Hello. I wasn't sure where the best place to post this would be. I hope this okay.
I would love to hear your opinions, ideas and advice on a campaign world I am designing. If you read this, please just drop me a line or two and tell me what you think, even if it is just to say "I hate it."
Please notice in advance that this post is pretty long. If there is enough interest in this, I have more info I can post.
Thanks in advance!
Allen
PS A Note in Advance: Much of the info here would not be common knowledge to players, such as how windriggers are created, and details on navigators and shard-keys.
WORLD PREMISE:
Oramis was once a solid world like any other. A millennium ago, a war sprang up between two formidable mages (who also happened to be twin brothers but of differing ethical beliefs). This war raged on for many days, but neither mage could seem to get the upper hand. The final blow of this Wizard War was so potent that neither mage was able to contain it, and the world was shattered like a glass ball into a thousand pieces. Since both mages were far more powerful than the Wizards’ Guild could handle, it was powerless to stop the war. Luckily, however, the Guild (some of whom were diviners) was able to foresee this disaster months before it actually happened and was prepared. Though unable to completely prevent this event - now referred to as the Shattering - they were able at least to save the world from total destruction. After determining how the world would be shattered, the Guild devised magical devices - called shard-keys - and placed one of them on each piece of land which would someday become a shard. These devices maintain each shard's gravity, atmosphere, climate, and stability. If a shard-key were ever to be removed from the shard it was designed to protect, that shard would lose all of these things and would pose a hazard to other shards as it spun out of control. All of these shards were suspended inside a large envelope of air and set to floating within it in random, ever-shifting patterns.
Millions of people died in the ensuing chaos which followed the War’s conclusion. Common people, blaming mages for the destruction and death, hunted down and slew many wizards. Much knowledge of magic was lost. Modern mages have yet to duplicate many of the marvels that have been accredited to those ancient wizards - including the magic which created shard-keys! Even today, after one thousand years, mages are still feared, shunned, and - in many places - actively hunted, despite the fact that they were instrumental in saving the world from total destruction. Undaunted they have continued to be of great service to man, creating the windriggers which provide transportation from shard to shard.
(Selections from) A DICTIONARY OF COMMON ORAMIAN TERMS AND PHRASES:
Air Traffic Controllers' Guild: The group which is now responsible for the creation and sale of windriggers. This Guild is rumored to be a branch of RASAMA-TAS. The Guild is completely neutral, and will sell windriggers to most anyone who has enough money to buy one. (See also: RASAMA-TAS; Windrigger.)
Children of the Light: A militant organization composed of extremist Lawful Good members who are fanatically driven to further their own alignment. They use inquisition-like tactics to find and convert those who are not Lawful Good to their own system of beliefs. It is rumored that the radical group called the Witch Hunters is in some way connected to this organization, since the Children condemn mages and all things magical in nature. Based on the shard called Caemlyn. (See The Lexicon of Shards: Caemlyn. See also: Shard; Witch Hunters.)
Compass: A compass is a magical device which can be used to locate any given shard. They are very expensive.
Darkfall: Oramian term for the brief periods of semi-darkness resulting from one shard passing between another shard and the sun, temporarily casting its shadow on the other shard. Darkfall may also occur when an individual shard’s rotation causes it to briefly turn away from the sun. Darkfall can last anywhere from a few minutes to several days, depending on many factors. At least one shard, the shard called Dark Haven, is known to remain in darkness all of the time because it is somehow linked to another, larger shard, which always blocks it from receiving sunlight. (See Lexicon of Shards: Dark Haven. See also: Shard.)
Dragon: Sometimes referred to as skywyrms, the dragons of the Shattered World are vastly different from those of other worlds. In the Shattered World, dragons are the primary components in the construction of windskiffs and windriggers, thus dragons are heavily hunted and can bring high profits on the black market.
Dragon females give birth to large clutches of eggs which the mother then abandons. As the young dragons begin to hatch from their eggs, those which are quicker and stronger begin to break the other eggs and eat their siblings. As the survivors grow, they leave the nest and begin to congregate with other immature grays in flocks. Flocks of grays (so-called because their hide has not yet developed a color and appears as a neutral gray) are a common sight. At this point they have no more than animal intelligence. When they reach adulthood, their hide begins to take on its color, intelligence begins to develop, and a breath weapon develops. At the mature adult stage all Oramian dragons gain the ability to polymorph self.
The dragons of Oramis do not follow the same patterns as those of other worlds. Skin color is NOT indicative of alignment or of breath weapon! It is entirely possible to have a chaotic evil gold dragon with a flame breath weapon! Each Oramian dragon is unique and will NEVER be found as a random encounter!
Dragon Lancers: Windrigger crews who actively hunt dragons to sell to the Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild for the manufacture of windriggers. (See also: Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild; Dragon; Windrigger.)
Dragoneers: Special windrigger crew members who specialize in protecting ships from dragon attacks. They often use special harpoons and lances especially enchanted for this purpose. Unlike Dragon Lancers, Dragoneers are only concerned with the protection of the windrigger they are currently working on, not with the harvesting of dragons. (See also: Dragon; Dragon Lancers; Windrigger.)
Fragments: There are seven of these shards which are actually almost large enough to be called continents. One of these is even large enough to enclose a large inland sea. (See also: Shard.)
Globe: A puzzle/game popular with Oramian children. A three-dimensional glass ball which, when disassembled, becomes miniature models of all of the shards. Curiously, when the ball is reassembled, it is hollow. Magical versions of this game have been created which can be used as oracular devices. To use one the holder simply drops the solid ball on a semi-hard surface. The pattern the pieces land in is said to be able to predict future events. However, with one thousand pieces, the possible permutations are endless. It is nearly impossible to use an oracular globe without first consulting a Pattern Book. (See also: Pattern Book; Shard.)
Gray: See Dragon
Moon: Before the Shattering, Oramis - like many other worlds - had a moon called Selene. It is theorized that when the world “exploded,” the sudden loss of gravity and the force of the explosion hurled it into space, leaving Oramis moonless. If this is true, then it becomes difficult to explain why the priestesses of Selene still revere the moon and - mysteriously - still retain their spell-casting ability and other granted powers! Some sages have theorized that this can be explained in one of two ways. First, perhaps some other power has adopted the moon’s portfolio and has “adopted” the priesthood as its own under the guise of Selene. Second, perhaps the moon was not lost at all, it just isn’t visible now because of the fact that there is no longer a true night. (See also: Oramis; Shattering, The.)
Navigator: Navigators are strange and mysterious beings who are present on all windriggers. No one seems to know exactly who or what they are. It has been rumored that navigators are diviners, using their magic to know exactly where any given shard is located at any given time. Navigators appear as faceless humanoids wearing midnight-blue hooded robes and have never been known to speak. It is forbidden to touch a navigator. (DM'S NOTE: The following information is NOT considered general knowledge, and as such it should not be made available to the players unless and until they discover it on their own. The reason it is forbidden to touch a navigator is because the navigator is not really there at all: it is merely an illusion projected by the ship itself. Unknown to the general public, windriggers are actually sentient beings - probably dragons - magically shaped by mages to look like ships. Somehow, possibly through a natural homing instinct or a natural magical ability, they are aware at all times of exactly where each shard is at any given moment and whether or not there are any other shards blocking a given route. The "navigator” illusion is used simply so that windrigger captains may have somewhere to direct their orders for destinations.) (See also: Shard; Windrigger.)
Oramis: Setting for the Shattered World campaign. Once a solid world, Oramis was blown apart as the result of a Wizard War fought between twin brothers, both of whom were powerful mages. Due to a great deal of foresight and Foresight by diviners of the Wizards’ Guild, Oramis was saved but forever changed. Today, Oramis is composed of one thousand floating islands (called shards) suspended within an envelope of air which revolves around the Oramian sun in approximately the same position formerly occupied by the pre-Shattering world. True night is now unknown in the shards, though some shards experience brief twilight-like hours of semi-darkness (known as darkfall). Unfortunately, the moon is believed to have been blown from its orbit and is now nothing more than a fondly-remembered legend. (See also: Darkfall; Moon; Shard; Shattering, The; Wizard War; Wizards' Guild.)
Pattern Book: Used in combination with a globe to predict the future. (See also: Globe.)
RASAMA-TAS: An acronym which stands for The Royal Academy for the Study and Advancement of the Mystical Arts and Thaumaturgical Analysis School. This is the formal name of the Wizards’ Guild. The Guild formally and openly receives the endorsement of the shards comprising the Kusaran Alliance, since its main goal is the Restoration of the world to its former solid shape. Branches of RASAMA-TAS, also known less commonly as the Wizards’ Guild, are known (at least to mages) to exist on many shards, however most -except for the University on Tartassos - exist in secret owing to the paranoia most mundanes feel toward mages. (See Lexicon of Shards: Tartassos. See also: Kusaran Alliance; Mundane; Restoration, The; Shard; University on Tartassos; Wizards’ Guild.)
Seas: The seas of Oramis have changed, as has the rest of the world. When the Shattering occurred, seas and lakes which were not land-bound flooded off the shards into the Wind Ways. Today, the seas (and there are seven of these) resemble large, free-floating, amorphous globs of fluid. There are also several fresh water “lakes.” Some aquatic life still remains in the seas of Oramis, supported at its most basic level by plankton. Seas appear bluish-green from a distance, while lakes are blue. (See also: Oramis; Shattering, The; Wind Ways, The.)
Shard: Any of the one thousand floating remnants of what was once the world of Oramis,resembling free-floating islands. They are composed of three parts: topside, shard-edge, and shard-root. A shard’s stability, atmosphere, climate, and gravity are maintained by magical devices known as shard-keys the existence of which is a closely kept secret. Windriggers must approach a shard at the shardedge. Otherwise, the shard’s gravity could possibly pull them down and result in shipwrecks. Due to the lack of a large, solid world to block the sun’s rays, there is no true night. Most shards will occasionally experience temporary periods of twilight-like darkness (called “darkfall”) as another shard’s path prevents it from receiving the sun’s rays, or, if the shard rotates, it may turn “upside-down” away from the sun. Otherwise, the shard-world is stuck in a perpetual state of never-ending day. Obviously telling time is much more difficult here than on other worlds. Luckily, all of the inhabitants of the world of shards have developed strong internal clocks which lets everyone know when it is time to sleep. How this works is unknown, but it may be a side-effect of the same magic which provides each shard with its gravity and atmosphere.
Magic varies from shard to shard. Some shards have normal magic, some have wild magic areas, and still others have dead magic areas, all of which are residual effects from the unleashing of the powerful magicks which caused the Shattering. (See also: Darkfall; Oramis, Shard-edge; Shard-Key; Shard-Root; Top-Side; Windrigger.)
Shard-Edge: The rim of a shard; the point from which - if one continues walking - one will fall off the shard into the Wind Ways. (See also: Shard; Wind Ways, The.)
Shard-Key: Magical devices which exist on each and every shard. These devices maintain a shard’s gravity, climate, atmosphere, and stability. If a key is ever destroyed or removed from the shard it was designed to maintain, the shard will become unstable and could pose a threat to other shards as it becomes uncontrolled and uncontrollable.
No two shards’ keys are exactly alike, their forms being disguised so that you would not know what you were looking at even if you saw one. On shards which have ruling families, it is usual that this family will have the shard-key under its protection, since the possession of a key would basically give the holder complete control over the shard and its inhabitants. (An old Oramian proverb says, “He who holds the ability to destroy a thing controls a thing.”) In the hands of a tyrant or other person with less than pure motives, the possession of a shard-key would be equivalent to holding the entire shard - and everyone on it - hostage, since simply by breaking it he would be sentencing everyone and everything on the shard to death. Also known as “keystones,” or simply as “Keys.” (DM'S NOTE: The following information is NOT considered general knowledge and as such should not be made available to the players unless and until they discover it on their own. Shard-keys are actually sentient, intelligent artifacts that bond with their owners. They will not bond with anyone of chaotic or evil alignment. If such a person gains possession of a shard-key, the key will attempt to take over the mind of its new owner. If this fails, it will attempt to change the person’s alignment to something more fitting. It is up to the DM to decide what powers each individual key possesses, but each should have powers designed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the wrong person, as well as defensive powers in case they do.) (See also: Shard.)
Shard-Root: The underside of a shard which hangs down much like the root of a tooth. Shard-Roots are popular nesting spots for dragons. (See also: Dragon; Shard.)
Shipstone: A shipstone is a smaller, much less powerful version of a shard-key. It is this object which provides a windrigger with gravity. Navigators recognize the holder of a shipstone as captain and will obey only the holder’s commands. Also called “shipkeys.” (See also: Navigator; Shard-Key; Windrigger.)
Skywyrm: See Dragon.
Topside: The upper portion of a shard. (See also: Shard.)
Wind Ways, The: The space that exists between the shards. A chaotic, wind-filled area dominated by strong air currents and buffeting winds. Sometimes referred to as simply as “the ‘Ways.” There is no gravity in the ‘Ways, so anything which falls into the ‘Ways without some means of self-propulsion will be buffeted haphazardly by the winds. It is nearly impossible to determine time and direction in the ‘Ways unaided. (See also: Shard.)
Windrigger: Magical conveyances which resemble normal ships but have the ability to fly, allowing travel from shard to shard. Most windriggers may also land on water. According to rumor, windriggers are made from the bodies of dragons. All windriggers have a mysterious figure known simply as the Navigator onboard. Creation and sale of windriggers are controlled and regulated by the Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild. Rumor has it, however, that one of the mages who first learned how to create windriggers has gone rogue, and is helping the Sky Pirates of Gao-Den to create an armada of pirate windriggers. (See also: Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild; Dragon; Navigators; Rogue Mage; Shard; Shipstone; Sky Pirates of Gao-Den; Wind Ways, The.)
Windsailor: Sailors who are trained in the operation of windriggers. (See Windrigger.)
Windskiff: A windskiff is a small flying boat designed to accommodate no more than six people. Unlike windriggers, a windskiff is a man-made vessel. Because of this, it has no navigator, and therefore the pilot is on his own when determining direction, routes, etc. (See also: Navigator; Windrigger.)
Windtamer: Windtamers are a special type of mage which can often be found on Windriggers. They have focused their abilities into harnessing and taming the Wind Ways, making travel therein much easier. (See Windrigger; Wind Ways)
Wizard War: The catastrophic war in which the world of Oramis was shattered into myriad shards. (See also: Shard; Oramis.)
Here is some more info on the Shattered World, this time concentrating mostly on mages in the Shards. Hope you enjoy!
(More Selections from) A DICTIONARY OF COMMON ORAMIAN TERMS AND PHRASES:
Cabal, The: A group of rogue wizards who study the art of necromancy. They have banded together for the sole purpose of self-preservation, and are believed to have a covert shard base hidden somewhere. The name of this shard and its location are kept secret by members of the Cabal. They believe that the Restoration is a hopeless goal, a fool's errand, and are more interested in their own studies and goals - primarily the destruction of RASAMA-TAS. (See also: RASAMA-TAS, Restoration, The; Rogue Wizard; Shard.)
Circle, The: A group of rogue wizards (mostly demon conjurers, wild mages, and necromancers) who believe in the goals of RASAMA-TAS, but believe that the solution to the problem of the Restoration lies within the forbidden schools of magic (since the Guild has obviously had no luck using the more widely accepted schools). This group desires a shard-key to study in order to unlock its secrets in the hope of achieving this goal, and will pay HANDSOMELY to get their hands on one. (See also: Demon Conjurer; RASAMA-TAS; Restoration, The; Rogue Wizard; Shard-Key.)
Demon Conjurer: A type of conjurer specialty mage who specializes in the summoning of demons. Demon conjuring is considered a forbidden art, and all such conjurers are considered rogue mages. (See also: Rogue Mage.)
Guild, The: See Wizards’ Guild.
Guild Mages: Because of the Wizard War, which resulted in the Shattering of the world of Oramis, the general public is fearful of mages. As a result, the Wizards’ Guild has had to become an underground organization. Even so, the Wizards’ Guild is a powerful organization.
One of the main purposes of the Guild is to seek out new mages and try to convince them to join the Guild. There are two main reasons for this. First and foremost, it allows the Guild to keep tabs on all Guild mages. If these mages do anything to jeopardize the Guild or any of its members or goals (by the open use of magic, following forbidden schools of magic, etc.), they may be dealt with by the Guild. Second, in return for joining the Guild, a mage gets certain benefits. He has a place to go to get supplies and training if they become needed. He may recruit other mages to help in an adventure or other endeavor. He is welcome to use the Guild’s laboratories and libraries to further his own studies (as long as these do not interfere with the Guild’s objectives).
One of the conditions of joining the Wizards' Guild is that the mage must agree under a binding oath that he will not create any new spells or magic items without the expressed approval of the Guild. Also, any magic items found by the mage must be viewed and approved by the Guild before they may become anyone's personal property (thus the Guild may weed out any items deemed too powerful or dangerous for use). Any mage who refuses to join the Guild is branded a rogue mage, and is actively hunted by Guild mages.
The term “The Wizards’ Guild” is somewhat misleading. It is actually just another name for RASAMA-TAS. (See also: Oramis; RASAMA-TAS; Rogue Wizard; Shattering, The; Wizard War; Wizards’ Guild.)
High Magus: The leader of RASAMA-TAS. The current High Magus is a female human named Salandra Norfressa. (See Who’s Who in the Shattered World: Salandra Norfressa. See also: RASAMA-TAS)
Holy Order of the Skywyrm Riders: An order of paladins who are dedicated to the protection of the mages of RASAMA-TAS. These men and women believe in the possibility of the Restoration and have dedicated their lives to ensuring that the mages have the opportunity to continue work that they believe is vital to the survival of Oramis. Each Skywyrm Rider is chosen at dedication by a dragon and spends all of his or her training time with that wyrm. By the time the Rider is ready to join the Order, the two have developed a telepathic bond. The greatest threats facing RASAMA-TAS today include (but are not limited to): The Cabal, The Children of the Light, The Circle, the Sky-Pirates of Gao-Den, and the Witch-Hunters. (See also: Cabal, The; Children of the Light; Circle, The; Oramis; RASAMA-TAS; Restoration, The; Sky-Pirates of Gao-Den; Skywyrm; Witch-Hunters.)
Kusaran Alliance: An alliance of four shards: Kusara, Carbuncle, Sheranda, and Tartassos. Guild mages from RASAMA-TAS have found a way to magically tie the four shards together so that they are always near each other. The four shards that make up the alliance are probably the most accepting of mages of all of the shards. (See Lexicon of Shards: Carbuncle, Kusara, Sheranda, Tartassos. See also: Guild Mages; RASAMA-TAS; Shard.)
Library at Tartassos, The: The legendary Library at Tartassos is a mysterious place. It is large beyond belief and so old that it is believed to predate even the Dragon Lords. (See Lexicon of Shards: Tartassos. See also: Dragon Lords.)
Mageslayers: See Witch Hunters.
Mundane: Wizard slang for anyone who is unable to harness the power of magic.
Pirates of Gao-Den: Plague of the Wind Ways, they are known to harry caravans of the Sky Merchants. (See Lexicon of Shards: Gao Den. See also: Sky Merchants’ Guild; Wind Ways, The.)
RASAMA-TAS: An acronym which stands for The Royal Academy for the Study and Advancement of the Mystical Arts and Thaumaturgical Analysis School. This is the formal name of the Wizards’ Guild. The Guild formally and openly receives the endorsement of the shards comprising the Kusaran Alliance, since its main goal is the Restoration of the world to its former solid shape. Branches of RASAMA-TAS, also known less commonly as the Wizards’ Guild, are known (at least to mages) to exist on many shards, however most -except for the University on Tartassos - exist in secret owing to the paranoia most mundanes feel toward mages. (See Lexicon of Shards: Tartassos. See also: Kusaran Alliance; Mundane; Restoration, The; Shard; University on Tartassos; Wizards’ Guild.)
Restoration, The: The name applied by Guild Mages to the major goal of RASAMA-TAS - the restoration of Oramis into a solid whole. (See also: Guild Mages; Oramis; RASAMA-TAS.)
Rogue Wizard: A wizard who has refused to join the Wizards’ Guild. Such mages are hunted by Guild mages. It is rumored that the Wizards’ Guild sometimes sells information concerning known rogue wizards to the radical organization known as the Witch Hunters. (See also: Guild Mages; Witch Hunters; Wizards’ Guild.)
Sky Merchants' Guild: Guild of merchants responsible for most inter-shard commerce. (See also: Shard.)
Sky-Pirates of Gao-Den: Plague of the Wind Ways, they are known to harry caravans of the Sky Merchant’s Guild. It is believed that one of the Guild mages who first learned how to create windriggers has gone rogue, and is now helping the sky-pirates to create an armada of pirate windriggers. (See Lexicon of Shards: Gao-Den. See also: Guild Mages; Rogue Mage; Sky Merchants’ Guild; Wind Ways, The; Windrigger.)
University on Tartassos: Home of RASAMA-TAS. (See Lexicon of Shards: Tartassos. See also:
RASAMA-TAS.)
Wind Wraiths: It IS possible to fall off the edge of a shard. Doing this is a terrible way to die. Unless one is rescued by a windrigger or other benevolent inhabitant of the Wind Ways, crash-lands on a shard, is devoured by skywyrms, or meets his demise in some other way, one drifts aimlessly about the ‘Ways with no control over direction or speed. One simply floats about until one dies of thirst or starvation. Many of those who die in this fashion become Wind Wraiths. These horrid undead creatures have no fear of the sun. Being formless entities like ghosts or common wraiths, they are immaterial, and can pass through the walls of an windrigger. They are most often identified by their terrible moaning which is often mistaken for the sound of the wind blowing. Sometimes called “Lost Ones.” (See also: Shard; Skywyrm; Wind Ways, The; Windrigger.)
Witch Hunters: Because of the fear the general public has of wizards, Witch Hunters have become very popular. These men and women seek out and slay known mages, even Guild mages if they can do so without getting caught. Witch Hunters have an innate magic sense which they use to track down and slay wizards. It is known that the Wizards’ Guild often sells information about known rogue wizards to Witch Hunters. It is rumored that the Witch Hunters are a branch of the Children of the Light. Also referred to as Mageslayers. (See also: Children of the Light; Guild Mages; Rogue Wizard; Wizards’ Guild.)
Wizards’ Guild: Unlike the guilds of most worlds, the Wizards’ Guild is a secret organization. Because of the effect the Wizard War had on the world of Oramis, the general public is frightened of wizards. Because of this, all wizards MUST be Guild mages. Those who are not are branded rogues and are hunted down by Guild mages. The primary goal of the Guild is to find a way to reunite the shards back into a solid, whole world again, and thus regain the confidence of the general public (referred to as “the Restoration”). The term “Wizards’ Guild” is misleading. The Wizards’ Guilds are actually local branches of RASAMA-TAS, a magical university based on the shard Tartassos, a member-shard of the Kusaran Alliance. (See also: Guild Mages; Kusaran Alliance; Oramis; RASAMA-TAS; Restoration, The; Rogue Mage; Shard; University on Tartassos; Wizard War.)
As a player, you lost me about the 3rd paragraph. As a DM, this is great stuff :) Keep the player common knowledge down to 2-3 paragraphs, maybe with another pages for dieties, and a map. Use the game sessions to introduce the other elements as they become pertinent to the story. Good luck!!
This is good stuff as far as shattered world type campaigns go. The whole Wizard's War is a bit Urza and Mishra if you ask me, but you have to start somewhere (I myself am going to steer clear of cataclysmic wars, events, blah, blah ruining the world in my next campaign).
I do wonder how the shard keys work. If they are so integral to a shard's survival how did they all get built before the shards were sucked into outer space? Plus, sabotaging one of these keys would be horrendous for one of main shards (though a great ready made idea for an adventure or three).
I'm not sure what stage of the campaign you are up to in terms of design, but a world like this forces a lot of changes on the rules (such as in the sort of spells that would exist, etc). I also wonder how you are going to treat clerics? Are they in any way blamed for what happened and have any new cults or gods arisen in the wake of the shattered world's formation?
I like your take on dragons, but obviously they would be far more common that regular chromatic and metallic dragons. It would be interesting to see other varieties of creatures in the game as well, such as the shard wyvern or something. Monsters whose ecologies and behaviors are tied to the shards would also be interesting to present to players. For example, you could give all kobolds wings (like the urds back in 2nd Ed.) and make them scavenging humanoids like intelligent evil seagulls.
Players might want to know if shards collide and what happens when they do. Is this something regulated by your wizard's guild or is the collision of shards what passes for earthquakes on your world? What about wind and rain? Is there regular rainfall, or is that the responsibility of druids (making them far more important characters)? Perhaps rainfall only occurs when a globe of water passes near the gravity field of another shard (salty rain?).
Are there still regular seasons and poles? is there an equatorial region and two arctic regions? I can almost picture a region of jagged floating circular icebergs. If you haven't decided upon this then its something to think about because it's important on several different levels. Also, without day and night how do they tell the time? Periods of darkfall?
Players might also want to know about what passes for an underdark and where it is? Have all the subterranean races been destroyed or have they all relocated to that shard that is perpetually in darkness? You have already changed dragons, so these races might have also changed as well.
Are there elves, dwarves, etc, or have you come up with your own races? Plus, as a player I would really want to play a flying PC. is this at all possible, because it would be one of the first questions I would ask?
Hoped some of this helps? :-)
I like the concept and I think that it has a great deal of possibility. As a player I would suggest keeping the player information much shorter than this becuase for the most part we aren't patient types.
As a DM I would suggest having as detailed information on the world as possible, that way you have a good chance of having the information on hand if a player asks a surprising question.
How are Clerics, Rangers, Paladins and Druids treated? With suspicion? Hatred? Indifference? Are they also blamed for the Shattering?
The question about subterrainian creatures is also a good one.
How are gods viewed?
Is there a blackmarket to supply the rogue mages with magical items?
How common is travel between shards? Is it everyday (like commuting to work), common (like going on a short trip to another city), uncommon (like going on long trip, say to another state) or rare (like going to another country)?
What about volcanoes? What kind of natural disasters happen?
Are the Shards completely surrounded by the Wind Ways or are the Ways more like rivers wending between Shards? Have attempts been made to explore open space?
What about planar travel? Is it common, uncommon or unheard of?
And one last question:
I really like the idea and am wondering if you would be offended if I used this. Is there more information available? Would you be willing to consider sending whatever information you have to me at wraith6@raresteeds.com?
Wow. Let's presume there's no longer any magnetic north. Let's assume shards slowly twist as they move through the wyndways. Ancient maps would be ... wow. There'd be no indication that any two landmarks on a map are even on the same shard any more.
Wow. That's some really, really great stuff. I'd like to read some more. It has a Spelljammer bouquet with just enough Gamma World and Dark Sun to give it a little spice and nuttiness . . . ;^) I like it. I'm going to copy & paste what you've posted.
I think it would make a great setting for Arcana Evolved!
I do, however, agree with Phil's criticism about the dueling wizards to a certain extent. If the Gemini-Godling-Demons, were somehow creations/godlings freed from imprisonment - by competing wizard guilds, or what have you - then it would add a little more flair (IMHO, mind you), than just two "guys."
Otherwise I think I think that's an awesome setting. If WotC ever does a contest, like they did with Eberron, you should enter this as a proposal.
- FM
Forever Man wrote: Wow. That's some really, really great stuff. I'd like to read some more. It has a Spelljammer bouquet with just enough Gamma World and Dark Sun to give it a little spice and nuttiness . . . ;^) I like it. I'm going to copy & paste what you've posted.
Otherwise I think I think that's an awesome setting. If WotC ever does a contest, like they did with Eberron, you should enter this as a proposal.
- FM
The only problem is that the world is a highly specialized setting. I doubt Wizards would accept a proposal like this despite its quality. They would be looking for a more generic campaign world which didn't mess around quite so much with established facets of the D&D game (like changing dragons to the extent which wizardofowls is).
Hello everyone!
Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that I am gong to be afk for a couple of days... going camping... but I will answer questions when I get back. Please feel free to use this however you please. However I jsut have one small request... if you create any new rules for the setting or creatures/spells etc please post them here so that I can incorporate them into my world.
Well have fun and see ya soon!
Hello Phil L. Thank you for your interest. I wanted to respond to your comments.
This is good stuff as far as shattered world type campaigns go. The whole Wizard's War is a bit Urza and Mishra if you ask me, but you have to start somewhere (I myself am going to steer clear of cataclysmic wars, events, blah, blah ruining the world in my next campaign).
Good point. I’ll have to give this some thought.
I do wonder how the shard keys work. If they are so integral to a shard's survival how did they all get built before the shards were sucked into outer space? Plus, sabotaging one of these keys would be horrendous for one of main shards (though a great ready made idea for an adventure or three).
This is from the premise for my world: “The Wizards’Guild (some of whom were diviners) was able to foresee this disaster months before it actually happened and was prepared. Though unable to completely prevent this event - now referred to as the Shattering - they were able at least to save the world from total destruction. After determining how the world would be shattered, the Guild - working feverishly - devised magical devices called shard-keys and placed one of them on each piece of land which would someday become a shard. These devices maintain each shard's gravity, atmosphere, climate, and stability.”
No two shards’ keys are exactly alike, their forms being disguised so that you would not know what you were looking at even if you saw one. On shards which have ruling families, it is usual that this family will have the shard-key under its protection, since the possession of a key would basically give the holder complete control over the shard and its inhabitants. In the hands of a tyrant or other person with less than pure motives, the possession of a shard-key would be equivalent to holding the entire shard - and everyone on it - hostage, since simply by breaking it he would be sentencing everyone and everything on the shard to death.
Shard-keys are actually sentient, intelligent artifacts that bond with their owners. They will not bond with anyone of chaotic or evil alignment. If such a person gains possession of a shard-key, the key will attempt to take over the mind of its new owner. If this fails, it will attempt to change the person’s alignment to something more fitting. It is up to the DM to decide what powers each individual key possesses, but each should have powers designed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the wrong person, as well as defensive powers in case they do.
I'm not sure what stage of the campaign you are up to in terms of design, but a world like this forces a lot of changes on the rules (such as in the sort of spells that would exist, etc). I also wonder how you are going to treat clerics? Are they in any way blamed for what happened and have any new cults or gods arisen in the wake of the shattered world's formation?
After the Shattering many of the common folk turned to religion to give them hope. The religions are not blamed in any way for the Shattering. There are not really any new gods, though some of the older deities have suffered changes. Oramis, the god of earth and strength, was once a major god. He is now considered a lesser god. The goddess of air, however, is now a major deity after having been a minor deity.
I like your take on dragons, but obviously they would be far more common that regular chromatic and metallic dragons. It would be interesting to see other varieties of creatures in the game as well, such as the shard wyvern or something. Monsters whose ecologies and behaviors are tied to the shards would also be interesting to present to players. For example, you could give all kobolds wings (like the urds back in 2nd Ed.) and make them scavenging humanoids like intelligent evil seagulls.
True, the younger dragons, grays, are more common, but they are hunted quite regularly. Few survive to adulthood, so the older dragons are actually more rare than on other worlds.
Players might want to know if shards collide and what happens when they do. Is this something regulated by your wizard's guild or is the collision of shards what passes for earthquakes on your world? What about wind and rain? Is there regular rainfall, or is that the responsibility of druids (making them far more important characters)? Perhaps rainfall only occurs when a globe of water passes near the gravity field of another shard (salty rain?).
There have never been any shard collisions. The shard key prevents this from happening. However if it were to ever happen, it would be catastrophic. The shard key also maintains the climate of the shard. Rainstorms regularly move through the Ways.
Are there still regular seasons and poles? is there an equatorial region and two arctic regions? I can almost picture a region of jagged floating circular icebergs. If you haven't decided upon this then its something to think about because it's important on several different levels. Also, without day and night how do they tell the time? Periods of darkfall?
Seasons are maintained by shard keys. Yes, these things are extremely powerful. Modern mages have not been able to duplicate these creations. There are no regular equatorial or arctic regions, however there are tropical shards and arctic shards, there climates preserved by the shard keys. The peoples of the shards have developed very strong internal clocks which let everyone know when it is time to sleep.
Players might also want to know about what passes for an underdark and where it is? Have all the subterranean races been destroyed or have they all relocated to that shard that is perpetually in darkness? You have already changed dragons, so these races might have also changed as well.
These is no longer an underdark and - as far as is known - the subterranean races no longer exist.
Are there elves, dwarves, etc, or have you come up with your own races? Plus, as a player I would really want to play a flying PC. is this at all possible, because it would be one of the first questions I would ask?
Yes, all of the standard races exist though they have been slightly modified for the Shattered World. When time permits I’ll post what I have for them. In addition, there are Muls (half-dwarves), half-dragons, and avariel, as well as a race of shapeshifters and a psionic race.
Thanks for the info. Hopefully your players will appreciate the work you have put into this world (and the work yet to come).
The following are some half-formed ideas I am contemplating. I am only just reacquainting myself with 3E rules after a LONG absence, and don't have most of the books yet, so any recommendations/help you can give on fleshing these out would be greatly appreciated.
MISC. NOTES
Hazards of Sailing the Wind Ways:
Air Elementals:
Cloud Serpents:
Dragons:
Electrical Storms:
Ghost Ships:
Griffons:
Manticores:
Pirates:
Rocs:
Storm Children:
Vortex:
Wind Demons: Horned, winged apes
Wind Wraiths:
Wyverns:
Possible Means of Moving Through the Shards Without the Use of a Windrigger:
Potions/Wings of Flying/Spells of Flying
Carpets/Brooms/Rings of Flying
Pegasus/Hippogriff/Griffin/Asperii
Giant Eagles/Rocs
Winged Elves/Half-Dragons
Teleportation Grids
Waygates (NOT recommended)
Gnomish Clockwork Ships
Hot Air Balloons
Hang gliders/Kites
Windboards
Possible New Skills and/or Spells:
Find/Locate Shard
Predict Shard Path
Shard Lore
Windboarding
Pilot Windrigger/Windskiff
Miscellaneous:
Wild Navigational Ability
Dragon-kin
Right now, I am planning on using mostly standard races:
Human
Elf/Half-elf
Dwarf/Mul
Gnome
Halfling
with the additions of
Half-dragon
Avariel
Possibly a psionic race of some sort
a shapeshifting race
and possibly one or two others.
Half-orcs are not allowed, since in my world, humanoids (orcs, kobolds, etc.) are not true races... they are player races which have been horribly changed by the evil magicks of the enemy. For instance, a kobold is actually a halfling that has been irrevocably altered. Orcs were once dwarves, and so on.
Here is a point that I'm afraid that my basic premise did not make clear. The original world was basically earth-sized. The sky-sphere - the envelope which holds in the air - is much larger (how large I have not yet decided - maybe Jupiter sized?) Inside the sky-sphere the 1000 shards move about in no predetermined manner. They do not have set orbit - they were set to floating within it in random, ever-shifting patterns. However the shard-keys alos prevent any two shards from coming within one mile of each other. They simply move out of the way (think of the repulsion fields set up by two magnets.)
The shard-keys provide each shard with gravity, atmosphere and preserve climate at its pre-Shattering state. Temperature in the Wind Ways (the air spaces between shards) does not vary much. It is typically a balmy 65-85 degrees farenheit, regardless of where you are in sky-sphere. Whether you were at a place closer to the sun or farther away, temperature varies very little - all effects of the sky-sphere. In appearance, the Wind Ways look like blue sky, no matter where you look. You may see large clouds/storms, other shards in the distance, flocks of grays, windriggers, etc.
Got a few numbers questions for you....
In my original premise, I said that the Shattering occurred 1000 years ago. Is that too long? I've been thinking that maybe I should change that to 100 years...
I've stated elsewhere that there are 1000 shards. I'm thinking that that is not enough. what about 10,000? Or should there be more?
I've also stated that no two shards can come closer than 1/2 mile to each other. I'm thinking that that is too close. Would 1 mile be better?
Finally, I posted elsewhere that all of the shards are contained within a sphere roughly the size of Jupiter. Is that too big? What would be more reasonable?
wizardofowls wrote: Finally, I posted elsewhere that all of the shards are contained within a sphere roughly the size of Jupiter. Is that too big? What would be more reasonable? You originally stated that the planet was the size of Earth before the Shattering, correct? If this is the case, then you are taking a volume of 1086306981562.932 cubic kilometers and dispersing it within a sphere whose volume is 1529821375259083.093 cubic kilometers. This provides a factor of 1408.277 times more volume. Thus, each cubic kilometer of the former planet now has 1408 cubic kilometers to itself. Now, I'm aware that there are shards drifting all over the place but, if your original planet was Earth-sized, you would be looking at an average distance between shards of 1408 kilometers. That's like having the entire length of the State of California between shards!
You might want to rethink your scale here. Unless you want vast, 1000-mile expanses of void between shards. That could be cool too.
A thousand years or so would give things time to settle in, a hundred years would be more rough and tumble frontier stories. I thing for the ship builders and other things to be established you would need a few hundred years at least.
As for shard counts, first decide how big they are, or at least categories.
For example, Size A shards are huge monstrocities, large enough to have semi independent eco systems like desert and plains on the same shard. Also they are large enough to accomodate multiple countries
Size B shards are smaller, wholly dedicated to a single eco system, this is a forest shard, and too small to have more than one country
Size C shards are small, maybe only a few miles end to end, a large city state or single geographic feature
Size D shards are relatively tiny, barely enough for a small cluch of buildings
Sice E shards are rocks and meteorites spinning around.
Size A shard could be fairly spatialy consistent, having stabilized over time into the magical equivalent of LaGrange points
Size B could be in hard orbitals, moving, but in a defined path
Size C could be in soft orbitals, moving in a predefined way, but bouncing off each other and or large shards
Size D would be slewing around bouncing off most everything
Size E would literally be scattered around everywhere, moving willy nilly. Size E shards would be characterized by being too small to have Shard keys, so they could result in meteor showers, collisions, or for the largest of them, damn good hiding places
You would only need to clearly define A and B shards, with countries inhabitants zones climates... you could suggest a few Cs and Ds but they would be added in at will, or adventure's convenience
Another thought on the shards, and specifically regarding dwarves. Most of the molten core of a planet is metals, meaning a huge number of chunks would be pure iron or nickel or some such metal. So either divine intervention made all shards habitible, or people are fighting over the same amount of land mass, now very inconveniently laid out.
But with access to huge amounts of metal, and dwarven patience, the dwarves could forge massive chains. Big enough and long enough to bind to shards together, just on the limits of their "force fields", creating artificial super shards... just a cool image. For some interesting pictures on the same line, look to Games Workshop's Battle Fleet Gothic books (www.specialist-games.com i think)
Just wanted everyone to know that I have created a new Wiki for the Shattered World! Here is the addy (I hope its okay to post this here. If not, please feel free to delete it):
http://oramis.wetpaint.com
Please stop by and let me know what you think!
I need to find a class or prc for my game. I don't have enough books to see if an official one has already been made or money to buy one if I knew where one was. I would like to find one posted online on which to base my own class.
What I need is a Demon Conjuror/Summoner or Demonist... someone who summons demons to serve them and/or provide them with magic ability, sort of like the sha'ir from the old Arabian Adventures setting. Anybody know where I could find something along these lines? I will also have a Diabolist too, similar to the domonsit but dealing with devils. Any help would be appreciated.
Hmmm I must be blind... Just found a PRC in the DMG called the Thaumaturgist. I think it would work for my needs. Perhaps demonists and diabolists are specific types of thaumaturgists.
What is the best way to deal with lycanthropes in a world without night? I am thinking that the alernate creature (wolf, rat, bear, whatever) wants out as much as the human does so there is a constant battle for control of the body. Perhaps whenever the lycnathrope is in a stressful situation, or experiences extreme emotion, he must make a will check. If he fails, the other creature comes out for a set amount of time. Each time he makes the save a cumulative -1 penalty is added to the check until the creature is released at last. Maybe in some cases, if the human form is evil, the lycanthorpe can willingly release control to the creature.
Thoughts? Ideas?
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