Halna LeGavilk
2008-05-29, 09:11 PM
Alright. A while ago, I tried to make a homebrew setting for D&D. Here's what I have so far:
The Races
Humans: A proud warrior people who protect the creator of the cosmos' body. I never thought much of that extra skill point every level, so I think I mihgt give them a bonus to either strength or their BAB, not sure yet.
Humans are the only race to know how to manufacture Darwood, a wood that even after being cut, lives, so it naturally repairs itself. It always appears wet, and is extremely useful when building warships, weapons, and homes.
Elves: Two groups: Those who've gone insane and worship Kares, and those who view their brethren's fall as heresy and work to exterminate them. The Kares worshipping group would be all NPCs, but I'm thinking of a much darker group of elves for the others. I'm probably gonna give them a bonus to intelligence, and subtract something from charisma.
Ogres: A race dominated by a shrewd tribe, who controls much trade, and rather than being incredibly strong and stupid, are actually rather bright and smart. Instead of giving them levels in giant and the like, I'll make them a LA +0 race. I actually need to remake them later on.
Halflings: Halflings are nomadic traders who have no permanent settlements. They are generally considered cruel and distant, but are excellent manipulators, and are usually very direct and honest. Halflings generally keep their word. I'm gonna replace their racial bonuses to climb, jump, listen and move silently checks into intimidate, sense motive, diplomacy, and bluff. They are divided by tribal ties, but can be united in times of trouble by a King of Halflings, because prophecy states that whenever the halflings are in danger as a race, a halfling related to the ancient royal blood-line will come into power and rule till the end of the troubles, when the halfling governmental system.
Orcs: Orcs occupy the mountains south of the humans, and are considered a kind and gentle race. They get along well with every race, and are protectors of nature. I need a new build for them, preferably one with a higher charisma and with a favored class of druid. Their whole society is ruled by druids, with druids coming together once a year in a giant festival in a secret location to determine their general power, and thus place in the hierarchy.
Tritons & Dwarves: Tritons and dwarves share a very close tie, going all the way back to the beginning of the world, when the creator of the Tritons, Tira, and the creator of the dwarves, Du-mauck, were married. Dwarves and Triton teams always patrol the sea and coast, watching for the invasion of Sahuagin, who think they were denied guardianship of the TotB because the humans cheated at the beginning of time, so their mission in life is to kill the humans. The Dwarves and Tritons are essentially mercenaries hired by shipments of the Darwood, which the Tritons changed to grow underwater and the dwarves made into ships.
However, Dwarven/Triton pirates are not uncommon, and disrupt shipping to the Thousand Islands.
The Geography
Humans occupy the lands in and surrounding the Tomb of the Being, which is called Knightland, in honor of their patron god, the Gray Knight. They are generally farmers, but many of them are fighters as well, continually waging war with the elves of the giant forest Karestia. Most of the human forces are infantry, but there are two highly trained military forces that help: the Dragon Riders and the Battle Mages.
I decided that the Dragon Riders, though being a large part of the Human's cultural identity, they should not be the only part. The Battle Mages operate out of a large fortress-academy located in the TotB.
The Tomb of the Being refers not only to the tomb itself, but also an incredibly large city surrounding it. The tomb itself is a mystery, as the few who ventured in and were ever heard from again had taken their place among the gods.
Knightland is bordered on the west by Karestia, on the north by Darinta, a land of massive mountains inhabited mostly by the large, incredibly powerful ogre tribe who controls trade and and the the east by another large mountain chain, which the orcs and halflings live on, called the Teeth of Morg. Morg is the patron god of orcs. South is an enourmous sea, dotted with thousands and thousands of islands, inhabited by dwarves and tritons. These are called the Thousand Islands.
Farther west, past Karestia, is Karlinto, which is the home of the lands of the elves who wish to 'free' Karestia.Further north, above Darinta, is a medium sized desert, where strange trees, which grow miles into the air and underground, plus being several miles in diamter grow.
A race of strange ant-like creatures live there. They 'mine' and trade the valuable sap of the trees, which has amazing restorative properties. That land is known as Harloon. Surrounding that desert is a winter wonderland, only the Being knows why, populated by strange, unknown creatures. It is the farthest north explored.
To the east of the Teeth of Morg is an enourmous savannah, filled with various tribes of orcs, and small settlements of Kalinto elves and Knightland humans. It is known simply as the Savannah.
Karestia is located about 200 miles due west of the TotB, and is filled with about a hundred tribes of insane elves. These elves were corrupted when their patron god, Kares, fell to Insanity and went insane himself. These elves continually wage war with the humans of Knightland, but are continually driven back by the humanity's proud warriors. They also constantly eat away at the Karlinto elves, and if the Karlinto elves should ever fall, the Karestians would be powerful enough to conquer the human lands. Karestia is also bordered by the sea, and occaisionally, merchants from Karlinto report trading wars between the Sahuagin and the Karestians, further limiting both groups power.
Darinta is held together by a tenuous alliance of ogre traders and merchant-lords. They are generally the price setters and bankers of Gartonion, and control the valuable sap trade.
The orcs and halflings living on the Teeth of Morg wage a series of small wars, each trying to crave out an acceptable living space on them. However, they generally both distrust the ogres, after several invasion by the ogres, and can band together of necessary, with the most powerful orcish druid being of equal rank to either the Hafling King or whoever the Halflings choose as their leader.
The Thousand Islands is quite like the Caribbeans of the 17th and 18th centuries, except with magic. They provide a cotton like crop that grows quite well in the tropical climate. Invasions by the Sahuagin, though swift, are often brutal, rampaging across islands before either coming to a halt or being obliterated by the dwarves, tritons, and humans working in concert.
Karlinto is a dark forest, with very little light getting to the ground. Anyone coming in feels as though they are being watched, for they are: by the elves of the Karlintan Watch, a group that protects against the Karestians. Even the slightest sign of the Insanity is enough for death. The Karlintans take no chances.
Harloon is a dry, dusty place where every hundred miles or so live on the massive Harleen trees, where the strange ant creatures live, eat, sleep, and die. Each of the trees is connected belowground by tunnels drilled by the ants, and a large trade network is open. Each tree is large enough so that 200,000 of the ant beings can live without even registering on the trees resources. The highest populations are rumored to by upwards of several million.
The Savannah is a large plain, where farms excel because of excellent soil and growing conditions, and where the growing season lasts all year round. Knightlandians have claimed a large patch, establishing themselves over a hundred small nations, collectively called the Savannah Towns. Knightlandians are not good at coming up with names. At all.
The Karlinto elves are constantly at war with the humans, mostly for the unknown magical artifacts and ruins that litter the soil. It was rumored that Gartonion used to be much more explored, and that great civilizations ruled, but fell in a Insanity invasion.
Crunch for New Races
Humans
-Medium: As medium creatures, humans have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base land speed: 30 ft.
-1 extra feat at first level, and one at 20th level.
-4 extra skill points at first level, and 1 extra skill point every level thereafter.
-+1 to attack at first level, with an additional +2 every five levels.
-Automatic language: Common. Bonus languages: Any
-+2 to ride and diplomacy checks made against dragons.
-+2 racial bonus to will saves. This improves to a +4 when made against checks for going insane.
-Favored Class: Bladesman. See "Classes of Gartonion" more information.
Elves
-+2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
-Medium: As medium creatures, elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base Land speed: 30 ft.
-Climb speed: 20 ft.
-+4 racial bonus to will saves made against going insane.
-Darkvision 120 ft, and lowlight vision.
-Weapon profeciency: Elves recieve weapon profeciency for the glaive, longbow (including composite), and longsword as bonus feats.
-+2 racial bonus to Listen, Spot, Concentration, and Survival checks.
-Automatic Language: Elven. Bonus Languages: Ogre, Dwarven, and Triton.
-Favored Class: Sorceror.
Dwarves
-+2 Dexterity, -2 Wisdom
-Medium: As medium creatures, dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base Land speed: 30 ft.
-Base Swim speed: 30 ft.
-Stability: A dwarf gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on a ship or something similer that shakes, which increases to a +6 on the ground.
-+2 racial bonus on fortitude saves against poison.
-+2 racial bonus on saves against nausea.
-+4 attack bonus against Sahuagin.
-+4 dodge bonus against Sahuagin.
-+4 bonus on Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Bluff checks against Tritons.
-Dwarves gain Create Water as a spell like ability, as a level 4 cleric, two times per day.
-Automatic Languages: Dwarven, Triton, and Common. Bonus Languages: Ogre, Elven, Halfling.
Favored Class: Bladesman
Halflings
-+2 Charisma, -2 Strength
-Small: As a Small creature, a halfling gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
-Base Land speed: 20 ft
-+2 racial bonus on Appraise, Diplomacy, Bluff, Sense Motive, Intimidate, and Handle Animal checks.
-+1 racial bonus on saving throws.
-+4 racial bonus to attack rolls against ogres and orcs.
-+4 Dodge bonus against ogres and orcs.
-Halflings gain Arcane Mark as a level 2 sorceror, at will, and Discern Lies as a level 4 sorceror, 4 times per day.
-Automtic Languages: Common, Halfling, Orcish. Bonus Languages: Ogre, Triton, Elven, Dwarven.
Favored Class: Rogue.
Orcs
-+2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence
-Medium: As medium creatures, orcs have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base land speed of 40 ft
-Base Climb Speed of 30 ft
-Low light vision.
-+4 Attack and Damage bonus vs. Ogres.
-+2 Attack and Damage bonus vs. Halflings.
-+6 Racial bonus to Handle Animal and Ride.
-Gains Calm Animal and Charm Animal as a level 4 Druid
-Automatic languages: Common, Halfling, Orcish, plus a simple language that allows them to communicate with animals on a basic level(Things such as philosophy can only be expressed at the simplest of levels, such as "X is good" or "The gods protect us" can be expressed. Also, most science and hard math cannot be expressed. "1+1=2" can be, everything Algebra 1 and above cannot be). Bonus Languages: Ogre, Triton, Elven, Dwarven.
-Favored Class: Druid.
Ogres
-+2 Charisma, +2 Intelligence, -2 Dexterity.
-Large size. -1 penalty to Armor Class, -1 penalty on attack rolls, -4 penalty on Hide checks, +4 bonus on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits double those of Medium characters.
-Space/Reach: 10 feet/10 feet.
-An ogre’s base land speed is 40 feet.
-+4 Racial Bonus to Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Bluff. +6 Racial Bonus to Intimidate.
-Automatic Languages: Common, Ogre. Bonus Languages: Halfling, Orc, Harloonian.
Favored Class: Sorceror.
Tritons
-+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution.
-Medium: As medium creatures, Tritons have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base Land Speed is 20 ft.
-Base Swim Speed is 50 ft.
-Tritons can breathe underwater, and therefore are not subject to drowning except when the liquid is not oxygen based.
-Tritons have Darkvision 60 ft and low light vision
-Tritions gain a +6 racial bonus to Swim Speed, and gain also take a 10 on Swim rolls, even when threatened.
-Tritons gain racial weapon profeciency with the trident and crossbow.
-Tritons who go onto land who have been in the water for more than a month must spend one day on land getting adjusted. While getting adjusted, a Triton takes a -4 to attack, a -4 to AC, -6 to Fortitude, -4 to all skill checks, and, if he fails a DC 20 Fort save, has nausea for the day. Afterwords, he functions normally.
-All Tritons carry a horn which they may use to summon Tritons, a number of which equal to the character's HD/4, rounded up, twice per day. All the summoned Tritons have Fighter equal to 1/2 the of the Tritons HD. Summoned Tritons may not use their horns. This is a magical effect
-Automatic Languages: Triton, Dwarven. Bonus Languages: Common, Elven, Halfling.
The Races
Humans: A proud warrior people who protect the creator of the cosmos' body. I never thought much of that extra skill point every level, so I think I mihgt give them a bonus to either strength or their BAB, not sure yet.
Humans are the only race to know how to manufacture Darwood, a wood that even after being cut, lives, so it naturally repairs itself. It always appears wet, and is extremely useful when building warships, weapons, and homes.
Elves: Two groups: Those who've gone insane and worship Kares, and those who view their brethren's fall as heresy and work to exterminate them. The Kares worshipping group would be all NPCs, but I'm thinking of a much darker group of elves for the others. I'm probably gonna give them a bonus to intelligence, and subtract something from charisma.
Ogres: A race dominated by a shrewd tribe, who controls much trade, and rather than being incredibly strong and stupid, are actually rather bright and smart. Instead of giving them levels in giant and the like, I'll make them a LA +0 race. I actually need to remake them later on.
Halflings: Halflings are nomadic traders who have no permanent settlements. They are generally considered cruel and distant, but are excellent manipulators, and are usually very direct and honest. Halflings generally keep their word. I'm gonna replace their racial bonuses to climb, jump, listen and move silently checks into intimidate, sense motive, diplomacy, and bluff. They are divided by tribal ties, but can be united in times of trouble by a King of Halflings, because prophecy states that whenever the halflings are in danger as a race, a halfling related to the ancient royal blood-line will come into power and rule till the end of the troubles, when the halfling governmental system.
Orcs: Orcs occupy the mountains south of the humans, and are considered a kind and gentle race. They get along well with every race, and are protectors of nature. I need a new build for them, preferably one with a higher charisma and with a favored class of druid. Their whole society is ruled by druids, with druids coming together once a year in a giant festival in a secret location to determine their general power, and thus place in the hierarchy.
Tritons & Dwarves: Tritons and dwarves share a very close tie, going all the way back to the beginning of the world, when the creator of the Tritons, Tira, and the creator of the dwarves, Du-mauck, were married. Dwarves and Triton teams always patrol the sea and coast, watching for the invasion of Sahuagin, who think they were denied guardianship of the TotB because the humans cheated at the beginning of time, so their mission in life is to kill the humans. The Dwarves and Tritons are essentially mercenaries hired by shipments of the Darwood, which the Tritons changed to grow underwater and the dwarves made into ships.
However, Dwarven/Triton pirates are not uncommon, and disrupt shipping to the Thousand Islands.
The Geography
Humans occupy the lands in and surrounding the Tomb of the Being, which is called Knightland, in honor of their patron god, the Gray Knight. They are generally farmers, but many of them are fighters as well, continually waging war with the elves of the giant forest Karestia. Most of the human forces are infantry, but there are two highly trained military forces that help: the Dragon Riders and the Battle Mages.
I decided that the Dragon Riders, though being a large part of the Human's cultural identity, they should not be the only part. The Battle Mages operate out of a large fortress-academy located in the TotB.
The Tomb of the Being refers not only to the tomb itself, but also an incredibly large city surrounding it. The tomb itself is a mystery, as the few who ventured in and were ever heard from again had taken their place among the gods.
Knightland is bordered on the west by Karestia, on the north by Darinta, a land of massive mountains inhabited mostly by the large, incredibly powerful ogre tribe who controls trade and and the the east by another large mountain chain, which the orcs and halflings live on, called the Teeth of Morg. Morg is the patron god of orcs. South is an enourmous sea, dotted with thousands and thousands of islands, inhabited by dwarves and tritons. These are called the Thousand Islands.
Farther west, past Karestia, is Karlinto, which is the home of the lands of the elves who wish to 'free' Karestia.Further north, above Darinta, is a medium sized desert, where strange trees, which grow miles into the air and underground, plus being several miles in diamter grow.
A race of strange ant-like creatures live there. They 'mine' and trade the valuable sap of the trees, which has amazing restorative properties. That land is known as Harloon. Surrounding that desert is a winter wonderland, only the Being knows why, populated by strange, unknown creatures. It is the farthest north explored.
To the east of the Teeth of Morg is an enourmous savannah, filled with various tribes of orcs, and small settlements of Kalinto elves and Knightland humans. It is known simply as the Savannah.
Karestia is located about 200 miles due west of the TotB, and is filled with about a hundred tribes of insane elves. These elves were corrupted when their patron god, Kares, fell to Insanity and went insane himself. These elves continually wage war with the humans of Knightland, but are continually driven back by the humanity's proud warriors. They also constantly eat away at the Karlinto elves, and if the Karlinto elves should ever fall, the Karestians would be powerful enough to conquer the human lands. Karestia is also bordered by the sea, and occaisionally, merchants from Karlinto report trading wars between the Sahuagin and the Karestians, further limiting both groups power.
Darinta is held together by a tenuous alliance of ogre traders and merchant-lords. They are generally the price setters and bankers of Gartonion, and control the valuable sap trade.
The orcs and halflings living on the Teeth of Morg wage a series of small wars, each trying to crave out an acceptable living space on them. However, they generally both distrust the ogres, after several invasion by the ogres, and can band together of necessary, with the most powerful orcish druid being of equal rank to either the Hafling King or whoever the Halflings choose as their leader.
The Thousand Islands is quite like the Caribbeans of the 17th and 18th centuries, except with magic. They provide a cotton like crop that grows quite well in the tropical climate. Invasions by the Sahuagin, though swift, are often brutal, rampaging across islands before either coming to a halt or being obliterated by the dwarves, tritons, and humans working in concert.
Karlinto is a dark forest, with very little light getting to the ground. Anyone coming in feels as though they are being watched, for they are: by the elves of the Karlintan Watch, a group that protects against the Karestians. Even the slightest sign of the Insanity is enough for death. The Karlintans take no chances.
Harloon is a dry, dusty place where every hundred miles or so live on the massive Harleen trees, where the strange ant creatures live, eat, sleep, and die. Each of the trees is connected belowground by tunnels drilled by the ants, and a large trade network is open. Each tree is large enough so that 200,000 of the ant beings can live without even registering on the trees resources. The highest populations are rumored to by upwards of several million.
The Savannah is a large plain, where farms excel because of excellent soil and growing conditions, and where the growing season lasts all year round. Knightlandians have claimed a large patch, establishing themselves over a hundred small nations, collectively called the Savannah Towns. Knightlandians are not good at coming up with names. At all.
The Karlinto elves are constantly at war with the humans, mostly for the unknown magical artifacts and ruins that litter the soil. It was rumored that Gartonion used to be much more explored, and that great civilizations ruled, but fell in a Insanity invasion.
Crunch for New Races
Humans
-Medium: As medium creatures, humans have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base land speed: 30 ft.
-1 extra feat at first level, and one at 20th level.
-4 extra skill points at first level, and 1 extra skill point every level thereafter.
-+1 to attack at first level, with an additional +2 every five levels.
-Automatic language: Common. Bonus languages: Any
-+2 to ride and diplomacy checks made against dragons.
-+2 racial bonus to will saves. This improves to a +4 when made against checks for going insane.
-Favored Class: Bladesman. See "Classes of Gartonion" more information.
Elves
-+2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
-Medium: As medium creatures, elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base Land speed: 30 ft.
-Climb speed: 20 ft.
-+4 racial bonus to will saves made against going insane.
-Darkvision 120 ft, and lowlight vision.
-Weapon profeciency: Elves recieve weapon profeciency for the glaive, longbow (including composite), and longsword as bonus feats.
-+2 racial bonus to Listen, Spot, Concentration, and Survival checks.
-Automatic Language: Elven. Bonus Languages: Ogre, Dwarven, and Triton.
-Favored Class: Sorceror.
Dwarves
-+2 Dexterity, -2 Wisdom
-Medium: As medium creatures, dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base Land speed: 30 ft.
-Base Swim speed: 30 ft.
-Stability: A dwarf gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on a ship or something similer that shakes, which increases to a +6 on the ground.
-+2 racial bonus on fortitude saves against poison.
-+2 racial bonus on saves against nausea.
-+4 attack bonus against Sahuagin.
-+4 dodge bonus against Sahuagin.
-+4 bonus on Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Bluff checks against Tritons.
-Dwarves gain Create Water as a spell like ability, as a level 4 cleric, two times per day.
-Automatic Languages: Dwarven, Triton, and Common. Bonus Languages: Ogre, Elven, Halfling.
Favored Class: Bladesman
Halflings
-+2 Charisma, -2 Strength
-Small: As a Small creature, a halfling gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
-Base Land speed: 20 ft
-+2 racial bonus on Appraise, Diplomacy, Bluff, Sense Motive, Intimidate, and Handle Animal checks.
-+1 racial bonus on saving throws.
-+4 racial bonus to attack rolls against ogres and orcs.
-+4 Dodge bonus against ogres and orcs.
-Halflings gain Arcane Mark as a level 2 sorceror, at will, and Discern Lies as a level 4 sorceror, 4 times per day.
-Automtic Languages: Common, Halfling, Orcish. Bonus Languages: Ogre, Triton, Elven, Dwarven.
Favored Class: Rogue.
Orcs
-+2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence
-Medium: As medium creatures, orcs have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base land speed of 40 ft
-Base Climb Speed of 30 ft
-Low light vision.
-+4 Attack and Damage bonus vs. Ogres.
-+2 Attack and Damage bonus vs. Halflings.
-+6 Racial bonus to Handle Animal and Ride.
-Gains Calm Animal and Charm Animal as a level 4 Druid
-Automatic languages: Common, Halfling, Orcish, plus a simple language that allows them to communicate with animals on a basic level(Things such as philosophy can only be expressed at the simplest of levels, such as "X is good" or "The gods protect us" can be expressed. Also, most science and hard math cannot be expressed. "1+1=2" can be, everything Algebra 1 and above cannot be). Bonus Languages: Ogre, Triton, Elven, Dwarven.
-Favored Class: Druid.
Ogres
-+2 Charisma, +2 Intelligence, -2 Dexterity.
-Large size. -1 penalty to Armor Class, -1 penalty on attack rolls, -4 penalty on Hide checks, +4 bonus on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits double those of Medium characters.
-Space/Reach: 10 feet/10 feet.
-An ogre’s base land speed is 40 feet.
-+4 Racial Bonus to Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Bluff. +6 Racial Bonus to Intimidate.
-Automatic Languages: Common, Ogre. Bonus Languages: Halfling, Orc, Harloonian.
Favored Class: Sorceror.
Tritons
-+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution.
-Medium: As medium creatures, Tritons have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
-Base Land Speed is 20 ft.
-Base Swim Speed is 50 ft.
-Tritons can breathe underwater, and therefore are not subject to drowning except when the liquid is not oxygen based.
-Tritons have Darkvision 60 ft and low light vision
-Tritions gain a +6 racial bonus to Swim Speed, and gain also take a 10 on Swim rolls, even when threatened.
-Tritons gain racial weapon profeciency with the trident and crossbow.
-Tritons who go onto land who have been in the water for more than a month must spend one day on land getting adjusted. While getting adjusted, a Triton takes a -4 to attack, a -4 to AC, -6 to Fortitude, -4 to all skill checks, and, if he fails a DC 20 Fort save, has nausea for the day. Afterwords, he functions normally.
-All Tritons carry a horn which they may use to summon Tritons, a number of which equal to the character's HD/4, rounded up, twice per day. All the summoned Tritons have Fighter equal to 1/2 the of the Tritons HD. Summoned Tritons may not use their horns. This is a magical effect
-Automatic Languages: Triton, Dwarven. Bonus Languages: Common, Elven, Halfling.