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Post by meribson on Mar 15, 2018 23:17:59 GMT
For the fun of it, I decided to use a world-building challenge that I've seen in a couple places online and randomly roll the major races as a starting point. But beyond simply taking the list of races in Advanced Rage Guide and rolling 1 Core, 3 Featured, and 2 Uncommon, I decided that I'd do 1 Core, then 1d4 each for Featured and Uncommon. The end result: - Human
- Ratfolk
- Drow
- Ifrits
- Undines
- Nagaji
- Vishkanyas
So humans, 2 beast races, 2 elemental planetouched, drow, and one near-human race. Seeing as there are drow, I have two options as far as elves are concerned: either there were only ever drow, or the surface elves were all but wiped out. Personally, I like the latter option, as I feel that it makes for a better story. Ifrits, Undines, and the Vishkanyas are all altered humans; so I'm thinking that the ifrits and undines each have some kind of nation in a harsh homeland, the undines on an archipelago and the ifrits in a desert. Vishkanya I'm seeing as worshiping some kind of serpentine deity, and their ophidian features being seen as a blessing from their god/dess. The nagaji, I've never liked the bits of their culture that was in the ARG, I'm seeing as more lizard than snake, with a warrior society. Ratfolk, I don't have much yet, but I only rolled these races as I was typing. Thus far, I'm interested in seeing where this goes. I'll be posting more on this as I get ideas. |
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Post by blakeryan on Apr 9, 2018 10:48:14 GMT
this sounds like a good mix for its own world
however if you wanted this world to interact with others, you can go the hollow world route and have this world within the planet of a regular dnd world
or you can make it another planet in the same solar system
another option is the ifrits and undines are the big empires, with humans and nagaji being next largest nations. everyone else trades and mixes between the four big power blocks
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Post by DM Onesie Knight on Apr 9, 2018 18:10:14 GMT
With so many variations of humans and only one of elves, what if that means the elves were once as various, but have been in decline for a long time? Maybe an old war or long-standing racial enmity between humans and elves led to humans spreading into the world while elvish societies collapsed and retreated. The drow survived in the underdark.
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Post by 00dlez on Apr 9, 2018 22:42:00 GMT
I like the notion that drow are the corrupted remains of the once proud, powerful, and numerous elven races on the surface. A vile reminder of what once was in ages past.
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Post by meribson on Apr 10, 2018 4:08:55 GMT
Huh, I had completely forgotten about this thread. Well, here's what I've settled on. Any references to mechanics refer to Pathfinder.
The ifrits have been renamed to Emberkin (I just like the name better) while the ratfolk have been renamed to Nezumi (cliche, I know). The vishkanya are not a separate race from humans, per say, but they appear in human populations seemingly at random. Two vishkanyas always have vishkanya children, while when humans and vishkanyas pair the child is almost always human (in modern terminology, vishkanya traits are all tied into a single recessive gene). Drow live in one of two places: underground or in Darhem, the latter being a cursed land of eternal twilight. According to drow legend, Darhem was the last holdout in an ancient war between the so called "high" elves and their own people. When they could not drive out the drow, the high elves enacted a curse upon the land, so that it would never bask in the sun's light again. The undines live in an archipelago called the Shattered Isles, a land to the north suffused with ancient magics, the remnants of a terrible war that tore the land apart.
Regarding magic, I made a decision that will give the setting a very different feel from most high fantasy settings: no arcane magic. Well, that isn't entirely accurate. The witch class is the only arcane magic user that exists in the setting. It's niche is instead filled with psychic magic. Occultist, Meserist, Kineticist, Psychic, etc.
I don't have anything in the way of politics yet as I don't have a map to work with. Something that I've learned about myself as a world-builder, if I don't have a map to look at I can't do anything regarding politics of any kind.
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Post by 00dlez on Apr 10, 2018 13:37:42 GMT
Cool stuff!
What is the difference between the drow in Darhem and the underground, or is there one? Do the drow move between the two?
What was the cause of the war between the elves and drow? If the elves cursed the land, was it a final act of war or did the elves survive for a time after the curse, and what happened to them?
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Post by meribson on Apr 10, 2018 19:21:11 GMT
So something that I decided on regarding the Emberkin was that the images given in default Pathfinder were not what I was looking for. Thus I went to Google and found what I was thinking of:  |
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Post by meribson on Apr 11, 2018 18:13:48 GMT
Having been reminded of this setting, I got started on the pantheon using a method I came up with last year: random portfolios. Essentially, I take a d% list of portfolio options, roll 5-6 times, and see what I get. I have gotten some very interesting results this way. I don't have the gods fully fleshed out yet, but here's the list of portfolios, domains, and subdomains that I've come up with. Ahtasun, the Water Snake that Feeds from the Mountains - Portfolio: purification, animal, trade, water, nezumi, liberation
- Domains: Animal, Liberation, Protection, Travel, Water
- Subdomains: Purity, Rivers, Trade
- Primary Worshipers: Nezumi
Annulyyn, the Wandering Widower
- Portfolio: community, loss, city, knowledge, trade, lust
- Domains: Charm, Community, Darkness, Knowledge, Travel
- Subdomains: Loss, Lust
- Primary Worshipers: Drow
Citherahl, the Devouring Flame
- Portfolio: glory, evil, sun, rune, life, madness
- Domains: Evil, Glory, Madness, Rune, Sun
- Subdomains: none
- Primary Worshipers: Drow
These are the first 3 "finished", I'll add more later today.Lokyth Ice-Grin - Portfolio: death, artifice, cold, law, fire, planning
- Domains: Artifice, Death, Fire, Law, Water
- Subdomains: Ice
- Primary Worshipers: Undine
Wortar Night-Watcher - Portfolio: metal, herald, cold, life, moon, undine
- Domains: Earth, Glory, Healing, Void, Water
- Subdomains: Heroism, Ice, Legend
- Primary Worshipers: Undine
Tathar Smoke-Dance - Portfolio: inquisition, craft, exorcism, destruction, endurance, emberkin
- Domains: Artifice, Chaos, Destruction, Fire, Strength
- Subdomains: Industry, Resolve, Revelry, Smoke
- Primary Worshipers: Emberkin
Iss-kha, the Serpent Below - Portfolio: truth, cavern, meditation, war, travel, nagaji
- Domains: Earth, Knowledge, Law, Travel, War
- Subdomains: Caves
- Primary Worshipers: Nagaji
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Post by meribson on Apr 14, 2018 15:32:57 GMT
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