reading some Fate Core), I've actually made quite some real advances with adressing the issue of turning all those elements I have created into an actual world. And to do that, I'm using a lot of ideas from other works, break them up into their parts, and put them back together by replacing some bits with some of my own.

Something that I very much noticed when playing the Jedi Knight games and Knights of the Old Republic, but which is something Star Trek had always been doing, is to visit "planets", but really just show a fraction of a single settlement, that would be completely unrepresentative of the whole world. But now, I think it's actually a quite good idea when coming up with a setting for an RPG, be it pen and paper or video game.
You don't have to create a full world, but only those parts the PCs are going to interact with. Dark Sun always was just a few tiny specks of life in a barren and virtually endless desert, and there simply is no way to write up the whole world of Planescape.

So this is what I am going to do. Instead of creating all the hundreds of tiny clan-territories, guilds, cults, towns, and so on, I will only detail a couple of "featured regions" that get the full on treatment. The majority of the map will remain blank and anyone who wants to can add in anything they want to. I would assume that all the really important cities and factions are located in the detailed region, but nobody has ever stop anyone from adding whatever they want.

As of now, I have started making notes for the following regions:
Cold North: The cold north is the region at the very northern edge of the Ancient Lands bordering the arctic ocean. It's open tundra and evergreen taiga, mostly inhabited by a human tribe with pale skin and brown hair, who live primarily from hunting, fishing, and reindeer herding. Some wood elves, gnomes, and kaas also have a few settlements there. There is only one major port where almost all trade in and out of the region passes through. A few of the clans are led by warlock-shamans who use their demon powers for ice magic.
The region is inspired a lot by northern Finland, but also Icewind Dale from Forgotten Realms and the port by Luskan, while the local people take much of their style from the land of Forochel as it is shown in Lord of the Rings Online.
Northwest: The northwest lies in the northern- and westernmost part of the map and is the homeland of the kaas. It's mostly subarctic forest and open moors. I don't have too many ideas for it right now, but Skyrim inhabited by orcs seems to be a good starting point. The landscape and climate of Norway should also fit quite well.
There is however also one big castle of wood elves, a bit like Rivendell in Lord of the Rings, but heavier fortified and more suited to the rough and cold environment.
Witchfens: The witchfens are a large and cold wetland that sits right between the Cold North, the Northwest, the Lake District, and the Great Forest. They are inhabited by a small population of relatively primitive and poor humans, who have both great fear and great respect for spellcasters, and are often controlled by warlock-witches. Hags and wyverns are also common in the region*. They take much inspiration from the planet Dathomir from the Star Wars novels, but also from the few glimpses of the Kokari Wilds and their Chasind people seen in Dragon Age.
Lake District: A good distance from the Cold North and on the eastern coast of the Ancient Lands, the water from the boggy Witchfens drains into numerous rivers and lots of lakes. The geography is of course heavily inspired by southern Finland and Karelia, as well as Scottland and Denmark (where I spend a lot of vactions both as a child and later). Lot's of light forests and sandy plains, typical glacial landscape. It's overall a very baltic inspired region (though not so much vikings) and primarily inhabited by wood elves, but also some humans who have come from the south, and a few gnome minning camps. I'd like to make this region my personal version of the Moonlands/Silver Marches from Forgotten Realms, and a few days ago I happened to find an old forum post somewhere, where someone was ranting that Silverymoon was way too good to be true and it must by a city run by hyppocrites who try to ignore the struggles of the little people. I actually like that idea and use that as my starting point for the major port city in the region. (Thanks Mister Silver Marches Hater.) My current campaign takes place in the Lake District near the beginning of the Witchfens.
Great Forest: The great forest as a whole is just massive. It's like the High Forest from Forgotten Realms dialed up to eleven. It covers almost half the dry land on the map of the Ancient Lands and is mostly unexplored and sparsely inhabited. Of course, trying to cover all of it in a campaign setting would be silly, so I will probably focus on the parts bordering the Northwest, the Lake District, and the Elven Coast, which are the places where most of the exploration of the forest will start. Visually, I am thinking of course of Canada, Washington, and Oregon, but also the forest of California that look great as Endor in Star Wars. It's Endor for thousands of miles in every direction. (But without ewoks.) The aforementioned High Forest but also Mirkwood from Lord of the Rings are also sources of inspiration.
Elf Coast: I use the term now only because the area is the location of the two largest elven cities. One is a large city of druids in the more populated parts of the great forest, while the other one is a major port city build on and partly into a cliff, and is ruled by aristocratic elven sorcerers. About one third of the region is forest (the southeast part of the great forest), one third mountains that seperate it from the Lake District in the north, and the rest small islands along the coast. The sorcerer city is inspired by a part in the backstory of warcraft, in which the queen of the night elves became a warlock and surrounded herself with other aristicratic mages, which eventually ended with a big war against the druids. The warlock-druid conflict also takes elements from the Defilers-Preservers of Dark Sun, and of course the old Jedi and Sith from the Knights of the Old Republic era. Since it's a good distance south from the Lake District, I am thinking of a warmer and maybe mediterranean climate. I think I'll be looking into the Black Sea region for ideas for the landscape, that might work. (Forests of California could also help here.)
Cliff Coast: The cliff coast is the connection between the northern Ancient Lands described above, and the southern Ancient Lands, that are more tropical. The coast is mostly cliffs while the land itself is dominated by rocky hills and a few large wetlands. I think I am envisioning something like Italy. The area around Naples should really fit very well. (Again, I was there on vacation three times.) This is the region where the human migrants have primarily settled and their largest cities lies inside a number of huge connected sinkholes that have access to caves that are open to the sea. Alongside the human residents there are visitors and merchants from all the other major races, but the real power in the city are a group of demons bound into huge crystal formations deep below the ground. These demons are fascinated by life in the material world and its inhabitants, but don't want to cause destruction by their presence, so they had themselves bound to the crystals to contain their corrupting auras. They are still demons though and no angles by any degree, but they leave administration of the city mostly to a human council. One of the demons is the leader of an order of witchhunters, who are trained in demon magic to hunt and destroy warlocks who let demons lose on the world and use their powers without concern for the corruption they cause to the world around them. They are fighting fire with fire though, which doesn't make them hugely popular. The idea is mostly from some early info I read about Cocoon and the L'Cie from Final Fantasy XIII (though what happened in the actual game is quite different from what I went to develop with that basic hook), but I also like the structure of the orc city Ogrimmar in World of Warcraft, which is build into the walls of a canyon maze.
The Islands: The islands lie a considerable distance of the shores of the Elf Coast, the Cliff Coast, and the South Coast. I'd like to pick up the idea of aristicratic voodoo elves from Eberron, but I don't have anything really specific yet. Also a big nasty pirate haven much like Omega from Mass Effect 2. (With a dark elf thief/mage as ruler.)
The South Coast: The South coast is a subtropical region that is home to lizardfolk and dark elves. With that region, I want to pick up and develop the idea if Illythiir, the native homeland of the dark elves in the Forgotten Realms. More inspirations are taken from Dambrath (kind of a successor realm ruled by half-drow who live aboveground) and also Stygia from the world of Conan. Xen'drik from Eberron also plays into it.
The Far South: The far south are the endless jungles that lie beyond the South Coast. There it's all lizardfolk and naga. The largest center of lizardfolk power is a huge temple city inspired by Angkor in Thailand who overthrew the naga overlords many generations ago, but many naga lords still rule over their citadels in the jungles, many of which are very powerful sorcerers. I think there's much room to nip some things from Dark Sun. There's also a large population of dark elves, which take many inspirations from Eberron.
*Awesome spontaneous idea: Witches riding wyverns!

I have a couple of ideas for major famous dungeons, but that's pretty much the basic layout right now. As usual, I am calling for any ideas what other sources I might look into to get more inspirations.

Zap Dynamic

2014-01-13, 10:52 AM

Good artists borrow, great artists steal.

...visit "planets", but really just show a fraction of a single settlement, that would be completely unrepresentative of the whole world. But now, I think it's actually a quite good idea when coming up with a setting for an RPG, be it pen and paper or video game.
You don't have to create a full world, but only those parts the PCs are going to interact with. Dark Sun always was just a few tiny specks of life in a barren and virtually endless desert, and there simply is no way to write up the whole world of Planescape.

So this is what I am going to do. Instead of creating all the hundreds of tiny clan-territories, guilds, cults, towns, and so on, I will only detail a couple of "featured regions" that get the full on treatment. The majority of the map will remain blank and anyone who wants to can add in anything they want to. I would assume that all the really important cities and factions are located in the detailed region, but nobody has ever stop anyone from adding whatever they want...

I have a couple of ideas for major famous dungeons, but that's pretty much the basic layout right now. As usual, I am calling for any ideas what other sources I might look into to get more inspirations.

Great idea! Using a small part of the world as a toolkit for GM/player construction is one of the foundations of my own setting, The Blackwood. The tone of our settings are pretty different, but it looks like the underlying philosophy is becoming more and more the same.

If you'd like, I'd be happy to send you copies of the .pdfs I'm creating for my setting, which should be ready in the next month or so. Not only do I using a few settlements in a single province to paint a clear picture of the entire setting, but I also have notes throughout the GMs Guide to help GMs and players add their own elements. Most of this is stuff I borrowed from gaming blogs, so of course you're welcome to use anything you find useful. :smallsmile:

Yora

2014-01-13, 02:44 PM

Finding inspirational reading isn't the problem. Actually reading it is the much greater obstacle. :smallbiggrin:
I'll probably still browse trough it once it's done.

Cities and Dungeons of the North

Ice Cost Harbor: One of the northernmost settlements in the world, this town is the center of trade in the Cold North. Since the land route to the rest of the Ancient Lands leads straight through the Witchfens, almost all trade is done by sea and passes through this port, where the local traders come for buying and selling in spring and late summer. The chief of the town is usually considered to be the richest man in the Cold North and has a sizable number of warriors under his command. Much of the town is build on large flat rocks that rise only up to a meter above the water and it is surrounded by a strong wooden pallisade with a walkway and several watchtowers on the three sides facing the land.
Frostwind Tower: At the feet of the large mountain range that separates the Cold North from the Witchfens lies a tall tower made from black stone with a square and broad shape. Most of it rests agains the side of the mountain, that is full of tunnels and halls that make the fortress much larger than just the tower itself. The tower is the home of a powerful warlock and her dozen or so apprentices, who have mastered a form of demonic ice magic. It is guarded by a large number of warriors of which many wear minor charms crafted by the warlocks. They usually stick to themselves and don't bother the settlements on the plains and at the cost much, but most locals are still very wary of them.
Gnome Mine Town: Halfway along the valley that forms the primary pass that conencts the Witchfens and the Cold North lies a gnomish settlement that is build almost entirely inside the mountains on the west side. While not directly along the main path that leads through the pass, most travelers who come trough take a rest for a few days in the inns found in the towns entrance area. Visitors are highly welcome there, but generally not permited inside the proper settlement unless they have direct business with the locals.
Elven Mountain Keep: In the foothills of the mountains, at the very western end of the Witchfens, lies a large elven fortress made from white stone. Inside it's outer walls lies a settlement of considerable size for the region. While the elves are not too fond of visitors, small groups of travelers or wandering merchants are not usually turned away, especially during winter, but larger bands of kaas from the west or barbarians from the witchfens are usually not welcome and denied entry by the gate guards.
Kaas City: The only major city of the kaas is also by far the largest settlement anywhere in the Northwest. It lies near the center of a roughly circular valley sourrounded by low hills and about halfway between the Elven Mountain Keep and the frozen bay that leads to the northern ocean. The ruler of the city is a powerful king who is also known to generously support the shamans and sages of the city, making it a center of knowledge most people wouldn't expect to find in the homeland of the kaas. At the heart of the city lies a large castle, which sits on a rocky hill. While sourrounded by wooden houses and huts on all sides now and with a pallisade encircling all of the city, it doesn't have much use as a fortification anymore, but is still an imposing sight that can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. The hill itself is full of tunnels that lead to storerooms, vaults, dungeons, and catacombs, but if there are any secret passages that lead to the streets of the city they are kept extremely secret.
City at the Lakes: Near the coast in the Lake District, an elven city serves as the primary port for the region, which is frequently used to resupply and reppair by merchantships traveling to or from the Cold North. North of the city there are only some small fishing town and no major port for almost a thousand miles, so it is usually a very welcome sight for sailors traveling those cold seas. Located on the banks of a lake that is connected to the sea through a broad river, the port is very well protected from the winter storms, but it is not uncommon that ships get stuck for the winter when the lake freezes over. While the majority of the cities population are elves, almost a third of its people are humans, with also considerable numbers of gnomes and half-elves among them, as well as a small population of kaas. The city is run and governed by merchants with no dominant clan being in control. While the streets are mostly clean and the guards are hard on thieves and ruffians, there is a lot of both figurative and literal backstabbing among the cities higher class and outsiders are adviced not to get involved. Humans work mostly as laborers and servants, but there are a few human merchants who gained quite high stations within the cities council. Among the merchants, money and contacts are much more important than who a person is or might one have been. The city is also known for its craftsmen, but these are mostly elves who have passed their trade down through the generations long before humans came to settle in the region.
Palace of the Dark Fey: In the far north of the Lake District, just two days travel from the Witchfens, lies the castle of a poweful sorceress. While the castles guards and servants are almost all wood elves (with a few dark elves among them), the lady of the castle is not only a powerful sorceress but a shie as well. Being far older than any elf yet still appearing ageless, she has long been a well known legend both in the Lake District and among the barbarians of the Witchfens. The castle and the land surrounding it are highly corrupted and even people who are not witches or shamans can feel that the area appears cold and sickly. The Lady is supposed to be very powerful, but rarely reveals herself outside her castle and hasn't been seen outside the surrounded area since anyone can remember.
Old Ones Rest: In the hills where the Witchfens, the Lake District, and the Great Forest meet, a large singular mountain rises above the surrounding landscape. It is actually a long extinct volcano, that is full of caves and tunnels that have been extended into tombs and catacombs by ancient elves thousands of years ago. The elves have always avoided the area and even the more recently arrived humans rarely attempt to approach it. Most of the tombs hold very little of any value, but among the dead that have long ago crumbled to dust, there are still many ancient and powerful wights that make short business of any intruders who distrub their rest.

Yora

2014-01-16, 04:36 PM

Cities and Dungeons of the Inner Sea

Sorcerer City: The largest elven city in the Ancient Lands is a major port that lies at the base of a cliff, but also includes a large noble quarter on a wide terrace about halfway up the cliffside. In addition to being a major center of trade on the Inne Sea and beyond, the city is one of the few places in the Ancient Lands where sorcerers are not only openly tollerated, but make up a large portion of the cities ruling aristocracy. The summoning of demons is strictly prohinited, but any other magical research in the Void and its magical powers is considred perfectly acceptable. While most of the sorcerers have only two or three apprentices at the most, many of them command also extensive numbers of guards, spies, and other agents throughout the city and the region.
Cavern City:Half a days ride north of the large swamp where the great river from the western lands flows into the sea, a series of very large caves and sinkholes in the sandstone cliffs is home to the largest port on the Inner Sea and in fact anywhere in the Ancient Lands. The city consists of five major chambers that are open to the sky, of which two also open to the sea and make up the cities harbor. While the caves that tunnel the cliff are very old and show sings of having been inhabited or used by a number of different people, the current settlement was established only 400 years ago, when human mercenary companies chose the site as a main base to transport troops over the sea to the Islands and the Lake District, while avoiding the regions controled by hostile elven clans and kingdoms. Today, humans make up the largest group of inhabitants in the city, but there are also large groups of wood elves, dark elves, gnomes, and lizardfolk, which make it a far more mixed settlement than most found in the Ancient Lands. While the city is coverned by a council, the ultimate power behind it is a group of demons that have bound themselves into large crystals located in one of the deepest and most remote caves of the system. Unlike most demons who are interested in the world and lifes of mortals, these demons have no desire to cause chaos and corruption and are content to watch and learn about the world from inside the crystals that contain their corrupting auras. One of the demons is the leader of a group of warriors who have sworn to hunt down any warlocks and demons who spread demonic corruption through the world of mortals. They consider the use of demonic magic a neccessary evil, since it allows them to split up into smaller groups and go after several demons at once instead of having to pull all their forces together to fight one demon at a time with regular magic.

Yora

2014-01-22, 04:43 PM

Redesigning the Aboleth
Over the last weeks, I have been struggling a bit with one of the major aspects of the Ancient Lands setting. In addition to the Nature Spirits and Demons, which are very well defined and work perfectly for me, there's also the Ancients, which are my interpretation on the aberrations from D&D, but systematically stand somewhere between demons and spirits.
Demons and Spirits are both manifestations of supernatural energies that are sentient and take corporeal forms. However, the aberrations from D&D are more like aliens and bizaare mutants. (Though the concept of the Far Realm also attempt to tie them to an even stranger dimension.)
I always love the idea of slightly mad cults in remote areas that worship the "old gods" and have weird and ancient practices. Like Deadra worship in the Elder Scrolls, the Twilight Hammer from Warcraft, the Cult of Andraste in Dragon Age, and of course the Pagans, both from Thief and The Wicker Man. Cult worship of lovecraftian beings does exist, but that really seems to be mostly confined to the Innsmouth people worshipping Dagon. But generally, it's not so much about worshipping tentacly people-eating monsters and regarding them as devine beings, but more like continuing pockets of ancient and primitive cults. So I want to go more with something like the Deadra than the classic D&D aberrations.

With the Ancient Lands, I want to make a world that is inspired by some ideas from D&D, but not actually a D&D setting. There's owlbears and driders, that clearly originated in D&D, but have since taken on a life on their own within fantasy fiction. Pretty much all the other creatures of the Ancient Lands are either generic monsters that predate D&D, or custom creations (often based on ideas from other settings).
The one exception being the aboleth, which clearly is a D&D creature and one that I love a lot. A giant, evil, telepathic, genius, virtually immortal fish! It can't hit you with its tentacles if you stay 5 meters away from the water, but that's actually the least threatening thing about it. However, with my ideas for the Ancients going away from bizare tentacle aliens and more towards being primordial spirits, I think the aboleth doesn't really fit in too well. Just saying that in this world aboleths are spirits doesn't seem to work too well for me. They are well established as physical creatures with an unusual but natural life cycle and all the needs and wants of a physical and mortal existance.
So I think it's time to drop aboleths and replace them with something else. Something similar, but something that is not confined to the established standards and the identity of aboleths. Trying to retool a classic creature into something else is something I really don't like (and doesn't make 4th Edition any more popular with me).

I've been looking around for some interesting takes on aboleths, and I got quite intrigues by this one.
https://31.media.tumblr.com/91a37f47a8ab6eccf3c9fc2b21cb9acd/tumblr_mztbemQMyL1sbkjbgo1_500.jpg
It's not even instantly recognizable as an aboleth anymore. It's more like an eel or moray with the face of an anglerfish instead of a massive catfish and instead of three eyes in a row, it got three eyes on each side of its head. This might be a bit of a starting point for my own deasigns.

I guess the first step should be to define what role the creature is to fill, because I am creating it specifically to fill a gap that has opened up. The most important aspects to me are that it's a big fish that is very intelligent and telepathic. It's ability to change the lung and skin of creatures it touches so they can only survive in water isn't something I really need, and neither do I require its suite of psionic powers. Even though their powers are primarily illusions, I never really was thinking of aboleths as nonhuman illusionists. Their power of mind control is much more important though.
Having a large intelligent fish that can control minds is still a good description of an aboleth, but it's open enough that it doesn't have to be a poor mans knockoff of an aboleth. There's still much room to come up with more.
But as usually, as of know, there isn't a lot more I've decited on yet. If anyone has any ideas for inspiration, that would be really helpful.

gparali

2014-01-23, 07:09 AM

Check out the Grindylow from Bas-Lag books. They look something like that and they can swim through air. I think they resemble something like what you are trying to achieve with the aboleth

Yora

2014-01-23, 10:43 AM

There seems to be very few, if any, information of them around. At least, I barely could find anything.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/1bb38874309b5f435a952bd388286af9/tumblr_mzv28fVRQV1sbkjbgo1_500.png
This design also looks quite good. A lot more bulkier and bigger. Though I'm not a fan of the pincers, tentacles are cooler.

Yora

2014-02-18, 06:03 AM

Phew... It basically has been a whole year since I last really had a good amount of free time on my hand. Now with 8 weeks until the next semester starts, I really want to get back into working on the Ancient Lands. I hope to get a couple of updates every week for the next months (and hopefully even beyond that).

Update: The Ancients
The Ancients have always been somewhere on a middle ground between the nature spirits and the demons, but I was never quite sure how that would relate to corruption. But I recently remembered some of the ideas I had very early on, and originally they were inspired neither by Lovecraftian Horrors or the Underdark aberrations from D&D, but by the Daedra from The Elder Scrolls. Which in many respects are similar to the Asura from India and take some hints from the more meaner spirits from northern and western Europe.
So what I've decited on is, that the Ancients are fully part of the natural world, but they represent a more wilder and savage aspect than the nature spirits. Some settings have Primordials, or there are the Titans from ancient Greece. These are what I want to get at with the Ancients.
One difficult thing was to decide how the Ancients are related to corruption. Normally, corruption is caused by demon that come in contact with the natural world, because they are not part of nature and cause reality to become warped and break apart. Now the Ancients represent a more primordial version of the natural world, when it was still more similar to the chaos of the Void, so corruption doesn't exactly have to be "evil". It's just harmful to current natural life and especially humanoids, but that's something that goes for nature spirits as well to some degree.

Corruption
A result of this is, that nature spirits are not exactly harmed by corruption. Instead they revert to a more primitive and wild state and become essentially "chaos spirits". Not exactly evil, but as most spirits and humanoids see it, it's a threat to their continuing existance. When corruption spreads, everything becomes more violent and more dangerous and large corrupted areas become no longer able to support humanoid settlements. And spirits mostly see corruption as a kind of disease or insanity.

I think I've also come up with a decent way to measure the amount of corruption in a creature.
When a creature comes into contact with a source of Corruption, it has to make a saving throw (I think Fortitude/Constitution works best). The target number that needs to be reached is the standard average number plus the effects corruption strength. (DC 10 + Strength; CC 12/18 + Strength). If the save fails, the creature gains 1 point of Corruption. If the strength of the corruption source is twice the creatures corruption score, it gains 2 points.
Anything that can cause corruption, be it a place, a spell, item, or whatsoever, has a Corruption Strength. The corruption score of a creature can only be increased by effects with a corruption strength that exceeds it. A creature with a corruption score of 3 can only be affected by corruption effects with a strength of 4 or higher. That means that creatures with already high corruption scores are no longer affected by weak corruption effects.
The same is also true in reverse. All clensing effects also have a strength and only are effective on targets that have a Corruption Score lower than the strength. A magic spring with a clensing score of 5 could only clense creature with a corruption score of 4 or lower. A creature with corruption 5 or higher would be unaffected. (As a simple calculation, take the corruption score minus the corruption strength or clensing strength. If the result is 0 or a negative number, nothing happens.)

If a humanoid creature has a corruption score that is equal to its Constitution score, then the creature dies and raises as a wight. If a humanoid creature has a corruption score that is equal to its Wisdom score, it dies and becomes a wraith.
If the corruption score of a creature or place reaches a high enough number, it creates a strong enough connection to the Void to allow a demon to come through and spontaneously possess it. The creature or place practically becomes a conduit to the void itself and there is no requirement at all for a ritual that creates an opening for a demon to come through.

To summarize:
If a corpse becomes sufficiently corrupted, or a creature dies with a high corruption score has not yet turned into a wight or wraith, a lesser demon possesses it and it becomes a Dread Warrior or Dread Beast (demon possed zombie).
If a humanoids corruption score becomes equal to its Constitution or Wisdom score, he becomes a wight or wraith.
If a living creature gains a high enough corruption score but is not yet killed by it, it can spontaneously be possessed by a greater demon.
If a location has a high enough corruption score, some of the stuff nearby can spontaneously become possessed by a demon (like ice demon, ash demon, shadow demon, rock demon, and so on).
Question is how to set the score that allows spontaneous possession. It mostly happens to places and corpses and not commonly to living people. Since the person would have to have a high Constitution and Wisdom score to live long enough to become sufficiently corrupted, it would be a quite exceptional person to begin with, so that seems okay.

Yora

2014-04-24, 03:30 AM

Behold, there is something new under the sun!

I've recently been thinking about the original version of alignment that only has Order and Chaos, with Good and Evil being independent on it. I've never been a fan of alignment, but this simpler version is actually quite intriguing to me. I like some interpretations of the Light Side and the Dark Side from Star Wars as not being as black and white as Obi-Wan and Yoda see it, and I greatly enjoy the Paragon/Renegade system from Mass Effect, as my character often goes 80/20 instead of 100% pure goody-two-shoes.

Now as I might have mentioned before, I had been thinking about making the Ancients more like the Daedra from The Elder Scrolls, or the Asura from India. They are often refered to as demons, but that doesn't really describe them accurately. D&D 4th Edition has the primordials, and I thought it was rather disappointing that they are just evil while they could have been much more. Or take the Gods and the Titans from God of War.

I've been thinking about what this could mean for the Ancient Lands, and here we have Demonic Corruption. As I mentioned in earlier posts, demons are not all evil, but even the good ones poison the world around them by their very presence. I've also been toying with the idea of corrupted fey, who also might not neccessarily be evil but simply revel in chaos much more than other fey. Demons come from the Void, which is raw energy and chaos, while the material world represents a zone that works by laws of nature.
So it's a rather obvious step to equate the Void and demons with Chaos, and the Ancients, being still more primordial in their shapes and nature, would be to. Worshipping the Ancients might be regarded as crazy and dangerous, but not neccessarily evil.

However, I am not a fan of Order as the force of laws, civilization, and progress, and the Ancient Lands are meant to be wild and barbaric. But there is a natural opposite of the Voids demonic chaos, which would be the druids who seek to minimize its corrupting effect on the material world. They are not about social structure, ethics or morality. They can live as savages in a cave, performing bloody human sacrifices and using blood magic to rend their opponents apart, but still belive that all demons and their corruption must be eradicated. Yet to most people, the difference would be irrelevant and part of some weird metaphysical philosophy. As long as the crops don't die and the dead rise from the ground, they don't really have any reason to care about it.

I really like this one. Not sure how to make it have a mechanical impact, but it seems a good start.

Yora

2014-05-05, 02:08 AM

Shaman Mask

These masks are made from wood or bone, but sometimes more exotic materials as well. Most cover only the upper half of the wearers face or leave an open space for the mouth. They are usually painted in stark colors or decrated with feathers or leaves. These masks are used by shamans to help them communicate with spirits, as it makes them appear not quite human and separates them from the mortal world, and allows them to peer into the spiritworld and see things normally hidden from human eyes. Each mask is different in both appearance and specific abilities and the more powerful ones have often been handed down from masters to apprentices for many generations. Common abilities are:

Infravision (as the spell).
Detect Magic (a limited number of uses per day or permanent).
Surprised by spirits only on a 1 in 6 chance.
+2 or +4 Willpower bonus on saving throws (replaces and does not add to the modifier from Wisdom).
Immunity against fear.
Immunity against mind reading and mind control.
+2 or +4 bonus on reaction rolls against spirits.
Observers are unable to identify the wearer of the mask and can only remember his clothing (including the appearance of the mask).
Wraithshape one or three times per day.
Permanent charm person.
Suggestion three times per day.

Yora

2014-05-26, 09:53 AM

I made a new map for the Lake Country for my current campaign.
http://spriggans-den.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/map_Lakes.jpg
Going from the gnome city in the hills to the elven port city at the end of the river would take about 9 days by horse. It doesn't quite look like it now, but it's actually a quite large area. About twice the size of Denmark, or larger than Ireland, if my calculations are correct.

Yora

2014-06-21, 09:56 AM

Regional Conflict

In addition to a regional ecology and culture, a well written setting region also seems to need a theme. A place is not just buildings and people, and maybe some dungeons. To be a setting, there also needs to be a general outline of what's going on currently. A basic hook to provide a reason why individual adventures in this region matter and have specific motivations beyond basic survival of the common folk and maintained stability among the nobles. Such adventures could be set anywhere, so why bother with setting them herr specifically?
I think, as with so many things about setting design, that conflict is one of the main sources for reasons. It's a context that provides both motivation and meaning, and gives a region it's own specific character, which other settings with a similar cultural and ecological background don't have.

The Northlands
The Northlands consist of the barren steppes of the Kaas, the cold tundra of the Surri, and include much of the Witchfens that are home to the Amakari, and the White Hills where the northern elves have their city. It's a region scarce of resources, but also sparsely inhabited and the four local cultures all have quite different niches which they have claimed for themselves. Other than the struggle for food andshelter being particularly rough in these lands, I don't have any ideas for larger conflicts yet.

Lake Country
This region started out only as a type of environment I find visually pleasing, but with no idea how to fill it with people. It somehow ended up the setting for my current campaign, and I've gotten quite a lot of ideas to make it into an interesting setting in it's own right.
The two primary cultures are wood elves and some Vandren who have settled there 200 years ago.There is also a confederation of four gnome clans, who run the largest iron mines and steel foundries in all of the Ancient Lands (I had them planned from a very early point but no idea where to place them, and they ended up near the Lakes because I had nowhere else for them to go). The main economical activity in the Lake Country is based around gnome steel being transported down the river network through the territory secured by human clans, until it reaches the big elven port at the coast, from where it is shipped south, with a hefty profit for the elven merchant houses. Keeping the steel trade flowing is the defining conflict for the region. The gnome mines are located several days travel into the great forest and are the very last outpost before more than 1000 miles of endless unexplored wilderness. Even though the gnome strongholds have become impressive fortresses over the years, the gnomes are still weary of all the terrible things that may come from the forest. Or below the hills. The upper river valey is close to the Witchfens where the Amakari barbarians live under the reign of their witches and raids are a constant threat on the river barges carrying steel. The lower river valley is home to old elven clans who have become very rich from the steel trade, and their chiefs impressively powerful. Obviously they don't like seeing any possible threat to their power while always hoping to snatch away some from their neighbors. For merchants and their guards, the lower river valey can be even more dangerous. Amakari raiders at least make it clear from what direction an attack will come. To make things more complicated, the Warrior Order has started sending scouting missions into the regions and is establishing a few small outpost. While mercenary work as armed guards for merchants isn't particularly glorious, it's an effective way to gain a foothold in a region before establishing larger permanent enclaves. Particularly the Vandren clans are not happy about new competition for security assignments and particularly loath the idea of the Order taking over their lands and possibly cutting them off from vital river access. And their activities in the south hav shown that they never miss an opportunity to expand their territory with their military strength. Right now, they are just another band of mercenaries, but in 10 or 20 years they might very well be out for conquest.

Great Forest
The Great Forest is uninhabited and almost unexplored. The only conflict here is between treasure hunters fighting for valuable finds, and local spirits feeling offended by intruders.

Elf Coast
The Elf Coast is home both to a county of elven druids and the realm of elven sorcerers, which make it one of the most hotly contested regions just by themselves. The druid lords are decentralized and lack the ability to invade the lands of the sorcerers, while the later ones have no interest in actively antagonizing their still divided opponents without need. Which doesn't mean that individual druids and sorcerer are not waging their own private little wars. As the druid lord and their followers see it, the sorcerers and their arcane explorations of the Void are the greatest threat to the world anywhere in the Ancient Lands. But being based in the third largest city and one of the major trade powers for several centuries, there is few hope to putting a permanent end to their foolish doings. Still, the druids are trying their very best to keep their influence from spreading and occasionally target specific sorcerers directly, if they consider them particularly dangerous. Many of the sorcerers are not particularly concerned about this whe it's hitting one of their rivals, which has lead to many very strange alliances and conspiracies. In addition, the city of the sorcerers is also a main hub for sea trade on the inner sea, which make it home to all the usual plots between the merchant houses, but with a good dose of black magic.

The Rocky Coast
This region has been virtually empty barren grasland and hills until the Vandren settled it 400 years ago. The main two powers are the underground port city in the massive cliffs on the inner sea, and the Warrior Order, which has risen from obscurity to one of the largest military powers of the Ancient Lands in only a century. The city and it's port would be the greatest prize for the Lord General, but even for his impressive forces this is completely out of the question, as it it protected and ultimately ruled by seven very powerful demons residing in huge magical crystals. They have voluntarily trapped themselves to contain their corrupting essence and made it their goal to help the mortal people against incursions from their less considerate kin from the Void. Their demon hunters go after warlocks without mercy, but their chosen method of fighting evil sorcerers with their own sorcery makes them no friend of the druids.
The Warrior Order is clearly the main source of upset in this region, but I'm not quite sure how to make them a longterm threat in other ways that massive invasions of smaller clans.

The Islands
The Islands are home to clans of wood elves, humans, and lizardfolk, which are mostly culturally isolated from their kin on the mainland. Piracy would be an issue, as most oversea trade is passing through this regions and sailors need to stop and resupply. Not much else, yet.

Dark Coast
The home of the dark elves. There is a large temple city in the jungles and a major port at the coast. The port is a center for slave trade and competing with the Cliff City and the Sorcerer City for trade. The dark elves are mostly on bad terms with the lizardfolk, but that's all I got for now.

Southern Jungles
The primary race of this region are lizardfolk, which fall into three groups. The largest one forms a big empire lead by a theocracy of a divine king chosen by the sun god and an extremely powerful church of sun priests. Their mortal enemies are the naga, who originally build the empires last city and still reigns over about a quarter of all the lizardfolk, which they have enslaved. The third group are savages living on the coast and in the highlands. They refuse to submit to either the empire or the naga and some are regarded as two-legged monsters for their savagery by both groups.
The naga are also sorcerers, of which many are engaged in secret wars against each other and elven sorcerers on the other side of the inner sea.

As you see, it's a solid base, but still far from finished. Any ideas you might have will be highly welcome. I only had a rough idea when starting to write this, but even just by putting it into words did the Lake Country and Elf Coast become at least three times more exciting.
The Lakes started as a bland stretch of coast that needed to be filled somehow, but by creating explainations for the things that are there and coming up with a purpose, it became so much more.

Yora

2014-07-04, 11:25 AM

Honor
I feel like reviving the idea of honor codes for the ancient lands, as I quite like how it works in the Conan RPG. I also think that most players in my current campaign would like to take one, though make very different picks.
Characters can pick a code of honor. If they don't, they are dishonorable. They don't have to be bad people, but they just don't have the personal integrity and respect that honorablr characters possess. A character who has a honor code automatically starts the game as honorable, but might become dishonorable if he violates the rules of his code and loses all it's benefits. A dishonorable character may regain his honor, or even submit to a new honor code by performing an extraordinary deed that is in line with the code.
A honorable character gains a +2 bonus on Willpower saves and saves to resist corruption, as his integrity steels both his mind and soul against any attempts to subvert them. Perhaps more importantly, other people tend to quickly notice a characters honorable nature, and he gains a +2 bonus on initial reaction rolls.

Code of the City
This code represents the notion of honor among the high classes of the major cities and towns of the Ancient Lands, and of those freemen of the middle class who are measure themselves by the same standards. It is common among wood elves and gnomes, as well as the major port cities of the dark elves. It's the dominant model of honor among the people of the lizardfolk empire and is reaching even simple and remote villages. In the lands of the kaas, it is almost unknown, though they respect visitors who act in accordance with it.
Submit to the laws and authorities of the city, unless you deny their legitimacy and are willing to take action to restore a legitimate leadership.
Never end an alliance or break an allegiance unless the original agreement has ended or the other side has violated the spirit of the agreement.
Honor any offers of free passage and pardons.
Do not allow the execution of honorable prisoners, unless they have been found guilty of crimes punishable by death.
Do not abandon those under your protection to save yourself.

Code of the Wilds
The Code of the Wilds is the predominant system of honor in the Ancient Lands, the model by which chiefs, warriors, and even wealthy farmers measure the value of other people from the jungles in the far south to the frozen wastes of the north.
Offer shelter to allies and even strangers, unless they show hostile intent.
Protect all guests with your life, unless they are guilty of grave offenses against an ally or abuse your trust.
Do not abuse hospitality offered to you, even if the host is dishonorable or an enemy.
Do not kill either people or beasts without need and do not waste any food or resources if it can be avoided.
Spare honorable enemies who ask for mercy, but they may be held for ransom or be made slaves.
Avenge any offense against the clan or the family, in a way appropriate to its severity.

Code of the Roads
The Code of the Roads represents the customs and manners that have developed among the traveling merchants and wandering mercenaries who have transformed the Ancient Lands into the world they are today. Even many of the richest and most powerful merchant lords who rival the great chiefs and city nobles in status and influence retain the values that lead the way to their current greatness.
Complete every contract, unless the risks and costs of doing so go significantly beyond the original agreement.
Never make false claims of allegiance to a company or house you don't belong to.
Do not reveal any secrets learned in the service of a former employer.
Do not accept any contract that harms a honorable former employer until at least a year has passed.
Do not attack or steal from competitors on the road, unless it is part of a contract.

Code of the Gods
Priests and shamans are measured by their own special set of standards that both sets them apart and elevates them above the common population. They have many privileges and prerogatives, which they are given in return to living according to the rules that are expected of them.
Show respect to all spirits.
Never take any offerings that are meant to be sacrificed to the spirits.
Provide healing to all honorable people, though enemies may be held for ransom or be made slaves.
Never do harm to those who have been granted a request for healing.
Never reveal what others have shared in confidence.
Do not exploit the trust of followers for personal gain.

I would like to expand the lists to about 10 items each, but even minor differences in wording can have quite far reaching effects of the whole setting.
My idea is that honorable people do not necessarily have to be good or nice people, but that they are reliable and act in a way that is necessary to maintain the stability of society. Even if the society isn't exactly great and many of its aspects are harsh and unfair. Monsters and natural disasters are threatening from the wilds and corruption and decadence are undermining society from the inside. There are lots of rules that have evolved and need to be upheld to prevent society from collapsing into chaos. Those people who are dependable in doing their part to see that these rules are maintained are considered honorable. Some people might have good intentions of changing things for the better, but at a certain point they are getting into a gamble that could destroy everything. Even though they might be doing the right thing, they are still dishonorable. Harsh and agressive leaders can still be honorable, but if they descend too far into greed and cruelty, they are again causing discontent and unrest, so there are also limits to how forceful a honorable character can get. In D&D alignment, honor would probably be similar to LG, LN, and NG. LE will stir up hostility and CG questions existing structures on which society has been depending in the past.

Some examples of honorable characters: Boromir, Indiana Jones, Conan, Worf, Arbiter (Halo 2), Batman, Ulfric Stormcloak (Skyrim), Eboshi (Princess Mononoke), Aramaki (Ghost in the Shell), Count Douku, G'Kar (Babylon 5), Auron (Final Fantasy X).
Some examples of dishonorable characters: Han Solo, Geralt of Rivia, Qui-gon Jin, Merry & Pippin.

Do you have any ideas how to improve this some more?

Yora

2014-08-08, 03:36 PM

Lake Country
This region started out only as a type of environment I find visually pleasing, but with no idea how to fill it with people. It somehow ended up the setting for my current campaign, and I've gotten quite a lot of ideas to make it into an interesting setting in it's own right.
The two primary cultures are wood elves and some Vandren who have settled there 200 years ago.There is also a confederation of four gnome clans, who run the largest iron mines and steel foundries in all of the Ancient Lands (I had them planned from a very early point but no idea where to place them, and they ended up near the Lakes because I had nowhere else for them to go). The main economical activity in the Lake Country is based around gnome steel being transported down the river network through the territory secured by human clans, until it reaches the big elven port at the coast, from where it is shipped south, with a hefty profit for the elven merchant houses. Keeping the steel trade flowing is the defining conflict for the region. The gnome mines are located several days travel into the great forest and are the very last outpost before more than 1000 miles of endless unexplored wilderness. Even though the gnome strongholds have become impressive fortresses over the years, the gnomes are still weary of all the terrible things that may come from the forest. Or below the hills. The upper river valey is close to the Witchfens where the Amakari barbarians live under the reign of their witches and raids are a constant threat on the river barges carrying steel. The lower river valley is home to old elven clans who have become very rich from the steel trade, and their chiefs impressively powerful. Obviously they don't like seeing any possible threat to their power while always hoping to snatch away some from their neighbors. For merchants and their guards, the lower river valey can be even more dangerous. Amakari raiders at least make it clear from what direction an attack will come. To make things more complicated, the Warrior Order has started sending scouting missions into the regions and is establishing a few small outpost. While mercenary work as armed guards for merchants isn't particularly glorious, it's an effective way to gain a foothold in a region before establishing larger permanent enclaves. Particularly the Vandren clans are not happy about new competition for security assignments and particularly loath the idea of the Order taking over their lands and possibly cutting them off from vital river access. And their activities in the south hav shown that they never miss an opportunity to expand their territory with their military strength. Right now, they are just another band of mercenaries, but in 10 or 20 years they might very well be out for conquest.
Despite my earlier claims, I am still completely lost at what to do with the Northeast region of the Ancient Lands. Right now I have two almost separate worlds north and south of the giant forest and there need to be something that connects the two. But I just don't have an idea for the style of that area and what people would be living there. I don't want vikings, and I know that I want there to be a majority of wood elves, a strong presence of gnomes, and a smaller but substential population of Vandren humans. Something with cool climate, mountains, and pine forests, and also a border region without a major city state.
But it's all just screaming Vikings, which really have no place in this setting.

Yora

2014-08-10, 09:41 AM

I got another world map. This one is really big.

http://spriggans-den.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Ancient-Lands-WM.jpg

Things are getting quite tiny and the compression isn't that great, but each field is 30 miles in diameter. Why I ike the general layout of the major geographical feature, I still think the map looks awful. If anyone knows a bit or two and has any advice on how to make the map look more interesting, please share it with me.

Yora

2014-09-01, 06:29 AM

The current element I am working on is the settings history. Generally, history doesn't matter for a campaign, and therefore is irrelevant to the PCs, which makes it hard on the players to care and remember. So a setting history should focus on just the events that will still matter for the players and affect how they make descisions. The most important role of history is to explain the relationship between currently existing groups and factions. This is something that the players will often need to understand, and having a narrative of how things came to be as they are helps significantly for that. That's simply how the human brain is wired.

Age of the Ancients
unknown: Shie, naga, and other fey races build numerous castles and palaces in the Mortal World, capturing primitive humanoids to enslave as workers and servants.
ca. -4,000: Most fey castles are abandoned as their masters return to the Spiritworld, leaving behind ruins, artifacts, and large numbers of former slaves.

Dawn Age
-4,000 to -3,000: Slaves of the fey lords return to the wilds and over time mix with their savage kin, sharing the basics of farming, metalworking, and writing, they observed from their former masters.

Age of Clans
-812: The First Rampage: An abomination from the underworld emerges in the southern jungles, destroying several of the remaining naga strongholds and greatly weakening their hold on the region.
-761: Rebellion of the Sun Priests: Lizardfolk shamans who have been worshiping the sun in secret for generations start a revolt among the lizardfolk slaves of the greatest remaining naga city in the Mortal World. Greatly successful, they declare the greatest warrior of the rebellion to be the first mortal king of the Ancient Lands.
-192: Battle of Red Sorcery: An invasion of the high elf lands by a large army of wood elf clans is blocked by the powerful fel magic of a small groups of sorcerers, whose victory is so complete it ends the frequent border raids for several generations. Their heroic achivement for the protection of the high elven lands brings a huge boost to their reputation, allowing them to work in the open and rise to positions of great influence.
-130: With the fighting for control over the borderlands between the high elves and the wood elves having come to a standstill, wood elf clans search for new sources of riches, establishing trade with the human nomads far to the southwest.
-38 to -31: Second Rampage: For the second time in recorded history, a gargantuan abomination emerges from the mountains north of the high elven lands, devastating the coast and nearby islands for several years. The crater where it first emerged from the underworld remained a corrupted wasteland, becoming a sacred site for numerous Underworld cults.
-35: The abomination destroys the major city of the sea elves, almost causing sea trade to collapse. However, many of the elven merchant ships that were on sea find new patrons in the minor ports of high and wood elves, resulting in a much larger and more complex trade network in the Inner Sea over the next few generations.

Age of Kings
34: The Horde from the West: A large horde of kaas moves from the western plains into the Ancient Lands, following the caravan routes of the human nomads that trade with the wood elves. After the fall of the major sea power, this completely collapses the previously existing balance of power and a now struggle for control breaks out over the following years.
40-121: Caravan Wars: The clans that live along the coast of the Inner Sea begin a long period of numerous small wars, fighting not for territory or resources, but for trade monopolies and control of important caravan camp sites.
53: Some elven clans begin to hire human mercenaries, no longer only to protect the caravans with goods from the West, but also to fight along their own troops in raids against caravans and trade posts of their enemies, and to support the defenders of their castle towns. With the great wealth that comes from trade with the West and the hightened need for strong defenses, the first city states appear on the Inner Sea.
ca. 100: Human mercenaries start to settle down in the Ancient Lands, sometimes as entire clans who leave the plains behind for good.
241: A half-elven mystic gathers a large followership around his teachings of self-perfection, commitment to purpose, and community of equals, which not only appeals to many poor and small clans, but also to a large number of mercenary companies, whose importance had been steadily declining since the Caravan Wars were coming to an end. Though the majority of followers are farmers and craftsmen, with many learned sages among them, it's the warriors who become the best known outer face of the movement in the Ancient Lands.
291: Wood elf druids, who have been strong opponents against sorcerers and outspoken enemies of the high elven nobility for generations raise a large army of allied clans for a large scale invasion of the high elven lands. Though the high elven clans are completely unprepared and suffer numerous large defeats in the beginning, the campaign stalls after four months without really establishing anything but leaving the borderlands devastated. In the long term it only strengthened the position of the sorcerers in high elf society as they once more proved invaluable leaders against the wood elf hordes. The reputation of the druids as keepers of the peace and fighters against magical corruption is permanently blemished.
347: Over the course of only two months, a group of four zealous assassins of a minor death cult manage to kill three kings and two major chiefs, alongside several other highly influential minor nobles. The chaos sparks a number of small wars between hostile major clans blaming each other, but also leads to a breakout of violent power struggles within other clans as many sense a unique opportunity to remove the established dynasties from power. Many of the losers of these conflicts end up being outright banished or condemned to obscurity.
362: One of the major merchant houses with a sinister reputation and strong involvement in slave trade joins forces with a largy army of Warrior Monks for a raid on the Coral City of the Water Genasi of the Inner Sea. A large part of the city is destroyed and thousands of people killed during the surprise attack. While the invaders calculated correctly that few of the city states and major clans would speak out for the water genasi, the raiders also looted and destroyed many of the ships from other lands that were in port with survivors later spreading reports of the slaughter throughout the Inner Sea. Though the mystics of the order were very outspoken against the participation of their warriors in piracy, the commanders gained a lot of recognition and established themselves as warlords that could threaten even larger clans in the following years.
417: Present day.