I'm running Golarion. Molthune has a new ruler and is expanding his empire. He is taken a similar route like Hitler did in Europe. The heroes have been chosen by destiny to find an ancient pyramid that is said to allow someone to go through the process of Apotheosis (becoming a God). The leader of Molthune is also looking for this same artifact.
Word has gotten out that the players have become the new "Heralds of Fate" and people are wanting them to help them solve their problems in their nations and in their personal lives. They will be in Osirion next week where the Pharoh will ask them to help solve the problem of a large group of Rakshasas that have taken over a large portion of the capital and have started making the inhabitants worship them as Gods. Seeing as how the Pharoh is viewed as a living God, this can cause a lot of problems. The spellcasters of the capital are being murdered en masse by what the players will find out are harrowed (a creature from a product by Super Genius Games) therefore they aren't getting the spellcasting support they need to drive the Rakshasas out.
What homebrew campaigns/ ideas are you running currently/wanting to run in the near future? Or what homebrew campaign ideas do you have that you would like to see ran sometime?
I have a large homebrewed world named Sirius that my players are filling out as they go :)
I have a couple homebrewed/edited classes and races I've added.
I only have 8 or so involved gods and an overdeity.
The history behind the planet is...different...which the players will find out by the time they are in their late teens in level.
They frequent the boards, so I won't say more :P
I had the idea a while ago to have a world that was multi-genre (fantasy wise) so that if a person wanted to play a specific idea or trope, as long as they had a good backstory I could find a place on my world for the mto come from. I've got everything from Roman-style gov't and conquests to tribal plains dwellers to Asian culture themed places to lands subjugated by daemonic invaders to...well, you get the idea. Thanks to the dragonbound class which I've tweaked a bit, I have dragon riders as well. I'm slowly re-introducing psionics (since I've switched from 3.5 to PFRPG, I'm using DSP's Psionics Unleashed) to further expand the possibilities. As the players travel, I fill out what's going on based on the ideas I already had for an area...
I know which races and countries are at war and why...
So far it's been fun for me :)
The one we are starting soon is loosely base on Polynesian islands and colonial powers on a large continent (hence i REALLY want a solid gunslinger class for pirates YARRR!)these colonial powers are in decline and independence talk is fermenting on the islands. One set of islands is ruled(?) occupied by a dragon and numerous reptilian races who raid the humanoid islands. Piracy, political power struggles, cthuggan creatures from the deeps are all in play.
The Twist: about 200 miles north of the islands the world simply stops. Drops off like a sheer cliff face. Intrepid explorers have begun climbing the side of the world and have discovered some new minerals that display some unusual alchemical and metallurgical properties. Mining operations have begun albeit slowly Rumors persist that openings have been seen but so far no one has been able to climb down to them.
I wish I had more details but as I am playing I wont know till my character does. An elf from a small elvish kingdom who has seen/ heard suspicious things (spidersilk rope, reports of sleep poisons being sold in these islands) that have led him to hunt for his evil Drow cousins who may be mobilizing at the "end of the world"
I haven't run it in a while, but it was a swashbuckling sea-based campaign where 100 years ago, a mad alchemist-king made a device that pulled a star out of the heavens and crashed it into a rival empire's capital. The resulting destruction created the Crater Sea, which the PCs sailed across to the "new" frontier of formerly land-locked "primitives." Lots of gnoll pirates, vampire merchant-princes, yuan-ti cultists (and dinosaurs!!!), and rakshasa masterminds. (The rakshasa and yuan-ti are in a kind of New World, Cold War, so they've been too busy out maneuvering each other to take on the colonial powers.)
Religion isn't very important because none of the PCs are clerics or paladins or very religious minded. But there are several pantheons in the background. Alchemy has resulted in gunpowder, sympathetic communiction devices, the beginnings of steam power, and "warforged."
Before the campaign went kaput (work/school/family obligations) the PCs had just learned about a cult of crazy wannabe lycanthropes (the Moonkissed) that want to use the old alchemist-king's "affinity engine" to bring the moon closer to the earth. These mad gnolls, minotaurs, worgs, kenku-tengu, and shifters think this will "restore" their "true" lycanthropic nature.
But it's all a scam by an entity called the Star-fallen to crash the moon into the sea, flooding the earth, and creating a One World Ocean.
The campaign I'm working on is set in FR using Pathfinder rules.
Set in Tethyr. The advisor to the royal family (worshipper of Gargauth) is causing political unrest between the elves of the Wealdath forest and the Kingdom of Tethyr. Most of the early goings on is trying to settle down the troubles before all out war is waged (between two goodly peoples).
Unbeknownst to the PCs there is a Cult of Moander working deep within the Wealdath attempting to disrupt the Mythals there and drain the power from the Tree of Life to resurrect their dead god's avatar. And all of the commotion between the elves and humans seems like the perfect opportunity to go ahead with their plans.
I'm taking some liberties here with what info I can find but you know... I'm DM lol.
Recently started up a new homebrew (killed my old one in disgust x). It is set in a rather northernly setting, think Scandinavia but with less water.
The players are all Elves or Dwarves, since humans are more like primitive vinkings than the sofisticated guys we're used to. Though I may let a player take up a primitive human later if one of the others will sponser him as an employee.
The background is rather simple. Some 800-1000 years ago the worldspanning empire of the elves came into comflict with the dragons. Much mischief follow and the elven empire collapsed on itself shortly after the end of the war. The Nothern lands (Ussuria) was spared due to the local rulers negotiation a peace with the dragons. This was possible because the northern realms are litterally full of faeries (Thank you Bestiary 2) and these fae supported the elven wareffort.
Well. Times has passed and the nation has settled. But some 300 years ago Dwarves emerged into the northern realm. The elves made the rather fundemental mistake of demanding taxes from these new and unknown settlers, based on the logic that the dwarves had tunneled into their land and therefore was under their rule now.
The following war wasn't very long, but it took a lot of casualties and only ended when a goblinoid horde swept in from the wilder regions lead by a mysterious personage called the White Rider. Needless to say, he was defeated and the Elves and Dwarves made an alliance.
This uneasy truce has become more steady over the last 300 years and the two peoples now trade on a regular basis, though the dwarves do look down on those that leave their own territories for those of the elves.
Now we have begun the campaign with a group called togeather by a dwarven merchant who has personal interest in solving some grisly, ritual murders and sent on their way to search for clues in the village where the murder could have come from (he had to leave some evidence at his last murder).
And in the north a sinister mist gathers...
Hmm. A little long, pardon that :)
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I'll Spoiler mine:
The history is simple: The various humanoid races lived in all their little own places, during this time there was minimal support from any spiritual beings (Deities). Their absence was solely from a “God War” that was transpiring on the other planes. During this time frame druidism sprang up (In my realm they almost strictly worship nature as per the original Druid in 1st Edition). Creatures of immense power also traveled the prime at this time. Those creatures later became known as Dragons. Most of the Dragons disdained the initial worship the mortal races gave unto them, except for some of the more vile ones.
The Gods eventually returned from their war and brought their focus back to their creations. It was then that they realized (saw) the dragons had stolen their ‘children’. The gods sent Avatar’s to the lands to regain their followers. The show their dominance and to re-establish power this began another war in the lands. A war between the Gods and the Dragons. Though in most cases the Gods were not directly involved, only their followers and Avatars. This war ended with the Dragons either being eradicated or forced into hiding. The world assumed eradicated.
With things back in line as the gods saw it, they went back to more of a ‘backseat’ view and let the world grow. During this time the various races became more aware of one another and in the different views. Much of this change brought up several smaller wars and some ‘racial’ wars. During this time the Drow sprang up, the drueggar became, etc. This is how I explained the different subraces (Mtn Dwarf, Hill Dwarf, etc).
Now several hundred years have passed since these occurrences transpired. The campaign begins with a being (who is tied directly into the realm itself, think of him as the personification of the prime) gathering together the adventurers. He sends them into the Mtns to uncover and ancient secret. Throughout the course of the adventure the group will discover that there was another race created just after the God war that has gone into hiding and that this race is needed to get ‘involved’ in the realm again. They also discover that Dragons are NO myth and that in fact they are waking.
I also tend to do a 'short story' intro and at times intermission for my groups...as i'm about to start this campaign fresh again i'll only post their intro as they may be about the boards.
She landed silently at the centermost structure, coiled her wings about her appearing as if she wore a cloak; Syltheria didn’t wear much in the form of garments truth be told she much enjoyed the discomfort her nudeness caused in those she had dealings with and entered. Mytgore sat in his throne, his massive form intimidating to even those of his clan. After all it was fear of him that kept him in control of the clan. He ruled absolute. His hand caressed the steel blade at his side, what a gift it was, nothing his own had mastered how to craft but something they would learn. They would take the human settlements and purge their ilk from these lands. Before the dwarves had always stopped his people from venturing out of the mountain but now those halls had gone silent. The dwarves had sealed their doors to the outside a clear sign of the promise that was made.
“The dwarves are at war in their halls,” The soft feminine voice interrupted Mytgores’ thoughts. How long had she been there? “Now is the time to strike.” Mytgore scowled at the being, abyssal by nature she was, spawned from some demon her unnatural beauty, wings and small horns protruding from her forehead gave all this away; but still he did not like her tone.
“I lead my people demon!” He barked and to his pleasure she seemed to step back from him, yes intimidating to his people and to this demon as well. “And I have your word that the dwarves will be forever silent in their halls?”
Sytheria gave a slight bow to the chieftain, “Indeed” her mind filled with thoughts of taking this one’s life…slowly…but quickly she came back to the game at hand. “My master has one final gift for you mighty Chieftain.” She pulled a slender steel wand from within her cloak, no Mytgore corrected his sight her wing.
“A rod?” the Chieftain stood, anger clearly in his voice, “And what is mighty Mytgore to do with a rod?!”
Sytheria sighed; she had to remind herself that these people lacked certain intelligence. “Indeed a rod, but a rod with great power.” She held the rod out to the chieftain, “Once I have taught you how to activate its power you will be able to harness the storms fury with but a word!” The chieftain sat back down his mind contemplating those words; harness the storms fury? How is that possible? As if reading the chieftains mind, “These kinds of magic have been kept from you, selfishly by the dwarves and humans. No longer shall you be denied that which is rightfully yours.”
“We shall crush their bones with stone and steel!” Mytgore stated as he stood, “Hernos!” He bellowed and in response the doors opened followed by one of Mytgores stone giants he stepped before the chieftain and bowed ignoring the small female, “Assemble the war council we begin our campaign at dawn!” Hernos exited the room barking orders and closing the doors behind him. Sytheria smiled, bowing before the chieftain, “I shall let my master know everything is going as planned.”
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Captain Grines looked at his soldiers some of them bore fresh faces, new recruits he thought, a fitting duty for them to escort trade caravans. He mounted his horse and brought it about to the group, “This is a regular trip men” he looked out over the small caravan, “We shall escort them through the pass and back again when the trades are done. Ready your gear. We leave just after the suns rise.”
The soldiers prepared all the gear, mounted their respective horses and took up positions around the caravan. At Captain Grines order they moved out of the city and began their trek through the mountain pass.
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Graf looked down at the caravan, the Bugbear grinned, just a few more hours and they would stop to rest in the pass. It was a commonly used resting area for large caravans. The mountain side had been carved into the mountain to provide an overhang granting protection from the weather. Fog was a common occurrence here, being located on a narrow peninsula, it always got thicker in the evening hours. That was Grafs’ time; when he would begin his torment of those camped there. He would let their minds fill with whatever fears he could muster in them. It was that fear of the night that kept him here in this mountain range; the Humans were so prone to it. On a good night the fear was almost tangible, in some cases it would become so thick in the air to almost drive Graf out of his shadows to strike them down. But Graf was no fool, he couldn’t take on that many armed men, but if fear could cause any of them to flee the camp they were his.
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Captain Grines lead the caravan through the pass the fog thick; limiting vision to only fifty feet. He heard the deep laugh first, and then as the fog seemed to part he saw the tall figure standing in the road. He knew its type, a stone giant, but this one was different; it was armed with a large bastard sword in its right hand obviously crafted for the creature and its left held a slender metallic rod. Grines held up his hand halting the caravan and signaling his soldiers to form up behind him, “Make way giant and allow this caravan to pass.” He knew enough of these giants to know they were not always hostile, “Allow us safe passage and blood need not be shed today.”
The giant grinned; “Frezzak!” was the only thing the giant said as it pointed the wand at the group. The flash was blinding and the sensation was none like the captain had felt before. It was as if the sky had struck him down, when the daze faded he found himself on the ground his horse smoldering and his senses quickly came about as the moans of his soldiers echoed in the pass. Grines slowly lifted himself up to take in the scene, his soldiers almost all of them dead having suffered the same fate as his horse, the tradesmen either dead, dying or fleeing into the fog. He felt the footsteps more than heard; as he turned he saw the hulking giant weapon in hand standing before him, “Now is our time human,” it grinned, “Your ilk will be wiped from these lands.” The giant’s blade swept down and Captain Grines saw only darkness.
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Graf watched the whole scene play out. What were the stone giants doing here? They never ventured this low into the pass. He looked to the few survivors fleeing into the fog and his mind went to them. He could already smell their fear, it enticed him as it filled his nostrils; it may be time to leave these lands he thought to himself, but first it’s time for some fun.
The intro is still in the works, I need to add more to the intial intro of Captain Grines. And all that is in is NPC's, no PC's.
The main thing I designed the initial campaign around was to introduce new players to my realm. I like to start PC's off at lvl 2 and with very little knowledge of the monsters/dangers in the world. After all most monsters are just myth until you encounter them and of course the Dead aren't supposed to walk! :D
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Thanks,
Actually I have but my problem is with uploading images for the maps, etc. I'm not so technically inclined. :( Which has made me hesitant to do just that.
I've established all the kingdoms with Coat of Arms for them, as well as Minotaurs are a playable in race in my realm. Though i'm still working on making them playable with PF rules. I don't want them to have more than +1 lvl adjustment though. (I really enjoyed the concept of the Minotaurs in Dragonlance.)
I actually did the History in a similar story format, it's on my laptop at home though. I'll post that up here as well under a spoiler.
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Actually I have but my problem is with uploading images for the maps, etc. I'm not so technically inclined. :( Which has made me hesitant to do just that.
If thats all I could set it up useing a wiki site, if you wanted to email me the info. The downside to useing a wiki site would be that anyone could use your info. But I can post most if not all of your info with a combination of photo bucket and wikispaces, if you want.
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I'm currently in a PbP game here and the DM uses photbucket for the images. Is that a software program or just a matter of scanning the image and uploading it? If it's just the scan and upload I can master that. :D
Ya you scan and upload to the photo bucket site then link it through your wiki page. Some photos you can just stick to your wiki pages like you would a word doc.
Tomorrow I begin running my new campaign. The country it is set in is inspired by Russia, Ukraine, and similar countries, with names and geography to match. The campaign style is "points of light"; that is, settlements, whether big or small, are mostly separated by dangerous wilderness with only the brave or foolish traveling between civilized areas. Of course, out in the woods and swamps and abandoned keeps is where the treasure lies.
My current campaign is set in newly conquered lands of a vast Empire. The players are working for a Duke that was gifted lands for his service during the war. The area is pretty wild with a few towns scattered around that have exsisted for a longtime under varius rule.
The conquered lands was taken from a kingdom that was overcome by an engineered psionic plague that allowed its creators to control the residents as thralls. Psionics is outlawed and anyone showing abilites are actively hunted down.
The conquered land it self was a small section of the kingdom that was once the home to an orc empire. Savage tribes still roam the plains and the ruins of the fallen empire. That empire was ruled by a devil lord that has started to return. The players are currently fighting a Unholy order of LE Orcs bent on briging back the old kingdom.
My current campaign is actually 2 different worlds though 1 is no longer accessible to the PCs. The world of Torvo, a place that is over populated and all the races that seemed primitive have adapted themselves into society and its no longer odd to see any type of race besides fey. Eden however the second world had recently been discovered, a portal in an ancienty city/grove was revealed and the land seemed somewhat uninhabbited except wildlife (and tons of fey)
The portal has since collapsed and the adventurers are currently trapped on the Eden side of the portal no longer able to get supplies and have been making anything by hand or bringing things back for npcs to take care of. The world of eden does have its own past though and the pcs will discover it all soon enough. The people on the eden side though have since made bands of gangs and adventuring companies rivaling each other have been formed trying to bring back new artifacts or controlling newly discovered points of interest. Lots of ruins of people that are unknown and artifacts that are nothing that they've ever seen.
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Nice, i'll look into that here in the next week. I may just set something up. :DHere is one of my emails let me know if you need any HELP or PCs:
As I said here is the History as the players begin. You can see at the end i've definitely incorperated PF here and most assurdly the Pathfinder PrC and it's society. :D What can I say, I love what Paizo did with Pathfinder! :D
In response to your request of the history of our realm I’ve comprised several of my notes I have taken. I have chosen not to speculate on too much ‘empty’ space as I have yet to find a complete recording. I have scoured the lands ruins, as many as I could find, and spoken to many sages of times past. I do apologize for its incompleteness I am striving to correct and fill the gaps. I have also chosen to stay away from many of the religious injections into the history accept when it was the only history to go by. Most of the various races have their own religious views on how they came to be and on how we all came to be on this land. I shall leave that argument for those more spiritual than I.
The first age of our realm has been recorded down as the Time of False Gods. It is in this erra that we all worshipped Dragons (this I believe to be in error as this is the only mention of such beasts and I’ve only had one sage theorize this belief). Few worshipped and were granted great abilities by the land itself. In my discoveries of those fables and historical beliefs I feel this is the first sign of Druidism. All of the ‘great’ abilities described seem to be in equal proportion to those rumored to be possessed today of that sect. Now on the factual part of this time I am unable to uncover anything from ruins or scribed into stone. All of this is from several sages and what I’ve included is the most agreed upon assumption. I could not however get any druid to converse with me about the history of their belief.
The second age has been recorded down as the Time of Faith. Now most of the information here comes from the religious side though I have encountered numerous ruins that confirm this. In its main point the Gods where well known to the world and worshipped as such. This is actually where most recorded time began. From what I can tell this period lasted for just around 1,000 years, at its downfall was some sort of God War. The religious historians end this period with that and began a new time line with the war.
So now we are in our third age the God War. All of the religious texts talk about fighting on the prime material plane as they call it and in the god planes. It is said during this time many ancient gods where vanquished and some new ones, lesser ones, came to great power. Also during this time with the Gods absence many races began to fight one another and themselves. So this would be the point in our history where are fellow races begun fighting amongst themselves. The Elves are extremely secretive about this point in history and all I could gather from them was that it was a great time of sadness. The Dwarves were more forthcoming, they told me of how at the time there was only one Clan and all the dwarves were ruled by one King, they went on to tell me that from this period the dwarves separated and a multitude of clans arouse. Many had the same purpose as when they were unified, but some ventured towards darker aspects. Some dwarven historians belief there are ‘pure’ dwarves still those that are still directly tied to the first clan and that someday one of those dwarfs we reunite the clans.
Also during this same period the Minotaur race as we have come to know them was separated. Apparently they walked as men and in peace, but it was when a part of the God War struck the prime material plane some of their kin were embraced the more beastial side. Apparently this was a direct affront to their gods and this is when they split. Their historians have told me that the clear sign to those that are cursed are the beastial feet. Of course I have learned this the hard way, a mistake I have never made again.
Now at the end of the God War we see the first findings of some our smaller friends. Namely the Gnomes and Halflings, apparently the gnomes had been living alongside the the elves in their woods for sometime without even them knowing. I’m not sure what exactly happened, because it once again the elves where not free coming with any information here nor could I keep a gnome on subject long enough to get this, though what I have gathered is their god war/race war ended with the arrival of the gnomes. So I am assuming the gnomes helped them at some pivotal moment. The Halflings tie in much the same way except to the Minotaur’s. When the Minotaur fled the god warred land, those that remained faithful to their gods, they came across many races and apparently the first kindly race to greet them was the Halflings. Now I’m not sure how this all took place, but I’ve be witness to many a mistake by some and with that I offer only one piece of advice: Insult not a Halfling when a Minotaur is in the room.
This brings us to the fourth age the Time of Affirmation. In this age many races began their various advancements. Either it is mankind erecting its great cities, roadways and such. The Minotaur’s mastering the seas, the Halflings perfecting their ales, the elves stepping from the woodlands and the dwarves opening their doors to the surface. It is rumored, as always is, that many great heroes arose here and fell, great evils befell the land some vanquished some only silenced. But this is our most recent part of history. This part has ended with the building of the Pathfinder Society which has brought us into our current age…the age of Revelations.
In closing I will be crossing into Stygia in the next ten day and feel that much of our history can be garnered from those ancient lands. To many ruins I’ve come across point to those lands or the desert lands south of it. I will inform you when I know more and more precisely when I have stronger facts.
Forever your servant,
Senoir Pathfinder Praxtinn
If I get this going with a PbP, I will be sure to contact you! Hope you enjoy the read.
My next campaign will probably be kind of Wild Westy, or at least primarily on some vast plains surrounded by all kinds of hostile forests and woods. Kind of "points of light" with lots of neutrally orc tribes in between.
The King will have recently been assassinated, as well as the rest of the royal family. 3 or more factions of bastards will try to claim the throne. Unbenownst to all, one of the king's sons was a changeling, and the faeries have the heir to the throne. The PCs will be on a quest to recover the rightful heir, politick with the 3 bastardish factions, and deal with some foreign incursions.
A big feature I want to explore is witchcraft, with the PCs being either all kinds of "witches" (sorcerers, witches, spellthieves, oracles, hexblades, warlocks, ninja, summoners, healers, etc.) or all kinds of "witch hunters" (paladins, druids, rangers, cavaliers, fighters, inquisitors, warmages, wizards, clerics, barbarians, alchemists, monks, etc.) Pretty much "innate" powers versus "book-learning" powers.
The dominant political force and religion will be a Vatican-like Druidic order. They are neutral, and often provide an advisor to any strong political leader (counts, kings, barbarian princes, generals, etc.) and act kind of like the Maesters from the Song of Ice and Fire. They are generally dedicated to post they advise, not necessarily the person filling that post at any given time. This Druidic Vatican would see its primary purpose as acting as the guardians of humanity (and demi-humanity, of course). They view people as some of nature's most complex creatures, but still creatures of nature. They act as neutral, behind the throne, behind the scenes, behind the curtain, advisors.
The orcs on the plains will follow a different kind of druidism, probably dominated by at least one Raven Goddess of some kind.
There will also be lots of other religions, but none as dominant as the Druid Vatican. They will mostly be of foreign origin, and more popular in places far from the reaches of the Druid Vatican.
My current campaign is actually 2 different worlds though 1 is no longer accessible to the PCs. The world of Torvo, a place that is over populated and all the races that seemed primitive have adapted themselves into society and its no longer odd to see any type of race besides fey. Eden however the second world had recently been discovered, a portal in an ancienty city/grove was revealed and the land seemed somewhat uninhabbited except wildlife (and tons of fey)
The portal has since collapsed and the adventurers are currently trapped on the Eden side of the portal no longer able to get supplies and have been making anything by hand or bringing things back for npcs to take care of. The world of eden does have its own past though and the pcs will discover it all soon enough. The people on the eden side though have since made bands of gangs and adventuring companies rivaling each other have been formed trying to bring back new artifacts or controlling newly discovered points of interest. Lots of ruins of people that are unknown and artifacts that are nothing that they've ever seen.
I'm liking this concept. A whole world of wilderness and ruins? Sweet!
One I've been thinking about is a world where arcane magic thrives to the point that the gods died off due to lack of worshipers. Without them as a source of power, the divine classes disappeared. As learning and arcane magic increased, the classes without magic began to lag behind, and eventually lost to the sands of time.
Witches and bards replace clerics, summoners, bards(arcane duelists), and magi replace warriors, bards(Detectives and Sandmans[sandmen?]) replace the rogues. An all arcane campaign set at the height of the magical golden age.
Custom world I'm building from the inside out. A string of fragile human outposts on a thin habitable strip between a rocky sea coast and a massive, treacherously enchanted forest. The adventurers seek the legendary lost elven city of Nimoriel, supposedly hidden deep in that forest, though most people don't believe in elves or that they ever existed. The elves are there, though; victims of a magical, non-fatal disease that affects elves, fey, and a variety of magical beasts. It turns them into rabid, sadistic fiends, and in certain circumstances, morphs them into hideous abominations. Victims of this plague shun sunlight, hunt the innocent for sport, and play with their prey, seeking always to break their spirit before feasting on their bodies. In my world, drow do not exist as a race...yet. This is the birth of that something like that race. Drider are just one of many possible morph variations, but the possibilities are endless.
The world is somewhat high magic, but there is a law of magical nature at work: magic is not possible without imperfection. While I'm not smart enough to apply this to most spells without wreaking havoc on the system (and so I mostly leave spells alone), every magic item in my world must have a flaw, intentionally introduced by the enchanter of that item. So when I hand out magic items, I have to think, who created this item, and why? That usually leads me to the flaw, and also fleshes out the world bit by bit. Contemplating one sword they found in a human crypt led to creation of a 1200 year backstory that the players are still unraveling.
Was the disease an accident of nature? Was it manufactured? Or is it even of this world? The adventurers are racking up treasures, discovering as many new questions as answers, and finding themselves caught in the crossfire of a titanic pan-dimensional struggle.
I've mentioned this before on this forum, but I've been thinking of running a Pathfinder game set on a "mobius world", which is like a ringworld, but with a twist. The reason for this is to emphasize that this world is _not_ Larry Niven's Ringworld; for one thing this world has been salted with resources and was built as kind of a "wildlife preserve" for lesser creatures, such as humans and orcs and mind flayers.
The world was also designed as sort of a mosaic, with adjoining areas. So the PCs would start in an area that is like a huge plateau, with a culture inspired by the mesopotamian mythology I was reading at the time.
To the north would be the mountains that mark the edge of the world, reaching up literally thousands of miles with thousands of miles of canyons between them, leading to a labyrinth of caverns and tunnels designed to turn travellers around and away from the wall of the world. To the south would be a 40 mile drop to an ocean. I had ideas for lands to the east and the west. Planning was based on an average area size of about 4 million square miles, which is about the size of Europe or of the United States. (thus, the size of the areas I had sketched out was about the size of Asia.)
I was also thinking of having the PCs be generated using D20 Future rules, being astronauts who crashed on this mobius world. Then they'd have to pick up Pathfinder class levels if they wanted to.
The last homebrew campaign I ran was in 3.5, and only reached about 9th level before I ran out of time to write more material and had to abandon it.
The general concept was a world that was struggling back from a devastating magical/divine apocalypse that had drowned most of the world under water, and pushed most of the world back into the Stone Ages both technologically and magically.
The "known world" consists of just a few hundred small islands relatively close together (I used a map of The Bahamas as the campaign map) with rumors of some other islands off to the South. The PCs are all human, coming from one of several islands that have formed a loose confederation in opposition to one island that has maintained some semblance of technological and magical capability. They were officially sponsored by the island confederation and were pretty much its greatest heroes. Playable PC classes included barbarian (of course), fighter, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, druid and cleric, and the tech level was largely simple stone weapons, with a few captured bronze weapons.
The "advanced" island was at the Bronze Age level (sort of like ancient Greek), and was largely ruled by wizards (but had no clerics or druids), and in the early stages of the campaign, they were largely enemies of the PCs. The first major mission, in fact, was infiltrating the enemy island to steal the secret of bronzemaking. The bad guys also used sea-going galleys and regularly raided the less advanced isalnd for slaves and needed raw materials.
The less advanced islanders traveled around via outrigger canoes and long voyages were quite dangerous. Aquatic races were also involved, like sahuagin and mermen, and one of the more common ways to acquire magic items and loot was raiding underwater ruins that dot the sea floor. Lots of underwater adventuring once they got high enough for water breathing and free action, or at least had potions to enable it. Shark encounters (and later dire sharks and weresharks) were common and deadly. Some species of sharks were sentient and evil.
Very simple religious system with just three good and neutral gods commonly worshipped, as well as a forbidden cult of a very, powerful evil god/wizard king who had brought on the apocalypse that changed the world through his own hubris. He was thought to have died in the apocalypse, but somehow his cult still exists in furtive cells that seem to be able to draw on his divine favor somehow.
Future plans for the campaign that I never got to implement would have been discovery/invasion of the islands by more technologically advanced (steel, sailing ships, Japanese-themed, so samurai and ninja) elves from a distant part of the world, supported by sea elves and allied dragons. This would force the islanders to put aside their differences and fight together to repulse the invaders or at least force them to negotiate and trade as equals rather than just conquering.
Finally, at very high levels, I was going to have the evil god/wizard king seek to return to the world by raising his drowned capital city and seeking to restore his rule in the world. Stopping that from happening and/or defeating him after his return would be the capstone of the whole campaign.
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My home game world is one I've been slowly evolving for over a decade now. Its a large, primarily oceanic world with a number of continents, but due to ancient rituals, one hemisphere of the world has been cut off from the other for nearly 4 millennia. Civs run the gamut from very very high magic (there is an insular nation of space faring mages), to generic fantasy, to low magic / lost artifact regions, to entire continents under the iron fist of the goblin overlords.
The game's universe is very heavily involved in the Blood War between devils and demons, as well as another conflict between entitys known as Elder Titans (unaligned beings of pure idea) and the Gods (socially and morally aligned applications of ideas), and the primary world, Tor, has been a hotbed for many of the major events in the universe's time-line.
A few of my recurring players have commented about how they enjoy seeing their old character's actions or names mentioned in the game world's timeline. For example, a game I ran in 09-early 10 took place 3000 years prior to a game I ran at the end of this past year, and a few of the players who were in both noted that their previous campaign's actions had helped shape the game world.
I had a homebrew back in 3.5 that incorporated a lot of stuff that had no home in any other setting. A short summary of the most interesting areas and the games we set there:
- The fascist realm of Argalia, which was basically Cheliax run by a bunch of Third Reich psionics. Tech level was late 1930s, thought military had access to more advanced armaments, and there was a lot of shadow tech, reverse-engineered from high tech illithid devices. The players were a rogue special forces unit driving around in a magic ATV. Did lots of stuff, among the most memorable ones were this time when they had to race to recover the plans for a clean H-bomb from a sunken destroyer.
- A complex and extensive oriental island kingdom where the heroes channeled kami, and time-traveled to prevent their own deaths which was the first to happen in-game, which would determine the fate of an empire down the road. Sadly got cut short.
- A huge continent torn by wars, inspired by vikings, the Huns, Conan and the Berserk manga. The players led armies and had long rosters of NPCs under their command, capturing castles and uniting lands under their banner to stand against the dragonlords. Dragons were pretty commonplace here, and had super-charged libidos, resulting in a LOT of half-dragon creatures. Used the Book of Nine Swords to reflect the dominant fighting styles of the major realms.
- A spiritual land that was being invaded by Argalia, with feral races, fey, volcanoes and dinosaurs, cultures inspired by ancient south america, where my players defeated a nightmarish soul-devouring awakened, half-fiendish T-Rex, and his cadre of raptor-mounted cannibals. Also died when they were approaching epic level play and were going to seal away a volcanic demigod.
WOOHOO!! Homebrew Thread!!!
The beginnings of my homebrew can be found here. It is 3.x based, which is something I'm actually not planning on changing anytime soon, interestingly enough. The basic thrust of the setting is that the gods were slain in a war with the dragons and their allies(the usual suspects- orcs, goblins, etc.) that took place centuries upon centuries ago, and that the standard PC races(save gnomes, who are extinct, and elves, who stand outside of this creation myth) are attempting to survive, thrive, and discover the secrets of a world where, essentially, the wrong/bad guys won for all the right/good reasons.
I had a homebrew back in 3.5 that incorporated a lot of stuff that had no home in any other setting. A short summary of the most interesting areas and the games we set there:
- The fascist realm of Argalia, which was basically Cheliax run by a bunch of Third Reich psionics. Tech level was late 1930s, thought military had access to more advanced armaments, and there was a lot of shadow tech, reverse-engineered from high tech illithid devices. The players were a rogue special forces unit driving around in a magic ATV. Did lots of stuff, among the most memorable ones were this time when they had to race to recover the plans for a clean H-bomb from a sunken destroyer.
- A complex and extensive oriental island kingdom where the heroes channeled kami, and time-traveled to prevent their own deaths which was the first to happen in-game, which would determine the fate of an empire down the road. Sadly got cut short.
- A huge continent torn by wars, inspired by vikings, the Huns, Conan and the Berserk manga. The players led armies and had long rosters of NPCs under their command, capturing castles and uniting lands under their banner to stand against the dragonlords. Dragons were pretty commonplace here, and had super-charged libidos, resulting in a LOT of half-dragon creatures. Used the Book of Nine Swords to reflect the dominant fighting styles of the major realms.
- A spiritual land that was being invaded by Argalia, with feral races, fey, volcanoes and dinosaurs, cultures inspired by ancient south america, where my players defeated a nightmarish soul-devouring awakened, half-fiendish T-Rex, and his cadre of raptor-mounted cannibals. Also died when they were approaching epic level play and were going to seal away a volcanic demigod.
I may not agree with you on everything, but I REALLY like that last one. The next to last one has a bit in common with my homebrew.
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I've mentioned this before on this forum, but I've been thinking of running a Pathfinder game set on a "mobius world", which is like a ringworld, but with a twist.
LOL.
My current campaign world is a vague pastiche of fantasy tropes, mashed up with a very simplified analog of the early American colonies.
You can read all about it here:
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/paths-of-gaeda
anybody running any homebrew games set in Golarion?
Hello all. First time poster and I figured this would be a good thread to post to first :P
I've started the development on a homebrew world that is slowly growing as my group goes. So far I have the base history and general layout in my head of where everything is and what's going on. Basically the overview goes as such:
The continent of Devrün is a mountainous place filled with dwarves, humans, and elves. In the distant past they all get along but stayed at arms length of each other until the elves taught humans magic and formed a closer relationships. To the dwarves, the most populous race on the continent and the main rulers, this wasn't a problem but they still chose to remain slightly isolationist and independent. This served each race fine until hordes of goblins, orcs, ogres, and giants led by powerful hobgoblin warchiefs attacked the kingdoms of the dwarves, humans and elves. Due to their tactical strikes and overwhelming numbers, the coastal elven homeland was destroyed while it's people fled to the sea in ships vowing revenge against the dwarves who they asked for aid but gave none. In their guilt the dwarves sacrificed many of their strongholds and northern realms to better assist their human allies and keep them from the fate of the elves. Now, the hobgoblin led hordes, known as the Vronmar Empire, and the allied dwarves and humans stand at a stalemate with a transparent peace treaty as they both sides try to find something to gain an advantage.
During the war a group of individuals under captain Rhun Varkon set out on the sea to find a staging ground to help the elf, human, and dwarf armies better transport weapons and cargo via ship around their enemies. After a long while they came upon a chain of islands in the south and found a perfect place for their goal. Naming it Milmaratel Island they began the building of the port city that would help their people and it's soldiers. But captain Varkon soon changed his mind about what the city should represent. While on the voyage in began to doubt the war and messages of defeat after defeat depressed him. After an elven ship came upon them and told the crew of their homelands destruction Rhun changed his mind about the project. After many of his elves left and construction on the city was finished he told the people that it would not be a place for war but a place for peace. A place where those who wished to get away from war were welcomed with open arms. Calling it Free Sanctum he sent message back to Devrün and people flocked to the island city. For a time it was peaceful but eventually Rhun was ousted out of his council city and the city soon became a city of corruption, greed, and ruin. A neutral city now, it ships weapons and soldiers from both sides and grows with profit. Once a beacon, now just another reminder of the strife the people endure daily.
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Phew, that was a lot longer then I thought. That's the basic gist of the setting. I have a few homebrew races (The Torga-Turtle people who reside on many of the other islands and have a tibetan/peaceful philosophy of life and have natural healing abilities. The Vion-A race of curious lionfish-people that travel the ocean and land for adventure and are rarely in one place for very long. The Kheros-Tribal rhino-folk from the middle-east inspired continent of Unjanni) but no homebrew classes.
So far the players have just been in the city working for the Fog, a secret group trying to destabilize the guilds who have a choke hold on the council run government of Free Sanctum. Kind of a vigilante group like X-men mixed with Batman. There's also other elements such as metallic dragons participating in the war and a lack of faith in the gods as well as a sadistic religion the Hobgoblins follow but that's just too much info to put in one post :P I also statted out my own Hobgoblins because, and no offense to Paizo, but I'm not a huge fan of there's. At least for my setting. Mine are more of a mix between the Pathfinder hobgoblins and the DnD hobgoblins and are red of skin like DnD hobgoblins.
Anyways, sorry for the huge post and the lack of actual paragraphs. :P
My homebrew game takes place on the continent known as Eagleheart. A massive region where wars have taken place, demons have been bound to frozen prisions, and once beautiful jungles have turned into nothing more then pitful deserts.
In past games some player characters have become legends, with bards recalling there heroics.
Drakan (Human Wizard) - started a Drow Brothel after thwarting an attempt to over throw the elven kingdom of Elwyn City
Andrea Snow (Human Cleric) - Now the high priestess of the sun god, Andrea was known for her incredible healing power; capable of healing those injured from afar. Having single handedly defeated a pair of Balors masterminds.
The Purple Avenger Igg (Half Orc Barbarian)- Igg was not the sharpest knife, but he had a big axe, and hits aweful hard. He became the purple avenger when his axe gained the brillent energy quality. His Axe was shattered against the fire gaint king, but by using rope, put it back together and defeated the Gaint King with a mighty blow.
King Aurn Dawnbreaker - (Dwarf Paladin...sorta) Aurn became king when he lead a rebellion against a cursed General who had taken control of the Alender Falls army, the General was a silver dragon in disguise who joined Aurn after he recliamed the Dwarven Regalia of Ancient Kings.
Ashnod (Human Fighter Werewolf)- Having been bitten by a werewolf things only got stranger for Ashnod when he mated with a succubus who would evenutally birth his child. He defeated helped banish the powerful devil Tremer back to hell.
Lord Kieth Essorexx (Human Paladin/Blackgaurd) - Once a noble paladin Kieth helped bring back the jungles to the lost isle of the burning wastelands; scarficing his divine power to do so. But that game the demon lord Armel time to corrupt the young paladin; leading him on an adventure to free him by merging with Kieth. He lead an army of demons on the city of Hammers Valley; only being defeated when King Jordan Crainus grabbed hold of Armel's abyssal sword and thrusted it into the pocessed paladin, freezing him in a frozen tomb off the coast of the massive city.
these are just a few of the players who have achieved greatness through the world of eagleheart.
I've lately been developing my homebrew world, yet to be used in a game, in this thread and with some much appreciated help and input from others. I'm heavily influenced by medieval Europe, but trying to maintain some typical D&D/Pathfinder tropes while subverting others.
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At the moment I am playing Rise of the Runelords (and loving it, well done people) However I have been mulling over a campaign based loosely on West Coast Indigenous Haida, Tsimshian, Coast Salish Legends/Monsters of old Check out Boas work on some of these stories for some pretty nifty ideas. The transformer (not like the movies) is a powerful force of change/chaos in the lives and histories of the people. There is a woman (witch) that has a large bird creature that sucks the brains out of it's victims..
Wild stuff with a perfect setting. A wild wind swept rain soaked coast, hides many of its treasures amidst fog and stone. Gold is know to run deep through the lands and rivers in this wild nation. However, so to do spirits of these strange rivers, this powerful land. Mountains dare exploration, and enormous bears, graceful cougars and powerful birds protect their homes. Amidst all this are numerous peoples living within the land. Will you explore, exploit, colonize or adapt to the way of the indigenous people and their spirit lands? Or does the land have other plans for you?
anybody running any homebrew games set in Golarion?
Under a conventional definition of the term "homebrew," it would imply a game not set in Golarion.
anybody running any homebrew games set in Golarion?Under a conventional definition of the term "homebrew," it would imply a game not set in Golarion.
a homebrew is exactly that; home brewed. could mean a home brewed Campaign Setting or a home brewed Adventure.
for this post, im reffering to the latter. sorry for the misunderstanding.
We play at a homebrew world, shortly after a defeated demonic invasion (which was our first round^^)
http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/Sarados
Our main group ist this:
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/asera
Most NPCs are ex-PCs, which get famouse or wealthy. :)
The World permanently expand and will be filled by DM and players alike.
It's a very "common" medival fantasy setting, without any fancy stuff.
P.S.: most of the descriptions are in German, sorry :( [some are also in English]
My setting is strange.
My campaigns have been based on old school D&D lands. I started by grabbing the original adventure from the Red Box, updating stats to 3.5. I put it in a generic setting to start, but had them 'ported' over to the Mystara setting from the Gazetteers TSR published.
I modified some bit of each land to fix what I felt didn't work or felt too campy. So I was running with the maps, government bits, NPC flavor on a 3.5 chassis. I had the adventurers living on the border to Alfheim, running through the Elven lands, a 200+ room dungeon under the mountain border to Rockhome. They mucked around in the capital city of Rockhome under a fake ruler imposing new laws in the city. They ended up starting to delve in the underlands of Thar to capture a magic device capable to stealing sections of entire cities.
All while trying to kill the original bad guy, Bargle.
I had started up a new campaign set in the exact same world, using PF rules, just in a different land. But it died when most of my group just stopped playing.
I have some homebrew ideas that I'd like to share and if somebody would like to give some input that'd be totally awesome. :D
(initially inspired for 4e)
This is a world where just over a hundred and twenty years ago there was an invasion from beyond the known worlds edges. This Invasion was from a different world, a different age, with an army of creatures and lead by powerful generals that rampaged across the Known World. These generals were Dragons. Their armies were the Dragonborn and other Draconian forces, Kobolds were their draconic servants.
Their Mistress and God, Tiamat, didn't come till later.
The Wars were devastating. The defenders couldn't stop their magical onslaught, and they lost. Conquered, the defenders fell to Tiamat's rule.
Tiamat, in return for their refusal to bow when the first Dragon General came to ask for the worlds surrender, and to teach the Gods of this world a lesson, created a powerful ritual that sundered the Gods ability to approach this world. Her rule was complete.
A hundred and twenty years pass...
The people live under the gaze of the One God Tiamat and the Dragon Lords beneath her. They have separated out the Known Land according based on Territories and the non dragon humanoids are allowed to live under the good grace of their Dragon Overlords. Magic is outlawed and Divine Magic doesn't exist, unless you are a follower of Tiamat.
People today have no knowledge that there was once a time where other Gods existed. All knowledge of them have been destroyed during the purging years.
Yes this is sort of my own omage/rip off of Star Wars, but I like it. :P
Okay, not really that great a title, but the premise of this idea, and the one i want to go with to get my feet wet with running Pathfinder is that all the characters are teenagers and have grown up in this hidden valley, tucked away in a far corner of the world, and they have never ventured outside the valley.
This is my start small and work big...but I do have an idea that will take the players by surprise.
The only known races to the player characters are Humans and Halflings, and whatever race they choose beyond these for character creation. So if no one picks a dwarf, than they have never seen a dwarf.
Technologically it appears simple, until you see that the Mayor has a grandfather clock in her living room.
****the Secret****
The Tier Valley is actually on a world that is connected to two other Worlds, and while this valley is very off the beaten path, when the characters begin to traverse the world, and they end up in a town where a Train takes them through a Permament Dimensional Door to a town On a Different World, and they see that there are twenty or thirty other Races in these worlds... :)
But shhhh...don't tell them this secret. I want my players to think this world is simple and small.
An alternate history Amerika set in the early 1820s, this is heavily inspired by Deadlands and straight up fantasy, and is definitely a fantasy meets wild west. Technology level is steam technology, advanced to where mechanika can graft on mechanical arms and legs onto people, and magic and technology (mechanika) have blended into its own new technology.
I'm also going to toss in a bit of Malifaux into this world, as Malifaux is just an awesome horror influenced wild west type world.
All in all, spells being slung and bullets flying and people unleashing horrors and trying to capture each others souls...yes, souls are a currency in this world, to the beings of the other dimension that I am not going to call Malifaux but basically that's what it is.
So please let me know if you like these ideas...I have more but I think three for now is good. I'm going to stick with number 2 for my next campaign, which will be my first in many years...start small and learn how to run a game again.
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I dont have an active campaign setting...I'm developing a new one called Kwelyaggwer (The Far Worshiped Mountain). Basically it involves my development of a new RPG Engine im calling Kriegspiel RPG and the setting which involes a megadungeon from which elves, dwarves, faries, sidhe, banshee, giants, trolls, ogres, cyclops emerged (though their common projenitor is still trapped within and looking to be released on the world) along with goblins, kobolds, pooka, gremlins, hobgoblins, knockers, bugbears...which are a rival species from the subterranean realms.
Most will be available to PCs as character races...though some will be DM controlled monsters only. All based on the original historical references rather than D&D.
I am also writing a D&D version of the setting as a Campaign setting for use with BECMI D&D.
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I'm running Golarion too. I made some slight modification to the area near the border between Taldor and Qadira, mostly changing the geographical layout of the Jalrune rivermouth and putting there a bunch of gloomy fishing villages, and adding a bunch of elements in the area between Zimar and Oppara (a large town inspired by Zobeck, which I named Silvercrown, and a forest halfway to the Southern rage mountains, with another quartet of backwater communities).
The plot (sorry for the longish rant, but English is not my primary language, so please excuse any mistake)...
I wished to develop a campaign about time paradoxes and self fulfilling prophecies, something I found quite difficult without resorting to heavy railroad style narration.
So I simply "stepped aside" the issue, putting the time incongruencies out of the characters' reach and using them as thematic and atmospheric framework/background, something that so far has worked fine.
The idea behind the whole campaign is that there is among the deities a contract of sorts regarding the flow of time: a divine appointed creature (of any alignment that is not Chaotic) rules and controls the timeline. A kind of temporary time god (simply named the Guardian), with only eight acolytes that function as clerics/counsellors/power source (named the Disciples).
At the end of his mandate, the Guardian chooses among the Disciples its successor, which is then appointed by the gods themselves and kept in check by an Inevitable (a Quarut, from the Fiend Folio).
Problem is, one the Disciples (a Chronotyryn, also from the Fiend Folio), being mad hungry for power, has manipulated a rare cult of Groetus to murder all the other Disciples and the the weakened Guardian itself. The twin brain of the Chronotyryn has also put in motion the antithesis to the cult, so that in the end the creature will figure as the only Disciple surviving the onslaught and the one who has helped the heroes destroy a menace to the flow of time itself - thusly gaining from the other gods the position of time god without Disciples who lessen its power.
Part I
The characters are recruited by the nobles of southern Taldor to rid the coast from a band of pirates who recently turned to slave trade, kidnapping people from the poorest fishing villages.
After a long hunt, the PCs learn that the pirates sell the slaves to some mysterious monks living in the ruins of a border fortress with a dark past, who are under protection from some powerful and hidden powers. The monks are cannibals, and are following orders from a hag coven lairing in a ruined village - a ghost version of Innsmouth. Facing the coven, the PCs learn that the hags were agents from some other greater evil, and recover a brocken artifact.
High points: the pirates lair is in a huge galleon stuck in a reef; the village of the hags is haunt riddled; each of the fishing village has a side trek loosely related to the following adventures.
Part II
The characters are recruited into a conspiracy that has grown in the upper ranks of the army: one of the nobles is a criminal and a corruptor, and the goal of the conspirators is to uncover his plans and put him to justice.
As the newest agents, unknown to anyone, they'll have to investigate the recent murder of another conspirator, killed as one of many victims of a killer operating in Silvercrown. The killer seems to come from the past of the city itself, and is under orders from a secret cult, whose memebers have a striking resemblance to the cannibal monks. Uncovering the killer and dealing with the cult shows the PCs that the same greater evil from the previous adventure is responsible, and that is acting in Taldor from a very long time.
High points: the city of Silvercrown is chock-full of side-treks, some developed into full-blown subplots; a large numbers of NPCs are introduced during the adventure; the cult of Groetus shows its face.
Part III
Following some leads found in Silvercrown, the characters travel to a forested region in the east, that has fallen under a curse probably tied to the same greater evil.
The four communities growing there hate each other with a passion, and three plan to destroy each other using various tactics (large subplots, involving a city-wide poisoning, a trio of green dragon collectors ready to raze the town, and a marauding band of hobgoblin mercenaries); the fourth one has a big problem with werewolves, with the nasty surprise that the inhabitants are shapeshifter themselves (wolfweres).
At the root of the hate and werewolf problems, there is a past crime orchestrated by Groetus agents of the "usual" greater evil, and a mad undead druid hidden in a demiplane-prison. Dealing with him (and his madness), the PCs finally learn the name of the nemesis, a high ranking noble in the Oppara court.
High points: the green dragons can be approached with diplomacy, and dispatched solving for them a task that involves robbing an Irori sponsored library; each of the four communities hides some past responsibility in the druid madness, and discovering each piece is the key for healing his mind.
Part IV
The characters are hastily summoned to the Taldor-Qadira border, as a large band of mercenaries has crossed the Jalrune river and is disrupting the Zimar control of the river. More than suspect is the fact that it has established its HQ in the same ruined fortress of Part I.
After a sequel of skirmish battles (using the rules from Heroes of Battle, rather than large mass combat rules), the PCs reach the fortress, which they learn is possessed by a Glabrezu demon responsible of the death and damnation of the mercenaries ancestors: the mercs mission is only to avenge them and free the region from the demon's influence (but they failed, falling into his trap).
High points: the adventure is not tightly related to the campaign plot, but functions as a break and it serves a source of answers for a number of questions related to loose ties previously found.
Part V
The characters, now heroes of Taldor and high ranking members of the conspiracy, are summoned to the Oppara court and they find themselves gripped in the political machinations between various factions (using special rules from Dynasties and Demagogues), while trying to uncover the last secrets of their nemesis's past and surving a power coup orchestrated by a group that follows the Lion Blades structure - tied to Groetus, the ambitious princess Eutropia, and the very evil nobleman they're after.
At the end, the evidence against him will be so definitive that The PCs will have a royal order to chase him down: in his secret lair (an unholy tomb full of exotic constructs) they'll have a showdown, with the hint that the noble was himself just another pawn under some greater power.
Part VI
The characters are introduced to the final secret of the conspiracy: the Chronotyryn itself. The creature will tell a story of murder and deceit where it is a victim of some cunning Groetus cultist, now lairing in the Guardian palace at the core of time itself. There, they wreck the structure of reality placing projections of themeselves at any point of the time flow, and orchestrating crippling attacks on the very framework of existance.
The PCs will travel to Axis, ask directions from the ancestor of all the sphinxes (Athentia from one of the Scarred Lands bestiaries) after a grueling sequel of riddles, find a renegade Deva kept as a slave by epic-level medusas (Sthenno and Euryale, from the ToH) as astral navigator, travel the outer planes, defeat the cultist, and fall into the trap of the Chronotyryn, who intends to trap them in the time-removed palace and hid forever any evidence of his involvement in the plan.
The broken artifact found in Part I will help the PCs get away (collecting divine power stuff, using rules from Requiem for a God) and find the hidden lair of the Chronotyryn to exact sweet sweet revenge.
Part VII
The lair of the Chronotyryn is a maze made of the same elements shifting into new and different configurations (large geomorphs each made of a number of rooms). Seven of these configurations are magical prisons for the other Disciples souls, twisted and corrupted to fuel the Chonotyryn power.
The ghosts of the murdered Disciples will ask the PCs for freedom: killing their projection will set them free and weaken the Chronotyryn at the same time. So the PCs will face up to seven different dungeons inhabited by the twisted Disciples and their servants (including a beholder with many aberrations, a gold dragon with dragonnes and lammasus, an elf paladin, a storm giant, a death knight, an Ultroloth and a Justicator). The dungeons will feature the same places, arranged differently and looking different (a sacred forest, an holy temple, a tomb, a justice palace, a fortress, a monstruous lair, etc.)
When they will face the Chronotyryn itself, the Quarut Inevitable will be the judge, asking for the divine stuff collected so far: the characters will choose which one of the Disciples they've freed to resurrect and appoint as a new Guardian.
My world is inspired by Greek mythology and the Planet of the Apes. Except, take away the apes and replace them with a reptilian empire. Immortals walk the plane, indulging in their own selfish interests and interfering with the lives of mortals. Giant kingdoms and dragon clans also control vast sections of the world. Mankind itself struggles as a slave race, or strives to survive in remote tribal societies. Meanwhile, in one small region, humans have revolted against their masters in an attempt to gain their own freedom and power.
I'm currently running an E6 game with an Ancient Mediterranean feel to it.
The basic gist of the setting is all (but one of) the major PC races existed prior to the coming of the gods, and the gods offered humanity a pact of worship which (almost) all sentient races accepted. The Gods are modeled after Greek/Roman gods, with some minor changes (Medea went from being a Witch to the Goddess of Magic, for example).
Some other major changes: (Spoiler Tag to save space/TL;DR)
Alignment is gone. Being mostly based on Judeo-Christian notions of right and wrong, and good and evil- this didn't fit in with the "Heroic Virtues" espoused by the cultures of that time and place.
Gnomes are gone. Because #$%$% Gnomes.
Minotaurs are adjusted as a PC race; and are the "Youngest" of the races, created by Poseidon. They are the only race created by a God.(Read up on him and you'll find alot of Bull references and symbolism). They fill the seafaring/Phoenician/Minoan cultural niche in the setting.
Elves are divided into 3 races; the Imperial Elves, who take on qualities of the Ancient Romans. They accepted the gods pact and grew their culture up around emulation of the gods principles. The "Sylvan" or traditional elves do not oppose the gods, but do not actively worship them either. They stick to the pre-pact ways of harmony with nature. The "Drow" figured they could just kill the gods and replace them. After the iconic war with the Imperial Elves, they were driven underground, blah blah. You know how it is. Imperial and Sylvan Elves are PC races.
Dwarves taken the traditional mantle of "Longest lived sagely race" in this game, living to be over 500 (Elves by comparison live to 300). Dwarves could be considered highly ordered as a society, as each family belongs to a clan, each clan to a hold, and each hold to a kingdom. Not ones for conquest; the aim of a dwarf is "perpetuity" and perfectionism as their chosen professions.
Humans have begun to claw their way out from the shadow of the Elves and Dwarves to create the first pseudo-medieval/feudal societies.
Slavery is real and rampant. This is not a PG game setting.
Priesthoods (and thus Clerics) are all unique. Clerics can ONLY access spells from their chosen domains (but they chose 3, not 2) and their proficiencies vary by priesthood. Clerics receive granted powers to replace the loss of spell versatility, geared towards the specifics of their deity.
Magic... oh boy, where do I even begin? First thing's first, I've erased the line between Arcane and Divine magic. Magic is Magic. Ive shunted appropriate divine spells into schools of Arcane Magic.
Magic is an evolved science in this world. Originally, Folk magic, drawing on the natural world as a focus, was the first magic worked by mortals; pre-pact of the gods. This would include Druidic and Adept classes.
As the study of magic increased, specialists evolved into the auspices of the Witch class. Though more versatile and not as limited as Druids are to shaping their magic towards things which exist, the Witch still requires, from a metaphorical perspective, a lens to fuel their magic through. A witches familiar is considered a "legacy" to the Druids Animal companion.
After the pact of the Gods, Sorcerer's began to appear. Sorcerer's within the confines of this game are considered "God's Blooded". All of the bloodlines have been replaced with Bloodlines related to the gods. Due to their touch of the divine, they could shape raw the magical latent energies of the world without needing a lens or nature to filter it through.
This intrigued a young Witch named Medea; who studied Sorcerer's her whole life. In the end, she created the Wizard tradition; which took raw magical energy and foci (components) and could mold them into effects which weren't limited to the lens they were viewed through, unlike Witch and Druid/Adept magic. For her amazing breakthrough, the Gods elevated her to godhood status.
Wizards in this setting MUST specialize in a school. Components are rigorously enforced (and changed as to make more sense... #$% bat guano). Opposition school spells aren't just limited- they are outright forbidden. The study of Wizardry is too demanding for one to understand it all. Much like with the Witch, a familiar is considered a leftover legacy to their roots; i.e. a Druid Animal Companion.
Bards in this setting are considered "touched by Dionysius" as the source of their magics.
Rangers use spell-ess variants. Paladins don't exist, nor do Summoners, Alchemists or Inquisitors. Working on fitting Oracles in at the moment.
There are no "other planes". Olympus is a real place in the physical world where the gods have taken up residence. The underworld is also a real place; the residence of the dead and home of Hades. Elementals form naturally, a Fire Elemental might form from a Volcano, ect.
Angels/Daeva and the traditional "DnD Extraplanar Monsters" do not exist.
If anyone is interested in the setting; feel free to post up and I can give you contact info. I'd love to eventually make a PDF of the setting when all is said and done to distribute.
-Idle