Forge the world with me

[thejc]

So we've been running this campaign for about two months now. I love its a homebrew d20 system that is points and skill driven. I did not flesh the entire world out. I tend to over do things. Tack giant sized poster maps up, detail history and cultures to a pain. I have felt I fill in to many of the blanks so to speak. So this time I started with just a basic map and a bunch of loose notes.

Here are some of the features

The land is an empire of 5 vassal kingdom with one centrally located imperial city.
An state ran universal church has taken the place of most religious instituions. Other faiths are encouraged to worship at these centers. While those of evil faith are cosidered witchcraft and heresy thus they are eradicated so they are refered to as cults.
A land of just vampires known as the Pale Lands but they are sealed off by a mystial barrier that allows passage into but not out of the vampire kingdom. In history this event was known as the veiling.

Heres what I need idea wise

A good 4-5 adventure arc for 6-8th lvl characters.
A more fleshed out pantheon
A realistic villain that has strengths and weakness. I.e a little dramatic tension this creates a dillema for the pc's weather to kill them or not.

 

[Rune]

Heres what I need idea wise

A good 4-5 adventure arc for 6-8th lvl characters.

Since you are doing a homebrew, this is a perfect opportunity to taylor your adventures to fit your needs. My advice--write a bunch of hooks--a lot of them. Throw them at your PCs and see what they bite on. Save them all, even the ones they don't bite on. When you need your next adventure, pull out an old hook, look at it, determine what consequences the PCs' actions (or inaction) have and throw it at the PCs again. In this way, the PCs will build their own adventure arc, whether they're trying to, or not.

A more fleshed out pantheon

In what way? And why? Your particular campaign setup might well benefit from a very limited (or virtually nonexistant) level of deity involvement. That would give lots of room for interpretation for the worshipers (and those who oppose them).

A realistic villain that has strengths and weakness. I.e a little dramatic tension this creates a dillema for the pc's weather to kill them or not.

If you're using the hooks strategy I mentioned above, all you have to do to have a really good--and long-term--villain is pull out an old hook. The beauty of this method is that it is the PCs who make the villains what they are!

 

[thejc]

So in the area of the deity I have really only two faiths set. The first is more of a political power in the church of Bahamut. It is the official Imperial Religion and other good deities are allowed to be worshiped there and such. All other temples must pay to Bahamut and such. Think of it as a one based on early medieval christianity(Very powerful politically, vassals, office for sale, papal army, own lands and such) with a splash of Universalism in.

The Second is Vatan the Hammer Lord. He is an ascended mortal Hero. NG Thor kind of guy. His followers are merciful yet fierce in battle.

Then in the campaign there has been mention of two other dieties. The cult of Rallaster(evil, murder) and a one of light and peace. But nothing major other than mention.

SO I am looking for just some ideas. I don't want a huge Pantheon just enough for diversity and all.

 

[thejc]

Here's a link to my story hour to give you a better idea. So far.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-hour/297656-darkness-us-all.html

 

[steeldragons]

Well, the long-term villain seems to be SCREAMING to be a vampiric lord in the sealed off vampire land.

THe heroes begin coming across various plans and lesser minions to thwart...for any number of reasons: accumulating wealth for him; killing off various former enemies; after they foil a few plots perhaps agents sent directly to deal with them; gathering rare/strange magical items/devices to use in his ongoing "master plan" to bring down the mystic barrier and take over the world. BWAHAHAHA!

This would lead, down the road when the party gets to be powerful enough (and are able to piece together the vampire lord's plan), to a tough decision...Do/will they go into the mystic barrier to deal with this imminent threat to the rest of the world?

For the gods...nice start. Given you don't want the pantheon too large, I'd say keep it to 9. Roughly, one god per alignment...maybe two or three sharing one. Since your "top dog" is a dragon (Bahamut) how about you combine gods of other races and mix them in with the things common to those races. i.e. Your Hammer-hero God would seem to be a perfect god for dwarves as well.

So, lessee...working with you have off the top of my head...

Bahamut: The Platinum Emperor. God of good, civilization, patron/king of good dragons. Lawful Good.
Vatan: The Hammer Lord. God of heroes, courage, storms/destructive force of weather, patron of barbarians, heroes and men. Chaotic Good. (I know dwarves aren't really CG, but the nature of storms and the frenzied hero seem to require some chaos.)
Lyaree: (lee-ah-REE') The Lady of Spring. (Wife or lover of Vatan) Goddess of nature, the peaceful/helpful side of weather (she who calms Vatan's thunder), the harvest, peace, patron of farmers, rangers, elves and halflings. Neutral Good.
Rojelster: (RODJ'-el-ster) The Shining Shield or The Shield Lord. (in a constant/cosmic hunt to do battle with Hydra)God of light, the sun, healing and protection, patron of crusaders, hunters, healers, paladins and those that fight the undead. Lawful Good. (your unspecified god of light)


Botan: (BOH'-tan)The Mountain Lord. (Brother of Vatan) God of the mountains, earth and stone, the treasures of the earth, secrets and hidden knowledge, crafts and craftsmen, patron of dwarves and gnomes also revered by anyone dealing in secrets or looking for knowledge. (Dwarven religion is primarily composed of the shared worship of Vatan and Botan) Lawful Neutral.
Nuraht: (NUR'-aht) The Sorceress. Goddess of magic, the moon(s), night, prophecy, insight, patron of mages or anyone dealing with arcane power or seeking insight (highly venerated by diviners and soothsayers), also revered by elves, good dragons and those with psionics. Neutral.
Cheronaster: (chair-on-AS'-ter) The Loremaster. God of chance, luck, lore and history, patron of sages, scribes and rogues of all sorts, particularly bards. Chaotic Neutral.


Absomanth: (AB'-so-manth) The Shadow King. God of darkness, shadows, corruption, power, also associated with winter, emptiness and hopelessness, patron/master of devils, tyrants and evil thieves. Lawful Evil.
Hydra: (pronounced just like the monster) The Lady of Decay (envisioned, quite obviously, as a particularly large and fierce hydra). Goddess of pain, mother of monsters, and mistress of the undead. Neutral Evil.
Ralaster: The Fire Lord. God of evil, murder, fire, patron/master of evil dragons and orcs (many orc tribes worship/serve evil dragons as a way to serve/reach Ralaster's good graces) also patron of assassins. Chaotic Evil.

Ok...so I went one over. BUT, with a whole realm of vampires, I'd say you need all of the "Good" deities (and in other words, CLERICS of good deities) you can get.

Let us know what you think...and decide going with.
Sounds like a cool world is forming here. Thanks for sharing.
Have fun and happy world-building.
--Steel Dragons

 

[thejc]

So yeah that Houses of the Holy pretty much rocks and I will be using it. One more thing I have put in place a group of assassins known as the Brothers of Rhone. In fact one of the PC's have abandonned them.
What is the hierarchy of the brotherhood? (Right now the Field agents
are known as "Gray Man")
I also have a millitary in place(as one of pc's is ex army his division was known as The Soldiers of the Lion, they are Paladins except he was stripped of his rank and powers)? Remember there are 5 independent kingdoms underneath the Imperial City

 

[thejc]

The Hydra deity works good too because I was steering towards not having a bunch of different monster cultures but rather a mother of monsters. So I could introduce a Yuan-Ti abomination and not have to worry about where it comes from and all the other stuff that comes with that. So that works out really well.

Thank You!!!!!

 

[steeldragons]

So yeah that Houses of the Holy pretty much rocks and I will be using it.

Thanks very much. I have a life long interest in ancient mythologies and religions. Coming up with deities/pantheons is one of my favorite elements to creating a world.

I actually incorporated a few things in yours that I didn't in my own world. haha. I really like the whole cleestial hero/monster battle concept of Vatan and Hydra (shades of Marduk and Tiamat).

I also like that there are only 3 goddesses (1 good, 1 neutral, 1 evil...1 spring/brith, 1 "life", 1 decay/death)...who, somewhat unconsciously...could very easily be incorporated together as a Triple-goddess figure.

Maybe you could have/set up a all female religious order who worships them as One...outside of the "Imperial religion"...Creates some dramatic tension between the "official church" and those "heathen witches". The joint religion/Triple-goddess would be Neutral-based...though certain members would obviously lean towards good or evil more heavily...making their concerted efforts to worship outside of the Imperial church rather difficult...keeping them small/sect-like status in the public view.

One more thing I have put in place a group of assassins known as the Brothers of Rhone.

What is the hierarchy of the brotherhood? (Right now the Field agents
are known as "Gray Man")

Um...hmm. Ok...Again, off the top of my head. Well, if you're keeping Ralaster as the god of murder, thus patron deity for assassins, I would incorporate a clerical/priestly caste into their organization (also useful as the party increases in power to have a magical component to the organization to thwart some of the party's magic as well as offering magical support (being able to negate attempts to scry/find them not being the least of its uses).

I'd keep this fairly simple (and keep in mind that Ralaster, as I've presented him, is "The Fire Lord"):
The field agents: The Gray Men (maybe add "Twilight Men" as an alternative name.)
The "lieutenants"/mid level assassin types: The Night Captains.

The priests, on par with the mid-level types: The Brothers of the Night's Fire. (might set up some drama/tension for the party to have to put together this dark priesthood is actually in league with/the same organization as the Brothers of Rhone

The higher up assassins and priests are combined in rank to form: The Burning Ones....OO! Or the Ring of the Black Shards!
The high priest/top cleric: The Knife of Rhone.
The TOP assassin, head of the order...possibly an assassin/cleric combo: "The Burning Shard" ("of Rhone"?) sounds pretty ominous. (obviously, with a lifetime as an assassin, no one knows his actual name)

Or swap the two top ones if you think it makes more sense...the high priest would be "the Burning Shard" and the top assassin would be the Knife of Rhone...if you prefer.

It would make sense...and make it more difficult for the party, if you made the higher-ups/homebase of the organization centered in one of the kingdoms below the Imperial city...or spread out throughout them all?

I also have a millitary in place(as one of pc's is ex army his division was known as The Soldiers of the Lion, they are Paladins except he was stripped of his rank and powers)? Remember there are 5 independent kingdoms underneath the Imperial City

Ok...so there's a single military for the Imperial city, you mean? Or a single military that handles the imperial and the 5 cities below? What would you be looking for with this? Another hierarchical/organizational list of military titles?

--SD

 

[thejc]

Sweetness on the assassins. I had actually decided that Rhone would be an aspect or avatar of Rallaster and Rhone doesn't actually grant spells or recieve worship they have less than 300 followers in the order. I love the hierarchy though!

As for the millitary it's like this. The Imperial City just known as the City. Houses the majority of the it's army. The five Vasssal kingdoms maintain their own millitary and are essentially in charge of their own lands. The kingdoms all have symbolic titles and have different political bases.
The Kingdom of Wind has a queen
The Lands of the Griffon is ruled by a noblity house(much like parliment
only smaller) known as the House of Griffons
The Kingdom of Double Suns it has a two party system(much like
republican and democrats) that votes on legislation
The Rose Republic is ruled by the Council of Roses
The Lands of the Spear it is a millitant state and trains the imperials as
well.

I was thinking one "cool" division per kingdom. plus a couple from the imperialist side. The fallen paladin in my game is from Soldiers of the Lion which is in the Empire's army.

 

[steeldragons]

For the assassins/Rhone/Ralaster thing, the Brotherhood doesn't have to worship Rhone, just be named after/devoted to him...Rhone was an avatar/perfect example of the power and glory (and cruelty and evil) of Ralaster. The cult of assassins would still hold Ralaster as their patron deity...since he was Rhone's deity (or Rhone was favored by Ralaster or however you want to put it) so clerics would certainly be able to receive spells (from Ralaster).

For the military...um...well some of them have pretty obvious options...

Kingdom of the Wind: Zephyr Squadron- a company of her majesty's army (primarily archers/bowmen?) that uses magic and magic items, specifically to be able to fly and control air/the weather. Defeating even a few members of the Zephyrs is near-impossible if you cannot meet them in or get them out of the air.

Or, perhaps they are magically bestowed with their own wings?! Might be a good hook for a story. Helping an aspiring archer "get his wings." Helping a wrongfully accused Zephyr clear his/her name and get their wings back! Perhaps a party member gets inducted and receives wings of their own?

Land of the Griffons: The Gold Talons- an elite company of airborne cavalry. Griffon-riders, duh. These guys would be more traditional cavalry, though no reason they couldn't or wouldn't use ranged weapons, but would be more known for being the lance/spear, sword and shield wielding variety of mounted combatant.

The Double Suns: The Knights of Dawn or The Daystar Knights- paladinic order (yes, of actual paladins), under the command of the "congress", devoted to of Rojelster, "The Shining Shield" god of the sun, etc etc. and the country ABOVE/BEYOND any "party" ties or political concerns. It's about defending the people from evil...and defending the lords and politicians that create and uphold "the laws of the land"

Tensions have been known (sometimes often) to flare between the political leaders and the heads of the Knights of Dawn. This occurs when the former orders the paladins to undertake some politically motivated action that goes against their initial purpose (liiiike...? Accompanying the tax collectors to squalsh any trouble and/or arrest those that. Or go on "peacekeeping" missions -with the Double Sun military as a whole- to lands that do not request -nor require- their help.)

If, by any chance, the kingdom of Double Suns border upon the mystic barrier, that would be perfect! Makes sense an order devoted to the god of fighting the undead would be near the vampire lands. Also...would make sense if this kingdom was in the east (dawn? sun? east. . But no reason it has to be.

The Rose Republic: Silverthorn Company- A special forces unit of a variety of individual weapon/combat specialists. All are highly trained in stealth and combat, probably mostly consisting of rangers and rogue/multiclasses. The company should include at least one mage/arcane caster, at least one rogue/lock & trap expert, and probably at least one "medic"/cleric.

All members are also highly trained in various combat forms- all specialties/specialists! i.e. one exceptional archer, one spear fighter, someone who uses a giant battle axe, a two-weapon fighter, possibly a monk? Get creative and throw a nice group together. Figure...I dunno...20 members?

These guys are the elite of the elite and have a general bravado among them considering themselves to be "the best there is at what they do" in the entire Empire! (and recognized among the kingdoms of the empire that they just might be.)

Actually, I'm really liking some of these ideas. I think I'm going to use/add a few to my own world! lol. Ok. What's next...ah.

The Lands of the Spear: The Iron Shafts- called the "I.S." (the "Eye- Ess.")among the other military companies. They are a unit of spear fighters known for their ferocity and prowess in battle.

They are a close-knit company of honor and courage with "no man left behind" as well as "no enemy left standing" kind of mentality. They fight with spear and shield and carry a quiver of throwing spears/javelins for ranged attacks.

The members of the I.S. are used to help train the Imperial troops (specifically in combat with spears) who come to the Spearlands and several veterans/retired Iron Shafts find lucrative employment as combat tutors or military advisers among Imperialist well-to-do families.

Howzat?
--Steel Dragons