D&D 5E Homebrew Campaigns in 5e

[Sacrosanct]

I've always been a fan of creating my own campaign world since I started playing in 1981. Back then all you really had was the Grayhawk boxed set if you were lucky, but the modules were structured so you could plop and drop them into any homebrew campaign world setting. I dug that. A lot. I know 5e is pushing FR pretty hard as their default setting, but I have this feeling that it will also support a lot of custom created campaigns, and I have a gut feeling that the DMG will include things in it like the 1e DMG re: castle construction, etc.

So that being said, I'm really interested in hearing everyone's summaries on what custom game worlds you are using for your campaigns. My campaigns take place in a world strongly resembling Grayhawk, with a lot of the fine details being omitted as I like to fill those in as I go along. Only general outlines of each area are detailed right up front. I keep it pretty generic because I like to do the same thing I've done in the old days, and take existing modules and plop them into the campaign.

For example, if I use the G1-3 series, I find an area of my world map where that might fit, and then flesh out the area details from there re: rulers, politics, inhabitants, etc. Right now I'm focusing my efforts on my Felk Mor superdungeon, with an open ended expansion into an entire subterranean world akin to Journey to the Center of the Earth meets Lovecraft. That is, not the Underdark, but a large aquifer with islands, artificial light, and inhabitants that aren't all dark elves, deep gnomes, beholders, or mind flayers

So with 5e coming out, what sort of interesting campaigns of your own creation are you prepping to tackle?

 

[Mouseferatu]

At the moment, I'm running a campaign idea inspired by an old post of... Zeb Cook's? Jeff Grubb's? I forget. The entire world has been covered for generations in an endless storm that's caused nature to sicken, aberrations to congregate, etc. Humanity survives in a few towns/cities high in the mountains, above the Cloud. The PCs are about to start exploring the world--using a 400-ft. wind ghost as a "living airship"--trying to find the source of the Cloud, which, after generations, has begun rising even higher.

But, while I'll be switching to 5E (it's a currently a Pathfinder-with-4E-house-rules campaign), it wasn't built with 5E in mind. I'm not sure what my first 5E-specific world'll be yet...

 

[jadrax]

At the moment, I'm running a campaign idea inspired by an old post of... Zeb Cook's? Jeff Grubb's? I forget. The entire world has been covered for generations in an endless storm that's caused nature to sicken, aberrations to congregate, etc. Humanity survives in a few towns/cities high in the mountains, above the Cloud.

Jeff Grubb, it was a proposed setting for 2e.

 

[mips42]

I've almost always used custom worlds. Even my 'greyhawk' was tweaked here and there so that it was what I wanted.
I'm currently working on converting my last 4e setting to 5e. It's a sort-of alternate/post-apocalyptic earth where the industrial revolution never happened. The eastern coastal area is rapidly growing colder and it'll be up to the PC's to figure out why and what, if anything, can be done about it.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Jeff Grubb, it was a proposed setting for 2e.

that sounds cooler than half of the 2e settings they did go with

 

[fanboy2000]

The actual adventures are, I believe, FR. But the PHB looks like is setting agnostic. It has references to other D&D worlds and real world mythology. This is likely to be the most setting-nutural edition since Wizard's took over.

Once Basic is updated with monster/NPC creation and some other stuff, I think experienced DMs will be able to easily build homebrew settings.

 

[Werebat]

I almost always create my own worlds, although they are usually somewhat derivative. My first 3rd Edition campaign was loosely based on Thundarr the Barbarian and featured Skaven rising up from the depths to wage war on civilization (the very first episode of Thundarr featured Skaven-ish ratmen called "Groundlings").

The E8 PF campaign I'm wrapping up now is based on the "Age of Ice" scenario that came with one of the expansions for Civ IV, using the Kingmaker kingdom creation rules. I made an intro for it, which you can see here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxMG6hQC6O0

I'm debating whether or not to run the Tyranny of Dragons AP, or possibly even the Pathfinder Iron Gods AP, but the next time I create my own world it will be loosely based on both Dark Sun and the old Master of Magic XXXX game (which itself was a combo of Civilization and Magic cards). There are two sister planes, one of which is very arid and the other of which is a vast swamp. The two planes are very "close", and it is easier to pass from one to the other than it is to travel to other planes. Here and there are old towers which were crafted by ancient spellcasters and contain permanent gates between the two planes -- there are often cities build up around (or close to) these towers, for obvious reasons. It may be that the towers were created by residents of the drier plane in an effort to find water -- or maybe not. There are plenty of ruins in the swampy plane as well.

I planned to have "psionics" in this campaign, emulated by a sorcerer bloodline as well as feats granting wild talents in the form of SLAs. I also planned to have humans be the only core race playable, with the others replaced by campaign specific races such as changelings (from Eberron), the Lum (Four-armed giants [Powerful Build] with blue skin that was very sensitive to vibration and that they used to hear with), the Whirren (small, big-eyed, nocturnal creatures that live in the trees of mangrove swamps and looked similar to lemurs and fruit bats -- they climb very well, use their wings to glide, and slither/swim about with their thick, serpentine tails while using their relatively small legs and thumbed feet as arms and hands), some sort of toad people with a three-stage life cycle, only the second of which is suitable for adventuring (as youth they are relatively mindless tadpoles, and when they reach sexual maturity they transform into sessile aquatic filter-feeding lumps that absorb their own brains and spend the rest of their lives pumping out gametes), shifters from Eberron, and probably one or two others (like Thri-Kreen).

Wondering if I might prefer running that game as E8 Pathfinder (unlikely since my players are burned out on that), 5th Edition, or possibly Savage Worlds.

 

[Werebat]

that sounds cooler than half of the 2e settings they did go with

Hey, I loved Dark Sun!

 

[Werebat]

Jeff Grubb, it was a proposed setting for 2e.

Actually, now that I think about it, that sounds like a proposal that lost to Dark Sun.

 

[nnms]

So with 5e coming out, what sort of interesting campaigns of your own creation are you prepping to tackle?

Each player plays a member of the ruling council of a minor noble house on the border of a great empire. They are on the edge of wild lands with small people groups that they can conquer or negotiate into being part of their lands. There will be monsters and all manner of normal D&D threats.

And then their actual party will be their hit squad. A small group of adventurers that goes out and does the things the ruling council decides they should do. Clearing a monster lair. Recovering a lost treasure. Whatever.

There will be a "noble house turn" for each month of game play that goes by. Random events, spending of the treasury, communicating with their superiors in more civilized lands, diplomacy, etc.,.