D&D 5E [+] A Whole New World!

[Steampunkette]

Also... I don't think I have to clarify that there's still Dragon Eggs in "Of Scale and Ash", right? >.>

Like... Some campaign in that setting would -absolutely- center around one group of people wanting a Dragon Egg while others try to see it destroyed and the players have to deal with the problem, unaware that the dragon is -very- close to hatching and if one of the party members decides to break the egg they just hatch a Dragon a couple days early...

And the Swarming Thri Kreen are probably doing so because of Dragons, somehow. Like they always swarm every couple hundred years but this time there's no Dragons eating them en-masse to keep their numbers under control or something...

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I'm going to take a bit from my homebrew world, Tor-eal.

Yikkan Goblinoids: Long ago (over a thousand years ago), the Weave of Magic was shattered by a tremendous catastrophe that resulted in the death of the Goddess of Magic and much of the rest of the pantheon (it's a bit more complicated than that, but this is a basic rundown). The Weave was splintered and caused magic to be much more . . . "interconnected" might be the right word. Basically, instead of being neat and tidy, magic is much messier and has a greater affect on its surrounding environment than before, kind of like Dark Sun, but with different kinds of magic affecting its surroundings in different ways (necromancy kills plants, evocation destroys a bit of the land-scape, abjuration makes materials harder temporarily, transmutation changes the color of the grass or leaves, conjuration might summon a noncombatant creature for a bit, etc).

This new source of magic took centuries of hard-study by the inhabitants of the devastated world to begin to understand, the foremost researchers being the newly reorganized goblinoid society, with hobgoblins taking charge of understanding the nature of the newly reformed magic system. The goblinoids dubbed the new source of magic the "Yikare", meaning "The Three as One" in the goblin language (with "The Three" being the different types of magic; arcane, divine, and primal). The goblinoid culture began to worship the Yikare, receiving magic in return for their faith, eventually granting the Yikare a spark of divinity, but not sentience. The highest-ranking worshippers among the Yikare's goblinoid followers tapped into powerful magic that allowed for them to transform into arcane angels, a Hobgoblin Abjuration Wizard with arcane-blue wings, a Bugbear Arcana-Domain Cleric with radiant-yellow wings, and a Goblin Divine Soul Sorcerer with shamrock green-wings. The new goblinoid society now is devoted to the spreading of magic across the world and ridding the world of psionics (which they believe mutilates magic and prevents the world from becoming its true self), now spread across the globe through an internationally connected faith-group known as the Yikkan Contingent.

In the Yikkan Contingent, the Bugbears typically serve as the priests and holy-warriors of the faith (Arcana, Life, and Knowledge Domain Clerics, as well as Paladins), the Hobgoblins serve as the arcane scholars and professors of magic (Wizards, Eldritch Knights, and occasionally Artificers), and the Goblins are the charismatic spokespersons, magicians, and scouts (Divine Soul Sorcerers, Celestial Warlocks, Swashbuckler Rogues, and Bards).

---

Felshen: On the island of Lantanea, a group of artificers known as the Pre-Genitors, composed mostly of gnomes, dwarves, and humans, decided to set out and achieve what was thought to be impossible: creating a unique race of fully-reproducing people (these same artificers had created a non-reproducing race before, the Golmeng, who are basically this world's version of Warforged, but as Golemkin with subraces made out of different substances, with stone, metal, clay, glass, and crystal Golmeng as the main subraces). After over a century of experimenting, by growing alchemically-enhanced flesh in laboratories with a mixture of dwarven, human, and elven DNA, creating their magically-enhanced brains to make the race intelligent, and giving the race distinctive and bright skin-colors to stand out, the Pre-Genitors eventually succeeded at their goal. Originally called "Fleshlings", as a subrace of the Golmeng akin to Flesh Golems, the Felshen quickly adapted to become an autonomous and fully-reproducing race of highly-intelligent people. With no true place in the world, many Felshen left their home-island to discover what the rest of the world had to offer.

A group of Felshen that was out looking for a place to call their home came across a rare type of dragon, a Sapphire Dragon that discovered the true potential of the Felshen. This dragon, only ever referred to as "The Founder", taught the Felshen that their magical nature and enhanced brain-chemistry made them uniquely suited for learning psionics, so much so that the potential was locked away in their brains just until the Founder removed the barrier and taught the Felshen how to master their psionic powers. Quickly spreading the psionic art across their people, the Felshen became devoted to unlocking all the secrets that the world had forgotten throughout the ages about the power of psionics, now known in their language as the "Shei", or "the Mind" in Common. Copying the strategy of the Yikkan Contingent and abandoning their hope to find one true land for their people, the Felshen decided to spread across the world to eventually unite the world in the art of psionics, this organization known as the "Sheiohn Foulen", which means "The One-Mind Foundation". The Sheiohn Foulen accepts any who can speak telepathically or that has some basic psionic powers, such as the Gith, Verdan, Ghostwise Halflings, Gemstone Dragonborn, and Jemlin Golmeng (crystalline golemkin with psionic powers that the Felshen helped create). The Sheiohn Foulen and the Yikkan Contingent are sworn rivals, having a sort of holy war between them that has lasted for centuries, and recently forced to a stalemate due to the intervention of the bystanders. The Yikkan Contingent refuses to acknowledge that the Felshen have souls, seeing them as abominations that pervert the natural order of the universe, and the Felshen are mostly out for revenge due to the persecution that they have faced at the hands of the Yikkan Contingent and also because their ideals of a "perfect world" are in direct contrast to that of the Yikkan Contingent.

The Sheiohn Foulen is interconnected throughout the world using magical gemstone beacons that allow them to increase the range of their telepathy (making use of Psi Crystals), using chains with towers of these psionic beacons wirelessly connecting different settlements of the Sheiohn Foulen to one another through these innovations (whereas the Yikkan Contingent uses the Sending spell to communicate with one another at long-distance). The centers of their settlements contain a crystal tower that serves as a library for the collective knowledge of the members of the Sheiohn Foulen that anyone with telepathy can connect to and write in (kind of like a limited psychic version of the internet for this fantasy world). The settlements of the Sheiohn Foulen are filled with a diversity of people, with Felshen as the main race populating them, but also filled with Gemstone Dragonborn, Jemlin Golmeng, and the occasional Verdan, Gith, or Ghostwise Halfling. Felshen come in a variety of colors, most often being turquoise, cyan, magenta, or deep-purple, but there are also more rare colors, like yellow, cream-orange, lime-green, ivory-white, or obsidian-black. Their hair-color varies as much as their skin-color does as well, especially on an individual basis.

---

Well, those are four non-standard races that are a major part of my world (yes, one of them is homebrew, but they're very similar mechanically to the Kalashtar, and I've seen a few others in this thread use homebrew/non-official races. I hope that's okay, though).

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Four non-core races only?
Hmm.
Gnomes - representing the natural world; Fae nature based but somewhat mysterious - not to say capricious. None of this tinker gnomes garbaggio. Representing the element of Earth.
Kenku - representing the element of Air. Their tragedy being, of course, their inability to fly. The skies are their ancestral home from which they are forever riven. Warforged - known as simply Forged - representing the fusion element of Metal. Remnants of technological advancements made by a forgotten race of artificers whose downfall caused a great cataclysm in the world. Essentially these now mythical beings were humans but humans are now legendary and only encountered as undead, of which there are many, cursed to wander the world eternally. Essentially these humans were cursed with immortality but also to age as normal, hence the whole undead thing. Humans are thus voiceless but incessant writers, though their languages are forgotten now and studied by goblin and vedalken sages. Talking of which:
Vedalken - representing the element of water. A semi-aquatic race, able to explore the oceans of the world that have not yet been corrupted by the fallout of the cataclysm. Their exposure to these waters has imbues them with natural magical abilities. Very much the tallest of the races but disinclined to explore the interior and uncomfortable away from water.
Goblins - representing the element of Fire. Short in stature and cunning, filling a kind of mirror role to the Gnomes, but more underground than overground, and with an affinity for fire due to their nearness to magma etc. Clever, tool using, in line to be humans 2.0 in the sense of exploring the ruins of the legendary race that came before.

Ruins of ancient cities tainted with a lingering sense of curse. No gods so no clerics per se. But clerical, druidic, and some Wizard magic is the basis of the type of magic in the world. This Magic is drawn from the corruption in the world. I am feeling a lot of necrotic action.
It stole the Kenku’s voices and it suffuses the water and the earth - even the deep places - with its power, and powers the Warforged.
Warlocks might be a thing but rare and they would be drawn from the elemental forces - a mix of the unknowable Old Ones and Fae? Unsure here. No Dragonborn, Tiefling, Dwarf,Elf, Halfling.
Villainous races (the ‘orcs’ of the world) would be akin to RQ beastmen- broo types, minotaurs, scorpion-men, that kind of thing - twisted once-human survivors of the cataclysm.
Perhaps a sense of Shannara esque all races (bar Warforged) mutations or evolutions of the lost humans?
You know, I kinda like this.

 

[Jackdaw McGraw]

Four hundred years have passed since the human child, Prince Cyln, spoke his wish aloud to the dreadful Stone of Ire, "I wish everyone taller than me was dead". They were petulant words, born of a boy's anger, but the shadow that pulsed over the kingdoms was terrifying and absolute. From that day on The Known Lands were forever changed. The cries that rose from the human cities, elven glades, orcan mires and, yes, even the dwarven halls were those of children, orphaned in a blink. In less than a generation these children, too, were gone, and those proud races were no more.

"But..." you might say, "children are resourceful, and soon grow into adults. Surely they could have rebuilt and multiplied." They thought so too until the true curse of the stone was understood. When the first of the orphans began to grow taller than Prince Cyln - who himself was still growing in his abandoned palace - they died. You must remember that no one knew the origin of the curse for years, so they lived in fear of a seemingly arbitrary death: they did horrific things to keep themselves from growing taller.

When the source of the curse was finally discovered Prince Cyln was captured, imprisoned...and stretched. Stretched until he could be deemed the tallest man the orphans had ever seen. The were barbarous with grief and desperate for life, so you must forgive them. There was cleverness to their solution but they were young, and it didn't not last for long. The Prince's feet rotted off his body, killing thousands, then his legs to the knees, wiping away even more, then he died. And then those who were shorter than a tall man with no legs became The Sheerlings, servants of the Stone of Ire.

The Sheerlings, my child, are why we do not go into the rotting cities of men, or into the dark halls of the dwarves...or anywhere else the tall folk lived.

......

Imagine the Fall of Rome, The Black Plague and Vesuvius all hit a storybook world at the same time, wiping out the usually "starring" races. Now it's 400 years later and all the "guest stars" have rebuilt, with the scar of the event, and the ruins, as part of their lore.

Alright, exposition out of the way, my four main races are....

Halflings: They refer to themselves as the Ilimi (ILIMI). They were a pastoral people living on the edges of human and elven civilizations. When those races died (some Ilimi villages tried to help the children, they have a lot of dark lore about those days), they considered it horrible but sort of a "man's problem" event. They didn't anticipate how dangerous the world would become with the tall folk gone. Beasts began to hunt the faded roads, ancient malignancies returned, etc. It took a few generations for the Ilimi to understand they had become the standard bearers for civilization. Modern Ilimi towns look like a cross between rolling shires and fortified settlements.

Kenku: This is a weird one. Four hundred years ago Kenku were just crows. The curse left a smorgasbord of dead flesh all over The Known Lands and carrion creatures feasted for months. Many of them gained intelligence and mortal-ish form eating so much flesh. The Kenku are one of the only that managed to make a civilization, which they've patterned off of the fallen chivalric human ones. They believe they are the reincarnations of humanity.

There are other intelligent, talking omnivores and carnivores around, many of them totemic and strange.

Dragonborn: Dragonborn are a magically manufactured race that were created about 300 years ago by a tradition of weird wizards who somehow (insert fun ideas here!) managed to survive the curse. By mixing human (or elven) heritage with a dragon's essence (whatever that means), they can grow to the size of the previous tall folk and survive the curse. The wizards have tried to design and guide the society towards one that values erudition and dispassion. Imagine Dragonborn but with Vulcan ideals.

Gnomes: Gnomes made themselves visible the day the elves died. They had always been secret custodians of the forests and glades, treated as benevolent spirits. When the elven children (relatively rare in number compared to other races) were orphaned the gnomes became their surrogate parents. They sacrificed the magic that made them invisible to grown 'unseen glades' to protect the last of the elves from the curse. Now they serve as the eyes and ears of this secretive court, ambassadors to the outside world.

The Stone of Ire: What became of it? I dunno!

Thassit!

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

You can use only non "core" folk to populate your world, and I challenge you to make their place in the world unique without making them nothing more than a joke or pun.

What are the 4 or more core peoples of your world, how are you building the world to make it feel like a world they belong in, and what do they think of eachother?

In a world ravaged by other planes, new people emerge to reclaim their home....

Elevator pitch is setting where the Outer and Inner Planes exerted too much influence on the world--the barrier between planes was too thin--and everyone has been touched by planar magic. The world is now dominated by tieflings, assimar, genasi, eladrin, and shadar-kai, who crossed over from their planes (or were humans 'n' elves altered by magic)

There is the celestial kingdom of the aasimar, who believe their land is heaven on earth, but are arrogant and elitist, cruelly ruling over the other races
Despite breaking free of the morality of their demonic and infernal heritages, the twin tiefling kingdoms are at war, divided over philosphical reasons. One is a burgeoning republic that believes in liberty and personal freedom while the other believes in a strong central government with laws that protect the people
The chaotic enchanted lands of the eladrin make equal use of sorcerery and the druidic magic. Here the seasons change based on what court holds sway and the whims of the local ruler
The genasi can be found in any land, and the "commoners." They're laborers, merchants, artisans and traders
And the shadar-kai are just kinda there

I'm pretty much making this up right here...

 

[Smarmot]

Air Genasi, Earth Genasi, Fire Genasi, Water Genasi.
Paladin, Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock
All charisma casters and no one gets a bonus to charisma!
Tasha's is banned!

 

[Mistwell]

Roman Empire but replace humans with Hobgoblins.
Aarakocra will dominate the high places including mountains and anything at altitude. Think the Alps.
Tritons, lone survivors of the sunken empire of Atlantis who now rule the Greek islands.
And Warforged, machines animated by the souls of the long departed princes of Egypt who used machinery rather than mummification.

 

[Remathilis]

So, its cheating, but as a quick brainstorm: Aarakroca, Tabaxi, Tortle, Kenku, Leonin, Lizardfolk, Minotaur, Grung, Localath, Loxodon, Dragonborn(?) - Furry World. (I'm thinking Thundercat's inspired). Might need to make or convert a wolf-race like Lupin yet. (Alternately, you can further anthropomorphize other races (centaur, satyr, yuan-ti) to align with the "humanoid aniamal" theme stronger.)

EDIT: Forgot Rabbitfolk and Owlfolk from the last UA.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Lots of cool stuff!

Islands World: Halflings and Gnomes in one island chain are coastal nomads and pearl divers, but also a branch of that culture built several coastal cities hundreds of years ago.
In another island chain, Gnomes have a city that is the center of academic learning and magitech in the region, including birds made of metal that are alive, like silvery warforged bird things.

Kobolds, Goliaths, and gnomes make up the majority populations of the mountain island nation called The Cloudlaw, the main magitech competitor to the gnome-led nation above, and inventors of the airship.

In the icy norther waters live Goliath sailing folk who are famous for hunting sea monsters and selling their most useful parts. If you use giant squid’s blood to make an elixir to make you impervious to extreme pressure and cold, that blood came from the Goliaths.

More later.

 

[J.Quondam]

After some cataclysmic Great Fractionation event, the mundane world came apart, then reassembled itself into a reality dominated by the planar energies, Elemental, Light, and Dark. Ordinary humans dissolved. While souls remained intact, their bodies re-coalesced into new beings, each subtly marked by their primary constituent energies.

Races
(Sorry no in-world names or thematic tweaks for these.)

• Tiefling, Aasimar, Genasi - each based strongly upon its dominant energy
• Changeling - those of perfectly balanced fractions, but less stable than the others.

The world is a composite reflection of the worlds of planar energies, and of the Powers that dwell within them. All "magic" derives from those Powers, but people can draw on inner reserves to ends both mundane and mystical.

Classes
(It's tough to not include Ftr & Rog, as only really non-magical option, so I kept them!)
(Sorry no in-world names or thematic tweaks for these. )

• Fighters and Rogues hone their own natural wits, muscles and skills.
• Warlockspull energies from a patron (though not necessarily one tied to their own bodily composition)
  • note: Many adventurers dual-class between Warlock, and Fighter or Rogue
  • (There are no other spellcasters in the world.)
• Monks draw on and amplify their own internal energies, more so than the average person.
• Artificers study the order of the world, and channel its energies through devices, reagents, and the like

Campaign / Setting
(Sorry, nothing especially intersting regarding society in the world.)
For some reason I see this a distant post-apoc, Sword & Sorc'y world, long after the collapse of our own. The races and classes would be more "tuned" than bog-standard rulebook stuff. Themes of yin/yang-like balance, rediscovering civilization vs Patrons and their magic, etc. Who knows.