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canucksaram
Acolyte
5 Posts |
 Posted - 05 Aug 2014 : 09:03:24
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Here are some campaign setting notes and house rules that I will be using in my D&D fifth edition games.
The setting is based on the Moonsea region of the first edition of the Forgotten Realms, and long-time gamers might recognize elements from the Greyhawk, Dragonlance, and Known World (Artesia) settings. Feel free to use any elements that you like from this post.
The canon nations of Cormyr, Sembia and the Dales are now the Empire of Rozeis. The region of the Smallsea (the Moonsea renamed) is home to a dozen small kingdoms called the Blood Baronies. The area around Mulmaster is the Duchy of Uelmor, broken away from the Empire; the Vast is the Kingdom of Sylaire, once the Archduchy of Sylaire, also broken away from the Empire and allied with Uelmor. The region of Impiltur is now The Free Cities League. Damara is renamed Sorova and is home to giant-blooded men who guard against the return of the White Wyrms and Frost Giants of the High Ice. The last of the Lich Kings rules from the muck of Vazsvaya (Vaasa renamed), north and west of Sorova but not yet swallowed by the High Ice, and he actively seeks apprentices from those wizards who chafe under the oversight of the White Tower and the Grey Council. Ogre Mages rule a kingdom called Gorkor (Thar renamed), and there is a hobgoblin empire called Khorshan west of Gorkor (in the area of The Ride).
Across the Inner Sea and far to the south lies the Empire of Vanyai, home to Dragon Cult worshippers that claim to be dragon-blooded (Unther and Mulhorand renamed), and farther south still are the realms of the Naga Lords. The canon realm of Turmish is set to be a Dwarf realm (as yet unnamed), and Calimshan is gone; in its place is a Dark Elf realm where all non-elves fear to tread, also unnamed. The Anauroch and Narfell areas are spellblighted wastelands fill with goblinoid tribes on the fringes and who knows what sorcery-twisted monstrosities the further in you travel. The Dragon coast is home to a handful of cities called The Avisine League, founded by renegade merchant houses from Malathas (the Amn and Tethyr regions renamed) and a variety of wizards that have chosen not to join either The White Tower (wizards that follow the Seven Laws of Magic a la The Dresden Files) or the Grey Council (Dragonlance's three Towers of High Sorcery combined). The Sword Coast is a vast and wild expanse of unsettled territory filled with teeming herds of wild animals, multitudes of warring goblinoid tribes, hungry giants, even hungrier dragons, and small pockets of Elves that have refused to flee to Evermeet in the face of the coming Dark.
The rest is still being written.
1. Updated Skill List
Acrobatics
Animal Handling
Arcana (Arcane Lore)
Athletics
Burglary
Deception
Expertise: by Type
History
Insight
Intimidation
Investigation
Lore: by Type
Medicine
Nature
Perception
Performance: by Type
Persuasion
Profession: by Type
Religion (Divine Lore)
Specialization: by Narrow Focus (up to half prof. bonus)
Sleight of Hand
Stealth
Survival
Burglary is the skill of a professional thief and is used for lock pick rolls, trap detection and disarming, for casing places, and so on. The Expertise, Lore, Performance, Profession, and Specialization skills serve as placeholders for skills that might need to be accounted for outside the current list of skills. For example, the Burglary skill scold be represented by the Profession Skill (Profession: Burglar) or the Expertise Skill (Expertise: Burglary).
2. Healing
Characters have a pool of healing dice equal to their proficiency bonus (instead of their character level, which is the current rule in 5th ed). These dice can be used during short rests when wounded characters have a chance to assess their conditions and receive treatment for wounds, injuries, and damage. This pool of healing dice refreshes at the rate of one die per long rest. Any extended period of downtime (i.e., in between adventures) completely refreshes the die pool. Otherwise, natural healing will be per 3.5/Pathfinder. For those using Fate points or the equivalent of "hero points" (or Conviction, from True20): A Fate point can be spent to fully refresh one's pool of healing dice.
Rationale: the current 5th ed. rules state that all HP are healed at the end of a long rest which is not only laughably unrealistic even for a fantasy game, it takes away a lot of the specialness of healing spells. If a long rest restores all HP then PCs will be all too happy to rely on combat first and foremost, rather than as one of many options that they could employ to resolve conflicts with NPCs and monsters, albeit one that has real consequences and possible drawbacks for them.
3. Mana/Ambient Spell Energy
There are places in the world where the ambient level of magic can be greater or weaker than the normal equilibrium that has settled throughout the world. Ley lines crisscross the world and where two or more of the meet a nexus forms, and in this place you will find mana welling forth. Similarly, there can be places of relative mana drought. You can guess where most wizards build their towers.
Mana can coalesce into physical objects and be harvested from them. For example, one might find that the mushrooms growing at the base of an elder tree in a grove of sacred oaks might be resonant with a buildup of magical energy and thus make excellent components for a spell or a potion, or they might even give a wizard that eats them enough spell energy to recover a lower level spell slot. Mana will often resonate with the nature or character of the place in which it accrues. Elemental mages in particular look for this sort of coalescent mana, as do workers of white and black magic.
The most common form of coalescent mana in many parts of the world is Passarite, a crystal that usually forms in hexagonal sticks of six to twenty centimeters in length and one to three centimeters in width. When broken these crystals release a form of mana that can be absorbed by mages. This process requires concentration and takes a number of rounds equal to the spell slot level of energy released by the crystal. A DC10 concentration check (Wisdom and Proficiency modifiers apply) must be made each round for this to succeed; a single failure means that the energy is released into the environment instead of being absorbed. Total concentration on this process, in the form of meditation, will guarantee success on each roll.
If a Passarite crystal is used in combat, no spells may be cast during those rounds that the mage spends concentrating on absorbing the released mana, and he or she may not attack, though normal defensive reactions are allowed.
A grade 1 Passarite crystal can cost anywhere from 10 to 50 gp. The cost goes up from there according to the cube of the crystal's grade, i.e. a grade 3 crystal would cost 25 to 30 times as much as a grade 1 crystal, and an exceedingly rare grade 9 crystal would cost over 700 times as much as a grade 1 crystal.
4. Cantrips
Cantrips seem very over powered because of their "unlimited use" designation in the rules as written. Further, the idea of unlimited use cantrips does not make sense within the context of a world where mana flows and can even be used up until natural replenishment takes place, and there is only so much divine energy that a mortal can channel through their body. To wit: any spellcaster can use a cantrip a number of times equal to (Proficiency Modifier + Spell Attribute Modifier) until needing a short rest. This ability can be recharged once by expending a level 1 spell slot, but creates a feedback effect in the caster's aura . This feedback has no game effect unless the caster wishes to yet again recharge their cantrip casting ability without taking a short rest, whereupon it costs a level 2 spell slot to recharge a second time, a level 3 spell slot to recharge a third time, and so on.
5. Specialization Skill Points
Each time you go up in level you gain a skill specialization point. This skill point can only be spent on specializing an existing skill you have, for example: +1 to Arcane Lore (Elementals), or +1 to Animal Handling (Horses), or +1 Survival (Temperate Woodlands). The maximum value for a skill specialization is half your base proficiency bonus (round up). Combat skills cannot be improved like this---that is what class abilities and feats are for.
6. Experience Post Requirements for Advancement
Level XP Needed Advancement Notes
1 0 See PHB or DMG for notes.
2 500
3 1,000
4 2,500
5 5,000
6 10,000
7 25,000
8 50,000
9 75,000
10 100,000
11 125,000
12 150,000
13 175,000
14 200,000
15 250,000
16 300,000
17 350,000
18 400,000
19 450,000
20 500,000
7. Languages
Characters begin with oral fluency in their native tongue (see below) and with Tradespeak. For Halflings, their “native tongue” is a dialect of the native language spoken in the greater culture within which they dwell, much as Jamaican English is a “dialect” of English, but good luck understanding it unless you have learned it! (Think of Brad Pitt's character in the movie Snatch!). For each skill level in Arcane Lore, History, and Divine Lore a character can choose written fluency in one of the languages for which they have oral fluency.
Dwarves speak their own tongue, Khûzsûl, and do not willingly teach it to outsiders.
The humanoid races speak a polyglot tongue that humans call “Goblin,” which functions much like their version of Tradespeak. Hobgoblins speak a highly structured and harsh sounding tongue called Ugushul, said to be derived from the speech of demons; unless this tongue is learned from birth it costs two slots for full fluency (one slot grants you functional but obviously accented and sometimes awkward speech). Orcs and goblins each speak a baser version of Ugushul that is nuanced with different vocabularies, slang, and grammar.
Elves speak a variety of languages, which they delight in devising, modifying, and perfecting. High Elvish (called Truespeech by the elves) is never taught to outsiders. Low Elvish (“Elvish” to most) is known by many dwarf scholars and to a few human sages, particularly in its written form, and has at least five fully distinct dialects.
Humans of the Inner Sea primarily speak Branach or a dialect thereof. High Branach is also spoken by the nobility and learned classes and is distinct enough in its spoken and written forms to require being learned as a separate language. Being able to speak, read, and write High Branach is a must for any mage, scholar, cleric, or historian. The plainsmen of Valhassa, valley peoples of Essarhan, and citizens of Malathas speak their own tongues and their merchants and traders are typically fluent in Tradespeak. The giant-blooded men of Sorova have their own tongue related to no others and the only foreigners they teach it to are those who have become adopted bloodkin. Characters can learn Sorovese from books and from a few traders and language scholars, but it will be a low version of it, rather than the true tongue, until he or she has a chance to live among the Sorovese and practice with native speakers.
The last two prominent languages are Vanyish and Gorkoror. Vanyish is at least as complex as Ugushul and is spoken by the people of the Undying Empire of Vanyai, who claim to be dragon-blooded and who are said to still worship foul dragon gods. Gorkoror is spoken by the Ogre Magi of Gorkor, the vast land of moors and badlands north of the Smallsea.
8. What the average (educated) person knows about the world.
We live in what many count to be the First Era of the Fourth Age. Superstitious scholars avoid calling it the Thirteenth Era, but that reckoning is considered valid by many.
The Age of Men (ca. 5,000 years ago)
The realms of men spread after their victory against the elves in the Second Era of War. Humans spread far and wide from their earliest enclaves and found the first great cities, realms, kingdoms, and empires of what is now a forgotten age. Humans begin to master magic in untold ways. The last of the Dragon Cults are eradicated and worship of the Old Gods flourishes.
The War of Colors/The Time of Worms (ca. 2,000 years ago)
The Sorceror Kings vie for supremacy and their escalating conflicts, called The War of Colors, nearly destroys the world; the greatest number of survivors are dwellers of the Inner Sea lands and those refugees who flee there; rise and fall of the Worm Kings in the centuries of aftermath, as the Sorceror Kings cheat death through unlife and become liches. Ascendance of the worship of the True Gods called The Singers.
Time of Ruin (ca. 500 years ago)
Aftermath of the War of Colors; the last Worm Kings are defeated; the Bibliocaust occurs and all writings on paper, parchment, reed, and vellum wither and crumble into ash; the hobgoblin realm of Khorshan is founded; the Ogre Mages of Gorkor expand their territories; the goblin races engage in decades of frenzied raiding, pillage, and murder; spellblights, spellstorms, and spellfogs (from the War of Colors) occur less frequently and with reduced intensity.
Time of Recovery (ended 80 years ago)
Power of men grows and human kingdoms vie for dominion; rise of empires (Rozeis, Vanyai); the appearance of the Red Doom (a blazing red comet that hangs in the sky for seven, eight, or nine days, according to differing records); the gods begin to weaken; the Church of Purifying Fire is founded in Rozeis and is instrumental in the ascendance of Hanse I of House Rennsyr to the Throne; the very last of the Elves go into retreat.
Time of Sundering (the Present)
The gods grow even weaker in what is being called The Sundering; continuing rise of the Church of Purifying Fire; various new cults emerge, as does worship of half-remembered gods that predate worship of the Singers; the Elves have vanished, except for remnants of the svart alfar (the Dark Elves) and the grugach alfar (the Wild Elves); the Blood Barons war for supremacy in the lands of the Smallsea; reported sightings of dragons increase; the armies of Khorshan war with Gorkor, and the lesser goblin races embark on new campaigns of plunder; the Dwarves of the High Horns (the Desertsmouth Mountains renamed) renounce the rule of Rozeis and rebel; rumors from the south speak of war between Vanyai and the Naga Lords of Kesesh.
9. The Church of Purifying Fire
The gods Sik'kahlis, Arras, and Annikar are the gods worshipped by this church. Chief among The Pure Three is Arras the Mighty, Divinity of Honor and Lord of War. Second to him are his consort The All-Mother, Sik'khalis the Glorious, and their son Annikar the Wise, Lord of Pacts and Master of Law. This arrangement is unlike other churches of The Singers wherein Sik'khalis is supreme among the Song Stealers and Arras is her consort. In the early days of the Church's foundation many of the High Priests of Sik'khalis insisted that the Pure Three were false gods, but they were purged for the crime of heresy. Rumors tell of surviving Old Order worshippers of Sik'khalis fleeing to Ellisyr, Sylaire, the Blood Baronies, the Free Cities League, and even Khorshan and Gorkor where Sik'khalis is worshipped as The Dark Mother. The Church teaches that all races are impure in varying degrees. Because humans are the youngest race, they are the least impure. Most notable of all, clerics of the Church of Purifying Fire have access to all levels of clerical magic—for some reason The Pure Three have not been affected by the Sundering.
10. Religion in the Sundered Realms
Note: The following description of the gods of the Realms is presented from the point of view of a human (Bran) scholar and follower of the Choir of Light and only touches on The Singers.
The true gods of the Realms are The Singers, a pantheon of deities aligned in three factions called the Choir of Light (proponents of good/law/light), the Song Stealers (proponents of evil/chaos/shadow), and the Lone Singers (proponents of neutrality/balance/twilight). There are other less accepted and less powerful religions in the Realms; some are tolerated, most are considered heathen, and a few are forbidden outright. There is growing agreement among high religious scholars that each faction of The Singers is needed for the cosmos to thrive—that the conflict between the forces of light and darkness is a fundamental part of what drives creation, and that if one side wholly dominates the other there will be an end to all things either by stagnation or by destruction.
The Choir of Light
Thorokir, Lord of the Watch; called the Shining Knight, Battlemaster of the Gods; Divinity of Valour, Righteousness, and Duty; the Embodiment of Majesty.
Elennekka, Lady of Solace; called The Blue Lady, The Healing Hand; Divinity of Healing, Charity, and Tolerance; the Embodiment of Benevolence.
Shay-Ohn, Lord of Seekers; called Dreamsender, Keeper of the Roses; Divinity of Temperance, Contemplation, and Diligence; the Embodiment of Self-Perfection.
Jiri-Shona, Lady of Justice; called The Sword of Heaven; Divinity of Fidelity, Sacrifice, and Hope; the Embodiment of Justice/Justness.
Aurian, Lord of Cycles; called The Bow of Heaven, Master of the Hunt; Divinity of Skill, Resolve, and Daring; the Embodiment of Perseverance.
Elloquar, Lord of Music; called The Bard King; Divinity of Happiness, Music, and Art; the Embodiment of Inspiration.
The Lone Singers
Belekhor, Lord of Crafts; called The Great Smith, The Maker; Divinity of Shaping, Building, and Industry; the Embodiment of Creation.
Na'oma, Lady of Leagues; called The Silver Mistress; Divinity of Enterprise, Ventures, and Risk; the Embodiment of Interaction (Reciprocity).
Bendarath, Lord of Letters; called The Gray Sage, The Loremaster; Divinity of Learning, Inquiry, and Veracity; the Embodiment of Knowledge.
Dannala, Lady of Beasts; called Wild Mother, Mother of the Wood; Divinity of Nature, Wild Things (Flora and Fauna), and Primal Urges; the Embodiment of Instinct.
Hethoros, Lord of Forms; called The Flowing One, Master of Elements; Divinity of Natural Power, Passion, and Change; the Embodiment of Transformation.
Khay-El, the Wise One; called The Keeper of Riddles; Divinity of Experience, Comprehension, and Enlightenment; the Embodiment of Wisdom.
The Song Stealers
Sik'khalis, The Dark Lady; called Dark Mother, The Tyrant; Divinity of Glory (Pride), Control, and Mastery; the Embodiment of Domination.
Arras, Lord of War; called The Red Blade, The Tireless One; Divinity of Honor, Might, and Vengeance; the Embodiment of Retribution.
Annikhar, Lord of Pacts; called Silvertongue, The Master of Law; Divinity of Manipulation, Cunning, and Acquisition; the Embodiment of Exploitation.
Sasasha, Lady of Tempests; called The Darkling Lady, The Weather Witch; Divinity of Desire (Covetousness), Passion (Lust), and Unbridled Power; the Embodiment of Fury.
Eshadi, Lady of Pain; called The Black Tongue; Divinity of Hate, Punishment, and Jealousy; the Embodiment of Malice.
Torrikhol, Lord of Maggots; called The Defiler, Lord of the Undead; Divinity of Darkness, Rejection, and Decay (Enervation); the Embodiment of Perversion.
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A Homebrewed FR Setting for Fifth Edition.
