D&D General trying to come up with a decent setting idea.

[Aldarc]

I think a post-apocalyptic framing would work well, which could explain the guns, megafauna, even gods.

Great ideas! Yeah, a post-apocalyptic setting would work. I like the idea of the current meddling gods being ascended mortals. Maybe the process of their divine ascension was actually what "nuked" the setting resulting in rampaging elementals, the rise of megafaun, and magical mutations of humans resulting in the meta-lineagues and the like. There are many ways to integrate monks into such a setting.

 

[Mind of tempest]

A list of incoherent Wants is just another way of throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks; which if nothing else is reasonable if one is in the spitballing phase (which this seems to be).

From what's been posted I suspect the OP is more or less after a kitchen-sink sort of setting that can be used for whatever style of play/campaign might come up; except said kitchen-sink setting needs to incorporate some specific ideas the OP has. Whether this will work in play will only really emerge after it's been played for a while; I speak from experience when I say that setting design is sometimes no more than a long-term exercise in trial and error.

I tend to not make kitchen sinks what I like is campaign concept options, for example, one week we do a big dungeon next politics in five levels epic save the world stuff, plus different areas fell different if I want this legendary thing called a hex crawl.

Sounds a lot like Star Wars or the Avatar cartoon with these cool effects.

It can be cool to have monks with subclasses similar to mage-knights/jedi or elemental channelers. You could have elemental familiars that boost powers or allow spell-like abilities, though feels a bit like Pokémon or Golden Compass.

I never liked having gods that much involved in games. Always feels like the DM is forcing things since gods can make you do anything. There could be some sort of gods vs elemental lords theme that may work. Some background rumblings at lower level leads to open conflict with the elementals trying to overthrow the traditional gods and their forces on the ground. Maybe one side develops light sabers and blasters similar to crossbows that is meant to target the other side.

I'm not a fan of restricting out the common races. It does not feel like D&D to me to not have elves and dwarves. Goes back to a Star Wars feel when everyone is a turtle-man, or cat-man, or crystal-man, or snake-man, or etc... Cool if you and your players want it. Maybe check with your players first though.

I was not inherently going for elemental jedi but I will put that on concept list.

I know may player like there god or warlock patron to do things and have goals so why not make that the intended option?

I see no point to using the common races in all setting plus I can't think of sufficient original takes on them to make them interesting other than the hyper basic stuff like lives in wood has large supplies of druids or something plus we have things which could fill in for them that never really get used.

 

[Brainwatch]

How's this, (briefly)

There once was the old world. Factions/nations/gods vied and warred for dominance over the world. A cataclysm swept the world threatening to destroy everything. Near the end, a way was discovered to escape the old world to a newly discovered world. Many peoples fled to this new world, many of their gods came with them. Much knowledge was lost in the wars and the crossing. The factions and the tensions and the conflicts of the old world came also to the new.

But the new world wasn't empty. This primal land was filled with all manner of fauna and creatures, and although it did not have "gods" it was ruled by primal elemental forces, most often personified in the Elemental Lords. These Lords were often in conflict amongst themselves as they sought dominance over their world. When those fleeing the old world arrived on the new world, they were not welcomed. War ensured.

The war lasted generations, much destruction was wrought. But now, maybe there is peace. It has been three generations since true war encompassed the world. An unofficial cease-fire has taken hold. Although now, with the conflict between the old world and the new paused, old differences and grievances on both sides are resurfacing, and fighting with-in each group have reemerged.

All now wait, some want the war to continue until the other side is destroyed. Some seek to forge peace. Most just seek to survive.

------
So, the old world was more technologically advnced. but much was lost in the crossing and wars. So now you have simple black powder guns. If something you want in the world seems technologically odd for the setting, it's a remnant, best we can do now, of something from the old world.

Megafauna can be what was on the new world, so the people are just adapting to what's here.

Deities and Elemental Lords can be meddling, but maybe self-restrained because nobody wants to be "the one" who restarts the war.

With the fleeing and resettling and constant warfare, everybody has gotten jumbled together, no "uniform" culture here so mix and match as you need to fit classes, whatever together.

And most importantly, have fun.

 

[Ancalagon]

If we are going post apocalyptic, then I am obligated to mention the sublime UVG: Ultraviolet Grasslands

The Ultra Violet Grasslands and the Black City

Softcover Version is currently sold out! PDFs only! "Fair hero, the end, the end alone awaits all travelers and at the end...was the journey all in vain? All journeys end in vanity. In vanity." - Mused the Grand Observer at the end of time. Welcome to The Ultraviolet Grasslands, the roleplaying...

www.exaltedfuneral.com

It is one heck of a setting.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I am not certain on the post-apocalyptic concept can someone explain why it would work?

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

me trying to come up with a decent setting idea.
my head has been long trying to come up with decent ideas to build a setting around.
note I have no idea what a setting is supposed to honestly be like.
here goes:

properly integrate the monk class into the world.

older megafauna are normal and commonly used so I can have Vikings on mammoths and someone on a Trex.

guns they for some reason never get used so why not have them.

use elementals and operations for something as other than killing pc they end up with few plot for them.

more or less complete death of alignment aside from somethings in which it is closer to a job description than an outlook.

mythic style gods, you know the will meddle or curse people for an odd reason or give you crazy lot? yeah, that sort.

restrict racial choices only five more or less aside from metas(artificially made, a human example would be yuan-ti) and plane touched but other than human none of the common elf, dwarf or halfling, no orc and goblins. pick less used or interesting concepts and build them into more than one note nobodies.

plus a mixture of crazy strangeness mixed in which is part of my preferred fantasy flavour.

would this be an okay seed for a setting or should I go back to the drawing board?

Hmmmm.
Monks: Don't have to be Asian-themed. A frothing bare-sark viking swinging a handaxe and spear (and the occasional boot or headbutt) fits the Monk class well. At the end of the day, monks are just warriors who use magic internally to do things. Maybe make Life magic one of the forces of the setting?

Combine the gods and elementals wants. The gods are elemental genies of superlative power and ambition, and all elementals are part of a hierarchy (or bureaucracy) rather than just being raw material from an elemental plane stuffed into a vaguely humanoid form. The gods bicker and ally amongst themselves, and grant boons and curses to those mortals who catch their notice.
They don't make any moral judgements on mortals (no alignment), just whether they advance or hinder their own schemes.
Life is an acknowledged Power, but does not appear to have a guiding force or hierarchy. Life elementals cannot exist independently, but bond to living beings, giving them unusual vitality (monks), physical changes (metas). More powerful life elementals can cause their hosts to grow to great sizes (megafauna).
Maybe they can even become confused, and try to bond with recently-dead creatures, creating undead.

The issue with (primitive) guns isn't really to do with actual guns. (They have similar stats to existing weapons). It is the knock-on implications for worldbuilding, and particularly the existence of gunpowder. So make them quasi-magic elemental weapons that don't use gunpowder. Perhaps the knowledge of which was granted to the mortal races by an ambitious greater efreet angling to usurp the god of Fire. As such, she looks rather dimly upon firearm-wielders. Maybe they are very rare because to create one, you need to seek out and create a pact with a 'rebel' fire elemental who backed the usurper?

These are all details about the metaphysics of the setting however, and very little about the actual setting itself, particularly the bit where the players are going to be playing. It fits just as well into a kitchen-sink world with many different countries and nations as it does within a setting where all life exists within a large circular valley and nothing but barren death outside it.
If your campaign is set within fantasy-africa, you don't need to detail fantasy Europe, Asia etc. They only exist within the scope of how they effect the campaign, and for travelling PCs to have come from.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Hmmmm.
Monks: Don't have to be Asian-themed. A frothing bare-sark viking swinging a handaxe and spear (and the occasional boot or headbutt) fits the Monk class well. At the end of the day, monks are just warriors who use magic internally to do things. Maybe make Life magic one of the forces of the setting?

Combine the gods and elementals wants. The gods are elemental genies of superlative power and ambition, and all elementals are part of a hierarchy (or bureaucracy) rather than just being raw material from an elemental plane stuffed into a vaguely humanoid form. The gods bicker and ally amongst themselves, and grant boons and curses to those mortals who catch their notice.
They don't make any moral judgements on mortals (no alignment), just whether they advance or hinder their own schemes.
Life is an acknowledged Power, but does not appear to have a guiding force or hierarchy. Life elementals cannot exist independently, but bond to living beings, giving them unusual vitality (monks), physical changes (metas). More powerful life elementals can cause their hosts to grow to great sizes (megafauna).
Maybe they can even become confused, and try to bond with recently-dead creatures, creating undead.

The issue with (primitive) guns isn't really to do with actual guns. (They have similar stats to existing weapons). It is the knock-on implications for worldbuilding, and particularly the existence of gunpowder. So make them quasi-magic elemental weapons that don't use gunpowder. Perhaps the knowledge of which was granted to the mortal races by an ambitious greater efreet angling to usurp the god of Fire. As such, she looks rather dimly upon firearm-wielders. Maybe they are very rare because to create one, you need to seek out and create a pact with a 'rebel' fire elemental who backed the usurper?

These are all details about the metaphysics of the setting however, and very little about the actual setting itself, particularly the bit where the players are going to be playing. It fits just as well into a kitchen-sink world with many different countries and nations as it does within a setting where all life exists within a large circular valley and nothing but barren death outside it.
If your campaign is set within fantasy-africa, you don't need to detail fantasy Europe, Asia etc. They only exist within the scope of how they effect the campaign, and for travelling PCs to have come from.

on the monks remind me we to get a big monk discussion thread going.

I am uncertain about your god idea it played badly with the divine caster and I kinda still need them.

okay, explain the gun issue what is the problem as I do not see it?

I have ideas for lands, locations, and nations or just things but I need a base set of rules for the setting to build in connection with.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I am uncertain about your god idea it played badly with the divine caster and I kinda still need them.

okay, explain the gun issue what is the problem as I do not see it?

Divine casters work just fine with the gods being squabbling elemental genies. Just add some metaphysical aspects to each being and a list of domains each would embody. Druids might serve them all equally, while Warlocks make deals for specific services with beings lower down the hierarchy.

The issue with gunpowder is that once its existence and ready availability is established, players will try to use it for everything.

 

[Faolyn]

I think a post-apocalyptic framing would work well, which could explain the guns, megafauna, even gods.

And whatever caused the apocalypse ejected the gods from the planes and stuck them on the material world.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Divine casters work just fine with the gods being squabbling elemental genies. Just add some metaphysical aspects to each being and a list of domains each would embody. Druids might serve them all equally, while Warlocks make deals for specific services with beings lower down the hierarchy.

The issue with gunpowder is that once its existence and ready availability is established, players will try to use it for everything.

it is more I wanted conflicts with sides which might not make sense but who can be worked with for benefits, plus I know what genie are and it feels wrong to put them in such a role.