So out of boredom I was messing with a map generator and got it in my head that I should make an entire world for a non-existent DND campaign. Since then I've been working on the cultures, who hates who etc.
Honestly what I'm hoping for is people to share ideas or just ask questions that'll force me to think of more details. So basically, here's Vesax
Orstad
-Oldest civilization - High elf
-Former empire
-Weak country now
-Beginning to expand
-Trading with boulder
-Trading with Ichan (Lots of tea and drugs)
-Small areas in Ichan are now "colonies"
-Used to control area from Current area to northern Ennesland and southern Darnia
-Fae worship is still the primary religion
Yeon
-Primarily human, very racist against "sub-humans" (centaur, lizard men, tabaxi, etc)
-Current largest Kingdom on the continent
-Began losing power 200-300 years ago
-Officers are extremely well equipped but common soldiers are poorly equipped
-Nobility still behaves like they're at the height of power.
-Legal slavery
-Deliberations on whether to attack Jinpo commonly circle among the nobility but many fear Ichan to their south.
-Still have very little power in the north where many Natives still live in nordic villages and power structures.
-Hold treaties with tribes in the north but have not held up recent conditions on their part, no actions have been taken by the northerners yet.
-Nobility is descended from several human countries from the Orstad empire
-Large magic school called Dremarths near the capital. Very selective
-Zealot sect that believe the kings line is descended from the Gods, formed the inquisition (exclusively employs aasimar)
-Religion is heavily policed and only sanctioned gods may be worshiped. Illegal worshipers are usually hunted and "punished" by the inquisition
-Primary gods worshiped: The Law Bearer - Erathis/ Dawn father
-Illegal gods: Raven queen/ Ioune/ Bahamut/ All Hammer/ Stormlord/ any demons or betrayer gods
-While strange, the worship of Bahamut was banned 50 years ago when a rebel group used him as their symbol
Sollons
-Mostly wood elf - claiming to uphold neutrality (Not true)
-Mountainous, easily defended
-Many mercenaries are technically independent but actually answer to the rulers
-Fertile valleys
-Growing (Insert fantasy drug)
-Growing Tea
-Mercenaries are common to come from there
-Primary god: Wild mother
Sykengland
-Large middle power, similar culture to Ennesland but less focus on magic
-Formerly part of the Orstad empire
-Mostly human, wood elf, and half-elf
-Contains a surprising number of centaurs (both living in cities and the wilds) that were mostly slaves used as beasts of burden during Orstads rule
-Locals tend to have darker skin tones (i.e. they're african american)
-Large farming culture
-God worship is variable but a focus on any that promote the harvest (Mix of nature gods and Fae)
Ennesland
-Former Orstad lands.
-Lead the revolt against Orstad empire a thousand years ago.
-Rumored to have a large influence with dark magics
-Strangely large number of Tieflings and Aasimar
-Contains Drexnerra school of the Arcane near Bilhus. The only school on the continent that
accepts warlocks as legitimate students.
-Largest library on the continent (Near the school)
-Was at war with Aanmaa but the war ended roughly 200 years ago. No one knows why the war ended. (Many conditions were not public due to Aanmaa's shadow governments involvement, Many of the teachers assist Eilistraee drow to fight the Lolth drow and craft magic items to create illusions for the drow. Some also assist the Lolth drow)
-Country is lead by the head of the magic school and *le gasp* a democratically voted leader (only one on the continent)
-All god worship is sanctioned (good and evil, even demons). The library is also a church to Ioune
Ichan
-Jungleish-dense mountains
-Extremely loyal and religious
-Mostly Yuan-ti
-Hostile towards other groups
-No expansion interest
-Isolationist culture
-Raid others
-Major class difference
-Sacrifice is common
-Trading with Orstad
-Growing tea and pepper and Silk
-Trades with Orstad for metals and sacrifices
-Contains small lizard folk and Grung tribes
-Religion is race and tribe based
Jinpo
-Country controlled by Flame Tooth pack.
-Mandatory conscription
-War culture
-35% Werewolf
-Former Legal slavery (recently liberated)
-At war with Ichan (Winning)
-Tense relationship with Sykenland and Yeon
-Mix of mostly human and orc (Little to no other races, large half-orc population)
-Former principalities ruled by yeon
-Former buffer between Yeon and Ichan
-Primary country trading with Sanu (mostly for dinosaurs and gunpowder in exchange for much more pure metals than are common in Sanu and furs) in exchange that they won't trade the same items with Yeon
-Religion allows most god worship but the two most common worshiped are: Gruumsh (Patron of the orcs)/ The red lady (An Archfey that gave the "blessing" to the Flametooth pack. She belongs to no known fey circle)
Jujan
-Vassal state kept independence by trading slaves
-Mostly Orcs
-Trying to expand along rivers as Yeon weakens
-Swampy, large number of rivers
-Gruumsh worship nearly universal
Boulder
-Giants Rule. Multi giant race alliance
-Fire giants lead military
-Storm giants perform most politics with other countries
hill/cloud giants grow and restore land to survivable conditions
-Very few snow giants
-Shepherd large mammals
-Trades with Orstad. Pushing back the Kobold horde and claiming lands
-Provide Orstad with soldiers in exchange for enchanted seeds to restore damaged land to agriculture
-Fights commonly break out between clans but never last long due to the massive Quintessent watching over their lands, quickly killing any that threaten their peace and leaving the sky with perpetual clouds
-None know who the Quintessent was before death. Many giants worship it as a new god or claim the Storm Lord is helping them, very few beyond the borders realize the perpetual storm is a living being and those who claim as such are called mad
-Primary worship is focused on most common giant deities but recently focus has shifted to the storm lord
Nier
-Mostly populated by kobold swarms.
-Cities ruled by dragons and kobold armies.
-Lost land to the Giants of boulder
-Moving north into Darnia
-Resources are scarce
-Kobolds here are often referred to as locusts due to the way they destroy the lands resources and swarm in the hundreds to thousands
-Several established "cities". Each ruled by a dragon (both good and bad) that constantly go to war with one another
-Trade roads pass through "goodly dragon" cities
-Named after an ancient red dragon said to be Tiamats consort, killed during Orstad era
-While some dragons are worshipped as gods by their kobold factions the most focus is on either Bahamut or Tiamat
Saanmaa
-Mostly forested and cold, lots of muskeg
-Heavy dark elf influence politics below ground
-kenku influence politics above ground
-Firbolg influence population
-Goliath military (Mostly in cities)
-The drow are split into two groups, half serving Lolth and the other half serving Ellistrae. Often they go to war with each other in secretive and quiet battles based around assassins and spies.
-A number of the towns have town wide spells that disguise any drow that enter into other elves with in the borders (Crafted by wizards in Ennesland) to protect those that choose to live above ground *mostly Eilistraee drow and spies for Lolth Drow
-Human face for ruler
-Each race has a primary god except the drow which are split between Lolth and Elistrae
Sanu
-The famed "eastern continent". Mostly human and dragon born other classic eastern races
-Large stream of refugees going into Yeon and Jinpo from Koi, a country that was recently conquered by Sanu leaving it the only country on the continent
-Warrior culture
-Massive calvary (dinosaurs)
-Growing Navy
-Soldiers can occasionally be seen in ports in Yeon and Jinpo offering rewards in exchange for Koi refugees
-Only Onmyōdō (mages) sanctioned by the ruler may practice magic. All others are executed on sight
-Emperor and royal families are Dragonborn
-Ivory dragons are a unit that answer to the emperor and will execute any they are sent after, regardless of how far they have to go (all dragon-born). They are often compared to Yeons inquisition however they do not take people alive and are purely sent to kill
-While many of the weapons crafted in Sanu are well made, impure metals resulted in few swords or pure metal weapons meaning only the elite could wield them but with recent trade to Jinpo they have had an influx of swords and other things strengthening their army even more
-Strong caste system
-Religion is limited and follow a Japanese style belief system
Koi
-Recently destroyed by Sanu
-Ruled by a council that had representatives sent by each clan
-Less than 10'000 Koilish left
-Refugees are being forced to live in slums around Yeon. Most can't afford to go further.
-Many that go to Jinpo are either forced to work in the military or sent back to Sanu in exchange for more resources. Others attempt to run into the countries past Jinpo (most don't make it)
-The Tsukiko Clan were the guardians of Koi and while many blame them for the fall others still look to them for protection. There are usually at least one or two members in each slum
-Unique werewolf pack that appear closer to foxes and lack the typical strength of their kind but have stronger magic (The Tsukiko Clan)
-Similar belief system to Sanu but believe the Tsukiko Clan were a gift from the gods. (Were actually created by an Archfey similar to the Red woman, called Kyuu)
-Each clan used a mask as a symbol. These are often worn by Sanu commanders as trophies
Looks interesting. I expect you are going to make more detailed maps of the countries later, when you do, make sure to add more cities and trade routes.
I also don't see any mountain ranges. Mountains, rivers, and other landmarks make good natural country borders.
This looks cool! I like how you have a basic overview of each region. If it makes sense to you, I think that's all that matters.
Having a better visual of the geography and differences in regional climate can force you to think how that affects the culture and customs of that area. Combine that with the other notes you have, then zooming in to detail certain areas can start painting a larger picture for you (this is similar to how I've created my homebrew world where I run all of my games).
Also, which map generator is this? I like the look of it for a large overworld view.
I know this sounds weird and maybe a bit mean but don't take this the wrong way.
When it comes to Hombrew classes, races, feats ect. that is one thing. When it comes to your own home brew campaign setting, it doesn't matter what we think it is your world that your love. No one here matters to much.
With that said i do have a few points to point out to you as a person that spent 12 years making destroying and remaking my own homebrew world.
Make sure you put in place the Political power and beliefs in each area of power.
Religious beliefs in an area weather they accept or what they deny and the penalty for that
The Major cities and capital cities basic Alignment and capital, population, Significant guards levels and classes main power people in the city be it eldritch power or political or monetary or crime syndicate power.
Does your world have a Syndicate of Crime? if so how does it effect the world?
What does each nation think of the other? How do they react to the other?
Did your world have wars that ravaged the lands and if so how did it affect the Lands, people, and relations?
With each race that is in Power do they have an agreement with the other races or do they fight back against them or do the parlay but at a drop of a hat they go to war? Example in my world of Alaria 2345 years prior to my players starting in the world there was a war of the races where Human, Elf, and Dwarf fought. The Elfs had a superb Air force with Air ships, the Humans wielded Magic, and the dwarfs had ground artillery, the war waged for 27 years before a peace was struck. Now the races of the world in the current time accept one another but they are always on guard. Because of the war the Crime Syndicates grew in power because of the distrust that had spread right after the war.
Does your world flow together and explain its creation and state it is in now?
Is travel applicable across your world? With everything condensed like it is how to neighboring countries feel about each other, think of Ebberon.
Do any of the nations or races hold a precious resource that keeps them valid
These are some question along with about 100 others that I kept asking my self. Like I said it isn't any of our reasons to tell you yay or nah on any of it, because we wont be playing in it. I was told by a friend of mine, make a world you would want to play in a setting that would excite you, but leave enough vague about it that you can mold it as the story develops. Let your players help you make the world pay attention to them and let their expressions or thoughts of fantasy fill in your world. It sounds stupid but it works.
lastly here are some good programs for a DM to use
Makes great maps has a free model and a pro model, the pro model has a monthly cost to it with online storage of maps you have made, but a great world map making software easy to pick up challenging to master but worth it. Been around for quit some time now.
Also makes amazing maps for world building and just an over all easy program to grasp. Has a one time purchase of 30 dollars and that is all so no free version. Is on the same level as Inkarnate just a little newer to the scene so there are still stuff being added to it, but still well worth it.
Then if you go to Steam you can pick up Dungeon Painter studio, has a great interface can take a little bit to learn how to make really detail orientated maps but works great even at the basic level
I use all these tools as I run games in Roll 20 and FG, I do 3 games a week, D&D game, Call of Cthulhu game, and a VtM and I use all those tools for those games and have been a great thing since I don't run games anymore in person since I live in BFE. and I can't really use my Dwarven Forge shit anymore LOL. Oh and DnD Beyond has been an amazing tool for creating custom monsters and what not. Most of my homebrews are up for everyone to see. Some are specific to my world but can be used anywhere.
Any how hope all the information helps you make the best world for your group and you.
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So out of boredom I was messing with a map generator and got it in my head that I should make an entire world for a non-existent DND campaign. Since then I've been working on the cultures, who hates who etc.
Honestly what I'm hoping for is people to share ideas or just ask questions that'll force me to think of more details. So basically, here's Vesax
Orstad
-Oldest civilization - High elf
-Former empire
-Weak country now
-Beginning to expand
-Trading with boulder
-Trading with Ichan (Lots of tea and drugs)
-Small areas in Ichan are now "colonies"
-Used to control area from Current area to northern Ennesland and southern Darnia
-Fae worship is still the primary religion
Yeon
-Primarily human, very racist against "sub-humans" (centaur, lizard men, tabaxi, etc)
-Current largest Kingdom on the continent
-Began losing power 200-300 years ago
-Officers are extremely well equipped but common soldiers are poorly equipped
-Nobility still behaves like they're at the height of power.
-Legal slavery
-Deliberations on whether to attack Jinpo commonly circle among the nobility but many fear Ichan to their south.
-Still have very little power in the north where many Natives still live in nordic villages and power structures.
-Hold treaties with tribes in the north but have not held up recent conditions on their part, no actions have been taken by the northerners yet.
-Nobility is descended from several human countries from the Orstad empire
-Large magic school called Dremarths near the capital. Very selective
-Zealot sect that believe the kings line is descended from the Gods, formed the inquisition (exclusively employs aasimar)
-Religion is heavily policed and only sanctioned gods may be worshiped. Illegal worshipers are usually hunted and "punished" by the inquisition
-Primary gods worshiped: The Law Bearer - Erathis/ Dawn father
-Illegal gods: Raven queen/ Ioune/ Bahamut/ All Hammer/ Stormlord/ any demons or betrayer gods
-While strange, the worship of Bahamut was banned 50 years ago when a rebel group used him as their symbol
Sollons
-Mostly wood elf - claiming to uphold neutrality (Not true)
-Mountainous, easily defended
-Many mercenaries are technically independent but actually answer to the rulers
-Fertile valleys
-Growing (Insert fantasy drug)
-Growing Tea
-Mercenaries are common to come from there
-Primary god: Wild mother
Sykengland
-Large middle power, similar culture to Ennesland but less focus on magic
-Formerly part of the Orstad empire
-Mostly human, wood elf, and half-elf
-Contains a surprising number of centaurs (both living in cities and the wilds) that were mostly slaves used as beasts of burden during Orstads rule
-Locals tend to have darker skin tones (i.e. they're african american)
-Large farming culture
-God worship is variable but a focus on any that promote the harvest (Mix of nature gods and Fae)
Ennesland
-Former Orstad lands.
-Lead the revolt against Orstad empire a thousand years ago.
-Rumored to have a large influence with dark magics
-Strangely large number of Tieflings and Aasimar
-Contains Drexnerra school of the Arcane near Bilhus. The only school on the continent that
accepts warlocks as legitimate students.
-Largest library on the continent (Near the school)
-Was at war with Aanmaa but the war ended roughly 200 years ago. No one knows why the war ended. (Many conditions were not public due to Aanmaa's shadow governments involvement, Many of the teachers assist Eilistraee drow to fight the Lolth drow and craft magic items to create illusions for the drow. Some also assist the Lolth drow)
-Country is lead by the head of the magic school and *le gasp* a democratically voted leader (only one on the continent)
-All god worship is sanctioned (good and evil, even demons). The library is also a church to Ioune
Ichan
-Jungleish-dense mountains
-Extremely loyal and religious
-Mostly Yuan-ti
-Hostile towards other groups
-No expansion interest
-Isolationist culture
-Raid others
-Major class difference
-Sacrifice is common
-Trading with Orstad
-Growing tea and pepper and Silk
-Trades with Orstad for metals and sacrifices
-Contains small lizard folk and Grung tribes
-Religion is race and tribe based
Jinpo
-Country controlled by Flame Tooth pack.
-Mandatory conscription
-War culture
-35% Werewolf
-Former Legal slavery (recently liberated)
-At war with Ichan (Winning)
-Tense relationship with Sykenland and Yeon
-Mix of mostly human and orc (Little to no other races, large half-orc population)
-Former principalities ruled by yeon
-Former buffer between Yeon and Ichan
-Primary country trading with Sanu (mostly for dinosaurs and gunpowder in exchange for much more pure metals than are common in Sanu and furs) in exchange that they won't trade the same items with Yeon
-Religion allows most god worship but the two most common worshiped are: Gruumsh (Patron of the orcs)/ The red lady (An Archfey that gave the "blessing" to the Flametooth pack. She belongs to no known fey circle)
Jujan
-Vassal state kept independence by trading slaves
-Mostly Orcs
-Trying to expand along rivers as Yeon weakens
-Swampy, large number of rivers
-Gruumsh worship nearly universal
Boulder
-Giants Rule. Multi giant race alliance
-Fire giants lead military
-Storm giants perform most politics with other countries
hill/cloud giants grow and restore land to survivable conditions
-Very few snow giants
-Shepherd large mammals
-Trades with Orstad. Pushing back the Kobold horde and claiming lands
-Provide Orstad with soldiers in exchange for enchanted seeds to restore damaged land to agriculture
-Fights commonly break out between clans but never last long due to the massive Quintessent watching over their lands, quickly killing any that threaten their peace and leaving the sky with perpetual clouds
-None know who the Quintessent was before death. Many giants worship it as a new god or claim the Storm Lord is helping them, very few beyond the borders realize the perpetual storm is a living being and those who claim as such are called mad
-Primary worship is focused on most common giant deities but recently focus has shifted to the storm lord
Nier
-Mostly populated by kobold swarms.
-Cities ruled by dragons and kobold armies.
-Lost land to the Giants of boulder
-Moving north into Darnia
-Resources are scarce
-Kobolds here are often referred to as locusts due to the way they destroy the lands resources and swarm in the hundreds to thousands
-Several established "cities". Each ruled by a dragon (both good and bad) that constantly go to war with one another
-Trade roads pass through "goodly dragon" cities
-Named after an ancient red dragon said to be Tiamats consort, killed during Orstad era
-While some dragons are worshipped as gods by their kobold factions the most focus is on either Bahamut or Tiamat
Saanmaa
-Mostly forested and cold, lots of muskeg
-Heavy dark elf influence politics below ground
-kenku influence politics above ground
-Firbolg influence population
-Goliath military (Mostly in cities)
-The drow are split into two groups, half serving Lolth and the other half serving Ellistrae. Often they go to war with each other in secretive and quiet battles based around assassins and spies.
-A number of the towns have town wide spells that disguise any drow that enter into other elves with in the borders (Crafted by wizards in Ennesland) to protect those that choose to live above ground *mostly Eilistraee drow and spies for Lolth Drow
-Human face for ruler
-Each race has a primary god except the drow which are split between Lolth and Elistrae
Sanu
-The famed "eastern continent". Mostly human and dragon born other classic eastern races
-Large stream of refugees going into Yeon and Jinpo from Koi, a country that was recently conquered by Sanu leaving it the only country on the continent
-Warrior culture
-Massive calvary (dinosaurs)
-Growing Navy
-Soldiers can occasionally be seen in ports in Yeon and Jinpo offering rewards in exchange for Koi refugees
-Only Onmyōdō (mages) sanctioned by the ruler may practice magic. All others are executed on sight
-Emperor and royal families are Dragonborn
-Ivory dragons are a unit that answer to the emperor and will execute any they are sent after, regardless of how far they have to go (all dragon-born). They are often compared to Yeons inquisition however they do not take people alive and are purely sent to kill
-While many of the weapons crafted in Sanu are well made, impure metals resulted in few swords or pure metal weapons meaning only the elite could wield them but with recent trade to Jinpo they have had an influx of swords and other things strengthening their army even more
-Strong caste system
-Religion is limited and follow a Japanese style belief system
Koi
-Recently destroyed by Sanu
-Ruled by a council that had representatives sent by each clan
-Less than 10'000 Koilish left
-Refugees are being forced to live in slums around Yeon. Most can't afford to go further.
-Many that go to Jinpo are either forced to work in the military or sent back to Sanu in exchange for more resources. Others attempt to run into the countries past Jinpo (most don't make it)
-The Tsukiko Clan were the guardians of Koi and while many blame them for the fall others still look to them for protection. There are usually at least one or two members in each slum
-Unique werewolf pack that appear closer to foxes and lack the typical strength of their kind but have stronger magic (The Tsukiko Clan)
-Similar belief system to Sanu but believe the Tsukiko Clan were a gift from the gods. (Were actually created by an Archfey similar to the Red woman, called Kyuu)
-Each clan used a mask as a symbol. These are often worn by Sanu commanders as trophies
Looks interesting. I expect you are going to make more detailed maps of the countries later, when you do, make sure to add more cities and trade routes.
I also don't see any mountain ranges. Mountains, rivers, and other landmarks make good natural country borders.
This looks cool! I like how you have a basic overview of each region. If it makes sense to you, I think that's all that matters.
Having a better visual of the geography and differences in regional climate can force you to think how that affects the culture and customs of that area. Combine that with the other notes you have, then zooming in to detail certain areas can start painting a larger picture for you (this is similar to how I've created my homebrew world where I run all of my games).
Also, which map generator is this? I like the look of it for a large overworld view.
AdmiralChry's Homebrew Compendium - A collection of all my classes, subclasses, magic items, and etc.
https://azgaar.github.io/Fantasy-Map-Generator/
Thank you for the advice, unfortunately the map isn't very clear with geography and some of the finer points don't show up on the map
I know this sounds weird and maybe a bit mean but don't take this the wrong way.
When it comes to Hombrew classes, races, feats ect. that is one thing. When it comes to your own home brew campaign setting, it doesn't matter what we think it is your world that your love. No one here matters to much.
With that said i do have a few points to point out to you as a person that spent 12 years making destroying and remaking my own homebrew world.
These are some question along with about 100 others that I kept asking my self. Like I said it isn't any of our reasons to tell you yay or nah on any of it, because we wont be playing in it. I was told by a friend of mine, make a world you would want to play in a setting that would excite you, but leave enough vague about it that you can mold it as the story develops. Let your players help you make the world pay attention to them and let their expressions or thoughts of fantasy fill in your world. It sounds stupid but it works.
lastly here are some good programs for a DM to use
https://inkarnate.com/
Makes great maps has a free model and a pro model, the pro model has a monthly cost to it with online storage of maps you have made, but a great world map making software easy to pick up challenging to master but worth it. Been around for quit some time now.
https://www.wonderdraft.net/
Also makes amazing maps for world building and just an over all easy program to grasp. Has a one time purchase of 30 dollars and that is all so no free version. Is on the same level as Inkarnate just a little newer to the scene so there are still stuff being added to it, but still well worth it.
Then if you go to Steam you can pick up Dungeon Painter studio, has a great interface can take a little bit to learn how to make really detail orientated maps but works great even at the basic level
I use all these tools as I run games in Roll 20 and FG, I do 3 games a week, D&D game, Call of Cthulhu game, and a VtM and I use all those tools for those games and have been a great thing since I don't run games anymore in person since I live in BFE. and I can't really use my Dwarven Forge shit anymore LOL. Oh and DnD Beyond has been an amazing tool for creating custom monsters and what not. Most of my homebrews are up for everyone to see. Some are specific to my world but can be used anywhere.
Any how hope all the information helps you make the best world for your group and you.