So this is just a place for me to consolidate my campaign world ideas.
Feel free to steal these ideas, or even contribute your own; just don't expect much in the way of readability, as these are essentially notes on scratch paper.
Oh, and if there is some better place for this thread to go, let me know and I'll happily move it.
Binary star system- red and blue in synchronous orbit, but from our view appears as one purple sun. everything held in place by magical forces as opposed to scientific forces. one star emits infrared light, the other emits ultraviolet light, and only when both stars are 'visible' do the rays overlap and provide visible light.
so when (from the prime material's perspective) one star is behind the other, the sun 'goes down'. this happens every twelve hours, perfectly (heh, magic), and year round the world gets 12hr days and 12hr nights. or, rather, 10hr day-> 2hr dusk-> 10hr night-> 2hr dawn, etc.
four planets, in order, are the elemental plane(t)s of:
Fire (closest to the sun, all fiery and whatnot)
Earth (close enough to be scorched and dry, but not molten)
Water (in the 'habitable zone' {but really, all of the planes are habitable to their indigenous elementals})
Air (gas giant, with one moon)
And that 'moon' is, in fact, the Prime Material Plane! Hooray!
So the other four plane(t)s are, from our view, four big ol' moons, three of which have randomly determined states of fullness on any given night, due to their orbits being along different axes. axises. axes, as in the plural of axis, not that each is sitting on a colossal axe. although....nah...
The big moon (Air, the closest) is full every 36 days, and this gives us a 36-day month, which we've divided into 6 weeks of 6 days each.
Aaaaaand, we have 360 days in the year, so that makes ten months.
Five player races, tied to the five elements(fire, earth, water, air, spirit) are as follows:
Human- as core; humans are tied to the element of water and exhibit this fluidity in their nature, giving them great variety between individual members of the species
Thwarv- don't worry, still pronounced dwarf. as core dwarves, except
Hatred racial ability applies to elves and goblins instead
of orcs and goblins. Thwarves are tied to the element of
earth.
Ork- as core half-orc, with these exceptions:
+2 to two physical ability scores (Str, DEX, or CON), -2 INT
Low-light vision replaces Darkvision
Fast: base land speed of 40
Orks do not count as humans, so no "orc blood," although
obviously they have ork blood.
Orks are tied to the element of fire
Elf- +2 Dex, +2 WIS, -2 CON
Normal Speed: Elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in
conditions of dim light.
Elfin Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and
get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells
and effects.
Arboreal: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and
Climb skill checks.
Multitalented: Half-elves choose two favored classes at first
level and gain +1 hit point or +1 skill point whenever they
take a level in either one of those classes.
Elves are tied to the element of air
Gnome- as halflings (really? who calls themselves less-thans?)
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, –2 Strength: Gnomes are nimble and
strong-willed, but their small stature makes them weaker than
other races.
Small: Gnomes are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to
their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to
their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and
a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Slow Speed: Gnomes have a base speed of 20 feet.
Fearless: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on all saving
throws against fear. This bonus stacks with the bonus granted
by gnome luck.
Gnome Luck: Gnomes receive a +1 racial bonus on all saving
throws.
Natural Guile: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on
Perception, Stealth, and Bluff skill checks.
Weapon Familiarity: Gnomes are proficient with slings and
treat any weapon with the word “halfling” in its name as a
martial weapon.