Zardnaar
Legend
Generally D&D is a ideal neo ye olde medieval England/France with an infusion of modern Democratic ideals and norms. I base mine more on things like the old Warcraft 2 universe and Warhammer where some races do not like each other and society norms are more based around medieval Europe and the classical world. Democracy does not exist the closest thing you find to it might be a plutocratic republic of some sort. Slavery is legal in most places, there is an inquisition, torture and capital punishment is part of the legal norm in most part of the word although most parts do not have a defined legal code either, more society norms.
Over the years some of the details have changed (names, pantheons etc) but since the 90's its usually something like this. I use real world locations to give you a rough idea of how things fit togather.
The Elven Empire has fallen replaced with a loose coalition of Elven houses. Elves tend to be True Neutral/Unaligned tending towards evil. They are decadent, arrogant, and are outnumbered 100-1 in their own lands and tend to be matriarchial although its not a strict requirement like the Drow more of a tendency (they have had a handful of Emperors vs Empress). Not all of the houses are evil and favour new relations with their servants. They are roughly based off the Elvenbane novel by Mercedes Lackey and the Tsurani from the Riftwar War saga. House Jerith Kor and Kueryll are the most prominent of the houses (CE sneaky types, NE militaristic imperialists). There are more half elves than Elves in their own lands who tend to be things like administrators, humans tend to be slaves and serfs. The core of their lands would be the Caribbean Islands (minus Cuba).
Humans.
Humans are an important race but the power of the elves despite the fall of the empire is still a lot. A few free cities exist but the Knights of Vanya and their inquisition are trying to consolidate their ruleover the human lands from their fortress city of Kriegsburg. They tend to be LN types with a LE inquisition but they are popular as slavery is illegal. The inquisition has genocidal tendencies towards non humans and is intolerant of other religions, temples to other faiths are illegal in their core lands. Their Empire would based out of Cuba on a world map. Otherwise the free cities are roughly equivalent to the 13 colonies.
Dwarves.
Mountain Dwarves are rare alhtough there are a few hill Dwarves floating around. Dwarven homelands are far away and are ringholds carved into the ground. Similar to the tinker Gnomes of Krynn the Dwarves have technology and have muskets, gunpowder and cannons. A key difference is Dwarven technology works. Magitech if it exists is likely in the Dwarven realms. Their realms are roughly in eastern Canada. Dwarven lands are"nice": but basically closed to outsiders.
Halflings.
Halflings are more or less a cross between the Darksun and Eberron ones. If this was the Americas they would live in Texas and the mid west. They have pet raptors instead of horses and make excellent bow archers.
Hobgoblins.
The Empire of steel exists and it is the Hobgoblin realm. They are roughly in Mexico and have replaced the Aztecs.
Orcs.
They are marauders and live near the Rockies. Elves often use them as mercenary fodder. Half Orcs are rare and are usually created in the 1E A&D assumptions. Theres lots of them but they tend to get chopped to pieces by the Halflings.
Yuan Ti
South of the Empire of Steel and in"Brazil" the jungles are full of YuanTi.House Jerith Kor trades slaves to them and had a hand in their creation via slave breeding programs with ancient serpent men.
Nithia.
Ancient defunct realm, this is basically egypt. Former location in Texas. Was obliterated in Dragonfire millenia before by.....
The Ancients.
Not much is known about the Ancients and very few records exist and they are mostly unknown to the world at large. The Elves served them, and duplicated their empire on a lesser scale once they disappeared. They went down i a war of mutual extinction with the Nithian Pantheon. Former area continental.
Thyatis
Fantasy Rome, Thyatis is a long way from the core areas but once managed to get to east coast area. The remains of their Empire are in California and their empire is in decline
Other races tend to be minor, Gnomes exist along with Half Orcs and Elves, Tieflings do but would probably get killed on sight in most places, Drow are very rare and follow the ways of the ancients (demon worship, elemental cults, no Lolth). Dragonborn basically don't exist. You can play a Hobgoblin, Orc or Yuan Ti from Volos guide but monster races would probably face slavery or death.
Over the years some of the details have changed (names, pantheons etc) but since the 90's its usually something like this. I use real world locations to give you a rough idea of how things fit togather.
The Elven Empire has fallen replaced with a loose coalition of Elven houses. Elves tend to be True Neutral/Unaligned tending towards evil. They are decadent, arrogant, and are outnumbered 100-1 in their own lands and tend to be matriarchial although its not a strict requirement like the Drow more of a tendency (they have had a handful of Emperors vs Empress). Not all of the houses are evil and favour new relations with their servants. They are roughly based off the Elvenbane novel by Mercedes Lackey and the Tsurani from the Riftwar War saga. House Jerith Kor and Kueryll are the most prominent of the houses (CE sneaky types, NE militaristic imperialists). There are more half elves than Elves in their own lands who tend to be things like administrators, humans tend to be slaves and serfs. The core of their lands would be the Caribbean Islands (minus Cuba).
Humans.
Humans are an important race but the power of the elves despite the fall of the empire is still a lot. A few free cities exist but the Knights of Vanya and their inquisition are trying to consolidate their ruleover the human lands from their fortress city of Kriegsburg. They tend to be LN types with a LE inquisition but they are popular as slavery is illegal. The inquisition has genocidal tendencies towards non humans and is intolerant of other religions, temples to other faiths are illegal in their core lands. Their Empire would based out of Cuba on a world map. Otherwise the free cities are roughly equivalent to the 13 colonies.
Dwarves.
Mountain Dwarves are rare alhtough there are a few hill Dwarves floating around. Dwarven homelands are far away and are ringholds carved into the ground. Similar to the tinker Gnomes of Krynn the Dwarves have technology and have muskets, gunpowder and cannons. A key difference is Dwarven technology works. Magitech if it exists is likely in the Dwarven realms. Their realms are roughly in eastern Canada. Dwarven lands are"nice": but basically closed to outsiders.
Halflings.
Halflings are more or less a cross between the Darksun and Eberron ones. If this was the Americas they would live in Texas and the mid west. They have pet raptors instead of horses and make excellent bow archers.
Hobgoblins.
The Empire of steel exists and it is the Hobgoblin realm. They are roughly in Mexico and have replaced the Aztecs.
Orcs.
They are marauders and live near the Rockies. Elves often use them as mercenary fodder. Half Orcs are rare and are usually created in the 1E A&D assumptions. Theres lots of them but they tend to get chopped to pieces by the Halflings.
Yuan Ti
South of the Empire of Steel and in"Brazil" the jungles are full of YuanTi.House Jerith Kor trades slaves to them and had a hand in their creation via slave breeding programs with ancient serpent men.
Nithia.
Ancient defunct realm, this is basically egypt. Former location in Texas. Was obliterated in Dragonfire millenia before by.....
The Ancients.
Not much is known about the Ancients and very few records exist and they are mostly unknown to the world at large. The Elves served them, and duplicated their empire on a lesser scale once they disappeared. They went down i a war of mutual extinction with the Nithian Pantheon. Former area continental.
Thyatis
Fantasy Rome, Thyatis is a long way from the core areas but once managed to get to east coast area. The remains of their Empire are in California and their empire is in decline
Other races tend to be minor, Gnomes exist along with Half Orcs and Elves, Tieflings do but would probably get killed on sight in most places, Drow are very rare and follow the ways of the ancients (demon worship, elemental cults, no Lolth). Dragonborn basically don't exist. You can play a Hobgoblin, Orc or Yuan Ti from Volos guide but monster races would probably face slavery or death.
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