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[flame99]

Note that if you join now, you'll be playing Tryrar's old character, Malkor, for a short time, until the party finishes the short dungeon they're currently in, at which point you will be able to make your own character.


I've been working on an island-based Dungeons and Dragons "world" (It's actually a fairly small and very remote region in a larger world) which I've named Gueryth. The region has six nations, referred to as the Great Lands. They are Khale, The Tsulian Islands, Aetherium, Ahul, Zaldafin, and the Wildlands.

Spoiler: Great Lands (click to show/hide)

Khale is the second-largest and most influential land. It sits in the north-west corner of Gueryth, and was originally a colony under Tsule's rule. They were, for the first twenty years of their time as a colony, happy under the Tsulian Monarchy. However, the Pantheon Decree forbid the worship of Ialni gods (More on that in Tsule's paragraph), which was very common in Khale. After several years of scheming, the Ialni priesthood located in Khale managed to rally the support of the populace, and declared themselves to be sovereign. Tension between Khale and Tsule is still high, but are no longer threatening to boil over into an all-out war. It's ruled by the Council of Elders, a group of seven rulers who decide the fate of the nation. In order for any decree to be passed by them, a majority vote is required. Each of the Council is a High Priest of one of the seven non-evil Ialni gods, but if the rest of the Council unanimously agrees, a High Priest may be removed from his position, leaving the Church of their god to decide upon a new High Priest.

The Tsulian Islands work via a feudal system, with Tsule being the seat of the King. There are currently six islands, aside from Tsule itself. From north to south, they are Malthas, Yuul, Altir, Hagan, Vitos, and Jaetir. Each island is ruled by a lord decided upon by the King. The pantheon of Tsule was based off of the beliefs of the tribes dotting Tsule, the Ialni Tribes. However, despite this, members of both churches tend to be very aggressive towards each other. In most of the Tsulian Islands, the Ialni Tribes, along with their beliefs, are banned by the lords. The King, however, has yet to strictly ban them, but has heavily discouraged it. It's commonly thought that his reasoning for this is to prevent another uprising from those who do follow Ialni beliefs. Tsule has a history of founding many colonies, and in fact, has colonized most of Gueryth at some point or another; Khale and Ahul have both become nations in their own rights from their settlements, plans were made the build colonies on Aetherium before it was claimed, and a small settlement on the Wildlands has been built.

Ahul is a largely anarchic nation, with the democracy holding so little power as to be effectively nonexistent. The closest things to laws are rules set by the criminal gangs and bands who largely hold Ahul. Despite their lack of a military, no nation dares to invade Ahul, since most of the citizens are proficient with some form of weapon, and the nigh-constant gang wars ensure that you'll be unable to catch anyone unarmed. Though the gangs are too many to count, there are only three major factions: The Crimson Dagger, The Mystics, and The Dires. The Crimson Dagger is a band of thieves and assassins; they've yet to be engaged in an "official" gang war, but anyone who crosses them will often find a sizable portion of their members will have suffered mysterious and fatal accidents. The Mystics are spellcasters and scholars. Most are sorcerers or wizards, but there are a rare few rangers, bards, and druids in their midst as well. The Dires are a rather chaotic group, who allow virtually anyone to join, and has no real leadership. As such, very little is known about them.

Aetherium is a very recently founded nation advocating furthering the use of Psionics. It's home to one of the rare few sources of Psionic Crystals in Gueryth, and it's thought that Deep Crystals could be found deep underneath it. Rumor speaks of Illithids and Aboleths controlling the government from the shadows, as well as huge swaths of fields being made entirely of Psionic Crystals. The government is a magocracy which favors psionic prowess. Anyone not of psionic capacity is restricted from challenging the current ruler. Due to their many uses for Deep Crystal, Aetherium is a good trading partner of Zaldafin.

Zaldafin is a land of Dwarvern exiles. It contains one of the few methods of traveling into the Dwarvern Deeplands, and the only one that doesn't involve first traveling through Drow's Deep, a massive cave system bordering the Dwarvern Deeplands. Despite being exiles, trade is often conducted by the few Dwarves willing to face the sunlight, since the Exiles are willing to pay top dollar for crafts and materials from their homeland. However, the road to the surface is fraught with danger, and as such, caravans who attempt this are often stranded, destroyed, or heavily damaged. This also means that Zaldafin has a monopoly on Gueryth's supply of Deep Crystals, making them trading partners with Aetherium.

The Wildlands are not a nation, but it is considered a Great Land. The Wildlands is composed almost entirely of forests, mountains, and plains, with very little civilization, aside from a few coastal colonies and the indigenous nomadic tribes. The tribes are usually quite small, and vary greatly from one another. They've largely taken up being nomads due to the extremely dangerous wildlife in the Wildlands, where dire animals are extremely common, and dragons, thankfully usually rather young ones, are in plentiful supply. As such, it's become very popular amongst those stricken by wanderlust, or any wanting to take up adventuring. However, the casualty rate of such people is alarmingly high.

For more specific information, feel free to ask.

Spoiler: Homebrew, Sourcebooks, and Rule Alterations (click to show/hide)

Psionics are found in Gueryth, but are very rare. In order to use psionic abilites, you must first come into contact with either Psionic Crystal or Deep Crystal, and spend a level honing those powers. As such, the players will be unable to play as psionic classes right off the bat, but may, throughout the campaign, multiclass into a psionic class once they've come into contact with a Crystal. As for sourcebooks, due to the fact that I'm not familiar with many sourcebooks, I'll not be initially using any aside from the core books. However, if you like one and want to recommend it to me, I'll gladly look over it and decide whether to include it or not.

As for homebrew, the only thing I'll be creating is a race: The Malakari, also called the Green Elves. They're the result of the rare few cases of breeding between elves and orcs. They get their colloquial name due to the fact that they have many features distinctive of elves, but retain the dull green skin of their orcish parents. They have the following stats:

+2 strength
+2 dexterity
-2 constitution
-2 intelligence
-2 charisma
Darkvision 45 ft
Base speed 30 ft
Elf Blood
Orc Blood
Sleep immunity
+2 saving throw vs. enchantments
+1 bonus to Listen, Search, and Spot
Automatic languages: Orc OR Elf, Common
Bonus languages: Draconic, Elf, Gnoll, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan.

I don't have any specific rule alterations from the start, but I reserve the right to change them later on.

Spoiler: Players (click to show/hide)

GiglameshDespair
Tawarochir
Flying Dice
HarbingerJim
Malkor [Playerless]

I'd prefer you create sheets via Mythweavers, but feel free to use other methods.
Also, feel free to use monster races, so long as the level adjustment is at +1 or below. If there's a race you want to play with a higher level adjustment, send me a PM and we'll see if we can work something out.

[GiglameshDespair]

Sure, in. I'm guessing we could have a +1 tempalte instead of a +1 LA race?

[Tawa]

F*** YES. IN.

[flame99]

Sure, in. I'm guessing we could have a +1 tempalte instead of a +1 LA race?

Sure, that would work.

Also, a few things I forgot to mention in the OP:
I'm using 4d6 and dropping the lowest for stats.
The majority of the campaign, unless you guys do something really weird and unexpected, will be taking place on both Khale and the Wildlands. You may end up going to Tsule or Ahul at some point, but Aetherium and Zandalfin are pretty much there just to give the world more variety (Also because I'm planning a campaign in the same universe heavily featuring those two).
And finally, the deities of Gueryth:

Spoiler: Ialni gods (click to show/hide)

Khalira
True Neutral goddess of Sea and Sky. Her spheres are water, weather, and travel. She's one of the most important figures in the Ialni religion, and even those who follow other gods regularly make sacrifices and prayers to Her. In legend, she was the first being made by the Creator, and is said to be the most powerful of the gods. She is sometimes also depicted as the god of life and death, since the Ialni believe that Man was created from sea, and they set their corpses adrift.

Murtauros
Chaotic Good god of Fire and Battle. His spheres are fire, war, and chaos. Followers of Him do not build shrines, but rather, forges. Pilgrimages are conducted by learning to blacksmith, and offerings are burnt in the fire of a forge. This often annoys the rare few smiths who aren't followers, since they have to work around groups of pious clergymen in order to get anything done. As such, Ialni forges often have two fireplaces, so that the smith can continue his work while the worshipers pray.

Ralok the Dead
Neutral Evil god of earth. His spheres are earth, destruction, and evil. Ralok died long ago in a war against the Creator himself. Little is known of the battle, but it is known that following his demise, the Creator left, and the killing blow was dealt by Khalira. It's said that the Great Lands were formed because Ralok's corpse was taller in places than the Unending Sea. He has very few followers, given that He's a dead god.

Hairuk
Neutral Good god of Humanity. His spheres are good, healing, and sun. It's told that, though Khalira's power was used to create man, it was Hairuk who designed them, and watched over them. Churches to him are usually built in cities, near the populace. Priests of his often take the role of healers and doctors, and as such, are often trained in non-magical healing as well.

Thal
True Neutral god of death. His spheres are death and protection. Originally, Thal was said to be the god of Life, but he couldn't bear to see his beloved humans toiling in oblivion after their death. Though he begged the Creator, he couldn't convince him to create an afterlife for the humans, and so Thal chose to give up his role as the Life god, and became the shepherd of the dead. He shaped the two Ialni afterlives: Untulos, a paradise where all of the good's desires are granted, and Zailos, the land of punishment. He is portrayed as reluctant to do his job as the god of death, and so his followers often become healers to prevent him from having to harvest their soul.

Malith
Lawful Good god of life. His spheres are Life, Animals, and Plants. After Thal became the god of death, the Creator made Malith to take over Thal's former role. Malith, however, was less interested in humans than Thal, and was more interested in protecting the wildlife and plants. Followers of Malith are often farmers or druids, but many others worship him as well. It's thought that he makes his home in the Wildlands, the only place still largely untouched by society.

Truus
Lawful Neutral god of magic. His spheres are magic, law, and knowledge. He is one of the less commonly worshiped gods of the Ialni pantheon, but wizards usually follow him. Due to their chaotic nature, sorcerers often choose not to worship him, though a handful do regardless. This is just as well for the wizards, as the vast majority find sorcerers insufferable. However, little else is known about him.

The Creator]
True Neutral god of creation. His spheres are Sun, Life, Death, and Knowledge. He is undoubtedly the most powerful Ialni god, and is said to be solely responsible for the creation of the rest of the gods. After Ralok's death, he is said to have left to create more worlds, but some doubt this, as clerics of The Creator have no problem drawing on his power. He is largely shrouded in mystery, however, and few legends speak of him.

Palos
Lawful Evil god of Tyranny. His spheres are death, evil, and war. It's said that he plans to overthrow Khalira and take control of all of the other gods. Shrines of him are often hidden away from prying eyes, and it's not unusual for guardsmen to find shrines to him in the basement of homes of murderers and bandits. It's said he particularly enjoys human sacrifices, and legend has it that he has possessed his followers on many occasions to try and wrest control of the world.

My apologies for limiting you to the Ialni pantheon, but it's very, very rare to find any followers of the Tsule gods on Khale, the Zandalfin generally refuse to speak of their gods, since most are heretics or infidels of the dwarvern religion, and the Aetherian pantheon is generally unheard of, even amongst Aetherians.

[Harbingerjm]

I am interested. Also, given it's an island-based campaign...

As for sourcebooks, due to the fact that I'm not familiar with many sourcebooks, I'll not be initially using any aside from the core books. However, if you like one and want to recommend it to me, I'll gladly look over it and decide whether to include it or not.

I suggest Stormwrack.

[daemen]

me!!

[Tawa]

Wait, dropping the lowest? What does that mean? Do we get to assign the stats ourselves?

[flame99]

Wait, dropping the lowest? What does that mean? Do we get to assign the stats ourselves?

Yes. You'd roll 4d6, ignoring the lowest number rolled, six times for each stat. Then, decide which result you want to assign to each stat.

[Tawa]

...You could just roll 3d6 instead.

[Harbingerjm]

4d6 drop lowest is a higher stat method than 3d6.

[Cthulhu]

I might be interested.  PbP or IRC or maptool or what?

[flame99]

I might be interested.  PbP or IRC or maptool or what?

It's PbP.

[flame99]

Skimming through Stormwrack, I've got to say that I quite like it. I'll definitely be using it, if anyone's interested in playing one of the races it adds.

[GiglameshDespair]

Think I'm going to play a Dread Necromancer.

[Tawa]

4d6 drop lowest is a higher stat method than 3d6.

Oh yeah. Now I see.
I'm thinking a ranger of some sort.
Wait, what of starting gold? It's kinda important.