[Raven Bloodmoon]

I don't know if anyone is still around or not, but I am starting to try to get soemthing going again. Once more, I am starting on a new world that is combining my favorite bits of previous worldbuilding attempts and other sources, but largely is going to remain open-ended for future expansion. Allow me to begin by revealing that on which I have decided thus far.

Guiding Concepts:

The world is mostly untamed wilds with bits of civilization here and there. One nation here, a city there, etc. No real empires at this point. It should also be noted that this region may just end up the backwater part of the world at some point in the future, but for now, this is the way the entire world is.

The world is very old and has seen several kingdoms and empires rise and fall. Ancient ruins dot the wilderness and are now populated by whatever wildlife and monsters live in the area. Much knowledge has probably been lost to the ravages of time.

Magic is real, exists, and can be very powerful, but on a whole is pretty rare. When it is encountered, it is a force to be reckonned with, but people are not always scared of it. The most common source of magical power is through the spirits of the world who may choose to act on the behalf of a "caster" who properly begs of their services. More powerful wizards can manipulate magic directly and some few are blessed by the gods with magical abilities.

Monsters exist. They are everywhere and they are scary. People are legitimately AFRAID to leave the safe confines of their settlements because of the creatures that might lurk out there. While some creatures are purely myth, most are not. Origins of monsters vary greatly, but regardless, they are real.

Humans are not the only race and they are not the dominant race everywhere. Humans are the most widespread race, however.

Spirits are real and numerous. Gods are basically extremely powerful spirits. Spirits live everywhere but are rarely concerned with the affairs of mortals. The most active of the spirits are the Fey, who have no real sense of morality and take great joy in creating mischief.


Races Included So Far:

Humans
Elves
Dwarves
Halflings
Gnomes

Sentient Monsters Included So Far:
Goblins
Kobolds
Bugbears
Lizardfolk

Pantheon so Far:
Anu - God of the Skys, Air, Weather & Rain
Anwyn - Goddess of the Dead, Judgement, Obedience & Winter
Astarea - Goddess of the Moon, Dance, Beauty & northern Lights
Darnel - God of Seas, Commerse & Favorable Winds
Freya - Goddess of Autumn, Magic, Arts, Wisdom & Elves
Frigga - Goddess of Family, Home, Protection & Cats
Leila - Goddess of Agriculture, Life, Bounty & Summer
Mielikki - Goddess of Nature, Wild Animals & Hunting
Moradin - God of Dwarves, Crafts, Mountains & Fire
Morgan - Goddess of Night, Secrets, Magic & Tranquility
Oppan - God of Cunning, Trickery, Thieving & Murder
Pelor - God of the Sun, Light, Healing & Protection
Selune - Goddess of the Stars, Navigation & Travel
Sune - Goddess of Love, Beauty, Fertility & Women
Tiamat - Goddess of Storms, War & Thunder
Tymora - Goddess of Good Luck, Fortune, and Victory

Please take note that none of these gods is considered of a purely evil bent and no proper "evil" pantheon exists. There are, however, numerous devils and demons that fit that roll perfectly and have virtually deific power. The most powerful of these is the one who led the celestial revolt against the gods and was cast into Hell for his treason. I haven't named him yet, but he's pretty much going to be Satan. Everyone likes fighting Satan, so godda include him. Demons will be a more primal force of destruction who may or may not be linked to Morgan. There are other minor gods I am slowly including, also, but I have yet to really flesh out anything in particular.

Other potential deities include:
Beshaba - Goddess of Misfortune & Accidents
Mev - Goddess of Dominion & Mischief
Nemain - Goddess of Destruction
Macha - Goddess of War, Killing & Strife
Bov - Goddess of Strength & Fighting
Fea - Goddess of Hatred

The last five of these are all subservient to Morgan and serve as much as an enforcement branch of the gods as proper nasty deities. Beshaba is Tymora's twin sister, just as in FR. I just like that idea. ~YOINK~

So that's where things currently stand. I'm open to ideas for new gods, how the races came about, how they are related, etc. I'm largely looking for fresh looks at old ideas. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, guys!

[JosephBlackly]

I like the ideas so far. If I hadn't lost most of my material (either because of the downed Wiki and various computer problems), I'd be able to help more.

What kind of classes are you using? Generics or just the regular ones? If spirits are the source of most magic, as seems to be the case, then the Spirit Shaman (Complete Divine) would make an interesting primary caster. I've always thought they didn't get enough love, so to speak... Probably because they can be tricky to use.

Races seem kinda limited at the moment. Then again, you've got all the important ones. Will the different races have subtypes? Using various racial variants is always useful for differentiating between different the regions of the world.

My head has been messed up lately, so I can't offer much more than that for now. Glad to see someone trying to resurrect the place; I would have said something earlier, but I'm far too indecisive for that.

[Raven Bloodmoon]

I'm looking for a more generic class structure, really. With 4e on the horizon and my exploration of GURPS, I'm trying to avoid delvign too deeply into mechanical issues as of yet. I'm thinking that primary casting ability will come from the ability to either control spirits or for more peaceful, goodly types, effectively request their aid. The latter will make fewer powerful enemies, naturally.

Races are not goign to have subtypes. I was thinking of setting up some sort of cultural lense that would modify the base race slightly (for GURPS purposes, this is very simple. For d20, i'm not even getting into that sort of templating yet.), but again, I'm avoiding mechanical issues for the time being. I'd rather approach the mechanics when I have a more solid picture of fluff to be supported.

Right now, I'm thinking of having gnomes live in coastal regions, like along lakes, rivers, and the like while halflings are gypsies. Gnomes would be a peaceful people that largely keep to themselves but make a good living when necessary off of traders on the water. Halflings are wanderers who live in caravans and usually get themselves thrown out of wherever they're staying. I don't think I'm going to go so far as the kender version fo halflings, but I do want them to have a reputation for no good and causing problems. Then again, whenever a large group of people arrive at an economically depressed area with no money of their own, they tend to draw ire. Hell, any people without a homeland tends to get crapped on by the locals, so I figure that'll be a big part of their culture.

I'm not sure what to do with goblinoids. Depending on their origins, I have difficulty justifying so many types of goblinoids. Why three kinds? And what is up with orcs? They're iconic, but they're hackneyed, too. Kobolds are cool and I'm changing thier flavor to something far more sadistic than it currently is, but goblins escape me. I like them. Must keep, but how.....

Also, various giants will be around, too. Again, I'm not sure in what fashion just yet. But I like ogres and trolls far too much to leave them in the shadows.

[Aldrahil]

On the giant note, how about simply manipulating the standerd Hill Giants in the MM, perhaps that they are some of the oldest on the world, and by now they have evolved some serious intelligence and have started to dabble in the Arcane.

I was going to include my idea of making a world where the average height is incredibly reduced, and the thick, burly giants were only 6 and a half feet tall and humans average something like three feet, but the world is built for the taller creatures. Perhaps something like most of the races and creatures are the result of a lunatic deity who got tired of the standardness of it all, and decided to cause some war-inducing havoc. I would include that, but then I'd just be hijacking your topic about asking how to make it work

EDIT: Mild spelling and sense reconstruction.

This post has been edited by Aldrahil: 09 April 2008 - 07:13 PM

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Wow! I forgot about this topic. Yeah, I might do something with the standard giants, as well. I'm really cloudy on this, since I've not even thought about it in a long time. I've been rather disheartened at the lack of interest in dnd since the announcement. I think everyone is just waiting to see what 4e brings. Until then, I've been looking into GURPS and explorign some more scifi stuff.

As far as this world is concerned, I sort of want things to be very fantastic and nonstandard. I need to recollect my thoughts on this topic. I'll post more when I remember where I was going with it.

[super sorcerer]

Are there psionics in your world?
A god of psions&elans could be the creator of elans.
The elans could live in tribes or hidden temples. They might be remains of thier ancient psychic empire and most of them over 20,000 years old.
Are there undead in your world?
Cults devoted to satan that animate zombies from corpses by the divine magic satan grants them can be very devestating to nearby vilages.
are there dragons in your world?
Dragons where created by the gods to rule the world. Maybe the ancient empire was ruled by the greatest dragon and there was a revolt from other dragons who didn't want to obey, in the war most of the dragons in the world were destroyed. The few dragons that survived lived themself without any concern of other creatures (exept for those who become thier food). Today the few dragons that exist in the world usualy rule a small country/large city that live in his teritory.
What other planes exist?

[Aldrahil]

I've always had problems with believing in the whole 'Dragons exist to rule youu' thing. I don't think many gods out there would set several monstrous *element*-breathing lizards with magical abilities and a lust for gold and 'jools', to go rule a bunch of two-legged (mostly) monkeys.

In my opinion, something big should never rule over many small things. To easy for one to stick a knife in, frankly.

- Sam

[Torap]

I guess the forum didn't want to be resurected. Was it you name or allignment?
Any way, are you still working on this one? I was thinking mabey each shard ends up with a different dominant race, some not even inteligent. Like wolves or somthing.

[Raven Bloodmoon]

I haven't been here in ages, adn seeing Lady online sort of just sparked me again. In all honesty, I sort of dropped this, but rereading it, I think I might do somethign with it. Unfortunately, I'm not playing d20 anything anymore, having opted completely for GURPS (far more flexibile with far fewer house rules required). I may be comign back to here to update thsi more in the future. Stay tuned.

Incidentally, my current project just starting a pbp game set in a desert fantasy. This will probably happen after that game finishes getting fleshed out.