INTRODUCTION Two hundred years ago on the continent of Norbis stood the holy empire of Tebaria. It was said that its royal lineage hailed from the apostle Lord Quinn himself. And who could deny their divine bloodlines? Certainly not the world. Only the most remote regions of Terra did not have at least indirect contact with the Tebarian Empire via trade. Its culture and art were as renown as its army was feared. Well fitted in both martial and arcane warfare, only its thinning of manpower kept the empire within its own island continent. As Tabaria settled its borders and focused inward, its people exported not only trade, but its cultures and ideas. Its gospel of Manus converted countless followers of the old gods to the new faith. Its ideas of a republic and individualism sparked revolutions. Its ideas and philosophers formulated perspectives even the stoutest scholars could not ignore. From an outsider looking in, Tebaria seemed like a true golden empire. Yet, even the powerful are not immune to catastrophe. A super volcano known as Moti Mountain began its once in an epoch eruption. All settlements within 200 miles were incinerated instantly. Further rained fire and acid. Not only was the continent of Norbis made uninhabitable, but the ash of Mt.Moti and countless other smaller volcanos covered a large portion of the world. Crops began to die, and starvation ensued. The desperate sought those better off in the less affected lands. Thus, war was inevitable. Borders shifted countless times and masses died or were displaced over the period of a hundred years. Towards the end of the war, a human scout by the name of Gael manage to escape pursuing enemy vessels by landing upon the believed desolate continent of Norbis. To his surprise, not only was the land breaming with life, but he also stumbled upon a strange material with arcane properties. Gael returned a magical stone to his nation of Alder for further research. It was eventually discovered that the stone may be a relic from the early formation of the world, and thus was named Primordium. This stone was not just a gimmicky relic of the genesis era however, for if refined properly, it could enable a common foot soldier to cast magic that would otherwise take a wizard years of study to master. Without hesitation, King Claudius of Alder began planning ways to colonize Norbis. While it was easy for Gael, his findings may have been pure luck. It was well known that fearsome creatures infamous for sinking vessels with ease were commonly spotted about Norbis' waters. Due to casualties from the war however, the kingdom of Alder could not afford loss of any more soldiers. Seizing the chance for glory, Gael volunteered to head the colonization of Norbis. He was assigned command of three vessels and given enough supplies and volunteers to lay the foundations of the settlement Gael named Galton. All was smooth sailing from the sea to the landing and finally the marking of what would be the new home for many optimistic settlers. A bizarre land with many possibilities laid before them. Oh if only it were that simple. A year after Galton was settled, rival nations become curious to Alderian vessels sailing back and forth from dangerous waters. Word made its way throughout neighboring kingdoms about an old continent reborn. Too did mercantile guilds who heard of riches lying in wait. From there, it was inevitable that rumor spread amongst the general populace of new land waiting to be settled. So, many small vessels from guilds, nation states, adventurous civilians, criminals, and refugees took their try at the dangers that lurked beneath the waves of Norbis. Many were overtaken by the horrors of the deep. Those who made it however, quickly took their stakes in the reborn world. Most vessels landed along the northwestern coast of Norbis. It was only a matter of time when the people of Galton discovered that they were not the only ones colonizing. While the various settlements kept to themselves for the most part, many skirmishes and territorial disputes broke out over the resources Norbis provided. A small-scale war almost broke out among the colonies. Gael, as a veteran of the second great war, did not desire another struggle between nations. So, Gael along with various associates called a negotiation amongst the colonies. After much arguing and petty squabbles, a temporary cease fire was agreed upon and some sections of lands divided. For the time being, the colonies of Norbis have settled into their own corner of the coast. Tensions are rising however, for the inevitable spark to reignite territory disputes is inevitable in due time. Here is where you, dear adventurer, enter the fray. Tell me, why did you make the dangerous trek to Norbis? Are you a criminal fleeing persecution? Perhaps a follower of Manus seeking to reclaim the holy land? A member of the cartographer's guild doing a dangerous job for substantial pay? Or are you a spy sent to keep your rivals in check? No matter your purpose, there are ruins of a lost kingdom to explore, alliances and rivalries to forge or severe, and mysterious land whose secrets await to be discovered! Its fate lies in your hands... INFO Welcome to Norbis! This a homebrew setting using a West March style of play. Here are some pointers for the game. This setting has its own PHB. NOTE The PHB is not 100% complete. Divino race is not finished in lore and stats. If you wish to play this race let me know and I will work with you on it. Class section is halfway done. Not too important but if your class/archetype is not on that list please get to me for any lore you may need or want to know for creating your character. Guilds section has not been started, but it is not too important since players can interact with and join guilds in game play. Once the previous 3 'To Do' items are done, I simply have to add images and make the doc look pretty. Without further ado, here's the link: <a href="https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rkDo1PqCS" rel="nofollow">https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rkDo1PqCS</a> For those who are unfamiliar with West March play: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGAC-gBoX9k" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGAC-gBoX9k</a> The one catch is that quests in and outside the three colonies are possible. It is still West March in the sense that players can completely ignore them and go out into the wilderness to explore at their heart's content. While there are factions and interests, there is no huge arching plot forcing the players down a certain path. In other words, this is a true sandbox. Some pointers for this game... This will be a mix between play-by-post and in person games. Play-by-post will be on our Discord server and used for mundane shopping and uneventful role play in town. This is to save time for in person sessions considering that West Marches has the potential to have many players adjusting to have time to play an in-person session. So, when a party leaves town to adventure or are on an important mission in town, we will use in person sessions. Where scheduling is concerned, I will admit here that my schedule can be a bit consuming between work and school. I also have a Co-DM but his time is also taken up by work and life in general. Our time zones are both US Est and our best times to run games are on weekends. Weekdays will be rare due to our schedule but I personally will notify the players should I ever be free on any day to run games. Direct Info for character creation Stats will be 4d6 drop the lowest, place what you get wherever you want. If you hate the stats you rolled, you can use 27 point buy. For rolls, I must see it in Roll20 or Discord or it doesn't count. The only races allowed are the ones mentioned in this setting's PHBs. Classes not on the list in the PHB you must run by me for approval or not. If it is in 5e's vanilla PHB it does not need approval. Classes from other D&D books, homebrew, or UAs require approval. If you die, your new character will be half your previous character's level (Rounded up). Sounds extreme but consider that there can be many players of differing levels playing this style of play. I use the background variant rule as mentioned on pg 125 in the 5e PHB under Customizing A Background. You can either take the default equipment given by your class or roll gold for your class as mentioned on pg 143 in the 5e PHB. I must see your roll either in Discord or Roll20 or it doesn't count. Taking a feat instead of a +2 when you gain and Ability Score Improvement is allowed. Once a week, I will may ask a lore/background question about your character. If I like it, I will give your character inspiration to be used in game. This inspiration die a d10 you can add to ANY of your rolls (It does not double on crits should it be used for damage). You can only use it on yourself and can only have one inspiration die at a time. HOW TO JOIN To join, simply answer the questions below about yourself and a character you may want to play (highly recommended to read the setting guide). This doesn't have to be the character you play as, it is just a character sample from you. How long have you played D&D? (New players are still welcome FYI) How old are you? What is your timezone? What times and days are you available to play? What do you expect to get out of this game? (Character) Where are you from? (Character) What is your history? (Character) What do you seek to gain or accomplish coming to Norbis? (Character) What are your thoughts of the gods/faiths? (Character) Anything else you would like to mention? If I am satisfied with your replied to the above questions, I will accept you when we have room for more players. That is all for now. Happy Gaming!