So, just as the title says, let us make a homebrew world for Dungeons and Dragons (and depending on how well this goes, there might be a follow-up story to go along w/ the newly created world)! I feel that this site is rapidly growing and already has a large enough size of both players and DM's alike and each one brings their own creative spirit to the table. Why not take advantage of that and use that spirit to create a whole new world?

Now, how we shall proceed to do this is set up the first continent named Obor (there will eventually be 6 continents including the poles). Obor has three major countries residing within it and on this forum we will create one of them, filling it with towns, forests, characters and life!

The first nation we'll be creating is Iorumul, a mystic land filled with many large mountains and dense forests, Iorumul is an Elven nation that cherishes nature. This belief can be found in their pantheon of gods all based off of some form of nature and the Wood and High elves that reside here often worship Vishnu as the creator god (Vishnu is the only non-player created god). Iorumul is filled with monasteries of many kinds.

What needs to be done:

• Cities and Towns
  
  • Economy/National Trade
  • Shops/Inns
• Form of Government
  • Rulers
• Pantheon
  • Gods of nature
• Important Characters
• Geographic Locations
  • Mountains
  • Rivers
  • Forests
• Faction/Monastic Order

How do I help?

It's quite simple really. You pick something that hasn't been done (say, a new god for example) and you make a post about it. The same goes with everything else. Everything will be placed onto a map later and will be released if/when we begin working on the second nation.

As for the form of government, post your ideas of what you think it should be and why and, once we've established what type of government Iorumul will be, we'll create Important Characters to go with it. However, you may create a faction/monastic order (which there are many of in Iorumul) as you wish and may make important characters to go along with those factions.

Thank you and lets have some fun!

We are doing this exact thing on my new podcast. In one of our segments, each of us comes into the show with our world and gives a little about what we've designed and our thought process behind why we picked it. So this is a great idea, and I look forward to seeing what folks come up with for this thread.

Faction:

Gnil Feit

Led by Quinn Gygax a paladin of Illmaeter  and his wife Melisandra.

A group of Tiefling who are trying to find a place in the world where they will be viewed as equals and are no longer outcasts. They believe no one should be left behind so they are petitioning the government for land and recognition.

Quote from Quin_The_Tiefling >>

Faction:

Gnil Feit

Led by Quinn Gygax a paladin of Illmaeter  and his wife Melisandra.

A group of Tiefling who are trying to find a place in the world where they will be viewed as equals and are no longer outcasts. They believe no one should be left behind so they are petitioning the government for land and recognition.

The Quorssysn Mountains

The Quorssysn Mountain is a long range of mountains that extends along the western border of Iorumul. While it would be easy to assume that the mountain range acts as a natural border to their neighbor nation on the west, nothing could be farther from the truth. The mountain range is plagued with dark creatures, ravenous for flesh. They fly through the skies on the blackest of nights, their shrieks alone having been known to stop the hearts of the elderly, due to the pure terror it invokes. Several adventuring parties have been hired by the nation to find the source of the zak'ninyon (for thus have they been called in the Elvish tongue, translating to "winged haunts"), but all have disappeared, save a lone member of an adventuring party who returned several years ago, driven mad by some fell power. After nearly murdering a fellow tavern drinker shortly after his return, he was thrown in the city jail of Rasniirn, a large village bordering the Quorssysn Mountains, and most often plagued by the zak'ninyon. If you can get a guard drunk enough, he might tell you of the few coherent things the elf says... mutterings of tunnels that riddle the entire mountain range, a never ending maze, and a hole, that descends into insanity itself.

The mountains were not always plagued by the zak'ninyon. Long ago, a city was nestled in a valley, hidden in the mountains, acting as a trading hub between the neighbor nation on the west and Iorumul. No known written history exists to explain what brought the zak'ninyon out onto the surface world, but there are scholars who have dedicated their life's work towards discovering what brought such abominations from the depths of the earth, and some suspect clues might be found within the ruins of that city. Likewise, Alet'tar, one of the more prominent merchant guilds based out of Iorumul, would pay a handsome bounty, either in treasure, land, or prestige, if the old road could be secured and provide safe passage for their merchant caravans once again with the neighbor nation on the west.

This is what I had in mind when visualizing the zak'ninyon:

You'd probably have better luck getting a group of people to do this if you posted it on giantitp.com, under their world-building section.

So for Illmaeter in a more nature based world he would probably be the god of prey, so maybe he would be symbolized by a bighorn sheep as they are preyed upon a lot. Perhaps a better name would be Illain.

Maybe they are in Elven lands because they feel like the elves are more accepting of outcasts. Or because they believe that they would be more safe with the territory due to better shelter.

When I picture an Elven Kingdom I imagine that the government would be separate power between three royal families. A High elf, wood elf, and Drow family each representing their line. I imagine that the Lord and Lady of each family would on occasion meet at a central palace to make decisions, but for the rest of the time stay at their own estates.

In the case of this government structure the Tieflings would probably petition hardest the drow followed by the High Elves then the Wood Elves.

As for a former homeland. Perhaps they are all from all over the world, come together to escape persecution. Or, they had lands elsewhere but were driven away by dwarves or humans who didn't trust the Tieflings . 

Quote from Quin_The_Tiefling >>

So for Illmaeter in a more nature based world he would probably be the god of prey, so maybe he would be symbolized by a bighorn sheep as they are preyed upon a lot. Perhaps a better name would be Illain.

Lake Urthellis

Located near the center of Iorumul, Lake Urthellis is known as the "Prismatic Lake", as when it is lit by the rising sun it exhibits all of the known colors in a brilliant gradation emanating from the center of the lake. 3 Major rivers, the Yesh'wein, Cobaltix, and Promini, end at Lake Urthellis; several smaller tributaries end here as well. The lake is home to several cities around its edges, and is a major traffic way for goods being moved along the river channels from other parts of the country. It is also a major source of fishing, which the citizens take great pride in. The fish that are caught in the lake are some of the biggest of all the fresh water fish in the land, it is quite a treat to taste a Rash'tan Gill pulled fresh from the waters of the Urthellis, and cooked over an open flame.

The lake, despite its glowing reputation in current times, does hold a dark secret from it's past however. The Urthellians that live on the lake do not typically care to talk about the subject, and usually won't budge when pried for information. However on drunken summer evenings some of  the older citizens will loosen their tongues to bribes and tell stories from the history of the lake, particularly how in it's depths lay "a land beyond" filled with monstrous horrors of the deep. If the bribe were large enough, or the wine poured long enough, you might even find one who mentions The Quenching. Though for someone to describe what happened during this obviously terrifying time in history would be very rare as it is more than tale of a boogeyman, and more of a shameful secret that the Urthellians hope to bury in their past as soon as the last of those who lived during that period, fade into history alongside it. 

ATILIND: An island in the Nellinion sea.  Half of the island is a dry beach with somewhat desert-like conditions with very shallow rivers of salt-water moving through the land with the tide.  The other half is the mountain range, Mount Wyntem.  This mountain is home to mountain dwarves who have been able to mine large amounts of ore, which sustains any of the towns and cities such as Veit's Peak and the cold Bolp town, named after Bolp Silverforge, the Dwarf who mapped any inhabitable areas of the island with a small expedition crew.  After the town was founded, the expedition team mysteriously disappeared one after the other.  Thus, the island's government hired a human wizard by the name of Liviquin to solve this case, and when she could not solve it, was kept around for protection in case of more disappearences.  

ILLITHIDS: Far from the farthest settlements on the island, is a cave with a portal to many Mind Flayer abodes.  The expedition crew was taken through these portals after they attempted to map the caves, stumbling upon the portals.  They were able to escape due to the help of a mysterious benefactor's portal off of the island.  The crew still went back to the island and only went as far as Bolp town.  This would be there undoing.  Knowledge of the island was extracted from the brains of the crew and now is added to the collective knowledge of the Mind Flayers.  Liviquin is supposed to keep any dwarves from moving into the territory of the cave while under the full control of the Mind Flayers.

Faction:

The Elves of the Dawn Drow who have come up to the upper world to try to live in peace. Most prominently found in the southeast. Led by the descendants of Taresh Drowfriend, a wood elf who gave the Drow a second chance. Character classes generally include Monk, Druid, Sorcerer, Ranger, and Paladin.

Geography:

The Dark Mirror A mirror of polished black crystal, several miles long. Made by the ancients, it stands in the north, and some say great beasts and horrible monsters dwell here, having come from other worlds.

 Iorumul, a mystic land filled with many large mountains and dense forests, Iorumul is an Elven nation that cherishes nature. This belief can be found in their pantheon of gods all based off of some form of nature and the Wood and High elves that reside here often worship Vishnu as the creator god

• Cities and Towns - Being particularly attuned with nature, Iorumul- built cities are very few in number indeed, with less than a dozen of note. Cities are particularly well-regimented and highly planned, designed to both be one with nature as well as keep civilization contained within well-defined city limits. Plant life grows closely between stucutures, giving a feeling like living in a garden, park, or in the case smaller towns and villages, like the town is in the forest. Towns and cities are both highly self-sufficient, however smaller towns, villages, and hamlets are often hidden in plain sight, with structures being primarily defended with particularly robust illusion magic making them all but invisible to unwanted passers-by. Visitors may be granted a form of truesight to see past the illusions, if granted by a resident of good standing, a bit like security key, or visitor pass. Life within a Iorumul city, town, village or home is as much an experience as it is a functional center for civilization.
  
  • Economy/National Trade -  Large-scale factories are almost unheard of, however production of goods is handled by guilds and individual workshops allowing for a surprisingly decentralized manufacturing base. On the other side of this, goods' exact specifications and designs can vary quite a lot as each workshop will make things slightly differently, and elvish nature tends to encourage elves to add their own twists from time to time - however a longsword will still be a longsword, and grain, grain. Goods are also usually of much higher baseline quality, but with noticeably less inventory, specifically for complex goods.
  • Shops/Inns - A player's experience will be determined by where they are. Within the cities, there is a much more typical 'city' experience just with more greenery than your average city, while smaller, out-of-the-way towns and villages may not show up for a party of adventurers and if they do, may take a little while to warm up or deem them trustworthy. A small village shop is much more likely to have at least a small number of exceptionally-high-quality items, courtesy of local artisan production, but will also vary greatly for what exactly a shop stocks based on the location and nearby resources. Shop clerks throughout Iorumul are however, much more willing to accept trades and barter for goods compared to typical shops and may be willing to lower prices for causes they deem worthy owing to the elvish nature of an interesting deal being worth a bit more than a profitable deal, (though both would be ideal). Inns are fairly typical as well, though also tend to double as locations for local officials to keep an eye on foreigners and travellers, and make sure thy don't get into (or cause) too much trouble. 
• Form of Government
  • Rulers - The nation is generally ruled via council, with smaller villages having a primary mayor. Towns tend to have a smaller elected councils and representatives, though exact structures are fairly loose and may also have elected officials, or even be managed by private companies or guilds, with even a few monasteries being large or influential enough to have some sway of their own. Within cities, trade officials tend to be fairly wealthy as the demand for both cheap mass-produced goods, as well as exotic goods is fairly high, as well as exports to other nations, particularly of high-quality goods, lumber, 
• • Gods of nature - [TBD]
• Important Characters- {TBD]
• Geographic Locations
  • Mountains - the location of primarily mines and a few of the more secluded monasteries - these mountains are also home to at least one town with winter-wood lumber exports, regrown magically in such a way that only the outermost section of the forest is cultivated. Few come back from the deep forests, and those who do appear to have gone mad...  
  • Rivers- the highways and lifeblood of the empire, river barges and boats can frequently be found shuttling produce, people, and products to and fro. Rivers tend to branch out into lakes and smaller rivers in turn, allowing for fairly private and easy access to interior locations 
  • Forests - Many of the forests are both inhabited, and uninhabited. Many small villages can be found within the forests, hidden from nosy travelers, and tend to have the surrounding areas mostly untouched. The end effect results in islands of civilization, surrounded by nature, connected by relatively well-maintained trails and a few proper roads. A few areas in Iorumul are forbidden or otherwise discourage people from venturing into whether because they are sacred areas, are filled with dangerous creatures, or are designated nature preserves is anyone's guess - but those who know why are hesitant to share. 
  • Faction/Monastic Order - Within Iorumul lies a somewhat mysterious order -  Considered to be nothing more than assassins, the [TBD] is a close-knit, but wide-spread order dedicated to protecting the most precocious sites and people. Unlike many guardian orders, the [TBD] order takes a proactive stance against threats, ending them before hostile plans come to fruition, quickly and quietly - and most importantly, deniably.  Funded and directed by heads of state, but still officially independent the [TBD] organizes small, elite strike teams to 'solve' problems at the behest of officials.