Campaign setting

UPDATES: [12/18/13] Added some notes to Gods and Religions section; added some info on mythic beings.
UPDATES: [2/8/14] Some information added regarding classes under the Player Information section.
UPDATES: [5/13/14] Information on the Keepers of History added under the Groups of Note section.
UPDATES: [5/24/14] Some information added under Telezar about the presence of Law in the city-state, with more detail on crime still to come.

Back in DnD 3.0, I came up with the basis of a custom campaign world that I ran a couple of games in. I've been thinking of updating it to Pathfinder, and incorporating some new ideas that I've come up with (or want to steal -- if it's not obvious, I do some blatant stealing). Although I currently have no plans to run a game at this time, it's still fun to develop the ideas. My original purpose for this world was to have a setting where a player (or myself) could create (almost) any character desired, and take it on adventures.

The basics:

[The World] (I haven't come up with a name) is a high fantasy world with certain unique features. Foremost among these features is the thinness of barriers between different planes of existence, with some parts of the world actually seeing regular breaches between the planes, where traveling from the Material Plane to, say, the Plane of Shadows is as easy as taking a walk, with no special magic required. In other areas (or sometimes the same area, at a different time), planes may temporarily merge/interface, with the planar traits of (to use the same example) the Plane of Shadows overlapping with the Material Plane. In areas where the Shadow Plane is merged with the Material, maps become less useful, as the morphic nature of the Shadow Plane causes the terrain to shift and change.

While the majority of the world doesn't experience this sort of overlap with other planes on a regular basis, it can potentially happen anywhere, anytime. It's not always predictable (even with divination magic), though some of it, in some areas, is sufficiently regular to be predicted to some extent. There is at least one area where the Abyss regularly interfaces with the Material Plane (though it doesn't seem to always be the same part of the Abyss, interestingly enough), and as such there is a permanent garrison of Paladins, Clerics, demon-hunting Rangers, and others dedicated to fighting off the demons that inevitably try to take advantage of these interface periods and invade the Material Plane (see places of note, below [when I get it written]).

Other than the connections with the Planes, there's the portals that crop up that apparently lead to other Material Planes. Or rather, from other such worlds. Warriors and wizards of Golarion have found themselves stumbling through a portal in their world, and winding up on this one, unable to return. Likewise with individuals from the Forgotten Realms of Toril, or Krynn, or even an Aes Sedai from a world waiting on the appearance of the prophesied "Dragon Reborn." Scholars have noted that it's more common by far for people from worlds where magic is similar to appear, and suggest there may be a sympathetic connection to those worlds making such portals more likely to connect with them. They've also noted that these portals appear to be one way only, as no one who's emerged has been able to to step back through (they never last longer than a few minutes, but that's plenty of time to try going back through-- try, and apparently inevitably fail). For unknown reasons, there's no evidence of any portal appearing to take someone from this world to another, and no portal has ever been known to appear in an area of civilization.

Moving on from that, this is a high magic/psionics world. Minor magic items are reasonably common in major cities, enhancing the lives of citizens in ways similar to how technology helps in our world. "Magic technology" has not developed to a point that everyone can expect to swing a magic sword, or what have you, but it is more prevalent that it is in worlds like the Forgotten Realms, or Golarion. Some examples: a well-off blacksmith may have an anvil that grants a +1 competence bonus to any Craft checks that use the anvil; a noble family may have an animated portrait of each of the family heads, going back several generations; a town's central well may have a magic mirror that reflects the rising sun's light down it's shaft, causing a purify food and drink effect on the water within, thus helping to maintain the town's health. And so on.

Because of this, rules would need to be put in place to justify how all this magic can be around for the common folk. My current thoughts are to use something like the Artificer class from the Eberron Campain Setting of DnD 3.5. Since the magic item creation rules have changed, this would require some update. To give an advantage to the class in crafting, I'm thinking of taking a page from the Alchemist class, and have them somehow using some of their own magical energy to substitute for a portion of the gold cost to creating magic items. Perhaps they crystallize it into a dust, a small amount per day, that they can then gather and store, later using it to substitute for some of the reagents used in crafting, thus reducing how much gold they need to spend. Obviously, some limits on how much could be used on a single item would have to be put in place, along with other considerations. Details . . . To Be Determined.

Places of Note: [likely more to come]

Telezar: Perhaps THE major city, or in this case, city-state. Telezar is built on an area that's not only geographically advantageous, but also one where the barrier between the Material and Astral Planes is thinner than elsewhere, allowing any teleportation magic to function easier, from dimension door, to teleport, to plane shift. This has allowed the creation of permanent stone portals (think Stargate) linking all the major cities, nations, and other places of interest. It sits at the mouth of a major river that empties into a bay of the ocean, and is on a reasonably central (and relatively easy to defend) location of the continent. Combined, these features have made Telezar an economic powerhouse, as goods from all over pass through and into Telezar via the portals, or ships on the waterways. Telezar is a city where damn near anything can be found for the right price, whether a high level magic item, mundane items, or services.

Politically, the 12 Houses of Telezar have taken the centuries to solidify their city-state as a Switzerland-with-teeth. They're neutral in most wars and border conflicts, but will allow representatives of the nations involved to meet in Telezar for diplomacy. And by allow, I mean strongly encourage. Telezar has not only economic power (which can be wielded to encourage nations to talk), but via multiple treaties, some centuries old, and a strong military force of it's own, it is capable of putting bite into any request it may make of a nation, should said nation's conflict threaten the stability of Telezar in some way. Every nation, and every major religion (and most of the minor ones), has an embassy in Telezar, and a sort of ad-hoc United Nations has emerged.  This even includes some of the Outer and Inner Planes.

Telezar is in some ways a city-state of contrasts. It's rulers have long recognized that part of their strength comes from not only the political advantages that they've been able to gain from their neutrality with most nations, but also from a strong force of law within it's borders. The power of the law has actually caused a few areas of Telazar to twist the underlying fabric nature to be more lawfully aligned. The High Court, for example, is the court of last resort for the city-state, and it has, over the centuries, gained the Mildly Law-Aligned trait within the court building (creatures or people of chaotic alignment take a -2 penalty to Charisma checks, making it more difficult for them to argue a case in their favor).

However, despite such a strong Lawful presence, there is still plenty of crime. Any major city that has a thriving economy will attract its fair share of crime, and Telezar is no exception. The heavy influence of Law in the city, and the benefits the city Watch has in the way of magical assistance, however, has forced criminals to get clever. [Go into some detail of the various ways being used to avoid the law, such as divination blocking tools, etc]


[More details to come, such as the rather strong presence of law in Telezar, Guilds, the gladiator arenas, and why you really don't want to start a fight in a bar]

The Grand Necropolis: Sitting on land that is permanently interfaced with the Plane of Negative Energy, The Grand Necropolis is a city of the undead. It's currently ruled over by a small cabal of liches and powerful vampire lords. Some nations and city-states consider it to be a legitimate city-state of it's own, and have developed diplomatic ties. Others would like nothing more than to wipe The Grand Necropolis off the face of the world. There has for years been an army besieging the Grand Necropolis. Of course, that's using the term "siege" loosely. A siege is usually in place with the goal of cutting off resources, such as food and water, and thus weakening the city or castle. But the undead do not have the same requirements as the living, and are generally nourished and strengthened by the negative energy coming in from the Plane of Negative Energy. The living take damage just by stepping onto the land in this area. So really, it's not so much a siege as an intense glaring match.

The Dark World: A fanciful name for what is really "just" a series of extensive tunnels and caverns underground, similar to the Forgotten Realms Underdark. You could literally walk from one coast to the other without ever seeing the sky by walking through the Dark World. Many areas of the Dark World interface with the Plane of Earth and the Shadow Plane. Home to drow, duergar, and myriad other races.

People of Note: [to be filled in] (will include major players in Telezar, legends-in-their own time NPCs, etc)

Groups of Note: [to be filled in] (secretive Keepers of History, thieves and assassins guilds, mercenary groups, the 12 Houses of Telezar, etc)

The Keepers of History (Keepers for short) consider it their responsibility to maintain a complete record of history, as much as possible. This doesn't just include the past, but also the future history of The World. As such, not only are they interested in archaeology, and scholarly research into history, but they also study prophesy and divination of the future. They do not, however, feel any need to share their knowledge --of the past or the future-- with anyone else, except in certain circumstances that they determine.

The Keepers maintain details of their organization and goals in secrecy. Members of the organization are very skilled at not being noticed, at hiding, and at lying. And not only are they excellent at maintaining secrets, but they are quite good at ferreting out secrets. It's rare, however, for the Keepers to actually apply their knowledge of secrets toward shaping the world, as one might expect. Some outside the organization (and there are few who know of their existence) have speculated that they have some sort of non-interference vow, while others have speculated that they are simply waiting for the right time, whatever that may be.

Major Nations/City-states: [to be filled in]

Gods, Religions, and Philosophies of the world: [to be filled in] I'm still debating which pantheon to use, but am leaning toward just using Paizo's Golarion pantheon, with perhaps a few name changes. It would just make life easier. For that matter, I'm trying to decide exactly how I want to handle deities. Are they distant and removed, and players will never interact directly with them, but only through intermediaries of some sort (such as avatars)? Or are they closer to the mortal realm than that, and players could potentially meet their deity face-to-divine face, and perhaps --just perhaps-- kill a god? Honestly, I lean toward the second, but then I have to give the gods stats, and decide what it is that makes them more powerful than mythic mortals (which are basically demigods themselves). Decisions, decisions. Speaking of...

Mythic beings: See here for information on exactly what "mythic beings" are in Pathfinder. Briefly, they're characters and monsters who possess a power beyond that of mere mortals, who can perform the kinds of feats that the Greek heroes are known for, or single-handedly defeat an army. Think Kratos, think Hercules, think Xena, or superheroes of the DC variety (and some Marvel characters).

In The World, mythic power is either granted by a deific source, it's something you're born with, or, less commonly (relative to mythic beings), an object will grant such power. Most of the truly influential NPC's of the World have some mythic power. It should be noted that "truly influential" doesn't necessarily mean the person who's butt sits on the throne. Whenever someone new emerges with mythic power, no matter how they got it, those who already wield mythic ability tend to learn of it early, with responses varying by character. Some don't want the competition, and will try to kill the new mythic character if possible. Others will try to "guide" the newly emerged power toward whatever they consider to be the best path. Few --if any-- will remain completely passive, because all know that those with mythic might are likely to cause serious changes in the world. Player characters who gain mythic power should take care. They will be watched, and they will be hunted.


Player Information: [to be filled in] (will include information on allowable third party classes and rules, like the Time Thief from Super Genius Games, house rules for classes --rangers probably need to have some planar terrains added to their Favored Terrain choices, and can choose their own race as a favored enemy regardless of alignment, some class's alignment restrictions will be relaxed or removed, etc-- information that may not change the mechanics, but may change the fluff of certain classes or prestige classes, etc)

Generally, if the material you want to use comes from official Paizo material for Pathfinder, I'll allow it. However, some races might be restricted, if they look too powerful for the group. Drow Noble comes to mind as one that won't be allowed for players very often.

The following classes have some minor changes:

Barbarian: If you can come up with a good fluff reason, you can lift the "nonlawful" restriction on alignment. Example: your powers are driven not by unbridled rage, but by a focused mental discipline, one that grants you mind over body powers (but without the ki source of a monk). So, when you "rage," you're actually just mentally stimulating your heart, lungs, and adrenaline to heightened levels. Your focus causes some wounds to close almost as fast as they are made, hence the damage reduction. Etc. Rage Powers such as "Clear Mind" or "Moment of Clarity" would definitely fit such a concept. End result is something that mechanically looks like a Barbarian, but how you roleplay your character could be very different.

Also, ignore the text about Ex-Barbarians.

Monk: If you're taking the Drunken Master archetype, you don't need to be lawful alignment. Other archetypes might see relaxed alignment restrictions as well. Just give me a good reason.

Ranger: A ranger may select the following terrain types for his favored terrain class feature, in addition to the usual: Shadow Plane, Plane of Earth, and the Abyss. More might be added if I come up with areas of the Material Plane that interface with them. An undead ranger may select the Negative Energy Plane as well.

Third party material:
Psionics are reasonably common in The World, and so I'm allowing the Pathfinder psionic material published by Dreamscarred Press.

[other classes allowed, need info added]
Time thief
Time warden
Luckbringer



Other stuff: [to be filled in]