D&D 5E Pick-and-Choose World Building

[Boarstorm]

With the release of 5th Edition, I figure a bunch of DMs are going to be jumping back into the game and designing a plethora of new worlds for their player's to rui-- er, adventure in.

Starting from scratch isn't always easy, so I thought we could throw out some interesting setting elements to serve as inspiration. DMs can pick and choose what they like from our list, and begin thinking about how different elements would interact and viola -- a springboard toward a more fully defined campaign world.

It can be anything from locations, to organizations, to strange ways that magic works (or doesn't), or anything else that might make a setting unique.

I'll throw out a few to get the ball rolling.

-- A nomadic horde of worg-riding halflings who control a vast area of steppe-lands and mount lightning raids against nearby settlements.

-- An order of dark wizards with silvered eyes (a-la Riddick) who manipulate things behind the scenes and are said to be in league with Outer Powers.

-- A vast underground empire of Mind Flayers with enormous economic power that openly influences trade on the surface.

-- Resurrection magic only brings back the departed to complete one final task, after which their soul is burned away -- the fuel needed to power the spell.

 

[dream66_]

-- A field of slick glass, results of an ancient magical war.

-- A mountain range in the shape of the body of a dead god.

-- A village populated with nothing but gnomes, that do not realize the wider world exists, and once you enter, you can't leave... you're feeling a little gnomish.

 

[Desdichado]

-- A militaristic kingdom of hobgoblins that are not "savage humanoids" but boast a civilization as proud as any in the setting. Sure, they're ruthless, antagonistic and not at all nice, and they keep slaves and oppress goblins as a servile underclass, etc. But they're not savages or barbarians. That kind of nonsense is what orcs are for. Treat them as a kind of combination of Nazi Germany and Imperial Rome.

 

[jrowland]

An impossibly tall tower of iron, rust red with a small hill of rust at its base. Swarms of Rust Monsters breed there. It is said a Gate to Acheron is at its pinnacle. No one has ever seen a fiend enter or leave, but the surrounding country/nation is higher in tieflings than anywhere else.

A geyser that spews forth tiny octohedron rocks (d8's) on a windswept plain and only works once a day. The rocks are as small as grains of sand are blown away by the constant winds, although a small hill still exists there and sand dunes mark the area. Some say tiny diamonds sometimes shoot forth, and treasure seekers are sometimes found sifting through the sand (its a tiny portal to the plane of Earth that opens 1/day).

The Cliffs of Insanity. A tall cliff overlooking the ocean is carved with runes on every surface. Dwarves believe the place is cursed and avoid it. A "Monastery" of Hermetic Warlocks study the runes and they say the runes reveal the truth of the world and how to tap into true power. Anyone who can read Primordial can read the runes. A cursory glance reveals nothing but gibberish. Reading for 1 hour straight requires a Wisdom Save. If you fail a DC 10 Wis save, you go insane gaining the insanity "Ancient Alien Theorist"...After 1 year of study you may take a level of Warlock whenever you gain a level as you now know how to contact the Ancient Aliens. However, you tend to wear metal helmets (tin foils is best) if you do not wish to commune with them.

 

[Astrosicebear]

-- A nomadic horde of worg-riding halflings who control a vast area of steppe-lands and mount lightning raids against nearby settlements.

-- An order of dark wizards with silvered eyes (a-la Riddick) who manipulate things behind the scenes and are said to be in league with Outer Powers.

-- A vast underground empire of Mind Flayers with enormous economic power that openly influences trade on the surface.

These are all Eberron... Tribal halflings on dinosaurs... death-obsessed elves, dragon prophecy, and a whole kingdom (not to mention underworld) of aberrations.

Dont mean to take the wind from the sails here... just giving props to you, and Eberron for coolness.

 

[Hand of Evil]

(a cut down version of my campaign world)

A canyon, miles wide with islands floating in the air (inside it) with an everglades like swamp lands below. Where Halfling and Gnomes slavers merchants run airships from island to island and giant eagle riding pirates hunt them. In the swamp below ruins are found where serpent men and lizard men plot against all.

 

[Boarstorm]

Well then, in the time-honored and noble DM tradition of stealing ideas ...

-- A monolithic order of wizards who hunt down any who dare practice magic without their approval, and whose power waxes and wanes with the moons.

-- Everyone has at least a smidgen of psionic talent. EVERYONE.

-- There are no gods. They're either dead or missing. Clerical abilities are either gone as well, or altered in a fundamental way.

-- There exists a truly cosmopolitan city at the center of the universe filled with an eclectic mix of all known sentients living together in semi-harmony.

-- Magitech trains link communities separated by vast distances.

-- Dragons (or another similarly important creature) have a mystical link to the very planet and their region effects extend outward to the very boundaries of their dominion.

-- "Evil" is a very palpable and real force that can mutate those who touch it.

Any others, stolen or not? The same concept that has existed in one way or another for years can be fresh and new again if inserted into a new context.

 

[steeldragons]

Recent addition (relatively speaking) to my own campaign world...

A floating island (rock or magic clouds...or even at the top -above the clouds- of a very hazardous/impossible to reach mountain -their very own Mt. Olympus) of regal and highly magical Cloud Giants who "rule" over a secluded/difficult to reach region and the sheltered community/-ies there who don't interact with the "outside" world.

The Cloud Giants have stylized themselves as a pantheon, each taking an area of life over which to focus their magical ability (spells, potions, magic items, whatever) and be a god, seeking to regain the long-lost powers and glory of their titan origins. They suffer, essentially, a mass obsession bordering on delusion. Maybe there is some root cause/outside influence fostering this, maybe not. These giants are convinced they are the "new gods" of their world/people ...and will deal with strangers (the PCs) as such.

The region could be an island, could be some valley high in the mountains, a region of hills in the midst of a vast prairie/plain where other civilized nations don't bother to traverse, etc... The people may be "primitive", uneducated, easily duped or not. Humans, gnomes,...lizardmen?...pick your poison.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Sometimes a pic helps too...

 

[Boarstorm]

Nice photos!

I thought I'd turn my attention to consumable magic items. Nothing groundbreaking here, but maybe could be used for flavor.

-- Potions are not A Thing. Instead, wizards and clerics bind spells into small crystals. By focusing your intent, the crystals become brittle and shatter at the slightest squeeze, releasing the bound spells within. You could also use fruit, or nuts, or... whatever else.

-- Scrolls are not A Thing. Instead, spellcasters tattoo spells onto their flesh, the ink magically fading when the spell is called upon. Evil spellcasters have been known to skin their opponents and wear cloaks of stitched-together tattooed human skin, replacing patches as they are used.