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Author Topic: Fantasy background nations?  (Read 7048 times)

Offline Conquistador

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Fantasy background nations?
« on: March 27, 2014, 10:29:53 PM »
From this thread http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=64925.new#new Vermis said

<snip> Wouldn't mind seeing a topic like this on the fantasy board, though. I'd have much more to say. :)

At first I thought isn't all Fantasy then realized that much is 'canned' today and thought it was a good question to ask:

So I will ask the question Maj Guiscard asked only oriented for Fantasy.


My own Imagi-Nation project is heavily influenced by the Emperor and Elector blog, which is really a good directory for 18th century Imagi-Nations.

Do you have a Sci-Fi Imagi- Nation/Sector/Universe/World for your minis to inhabit? I would include any iteration of the idea in this question (military unit histories are included). Big Tent! So...,
where is it?
when is it?
what is it?
...and who is in it?

Maj Guiscard

By this I mean NOT based on the cannon works of LOTR, Rally Round the King, WartHammer Fantasy, or other rules set but planned, organized, and used to set up your fantasy game battles?

Gracias,

Glenn

Viva Alta California!  Las guerras de España,  Las guerras de las Américas,  Las guerras para la Libertad!

Offline Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2014, 12:18:47 AM »
I have a partly developed fantasy world. It's sort of like Hyboria, only populated with nations (and place names) stolen or inspired by a variety of sources.

So, I have:

Furyondy - vaguely Roman
Ulek - vagely like Carthage
Valon - Vikings
Albion - Ancient Britons
etc

Each nation has friends and foes...these are lesser entities that exist between the named nations ie.

Albion is friendly to the Wild Elves and is often raided by the Picts.
Furyondy is raided by the Forest Tribes (ie. Ancient Germans)"

My Greek nation is raided by Hill Tribes (ie. Thracians)

IIRC, there might be two raiders and one ally per nation. Some overlap, and some are unique.

It;s been a while since I did anything with it though. I couldn't really decide on how much tech I wanted. Do I include Foundry's Swashbuckler Orcs for example? Or do I use them in something else?

Offline warlord frod

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2014, 03:11:16 AM »
I have a fully developed fantasy setting I began developing in 1985 called the land of Neshepherets (Twilight land). There are 10 national regions and as in most fantasy settings the predominant race through out is human but each country is dominated by a particular race (Based upon my fantasy figure collection)

Thete Kingdoms are:
- Eretschorephbeth (Land of Winters Home) - is where you find the undead and Northern Tribesmen
- Eretschettsel (Land of Sins Shadow) - Here you find the largest concentration of Orc and Goblin Tribes
- Azantanniymhar (Isle of the Dragon Mountian) - Viking like raiding society and a great fire dragon on an Island off the lands east coast
- Eretsmahahnurah (Land of Lingering Youth) - Elven societies
- Arabahcuwc (Plains of the Horse) - Horsemen of the plains. Grass plains are the dominating geographic feature of the kingdom
- Harbethdaq (Mountain Home of the Dwarf) - Dwarfs of course and this mountain kingdoms longest boarder is with the land of Sins Shadow
- Shadapharabah ( The Scorched Plains) - A largely desert region with Tropical Jungles along the coast home of Lizardmen  & Bandits.
- Betharletah (Home of the Mountain Lizards) - Dragon-men and Dragons
- Elbetherets (Gods Homeland) - a largely religious society made up of many races
- Nezemazan ( The Jewel Isles) - 4 Islands off the southern coast dominated by sea faring peoples

The unifying Human factor comes from 3 Knightly orders
- The Knights of El with its power center located in Elbethherets a largely religious order
- The Knights of Darkness with its power center in Eretschettsel a evil order of course
- The Knights of the Void which is the largest Knightly order in the kingdoms of the land and which does not claim any power center

I have used this setting for years. When I was teaching I used it as a vehicle for learning games and as the setting for fantasy battles in an after school game club so I have notebooks full of a recorded history based initially on my fiction and augmented by gaming events. :o My wife has often said I should get it published  ;)
       

Offline Too Bo Coo

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2014, 03:18:47 AM »
I have a partly developed fantasy world. It's sort of like Hyboria, only populated with nations (and place names) stolen or inspired by a variety of sources.

So, I have:

Furyondy - vaguely Roman
Ulek - vagely like Carthage
Valon - Vikings
Albion - Ancient Britons
etc

Each nation has friends and foes...these are lesser entities that exist between the named nations ie.

Albion is friendly to the Wild Elves and is often raided by the Picts.
Furyondy is raided by the Forest Tribes (ie. Ancient Germans)"

My Greek nation is raided by Hill Tribes (ie. Thracians)

IIRC, there might be two raiders and one ally per nation. Some overlap, and some are unique.

It;s been a while since I did anything with it though. I couldn't really decide on how much tech I wanted. Do I include Foundry's Swashbuckler Orcs for example? Or do I use them in something else?


Any basic reading of Gygax's Greyhawk and you can see where he lifted many of the lands from europe.  It was a good way to set it up and had the air of authenticity.
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men."
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Offline Vermis

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2014, 03:31:43 AM »
Ta Glenn. Probably should've started a topic myself.  ;D

Quote
By this I mean NOT based on the cannon works of LOTR, Rally Round the King, WartHammer Fantasy,

Like I said once upon a time, I like all the LotR/Warhammerish high elves, wood elves, orcs, dwarfs etc. I would just mix up some of their motivations and particularly geography, getting away from the (geographical) faux-europe of LotR, Warhammer, Mantica or Hyboria.
I am a bit inspired by Magnamund and Westeros among others, in that; but the main motivation, beyond even having a setting to game in, is that I'm a sucker for fantasy world maps. In addition, a recent read through Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Middle Earth explained what downs (e.g. Barrow-Downs etc.) actually were, and somehow that sparked the idea to come up with a world with it's own continents, oceans, currents, geology, geography, and have that influence the races within the world. Nothing too complicated, 'cos I'm definitely no expert, but enough to give a hint of verisimilitude.

I've nothing concrete yet, just vague shapes of continents (hope to use these as aids) and histories of races, but here goes.

I've focused on a large continent. The wood elves (largely Middle-Earth/Dark Age style) live mainly in the west of that continent, although there are small, hidden kingdoms and settlements in other areas. Their particular locality and penchant for forest and concealment are holdovers from long years of dwindling and hiding during the First Age of Men, escaping the often-unwanted attentions of the younger race. So many years have passed that even the resurgent elves only have half-remembered legends and traditions of that age, and how it ended. Their stories of themselves, of the ages before, are even  more vague, except for that of a glorious land beyond the great eastern sea - itself almost a legend - and a doom that allowed the humans to usurp and cut off many of the lands that lie between.
Ironically it might be stories of this doom that caused a major kingdom of elves to take pity on some struggling tribes of humans, migrating west after the end of the first age of men, in search of warmer lands. Reduced to little more than stone-age technology, these fearful people (remembering stories of the capricious and otherworldly fair folk in their groves and hills) surrendered to the more forthright western elves upon challenge. Being granted passage, shelter and eventually lands, they also swore loyalty and allegiances to the elven lords, and based much of their new culture on their grander neighbours. (Anglo-saxon/Rohirrim-style people, with something like Rohan's allegiance to Gondor, with a touch more protectorate/buffer state about it)

The development of these elven allies coincided with the second age of men, as tribes to the east were also hauled out of their degeneration and spread out once again; often with the discovery of the secrets of forgotten ruins, especially those in the ancient lands uncovered as the eastern sea receded over the centuries. Many kingdoms, cultures, nations and city-states rose, warred, conquered, fell, and rose again. (Read: stick in whatever fantasy or historical humans you like. ;) )

No-one knows when or exactly where the dwarfs spread out to establish their kingdoms (read: haven't figured it out) except that they normally kept themselves to themselves behind their fence of the great northern mountain range. (not quite utumno/withered-heath-like) Many started to drift beyond that boundary before the second age of men and establish holds and kingdoms in the south. Humans who lived closest to these settlements claimed the dwarfs also brought the cold with them, which has led to many suppositions and suspicions of the powers and nature of dwarfs, but the fact is that the snowline of the northern mountains has crawled down their shoulders and northern winters have become colder over the decades. What the dwarfs themselves have to say about the phenomenon and their role in it is little known. This is typical of the dwarfen people - although more open to interaction with more of the human races than the elves (they retained more numbers to adequately defend themselves, for one thing) they are perhaps more guarded about their culture and secrets.

Beastmen are some of the oldest peoples, especially reviled by the elves, and a major reason why the eastern forest kingdoms of the latter race are few, small, and scattered; although some of the wilder or more degenerate elven tribes form alliances or even closer ties with the beasts. The same legends that inspire hatred also hint that the beastmen themselves have been subject to a dwindling of their former power, helped along by the rising human populations. Beastmen, as the term suggests, are more or less anthropomorphic hybrids of beast and man - many types of beast are represented, sometimes within a single being, though glimpses by human witnesses suggest that goatlike devils are common in their numbers. That they are a race of the dark gods - the god of the wild, specifically - is without question. What this says about alliances with estranged elves is not something that those few who know like to dwell on.

The undead are not a distinct race, but a symptom. Lamented as a curse laid upon humanity in some age past by the dark god of disease, and normally held in special horror by that race, the undead are victims of a certain plague, transformed after death (or before it) into a revenant and singularly driven to spread their affliction and it's result. The plague may hide in the soil or in vermin before springing to ironic life in unexpected places, or may be purposely spread by devotees and sorcerors of the dark god of disease or other dark powers, who can then use their magicks and invocations to herd their mindless charges where they will. These directed and undirected outbreaks can claim a few lives and die away, or spread to threaten whole nations.

Orcs are a relatively new and dynamic race, but another devoted to (or brought about by) the dark gods, given to reaving and pillaging, and combining bestial savagery with a devious cunning and inventiveness. They first swarmed over the northern mountains not long after the dwarfs started their southward migration, and their numbers have only seemed to grow since. They have quickly become the most serious threat to the southern lands in the modern age.
The notion of the dwarfs bringing the orcs, and the vaguely similar height of the two races, did not do much to dispose the human kingdoms towards the dwarfen people; despite the otherwise reasonable conclusion that the dwarfs were pushed south, and the violent hatred the dwarfs bear towards the youngest race. It's such a sore point that only the most intolerant or least sober humans dare mutter the rumours within earshot of a dwarf.

One unusual result of the nature of the world is the transformation of tribes or offshoots of each of the major races into more magically-attuned beings. No-one knows if this is the result of areas of 'natural' magic affecting those who dwell there or, as most suspect, some plan or jest of the gods, light or dark. In any case the effect of this magical suffusion includes a shrinking of physical stature and fewer cares and involvements in the problems of the wider, mundane world. In forgotten corners and years certain groups of elves, dwarfs and humans faded from the world and reappeared as brownies, gnomes and halflings. The dark races of beastmen and orcs gave rise to fauns, satyrs and goblins; though these are less transformed and tend to associate themselves more with their parent races and their aims. Those who study such things have their own theories why this should be.

One occurrence of recent times has been even more unexpected than the appearance of the orcs. Sailing over the eastern sea in great, proud ships; clad in glittering gold or silver armour; soon to carve themselves an empire in the widening lands to the east, came elves. The human nations, after recovering from the appearance of these western (or storybook) creatures from an unforseen place, descended on them; but their powers and martial prowess were too great, and the humans achieved stalemate at best, massacre at worst. The new elves were there to stay.
It took some time for the western wood elves to hear of the newcomers, even with the grand entrance they made on the continent; but when they had word they were greatly excited, convinced that these were kin from the great glorious land over the eastern sea, and they sent many envoys and ambassadors east as soon as they could. (Another shock for the elf-doubting humans of the world) The western diplomats were bemused and somewhat disheartened. Rather than a celebratory embrace of long-lost relations, they were given a friendly but relatively cool reception, more like that of rich city dwellers knowingly greeting their rough country cousins. The wood elves were in no doubt of their status, either: the art, arms, architecture and culture of these haughty 'high' elves was different, but obviously in advance of western examples, and shook their perceptions of holding the loftiest position above even the more technologically inventive dwarfs and humans. What was more disconcerting and confusing was that the eastern elves confirmed the legends of a glorious land over the sea; but their legends told that it was a glorious land over the sea to the west.

What further complicated matters a few decades later, while the wood elves were still debating the meaning of these words, was when when a third confederation of elves appeared in the north-east of the land...

Edit 1:

It took even longer for the wood elves to contact the newest elven arrivals, for various reasons: they were a less numerous people, and settled - or at least halted - in a relatively isolated and uninhabited land in the northeast (even largely ignored by humans); they were grimmer and more guarded, insular, and seemingly more warlike than the high elves, who said little on the matter except for casual professions of ignorance or veiled hints of warning. Despite this, and the different ways and appearances of the newcomers, what was heard or seen of them made it obvious that they were akin to the high elves, or closer to that culture than to the wood elves. This all but confirmed suspicions that they were also arrivals from over the sea rather than a long-lost colony of western elves.

In any case the wood elves sent several expeditions to the dark, dreary lands of the newest elves, against the wishes and (they hoped) the knowledge of the high elves, in order to spy out or approach the inhabitants. It took many years to establish contact and then a degree of trust with these dark elves, with the wood elves almost abandoning the effort a few times, but when they succeeded the dark elves proved more open - or at least less haughty - than the high, and provided more tales to fill the gaps in the knowledge of the wood elves, about the lands to the east and their past dealings with the high elves.

After long travels and many perils and diversions, a minor but renowned noble of the western elves was eventually admitted into one of the semi-subterranean halls of the dark elves (an architectural quirk that was one of the few relatable points between the wood and dark elves, not shared by the high) and told the story of the eastern elves, before they journeyed to these lands.
The lands over the eastern sea were three close continents. One stretched from the far northwest to the east, and somewhere just north of the equator. The largest lay over it's southeast border, divided from it by narrow channels and a series of large islands, and fell away southwest. The third and smallest was almost nestled in the western crook of the other two, seperated from them by a shallow inland sea that was widest at the south and a narrow cleave from the continent in the north.
The elves had inhabited the two northern continents for as long as the dark elves could remember. It was thought that they were all one kin in the distant past, again bringing up the legends of the glorious land over the western seas, but were divided into many kingdoms and nations from the earliest times their known histories told of. The westernmost, middle land was the most pleasant, with mild weather and good country, well settled and explored. The northern continent had some good lands to the west, but was somewhat harsher and less hospitable towards the east and north, and beyond an eastern range of mountains that ran from north to south. The elves claimed the entire continent, but the western noble gleaned that the main settlements were in their westernmost lands, save for slipped mentions of strong castles and forts in the eastern mountains, and that little was known of the lands east of them.
Further descriptions gave the western noble some idea of the reasons, though he was unsure it was the full truth. As mentioned the middle land was fairest, with many beasts, animals and trees that the peoples of the western continent might know, and even the largest or most ferocious of these were held in check by the elves that lived there. But this changed if one was to journey into the northern continent: many animals were still recognisable but even some of those were different, growing to larger size, and appearing more fearsome. Dire wolves, huge sword-toothed cats, hairy elephants with enormous tusks, and so on. To the south and east the beasts grew even larger and stranger, with many more types clad in scale and feather. Though even these creatures, like so many terrible lizards and birds, were but a foothold of the great southern continent that they were believed to dominate - so far as limited expeditions and voyages could ascertain. For many years it was even believed that some of these, though smaller than others, stood more upright and wielded spears in parody of elves.

(A bit of Lustria in that, but also a certain amount of Caspak. ;) )
« Last Edit: March 31, 2014, 02:30:28 AM by Vermis »

Offline Conquistador

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2014, 09:38:22 AM »
This is nice, Vermis!   8)

Very good.   :)

And, that third elvish group?   :D

Gracias,

Glenn

Offline Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #6 on: March 28, 2014, 11:47:29 AM »
Another thing I've been toying with is a setting that covered all the ages. We have in the past used GDW's Soldier King game, which covers the "Wars of the Estavian Succession" as the basis for SYW games. We play a campaign using the countries and map from the game. What I've been tinkering with is the idea of doing "Estavia through the Ages". That is, fight battles (and campaigns) from all the various eras that I am interested in using the map. Well, almost the same map because while the mountains and rivers probably stay pretty much as they are some towns and cities may move, and so would the road network.

Right now I'm still doodling about with the maps for the various eras. Eventually I'll have to start thinking about the countries involved and the historic timeline. I'm assuming our SYW campaign has established the "character" of the nations during that time period so I am working forwards and backwards from that point. For example, we have established Argozia as vaguely Prussian, or Germanic or if I go forward they will become some version of Germany. Similarly, Arcadia has a Britannic feel, and Bravance is French and Hravatska has an Eastern Flavour.

It's slow going though...

Offline northtroll

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2014, 02:32:03 PM »
Well my fantasy fantasy imagination has many non human races, and no bloody standard fantasy races either! There are human like beings but they have nonstandard skin colors like ash gray and white hair who practice bodily tattooing, and are sorcerers primarily. There lizard folk who dwell in their marshes and Jurassic swamplands. The mightiest of which would tower over humans as easily as a Thark would. There are the hive lands of the insect people who are based on David Hargrave's Phraints of Arduin. There are also Thbroons from Arduin because every fantasy game should have four armed kick ass barbaric warriors! There are also the ancient Dragon folk who are descended from the primordial dragons, and who war with the greyskinned humanoids who steal sorcerous secrets from them.

Do I have maps for this? No. Do I have rules for this? No. I've doodled and noteed this thing for years, but have never put it all together as such. the biggeest problem would be where to put everything.....

Offline max

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2014, 09:45:30 AM »
Some nice ideas, Vermis your idea is very complete!

I have a fantasy world which is more alternate-medieval perhaps, as there is no magic or fantasy races, just men. Slightly like Game of Thrones i guess, but without the dragons  ::)

Offline Brummie

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2014, 10:25:24 AM »
The basis of my Fantasy setting is the Humans are sort of stuck in Early Roman Republican Era. Alot of non human races exist, most are slightly more advanced, and I have a mix of conventional and unconventional non-humans (so Elves, Dwarves do exist).

Sort of snip Ancient Europe/Western Russia, the Middle East and North Africa and slap it onto a different planet.

The numerous Human civilisations generally do not go beyond the continents where they dominate. There are some ultra-ancient or nomad human civilisations exist 'out-there' but they vary from being very complex, to highly barbaric and simplistic.

Elves tend to be the primary 'bag-guy' for humans. There are only a few Elvish factions compared to humans. However they generally see themselves as being superior to Humans and constantly seek to undermine them. Although they tend to get embroiled in power struggles between themselves.

There is the Green frontier (one of my older fantasy settings) which covers the gateway to the Orcish side of things. Orcs and Goblins arrived at the same time Humans did, the former was believed to be a highly advanced species until its civilisation was nearly destroyed by an ancient plague. Orcs and Barbarians tend to get along fairly well (meaning sometimes they stop killing each other long enough to be allies). The plague didn't kill all its victims, and instead mutated them, and these orcs are often exiled from orcish society, and make their own tribes that exist on the periphery of Orcish territory. There is also another race of orc, who are weaker, but better organised, but they have migarted elsewhere, and no one knows what their intentions are.

The undead are an ancient Human kingdom that attempted to emulate the Elves (and were punished for it).

My primary 'campaign' atm though is following a Dragon who has made a deal with the Dark elves (runaway slaves of the high elves) who dreams of conquest and revenge.

Offline Elbows

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2014, 10:37:15 AM »
In short, yes.

I began a dungeon crawl project about 12 years ago.  In the time since then I have been on/off again with a dozen variations, including one which involved a very heavy investment in creating my own fantasy world.  Since then I've decided to adjust the aim of the game to be more playable with less fluff (allowing people to use their own favourite setting to run the game in).

My project (name under wraps until I do actually show it off) included some things as follows:

Elves: Live in a giant wooded realm, ringed by swamps.  While friendly and smart on the outside, the center of their realm was based around a giant mountain where an evil Elf king lived, having sold his soul to "X" (X = nasty evil god, cause of all bad things!) for eternal life.  While asleep the Elf King would resume his normal visage, appearing as a ghastly decomposed ghoul...his bodyguards kept this a secret and anyone who spoke of it was slain.  Elf diplomats and servants who left the wood on business would appear as a normal Elf to the average fantasy gamer --- but wicked evil was hidden in the depths of the forest.  A whole clan of dwarves who had fled a large battle (which doomed the Dwarves as a race) entered the wood and never returned.  Anyone seeking to escape would be killed.  Basically...horribly bad dudes.

"Veerai":  Elves were so wickedly evil and so addicted to various black magics that Elf offspring was occasionally born mad...think crazed and bitey.  These were deposited in a distant land through a series of ancient tunnels.  Once beyond a gate they were released when young...and the gate was guarded by a large contingent of Elf warriors whose sole occupation was to keep these evil offspring from getting anywhere near the Elven wood.  This race became maddened, cannibalistic creatures called Veerai who stalked many dungeons and cave systems.

Orcs: In my game the term "orc" was originally a type of insult, applied to cross-breeds, and disfigured people, by either genetics or disease.  It was not a race at all, just mishapen poor bastards, also applied to mentally retarded creatures and mutants etc.  Think beastly leper colony style things.  Because of their outcast nature, breeding between orcs led to more badly misshapen offspring etc.  So an "Orc" could be any kind of misshapen fellow, thus it was used as an insulting word also.

Dwarves: When the nine clans of the Dwarves failed in a huge battle against a massive goblin army...they scattered to the wind.  Dwarves were exceedingly rare in my setting.

Goblins: In my setting Goblins, much like Orcs were not a race to themselves.  They had started as men sent into vast caves and mines to toil...after hundreds (maybe thousands) of years, the men had adapted into small, more lithe creatures, sensitive to sunlight, able to breather in thick smoke and debris, pale and slender...hunched or small.  As the "men" became more foul they started to keep to themselves, tending to remain underground...driving out new humans etc.  So, another race created out of pure accident.

etc.  I had a bunch more worked out (series of Gods, who sat a rotating council which was short one seat...each age of man required a different God to go down and live amongst the world, etc.  Yada yada.  A bunch of random stuff.  I confess that I haven't read the full LOTR or many other fantasy works so any copy-catting is unintentional.  Now, with the aim of my game I shant be needing such in depth background.  If I ever did imagi-nations I would create something though.
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Offline Vermis

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2014, 01:23:44 PM »
Ta Glenn and Max. :) I do have some more concrete connections on the relationships between certain races and the history of the world, but decided to leave them to myth, rumour and hints in what I've already written here. ;) (I'll be interested to see speculation, to see how obvious or vague they are!) But it's still very sketchy in my eyes. Need to siddown sometime and work some mountains and floodplains and rain shadows and downs in there.

Also, I'd like to hear more about some of the other settings mentioned here. Frod's kingdoms in particular are intriguing. :)
« Last Edit: March 31, 2014, 12:20:08 AM by Vermis »

Offline Little Odo

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #12 on: March 29, 2014, 01:51:52 PM »
I have been working on my 'Doggerland' setting for several years. It is set in the real North Sea region and based around 27,000 years ago in a space/time-slipped pre-flood Ice Age; so similar to Hyboria but based on factual undersea maps of the real Doggerland area (I knew my prehistoric archaeology study would come in handy one day!). It is inhabited by mostly humans with certain areas that contain lost tribes and a variety of monsters from myth (trolls, giants etc.). Fantasy monsters like orcs, goblins etc. are summoned by wizards from the Void (Abyss, Dark Realm, the space between worlds). Gods are based upon the old Anglo-Saxon pantheon with some Cthulhu types thrown in.

Two games have/are being played in Doggerland - a PBM world conquering type game and an AD&D RPG.

More details on my blog...

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Offline max

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Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #13 on: March 29, 2014, 05:48:16 PM »
Just remembered i made a new fantasy setting just a couple of weeks ago, imagined first to make a set of Magic the Gathering cards put i'm planning on making some minis for the setting too. Here goes...

Only the oldest and luckiest remember the Divide. What once was a plane (ie, each plane is a world) sprawling empire ruled by extremely powerful planeswalkers (magicians who can walk between planes. Sorry, Magic terms  ;D), all was laid low during the catastrophic events now called the Divide. No one is sure why it happened, but when it did it changed the worlds forever as the barriers between reality and the 'Otherworld' split open, pouring raw magical power into the material realm. It warped and mutated everything it touched, sending men mad, melting them with trees and stones and buildings, or changing their limbs into claws and tentacles. For some it awoke latent powers, which further added to the chaos, and unimaginable creatures such as demons and other horrors invaded reality.

Now the planeswalkers have mostly gone, leaving the survivors to pick up the bits of their ancient civilizations and start over in the Lost Worlds. Some rebuild the farms and towns, kindling hope in the magic blasted wastes, while some live as barbaric nomads, wandering and killing as they please. Magical powers are common occurrences, and demons and other evil creatures carve out empires on the ruins.

Some people did manage to survive the Divide mostly unscathed, but they all sacrificed something when they did. Some build soul shells, magically-mechanical machines that resemble men and hold their souls in a jewel, ready for rebirth once the worst had past. But the technology was never mastered and now they are locked inside their metal shells, some going mad after centuries of imprisonment.
Others where strong enough to loose their mortal bodies while their souls lived on. Some of these strong individuals became the Lost Worlds' gods, while some became their servants or simply bled into the Otherworld over time.

Travel between the worlds is possible, either by making a magical tunnel, or magical being can 'dissolve' themselves and enter the Otherworld, a dangerous task and many have become lost and puppets to the dark powers that dwell there.



Basically i can let my imagination go wild  :D I hope people can understand this, it's all very sketchy at the moment. I tried explaining it to a friend the other day (in French) and it was not easy.

Offline warlord frod

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 658
Re: Fantasy background nations?
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2014, 04:20:56 AM »
Well lets see if this works. I digitalized my geo-political map so I can show you how Neshepherets looks



The four Island to the south are:

Pawnyazan (the Ruby Isle)
Yashephehazan (The Jasper Isle)
Shohamazan (The Onyx Isle)
Cappiyrazan (The Sapphire Isle

I have a map for each kingdom showing all the locations and the geography maybe I'll digitalize the whole thing.

Let me know what you all think

 

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