Fako
2013-10-12, 12:58 AM
I've been running D&D games for a long time, and I always use my own settings. In my opinion, it allows for greater flexibility since you are the one to dictate what is where and why. However, the group I normally DM for is more of a "roll playing" group - you point them at a dungeon, they wipe it out and ask for another. Story and setting have never been too important to them, as long as they can have their fun.
Starting this week, I have the opportunity to run a game for siblings and friends who are new to the system. As such, I am sincerely hoping to introduce them to options other than combat, and I want to provide a vibrant world that they can interact with. I'll be using this thread to post whatever content I personally come up with, mostly to keep as a backup in case my computer decides to finally fail.
If you have suggestions or questions, I would LOVE to hear them. All I have right now is the initial "pitch" that I used to interest them, as well as some information on the city they are starting in.
Several millenia ago, the Sun god's most trusted general went berserk, killing all of the world's religious leaders during a peace gathering. Shortly thereafter, he amassed an army of angels, demons, devils and machines, declaring war on the gods themselves. This war was so massive that it was fought within all realms of the earth, heavens and hells.
After a time, the gods were able to corner his army on the material plane, but that meant immense threat to their followers. In their wisdom they split the land of the world into two parts, forcing the land mass with the heathen army to the opposite side of the world. They then unleashed the raw fury of the cosmos at the cornered army, ensuring total destruction.
The army was eradicated, but at a cost. The gods had failed to see the damage their power was doing to the land they had tried to spare, until it was too far gone to put right. Magic itself had been their tool, and magic itself was the victim, causing the heads of village elders to explode with its power, paladins to be paralyzed by their faith, and priests struck dumb due to their divine study. Magic is also what holds our world together, and the damage caused rifts to form. These rifts linked other worlds to our own, pulling people and populations from seemingly nowhere. In a single night, the world that was had fallen to shambles, to be replaced by the world that is.
The gods quickly set to fixing the damage to our world, but it was far too extensive for even their power to completely overcome. They have fixed what they can, proclaiming that divine magic is once again safe for mortals to use... but that does nothing to alleviate the distrust and fear that generations of people have suffered through. The rifts are smaller now, but they still make orphans and widows far more common than anyone would care to admit. And then there's the world that's half a world away; an entire continent of mutated creatures and peoples, warped by the condensed fires of creation that still pulse from within the land itself.
This is the world you find yourself in. This is the world you must survive in. With any luck, this is the world you might thrive in.
Welcome to [NameGoesHere, and may whatever gods you worship have mercy on your soul.
Locations
Class: City State
Government: Guild Appointed Monarch
Refuge gets its name from its inhabitants. Unlike most of the lands, where maybe one to five percent of the population are “rifters” (people who have been torn through rifts into our world), at least seventy five percent of the people of Refuge were once living somewhere else. This is mostly due to its location near Heaven's Canyon, a massive scar on the continent that splits it almost perfectly in half from east to west. The magic within Heaven's Canyon is still badly damaged, and Refuge sits upon the most active site for rifts, allowing them to assist rifters as they transition. It is also conveniently at the north end of the only known natural bridge across Heaven's Canyon, making Refuge a popular stop for merchant caravans and messengers.
The city itself is ruled by a monarch, but the crown is not kept within the same family as per the norm. Instead, every five years the heads of the local guilds meet and determine if the monarch has done his or her job well. If so, then they are given another five years of tenure. If not, they are replaced, and the newly dethroned monarch is given a severance package to allow them to continue living comfortably. The current monarch is Taern Swiftblade, a Human refugee who has held the throne for the last thirty years. Recently, he has refused most requests to see him, instead deferring to his Counselor, an Aasimar Paladin known by all as “Lightbringer”.
Due to the location of the town and the rather frequent addition of rifters, Refuge is widely renowned for its technological and magical advancements, and is welcome to new ideas. It is also one of the few places where Necromancy isn't openly frowned upon, and a person is capable of purchasing skeletons or zombies as workers. There are rumors of local crime bosses killing debtors to provide more bodies for reanimation, but no one has been able to find concrete evidence to back this claim.
Guilds have a prominent role in Refuge. This is partly due to the government structure, but a larger part of it is the fact that the guilds are the ones to step in to aid rifters, providing food, clothing, shelter and job training for those who desire it. In exchange, the guilds are less loosely regulated in Refuge as they are in most other kingdoms, and so several guilds have their headquarters here. It's been said that anyone can find a job in Refuge, but you have to prove that you really want it.
While various faiths have temples within Refuge, the most prominent holy sites aren't actually affiliated with any deity of the land. Roughly 500 years ago, an arcane magic user was torn through a rift, nearly dead. While the town tried to aid him, his body seemed to reject every spell, potion or incantation they tried to use on him. While he refused to give anyone his name, his last wish was that thirteen magic seeds that he possessed each be planted around the town. The towns folk obliged, planting twelve of them in a large circle around the former town's borders, and one in the center of town, next to the town hall. The trees that grew from them are obviously magical, providing illumination almost as bright as daylight within the parks that were built around them. The leaves also have healing properties, assuming the user knows how to properly prepare them. These two features have caused each and every one of the parks to be considered a holy site by the towns folk, even if no one actively prays there.
Starting this week, I have the opportunity to run a game for siblings and friends who are new to the system. As such, I am sincerely hoping to introduce them to options other than combat, and I want to provide a vibrant world that they can interact with. I'll be using this thread to post whatever content I personally come up with, mostly to keep as a backup in case my computer decides to finally fail.
If you have suggestions or questions, I would LOVE to hear them. All I have right now is the initial "pitch" that I used to interest them, as well as some information on the city they are starting in.
Several millenia ago, the Sun god's most trusted general went berserk, killing all of the world's religious leaders during a peace gathering. Shortly thereafter, he amassed an army of angels, demons, devils and machines, declaring war on the gods themselves. This war was so massive that it was fought within all realms of the earth, heavens and hells.
After a time, the gods were able to corner his army on the material plane, but that meant immense threat to their followers. In their wisdom they split the land of the world into two parts, forcing the land mass with the heathen army to the opposite side of the world. They then unleashed the raw fury of the cosmos at the cornered army, ensuring total destruction.
The army was eradicated, but at a cost. The gods had failed to see the damage their power was doing to the land they had tried to spare, until it was too far gone to put right. Magic itself had been their tool, and magic itself was the victim, causing the heads of village elders to explode with its power, paladins to be paralyzed by their faith, and priests struck dumb due to their divine study. Magic is also what holds our world together, and the damage caused rifts to form. These rifts linked other worlds to our own, pulling people and populations from seemingly nowhere. In a single night, the world that was had fallen to shambles, to be replaced by the world that is.
The gods quickly set to fixing the damage to our world, but it was far too extensive for even their power to completely overcome. They have fixed what they can, proclaiming that divine magic is once again safe for mortals to use... but that does nothing to alleviate the distrust and fear that generations of people have suffered through. The rifts are smaller now, but they still make orphans and widows far more common than anyone would care to admit. And then there's the world that's half a world away; an entire continent of mutated creatures and peoples, warped by the condensed fires of creation that still pulse from within the land itself.
This is the world you find yourself in. This is the world you must survive in. With any luck, this is the world you might thrive in.
Welcome to [NameGoesHere, and may whatever gods you worship have mercy on your soul.
Locations
Class: City State
Government: Guild Appointed Monarch
Refuge gets its name from its inhabitants. Unlike most of the lands, where maybe one to five percent of the population are “rifters” (people who have been torn through rifts into our world), at least seventy five percent of the people of Refuge were once living somewhere else. This is mostly due to its location near Heaven's Canyon, a massive scar on the continent that splits it almost perfectly in half from east to west. The magic within Heaven's Canyon is still badly damaged, and Refuge sits upon the most active site for rifts, allowing them to assist rifters as they transition. It is also conveniently at the north end of the only known natural bridge across Heaven's Canyon, making Refuge a popular stop for merchant caravans and messengers.
The city itself is ruled by a monarch, but the crown is not kept within the same family as per the norm. Instead, every five years the heads of the local guilds meet and determine if the monarch has done his or her job well. If so, then they are given another five years of tenure. If not, they are replaced, and the newly dethroned monarch is given a severance package to allow them to continue living comfortably. The current monarch is Taern Swiftblade, a Human refugee who has held the throne for the last thirty years. Recently, he has refused most requests to see him, instead deferring to his Counselor, an Aasimar Paladin known by all as “Lightbringer”.
Due to the location of the town and the rather frequent addition of rifters, Refuge is widely renowned for its technological and magical advancements, and is welcome to new ideas. It is also one of the few places where Necromancy isn't openly frowned upon, and a person is capable of purchasing skeletons or zombies as workers. There are rumors of local crime bosses killing debtors to provide more bodies for reanimation, but no one has been able to find concrete evidence to back this claim.
Guilds have a prominent role in Refuge. This is partly due to the government structure, but a larger part of it is the fact that the guilds are the ones to step in to aid rifters, providing food, clothing, shelter and job training for those who desire it. In exchange, the guilds are less loosely regulated in Refuge as they are in most other kingdoms, and so several guilds have their headquarters here. It's been said that anyone can find a job in Refuge, but you have to prove that you really want it.
While various faiths have temples within Refuge, the most prominent holy sites aren't actually affiliated with any deity of the land. Roughly 500 years ago, an arcane magic user was torn through a rift, nearly dead. While the town tried to aid him, his body seemed to reject every spell, potion or incantation they tried to use on him. While he refused to give anyone his name, his last wish was that thirteen magic seeds that he possessed each be planted around the town. The towns folk obliged, planting twelve of them in a large circle around the former town's borders, and one in the center of town, next to the town hall. The trees that grew from them are obviously magical, providing illumination almost as bright as daylight within the parks that were built around them. The leaves also have healing properties, assuming the user knows how to properly prepare them. These two features have caused each and every one of the parks to be considered a holy site by the towns folk, even if no one actively prays there.