Hello, I'm new to the scene here so apologies in advance if I mess something up in this post.
I'm working up a new world which has some homebrew elements. For example, I've never been a fan of Halflings (outside of Middle Earth) or Gnomes (even as garden ornaments), so I'm replacing them with Chimps and Cats. Except for the name and some personality differences, all rules for character creation are exactly the same. Other homebrew elements are similar. A new name for that which already appears in the rules. Or, ancient magic which is unattainable by players but creates part of the framework, such as cantrip batteries and freeways.
I'd like to do a bit of playtesting to flesh out ideas. So I'm looking for three creative people to help on that front. If you're interested, could you please take a look at my materials so far, and offer feedback?
Even if you're not interested, I'd be grateful for your thoughts, questions, concerns.
Like I mentioned, this is a work in progress. Here is a link.
I'd love to help out with playtesting if you want... I'll take a look at your materials and update this post with some information about character ideas that would stretch the boundaries of your world!
A couple of notes first:
1. I like how you give certain races/empires fighting strategies and traits, but this might limit a player who wants to play an out of the box character (heavy armor wearing human, half-orc wizard, etc.)
2. Specifically, if the Dwarven Empire unleashed the Great Hammer's power on the Old Mystics, why are the Old Mystics now choosing to help the dwarves again?
3. Elven society seems to be geared waaaay too much towards wood elves and eladrin. That is fine, but you are leaving out high elves, sea elves, drow, and shadar-kai which is something to keep in mind.
4. Each society seems to be geared to focus on one race... That can be fine, but if players want to play different races within a party but those races would normally never interact then it could lead to problems where everyone always feels like strangers in each others' stories... (you can solve this by having some societies that are a mix of different races)
Character Ideas:
An Elven Fighter that was never released from dwarven captivity when the elves and humans overthrew the dwarves and was left for dead on the dwarven islands.
A Human Sorcerer that eschews the magical traditions and training of the human empires and instead chooses to rely on their own natural talents.
A Gnome (Cat) Rogue/Druid that has infiltrated The Tree in order to try and be more attuned with nature than the political rollercoaster of the Cat's kingdom allows. However, they are terrified of being caught and, as such, are constantly trying to hide their identity.
A Halfling (Chimp) Rogue that is fed up with their family and decides to discretely dispatch their family until they are the last survivor of their clan.
A Dwarven Cleric who worships Takal Demesh and craves for the old days when Dwarven Kingdoms ruled over all the lands and seeks to restore that world.
An Angel Barbarian who was sent by the Gods to the Material Plane to serve a greater purpose. However, after failing this purpose they turned bitter and betrayed the Gods that sent them down. On a journey to repent, they are trying to quench their inner rage to earn their way back to the heavens, while still fulfilling their purpose on the Material Plane.
A Plane Touched (Earth-Genasi) Human Ranger who is desperately trying to forge an alliance that will end the conflicts that are plaguing the world. Held back by their unfortunate skin tone that alienates them from the Jenghen, Humans, and Elves, they seek to overcome this barrier and forge a lasting peace.
Let me know what you think... Again, happy to playtest or even just spitball some more ideas. These character ideas could also be useful for you to think about how the world would respond to these kinds of characters.
Thanks so much for your terrific feedback! And I'd be thrilled if you would help with playtesting when the time comes.
Here's is what I was thinking in terms of answers to your good questions.
I actually wanted to keep to only the PHP races (but not Tieflings or Dragonborn), but exchanging Cats for Gnomes & Chimps for Halflings. So the answer to the question about elves is, those other races are not available and do not exist in this world.
Regarding the way each society focuses on one race, I was thinking that there are some very massive cosmopolitan cities, world capitals, which will have a sprinkling of people (of all races) from distant lands, even entire neighborhoods mostly inhabited by Strangers.
Regarding the Dwarves & Old Mystics, that's not what I intended. I must have written something unclearly & I'll rewrite to clarify.
Ah, I just saw your specific character ideas. I’ll give them a good look. They seem very interesting, and point to questions I hadn’t considered for sure.
Great character ideas. Here are some thoughts/ responses based on the world model I had in mind. Please tell me if this sounds too restricting. I always think limits incite creativity, but I know each person enjoys DND according to their own proclivities, and free reign of imagination is an incentive to many.
An Elven Fighter that was never released from dwarven captivity when the elves and humans overthrew the dwarves and was left for dead on the dwarven islands. This wouldn’t work, alas, because the dwarven empire was destroyed under the boot of a passing god. All creatures on the surface perished in the cataclysm. However, elves were in captivity, in their own lands, those eons ago. Perhaps this character has been in a magical slumber throughout the past several millennia, and is finally awakened. Would be very very glad for the current freedoms of elven civilization, but have a deep and smoldering hatred for dwarves.
A Human Sorcerer that eschews the magical traditions and training of the human empires and instead chooses to rely on their own natural talents. This works. Sorcerers exist around the globe and in every race. They reach high ranks in the Jenghen Empire.
A Gnome (Cat) Rogue/Druid that has infiltrated The Tree in order to try and be more attuned with nature than the political rollercoaster of the Cat's kingdom allows. However, they are terrified of being caught and, as such, are constantly trying to hide their identity.Just to clarify, is the Cat hiding its identity from other cats, or skulking around Elven lands soaking up the incredible natural wonders there while avoiding Elves?
A Halfling (Chimp) Rogue that is fed up with their family and decides to discretely dispatch their family until they are the last survivor of their clan.Lol, this sounds lIke a terrific storyline. But, alas, I don’t enjoy DM’ing evil player characters and need for them to be neutral or good.
A Dwarven Cleric who worships Takal Demesh and craves for the old days when Dwarven Kingdoms ruled over all the lands and seeks to restore that world. Interesting, as very, very few dwarves leave their own lands. However in this case the character might wish to travel and find out more about the outside world, in order to set in motion a shift in geopolitics. Or even be directed to do so by dwarven lords who have the same thing in mind, a return to dominance.
Great character ideas. Here are some thoughts/ responses based on the world model I had in mind. Please tell me if this sounds too restricting. I always think limits incite creativity, but I know each person enjoys DND according to their own proclivities, and free reign of imagination is an incentive to many.
A Gnome (Cat) Rogue/Druid that has infiltrated The Tree in order to try and be more attuned with nature than the political rollercoaster of the Cat's kingdom allows. However, they are terrified of being caught and, as such, are constantly trying to hide their identity.Just to clarify, is the Cat hiding its identity from other cats, or skulking around Elven lands soaking up the incredible natural wonders there while avoiding Elves?
Probably both... I'm not sure how Cat society would respond to one of its members just up and leaving...
Added some more character ideas to the first post and I'm totally down to playtest, just send me a PM whenever it starts.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
First of all, wow. How long did this take and how long have you been working on this?
My first feedback is about the layout and structure. In my head seeing a map of everything laid out first would help when you talk about Jenghens, humans, dwarves, etc, and where they are with respect to the others.
Jenghens, humans and dwarves have their history laid out while talking about their societies. Elves, chimps and cats would benefit from that as well. Chimps overall seem underdeveloped. Are they really just chimpanzees that walk like people or are they closer to what we think of as humanoid? I have that same question for cats, where do they fall on a scale from regular 2020 earth cats to tabaxi?
I like the flow of History / Culture, then Racial Characteristics, Classes, and Gods.
My favorite ideas about the humans is how they're not the whitebread humans we usually see in fantasy settings. Different and vibrant Elves grow everything they need and exist in a tree structure? Fascinating. Love that the cats are almost exclusively the rogues.
Have you given any thoughts to building your own class since you're building your own world? Probably a giant pain in the ass but seems like a big cool homebrew element.
What are you thinking for gameplay? Adventures set in the environments or large scale societal changes in a campaign? I'm wondering what would happen if a band of humans or outworlders decided to try and burn a city's library, or if spies could infiltrate the elven tree and steal some of their growth vats. Would growing weapons and armor even work outside of the tree environment?
All random thoughts, but this looks great and I'd be interesting to see it played. PbP would definitely work, it seems like most adventures would require a bit of setup for the characters to get to the same place anyway, and four or five players could be working in parallel toward the first meeting.
Terwilligher, THANK YOU for your thoughts & feedback. I really appreciate it.
First of all, wow. How long did this take and how long have you been working on this? A few weeks.
My first feedback is about the layout and structure. In my head seeing a map of everything laid out first would help when you talk about Jenghens, humans, dwarves, etc, and where they are with respect to the others. I get that. Before going into more detail with the map I wanted to see what folks thought about the overall concept. I think the various civilizations will require more fleshing out to inspire character creation.
Jenghens, humans and dwarves have their history laid out while talking about their societies. Elves, chimps and cats would benefit from that as well. Chimps overall seem underdeveloped. Are they really just chimpanzees that walk like people or are they closer to what we think of as humanoid?I have that same question for cats, where do they fall on a scale from regular 2020 earth cats to tabaxi? Very good points. I think the human & Jenghen societies are just easier for me to penetrate sociologically than the (completely) non-humans, whose mind-sets I need to get into more. The Cats are intended to be like civilized tabaxi, but gnome-sized. (Between 3 and 4 feet tall and average about 40 pounds. Size is small, base walking speed is 25 feet.) Puss-In-Boots from SHREK is not the inspiration, but would fit right in. I'm really just hanging a new outer aspect on all things gnome. Except lifespan, which will be similar to humans.
Chimps, similarly, are just like hobbits in every way except that they look like Chimps. They even have hairy feet, lol, and probably with shoes off can use them to grasp items. I imagine a chimp in its circular-doored home lying on a chaise and sipping wine from a glass held in its (washed) foot.
I like the flow of History / Culture, then Racial Characteristics, Classes, and Gods. Thanks!
My favorite ideas about the humans is how they're not the whitebread humans we usually see in fantasy settings. Different and vibrant. Thank you! I hate the lack of diversity in 20th-century fantasy writing, and I hope what I'm doing calls that into question. I looooved N.K. Jemisin's BROKEN EARTH trilogy, and look forward to seeing a plurality of voices sharing their imaginations going forward! Elves grow everything they need and exist in a tree structure? Fascinating. Their homes, ships, and cathedrals are literally plants trained to grow in particular shapes, which intertwine and lock into each other seamlessly. Elves pluck perfectly straight and razor-sharp arrows from living vines. Love that the cats are almost exclusively the rogues. Seems fitting.
Have you given any thoughts to building your own class since you're building your own world? Probably a giant pain in the ass but seems like a big cool homebrew element. Yes, but I want to test the world first and see what might be missing/needed. Within the context of a new world, it seems that enough variety is already possible.
What are you thinking for gameplay? Adventures set in the environments or large scale societal changes in a campaign? I'm wondering what would happen if a band of humans or outworlders decided to try and burn a city's library, or if spies could infiltrate the elven tree and steal some of their growth vats. Would growing weapons and armor even work outside of the tree environment? Wow, these are great ideas! I always tend toward overarching epics but to start with I'll start small-scale & flesh out ideas along the way.
All random thoughts, but this looks great and I'd be interesting to see it played. PbP would definitely work, it seems like most adventures would require a bit of setup for the characters to get to the same place anyway, and four or five players could be working in parallel toward the first meeting. Good point. I like to work with players in advance on background so that the adventure can organically start with all hands on deck.
If it’s not too late I would love to help you test your world. I especially like the idea of chimps and would be interested in playing one if I am accepted.
If it’s not too late I would love to help you test your world. I especially like the idea of chimps and would be interested in playing one if I am accepted.
Terrific! I’m just looking for feedback for now but I will start an “official” recruitment thread soon.
****Have you given any thoughts to building your own class since you're building your own world? Probably a giant pain in the ass but seems like a big cool homebrew element. Yes, but I want to test the world first and see what might be missing/needed. Within the context of a new world, it seems that enough variety is already possible.***
This is a super cool part of building your own world, the ability to make it grow according to what you feel is missing.
I think an Elf rogue with a sharp wooden rapier would be cool, probably not as an assassin type but a thief that slips in and out while using trees and branches as camouflage and a method of movement enhancement. Do the magical properties of the wood work in different areas, far away from the worldtree?
I think an Elf rogue with a sharp wooden rapier would be cool, probably not as an assassin type but a thief that slips in and out while using trees and branches as camouflage and a method of movement enhancement. Do the magical properties of the wood work in different areas, far away from the worldtree?
Great idea! So what I was thinking is that the wood is not magical. The weapons grown by elves function in the game in every way exactly like those forged of steel. Perhaps they’re dipped in some kind of sap and buried for 50 years. When they’re unearthed and sharpened, they’re calcified and hard as metal. Each blade farmer’s style, combined with the species of plant and plot of land they mature in results in a unique weapon.
I think an Elf rogue with a sharp wooden rapier would be cool, probably not as an assassin type but a thief that slips in and out while using trees and branches as camouflage and a method of movement enhancement. Do the magical properties of the wood work in different areas, far away from the worldtree?
Great idea! So what I was thinking is that the wood is not magical. The weapons grown by elves function in the game in every way exactly like those forged of steel. Perhaps they’re dipped in some kind of sap and buried for 50 years. When they’re unearthed and sharpened, they’re calcified and hard as metal. Each blade farmer’s style, combined with the species of plant and plot of land they mature in results in a unique weapon.
This sounds awesome. They could fortify the hell out of the world tree if they needed to, spikes everywhere and strong walls.
This probably isn't super necessary, but what about the cosmology? Is the the typical planar ring, or is it something like the world tree from the Norse? Any new planes? Fleshing this out helps to create the divine stuff such as where where do souls to when they die, where are demons made....
Related to my previous question, do you have ideas for Elder entity things like Hadar, Tharizdun, Dendar, and other powerful non-diety entities? How do they fit in the diety scheme? This is primarily to do with Warlock patrons and such.
As was said before, I feel like the Chimps, angels (aasimar?), pixies, and Cats are a bit bland flavor-wise compared to the other races.
Are dwarves primarily evil?
You already have a few, but some more key events would be nice. Important events just help your world to feel more natural instead of being empty.
Are there distinct differences socially, ideologically, and physically between subraces, or is a subrace more of a flavor thing?
Thanks so much for these good observations & questions!
This probably isn't super necessary, but what about the cosmology? Is the the typical planar ring, or is it something like the world tree from the Norse? Any new planes? Fleshing this out helps to create the divine stuff such as where where do souls to when they die, where are demons made....
Yeah, I've been thinking about this stuff. I have some ideas but I want to keep it all under wraps and have players discover it along the way as needed.
Related to my previous question, do you have ideas for Elder entity things like Hadar, Tharizdun, Dendar, and other powerful non-diety entities? How do they fit in the diety scheme? This is primarily to do with Warlock patrons and such.
I'm pretty sure that the Angels (which are more like Planetars) are the only entities I would allow players to have as patrons. Not saying the dark side isn't there, but it's hidden from view to the players.
As was said before, I feel like the Chimps, angels (aasimar?), pixies, and Cats are a bit bland flavor-wise compared to the other races.
Yup, on it!
Are dwarves primarily evil?
They have a pretty evil past, but as far as any PCs are concerned, the Dwarven outlook is like Germany post-WWII: deeply regretful, ashamed, and contrite. Committed not to make the same mistakes, ever again. So Dwarven PCs can be good.
You already have a few, but some more key events would be nice. Important events just help your world to feel more natural instead of being empty.
Yeah, that makes sense. I'm populating the various civilizations with more events for my draft 2.
Are there distinct differences socially, ideologically, and physically between subraces, or is a subrace more of a flavor thing?
In the rules, subraces are given specific connections to Faerun or other extant worlds, which don't necessarily make sense in my world. I would keep the basic traits, but essentially the base race & its subrace(s) are all cut from the same cloth. So, more of a flavor thing. Do you think that can work?
Are there distinct differences socially, ideologically, and physically between subraces, or is a subrace more of a flavor thing?
In the rules, subraces are given specific connections to Faerun or other extant worlds, which don't necessarily make sense in my world. I would keep the basic traits, but essentially the base race & its subrace(s) are all cut from the same cloth. So, more of a flavor thing. Do you think that can work?
That sounds fine. Maybe it could just be a bloodline thing instead of filling in roles in the world.
I'm just going to say that I love the idea of the gods manifesting themselves. I honestly think that is awesome.
As a DM myself, I like to find the RP reasons why and how things are done, so I probably sound picky with details. For the wizard restrictions, why is it divided up like that? Are certain races unable to cast from certain schools of magic? Do areas where a certain race dominates just unable to support teaching or don't have the necessary resources to teach a specific type of magic? For an example, if a Cat were to live in the Half-orc empire, could the Cat learn Necromancy? Can wizards be self taught?
Following up on my magic questions, how does magic work in your world? Is it based off the Weave? Does everything have a spirit that magic users convince to do their bidding so they can 'cast' their spells? Do magic users drain and destroy the land around them to provide fuel for their spells?
Can Warlocks only have the Celestial patron, or can they discuss it with you to work out options?
Hello, I'm new to the scene here so apologies in advance if I mess something up in this post.
I'm working up a new world which has some homebrew elements. For example, I've never been a fan of Halflings (outside of Middle Earth) or Gnomes (even as garden ornaments), so I'm replacing them with Chimps and Cats. Except for the name and some personality differences, all rules for character creation are exactly the same. Other homebrew elements are similar. A new name for that which already appears in the rules. Or, ancient magic which is unattainable by players but creates part of the framework, such as cantrip batteries and freeways.
I'd like to do a bit of playtesting to flesh out ideas. So I'm looking for three creative people to help on that front. If you're interested, could you please take a look at my materials so far, and offer feedback?
Even if you're not interested, I'd be grateful for your thoughts, questions, concerns.
Like I mentioned, this is a work in progress. Here is a link.
Thanks!
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
I'd love to help out with playtesting if you want... I'll take a look at your materials and update this post with some information about character ideas that would stretch the boundaries of your world!
A couple of notes first:
1. I like how you give certain races/empires fighting strategies and traits, but this might limit a player who wants to play an out of the box character (heavy armor wearing human, half-orc wizard, etc.)
2. Specifically, if the Dwarven Empire unleashed the Great Hammer's power on the Old Mystics, why are the Old Mystics now choosing to help the dwarves again?
3. Elven society seems to be geared waaaay too much towards wood elves and eladrin. That is fine, but you are leaving out high elves, sea elves, drow, and shadar-kai which is something to keep in mind.
4. Each society seems to be geared to focus on one race... That can be fine, but if players want to play different races within a party but those races would normally never interact then it could lead to problems where everyone always feels like strangers in each others' stories... (you can solve this by having some societies that are a mix of different races)
Character Ideas:
An Elven Fighter that was never released from dwarven captivity when the elves and humans overthrew the dwarves and was left for dead on the dwarven islands.
A Human Sorcerer that eschews the magical traditions and training of the human empires and instead chooses to rely on their own natural talents.
A Gnome (Cat) Rogue/Druid that has infiltrated The Tree in order to try and be more attuned with nature than the political rollercoaster of the Cat's kingdom allows. However, they are terrified of being caught and, as such, are constantly trying to hide their identity.
A Halfling (Chimp) Rogue that is fed up with their family and decides to discretely dispatch their family until they are the last survivor of their clan.
A Dwarven Cleric who worships Takal Demesh and craves for the old days when Dwarven Kingdoms ruled over all the lands and seeks to restore that world.
An Angel Barbarian who was sent by the Gods to the Material Plane to serve a greater purpose. However, after failing this purpose they turned bitter and betrayed the Gods that sent them down. On a journey to repent, they are trying to quench their inner rage to earn their way back to the heavens, while still fulfilling their purpose on the Material Plane.
A Plane Touched (Earth-Genasi) Human Ranger who is desperately trying to forge an alliance that will end the conflicts that are plaguing the world. Held back by their unfortunate skin tone that alienates them from the Jenghen, Humans, and Elves, they seek to overcome this barrier and forge a lasting peace.Let me know what you think... Again, happy to playtest or even just spitball some more ideas. These character ideas could also be useful for you to think about how the world would respond to these kinds of characters.
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
I went and read a bit of your world and tbh it wonderful well describe and give a lot of good vibe's
Tbh if you ever need people to test your world I'm all in I'm kind of new too the world of dnd but I would love to help you grow your world
Hi The_Mathemagician,
Thanks so much for your terrific feedback! And I'd be thrilled if you would help with playtesting when the time comes.
Here's is what I was thinking in terms of answers to your good questions.
I actually wanted to keep to only the PHP races (but not Tieflings or Dragonborn), but exchanging Cats for Gnomes & Chimps for Halflings. So the answer to the question about elves is, those other races are not available and do not exist in this world.
Regarding the way each society focuses on one race, I was thinking that there are some very massive cosmopolitan cities, world capitals, which will have a sprinkling of people (of all races) from distant lands, even entire neighborhoods mostly inhabited by Strangers.
Regarding the Dwarves & Old Mystics, that's not what I intended. I must have written something unclearly & I'll rewrite to clarify.
Ah, I just saw your specific character ideas. I’ll give them a good look. They seem very interesting, and point to questions I hadn’t considered for sure.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Great character ideas. Here are some thoughts/ responses based on the world model I had in mind. Please tell me if this sounds too restricting. I always think limits incite creativity, but I know each person enjoys DND according to their own proclivities, and free reign of imagination is an incentive to many.
An Elven Fighter that was never released from dwarven captivity when the elves and humans overthrew the dwarves and was left for dead on the dwarven islands.
This wouldn’t work, alas, because the dwarven empire was destroyed under the boot of a passing god. All creatures on the surface perished in the cataclysm. However, elves were in captivity, in their own lands, those eons ago. Perhaps this character has been in a magical slumber throughout the past several millennia, and is finally awakened. Would be very very glad for the current freedoms of elven civilization, but have a deep and smoldering hatred for dwarves.
A Human Sorcerer that eschews the magical traditions and training of the human empires and instead chooses to rely on their own natural talents. This works. Sorcerers exist around the globe and in every race. They reach high ranks in the Jenghen Empire.
A Gnome (Cat) Rogue/Druid that has infiltrated The Tree in order to try and be more attuned with nature than the political rollercoaster of the Cat's kingdom allows. However, they are terrified of being caught and, as such, are constantly trying to hide their identity. Just to clarify, is the Cat hiding its identity from other cats, or skulking around Elven lands soaking up the incredible natural wonders there while avoiding Elves?
A Halfling (Chimp) Rogue that is fed up with their family and decides to discretely dispatch their family until they are the last survivor of their clan. Lol, this sounds lIke a terrific storyline. But, alas, I don’t enjoy DM’ing evil player characters and need for them to be neutral or good.
A Dwarven Cleric who worships Takal Demesh and craves for the old days when Dwarven Kingdoms ruled over all the lands and seeks to restore that world. Interesting, as very, very few dwarves leave their own lands. However in this case the character might wish to travel and find out more about the outside world, in order to set in motion a shift in geopolitics. Or even be directed to do so by dwarven lords who have the same thing in mind, a return to dominance.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Probably both... I'm not sure how Cat society would respond to one of its members just up and leaving...
Added some more character ideas to the first post and I'm totally down to playtest, just send me a PM whenever it starts.
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
First of all, wow. How long did this take and how long have you been working on this?
My first feedback is about the layout and structure. In my head seeing a map of everything laid out first would help when you talk about Jenghens, humans, dwarves, etc, and where they are with respect to the others.
Jenghens, humans and dwarves have their history laid out while talking about their societies. Elves, chimps and cats would benefit from that as well.
Chimps overall seem underdeveloped. Are they really just chimpanzees that walk like people or are they closer to what we think of as humanoid? I have that same question for cats, where do they fall on a scale from regular 2020 earth cats to tabaxi?
I like the flow of History / Culture, then Racial Characteristics, Classes, and Gods.
My favorite ideas about the humans is how they're not the whitebread humans we usually see in fantasy settings. Different and vibrant
Elves grow everything they need and exist in a tree structure? Fascinating.
Love that the cats are almost exclusively the rogues.
Have you given any thoughts to building your own class since you're building your own world? Probably a giant pain in the ass but seems like a big cool homebrew element.
What are you thinking for gameplay? Adventures set in the environments or large scale societal changes in a campaign? I'm wondering what would happen if a band of humans or outworlders decided to try and burn a city's library, or if spies could infiltrate the elven tree and steal some of their growth vats. Would growing weapons and armor even work outside of the tree environment?
All random thoughts, but this looks great and I'd be interesting to see it played. PbP would definitely work, it seems like most adventures would require a bit of setup for the characters to get to the same place anyway, and four or five players could be working in parallel toward the first meeting.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
If it’s not too late I would love to help you test your world. I especially like the idea of chimps and would be interested in playing one if I am accepted.
Terrific! I’m just looking for feedback for now but I will start an “official” recruitment thread soon.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it. I’ll start an “official” recruitment thread soon, after implementing the good suggestions folks have posted.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
****Have you given any thoughts to building your own class since you're building your own world? Probably a giant pain in the ass but seems like a big cool homebrew element. Yes, but I want to test the world first and see what might be missing/needed. Within the context of a new world, it seems that enough variety is already possible.***
This is a super cool part of building your own world, the ability to make it grow according to what you feel is missing.
I think an Elf rogue with a sharp wooden rapier would be cool, probably not as an assassin type but a thief that slips in and out while using trees and branches as camouflage and a method of movement enhancement. Do the magical properties of the wood work in different areas, far away from the worldtree?
Great idea! So what I was thinking is that the wood is not magical. The weapons grown by elves function in the game in every way exactly like those forged of steel. Perhaps they’re dipped in some kind of sap and buried for 50 years. When they’re unearthed and sharpened, they’re calcified and hard as metal. Each blade farmer’s style, combined with the species of plant and plot of land they mature in results in a unique weapon.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
When will the recruitment thread be put up.
This sounds awesome. They could fortify the hell out of the world tree if they needed to, spikes everywhere and strong walls.
I really appreciate your interest! I'm getting there, just need to flesh out a first adventure.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Ok thanks
This probably isn't super necessary, but what about the cosmology? Is the the typical planar ring, or is it something like the world tree from the Norse? Any new planes? Fleshing this out helps to create the divine stuff such as where where do souls to when they die, where are demons made....
Related to my previous question, do you have ideas for Elder entity things like Hadar, Tharizdun, Dendar, and other powerful non-diety entities? How do they fit in the diety scheme? This is primarily to do with Warlock patrons and such.
As was said before, I feel like the Chimps, angels (aasimar?), pixies, and Cats are a bit bland flavor-wise compared to the other races.
Are dwarves primarily evil?
You already have a few, but some more key events would be nice. Important events just help your world to feel more natural instead of being empty.
Are there distinct differences socially, ideologically, and physically between subraces, or is a subrace more of a flavor thing?
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
That sounds fine. Maybe it could just be a bloodline thing instead of filling in roles in the world.
I'm just going to say that I love the idea of the gods manifesting themselves. I honestly think that is awesome.
As a DM myself, I like to find the RP reasons why and how things are done, so I probably sound picky with details. For the wizard restrictions, why is it divided up like that? Are certain races unable to cast from certain schools of magic? Do areas where a certain race dominates just unable to support teaching or don't have the necessary resources to teach a specific type of magic? For an example, if a Cat were to live in the Half-orc empire, could the Cat learn Necromancy? Can wizards be self taught?
Following up on my magic questions, how does magic work in your world? Is it based off the Weave? Does everything have a spirit that magic users convince to do their bidding so they can 'cast' their spells? Do magic users drain and destroy the land around them to provide fuel for their spells?
Can Warlocks only have the Celestial patron, or can they discuss it with you to work out options?
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable