khyron1144
First Post
I'm not sure if I've been using the same world since I was in middle school with some major changes or if I've been using different worlds that are very similar and always have some of the same things.
The biggest change I've made is this time there's a new country called Freeland. At some point Freeland broke away from the Human Empire. Now Freeland is experimenting with radical new forms of government, like democracy or communism or anarchy. Many religions are present in Freeland, but none is the official religion of Freeland. Barbarians, civilized humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, gnomes, hlaf-orcs, goblinoids, saurials, and lizardfolk all rub shoulders as equals. In short it's a lot like the U.S.A. transported to a fantasy world.
One of the major geographic/political divisions in my world is The Beastlands. This is where the humanoid races that resemble anthropomorphic animals live. It isn't a very cohesive group. In fact, it's a lot of little kingdoms that the human empire is used to dealing with as a group. Some of the more prominent groups among the Beastlanders are the Bug Bears, Gnolls, Lizardfolk, Saurials, adn Ratm Men or Slitheren.
The Magocracy of Arcanum is where most wizards live. They're the longtime allies of the Human Empire.
The Human Empire is where the humans live. They're kind of based on ancient Greece and Rome. Most of the noble houses are named for a kind of metal or stone.
Aelfheim is where the elves live. They're the oldest living race and worship the Egyptian gods.
The Dwarven Mountains are where the dwarves live. It's also known as Svartaelfheim because it's also the home of the drow. Of course there are also illithid, orcs, goblins, kobolds and svirfneblin in these mountains too. The dwarves worship the Norse gods. Dwarves consider expert craftsmanship and martial skill the greatest of virtues.
Barbarian territory is just that. It lies to the north of the empire and serves as a useful buffer against the Jotuns further to the north. The barbarians worship the Norse gods. In their culture to die of old age or disease is the greatest possible dishonor and to die on the battlefield is the greatest possible honor. They are divided into a number of tribes, each tribe being named for an animal that they either keep as companions or that they hunt.
Goblinoid territory is where the goblinoids who aren't living in the Dwarven Mountains live. No civilized man has ever studied the "culture" of the goblinoids.
Jotunheim is where the giants live. It is believed that they worship the Norse gods, but put most of their emphasis on Loki and Surt.
The Grand Shire is where most of the halflings live. They have a very rigid system of social classes. Downward mobility (having to become a peasant and work the land) is very easy; all you have to do is offend the Khan once. Upward mobility (leaving the peasant class to become a free halfling) is next to impossible; a hundred great deeds that the Khan looks kindly on is not even sufficient to get you there. I haven't actually chosen a pantheon for the halflings, but I'm leaning towards the Chinese, Japanese, or Indian mythos.
Places to go in and around the human empire
1) The village of Hamm: A peaceful farming vilage. A lot of the young adults from here become adventurers because it's too peaceful.
2) The capital: This where you want to go if you're looking for a job.
3) Gravemarker: A border town close to goblinoid territory and the Beasttlands. It's constantly getting raided.
4) The Sorceresses's forest: A forest just outside of Gravemarker guarded by dryads or nymphs with considerable magical power.
5) The Pit: A mine that the humans have abandoned. Close to gravemarker. It's likely that goblinoids or some sort of nasty creatures have taken up residence here.
6) Firebird: A rival border town. Closer to the Beastlands than the goblinoids.
7) Hells' Mouth Keep: An abandoned castle said to be built overtop a portal to the Nine Hells.
8) Martin Dragonblood's Tower: an abandoned tower that belonged to the emperor's greates mage.
9) The BIG Dungeon: A place where heroes go to prove themselves. New rooms and floors open up each visit until the heroes have defeated a thousand rooms worth of challenges.
[I welcome feedback. The things that I'm posting first are the things that I think a PC from the Human Empire ought to start out knowing. I might turn it into a printable document to use a handout one of these days.]
Rules Changes
Expanded subtypes: I've decided to create some new subtypes based on aproximate taxonomic categories of certain monsters. The new subtypes are: Ursine (bear-like), Feline (cat-like), Canine (dog-like), Simian (ape or monkey-like), Avian (bird-like) and Rodent .
Recategorization:
Bug Bears are no longer goblinoids. They are now ursine.
Kobolds are no longer reptillian. They are now rodent.
Orcs and grimlocks are now goblinoids.
And Owl Bears are both ursine and avian.
The biggest change I've made is this time there's a new country called Freeland. At some point Freeland broke away from the Human Empire. Now Freeland is experimenting with radical new forms of government, like democracy or communism or anarchy. Many religions are present in Freeland, but none is the official religion of Freeland. Barbarians, civilized humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, gnomes, hlaf-orcs, goblinoids, saurials, and lizardfolk all rub shoulders as equals. In short it's a lot like the U.S.A. transported to a fantasy world.
One of the major geographic/political divisions in my world is The Beastlands. This is where the humanoid races that resemble anthropomorphic animals live. It isn't a very cohesive group. In fact, it's a lot of little kingdoms that the human empire is used to dealing with as a group. Some of the more prominent groups among the Beastlanders are the Bug Bears, Gnolls, Lizardfolk, Saurials, adn Ratm Men or Slitheren.
The Magocracy of Arcanum is where most wizards live. They're the longtime allies of the Human Empire.
The Human Empire is where the humans live. They're kind of based on ancient Greece and Rome. Most of the noble houses are named for a kind of metal or stone.
Aelfheim is where the elves live. They're the oldest living race and worship the Egyptian gods.
The Dwarven Mountains are where the dwarves live. It's also known as Svartaelfheim because it's also the home of the drow. Of course there are also illithid, orcs, goblins, kobolds and svirfneblin in these mountains too. The dwarves worship the Norse gods. Dwarves consider expert craftsmanship and martial skill the greatest of virtues.
Barbarian territory is just that. It lies to the north of the empire and serves as a useful buffer against the Jotuns further to the north. The barbarians worship the Norse gods. In their culture to die of old age or disease is the greatest possible dishonor and to die on the battlefield is the greatest possible honor. They are divided into a number of tribes, each tribe being named for an animal that they either keep as companions or that they hunt.
Goblinoid territory is where the goblinoids who aren't living in the Dwarven Mountains live. No civilized man has ever studied the "culture" of the goblinoids.
Jotunheim is where the giants live. It is believed that they worship the Norse gods, but put most of their emphasis on Loki and Surt.
The Grand Shire is where most of the halflings live. They have a very rigid system of social classes. Downward mobility (having to become a peasant and work the land) is very easy; all you have to do is offend the Khan once. Upward mobility (leaving the peasant class to become a free halfling) is next to impossible; a hundred great deeds that the Khan looks kindly on is not even sufficient to get you there. I haven't actually chosen a pantheon for the halflings, but I'm leaning towards the Chinese, Japanese, or Indian mythos.
Places to go in and around the human empire
1) The village of Hamm: A peaceful farming vilage. A lot of the young adults from here become adventurers because it's too peaceful.
2) The capital: This where you want to go if you're looking for a job.
3) Gravemarker: A border town close to goblinoid territory and the Beasttlands. It's constantly getting raided.
4) The Sorceresses's forest: A forest just outside of Gravemarker guarded by dryads or nymphs with considerable magical power.
5) The Pit: A mine that the humans have abandoned. Close to gravemarker. It's likely that goblinoids or some sort of nasty creatures have taken up residence here.
6) Firebird: A rival border town. Closer to the Beastlands than the goblinoids.
7) Hells' Mouth Keep: An abandoned castle said to be built overtop a portal to the Nine Hells.
8) Martin Dragonblood's Tower: an abandoned tower that belonged to the emperor's greates mage.
9) The BIG Dungeon: A place where heroes go to prove themselves. New rooms and floors open up each visit until the heroes have defeated a thousand rooms worth of challenges.
[I welcome feedback. The things that I'm posting first are the things that I think a PC from the Human Empire ought to start out knowing. I might turn it into a printable document to use a handout one of these days.]
Rules Changes
Expanded subtypes: I've decided to create some new subtypes based on aproximate taxonomic categories of certain monsters. The new subtypes are: Ursine (bear-like), Feline (cat-like), Canine (dog-like), Simian (ape or monkey-like), Avian (bird-like) and Rodent .
Recategorization:
Bug Bears are no longer goblinoids. They are now ursine.
Kobolds are no longer reptillian. They are now rodent.
Orcs and grimlocks are now goblinoids.
And Owl Bears are both ursine and avian.
