Hello everyone. Relatively new to the boards here. I wanted to run by the forums my take on a four elements based campaign world I've been kicking around for a long time. I'm sure it's been hashed in many fashions before, but I wanted to post my take and get some critiques. My later post has the handbooks attached, but you can read ahead to get the gist of the setting.
I'm a fairly novice GM, but long time player, so be gentle. It started 8 years or so ago when I was walking through a doorway exiting a courtyard and the wind rushed in after me, almost alive. I imagined a game world where the four elements were not static, other-planar forces to be called on from time to time by mages and druids. Instead they're ever-present, dynamic, living beings battling for real estate and devotion on the Prime Material Plane. They take part in all aspects of civilization in this world, politics, economy, religion, and always the battles of the inner planes spill over onto the mortal world.
So I essentially took a generic DnD world, same racial archetypes, religions, etc, and overlaid a 2nd ed cosmology. In that sense, I assume when a mortal descends in consciousness and self-awareness, they become ethereal, and beyond that they go to the Inner Planes which make up the basic blocks of existence. When one ascend in conciousness, they go Astral where they can springboard to the Outer Planes. In this campaign world, due to some magical or divine accident, the Ethereal Plane was shredded and made so paper-thin that the Elemental Planes punctured through and formed permanent gates with the Prime Material in several places. This led to an influx of elemental beings and powers that mortals had never dealt with and it took centuries to adapt.
The game would be set millenia later after society has acclimated to the new immigrants and powers. All characters in the world belong to one of six groups:
Earth: Includes dwarves, some gnomes, some goblins, stone giants, and other earth-related or subterranean creatures. Heavily into mining and agriculture and drive much of the worlds economy with food and metal. Generally hard-working but proud and greedy.
Air: Includes halflings, the rest of the gnomish populace, aaracokra, djinni, giant eagles, and other wind-related creatures. Mostly modeled after nomadic savannah and desert cultures, i.e. the Dothraki from George R.R. Martin and arabic cultures. Extremely free-spirited and constantly at war with the greedy earth peoples. Masters of archery, airborne combat and raising horses on the open plains.
Water: Includes aquatic elves, merfolf, triton, lizardfolk, and other aquatic/marsh peoples. Most peace-loving and compassionate of the factions, but mighty in battle. Paladin orders were reborn under the water banner not to uphold good and law, but more to champion creation against the destruction of fire and bring water and food to the weak and thirsty.
Fire: Includes orcs, goblins, salamanders, efreeti, azers and other destructive and fire-based cultures. When fire forces first arrived, the orcs quickly flocked to worship their destructive powers and burned their way across the land. The aquatic paladins scattered their plague to the winds, and since then the azers rose to dominance. They "unionized" the flames of the world and any living thing wishing to feel their warmth must pay them tribute.
Wildwood Council: A neutral culture made of druids, rangers, fey, and wood elves. As the elemental forces raged, a group of druids organized to be spokespersons for all living things of the world. They brokered the steady peace that has lasted for as many generations as most can remember, keeping to their wooded forests and arbitrating conflicts between the other factions.
The Enclave: A scattered collective of those who cling to the way things were before the coming of the four forces. Made up of bards keeping the oral heritage alive, arcane spellcasters, and clerics of the old gods in small convocations, they preach the fallacy of embracing the four elements that nearly annhilated the races that dwelt on this world. Their pleas fall on mainly deaf ears, though, and are viewed as heretics by many.
That's the big overview of the campaign world. I was hoping you readers could look at the handbook and map and give me your comments. Specific feedback and source material I'm hoping for is:
1. Balance issues that are glaringly off in my rules. I tweaked the spell lists and classes considerably, and I'm a novice so I may have overstepped myself.
2. Suggestions on the "Quencher of thirst and flame" concept of an aquatic paladin. I like the flavor of it over the typical good v. evil variety, but would appreciate inputs.
3. Suggestions on how to make druids non-elemental, but instead add more fey characteristics and have them more diplomatic and enchanting than just fire-wielding guardians of the forest.
4. I'm looking for rules for Gnomish pilots. I like the idea of some gnomes taking to the skys in small-size air elemental powered machines, but could use some help getting to that state. Anyone seen anything like this out there? Most of what I've seen is the Tinker Gnomes of Dragonlance, but I don't want that exact type, especially not the history, cosmology and heritage of failure they have.
5. NPC ideas for some archetypes for each faction. I have a good plot arc to involve the players in, but not enough NPC ideas to hook them into that plot. Any NPCs that could fit those elemental groups would be appreciate it.
Thanks for reading the long post and I appreciate constructive criticism.
I'm a fairly novice GM, but long time player, so be gentle. It started 8 years or so ago when I was walking through a doorway exiting a courtyard and the wind rushed in after me, almost alive. I imagined a game world where the four elements were not static, other-planar forces to be called on from time to time by mages and druids. Instead they're ever-present, dynamic, living beings battling for real estate and devotion on the Prime Material Plane. They take part in all aspects of civilization in this world, politics, economy, religion, and always the battles of the inner planes spill over onto the mortal world.
So I essentially took a generic DnD world, same racial archetypes, religions, etc, and overlaid a 2nd ed cosmology. In that sense, I assume when a mortal descends in consciousness and self-awareness, they become ethereal, and beyond that they go to the Inner Planes which make up the basic blocks of existence. When one ascend in conciousness, they go Astral where they can springboard to the Outer Planes. In this campaign world, due to some magical or divine accident, the Ethereal Plane was shredded and made so paper-thin that the Elemental Planes punctured through and formed permanent gates with the Prime Material in several places. This led to an influx of elemental beings and powers that mortals had never dealt with and it took centuries to adapt.
The game would be set millenia later after society has acclimated to the new immigrants and powers. All characters in the world belong to one of six groups:
Earth: Includes dwarves, some gnomes, some goblins, stone giants, and other earth-related or subterranean creatures. Heavily into mining and agriculture and drive much of the worlds economy with food and metal. Generally hard-working but proud and greedy.
Air: Includes halflings, the rest of the gnomish populace, aaracokra, djinni, giant eagles, and other wind-related creatures. Mostly modeled after nomadic savannah and desert cultures, i.e. the Dothraki from George R.R. Martin and arabic cultures. Extremely free-spirited and constantly at war with the greedy earth peoples. Masters of archery, airborne combat and raising horses on the open plains.
Water: Includes aquatic elves, merfolf, triton, lizardfolk, and other aquatic/marsh peoples. Most peace-loving and compassionate of the factions, but mighty in battle. Paladin orders were reborn under the water banner not to uphold good and law, but more to champion creation against the destruction of fire and bring water and food to the weak and thirsty.
Fire: Includes orcs, goblins, salamanders, efreeti, azers and other destructive and fire-based cultures. When fire forces first arrived, the orcs quickly flocked to worship their destructive powers and burned their way across the land. The aquatic paladins scattered their plague to the winds, and since then the azers rose to dominance. They "unionized" the flames of the world and any living thing wishing to feel their warmth must pay them tribute.
Wildwood Council: A neutral culture made of druids, rangers, fey, and wood elves. As the elemental forces raged, a group of druids organized to be spokespersons for all living things of the world. They brokered the steady peace that has lasted for as many generations as most can remember, keeping to their wooded forests and arbitrating conflicts between the other factions.
The Enclave: A scattered collective of those who cling to the way things were before the coming of the four forces. Made up of bards keeping the oral heritage alive, arcane spellcasters, and clerics of the old gods in small convocations, they preach the fallacy of embracing the four elements that nearly annhilated the races that dwelt on this world. Their pleas fall on mainly deaf ears, though, and are viewed as heretics by many.
That's the big overview of the campaign world. I was hoping you readers could look at the handbook and map and give me your comments. Specific feedback and source material I'm hoping for is:
1. Balance issues that are glaringly off in my rules. I tweaked the spell lists and classes considerably, and I'm a novice so I may have overstepped myself.
2. Suggestions on the "Quencher of thirst and flame" concept of an aquatic paladin. I like the flavor of it over the typical good v. evil variety, but would appreciate inputs.
3. Suggestions on how to make druids non-elemental, but instead add more fey characteristics and have them more diplomatic and enchanting than just fire-wielding guardians of the forest.
4. I'm looking for rules for Gnomish pilots. I like the idea of some gnomes taking to the skys in small-size air elemental powered machines, but could use some help getting to that state. Anyone seen anything like this out there? Most of what I've seen is the Tinker Gnomes of Dragonlance, but I don't want that exact type, especially not the history, cosmology and heritage of failure they have.
5. NPC ideas for some archetypes for each faction. I have a good plot arc to involve the players in, but not enough NPC ideas to hook them into that plot. Any NPCs that could fit those elemental groups would be appreciate it.
Thanks for reading the long post and I appreciate constructive criticism.
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