My Fantasy RPG World, Feedback and Ideas appreciated

That is what I was thinking. I'm just glad to have someone else confirm this.

Good idea.

Agreed.

I am subscribed to his channel, but I'm not a patron and I certainly don't agree with everything he says. I don't have cable and use Youtube as may primary means of media entertainment. I apply a 60% rule. I need to agree with at least 60% of what a Youtuber says to watch them.

Because if a video even briefly relates to something to his novel, he'll talk about his novel. Shad wants $

The Jannisaries and the Mamuks were the most famous examples. Here is a related Wikipedia link to some slave soldiers throughout history.

I hadn't thought about aiding oppression with magic. That seems really obvious and I feel silly for not thinking of this myself. That's why I created this thread to mine other people's brains. Also, my most notorious slavers, the dark elves, elevate the social status of elves with magical powers. It fits.

Good idea, I might do this if I ever start novelization but one of my player characters is an out of favor elf noble and he prefers Elf Classic. He has specialized in swords and longbows.

My game system doesn't really have weapon proficiencies. Unless a weapon is weird and nearly as dangerous to the wielder as the enemy like nunchuks, proficiency is assumed for anyone who has a dot or two of Melee is proficient in any weapon they pick up.

Though your base point stands. I hate to keep bringing up Shad, but I did like his video "What medieval weapons would dwarves really use." I couldn't see any logical reason why dwarves would favor axes and hammers on the battlefield BUT your point of dwarves using weaponized tools for self defense is an angle I never thought of. That would go a long way to explaining why they favor axes and hammers.

It also occured to me if dwarves fought each other they would probably favor warhammers and military picks. Not the giant fantasy hammers but the smaller warhammers used in the real medieval period because warhammer and military picks were better at piercing armor than most other weapons and if two dwarf armies clash they are almost sure to be well armored.

I don't see it likely for Stahlheimers and Meckelorners to fight beyond a bar room brawl though. Though it might be an interesting story to have relations between them sour. Note if my player characters were involved, they'd probably seek a political solution rather than a military one because that's kind of how they roll these days.

This is always good to have in a fantasy setting.

I figure areas where Hallisan, Zarthus, and/or Maylar are influential trial by combat would be viewed as perfectly valid and legitmate.

Greymoria and her followers would consider magical duels to be legitimate, but physical fights would not.

I figure in areas where Mera and Korus worship is fairly strong would generally oppose trial by combat.

I figure Khemra and Phidas would be on the fence. The more powerful fighters they have in their corner, the more likely they would be to support trial by combat. Neither of these gods have a martial theme, but both priesthoods do have a sub-order charged with war and defense.

Agreed.

That's a good idea I hadn't considered. I had considered a powerful standing army as a counter to mages but not a generally well-armed populace. I did create a combat maneuver specifically for countering mages called "throat punch" which does exactly what it says.

If I adapted my setting for D&D where the overall power level is higher I would definitely give gnomes innate cantrips of soem sort, but under the d10 system I'm using it seems like a poor fit. My goal was to make the racial differences between humans and the common demihumans relatively small.

Actually, my gnomes culturally place a lot of value on the skill Hearth Wisdom. Hearth Wisdom covers medicines, edible plants, general peasant lore and poisons. Not every gnome is an expert on poisons but its a safe bet most gnomes "know a guy" who is an expert on poisons. So, the gnomes would have access to a lot of poisons, but it's not something they like to remind other people of.

By two named gnome characters, Vusnitt (villain) and Carcella (untrustworthy ally) both are fairly adept at poisoning their enemies.

This is why not everyone likes gnomes. Their silver tongues are sometimes forked.

That is an excellent idea of kenku being military scouts! They would be ideal at this. They are not quite owl quiet but their Dexterity bonus would apply to at least half of all Stealth rolls (Stealth is usually paired with Dexterity or Wits, on rare occasion Stamina). Their feathers are black so they would probably deserve a bonus sneaking at night. They do have sharper eye sight then humans.

They get a bonus to cooperative efforts with others and they can mimic almost any sound. That means instead of shouting "Goblins are over here!" they could use a prearranged signal like the meowing of a cat or the hoot of owl.

The kenku, for their part, would love to ingratiate themselves to an army of well-armed humans.

Agreed. As for orcs I actually did stat out several levels of orc.

Typical Orc Warrior Stats
Willpower 4
Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 2, Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 2
Alertness 2, Athletics 1, Brawl 3, Dodge 2, Intimidation 2, Leadership 1, Stealth 1, Archery 2, Melee 3, Ride 2, Medicine 1, Survival 2
Health: OK, OK, -1 -3, -5, Incap

Veteran Orc Warrior Stats
Willpower 5
Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 2, Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 2
Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Dodge 2, Intimidation 3, Leadership 1, Stealth 2, Archery 3, Melee 4, Ride 2, Investigation 1, Medicine 1, Survival 3
Health: OK, OK, -1 -3, -5, Incap

Elite Orc Warrior Stats
Willpower 6
Strength 5, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3, Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 2, Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 3
Alertness 2, Athletics 3, Brawl 4, Dodge 3, Intimidation 4, Leadership 2, Stealth 3, Archery 3, Melee 5, Ride 3, Investigation 1, Medicine 1, Survival 3
Health: OK, OK, -1 -3, -5, Incap

If it's a warlord or priest or other luminary I want to use standard character creation rules for PCs to personalize the stats, but these guys are just so I have something to grab if I need orcs in a hurry.

I have something similar for human soldiers too. Note, orc strength ranges from two dots to six dots whereas humans and most humanoids are stuck with the standard one to five dot spread.

My system doesn't have social rank determined by dots, but I like the way you think!

I'm still mulling over how common and powerful masterwork weapons would be compared to regular weapons but ●●●●● humans could afford magical weapons and armor. Not a lot of magical items but enough. And once a king commissions one magic sword his heir can get the sword and his heir can get the sword and so on and so forth.

Magic armor and shields would be less common because they would harder to pass down. If a person dies with a magic sword, the sword is probably fine, but if a person dies in magic armor the armor is probably wrecked. Also, most armor has to be fitted to the individual though I suppose magic armor could magically resize to new wearers.

I imagine most rich people who have to choose between comissioning a magic weapon and magic armor would choose the armor because rich people like living, so most magic armor in circulation would be fairly newly forged and most magic weapons would probably be ancient treasures.

I would make the counter argument that most knights begin their careers as squires and squires have to do all sorts of chores that are beneath a proper knight. They have the skill set to do their own grunt work, they just rarely have the necessity to do it.

 

Over the course of writing this thread I came up with a new land I hadn’t thought of before. The Border Baronies. To segue from the discussion topic before. Ummm, the common people of the Border Baronies are probably well armed and relatively well-trained despite having few full-time soldiers.


Rather than develop distant places like the Colassian Confederacy I should probably develop the Border Baronies more because the player characters are more likely to visit the area that is right next door instead of the area that is a thousand miles away. They also could be people from the Border Barons coming to Fumaya to either to help mitigate Fumaya’s problems or add to them.

I want the different Baronies that make up the Border Baronies to thematically look and feel like they are a distinct group that is notably different from other human realms, but I also want the different micro-realms to be distinct from each other.

I am thinking of creating anywhere between six and twenty tiny realms. Because the main setting of my game right now is Fumaya, the Border Baronies that are near Fumaya should obviously get a lot more detailed development than the ones that are not.



Geography in 18 words: A rugged land sandwiched between the two major Dwarf nations with tiny borders with two larger human nations.

Spoiler: Geography in 328 words

I haven’t decided if the tallest mountains are in West Colassia but West Colassia has the most mountains. The West Colassian Mountains roughly bisects West Colassia in one third and two third slices. The mountains thin out into hills a few hundred miles before they hit the continent’s northern shore.

Meckelorn is the original homeland of the dwarves. Dwarves claim that the Great Stone of Meckelorn is the very stone where Hallisan carved the first dwarves. Their nation makes up most of the northern half of the mountain range. Stahlheim started as a minor colony of Meckelorn but through trade and being less exposed to enemies, Stahlheim grew in size to overtake Meckelorn in population and wealth. Meckelorn and Stahlheim are now independent nations united by a common religion and little else.

To an outsider, Mecklorn dwarves and Stahlheim dwarves are virtually indistinguishable. The two nations remain divided by their similarities. Relations are cold, but the religious orders that transcend the two nations generally keep the peace. Also the two nations still haven’t fully recovered from a very long war of attrition with the orcs of the north. The dwarves of both nations have little appetite for war, especially against their own kind.

In the center of the mountain range between Stahlheim and Meckelorn the mountains become shorter and farther apart. The area is more accurately described as hilly than mountainous. This region is dominated by hardy humans, until and unless I come up with a better name these are Border Baronies.

The Border Baron’s southern border is Stahlheim and their northern border is shared with Meckelorn. To the west is the nation of Kantoc. I haven’t developed Kantoc a whole lot but they are based a lot on Tolkien’s Rohan. Kantoc has a lot of wide open plains and the backbone of their economy and military is their superior horse breeders. To the east of the Border Barons is Fumaya, which of course I’ve developed a lot.

So here’s what I got so far for traits that define the Border Baronies.

There are Lots of Little Kingdoms

The land that makes up the Border Barons is very rugged. There’s hills, mountains, and a lot of swamps due to all the fast moving rivers flow downhill from both the north and the south. Amidst all this rugged terrain are small proverbial islands of very fertile productive land.

Each of these islands has its own independent government. These little kingdoms could trade and squabble but it’s fairly difficult for them to unite into a single body because travel between the kingdoms is fairly slow. It's still easier for a traveler to traverse the region of the Borderlands rather than to cross the mountains to the north and south.

Fumaya is considered a small nation and they have over a million citizens. In most cases the Border Barons rule over between ten thousand to fifty thousand souls.


They are fiercely independent

Early in the Third Age, the surviving elf nations had an edge over the first humans. The elves had better technology, better organization and better magic. The ancestors of the Elven Empire and the Wood Elves of Loren used this opportunity to expand and dominate the primitive humans. This went on for hundreds of years until the humans assimilated their elven overlords magic, technology, and government. Once the humans had power parity with elves, their greater numbers pushed the elves back. At their peak, elves dominated the southern half of West Colasia, but their expansion was stopped at the Border Baronies.

Later in the Third Age, Mordock the Half-Orc united most of the human and orc barbarians into the largest army the Third Age had ever seen. In a short period of time they conquered the northern half of West Colassia, until they overextended themselves and had to pull back. There expansion stopped at the Border Baronies.

Detractors say that it was an accident of geography that the Border Barons were never successfully invaded but the locals claim it was their ancestor’s strength and not geographic factors that kept their lands safe. Kantoc could theoretically conquer the Border Barons, but they would pay a high cost. The hilly rugged terrain is not well suited to the cavalry charges they love so much. Fumaya is bigger and stronger than the Border Baron’s but the Fumayans are barely holding their own and wouldn’t dream of invading.

If the dwarves wanted to, they could crush the Border Baron’s one at a time and the Barons would not be able to stop them. The dwarves don’t want to at the moment. They are still reeling from the big war on the orcs and the humans haven’t given them a reason to fight, at least not yet. The Stahlheimers and Meckelorners sort of like to have a buffer zone between them.

Anyway, the humans of the Border Barons don’t like being told what to do by outsiders. That as much as the geography is why the different barons haven’t really unified by either the quill or the sword.


They don’t have a lot of opportunity to trade

The terrain makes travel difficult but not impossible. But the temperate climate and lots of water means it’s not a huge difficult to grow food. The hilly terrain suggests decent mineral resources. The wildness of the region suggests decent access to magical regents.

If an outsider wants to safely cross the region, the best way to do so is probably to hire a local guide. You might occasionally have travelers who want to travel between Fumaya and Kantoc however that’s only slightly faster than taking a river in Kantoc down to the sea, charter a ship, sail to Swynfaredia, book passage on a barge and ride up the main river to get to Fumaya, or in the opposite direction. If Swynfaredia goes to war with Fumaya, more people will choose the overland trade route through the Border Baronies rather than try to negotiate water ways through a war zone.

The closest thing the Border Baroniess has to true trading partners are their dwarf neighbors, not their human neighbors. Once in a while, Stahlheim and Meckelorn engage in trade. More commonly, Stahlheimers make a religious pilgrimage to visit the Great Stone of Meckelorn. Humans in the Border Baronies can make good money selling food or guide services to dwarf pilgrims. Given how dwarves are known for their fine metalwork, it’s likely that the humans of the Border Barons are probably most paid in weapons, armor, and masterwork tools rather than gold.

There are a lot of monsters here

The region has a lot of wild space where humans have trouble settling. These areas can have goblins, kobolds, dragons, aranea, and all sorts of things. Not every tribe or band of monster is worthy of the name monster. Some of them just want privacy. Others might peacefully trade with the humans. That’s probably not the norm though. The land is dangerous.

That means the local humans probably are a tough and scrappy lot. The monsters are also a deterrent to invasion. If a foreign nation conquered the Border Baronies or even just a small piece of it, they would inherit the region’s monster problem.


I want to brainstorm ideas for nation concepts. Ways to make each Baron in the region memorable and distinctive.


Leadership Titles

-I figure the “Border Barons” is a term that the outsiders gave the region but maybe the local leaders are proud to call themselves Baron.

-Maybe some leaders really hate the term “Border Baron” so they pick very grandiose titles. “High Counselor”, “Emperor”, “Dread Lord.”

-Maybe a leader doesn’t like the term “Baron” but wants a title that shows he is a man of the people. Instead of “Dread Lord Rikard” or “Baron Rikard”, maybe he insists on being called “Uncle Rikard.”


Government

Feudalism is the norm for most human nations of Scarterras because it’s a good system to manage a large realm with medieval communications and transportation technology. Since the Border Baronies are all very small realms, they can have unusual government systems. There is a lot of room for variety here.

I think the norm of the Border Barons would be a patriarchal hereditary absolute monarch. They wouldn’t need feudal lords, their realms are small enough that a king/Baron can appoint and monitor every minister. It’s feasible that every subject can meet their king/Baron at least once.

-What if instead of a hereditary monarch, the ruler is a warlord, the strongest individual? Is the warlord backed by strength of arms or by strength of magic? Is the warlord chosen by a formal duel or an informal blood bath? How much cheating and assassinations occur? Does the realm risk disintegrating every time the current ruler dies.

-A Border Baron could try to copy feudalism despite the small size of his realm. Why does the realm do this? Maybe the Baron’s ancestor was an exile from Fumaya, Kantoc, or some other feudal land who opted to copy the political system of the land of their birth. Maybe a Baron employs feudalism with the goal of expanding later.

-Maybe a particularly Barony is a matriarchy. If there is no male heir, a patriarchal realm can still be ruled by a Baroness temporally but what if female heirs are the default with lands passing to the eldest daughter and not the eldest son. Why does this realm do this? What about an egalitarian realm where the eldest child inherits regardless of sex. Why does the realm do this?

-What about a democracy or a republic? Universal suffrage is probably not feasible but a small realm might be able to have all the people vote on everything through town hall votes. More likely, votes are done by a subsect of society: Elders, men, the military, etc. Why does the realm do this?

-What about superstitious or magical methods of choosing the leader? What if a new Baron is selected by an oracle, random lot or something unorthodox? Why does the realm do this? Is cheating possible? Are there are hard feelings?

-Can you have a commune without a centralized leader where everything is done by informal consensus? Why would a realm do this? How long can this system last?

-What about puppet princes? Who is really in charge and why does the puppet master prefer not to rule openly?

-Did the Barony always have the current system of government? How many times have had they had a revolution.

-Do any of the realms practice slavery of humans and/or nonhumans? Do those against slavery oppose it on moral grounds or do they oppose it on practical grounds given the nature of the geography.



Outsider Relations

-Do the dwarves change the Baronies they work with frequently, so they can work with the humans who will bid the lowest? Perhaps the dwarves play favorites and keep their pilgrimage routes semi-permanents with their trading partners gradually getting richer and richer while the other Barons are left with crumbs. How do the dwarves pick which humans they work with and which ones they don’t?

Are there one or more realms that the dwarf nations despise? Why?

Are there any realms that is very friendly with Stahlheim and very unfriendly with Meckelorn or visa versa? Why?

-Has one or more realms begun directly assimilating dwarven customs? In what ways? Do the dwarves find this flattering or do they find it insulting?

-Are there any feudal lords in Kantoc or Fumaya who secretly covet conquering or assimilating the Border Baron that they border? Are there are any people in the Border Barons that secretly wish they were part of Kantoc or Fumaya? How often do humans, lowborn and highborn, from the Border Baronies intermarry with humans from Kantoc or Fumaya? Are noble titles in the Border Barons recognized as valid in Fumaya and Kantoc, for proper marriages I mean?

-How many expatriates moved to the border barony because they are criminals, religious heretics, out of political favor, or outcast because of lifestyles, appearance or political beliefs not accepted in their homelands? Do bounty hunters or other hostiles from foreign lands every come into the Baronies to hunt these expatriates or do the locals of the Border Baronies violently repulse them?

-What’s the policy towards goblins and other monsters in the wilderness? Peaceful co-existance? Absolute war? Good fences make good neighbors? Avoidance? When two different Border Barons have considerably different strategies for dealing with monsters, do they accidentally or deliberately sabotage the policy of the other guy? When two different groups of monsters have considerably different strategies for dealing with humans, do they accidentally or deliberately sabotage the policy of the other tribe?

-How big is the non-human minority in the Border Baroniess? How well do they assimilated with the humans? Which demi-humans live in which Baronies and why? Is one or more of the Baronies dominated numerically or politically by a non-human group? How did that happen?

-What are the stereotypes Fumayans hold of those in the Borderlands and visa versa? Ditto for the dwarf nations and Kantoc. Do outsiders generally treat each Barony differently or do they usually lump them all together? Historically, inborn prejudices say “We’re all different, but they are all the same,” but exceptions are always possible.


Outsiders in the Area

-Could a tribe (or several tribes) of nomadic humans survive in the area? What are they like? How well do they get along with the civilized Border Barons? How well do they get along with the nomadic monster tribes in the areas?

Perhaps there used to be one or more barbarian humans but they gradually assimilated into the baronies. What is the enduring legacy of their culture remains in the civilized realms that assimilated them?

-The powers that be have just come to accept that the goblins and kobolds are not going anywhere. Could a tribe of orcs survive in the area given that the orcs would have to contend with hostility from the Border Barons and vengeful war parties sent from both Stahlheim and Meckelorn?

-What are the names of the local goblin tribes? What characterizes them? In what ways are they are alike or different from the other tribes of the area.

-Are the Kobolds Gilgren, Laershin, and/or Tiamalans? How well do they get along with each other, the other monsters, and the humans.

For those who don’t want to dig up my lengthy blurb on Kobolds here is the short version.

Gilgrens are staunch Greymoria worshippers that are generally hostile to all non-kobolds unless they are very staunchly pro-Greymoria. They have a tendency to frame the other two kobold groups for their own misdeeds.

Laershin are mostly non-religious kobolds who accept that kobolds are at or near the bottom of most pecking orders and prefer isolationism for their own safety. They will usually defend their territory fiercely but rarely take the offensive.

Tiamalan kobolds follow the orders of favored soul kobolds almost unquestioningly. They believe in reincarnation and seek to win the favor of all the Nine so they can be reincarnated as dragons. They are the most likely to be friendly with non-kobolds but this can change on a dime depending on the wishes of the favored soul in charge.

-How many dragons are in the area? What do they want? How much do they interact with the Barons and their subjects?


Insider Relations

-Which Border Barons are beloved by their people and which are despised? Why? Which Border Barons are held in high regard by the other Barons and which ones are disliked? Why?

-The Border Baronies are mostly self-sufficient with relatively few exports or imports. Which ones do have unique resources? What are these resources? Do any of them have major shortcomings that require imports? From where?

-Which Baronies are friend or allies and which Baronies are enemies or rivals? Why? Has any barony now or at any time historically been occupied by another Barony?

-Do any factions want to unify the disparate Baronies into a single nation? Under what terms? Do any realms have enough power to make them feasible absolute lords of the Borderlands?

-Are any Baronies substantially richer or poorer than their neighbors? Why? Are any of the Baronies substantially more or less populous than their neighbors? Why?

-Do any of the residents of any of the Baronies physically look substantially different from their neighbors? Why?


Religion

-Do the various Border Baronies generally have the same religious practices or is each separate barony an island of stubborn faith considered heresy by their neighbors?

-A realm that assimilates a lot of dwarf culture would probably put Hallisan first, with a strong place for Khemra and Phidas.

-A realm that really embraces the region’s stereotype for being independent and self-reliant would probably favor Zarthus.

-Mera is usually the most popular deity in human lands. The harshness of the border barons might serve to lessen this somewhat. Mera’s hyper-pacifistic offshoot temples would not be able to survive here.

-A realm that suffers from a lot of monster attacks would cling to Hallisan or Maylar for protection and inspiration, but not both.

-A realm that assimilates a lot of Kantoc culture would probably favor Hallisan and Korus.

-A realm that assimilates a lot of Fumayan culture would probably favor Hallisan or polytheism.

-A realm that works peacefully with the local monsters rather than fighting them would probably Greymoria, maybe Phidas.

-A realm that has some kind of mageocracy may or may not favor Greymoria.

-Do any of the realms condone the practice of necromancy? How much? Why? How do their neighbors respond to this?


Heretics and Rare Splinter Religious Groups or Cults.

The isolated nature of the geography would mean that many heretical or merely disliked religious minorities might cluster there. These cults could be the absolute rulers of a barony, they could be the power behind the throne, they could be an unwanted thorn in the side of the Baron, or they can be an unknown presence in hiding.

Options include but are not limited to:

-the Paladins, unusually militaristic and overbearing Mera worshippers.

-The Shepherds, unusually benevolent and friendly Maylar worshippers.

-The Bachites, unusually violent Nami worshippers.

-Gentle Breezes, unusually pro-community Nami worshippers.

-Hyper Zeniths, unusually monotheistic Khemra worshippers that want to seriously limit worship of the other eight deities.

-the Cult of the Compact, unusually rigid polythesists that endorse worshipping all the Nine equally.

-Any Hallisan worshippers that refuse to submit to the authority of the Grand Elder (aka Hallisan Pope).

-Any Zarthus worshippers that seek government power.

-Any human Greymoria worshippers that proclaim their worship loudly and publicly.

-The Talons of Korus, medieval era eco-terroists that are overtly hostile to the expansion of civilization into the wilderness.

-Seekers of the Blessed One, Phidas worshippers that believe a favored soul of Phidas will usher in a golden age.

-Any Phidas worshipper that refuses the authority of the Pontiff (aka Phidas pope).

-Any form of organized infernalists working with demons.

-Any Turoch cult, including the largely secular ones that take on Turoch imagery mainly to be edgy.

-Any pro-Traitor cult

-Anyone who worships or seems worship local spirits or Fair Folk.


Anyway, I'm open to crowd source concepts for interesting Border Baronies.

As @Warden likes to start with. I'm open to suggestions on heraldry too.

 

The Border Baronies are not on my original maps but they would fit sandwiched between Meckelorn and Stahlheim. Meckelorn and Stahlheim don't have many people living towards teh edge of their borders.

The title "Unbeheaded King" tells most of the story.

 

Not everyone needs their own island!

I knew I was taking a risk. I'll respost the video in case someone stumbles on to this post without reading the Random Thread first.



I think I would rather have the Mushroom Kingdom be underground. Keeps plumbers away. I tend to be a big picture guy. I would prefer to come up with an overarching narrative for the Underdark and then work on the details rather than come up with a patchwork of minor details and stitch it together.

Scarterras is going to have the surface world, where the vast majority of stuff I talked about is. An underwater setting, an underground setting, and the Fae Realm. MAYBE the Aetherial Realm (aka the sky where the gods live) will be a setting too, but I see a visit to the Aetherial Realm is more of a player reward than an adventuring location.

Creatures can move about between the sea, the underdark, the surface and the Fae Realm but most people live in one realm. The creatures that routinely live in two or more realms are either very powerful creatures like dragons who can live whereever they want because who is going to stop them? You? And fairly weak creatures like kobolds who migrate between the surface world and underdark routinely because they are not fully welcome in either.

I think I like the idea that a disproportionately high number of Faerie in the material world are outcasts and criminals who are on the naughty list of the Faerie Kings and Queens. Because most of the Fae that mortals witness are jerks, this gives the Fair Folk in general a bad name.

I definitely want to include mushroom people...eventually, but not soon.

 

That is pretty much EXACTLY what I envisioned, but with more artistry than I can manage. I'd like it twice if I could. I might go with less than 20 so there is more empty space, but I rather than commit to a number now, I'll figure how many good ideas we can come up with. Once we hit a wall on new ideas, we can subtract unwanted numbers.

 

Lots of good stuff in your last post. You gave me a lot of material that got my mental wheels spinning.

Good idea.

Good point. I guess an eternal warlord situation arises if the warlord has no heir or is not capable of ensuring a future for his heir.

That's a good point. I can use that explanation for all sorts of things!

This is the best explanation for a republic I can think of.

I'm on board with lots of exiles. I am nto familar with the Chronicles of Prydain but I think I got your point from the context.

I probably want to have at least one realm that uses a guano crazy method of choosing the next king. Maybe Nami can be the patron deity there...

I like this idea a lot. This would make the Border Baronies a miserable place indeed for Phidas worshippers.

I know nothing of Daleks except that they are angry trashcans.

Nod

10% nonhumans is actually the norm in most of my human nations. Gnomes alone make up a 5% minority in most human lands. The gnomes do not have a homeland of their own. They pretty much make up 5% of almost everywhere. They often outnumber humans as the largest minority in lands ruled by dwarves or elves. Gnomes might not be super fond of a rough land like the Border Baronies. Gnomes are probably likely to cluster around Border Barons who have policies they like, so any particular barony could have 0% or 10% gnomes varying from location to location.

There is a very small gnome (and generally unpopular) secret society called the Home Seekers that wants to create a gnome-only nation somewhere. Maybe I'll give them a Barony. The closest thing they have so far is so called "Pony Province" of Kantoc. There is a gnome count who rules over a predominantly gnomish district but he is still subject to a human king. I like the idea of some Home Seekers trying to incite a coup and push the Pony Province to secede, the conspirators failed and fled to the Border Baronies.

So a disporportionately high number of the Border Baronies' gnomes are plotting coups. I like this.

Sorry Mario, but our princess is in another castle.



I couldn't resist.

Is an oxy moron...but the idea might be okay. I could invent a new subspecies of giants or I need to come up with a plausible explanation for why a group of my existing giants is breaking the norm by creating a stable society with a fixed location.

Works for me.

An interesting idea. Not quite the same as a barbarian tribe but it would be a useful storytelling tool. In fact, such a group might decide to hire the player characters to provide magical support for such a caravan if their usual caravan route has a spike in goblin attacks or other dangers.

Good idea.

I'll consider it. It might be amusing.

nod

Not sure what that is, but I'm guessing you mean an orcish stronghold of some kind.

Of all your good ideas. This is the one I like best. I'm definitely doing this, and it's probably going to be one of the Baronies I'll opt to develop more than the others.

Agreed.

Works for me. 30-50 is not much smaller than the typical Kobold clan which is generally 40-100.

Agreed.

Not sure I'm on the same page with you on this one, but it's given me some stuff to think about.

Not sure if we are on the same page for that one either. I'm not sure my dwarves as badass enough to casually make tunnels that are that long.

Nod

Nod

Hmmm, so far in my world smaller places are more likely to have a Nonagon not less likely. They are however nonagons made up of tiny shrines rather than full temples and most of these tiny Nonagons are unmanned.

I do like the idea of isolated monastaries.

Nod

A good name.


More to come. I will post a reply profiling a couple individual baronies soonish.

 

Let's get this party started with four Baronies, one of them courtesy of Pendrake.

This realm is a microcosm of Swynfaredia founded by the exiled losers of a Swynfaredian civil war.

Spoiler: Altudaredia (Spot 6)

Altudaredia (based loosely on the Welsh word for exile but it doesn’t roll off the tongue so I might change it.)
Tentative Geographic Assignment: Spot 6
Basic Concept: Altuderedia is a sorcerer run realm whose rulers are all descended from Swynfaredian exiles.

History: Before the Second Swynfaredian Civil War, titles passed to the most direct male heir with sorcery. After the Second Swynfaredian Civil War, titles passed to the most direct heir with sorcery regardless of sex. Most of the nobles on the losing side of the Second Swynfaredian Civil war bent the knee and submitted to their new Queen, or they were killed. A few of the losers opted to flee into the Border Baronies instead.

This group of exiles found a Barony with a potent magic font in it. They killed the wizards that were occupying this magic font and then overthrew the Baron that the wizards had installed as a puppet ruler. The realm has had a Dragon King ever since. The realm has absorbed sorcerous expatriates from Swynfaredian, predominantly criminals and bastards though this supply of recruits has dried up recently because Swynfaredia is far more tolerant of sorcerous bastards than they used to be.

Government Style: Much like Swynfaredia, Altuderedia’s rulers love to play up their draconic heritage. The head of the government is a male sorcerer who goes by the title of the Dragon King. Whether or not the Dragon King’s vassals and ministers have sorcerous talent or not, their titles tend to be dragon related. The king’s guard are called the Dragon’s Scales. Knights are called the Dragon’s Talons. Advisors are called the Dragon’s Eyes or the Dragon’s Ears, etc.

Pragmatism means that the Dragon King cannot put a male sorcerer in charge of every important post but the rulers are both very patriarchal and very mageocentric. Wizards and warlocks are generally treated very poorly. Nearly all sorcerers are welcome here but sorceresses are basically treated as glorified breeding stock, so few sorceresses choose to move here. Sorceresses can hold high positions as long as also have children. In general most sorcerers of both sexes prefer living in Swynfaredia to living in Altudaredia, so most sorcerers of either sex who move to this realm had some kind of serious falling out with Swynfaredia.

Character of the Realm: The realm is very patriarchal, women enjoy few rights and little respect. The realm is also generally oppressive, the Dragon King’s lieutenants tend to be corrupt bullies. On the plus side, monster attacks are very rare. Putting these two things together, a lot of the commoners seek out semi-nomadic lifestyles traveling as far abroad from the Dragon King’s castle as they can manage in their routines. As a result of this, the commoner people produce a lot of skilled rangers and foragers. This has actually proved extremely beneficial to the Dragon King since this means a sizeable portion of his populace is skilled at gathering magical regents.

Religion: The Dragon King and his ministers publicly declare Greymoria as their patron deity. Worship of the other Nine is officially permitted but unofficially Mera and Zarthus worship is best done in secret. Priests and theurgists are generally unwelcome if they are not affiliated with Greymoria. For most commoners, Korus is their primary deity. The local Children of Greymoria have not declared themselves for any of the priesthood’s major political factions, but they are sympathetic to the Sorcerer’s Heresy and the Shepherds (a pro-monster group).

Challenges: The bloodline of the dragons is thinning in the line of the Dragon King. It’s getting harder and harder to find a male heir with innate arcane abilities. It’s not uncommon for the Dragon Prince to be the ninth born or some other large birth order number, especially if the Dragon King cannot find a fertile sorceress willing to marry him.

This has fostered a culture where the Dragon King is not only permitted to sire several bastards but is expected to sire a lot of bastards. The Dragon King often takes liberties with his female subjects and this behavior has unfortunately trickled down to his ministers. I don’t think they are going to have Prima Nocta (which I believe never existed in the real world), but that’s not required for a ruler to sleep around. Sorcerers tend to be a charismatic lot so the Dragon King doesn’t take women by force, but even if the king isn’t raping the peasant women, it still hurts his image if he is sleeping around. The Dragon King’s lust is the number one complaint the locals have of their ruler.

Swynfaredia preaches that all sorcerers are worthy of respect but in practice they tend to shun sorcerers who are not humans or demihumans. Altudaredia breaks the mold here. They are very welcoming to non-human sorcerers. The Dragon King has a formal (and public) alliance with the sorcerer chief of a clan of Gilgren kobolds. It is a persistent but unproven rumor that the Dragon King has an Aranea assassin in his employ to disappear his enemies or kidnap women for his bed.

Some of the locals actually approve of the alliance with the Gilgren at the very least. With the local kobolds on their side, monster attacks on the commoners are very rare in Altudaredia. On the other hand, the other Border Barons loathe the Dragon King as a collaborator with monsters. Both dwarf nations hold the realm in utter contempt not only for working with monsters but also for putting Greymoria on a pedestal.

Freistadt was founded by runaway slaves generations ago.

Spoiler: Freistadt (Spot 7)

Freistadt (German for free city)
Tentative Geographic Assignment: Spot 7
Basic Concept: Freistadt owes its origins to a ragtag tribe of former slaves settling the area.

History: According to the region’s own lore, there were some runaway slaves from Kahdisteria but most of the runaway slaves that founded Freistadt hailed from Uskala. In Uskala, if a man or woman is convicted of treason, their children and their descendants till the end of time are sold into slavery.

Freistadt is one of the youngest and the oldest of Border Baronies. The Freemen did not march in and overthrow a previous Baron, they entered a wild unsettled area and tilled the soil themselves. In this sense the realm is the youngest because it was one of the last to be settled. Freistadt is one of the few Baronies that was never subject to a total coup that completely overturned the government. The Freeman are very proud of both of these facts.

Very early in their history, the Freemen tried to reach out peacefully to the local goblins (who were also the descendants of former slaves), but this was a disaster with the goblins literally kidnapping and enslaving humans from Freidstadt. Now, the Freemen are utterly ruthless, killing any goblin they see.

For the most part, Freistadt had very little interaction with the other Baronies or Meckelorn who they are very close to geographically. This recently changed when the Freemen allied with the Meckelorn border patrol to take down a particularly viscous tribe of Scale Giants. Since then the King of Meckelorn decided that the safety of Freistadt directly impacts the safety of the dwarves living in the southern portion of his realm.

Meckelorn would never give humans aid. Every spring, Meckelorn pays Friestadt a bounty for every goblin, giant, and other monster that the Freemen killed in the previous year. Every Fall, Meckelorn sends over weapon smiths and engineers to boost their fortifications and weapons (especially large weapons like ballista capable of bringing down giants). The price of the dwarves’ services is always exactly the amount the dwarves paid the Freemen six months prior. In practice this results in the freemen getting the dwarves’ services for half of the price they would normally charge humans.


Government Style: After escaping the tyranny of King Drosst, Freistadt’s ancestors swore never to bow before a king ever again. They named their leader the First Citizen initially, but later opted to adopt the title Baron to fit in with their neighbors better. Here, “Baron” is the official title for the ruler, not just the slang title. Barons are traditionally part of the feudal system that includes kings, but generally barons are less stuck up and closer to the people than higher lords.

Barons are chosen by merit. When the Baron dies, the Lanterns of Zarthus take over the rulership of the realm temporarily and then oversee a series of contests to fill the vacant Baron seat. Any adult can choose to compete. Usually six to ten men and zero to two women volunteer. The Lanterns make the contestants engage in physical contests like foot races, arm wrestling, archery contests, stone throwing contests and then they throw in some mental contests like scavenger hunts and riddle contests. After every event, the contestant who comes in last is eliminated. And so on and so forth until one contestant remains and is crowned Baron (or in theory Baroness). The paper crown is then ceremonially burned to show that the new Baron is not a lord over the people but is a servant of the people, first among equals.

Freistadt believes strongly that the government who governs best, governs least. The Baron theoretically has the final word in internal disputes but it’s consider bad form for two disputing Freemen to take their issues all the way to the Baron. The Baron’s main jobs are to organize the militia and as of recently, greet visiting dwarves.


Character of the Realm: “Hardy and simple folk.” Family and neighborly ties are strong. The harsh conditions breeds a toughness in the locals. Men and women are alike are expected to know how to defend themselves. Versatility is a highly prized trait. It is not uncommon to meet locals with extremely varied professions. “Elaine is the village’s cobbler and midwife.”

Meckelorn Dwarves tend to hold this barony in high regard. These humans maybe be a bit unruly and undisciplined but they are tough, hard-working, honest, and have strong family ties. The latter traits are things the dwarves respect highly. Dwarven rangers visit the barony often to compare notes on the activities of goblin tribes and other monsters frequently.

Religion: Zarthus is very anti-slavery and supports self-reliance. Zarthus worship is the predominant religion here and always has been. The words of the Lanterns always have great weight. Korus, Mera, and Nami are held in high regard but priests and theurgists for these gods are rare here. Hallisan and Khemra are distrusted. The three evil gods are staunchly opposed, especially Maylar who the Freistadters associate with the many monsters in the area.


Challenges: The region is more rugged and less arable meaning Freistadt is fairly small in terms of population compared to the other baronies. This also means the denizens are generally very exposed to goblins, giants, and other things that go bump in the night.

Freistadt has virtually zero native magical traditions besides one or two Lantern theurgists that occasionally take on acolytes. Immigrants who have magical ability are usually welcomed with very little questions about their backgrounds. The magical defense of the realm is resting on the shoulders of amoral criminals and dark warlocks.

This is the Vale of the Necromancer concept Pendrake came up with.

Spoiler: The Barony of the Dead (Spot 13)

The Barony of the Dead
Tentative Geographic Assignment: Spot 13
Basic Concept: The Barony of the dead is mostly empty ruins that are watched carefully by priests and holy warriors lest the ancient necromantic evils rise again here.

History:

Government Style: People don’t really live here. The Keepers of Khemra, Masks of Phidas, and Guardians of Hallisan have an uneasy alliance to occupy these ruins and provide a first line of defense if something dark rises. So far no ancient evils seems to be bubbling up from the ruins, but outside forces have tried to meddle in the area fairly regularly requiring the three local holy orders to put them down violently.

Most of the priests and holy warriors guarding the area are human, but the Order of the Stone (a dwarven religious knightly order dedicated to protecting pilgrims to and from the Great Stone of Meckelorn) delivers most of the locals’ provisions. In theory the Order of the Stone is bound by treaty to help fight if any ancient evil stuff goes down but in reality, it’s unlikely they would be able to arrive in time.

Character of the Realm: Quiet, foreboding. Still as a mausoleum. The guardians are generally humorless and stoic. A few locals overcompensate with awkward forced joviality.

Religion: The Keepers, Masks, and Guardians literally rule here. Visiting priests and theurgists are permitted as long as they are not affiliated with Maylar or Greymoria.

Challenges: The holy orders are guarding against an ancient evil that they don’t fully understand. They don’t even know why the site is tainted. That means when and if a problem comes they won’t be able to predict what form the will take.

The realm is not self-sufficient. If their supply caravans are cut off for whatever reason, it’s unlikely the defenders would last much longer than six months.

Spoiler: Centrum (Spot 19)

Centrum (Polish for “hub”)
Tentative Geographic Assignment: Spot 19
Basic Concept: Centrum is a mercantile trading state with a ruler who fancies himself a brilliant manipulator, but he is not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.

History: Centrum has changed names and changed government many times over their history. About sixty years ago the Baron died a suspicious death of natural causes (and a lot of his male heirs died suspicious deaths), and an outcast Fumayan noble backed by the Masks of Phidas assumed power in the chaos. He married the surviving daughter of the previous Baron and assumed the throne himself. It’s actually not uncommon at all for second or third born sons of Fumayan nobles who are shut out of power in their homeland to stage a coup here.

The new Baron, err Merchant Prince, tried to create a niche for himself as a middleman in trade between Fumaya, Swynfaredia and both dwarf nations. He was very successful at this. He was largely viewed as an untrustworthy lying usurper. In most cases these four nations prefer to deal directly with their rival nations rather than rely on a middleman this untrustworthy.

The current Merchant Prince, the usurper’s grandson, is a little bit more charming and adept than his grandfather and he has won some friends. He is hoping that Fumaya and Swynfaredia enter a long war of attrition that results in a stalemate, so he can make money smuggling goods and people around the war zone playing both sides against each other.


Government Style: To sum up the government in two words I would choose “elaborate kleptocracy.” The Merchant Prince is a tightfisted miser who will tax anything he can. The current Merchant Prince, while still greedy, has greatly reduced taxes and fees that his father and grandfather imposed. He wants to encourage the locals to be more proactive in seeking profit without fear of losing everything.

Character of the Realm: Everyone has an angle and everyone is seeking a deal. Petty and violent crime is rare largely due to very draconian punishments. Swindling and nonviolent crime is extremely common place. Everyone expects everyone to try to cheat them and they are trying to cheat the other guy first.

It is very common for people at all levels of society to favor ostentatious displays of wealth above and beyond their true standing. The Merchant Prince is usually heavily bedecked in gold whenever he makes public appearance. Among the commoners there are many merchants who wear very fine clothes and jewelry in public but they secretly live in hovels and eat peasant food.


Religion: Phidas is the state religion. The Merchant Princes have given the Masks a lot of leeway to do as they please and in return Phidas has repaid the Merchants Princes with the aid of their magic, counsel, and spy networks. Among other privileges, the Masks run the local police force and judiciary. The Merchant Prince can override the Masks on any decision they make, but he rarely does so. Over three generations, the Masks have successfully converted most of the commoners to Phidas worship. Worshipping the rest of the Nine is not forbidden. In fact it’s encouraged…in small amounts. The Masks often oversee religious observances to the other deities…even Zarthus.


Challenges: The biggest challenge to the realm is the poor reputation the Merchant Prince has which has trickled down as a stereotype of the entire Barony. “The people of Centrum are liars, thieves, and cheats.” The locals have a good geographic location for trade and they are wise and savvy but it doesn’t help much when every potential customers starts off suspicious and defensive. The kenku tend to mock the Merchant Prince often saying “this human tries too hard.”

An underground cell of the Maskbreakers, a violently anti-Phidas faction of the Church of Zarthus has taken up residency in the area. They are on the fence whether they should continue their plotting against the Merchant Prince and his cronies or whether they should turn their attention to Swynfaredia.

The local culture of exaggerating one’s wealth has attracted thieves, both humanoid and goblinoid. Losses due to theft are fairly low, but the Masks of Phidas spend more time chasing down burglars and pickpockets than they do enacting brilliant schemes.

Template
Tentative Geographic Assignment:
Basic Concept:
History:
Government Style:
Character of the Realm:
Religion:
Challenges:

 

Awesome concept.

I like the idea that the realm is almost 200 years old but the original founder is still there.


I hadn't thought about Rumspringa Wood elves founding their own society. Here are some previous existing thoughts on Wood Elves that never came back from their Rumspringa (apart from the ones that died of course)

-Some Wood Elves actually don't like trees that much. These elves frequently migrate to the Elven Empire where the elves are pretty city focused.

-Some Wood Elves love life on the open road. They will often become adventurers for life or they will join a troupe of traveling entertainment, become a sailor, or take some other profession (or several professions, they live a long time and can have several careers)

-Some of the Wood Elves find their own culture a little too chaotic for their personal tastes. Again a lot of these frequently migrate to the Elven Empire where the stodgiest elves leave.

-Some of the Wood Elves loathe the isolationism and general non-violence their kin practice. Wood Elves that want to stick it to the filthy humans join the Dark Elves of Kahdisteria. Others might join Kahdisteria is they are mercenary minded spell-casters. Spell-casters can write a ticket into the social elites among Kahdisteria, that is the not the case in Loren.

-Some times Wood Elves fall in love with a non-elf and move permanently to a non-elf land to be with their new spouse. If the romance is with a human, an elf could actually stay long enough to raise all his or her kids or even wait for their spouse's natural death. In fact, if a elf has an unusually long rumspringa, this is what the gossipers will whisper has happened. They don't have this option if they marry a gnome and raise a troupe of gnelves. Gnomes live almost as long as elves. I probably need a better name than gnelves. Gnelves are sterile like most half-breed but other than they are healthy and powerful in their own way. Gnelves are not going to dominate anyone physically, but on average they are more intelligent than gnomes or elves (and humans) and their senses are sharper than any other humanoid.


Your concept of Silfûrhëim is actually pretty similar to Loren. Their respect of nature, their religious practices, their basic system of governance. Which made me wonder, "Why would wood elves choose to live in 'Diet Loren' when they could instead live in 'Loren Classic'." Then it hit me. The elves of Silfûrhëim are criminals and outcasts! Not very many are serious criminals, more like petty criminals. I'm thinking this is the wood elves' version of Australia. I suppose they could also pick up exiles and outcasts from the Elven Empire too. They are closer to Loren, but they are not especially far away from the Elven Empire though they would have to travel through Stahlheim if they wanted to take the shortest route.