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In the southern reaches of the continent of Sarkonda, the great river Do’ol set Maradha, translated from the Nomadi tongue as ‘Lifeblood of the Mother,’ carves its arterial path through the barricading peaks of the Piercing Crossway to reach its full majesty and purpose in nourishing the fecund lands of Rekkar-Sarrat. Without the river’s bountiful floodplain, this realm would be much like those that surround it - dry, desiccated, and all but inhospitable, with soil of ash and sand and naught but the pitiless sun to turn to. Yet the great goddess Makah-Nihr saw fit to gift this land with her blood and water, to feed the earth and slake its thirst, to let life congregate at the center of these arid wastes, and to make a home for the weak and the meager and the vagabonds whom fate had chosen to send there.
So are the teachings of the Nomadi, the humans who have travelled the floodplain of the great river since the time known as the Vagrant Age, long before the region was known as Rekkar-Sarrat. To them was it known variably as Mara’Isan, Maradha-Una, or simply Mara, and other epithets still in their vast oral history. It was a land they did not claim as their own, for such a gift was given to all who would need of it and all who would honor it, as Makah’Nihr had no chosen children. The Nomadi shared this gift with others who dwelled within it - the Shuka, the Gosana, the Ssorisk, the Jinn - and these peoples lived in relative harmony or, in the very least, indifference.
Specifics of the Vagrant Age are largely unknown as the history of its peoples is unwritten and their contact was infrequent. It was nearly two thousand years ago to the current time, however, when an outside force would shape the future of this land, reforging not only its identity but its name as well. When the Pharosi arrived from the Dunes of Endless Sun into this Maradha-Una, their weary souls could afford no harmony or indifference, and they claimed all as their domain.
Generations of conquest followed in a furious campaign which transfigured into the construction of an empire. Lands were tamed, cities were built, and the Pharosi became the masters of the Mother’s gift, naming the land Rekkar-Sarrat, and ushering in the Age of Pharaohs. The unification that had been brought forth by this colonization would not last, however, and the Pharosi fragmented, the Pharaohs and their lineages carving up the conquered lands to rule. Kingdoms were built, but Pharaohs would clash and kingdoms would fall, redrawing the maps of the realm consistently for a thousand years.
In those thousand years, however, the world beyond came to Rekkar-Sarrat. First it was the merchant riverboats of the Gnomes of Corodo, then the Dwahani refugees of Dwahan, then the pirates of Xeng Q’ui and the Elves of Setal Solaris and others from half the world over. The Lifeblood not only brought nourishment to the land, but an endless stream of gold and commerce as well…gold and commerce that eventually came to rival, even eclipse, the authority of the Pharaohs. How could the golden light of the God-Kings compare to the gold their subjects could hold in their hands?
Rekkar-Sarrat evolved and became a land of trade and enterprise, a crucial checkpoint in the mercantile routes of the greater world. With every new ship down the river, every new shop opened, every new guild formed, the grip of the Pharaohs weakened as the Pharosi and other subjects of the lands found the means to carve their own destinies.
What destiny will you carve in this flourishing land of opportunity? The rising Guildhouses seek craftsmen and merchants to swell their ranks as they vie for control and influence over the cities of Rekkar-Sarrat. The priests fear their own authority being jeopardized by a population pushing against the edges of the caste system and are eager to cement their status in the changing world. The Azrak in the north maintain control over The Taken Land and have increased their raids on the Dwahani charged with defending the border. Painted Elves from the east have introduced the coveted resource of lavaglass into the riverland trade network, and buyers seek protection for their investments as they travel through the Orc-dominated Scablands. Mages and collectors are launching expeditions into the Sandwaste and Dunes of Endless Sun in search of forgotten artifacts and treasures. And of course, the remaining Pharaohs seethe from their thrones, their grasp on their kingdoms weakening with each passing year.
Whether through swinging a sword, finalizing a sale, pledging allegiance to a god or Pharoah, forging steel, or spelunking forgotten ruins, all walks of life can find fame, fortune, purpose, work, escape, or fulfillment in Rekkar-Sarrat.
For the Age of Pharaohs has ended, the Age of Gold has begun.
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Mete anu, my friends, and bedal-salid! Welcome to Rekkar-Sarrat. This land of opportunity welcomes you with open arms, but take care that no dagger finds your back.
This campaign has been a long time coming. I started work on this region and world some 15 years ago, played a few sessions of a campaign in it that fell apart, and have yet to return, so I am excited to see it unfold. I only ask that you bear with me as it is all pulled together. I have put a lot of effort so far into the encyclopedia of this world but I have a lot more to go still, and the contents of the Drive I will link is nowhere near complete. I've just come to realize that if I wait until I write every single thing I want to, I'll never get around to actually playing it.
I'll be continuously working on the Drive and its contents and will try to put out updates as I complete new entries. Right now I think I have enough of the setting information and lore hammered down to at least get the discussion thread started so we can start formulating characters and find more players and all that.
This drive will provide information on the races, classes, regions, and systems I have in place for the setting and the campaign. The House Rules doc will go over most of the things I'll be doing, but I'll summarize here as well.
First, though, I'd like to kind of lay out my goals and hopes for the game. I'm looking to really try to craft a living world through this setting, I want to work closely with everyone to create characters that really fit in and have a place in the world with their backgrounds, goals, beliefs, and all that. My aim is to not have PCs just be people doing things in the context of an adventure, but actual members of the civilization. I actually have no plan for a specific quest or storyline to embark on - my machinations as the DM are going to be reactive to your goals, decisions, and interests as players and characters. There will be plot threads and seeds scattered about, of course, but ultimately I want you to be architects how the campaign moves. So whether you make characters who have political aspirations, mercantile goals, constructed personal stories, or even just want to be traditional adventurers, I'm open to all paths.
That said, as far as setting and character creation
Setting is low-mid magic. Spellcasters are playable and exist as NPCs but day to day life is more grounded. There aren't any overarching magical systems ingrained into society, or things like flying cities, magical sewers, etc. Many regular people might go days,weeks, or months without interacting with magic. Magic items will also be handled different. There aren't really any magical stores or shops and most items will be found or made instead of purchased. A bit more info on that in the House Rules doc.
Races are pretty different than core. I kind of did a whole new system for racial abilities and a lot of their lore is different as well. The crunch-only racial statistics are all listed out on 00. All Race Statistics in the Races folder. This is doc is complete with the stats for all playable races. The races folder itself has more detailed entries on the races (this folder is incomplete, but races 1-10 are complete with fluff). The races are divided as such:
01 - 07 - Denizen Races. These are the races that are either indigenous to Rekkar-Sarrat OR whose presence has contributed heavily to the development of society and civilization there.
08 - 13 - Local Races. These are the races who live in the regions surrounding Rekkar-Sarrat and who may frequent it.
14 - 18 - Foreign Races. These are the races who come from far off lands and have no established culture or society in Rekkar-Sarrat. These are usually merchants, traders adventurers, or explorers.
19 - The Aljinuar (Geniekin) are more or less the Undine/Oread/Ifrit/Sylph from core, though treated a bit differently in that they are more like templates. These can appear among any race and choose a "parent" race to which they are born which determines their size and base appearance.
20 - 23 - These races are not playable for lore reasons but have a presence in or around Rekkar-Sarrat.
Classes: The available classes are shown in classes folder. They include Arcanist, Barbarian, Bard, Bloodrager, Brawler, Cavalier, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Hunter, Inquisitor, Monk, Oracle, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Shaman, Skald, Slayer, Sorcerer, Swashbuckler, Warpriest, Witch, and Wizard. I've left out a couple classes that I either am not fond of or that I don't think are conducive to PbP, or that don't fit in lorewise. Some classes will have slight changes based on some other house rules (such as alignment changes that I will touch on). This different docs just sort of go over the classes in the context of the setting but I've only hammered out a couple so far.
Alignment: We won't be playing with traditional alignment, and instead characters will choose Ideals and Avoidances This will obviously have impact on some game mechanics, but we will hash that out as we go, or I can answer any questions you have about it.
I also have some new class features or options that I'm still working on, so I'll update those as I complete them.
Weapon Groups: Weapons are divided into like groups rather than Simple/Martial/Exotic. All characters are proficient with the Basic weapon group which includes dagger, club, and quarterstaff, and then class determines how many additional groups you can select proficiency with. Some weapons have special abilities that are unlocked through the Advanced Weapon Proficiency feat which takes the place of Exotic Weapons. You can use a weapon with an advanced ability without penalty if you are proficient with the group, but can only use its listed advanced trait if you have the Advanced Proficiency feat. There's more detail on that in the House Rules doc. I haven't fully written out all of the weapons descriptions and abilities but the crunch is there on the spreadsheet (sheet 1 is proficiency and groups, sheet 2 has all the weapons).
I think those are the main topics I wanted to talk about here at the beginning. But I'm not expecting any stats or full sheets anytime soon, I really just wanted to get the ball rolling and start opening up the dialogue while I continue adding entries to the drive. So again, please bear with me with that.
I welcome any and all questions and ideas. If I don't have a page on something filled out, it just means I haven't written it fully yet but I still probably have an answer to whatever you're thinking. I also do not expect anyone to actually read everything which is perfectly ok, though you may want to read the 'Pharosi' entry in the races folder to get a good overview of the region. If you have any baseline ideas for anything you might want to play, I can probably point you in a direction.
I feel like that may have been a bunch of word soup, but hopefully it made sense! I really appreciate those I have invited showing the interest in playing, and that goes for any future players reading this as well.
Looking forward to sharing this undertaking with you all!