Imperialus
Explorer
Ok, so I recently graduated with major in history and was trying to think of a way to keep working with it despite the fact that my chances of getting a job that has anything to do with history is pretty slim. D&D seems like a good way. This is longish but I'd love feedback, even if it's just to say I'm insane.
Now keep in mind this is 'inspired' by history, not a carbon copy. If I need to compress or alter events and dates, change political structures to fit the races, redraw boarders and coastlines or whatever I'll do it. It is a game after all and not all of my players are big history buffs.
A few basic concepts/changes/goals first.
1) Religion. There is no centralized church. The various races all have their own pantheon. This is a big change, but there are still factions within (and between) the various faiths that serve as a source of conflict.
2) D&D races form the various power blocs. There is considerable contact between the races, no isolationist elves, dwarves ect. Between war and trade no one is terribly surprised to see other races.
3) Time period would be between 1400, and 1700. I realize that this is a big span of time, but it's more so that I have a variety of historical events to draw from. The primary focus (and tech level) would be the "iron century" 1550-1650. Firearms are beginning to show their value on the battlefield, armour is still prevalent, and the professional army is still pretty much fiction. There is also no "new world" at this point, though it would be easy enough to create one.
4) Include all of the major races as important players, (and therefore open to PC's) and a few less major ones including. Dragonborn, Teiflings, Humans, Elves, Eldran, Dwarves, Halflings, Orcs, and Hobgoblins. I'm debating Warforged as well, though I'm not sure how I'd make them fit.
5) No BBEG! All the various power blocs are constantly fighting with each other, but they aren't good guys and bad guys. No evil necromancers/demon lords/Sauron or whatever wearing the black hat. I want my players to have to make tough moral choices and deal with consequences of their actions.
6) Keep the POL concept. These are big empires, and there are a number of major cities but by and large the wild areas between the cities are still pretty wild.
Anyhow. This is how I see Europe being divided up, and the influence that the various races have on it. I don't have names for anything yet, so I'll tend to refer to things by their real world counterpart.
The Dragonborn and Teifling empires historical analogues are the Roman and Persian empires. A few differences though. The Dragonborn empire never got as far north as the Romans did. France and England remained independent. It was also not based out of Italy, but Constantinople and expanded accordingly. Spain and Italy were still important provinces however. The collapse of both empires wasn't quite as dramatic as the 4th ed POL setting makes it out to be either. The wars were destructive, but not cataclysmic. The dragonborn empire didn't so much collapse as the dragons became consumed by their own affairs and the majority of the empires territories were slowly abandoned leaving others to fill the power vacuum. For a historical point, I picked the division of the Roman Empire as the point during which the Dragonborn Empire "collapsed".
Byzantines AKA The Dragonborn Empire
At the time of the campaign, the Dragonborn Empire is a shadow of its former self. It lost most of its western territories over a thousand years ago, and its major imperial ambitions have never resurfaced. It is still extremely wealthy, serving much as the Byzantines did as an important center of trade. It's very cosmopolitan, though power is still firmly centered around Dragons and the Dragonborn. Dragons (of all colours) in the Dragonborn Empire are brilliant political animals, and the court of the Emperor (an ancient gold dragon) is a mess of intrigue as the various draconic dynasties jockey for power and influence within the imperial family.
Power Structure: Draconic Absolute monarchy, held in place by a massive bureaucracy.
Military: Well trained, professional soldiers, but the overall technology level is lower. The powerful draconic families have their own private armies of varying quality.
Demographics: Dragons >1%, Dragonborn 40%, Humans 25%, Teiflings 15%, Dwarves 10%, Other 10%.
The Holy Roman Empire AKA Generic Human Empire
The western reaches of the Dragonborn empire (The Holy Roman Empire) became dominated by humans, and severed most of their ties to the Dragonborn the final blow coming over a thousand years ago . They maintain similar pantheons and even systems of government, but the region is largely human dominated. Power in the HRE is much less centralized. It is theoretically based around an emperor, not unlike the Dragon Emperor, but in reality his control is much more tenuous. The Imperial family is seen as semi-divine, direct decedents of the first human emperor (Charlemagne) who was chosen by the Gods to lead his people in a bloody war of independence against the dragonborn a thousand years previously. Over the centuries however, the bloodline has become increasingly weak, and power has shifted into the hands of important regional Dukes, Princes, and other nobles who's holdings are almost entirely independent of Imperial authority.
The empire has recently emerged from a period of religious war largely over the question of the Emperors Divinity. The Imperial Cult was forced to make major concessions to the rebellious princes (Peace of Augsburg) granting them further independence. Things are peaceful now, but there is a strong sense that there are many problems still unresolved.
Power Structure: Human Imperial (Theocracy) with an exceptionally powerful aristocracy.
Military: Largely mercenary based. Companies are hired on an ad-hoc basis by nobles, both to fight each other and fulfill their obligations to the emperor. Native mercenaries are exceptionally good at copying fighting techniques from other races.
Demographics: Human 35%, Dragonborn 15%, Halflings, 10% Orcs/Hobgoblins 10%, Dwarves 10%, Eldran 10%, Elves 5%, Teiflings 5%.
Italian/Swiss City States AKA The Dwarves
The Dwarven Clans were an important component of the Dragonborn Empire until the dragons turned their attention away from the region. Fierce and independent the mountain clans (who had never been completely controlled) retook the peninsula. Independent citystates under the control of powerful clans sprang up like mushrooms and have proceeded to spend the past 1000 years fighting each other. The northern dwarven clans produce some of the finest soldiers in the world, equipped with weapons and armour that are amazingly well crafted. The dwarves were also the first to devote major attention to the development and use gunpowder (a Teifling invention) and have remained on the cutting edge of technology ever since.
Compared to the other powers, the Dwarves are almost atheists. Religion plays an important role in their society, but by and large clan loyalties are given far more importance than the gods that an individual worships are.
Power Structure: Dwarven City States, oriented around family clans.
Military: Militia based, very well equipped, considered to be exceptional mercenaries.
Demographics: Dwarves 40%, Humans 15%, Eldran 15%, Teiflings 10%, Dragonborn 10%, Other 10%.
France AKA The Eldran
France is a hereditary monarchy, though power has passed back and forth (violently) between several major dynasties over thousands of years. In fact that cycle of changing power is frequent enough that the Eldran see it as an essential aspect of their government. Powerful noble families jockey for position, carefully shifting alliances, waiting for a moment when the ruling dynasty is weak so they can make a grab for the throne. There is currently one such attempt in progress (the French Wars of Religion). A powerful alliance of southern nobles have entered into open rebellion against the king. Interestingly the war is being paired with a religious schism. The rebellious nobles have been influenced by the way that religion was used to challenge the Emperor in the HRE and have adopted some aspects of their rebellious neighbors. They also have a long history of conflict with the Elven Island kingdom to the North and the Holy Roman Empire to the east.
Power Structure: Hereditary Aristocracy. Power is held by families with close ties to the feywild.
Military: "Chivalric" Eldran knights are some of the most skilled individual warriors in the world, their powers enhanced by their close ties to the feywild. This has led them to be resistant to attempts to turn the peasantry into a significant fighting force though they are adapting slowly.
Demographics: Eldran 40%, Human 30%, Elven 20%, Orcish 5%, Dwarven 5%, Other 10%.
Anyhow, if you're still with me. That's all I have time for right now. I'd love to hear thoughts. Still to come however:
England AKA The Elves
Spain AKA Teiflings, Humans, Eldran all fighting each other.
Arabia/Middle East AKA The resurgent Teifling Empire
The Nordic Countries AKA Orcs
Russia and the East AKA Hobgoblins
Now keep in mind this is 'inspired' by history, not a carbon copy. If I need to compress or alter events and dates, change political structures to fit the races, redraw boarders and coastlines or whatever I'll do it. It is a game after all and not all of my players are big history buffs.
A few basic concepts/changes/goals first.
1) Religion. There is no centralized church. The various races all have their own pantheon. This is a big change, but there are still factions within (and between) the various faiths that serve as a source of conflict.
2) D&D races form the various power blocs. There is considerable contact between the races, no isolationist elves, dwarves ect. Between war and trade no one is terribly surprised to see other races.
3) Time period would be between 1400, and 1700. I realize that this is a big span of time, but it's more so that I have a variety of historical events to draw from. The primary focus (and tech level) would be the "iron century" 1550-1650. Firearms are beginning to show their value on the battlefield, armour is still prevalent, and the professional army is still pretty much fiction. There is also no "new world" at this point, though it would be easy enough to create one.
4) Include all of the major races as important players, (and therefore open to PC's) and a few less major ones including. Dragonborn, Teiflings, Humans, Elves, Eldran, Dwarves, Halflings, Orcs, and Hobgoblins. I'm debating Warforged as well, though I'm not sure how I'd make them fit.
5) No BBEG! All the various power blocs are constantly fighting with each other, but they aren't good guys and bad guys. No evil necromancers/demon lords/Sauron or whatever wearing the black hat. I want my players to have to make tough moral choices and deal with consequences of their actions.
6) Keep the POL concept. These are big empires, and there are a number of major cities but by and large the wild areas between the cities are still pretty wild.
Anyhow. This is how I see Europe being divided up, and the influence that the various races have on it. I don't have names for anything yet, so I'll tend to refer to things by their real world counterpart.
The Dragonborn and Teifling empires historical analogues are the Roman and Persian empires. A few differences though. The Dragonborn empire never got as far north as the Romans did. France and England remained independent. It was also not based out of Italy, but Constantinople and expanded accordingly. Spain and Italy were still important provinces however. The collapse of both empires wasn't quite as dramatic as the 4th ed POL setting makes it out to be either. The wars were destructive, but not cataclysmic. The dragonborn empire didn't so much collapse as the dragons became consumed by their own affairs and the majority of the empires territories were slowly abandoned leaving others to fill the power vacuum. For a historical point, I picked the division of the Roman Empire as the point during which the Dragonborn Empire "collapsed".
Byzantines AKA The Dragonborn Empire
At the time of the campaign, the Dragonborn Empire is a shadow of its former self. It lost most of its western territories over a thousand years ago, and its major imperial ambitions have never resurfaced. It is still extremely wealthy, serving much as the Byzantines did as an important center of trade. It's very cosmopolitan, though power is still firmly centered around Dragons and the Dragonborn. Dragons (of all colours) in the Dragonborn Empire are brilliant political animals, and the court of the Emperor (an ancient gold dragon) is a mess of intrigue as the various draconic dynasties jockey for power and influence within the imperial family.
Power Structure: Draconic Absolute monarchy, held in place by a massive bureaucracy.
Military: Well trained, professional soldiers, but the overall technology level is lower. The powerful draconic families have their own private armies of varying quality.
Demographics: Dragons >1%, Dragonborn 40%, Humans 25%, Teiflings 15%, Dwarves 10%, Other 10%.
The Holy Roman Empire AKA Generic Human Empire
The western reaches of the Dragonborn empire (The Holy Roman Empire) became dominated by humans, and severed most of their ties to the Dragonborn the final blow coming over a thousand years ago . They maintain similar pantheons and even systems of government, but the region is largely human dominated. Power in the HRE is much less centralized. It is theoretically based around an emperor, not unlike the Dragon Emperor, but in reality his control is much more tenuous. The Imperial family is seen as semi-divine, direct decedents of the first human emperor (Charlemagne) who was chosen by the Gods to lead his people in a bloody war of independence against the dragonborn a thousand years previously. Over the centuries however, the bloodline has become increasingly weak, and power has shifted into the hands of important regional Dukes, Princes, and other nobles who's holdings are almost entirely independent of Imperial authority.
The empire has recently emerged from a period of religious war largely over the question of the Emperors Divinity. The Imperial Cult was forced to make major concessions to the rebellious princes (Peace of Augsburg) granting them further independence. Things are peaceful now, but there is a strong sense that there are many problems still unresolved.
Power Structure: Human Imperial (Theocracy) with an exceptionally powerful aristocracy.
Military: Largely mercenary based. Companies are hired on an ad-hoc basis by nobles, both to fight each other and fulfill their obligations to the emperor. Native mercenaries are exceptionally good at copying fighting techniques from other races.
Demographics: Human 35%, Dragonborn 15%, Halflings, 10% Orcs/Hobgoblins 10%, Dwarves 10%, Eldran 10%, Elves 5%, Teiflings 5%.
Italian/Swiss City States AKA The Dwarves
The Dwarven Clans were an important component of the Dragonborn Empire until the dragons turned their attention away from the region. Fierce and independent the mountain clans (who had never been completely controlled) retook the peninsula. Independent citystates under the control of powerful clans sprang up like mushrooms and have proceeded to spend the past 1000 years fighting each other. The northern dwarven clans produce some of the finest soldiers in the world, equipped with weapons and armour that are amazingly well crafted. The dwarves were also the first to devote major attention to the development and use gunpowder (a Teifling invention) and have remained on the cutting edge of technology ever since.
Compared to the other powers, the Dwarves are almost atheists. Religion plays an important role in their society, but by and large clan loyalties are given far more importance than the gods that an individual worships are.
Power Structure: Dwarven City States, oriented around family clans.
Military: Militia based, very well equipped, considered to be exceptional mercenaries.
Demographics: Dwarves 40%, Humans 15%, Eldran 15%, Teiflings 10%, Dragonborn 10%, Other 10%.
France AKA The Eldran
France is a hereditary monarchy, though power has passed back and forth (violently) between several major dynasties over thousands of years. In fact that cycle of changing power is frequent enough that the Eldran see it as an essential aspect of their government. Powerful noble families jockey for position, carefully shifting alliances, waiting for a moment when the ruling dynasty is weak so they can make a grab for the throne. There is currently one such attempt in progress (the French Wars of Religion). A powerful alliance of southern nobles have entered into open rebellion against the king. Interestingly the war is being paired with a religious schism. The rebellious nobles have been influenced by the way that religion was used to challenge the Emperor in the HRE and have adopted some aspects of their rebellious neighbors. They also have a long history of conflict with the Elven Island kingdom to the North and the Holy Roman Empire to the east.
Power Structure: Hereditary Aristocracy. Power is held by families with close ties to the feywild.
Military: "Chivalric" Eldran knights are some of the most skilled individual warriors in the world, their powers enhanced by their close ties to the feywild. This has led them to be resistant to attempts to turn the peasantry into a significant fighting force though they are adapting slowly.
Demographics: Eldran 40%, Human 30%, Elven 20%, Orcish 5%, Dwarven 5%, Other 10%.
Anyhow, if you're still with me. That's all I have time for right now. I'd love to hear thoughts. Still to come however:
England AKA The Elves
Spain AKA Teiflings, Humans, Eldran all fighting each other.
Arabia/Middle East AKA The resurgent Teifling Empire
The Nordic Countries AKA Orcs
Russia and the East AKA Hobgoblins
