Alrune Homebrew Campaign Setting: Brainstorm

[MrApothecary]

This is just a place where I can go about creating a campaign setting with my thought process open. There is no real content yet, I'm just brainstorming.

The name Alrune is an old one. It was the name of the undetailed world in my first D&D campaign, in which I was the DM. I don't remember the origin, and its use here is a purely nolstalgic choice.

First, before anything else, I want to detail player options. Let me start with classes. I am going to allow in this world all classes found in the....

Player's Handbook
Player's Handbook II
Dungeon Master's Guide (In case I decide to make the characters start with NPC class levels in addition to a PC class level)
Expanded Psionics Handbook
Complete Warrior
Complete Adventurer
Complete Divine
Complete Arcane

Now, Races.

Humans: Call it anthrocentric bias, but fantasy worlds without humans just seem odd.
Elves: I like them, and I will try to make them different in this campaign world. I like the idea of bloody wars being fault between all kinds of Elven subraces. I also like the idea of many humans having the opinion that Elves are minor gods.
Dwarves: I think I'm going to change the flavor of these to make them the humanoids that pillage and exist mostly to be killed by adventurers for XP.
Gnomes: I think I'm going to make the gnomes more fey-like. Feys of Earth and Music, using illusions to hide their wondrous villages away from mortal eyes.
Half-Elves: These are going to be much different in Alrune. Due to problems in genetic compatibility, they will be twisted, sickly beings who are extremely rare. Due to the far more lofty societal position of Elves in this world, half elves are rare, and the parents rarely know horro will result from their mating. Most Warlocks will be half-elves.
Half-Orcs: I'm not going to be using orcs, so scratch these. I've never liked them anyway.
Halflings: I'm going to make them more like pirates than gypsies.

Now for some races that are usually not player races, but will be in my Alrune campaigns.
Ogres: These are going to be slightly different in Alrune. More like a sad decline of the Neanderthals.
Devas: Angelic beings sent by the Gods to sway the mortal world towards good. Ghostly vestigal wings, and four arms.
Nymphs: Different from the ones in the monster manual. All of them are female. The varieties available to players will be Oreads, Dryads (of no specific tree), Oceanids (in the subcategories of Nereids and Naiads), Lampades (death), and Muses.
Anubites: No anubis, their name will have a different etymology, but these Jackal headed desert folk are known for their martial arts.
Werewolves: No lycanthropy. More like the big bad wolf from fairy tales, known for forest dwelling and acts of cannibalism from some tribes.
Kobolds: Not sources of XP. Known as the link between the world of dragons and the world of mortals.
Kitsune: Sly foxfolk, basically.
Ogre Mages: A weaker, magical race. Simply called mages.
Goblins: A race bred to hold demonic souls by the lords of Hell.
Thri-Keen: Mantid race known for it's blend of elite fighting skill and psionic powers. Beings of Chaos almost always.
Wendigo: Apelike race with fiercely wild psionic powers.
Psychic: Humanlike nomads with strange psionic traditions that often causes them to be persecuted.
Kelpy: Amphibious equine humanoids. Extremely stifling social system known for castes and slavery.
Asperi: As found in the MMII, immigrants from the plane of law, Purgatory.
Djinn: Nomad tribes of humanoid imbued with various elemental powers.
Pixies: Playful shamanistic people, resemble humanoid dragonflys.
Yeti: Apelike humanoids with complex honor based society.
Fauns: Malicious fey known for sexual deviance and hex magic.
Lemurians: An aquatic dolphin-like race known for swashbuckling.
Locathah: As in the monster manual, but more ties on land. Suprisingly civilized for an aquatic race.
Bunyip: Known for powerful combat magic. Very much like serpents and crocodiles.

Next up, cosmology.

 

[MrApothecary]

The cosmology of the planes is not very complex.

Heaven. A skycape of crystal cities, this land is home to the gods of Lawful Good. Archons rule here, and the Angels, though present in Elysium and the Faerie Realm, are most prevalent here.

Elysium. This is where Neutral Good gods live, and it is also home to the altruistic Guardinals. An idyllic landscape of varied habitats, this is also where Goods souls find their afterlife.

Avalon. Beautiful but wild, this plane is home to the Eladrin, the paragons of freedom. It is always twilight here, and the sky is filled with bright stars.

Limbo. The strange wildlands of twisting elements, this is a place where mountains are eroded in days and dead bodies can decompose in minutes. Bright with change and the spark of life.

Pandemonium. This savage realm is home to a huge variety of landscapes, all of them unpleasent. Demons live here, happy to devour, slaughter, or even rape those who venture here.

Tartarus. Cries of pain issue from all corners of this vast cavern world. The souls of Evil are punished here by the Yugoloth. Also imprisoned here are the dark gods known as the Titans, who ruled in ancient days before their children, the gods, overthrew them.

Hell. An oppresive plane, filled with fire and brimstone, this is the realm of the Devils, who war against the Demons at every oppurtunity.

Purgatory. This land is "perfect". Islands of matter that flow slowly over thousands of years in precise patterns, little ever changes here. The Modrons see to that, but the Formians feel Law can still be achieved in progress, due to efficency.

Erebus. An endless field of simple grass and ponds, under a grey sky. The souls of the neutral go here. The vast citadel of Balance floats on the clouds, home of the omnipotent and very enigmatic Grey Lady.

The Astral, Ethereal, and Shadow Plane all exist. As does the Inner Planes, and the Spirit Realm as in the Manual of the Planes. Also existing is the Far Realm, outside the Astral.

 

[MrApothecary]

If you have any ideas about these races or any planes I should consider adding, go ahead and tell me. You'll get credited when I write up the whole thing later.

 

[MrApothecary]

Kinda jumping around here....

Elves. For some reason, I really want to base the various subraces off of gemstones. I can see them being worshipped as lesser gods by many humans. Despite the fact that their empires are thousands of years older, humans came first. The Eladrin, hedonistic as they are, lay with ancient humans, and the race of elves were the result.

Every year, each elven nation sends a representative to the the Suiislaan, the Elven High Court, where matters pertaining to the whole elven race are decided.

There are eight elven subraces. The highest, the diamond elves, are the "purest of the elves", whatever that is supposed to mean. The ruby elves are from the tropics, and have a rich warrior tradition. The quartz elves are a result of ruby and diamond elf intermarriage. They have no organized society, living mostly with humans and psychics. They are apt at psionics.

They is also the topaz elves. These elves usually live in arid areas, and are quite adapt at conjuration and transmutation. Emerald elves are forest dwellers. They are the most common elf race, and are oddly descended from a mix of topaz and sapphire. The Sapphire elves have a maritime culture. Their ships are the most beautiful in Alrune, but not the fastest. That honor goes to the Locathahs' partially submerged vessels. The Amethyst elves are very reclusive. They are masters of divination and enchantment, and are descended from ruby and sapphire.

Finally, there are the shattered elves. These pale and evil folk live in the depths of the Underdark. They are not represented in the Suiislaan.

 

[arcanaman]

Finally you've been working on this for years and I never gotten to see it