The Shattered Lands; Latest Post: New Racial Feats

[Idabrius]

Ok, so lets get the ball rolling. All you D&D players out there who want to play 4th Edition, or maybe who don't (who knows), this is for you. The Shattered Lands is a community built setting that is custom-made for 4th Edition. I'll put up our mission statement, a little sample of the setting information we've got so far, and some links.

Mission Statement

• Content will be freely available online (this includes any & all sourcebooks, altered character sheets, campaign additions, maps, D&DI adventures, normal adventures, novellas, literature, and rules alterations)--everything will be free. Any donations will be voluntary, not compulsory.

• Content will be informed by the community--this one is a bit more complex. I hope to include community input in the form of art or approved content as well as, eventually, to allow DMs to submit summaries of their parties' adventures to be included in official lore (again, with approval)

• Content will be updated--the site will not stagnate and die after the first few releases.

• Groupfinding is a must--people can come to the Shattered Lands community to find a DM or players; DMs may obtain official Shattered Lands sanctions (seals of approval from the Creator)

• Shattered Lands Approval Sanctions--a seal approving any 3rd party content will be issued if it is Shattered Lands canon. If it isn't, it can still be used with the knowledge that it does not affect the Shattered Lands world nor can any game in which the non-sanctioned material be used be viable for submission as lore.


Campaign Goals:

*The setting will utilize the new system, not fight it -- While rules changes will be necessary to customize the Shattered Lands, for the most part the rules will be embraced and not "worked around". The setting is designed with the rules IN MIND.

*The setting is OLD -- you normally get a genesis story as the first bit of campaign work. Not so with the Shattered Lands. Seriously, we have no idea where stuff came from. Ask the Dragons, if you can find any.

*The cosmology is NONSTANDARD -- neither Great Wheel nor vanilla 4e cosmology applies

*Everything will be CUSTOMIZED -- races will be customized. Classes and paragon paths will be customized. Gods and spells will be customized. Yeah, baby.


Here are the links:

Shattered Lands Website (under construction)

Shattered Lands Forum & Lore Repository

and lastly I will give you a writing sample from some of the setting material...

From the Chronicle of Theobald Turraine

The Emperor is dead.

I was with the procession that came to the royal palace in the unkind dawn as the incense lingered with the mists rolling in off the rivers. The golden half-disk of the Flamen Cantor swayed uneasily over us as he wandered up the narrow streets. We could hear whispers from open shutters; those who were awake yet already knew. The Cantor murmured benedictions and prayed for the Dusk Lady to watch over us, but I heard someone remark that it was a long way till dusk. A bloody day was ahead.

The palace lay quiet. It had already become a tomb in honor of what I am now sure will be the last great Emperor. His seed had fallen on so many fertile fields only to lie fallow--can it be that his idiot nephew will be crowned? He will not. I know this, for when we arrived by the imperial bed the aged Cantor drew up his breath and with a haggard sigh spake the words "So dies Floresan in him." Do we die too? Are we not required to wither and dry like the fruit upon the vine which has lost its root? Who can remember a time when there was neither Emperor, King, nor heir? Pallas does not weep for the city of Aescon. Nay, Lady Pallas weeps not upon all of Floresan. Her tears do not caress us in soft rains. I feel instead her despite, her disdain. When the last Amaranth choked and turned a violet hue she did not weep nor did she chuckle. Our Lady of the Dusk simply scowled and turned away. When the last Amaranth is laid in his familial crypt and the great gates are shut for the final time Cyprissar will sing a song of such solemnity that the very pillars of Aescon will crack and fall.

How can I go on? I struggle to continue my daily life and make good on the many small small things I once promised. The joy is gone from them. I hear sometimes the shouting in the streets as the people demand a leader. I have prayed to Mallearn, Tygán, and to Nyx all three that they will make things right. They do not listen. The temple of Tygán has stood empty these ten years and the last time I saw a Nyxian priest I was only a boy. So we are left with the dead gods and those who care nothing for men. So we are left with emptiness.

I have seen the omens. I have seen the signs. Blood will soak the streets of Aescon before too long. When peace does not quickly come even more blood will be spilled. I have known the unkind touch of the future-seeing eye and I have witnessed more than I can yet say. Who shall hold the cloth together when the weaver is gone? What stitchwork I ask can keep the provinces under the thumb of Aescon? Already the priests have made their retreat to the hill of Songs and Singers in the north. I heard them slip out of the chains of dying Aescon and through the northward gate in the night like thieves stealing out of their masters chamber, having stolen the secret of fire.

They are bolder than Nyx. They would pluck not only the one secret but all from the mouths of the ancient brooding terrors and they would call themselves kings. Perhaps the cursed boy, no true Amaranth he, will tremble meagerly upon a throne of gilded silver in the street of Clerics in the north, but he will be no Emperor.

The Emperor is dead.

 

[Idabrius]

Racial Feats: Updated on the next page

 

[Idabrius]

Magical Theory:

WE have all asked ourselves at one time or another “What is magic? Where does it come from?” The answers seem simple enough on the surface. A studious scholar can draw power out of the words written on a page; a not so studious one can learn secret forumlae from unkind beings. Yet, even the devotees of the gods have magic of a sort. It has long been my study to comprehend the relationship between magic of all kinds and to understand it in full. What, then, is magic?

We two very distinct varieties of magic. That is, we have learned magic, which are made up of a series of gestures and words which call forth certain effects and we have granted magic which is given to us as a gift in response for certain services. There is a third type of magic, latent magic, which exists in the environment. The prime example of latent magic are the sickstones of Miles. We can begin to divide the practitioners of this art along a scale. On the one end lie the so-called wizards and magicians who practice a purely learned art. In the center lie the Sons of Mile or the Warlocks who know certain things but also receive others as boons for their service. On the far end of the scale are the clerics and divine warriors, who would have no magic where it not for the intervention of their patrons.

We can now recognize learned and granted magics, but what defines them? What makes them different? The lines are blurrier than we might like to believe. For example, the pried who call upon the Sunwarden use commanding terms in their own tongue; is this a boon from their goddess or it is an energy corralled and marshaled by them the same as any spell a mage might know? This mystery is beyond us. Therefore, the terms of learned and granted magic are essentially useless. We must seek a different interpretation.

This quest for an unorthodox view has led me to the belief that magic is truly separated not by its obtainment (learning against giving) but rather by its source. This is a difficult subject to broach, but my explorations have led me to the following conclusions. All magic called upon by the great races of today has a singular source: language. It is the mystic power of communication that can bring into effect such startling changes. While Dragons may be innately magical (and thus dangerous beyond belief) men and the like can only tap into that power when they express themselves in some means of communication. Once the communication is established (the definition), the words must be given some enforcement (the power). This is the crux of the problem.

Clerics draw their power solely from their patrons. Even the simplest of magical intonations and prayers would be powerless where it not for the existence of, say, Minos or Pallea. Wizards draw their power from the environment itself; the world responds to their attempts at communication by altering itself to their words. The warlocks of Sargoth or of anywhere for that matter know many formulae like those of true wizards and they also draw their power from Outside influences. The powers of warlocks come both from learned sources and from beings that do not live within the Middle Kingdom.

Magical language is thus an interesting notion to study. Clerical magics seem to stem equally from whatever language they are spoken in. A prayer is a prayer in any tongue. This is because the prayer may be understood by its enactor, which is a thinking being (a God or Goddess). However, wizards must use one of the ancient Languages of Power in order to achieve their effects. This is because there is no intermediary power to understand their words. Rather, their words must speak directly to the architecture of the universe itself.

As a mage of no little merit, I feel my attention is best devoted to that type of magic. It may be that clerics and certain warlocks’ spells are worked the same way that our magic is, simply with an intermediary doing the final crafting. Either way, that is beyond my range of study. Rather, I meant to address the Languages of Power. These tongues were devised specifically to bring into the world certain powers and manipulations that we take for granted today. We have Labrynthine, the tongue crafted by the Eladrin, Wyrmspeak, that crafted by the Dragons, Æon, spoken by the giants, Venetic spoken by the dwarves, and Hidden Ugartic, that written language of the elves. These three Languages of Power are each designed in order to maximize the semantic tensions that present themselves between the signifier and the signified. The relationship between a signal such as a morpheme or word in a Language of Power and the concept that the signal refers to is often a complex one. No one signal or concept exists in the void, but must instead inhabit a perfectly harmonious network of meanings and signals with no imbalances.

This is the reason that, say, Floresan, cannot be used to enact such spells. The language is riddled with alterations and loan-words, and meaning constantly shifts. However, the Languages of Power are static and unchanging in their relationships. The meanings have been perfectly carved and agreed upon and secured with the passage of time. That is why a wizard can only enact his great works with one of these ancient tongues today.

 

[Idabrius]

Dwarves, as described in the letters of Eitri Konig

Greetings again, Master Oren,

I have composed this letter for your use exclusively when traveling in lands claimed by my people. I know that your trade has not often taken you to such places but, as I promised I shall teach you how to make the best deals with the dwarves and to recieve from them the finest gold you'll ever work.

A brief history lesson
I believe that if you take the time to read over this first portion of my letters you will come to a greater understanding of my people. This is but the first of many things I will do to repay your great kindnesses to me.

Our written records descend back into antiquity. Each settlement of the Graewys contains a treasure trove of history. As each settlment is autonomous in these dark days of this world, each also bears its own history back to the decline of the great kingdom of my people in times that have long since vanished.

The earliest records we have speak of the Dragons. Those great semi-mythical creatures were common in those days. This is even before the giants came up from the lower lands, and we were friendly with the giants. No, no, these records speak of the limitless empire of Abzu and its northern sattelites. We did not wish to fall beneath the dragonic yoke like so many others had. Unlike the other peoples who were captured and brought to heel, we had a great advantage -- our elders, even in those vanished days, knew the secrets of working metal. The dragons and their priests, the dragon-kin, did not. They came at us from the sky and on the earth, but metal learned them their place.

The giants came to take the world from Dranonic talons. The imperial aspirations of Abzu subsided into the florid jungles of the deep south, and the few remaining outposts in the north dwindled and faded away. That was our era of peace and prosperity. There were those, truth be told, who went south in that time. They are now known as the Issek; these dark-skinned desert-dwellers are our cousins and kin, though their customs are strange to us.

The graewys who stayed gathered together; though some remained in their isolated homesteads, most came to the call of the great kings and we built ourselves a kingdom. Its precise location is lost to us now, perhaps somewhere far north in the Riggsland; I cannot say. But we built it and there we collected all our knowledge in a great vault, and as the song goes, three good towers were builded there.

That time came to an end with the Draconic invasions. The lingering strongholds of dragon-thralled men made the ancient land of my people a target for their incessant wars, their greed for the secrets of metal-crafting driving them. They burned our towers and they stole our secrets. From that day forth, our people were disperesed in a diaspora across the north.

A typical settlement
Now then, Master Oren, I shall describe to you the archetypical settlement of the Graewys. Understanding the taboos and the strictures which keep our society together will also assist you in your dealings with my people.

All the homes of the graewys begin with a temple and a town center. These are nearly always built upon hilltops to ensure a good command of the countryside. The temples are conescrated to the Earthfather, Eri. The rest of the town center is dedicated to the elders and the master metal-crafters. This place is kept hidden from the prying eyes of outsiders, for beneath the temple lies the vault in which the histories, secrets, and methods of that settlement are stored. The graewys do not much like outsiders prying about business they have no reason to know. We are a secretive people; we are still the only people in the middle world who can forge orichalcum and adamantium. No others know this because we have kept it close and secret. If there is one overarching thing I can tell you, Oren, it is that you should not ever pry into the secret affairs of the graewys. Doing so would do more harm to your reputation and more to quash any notion of buying ore or tools from my people than you can imagine.

From the top of the hill the town-center commands a good tactical view of the countryside. Even some graewys cannot penetrate to the heart of that sacred compound, to the vault. Beyond the town-center are the fields, several miles of them. Most artisans live just outside the sanctified heart of the community, and it is there that you will find the best markets. Further out are the farmers, who cultivate the earth in a radius of several miles. Beyond that is the great graewys outwall, which you will encounter first in your travels.

The only way into the settlement will be through a heavily defended orichalcum door, usually stronger than the wall itself. Entrance through this gate is normally unrestricted in times of peace, and a smaller door-within-the-door often stands open. This miniature portal is closed at sunset, however, to keep wanderers and bandits out.

When you go to speak at the markets my people will likely put you up with one of the farmers or artisans. Oftentimes, they will try to find you lodgings with someone who is of the same craft that you are. You may spend several days haggling with the merchants. While you are there you may notice your host moves with relative ease amongst the houses of others -- almost supernatural ease. This is because the entire settlement has likely been undermined with tunnels. These are dug for two reasons. The first: the outwall could easily be mined out from beneath but, since there are tunnels there already, the graewys could easily fight back miners. The second is tied to our history with the dragons; in times of war, they would swoop down upon our people, no matter our defenses. The tunnels allow us to fight back against enemies who can control the very skies themselves.

Foriegn Merchants
My people find use for many old and crumbling things. To acquire such ancient materials, we have recourse to speaking with many otherwise unwholesome peoples. Cheif amongst these are the goblins, the ruin-rats who scour the wreckage of fallen kingdoms and empires for goods to sell. You may, upon arriving in the marketplace of a graewys community, discover a gaggle of goblins selling various knicknacks and gizmos. My advice is to steer clear of them.

The graewys have been dealing with goblins for centuries, but men have always seemed hestitant to do so. While my people know their secrets, yours have never taken the time. While you may not get a price that is as low from my people, they will not cheat you like the goblins might.

A final word for you
I cannot thank you enough, Master Oren. If it is true, as your people seem to believe, that the graewys have some power to bless or to curse, then let your goldsmithy be the finest in all of Cantorhill. In all the north!

I hope to see you again, but even if I never do, at least this letter will have been of some use to you.

Your friend Eitri Konig penned this.

 

[Idabrius]

Racial Attributes

Dragonborn
Stat Bonus: +2 Str, +2 Wis
Skill Bonus: +2 History, +2 Intimidate
The Blood Madness: +1 to all attack rolls made against bloodied enemies. The Dragonborn learn from an early age to close in for the kill on a bleeding or dying foe -- this was a central tenant of the religion of Abuz, which states 'Thou shalt not suffer the weak to live.'
Dragon Heritage
Dragonborn Breath

Dwarves
Stat Bonus: +2 Con, +2 Int
Skill Bonus: +2 Insight, +2 Dungeoneering
Artisan's Will: +2 bonus on all saves made against magical items. The Græwys crafted nearly every piece of great magic during the Gigantine and Eddic Eras. They know the secrets to using them, and to undoing them.
Granite Bones: Use a second wind as a minor action.
Encumbered Speed
Stand your Ground
Dwarf Weapon Prof: Hammers and throwing hammers. To a consummate craftsman like one of the Græwys, the hammer represents the cycle of creation and destruction. It is the symbol both of building and of tearing down, of life and death. Dwarf-hammers are not to be taken lightely.

Eladrin
+2 Dex, +2 Int
Skills: +2 Arcana, +2 History
One thousand Years of Study: Gain training in an additional skill.
Weapon Proficiency: Longspear
Trance
Walk at Odd Angles: As per fey step.
Guarded Mind[b/]: As per Eladrin Will.
Otherwordly: As per fey origins.

Elves
+2 Dex, +2 Wis
Skills: +2 Nature, +2 Perception
Weapon Proficiency: Longbow & Shortbow
Far-travelers: as per wild step.
Group Awareness
Elven Accuracy

Half-elves
See PHB, no stat changes.

Halfling
+2 Dex, +2 Chr
Skills: +2 Religion, +2 History
Spit at Death: As per Bold
Cautious Approach (Reed Court only): +2 AC when shifting.
Die on my blade! (Island court only): +2 to hit when making a charge.
Over my head: +2 Reflex save

Tiefling
+2 int, +2 str
Skills: +2 Intimidate, +2 stealth
Infernal Wrath
Fire Resistant
Boon of Below: +1 AC when bloodied.

 

[Idabrius]

Channel Divinity: Midnight of the Ebon Father
The Ebon Father enshrouds your enemies in shadows which whisper madness into their ears.
Encounter * Divine, Necrotic
Standard Action Range 10
Target: One enemy.
Effect: One enemy that you can see is suddenly enshrouded in the grasping claws of the Ebon Father’s darkness. His ears are tormented with shrieks and whispers and his sight is hazed over by the shadows. All attacks he makes suffer a -2 penalty to-hit. Save ends.

Channel Divinity: Drink of the Fountain (Pallea)
The Dusk Lady allows you to chose an ally who has proven their strength to be blessed by the waters of immortality.
Encounter * Divine, Healing
Free Action
Trigger: You or an ally score a critical hit.
Effect: You or that ally can spend a healing surge. You or that ally recover an additional 1d6 HP.

Channel Divinity: Unconscious Foresight (Minos)
The future-sight of Minos gives you the uncanny ability to dodge a blow before you even know it is coming.
Encounter * Divine
Immediate Interrupt
Trigger: You are attacked.
Effect: If the attack is against your AC or Reflex, they are both increased by +3 for the purposes of determining if the attack hit.

Channel Divinity: Pull of the Duat (Cyprissar)
Your hand is sheathed in unliving energy; Any you touch will soon feel the cold clutch of your god.
Encounter * Divine, Necrotic
Standard Action Melee 1
Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflex
Hit: You deal 1d12 + Wis necrotic damage to your target.

Channel Divinity: Fury of the Sunwarden (Island Court)
The Sunwarden’s seal shines with the light of the risen sun, blasting and blighting your opponents.
Encounter * Divine, Implement, Radiant
Standard Action Close burst 2
Target: Each enemy creature in burst
Attack: Wisdom vs. Will
Hit: 1d6 + Wis radiant damage; 2 continuous damage per turn. Save ends.

Channel Divinity: Wall of Reeds (Reed Court)
The cautious Queen of Reeds shields you with her powerful magic at the last second.
Encounter * Divine
Immediate Interrupt Personal
Trigger: You are the target of a critical hit.
Effect: The critical hit is a normal hit.

Channel Divinity: Labyrinth-mind (Eladrin Theology)
The contemplation of the Eternal Maze enables you to see solutions to puzzles that you didn’t even know existed.
Encounter * Divine, Implement
Move Action Personal
Effect: You grasp your puzzle-implement and vanish. You may choose a space up to 12 squares away from you. You appear in that space on your next turn. During the time when you are vanished you have effectively winked out of existence: no persistent damage is dealt and no effect can affect you.

 

[Idabrius]

Magical Weapons and Armor in the Lands

Woodsmans Armor Level 3+
The decorated armor of the elves, useful for blending into the forest during a hunt, or to escape the pursuit of enemies.
Level 3 +1
Level 8 +2
Level 13 +3
Level 18 +4
Armor: Any light armor
Power (Daily): Grant a +5 modifier to stealth rolls as the armor changes color to blend with its surroundings. This ability lasts for a number of hours equal to the armor’s enchantment bonus.

Gold-lace Armor Level 3+
Keryan gold is hard to come by, since Ker’yis is hidden deep beneath the waves. Whether the gold was stripped from the domes of the city in the chaos of the sinking or was retrieved afterwards doesn’t matter. What does is that it has sorcerous properties bestowed upon it by both the spells wrought by the Cyclops Magi and the black spells of the Eladrin which sunk the city.
Level 3 +1
Level 8 +2
Level 13 +3
Level 18 +4
Level 23 +5
Level 29 +6
Armor: Cloth
Power (Daily): Immediate interrupt. You can use this power when you deal a critical hit with a spell. The spell deals 1d4 + (enchantment bonus) extra damage of its type.

Khepri Chain Level 4+
The ritual-priests of Khepri know many strange and terrible secrets. As they seek always to preserve life and to live on into the next world, they have perfect a secret enchantment to give the approximation of vitality… at a cost.
Lvl 4 +1
Lvl 9 +2
Lvl 14 +3
Lvl 19 +4
Lvl 24 +5
Lvl 29 +6
Kinds: Chain only
Power (Healing Surge): Gain temporary HP equal to twice your healing surge value.

Ornus-cured Armor Level 6+
In distant Ornus it is said there is a curing spice that can be used to give a man a spring in his step like none he has ever had before.
Level 6 +2
Level 11 +3
Level 16 +4
Level 19 +5
Level 24 +6
Level 29 +7
Kinds: Leather, Studded Leather, or Hide
Properties: Acrobatics skill gains a bonus equal to the enchantment level of the armor.

Defender of the Faith: Pallean Plate Level 9+
The defenders of the Pallean faith have always been blessed. It is said that the wearers of her powerfully enchanted armor are invulnerable in combat, standing up to blows that no man could.
Level 9 +2
Level 14 +3
Level 19 +4
Level 24 +5
Level 29 +6
Kinds: Plate
Power (Daily * Healing): Recover HP as though you’d spent a healing surge after you land a critical hit in melee.

DoF: Minoan Armor Level 9+
The lord of the sky and the future grants his chosen ones protection against all ills that might befall them; in some cases, his followers have learned to put such a protection into clothes and armor as long as Minos can see.
Level 9 +2
…etc
Kinds: Any
Properties: You gain a +2 bonus to all saves when under an open sky.

DoF: Cypressian Armor Level 9+
Those who are blessed with the Scythe-lords’ garments can not only deflect dark energies from the Duat, but use them to close their own wounds.
Level 9 +2
…Etc
Kinds: Any
Power (Daily * Healing): When you are struck by a power with the necrotic keyword you may choose to recover HP equal your surge value instead of taking damage.

DoF: Robes of the Ebon Flame Level 9+
Woe to those who strike a member of the Temple of the Ebon Flame while they wear these dark robes, for the black fires of their dark father will strike down their enemies.
Level 9 +2
…Etc
Kinds: Cloth
Power (Daily * Necrotic): When you are struck by a melee attack, deal 3d8 necrotic damage to your attacker. At level 24, increase this damage to 3d12.

Bleaksilver Armor Level 10+
This armor is made of woven nightmares and the last breathes of dying men. One of the gifts of the Forge-Cities that the Lords Below gave to their servants. Since those days, forging of this horrible chill-grey silver has been acquired by other unscrupulous men and women.
Lvl 10 +2
Lvl 15 +3
Lvl 20 +4
Lvl 25 +5
Lvl 30 +6
Armor: Plate or Chain
Enhancement: AC
Power (Healing Surge * Necrotic): Minor Action. The surface of this armor becomes chill cold. Anyone making a melee attack against you suffers 1d6 + (enchantment bonus) damage.

Orichalc Armor Level 19+
Orichalcum is one of the secret metals whose forging process is known only to great dwarf-smiths. The metal is a gleaming white ore that can reflect all manner of ills.
Lvl 19 +5
Lvl 24 +6
Lvl 29 +7
Armor: Any metal armor
Enhancement: AC
Property: You gain resistance 10 to all damage. Lvl 29: resistance 15.

 

[redwulf25_ci]

Looks interesting so far, however your links aren't.

 

[Idabrius]

Looks interesting so far, however your links aren't.

Thanks for the heads up. Should be working now.

 

[Idabrius]

Perhaps equal in legend and myth with the fear attributed to the Old Ones that the giants slew or imprisoned are the Elemental Horrors that both giants and dragons fought during their early days. When the Sons of Mile, that abandoned elf-kingdom of sorcerers and binders, wrote of the pacts they signed in their secret language, they spoke of three great classes of beings.

There were the Jandain, the things from the Upper World, the Old Ones (what we now call the Lords Below) who came from the Middle World, and the Horrors that came from a land that we believe underlies even the Duat. The Jandain are capricious and sometimes cruel, the Old Ones unfathomable and eternal, and the Horrors filled with blind rage at the impureness of the Middle Kingdom.

For myself, I believe that the elemental horrors hate one another almost as much (but not quite) as they hate the mortal realm. They can only conceive of one given thing at a time, that is their own substance. Anything that is not made of the same stuff is to them an alien threat that must be destroyed if the universe is to be made safe. When they lived here, they built ephemeral cities that gigantine accounts describe as ‘vanishing into the dust’ the moment their masters were slain. Perhaps they used the middle world as a battleground for their feuds. Perhaps they hated it enough that each of them tried to alter it to suit him(it?)self.

Whatever the case, they still lurk below, waiting for a time to strike. We must be wary. They, like all other evils in this world, have their servants.