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View Full Version : Fairly amatuer campaign homewbrew idea. Need Advice



Elm11
2008-12-01, 02:29 AM
Hi. I'm just copying this from a word document, so ignore anything that doesn't make sense :smallamused:.

And please, i don't dm much, and i'm setting this up for a friend who does it even less, and is, frankly, pretty hopeless at d&d *anything* creation, so we need all the advice we can get :smallsmile:

Game Statistics

• Game Setting – Homebrew Post apocalyptic
• Starting level – 5
• Races N/A Human, for any other non PHB, see DM
• Templates allowed
• Splatbooks: See DM
• Game edition: 3.5 ED
• Good Campaign – good aligned classes: for non PHB-see DM/No Warlocks
• Basic language – Elvish
• Dominant Allied race – Elves
• Dominant hostile – Undead / Demons

World Statistics

The world is divided into two parts; the Upper World and the Lower World.

The Lower world is an ungodly, forsaken tainted land, home only to the dead, the undead and the dark kin (homebrew race, often class levels- warrior or sorcerer). This used to be the land of humans; however they are all but extinct now. (See plot)

The Upper world was the final act of the god of light. He sacrificed what was left of his power to create a perfect land above the dying Lower world. This land would be a Haven for his elvish followers, however in his absence; the magic land has become tainted. (See plot). The land is now ruined, with few living beings, and many derelict ruins. There are at most one or two havens for the elves, the chief of which being Than’dal, the last of the elfish cities. There are other small havens for the free peoples, but the land is being overrun from beings coming out of a great rift to the dead planes (see plot).


History of the Shattered Realm

The great land of Trathralan has been the dominant plane for humans and elves for many years. In the year 57 BTS (before the sundering) an evil power rose in the south lands. The power was the very incarnation of the god of slaughter, who had been waging an evil campaign against life, seeking a new plane over which he could cast darkness. The creature known only as Corus (elfish for corpse) amassed armies from the eons of dead from the plane. With these he launched a brutal and terrifying war against the dominant races of the north, corrupting any lands he took. At the head of this terrible onslaught were the cruel and merciless dark kin. These were evil beings created by Corus from the corpses of people powerful in life. Known as the dark order, the Dark kin led an army of abominations against the good races. They came to be known as the dark horde, and brought fear and death to the land. The dark wars lasted for nearly 47 years, and the races of the north, east and west slowly crumbled away, while the dark horde grew stronger. In the year 10 BTS, The last of the great elvish cities crumbled. The elves, seeing their doom, prayed in a last desperate plea to their dying god. The god of light sacrificed his very soul and essence to create for the elves a new and perfect land in the sky, and this land became known as the Upper World. The remaining elves fled to this land, regretfully forsaking those left below. Where they could, they helped other beings take shelter in the upper world, but were mostly helpless as they saw the last bastions of good and hope in the lower world succumb to darkness. Protected from evil by the great sacrifice of their god, the elves thrived on the upper world, building many cities, and helping what remained of their allies to create a new life. However, unbeknownst to the good folk above, the power of their dead god was not infinite. While they forged a new living for themselves, with human and dwarf settlements springing up as well, the power of their land failed. Soon they became aware of this, but it was too late to do anything. On the last day of the year 0 BTS, a great rift tore open the fabric of Trathralan, and the magics protecting the Upper World from evil broke. In a single day, more than 90% of life in Trathralan was wiped out. Mountains crumbled, forests withered, cities turned to dust and ruins, and rivers ran black with evil. In the wake of the great sundering of Trathralan, all that was left of the Upper world was devastation. A great swirling rift lies at the western end of the World, and through it pour unimaginable beings of evil. The small human empire in the upper land was situated closest to the rift, and the human race is all but extinct. The only standing strongholds belong to the elves and dwarfs, the only mentionable of which is the city of Than’dal. Near it, the previous glory of the land remains, and elves there can still struggle to lead normal lives. However, venture far beyond, and you enter a realm where evil has quickly taken hold. Scattered settlements try desperately to survive, but the future looks grim. Indeed, a high agent of the dark kin, who survived the sundering on Trathralan, has come; and with him comes the evil that overthrew the world of old. This being intends to open up another rift, however a smaller one, which will allow the dark horde to travel through from the lower world, and crush the beings of good once and for all.

Also: sorry about any formatting /grammatical errors, i didn't get time to proofread. Other than that; enjoy!

EDIT: i haven't statted out the previously mentioned dark kin, so i'm on the market for them too :smallbiggrin:

OTHER EDIT: just got back from school, been thinking. Any online programs i could use to create a map?

Project Icarus
2008-12-03, 01:46 AM
I like the general idea.
PCs have to stop this "being" from opening up another portal, right? It has an epic feel to it, but there needs to be more planning for it to be a full campaign - specific encounters, events, NPCs, and the like. I feel stupid for even bothering to type this, it makes me sound all condescending, which makes me sad.

Anyway, despite all that pointless talk that went on in the last paragraph, what I mean to say is: I'm interested and I'd like to help. Tell me what needs doing. :smallbiggrin:

Just a warning, though: I'm not on these forums all too often. A couple times a week, maybe.

As for the map, I've tried to work out drawing maps on programs, but they never really turn out (probably I just don't know what I'm doing). The best solution I could find was to scan maps that I'd drawn by hand.

Hope that helped, and I'm looking forward to helping more, if possible.

Elm11
2008-12-03, 05:50 AM
Great, thanks for the feedback :smallsmile:.

In response, yeah, pretty much. Corus (i promise, it was a complete coincidence that his name is an anagram of orcus-Demon prince of undeath :smallannoyed:) is attempting (or at least, so the remaining seers believe) to tear the planar again like so much worn linen, and create another great rift between the upper and lower worlds, thus allowing his armies to crush all that is left of the general inhabitants. I think it's a good plot, but there will be a lot of work involved.

also, it turns out now that my friend has requested that i DM it instead, which i guess makes it alot easier, and means i can get right into designing games :smallsmile:.

I suppose the first thing we should work on is a world map, and as i write this, i've got another tab up, googling map making programs :smallsmile:.

After that, just for the sake of simplicity, i'll probably stat out the dark kin, then start working on any other misc objects, then start designing the first games.

Again, thanks for your support :smallbiggrin:.

EDIT: i found a great program for it, but i only have a 7 day trial :smallannoyed:. I may be able to do it quickly, convert it to a word or PDF file and print it normally, but otherwise it might be a bit difficult. In the mean time, get ur smock, thar be DRARIN TA DOO!!