Homebrew Worlds- What is in YOUR world?

[Dragonblade]

Ascension Wars - An epic campaign for epic characters

Vast planar empires sprawl across a multitude of worlds. Ancient Runegates created by some long forgotten civilization enable travel to these worlds along with mighty skyships, powered by magic, that travel the various worlds and ply the Astral plane.

Immortal warlords seek the power necessary to complete their ascension to godhood while the priests of the Elder Gods struggle to maintain the faded glory of their divine masters. Fiendish incursions from the Hell dimensions threaten all, while the Dragonlords plot in secret to retake the multiverse. The Atlanteans have returned from their 10,000 year exile on the Plane of Shadow. Githyanki launch planar raids from their citadels on the Astral Plane. Paladin legions crusade across myriad worlds to deliver the Church of Light's brutal justice.

And from backwater worlds, unknown heroes, guided by the Prophets of the Timelords are destined to shake the pillars of reality itself.

 

[Desdichado]

Old One; you've got my vote. I'd say yours, and Palaestra (from CleverName, or whatever username he's using these days) and Barsoom (of barsoomcore fame, not Edgar Rice Burroughts fame) are probably the three homebrews from ENWorlders that I have the most interest in. Good stuff.

 

[Agback]

Honestly, who here thinks they can actually do justice to a well-written game world in one paragraph?

Certainly not I. Although I usually never miss a chance to plug Gehennum. I'm going to give it a miss this time. I have been running and elaborating (rather than extending) it since 1988, and now it is much too complex to describe in a paragraph.

Regards,


Agback

 

[Rel]

Old One; you've got my vote.

I'm rather fond of it myself. Plus, Old One has this deal running where if you use his setting, he'll come game with you and eat your chilli.

 

[Storminator]

http://home.comcast.net/~pncstorm/FOMOSSJPG.jpg

 

[AFGNCAAP]

A work in progress...

Zosareth
A land once divided among several petty city-states and minor nations that faced doom at the hands of a cunning lich, but for the brave deeds of a bold few. Now, centuries later, amidst the great nation that has formed from the ashes of the past, the ancient evil rises again, cloaked in legend, myth, secret, and shadow. Will this new world, complacent in its prosperity and ignorant of its past, fall victim to the ancient evil once more?

Not if a bold few arise, and brave deeds are performed in time.


The world of Zosareth is, for all intense purposes, a relatively "standard" D&D with a few twists thrown in. It was inspired by several fantasy sources that helped capture my interest for D&D--the Lord of the Rings; Fritz Leiber's world of Nehwon; the Thieves' World anthology; the Chronicles of Prydain; Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures series; CRPGs such as the Ultima series, Zork series, Might & Magic, Times of Lore, Baldur's Gate series, and the D&D gold-box games; cartoons & toys such as Masters of the Universe, Dungeons & Dragons, & Thundercats; even various incarnations/editions/settings of D&D itself.

The ancient evil (see the BBEG link in my .sig) is responsible for much in the world--he is the reason why that humans are the dominant culture, elves are mainly secluded in a great forest, & why the halflings have no homeland. People are reminded of this villain's deeds & legacy every time they encounter a hippogriff, an owlbear, an ettin, or some other bizarre creature--for he created them long ago. He is the reason why the the sahuagin, locathah, and kuo-toa are extinct. And, none can forget the one human nation that allied with the lich--a snake-worshipping nation whose sole survivors eventually became the nightmarish folk known at the Yuan-Ti.

However, the evil that has long been considered gone has returned once more. And new horrors of his creation confront the folk of Zosareth, such as the strange goblin-like race unafraid of sunlight, and armed as an army (hobgoblins). The evil has also played upon the weaknesses of mortals--greed & pride--and gained potent new agents hidden deep within the power structures of the new world.

Here's a few things about Zosareth:

• Paladins are a PrC instead of a core class (may make rangers & bards PrCs, too, after reviewing Unearthed Arcana)
• The swashbuckler class from Complete Warrior is an available core class
• Encounter the goblinoid Armies of the Hexaskelion, the exotic southern lands known for samurais & ninjas, the Troglodytes deep in the Underworld, the secluded githzerai community & its legendary monastery, the slaad-worshipping throngs of the reptilian Sla'adeshk, the warring undersea tribes of Oceanids & the Marikos, the ruin-nests of Yuan-Ti, and gnomes from the cold northlands.
• Clerics do not choose a deity, but an aspect/philosophy: Light/Positive Energy, Darkness/Negative Energy, Nature/Elemental Energy, Magic, etc. (Druids are intensely-focused on nature & the mix of all elemental forces, while shugenjas are focused on a particular elemental energy/focus).
• No mechanics/stat-based subraces (you need only look into the events of the lich's first war to understand why)
• Races such as the Oceanids, Ratlings, Marikos, and Sla'adeshk

That's just a bit about the world of Zosareth. It's meant to be fun for both me & my players, & is a testament of scavenging various bits, pieces, maps, & ideas to make for a (hopefully) interesting homebrew setting.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Mine is "The City"...it is the ruins of the worlds last mega-metropolis (Most of civilization having been destroyed in a failed attempt by a cabal of the world's most powerful Wizards and Priests to "raise" the world's Pantheon of Gods, after they had been killed in a "War in Heaven).

The City itself is immense, so much so that most of the uneducated scavengers of the current generation beleive the entire world to be "neighbourhoods" in all directions...stories from grandparents tell of expanses of land devoid of buildings, but are largely dismissed as fables by the young.

Dwarves live beneath the streets of The City, and are responsible for most of the food production (Mushrooms). They are a degenerate race, with +2 to Str, -2 to Int and instead of Orcs, get their combat bonus against Vermin.

Gnomes are known as "elves" by the populace, and live in a enclave in the city that once once inhabited by Fire Giants ("Giant Hall")

Actual D&D Elves are known as the "Graven" and are the result of the generations long inbreeding of the old ruling class. +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Str, -2 wis. The rest of their mechanics are the same as standard D&D.

Vast tracts of the city are uninhabited, and what areas are inhabited are mostly run by local warlords (The PC's have come across neighbourhoods where Ogres forced sentients to fight in an Arena for the amusement of their Voivode, a neighbourhood run by the precepts of "Law and Order", where the punishment for any misstep was death, a neighbourhood run exclusively by Vampire Spawn for the express purpose of "Farming" for their Vampire Lords, etc.)

In the expanses between neighbourhoods, monsters wander largely unchecked.

ruins are, understandably, common, if not always rich with loot.

So far the PC's have been loving it.

 

[kenjib]

Nice idea Billy. Do you have any idea of what lies beyond the city or is it just not in the plans for it to ever come up? It's interesting to see the idea centered around a smaller area - Ray Winniger style - rather than the larger world-encompassing ideas more common on this thread.

 

[reiella]

My world is fairly vanilla. The main quirks are in the recent history. Dragons scourged a huge part of the continent where activity occurs. Some conflict between races and nations mostly causing great resentment towards the elves for their inactivity when the dragons attacked. Dragons are almost universally hated (only chromatics are known about).

 

[Teflon Billy]

Nice idea Billy. Do you have any idea of what lies beyond the city or is it just not in the plans for it to ever come up?

Yeah, the city is Huge, but not infinite. To the north are the Zakhouli tribesmen, who are basically my world's Mongols. They suffered from the "Arcanoclysm" the same as everyone else though, and are greatly reduced in numbers.

To the East is the great swamp, where--no longer kept in check by human inhabitants--a lizardman "nation" is rising.

To the west is the trackless desert.

To the south is what's left of the sea...blackened water filled with degenerate life, and mutated monsters.