So where is your world now??
- Thread starter dema
- Start date
Psion
Adventurer
Trinalia, my workehorse of a game world, is still going strong. I still add and change things from time to time. Having developed so much, it's beginning to feel a bit less like a blank canvas that it used to and I have started a second world project on the back burner that takes advantage of some d20 system material and has a little more room to innovate again. (See this thread for details.) However, I am currently not in a big hurry because after a recent survey to my players indicate that they still like Trinalia, so I will continue to dress it up and develop it.
Andrew D. Gable
First Post
Dendain Part One
I never really submitted a good overview of Dendain, my homebrew world, so here goes.
There's only two actual gods in my world - Empirion (good, male) and Ardanael (evil, female). While the other deities function as gods, they're really just really, really powerful celestials and elementals. Ardanael betrayed Empirion, allying with the fire elemental (Akkad AKA Ammon) and a lesser god (Valinus), spawning the fiendish races and launching an assault on Empirion's throne. She lost (natch), but took the Four Worlds (of the elements) with her. End dividends: Valinus dead, Akkad/Ammon exiled to the Netherwells (Far Realm), Ardanael exiled to Arjidan (hell) along with her children and the Inferni (gods who sided with her).
A Fifth World, called Dendain, is created. It is infused with all four elements. The lesser elementals of flesh and mind sacrifice themselves to give the goddess Ashtar the power she needs to create the human race, and Harlequin, god of the wilds, creates a race called the sidha'im (progenitor elves). Shortly after the creation of humanity, Taliesin and Talismater, the twin gods of magic, descend to Dendain and reproduce with humanity, giving birth to the magi'ashin or wizards. The force of retribution, Dragon, and all of his children (dragons) are placed under the care of the sidha'im. Sidha'im and humans interbreed to produce elves.
Sure enough, the magi'ashin start squabbling when the warlord Khan flees justice. It soon turns into a full war, and in the long run, all the dragons are released. The gods, to their horror, discover that they are responsible for the destruction of the world they so lovingly created. They bring the dragons to heel and isolate themselves from the world.
Making another attempt at the throne, Ardanael attempts to seduce the god Belam. When he refuses her, Ardanael attempts to slay him. Belam's wife, Miranda, retaliates by slaying Ardanael. Dragon judges that Miranda be banished from heaven. She's thrown down to Dendain, where the blinding light she emanates scorches the plains into deserts. The light also causes the humans to take refuge in the cold north (giants), in the mountains (avariel), in the caves (dwarves), and in the forests (woodwoses).
Miranda is allowed to re-ascend into heaven after a thousand years.
Fast forward to the present: magic is practically non-existent, and the few magic-users have sullied reputations. Psi is somewhat more predominant, especially in the South. Speaking of the South, a huge sea filled with islands dominates (think the Pacific), occupying the territory where Theen, the homeland of the magi'ashin, once was.
---------
And that's the brief version.
I'm sure you can see the folkloric things that inspired various aspects: Ardanael is based on a mixture of Lilith and Echidna, the origin of the magi'ashin on the Nephilim legend. Other aspects are Gnostic and Atlantean in flavor.
So I guess you could say it's generic fantasy, lol. The world has areas corresponding to real-life cultures. I'm still working on it nominally, but I admit I'm devoting more time to Shadowrun and Ravenloft.
I never really submitted a good overview of Dendain, my homebrew world, so here goes.
There's only two actual gods in my world - Empirion (good, male) and Ardanael (evil, female). While the other deities function as gods, they're really just really, really powerful celestials and elementals. Ardanael betrayed Empirion, allying with the fire elemental (Akkad AKA Ammon) and a lesser god (Valinus), spawning the fiendish races and launching an assault on Empirion's throne. She lost (natch), but took the Four Worlds (of the elements) with her. End dividends: Valinus dead, Akkad/Ammon exiled to the Netherwells (Far Realm), Ardanael exiled to Arjidan (hell) along with her children and the Inferni (gods who sided with her).
A Fifth World, called Dendain, is created. It is infused with all four elements. The lesser elementals of flesh and mind sacrifice themselves to give the goddess Ashtar the power she needs to create the human race, and Harlequin, god of the wilds, creates a race called the sidha'im (progenitor elves). Shortly after the creation of humanity, Taliesin and Talismater, the twin gods of magic, descend to Dendain and reproduce with humanity, giving birth to the magi'ashin or wizards. The force of retribution, Dragon, and all of his children (dragons) are placed under the care of the sidha'im. Sidha'im and humans interbreed to produce elves.
Sure enough, the magi'ashin start squabbling when the warlord Khan flees justice. It soon turns into a full war, and in the long run, all the dragons are released. The gods, to their horror, discover that they are responsible for the destruction of the world they so lovingly created. They bring the dragons to heel and isolate themselves from the world.
Making another attempt at the throne, Ardanael attempts to seduce the god Belam. When he refuses her, Ardanael attempts to slay him. Belam's wife, Miranda, retaliates by slaying Ardanael. Dragon judges that Miranda be banished from heaven. She's thrown down to Dendain, where the blinding light she emanates scorches the plains into deserts. The light also causes the humans to take refuge in the cold north (giants), in the mountains (avariel), in the caves (dwarves), and in the forests (woodwoses).
Miranda is allowed to re-ascend into heaven after a thousand years.
Fast forward to the present: magic is practically non-existent, and the few magic-users have sullied reputations. Psi is somewhat more predominant, especially in the South. Speaking of the South, a huge sea filled with islands dominates (think the Pacific), occupying the territory where Theen, the homeland of the magi'ashin, once was.
---------
And that's the brief version.
I'm sure you can see the folkloric things that inspired various aspects: Ardanael is based on a mixture of Lilith and Echidna, the origin of the magi'ashin on the Nephilim legend. Other aspects are Gnostic and Atlantean in flavor.
So I guess you could say it's generic fantasy, lol. The world has areas corresponding to real-life cultures. I'm still working on it nominally, but I admit I'm devoting more time to Shadowrun and Ravenloft.
Last edited:
dema
First Post
Zappo-
I really like the way you've allowthing things to flow from one to the other.
My problem as a DM /worldbuilder is that I try to come up with the hows. Like I would be going crazy with the answer, no one knows why or how, but magic works when you do this. At least IMC.
Your tech, and my tech worlds are a bit different. I'm kinda a mage-tech, and you are the real world now with magic and the supernatural. Seems like a great Modern D20 Crossover. I should pick up that book.
Well, thanks for the info guys.
I really like the way you've allowthing things to flow from one to the other.
My problem as a DM /worldbuilder is that I try to come up with the hows. Like I would be going crazy with the answer, no one knows why or how, but magic works when you do this. At least IMC.
Your tech, and my tech worlds are a bit different. I'm kinda a mage-tech, and you are the real world now with magic and the supernatural. Seems like a great Modern D20 Crossover. I should pick up that book.
Well, thanks for the info guys.
where is my world?
Working on the whole "contest" thing really helped to re-focus many of the ideas and themes I use. Seeing the many good ideas generated by this sight, not just around the one pager, but gaming ideas in general, helped me tinker with the "open areas" of my world, (non-themed regions like archipelagos where a wide variety of creatures, magic and races co-exist.)
In some ways my world is quite different for example I don't use the magic creation rules and while there are gods, there are no centralized religions or churches. Then again, common fantasy cliches (flying ships and flying islands) are still present.
My world has continued to evolve in the last ten years as I have used it for my gaming and fiction writing needs. The newest potential change, whether to fully adapt BC's Mindscape Psionic attack rules. I am in a bind because it runs counter to the telepathy/psionic attack rules I have been using for the last five years. Not sure what I will do, but it will be fun to find out.
Working on the whole "contest" thing really helped to re-focus many of the ideas and themes I use. Seeing the many good ideas generated by this sight, not just around the one pager, but gaming ideas in general, helped me tinker with the "open areas" of my world, (non-themed regions like archipelagos where a wide variety of creatures, magic and races co-exist.)
In some ways my world is quite different for example I don't use the magic creation rules and while there are gods, there are no centralized religions or churches. Then again, common fantasy cliches (flying ships and flying islands) are still present.
My world has continued to evolve in the last ten years as I have used it for my gaming and fiction writing needs. The newest potential change, whether to fully adapt BC's Mindscape Psionic attack rules. I am in a bind because it runs counter to the telepathy/psionic attack rules I have been using for the last five years. Not sure what I will do, but it will be fun to find out.
Psychotic Dreamer
First Post
Well my one pager had been something that had been floating around in the back of my head for a while now. Due to a hard drive crash I lost the One pager I sent into Wizards, but I have some of the basic stuff still in my head. Basically it was a low magic world. The heroes (and villians) were people choosen by the gods to assist in the struggle of good versus evil. Each choosen one was given abilities beyond those of mortal men. I guess it was kind of a fantasy style supers game. All and all kind of silly, but it seemed like a good idea.
Fanboy
First Post
Hullo
I run a couple of worlds. i run a RQ3 campaign set in Hyboria, with much high-fantasy shenanighans going on. The adventurers so far have been travelling in the frozen lands of the Vanir and Aesir, but are now headed south to Cimmeria.
I also run an adaptation of CoC set in the 23rd century. Interstellar travel has become a reality. Colonies are being established on world after world, and it is only a matter of time before mankind discovers the ancient mausoleums and edifices of the Old Ones...
I run a couple of worlds. i run a RQ3 campaign set in Hyboria, with much high-fantasy shenanighans going on. The adventurers so far have been travelling in the frozen lands of the Vanir and Aesir, but are now headed south to Cimmeria.
I also run an adaptation of CoC set in the 23rd century. Interstellar travel has become a reality. Colonies are being established on world after world, and it is only a matter of time before mankind discovers the ancient mausoleums and edifices of the Old Ones...
UnDfind
First Post
Burr
The world of Burr.
In the days that legend barely touches upon, the ancients, the ones known as the Doh-Nin, came from a distant world. They asked for the Gods' acceptance and were granted leave to inhabit Burr. The Doh Nin brought with them the knowledge of the twelve Paths of Power, which they shared with the races already inhabiting the surface world (Elves, Dwarves, and Maelik). The Ancients shared the knowledge of every Path save one...the Forbidden path.
>>>>>
The races of Burr had become masters of the Paths of Power, and many sought to learn of the Forbidden Path. The ancients refused to share this knowledge, for it was one of the true paths to evil and destruction. The maelik, power hungry and prideful, awakened the greed of the other races and led them to war with the ancients, intent on forcing the secrets of the Forbidden Path out of them.
The Pridewar, as it would come to be called, lasted many years. The ancients begged for peace and understanding, until they could no longer stand the deaths of their comrades and friends. The ancients raged across the face of Burr, crushing the armies of their attackers. The surface races knew then that their own mastery of the Paths of Power was but a pale shadow compared to that of the ancients. The ancients, no longer wishing peace and equality, punished the races of Burr for their pride by enslaving them.
>>>>>
The kingdom of the Ancients had grown until they ruled the entire world. Mighty cities and structures were built using Elven, Dwarven, and Maelik slaves. These places were tempered with the magic of the ancients and became strongly in tune to the Paths of Power. These cities were masterpieces of metal and stone, reflecting the power the Ancients had gained over the years. The Maelik, who had earned the harshest treatment by the ancients, attempted rebellion. The Maelik were destroyed utterly and vanished from the face of Burr.
The ancients had become power hungry over the years, and had forgotten their own past. For them, the world had always been theirs, and the races had always been their slaves. They were the masters of land, sea and sky, and considered themselves to be but a step below the Gods themselves.
>>>>>>>>>>
okee...this'll take forever this way...better shorten it up
The gods created Humans, Gnomes, and Halflings in an attempt to restore balance to their world. Instead of giving them a chance to live in peace, the ancients began to enslave them as well.
>>>>>
The Ancients had ended all pretense of respect and fear of the Gods, changing the title of their ruler to the God-King and holding him as the true decider of fate and destiny. The gods were angered and the skies turned dark. The gods spoke to the Ancients in a rare display of direct intervention. The Ancients refused to listen to the demands of the Gods and turned their backs to them. The Gods were enraged.
In the halls atop the True Tree, Gleddin, god of the forge began making weapons, blessed with the gift of magic by Fenrath, and given life by Ferlaen. One weapon was forged for each of the Ancients inhabiting Burr. The Gods prepared for war.
What followed was genocide. The Ancients did not know the true power of the Gods until the very moment they struck. Wielding the weapons forged by Gleddin, the Gods felled every Ancient on the world. When an Ancient fell, the weapon used to destroy him would be left in his body, abandoned on the battlefield. It was a sign of how the Gods viewed those who showed such vanity and pride as to challenge the supremacy of the Gods. The Gods had refused to touch the Ancients out of disgust, and the weapons they used to destroy them were considered tainted with their blood.
The Gods gathered up the souls of the Ancients, and trapped them in an unending darkness in the middle of the great northern desert of Fellous. This place was left as a warning of the price of pride. Many years later, the people of Fellous would come to call the place of blackness that rose up in the middle of the desert the Blacklands.
>>>>>
The races of Burr were free once again. But millenia had passed and none really knew what freedom was. It took many years for the races to begin forging nations beyond simple villages and tribes. Eventually the world forgot most of what had happened.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
Well, there's a lot more to it then that, but that's the first big-big in the history of Burr. Nowadays there's people who actively search the overgrown and decaying ruins of the ancients' cities for the artifacts of the Paths of Power (called Tey). Other rare individuals wield the weapons that the gods themselves forged to destroy the ancients (Called Hilts).
Let's see here, what else (too much stuff!). The Maelik have returned, though not as one might expect (BTW, Fellous is he name for the main campaign area on Burr):
Occurrences began to hint at something odd taking place throughout the mainland of Fellous. Here a King gave strange orders, only to rescind them later stating he had no memory of ordering them; there a man would be found wandering aimlessly, becoming animal-like because his mind was stripped of conscious thought. Many began to fear these odd happenings and blamed them on spirits and demons. An appeal was sent to the holy city of Tempus, asking them to find the answer to this problem.
The temples dispatched their priests to solve this problem, and with the assistance of the Scribes, found an answer that was most disturbing.
The Maelik had returned, though not in a form any had expected. The spirits of the long dead race had come to settle on Fellous. No one could understand, or even begin to guess where these lost souls could possibly have gone, if they had not gone to the Kingdom of the Dead in the Rootlands of the True Tree, as all souls did when they died.
The Maelik spirits were not peaceful beings. They sought to reenter the physical world, as they were ethereal creatures, not truly existing in this plane. By entering the bodies of their prey, the Maelik would wrest control of the bodies from the poor creature it was possessing, destroying the mind and soul of the possessed.
The priests of the land sought to turn these unnatural aberrations back towards the arms of Hael Fosh, God of the Dead, but the Maelik were determined to cheat death. Only a handful have been destroyed in the years leading up to the present, and no one knows how many still lurk in the shadowy depths of the plane they exist on. The only sure thing is that the Maelik are waiting out there. They bide their time and look for the perfect opportunity to reemerge in the body of one who’s soul will be lost for eternity.
>>>>>>
Hmmm....what else? Post..getting...too...long!
-Magic is divided. There is the Strean, and the Torrent. The stream is what Druids and Wizards use, calm, peaceful, and malliable. The Torrent is what Sorcerers and Bards use, rough, raw, and violent.
Okee, enough...must stop...sooo much info!
The world of Burr.
In the days that legend barely touches upon, the ancients, the ones known as the Doh-Nin, came from a distant world. They asked for the Gods' acceptance and were granted leave to inhabit Burr. The Doh Nin brought with them the knowledge of the twelve Paths of Power, which they shared with the races already inhabiting the surface world (Elves, Dwarves, and Maelik). The Ancients shared the knowledge of every Path save one...the Forbidden path.
>>>>>
The races of Burr had become masters of the Paths of Power, and many sought to learn of the Forbidden Path. The ancients refused to share this knowledge, for it was one of the true paths to evil and destruction. The maelik, power hungry and prideful, awakened the greed of the other races and led them to war with the ancients, intent on forcing the secrets of the Forbidden Path out of them.
The Pridewar, as it would come to be called, lasted many years. The ancients begged for peace and understanding, until they could no longer stand the deaths of their comrades and friends. The ancients raged across the face of Burr, crushing the armies of their attackers. The surface races knew then that their own mastery of the Paths of Power was but a pale shadow compared to that of the ancients. The ancients, no longer wishing peace and equality, punished the races of Burr for their pride by enslaving them.
>>>>>
The kingdom of the Ancients had grown until they ruled the entire world. Mighty cities and structures were built using Elven, Dwarven, and Maelik slaves. These places were tempered with the magic of the ancients and became strongly in tune to the Paths of Power. These cities were masterpieces of metal and stone, reflecting the power the Ancients had gained over the years. The Maelik, who had earned the harshest treatment by the ancients, attempted rebellion. The Maelik were destroyed utterly and vanished from the face of Burr.
The ancients had become power hungry over the years, and had forgotten their own past. For them, the world had always been theirs, and the races had always been their slaves. They were the masters of land, sea and sky, and considered themselves to be but a step below the Gods themselves.
>>>>>>>>>>
okee...this'll take forever this way...better shorten it up
The gods created Humans, Gnomes, and Halflings in an attempt to restore balance to their world. Instead of giving them a chance to live in peace, the ancients began to enslave them as well.
>>>>>
The Ancients had ended all pretense of respect and fear of the Gods, changing the title of their ruler to the God-King and holding him as the true decider of fate and destiny. The gods were angered and the skies turned dark. The gods spoke to the Ancients in a rare display of direct intervention. The Ancients refused to listen to the demands of the Gods and turned their backs to them. The Gods were enraged.
In the halls atop the True Tree, Gleddin, god of the forge began making weapons, blessed with the gift of magic by Fenrath, and given life by Ferlaen. One weapon was forged for each of the Ancients inhabiting Burr. The Gods prepared for war.
What followed was genocide. The Ancients did not know the true power of the Gods until the very moment they struck. Wielding the weapons forged by Gleddin, the Gods felled every Ancient on the world. When an Ancient fell, the weapon used to destroy him would be left in his body, abandoned on the battlefield. It was a sign of how the Gods viewed those who showed such vanity and pride as to challenge the supremacy of the Gods. The Gods had refused to touch the Ancients out of disgust, and the weapons they used to destroy them were considered tainted with their blood.
The Gods gathered up the souls of the Ancients, and trapped them in an unending darkness in the middle of the great northern desert of Fellous. This place was left as a warning of the price of pride. Many years later, the people of Fellous would come to call the place of blackness that rose up in the middle of the desert the Blacklands.
>>>>>
The races of Burr were free once again. But millenia had passed and none really knew what freedom was. It took many years for the races to begin forging nations beyond simple villages and tribes. Eventually the world forgot most of what had happened.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
Well, there's a lot more to it then that, but that's the first big-big in the history of Burr. Nowadays there's people who actively search the overgrown and decaying ruins of the ancients' cities for the artifacts of the Paths of Power (called Tey). Other rare individuals wield the weapons that the gods themselves forged to destroy the ancients (Called Hilts).
Let's see here, what else (too much stuff!). The Maelik have returned, though not as one might expect (BTW, Fellous is he name for the main campaign area on Burr):
Occurrences began to hint at something odd taking place throughout the mainland of Fellous. Here a King gave strange orders, only to rescind them later stating he had no memory of ordering them; there a man would be found wandering aimlessly, becoming animal-like because his mind was stripped of conscious thought. Many began to fear these odd happenings and blamed them on spirits and demons. An appeal was sent to the holy city of Tempus, asking them to find the answer to this problem.
The temples dispatched their priests to solve this problem, and with the assistance of the Scribes, found an answer that was most disturbing.
The Maelik had returned, though not in a form any had expected. The spirits of the long dead race had come to settle on Fellous. No one could understand, or even begin to guess where these lost souls could possibly have gone, if they had not gone to the Kingdom of the Dead in the Rootlands of the True Tree, as all souls did when they died.
The Maelik spirits were not peaceful beings. They sought to reenter the physical world, as they were ethereal creatures, not truly existing in this plane. By entering the bodies of their prey, the Maelik would wrest control of the bodies from the poor creature it was possessing, destroying the mind and soul of the possessed.
The priests of the land sought to turn these unnatural aberrations back towards the arms of Hael Fosh, God of the Dead, but the Maelik were determined to cheat death. Only a handful have been destroyed in the years leading up to the present, and no one knows how many still lurk in the shadowy depths of the plane they exist on. The only sure thing is that the Maelik are waiting out there. They bide their time and look for the perfect opportunity to reemerge in the body of one who’s soul will be lost for eternity.
>>>>>>
Hmmm....what else? Post..getting...too...long!
-Magic is divided. There is the Strean, and the Torrent. The stream is what Druids and Wizards use, calm, peaceful, and malliable. The Torrent is what Sorcerers and Bards use, rough, raw, and violent.
Okee, enough...must stop...sooo much info!
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