Setting: Steven Brust's Dragaera 3.5; 76pgs

[bjj8383]

I've never made/shared anything like this before, hope this is okay.

Steven Brust's amazing Dragaera novels open up a very detailed and deep fantasy world, and I'm sad that they don't get more attention. So I made it into a 3.5 campaign setting! It's 76 pages and 97% cannon. See some examples below. This was made possible only with Lyorn Wiki and awesome fan art and maps (see credits.)


View/Download:
Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0vwOvklTLzaWWJNRkJYV1d2NlU/view?usp=sharing
4shared: http://www.4shared.com/office/pV8udZgGba/Dragaera_Setting_-_beta_v11.html?

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8639/16054890113_fd55cb2c67_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qsHvue)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8603/16487425950_ac0abb8835_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/r7WnjE)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8567/16487424930_da29eaa09e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/r7Wn25)

[Debihuman]

Thanks for sharing it. I can't wait to read it.
Debby

[LibraryOgre]

Ah, man, I can't be a Seroli? What a crock. :smallbiggrin:

I'll take a look at it, get back to you.

[Maglubiyet]

Whoa, this is amazing!!!

Questions:

You only have one Easterner in the NPC section -- no Vlad Taltos or Cawti?
You list this as a "D&D 3.5 Campaign Setting", but I don't see any stats anywhere. Do you plan to add these?
What kind of game mechanics you have in mind for a House's position in the Cycle?

[LibraryOgre]

1) Phoenix should have racial traits; while there's currently only one, what if I'm playing 250000 years in the future, when they've regenerated? Or in the past (though I know that would change some aspects of sorcery).

2) Hawk and Darkvision... I don't see it. It seems incongruous, but we've only really got one Hawk to go off of (Daymar).

3) Dragon and Dzur; I would make Dragon +2 Str/-2 Cha, and Dzur +2 Str/-2 Wis; Dzur are portrayed as far more impulsive and unlikely to consider consequences, while Dragons tend to have the arrogance that would call for a Charisma penalty.

4) Vallista: I wouldn't give them a bonus when using armor; Dragon makes it pretty clear that the Empire seldom uses armor, and Brust tends to avoid armor in his stories. I also question "Use Magic Device" check bonuses; they build things, not necessarily magical things.

5) Why are Athyra (the creature) 10 HD creatures? That's the kind of thing that hunts dragons, not Teckla.

6) Yendi have a poison ability, but no actual poison rules.

Overall, I think you might be better served by ditching the 3.x-style classes, and going with something a bit more abstract, like the Generic Classes from Unearthed Arcana; Dragaera doesn't really map to D&D; Morrolan, as a witch, is hardly a cleric of Verra, despite considering her his patron.

It's not bad, but I think it would wind up rubbing folks who know Dragaera wrong.

[bjj8383]

"Ah, man, I can't be a Seroli? What a crock."

Why can't you? Page 19.

"You list this as a "D&D 3.5 Campaign Setting", but I don't see any stats anywhere. Do you plan to add these?"

What stats are you referring to? Races, beasts, deities all feature stats.

"What kind of game mechanics you have in mind for a House's position in the Cycle?"

I didn't, mainly because in my mind I would just set it in "the present," and because the position of the House on the Cycle really only affects politics and economics, not so much individual character stats.

"1) Phoenix should have racial traits; while there's currently only one, what if I'm playing 250000 years in the future, when they've regenerated? Or in the past (though I know that would change some aspects of sorcery).

2) Hawk and Darkvision... I don't see it. It seems incongruous, but we've only really got one Hawk to go off of (Daymar).

3) Dragon and Dzur; I would make Dragon +2 Str/-2 Cha, and Dzur +2 Str/-2 Wis; Dzur are portrayed as far more impulsive and unlikely to consider consequences, while Dragons tend to have the arrogance that would call for a Charisma penalty.

4) Vallista: I wouldn't give them a bonus when using armor; Dragon makes it pretty clear that the Empire seldom uses armor, and Brust tends to avoid armor in his stories. I also question "Use Magic Device" check bonuses; they build things, not necessarily magical things.

5) Why are Athyra (the creature) 10 HD creatures? That's the kind of thing that hunts dragons, not Teckla.

6) Yendi have a poison ability, but no actual poison rules."

1-4: Like you said, a lot of the Houses have either just one, or zero examples to go off of. So I filled in the blanks myself.

1: Having very few fleshed out examples, if I made traits for them, I'd be 100% making stuff up. Besides, when I play in Faerun or Greyhawk, I never even contemplate playing tens of thousands of years in the past or future so, I think taking that into account in a guidebook is a bit odd.

2: I realized late in the race making process that I didn't have any dark- or low-light-vision races, and there are typically a lot of D&D races that have that feature. So I gave it to one that seemed the most believable.

3: And I would give the Dragons a wisdom instead of a charisma penalty because Morrolan and Aliera get into all sorts of trouble because of their foolish stickling to silly codes of honor, while still conforming to the niceties of society. And I would give the Dzur a charisma penalty instead of a wisdom one because Tazendra and Telnan tend to say whatever they want to say, regardless of the consequences.

4: Again, we know no details about the Vallista, besides they build stuff. Having a race that specializes in building bridges and towers would be dull, so I was trying to do whatever I could to make their stats relevant to combat and adventuring, hence the stats. We all know that in the lore Dragaerans don't favor armor, but, D&D definitely favors armor. So I went the D&D route. I don't know about your D&D group but if I told my paladin, fighter, or cleric they couldn't wear armor... we wouldn't have a game.

Luckily, if you change the stats to things you personally like, there is no D&D police who will bust in your front door and put you into handcuffs.

5&6: Good catches.

"Dragaera doesn't really map to D&D;"

I play D&D. I don't play other things. My friends aren't interested in learning other things. Ergo.... D&D. And I've always felt that D&D is what you make of it, not the other way around.