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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Deserts of Haradrim: Homebrew Setting - Would love Constructive Criticism



Hemnon
2017-12-12, 02:37 PM
Hello everyone, I'm in the middle of constructing my own Homebrew Setting/Module... and well I'd love some feedback on how it overall looks at it's current state, along with all the constructive criticism you can give, as well as any ideas or thoughts on improvement any of you might have.

Thanks in advance. Oh and yes i MAY end up setting up a recruitment later on set in this Setting specifically, once i feel that I've finished off the Homebrewing. :smallwink:

EDIT: Yes this is still very much a Work In Progress for me.

Lastly, in case of questions: Ask away, I'd love to answer them since it may give me thoughts on things to add in.


Haradrim
Haradrim, a land of deserts, few rivers with regular yearly overflows, plenty of sand and all-around Arabian-influenced in terms of dress-style and culture.
Think 1001 Nights or Aladdin meets D&D.
Plenty of small towns and villages can be found throughout Haradrim, but The primary Countries and their Major Cities within Haradrim is mentioned here:


Pengir - The Central City, Seat of Immortal Sultan (Located in the center of the Country). Largest City of all of Sulkarat with the Grand palace of the Immortal Sultan being almost the size of any of the other cities alone.

Norgir - The northern-most City, known for being the only Harbor-city in the whole Country.

Sougir - The southern-most City, contains (among other things) the great Libraries of Duat which is named after the first founder of Sulkarat, the first Immortal Sultan 'Duat' himself. It also contains the Grand Magister Academy where the arcane studies and training is learned, and no arcane magic user without a Passed-With-Honours Degree from the Academy is permitted to practice their craft within the limits of ANY city of Sulkarat, under severe penalty and punishment.

Wesgir - The western-most City, also known as the City of Floods due to it being very close to a wide connection of rivers that regularly flood and leaves rich and fertile sediment on the riverbanks as the waters recede again. This allows for a wide variety of food-growing to happen, and Wesgir is indeed the City within Sulkarat that provide almost a total monopoly on the foodsales and food-production. They also provide a wide access to a lot of clean water and their water-caravans are rumoured to be more profitable than the Gem-mines of Easgir, although no one have ever managed to ferry out the truth in this.

Easgir - The eastern-most City, and is called by most the 'City of Gems' due to the mountain-range that the city is built into, which is extremely rich in all kinds of valuable gems, metallic ores, etc. etc. ALL native gems hail from the mines of Easgir and they are often of much better quality and cut, than any imported rocks.

Sulkarat itself as a whole is Polytheistic, worshipping the whole Pantheon of the Haradrim Lords. Each city got a Holy Temple to each god and each temple deals with keeping their clerics and paladins in line. Divine magic is fully accepted but seen as a lesser form of magic in the way that it's an indirect type that doesn't come directly from the person themselves, but rather a higher power. It is however NOT looked down upon and is openly loved when used to benefit society.
Race-wise you find a majority of humans within the Kingdom, with the odd dwarf, elf, etc. etc. here or there. Half-elves are relatively speaking quite common and is seen sorta like a pedigree to some. Halflings tends to mostly be found in Wesgir, while Half-Orcs are more often than not part of Nomadic tribes travelling around the Desert as a whole. Races like Tiefling, Aasimar and such are very rare and even when seen are rarely recognized as one.



Arubia - The central seat of power where the Conclave of Sorcerers rule. It's a bustling hub of magic and magical creations.

Sulengar - A city where all who shows natural magical abilities (aka. Bards and Sorcerers) are taken to, when their powers are discovered. There they can train and
nuture their skills and powers to the full. Study of Wizardry is non-existent since the belief of magical powers learnt in such a way is not real magic. Bards are an exception since it's Magic done through the Bard tbemselves and weaved via music or orration into a functionally magical effect, not a memorized Magic Book.

Ystra - Located at the Far East, where the weather and terrain is less sandy-dry and dead, and much more savannah-ish. There's steppes of lightly speckled grass and even a very few bits of forest-patches (where the rarely-seen wood elves live). It's a lot more ideal of a place for farming communities and villages, and thus quite a few have sprung up around the City itself and making them a major source of food-production.

The Conclave is overall equally varied in their religion. Many worship the Haradrim Lords, while others hold more esoteric beliefs of one sort or the other.
Race-wise you find a much wider-mixed society than in Sulkarat. The mix-rate of human-to-other is much closer to about 50% human and 50% Other. Humans are still a landslide majority in terms of race-to-race, but it's a LOT more common to run into a halfling, a gnome, even a half-orc, than in Sulkarat.




The Hills do not contain a bunch of cities or towns. They are very much like the Hobbits of Middle-Earth, and only the odd-one-out halfling enjoys the thought of adventure. It's a very verdant and green place, very much akin to the Shire in of Middle-Earth where said Hobbits live.
Race-wise you got about 99% Halflings, maybe the rare gnome or possibly a human trader bringing exotic spices from on south, or intent on purchasing Halfling food recipes.



The Nuvirian Tribes are a loosely related and highly varied mix of nomadic tribes. The only real relation they have is their nomad lifestyle and their choice of Tribe-name. Nuvir, an ancient and legendary woman preached about the nomadic life and how one should not wall up in big cities, but rather travel the lands. As the Gods had originally intended for their subjects to do.
Who was this woman? Time has forgotten, and every single Nuvirian Tribe tells that Nuvir was THEIR tribe's original founder and her race is completely defined by the tribe in question.

Nuvirian-Grukost Tribe - A tribe of half-orcs that mostly manage to survive and thrive due to their constant raidings of the above civilized Countries, as well as other tribes. They are MUCH more Civil than full-blooded orcs and can even from time to time be reasoned with through nothing but talk.

Nuvirian-Valar Tribe - A tribe of Desert Elves who nomadically travels from oasis to oasis, scavenging old ruins and does so rather impressive weavings of tapestries and cloth that they sell off when visiting towns, cities, etc.

Nuvirian-Baham Tribe - A tribe of Metalic-heritaged Dragonborn who traverse the deserts of Haradrim and are very often attracted to city life, but only for a short time and then they progress onwards. Once in a while, one or more will stay behind in a city and stays for life. This is why they often are seen in the different Cities, since they are either new citizens there, or are the descendants of former tribals. They are the only tribe that actively encourage leaving the tribe if one feel that leavin the the path for them to go.

Nuvirian-Tiam Tribe - The tribe that is the exact opposite of the Nuvirian-Baham Tribe. They are violent raiders of only chromatic Dragonborn. None of them are good-alligned and the few chromatic ones that are rarely survive long enough to flee the tribe, and ever fewer survive long enough out alone in the desert to find food and water, or anyone willing to aid them in their plight.



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Sulkarat - Overall, Sulkarat is a country of prosperity. The current Rulership of the current Immortal Sultan have been going on fairly efficiently. The way it's set up with Pengir in the center and each of the North, South, East and West placed cities is not done purely by chance or vanity. The setup of the cities forms a magical circle of sorts that is designed to seal away something hugely dangerous. What kind of danger this is, is not known by anyone but possibly the Immortal Sultan and his closest advisers, possibly a rare few others as well.
As previously mentioned, Sulkarat got a majority of Humans and Half-Humans for it's population, and the religious beliefs are primarily on the Haradrim Lords, although the freedom to worship others is allowed and is not looked down upon by anyone. At least not in terms of the overall majority (since the odd fanatic does exist that sees all over pantheons and heresy). The only forbidden religious worships goes to any sort of outer-realm creature, evil monstrous deities and of course The Banished Pantheon.
Law is upheld through all the major cities with a firm public security force of actively-posted soldiers walking the streets and arming the defenses and the walls of the cities. Corruption is also fairly low since the pay on the jobs is worthwhile and with the way it's set up that any suspect actions gets investigated, those that DO take bribes or look the other way from the Town Guard tends to not stay in the guard for very long (or out of prison for that matter).
The laws are also set a bit more towards being Just rather than punishable. Stealing does not get your hand cut off, although corporeal punishment is a norm. Often such punishment comes in the way of lashings or publicly tied down at the town square to suffer the sun's rays for a certain amount of time before being returned to one's cell. It all depends on the severity of the crime and the type of crime.

Each of the cities in Sulkarat is managed by a High Lord (with the exception of Pengir, which the Immortal Sultan himself rules from), who is hand-picked by the Immortal Sultan. It is not an inherited job.

Pengir - The great Central City of Sulkarat, located at the edge of one of the Great Flooding Rivers, is like a sandy-white jewel in the desert with his High walls keeping back even the most determine sandfilled gusts of wind from sweeping in over them.
All buildings are made from a fix of well-shaped lime and sand stone, all with dome-shaped roofs and glass-less windows to allow for ease of ventilation during the day, and wooden clasps to cover it up during knights.
In the center of Pengir is the great Sulkaran Palace, surrounded by it's own walls, even higher than the outer ones sealing in the city itself. Only the most wealthy and influential of people have had the chance to enter through the grand gates and see what is behind those walls and gate, and at that even fewer have actually been permitted entrance into the palace itself.
In basic terms the City contains the Palace-area at the center, and everywhere else is sectioned up into the Merchant District in the northern parts (near where the one of those Great Flooding Rivers can be located outside the walls), with the left-most area is primarily a housing district and small-time Market-area mix. At the southern parts of the city is the Poor-district lumped together with the farmers-community (who primarily deal with Animal Husbandry over Food-harvesting). In the eastern parts of the city is the main entrance area and Primary Town Square. Here you find a lot of Wizard-homes, stalls and even the Great Transportation Gate of Pengir.

Norgir - Norgir is, as mentioned earlier, the Harbor city of Sulkarat. It's a major bustling hub of activity as far-away visitors (often elves from an unknown land) sail by with wares to trade. It is the ideal place to make a profit... and that's also the problem. Crime is relatively high and it's rumored that the one of the major Thieves-Guild hubs are found here somewhere. Alas the City-Guard of Norgir have yet to find any evidence beyond minor rumors.
The current High Lord of Norgir is a young Half-Elven Lady by the name of Shar'ay. Why was a young, barely into-adulthood female chosen for this job? Well, that's a question one should ask The Immortal Sultan, because he is the one that delegates new High Lords when the prior one dies. Whatever the reason though, she is doing quite well. There's almost no poor folk here since almost anyone can get a job of one type or the other that can support a living (of varying quality of course). There's also a rather low amount of crime outside the monetary variety as mentioned earlier. Murder is a rarity and since slavery is illegal, slave-trafficing is all but non-existing as well.
The city as a whole is quite smaller than Pengir, being about the size of just the Palace District in Pengir. But Norgir is set up to mirror Pengir quite a bit in terms of it's setup, with the High Lord Mansion area being located in the center of the city, with the harbor/trade district being found along the western edge of the city. The unwealthy district (the poor folk district, basically... just, less poor than other cities). To the southern edge of the city you find the Temple-District mixed with the local Wizard-studies and homes. Lastly, to the northern edge of the city is a mix of main housing and the Barracks-District where the Town Guard finds their armory and such.
There's also walls encircling the city, albeit they are much smaller than those of Pengir. The houses and buildings all mirror the form and function of those in Pengir, being off-white in color due to the materials used to create them, glass-free windows with wooden board-up planks able to be set into place the windows at night r during colder and windy days.
Rain is a lot more common here due to the city being located near the ocean. But common is a rather fickle word here, since rain still only happens a few more times a year than it does to the rest of Haradrim.

Sougir - As mentioned earlier, Sougir is the southern City of Sulkarat and is the home of the Grand Magister Academy, which takes up the majority of the Cityscape. There's also a small market, living space for all the varying people whose job is to keep the Academy prim and proper, along with living space for the students and teachers. One does not technically need to have studied here to earn a Passed-With-Honours Degree, since anyone with adequate skill in magical use and knowhow can petition for an examination. Although these examinations aren't cheap and if you fail once you aren't permitted to try again unless you actually enroll as a student, and if a student fails the exam they must pay AGAIN if they wish to take the classes over. If a legal Wizard teaches an apprentice outside of the Academy then the apprentice will be counted as having gone through a full study at the Academy. This is why a lot of Young students would rather find a singular master to study under since they does not have to pay in order to be taught at the Academy... Although the level of education will be far less fulfilling in comparison, since they do not get to spend years in study at an Academy designed to produce the most efficient path to become a Wizard.
Warlocks are a bit of an iffy subject since their magic IS Arcane in nature, but works a lot more like Divine magic that comes from a patron deity. Any Warlock can freely apply for a Passed-With-Honours Degree but the patron in question WILL be scrutinized and the contract made will be reviewed to see if this Warlock deserves such a Degree. This is not to say that a Fiendish Contract is a no-go for a Degree, but the intentions for making it and what the contract itself entails will be the main factor in such a deliberation.
It is at the central plaza of the Grand Magister Academy that the Gate of Sougir is found.
Beyond the Academy and it's co-buildings such as food-kitchens and the like, There's also a very prevalent market for Magical and Alchemical products and items, with a grand bazaar being located right near the Northern Entrance into the city where flashy stalls for potion makers, bibs and bobs of minor-magical items, and fortuneteller tents.
All items sold here have been under the scrutiny of the High Magi who is a group of powerful Wizards who, among other things, are the Headmasters of the Grand Magister Academy and Run collectively the City. One of these Grand Wizards are often always chosen from when a new High Lord of the city is to be chosen, who will thus take the leader-role of the group. This ensures that any and all products produced and legally sold are of genuine make and devoid of forgeries and fakes.
Hiring of Wizards and other Magic-users are a quite active business here, since one can both higher newly-minted Wizards having just passed their studies, all the way up to even the Grand Wizard Magi themselves if one go the cash and interesting enough proposition to earn their aid.
All of the City Guard have earned a Passed-With-Honours Degree and is made up of a mix of Eldritch Knights, as the main fighting force, Arcane Tricksters who often deal with Rogue Arcane Spellcasters as well as crime-investigation, to even Bards with a Martial outlook and pure unadultered Wizards.
Religion is a bit less prevalent here due to a majority interest in the study of the natural world rather than the spiritual one, However this is not to say that religion is banned, looked down upon or seen as a weakness. Plenty of Wizard and Students are religious, some more than others like in any city, and some prefer to let the gods be gods and not really worship anything but still fully accepting them into their lives as existing. But every Haradrim Lord does still have a Temple to their worship within the city, as all of the Sulkarat Cities does.
Racewise you get a highly varied mix. with barely a 50/50 split between human and non-human which makes it quite common to see a halfling here and there along with small groups of Dragonborn, etc. etc.

Wesgir - The City of Floods, is located west of Pengir and both was originally build there due to a great confluence of a lot of the different rivers running through the desert meeting a this spot into a big, fertile river that floods regularly and at a stable interval. Thus Wesgir was founded and built there in order to farm the fertile land that the left-behind sediments that the River leaves behind when the waters recede again. This makes a lot of the houses and likewise buildings made from a mix of mud and clay, and they are all build on the far side of the farms (which are located near the massive river itself).
The aforementioned river runs through the middle of the City and both sides are used in equal measures in terms of farmland and fishing.
This has made Wesgir into an almost-entirely agrarian society, where you either work the fields or own the fields. Those that own the fields hire in work forces to ensure harvests are done efficiently, which means there's always a workplace for the next person in line. There's always a lot of in-fighting between the Farmland owners in terms of getting the best folk hired for their work force, since a more effective work force would hand out a much faster and more fulfilling harvest will be done, or the field-sowing happening quick and without fuss.
The same type of walls as with Sougir and Norgir can be found around Wesgir. This means that the walls also go into the river itself on massive, regularly maintenance'd, stilts for supporting it and ensuring that unwanted outsiders can't merely swim or sail directly into the city.
You will, like all the other cities, find the High Lord of Wesgir's home right out on an artificially-build island in the center of the river, bridges running over the river to both sides, linking the two city-halves together via the High Lord's Manor on that fortress-of-an-island. The Current High Lord of Wesgir is a former Worksman who, back when young, founded the Worker-union that helped modernize the workforce at the Farms to a much safer and more effective standard. He is called McKillan and is a lot paler skin-wise than almost any other human found in Haradrim, hinting at another Heritage than Haradrim-born. But, as the case may be, he was still elevated to High Lord of Wesgir by The Immortal Sultan, thus firmly establishing the sense of meritocracy that harken to not having noble families running everything, but rather those most fit to do so having the chance to also actually do so as well.
Since Wesgir produces the majority of the food that feeds the entire populous of Sulkarat, It's Gate is one of THE most active of them all, since it's more profitable to send it through the Gate and handle the costs of that, rather than send it via caravans, suffer foodlosses from rot, raids, etc. This also means that food-transports are done in massive activations of the Gate, rather than in small amounts here and there, which are done at regular intervals (which have been set after long experimentation with what the average food-supply degradation is for each city, and thus when hitting the need to use Reserves, a massive food-teleportation would be done to resupply. This is also why every other city have their own small farming community as part of their own internal food-supply production in case of sieges, loss of gate-use for whateve reason, etc. etc.
Religion-wise you find a just as varied mix of worshipping as you'd do almost everywhere else in Sulkarat, with slightly bigger amount of worship towards The First Daughter, since she is the Goddess of Life and Nature, and thus also agriculture due to making life flourish by the use of nature.
Race-wise you find A LOT of hardy Humans, Dragonborn,Hill Dwarves and of course Half-Orcs, with a lesser amount of the other races since the primary population is overall Workforce, with owners of the Farms, and further out the taverns, shops, etc. are in bigger minority and are often held by either Halflings or other of a less-strong and durable build (such as elves).


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The Desert of Haradrim - This expansive Desert is located, well, everywhere, with the exception of the Cities and Towns of the civilized contries, along with the Flooding Rivers themselves. Ystra and it's surroundings is also the only City whose surroundings are not desert but rather Savannah-type terrain instead.

The Sulkarat Palace - Found in Pengir, it is where the Immortal Sultan lives and rules from. It is awe-inspiring to gaze at from afar and is so big that it could constitute a City all by itself, just size-wise. Only the Nobility is allowed in, along with the rare Permission of Entrance that can be signed and given to anything the Sultan deems worthy. So far no one's ever heard of such a Permission having been signed and given to anybody.

The Grand Magister Academy - The Academy located in Sougir where all who wish to use the Arcane Arts study and learn the use of Magic. This is where any potential Sorcerer also goes to if they wish to get full acknowledgement of their Arcane inner abilities. A Section of the Academy does fully with Bards and is sectioned further up into each of the Bard Colleges that anyone with a Passed-With-Honours Degree and a bardic persuation can apply to join said College. Only the potentials who show the ability to weave magic through music, song or storytelling can be exam'd to pass the Bardic Studies. Anyone without the skill can freely be transferred to Wizard Studies instead.
Anyone with a lick of Arcane magical talent can freely make use of it, as long as they are outside any city limit of the Sulkarat Cities. If within them one MUST have a Passed-With-Honours Degree or suffer severe censure and punishment.

The Easgir Mountains - A massive and wide mountain-range in which Easgir is located as well. It is from here the Svirfneblin and Mountain Dwarfs hail, and it is also here that the Underdark of Haradrim can be found the easiest.

Haradrim Underdark - The Underdark is where Duergar, Drow and svirfneblin tends to be located at the most. Due to the strong rays on the surface, these dwellers of the dark tends to rarely, if ever, venture outside the mountains and the Underdark itself.

The Conclave - The location of the conclave itself is only known to those of whom it concerns. Some say it's magically hidden, while others tell stories that the location is not really a specific place, but rather a scattered ruling of powerful sorcerers using magic to communicate.

Haradrim Pyramids - These ancient burial monuments can be found in sparse clusters throughout most of the Deserts of Haradrim. They are all signs of old, fallen empires and kingdoms, often being the only remains of those dead civilizations. All are said to be cursed and guarded by dangerous monsters and some are even taken as lairs for old Dragons, or so to stories tell.

Harakir - The Fallen Kingdom.
Harakir is a dead kingdom that is lost somewhere in the desert of Haradrim. No one have ever found it the last +1000 years... or at least no one have ever found it and returned to tell about it, or been able to validate their claims.
Some say you find the Ruins through a magical arch-entrance found somewhere in Pengir, while others claim you need a compas and head in the most unstable direction, where the needle won't find north due to magnetic disturbance and once the compass just spins, you are there. Many other theories exists, too many to note here.
What caused Harakir to fall? No one knows or remembers, but there's one thing known to be at least part of the cause: Necromancy. The overuse of necromantic rituals and magic was in part cause of it's downfall. How or why or in what way it was hte cause is up for debate.
The biggest hint of having found Harakir is seeing the great pyramids half-buired in the sand.

Isle of Mist - A mysterious island located in the slight distant waters from Norgir.
The Isle of Mist is only known to be seen a rare few times a year, when a mist boils in and parts to reveal the island.... and then later the mist plumes up again and once it disappears again, the isle is gone once more. It always look verdant with green and the few times someone's sailed to it and managed to return a live, they've returned with a wealth of something. Be it loot from shipwrecks on it's beaches, fresh and rare woodtypes or even old ruins investigated of their lore.

Lands of Ice - Far north, past The Hills, where ice persists almost all year you'll find the Lands of Ice. Here ice trolls, Draugrs and White Dragons make their home along with hardy barbarian raiders who at the odd time travel south to raid the costs of Haradrim.

Land of Jungles - Beyond the sea west of Norgir lies a land of humid jungle, and is said to be ruled by lizardfolk and snake-people. Only a few who've travelled there have returned alive. Some have made insanely wealthy trades and returned with huge riches, while others vanished or returned destitute and dying.

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The Immortal Sultan - He is known only like such, with not firstname or lastname known about him. He rules with a strong but Just strength, but punishments are very rough and nowhere near lenient.

Parash, King of Thieves - Parash is the name the king of Thieves goes by. He (or she?) is a very mysterious person that only 3rd-hand descriptions tell of. Any thief or catburgler owes loyalty to Parash... and if they do not, they end up vanishing fairly quickly and are never seen again.

The Council of Sorcerers - The Conclave consists of 13 members that makes up the Oligarcy of The Conclave. Each member is a Sorcerer of one heritage or the other, but all are arcane magic-users with the inborn power of magic, and thus contains no clerics, Warlocks, Wizards or Druids; All are sorcerers. Anyone of any race can petition to become a member of the Conclave's Council as long as they are a registered citizen and have been trained in Ystra, be they gnome, elf, human, etc.

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The Gates - All functioning gates work as a teleportation circle, and look like grandly ornamented archways, granting the ability for those that have attuned themselves to the entrance and exit points to teleport from one point and to the other. One cannot simply teleport like this without having visited the destination's Gate as well. It is also very expensive to power up these gates.

The Lost Gates - These lost gates are sometimes found in ancient ruins or forgotten places. They have no magical power in them to allow their activation, but a powerful enough Magic-user could potentially power it up for a one-way trip. If any damage has happened to the gate itself, the teleportation through it can be highly dangerous.

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Potion of the Immortals - A legendary concoction said to grant immortality, and also being the first step on the ladder for godhood. The Immortal Sultan of Sulkarat is said to have drunk of this, and it's also said that the only way to usurp the current Sultan is to somehow get your hands on this fabled concoction and slay him. A mortal cannot kill an immortal after all.

Flawed/Incomplete Potion of the Immortals - A flawed or incomplete Potion of the Immortals is... well firstly no one have first-account testimony of one such concoction being drunk, but it is said that to drink a flawed or unfinished version of the potion will either kill you, or turn you immortal... well, turn you into an undead blood-drinking terror of the night (yup, an actual Vampire). It is also referenced as the Potion of Everlasting Night or the Blood-drinker's Concoction.

The Seerstones - A selection of ancient seerstones that allows those able to use them to both scry distant places, communicate iwth others over extreme distances. They are however rumoured to be quite dangerous to use due to the fact that you link your mind to the stone, and anyone else using a stone could potentially destroy your sanity or cull you into obediency, loosing the control over yourself to your new master.

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Magic - Magic is a lot more widespread than one would think. A lot of people can use a cantrip or two, albeit most of those are things like Mending or Predistigation. Something that can help them with their work or at-home-repairs and the like. Such abilitites either stem from a minor sorcerer-style talent or a hobby in studying the arcane or a former apprenticeship that never developped to a major magical talent in Wizardry.

Undeath - If not buried with the proper rituals, the corpses of the dead WILL arise again as wind-dried walking horrors or shambling skeletons. Ancient Rituals once intentionally made use of this by entombing a dead king (properly buried) with mummified guardians that would awake to protect the restingplace of their dead King. Only the willing was chosen for this and was seen as a great honor, but anyone, willing or not will become an undead upon dying unless buried the correct way. Sometimes it's just the body that returns and the soul having long ago left behind that corpse... but other times it's the soul that cannot pass on and the like.



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Haradrim Lords Pantheon
Non-Human Deities
The Ancient Creators
The Banished Pantheon


Name - Alignment - Domains - Symbol

Haradrim Lords Pantheon
The Sun Sultan, God of Sultans, Law, and The Sun - LN - Light - A turban-wearing Sun-depiction with humanoid facial-features.

The Moon Mother, Goddess of the Night, the Stars, Motherhood. The wife of The Sun Sultan - NG - Knowledge, Life - A stylized Moon with long-flowing black hair.

The First Daughter, Goddess of Nature and Life - N - Life, Nature - A dryad-like woman in her prime-age.

The Second Daughter, Goddess of the Rain and Storms - CN - Tempest - A thunderous and rainy cloud.

The Third Daughter, Goddess of Magic and the Guardian Of The Arcane - LG - Arcane, Light, Knowledge - A Web of glowing lines entwined in endless patterns.

The First Son, God of War, Passion and Status - CG - Forging, War - An archetypical 'heroic figure' standing with sword raised.

The Second Son, God of Death, Justice and Balance - LN - Death, Grave - A hooded figure holding a balanced scale.

The Faceless One, God(dess) of Secrecy, Assassins and Trickery - CN - Trickery - A blank-faced non-expressioned pale-colored mask.

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Non-Human Deities
Pretty much all the Non-Human Deities from Core Rules are there in Haradrim.

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The Ancient Creators
Ra'ao, The creator of all and father of the Sun - LG - Light, Life, Tempest - Unknown.

Sep'tesh, The lord of deserts and strife - CE - Death, War - Unknown, possibly a sort of desert-dwelling serpent.

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The Banished Pantheon
The Lost Son, Lord of the Undead - NE - Death - A dark, twisted being that once helped The Second Son guide souls to the rightful plane. Something bad happened and turned this Son malicious, evil and a horrid abomination. He is lord of the Undead and the primary deity of Evil Necromancers.

The Corrupted Daughter, Mother of Monsters - CE - Tempest - A sick, growth-bloated form. She is also called Mother of Monsters since her rebelliion from the Haradrim Pantheon due to wanting to create more types of life was denied by The Sun Sultan and Moon Mother. So now her creations are all the horrors found on the material plane. This does not include monsterous creatures with their own specific creator god, like orcs and what not.

The Primordial One - The dark and evil mirroring of The Sun Sultan. He is Lord of the Devils and the Nine Hells.


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Haradrim follows the same sort of Plane-setup as Forgotten Realms, with a few exceptions:
The Lost Son is a sort of King of Undeath and some say he is bound to a demi-mortal form for his treachery, making him the FIRST of the undead. He is said to reside in either a demiplane of Undeath or as the undesputed Ruler of the Realm of Negative Energy.
The Primordial One is the Asmodeus of this world.
Different spots are more, or less, closely connected to the differnet Elemental Planes.


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Allowed Character Races:
Aasmiar
Dragonborn
Dwarf (Moutain Dwarves all come from Easgir, Hill Dwarves more widespread)
Elf
Goliath
Gnome (Deep Gnomes only found at Easgir)
Genasi
Halfling
Half-Elf
Half-Orc
Human (Variant allowed)
Tiefling

Banned Character Races:
Any Monstrous Race
Anything UA (since it's not yet officially released content.)
Arakocra
Drow Elves
Firbolg
Kenku
Lizardfolk
Tabaxi
Triton


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All the Allowed Character Races exists in Haradrim, of course.
Below you'll find the complete list of what is commonly-known Races that exists in Haradrim. Not all existing Races are mentioned since not all are remembered by history or so rarely seen they are more fairy-tales than real. If their rarity is mentioned, then it's a reference to the fact that they are much, much rarer than normal in a society where elves are already an uncommon sight.

Aasmiar (Extremely Rare)
Dragonborn (Uncommon)
Dwarves (Rare outside Easgir Mountain)
Elves (Drow are extremely Rare outside the Underdark, if not specifically almost entirely unheard of on the surface.)
Goliath (Very Rare outside the moutain ranges near Easgir where they are most commonly encountered)
Gnomes (svirfneblin are Extremely Rare outside of the Easgir mountains)
Genasi (Rare-to-Very Rare)
Halflings (Uncommon outside The Hills)
Half-Elves (Semi-common relative to Humans)
Half-Orcs (Rare)
Humans of all shapes and sizes. (Extremely Common)
Lizardfolk (Rarely seen in Haradrim at all. Most common in the far West land of jungles)
Tieflings (Extremely Rare)
Triton (Extremly Rare even in Norgir, since they are an aquatic Race and dislike the desert with a passion)


There's a lot of Monstrous Races, and the need to list them here is not really feasible, cuz then I'd have to almost list the Entire Monster Manual. We are also talking the Civilized and Commonly-seen races, not Goblins, Slaad or Succubi. So basically expect any monster from The Monster Manual to potentially exist.


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All Backgrounds are allowed, although everything still goes on a case-by-case basis. So you cannot pick a Background that is rooted into Forgotten Realms, and if your background choice doesn't fit the location you come from, then the pick is not valid either. Certain leeway is of course given, but blatant laziness in choice and fluff is just not accepted.



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Allowed Classes
All, with a few exceptions below (and other later-on Bans that may happen).

Banned Classes
Any Unearthed Arcana Classes or Variants



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Stats are all rolled as 4d6 (best 3 kept) six times. Should you get a total value below 27 in Point Buy value, then you're allowed to re-roll everything once.

Magic as a whole is bound within the magical web that The Third Daughter governs. Wild magic happens when the web isn't guarded or kept balanced, thus without The Third Daughter, Magic would be chaotic at best to deal with, a hellish task to attempt at worst. But for the most part, the magical web has almost never been observed as being unstable. One also MUST make use of arcane foci to avoid the need of Materials, although materials stated with a price still need that item to be cast. Unless the spell states that the spell consumes the item in question, you do not loose the Materials used.

Attribute Increase - You're allowed to pick a feat instead, as per normal rules.

All characters start with Desert Travel Gear

Gaslampgenie
2017-12-12, 05:51 PM
First off, love the idea of a desert world and I've always been a fan of the 1001 Arabian Nights motifs.
Reading through the setting and "planar" conditions gives me a Diablo II meets Amonkhet vibe.
That being said, I almost feel like you are going too broad. I know you are trying to create a whole country (continent?) sized area but its coming off as vague platitudes, and I don't suspect that is because you aren't using original ideas or that you haven't fully developed this in your head, rather, I would suggest that displaying such a broad concept and so many different cities is really difficult to do (especially in a summary explanation on a forum). When I read the city descriptions, I'm getting a giant desert with some generic cities that have one unique trait each.
Sulkarat for instance: all I know is that its a city (in the desert of course) that feels Egyptian (pantheon of Gods in the desert) and the people like divine magic but don't find it very impressive, beyond that I know what races live there. What I want to know is what kind of stone are the buildings made of? What do the people eat? What is the geography like in the surrounding area? Do the people have racial or religious prejudices (against the worshipers of the other Gods for example)? Are there significant historical events that have affected the city? How do these things come together to create their culture?
I want to be invested in the world and from this post it's not making me feel that way. Ultimately people's interest to play in your world is going to be determined by presentation and depth.
I would have rather seen a really in-depth description of one city with a brief teaser at the rest of the world.
I'm am not in any way saying that there's anything wrong with your world, because I like it and most importantly, it's your world to make and shape as you see fit. So feel free to take or leave this bit.

Hemnon
2017-12-12, 06:31 PM
First off, love the idea of a desert world and I've always been a fan of the 1001 Arabian Nights motifs.
Reading through the setting and "planar" conditions gives me a Diablo II meets Amonkhet vibe.
That being said, I almost feel like you are going too broad. I know you are trying to create a whole country (continent?) sized area but its coming off as vague platitudes, and I don't suspect that is because you aren't using original ideas or that you haven't fully developed this in your head, rather, I would suggest that displaying such a broad concept and so many different cities is really difficult to do (especially in a summary explanation on a forum). When I read the city descriptions, I'm getting a giant desert with some generic cities that have one unique trait each.
Sulkarat for instance: all I know is that its a city (in the desert of course) that feels Egyptian (pantheon of Gods in the desert) and the people like divine magic but don't find it very impressive, beyond that I know what races live there. What I want to know is what kind of stone are the buildings made of? What do the people eat? What is the geography like in the surrounding area? Do the people have racial or religious prejudices (against the worshipers of the other Gods for example)? Are there significant historical events that have affected the city? How do these things come together to create their culture?
I want to be invested in the world and from this post it's not making me feel that way. Ultimately people's interest to play in your world is going to be determined by presentation and depth.
I would have rather seen a really in-depth description of one city with a brief teaser at the rest of the world.
I'm am not in any way saying that there's anything wrong with your world, because I like it and most importantly, it's your world to make and shape as you see fit. So feel free to take or leave this bit.

Well yeah i did sorta take some mild inspiration from a wide variety of subjects.

What about it is too broad? I know there's not much fluff-details on each Country's mentioned city (Sulkarat got a reason for having a center, north, east, south and west city, but yet to be detailed out).

And I appreciate what you say in terms of the barebones feel of 'what is this place' I've mentioned. I do intend on writing up a lot more on the fluff. It's also why i primarily mentioned Sulkarat first. It's the country (and it's cities) that players would most likely be from and do adventuring in (with a few spare neighbor-countries/-tribes mentioned in case of the wish to come from an outside place or recently moved to Sulkarat).
Pengir is sort of the major hub and 'waterdeep' of Haradrim.

This is exactly why i wanted to start out with the crunch of the world, make it feel 'functional' before going off on the fluff and write a book on it :smallbiggrin: Which is also why i wanted to present the current Work-In-Progress State of what the Setting and it's lore looks like as if right now. Felt it better to do it in parts and get a little feedback BEFORE i spend a week's worth of time creating a setting and world, but not making it appealing to others. It's no fun if it's just me that likes the setting cuz that means no one will want to join a game of it :smallwink:

Gaslampgenie
2017-12-12, 07:49 PM
I gotcha! I like the world and my main suggestion is more about presentation than actual content. There are so many environments for role playing games out there and details like that are the kind of thing that sells me on a world.
You have the details in your head and I dig it. It's just a matter of getting others on board and the way I would try to do that is by getting someone interested in one of those awesome fleshed out parts and then they will want to learn about the rest and in game it will make them want to explore and find all the other deep colorful aspects of the rest of your world.

PM me with your Haradrim lore as you develop/publish it!

NYpurdy
2017-12-12, 08:00 PM
I especially like your pantheon. Does any of the represent the forge domain? You may want to consider adding that (maybe to the first son?) I also think you could have one "monstrous" deity to replace all of the ones in the PHB... if you wanted.

Mechanically I don't see any problems with all this. But I think Gaslampgenie's points are pretty spot on. What I think you really need is a strong pitch including identifying a key central place for potential players to get connected to and/or the global conflict/impending issues of the setting to really make these other inspiration pieces have context.

Hemnon
2017-12-13, 03:35 AM
I gotcha! I like the world and my main suggestion is more about presentation than actual content. There are so many environments for role playing games out there and details like that are the kind of thing that sells me on a world.
You have the details in your head and I dig it. It's just a matter of getting others on board and the way I would try to do that is by getting someone interested in one of those awesome fleshed out parts and then they will want to learn about the rest and in game it will make them want to explore and find all the other deep colorful aspects of the rest of your world.

PM me with your Haradrim lore as you develop/publish it!

I chose to specifically make the world feel like more than just Sulkarat and it's 5 Cities, but also giving the feeling that since Sulkarat was mentioned first and far more detailed out, that's where the focus should lie.

All the details i have and thoughts on what things mean and such is gonna end up in the details of this, just haven't gotten that far yet is all. Stable and functional crunch first: Then develop the fluff around it. It's how i also make ally my characters, starting out with all the mechanics making a functionally fun character and THEN i do the background fluff stuff.

Oh i fully intent on updating it here for further criticism and helpful advice!


I especially like your pantheon. Does any of the represent the forge domain? You may want to consider adding that (maybe to the first son?) I also think you could have one "monstrous" deity to replace all of the ones in the PHB... if you wanted.

Mechanically I don't see any problems with all this. But I think Gaslampgenie's points are pretty spot on. What I think you really need is a strong pitch including identifying a key central place for potential players to get connected to and/or the global conflict/impending issues of the setting to really make these other inspiration pieces have context.

Thank you!

And yeah i think i might just combine all monstrous deities under The Corrupted Daughter, leaving the 'gods' of the monsters just being aspects of HER. That way she IS Tiamat, she IS Gruumsh (or at least Gruumsh might be the first of the orcs she birthed into the world, thus raising him up to a divine status. She could even just be Mother of the Monstrous Gods to make it even easier).

I whole-heartedly agree: the lack of fluff and substance is clearly a thing to be worked on.

Gaslampgenie
2017-12-13, 04:48 PM
Love the updates man! The bit about the layout of Sulkarat being intentional to ward off some mysterious evil is perfect! I'm intrigued.
I like the little details about things as simple as the glass-less windows to allow ventilation for the desert heat or the fact that no one sees inside the sultan's palace in Pengir, thats the kind of stuff that makes the world feel real.
My only suggestion is in regard to the order and punishment system (the sun scorching in the square is really flavorful by the way). It almost seems like the social tolerance and justice system works a little too well and it seems like you have the potential to dig a little deeper and make a whole story line out of it. Like, the public order is so well kept that it's a little suspicious... maybe there's some kind of horrible repression going on where citizens are abducted for minor offenses and are never seen again and the governing body keeps a few alive to torture in public areas in ways that will keep them alive so they can live for decades as reminders to the rest of the populace. Just an idea. You have some room to potentially make that aspect of the city a rich story.

Keep it up! Can't wait to see what you cook up for your other cities

Hemnon
2017-12-13, 05:16 PM
Love the updates man! The bit about the layout of Sulkarat being intentional to ward off some mysterious evil is perfect! I'm intrigued.
I like the little details about things as simple as the glass-less windows to allow ventilation for the desert heat or the fact that no one sees inside the sultan's palace in Pengir, thats the kind of stuff that makes the world feel real.
My only suggestion is in regard to the order and punishment system (the sun scorching in the square is really flavorful by the way). It almost seems like the social tolerance and justice system works a little too well and it seems like you have the potential to dig a little deeper and make a whole story line out of it. Like, the public order is so well kept that it's a little suspicious... maybe there's some kind of horrible repression going on where citizens are abducted for minor offenses and are never seen again and the governing body keeps a few alive to torture in public areas in ways that will keep them alive so they can live for decades as reminders to the rest of the populace. Just an idea. You have some room to potentially make that aspect of the city a rich story.

Keep it up! Can't wait to see what you cook up for your other cities

Thanks for liking the add-ons. haven't really removed anything. just added. :smallbiggrin:

And i hadn't really any intentions on making anything 'bad' about the strict but efficient and functional law and order. I just felt it would be nice to have a legal system where the immortal Ruler (who has been the ruler as long as anyone can remember) intentionally went for making the populous happy and content. An Oppressed Populous is the best way to have uprisings against your higher standing. :smallbiggrin:

But im not gonna cut that off as being a no-go, in case others wanna make use of such. :smallwink:

Gaslampgenie
2017-12-13, 05:32 PM
An enlightened benevolent despot is certainly a nice change of pace for a fantasy world.
Have you ever heard of Death Valley? It's a small area in California that has some of the most unreal (almost unworldly) desert terrain in the world. They actually shot the scene where C-3P0 and R2-D2 fist land on tatooine and are abducted in star wars a new hope at Death Valley. It could be a great source of inspiration for the geography in parts of Haradrim.

Hemnon
2017-12-13, 06:21 PM
An enlightened benevolent despot is certainly a nice change of pace for a fantasy world.
Have you ever heard of Death Valley? It's a small area in California that has some of the most unreal (almost unworldly) desert terrain in the world. They actually shot the scene where C-3P0 and R2-D2 fist land on tatooine and are abducted in star wars a new hope at Death Valley. It could be a great source of inspiration for the geography in parts of Haradrim.

Ahh cool. But im not from America at all. I had more in mind of a sort of egyptian inspired land with a sorta Ottoman-empire style culture and clothing style. at least surface-wise.
And then we got an ancient Pantheon of god inspired by The Pesedjet (or Enned or whatever it's called). The Egyptian Pantheon but made less specifc and just ancient gods.

The main pantheon is wholey made up by myself with not real inspiration beyond basic 'two gods pair up and birth more gods and goddesses'.

Hemnon
2017-12-14, 06:04 AM
Small update to the Setting idea in Post-1. Now added some expanded information to the first two Cities of Sulkarat: Pengir and Norgir.

Devonkm
2017-12-14, 08:26 AM
Maps.... I need maps =). I love your idea. very cool, robust and well thought out. With homebrew it is hard to visualize without some rough drawn map... you have seen mine lol. You know how rough they are =)

Hemnon
2017-12-14, 08:44 AM
Maps.... I need maps =). I love your idea. very cool, robust and well thought out. With homebrew it is hard to visualize without some rough drawn map... you have seen mine lol. You know how rough they are =)

And drawing is the only skill I spend no skill points in. I got ZERO artistic ability at all. I just can't put mental image to paper. I've tried oh yeah, i have. It's just not a thing i can do.

Compared to my 'art' or 'maps' yours in your games Devon is like a Van Gogh.

Gaslampgenie
2017-12-14, 12:56 PM
Great stuff again! Love the little details about the houses in Norgir. The High Magi running quality control on magic items is a cool detail. I'm hungry for some conflict now. The cities all seem to run well without any major crime, corruption, or political upheaval. Where does the inherent conflict lie? What kinds of things could I expect to dig my teeth into in this world as an adventurer? Zombie cults? Rapacious nomads? Covetous dragons? Places of power hidden deep in the dunes?
Keep it coming!

Hemnon
2017-12-14, 01:26 PM
Great stuff again! Love the little details about the houses in Norgir. The High Magi running quality control on magic items is a cool detail. I'm hungry for some conflict now. The cities all seem to run well without any major crime, corruption, or political upheaval. Where does the inherent conflict lie? What kinds of things could I expect to dig my teeth into in this world as an adventurer? Zombie cults? Rapacious nomads? Covetous dragons? Places of power hidden deep in the dunes?
Keep it coming!

Well there is mentioned things like the Isle of Mist, the Fallen Kingdom of Harakir, etc. etc. for adventure fun.
There's also possibilities for Desert-dwelling dragons, desert orcs and goblins, Lands of Ice Raiders visiting the coastal areas, etc. etc.

The above is a setting after all. allowing for a set base in terms of a world to play in. All the baddies and such should be the preogorative of the DM to flavor in.

As a whole each city in Sulkarat specifically is well-functioning Cities with a lower level of crime, big overview with security, etc. etc. The Conclave to the east is far more power-hungry based with Sorcerer Lords ruling with an ironfist and taking in only other sorcerers to their midst.

The desert itself could also be hit by a sandstorm revealing ancient ruins or a gate toa far-away land that activates and brings forth Elementals or Demons into the Material Realm. :smallwink:

Hemnon
2017-12-16, 04:27 PM
New update on the setting and a much more user-friendly layout!

Please peruse it to your full enjoyment, everyone! :smallsmile:

Gaslampgenie
2017-12-18, 07:48 AM
Love the way this is fleshing out man! New format: A+. Much more approachable. Like I've said the little details are making this feel like a fully developed setting. Like the variation on terrain in Ystra and the Nuvirian tribes are a cool addition!
I would suggest at this point that you start trying to write an exposition to get people hooked. You could write it as an introduction to the campaign you want to start or an isolated short story, but that's going to be a great way to get people interested. Remember there a literally thousands of fantasy worlds that people can choose from and a good exposition is a seller. (Think game of thrones prologue or first episode of the show) I think this is an awesome world and I will likely be using it for a campaign of my own at some point.

Hemnon
2017-12-18, 02:13 PM
Love the way this is fleshing out man! New format: A+. Much more approachable. Like I've said the little details are making this feel like a fully developed setting. Like the variation on terrain in Ystra and the Nuvirian tribes are a cool addition!
I would suggest at this point that you start trying to write an exposition to get people hooked. You could write it as an introduction to the campaign you want to start or an isolated short story, but that's going to be a great way to get people interested. Remember there a literally thousands of fantasy worlds that people can choose from and a good exposition is a seller. (Think game of thrones prologue or first episode of the show) I think this is an awesome world and I will likely be using it for a campaign of my own at some point.

True, but the exposition part is for when and if I actually set up an RP with this setting. In that I would of course add in a really tasty morsel of text to really catch the appetite and make people actually want to read the setting-spoiler in full. :smallwink:

This is the homebrew area, not the recruitment thread after all.

Gaslampgenie
2017-12-18, 02:20 PM
Fair enough lol. Keep it up man!