The Fall is a core belief in the Shattered Horizons campaign setting.

Though many versions of the story exist, the common idea is that there were once three worlds: the Divine, the Mundane, and the Profane. For reasons that have been lost to history, the Divine world was destroyed long ago. This has left the world is a "Shattered" state, imbalanced by the remaining echelons of humanity and the Profane. The Faithful would have their followers believe that the sky is no greater proof than this fact.

For all around the known world, nacreous clouds fill horizon. Thin enough for sunlight to pierce them, these clouds cast iridescent and ombre hues across the Mundane world.

Yet, The Fall symbolizes more than just the loss of the Divine. The event is largely believed to be the reason why magic exists. As the Divine World fell, so too did the Æther of the Divine bless the Mundane.

This is partially why society views magic so highly. To have magic, particularly powerful magic, is to be blessed and honored. To have no magic is, likewise, viewed with distrust and unwelcome.

Common expressions often invoke the Fall like a curse, such as:
- What the Fell happened?
- You Fallen fool!
- May the Fall take you!
- For the love of everything Fallen.

The Fall, of course, has had a significant impact on religious belief within the Shattered Horizons world. The names of the Gods (good, evil, or otherwise) have been long forgotten. Instead, they are referred to in much the same fashion: "The Fallen."

Clerics and Paladins may still proselytize about the Fallen, but it should be mentioned that their abilities are only reflective of their own magical talents. Otherwise, the Divine has very little impact on the Mundane World.

Unfortunately for most citizens, the Profane are still very much active. They occupy an unknown space that is locked away from the Mundane-- legends suggest that it a place filled with fire and brimstone. Or it could be a dark place, absent the warmth of any sun or moon. However, the fact remains that entities from the Profane world seek ways to escape. Some of the more powerful Profane creatures can commune directly with entities in the Mundane world. Others merely influence indirectly or can only interact with lesser entities. Though odd and uncommon, some lesser Profane entities have escaped by possessing small animals and pets. One example is an event involving a profaned squirrel that mauled an elderly man in Filandra.

More alarmingly, powerful Profane entities have been known to offer strength, magic, and/or money for an opportunity to possess someone from the Mundane world. When this occurs, the possessed often gains an incredible amount of strength and magical power. They can pose a significant threat to a village or town if not discovered early.

More often than not, the Profane will target the weak or unlucky with promises of power. They may offer the chance for revenge or the promise of success in exchange for "temporary" possession. The Profane's favorite victims are particularly downtrodden Ungifted. Such an agreement can provide sudden, unexpected access to very powerful magic which can have disastrous consequences-- which only adds to the mistrust people have for the Ungifted.

Game: D&D 5e (2024)
Group type: Online (Absolutely Free to Play)
Experience: New / a few years / veteran
Location/Timezone: TBD, but I'm in EST.
Schedule: Once every two weeks
Roles sought: 4-6 Players
Game style: See below

Themes: 
- Permadeath
- Class Disparity (First-Class vs Second-Class Citizens)
- Everyday Magic
- War / Violence
- Religion
- The Underworld (Demons)

Setting:
Homebrew world. While we will follow the vast majority of 5e (2024) rules, this world exists wholly separate to worlds like Faerûn (The Forgotten Realms) and Greyhawk (World of Greyhawk). Because of this, there are significant restrictions regarding species and class. It should be noted that this is a test world. It was created to help flesh out some writing ideas.

Atmosphere:
Magic is essential to this world. Because nearly half of the known population can wield at least some form of magic, it is quite common for an individual's profession to directly relate to their abilities. For example, individuals who excel at fire magic or earth magic might be more likely to be a blacksmith. Similarly, individuals with a penchant for water or plant-based magic might be healers or seers. But most importantly, the power of someone's magical ability dictates their status within society. Powerful sorcerers and wizards make up the royalty of the nation and the majority of nobility-- they use gold and Æther with near impunity.

The truly unfortunate ones in this society are those without any magical talent whatsoever. Called "Empties" or "Ungifted," they make up less than half of the population... but provide a disproportionate amount of service to the nation serving in the farm-fields and the military. By royal decree, individuals without any magical power are required to spend either 10 years working the fields or 5 years in the military.

Play Style:
- Mix of both combat and roleplaying
- Likely mature themes
- More gritty than cinematic
- Serious
- Mostly preplanned, but not railroaded

Notes:
- Campaign would begin (maybe) late January 2025 or early February 2025.
- Session 0 is a must.
- Characters will begin at level 0 (Peasant - Background but no class *yet*)

Hey, this sounds interesting, my last campaign just came to a close so I'm looking for a new one. You say a "serious" campaign, how serious? Like is goofing around and doing the occasional, not often but occasional stupidity allowed? Don't get me wrong I'm not a troll player or anything, just checking. I would likely need a little help in understanding the world you seem to have built and what is and isn't a good character, but overall, this does sound like an interesting storyline. 

Hi im very interested in this campaign the setting sounds so cool! my user on discord is darfdarf if youd like to talk there 

Hi, this campaign sounds super interesting! I’d love to join if that’s possible!

Hey, Alex, that's an excellent question. Thank you for reaching out for clarification.

I'm not sure what kinds of media you consume but I'm a fan of the "beach day" episodes that can be found in some Animes. Or musical episodes in sitcoms. I consider them to be palette cleansers.

A specific example of this in my last campaign was the party being invited onto a Casino boat. It was a session of them gambling, playing games, winning prizes, and being nuisances to very minor villains who were also on board.A nother example was a festival where they competed across a range of tasks to the title of champion (individually).

Of course, there were also absurd moments before and after that during sessions. Most importantly though, I trusted my players (and they trusted me) to know when those moments were acceptable. They never laughed when facing a true villain and they never intentionally used humor to derail the story (or anyone else's enjoyment).

As for the others, I sent you a discord link via private message!

Heya!!! Lovin the sound of the lore, my discord is C.obal_t if your still looking for players :P

Cobalt, sent you a request on discord. Also sending you a discord server link via private message.

Hello, I'd like to play. I love roleplaying and creating new characters. Fairly new to playing, but I'm currently in 3 campaigns and looking to add more to my free days (Mon-Thurs). My discord handle is @benevolenceblack if our schedule matches.

Sounds like a cool world, I'm pretty new but am very excited to get more experience and have some fun. Discord is "tryingtodie." (with the period), if you're still filling seats.

Sonure and Benevolence, you should both have a private message from me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Hey! I don't know if you're still looking for players, but the world sounds super neat and I'm definitely interested in playing if you are. My discord is "darksomevale"

Let me know if you still have spots available! Thanks!

Hey, sounds good. Admittedly I'm new to the social forum and messages part of D&D beyond, but i looked in where it says private messages but didn't see anything. You could just send me a message through discord itself. Username: alexthegreat117
My PfP should be a cat smoking 50 cigarettes... it's a joke from a game I play a lot.

I would like to play in this game. My discord is Venzynt.

Hey, I'm very interested in playing in your campaign, i like the world you're building and the lore seems interesting, my Discord is Ulfhedin77.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Sounds fun. Still looking for people?

this sounds like an interesting campaign. if you are still looking for people my discord is cosatoir

i love the sound of this campaign if u still have slots available i would love to join my discord is justadragon1234321

Hey, I'm really interested to see this story play out. The world you made sounds lie a blast. If you're still in need of a player, feel free to message me. o7 Happy Adventuring

Wow. This blew up much more than I was expecting. My apologies for the wait everyone. I'll keep you all posted regarding openings.

Right now, between direct messages and previous players, I have about 9 people in the Discord server. And that is not a sustainable/doable number of players for a single game. We are working getting a schedule down right now which is likely to weed out people. I will reach out to you directly in the event additional players (or games?) are needed.

Please let me know if you are still interested after reading the above information. Anyone responding AFTER this post will be first come, first served if an opening becomes available.

Hello. Your campaign sounds interesting, and I'd like to be a part of it.

I've only played a couple times but I enjoy DnD content so I have a good idea of how to play, what to expect, etc. 

My discord handle is: .kirikou.