Cornrelius's page

Hello,

I would like to introduce my brain child campaign setting "Terra Aeterna" with request for feedback.

TERRA AETERNA
The year is 1024 A.U.C. Rome has stood unbroken for over a thousand years. Julius Caesar survived the Ides of March, and the Imperium now spans from the sun‑bleached spires of Egyptus to the storm‑lashed forts of Dacia, from the Pillars of Hercules to the opulent markets of Mesopotamia.

Yet beyond those borders lie realms the eagles could not claim. In the far mist‑bound northwest, Britannia lives and breathes as a thinking land, its Picts and druids bound to it in a pact older than Rome. The legions came, saw — and fled.

Far to the opposite horizon, across deserts, steppes, and strange kingdoms, lies Zhong Guo, the Dragon Empire of Fu Xi, a realm as patient as the mountains and as distant in its dreams as it is in its geography.

You, however, begin your journey not at the world’s edge, but in a city of crossroads, Massilia, Syracuse, or Carthage, where traders from every shore meet, where imperial law and foreign custom rub shoulders, and where whispers from the Senate mingle with rumours brought in by sailors who have seen lands no Roman map will admit exist.

From here, the choice is yours: serve the Senate, scheme in the alleys, cross the sea to forgotten frontiers, or slip beyond the reach of Rome entirely. In Terra Aeterna, history is alive, and it is waiting for you to change it!

Terra Aeterna Campaign Setting

Terra Aeterna Player Handbook

And yes, both docs are still beta and a work in progress.

Also, it is written for my own DM style, and I run my games story- heavy and dice-light.

Thanks in advance!

-- Cornrelius

I'd like to add some...

1st: I'd like to borrow a quote from the old Shadowrun sourcebook which claimed: "Believe us: people in [that fictional game world] do not view races like we do. The THING next to you in the subway has fists the size of your head! Don't you feel that the dark-skinned human next to you is like your twin bother in comparison?" Yes, ethnicities do exist in most fantasy settings. But skin colours etc. tend to pale in comparison to more obvious things like sheer size, prolonged teeth, feet-long pointy ears etc. So a resident of the fictional world may fail to mention that the fellow human he encountered, yes indeed was of a different ethnicity. Test yourself, if you tell your parents etc. of a pal of yours - do you mention eye colour? Because that may be the level of difference a fantasy resident feels...

2nd: In contradiction to 1st, I do feel that ethnicities enrich a game world and thus a gaming experience. And as usual it's the balance between well-known cliches (which do have the benefit of an instant feel-at-home) and creative ideas. Since Earth has such a rich ethnic lore, I usually blend several Earth cultures/ethnics in one fantasy culture... I once had a culture of south pacific Tahiti-like people blended with vikings once: fearsome, dark-skinned warriors raiding the tropical seas... Mix visible attributes: desert people could be dark-skinned, yes, but with radiant green or blue eyes...

3rd: Ask yourself: humans hava a plethora of visible ethnic differencies. And the other fantasy races? How come there is usually a monolithic gnome culture, and all halflings are pretty much alike? Answer: most fantasy settings tend to assume a human-dominated world. And variety comes with these greater numbers... (Usually I tend to slightly discourage fantasy races and exotic ethnics with the players to keep the sense of wonder when encountering these.)

4rd: rule of thumb: Sociology teaches that something is alien, evil and hostile, unless there is something even more alien coming around the corner: in which case the previous subject might be viewed as sufficiently similar to unite against the looming alien threat. (Here's one basic motive of world history by the way.) Do not underestimate the tendency of simplifying the world by any sentient being: it's always black-and-white etc. Being cheated by an elf once? All elves are bastards, believe me! Remember that one time you lost money to one? See! Got some torches and pitchforks handy? Heard there's an elf moved in the neighborhood...

(Hint to creating a background and history of your setting: it's always the low motives that drive a history and never virtues: it's usually greed, fear, hate (or even lust or sloth). A country that selflessly aids another rings hollow. An alliance to mutual benefit makes sense, however...)

Thanks for your patience,

Cornrelius
(Historian, world builder and cynic)