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[pdkoning]

Organisation: The Riding Healing Masters.

These experts, riding on horses (there is no magic in my campaign setting) operate from the big cyties of the kingdom. They travel the roads, visit remote places and so on. For 50 sp they give you a basic medical treatment. They also carry herbs with them that can be sold to those who need them.

 

[reason]

another couple...

I like sages:

The Expected Smile on the Datarii

The Expected Smile - that most unusual of characters, an anonymous yet prolific sage - lived and wrote before the Vanishing, when Ammander folk still arrived in Port aboard Magi tradeships and Three Stones was but a village about the base of the Black Tower. The works of this hidden figure, a contemporary of The Denier, were fashionably popular for generations; widely copied, imitated, expanded and deconstructed. The Expected Smile has fallen out of favor in the present community of sages, but cultured folk are expected to show some knowledge of the more important works.

On the subject of the Datarii, The Expected Smile wrote that "the strangers who come from under the mountains in dry summers are born and age in the manner of mortals, yet do not die in the manner of mortals. When they return to their vaults and halls beneath the peaks they call 'Great Home,' these strangers create wonders. This is their purpose, uncaringly hidden and uncaringly noble, to endlessly draw beauty and mystery from rock. The greatest stonemason in all the Ammand would throw down his tools in despair if he could but see the least of what the strangers call 'Unfinished Works.'"

The Ebon and the Greater Power

The end is well known: in the last grim days of the Expansion, The Ebon brought the remaining sages of the Ammand to his black tower by the Unending Sea. The iron doors closed on them all, but only The Ebon emerged, bowed and aged under the weight of stolen knowledge. The Ebon, dying yet greater in aspect than any mortal Ammander, met the Greater Power; the wizardry of ink and quiet words to face the one who felled the Ammane. No one knows what passed between these two. The earth and sky cracked, screaming heat from below and cold from above; The Ebon and the Greater Power were extinguished utterly. With them died the last great wizardry of the Ammand and its people.

The Silent and the Refutation to end all Refutations

An Ammander merchant and his mules came uninvited one day in high summer, or so the story goes, determined to buy as much as he could. Many papers should mean a low price, after all. The Silent would have nothing to do with this trader, so there he stayed - shouting, singing, kicking up dried tinder and warming himself by a crackling fire as night fell. The mules brayed incessantly.

The Silent could stand no more than a day and a night of this terrible fellow and his animals. She wrote a Refutation to end all Refutations, direct and puissant, scribed most carefully on the cheapest, poorest parchment. The sage emerged from her manse to thrust the Refutation upon the trader. His face paled upon the reading of it, and he ran as though the Powers themselves were chasing him - but in silence. For all we know, he is running still, Refutation clutched tightly in his hands, somewhere in the far reaches of the Ammand.

The Silent, or so the storytellers would have us believe, dined well on salted mule for half a season.

Reason

 

[maddman75]

The Halfling Brotherhood - In the Kingdom of Enoch, one can find the race of halflings. They are a pastoral, peaceful people (ie, my halflings are hobbits, not kender). They are a ruled people - the human King rules over them and grands a human lord to rule their lands. They pay their taxes, and when the barbarians or goblins come out of the hills, the lords send their knights.

Not all halflings are happy with this situation. They have merged their race's natural tendency toward stealth along with secrets stolen from the human mages. These halfling arcane tricksters move into positions of power in the kingdom as advisors, cooks, or simple servants. Their goals are independence for their people, or at least having halfling lords over halfling communities. They lack raw strength, but have been known to use their familiars to rapidly communicate across the kingdom and know more secrets of the realm than any other group.

THis was born of a player wanting to make a halfling arcane trickster, and I'm one of those DMs who insist that prestige classes have some kind of connection to the setting. The 'Halfling Illuminati' is now a part of the landscape.

The Orcs - When setting up the world, I wanted either inherantly evil Tolkien ords, or spiritual warrior Warcraft orcs. I decided to go with both. The empire of Krall is the dominant force in the world - inspired by Rome. Their slave masters dreamed of a perfect slave race, suitable as either warriors or laborers. They bred men with goblins and a bit of demon blood, producing the obsidian orcs. These first experiments were fierce in battle, but far too unruly to make good servants. They revolted and fled to the southern forests and began breeding and raiding.

The slave masters decided to infuse their breeding program with divine magics, to give the new race a tendency toward religion. They could then be taught to follow Krall's gods, and that would keep them in line. This didn't work as well. The jade orcs didn't take to Krall's gods, and instead were drawn to shamanism and simple nature worship. They revolted as well, and live in the mountains to the east and west. They are a much misunderstood people, as most don't take the time to learn the differences in orc breeds.

Finally the slave masters bred the obsidian orcs with beings tainted with Devil's blood. This produces the Crimson Orcs, also called Hobgoblins. This was a total success, and the Empire's Hobgoblin legions have allowed them to voraciously consume most of the smaller kingdoms around them. They are cruel and merciless, but have a natural tendency toward organization and an urge to follow orders.

 

[arscott]

From the The Sword and the Voice, a d20 past campaign currently in development:

October 31st, 1942
Salem, Massachusetts
A police detective named James Corrigan is gunned down on the way to his engagement party. He was carrying a medieval scroll that he had acquired on behalf of a local mystic. When his body is found, the scroll is missing.

The scroll, written by a catholic priest in 1247, describes two angelic beings. The first is called the Voice, and is referred to by name as Metatron. It is said that he was once the prophet Enoch. The second is called the Sword, and is given several names throughout the text. Metatron is said to be god’s scribe and messenger, relaying his instruction to angels and mortals alike. The sword is said to be the bringer of god’s wrath, who rains down fire and destruction upon the world. Apparently, the Voice commands the Sword and grants him power. The scroll also describes seven tablets that the priest had spent years researching, and seemed to describe a ritual that could summon and bind the sword.

Note: this might be a play-by-post or chat game. let me know if you're interested.

 

[Mallus]

Mallus, I have the funny feeling that your setting doesn't really take itself too seriously...

The jokes/references/absurdity help inspire me. I find its easier to create when the process is immediately rewarding. But its not an entirely light-hearted setting; I took some cues from Joss Whedon (Buffy, specifically)... one episode a nerd builds a hot Buffy robot, the next, her mother dies from a brain tumor. Whee!

And now, some old-time religion... the Seven Saints of the Hannikum Church.

Mr. Jagaur, the Saint of War who lives in the sun.
Mr. Onyx, the Saint of (church-sanctioned) Murder, who is black as the last night of the world and made of knives.
Mr. Skull Monkey, the Saint of Justice, which is sometimes refered to as "divine whim".
Mr. Red-Lips, the Saint of Blood and Healing.
Mr. Featherbones, the Saint of Evangelisism and subsequent Martyrdom.
Mr. Cradle-Casket, the Saint of Duty whose mantra is "Birth! Prayer! Work! Death!"
Mr. Three-Legs, the Saint of Virility, said to have created the Grand Chasm.

 

[Galethorn]

Ok, here's a human culture I came up with.

The Chandaki

This ebony-skinned and wavy-haired people lives in the fertile lands of the delta of the Chandak river. Their settlements are carved into the jungle; rich farmlands surrounded by dense forest in all directions. Their settlements are the agricultural base of city-states built on the natural hubs of the river. These city-states each have their own mutlitude of gods, and are constantly warring and trading with each other.

Chandaks have a loose caste system, consisting of warriors, laborers, and priests/priestesses. The laborers farm, build, and craft, while the priests are primarily concerned with keeping order in their villages, towns, or city-states. Chandak warriors fight, of course, and are well-renowned for their finely made chainmail armor, and even moreso for their powerful steel bows.

Setting them apart from many other cultures, the Chandaki have a totally egalitarian society, where men and women share jobs freely.

As mentioned before, the Chandaki are ebony-skinned and wavy haired. As well, they have a tall, wiry build, and relatively angular facial features.

 

[Gotterdammerung]

from my 'sevenrealms' campaign

Three cities of the coast:


Kerceline: ruled by a tragic queen. Men from all nations bring exotic tributes to her beauty. The town squats, ugly, beneath her towers of black basalt. All citizens must wear white robes and pray to the One at the water's edge. The city guards can know where you've been by the color of mud and oil stained into your robes. For the proper coin you can cleanse your robes in the hot springs. The Drowned Children, a guild of thieves and smugglers, stalk the foggy nights.


Treidora: ruled for centuries by bandits and pirate kings, now held by an officer of the Imperial Navy. This is the furthest south humankind has pressed its influence. Beyond its borders the orcish empire holds sway. The Five Watcher Keeps look down upon a city of sails: overturned boats are used for homes and shops. The standards and sails of both nobles and free sailors fill the valley with life, and anything can be traded in its bustling streets.


Machatreus: one of the oldest cities in the world. A sprawling city of dark stone, it is the northernmost port city of the orcish empire. Twelve great households rule a city of implicit violence. Everyone is armed. Everyone works for at least one house, and loyalty is always held in a delicate balance between greed and fear of death. Everyone struggles to survive. The Coliseum is the grandest arena in the known world. The Councillors keep order from their central keep of subtly colored volcanic glass. Councillors are gruesomely masked and robbed of their senses. They utter their wills, and sense the world through bonded links to selected children.