Falling Empire setting

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

Per Jasin's request, here's an overview of my current D&D setting.

CONCEPT

The setting concept is "D&D fantasy during the fall of the Roman
Empire." Geography and world events loosely follow Mediterranean history
circa AD 400, but historical accuracy is a low priority, and most
setting elements use D&D versions of the real thing: The "Romans" are
dwarves, technology is the usual anachronistic Renfaire mix, magic is
real and uses D&D rules (including psionics), etc. The ultimate goal is
stock D&D with cool stuff borrowed from history.

THEOGONY (BIRTH OF THE GODS)

Dwarves and hobgoblins believe that the universe began with several
primordial gods. (Goblin names are in parentheses). The first gods
emerged spontaneously from nothingness, then created the rest of the
primordial gods and, eventually, the contemporary gods.

Chaos (Xaos or Aer): goddess of void, air, and mists
Tellus (Gaia): goddess of the earth
Tartarus (Tartaros): god of oblivion and the underworld
Amor (Eros): god of creation, love, and lust
Chronus (Xronos): god of time
Necessitas (Ananke or Adrasteia): goddess of inevitability
Erebus (Erebos): god of darkness and shadow
Nox (Nyx): goddess of the night
Aether (Aither): god of light
Dies (Hemera): goddess of the day
Uranus (Ouranos): god of the sky
Pontus (Pontos): god of the seas
Numina Montanum (Ourea and Nesoi): mountains and islands
Oceanus (Okeanos): god of the ocean
Tethys (Tethys): sources of fresh water

Most dwarves believe that Chaos, Tellus, Tartarus, and Amor were the
first gods, but a few cults believe that Chronus and Necessitas created
the others. I'll stick with the mainstream belief here. Chaos appeared
first, with Tellus and Tartarus following shortly after. Later, Erebus
and Nox emerged from Chaos. (There's some confusion about whether Nox is
Erebus's sibling or daughter.) Amor encouraged love between Erebus and
Nox, and they became the first mates, conceiving Aether and Dies. Tellus
created companions of her own: Uranus, Pontus, and the mountains (some
of which fell into the sea and became islands). She took Uranus as a
mate and conceived Oceanus and Tethys.

Note that hobgoblins draw a distinction between Xaos's roles as goddess
of the formless void (i.e., D&D chaos) and as goddess of the empty air.
The use the name "Aer" for the latter. Dwarves, however, typically lump
both aspects together (probably because they see the surface world as
hopelessly chaotic).

Other races have different beliefs, although there are many parallels.
I'll detail those later if I get a chance.

COSMOLOGY

The material world is a great globe, of finite but unknown size. Air
fills the upper half of the globe, and earth fills the lower half. Deep
water separates the two, except for a (relatively) small circle of earth
in the center. A great fire heats the southern end of the globe, leaving
the northern end cold. The outside of the globe is likewise divided,
with positive energy above and negative energy below.

Some gods dwell in the material world, far from the land of mortals --
in the clouds, under the earth, in the fiery south, and in the frozen
north. For example, most dwarves believe that Pluto, Hades, and Hel are
all aspects of the same god, living in a Chthonian realm. Unfortunately,
the distances involved are too great for mortals to locate the gods'
homes precisely. (Astral travel can get you there -- see below -- but
it's impossible to judge distance or direction there.)

The positive and negative energy both permeate the material world,
creating bright light at the upper boundary and shadow at the lower
boundary. Inside the globe, they form the ethereal plane and the shadow
plane. These transitional planes permit spirits to pass from the
material world to the underworld. (Some are reluctant to leave.)

A few other planes also intersect the material world. Most are difficult
to reach, inhospitable to living creatures, or both. Many appear to be
distorted copies of the material world. Scholars generally that the
astral plane is an alternate universe where the gods never emerged; it
seems to contain the raw stuff that became chaos and time in the
ordinary world.

While each culture has its own beliefs about death, almost all dead
souls follow a common pattern. Spirits of the dead transition to the
plane of shadow, then gather at the ends of the world for judgment by
the gods. Most are banished to the shadows or sent to oblivion, but a
few are invited to live among the gods. Many souls return to the world,
reincarnated, and some disappear from the universe entirely.

GEOGRAPHY

The world is based on the Orbis Terrarum (Roman, AD 20) and Homer's
poetic description of the world (Greek, before 900 BC). For images, see
<http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/118.html> and
<http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/105.html>.

Two great seas, the Mare Internum and the Pontus Euxinus, divide the
disc into three parts: Europa to the west, Asia to the east, and Africa
to the south. The great Dwarven Empire spans about half of the disc,
including most of Europa and all the lands surrounding the Mare Internum
(thus the name "Internal Sea" ). I've used really old, obscure names for
most places to help players maintain disbelief (i.e., so that they don't
get hung up on real-world details). I don't have my notes handy, but
feel free to ask if you'd like more details, and I'll check later.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Humans are second-class citizens in Europe and Africa. They correspond
roughly to historical Celts: Once ubiquitous, they've been driven out or
assimilated into local cultures. The only significant human kingdom in
the West is in Valentia (Britain). Note that humans are still fairly
common everywhere, but they're not dominant like they are in most D&D
settings. They tend to follow the customs of the dominant local race.

Dwarves are the dominint race in half of the world, having conquered
territory in a vast circle spreading southward from their home in the
Swiss Alps. They mostly worship the classical Roman pantheon (i.e., the
Olympian pantheon with different names and some alterations). Their
closest allies are hobgoblins (Greek), githyanki (Egyptian), and drow
(see below).

Elves used to rule the mountains of Europe, until the Alpine dwarves
came to the surface a couple thousand years ago. Most elves retreated
northward, hoping to settle in Terra Scania (Scandinavia), although many
remained in the forests of central and northern Europe, forging
alliances with the local humans and orcs. Less than 100 years ago, the
"river elves" (tribes living along the Rhine) invaded the western Empire
but were eventually driven back and made into a vassal state of the
Empire. Most elves (and orcs) worship the Asgardian pantheon, but some
of the river elves (which the dwarves now call "high elves" ) have
converted to the imperial faith.

Unlike the other elves, the drow never left their mountain homes; they
were allies of the neighboring dwarves, typically acting as merchants
and go-betweens. While they have worked closely with dwarves and goblins
for centuries, they've maintained some cultural distance, and they still
follow their old (Asgardian) faith.

Halflings mostly live in Gaul, and gnomes in eastern Europe. Both races
are friendly to the dwarves, and their kingdoms have long been vassal
states. While their dialects differ, their culture is largely imperial.

Northern Africa was once populated mostly by humans and gnolls, but they
were driven out by githyanki and githzerai many centuries ago; the
gnolls now scrounge off whatever they can get throughout Africa and the
Empire. The githzerai used to be the Empire's most dangerous enemies,
but Numidia (northwest Africa) is now another vassal state.

Asia is one place where humans still thrive, but not without changes.
They lived under the corrupting influence of Tibetan mind flayers for
many years, until a tribe of humans overthrew their telepathic masters
(and became elans). Most of the humans developed at least some psionic
weirdness along the way (i.e., they're actually xephs, elans, &c).

OK, that'll have to do for now! This took much longer than I expected.
--
Bradd W. Szonye
http://www.szonye.com/bradd