Worldbuilding Exercise - Get 5 Random Races, Build a Setting


Homebrew and House Rules

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FIRST SET OF ROLLS=

40=Ogres

94= ooze-based humanoids

96= thri-kreen

53= medusae

14= fetchings

Eh, what? Shae based whasis? I need to look these guys up.
EDIT

Hmmm, those fetchlings/kayal look pretty nifty!

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/fetchling

SHORT NOTES/IDEAS:

ooze dudes-
I'll use Dralasites from Star Frontiers for the ooze race. I've seen 3E/D20 modern stats for them. PF stats should be easy.

Thri-Kreen-
I'm cheating a bit and swapping the Thri Kreen for the Xixchil, a closely-related species from the Spelljammer setting. These are spacefaring mantids with a talent for surgery and body modification.

The ooze and insectoid races arrived together, crash-landed in a starship that travelled the aether on waves of "black light." The survivors reverted to a primitive existence, although the xixchil did manage to salvage and preserve some cyberware and medical tech.

The crash spilled waves of black light over the world, creating large swathes and pools of shadow that linger to the present day. The primitive humanoids who adapted to life in these shadow zones became the Kayal as they absorbed shadow stuff into their bodies over generations. The Kayal have learned how to move through hairline fractures in reality that exist in shadows.

The ogres, distant relatives of the Kayal, have developed a rude sort of agricultural civilization and spread over much of the land outside the shadow zones.

Meduase and maedars (FR monster, the male version of the species, does stone to flesh)-
The medusae and their male counterparts first colonized portions of the underworld and the surface centuries ago, coming from their ancestral domains on the Elemental Plane of Earth via planar rifts in the shadow zones.

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SECOND SET OF ROLLS, NEXT WORLD

32 Derro

6 Halfling

50 Faun

63 Grindylow

80 Vampire

Oohhh, man, those poor fauns and Halflings!

I imagine this one as a dark fairy tale setting. Lots of forest, interrupted by lakes , rivers, meadows, and farmland. Jagged mountains, cold dry plateaus, and other forbidding features mark the edges of the known world.

Derro are the menace from below, twisted creatures that dwell in darkness and emerge on moonless nights to kidnap travelers, steal babies, mutilate cattle, poison wells, blight crops...

The Halflings take the place of humans (not present in this setting, or else so rare that they are a legend) as the predominant race. They farm the land, build towns, trade, ply riverboats, and so on.

Fauns dwell in the sylvan glades and wildwoods. Some venture out into the Halfling settled lands and towns.

Grindylows haunt the rivers and lakes.

Vampires come mainly from Halfling stock. I'll use the Ravenloft variant for this.

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THIRD SET/WORLD IDEAS

58 Gnoll

51Centaur

97 Bariuar

6 Halfling

44 Nymph

The nymphs and centaurs suggest something Grecian.
Bariaurs could fit that, too, despite being made for D&D monsters (Planescape).

Continuing in that vein, Gnolls could be interpreted as a bidepal, talking version of the legendary Crocrotta. That’s pretty close to what they are now. They make a handy barbaric, savage race. Often a threat to civilization, but some people may hire them as mercenaries.

But what about the halfings? Classical Pygmies (not the same as the real peoples of Central Africa sometimes called “pygmies”) may work as a model. Halflings aren’t usually depicted as being that small, but if I toss in some boobries or other giant crane like monsters, the pygmy versus crane image should work just fine.

I’ll give the Bariaurs the role of the main civilized race. Think Greek city-states: contentious, varied, faction-ridden, but sharing aspects of a common culture. Bariaur is the Common Tongue for the setting.
For the Centaurs I will look to the Thracians, Sarmatians, Cimmerians, etc.

The nymphs fill the “elfy” slot pretty well, as a magical forest dwelling people.

Just for fun, horses have not evolved to be larger than, say mesohippus. Nobody rides much, apart from the Halflings.


That second set/write up of mine may need some tweaks to racial alignments, unless the hypothetical party leans towards evil-alignments...

In any event, your list and your world building idea rock, Mikaze.


ONCE MORE...

83
41
84
81
84 again

Hmmm, that’s a lot of clustered rolls. It happens sometimes. Let’s see what I have here…
• Shifter
• Dryad
• Uldra, twice
• Gearman/warforged

Okay, this is a Frostfell/Ice Age world.

The dryads are evergreen tree-women who can uproot and move about.
Shifters are savage tribesmen who learn from an early age to call on body-altering animal powers useful for hunting, survival, and fighting. Their technology remains basic, but robust and suited to their needs. Lots of hide, bone, chipped stone.

There are two kinds of Uldra. The first are based on the gnome-like race that first appeared in Dragon Magazine and the second are the blue fey of Frostfell and PF materials. They may be cousins.

The Blue Uldra inhabit the cold uplands, and the White Uldra (gnomelike types) dwell in the greenbelts of the lower regions.

The gnomelike race created gearmen/warforged as helpers and laborers—servants but not slaves.

The gearmen/warforged of this setting are made of carved mammoth ivory, cured sinews of wild animals, varnished wood, and beaten plates of copper or iron.

PS-- If I'm thread hoggin, let me know.

I just really love this thread.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Another one--

76 Shae
2 Elf
11Drow
48 Nixie
8 Orc

Okey-dokey. I'll spin off some vague hints about elf races in the Eddas

Elves= Light Elves
Drow= Dark Elves. They aren’t necessarily evil by nature, just different in outlook and lifestyle from their surface dwelling cousins. Skilled smiths.

Orcs= Swart Elves. Like the Drow, they are not automatically evil. They are brutish and crude, though. Skilled miners.

Nixies= distant cousins of the elf races, they inhabit both surface world and underworld waters.

Shae= shadow fays, pretty much. See below

Possible creation myth:
The Great Smith made the races by accident, working in his cavern realm deep under the surface. The light elves sprang from the drifting fire-motes over the open forge. They sailed up his chimney and settled in the surface lands. The drow/dark elves grew up from the ashes of his forge and flitted above his feet as he worked, watching him and learning some of his secrets before he swept them away into crevices in the cave floor. The orcs emerged from the toxic pile of slag he left behind. Nixies awoke when he plunged hot metal into an underground stream, and some of the creative magic infused in the steel flowed away into the cold waters. The Shae began as shadows moving on the cavern walls, given life by the afterglow of magic when the forge blazed for the last time, before the Great Smith departed the world.

Other notes:
I imagine there’s a lot of underground action in this setting. Plenty of caves and dungeons. The cultures are mostly monotheistic, but with numerous lesser spirits recognized. Clerics don’t actually gain power from the absent creator-deity, but from relics, spirit pacts, and ancient craft rituals.

Silver Crusade

Strix
Aasamir
Human
Vishkanya
Catfolk

Not sure what to do with this.

Silver Crusade

1d100 ⇒ 17
1d100 ⇒ 19
1d100 ⇒ 4
1d100 ⇒ 39
1d100 ⇒ 52

So I got Sylph, Suli, Half-Orcs, Kobolds, and Harpys on the second time around. I'm gonna have to spend some time thinking about this. I kind of see a desert world developing.


1d100 ⇒ 88
1d100 ⇒ 50
1d100 ⇒ 88
1d100 ⇒ 48
1d100 ⇒ 54


I understand this is an old thread but this is a thing that I want to try now and see what I get.

1d100 ⇒ 7
1d100 ⇒ 96
1d100 ⇒ 8
1d100 ⇒ 81
1d100 ⇒ 70


So... Gnomes, Orcs, Thri-Kreen, Gearman/Warforged, and Spriggans. I - Hm. Okay, let's see.

Gnomes are Fey-like in Pathfinder. Spriggans are a form of evil gnome and are generally nasty, nasty sorts. Orcs are generally evil in most campaign settings and cover the whole brute strength role. Thri-Kreen... and then the Gearmen make EVERYTHING awkward and not quite fit anymore.

Okay. My instinct is that, firstly, I can't assume the evil races are going to be evil in this setting, and I can't assume this is a traditional fantasy setting by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, my gut instinct is to do one of three things:

1) Make this a setting that draws influences from Spelljammer and Eador and uses wild, alien worlds as exploration sites. Gnomes are the core race with Spriggans as their nature-oriented cousins; orcs are around because they're DAMNED good at fighting; Thri-Kreen make amazing pilots and such due to their many arms; and Gearmen are just awesome crew members because you don't need to feed them. They were probably made by the gnomes.

2) Do the same thing, but make it wackier by turning this into a sort of Rebels vs. The Empire. So, humans, elves and dwarves are the bad guys that conquered the fantasy galaxy and this is the rebel alliance. Hmm.

3) And now for something completely different: a fey world. I'm still working out the details of how that'd work in my head, but either all of these races are fey or they're on the borders of a world that's threatened daily to be consumed by the Feywild.

I'll give this some thought.


1d100 ⇒ 44 = nymphs
1d100 ⇒ 15 = ifrits
1d100 ⇒ 8 = orcs
1d100 ⇒ 54 = nagas

Eh. I don't like the wildcard, rolling again.

1d100 ⇒ 91 = asherati

I have tree lovers, tree burners, war makers, magic snakes without hands, and sand elves.

I see a lot of fire coming in, and those nymphs are pretty screwed.


5d100 ⇒ (68, 65, 58, 29, 81) = 301

Tanuki, Derhii, Gnoll, Merfolk, and Warforged.

So I have: Racoon-man, Winged Gorilla-man, Dog-man, Fish-man...and robot.

Interesting theme could be all of these races were created, in the distant past. This is 10000 years or some absurd number in the future, and humans and other "pure blood" races are all but extinct, most having chosen to genetically engineer themselves to be more like animals in order to thrive in various environments.

The Tanuki rule the forests.

The Derhii dwell in the jungles and mountains (two different sub-sets, perhaps?).

The Gnolls roam the deserts and savannas.

The Merfolk are masters of the ocean.

Leaving Warforged as the odd man out...perhaps MECHANICALLY modified "purebloods" who wanted to be able to live in space, or in the deep, deep ocean, or so far under the planet's surface you start running into pressure and heat problems no mortal could withstand. Places where no organic life could, or would want to live.

I could play in a setting like that.


Quote:
Tanuki, Derhii, Gnoll, Merfolk, and Warforged.

Yours are actually rather well-matched together.

Quote:

Interesting theme could be all of these races were created, in the distant past. This is 10000 years or some absurd number in the future, and humans and other "pure blood" races are all but extinct, most having chosen to genetically engineer themselves to be more like animals in order to thrive in various environments.

The Tanuki rule the forests.

The Derhii dwell in the jungles and mountains (two different sub-sets, perhaps?).

The Gnolls roam the deserts and savannas.

The Merfolk are masters of the ocean.

Leaving Warforged as the odd man out...perhaps MECHANICALLY modified "purebloods" who wanted to be able to live in space, or in the deep, deep ocean, or so far under the planet's surface you start running into pressure and heat problems no mortal could withstand. Places where no organic life could, or would want to live.

I could play in a setting like that.

Yeah, that wouldn't be bad at all. The real question left is "What are they fighting?" Is a survival vs. inhospitable, unwelcoming lands type of game, or something else?

Quote:
I see a lot of fire coming in, and those nymphs are pretty screwed.

Yeah, the hard part about this exercise is making sure all 5 races can feasibly adventure together. If it weren't for that, I'd have made it a sort of good fey vs. evil fey thing for my setting right off the bat. Instead, I had to come up with something that would actually unify orcs, gnomes, spriggans, thri-kreen, and gearpeople. Which... Well, yeah.

I'm still mulling over ideas for that. I'm leaning toward idea 1 or 2. Drawing heavily from Eador and Spelljammer is a must for this, though.


Inlaa wrote:
Quote:
Tanuki, Derhii, Gnoll, Merfolk, and Warforged.

Yours are actually rather well-matched together.

Quote:

Interesting theme could be all of these races were created, in the distant past. This is 10000 years or some absurd number in the future, and humans and other "pure blood" races are all but extinct, most having chosen to genetically engineer themselves to be more like animals in order to thrive in various environments.

The Tanuki rule the forests.

The Derhii dwell in the jungles and mountains (two different sub-sets, perhaps?).

The Gnolls roam the deserts and savannas.

The Merfolk are masters of the ocean.

Leaving Warforged as the odd man out...perhaps MECHANICALLY modified "purebloods" who wanted to be able to live in space, or in the deep, deep ocean, or so far under the planet's surface you start running into pressure and heat problems no mortal could withstand. Places where no organic life could, or would want to live.

I could play in a setting like that.

Yeah, that wouldn't be bad at all. The real question left is "What are they fighting?" Is a survival vs. inhospitable, unwelcoming lands type of game, or something else?

I imagine the backdrop of the setting would be an inhospitable world where you have to be very lucky, or very skilled to survive outside of the land you've adapted to survive in (the Gnolls are no more equipped to deal with poisonous snakes, poisonous frogs, poisonous bugs, and poisonous plants than the Derhii are to cope with the boiling heat or sandstorms, for example), but that leaves plenty of room for more standard fantasy or sci-fi fare (The Warforged dug too deep and awakened an ancient evil! sort of stuff) with the environment being an impartial, merciless detriment to both heroes and villains alike.


You can see what I did with Fey and Warforged in my post upthread HERE

The Exchange

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

1: 1d100 ⇒ 19 Suli
2: 1d100 ⇒ 79 Ghoul
3: 1d100 ⇒ 36 Samsaran
4: 1d100 ⇒ 53 Medusa
5: 1d100 ⇒ 64 Locathah


Looks like fun! Sounds like a great exercise in creativity!

1d100 ⇒ 75 - Ettercap
1d100 ⇒ 36 - Samsaran
1d100 ⇒ 96 - Thri-Kreen (Non-PF) Replaced with Kasatha
1d100 ⇒ 90 - Dragonborn
1d100 ⇒ 13 - Aasimar

Hmmm... I'll have to research the ettercap a little and try to find a way to make them fit. The others are fairly "normal" races.


Looks like I got two raptorans, pixies, fauns, and a naga. Hm.


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This looks cool. Let's see what I get...
1d100: 1d100 ⇒ 98 = Rogue Modron
1d100: 1d100 ⇒ 2 = Elf
1d100: 1d100 ⇒ 69 = Thriae
1d100: 1d100 ⇒ 82 = Changeling (doppleganger-kin)
1d100: 1d100 ⇒ 89 = Goliath

A devastating war has just ended. The Hobgoblin Hegemony stood on the verge of conquering the last truly free and wild place, the Brightwood. The three races who inhabited it, the lithe elves, bee-like Thriae, and cunning changelings had to band together and die. Calling upon the natural magic of the Brightwood, the forest peoples used magic, deception, and all the trickery they could muster to turn back the enormous military of the Hegemony.

Their victory came when changeling agents, naturally gifted in shapeshifting and illusion, managed to incite the slaves and servants of the hobgoblins, the strong goliaths and the boxy modrons, to revolt against their masters. These uprisings, coupled with the continued guerrilla tactics of the forest peoples, stalled the hobgoblin offensive and forced them to withdraw.

There is now an uneasy peace. Many former slaves of the hobgoblins have escaped to the Brightwood, and are having trouble integrating into culture there. A disproportionate number of changelings died during covert operations, which many of their family members feel slighted over. Many elven dwellings, which tended to be on the outskirts of the Brightwood, were burned to the ground during the war which has left elven refugees along with the incoming goliaths and modrons.

And in the background, the Hegemony remains. They were beaten, but not defeated. Many of the forest people believe that it is only a matter of time before the hobgoblins rearm and try to take over the Brightwood again. Hopefully, the now feuding forest peoples can reorganize themselves again before the Hegemony returns.


Curse you, postmonster!

I love this concept. Thanks for the bump, Inlaa.

5d100 ⇒ (74, 47, 13, 46, 71) = 251

...so aasimar, forlarren, nereid, serpentfolk and dark folk. My least favorite race and two fey. Well, at least the last two are cool. Let's give it a shot.

*Reads*

Really? Miss CR 10 Nereid got in, but giants, aranea, dragons and phase spiders didn't? I believe you're being humanoid-ist, or size-ist or something, Mikaze! :O

But seriously...let's see here. I have half a mind to just boot out aasimars or nereids and stick aranea in there, but I have to follow the RNG on this one.

Liberty's Edge

This looks super fun.

5d100 ⇒ (51, 38, 51, 59, 68) = 267

Hmm... Centaur twice. I'm going to assume that means I need to do two types of centaur.

Centaur x2
Grippli
Adlet
Tanuki

Sounds like a super high fantasy Narnia-esque world. Not my first preference but I suppose that's what makes it a design challenge.


Wow. This turned out long. Welcome to the Coiled Kingdom, a continent of ruins, monsters, and the remnants of greatness.

Godless Age:
Long ago, before the apes had dropped from their trees, when the gods were still savage and the forces of creation were spurred by older, darker powers—things that crawled, rather than walked—the serpents were already taking their first steps. This was the Godless Age.

Out of the arid deserts rose great temples, adorned with serpentine shapes and pale green stones. The serpentfolk, cruel and greedy, spread over the land like wildfire as their culture shifted and evolved like a caterpillar in its chrysalis.

For a short time, the serpentfolk ruled alone, defying even the gods. They hunted apes and fey for sport, driving species that might have evolved into nobler races into extinction in the process. They were proud, and saw what they had as destiny beyond what any deity could bestow. The few gods enlightened enough to try to intervene found their makings quashed by the sheer arcane power of the Coiled Kingdom.

But it could not last forever. Curiously, another species had been spared the relentless hunts. A race of lizardlike apes deemed too alike to the serpentfolk to be a comfortable target for sports, and too foul-smelling to work as food for even the meanest of criminals. And this race had evolved quickly.

When the troglodytes began to organize into packs, the serpentfolk initially thought little of it. But when they began to form tribes, the serpentfolk grew wary.

When they began to forge weapons, the war began.

The troglodytes were outgunned and outmaneuvered, but they had surprise and numbers on their side. The war was bloody, and as it got worse and worse, the serpentfolk were forced to pull back, to consolidate.

The war only had one inevitable outcome, but the troglodytes held out as long as they could. And while this war was waged, three things were happening.

First, another, more terrible war was coming to a close, and the demons had won. The surviving qlippoth fled, panicked, near-mindless in their quest for survival. And so they arrived at the Material Plane.

Second, the apes had begun to think as well. They had become humankind, and many of them were quite eager for some payback.

And third, the Godless Age ended.


The Age of Three Wars:
The savage deities had finally ceased fighting their mad wars, and in so doing were finally able to turn their full attention to the mortal races. Still wary of another divine war, none dared intervene directly against the arrogant serpentfolk who had long angered the gods' with their impudence. For the most part, clerics and oracles emerged quietly, suddenly forced to adapt to new and strange powers. But a small group of goodly gods with little stomach for rules decided to do a little bit more.

The azatas appeared before the first humans in these desperate times. They offered sanctuary, enlightenment, food and medicine, godly favor, and, most importantly, a home.

The humans were torn. Some were eager for peace and safety, and they went willingly with the azatas to start new lives. But many others refused. These ones were bitter and angry still. They didn't just want to be safe—they wanted revenge.

These humans fell into the shadows and forged alliances with fey and worse things. As the Scaled War raged on, they became pests and thorns in the serpentfolk's sides. They sabotaged devices, poisoned food supplies, intercepted messages, and, most of all, they stole. They took all the magic they could find, and gave themselves utterly to the shadowy powers that promised to teach them how to use it. They became creatures of night, creeping and stalking their old hunters, dancing around patrols they could not fight and slaying those they could...and calling upon their strange patrons, the owbs, as if they were true gods.

The serpentfolk called them the Dark Folk. And as their new magics and new friends twisted and warped them both mentally and physically, the dark folk's corruption grew to match that of their oppressors. Alongside the few fey that had not fled the Coiled Kingdom long ago—redcaps, lakebound nereids, and the unlucky, non-mobile dryads in particular—they fought, and fought, until they began to forget what they were fighting for.

Meanwhile, the qlippoth began ripping into the Material. Seeking to avoid azatas and serpentfolk, they had chosen the wild lands, putting themselves in direct conflict with the fey. The fey were savage, too, then, and unable to organize effectively. They had only ever learned how to escape their hunters. The qlippoth were disorganized, but they knew how to kill. And the fey's powers were useless against them.

Terrible atrocities were committed during the three conflicts, and the azatas' followers looked on helplessly. But it did end. The troglodytes were hunted down and all but extinguished, and over the years what cohesiveness they'd had faded away. They fell into the tunnels and dissolved into all but myth.

But the serpentfolk were not any better off. Their empire could not survive two wars at once, and with even the gods against them, there was nowhere for them to turn. Too many of their leaders had been killed, or put into hibernation, and the dark folk were relentless. And so the Coiled Kingdom was reduced to a shell, only just held intact.

Centuries passed. As they did so, bloodlines became tainted. All but the toughest fey began to vanish, fleeing to the fairy realm and leaving their old home to the qlippoth. the blood of humanity was tainted. The genes were strong, they were dominant, and they came from the heavens. The humans were not allowed to leave the city they had been given—for their own protection, as qlippoths, qlippoth-fey hybrids, and desperate, murderous fey roamed the wild now—and a lack of new genetic stock had forced the azatas to take desperate measures.

Modern Age:
Then, one day, it ended. The azatas vanished as suddenly as they'd arrived. The Diamond City's gates swung open, and the aasimars took their first confused steps into a brutal world.

They entered the Coiled Kingdom, a land of great ruins and jaded serpentfolk who have never known anything more. The dark folk still live in the shadows, but only out of physical necessity. Their war is all but over. Some of them still wage it, but most have given it up. The two groups do not like each other, but no longer have the energy to continue pointless feuds.

Nereids are still in the lakes, but over the years they mingled too often with the dark folk, and their powers have waned substantially even as their numbers have grown. The nereids have just begun to leave the lakes, dark, tattered shawls wrapped around themselves like widows' cloaks—no longer quite so crucial to their survival, but still necessary for their comfort. The nereids escaped conflict with the qlippoth, and they've claimed some measure of revenge, but at the cost of their connection to nature. Their lakes are now choked with algae and filth. Once applied deliberately to help the nereids hide, the swirling clouds of muck are now a permanent feature.

And what of those fey who did not escape? Most are now dead. But strange creatures have begun to emerge—bearing mixtures of the beautiful and grotesque, they seem to control their murderous hatred only with a mixture of lingering kindness and simple apathy. The qlippoth never truly hated mortals. And what is it to a forlarren if the demons live or starve?

More importantly, a strange thing has happened. A prophet has emerged—a chemist monk forlarren called Many Voices. She claims to have used mutagens to add numerous more personalities to her original two. This has given her a strange peace, and she preaches compassion and self-control. The forlarren are the youngest race of the lot, but through Many Voices' teachings, many have come to the Coiled Kingdom to learn about their past and, perhaps, find a cause or god both sides of themselves can agree on.

The aasimars have taken on the roles of teachers and guardians, trying to reapply what the azatas gave them, but not everyone appreciates this attitude. Many serpentfolk resent their presumption, many dark folk and nereids see the aasimars as annoyingly naive, and the forlarren are mixed on the issue.

This is a world of what once was. And what once is may yet be again—some serpentfolk seek to awaken their slumbering masters, while some dark folk are desperately trying to finish what they started. The troglodytes linger, now devolved into brutality, and rumors abound that some tribes are forging alliances with ancient humans who fled both azatas and serpentfolk for the deepest depths, who in time became just as monstrous as the troglodytes. And many aasimars would just as soon purge the forlarren from the world as help them. Some would go even further than that, though they won't say it. Yet.

Finally, deep in the wilderness lurk the qlippoth, plotting to take advantage of the mortals' vulnerability to put an end to sin once and for all.


Aw, what the hell, I'll get one queued up for next time.

5d100 ⇒ (48, 79, 38, 52, 30) = 247

Nixie, ghoul, grippli, harpy, gillmen. Now we're cookin'.


hmm, a challenge.

29 - mermen
15 - ifrit
55 - gargoyle
74 - serpentfolk
06 - halfling

The mermen of (Aquatic Sounding Planet Name) have developed many civilizations over the millennia but the World Ocean takes all things back into her embrace too quickly for any technology to change the world significantly until the mermen discovered how to fill cities with air. While the discovery of how to create air-filled cities under the waves of the world ocean was a great advancement for the merman race, it was also their undoing, more on that later. Merfolk bodies are unsuited for life in their air-filled cities - with limited mobility out of water and a need to return to the ocean regularly - so the merfolk learned to depend on servant races in their air-filled cities.

The first such servants were the gargoyles, or more specifically the kapoacinths, an ocean-dwelling species able to function in the cities which actually adapted over time to be even more suited for city life. While using gargoyles was an improvement over using mermen for many tasks, the limited intelligence of the gargoyle meant that there were many things which still had to be done by merfolk, so the second servant race came into existence.

The second servant race was the halflings. Appealing to their gods the wisest of the merfolk convinced their deities to create a deliberately designed air-dwelling race with a form based on the merfolk body and a second pair of arms replacing the tail, this second pair of arms modified for locomotion outside of the ocean. The halflings were created as intelligent as merfolk so that they could replace merfolk at the jobs requiring intelligence and small enough that merman in the water could interact with a halfling standing on a pier to give them orders comfortably. With their easy-going attitude and no aversion to work, the halflings made a perfect servant race for the merfolk, and the merfolk society prospered and became rather decadent.

Some centuries after the creation of the halfling race the merfolk culture became obsessed with fire. Fire had been discovered before even the first air-filled city but it was only a curiosity until the air-filled cities allowed fire to become something which could be studied and even used. During this period it became fashionable for rich merfolk to summon creatures from the elemental plane of fire and, using various protective spells, have sexual relations with them. Due to the protective spells used some of these relations bore fruit and the wealthy merfolk sent their half-born bastards to the air-filled cities in a form of exile. Over the years these Ifriti created their own society and became the premier servant race handling fire based jobs.

The last of these servant races is the serpentfolk. Seeking ever-greater advances in magic, the merfolk plotted to emulate the creation of the halflings through spells. The serpent folk were originally of sea-serpent stock onto which were grated a form like that of the halfling for mobility, intelligence surpassing that of the merfolk, and an intense curiosity about magic. The serpentfolk have an intelligence surpassing that of the merfolk's wildest expectations, although the high intelligence hasn't breed true (about 80% of all serpentfolk are of the degenerate sort, and even the successful breedings only have intelligence scores of 17-19 instead of the 24-30 the original serpentfolk had) the serpentfolk soon revolutionized magic theory allowing for the creation of magic items.

The serpentfolk however were not created with the halflings good nature, and soon learned that explaining their discoveries to the comparatively slow-witted merfolk was detracting from their ability to make new discoveries. The serpentfolk lead the air-dwelling races in a revolt against the merfolk and freed the air-filled cities from the merfolk. The air dwellers were unable to break the merfolk hold on the ocean however and the air-filed cities were isolated and eventually would have fallen one-by-one if the merfolk had not tired of the war and reached a peace.

At this time the peace has been long-lasting and most of the resentments of the revolt (as well as most of the people alive then) have died down. The five races live in semi-harmony and often work together. Small groups often explore the ruins of the air-filled cities which were destroyed during the way which are filled with the experiments of the original serpentfolk.


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Inlaa wrote:

So... Gnomes, Orcs, Thri-Kreen, Gearman/Warforged, and Spriggans. I - Hm. Okay, let's see.

Gnomes are Fey-like in Pathfinder. Spriggans are a form of evil gnome and are generally nasty, nasty sorts. Orcs are generally evil in most campaign settings and cover the whole brute strength role. Thri-Kreen... and then the Gearmen make EVERYTHING awkward and not quite fit anymore.

Okay. My instinct is that, firstly, I can't assume the evil races are going to be evil in this setting, and I can't assume this is a traditional fantasy setting by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, my gut instinct is to do one of three things:

1) Make this a setting that draws influences from Spelljammer and Eador and uses wild, alien worlds as exploration sites. Gnomes are the core race with Spriggans as their nature-oriented cousins; orcs are around because they're DAMNED good at fighting; Thri-Kreen make amazing pilots and such due to their many arms; and Gearmen are just awesome crew members because you don't need to feed them. They were probably made by the gnomes.

2) Do the same thing, but make it wackier by turning this into a sort of Rebels vs. The Empire. So, humans, elves and dwarves are the bad guys that conquered the fantasy galaxy and this is the rebel alliance. Hmm.

3) And now for something completely different: a fey world. I'm still working out the details of how that'd work in my head, but either all of these races are fey or they're on the borders of a world that's threatened daily to be consumed by the Feywild.

I'll give this some thought.

* * * * *

Portaljumpers: Shards of Yvaras

History of Yvaras:

Days of Yore

In the days of yore, the world, Yvaras, was a realm torn by the feuding of the mortal races. Men and orcs, dwarves and elves, giants and dragons all collided, constantly vying for dominance over any patch of rock that remained unclaimed. They wielded terrible powers: spell and steel, monster and machine. All was chaos.

The scholars cannot say what history was like before those tumultuous times. All they know is it was not once like this, and the gods who once watched over the world found its inhabitants wanting. They looked on with regret. Some amongst the gods wished to strike down the mortals for the vicious acts they committed upon one another, but those hands were stayed by more patient heads. The gods waited and began to withdraw from the world.

They waited too long, however. The orcs began to make rapid gains in their conquest of the other races. Kingdoms crumbled beneath the feet of their Khan and his vast armies. Soon, it became clear that he would reign supreme over the world. So, the remaining realms of the remaining races - the dwarves, the elves, the gnomes and the humans - met to devise a plan with which to stop the orcish menace once and for all.

It the humans who suggested leeching the power of creation from the gods themselves - those very gods that sat idly as the world's wars raged on - to destroy the orcish race once and for all. The elves agreed, having less than no regard for orcish life, and the dwarves were coerced into working with humanity by an ancient oath. The gnomes, however, would not be swayed: though their technology was necessary to create the artifact that could harness such power, they were unwilling to incur the gods' wrath. So, the humans took what they needed from the gnomes by force before casting them out. The gnomes sensed that something terrible was to come, so they retreated to the islands they called home and shut themselves off from the rest of the world.

The Worldbreaking

The day came when the orcish army cut a bloody swathe through every defense placed between it and the city in which the triple alliance's ritual was being prepared. In an act of blasphemy and desperation, those three races yanked as much power from the gods as they could and attempted to destroy the orcish race with a single spell.

But the gods had looked on, and this was one act they would not allow. They shattered the artifact as it reached the apex of its power. It exploded with such force that it broke the world.

Yes, the artifact broke the world. It did not merely make a crater or remove splinters of earth from Yvaras; it split the world into a thousand shards, each of them haphazardly tossed aside from each other in the tumultuous burst of divine power. There was no more world. There were only pieces, fragments of something that was once great.

It was on that day that the gods who once looked over the world turned away, leaving its broken pieces to drift in the endless night... all the gods, that is, but one. This one goddess, the deity whose name we cannot remember, could not stand to see the many races of the world die. So, she gave up everything - her power, her name, her very existence - in order to keep the shards of Yvaras from losing that essence that lets life grow. With that sacrifice, she saved countless lives, giving we mortals one more chance at life.

The Portals

The various races of the world were either destroyed or scattered. The gnomes who remained on the islands found themselves in a conundrum: they were truly separated from the whole world. No longer able to explore distant lands, these gnomes instead looked downward, upward and inward: to the stars, to the world beneath them, and into their own souls. While many important discoveries were made in the latter two searches, it was the former that bore the greatest fruit: deep beneath the seas surrounding their main island, the gnomes found a portal device that had been believed lost to the ages.

Scholars cannot say how ancient these portals are, but they are surely among the most ancient of all artifacts ever to be discovered since the Worldbreaking. The portal was transported to the capital immediately. With the information on the runes surrounding the portal (and a considerable amount of cross-referential research), the gnomes were able to deduce a means of using the portals. Not knowing for certain where it would lead or even if it would work, they decided to use the portal anyway. Through trial and error, they successfully activated it and managed to link a few other gnomish islands to their own by means of these prehistoric portals.

Over time, the gnomes met a number of other races. They first met the thri-kreen in a jungle realm; there the elusive but curious race moved nimbly through the trees with ease. They were a strange species, to be sure, and the gnomes deduced they were young, but they made for fast friends (even if there were a few disagreements over certain customs, such as when the thri-kreen tried to eat gnomish dead).

They next met gnomes who had been warped by the energies of a fey shard: spriggans, otherwise called "green gnomes." These green gnomes were small like their kin, but leaves and branches grew from them instead of hair and their ears were long and thin like an elf's. There was something twisted about them, too, but the gnomes would not deny their brethren. They, too, became friends.

The third race was not so much found as it was made. Wholly by accident, gnomish artificers managed to create metal that had the spark of life. These machines were as tall as the humans and elves of old, but they were built with durability and longevity in mind. At first, they served merely as laborers, but when it became clear they possessed an intellect of their own, the gnomes elected to grant them limited freedoms as individuals and allowed these beings - gearmen they are called - to create others like themselves.

The last race the gnomes found in this early portal era was the orcish race. Though tensions were initially high and a few skirmishes were fought, cooler heads on both sides prevailed. The two races decided to put aside their differences. Neither race, after all, was directly responsible for the destruction of Yvaras, and there was little for either race to gain through warfare. Enmities were made bygones; trade, not battle, was initiated, and the two races soon found that the strengths of one complimented the other's weaknesses and vice versa.

So it was that an age of peaceful exploration had begun. The five races: gnomes, thri-kreen, spriggans, orcs and gearmen began using the portal system to explore the realms and find new shards to settle. They have created a new coalition of races known as the Lynsburg League (named after the shard upon which the League was established).

The Lynsburg League has now existed for two hundred years. Lynsburg itself is now a neutral shard housed by members of every race, and it is here that most prospective Portaljumpers start their journey...

On Portals:

How Portals Work

Portals are time-lost magical structures that have lie in the untouched parts of the broken world of Yvaras. Some of them are located in perfectly safe locales, but others may throw an unlucky Portaljumper straight into the endless night, a place where death is a certainty. Thus, certain precautions are always to be taken when first plunging using a portal whose destination is somewhere unknown.

Portals are best described as a series of astral canals. Any one portal can connect to a plethora of others, though travel is limited by distance between the shards; namely, it's easier (and quicker) to travel to portals located on nearby shards and difficult to impossible to travel to portals on very distant shards. Coordinates are chosen by etching a series of runes in the air before the portal with a portalstone; if the runes match another portal and the destination portal is not too far away, the portal awakens with a shimmering purple light, allowing travel to another shard.

As far as anyone knows, it is impossible to destroy the portals. They are impervious to the effects of magic, are made from a sort of stone that deflects even adamantine, and are able to sit in hot lava without gaining so much as a scar. They are extremely heavy, and their transportation can be best described as arduous. It is not possible to take one portal through another.

It's important to note that portals do not stay open indefinitely. They draw magical energy from... somewhere, but only enough to stay open for approximately twenty. It takes time for them to draw enough to open a second time - usually several hours. Certain shards, such as Lynsburg, have portals that can stay open for much longer and regain power at amazing rates, but they are a rarity.

Portaljumpers

You are Portaljumpers. You are uniquely gifted with certain talents that are blessings to an explorer, certain skills that are often needed in what are often hostile territories. Portaljumpers are largely independent entities, working with a small group of likeminded individuals to explore uncharted shards. Some of them are eager servants of one or all the peoples of the League while other groups are nothing but money-grubbing rogues looking to sell their discoveries for a pretty copper. Whatever the case, Portaljumping is a dangerous job, and those that are successful in the field can find themselves admired, respected, and surrounded by wealth - a prospect that attracts the attention of many adventuresome souls.

Many (but not all) Portaljumpers belong to the Explorer's Guild, a neutral organization that funds and supports Portaljumpers in return for a cut of all their earnings. Membership in the Explorer's Guild is not cheap, but having a support network can make Portaljumping a less daunting task. It's also a good place to look for other Portaljumpers...

Most Portaljumpers start their career on the shard of Lynsburg, a former gnomish outpost that is now a thriving multiracial metropolis. It can be a rowdy and chaotic place, and in some ways navigating this city is an adventure in and of itself; while most Portaljumpers don't stray too far from the inns, public houses and, of course, the two portals on this shard, there is an extensive sewer network that is rumored to be connected to a long-forgotten wizard's sanctuary of some sort. Many have gone into the sewers to search for it, but few come back.

The Dangers of Portaljumping

There are a wide variety of occupational hazards for would-be Portaljumpers. First, there's the chance that your next trip into a portal will leave you dying without breath in the great black. This is considered to be the worst death of all as it makes the body virtually irretrievable. For some reason, even the Gearmen aren't immune to the effects of the endless night.

Secondly, the environment on the shards can be very inhopspitable: disease-infested jungles, ancient wizard towers, floating remnants of the underworld and even pieces of Hell can be stumbled into. There are shards which are just large, empty, pleasant valleys, sure... but a Portaljumper just might end up being swallowed by an aberrant dragon or ripped apart by undead beings born of the Worldbreaking. Monsters are out there, and they are usually not friendly.

Thirdly, portals don't stay open forever, and they need time to regain enough arcane energy to open another doorway. This makes ambushes on the other side of a portal very dangerous, especially if they're conducted as soon as a portal closes.

Fourthly, not everyone that uses the portals has the League's best interests in mind. Portal bandits do exist, and they like to establish hideouts on remote shards where they can conduct their operations from safety.

There is a fifth complication that must not be left unmentioned: the races of the Lynsburg League are not the only races still active on the shards. Somehow, elves, dwarves and humans all yet remain... and they see the gnomes as traitors, the orcs as their ancient enemies, and the remaining races as damned by association. Many members of these three races have been warped and changed into strange, twisted versions of their old selves. There are dwarves that have become aberrant in nature, sprouting tentacles and claws and other strange extremities; elves that are pale, pallid, reverse-jointed cannibals; and humans that are literally shadows of their former selves, capable of walking through walls and sucking the life force out of those unfortunate enough to catch their attention. The "normal" members of these three races are also not to be trusted; they have no love for the League and will take prisoners only to extract information from those they capture.

Finally, Portaljumpers should always keep in mind that other races exist beyond the portals, races which may be amiable to the League. Portaljumpers are encouraged to extend an offer of peace to such races and establish contact between them and League diplomats as soon as possible.

* * * * *

Sources of inspiration: Eador, Stargate SG1, Lord of the Rings

To come: More on the races, on religion, and on the rough cosmology of the setting.


Alright, for my rolls(did it with actual dice!), I got 9, 38, 7, 81, and 23. So I have Goblins, Gripplis, Gnomes, Gearmen, and Lizard Folk... Alot of G's in there. Also alot of short creatures... This should be fun. For Goblins, I'm gonna break them into 3 subraces, Regular Goblins(feral We Be Goblins goblins), Tinker Goblins, and Kijimuna Goblins. Gnomes likewise will be broken into Tinker Gnomes and Sylvan Gnomes. Grippli are Grippli... Gearmen will be creations of the Tinker Goblins/Gnomes, and the Lizard Folk will be High Lizard Folk (smarter, more civilized, not as strong) and Low Lizard Folk(savage, cruel, tribal, strong but dumb).

My setting shall be called... Walhalla, the great crater.

Long ago, a primordial world infested with the early versions of life was struck by a great meteor. So massive was this impact that it almost ended all life. But almost only counts in frogtoss, alchemist bombs, and magical warfare. The impact was so great it raised a gigantic crater, and sunk all the lands around it into the ocean.

Far on the other side of the planet, life struggled on. From here, came the Lizard Folk empire, a society of great magic and technology. This empire soon ruled all the lands on their side of the planet. But like all great empires, they fell to their own hubris. Scarcity of resources coupled with an ever growing population soon led to an all out war, reducing their lands to barren wastelands, and their populations to almost nothing. The survivors gathered what technology and magic they could and fled across the seas and skies. After a long journey, they finally found a new home, the continent sized crater. Knowing full well the price they paid before, the smartest of the lizard folk proposed they used magic to lengthen their lifespans and slow their birthrate down to avoid overpopulation. The working class hated this idea, and refused to go along with it. So the wizards and scientist worked in secret to imbue themselves with near immortality, then let loose a plague that effected those not altered, dimming their intelligence. They hoped to use their now lesser kin as a labor force, but the plague had an unintended consequence. Their lesser kin became savage brutes hardly able to be tamed. So the High Lizard Folk let their lesser kin go into the wild rather than face another rebellion.

In the wilds of the crater, a mix of dense jungles and swamp lands, another race was bringing itself out of it's tribal society into a more organized one. The amphibious Grippli soon found their lands invaded by the savage Low Lizard Folk, and brief skirmishes were fought and are still being fought over territory, with the Grippli holding the jungles where they can ambush from above, and the Low Lizard Folk holding the swamps where they can ambush from below.

Not pleased with the idea of having to do all their own work, the High Lizard Folk decided to meddle with the still evolving primates to create a labor force they could control. From their mountainside cities along the edge of the crater, they made two new races from the primates. The Gnomes and the Goblins. The Gnomes were longer lived and bred slower, meaning the long lived High Lizard Folk could form companionable bonds with them, while the Goblins were made to breed fast, but only live a short while, meaning they could expand their workforce quickly if need be. They taught both the great wonders of magic and technology.

Then an unintended consequence of their own augmentation manifested. Many of the High Lizard Folk started going into long periods of hybernation, sleeping for years or decades at a time. Their society quickly fell to the hands of their labor force, who took it with mixed emotions. Some of the Gnomes and Goblins embraced it, becoming the Tinker Gnomes and Tinker Goblins. In the cities left to them by the dwindling High Lizard Folk, the continue to push the boundaries of magic and technology. Some of them rejected it entirely. The gnomes fled to the forests to reconnect with their primal roots. Here they found new forms of magic based in nature, which they shared with their new allies, the Grippli. Some of the goblins fled to the caves at the bottom of the crater wall, near the swamps the Low Lizard Folk called home. They forswore magic and words, but kept some of their curiosity about things. They developed a primitive form of alchemy and shared it with their new allies. Some of the Goblins fled to the other side of the crater wall, to the shallow beaches bordering the oceans. Here, they developed their own society based of fishing and playing tricks to keep amused. They became the Kijimuna, and are still loosely allied with the Tinker Gnomes and Tinker Goblins, trading fish and rarities from the ocean for crafted items.

In this world there are three sides. The Grippli and Sylvan Gnomes fight to keep their homes sacred and free from predatation. The Low Lizard Folk curse the High Lizard Folk and their mountain cities for what they have been reduced to, and use their savage Goblin allies to push for more territory so they can grow their numbers and take back their heritage. The Tinker Gnomes and Goblins, with the occasional input from an awake High Lizard Folk, yearn to master the world.

Recently, a new race has sprung forth from the mountain cities, bipedal robots given free will and free reign of their destiny. Created by the Tinkers to go out into the world and observe and learn, these mechanical men can be found in almost any place. Some wander into the swamps and become slaves or advisers to the Low Lizard Folk and Goblins. Some wander into the forests and seek a oneness with nature they feel they lack due to their origins. Some wander to the coasts and build great ships to go explore the oceans of the world. And some remain in the cities helping their creators. But they all live knowing that when they're destroyed, everything they learn and experience returns to the Tinkers and the High Lizard Folk to study.


Inlaa wrote:


Portaljumpers: Shards of Yvaras

I just have to comment on how friggin' cool this setting sounds. I love everything about it.


1d100=79, 1d100=1, 1d100=38, 1d100=85, 1d100=41

That would be...

Ghoul
Human
Grippli
Darfellan
Dryad

Hmm... Let's see what I can come up with...

Sovereign Court

Let's see what I get

5d100 ⇒ (70, 85, 37, 50, 99) = 341

Spriggan, Darfellan, Wayang, Faun, Mul

Mmm going to be a bit weird setting.

Liberty's Edge

Trying my hand at this now...
43-pixie
16-undine
54-naga
91-Wildcard aberrant humanoids
64-locathah

Hmm, there seems to be a theme I can use here...


Kobold Cleaver wrote:
Welcome to the Coiled Kingdom, a continent of ruins, monsters, and the remnants of greatness.

I like this setting quite a lot. What's really good about it is you can drop it into other settings since it's only a continent - and it's a very flavorful continent at that. It sounds like there's a lot of old ruins to explore, places that are thousands of years old and perhaps best left forgotten... It would be good for a pulpy adventure, perhaps in the vein of a medieval fantasy Indiana Jones adventure.

Ventnor wrote:
I just have to comment on how friggin' cool this setting sounds. I love everything about it.

Thanks! I really enjoyed writing what I did up. I also really want to finish it.

I'll admit, a lot of the cool factor probably comes from the sources I drew on for inspiration, which is why I listed them. The portals are blatant rip-offs of Stargates with a few changes to make it more fantasy (writing runes in the air). The shards idea comes from Eador: Masters of the Broken World, and an especially large shard might look a lot like this. Notice space. Space is cool.

Basically, I wanted to use fantasy elements to make this setting capture that sci-fi feel. If I were to run a game in this setting, I'd be using a lot of aberrations for the big bads, I think. And I'd eventually want a fight in space. SPACE. SPAAAAACE!

I may eventually go back and change the thri-kreen's name since it's not Pathfinder material. I just want to get the broader brush strokes done first before I start fine-tuning some of the smaller details.

...And then it'll be time to try this exercise again.

I'm going to go ahead and roll for the next world I do now even though I'm not done.

1d100 ⇒ 80
1d100 ⇒ 55
1d100 ⇒ 32
1d100 ⇒ 35
1d100 ⇒ 71

So: vampires, gargoyles, derros, nagaji, and dark folk. ...I think I smell a Gothic setting.

Liberty's Edge

Has anyone heard of the Isle of Mescana.

A civillisation dating back to the earliest days of the 6 Kingdom period, when the djinn and outsiders once ruled the world with an firm and powerful hand. All gone now, as their subjects cast them out of this plain or imprisoned them in artifacts, where they wait for a chance to be released upon the world. Mescana seems to be a last stronghold for the once powerful Marids of the sea, but even they too vanished like all the rest, leaving behind only the undine natives and the crumbling ruins.

Centuries later, the undine persist, their civilisation nestled in the ruins of their once great cities. Desperate to restore their steadily eroding home, they undine enlisted the aid of the locathah, who supported the undines efforts to restore and maintain their cities in return for the undines knowledge of magic, and trade.

However, with the rise of the serpent rulers of tian xi, naga colonists began to expand into the perninsiula. Upon seeing the wealth and knowledge of the great cities, and the general vulnerability of the undine, the nagas began to invade and conquered many of the ruins of the ancient cities. Those few undine that were not killed or enslaved by the naga were driven to the coasts where they began to hatch a plan to drive off the invaders.

While the nagas celebrated their victory, their revelling awoke the pixies that had stowed away on their ships. Realising their predicament, the pixies began to explore the vast and strange new land. Getting acquainted with the local flora and fauna, a small band of pixies encountered the undine and took pity on them. They lent their support to the efforts of undine in retaking their homeland...in exchange for the freedom to colonise and rule any areas they so chose. The undine agreed, and the liberation began.

the undine and locathah retook large portions of their ancient cities, but were still engaged in fierce war with the brutal naga, who would not let go of territory they had conquered. The battles were extremely close, as the undine and locathah were strongest around the coastlines and rivers, but inland, the naga held the advantage. Without some intervention, it seemed certain that the war would tear the Isle apart. In desperation to stop the bloodshed, the pixies searched the ancient ruins for something to enable victory. What they found was the rituals of nethlamon, a Marid sorcerer that sought to use the Eldrich powers to create a race of warriors from undine and human subjects.

With no humans, the pixies gave the rituals to the undine, who used them gladly. What happened was the birth of the inhuman Nethla, creatures who's deadly ability on land was matched with equal predatory power in the waves. The undine that became the nethla, were initially hailed as heroes as the naga were driven deep into the jungles and forests where they began fashioning strongholds of stone and temples where they are wary of outsiders.

With the victory, the undine and locathah returned to their own ways, dividing the the cites among the locathah and undine. However the Nethla, no longer the creatures undine recognised, sought to change the fragile and undine into more nethla, so they could return the world back to the state when the 6 kingdoms ruled. Unable to challange the nethla, many undine were forcibly converted into Nethla, while some fled to the naga and locathah for aid.

Now the nethla rule the old cities of Mescana, the naga and their undine subjects prepare to take the cites back for their own kind, while the locathah shelter the few undine not enslaved in their small colonies. For some, this is a call to adventure, for others a warning of the dangers of the eldrich powers.


I got Vishkania, Halflings, Pixies, Gnolls, and Unique Half Constructs.

Could be interestin


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I'm gonna give this another go, 'cause I can!
Race 1: 1d100 ⇒ 69 = Thriae
Race 2: 1d100 ⇒ 20 = Dhampir
Race 3: 1d100 ⇒ 64 = Locathah
Race 4: 1d100 ⇒ 91 = Aberration-based humanoid
Race 5: 1d100 ⇒ 79 = Ghoul

Huh, Thriae again. Let's see...

For the longest time, the island of Uruval has been under the rule of the dreaded vampire wizard, Johannes. It was originally inhabited by a tribe of Thriae and a tribe of Locathah, both whom have been driven into a few holdouts by Johannes' mastery of magic. With Johannes came his human thralls, his ghoul servants, and his dhampir children. Most dhampir on the island was Johannes' children, though he doesn't show much fatherly affection to them.

No one knows why Johannes has claimed this remote island as a sanctuary. Most don't care; they want him driven off. Dhampir and ghouls who have escaped from Johannes' grasp ally with the Thriae and Locathah natives, who need all the help they can get to reclaim their home. Some human thralls manage to escape too, though the appear to be... changed. Something about the Escaped (as they call themselves) seems off and alien. What this could signify, no one is sure. Perhaps it ties into why the vampire wizard conquered the island in the first place.


Obviously Johannes is just misunderstood, and wants a place where his monster children can live in peace and not feed on real creatures, but figments.


Possibly!


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Nixie, ghoul, grippli, harpy, gillmen.

Notes: I was trying to think of what these races could all have in common, and then I realized that they all work pretty well (either logically or thematically) for the same type of terrain. Then I overcomplicated it again.

Backstory:

Almost two hundred years ago, a great war was waged between land and sky. Humans and dwarves, declaring their sovereignty over all that walked and crawled the earth, had grown to despise the giant eagle-riding elves for their jealous hoarding of mountain resources. The elves, meanwhile, resented the land-dwellers for guarding the secrets of metalworking so viciously.

Unfortunately, this war had a dangerous consequence. For centuries, two ancient threats had been held off by the two great and foul powers: The undead, and the aboleths. Both had long hungered for revenge—the elves were immune to many of the creatures' tricks and always enforced strict cremation policies, while the humans and dwarves had developed countless devices and medicines for keeping what was in the water from climbing out—and at last they had their chance.

As earth and sky battled it out, the aberrations and undead formed a very loose, very unfriendly agreement. And during a pivotal battle between elves and men, skum emerged from the elves' rear and deployed aboleth slime en masse. The elves had never encountered this before and were totally defenseless. Meanwhile, the humans found themselves beset by hordes of ghouls—ghouls whose paralysis the humans found themselves exceedingly vulnerable to.

There were no winners in that war. The elves were totally subjugated and, over the years, warped into new tools of the aboleths, while the humans were eaten or infected. The aboleths and undead then inevitably betrayed each other, and a new, neverending war began.

When the war of Earth and Sky first began, there were many refugees. Unfortunately, there was simply nowhere to go. Those seeking to survive simply wandered, desperate to find shelter. And when the aboleths and undead arrived, these refugees began to be hunted down. They were helpless. As the decades rolled by and those trying to flee were repeatedly driven back further into the very place they sought to escape, hope began to die.

It was then that, by sheer luck, a group of nixies happened to be wandering well outside their borders. They had been following a harpy—a race that had long been both rival, prey, and predator to the wily fey. But when they found a group of half-transmuted elves struggling to escape a troop of ghasts, priorities changed.

The nixies and harpies hailed from a vast swamp that stretched across horizons. It was called the Quagmire. The nixies were not eager to embroil themselves in another conflict, but they were able to persuade some neighbors to take them in. The gripplis were kindly, and extremely curious, and they willingly agreed to set aside a part of their territory for what refugees could make it there.

At the same time, but far, far off, something even more remarkable was taking place. As more and more "organic" ghouls began to be created—more than had ever been possible—an anomaly occurred.

Ghoul families began to appear.

Ghouls, like vampires, can possess a fully human range of emotions when their hunger is satiated. Ghouls can even feel a twisted sort of affection. And now, they were forming bonds. Some ghouls, fearful for the safety of their 'families', began to weary of the constant war.

Ghouls started to rebel, to flee. Some even freed prisoners and took them along—usually for a portable food supply, but curiously, a few were seen actually working together and referring to each other by names.

These ghouls were still evil. But they were a human kind of evil.

And so they came to the Quagmire. Neither aboleths nor undead found themselves able to launch a proper assault—they were still at war with each other, after all, and the loss of slaves and the readily replenishable ghoul armies had crippled both sides temporarily. For the time being, the refugees were safe.

The Quagmire:
The Quagmire is an enormous swamp. Most parts of the Quagmire are hospitable for both aquatic and land-dwelling species, though it's a bit messy either way. Any denizen of the Quagmire tends to be covered in mud at all times. It is populated by five primary races:

Harpies, who are organized in small bands called "flights". Most harpies aren't terribly friendly with the other denizens (most harpies are cannibals, in fact), but some flights do have alliances with grippli or nixie groups. Harpies prefer the more open parts of the Quagmire, such as the regions nearby the Deadwood Swamps where fewer trees grow.

Gillmen, who mostly dwell near grippli territory. These ex-elves are still fairly new to their new surroundings, but they learn quickly and are markedly friendly. They favor the more watery parts of the swamp, where they can swim in peace. But there are rumors that not all gillmen are loyal to the new order. Some still serve the lords from below, and they even now report back to their masters in dark underwater grottos accessible only to amphibious creatures.

Nixies, who are completely disorganized but quite numerous. The nixies are amiable, but mostly keep to their own business. They dwell in the rivers, ponds and pools in the Quagmire.

Gripplis, a kindly nation of hunter-gatherers. The gripplis are often extremely eager to learn about the old societies, and tend to send out expeditions to the gillmen and, rarely ghouls, to learn more. They're happy with their way of life, crunching giant mosquitoes and trading flowers with nixies for river stones, but they're always open to new ideas. The gripplis have excellent relationships with the nixies, and interspecies relationships are bizarrely common.

And finally, there are the ghouls. The ghouls live in the Deadwood Swamps, a foul part of the Quagmire that's been getting fouler ever since the ghouls moved in. Unlike the other races, the ghouls rarely roam from their territory, and ghoul wanderers are rare. Nobody knows what to do with them. Least of all they. Most of the ghouls remain evil, but they satisfy themselves eating the numerous dangerous animals that roam the Quagmire. They don't want trouble. Some, however, are said to have fully overcome the inborn malice. These ghouls are generally neutral in alignment, and often become adventurers.

Unfortunately, there are also some ghouls that have recanted their quasi-redemption and fallen back into savagery. They prowl the Quagmire now, leading many to regret allowing any ghouls into the swamp at all. And other ghouls worry that they may be the last of their enlightened kind if they aren't able to "reproduce" with sentient prey. In their twisted way, they think it would be for the "greater good".

The Quagmire is full of perils, and nobody has ever charted its four corners. There are great waterfalls and strange caverns, as well as a well-concealed population of aranea said to be descended from a god. Threats from beyond are a constant—the aboleths do not forget, and the undead cannot forgive. One day, war may come to the great swamp. All, living or unliving, live in fear of that day.

Grand Lodge

Batch 1 Results:
41 = Dryad
81 = Warforged
1 = Humans
72 =Drider
58 = Gnoll

In ancient times, when humanity first expanded from their homeland of the Southern Coast, they came into conflict with the Glade Empire of the Dryads, a people who had long ago joined with the trees that formed their forested home in a symbiotic relationship that granted them immortality, but also shackled them to the realm. The Dryads were nothing if not powerful spellcasters however, and in the ensuing war, humans developed the mechanical Warforged. While these artificial beings allowed humanity to expand beyond the boundaries of the Glade Empire, they soon schismed with their creators, marching into the desert beyond, seeking out a homeland as they fight off marauding gnoll warbands. Beneath it all the sinister Drider manipulate and connive their way into the cities and civilizations of the other nations, with proxies and assassinations seeing their agendas fulfilled.


Let's go again! Let's go again!
Race 1: 1d100 ⇒ 37 = Wayang (Shadow gnomes)
Race 2: 1d100 ⇒ 25 = Vanara (Monkey dudes)
Race 3: 1d100 ⇒ 80 = Vampire (Non-sparkly edition)
Race 4: 1d100 ⇒ 58 = Gnoll (Hyena guys)
Race 5: 1d100 ⇒ 42 = Satyr (Goat thangs)

Quite the eclectic group. Let's see...

A city known only as the Crossroads sits on a planar conjunction. The city itself is built right in the center of a massive jungle, one with portals that lead both to the plane of shadow and the faerie plane. The city itself was built through the cooperation of the Vanara civilization the lived in the jungle, the wayang who lived on the other side of the shadow portal, and the satyrs who inhabited the are in the faerie plane near the city.

Recently, a clan of vampires have moved into the city, with the permission of the ruling council. There are provisions, of course, about who the vampires can feed on and how often they can do so. Various nomadic gnoll tribes who wander the jungle also stop in the city from time to time, some who take up permanent residence.

Like any city, there are more than a few problems that adventurers might need to face down. There are some powerful vampires who ignore the feeding provisions, attacking people in the night when they feel like it. The ruling council is full of corrupt politicians who allow all manner of illegal doings within city limit. And some of the gnolls who moved into the city have brought with them a demon-worshipping cult whose membership swells even now with wayang, vanara, and satyr cultists (some vampires too).

Nonetheless, the Crossroads stand as one of the greatest testaments to inter-planar cooperation that has ever been seen. To let it fall to cultists or robber barons would inevitably poison any other attempts to make inter-planar cities. There is darkness, yes, but there are also countless friendships among peoples who might otherwise have never interacted. This place is home to many, and is worth protecting for that.

Silver Crusade

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Huh. Something to think about over the weekend then. :)

Race 1: 1d100 ⇒ 96 = Thri-kreen
Race 2: 1d100 ⇒ 89 = Goliath
Race 3: 1d100 ⇒ 44 = Nymph
Race 4: 1d100 ⇒ 10 = Hobgoblin
Race 5: 1d100 ⇒ 50 = Faun

Gonna be giving Jim Henson's Workshop overtime with this one.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Girlfriend picked the numbers, and the results are

Race 1: 8 = Orcs
Race 2: 28 = Tengu
Race 3: 48 = Nixie
Race 4: 69= Thriae
Race 5: 88= Raptorans

I present to you, the world of Aedlith, The World of Ten Thousand Lakes

Aedlith is an Earth sized terrestrial world with a large cratered moon called Mera. Aedlith is unusual in that in possesses no oceans or even salt water. Instead all water on the planet is fresh, with several large seas, numerous rivers, marshes and of course lakes of all shapes and sizes. Distribution of water and land is roughly even, with the percentage of water being slightly higher. Where there is no water is instead dominated by lush forests and rolling hills, with several tall and jagged mountain ranges running across the planet.

Aedlith is dominated by five major races which are the fierce but industrious orcs, wise but imperialistic Thirae, the divided tengu, carefree raptorans, and the water fey known as nixies.

Orcs on Aedlith believe that their race sprung from the droplets of blood that rained down when their gods battled the ancient and malevolent Old Gods of an era best forgotten. While not all orc religions share this myth, there is no denying that it is a suitable origin for such a warlike race. Orcs are strong, aggressive and possess a inherent racial fury that makes their warriors the fiercest on Aedlith. However orcs are not merely strong, they are intelligent. It was orc alchemists and scientists who kickstarted Aedlith's Industrial Revolution with steam engines and gunpowder and even now orc engineers have begun building the first dirigibles. Aedlith orcs are divided roughly into three racial groups, the gray skinned Tolans who make their homes on the lower slopes of Aedlith's mountains, the green-skinned Rycena who are the most populous and whose industrialized kingdoms sprawl the world, and the brown-skinned Uthor, a group that lives near the equator and practices druidism, rejecting the technological advancements of the thriae and their green and gray-skinned brethren. Orc adventurers are typically barbarians, fighters, rangers, or alchemists. While orcs are religious, the priesthood's influence has waned in Tolan and Rycena cities due to the conveniences of technology.

The insectile Thriae are another race, a hive-minded race of bee people who excel at wizardy and industry. Imperalistic to the extreme, the thriae originally lived in the Korragan Badlands, a region of Aedlith where very little water flows, Since discovering wizardy, the thriae have expanded to nearly every part of Aedlith. They believe they are the sole worthy race and are destined to turn the entire world into one giant hive, united by the mythical and godlike Queen Mother of the entire race. Fortunately for Aedlith, the thriae hives are fiercely uncooperative with one another and the thriae have found that the other races do not bow so easily. Though the orcs started the Revolution, the thriae have quickly adopted the technological advancements of their orc rivals, creating hive-cities of steam and chitin. Thriae adventurers are almost solely exiled members of a hive who displayed an aberrant amount of free will. Thriae tend to produce rangers, magi, and of course wizards. The thriae believe the orcs to be chaotic warmongers, the nixies to be a dangerous impediment to thriae goals, the tengu to be curiosities and the raptorans as a irritating nuiscance.

Aedlith has a strong connection to the fey realms and sprites, dryads, satyrs, twigjacks, and other faerie creatures roam the planet in great numbers. None are as numerous or organized as the nixies, who inhabit almost every body of water on Aedlith. The nixies see themselves as the guardians of Aedlith and indeed they worship the planet itself. The nixies may be the most powerful group on Aedlith for their kingdoms are massive things of freshwater coral and druid-shaped reeds, spanning across the many lakes and often connected by underground tunnels. Fiercely protective of nature and sensitive to the pollution brought upon by the orcish Industrial Revolution, the nixies have become more aggressive as of late, striking at orc and thriae cities and factories alike with war-druids mounted upon the backs of tamed hydras and river drakes and sinking freighters with summoned water elementals and domesticated water orms. Nixies have more reason then most to fear industry, as the pollution of their waters transforms them into bog nixies, an irredeemably evil mutation that while enhancing their innate magic, twists them into sociopathic nihilists who wish to blight the world. Nixie adventurers are most often curious wanderers or anti-tech crusaders who tend to be druids, sorceres, rangers, or bloodragers. The rare nixie who embraces technology is usually offered up as a sacrifice to Aedlith by the rest of its fellows.

The Tengu are a race divided not by racial lines, but by cultural. Half the race live as nomadic Warrbel, chaotic and freedom loving bards, gunslingers, rouges, and sorcerers who roam the planet in wagon caravans or on shallow draft rafts and ships. Some Warrbel settle in orc, thriae or even more rarely nixie communites, often living on the fringes as second-class citizens. Warrbel are a staunchly atheist group, believing that even their souls should belong to no god. This stands in stark contrast to the other half of the race, the Shigito. Living in monastery-cities on Aedlith's mountains or on remote islands, the Shigito are orderly, reserved and deeply spiritual, perfecting their minds and bodies. Shigito worship several gods of wind, stars, knowledge, life, and death. The Shigito invented martial arts in the monasteries and the Shigito have produced some of the best swordsman and women on Aedlith. And the sacred Black Feathers are the most skilled and feared assassins on Aedlith, having slain many orc kings and thriae queens in the name of their death goddess and her psychopomp servants. Shigito adventueres tend to be bored of monastery life or on special missions for the High Lamas who rule them and they tend to be monks, ninjas, oracles, or clerics.

Lastly the free-spirited Raptorans round out the races of Aedlith. Though this fact is little known, the Raptorans are the magically altered descendants of Aedlith's ancient elves, whose ruins still dot the landscape. The elves once ruled a large empire that had enslaved many orcs, tengu and nixies and it was known for its cruelty and interest in space. Elvish wizards performed dark and profane rituals designed to lure the creatures of the Black to them, so they may enslave them and extract the information necessary to expand their empire to the stars. Unfortunately for the elves, their rituals worked. Ages ago, the elves faced extinction at the hands of the the neshroi, an aberration race from the Dark Tapestry that answered the call, deeming the elves fit for consumption and sacrifice to the Old Gods. The Neshroi were nearly successful, and it is only with the aid of the orc hordes and nixie armies were the stone-like abominations exterminated to the last colonist. The war had decimated the elvish population and the orcs soon turned to their weakened former oppressors with predatory revenge. The elves fled up to the highest mountains as the former slaves took revenge for centuries of abuse. Their atop their mountains, the last elven wizards magically altered their race to survive and fly across the mountain ranges, until they were ready to retake their world. However, the process had the unseen ramification of reducing the overall intelligence of the elves and as the centuries came and went, the elves forgot who they were and took the name raptoran.

In contrast to the tyrannical elves of the past, the raptorans are freedom loving race, believing very much that every raptoran is a nation unto his or her own. Thus their clans are very loose affairs, banded together for mutual protection and access to mates then anything else. Raptorans are semi-nomadic, periodically settling in sites in the mountains, often being drawn to elven ruins. Raptorans are shamanistic, but they have not lost their previous arcane talent, which instead manifests in sorcery. Though raptorans may be freedom loving, they are also xenophobic and racist to the extreme, considering the lesser races incapable of flight to be mere cattle for them to raid and loot at will. Even the flying thriae are considered interlopers, things to be raided and knocked out of the raptoran's domain. Raptoran raids are a common, as the bird-elves rarely make anything of their own and instead take what others have made. While dangerous, the races of Aedlith have not ever made a serious attempt to war with the Raptorans due to one reason. Every Raptoran clan makes a pact with one of the great cloud dragons that roam the skies and mountains of Aedlith, promising mutual aid. Though the whimsical dragons don;t always answer the raptorans requests for help, enough do to make even the most powerful orc and thriae nations wary of pursuing the raptoran bandits back to their homes. Raptoran adventurers are often shamans, rangers, or sorcerers and most often curious of the other races.

Despite the animosity between the races, cooperation is possible, nowhere is this more obvious then the city-state of Isealdran, a sprawling metropolis on the island of Neth in Lake Orcadian. Here orc factory workers rub shoulders with tengu shopowners, while raptoran couriers and thriae police officers soar in the skies above. And nixie ecologists help maintain the cities' canals and keep the water pure and safe to drink. It is here where many hope that the growing tensions of war will instead be replaced with diplomacy. Only time will tell however.

Dark Archive

This may be a bit truncated as I'm on my phone.
1d100 ⇒ 73
1d100 ⇒ 61
1d100 ⇒ 96
1d100 ⇒ 26
1d100 ⇒ 25
Mongrelman
Sahuagin
Thri Kreen
Vishkanya
Vanara
You know what, I'm just going to make a bunch of rolls and create world's when I have a computer.

More rolls:

1d100 ⇒ 97
1d100 ⇒ 57
1d100 ⇒ 58
1d100 ⇒ 26
1d100 ⇒ 70

1d100 ⇒ 8
1d100 ⇒ 34
1d100 ⇒ 11
1d100 ⇒ 21
1d100 ⇒ 96


Race 1: 1d100 ⇒ 80 = Vampire
Race 2: 1d100 ⇒ 84 = Uldra (small blue-skinned fey adapted for cold environments)
Race 3: 1d100 ⇒ 73 = Mongrelmen
Race 4: 1d100 ⇒ 57 = Nereid (aquatic nymph-like fey)
Race 5: 1d100 ⇒ 3 = Dwarf

The world that is known as Arcteris was once ruled by cycles. Day became night, summer eventually gave way to winter, and life led to death. One aspect of this eternal cycle was the never-ending war between the Summer and Winter courts of the fey. At some points, the Summer court would be ascendent, leading to increased growth, at others the Winter court had the advantage, which caused and overgrown world to die back. Then, the Winter court won the war.

With the magic of the Summer fey no longer promoting growth, the great dying began. Many races, such as the elves, the gnomes, and the halflings, went extinct as the forces that once supported the magic they relied on became unreliable. Others, like the humans, had to do the things to adept to the new world; some mutated them into the mongrelmen, while others embraced undeath. The dwarves alone remained relatively the same, but even they are now in danger of following other races into extinction.

Arcteris now finds itself in an eternal ice age. The great volcano-fortresses of the dwarves are the only real sources of mortal civilization, housing the dwarves and mongrelmen (and vampires, though the rulers of these fortresses would drive them out if they could). Also allied with the mortals are Winter fey who have defected from their court, horrified about what their war brought about. The two most common varieties are the Uldra and the Nereid.

However, legends tell of a powerful artifact, the World Seed, which is said could restore the Summer court and thus the balance of the world. However, finding it will not be easy; Mab, Queen of Air and Darkness and ruler of the winter fey will brook no challenge to her authority over her icy lands. And other creatures, like the orcs and trolls, have likely had to adapt to the cold as well. Likely becoming more savage and feral. And who knows what other things lurk the the frozen husk that was once the world...


Sounds like fun! I'll roll some up as well.

1.: 1d100 ⇒ 4
2.: 1d100 ⇒ 52
3.: 1d100 ⇒ 73
4.: 1d100 ⇒ 35
5.: 1d100 ⇒ 93

So those are Half-Orcs, Nagaji, Harpies, Mongrelmen and Dragon-based Humanoids. Let's see what I can make with those...


From Invisible Castle: 1d100=93, 1d100=58, 1d100=67, 1d100=47, 1d100=66

Nereid, Gnoll, Girtablilu, Sasquatch, Dragon-based humanoid.

Oh boy. All right, let's see what we can do here.

SELF-CONTAINED DEMIPLANE

This will be the basis of the world: a self-contained demiplane created by the goddess Lamashtu as an experiment that she soon forgot, and was later misaligned in a cosmic cataclysm (along with hundreds of other weak demiplanes), "crashed" through the First World and landed smack in the middle of an Ethereal current where the souls of dead silver dragons flow into the Boneyard.

BRIEF HISTORY

Gnolls used to be the undisputed masters of the plane, as Lamashtu's favourite, and they used to hunt and enslave the elusive Sasquatch and waged bitter war against the Girtablilu, who had swiftly discovered deities other than the Mother of Monsters, and had devoted themselves to building and protecting temples to all sorts of religions.

When the demiplane became misaligned and the cataclysm sent it hurling through the cosmos, terrible natural disasters wrecked through the land and many Sasquatch took advantage of this opportunity to break free and escape. Most of the casualties were taken by the gnolls, as the Sasquatch's attunement with nature kept them safe, while the Girtablilu's divine protections held strong in their temples.

The gnolls, having lost a significant amount of numbers, lost control of their magnificent slave-cities, and their mighty empire collapsed. By this point, the natural disasters had mostly abated, but the ocean that surrounded the demiplane's sole continent had risen, the rivers had flooded, and great parts of the land were swallowed by the water.

It was at this point that the demiplane hurtled through the First World, and in so doing, attracted hundreds of weak fey essences that were still formless. Most of the magic in the demiplane that wasn't protected by abjurations lay in the water, and the fey essences were drawn to it. Taking the remnants of the gnoll's magic items, enchantments and the like, the fey essences became nereids.

[[Here I am taking a stance and declaring that nereids are both male and female in equal parts, because I am rather displeased with the "all-female pretty fey" trope]]

While the nereids were beginning to construct their societies, adjusting to the receding waters, and the gnolls were struggling to rebuild upon the ruins of their once mighty empire, the demiplane finished its journey upon the Ethereal Plane. Its location saw a strange and almost unnoticeable impact on the plane. The temperature became chillier, clouds and mist became common sights, high regions became perennially snow-tipped.

And soon, they came. Ghrahz to the gnolls, Lyrissen to the nereids, Evarilu to the Girtablilu. These Silver Wanderers seemed to be a type of fey that was different from the nereids. Instead of being associated with a part of nature, the Lyrissen (as they called themselves, adopting the name given to them by their nereid brethren) seemed to be connected to an invisible flow through the Ethereal, the current that transported the souls of dead silver dragons to the realm of Pharasma.

The Lyrissen were graceful, ethereal creatures. They favoured high places, commanded mist and cold with but a thought, and could walk on clouds like it was solid ground. The most powerful of them sprouted strange dragon wings, which glittered like polished silver under any light.

CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS

The gnolls have taken such a massive hit due to the demiplane's misalignment and its fall through the cosmos that they have undergone a deep spiritual crisis. Many of them have sworn off Lamashtu and instead gone to the Girtablilu (who weathered the disaster with minimal losses) for religious guidance. Over half of the race has thrown themselves to various neutral and good-aligned gods in frightened repenting.

The other half of the race has instead doubled down on their worship of the Mother of Monsters, and has quickly earnt the enmity of the other half of their race and also of every other race in the demiplane. It is believed that their days are numbered, though they have managed to entrench themselves in old ruins with powerful artefacts and magical defences, so they may well end up dragging out their end for many, many years.

The Girtablilu remain the same as they have always been. Their numbers are small and they tend not to contact each other or the other races, though lately a small schism is forming among the Girtablilu youth. Defying their elders' conventional wisdom, they have contacted each other through magical means, and began exchanging viewpoints and news across the world. This has led the current Girtablilu youth to begin questioning their place in the world. In what the elders of the race are currently calling "The Windborn Exodus", the vast majority of the Girtablilu youth is leaving the sacred temples to explore the world, dissatisfied with taking a passive role after such world-shattering events.

The Sasquatch have become fiercely independent after casting off the yoke of their gnoll slavers. They have gone through a revival of their ancient traditions, enjoying the benefits of rangers, nature oracles and druids in their midst once more. Some tribes have taken on a more dangerous attitude, and have given themselves over to more warlike paths, with slayers and barbarians.

Nereids are flourishing in full, building delicate cities underwater and harnessing both the natural magic of the demiplane and the lost relics of the gnoll empire that were washed away during the cataclysm. Nereids have also become the unofficial diplomats of the demiplane, as their charisma and beauty make them well-liked by the rest of the races. They have also become spies, courtesans, assassins and, surprisingly for a fey race, rather successful merchants.

The Lyrissen originally took on a contemplative, lofty approach to life, but it didn't take long for them to become embroiled in the demiplane's politics and problems. They are distrusted by almost the entirety of the other races (with the nereids as their only ally), but their aerial talents make them extremely valuable as scouts, messengers, artillery, and shaping the weather to favour or hamper agriculture, troops, cities and so on. In return, the Lyrissen are afforded luxuries they cannot obtain on their own, and their integration into the world may in time erode the distrust other races hold towards them.

A TYPICAL PARTY

Gale, LG male Lyrissen paladin.

Waverunner, CG male Nereid sorcerer.

Shirah, CN female Gnoll slayer.

Kee, TN female Sasquatch ranger.

Huralil, NG female Girtablilu cleric of Sarenrae.


So, this is what I came up with:

Geography

Welcome to the desert world of Duenaer. This world is primarily covered in deserts, ranging from extremely dry, intolerable hot sand dunes found on the equators that even the hardiest of nomads are loath to tread, to more temperate savanahs in the polar regions. The equatorial regions are so inhospitable few have traveled across. Most of those brave souls have never been seen again, while the few that have carry incoherent stories that sometimes even conflict with each other.

Water is scarce on Duenaer, occuring mainly in oases. There are a few rivers, flowing down from the glaciers crowning the high mountain ranges. These mountains are also home to the only forests found on the arid planet. They mostly take the form of belts of tall pines halfway up the mountains.

A notable geografic feature is a large volcanic hotspot. Centered around a large crater is a large number of volcanic phenomena such as geysers, warmed lakes and classic lava-filled volcanoes.

Civilization

This volcanic region forms the center of the main cosmopolitan region on Duenaer. It is home to the Draconic civilization, an old and proud realm. It is inhabited by three races: the Wyrms, winged, quadruped reptiles of great stature, power and wisdom, the Nagaji, strong of personality and physique, and the Linaji, agile of mind of body, both of which are of more humanoid stature.
The capital of the Draconic empire is located inside the great crater, where the Wyrms reside as protectors of the smaller, more numerous Draconic races.

The deserts are mostly inhabited by the race known as the Magnuruk. This race of hardy desert-dwellers have founded empires that span the entire norhterns hemisphere, clustering around oases and rivers. Their culture is one of surviving in harsh environments and ruling over their lesser kin. They are adaptable, though and industrious.

Spoiler:
These are actually the Half-Orcs. They aren't really half man, half orc, but embody many of the traits of humans and orcs.

In the mountains rule the Harpies from their stony eyries. These winged humanoids stand taller than the average Magnuruk, and are typically gaunt and sharp-featured. They tend to be as hard and dour as the mountains they live in, but make loyal companions and have a strong sense of honor.

For almost two thousand years these three civilizations lived in relative harmony with each other and themselves; until one night, when the world changed for good.

Sporefall

During a quiet night in the Draconic capital, a fiery streak was seen in the sky, coming down inside the city. Many gathered to the mysterious object. A first look revealed it to be some sort of clump of organic matter, relatively unharmed under a scorched layer. Then, suddenly, from the entire clump sprang a great number of shapes, bringing with them clouds of spores. Even though at first, the spores seemed harmless, they turned out to take over control of their victims. Before the night was out, the entire Draconic capital was run over.
In the months that followed, the Spore-infected Draconians spread into the surrounding lands. Emissaries where sent to neighboring Magnuruk empires and Harpy eyries, and a great alliance managed to push back the corruption. The infected lands were scoured bare by great surges of magic, the only thing that seemed to be able to permanently remove the stains. But the Spore itself turned out to be a bridge to far, as it was guarded by the corrupted dragons and a great many servants. Thus, a great wall was erected around the crater edge. From there, sentinels of all four races struggle to contain the taint.

Sporefall also gave rise to a new race: the corrupted humanoids were physically altered to be able to procreate with any other humanoid the Spore had experience with, but that trait was not tied to the corrution itself. That was why, when mages finally succeeded in cleansing creatures of the infection, a new humanoid race was born that not only showed traits of countless unknown races in adition to their own, but that could also procreate with any of the other four races.

It has now been fifty years since the containment. A common enemy has united the Draconians, a nummber of Magnuruk empires and a number of Harpy eyries, but meanwhile the politics and conflicts among the outlying empires and eyries continues.
The new race, since derisively called 'Mongrelmen', has found some sort of place among the others, scraping out a living in the slums of the cities of the Magnuruk but occasionally finding purpose and fortune as sentinels of the Spore or soldiers in the armies of the Magnuruk.
The remaining Nagaji and Linaji now vigilantly guard their former capital, in which their former protectors now lie to rot as great fungal spires rise from their bodies to spread the vile infection.


Man, that was fun! I'll roll up some new ones.

1d100 ⇒ 32
1d100 ⇒ 75
1d100 ⇒ 9
1d100 ⇒ 18
1d100 ⇒ 20

So that's Goblins, Oread, Dhampir, Derro and Ettercaps. Well, that's interesting for sure...


5d100 ⇒ (13, 62, 7, 5, 8) = 95
GOD DAMN IT AASIMAR
Aasimar, gnome, cecaelia, half-elf, orc.

Yup.


Kobold Cleaver wrote:

5d100

G~$ D!!N IT AASIMAR
Aasimar, gnome, cecaelia, half-elf, orc.

Yup.

I... Huh. Huh.

Yeah, that's just at once a bunch of "yay, how very unexpected (with sarcasm)" races combined with random octopus ladies. I wouldn't have fun drafting that world up.

Also, googling what a cecaelia was has led me to purging my browser history. "Nope" is right.


1) Derro
2) Thri-Kreen
3) Dark Folk
4) Vanara (Monkey Folk)
5) Orc

This is going to be awesome!


Midnight-Gamer wrote:

1) Derro

2) Thri-Kreen
3) Dark Folk
4) Vanara (Monkey Folk)
5) Orc

This is going to be awesome!

Shadow of the Empire

Campaign overview:

Long ago, the known portion of the world was divided up into various city states, small kingdoms, clans, and wilderness expanse.

Many different regional cultures flourished, ranging from the straights of Iburnus, to the Hanging Gardens of Gilga in the far east.

Centered in the Mederi Sea, was the Kingdom of Roma. This kingdom was at one time a small city ruled by the Human king Reemus, he was a paranoid man living in fear of attack by his neighboring states. The way Reemus put those fears to rest was a military campaign, in which he conquered all rivals in the peninsula Roma resided on.

After Reemus's death, his actions left an impact on the way Roma was governed, and over the next 250 years Roma expanded in size, conquering one territory after another. During this Conquest, the human citizens of Roma turned away from their traditional worship of local deities, and openly endorsed the worship of sinister an corrupting forces. (Deities/Demons/Devils to be later named)

More to come.


Recap:

Campaign overview:

Long ago, the known portion of the world was divided up into various city states, small kingdoms, clans, and wilderness expanse.

Many different regional cultures flourished, ranging from the straights of Iburnus, to the Hanging Gardens of Gilga in the far east.

Centered in the Mederi Sea, was the Kingdom of Roma. This kingdom was at one time a small city ruled by the Human king Reemus, he was a paranoid man living in fear of attack by his neighboring states. The way Reemus put those fears to rest was a military campaign, in which he conquered all rivals in the peninsula Roma resided on.

After Reemus's death, his actions left an impact on the way Roma was governed, and over the next 250 years Roma expanded in size, conquering one territory after another. During this Conquest, the human citizens of Roma turned away from their traditional worship of local deities, and openly endorsed the worship of sinister an corrupting forces. (Deities/Demons/Devils to be later named)

More to come.

400 years after the death of Reemus, the human inhabitants of Roma and it's expanded territory have become monstrous both physically, and mentally as a result of state sponsored (Devil/Lovecraftian/Abomination) worship.

Leadership changes hands from council rule, to an Emperorship during this time. The Emperor "Justinian" is to be the final ruler of Roma and his reign last for 100 years, it's rumored that dark magic has kept him alive far longer than any normal lifespan.

Under Justinian's rule the "Apocalypse" occurs. The devoted within the Empire turn to madness. Politics are forgotten, armies disband, and the lands inhabitants become bestial. (Think Silent Hill meets Roman Legions)

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