Cr500cricket |
So I'm working on a world with a couple of friends and while building it we decided that we would each get 2 continents of our own but I have too few countries on the one so I would like some more options.
Continent A. Country 1) This country has a decent level of Magitech(firearms and elemental binding), is a capitalist monarchy and it's culture and economy are based entirely on invention. Their Navy is nearly unparalleled and their land army is comprised of career soldiers and clockworks. Every Major city has a large area where inventions can be tested and numerous contests are held throughout the year
Country 2) This country is a diabolist nation that is a cross between Cheliax and Ancient Rome.
Country 3) This country is a large stretch of land home to hundreds if not thousands of city states devoted to a demon lords, The only thing keeping their enormous population from overrunning the rest of the continent is the fact that they are constantly fighting each other.
This entire continent is special because it escaped an ancient cataclysm that destroyed much magic on this planet relatively unharmed
lucky7 |
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Country 4.)The MONGOLS!!!
But seriously, two of your nations are Evil. Where are all of the refugees? Maybe have a smaller nation up north (where it's not really worth conquering) of refugees.
Or... a massive oasis in the desert, defended by the desert itself?
A Montival-esque realm, a federation of refugee kingdoms uniting for common defense?
A city-state in the far north, where the greatest university of Magic on the continent lies...
Cr500cricket |
Sorry guys forgot something
Country 4) This confederation of various kinds of genie and genie-kin tribes is tired of getting pushed around, they've staked out their territory and refuse to budge.
There are also many nomadic Orc tribes
This continent is primarily warm desert dotted by volcano ranges and rain forests which are home to small jungle tribes
1 is in the west
2 in the southeast
3 in the east
4 in the north
Lincoln Hills |
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Don't feel like you have to fill all your geography with nations. I've had a lot of fun designing parts of my campaign world that lack any national identity, such as
a. Remote or infertile lands inhabited only by small bands of hunter-gatherers.
b. Steppes, deserts or other open regions occupied by pastoral nomads who regard any fixed settlement as a good raiding target.
c. Regions dotted with small independent towns - either remnants of a shattered empire, or members of dozens of different races driven out of the other lands and too mistrustful of each other for alliance.
d. Wide regions that are uninhabited because of certain terrors. (A necropolis full of undead, a region inhabited by masses of purple worms, a giants' stronghold, or a dragon's lair - all are liable to have a good-sized 'blast shadow' of uninhabited land in every direction.)
e. Regions claimed (on paper) by two or more nations, neither of which actually attempt to settle the area because they aren't ready for a full-scale war in a large area with no established supply lines.
f. Natural disaster zones (volcanic areas, red tide-affected coastlines, etc.)
Dot these mostly-unsettled areas with border forts, wizards' towers, orc lairs, city-states and all the other usual desiderata of fantasy settings.
cnetarian |
Decaying remnants of the League of City States which held sway over the city states before the demonic lords took over so many of there members - basically good but so disheartened that they spend most of their time bickering with each other instead of trying to redeem the demonic city states.
The Dead Zone, a mysterious slowly growing area which is shielded from scrying and from which no one has ever returned. This is actually a halfling held area where various good halfling deities have combined to intervene directly to help reclaim the continent and take turns maintaining the scrying shield while also contributing to strengthening the country. There are halfling scouts in buried bunkers who know in advance if anyone approaches within 10 miles of the boarder and warn the deities' avatars so that intruders can be exterminated or captured. Arcane magic in any form is banned however divine magic is readily available and divine variants of many arcane spells have been discovered. Those who venture into this area and are not killed for being evil are sometimes allowed to leave after having been treated with a god-level memory wipe combined with a geas not to reveal that they have even tried to enter The Dead Zone (if the players plan an expedition here let them, then when they leave fast forward time a month and feign ignorance of their plan while dangling adventure hooks elsewhere).
cnetarian |
1) great idea
2) this is a cross between 2 ideas which are already in use
A) halfling area shielded from scrying and no one can ever leave(on another continent)
B) Only divine magic allowed (unless we like you) in another area(")
Someone else came up with a halfling area shielded from scrying that people can never leave? I need more original material I guess.
Cr500cricket |
Country 5) This country located in the far north harkens back to another age. This realm is a mass of city states interconnected by so many highways and alliances that they have joined into one nation. Their capital is called Cnetarias (A tribute to the person who gave me the idea) and the original is now called Kurnugia and is the widely accepted "Capital" of Country 3.
Lincoln Hills |
How about a few small colonies founded by people from your co-GMs' continents? Whether trading posts or good-sized nations, faithful subjects or long-time rebels... Also a good place to hide defeated rivals to the throne.
(P.S. That map was worth a couple of guffaws. I particularly liked "Tiger-Headed Opium Nightmare.")
DM Nerk |
The Lich Pharoah's Paradise, a utopian necromantic theocracy, where the government is comprised of the undead and the living are seen as children, their future place in society to be determined by their actions in life. The better you are, the more powerful undead transforms you. If you're a rebel, of course, you come back as a zombie.
Timebomb |
A small network of of highly xenophobic, self-sufficient cities, each one connected to the rest by teleportation circles. Nearly all their needs are supplied by one of the cities in the network. Those few outsiders who have been inside the walls see a very orderly society with the population being bound by ironclad laws, including a cap on child rearing. The populous is highly skilled in golemancy, and highly creative due to the labor force being entirely constructs.
IdleAltruism |
I've had the idea of a hybrid viking/samurai/roman nation stewing around for awhile now. The idea would be a nation with a strict caste system which would probably be along racial lines, although not necessarily. The lower castes would be compartmentalized into lesser houses that would vie for favor and glory by waging continuous warfare/raids against distant lands. Part of the fun could is playing with the the stereotype of a raider. A demi-human house comprised of mostly half-orcs with a samurai-esque disposition raiding/killing for the glory of their homeland is not something you see every day.
Lincoln Hills |
Do either of your co-GMs' continents have an Underdark? You could make your continent distinctive that way, especially if a lot of your area's real political power comes from far beneath the earth.
(For less-traditional Underdarks, consider the Far Realm-inspired one from Eberron, or perhaps entire kingdoms of earth- or fire-elemental beings who consider the "water sacks" of the surface beneath their notice.)
Cr500cricket |
I've had the idea of a hybrid viking/samurai/roman nation stewing around for awhile now. The idea would be a nation with a strict caste system which would probably be along racial lines, although not necessarily. The lower castes would be compartmentalized into lesser houses that would vie for favor and glory by waging continuous warfare/raids against distant lands. Part of the fun could is playing with the the stereotype of a raider. A demi-human house comprised of mostly half-orcs with a samurai-esque disposition raiding/killing for the glory of their homeland is not something you see every day.
=Country 6) I couldn't think of anything to better explain what it is.
Any other ideas?