Quickleaf
Legend
This is my attempt at articulating how a D&D setting could challenge all of the core assumptions in the DMG and still be true to D&D's spirit.
These core assumptions are...
Wolf-skin clad warriors stand before the bonfire, their taut muscles and alert eyes gleaming as a wizened druid holds aloft the massive antlers of a stag, invoking the name of a wild god before the mid-winter hunt.
Three crones weave an enchanted skein, providing enigmatic advice and ominous visions to an ambitious young sorceress, while her sword-maiden companion appeases bloodthirsty wraiths with wine to buy time.
A cadre of disguised knights cast off their cloaks in the tyrant’s throne room, only to find themselves surrounded by their treacherous allies, crossbows and wands at the ready.
Welcome to the Known World, yearling. Death is now the least of your concerns.
Witching Grounds is a historical middle fantasy setting drawing on Mediterranean folklore, politics, and culture. Humans dominate the Known World, warfare is a fact of everyday life, magic is feared and mysterious, monsters are rare and terrifying, and adventurers are mistrusted.
The World is a Dangerous Place
The Known World is modeled on the histories of the Mediterranean city-states, which existed in a constant state of warfare and intrigue. Travel is treacherous, with packs of mercenaries raiding towns en route to the battlefield, fleeing nobles seeking sanctuary at swordpoint, and soldiers taking hostages for ransom.
The World is Evolving
Many of the Known World’s people trace their lineage back to founding ancestors, and they are confident in knowing their sweat builds upon the foundation laid out in days of yore. Exquisite oral histories and painstakingly crafted tomes have captured much of the world’s history, though it is splintered among tribes, tombs, and private libraries. New kingdoms grow on the shoulders of the past, using ancient roadways and outposts of fallen empires. Prophetic whispers can be heard at every hearth, hinting of a time of great upheaval on the horizon. Characters can be assured that their ventures will have an effect on the history of the Known World, and even shape the course of prophecy.
The World is Divided
While the regions of the city-states are well defined, there is little agreement between the various regents. Moreover, ancestral holdings are well guarded from interlopers; since few visit these hidden places, rumors abound. A dwindling empire makes a final surge of conquest, utilizing militia-imbedded cartographers to map the hinterlands.
Monsters are Rare and Terrifying
Most adversaries are human, ranging from scheming marcher lords to sinister cabalists. When monsters are encountered, they are strongly tied to myth and often have unique qualities and weaknesses; for example, it is common for monsters to have a fear aura. Monsters are charismatic, attracting cults, courts, armies, even city-states to do their bidding, and many monsters have learned to operate from behind the scenes.
Adventurers are Mistrusted
Jackal sons of wolves. Thugs of ill omen. Ale-thieves. Common folk are used to the depredation of bandits, mercenaries, and pirates. Adventurers, with their fearsome weapons, arcane prowess, and tendency to attract trouble, are viewed dismally. Most innkeepers will accommodate adventurers with a morbid sense of duty, hoping that at the very least the adventurers gets themselves killed before bringing woe upon the innkeeper’s family. It is a rare thing for an adventurer to earn the respect, much less the love, of common folk.
Humans are Dominant
Humans vastly outnumber the other races, which often live in the shadow of violent and oppressive human rule. Many humans live their whole lives never knowing another race; they may hear stories or even see one visiting the king, but rarely does their interaction go farther than that. Thus, cauldron-born, dwarves, eladrin, elves, fauns, otter-folk, and tieflings are often the subject of wild speculation.
Magic is Mysterious, and Persecuted
Magic is the embodiment of change. While it follows certain principles, it is inherently ever-changing and evolving, and so it is both more flexible and less predictable than in core D&D. No one has ever catalogued all the spells in existence, and only the greatest of archmages claim to fathom the mysteries of the arcane.
The common folk fear what they cannot understand, and so it is with the arcane. However, most commoners distinguish magic (in the sense that it is used by characters with the arcane power source) from arcane hearth traditions which involve day-to-day rituals such as brewing invigorating broth or scaring away spirits with a scarecrow. Magic is the province of deceitful demon-worshippers, and is synonymous with instability and chaos. Hearth traditions are seen as a way of honoring one’s ancestors, and are synonymous with stability and order. However, to an untrained observer, so-called High Magic and Low Magic can appear very similar.
A Primordial Became the World
The primordials’ names were forgotten after their war with the gods, destroyed or imprisoned, but there was one primordial who evaded the gods. Her name was Yithra, the embodiment of the creative and fecund flame; coveted by primordials and gods alike, many suitors sought to bind her. Yithra concocted a plan, entombing herself in the Known World. Thus the gods were unable to reach her, for to do so they would have to tear asunder their beloved world and level the kingdoms of their beloved people. So Yithra has evaded the gods for ages.
Gods are Warring
There are two pantheons observed in the Known World. The Celestial pantheon dwells in the Astral, embodying high concepts, ethics, and philosophies in the stars above; they are distant, perfected, and difficult for mortals to comprehend. The Terrestrial pantheon dwells in the Known World (and its parallel mirrors), embodying specific places and cultures; they are approachable, imperfect, and have human motives. After the battle with the Primordials, the Celestials banished the Terrestrials – Yithra would become their prison. These two pantheons are in a constant struggle over the hearts and minds of Yithra’s people.
These core assumptions are...
DMG page 150 said:
Wolf-skin clad warriors stand before the bonfire, their taut muscles and alert eyes gleaming as a wizened druid holds aloft the massive antlers of a stag, invoking the name of a wild god before the mid-winter hunt.
Three crones weave an enchanted skein, providing enigmatic advice and ominous visions to an ambitious young sorceress, while her sword-maiden companion appeases bloodthirsty wraiths with wine to buy time.
A cadre of disguised knights cast off their cloaks in the tyrant’s throne room, only to find themselves surrounded by their treacherous allies, crossbows and wands at the ready.
Welcome to the Known World, yearling. Death is now the least of your concerns.
Witching Grounds is a historical middle fantasy setting drawing on Mediterranean folklore, politics, and culture. Humans dominate the Known World, warfare is a fact of everyday life, magic is feared and mysterious, monsters are rare and terrifying, and adventurers are mistrusted.
The World is a Dangerous Place
The Known World is modeled on the histories of the Mediterranean city-states, which existed in a constant state of warfare and intrigue. Travel is treacherous, with packs of mercenaries raiding towns en route to the battlefield, fleeing nobles seeking sanctuary at swordpoint, and soldiers taking hostages for ransom.
The World is Evolving
Many of the Known World’s people trace their lineage back to founding ancestors, and they are confident in knowing their sweat builds upon the foundation laid out in days of yore. Exquisite oral histories and painstakingly crafted tomes have captured much of the world’s history, though it is splintered among tribes, tombs, and private libraries. New kingdoms grow on the shoulders of the past, using ancient roadways and outposts of fallen empires. Prophetic whispers can be heard at every hearth, hinting of a time of great upheaval on the horizon. Characters can be assured that their ventures will have an effect on the history of the Known World, and even shape the course of prophecy.
The World is Divided
While the regions of the city-states are well defined, there is little agreement between the various regents. Moreover, ancestral holdings are well guarded from interlopers; since few visit these hidden places, rumors abound. A dwindling empire makes a final surge of conquest, utilizing militia-imbedded cartographers to map the hinterlands.
Monsters are Rare and Terrifying
Most adversaries are human, ranging from scheming marcher lords to sinister cabalists. When monsters are encountered, they are strongly tied to myth and often have unique qualities and weaknesses; for example, it is common for monsters to have a fear aura. Monsters are charismatic, attracting cults, courts, armies, even city-states to do their bidding, and many monsters have learned to operate from behind the scenes.
Adventurers are Mistrusted
Jackal sons of wolves. Thugs of ill omen. Ale-thieves. Common folk are used to the depredation of bandits, mercenaries, and pirates. Adventurers, with their fearsome weapons, arcane prowess, and tendency to attract trouble, are viewed dismally. Most innkeepers will accommodate adventurers with a morbid sense of duty, hoping that at the very least the adventurers gets themselves killed before bringing woe upon the innkeeper’s family. It is a rare thing for an adventurer to earn the respect, much less the love, of common folk.
Humans are Dominant
Humans vastly outnumber the other races, which often live in the shadow of violent and oppressive human rule. Many humans live their whole lives never knowing another race; they may hear stories or even see one visiting the king, but rarely does their interaction go farther than that. Thus, cauldron-born, dwarves, eladrin, elves, fauns, otter-folk, and tieflings are often the subject of wild speculation.
Magic is Mysterious, and Persecuted
Magic is the embodiment of change. While it follows certain principles, it is inherently ever-changing and evolving, and so it is both more flexible and less predictable than in core D&D. No one has ever catalogued all the spells in existence, and only the greatest of archmages claim to fathom the mysteries of the arcane.
The common folk fear what they cannot understand, and so it is with the arcane. However, most commoners distinguish magic (in the sense that it is used by characters with the arcane power source) from arcane hearth traditions which involve day-to-day rituals such as brewing invigorating broth or scaring away spirits with a scarecrow. Magic is the province of deceitful demon-worshippers, and is synonymous with instability and chaos. Hearth traditions are seen as a way of honoring one’s ancestors, and are synonymous with stability and order. However, to an untrained observer, so-called High Magic and Low Magic can appear very similar.
A Primordial Became the World
The primordials’ names were forgotten after their war with the gods, destroyed or imprisoned, but there was one primordial who evaded the gods. Her name was Yithra, the embodiment of the creative and fecund flame; coveted by primordials and gods alike, many suitors sought to bind her. Yithra concocted a plan, entombing herself in the Known World. Thus the gods were unable to reach her, for to do so they would have to tear asunder their beloved world and level the kingdoms of their beloved people. So Yithra has evaded the gods for ages.
Gods are Warring
There are two pantheons observed in the Known World. The Celestial pantheon dwells in the Astral, embodying high concepts, ethics, and philosophies in the stars above; they are distant, perfected, and difficult for mortals to comprehend. The Terrestrial pantheon dwells in the Known World (and its parallel mirrors), embodying specific places and cultures; they are approachable, imperfect, and have human motives. After the battle with the Primordials, the Celestials banished the Terrestrials – Yithra would become their prison. These two pantheons are in a constant struggle over the hearts and minds of Yithra’s people.
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