Let's see, just listing some of the random things I've come up with for my homebrew world of Avem that are definitely unorthodox:
Dragons are extinct (dragonborn and kobolds as well) and their bones are mined because of their magical properties. Some of their bones also liquified into an oil called ichor, which is prized as airship fuel. The only survivors of the extinct dragons are the elite Archdrakes, powerful deities with the ability to assume human form. Most have gone into hiding or are in hibernation. One secretly rules a country and wants to eliminate the others.
A metaphysical bubble surrounds the material plane of my world, which is like a separate plane in itself. Anything that wishes to travel to or from the material plane passes through it. I call it the Plane of Abstraction. People who physically travel through it are altered in form to resemble the contents of their soul. If you know A Link To The Past and how Link turned into a rabbit person in the Dark World, it's pretty much the same concept. The form a mortal takes when traveling through the Plane of Abstraction is based on alignment. Neutral Good would be bunny, while Chaotic Neutral would be wolf, and so on.
Druids are anarchists . . . you know what, you aren't getting any context on this one unless you ask specifically why :P
Especially random stuff: Trees are herded. Shellfish are raised in seaside ranches. Pears are used to make cider which is the most common alcohol in my world, rather than wine or mead. Giant otters are a more common mount than horses in some regions. Gods don't have names, only titles, and if you discover one's true name, they must grant you a wish. In truth, there are kobolds which still exist after the deaths of the dragons, but they are all chameleon kobolds, capable of turning invisible to keep themselves a secret. There's a church which worships technology called the Domain of Artifice, and it actually has more sway than some of the real religious organizations. Last, but absolutely not least, goblins: they have an irrational fear of sheep. Don't ask me why, because I don't know; I just thought it'd be a hilarious and obscure detail.
I love this world so much. It's a genius idea to add so many useless funny little details.
A true sign of a well-developed world: when you can answer super obscure questions about it, such as "what do your goblins fear?" "sheep, yes, I actually thought about it"
Let's see, just listing some of the random things I've come up with for my homebrew world of Avem that are definitely unorthodox:
Dragons are extinct (dragonborn and kobolds as well) and their bones are mined because of their magical properties. Some of their bones also liquified into an oil called ichor, which is prized as airship fuel. The only survivors of the extinct dragons are the elite Archdrakes, powerful deities with the ability to assume human form. Most have gone into hiding or are in hibernation. One secretly rules a country and wants to eliminate the others.
A metaphysical bubble surrounds the material plane of my world, which is like a separate plane in itself. Anything that wishes to travel to or from the material plane passes through it. I call it the Plane of Abstraction. People who physically travel through it are altered in form to resemble the contents of their soul. If you know A Link To The Past and how Link turned into a rabbit person in the Dark World, it's pretty much the same concept. The form a mortal takes when traveling through the Plane of Abstraction is based on alignment. Neutral Good would be bunny, while Chaotic Neutral would be wolf, and so on.
Druids are anarchists . . . you know what, you aren't getting any context on this one unless you ask specifically why :P
Especially random stuff: Trees are herded. Shellfish are raised in seaside ranches. Pears are used to make cider which is the most common alcohol in my world, rather than wine or mead. Giant otters are a more common mount than horses in some regions. Gods don't have names, only titles, and if you discover one's true name, they must grant you a wish. In truth, there are kobolds which still exist after the deaths of the dragons, but they are all chameleon kobolds, capable of turning invisible to keep themselves a secret. There's a church which worships technology called the Domain of Artifice, and it actually has more sway than some of the real religious organizations. Last, but absolutely not least, goblins: they have an irrational fear of sheep. Don't ask me why, because I don't know; I just thought it'd be a hilarious and obscure detail.
I love this world so much. It's a genius idea to add so many useless funny little details.
A true sign of a well-developed world: when you can answer super obscure questions about it, such as "what do your goblins fear?" "sheep, yes, I actually thought about it"
Goblinoids in my world hate (and fear) psionics.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
About 20 years ago after moving several times changing worlds with my original characters and later ones the originals were either into or approaching epic levels and had to either be retired or a world built for them to continue adventuring in. Initially this was a homebrew world but I found the time needed to maintain and deepen it was too great while working so they moved into an alternate FR setting. They arrived in 1363 DR and it is now 1492 DR in that world. As can be imagined a group of 25 epic or near epic PCs working together for over 100 years can have a significant impact. The 3 biggest pieces are that they and offspring run one of the largest trading companies in the world moving goods all over Faerun, they conquered Teshendale and expanded it to include Zhentil Keep, Phlan, and Hillsfar acting as a leader for the Dales but purposefully not taking the dales over, forming an alliance between Teshendale (& the Dales), Cormyr and Cormanthor that acted as a bulwark against Shade (& Sembia), and the lead epic PC rising to become a deity (had to happen eventually). The characters now act as NPC movers and shakers in the backgrounds behind published lore which moves the world along so I don’t have to create all that stuff just make it fit into the alternate.
A recent addition to things whichare different in my world is that Humans don't exist as a race - they are instead a representation of an intermingling of all the races of the world, and as such are often treated as inferior/mongrels by haughty races and can have accentuated features from any other race, such as humans with strong genasi blood being perhaps better in certain temperatures, or humans with dragonborn blood in them looking a little scaly or reflective, or goliath blood being taller.
This is partly to better represent their "average or feat" stats, so variant humans are ones with stronger bloodlines from certain ancestry, which will in turn give them their feats.
Nothics were once the favored servants of Nathiel, god of secrets. After they failed him, he cast them out, dooming them to wander, hungry for secrets that they no longer have.
Nothics were once the favored servants of Nathiel, god of secrets. After they failed him, he cast them out, dooming them to wander, hungry for secrets that they no longer have.
A bit of an odd one which has come up in my worldbuilding is that Dragons existed when the Dinosaurs were around, and they created the dinosaurs in their image (missing wings) to serve them. The extinction events of the dinosaurs were in fact a great war between the dragons and the dinosaurs, and resulted in much of the world being scoured clean with elemental dragonfire.
As such, fossils of dragons and dinos exist, and are often found with imprints of armour or weapons. It is a chapter in dragon history (Which is the oldest in the world, for obvious reasons) which bid the dragons to never again attempt to create life, only to work with what there is already.
As such, Dragonborn (who lack wings) may well be descended from a sect of dragon servants who were shielded from such events, or which were "illegally" created by dragons since then. Alternatively, they may even be descended from Dinosaurs.
A bit of an odd one which has come up in my worldbuilding is that Dragons existed when the Dinosaurs were around, and they created the dinosaurs in their image (missing wings) to serve them. The extinction events of the dinosaurs were in fact a great war between the dragons and the dinosaurs, and resulted in much of the world being scoured clean with elemental dragonfire.
As such, fossils of dragons and dinos exist, and are often found with imprints of armour or weapons. It is a chapter in dragon history (Which is the oldest in the world, for obvious reasons) which bid the dragons to never again attempt to create life, only to work with what there is already.
As such, Dragonborn (who lack wings) may well be descended from a sect of dragon servants who were shielded from such events, or which were "illegally" created by dragons since then. Alternatively, they may even be descended from Dinosaurs.
Dragonborn actually being descendants of Dinosaurs is a really cool worldbuilding thing. Also let's it make more sense how there is both Dragonborn and Half-dragons
Troglodytes, in my world, live beneath the streets of Glacierkeep, my central city. Many are employed in the Sanitation Department, though others claim that the department’s director is just trying to take control of the race or keep them docile. The humans who live in the main city are generally unaware of the thriving sewer society.
I made a new addition to my world of Azabas, and it's that kobolds, also known as Vawa, are good and have a travel-based society. Siblings in a Vawa clutch are as close as you can be, and when they come of age they travel around in familial groups, adventuring with their brothers and sisters and trading and selling. If you play a kobold in my world, you'll probably haggle and hoard stuff, and your backstory will have to include why you aren't with your siblings now...
Leveling is done through micro patrons. That way your peasants have to defend themselves while your away. I did this because I wanted to restore the meaning of forts,towers and castles. But nobody has played enough to see that much yet. I cannot balance or refine that witch does not exist accurately or did I.
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A true sign of a well-developed world: when you can answer super obscure questions about it, such as "what do your goblins fear?" "sheep, yes, I actually thought about it"
Goblinoids in my world hate (and fear) psionics.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
About 20 years ago after moving several times changing worlds with my original characters and later ones the originals were either into or approaching epic levels and had to either be retired or a world built for them to continue adventuring in. Initially this was a homebrew world but I found the time needed to maintain and deepen it was too great while working so they moved into an alternate FR setting. They arrived in 1363 DR and it is now 1492 DR in that world. As can be imagined a group of 25 epic or near epic PCs working together for over 100 years can have a significant impact. The 3 biggest pieces are that they and offspring run one of the largest trading companies in the world moving goods all over Faerun, they conquered Teshendale and expanded it to include Zhentil Keep, Phlan, and Hillsfar acting as a leader for the Dales but purposefully not taking the dales over, forming an alliance between Teshendale (& the Dales), Cormyr and Cormanthor that acted as a bulwark against Shade (& Sembia), and the lead epic PC rising to become a deity (had to happen eventually). The characters now act as NPC movers and shakers in the backgrounds behind published lore which moves the world along so I don’t have to create all that stuff just make it fit into the alternate.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
A recent addition to things whichare different in my world is that Humans don't exist as a race - they are instead a representation of an intermingling of all the races of the world, and as such are often treated as inferior/mongrels by haughty races and can have accentuated features from any other race, such as humans with strong genasi blood being perhaps better in certain temperatures, or humans with dragonborn blood in them looking a little scaly or reflective, or goliath blood being taller.
This is partly to better represent their "average or feat" stats, so variant humans are ones with stronger bloodlines from certain ancestry, which will in turn give them their feats.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Nothics were once the favored servants of Nathiel, god of secrets. After they failed him, he cast them out, dooming them to wander, hungry for secrets that they no longer have.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
Stealing that :D
I am also here.
Am snek.
A bit of an odd one which has come up in my worldbuilding is that Dragons existed when the Dinosaurs were around, and they created the dinosaurs in their image (missing wings) to serve them. The extinction events of the dinosaurs were in fact a great war between the dragons and the dinosaurs, and resulted in much of the world being scoured clean with elemental dragonfire.
As such, fossils of dragons and dinos exist, and are often found with imprints of armour or weapons. It is a chapter in dragon history (Which is the oldest in the world, for obvious reasons) which bid the dragons to never again attempt to create life, only to work with what there is already.
As such, Dragonborn (who lack wings) may well be descended from a sect of dragon servants who were shielded from such events, or which were "illegally" created by dragons since then. Alternatively, they may even be descended from Dinosaurs.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Dragonborn actually being descendants of Dinosaurs is a really cool worldbuilding thing. Also let's it make more sense how there is both Dragonborn and Half-dragons
I am also here.
Am snek.
Troglodytes, in my world, live beneath the streets of Glacierkeep, my central city. Many are employed in the Sanitation Department, though others claim that the department’s director is just trying to take control of the race or keep them docile. The humans who live in the main city are generally unaware of the thriving sewer society.
I made a new addition to my world of Azabas, and it's that kobolds, also known as Vawa, are good and have a travel-based society. Siblings in a Vawa clutch are as close as you can be, and when they come of age they travel around in familial groups, adventuring with their brothers and sisters and trading and selling. If you play a kobold in my world, you'll probably haggle and hoard stuff, and your backstory will have to include why you aren't with your siblings now...
I am an Arachpriest, Cat Cultist, Sauce Monk, Angel of Death, and First Spinjitzu Master.
I play Thirteen the necromancer elf, Timber the tabaxi child, and more at the tavern. Hope you like yams!
Oh yeah, don't forget to be kind and loving and stuff. Not on during weekends.
Leveling is done through micro patrons. That way your peasants have to defend themselves while your away. I did this because I wanted to restore the meaning of forts,towers and castles. But nobody has played enough to see that much yet. I cannot balance or refine that witch does not exist accurately or did I.