D&D 5E Hardcore 5E World Ideas

I am working on a new campaign setting for a post Xanather Guide for a 2018 campaign (currently running 2E). D&D worlds often have some sort of magical catastrophic event in the distant past with perhaps the exception of FR that had the Time of Troubles after effects in 2E. Even then the effects were limited in scope. My idea is roughly that the gods have died in a magical apocalypse (Desecration Wars) and the PCs are navigating a world where survival is difficult with dead and wild magic zones all over the place. The environment has 4 main effects.

1. The shroud. I think I need a new name but this effects the entire world. Effects that restore hit points are halved regardless if it is from magic, a hit dice or the healer feat. Overnight heal rates are back to 3E's rate (1/hp level, compromise between OSR 1-3 hp and 4E+ healing rates). The shroud infuses the world although parts of the world are exempt (I'm thinking hallowed ground areas).

2. Dead magic. More or less what it says with the biggest area about the size of a US state like Colorado.

3. Wild magic. Most of the world is a wild magic effect with major cities generally being located in areas where this effect doesn't apply. While in a wild magic effect you have disadvantage on concentration roles. While magic zones will otherwise be similar to 2E and Magic of Faerun (3.0) ones using the 5E wild magic table.

4. Storms of magical energy that wash over the wild magic areas randomly inflicting 2d8 necrotic/force or radiant damage if you are caught in one. Con save for half damage (its in the air, not lightning strikes).

5. Core 4 races are the default, at least when it comes to established cultures, AD&D races exist in smaller numbers, everything else is rare . The wild magic has mutated things though so anything goes for organic races (Volos guide and 3pp races are fine). Organic being living beings no undead or construct races though (magic went boom). Probably have a new race added that is important to the events that caused the devastaiton.

6. Clerics exist but draw their powers from the power of dead gods infusing their blood, the shroud or whatever I end up calling it does that.

7. Alignment restrictions. Either AD&D ones or 3.5 ones are coming back, Druids being true neutral and rangers being good aligned though is attractive. This is mostly to return classes to ye olde roles (Rangers protectors of the wilderness, Druids serve the balance and want to fix the wild magic effects, Paladins are ye olde LG Paladins).

What was that 3rd party 3e setting with dead titans...

Scarred Lands. The big war between the gods and the titans was about 150 years ago, the land hasn't recovered yet.

It had a lot to offer, but a few things made no sense whatsoever, like a trading city in the middle of nowhere...

I always thought that having magic be a finite source of power would be interesting.

Like if the catastrophe that killed the gods and all that damaged the favric of reality so much that magic no longer functioned everywhere, and instead existed in “pools” scattered here and there throughout the world. Make it a physical resource that people find and “mine”. Individuals can carry around something that functions like a magic battery...they’re able to fuel their spells until they run out of magic fuel. People would use magic as currency, and they would trade and barter for it.

Communities would fight over sources of magic and political and martial power would depend on it. The most powerful communities (not sure what level of society you’d want...tribes, villages, cities, or entire kingdoms) would be the ones that had larger sources of magic. Of course, wild magic areas or dead zones would also factor into this...you could go a lot f ways with it.

The allegory is right there too...you could potentially have some cool themes or ideas, if you wanted to go that route. Think the Spice in Dune, or gas in Mad Max, and so on.

One of the things I really like about the Zeigeist campaign setting is that the blast from the death of a goddess had several effects:
1. It created the Deva and Tiefling races by converting the humans and elves in the blast.
2. It created a dead magic zone for hundreds of miles.
3. The periphery of the dead magic zone is a wild magic zone.

This is minor, but what is wrong with calling your limiting factor the Shroud? Given that most of the populace would have no idea it exists, I see no reason why the Learned Few wouldn't just call.it the Shroud. Seems plenty evocative to me, and simple enough for those who know about it (somewhat like the "Weave" in FR).

I played in a 5e Zombie Apocalypse, wherein a Game of Thrones style Wall that kept back the undead fell, and most of civilization collapsed. We used a unique system to represent lasting wounds.

1. You didn't heal HP overnight, but you could still use Hit Dice, which did replenish overnight. Basically, a day or two of rest and your HP would be full.

2. Whenever you're at 0 HP, you aren't unconscious. However, you function as if you have two virtual levels of exhaustion.

3. Each time you drop to 0 HP or take damage while at 0 HP, you make a Con save (DC 10). If you fail, you gain a level of real exhaustion. These stack with the two virtual levels. If you reach 4 real levels and 2 virtual levels, you're unconscious and you must make a save each round to avoid gaining a 5th level, and then finally a 6th and fatal level.

4. Magical healing only let you regain HP, not recover exhaustion. Each week you rested, you recovered a level of exhaustion.

The effect in play was demonstrated in our first encounter, where my 2nd level dwarf fighter was grabbed, tripped, and gnawed on 5 zombies. I tried to fight them off, but I quickly was reduced to 0 HP, which earned me 1 real exhaustion level and 2 virtual. The cleric healed me, so the virtual levels went away, and I tried to keep fighting while the other PCs split their attention between the zombies trying to bite through my heavy armor and the ones that were trying to swarm them.

I ended up going on total defense, and my high Con let me succeed a lot of Con saves, so I survived three rounds being gnawed on my zombies before I finally reached 4 levels of exhaustion which knocked me out. The rest of the party narrowly managed to kill the zombies, then grabbed my limp body and ran onward. When we reached safety and they were able to make a Heal check to let me spend a hit die to heal, I awoke with, like, 6 hit points and 4 levels of exhaustion that forced the party to hide in ruins for an entire month to give me time to regain my strength.

RangerWickett said:

I played in a 5e Zombie Apocalypse, wherein a Game of Thrones style Wall that kept back the undead fell, and most of civilization collapsed. We used a unique system to represent lasting wounds.

1. You didn't heal HP overnight, but you could still use Hit Dice, which did replenish overnight. Basically, a day or two of rest and your HP would be full.

2. Whenever you're at 0 HP, you aren't unconscious. However, you function as if you have two virtual levels of exhaustion.

3. Each time you drop to 0 HP or take damage while at 0 HP, you make a Con save (DC 10). If you fail, you gain a level of real exhaustion. These stack with the two virtual levels. If you reach 4 real levels and 2 virtual levels, you're unconscious and you must make a save each round to avoid gaining a 5th level, and then finally a 6th and fatal level.

4. Magical healing only let you regain HP, not recover exhaustion. Each week you rested, you recovered a level of exhaustion.

The effect in play was demonstrated in our first encounter, where my 2nd level dwarf fighter was grabbed, tripped, and gnawed on 5 zombies. I tried to fight them off, but I quickly was reduced to 0 HP, which earned me 1 real exhaustion level and 2 virtual. The cleric healed me, so the virtual levels went away, and I tried to keep fighting while the other PCs split their attention between the zombies trying to bite through my heavy armor and the ones that were trying to swarm them.

I ended up going on total defense, and my high Con let me succeed a lot of Con saves, so I survived three rounds being gnawed on my zombies before I finally reached 4 levels of exhaustion which knocked me out. The rest of the party narrowly managed to kill the zombies, then grabbed my limp body and ran onward. When we reached safety and they were able to make a Heal check to let me spend a hit die to heal, I awoke with, like, 6 hit points and 4 levels of exhaustion that forced the party to hide in ruins for an entire month to give me time to regain my strength.

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I did think about using the HD as your replenishment rate but that left magical healing unaffected.

Ath-kethin said:

This is minor, but what is wrong with calling your limiting factor the Shroud? Given that most of the populace would have no idea it exists, I see no reason why the Learned Few wouldn't just call.it the Shroud. Seems plenty evocative to me, and simple enough for those who know about it (somewhat like the "Weave" in FR).

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Shroud is a working title atm, it is a global effect that reducing healing though but there may be parts of the world where healing functions normally- sacred ground, Druidic groves things like that.

I want the shroud and wild and dead magic zones on a massive scale though. THe gods are dead is not an absolute requirement although I would want a small pantheon (3-20 deities).

*stupid fingers, meant to hit reply but instead hit laugh*

Back to topic, I think this is a really cool idea for a setting.

Bitbrain said:

*stupid fingers, meant to hit reply but instead hit laugh*

Back to topic, I think this is a really cool idea for a setting.

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You can click the "Frown" to remove the laugh. It does not negatively mark the post.