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Yo! Today, I'd like to talk about a golden opportunity that I've been given! As I've mentioned once or twice, I love Dungeons and Dragons (3.5 that is). I get to GM the next session (homework permitting) and I can't wait for the fun times to begin!
As I'm bursting to tell people, let me give you an overview of my wonderful world! The Grey Land is heavily inspired by the Mabinogion, a collection of Celtic myths and Lloyd Alexander's Prydian Chronicles, which is also inspired by the Mabinogion. The most famous work in the series is The Black Cauldron, but more on that later. This is just to provide context.
Some of the distinct areas are: The Western Cantrevs, Todenwald, Armorica, the Southern Plains, and the Holy City of Bathysphere.
The Cantrevs are a collection of small kingdoms, each about thirty by thirty miles or so, sometimes less. Each one is autonomous and is continually fighting with its neighbors. Technically speaking, the Cantrevs are ruled over by the High King, whose throne exists on an island about ten miles off the coast. When threatened from without, the Cantrevs band together with surprising speed under the High King's banner. The area is marked by a general lack of high-level evokers and flashy magicians, focusing more on illusionists and enchanters, with a divination or two thrown in. Despite the large amount of fighting that takes place in the Cantrevs, most of the NPCs there will be low level due to a rather high mortality rate. I'm planning on starting the party a few miles away from the Cantrevs, so that the four of them will be third level or so by the time they arrive.
The Holy City of Bathysphere is something like a cross between the Vatican and the United Nations, with a little bit of New York thrown in. Essentially, every established religion has a place there, each with its own district. The city itself is a neutral zone, but the area around it is often littered with smoking corpses. The problem is that when a Lawful Good cleric and a Chaotic Evil cleric run into each other, they'll invariable hurl insults, spells, and enchanted weapons at one another. Thankfully, the Chamberlain-Major had the brainwave of employing several thousand Vitzerburg Sturmtruppen as a police force, deterring even the most devout from nuking those around them. There are certain lawless zones in the city, generally in the alleys and slum areas, which are periodically leveled due to their lack of patrol. Chock-full of high-level NPC spellcasters, so probably not a place for low-level characters.
Speaking of the Vitzerburg Sturmtruppen, Vitzerburg is about sixty miles north of Bathysphere. Vitzerburg is equal parts Switzerland and Sparta. They're totally neutral, but have some of the best military hardware and troops in the world. To give an example, a standard trooper anywhere else is a level 1 commoner or warrior with the cheapest gear possible and a basic point build. Vitzers, on the other hand, are trained from birth, men and women, to revere the state and kill anything that moves. Thus, the standard Sturmtrupper is a level two fighter with an elite template, four feats, and over 2000gp of gear. How do they pay for all this? They're the best mercs on the continent, hands down, and hire out to the highest bidder. The PCs will encounter them from time to time, mostly as enemies, but only in small numbers and at higher levels.
The next area is Todenwald, a Transylvanian-themed area will all the bells and whistles. Vampires, ghouls, etc. Fortunately for the rest of the world, these guys keep their heads down and to themselves. The PCs will visit there later on, but won't actually run into too many of the inhabitants.
The Southern Plains are filled with rangers, barbarians and the like. They're extremely fertile, with a moderate climate and regular rainfall. Everyone knows this, of course, and kingdoms send invasion forces to try and colonize. They invariably fail due to barbarian attacks... and other things. Go south of the south, and you run into Yannivyn, a land of strange, Homebrew monsters and other creature the PCs know not wot of. Every so often, man-shaped things come out of Yannivyn, accurately intercept someone carrying potent magic items, and disappear back into the dead lands.
Nasty, to say the least.
 greenoracle · Thu Mar 04, 2010 @ 04:33am · 0 Comments |
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