Gears of Neve: A 4E World-Building Project -- Oderike

[TheStagesmith]

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/8336/gon3va9.png
Oderike: The Northern Continent


Welcome. Gears of Neve is a 4th edition D&D world-building project here on GitP. The mods were kind enough to let us have three threads going for this project, so this is #3. To start off, be sure to read the beginning of this thread, and be sure to read this post in great detail.

Of the three continents in the world, this is the north-western one (aka the Northern Continent). We have now decided to call this continent Oderike.

Map of the World with [preliminary] Racial distribution:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s228/zetakai/GearsofNeve8.jpg
(props to tsuuga and Zeta Kai for the awesome job)

So far we seem to have been going on this supposition:

My take on the Old World Order:

There are two main groups: The Imperial Alliance, and the Principle League.

Do you see on the map where there's a semi-enclosed bay? That's where the Principle League resides, made up of around 15 city-states, each lead by a monarch who goes by the title of Prince. Originally simply a trading alliance between like states, they have now become almost completely joined together, in all matters, not only economic but military as well. Each Prince has a seat on the Council, where they decide on matters involving all of the states. Think a cross between the Italian city-states and the Hansean League. The Principle League is almost all human.

North of the Principle League is the Imperial Alliance, which is less loosely held together than the other. The Imperial Alliance is a military alliance, much like NATO is today. They are made up of 7 states. 2 are almost entirely human kingdoms, the furthest to the south, adjacent to the Principle League; it was their power that forced the Principle League into being. 2 more kingdoms are mostly human, but with a good amount of dwarven population. These are to the North and North/East, with a fully joint Human/dwarven kingdom to the East, ruled by 2 kings, one human one dwarven. The last 2 are Halfling 'kingdoms', in the loosest sense of the word, with no feudal system with land, but merely with fealty.

To the south, I'm not sure.

http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/8820/politicalmapdj5.png
This is a map showing the locations of various kingdoms in the Northern Continent. Thanks again to tsuuga for this one.

The Dwarven kingdom is also the land of the Warforged. We haven't quite fleshed out a reason for the warforged's existence, but it wasn't war (remember, this setting is avoiding that kind of dark theme). Possibilities include mining operations, construction of large... stuff, and construction of a possible canal connecting the central ocean with the bay in the middle of this continent. Any way, the warforged have, for some unknown reason, begun 'awakening' to true sentience. While the dwarves have no idea what's causing this, they are doing their best to help out the sentient warforged as if they were living beings.

The far southern area of the continent hasn't been decided on yet. Any ideas are great.

Also, gnomes have been discussed as being nomadic, native to the Northern Continent. They are very mysterious, and have a sort of "you don't mess with me, I don't mess with you" agreement with the other races on this continent. Oh, right, and bad things happen if gnomes and halflings walk into a bar together.


Things we need to figure out:

Names! (now mainly for countries, not the continent)
Relations Between Countries (all of them, not just a handful)
Warforged: their origins and their current status
Method of discovery of Abraxas
Each nation's stock in the new world
The Western Empire: Everything


Okay, that's all I can think of/remember right now. Discuss!

[puppyavenger]

didn't we put the goblins on the uninhabited southern chunk?
also, maybe someone found Abraxes by trying to find the Elderin homeland (the south-eastern archipelago) but only knew to go east and found Abraxes instead?

[Recaiden]

Theories: The western area could be made up of the goblinoid races, or just hobgoblins and goblins, with part of the area claimed by gnomes.

Warforged were made to support the Imperial Alliance, which i think needs a new name, and construct ships for colonization, as well as being bought by the Principal League to construct the canal. They are awakening and being helped to adapt by the dwarves who made them, as was suggested before.

The Imperial Alliance initially started colonizing Abraxas, and the Principal League is trying to keep up. The two groups are not at war or hostile, but competing for control over land and more power.

[Szilard]

I have an Idea about the warforged...
Long ago, this smart race was dieing out, so they created metal shells in which to house their souls, something went wrong and they were all shut down. When the Dwarves were mining, they found these "bodys" The warforged. They turned them on, and woke up the entire race, but they don't really remember anything and followed the dwarves orders of mining. Then they- I have to go now, I'll get back to this post. started to awake, seeing what they could become...
maybe.
Nah...

[Zeta Kai]

The "main" thread has had its name changed to Gears of Neve: a 4E World-Building Project Abraxas, to reflex its new status as the dedicated Abraxas discussion thread.

Links to the Terasul thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84602)& the Oderike thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84633)have been added to the first post in the Abraxas thread.


Map of Oderike
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s228/zetakai/GoN-Oderike.jpg

[ApeofLight]

I'm thinking that the southern part is mostly untaimed wilderness. But the gnomes there have a good amount of people there kinda roaming like the halflings but have some kind of cities.

Why halfings and gnomes dont like each other. It could be because of bad blood bewteen the two. Im thinking that the gnomes where halflings long ago but split off from the main nomadic group and traveled to the southern are. Still trying to figure out why they wherent liked.

[TheStagesmith]

didn't we put the goblins on the uninhabited southern chunk?

I thought that we had, but then realized that they were already on the southern continent.

[puppyavenger]

I thought that we had, but then realized that they were already on the southern continent.

umm, yah, they were just put there by the preliminary racial distribution, I thought they were going to be Holland?

[TheStagesmith]

umm, yah, they were just put there by the preliminary racial distribution, I thought they were going to be Holland?

Well, it's easy enough to change to whatever, we just need to make sure that the southern continent people aren't going under the assumption that the goblins live there.

[puppyavenger]

Well, it's easy enough to change to whatever, we just need to make sure that the southern continent people aren't going under the assumption that the goblins live there.

nope, orcs, a few elderin, tieflings, kobolds, dragonblood, and dragons, but no goblins.

[Recaiden]

Should we have goblins, gnomes, or both? I would say definitely gnomes, and a sizable number of goblins as well.

@V: What do you mean by Holland?

[TheStagesmith]

Well, if we don't have goblins running amok on other continents, then I'm going back to my original idea of them being the Holland-type nation (although much bigger) at the southern tip of the continent.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Yes, we had goblins being the main race in the south-western part.

By 'Holland-type' we mean 'Insane Ship-builders/Sailors/Traders, but not very good explorer'.

I had a long story of Abraxas, it's discovery, colonisation, etc, but the forum ate my post in the Abraxas thread. I'll remake it later.

In short, a blown of course trading ship owned by the League, and crewed by goblins saw it first. They came back, and the Imperial Alliance sent out 2 expeditions, both privately funded. The first was an underfunded gamble by the third son of a minor noble with only one cog (http://www.modelshipmaster.com/products/tall_ships/saomiguel.jpg) (he disappeared), the second was a well planned expedition funded by a 68 year old Lord, led by a seasoned explorer, with 3 caravels (http://www.kwabs.com/columbusship4.jpg), and a really fast ship. Lah-di-dah, ship lands, sets up fort, sends back for more settlers, after one year, settlement mysteriously disappeared. Not to worry, another settling party goes out, and founds a town, which is now the capital.

[ApeofLight]

I think Ouderijke (dutch of old and rich put together) might be a good name for the north continent.

[Moff Chumley]

I think Ouderijke (dutch of old and rich put together) might be a good name for the north continent.

I dunno... It's a sort of intimidating word.

I like the ideas for the Dutch goblins. We can make Goblinoid cities really polluted and nasty and such... possibly a place for traditional steampunkage.

[ApeofLight]

How about something like Oderike? Would that be better?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I was thinking something of the sort as well.

On thing that's really important is languages. I usually just make them speak RL languages. Humans speak English, but are named with older English names, not todays typical ones, for example.

Edit: That, or twisted representations of todays names, or even random words.

For example, the name of the famous explorer who spearheaded the second expedition. His name is Jello Thomson, which I changed to Jel Thondu.

[puppyavenger]

I was thinking something of the sort as well.

On thing that's really important is languages. I usually just make them speak RL languages. Humans speak English, but are named with older English names, not todays typical ones, for example.

Edit: That, or twisted representations of todays names, or even random words.

For example, the name of the famous explorer who spearheaded the second expedition. His name is Jello Thomson, which I changed to Jel Thondu.

could you change it to something that doesn't rhyme with fondue?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Urgh, good point.
Jello fondue doesn't work very well. It's sorta hard to dip things in when all it does is jiggle.

Jel Thonsils?
Jel Thomyi?
Jel Thomyi it is.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Just for the record, reposting the story for ease of reference.

First Sighting

The first sighting of Abraxas by an Oderiker was a Principal League trader crewed by goblins. Blown of course by a freak gale, the strongly religious hobgoblin captain kept a strict diary of the happenings. (I'll work on this later.) It was clear to them that they would fall of the edge of the world. They were blown all around the place, for months, forced to survive on fish and drained saltwater. Indeed, they were close to following of the edge at times; the lookout had a heart-attack upon viewing it. However, the winds always changed, and blew them the other way. Every day, the captain would measure there position, using the stars and the sun, and mark down where they were. There first sight of land in 2 months was huge mountains in the distance. None of the crew had ever seen, or heard of anything like it. They were blown closer, and for a whole week, were off the coast of this wondrous land, all thick jungle and towering mountains, with storm clouds ever gathering near the shrouded peaks. Then they were adrift again in the open sea, and eventually made shore in the Draconic Empire. There, they were taken in, and there boat repaired, and they were sent back to Oderike. There, neither of there home countries believed there stories, but the Imperial Alliance thought it enough to warrant further investigation.

The First Expeditions

2 men signed up to lead expeditions east. These two men were as different as could be.

The young Sir Frederick Wallan was always known as an adventurous rogue: the third son of a minor nobleman, he somehow managed to earn money as fast as he spent it. The amount of money he spent on this expedition was unthought of; most though nobody would even except the offer of land and money for almost certain death. No matter, he bought himself a cog, and hired a crew of 15 sailors, with 5 soldiers, and brought them, along with his mistress Joanna and his personal bodyguard, Hernan, and set sail on Midsummers eve, for the unknown. Some say he never reached Abraxas. Some say he died on the journey. Some say he was killed by natives. Others, that he decided to join the natives and never come back. No matter the reason, he disappeared.

Not to be outdone, the venerable 64 year old Lord Victor of Umbroke sponsored no less than 3 fully manned caravels,, and the quickest ship in all the land, the Ghost, led by well known explorer Jel Thomyi, the very same man who opened negotiations with the Draconic Empire. With no less than 40 soldiers, and a crew of 60 sailors, they sighted land early in August, but could find no place suitable to spend a winter. On the 10th of September, they managed to find an area of land that was only lightly wooded, and drew the ships up on the pebbly beach. (They had made land only 4 other times, and collected samples of plant life.) They chopped down trees, and built a group of cabins, and a tower, surrounded by a palisade. They wintered there, and then sent back the Ghost with news that they had landed, and survived. The messengers words will go down in history as marking one of the most important changes in history.

"Man, Dwarf, Halfling and Goblin-kind! Long have we lived in this land, plowing the same soil, living and dying, and being buried in the same crypt as your fathers, and your fathers fathers. But now, we live in a new land! No longer the land of our ancestors, we have discovered the Land of the Descendants!"

Though the name Land of Descendants never caught on, people leaving the Old World are often playfully said to be 'Leaving the Bones', a reference to that first, and very important declaration.

[Recaiden]

Oderike sounds good.

[Zeta Kai]

I agree that Oderike is a nice-sounding name for the continent. Stagesmith, if nobody objects, will you change the thread name to Gears of Neve: A 4E World-Building Project Oderike?

[puppyavenger]

I agree that Oderike is a nice-sounding name for the continent. Stagesmith, if nobody objects, will you change the thread name to Gears of Neve: A 4E World-Building Project Oderike?

sounds good

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Let's hash out an overview of one of the kingdoms, shall we?

Lets do the Half-Dwarf Half-Human Kingdom.

I envision there being 2 kings, one dwarf, one human, and, likewise, two royal lines. They agree with each other on most things, but otherwise mostly keep to their own people. Effectively 2 kingdoms rolled into one, it is getting a constant influx of dwarves, as it is the only dwarf kingdom under dwarven rule in the land.

[Moff Chumley]

Person'ly, I think that having humans be to prevelant in much of the world is a bad, bad thing. I think that there should be at least as many dwarves and halflings (in total) as humans, just to break stereotypes.

[Zeta Kai]

Person'ly, I think that having humans be to prevelant in much of the world is a bad, bad thing. I think that there should be at least as many dwarves and halflings (in total) as humans, just to break stereotypes.

That's a great idea, Moff; we should change up the demographics in this setting. It would help to set this apart from others campaign settings (& possibly serve as a commentary on the violent, expansionist nature of humanity). Perhaps full-blooded Humans are only a large minority, instead of the clear majority race, as they are assumed to be in just about every campaign setting that I've ever seen. The question then remains: which race(s) should be more numerous? Dwarves? Elves? Halflings? Dragonborn? Tieflings? Goblinoids? Eldarin? One of the Abraxas mystery races?

[ApeofLight]

Well maybe in the northern continent the races would be the human kindom (small) and the principality leagues. Then the dwarfs being a main part of the population in the other kingdoms then the halfings have there own teritory. With gnomes in the southern part.

[chiasaur11]

That's a great idea, Moff; we should change up the demographics in this setting. It would help to set this apart from others campaign settings (& possibly serve as a commentary on the violent, expansionist nature of humanity). Perhaps full-blooded Humans are only a large minority, instead of the clear majority race, as they are assumed to be in just about every campaign setting that I've ever seen. The question then remains: which race(s) should be more numerous? Dwarves? Elves? Halflings? Dragonborn? Tieflings? Goblinoids? Eldarin? One of the Abraxas mystery races?

Well, the Dragonborn were said somewhere to be the Warhammer empire, but not evil, and THE military power. If their bunch, counting Kobolds, has numbers, we've got the humans as "small sorta democracy, basically good sorts" and these guys as "Large, fairly decent, Empire with strict heirarchies."

It could work.

[ApeofLight]

Well the dragonborn are like THE race on Terasul.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I was thinking that we had roughly equal numbers on each continent. On Abraxas, the divide would be something like 70% Elf, 20% Eldarin, 5% Yuan-ti, 5% Mindflayer.

On Oderike, something like 40% Human, 15% Goblin, 20% Halfling, 20% Dwarf, 5% Gnome.

On Terasul, something like 50% Kobold, 40% Dragonborn, 10% Tiefling.

Leaving a total hierarchy of quantity as follows.

Elf>Kobold>Human=Dragonborn>Halfling=Dwarf=Eldarin>Goblin>Tiefling>Gnome=Mindflayer=Yuan-ti

[ApeofLight]

Maybe less elf and more others on Abraxas.

On Oderike maybe make goblin and gnomes equal.

And on Terasul maybe switch the kobolds and dragonborn.

[chiasaur11]

Maybe less elf and more others on Abraxas.

On Oderike maybe make goblin and gnomes equal.

And on Terasul maybe switch the kobolds and dragonborn.

I wouldn't switch Kobold and Dragonborn. I mean Kobolds have loyal citizens and rebels, plus most of them are the (Well treated, since this IS the positive setting) lower class. You need the lower class to be kinda big in your huge empires.

[ApeofLight]

ok you got me there.

[TheStagesmith]

Okay, changed the thread title, edited a few minor things in OP... anything I missed? I'll be posting a lot more in the next couple days, so let me know.

Oh, and humans? Let them be outnumbered by the shorties.

[ApeofLight]

So like the humans would be like 40% and the gnomes, halflings and dwarfs would be 50%?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

But the humans will be much more centralized than the others.

[Szilard]

So humans stand together while the others are spread out over the continent?

[ApeofLight]

Yes humans centralized with a few dwarf kindomgs and the halfling nomads also maybe gnome goblin civilazation is in the south part of the continent.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I meant more densely populated, more urbanized.

[Zeta Kai]

Question: I don't see who is actually populating the Principal League? Is it mostly Human? Human/Dwarf? Some other racial mix? And how many micro-nations make up this league?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

The principal league is made up of 15 human principalities.

[Moff Chumley]

One gripe: More Eladrin, more Tiefling, less elves. When I say, "a few large tiefling cities", I'm REALLY talking large here. New York (Or maybe San Francisco) sized metropolises.

[Zeta Kai]

One gripe: More Eladrin, more Tiefling, less elves. When I say, "a few large tiefling cities", I'm REALLY talking large here. New York (Or maybe San Francisco) sized metropolises.

I like that idea, but what's to prevent the Tieflings from spreading out from their metropolises? What's reigning in their urban sprawl?

[ApeofLight]

Perhaps it is in there nature. They like to stay in big groups and most of the other races proably dont like them that much. On a thing with groups being an outcast for a tiefling is worse than being an outcast of say the dragonborn.

[Moff Chumley]

I like that idea, but what's to prevent the Tieflings from spreading out from their metropolises? What's reigning in their urban sprawl?

(I'm thinking take this to the Terasul thread; I'll talk about it there.)

[ApeofLight]

So its the 15 principality then a human kingdom, the dwarf kingdoms, halfing nomads. And what about the goblin gnome are whats that?

[Moff Chumley]

Right. Large Goblinoid empire, and bunches of traveling gnomes.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

We want the Goblinoids to be comparably weak though. They should be strong enough to hold together, but not too strong as to become a serious threat to any other kingdoms.

A simple hierarchy is easily seen in the Goblinoid ranks.

At the very top is the Uberking. He is overlord of all the goblinoids in the entire world. In theory. He is chosen from one of the 3 Houses.
Next comes the Kings. Each one is at the head of one of the Houses, and the Uberking will have named one of them as his successor. As you can imagine, this creates a bit of tension. These houses are made up of Hobgoblins: not just the nobles, but the servants and soldiers of the houses as well. Interhouse warfare is common. More on the houses later.
The servants of the Uberking rank above all but the highest nobles. Indeed, many of them are high-ranking nobles, or sometimes just hobgoblins the Uberking has taken a liking to.
Next come the nobles. They are pretty much generic nobles. Still hobgoblins.
The servants of the Kings are also highly valued, though no where near as much as the servants of the Uberking. They are all drawn from the hobgoblins of the King's House.
Then, the warrior-priest caste. I'll go on more about them in a second. They are going to be a homebrew goblinoid race.
Next, the warriors. Hobgoblins once again.
Next come the servants of the nobles, and such, except in such cases where the servants are warriors, in which they rank higher. They are once again drawn from the numbers of the respective noble's house.
Next come the sailors, shipbuilders, navigators and such that are required for the goblinoids most lucrative industry: boatbuilding and sailing. They are a mix of hobgoblins and goblins, in equal positions. This is the only place where this overlap comes in.
From highly skilled artisans to poor dirt farmers (and poor dirt there is indeed), all the rest are goblins. The arid soil does not support food that well, and goblinoids have learned to survive on very little. Most artisans work at least some time on a boat, maybe a woodcarving, maybe the candles that light the deck.
At the very bottom, are the slaves. Made up of non-goblinoid species, or of Bugbears, they are not treated very nicely, and used mainly for manual labour (the bugbears especially, though they are also used as shock troops in combat).

[ApeofLight]

The gnomes are groups of traveling tinkers. They prefer to work with things from clocks to fireworks but can fix just about anything. Although they have no actual govermont they follow a certain code of conduct. Everyone pulls there share around.

[puppyavenger]

The gnomes are groups of traveling tinkers. They prefer to work with things from clocks to fireworks but can fix just about anything. Although they have no actual govermont they follow a certain code of conduct. Everyone pulls there share around.

Communist steampunk gypsies?

[ApeofLight]

Yea except the communist part.

[Moff Chumley]

No, I LIKE the communist part. Keep it in. :smallbiggrin:

I'm thinking that on the ismuth connecting the upper and lower sections of the continent, we should have a gigantic city, populated equally be humans, dwarves, and halflings, but with plenty of goblins and gnomes about as well. The city should be full of gigantic monuments to the steampunkish nature of the setting, like a two mile long drawbridge or somesuch. Also, I can't help but be reminded that the gnomes are a lot like electro gypsies (http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Electro+Gypsy/)...

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

While the forums were down, I did a detailed analysis of the Kings' bodyguard.

Of course, I don't have my notes with me, and don't have the good copies of the pictures I drew done.

I also homebrewed a wierd weapon/armour/shield/cloak thing.

Most of the things are still being changed around, and most of them have facemasks, for some reason.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

The Royal Legion of Therne

The Royal Legion of Therne unction doubly as a military regiment, and as the Royal Bodyguard of the King of Therne. Wielding a fearsome halberd, their impassive faceplate masks any emotions the human inside the armour may have. They are armoured in their distinctive helmet, peaked at the front, sloping to the back, a 2-piece breastplate, lower leg greaves, and a sort of skirt made of strips of flexible steel, all over a shirt, and leggings. Only their right arm is unarmoured, their left having a small plate attached to the epaulet, as a shield. Each halberd is precisely 6' tall, as is each guard.
No legionary is ever caught alive, as there is a small capsule of acid int he helmet that breaks open at will, or at death, killing the legionary if he is still alive, and mutilating him to the point where he cannot be recognised. A sacrosanct in the capsule prevents him from ever coming back from the dead against his spirit's will.
A full complement of 5000 are available to the King's wishes, though 100 are always int he Kings presence.

[ApeofLight]

I'll have some more stuff on the gnomes in a bit.

[ApeofLight]

Gnomes

Gnomes travel in groups usually about 3-4 families per caravan. They live in houses that move using a steam engine. They move somewhat slowly about 8/10 of normal gnome walking speed. However they do move over rough terrain rather well.

Gnomes usually arrive close to towns around a time that the town is celebrating. The gnomes use this celebrating time to sell there wares.

It is uncommon fro a gnome to be out on his own but not unheard of. Some gnomes like to get away from the group and work on what they do alone.

Comments?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

The Assassin-Guard of Berexia
The Bodyguard of the King of Berexia are all ambidextrous, a trait that gives them yet another edge over their opponents, on top of their already prestigious skills. They seem to carry to weapon, wearing only the uniform of the Officers of the Realm, and over it, a cloak of dark blue cloth with steel plates stitched to it. Each plate is 2”x2”, with the exception of the 2 shieldblades which hang near the hands, and are 1’x1’. One is held in each hand, the handles penetrating through the cloth. The blades edges are razor-sharp, and can be used to horribly dismember anyone threatening the King. The cloak can also be swung so as to cover the front of the body.
There are 500 guards, and they do all the jobs in the Royal Palace. It is said that a secret small number are also used s assassins, with an extra layer of black covering the mirrors. As well as a veil over the head.

Ecthalian Guard
Though all of the bodyguard of the sovereigns of the Imperial Alliance are feared and held in awe, none more so than the personal bodyguard of the King of Ecthalia.
They never show any skin, leading some to believe that they are not humanoid at all. Their insane feats of strength and agility do nothing to disprove this theory. The Ecthalian Guard wear a long cloak, trailing to the ground, no doubt covering armour. The only armour showing, however, is a coif of mail, covering the head and shoulders, and the much feared helmet: sheer unforgiving metal broken only by a slit for a mouth and crosses for eyes. The entire helmet can swing back to rest atop the head (much like the famed busts of Pericles), but reveals no face, only a layer of black gauze that billows to the guardsmen’s breath.
For a weapon, they carry a huge, brutal sword, with a large diamond-shaped tip. This makes the blade horribly unbalanced, even lightened by the blood channels, and countered by the large lead pommel, it is an extremely heavy and unwieldy blade, but in the hands of a Guardsman, the results are obviously clear.
If they have no room to use the blade, or for some other reason cannot use it, then they still have a hidden weapon, ready to use. The belt buckle to the belt that encircles their waist is actually a katar, the blade of said punching knife hidden in the leather of the belt.

[Szilard]

On the Tieflings in giant citys part, wouldn't some of the gnomes be attracted to all the tinkering they could do in a city of that size?

That sounded kind of wrong:smallwink:, but I hope you get my point.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Different continents.

[Szilard]

:smallredface: I forgot that.
Have you guys settled on a story for the warforged yet?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Warforged are awakened mine-machines, searching for their meaning in life.

[Maroon]

So I was thinking: how could this steampunk setting possibly work without proper Luddites? Since Gnomes are the tinkerers, and Gnomes and Halflings apparently hate eachother, I posit Halflings as the technophobes. They live in small nature communes, but maintain an extensive network of trade, much like historic Celts. The more cosmopolitan halflings, while not completely at ease around Warforged, can tolerate gears and steamwork (as long as he doesn't have to touch it, as he'll expect it to blow up in his face); the other, very conservative Halflings will shun technology like the plague and will do anything to keep a Gnome at bay.

Concerning another piece of machinery: what about trains? Are there railways connecting major cities? Not everyone can afford a zeppelin flight or a teleport. If we have trains, I imagine adventuring in Oderike would involve traveling on them a lot. Would Gnomes use the railway to carry their steamhouses? Or does this world know everything steam-powered except for the iconic steam train?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Technophobe halflings might work, considering their more traditional nomadic life, compared to the gnomes high tech nomadic life.

A limited railroad system in the Imperial Alliance, I think, and that should be the limit. Except not in the halfling kingdoms, as they are technophobic. The railroads are pretty new, and not perfected yet. They still break down regularily.

Another thing we have to consider is the state of gunpowder technology. I am against handguns being common, even among the armed forces, as it would be available to PC's, and we don't want that. Cannon, on the other hand, are always fun to have.

[ApeofLight]

Yea I kinda like the Idea that some people have taken the gnome steamhouse and put it on rails. And I think canons are the extent of gunpowder technology and even those are kinda rare. I also think the technophobia halflings are a great Idea.

[Zeta Kai]

Puppyavenger has made a great entry on the Dragonborn Empire over at the Terasul (Southern Continent) thread. I suggest that we use his post as a template for sketching out the nations of Oderike. This will help us stay organized & consistent.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Belegost
Being a member of the Imperial Alliance, the Kingom of Belegost is unique in the fact that they have 2, not one King.
Lands The easternmost human kingdom of the Imperial Alliance, they are mostly situated in both sweeping hills, and, occasionally, terrifying precipices.
demographics 48% Human, 49% Dwarf, 2% Goblin, 1% Halfling
Religion There is no one religion in Belegost. There being two equal racial power groups, there are two equal religious groups, the Dwarves following mainly Moradin and the Humans following mostly (Who should be the main Human God? In lands with lots of gods we should add in a religious demographics), though there is a certain amount of overlap.
Relations with other power Belegost is generally in good relationships with other states. Within the Imperial Alliance, they are very close to the other Human Kingdoms, even though the others view Belegost as an outsider due to the large differences in racial demographics. They are further away from the Halflings, due to the Halflings technophobic nature, Belegost being one of the more technologically advanced kingdoms in the Alliance.
Their relationship to the Principal League is not as strained as the others. Some attribute this to the lack of common borders with the League, others to the political experience needed to run a country so divided in race and religion, and do so successfully.
Their relationship with the Goblinoids is very stressed, as the Dwarves want little to do with them, and the humans want everything to do with them.
Government Belegost has not 1, but 2 Kings, one ruler over the Humans, one over the Dwarves. Each one is given great respect by the other, and they can usually agree on issues, though occasionally there are spots of tension, goblinoid relations being the main one. The Kingdom of Belegost has the usual hallmarks of a feudal society, from the Kings, too the land-owning knights, to the peasants.

[Moff Chumley]

That sounds terrific. (Nobody liked my electro gypsy video? :smallfrown:) :elan:

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

*sings* Keepin this alive, keepin this alive, Keepin this alive, with 2 more Royal Guards!

The Assassin-Guard of Berexia
The Bodyguard of the King of Berexia are all ambidextrous, a trait that gives them yet another edge over their opponents, on top of their already prestigious skills. They seem to carry to weapon, wearing only the uniform of the Officers of the Realm, and over it, a cloak of dark blue cloth with steel plates stitched to it. Each plate is 2”x2”, with the exception of the 2 shieldblades which hang near the hands, and are 1’x1’. One is held in each hand, the handles penetrating through the cloth. The blades edges are razor-sharp, and can be used to horribly dismember anyone threatening the King. The cloak can also be swung so as to cover the front of the body.
There are 500 guards, and they do all the jobs in the Royal Palace. It is said that a secret small number are also used s assassins, with an extra layer of black covering the mirrors. As well as a veil over the head.

Ecthalian Guard
Though all of the bodyguard of the sovereigns of the Imperial Alliance are feared and held in awe, none more so than the personal bodyguard of the King of Ecthalia.
They never show any skin, leading some to believe that they are not humanoid at all. Their insane feats of strength and agility do nothing to disprove this theory. The Ecthalian Guard wear a long cloak, trailing to the ground, no doubt covering armour. The only armour showing, however, is a coif of mail, covering the head and shoulders, and the much feared helmet: sheer unforgiving metal broken only by a slit for a mouth and crosses for eyes. The entire helmet can swing back to rest atop the head (much like the famed busts of Pericles), but reveals no face, only a layer of black gauze that billows to the guardsmen’s breath.
For a weapon, they carry a huge, brutal sword, with a large diamond-shaped tip. This makes the blade horribly unbalanced, even lightened by the blood channels, and countered by the large lead pommel, it is an extremely heavy and unwieldy blade, but in the hands of a Guardsman, the results are obviously clear.
If they have no room to use the blade, or for some other reason cannot use it, then they still have a hidden weapon, ready to use. The belt buckle to the belt that encircles their waist is actually a katar, the blade of said punching knife hidden in the leather of the belt.

[Zeta Kai]

Nice looking stuff there, Gwyn. Nice details, one & all.

BTW, I've added a map of Oderike to my first post on this thread.

[puppyavenger]

Would someone mind making a list of powers on Ordike? I might write up one of them.

[ApeofLight]

Gnomes
Comunist steampunk gypsies?
Lands They travel the southern part of Oderike keeping away from the Northern Halflings.
Demographic 95% Gnome 5% other
Relations with other powers They don't really care what goes on around them as long as they can continue to make technological advancments they don't interfer with other people.
Goverment They have a Speaker for each caravan and a leader for all the Speakers. The Speaker of the caravan makes all of the big choices for that caravan. And the leader of the Speakers makes the decisions for the all gnomes when the need arises, which is rare. They then also have clans (guilds basically) for such things as Fireworks, Weapons, Transportation, Etc. There is also a leader for each clan which has no power over the caravan and only power over the clan.

[puppyavenger]

seems good, whats their religion?

[Szilard]

Probably Avranda and some of the other Naturey ones.

[puppyavenger]

so could I repeat my request for someone to write a list of Odeerike's powers?

[Szilard]

Um...Theres a map on the first page of the kinds of kingdoms and stuff.

[puppyavenger]

Um...Theres a map on the first page of the kinds of kingdoms and stuff.

right..ooops.

[ApeofLight]

Sorry that I forgot to put up the religion. I was kinda thinking they where like atheists and didnt really believe in a god/gods.

[puppyavenger]

Sorry that I forgot to put up the religion. I was kinda thinking they where like atheists and didnt really believe in a god/gods.

well, it would be a nice counter-point to the centralized, militant dragonborn dieocracy

[Shadow_Elf]

Not sure which of the three threads this should be on, but does Gears of Neve have an Underdark? Because how can there be Drow and Mindflayers sans Underdark? And how can there be DND sans Drow and Mindflayers? Just thought i put that out there. Maybe Underdark races could lead raids on small cities, but not frequent enough to be worth chasing into their underground lairs?

[ApeofLight]

There isnt an underdark. The drow(do we have drow? ) and mindflayers live on the surface on the undiscoverd area of the new continent. And it should go to the abraxas thread.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I don't think we have Drow...

[puppyavenger]

I don't think we have Drow...

hurra!
to short

[Zeta Kai]

I don't think we have Drow...

I second the lack of Drow. Their too dark (I'm talking about their culture, not their skin tone), too cliche, & have been done elsewhere far better (& far worse) than we could probably do here. Every other campaign world can have their Drow, we don't need them.

[puppyavenger]

I second the lack of Drow. Their too dark (I'm talking about their culture, not their skin tone), too cliche, & have been done elsewhere far better (& far worse) than we could probably do here. Every other campaign world can have their Drow, we don't need them.

so what will Lolth be doing?

[Shadow_Elf]

I second the lack of Drow. Their too dark (I'm talking about their culture, not their skin tone), too cliche, & have been done elsewhere far better (& far worse) than we could probably do here. Every other campaign world can have their Drow, we don't need them.

What if they were Surface drow that danced in the moonlight, wore frilly clothes and worshipped Corellon and Ellistraiee (don't think i spelled that right, but w/e)
I have a template for a half drow/half surface elf race that we could put in if you want it.

[ApeofLight]

I just dont think it would work right now. And there are too many races anyways.

[Shadow_Elf]

Maybe on Abraxes? They could be in one community with the other elves.

[Moff Chumley]

You are a big drow fan, aren't you? (Looks at username, slaps forehead)
Ellistraien drow just don't fit this setting for a large number of reasons that I'm a bit to lazy to get into. On the other hand, we could probably adapt aspects of the Tieflings to fill the Drow hole.

[ApeofLight]

So the western empire is the goblins right? Then we have the principality league the dwarf and human kingdoms and the gnome and halfling nomads.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

With the Humans, Dwarven, and Halfling Kingdoms united in the Imperial Alliance.

Oh, plus the wandering Gnomes, somewhere in the Western Empire.

[Maroon]

Another thing we have to consider is the state of gunpowder technology. I am against handguns being common, even among the armed forces, as it would be available to PC's, and we don't want that. Cannon, on the other hand, are always fun to have.
As suggested here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4626181&postcount=5), we could make guns a once-per-encounter deal. Firearms exist, but nothing more advanced than flintlock pistols and blunderbuses. They're slightly more deadlier than bow and arrow, but can only be fired once. Reloading can only happen out of battle (maybe some classes can get powers to reload a gun in battle). Think pirates. Someone armed and trained with a bow would be much more effective, but guns offer a nonmagical means to hit something at range if you don't have an archer around. There are no revolvers, and certainly no automatic firearms (unless they're somehow steamdriven, and you can't carry those around). And of course there are cannons. How else would you fight ship-to-ship? Catapults?

[Shadow_Elf]

And of course there are cannons. How else would you fight ship-to-ship? Catapults?

Catapults and ballistae are infact the norm for medieval-style ship-to-ship combat, and usually bands of pirates and expensive merchant vessels, pirate hunters etc. have resident wizards or warlocks for ranged attacks as well. Cannons would have to be risky, like they blow up in your face one in five times or something. Also, one wizard using his at-will scorching burst could blow up your whole ship if you had gunpowder on the deck. So maybe cannons are really uncommon, and only used by desperate pirates? (Ballista bolts and burning pitch and chunks of rock are all surprisingly good in naval battles. Also, you can fire chain shot out of a ballista if you want)

[Zocelot]

Catapults and ballistae are infact the norm for medieval-style ship-to-ship combat
Emphasis mine

Don't even pretend for a second that his has anything to do with realism.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I like the idea of 1-shot firearms.
Cannons would be risky on ships, but it was done quite early. Cannons on ships were in fact the norm in the late middle ages. Cannons on land, maybe even a giant cannon on rail :smallsigh:

[Zocelot]

Again, this has nothing to do with realism. Just because it actually happened doesn't mean it has even a possibility of happening in this world.

[chiasaur11]

Again, this has nothing to do with realism. Just because it actually happened doesn't mean it has even a possibility of happening in this world.

Which is why the dinosaurs will have jetpacks.

[Shadow_Elf]

Speaking of Dinosaurs, we should have some somewhere in Neve. They'd be fun to battle and a nice change from dragons.

[Zocelot]

They're not dinosaurs. They're behemoths.

[Shadow_Elf]

This is getting off topic. Take the dinosaurs (or Behemoths) to Abraxes along with your pedantics.

[Moff Chumley]

Cannons and automatic steamdriven weaponry are the realms of Dwarves and Gnomes. Mostly gnomes.

[chiasaur11]

Cannons and automatic steamdriven weaponry are the realms of Dwarves and Gnomes. Mostly gnomes.

Hmm...

Why not have a mad gnome make a dinosaur (behemoth) cyborg steampunk army hidden in a jungle, with Bond villian style plans.

Well, I think it's a cool idea, but...

[ApeofLight]

Yea I kinda like the idea that maybe the gnomes have maybe a tank almost to help protect the caravans they travel in.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I was envisioning their steam-houses looking like first world war era tanks, but bigger, with less armour, so there's more room inside. http://www.warbirdphotographs.com/ATC/ATC-BritishWWI-1.jpg

[ApeofLight]

Sounds pretty good. But I was thinking maybe they have diffrent types of houses like maybe each family makes there own house kind of thing.

[Moff Chumley]

Very nice, that'll add lots of good steampunky flavor.

[Shadow_Elf]

nice avatar Moff.
I like where the Gnomes are going. Keep it up! I off to Terasul to continue my work there.

[ApeofLight]

So the homes of gnomes would be able to double as a defense/weapon. So Im guessing that some gnomes have made unstable firearms ( 2 out of every 5 shots fail or something like that) but they are slow to reload so they would be like a once per encounter power. And then there homes would have like canons and possible a gattling gun that doesnt work well.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Oh, and I finally finished the good copy drawings of the Ecthalian Guard. I'll have them scanned on Monday, and up here by Wednesday, after some digital retouching.

[Moff Chumley]

Very cool. It would be great if you could do some concept art for the setting. :smallbiggrin:

(Oh, and thanks, Shadow_Elf. DOOM!) :smallwink:

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I'm actually a really crappy artist.

I can imagine brilliant things, but my hands won't draw them.

[Moff Chumley]

Oh. :smallfrown: I'm the same way... We should find someone to do some art for this setting.

[chiasaur11]

Also, some significan individuals on the first page might be good, like on the terrasul thread.

[Zeta Kai]

I've updated post #1 of the Abraxas thread to include everything that has been nailed down for Abraxas (& the world of Neve in general). This should make it easier for people to see what has been done & what still remains.

[Moff Chumley]

I think we need to focus on writing up the races and cultures on Oderike now. I'm not experiencing any flashed of insight at the moment, so if someone can give me something to do, I'll cary it out.

[ApeofLight]

We need a right up on the goblins and there area.

[ApeofLight]

Here's some stuff I wrote.


Nomad Plains Halflings

There is little to support life here. Only the mysteries halflings know how to survive here.

Lands The northern part of Oderike. Hot summers and cold winters. There is little that lives here.
Religion The halflings worship (!). They believe that (!) created the plains for the halfilngs to rule. Whenever something good happens they praise (!). Whenever something bad happens they seek for forgiveness from (!).
Relations If you dont bother them they dont bother you. If you're in there lands without permission there is little chance that you will survive. If they ever meet a gnome there will be a fight.
Demographic Unknown
Goverment The halflings have a tribal government. They have a elder who's advice is sought out for hard decisions. There is also a council that makes everday decisions.

(!) I forgot the halfing god.

Thoughts people?

[Shadow_Elf]

(!) I forgot the halfing god.

Thoughts people?

I think Sehanine works well (Unaligned, all about the sneaksyness and stuff)
Really good. Have we decided why halflings and gnomes hate each other's guts? This may be key in some obscure campaign a DM decides to make eventually.
I'd do writeups, but I feel I don't know enough about Oderike to do any part of it justice.

[ApeofLight]

They split up because of technology. The ancestors of gnomes wanted to use technology. The halflings where technophobic and hated technology except in the basic of forms, like daggers.

[Shadow_Elf]

*Bump*

I sincerely hope that poor Neve is not being forgotten. To summarize, we still need:

Abraxes
- 3-5 writeups on various Elven/Half-Elven tribes.
- a writeup for the Eladrin of Abraxes (Terasul Eladrin are done)
- a writeup for the Oaves
- 4-6 writeups on new world settlements (we need variety)
- a writeup (or a few) on native monsters to install in players' dungeon crawls

Oderike
- a writeup for the Gnomes
- a write up for the Principle League
- a write for the Dwarves
- a writeup for the goblinoids (hobgoblin, goblin and bugbear all are included)
- a write up for that other Human/Dwarven country
- a writeup (or a few) on native monsters to install in players' dungeon crawls
(correct me if I'm wrong on any counts here; not familiar with Oderike)

Terasul
- a few more Dragon-Gods
- a few more major Tiefling City-States
- some serious Thread Necromancy
- a writeup (or a few) on native monsters blah blah blah

Take any job you'd like and post your writeup there. I will perform some Thread Necromancy and post these lists on Terasul. Please don't let this die on us. Your donation of ______ writeups will help go towards the ressurection of Neve.

[puppyavenger]

I'm pretty sure there are plenty more kingdoms in the imperial alliance that need write-ups.

I might write up Gobland some time this week.

[ApeofLight]

The gnomes of oderike have been done.

[puppyavenger]

The gnomes of oderike have been done.

I meant goblins.