As the title suggest, this is a thread where, hopefully, we can come up with a setting of our own for the new D&D.

The idea was born while i was reading the setting thread on this very forum. Here is what i said in that thread:

QuoteA lot of people here seem to have a potential homebrew setting in mind. That's always fun.
I am wondering: is there interest to forum-collaborate one? I have a map that i found on the internet that just begs me to DnD-fy it but my creative-juices are kind of dried out... . I think a thread were we collaborate on creating a setting (map already included ) would be fun...and i have seen some similar projects that really went great and produced something that was cooler than any one mind could come up with.

As to not be negligent, i will also repeat what i wrote there:
the map is not of my making. I do not contest Maxime Plasse's ownership of this map. Here's his homepage : http://www.maxsmaps.com/

Opaopajr asked me what i wanted out of this and to put down some "rules" :

Well, i hope we can crowd-brainstorm a cool and appropriate D&D 5e Setting. I would like it to be something that uses the D&D tropes and is not "too out there". It should be something that a majority of fantasy players recognize as a D&D setting, i guess. So something epic/high-fantasy-ish with the classical races and not too much weirdness (some is ok).
A rule should be that we do not contradict each other for a particular spot on the map. So if someone picked up the city of Belldale and wrote something about it, do not rewrite that. If you want to, you can add stuff but no contradictions.

That's about it. If you think it needs more "boundaries" you can discuss it in here but the idea is to not stifle our creativity with too much rules.

Does that sound like fun? I hope so...so i ask again: Any takers?

And last but not least, here's the map i was talking about (this time as a picture and not only a link) :

That map looks pretty human-centric.

The Exilarcy of the Cogs could be a Gnome or Modron town I suppose, but in the main the map suggests to me your looking at a human world were Elves and dwarves (if they even exist) are going to be in the margins.

I'd actually have two suggestions by far:

1) East - West equator line rather than North - South, judging by the fact that there are fertile lands supposedly right next up north, even further, than the Frozen Wastes.

2) The Exilarcy could be a group of radical priests of god of crafts and machines, who chose to self - exile ages ago, to practice their art in secrecy and peace, claiming to seek about a golden age for the mankind, by development of great machineries that will lift the burdens of physical work.

3) Ironthrall is an odd name. It seems as if it's a name granted by foreign, brutal conquerors, who came from the West. This could also tie into the Crimson Gulf name - a great battle took place, that killed the last King of X, and a new dynasty of say, hobgoblins, took over. Nowadays, the hobgoblin nobility has grown soft and decadent, too bothered with ruling and partying away the kingdom their forefathers conquered, to actually practice combat.

Edit: Or swap the hobgoblins with orcs, and then there can be a play on the half - orcs being outcasts - they'd actually be most likely descendants of mixed marriages between the conquerors and local nobility, so while they'd often be treated with similar respect.

If I may, I give you the lands of slightly communistic dwarves:


The Plateaux of Steel
This area is dominated by the city state of Torgos and mostly populated by industrious and dour dwarves, though all honest and hard working folk are welcome.

Targos is ruled by the "Tyrant of the Iron Fist". Despite the fearsome name, these elected rulers have always been known for fairness and consideration for all citizens, though they are also uncompromising and very much set in their ways.

Targos is a great collection of warehouses, workshops and communal sleeping barracks. Every citizen is expected to work shifts and visitors are only given temporary allowance to stay if they come to purchase the towns many goods. Industry is very much the name of the game and while the wares produced in Targos are widely famed, the pollution is so heavy that the stream flowing out of the town is called the Black River for obvious reasons. Using its waters for cleaning or drinking is not recommended.

The Steel Run is used by the miners, trappers, lumberjacks and craftsmen in the Iron Mountains to deliver their products to Torgos.

These deliveries are made on great rafts, constructed from the strong trees only found around the Green Lake, the only vehicles capable of withstanding the hardship of traversing this wild and unpredictable stream]. The river is indeed named as it is, because "a run on the raft is as sure to kill you as a blade of Torgos steell".

The rafters are the mavericks of the city state, a wild, rowdy and undisciplined bunch that doesn't fit in with the diligent ways of the area. Still, they are given much leeway and even praise, for their skill and low life expectancy.



I also get a Insmouth vibe from the name and location of Falmoth.

Interesting...i always dig to see how different one can read a map For example, i never thought about the map as very human-centric...there are some pretty interpretable names on it, imo. But hey, this is part of the fun of crowd sourcing, isn't it

So, here goes:

- White and Golden Forest are remnants of the old elven realms.

White Forest is the home of the Norns (human call them White elves or Snow Elves), pale as snow and, if you ask any human that lives up there, with ice-water for blood. They are skilled hunters and their roaming warbands with their war-wolves and polar bears are a match for any human army that a local ruler can muster.

Golden Forest is the home of the Sun Elves. Their skin is golden and their hair is most often white or silver but it also can be a pale gold or coal black. They live in the old cities and strongholds of the first elven people. Those cities and strongholds can also be found in the nearby mountains, not only in the forest itself. The sun elves have no more appetite for war with the humanoids but they protect their borders fiercly. As they still have old knowledge about blacksmithing and magic, they can defend their lands. But those same armors and weapons or also magic tomes are sought after by many a greedy man... .

- Kelech Mor and Aeroch Nor sound to me very much Klingon...and i like that!
How about a D&D version of Klingons? Any ideas how to stat them in the new 5th Edition?
A people of Warriors...fierce and proud...organised in families and Great Houses. Battle is their lives blood...and ancient heroes beckon them to repeat their heroics. And that is no small feat...as it is said those heroes killed their own gods.

Yeah, i guess that's it for now. Not the most inspiring stuff, i know. But i hope you are not all turning away in disgust now?!

Nothin wrong with dwarf, elf, &c. lands being on the periphery, or limited, or somehow "not there."  Nonhuman adventurers ought to be unusual and greater contact between the cultures of men and others makes it less obvious that demi-men are different.

Although, that's an assumption that isn't in the 5e books, is it?  That demi-men are exotic. They're just other kinds of men in 5e so far.

Quote from: Anglachel;784216- Kelech Mor and Aeroch Nor sound to me very much Klingon...and i like that!
How about a D&D version of Klingons? Any ideas how to stat them in the new 5th Edition?
A people of Warriors...fierce and proud...organised in families and Great Houses. Battle is their lives blood...and ancient heroes beckon them to repeat their heroics. And that is no small feat...as it is said those heroes killed their own gods.

Well, this being for fifth edition, this all suits quite in line with dragonborn, I think.

Hmmm... not a big fan of the Dragonborn. I'd like to make them fantasy-klingons. I always loved the visualisation of Klingons in DS 9.
I know this means we already have a homebrew race...but that's a plus, right?!

The entire continent/area is based on epic/high fantasy Bulgaria!

The Crimson Gulf and Sea of Screaming Winds is the Black Sea on a bigger scale.

Rockdale is like the Crimea.

The Haunted Marsh is like the massive Danube Delta wetland.

The atmosphere is Gothic, filled with Ancient Lore, and Austere/Oppressive. Lush colorful costumes, small hamlets fearful of the wilderness, old cities suspicious of powerful outsiders.

Camp Sunset, Blood Lake, Broken Vale, & Dragon Castle is all Transylvania/Ravenloft.