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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celisasu" data-source="post: 5233149" data-attributes="member: 90537">Right now I'm in a 4E campaign with some friends as a player(Dwarven Battlemind).  But after we finish this campaign(which definately has a few months to go assuming no TPK) I'm going to be GMing.  The players know some of the basics but I figured I'd create this thread to refine my ideas.   Originally I was going to go with Eberron but it wasn't quite giving me the feel I desired.  Anyways toying with stuff I found that the setting wasn't matching with any of the current D&D settings(Ravenloft was probably the closest it was coming too but even that wasn't quite right).  The setting itself is system neutral, but the adventure is for D&D4E.    Anyways the basics.  This is a very rough draft and I'll go into more detail in future posts.  4E rules changes won't be in this post, but instead in follow up ones: Tethiala is what the people call their world.  It's a bit further along timewise than D&D normally assumes.  They just exited a sort of failed renaissance era which started out looking bright but ended with a sequence of wars and plagues that while it didn't push technology back(I never liked the idea of people "forgetting" technology) did lead to an era of extreme distrust and paranoia and developments have stalled at least temporarily.  The world and politics:  There are no major nations in the part of the world the campaign is assumed to take place in.  Various weak leaders, distrust between people, and assorted influential cults have lead to a situation where instead of countries, you have assorted city states.  I'm leaving most of them unamed until they actually come up, but the players will be starting in a city state of moderate power known as Varena.  Like a large majority of city states it's ruled by a Doge who's authority is constrained by a council that consists of members of assorted powerful families.  The city is a maritime power(I admit, I'm using the Republic of Venice from the 1200's as a major inspiration, for quite a few reasons that will become apparent soon enough).  It's not at war with anyone but does have a trade rivalry with two other city states(Borneo which is a minor city state and Palmos which is the closest thing at this time that there is to a major power).  It's part of a very loose alliance of city states that in theory will commit to a mutual defense if one is attacked, but this hasn't been tested yet and many believe that it'll fall apart if it's ever tested.  Citizens are required to be trained in the use of certain weapons and be ready to be called upon in times of need.  At least once per year, and more frequently in times where war is expected, citizens can be called upon for weapon inspection to ensure that they are meeting their obligations(and ta da, we have an actual in character reason that history actually used for why random people have weapons in a major city).  There are strict rules about citizen on citizen violence, but for those who know the legal system(or are willing to supply a bit of assistance to underpaid city employees) there are ways around anything just about.   Religion: The world is split into three religions.   Most people follow a dualistic religion where they worship a pair of unnamed entities that are believed be the source of everything.  Each entity is generally believed to be more in tune with some things than others but they're always worshiped together.   A fair number of people have a belief that everything has a spirit and that by doing things favorable to these spirits that the spirits will in turn do small favors for them.  Some variations of this belief also worship ancestor spirits although most versions only believe that actual things that are still alive have a spirit. Then we have the cults.  These tend to worship unspeakable things best left unmentioned.  Unfortunately for the world they are at an all time high in their power and presence.  Fortunately each cult works on it's own and is almost always hostile to any other cult it discovers.  They vary in size from just a single person killing small animals in his basement to conspiricies consisting of hundreds or possibly even thousands of members hatching long term plans to expand the influence of the entity or entities that they worship.    Technology: The world is for the most part operating around the mid 1500's for it's tech level with a few random bits of tech being slightly ahead or behind compared to Europe at the same time.  The arquebus has been been invented and has recieved a few refinements.  It hasn't replaced the sword and bow yet but you can see it will soon enough.  We're seeing some early experiments in mass production although nothing major yet.  Races: The world is very human-centric.  A few other races exist but they're insanely rare.   So rare in fact that humans are fully convinced that they're the only sentient and sapient species around.  99% of humanity will never knowingly see a non-human individual.  Most races that do exist among humanity have good ways of hiding themselves with the most commen by far being changelings.  The few others that don't live among humanity exist in small very isolated communities in areas inhospitable to humanity or hidden by powerful magic. Magic&Psionics: Magic is very powerful but also insanely rare.  You aren't going to find your local magic shop.  There are no wizard acadamies.  Most major cities have someone who can practice magic but wise citizens tread cautiously around him.  After all who knows what horrible things he did for his powers?  Magic isn't uknown and people definately acknowledge it as a real powerful force, but they don't trust it.  Even the rare magic using cleric(most priests and the like are not able to draw upon the gods energy, maybe one in a thousand can actually use spells although they are more commen than wizards, sorcerers, and whatnot) tends to elicit concerned looks.  They're more socially acceptible than a wizard but what kind of person is so devoted to an unknowable entity, even a benign one as to be able to draw upon it?  Psionics are even more feared.  Nobody admits to being able to sift around in someone's head.  They're actually more commen than users of arcane or divine magic, but as a psionic user is more likely than not to be lynched if someone realizes what he is(and believes it, most people don't), most pretend to be something else entirely.    And...it's time to wander off.  More coming soon!</blockquote>

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