I'm a DM with some experience under my belt. I like running homebrew campaigns set in my own world. My main phiolsophy towards tabletop RPGs tends to be that the DM and players work together to create the story. I provide the setting and supporting cast while the players provide the main characters, and together we create a narrative that everyone can enjoy. With that in mind, I try to not be restritive in what my players can do if it's in the name of telling a better story. Just trying to break the game won't fly, but if occasionally fudging or changing the rules allows for a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved, then I tend to be pretty lenient with that.
Where: Get Some Game
1224 COMMERCIAL AVE CHARLOTTE, NC 28205
When: Tuesday nights, starting at around 5:30 (though I'm usually there around 5ish). We will be met for the first time this past Tuesday night. Our second session will be in a few days on Tuesday, September 29th.
What to bring: All you'll need is your character sheet, pencil, and dice. Anything else such as a PHB and minis are optional but always handy. Also keep in mind that if you aren't buying anything from the store and plan to plug in your electronic devices, they'll ask that you pay a dollar to help cover costs.
Setting:
Magic in the world of Sabah brought about the apocalypse in what was essentially a nuclear war. Wizards, clerics, druids, sorcerors, warlocks, and virtually anyone else that could muster up dancing lights set out to become the most powerful among all the magic users in the world. The results of many contests and battles ripped huge holes in the land, and all of the largest cities were near completely destroyed, forcing essentially all of society (with two notable exceptions) to start from scratch.
The constant escalation and thirst to do something different led to heavy genetic experimentation through magic. As a result, nearly all natural flora and fauna in the world has been wiped out. The world is filled with magically created and merged creatures (this whole idea came about because I wanted to make scorpion/wolf hybrid monsters in my campaign). Most sentient races are now endangered, and two new ones, Warforged and the Genasi, have been born.
Everything in the world now has some level of background magic to it. The amount varies, and it's still not much in most people, but it is a constant and permanent presence in most places. All natural lifespans have also increased. All races live for far longer than they used to. They still reach old age at the same rate as before the war, but they stay in it longer. Few people ever see a natural end to life though, as the sheer amount of ways to die has gone up exponentially.
As a result, the world is changed forever and most of civilization has been knocked back hundreds of years, but it's starting to recover. Depending on how things play out, and what sort of influence the characters have on the society, then the world may come back stronger than it ever was before.
The Story:
The exact origin of the War is difficult to pinpoint, as these things often are. It is generally agreed that the moment of escalation however was the grand debate that took place between the council of scholars of Elyrim (a city built around the largest mage’s university in the world). Arguments became heated to the point of descending to ad hominem. It had gotten to where no one was sure what issues were being argued anymore. The main ones remained, however. Where should the majority of the funds and research go to maximize the benefits to society?
The pyromancers and cryomancers believed it was through the study of heat and thermal energy to generate the perfect renewable resource. Other mages had different ideas for the focus on energy, such as the hydro or geo. Necro and Vitamancers wished to focus efforts and resources on medical aspects, extending both the life expectancy of the average sentient being as well as the quality of life over all. There were still others who wanted to conduct research in more niche areas, expanding on crop growth, developing new forms of automatic labor, and many more fields in general.
The university was torn apart as the mages all went their separate ways, and focusing their efforts on what they thought was best. Of course, the problem is that there was only so much land, and naturally there would be points that overlapped as perfect spots for research. From there, it was only inevitable that debates would turn to arguments. Arguments turned to fights. Fights became battles, and before long, the War had begun.
It lasted for years, claiming an immeasurable number of lives, and seemed like there was no end in sight. The previous studies that had been so focused on bettering society were suddenly being used to destroy it. The necromancers brought their dead back right on the front lines, now with a thirst for blood and inability to feel pain. Pyromancers called upon the full fury of volcanoes, causing them to erupt from underground and wreak havoc. Civilization had prospered for millennia. In only a fraction of that time, the majority of it was destroyed.
Most major cities and states are gone now, ravaged by the war. The major centers had been the first primary targets, of course. With the exception of sentient beings, the majority of natural flora and fauna has been eradicated, replaced instead with odd creatures and mutations created by those mad researchers desperate for a way to win the war. Magic exists as a constant in everyone and everything, a presence that can’t be escaped and is feared by many who don’t understand it. This is the world that is lived in now. One where nearly everything lives to kill, and survival is a difficult adventure on its own.
The Races:
Humans are said to be one of the progenitor species, alongside dragons. It's thought that they are the people from which all other sentient humanoid beings come from, hence that name being used to describe most bipedal races. This belief stems from their diversity and ingenuity allowing them to be well suited for most environments compared to other races who seem to more specifically adapt to certain areas. In addition to this is their ability to reproduce viable offspring with any most other sentient beings, and their sheer population. Pre war, they vastly outnumbered any other race, standing strong as a majority in many cities. After the war, their numbers fell harshly, even compared to other races. Still, their ability to reproduce quickly (and the fact that while percent wise, they lost a lot, their numbers were still great) means that they remain one the most common races in the world.
Dwarves are an old society with an unfortunate history. They often formed small cities in various hills and mountains, setting up as miners, smiths, and farmers. The problem is the lands they inhabited were often mineral rich, seeing as the group as a whole had good natural senses for finding valuable resources (especially minerals). Thus it was never long before a larger and more powerful group would show up to claim the land for their own. The dwarves would be driven from their homes, or if they were lucky, then the new group would simply live alongside them and slowly edge the dwarves out over time. This has led them to live involuntarily nomadic lifestyles. As a result, the dwarves actually suffered very little loss during the War, and remain one of the races most adjusted to life after it. Mountain dwarves and Duergar try to keep to themselves, living in isolated areas. The hill dwarves have begun building permanent cities deep within mountain ranges, ones they plan to thoroughly defend.
Elves are a younger race, but one of the first to heavily adopt magical studies over focus on divinity. They have shown themselves to be able to develop quickly, though this is likely through extensive use of magic to allow them to cultivate land and build cities at a much faster rate than most other races. Wood elves are thought to be more primitive than their high elf counterparts, and little is known of the rarely seen Drow, though plenty of rumors abound. Post-War, elven races are now one of the most dominant, due to their stronger adaptability when it comes to magic. The new societies cropping up see many of them as figureheads, yet as a result, they tend to be looked at with wariness, if not outright disdain, from many of the other races.
Halflings were once a prosperous race, living in many of the largest cities and holding positions of great power, both politically and financially. A fair number of the largest banks in the world were run by halflings, and it was said that people had to be careful to never cross one of the not so smallfolk. Despite this, many of them were known for their generosity and charity, and their wish to make the communities thrive. Unfortunately, due to being located in such populous areas, halflings were hit particularly hard by the war, and now the race is near completely extinct. Remaining members are doing everything they can to rebuild the once great race, though its future remains uncertain.
Gnomes are still a relatively new race, and are often confused for halflings. Unlike their fellow small brethren though, gnomes are relatively uncommon and held little in the way of global power. Because of they never held much in the world, the only direction they really had to go was up. Gnomes can be adept in magic or technology, the former gained swift power and influence in the old world, but in the new one, the inventors are proving to have a much more important role, both in rebuilding society, and in gaining trust amongst the races who might view them with suspicion.
Half-orcs have not led fortunate lives at any point in time. From the beginning, they were seen as second class citizens at best. Thought to be degenerate monsters by the civilized races and weak runts by other orcs, a half-orc could count itself lucky if it wasn't sold into slavery. After the war, things did not improve exactly, though they didn't worsen either. Some half-orcs have attempted to establish tribes where they can live peacefully on their own while others tried to gain respect through the strength they could provide. An equal number have set their sights on Iosa, where all they need to thrive is the coin to do so.
The Fallen and the Ascendent, common terms for the Tiefling and Aasimar, races who have existed since the beginning of sentience. Their tendency towards reclusiveness has left people unsure if they should react to them with respect or fear, though most err towards the latter. They mysteriously became even more scarce in the years before and during the war, only emerging again once it ended. This has led many to believe that they knew what was coming, and instead of trying to prevent it, hid away so that they could save themselves. The distrust, fear, and now outright hatred has grown as a result.
Goliaths are very rarely seen, and thought to be exotic. They come from a distant, isolated land and keep to themselves, making knowing anything about them extremely difficult. Their culture, arts, and methods of studies are completely different from the rest of the world. One thing that is known about them is that even before the war, their race had a near universal disdain for all magic. They believed that those who relied on it were producing inferior, lower effort results, and that the use of it would lead to degradation of the entire world. In addition to this is a strong sense of race purity. Goliaths see themselves as a perfect specimen, and believe that any of their kind who would breed with another race is betraying their own bloodline.
The Warforged are one of the youngest races in the world. A more fitting name there never was, as they were created specifically to serve in battle. Their greater resistance to magic and unique bodies made them valuable assets. Originally, they were just golems, created without sentience to serve their masters in battle. Something happened during the war to grant them free will. As a result though, the whole race is viewed as just beings designed solely for war. Now in a land that no longer thirsts for battle, the individuals are struggling to find their place in a world that for the most part doesn't even want them to exist.
Genasi are separated into four separate sub races, and are the second of the newcomers in this world. The fire, water, earth, and wind born are what they are called, depending on their elements. Their exact origins are a mystery, even to themselves. Some believe they were created as a result of the elemental chaos during the war, though others think that they have always existed, and have simply migrated from other planes. All Genasi are subject to odd dreams that may be hinting at the truth of their origins, and many have made it their mission to piece together the mystery and find the answer.
Character Creation: You may use any race, subrace, and race variant currently available through official resources. This includes the DMG and UA. If you want to play a race not available in those, then talk to me beforehand to see if it would fit.
All the classes and their variants in printed material are allowed. Please talk to me beforehand if you would like to use variations from Unearthed Arcana, or otherwise customize the class. Similarly, if you would like to use a custom background, or mix and match parts of different backgrounds together, then talk to me beforehand and we'll work something out.
We're using standard 27 point buy for character creation, and the starting equipment list for the character class.
I am available on here and through Reddit, and will be on all night most Fridays and Saturdays (hooray 12 hour work shifts), so please message me at any time. I will also be at the game store on most Monday nights for Force of Will.
Where: Get Some Game
1224 COMMERCIAL AVE CHARLOTTE, NC 28205
When: Tuesday nights, starting at around 5:30 (though I'm usually there around 5ish). We will be met for the first time this past Tuesday night. Our second session will be in a few days on Tuesday, September 29th.
What to bring: All you'll need is your character sheet, pencil, and dice. Anything else such as a PHB and minis are optional but always handy. Also keep in mind that if you aren't buying anything from the store and plan to plug in your electronic devices, they'll ask that you pay a dollar to help cover costs.
Setting:
Magic in the world of Sabah brought about the apocalypse in what was essentially a nuclear war. Wizards, clerics, druids, sorcerors, warlocks, and virtually anyone else that could muster up dancing lights set out to become the most powerful among all the magic users in the world. The results of many contests and battles ripped huge holes in the land, and all of the largest cities were near completely destroyed, forcing essentially all of society (with two notable exceptions) to start from scratch.
The constant escalation and thirst to do something different led to heavy genetic experimentation through magic. As a result, nearly all natural flora and fauna in the world has been wiped out. The world is filled with magically created and merged creatures (this whole idea came about because I wanted to make scorpion/wolf hybrid monsters in my campaign). Most sentient races are now endangered, and two new ones, Warforged and the Genasi, have been born.
Everything in the world now has some level of background magic to it. The amount varies, and it's still not much in most people, but it is a constant and permanent presence in most places. All natural lifespans have also increased. All races live for far longer than they used to. They still reach old age at the same rate as before the war, but they stay in it longer. Few people ever see a natural end to life though, as the sheer amount of ways to die has gone up exponentially.
As a result, the world is changed forever and most of civilization has been knocked back hundreds of years, but it's starting to recover. Depending on how things play out, and what sort of influence the characters have on the society, then the world may come back stronger than it ever was before.
The Story:
The exact origin of the War is difficult to pinpoint, as these things often are. It is generally agreed that the moment of escalation however was the grand debate that took place between the council of scholars of Elyrim (a city built around the largest mage’s university in the world). Arguments became heated to the point of descending to ad hominem. It had gotten to where no one was sure what issues were being argued anymore. The main ones remained, however. Where should the majority of the funds and research go to maximize the benefits to society?
The pyromancers and cryomancers believed it was through the study of heat and thermal energy to generate the perfect renewable resource. Other mages had different ideas for the focus on energy, such as the hydro or geo. Necro and Vitamancers wished to focus efforts and resources on medical aspects, extending both the life expectancy of the average sentient being as well as the quality of life over all. There were still others who wanted to conduct research in more niche areas, expanding on crop growth, developing new forms of automatic labor, and many more fields in general.
The university was torn apart as the mages all went their separate ways, and focusing their efforts on what they thought was best. Of course, the problem is that there was only so much land, and naturally there would be points that overlapped as perfect spots for research. From there, it was only inevitable that debates would turn to arguments. Arguments turned to fights. Fights became battles, and before long, the War had begun.
It lasted for years, claiming an immeasurable number of lives, and seemed like there was no end in sight. The previous studies that had been so focused on bettering society were suddenly being used to destroy it. The necromancers brought their dead back right on the front lines, now with a thirst for blood and inability to feel pain. Pyromancers called upon the full fury of volcanoes, causing them to erupt from underground and wreak havoc. Civilization had prospered for millennia. In only a fraction of that time, the majority of it was destroyed.
Most major cities and states are gone now, ravaged by the war. The major centers had been the first primary targets, of course. With the exception of sentient beings, the majority of natural flora and fauna has been eradicated, replaced instead with odd creatures and mutations created by those mad researchers desperate for a way to win the war. Magic exists as a constant in everyone and everything, a presence that can’t be escaped and is feared by many who don’t understand it. This is the world that is lived in now. One where nearly everything lives to kill, and survival is a difficult adventure on its own.
The Races:
Humans are said to be one of the progenitor species, alongside dragons. It's thought that they are the people from which all other sentient humanoid beings come from, hence that name being used to describe most bipedal races. This belief stems from their diversity and ingenuity allowing them to be well suited for most environments compared to other races who seem to more specifically adapt to certain areas. In addition to this is their ability to reproduce viable offspring with any most other sentient beings, and their sheer population. Pre war, they vastly outnumbered any other race, standing strong as a majority in many cities. After the war, their numbers fell harshly, even compared to other races. Still, their ability to reproduce quickly (and the fact that while percent wise, they lost a lot, their numbers were still great) means that they remain one the most common races in the world.
Dwarves are an old society with an unfortunate history. They often formed small cities in various hills and mountains, setting up as miners, smiths, and farmers. The problem is the lands they inhabited were often mineral rich, seeing as the group as a whole had good natural senses for finding valuable resources (especially minerals). Thus it was never long before a larger and more powerful group would show up to claim the land for their own. The dwarves would be driven from their homes, or if they were lucky, then the new group would simply live alongside them and slowly edge the dwarves out over time. This has led them to live involuntarily nomadic lifestyles. As a result, the dwarves actually suffered very little loss during the War, and remain one of the races most adjusted to life after it. Mountain dwarves and Duergar try to keep to themselves, living in isolated areas. The hill dwarves have begun building permanent cities deep within mountain ranges, ones they plan to thoroughly defend.
Elves are a younger race, but one of the first to heavily adopt magical studies over focus on divinity. They have shown themselves to be able to develop quickly, though this is likely through extensive use of magic to allow them to cultivate land and build cities at a much faster rate than most other races. Wood elves are thought to be more primitive than their high elf counterparts, and little is known of the rarely seen Drow, though plenty of rumors abound. Post-War, elven races are now one of the most dominant, due to their stronger adaptability when it comes to magic. The new societies cropping up see many of them as figureheads, yet as a result, they tend to be looked at with wariness, if not outright disdain, from many of the other races.
Halflings were once a prosperous race, living in many of the largest cities and holding positions of great power, both politically and financially. A fair number of the largest banks in the world were run by halflings, and it was said that people had to be careful to never cross one of the not so smallfolk. Despite this, many of them were known for their generosity and charity, and their wish to make the communities thrive. Unfortunately, due to being located in such populous areas, halflings were hit particularly hard by the war, and now the race is near completely extinct. Remaining members are doing everything they can to rebuild the once great race, though its future remains uncertain.
Gnomes are still a relatively new race, and are often confused for halflings. Unlike their fellow small brethren though, gnomes are relatively uncommon and held little in the way of global power. Because of they never held much in the world, the only direction they really had to go was up. Gnomes can be adept in magic or technology, the former gained swift power and influence in the old world, but in the new one, the inventors are proving to have a much more important role, both in rebuilding society, and in gaining trust amongst the races who might view them with suspicion.
Half-orcs have not led fortunate lives at any point in time. From the beginning, they were seen as second class citizens at best. Thought to be degenerate monsters by the civilized races and weak runts by other orcs, a half-orc could count itself lucky if it wasn't sold into slavery. After the war, things did not improve exactly, though they didn't worsen either. Some half-orcs have attempted to establish tribes where they can live peacefully on their own while others tried to gain respect through the strength they could provide. An equal number have set their sights on Iosa, where all they need to thrive is the coin to do so.
The Fallen and the Ascendent, common terms for the Tiefling and Aasimar, races who have existed since the beginning of sentience. Their tendency towards reclusiveness has left people unsure if they should react to them with respect or fear, though most err towards the latter. They mysteriously became even more scarce in the years before and during the war, only emerging again once it ended. This has led many to believe that they knew what was coming, and instead of trying to prevent it, hid away so that they could save themselves. The distrust, fear, and now outright hatred has grown as a result.
Goliaths are very rarely seen, and thought to be exotic. They come from a distant, isolated land and keep to themselves, making knowing anything about them extremely difficult. Their culture, arts, and methods of studies are completely different from the rest of the world. One thing that is known about them is that even before the war, their race had a near universal disdain for all magic. They believed that those who relied on it were producing inferior, lower effort results, and that the use of it would lead to degradation of the entire world. In addition to this is a strong sense of race purity. Goliaths see themselves as a perfect specimen, and believe that any of their kind who would breed with another race is betraying their own bloodline.
The Warforged are one of the youngest races in the world. A more fitting name there never was, as they were created specifically to serve in battle. Their greater resistance to magic and unique bodies made them valuable assets. Originally, they were just golems, created without sentience to serve their masters in battle. Something happened during the war to grant them free will. As a result though, the whole race is viewed as just beings designed solely for war. Now in a land that no longer thirsts for battle, the individuals are struggling to find their place in a world that for the most part doesn't even want them to exist.
Genasi are separated into four separate sub races, and are the second of the newcomers in this world. The fire, water, earth, and wind born are what they are called, depending on their elements. Their exact origins are a mystery, even to themselves. Some believe they were created as a result of the elemental chaos during the war, though others think that they have always existed, and have simply migrated from other planes. All Genasi are subject to odd dreams that may be hinting at the truth of their origins, and many have made it their mission to piece together the mystery and find the answer.
Character Creation: You may use any race, subrace, and race variant currently available through official resources. This includes the DMG and UA. If you want to play a race not available in those, then talk to me beforehand to see if it would fit.
All the classes and their variants in printed material are allowed. Please talk to me beforehand if you would like to use variations from Unearthed Arcana, or otherwise customize the class. Similarly, if you would like to use a custom background, or mix and match parts of different backgrounds together, then talk to me beforehand and we'll work something out.
We're using standard 27 point buy for character creation, and the starting equipment list for the character class.
I am available on here and through Reddit, and will be on all night most Fridays and Saturdays (hooray 12 hour work shifts), so please message me at any time. I will also be at the game store on most Monday nights for Force of Will.
