D&D 5E What locations would you suggest for a mideval fantasy world?

[Shades of Eternity]

I had this idea for a fantasy heartbreaker the NM tentatively called the elderberry tales.

In a nutshell, it's the idea of taking a bunch of relatively low born people on a pilgrimage where they find out that there betters have betrayed their duties and it is their civic duty to go into rebellion.

It's still in development, but what.i asking is what locations would you expect in such a game?

I was going to use a variation of the mideval T.O. map where the center of the map is mundane, but if travel to the edges it gets more fantastical.



Any ideas?

 

[Stormonu]

Well, you need an “Unapproachable East”, a “Western Edge of the World that is a Sea” and a cosmopolitan city smack in the middle. Northmen (with Fjords and Glaciers), Southerners (With a desert and/or jungle). Also, a Mediterranean sea with an island chain full of pirates.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

Actually, the idea of a different exotic culture in each direction works lovely for what I'm seeing now.

I think I found my framing devices and inspirations:
1. the fantasy version of 1066 is the reason why things fell apart. a warlord from another kingdom (dubbed the bastard) is conquering a world. all nobles have either been cowed or slain. Seriously considering making him an avatar of the adversary and his knights essentially tieflings.
2. the peasants' rebellion of 1391 is my inspiration for the fighting itself. However, to give them a fighting chance, magical transmutation has occurred. Some peasants went to bed one day a human and woke up an orc (to be strong enough to go toe to toe with a knight). Likewise, city folks had a similar experience by waking up either a goblin or hobgoblin. They aren't evil, but forever changed from the experience and are now a visible "wolf's head."
We finally have a world where Gary Gygax's obsession with polearms makes sense.
3. This is going to be a world where medieval manuscripts define a world. Giant Snails bubble up from the earth causing mischief that low-level adventurers need to fight. The Vorpal Rabbit is a thing of great danger (as it was inspired by medieval tapestries of rabbits doing shenanigans). a buddy of mine got bored once and converted a lot of them over to 5e and now I got a world to use them. Strange Monsters from History - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild
4. The world is going to be mostly monotheistic, however, barely. Instead of worshiping radically different gods, it's more they have been really good at soliciting saints (time to pull out the big book of martyrs for this). The Fey and Daemons walk the earth and despite their nature, really don't like what's happening and are here to help. Elves are Fey that have lost their immortality and now have to learn to live in the mortal world.

edit: a couple of old threads I did in hindsight really add to my feel.

D&D 5E - Giant Snails in Medieval Manuscripts.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-were-medieval-knights-always-fighting-snails-1728888/ Okay, I'm asking, In medieval manuscripts, we have a surprising number of knights fighting giant snails. How did this great pestilence come to being in your dnd game? Were they a symbol of...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - Peasant Revolts in 5e

We've all seen the old joke where a town has to run for its life because a high-level adventurer needs a couple of experience points to get to the next level. Is it even possible to do a peasant's revolt in Dungeons and Dragons? Essentially how to gamify the following historical event...

www.enworld.org

How's that?

 

[CreamCloud0]

Swampy boglands or a dark forest filled with mists, murk and illusions, labyrinthine cavern systems that seemingly go down forever, a small order of priests secluded in their temple complex atop a mountain peak possibly guarding some precious religious artefact, a rocky barren wasteland with sandblasting winds where a ramshackle outlaw town survives, a sacred grove, spring and stone pillar (or suchlike) where certain nature entities might be worshiped or said to reside,

 

[GuyBoy]

Hope remains in the form of hidden remnants of the land that was, before William the Bastard and his tieflings came to conquer.
One brave huscarl smuggled the sword of fair King Harald from the bloody battlefield, and the Godwine Blade still exists. Somewhere.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The rule of historical D&D: No matter how good your research, there will always be a player who knows more than you and will take great delight in pointing out what you have got wrong.

 

[Tonguez]

The Healing springs of Bath have long been a place of pilgrimage for the people, who soak in the mineral waters and present their votive offerings to Sulis, Mother of the Baths.
But this year the Baths are unstable, the ground shakes and heaves, bubble mud and geysers spurt into the air, giant snails and strange beast surface, and ghostly voices chant the curses of generations…

 

[GuyBoy]

The Healing springs of Bath have long been a place of pilgrimage for the people, who soak in the mineral waters and present their votive offerings to Sulis, Mother of the Baths.
But this year the Baths are unstable, the ground shakes and heaves, bubble mud and geysers spurt into the air, giant snails and strange beast surface, and ghostly voices chant the curses of generations…

And ghostly figures, dressed in the armor of another age, have been seen standing sentinel on the crumbling walkways of the great wall of the North.

 

[Ixal]

For there to be a pilgrimage you need to define the religion first. Especially when you want to have a medieval feel as in history one trait of that time was having a single, powerful religion which is at odds of how D&D usually handles religion.

You also need to define the scope of the pilgrimage. Not every pilgrimage was a grand undertaking with months of travel. Many pilgrimages were also things like "the chapel 3 villages in that direction". So you are free to tailor the length of it, especially when you only want to use it as initial hook. But you need to find a reason why all PCs go on the pilgrimage as believer or guard or something else.

Then for the rebellion you need to define what the goal even is. You mentioned civic duty, but that would be a foreign concept in medieval times. There was no state you could have a duty to. Instead you have a duty to your lord (and he has in theory also a duty to you).
So what is the goal of the rebellion? Self rule? Replace the lord with someone else? Not having a other choice because the taxes mean starvation? And why is the revolt neccessary?

 

[CreamCloud0]

For there to be a pilgrimage you need to define the religion first. Especially when you want to have a medieval feel as in history one trait of that time was having a single, powerful religion which is at odds of how D&D usually handles religion.

You also need to define the scope of the pilgrimage. Not every pilgrimage was a grand undertaking with months of travel. Many pilgrimages were also things like "the chapel 3 villages in that direction". So you are free to tailor the length of it, especially when you only want to use it as initial hook. But you need to find a reason why all PCs go on the pilgrimage as believer or guard or something else.

Then for the rebellion you need to define what the goal even is. You mentioned civic duty, but that would be a foreign concept in medieval times. There was no state you could have a duty to. Instead you have a duty to your lord (and he has in theory also a duty to you).
So what is the goal of the rebellion? Self rule? Replace the lord with someone else? Not having a other choice because the taxes mean starvation? And why is the revolt neccessary?

@Shades of Eternity
If i might make a suggestion for a premise of the pilgrimage beyond/in addition to building the rebellion, to be having a blade/crown/sceptre/ect... to be created/blessed by X number of high priests/spirits/gods to only have power in the hands of a worthy ruler or suchlike.