Chameleon Skink
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As I continue to work on my lizardmen force, I also continue to work up a bit of world building for my own little fantasy battle universe. I thought it might be nice to share a little of that.
First off... I don't have a good title for it yet, but I will probably call the Lizard "Tzunkarans", we'll see.
Secondly, while my focus is lizards at the moment, and they are present in the universe, they are not necessarily the "star of the show".
So what is it?
It's essentially a less magical, version of warhammer, through the lense of the ancient world of real life. The map, is essentially that of the Mediterranean, Europe, Northern Africa, etc. The exact details might vary, but for the most part, you can just assume it's like the real world in terms of rough geography.
Secondly, the "year" is probably something like 200 BCE in real world equivalence.
Nation State Capable Species:
Humans (Occupying most land masses)
Orcs (Think in the style of Skyrim, these are much more human like Orcs (though they have small tusks... they typically occupy mountainous regions and can be found somewhat spread out. Rules will allow some customization of the faction via "traditions" that your particular tribe might follow. Generally, these Orcs are isolationists who occasionally raid their neighbors and are more like Vikings than Game Workshop Orcs)
Tzunkarans (Lizardmen and their various offshoots, inhabiting the larger chunk of mid to south eastern Africa... a landmass that has been magically "entombed" in a bubble of distorted time for millions of years (a desperate act to save their people from the calamity that destroyed the dinosaurs).
Elves (The vast majority of Elves occupy the eastern landmasses we might consider China, they are by far the most advanced race, but their relatively slow birthrate leaves them vulnerable to wars of attrition)
Other Species:
There are Dwarves, Cyclops, Giants, and other "man-like" species, however, they have all been enslaved, co-opted, exterminated, or otherwise driven to the periphery of the world... they are currently no plans for any of them to have independent factions, but instead are available to the other factions as mercenaries and the like.
Quick note on evolution/origin of species:
---In effect the earth has had two large-scale periods of life, the Dinosaurian, and the Humanoid so-to-speak. During the Dinosaurian, the various lizardmen species evolved, and while there were periods of conflict between their species, eventually they formed a singular empire in their "pangea" style continent.
---After a comet strike and subsequent shattering of the world into more than one continent, the Dinosaurian period ended (and it's intelligent species put into time-stasis in what is present day Africa), and the second era of life took hold. The Humanoid era of life followed the same pattern and included an explosion of intelligent life derived from human-like stock. Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Orcs, etc. all share a common ancestor (as do the Lizardmen)... however, these races did not unite, and instead continue to war, compete, and exterminate each other.
---Any other intelligent species, such as say... a Centaur... is not the result of nature and fantastical evolution, but instead the result of magical work, and extremely rare.
Quick Note on Magic:
I haven't done too much to figure out magic yet, but magic access is based on overall type and these types kind of reflect classic elements.
Magic Types: Fire, Water, Earth (Stone/Metal), Storm (Electricty/Air), and Blood (Healing and Necromancy)
Human Nations
The Roman Republic
--Good armor, widely available
--Useful and practical pre-battle setup abilities to represent logistics
--Overall poor ranged attack options, but good siege weapons
--Mediocre cavalry
--Generally lack access to large warbeasts, but do have access to Dwarven-Made Golems
--Limited access to fire magic
The Carthaginian Regime
--Okay armor, elite units can get better
--Good access to wide variety of mercenaries from both Africa, the Middle East, and Spain
--Good cavalry
--Access to War Elephants and other beasts through mercenaries
--Limited access to both fire and water magic
The Greek Allies
--Okay armor
--Access to special "monster like" infantry such as Cyclops
--Leaders and special characters are usually much better in close combat than other human characters
--Good access to both fire and water magic
--Overall poor ranged attack options and poor siege weapons, but monsters can make up for this.
The Egyptian Throne
--Poor armor
--Faster infantry and cavalry than most
--Ranged attack cavalry is available
--Access to War Elephants and special chariots
--Limited access to both fire and water magic, but has access to necromantic spells
--Similar to Dwarven-made Golems, Egyptians have learned to imbue objects with some life... allowing for some interesting monster-like units.
(Try to think of Egypt as the Tomb Kings, long before their civilization entirely died out, they use some necromancy, but it isn't the whole of their civilization)
The Sahellian Empire
-Poor armor
--Faster infantry and cavalry than most
--Good ranged attack options
--Access to War Elephants, War Rhinos, Camel Cavalry
--Good access to Water Magic, limited access to Earth Magic
(In effect, the Mali empire come about centuries earlier... a powerful African nation. Safe from their southern border since the dawn of time (due to the magical barrier that cuts off southern Africa until recently), they've developed a very prosperous gold mining operation. They are now in a precarious position, dealing with the occasional demands of their human neighbors (Mostly Carthage, sometimes Roman expeditions, and Egypt) whilst now contending with the mass of Lizardmen that now inhabit the southern half of their continent practically overnight!)
Celtic/Germanic Tribes
--Poor armor, some elite units have better
--Decent ranged attacks
--Access to Orc mercenary units
--Access to "cursed" units such as Werewolves/Werebears
--Giant Elk is a unique Warbeast, Lesser Elk cavalry are excellent skirmish Cav
--Leaders have good options for ambush tactics
First off... I don't have a good title for it yet, but I will probably call the Lizard "Tzunkarans", we'll see.
Secondly, while my focus is lizards at the moment, and they are present in the universe, they are not necessarily the "star of the show".
So what is it?
It's essentially a less magical, version of warhammer, through the lense of the ancient world of real life. The map, is essentially that of the Mediterranean, Europe, Northern Africa, etc. The exact details might vary, but for the most part, you can just assume it's like the real world in terms of rough geography.
Secondly, the "year" is probably something like 200 BCE in real world equivalence.
Nation State Capable Species:
Humans (Occupying most land masses)
Orcs (Think in the style of Skyrim, these are much more human like Orcs (though they have small tusks... they typically occupy mountainous regions and can be found somewhat spread out. Rules will allow some customization of the faction via "traditions" that your particular tribe might follow. Generally, these Orcs are isolationists who occasionally raid their neighbors and are more like Vikings than Game Workshop Orcs)
Tzunkarans (Lizardmen and their various offshoots, inhabiting the larger chunk of mid to south eastern Africa... a landmass that has been magically "entombed" in a bubble of distorted time for millions of years (a desperate act to save their people from the calamity that destroyed the dinosaurs).
Elves (The vast majority of Elves occupy the eastern landmasses we might consider China, they are by far the most advanced race, but their relatively slow birthrate leaves them vulnerable to wars of attrition)
Other Species:
There are Dwarves, Cyclops, Giants, and other "man-like" species, however, they have all been enslaved, co-opted, exterminated, or otherwise driven to the periphery of the world... they are currently no plans for any of them to have independent factions, but instead are available to the other factions as mercenaries and the like.
Quick note on evolution/origin of species:
---In effect the earth has had two large-scale periods of life, the Dinosaurian, and the Humanoid so-to-speak. During the Dinosaurian, the various lizardmen species evolved, and while there were periods of conflict between their species, eventually they formed a singular empire in their "pangea" style continent.
---After a comet strike and subsequent shattering of the world into more than one continent, the Dinosaurian period ended (and it's intelligent species put into time-stasis in what is present day Africa), and the second era of life took hold. The Humanoid era of life followed the same pattern and included an explosion of intelligent life derived from human-like stock. Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Orcs, etc. all share a common ancestor (as do the Lizardmen)... however, these races did not unite, and instead continue to war, compete, and exterminate each other.
---Any other intelligent species, such as say... a Centaur... is not the result of nature and fantastical evolution, but instead the result of magical work, and extremely rare.
Quick Note on Magic:
I haven't done too much to figure out magic yet, but magic access is based on overall type and these types kind of reflect classic elements.
Magic Types: Fire, Water, Earth (Stone/Metal), Storm (Electricty/Air), and Blood (Healing and Necromancy)
Human Nations
The Roman Republic
--Good armor, widely available
--Useful and practical pre-battle setup abilities to represent logistics
--Overall poor ranged attack options, but good siege weapons
--Mediocre cavalry
--Generally lack access to large warbeasts, but do have access to Dwarven-Made Golems
--Limited access to fire magic
The Carthaginian Regime
--Okay armor, elite units can get better
--Good access to wide variety of mercenaries from both Africa, the Middle East, and Spain
--Good cavalry
--Access to War Elephants and other beasts through mercenaries
--Limited access to both fire and water magic
The Greek Allies
--Okay armor
--Access to special "monster like" infantry such as Cyclops
--Leaders and special characters are usually much better in close combat than other human characters
--Good access to both fire and water magic
--Overall poor ranged attack options and poor siege weapons, but monsters can make up for this.
The Egyptian Throne
--Poor armor
--Faster infantry and cavalry than most
--Ranged attack cavalry is available
--Access to War Elephants and special chariots
--Limited access to both fire and water magic, but has access to necromantic spells
--Similar to Dwarven-made Golems, Egyptians have learned to imbue objects with some life... allowing for some interesting monster-like units.
(Try to think of Egypt as the Tomb Kings, long before their civilization entirely died out, they use some necromancy, but it isn't the whole of their civilization)
The Sahellian Empire
-Poor armor
--Faster infantry and cavalry than most
--Good ranged attack options
--Access to War Elephants, War Rhinos, Camel Cavalry
--Good access to Water Magic, limited access to Earth Magic
(In effect, the Mali empire come about centuries earlier... a powerful African nation. Safe from their southern border since the dawn of time (due to the magical barrier that cuts off southern Africa until recently), they've developed a very prosperous gold mining operation. They are now in a precarious position, dealing with the occasional demands of their human neighbors (Mostly Carthage, sometimes Roman expeditions, and Egypt) whilst now contending with the mass of Lizardmen that now inhabit the southern half of their continent practically overnight!)
Celtic/Germanic Tribes
--Poor armor, some elite units have better
--Decent ranged attacks
--Access to Orc mercenary units
--Access to "cursed" units such as Werewolves/Werebears
--Giant Elk is a unique Warbeast, Lesser Elk cavalry are excellent skirmish Cav
--Leaders have good options for ambush tactics
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