Elements of Civilization

From AdamWiki

This page describes a fantasy setting for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. The setting unleashes a war between the gods and the primordials whom the gods banished at the beginning of time.

Overview

Your grandmothers and grandfathers knew a different world. There were vast networks of cities and villages, farms and ports, connected by good roads and shipping lanes. There were no monsters, except people. People of all sorts, of course, like humans and elves and dwarves and halflings, but none of the goblin folk or other worse things. There was a little magic back then, they say, but it was rare and wondrous. Maybe there were rumors about a wise woman who knew some old spells. The temple probably read ancient rituals out of the holy books.

All of civilization was crushed under the power of the elements: tidal waves, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and meteor storms smashed the world to ruins. Two generations later, people are starting to piece their world back together but nothing will ever be the same again. The places that used to be populated are the worst. So many deaths there created dark havens of undead. City became necropolis. The sea levels rose and many cities are half underwater anyway. Giant cracks opened in the earth and out poured creatures foul and profane -- demons, drakes, beholders.

The verses of the Path of the Torchbearers recount the mythological time when there was open war between gods and primordials. Some say that war has begun anew. Indeed, there are rumors that angels (good and evil) have fallen to earth and seek to lead the people in holy battle against the primordial intruders. If this is true, then the world will see a lot more violence before there is lasting peace.

Something else is changing. This new generation seems to have special powers unlike anything ever seen.

Beginnings

Player characters are citizens of a small feudal community called Maril's Fen. The town is a collection of about 200 diverse people, led by Baron Jiyer, who has sworn his sword to his liege, Duke Thrane of Tor Ionia. The population is mostly human, with a smattering of other races represented. The PCs are members of the special third generation of children born after the elemental destruction. Thus, their ages are between 13 and 20.

Last week, the Duke rode into town and demanded that Baron Jiyer provide 25 able soldiers. No family was left untouched, as everyone had to send a loved-one off to war. You were left behind and now find the rest of the town looking to you to care for Maril's Fen.

Why didn't you go to war? Here are some possibilities:

• Your family provided more than its share of soldiers already. Perhaps one or both of your parents, or some of your siblings, went instead of you. Maybe that was the natural thing to do (you were younger or not as equipped to go), but maybe one of them went in your stead to protect you, or because you had a destiny to fulfill.
• You were deemed unfit for war for some reason. Maybe you have a disability, or were very ill, or you have a dishonorable reputation.
• You provide special services to the village that make you too valuable to let go. Of course, if you ever choose to leave the town to adventure, the town will suffer without you. What makes you so valuable?
• You would have been chosen, but you were away from the village for some reason. How do you feel about that?
• You were chosen but you deserted the army (this will put you at a serious disadvantage).

What important person in your life did go to war? How do you cope with their absence?

What important persons in your life are still in Maril's Fen? What do they provide you that no one else can?

Races

Before the cataclysm, the various races of the world intermingled for trade and diplomacy but mostly they lived in their own lands. Sure, there was inevitable mixing at the borders, but mostly they kept to themselves. After the world fell apart, a lot of people were scattered far from their communities, or those communities fell apart. As people came together in groups out of necessity, often those groups were formed of diverse race and background.

This section talks about each PC race and their communities before and after the cataclysm.

Humankind

Dwarves

There was only one dwarven community before the disaster: the Stonehold of Karragm. This was one enormous city built into the inside walls of a giant caldera (an extinct, hollowed-out volcano). It's misleading to call the Stonehold a city, since it was so large. More fair is to call it a cluster of cities, all united by common geography and concerns. Each city in the cluster had a Lord Mayor to rule it, but Stonehold law was written by an Assembly of Honorable Beards, delegates chosen by each city to represent it.

Few escaped Stonehold alive. An army of giant ants led by a cruel demon lord marched into Karragm one day and killed many dwarves. Worst of all, many dwarves were subverted and changed into an obscene dwarf-ant hybrid race and enslaved to the service of evil. The Stonehold still stands but its inhabitants are a colony of seemingly mindless mutants. Surviving dwarves fled Karragm and ended up living among other races.

Elvenkind -- Elves, Eladrin, Halflings, and Half-Elves

These races were one and the same before the cataclysm. They lived in simple forest communities renowned for their craft work and libraries. It is believed that elvenkind knew of the disaster coming, and many fled into the feywild before they could be killed. Indeed, old enclaves seem to have vanished off the face of the earth. Some elvenkind stayed behind, though, or were left behind. Some enclaves chose to stay and fight.

The elven race seems to have split into three groups as they interbreed with humans and dwarves. The Elf race remains the "purest," if such things matter. When humans and elves breed, the child can be elven or eladrin. When humans and dwarves breed, the child is always a halfling. Half-elves are the product of human and eladrin parents. These races aren't exactly "new" since the cataclysm. Such interbreeding has occurred for as long as the races have known each other, and they weren't really considered "races" generally, but the names have stuck, often as pejoratives. The cataclysm has accentuated the differences between these races, especially now that they are manifesting magical powers.

The halfbreed races (Eladrin, Halfling, Half-Elf) are rare in society. They're generally treated poorly, but the people of Maril's Fen are practical and ignore their differences when life gets tough.

Offspring Races -- Divas, Tieflings, Dragonborn, and Goliaths

A number of "races" are really just rare individuals born of a normal parent and a supernatural parent. The normal parent can be human, dwarf, or any of the elvenkind races. The supernatural parent determines the PC's race. Angels beget divas. Devils beget tieflings. Dragons beget dragonborn. Earth elementals beget goliaths.

There is no community of divas anywhere. Sweet and simple, divas are the offspring of an angel and one of the other races. It might be an angel and a human, and angel and a dwarf, or whatever. The diva character probably doesn't know who both of his parents are. There might be a family story about father dying at war, or the diva may have grown up as an orphan. The diva looks like a normal member of his non-angel parent's race but has some kind of "tell," a feature that identifies his or her angelic background.

Similarly, tieflings are the offspring of devils and other races. Like divas, tieflings have infernal "tells" that belie their hellish backgrounds.

Dragonborn and goliaths are not so subtle in appearance. Many people consider them monsters and distrust them, since the enemy of society obviously runs through their blood.

New Races

Kenku are birdlike humanoids of different shapes and sizes. These rare individuals sport the heads of different birds: cardinals, bluejays, pelicans, and so on. Every one seems to be different. There is no specific "race" of kenku; rather, these seem to be unusual births with no rhyme or reason.

Prohibited Races

Generally, this campaign prohibits the races that are specific to other campaign settings (particularly if they are iconic features of a setting like Forgotten Realms or Eberron). The list of prohibited races includes:

• Shadar-Kai (Eberron)
• Warforged (Eberron)
• Changeling (Eberron)
• Kalashtar (Eberron)
• Genasi (Forgotten Realms) ??? maybe as fire or air elementals

This campaign prohibits three other races due to ill fit:

• Gnome
• Shifter
• Half-orc

Generally speaking, the only races available for PCs are those mentioned here in this document. Uncommon racial options presented in D&D 4E supplements (e.g., Bullywug) are not permitted.

Ideas

• Feats: Fire Touched, Air Touched, Earth Touched, Water Touched, etc. -- elemental feats that grant elemental powers
• Royalty Race Option: Swap out all racial powers for a new set of powers that make your character a royal leader. This opens new leadership feats.
• Air Elemental race of some kind. Maybe a Water Elemental.