In the BeforeHere, the BeforeNow, an angry scream sounded, and He radiated in every direction, expanding the boundaries of TheHereAndNow. ThePath, then, walked Herself into existence, circled around and throughout TheScream—searching for ways to soothe His quivering pain. TheScream, fearing He would be muffled and silenced forever by “this attack,” beamformed pulsating retaliation—directed at ThePath. ThePath, thus beset, forked at that point into countless alternatives and determined the best one for going forward; she reacted accordingly and tore Herself and the dissonance of TheScream apart into smaller, heated melodies. These slowly cooled into a more agreeable universe of solar bodies and smaller, more soulful personifications. Multiple recreatons may have happened since then.
The Known Solar System today consists of a Sol-like sun (Freehet), an elemental inner planet (Shuekra), a warm fluffy gas giant (EyeQweetas), and two outer planets (Enyoe and Furantur). EyeQweetas supports four tidal-locked moons: Nodebra, Leeka Sinada, Kree Hweef, and Ooveraree. All celestial objects in the solar system—including empty space (Reynon) and a nearby bright polestar (Vhereum)—serve as avatars for (and are named for) the gods who exist currently.
TheWorld (a.k.a. Leeka Sinada) is a tidal-locked moon, believed to be 3,600 miles in diameter, with a very large, very dense metallic core. It orbits EyeQweetas, a low-density, warm fluffy gas giant roughly 60,000 miles in diameter, which is about 1.32 AU away from its sun (Freehet). “ThePeople” is a generic reference for the various sentient creatures populating TheWorld (primarily humans, but also including halflings, elves, goblins, ogres, dwarfs, gnomes, and others). Most known life and civilization is concentrated on the ocean-dominated dayside on the moon facing EyeQweetas, centered around a roughly 750-mile-wide central landmass at the sub-EyeQweetas point (site of Guddirkn, the god city).
TheWorld makes a complete rotation around the gas giant every 60 hours. ThePeople’s terminology for units of time, and their rituals and calendar, have been greatly influenced by the clocklike precision of their celestial neighbors. ThePeople divide their days (and lives) into three equal proportions of “Labor,” “Rest,” and “Other” but these categories are broken and spread-out each day according to biological need; ThePeople typically will not remain more than 8 hours straight at any one activity. “Other” is a category that includes personal and interpersonal time and can covers travel, shopping, family obligations, and the pursuit of personal enrichment and well being. This is the way life is and always has been for these people.
A good rule of thumb when converting TheWorld periods of time into more “Earth-like” units (when D&D reference books cite values more than one hour) is to use the standard methods listed here. For example, to calculate a hireling’s expected wages, treat one 8-hour Earth “day” of labor as equal to one TheWorld “Verkstundr.” If skilled labor costs 2 gp per Earth day, then multiply by 2.5 Verkstundr to arrive at 5 gp per TheWorld Dag. If a task takes 365 Earth days to complete, divide by 2.5 to arrive at 146 TheWorld days.
Likewise, since ThePeople pay very close attention to the subtle differences between their five Säsonger, they do not track the long passage of time in years but instead in Säsonger. If needed, players can divide these “big season” numbers by 4; that is approximately how many Earth years’ worth of time is being discussed. For example, the 162-Season World War waged on TheWorld lasted slightly more than 40 Earth years. Likewise, humans here might expect to live 400 Säsonger, goblins 325, halflings 600, dwarfs 1,400, gnomes 2,000, and elves 3,000.
There is not much temperature and climate variance during the 180-World-day year in the population centers on TheWorld, but there are five distinct seasons: a cold winter period (Kallliga), a cool spring (Svalsådd), a warm autumn (Värmskörde), a warm second spring (Värmsådd), and a cool second autumn (Svalskörde). Crops can be planted and harvested at any time throughout the year, but the periods between the spring and autumn pairings see the most growth, while the winter season sees the least—sometimes very little. People typically leave fields fallow one or two seasons out of every five.
Most of the known habitable land of TheWorld is centered and massed at the equator on the side of the moon facing the gas giant. These lands are varied by altitude: a good mix of grasslands, forests, deserts, taigas, and tundra surrounded by vast and dangerous oceans. Smaller continental landmasses and large islands are known to exist farther from this land center. There are also a significant number of habitable, near-surface caverns (and even deeper subterranean realms with no direct connections between them, known collectively as “The Moulded Grotto”). Little, if any, is publicly known of the opposite side of TheWorld, but it is assumed to be a dry, barren, and overly volcanic realm.
There are convincing first-hand accounts, cultural histories, legends, and much physical evidence to suggest TheWorld coexists with similar “nearby” realms that are also capable of supporting life. Some argue that these worlds “overlap” each other multidimensionally, while others believe these realms actually exist on neighboring moons or distant planets. Wherever these realms truly exist, travel between them has been found to be possible at certain times and locations (known in various cultural languages as “faults,” “veils,” or “along ley lines”).
There are many sentient humanoid species occupying TheWorld (too many, most believe, to have evolved here naturally). As the most common people in this D&D world are humanoids—gnomes, dwarfs, halflings, humans, vattenpukje, and elves—those are also the expected player-character options for this campaign setting. (Some exceptions may be made in each major location; for example, lizardfolk in the southwest, yuan-ti in the east, and ogres in the southeast.) Interbreeding is possible among most humanoid species, but on TheWorld mixed offspring tend to favor the species characteristics of the mother; as such, there is no half-elf, half-orc, tiefling, or dragonborn “species” in this campaign setting, though some unique instances may exist.
The most common and numerous people living on the surface of TheWorld are humans, who breed and mature quickly but are also relatively short-lived. Because of this, humans tend to be overly ambitious and “determined to leave their mark” on TheWorld. This is also true of other short-lived species, such as pukje (goblins) and ogres. The longer-lived species, such as elves, do not mature quickly nor have many viable offspring. Long-lived species seem less driven and less ambitious than humans, preferring instead to slowly sample everything life has to offer; but some others, like dwarfs, tend to be singularly focused and enjoy working toward perfecting only one or two of life’s pursuits.
The technology of TheWorld is roughly equivalent to that of Earth circa 1100 AD, with the following improvements:
Resources are generally quite good and plentiful (in comparison to population numbers), but these resources are not always universally distributed throughout TheWorld, which provides great opportunities for global trade and commerce—yet it has also been the largest contributing factor behind most every prolonged war.
In TheWorld, social structures manifest through diverse frameworks. Among humans in the northwest, the Peerage defines aristocratic stratification, with earned titles and inherited lineage shaping the ranks of lords and ladies. In the desert oasis realm of the northeast, the Qadimate enforces a rigid social order rooted in ancient traditions and titles like Emir and Sultan, intertwining nomadic clans of the Ökenveld with yuan-ti serpentine lineages. Among giants and ogres in the southeastern plateaus, the Ordning imposes a rigid power order based on strength and cunning, from the mightiest overlords to the lowliest underlings. The market-driven cities of the southwest thrive under a Guildocracy, where standing depends on profitable transactions and guild affiliations—Masters, journeymen, and apprentices—while those outside the trades, known as “outliers,” lack formal prestige yet weave through the transactional web.
Most of TheWorld is controlled by four major political city-states: Frittlandr, Ökenveld, The Rimemarch, and Svartaland.
The Frittlandr region in the southwest has been historically known as Grans Korsning by its neighbors. That name essentially meant “The Crossing Point,” and Frittlandr was called that because the other city-states routinely marched and pillaged through it, resupplying on their way to fight the others. In recent generations, however, an unlikely alliance of local humans, elves, dwarfs, lizard folk, goblins, and ogres had enough of that, and they fought together to successfully repel all invaders. Now referring to themselves as “the free lands,” this area of TheWorld is well on its way to becoming a republic, but it also has a powerful merchant class whose wealth effectively gives them nobility-like status in the major cities.
The Ökenveld people rule the arid northeast, where opulent oasis cities serve as strongholds for cunning rulers who blend lavish courts with austere meditative disciplines. Vast dune seas and barren badlands shelter fierce nomadic human tribes who live by ancient codes of honor and survival. Ökenveld also harbors a significant number of scheming yuan-ti (snake people), savage gnoll warbands (hyena people), brutish quaggoth clans (cave bear people), and enigmatic thri-kreen hunters (insectoids) who roam the dry grasslands with deadly precision.
The Vildar are a savage people in the southeast residing in the colder realm known as the Rimemarch. Populated by an equal mix of humans and giantkin, the Rimemarch is a loose political alliance of chiefs, warlords, and jarls. Occasionally, strong, charismatic leaders arise. Historically then, the Vildar people unify to collectively raid, warring against their neighbors. But these brutal rulers disappear (are often assassinated internally) almost as quickly as they come to power. Darker, more calculating forces exist behind the scenes, the foremost of these being the Punaiset Taikurit, an order of ogre magi.
The Svartriki people control the rugged agricultural lands in the northwest, known currently as The Queendom of Svarta or typically just Svartaland. Queen Ingagerd Hardrada is the ruler, and the Hardrada family has been in charge for a dozen generations. Populated mainly by humans and halflings, Svartaland is also home to dwarfs, kobolds, and myconids (a fungus-based life form who live beneath the surface). Svartaland is known for having the strongest horses in TheWorld. The Hardrada family, in ages past, employed dragons for mounts.
Centered at the equator in the Winrande waters are quite a number of small islands where political control has changed frequently over the years; so much so that the residents either consider themselves independent, work with the controlling forces du jour, or wage open and/or secret revolutions against them.
Well away from the central landmass, there are three independent lands of note: Norr, Coux, and Bababaroo. Each has difficult-to-reach port cities (mostly controlled by pirate kings) that manage some trade in raw resources. Little is known of these ports, let alone the interiors of these more distant islands.
Recently (some time during the war when attentions were focused inward), extraordinary magical forces “grafted” four new landmasses onto TheWorld. The why and how behind this is currently of great concern. Those closest to or those discovering the new lands have given them names:
Since the disposition and demeanor of the regions of TheWorld vary, it follows that the quality of life of its people would also vary accordingly. But no matter the authority of a region, it’s a safe bet the poor and the ignorant have it the worst. Historically, throughout TheWorld there has been a large underclass of manual workers who labored for others and were mostly always hungry. Even among the children of the wealthy elite, there were few ideal opportunities for the youngest siblings in a family, although they typically could find some professional work as soldiers, guards, sailors, and so on. Many would-be adventurers also rose out of these numbers, as years of turbulent and destructive warfare provided opportunities for the intrepid (and clever) to “rediscover” what had been overlooked or gone missing among the ruins of once-thriving communities. Now, in an age of world peace, the rise of “bastion economics”—more privately owned and government-sponsored capitalism—the conditions are improving at every level of society.
Settlements on TheWorld usually are not densely populated. A thorp will typically have fewer than 80 people, a hamlet fewer than 400, a village fewer than 900, a small town fewer than 2,000, a large town fewer than 5,000, a small city fewer than 12,000, and very few large cities with 25,000 people. In general, though, the larger the settlement, the better the roads leading to and from it, and the better the chance these roads will have fighters and regular patrols helping to protect pilgrims and traveling merchants. The opposite is also true, of course: less populated areas cannot always afford to keep their roads safe. But as a rule, most roads are safe to travel.
The same cannot be said of off-road travel; any number of beasts and ne’er-do-wells may be lurking in dense wooded areas, desolate hillocks and mountains, within deep valleys or caverns, or in the seas and oceans. There far more wilderness areas on TheWorld than settled societies, and many other non-humanoid or extra-humanoid races are believed to populate these “wildernesses” and make themselves known especially in periods of darkness. Travel on land or sea during the eclipse or first and second night periods is never recommended. Most humanoids (even those with dark vision or twilight vision) have been culturally conditioned to rest during those times under the safest conditions they can find.
Magic (although not widely practiced) is a force of nature and an integral part of the universe at large, as well as the inner realms and those beyond. All creatures, in harmony with creation and recreation, contain a certain amount of magical energies diffused within them. These connective energies are typically referred to as “Spirit” magic. Using magic involves certain rituals, states of mind, sympathetic material components, exercises, and gestures, etc.—collectively called “spells” or “abilities”—that can be used by creatures to connect their internal spirit magic to external sources of magical energies. Once a connection is made to them, raw sources of energy can be channeled and redirected to help perform great physical tasks or to create powerful effects. These tasks are creature- or class-dependent. The possible effects (spells) are divided into three types: divine, primal, and arcane. However, these divisions of spells are ultimately more about the spell casters (and their purposes) than it is about the specific sources that help energize them.
Spells categorized as divine are not actively researched by the spell caster but instead become known to the user through a deity or (in extremely rare cases) through spiritual inspiration alone. Characters who choose to be clerics most often worship a specific deity; they must also champion a specific domain (if more than one) associated with that deity. Each domain has a list of additional spells and extra abilities, which the cleric gains at the level indicated. A cleric’s domain spells are always prepared, and they do not count against the number of other cleric spells a cleric may prepare each day.
There are ten divine domains associated with TheWorld (listed here paired with its opposition domain; click on the domain name for specific mechanics):
Although the domains and names of deities are common knowledge—and their general desires and relationships with the other gods are understood—it is said that their vast perspective and obligations focus on a cosmic scale. Direct communication with them, therefore, is rare and often veiled in cryptic signs or mediated through divine agents. Traditional D&D “spiritual guidance” spells such as Commune, Divination, and Augury are less reliable in this setting than players would hope; divine insights are elusive and typically shaped by the gods’ broader, universal concerns.
Spells categorized as primal draw on the precarious balance and eternal struggles between elemental substances and cosmic forces. Druids, rangers, some sorcerers, and "monsters" are able to harness primal magic and redirect it as prepared spells or creature abilities.
Magic spells categorized as arcane must be actively researched by the spell caster (either by creating the spell themselves whole cloth or by threading one together from the records of others who have come before them). The inception and the how and why of spells is not fully known. There are competing ideas and conflicting histories among sentient races, cultures, and individuals, but magic spells do exist, they work, and they can be learned and taught in a variety of ways. Some are closely attuned to arcane magic and have innate abilities to use it without study; others need to struggle even to get meager results, while still others cannot work it at all and might even be physically resistant to it.
Throughout the ages, spell casters have developed and subsequently organized similar spells into categories or traditions called “schools.” Some spell casters (wizards) have opted to specialize in a particular school (arcane tradition) to satisfy their own preferences and/or to gain specific advantages; others (arcanists) have taken this to extremes and actively avoid learning the "distracting" spells and techniques from what they call “opposing” schools. Still others (bards, eldritch knights, arcane tricksters, etc.) have discovered they have an affinity for memorizing only certain categories of spells.
There are eight well-recognized schools of magic (here listed paired with its opposition school):
Much of what was known of arcane magic was deliberately kept secret and subsequently lost over time. To avoid this happening again, the modern schools of arcana build logically upon a common foundation of spell techniques and casting procedures. Unfortunately, the minds of spell casters, their ability to memorize, the mnemonic shortcuts they employ, and their best practices (to optimize the speed at which they can cast spells) have led them creating highly personalized/optimized spell books best suited for them alone. Characters who have developed wizard as their professional class, however, are able to make sense of another wizard’s spell book given adequate time and resources. Afterward, they are able to copy each desired spell into their own unique spell book once they have decoded and mastered the technique. Non-wizard spell casters can rarely make much sense of such tomes, but studying them may help to inspire their own training anyway.
As most wizards are not deliberately obtuse (and generally need money more than they need to maintain the secrecy of their research), they well realize that a secondary market exists for them to share spells with other wizards and to teach non-wizard spell casters how to gain access to magical spell concepts. To this end, beyond crafting optimized spell books for their own use, most wizards formalize and collect their research notes for resale. Many also have agreed to use the Arcane Standard Codex for Incantation Interchange format to create teaching tomes (commonly referred to as grimoires). These codexes use a sectional approach to recording spells. Each mystic record starts with Spell Name, followed by a brief Description of what the spell does. Then there is a Synopsis, a formal description of how to “run” it and which “options” the spell takes. Following that is a more textual description of the spell’s functionality and purpose, then some examples of usage. A list of related functionality follows, and then—with less structure—a collection of historical notes concludes with bug fixes, environment- and source-magic calls and returns, authorship, and even copyrights.
Two different wizards may have two different ways of achieving the same results with a single spell effect. This is because specialists in one magic school will be more familiar using their own “energy sources” and procedures. Properly recorded, a magic spell using the ASCII sectional approach would include all of the known magic-school variations of the same spell, if possible—and as such collect a vast amount of text and diagrams distributed across many pages in a nice, unified, well-preserved tome. This is what all student and self-practicing spell casters wish to stumble across, be they wizards, arcane tricksters, eldritch knights, or bards. But even today, these massive tomes rarely ever leave the shielded vaults or guarded libraries of their owners. Still, wizards and magic schools can sometimes be found who are willing to sell “visitation rights” to peruse and copy information from these collections while onsite.
There are at least three types of curses possible in this campaign setting:
Only the first type of curse can be magically detected with Detect Magic and then removed using Dispel Magic. Typically, a cursed item is activated only when its specific condition is met—for example, the item is used as intended, a person wears or attunes to the item, or a special condition (time, place, etc.) is met. The Identify spell itself almost always fails to detect if a magical item is cursed. But the item’s appearance or manner may provide a clue, as might the mental or physical characteristics of a previous owner, whether this was observed firsthand or learned as rumors or written into legends. The spells Legend Lore, Wish, Augury, Divination, Commune, and special abilities or specific magic items might reveal something about a curse. A Remove Curse or variable-slot cast Restoration spell usually works on removing a curse of the first type. Curses of the second type, if they can be removed, often require higher-slot castings of “Remove Curse”-like spells. Usually a Wish spell is required to remove the third type of genetic curse. Generally, the longer that someone or something has had a curse, the more difficult it is for the person or item to be free of it.
Life is a vital force that involves growth, development, and change over time. Living creatures sustain themselves by eating, drinking, and breathing, and they often seek to reproduce. The living are said to be “corporeal,” meaning they are composed of mineral, vegetable, and animal components (Bein, Viðr, and Lá), which combine into a physical body known as their Lík or Lich. These components correspond approximately to a person’s Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity.
Many creatures also have a “non-corporeal” body composed of semblance, soul, and spirit components (Litr, Óðr, and Önd), which together form a metaphysical body known as their Essen. These three are often collectively (and erroneously) referred to as a person’s “soul.” The Litr is the divine form—an inner belief that shapes outward appearance, presence, and influence (Charisma). The Óðr is the seat of consciousness, wit, and psyche (Intelligence). Önd is the animating breath or ghost (Wisdom), the vital connection between the individual and the rest of creation.
Typically, all living things will reach a point at the end of their physical life cycle where there will be a cessation of all vital functions of their corporeal forms. Less well known is that there is a similar degeneration of their Essen over time and/or due to traumatic events. At some point, death occurs and the physical and the Essen bodies begin to decay and separate into their component elements. Certain magic can be deployed to delay physical decay, and other magic (many believe) can restore a creature’s departed Essen to their corpse, restarting life (or at least some semblance of life).
Not everyone holds that a creature returned by these divine, necrotic, or primal transmutation magic is actually the original creature returned. Some insist that it most certainly is, while others persist in believing that some new spirit, or mental illness, or perhaps even a different soul entirely has taken possession of the host body—having beforehand consumed the original soul (thus gaining access to previous memories and personalities, enough so that it may pretend to be the original person). As such, there is societal stigma found among the general public regarding Raise Dead, Resurrection, and Reincarnate spells (although Revivify is most often seen as just super-healing a “not quite dead” person).
Also, the various “raise” spells tend to be expensive (requiring the sacrifice of precious diamonds—and sometimes a single diamond of great purity and expense), and the spells themselves have time limitations on when they can be cast effectively. So while some might be able to afford the expense, they may not be able to obtain the quality diamond(s) in time for such spells to be effective. They may also face local legal restrictions: for instance, an executor of the estate of the deceased or an otherwise-inheriting family member might object to the person who has been pronounced dead suddenly returning. A legal identity might be difficult to reestablish once a person is known to be dead—and any claim made after death to any previously owned possessions might not be honored.
There is also the issue that these “raise” spells don’t always work. These particular magic spells might fail in this campaign setting for a number of reasons: (1) the person died of old age, (2) the Essen might not wish to return, or (3) the Essen might be unable to return (someone or something may have already made a claim on the Essen of the deceased and will not allow it to return). It is also possible that the previous host body may not be able to “survive” the return experience; the Lík or the Essen may not be able to endure the system shock of returning to the body (or possibly to a clone of the original host body). Furthermore, each time a separated Essen is returned to a body, it may become damaged or corrupted, losing memories or cognitive skills. Also, something else might go wrong with the actual “raising.” As such, the magic tends to only be attempted if every sign and portent appears favorable and legal—and the money has been paid upfront. There are no guarantee the caster of the “raise” can make, and a contract is usually signed to this effect by the customer.
Once a creature has lost its life, it begins to deconstruct into separate components, although some of its corporeal and non-corporeal components may continue in a semblance (or mockery) of life known as undeath. For example, while the corpse/Lík of a creature decays, it may yet cling to a portion of its soul (memories and knowledge of its former life), which can be consulted by using special magic such as Speak with Dead. Other spells such as Animate Dead might also exploit the corporeal and lingering non-corporeal remains by giving them a new source of movement (breath) so it may carry out the will of the caster. It is also possible that the non-corporeal portions of a creature might linger on in the corporeal world after death as an apparition. Some combination of soul, spirit, or Litr, separated from its earthly Lík, may decide it has "unfinished business" that will not allow it to leave this realm or rest in peace. This refusal to “depart” might allow it to merge with the remnants of similar substances until such a time when its remaining earthly desires or fears have been sated.
The four classical elements—Earth, Fire, Air, and Water—are the fundamental substances from which reality is woven. When any two adjacent elements blend in equal measure, they give rise to a para-elemental mixture: Earth with Fire yields Magma, Fire with Air produces Smoke, Air with Water forms Ice, and Water with Earth creates Wood (and/or Ooze). These eight forces—four pure elements and four para-elements—form a great ring in the cosmos known as the Elemental Chaos. It is within the balances and tensions of this ring that most mortal life has risen and endures.
Above this ring lies the radiant plane of Light; below it, the entropic plane of Shadow. These two opposing divine energies bind and define the Elemental ring like twin poles. Where Light or Shadow touches a para-element, a Divine Domain emerges—realms binding and sacred to the gods. Some label these domains instead “quasi-elemental” regions.
When the pure force of Light or Shadow acts not as an equal partner but as a potent secondary additive to a para-element, an admixture is born. Thus are formed the eight admixtures: Sound, Acid, Spirit, and Lightning from the touch of Light; Soul, Venom, Decay, and Void from the influence of Shadow.
Living beings are woven from materials from these many layers. A mortal’s physical body, called the Lík, is composed of three corporeal aspects drawn from the Elemental ring:
To this earthly frame the gods add three divine gifts—together called the Essen:
Additionally, many traditions hold that individuals may be accompanied by a fylgja—a distinct second soul, not the person’s own, yet inextricably bound to them. The fylgja shares the individual’s consciousness, advises in decision-making, and records every action taken with impartial clarity. She will one day bear witness—speaking either for or against you—at a shared final judgment.
Upon death, the Lík begins dissolution into its separate components, returning eventually to the great ring of the Elemental Planes. The Essen may likewise separate over time, its aspects dispersing into the cosmic order, or it may have cause and divine permission to journey intact to one of the Divine Domains. Thus every thinking creature stands at the intersection of elemental mixture and admixture, body and essence, Light and Shadow—a fragile, wondrous synthesis of the entire cosmic order.
Travel between these realms of reality by the living is made possible through the admixtures. Astral projection, or soul travel, allows the Óðr to traverse the planes as a projected consciousness, temporarily leaving the physical body behind. Ethereal jaunts, or spiritual travel, draw on the Önd to phase travelers and their gear through the interconnected web of reality, slipping between material overlaps and residual ley lines like breath through mist.
The rhombicuboctahedron shape of our universe enfolds the core of creation, its faces delineating the bounds where mortal realms touch the veiled infinities within—and beyond. From those outer voids—spaces of unfathomable depth, impossible angles, and alien geometries—intrusions sometimes manifest as twisted shadows upon our three-fold material plane: flattened silhouettes of truer, extra-dimensional beings that strain against both our comprehension and the lattice edges of reality itself.