mad_brewer
2013-07-06, 09:33 PM
Games of Divinity
Light shines brightest in the dark.
Introduction:
The celestial battle between all things has since the dawn of time. For eons the deities and their divine servants fought, trying to prove that their essense was superior to all others. But the war could not concluded, not while the combatants were divine, and children of the Creator.
However, one day, the deities halted the expansion of their home realms, and collaborated towards an experiment, one where they combined all their domains into one realm. That plane is known by many names. The Final Work, or Ultimus, and occasionally, the Material Plane. Its purpose; to end divine strife by having an aspect prove its supremacy in a neutral world. It didn't take long for the divines to begin to refine this new plane, shaping the environment with mountains and hills, seas and oceans. And shortly after, they began populating the realm with intelligent servants. Which they named mortals.
Initially, the first few were heavily dominant with one domain or another. Dwarves are heavily attuned to the earth, gnomes to luck and charm. But after many attempts, they finally managed make a mortal race with no parent domain. The deities were pleased, they were sure that this completely impartial race would determine the winner of the divine war, since the race had the potential to willingly align itself to any domain. The gods were very pleased indeed.
They named this race 'the Humans'.
Since then, the gods have retreated to their divine realms, and they have watched intently. Now Ultimus is drawing to its final age, and soon, a divine concept will challenge the cosmos.
What is the Games of Divinity setting?
Games of Divinity is a intended to be semi-dark high fantasy setting. In my terms, semi-dark means that the protagonists are morally ambiguous most of the time, or in simpler terms 'The good guys aren't necessarily good and the bad guys aren't necessarily evil'. An example of this is a struggle between rebel 'freedom-fighters' and loyal 'nationalists'. The rebels might be fighting for independence and freedom for all, while the loyalists might see them as anarchy and the loyalists might fight to maintain order and civility. As you can see, good and evil is mostly a matter of opinion. However, occasionally there will times were the bad guys are more obviously 'bad guys'. A demonic army assaulting the world for its complete destruction is obviously evil compared to the united people guarding there homeland. So that sums my view of semi-dark in my world. I must be clear though, horror is not a dominant genre for this setting, although it can be a major theme of a campaign if a GM wishes. Also, the setting is also intended to slowly introduce a sense of an impeding doom during play, which the characters might be forced to deal with. But again, this element could be excluded.
The other part of this world is the high fantasy part. This (again in my view) means actions from the antagonists and protagonists have serious effects and causes lasting changes. The world has a rich history behind it, and the future is uncertain thanks to multiple conflicting forces. Magic has a role here, as is the source of fantastic creatures such as dragons, orcs, elves, demons and many more. The heroes aren't usually brought into conflict by choice, instead they get involved because of circumstances and events. A village could be raided by bandits, for example, and implore a character to fight them. Overnight, his leadership qualities are discovered, and then is set to end the bandit problem across the land. Depending on his actions, he could end a massive organization of bandits only to unwittingly bring forward and even greater problem. As you can see, the world is very fickle.
But hey, this setting is meant to be enjoyed, not dictated. You can take a twist on the setting, or take chunks of this for a home campaign. I wouldn't mind! As long as you don't sell my work or claim any of my stuff as your own, do whatever you want!
mad brewer's notes: Through out this I will add sections called mad brewer's notes. They are not a description of the world, rather they are notes which explain or clarify my setting (hopefully).
Light shines brightest in the dark.
Introduction:
The celestial battle between all things has since the dawn of time. For eons the deities and their divine servants fought, trying to prove that their essense was superior to all others. But the war could not concluded, not while the combatants were divine, and children of the Creator.
However, one day, the deities halted the expansion of their home realms, and collaborated towards an experiment, one where they combined all their domains into one realm. That plane is known by many names. The Final Work, or Ultimus, and occasionally, the Material Plane. Its purpose; to end divine strife by having an aspect prove its supremacy in a neutral world. It didn't take long for the divines to begin to refine this new plane, shaping the environment with mountains and hills, seas and oceans. And shortly after, they began populating the realm with intelligent servants. Which they named mortals.
Initially, the first few were heavily dominant with one domain or another. Dwarves are heavily attuned to the earth, gnomes to luck and charm. But after many attempts, they finally managed make a mortal race with no parent domain. The deities were pleased, they were sure that this completely impartial race would determine the winner of the divine war, since the race had the potential to willingly align itself to any domain. The gods were very pleased indeed.
They named this race 'the Humans'.
Since then, the gods have retreated to their divine realms, and they have watched intently. Now Ultimus is drawing to its final age, and soon, a divine concept will challenge the cosmos.
What is the Games of Divinity setting?
Games of Divinity is a intended to be semi-dark high fantasy setting. In my terms, semi-dark means that the protagonists are morally ambiguous most of the time, or in simpler terms 'The good guys aren't necessarily good and the bad guys aren't necessarily evil'. An example of this is a struggle between rebel 'freedom-fighters' and loyal 'nationalists'. The rebels might be fighting for independence and freedom for all, while the loyalists might see them as anarchy and the loyalists might fight to maintain order and civility. As you can see, good and evil is mostly a matter of opinion. However, occasionally there will times were the bad guys are more obviously 'bad guys'. A demonic army assaulting the world for its complete destruction is obviously evil compared to the united people guarding there homeland. So that sums my view of semi-dark in my world. I must be clear though, horror is not a dominant genre for this setting, although it can be a major theme of a campaign if a GM wishes. Also, the setting is also intended to slowly introduce a sense of an impeding doom during play, which the characters might be forced to deal with. But again, this element could be excluded.
The other part of this world is the high fantasy part. This (again in my view) means actions from the antagonists and protagonists have serious effects and causes lasting changes. The world has a rich history behind it, and the future is uncertain thanks to multiple conflicting forces. Magic has a role here, as is the source of fantastic creatures such as dragons, orcs, elves, demons and many more. The heroes aren't usually brought into conflict by choice, instead they get involved because of circumstances and events. A village could be raided by bandits, for example, and implore a character to fight them. Overnight, his leadership qualities are discovered, and then is set to end the bandit problem across the land. Depending on his actions, he could end a massive organization of bandits only to unwittingly bring forward and even greater problem. As you can see, the world is very fickle.
But hey, this setting is meant to be enjoyed, not dictated. You can take a twist on the setting, or take chunks of this for a home campaign. I wouldn't mind! As long as you don't sell my work or claim any of my stuff as your own, do whatever you want!
mad brewer's notes: Through out this I will add sections called mad brewer's notes. They are not a description of the world, rather they are notes which explain or clarify my setting (hopefully).