
Campaign Races and Regions I'll be posting basic information about the different races and regions in the campaign setting so that we have a bit more context about the places and peole in the game.. I'll be speaking VERY generally, so that all of the regions can remain open for future campaign development and so that the races aren't pigeon-holed to where players don't feel like they can have creative freedom with their own ideas to develop. ((( fair warning... I 'll delete posts that squeeze in between informational posts when I need to expand space or clean it up.. but I'll leave things where they are long enough for everyone to get up to speed and the conversation moves on... I'll cut/paste as quotes any post I remove... an effort to keep the relevant information at the front of the thread) BASICS ======= Eberras Campaign setting originally evolved out of a standing D&D campaign set in the Dark Sun setting( Athas ) that through a major event (diety level Wish spell gone wonky) was merged with the Eberron campaign setting. <a href="http://filkearney.deviantart.com/art/Eberras-Shattered-Continent-of-Khorvaire-446577459" rel="nofollow">http://filkearney.deviantart.com/art/Eberras-Shattered-Continent-of-Khorvaire-446577459</a> Dark Sun / Athas standard D&D gone Mad Max. it used to be just what you would expect. forrests, elves, dwarves with a hardon for gold etc etc. then some mage figured out they could use the lifeforce around them to power and supercharge their spells. the responsible ones (Preservers) drew this lifeforce without harming anything/anyone and function much like your standard mages. the powerhungry sociopaths (Defilers) would just consume the lifeforce, resulting in organic matter being turned to ash in a radius around them that scaled with the kind of effect they wanted to produce. for high end spells the best way to go about providing extra juice were sacrifices. drain a human being of life --> boost your spell by X levels or lower the DC of the ritual by X amount. in a completely unexpected turn of events this shit got out of hand realllll quick, turning the planet into a desert warzone and mages into people you're better off killing first and then interrogating later. Due to the harsh conditions, Athasian natives are tough. Your average Athasian dirtfarmer is probably as tough as your standard D&D orc. Clerics either worship the elements (air/earth/fire/water) or a specific outsider ( there are only a handfull of those around and usually at the center of one of the major cities. ) they all have their own agenda. high level clerics allow themselves to be posessed and manifest their god. in turn the outsiders grant their clergy spells. notable additions to playable races include ThriKreen (size medium praying mantises that have 4 arms, don't sleep, and love the taste of elf meat in a non-sexy way.) , Half-giants (exactly what it sounds like) , Muls (dwarf-human mix, usually bred for labor or the arena. think humansized dwarf w/out a beard. built like pro wrestlers.), and Aarakocra (humanoid birds. 5 ft tall, 20ft wingspan.). some standard races have adapted to the environment in delightful and terrifying ways. elves are now about 7' tall, nomadic, and can outrun a horse (think Mongols that don't need horses). Also all Halflings can be assumed to be feral. They may look unassuming but in reality they are cannibals that are the closest thing to the headhunters of New Guinea D&D has to offer. Eberron Steampunkesque D&D. high magic campaign setting plus integrated tech like flying ships, Warforged (souls bonded into living mechanical constructs). features characters that have dragonmarks that grant them special abilities. people with specific dragonmarks are organized into trade associations that take advantage of those abilities. if you can teleport x times a day chances are you're a member of the Eberron version of UPS. if you refuse to join the union there will be people sent out to go postal on you. a reoccurring event in the world is the opening of gates to other settings or planes and those being incorporated into the setting. the last time around the wheel of misfortune stopped at "Demons and assorted Cthulhu like beings". after a period of generally being monkeystomped into submission the Eberron druids rallied and set off the equivalent of a magical nuke, blowing up the core of the planet. the demons' reaction to that was "well ... that escalated quickly. nevermind. you guys are psycho. we're just gonna go home now. we got a thing.". the last remaining bastion of demon presence in the setting is in the aptly named Demon Wastes, but more of an outpost of general badness that hasn't gotten the memo that the cops busted the party and the kegs are dry anyway. as a result of the magical nuke the oceans were vaporized and the core of the planet is a chaotic magic field. the individual continents float on top of it, marine sealife adapted off of the edges and still lives and thrives. if they "swim" over the edge their ability to exist out of the ether/water runs dry (yes. pun.) in about an hour. so within an hour's swim of the continent edge you have a chance of getting a real life sharknado. off of the coast and in the vacuum affected by the mourning (chaos magic center of the planet) spell storms happen. much like a natural storm, but randomly determined magic effects get cast 4 times a round. which is awesome if you run into a "Summon Food" storm (rainy with a chance of meaballs) but you're more likely to get something along the lines of "Lightning Bolt" or "Summon Swarm". safe trade routes have been established and are being taken advantage of by the previously mentioned flying ships. which are regular ships with elementals bonded to them to power their propulsion. Eberras on Athas one outsider/local diety was able to grant wishes to her followers if sufficiently motivated through ritual. enough followers got together and after some deliberation and a long hard look at the clusterfuck of a planet they lived on they wished for "a better world". the obvious intention was to revert the world back to a pre-defiler state. water, vegetation, good times. this happened to coincide with the next cycle of Eberron world mergings and Athas got pulled into the Eberron setting instead. entire Athas city states and parts of continents merged with existing Eberron continents. massive culture shock ensued. Athas' red sun was pulled into the mourning and now acts as the center of the planet which is agitating the Mourning, spell storms, and the state of the ether seas. The major island-continents of the Shattered Continent of Khorvaire are: - Lhazaar Principalities . ruled by pirate princes - Valenar . Eberron Elves now cohabitating with.... - Kreen Nation . Athasian ThriKreen appeared and swarming both Valenar and Darguun - Darguun . the remnants of the hobgoblin dynasty - Breland . Eberron Magitech Humans - Aundair . Eberron Humans , south region now plagued by Athas city states Urik, Raam and Draj. - Eldeen Reaches . Eberron Humans , druids in charge of keeping the forest in check - Droaam . monster nation ruled by three medusas. all CR welcome. - Demon Wastes . site of the original demon incursion - Karnaath . human nation. undeath is a military tool there. - Thrane . human nation. knee-deep in athasians - Zilargo . gnomish center of innovation. Many Bad Ideas start here. - Mror Hold . dwarven nation. Their floating mountains will literally drop on a city if you piss them off.