Natives, Immigrants and Refugees: character creation.

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Stirling
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Natives, Immigrants and Refugees: character creation.

#1 Post by Stirling »

Hello and welcome to the Brave New World:

We are up and running, remembering this campaign setting is a marathon not a sprint! We have a Campaign ID which is 441

We are using the D&D 1st edition PHB and all playable classes and races are available subject to the campaign world history. (for example all Drow elven are considered as an evil, outcast race, whereas players may choose to play Tiefling characters, an infernal descended half-breed society...more on them later).

Please use the Dice Roller. I prefer to use the standard 4d6c1 method in rolling stats but don't mind players re-rolling if they come up with some scores totally unsuitable for the character class they wish to role play. Please post a copy of your sheet in the forum when approved:

Any questions, please ask.

Stirling
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 5472
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:16 am

Re: Natives, Immigrants and Refugees: character creation.

#2 Post by Stirling »

The Valk


The Northern Valk people. The Valk are a semi-nomadic people who primarily hunt the whales which traverse across the continents coastline in square rigged whaling longboats. Most Valk are 'barbarians' and generally disdain the practice of schooled arcane magic or organised worship of the divine. Tribal shaman pray to 'the gods of the seas' and most keep to tribal practices such as ancestor worship. Remembering what the forefathers said and achieved is the prime inspiration for their present heroism. The Valk have such 'Lore Maesters' who weave magic through 'sound and vision' .These Lore Maesters for example use drumming to summon sea creatures such as dolphins, blow bone pipe flutes to call eagles, ward an area using flags and glyphs, call forth the winds or calm the surging waves with verbal and somatic gestures. Courage and rage may be inspired through the retelling of traditional sagas. Some Lore Masters are even rumoured to have learned the 'Song of the Wild'; an ability to take animal form. They have a studied history of relics and some hidden knowledge that only Valk know or believe...Most Valk don't stray too far from the sea or wilderness. They prefer the smell of fresh salt air and clean wind blowing through their hair. Their history speaks of the time the continent was under water and they came rowing across the oceans, landing on the mountain tops to hunt the whales.

The Valk in general live a poor subsistence lifestyle, following the seasonal whale migration. With the emergence of the Vell' however, the seawater temperature rose which culminated in the bloom of plankton life and the whales feeding closer to the shore. This boon has meant less sailing into dangerous seas and the ability to hunt closer to shore. A circus of travelling Valks have recently arrived in Honeywell Town for their annual fayre, selling furs, tusks, whale meats and other exotic delicacies. The whaling longboats usually have hill giants employed to help throw the harpoons into the whales.
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Valk player characters may be of any class with the exception of paladins, monks and wizards. A Valk Ranger will have additional skills in seafaring navigation, Valk Druids may receive an additional spell: Summon Monster 1: (a sea mammal such as a dolphin, otter, seal or a sea eagle, albatross, puffin). Valkan clerics are not restricted in their use of edged weapons, they may use traditional 'seafaring' arms such as the crossbow/harpoon, spear/javelin and boarding pike. Valk rogues are rare because theft is seen as an offence not just against the victim but against the community. The value of 'all things in common' is a strong bond and thus thieves tend to be ostracised from the society until restitution is made.

Half-breed Valk are exceptionally rare though half-elven or half-orc tribesmen do exist. All Valk speak the Valkan common dialect and Hill Giant as a bonus languages.

Stirling
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 5472
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:16 am

Re: Natives, Immigrants and Refugees: character creation.

#3 Post by Stirling »

Rabattan Refugees

Rabattan, a name given to a new wave of settlers who have fled hundreds of miles across the blazing desert into the new world setting. Brightly dressed in silks and turbans, these folk bring with them a multitude of differing languages, culture and religion. To be Rabattan is not seen as a blessing however. Most migrants are classed as unwanted refugees, economic migrants, vagabond gypsies. In most towns the 'Rabattan' folk live in the poorest of slums and take on the most menial of labour.
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These darker skinned people, speak numerous local dialects and have a culture which emphasises the practice of religion and the study of magic. Most Rabattans believe in a tradition of reincarnation rather than resurrection, achieving a celestial home only when fully enlightened. The Rabattan player character may be of any class except barbarian and druid. Rabattan clerics may be of any deity, such is the plethora of gods worshipped in their home nations. All Rabattan clerics receive a divine blessing due to their pluralistic society in that they may learn reversible spells as one and cast them without prohibition (Cure light wounds/ Cause light wounds).

Rabattan characters receive an additional language proficiency of their choice. Rabattan wizards and sorcerers may start the game knowing the spell 'Find Familiar'. Rabattan players of all classes receive a -1 charisma penalty when dealing with non-Rabattan humans in any form of economic trade and diplomacy. Rabattan rogue characters may use a skill, 'Turn Undead' (gained as paladins do), as a bonus skill due to a culture of tomb robbing and necromancy which was prevalent in certain Rabattan societies. Rabattans are great storytellers and talented bards travel widely bringing their music and tales to a new audience. Rabattan bards have a +1 bonus to all charisma or wisdom based spells and magic effects.
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The nations of Rabatta are in utter turmoil. Lawlessness, civil wars pitting ethnic races against each other, severe drought, famine and disease are rampant. Humanoid tribes have laid waste to many towns. The rural areas have been ravaged. One city state however, Tyr-Sirte has become the new capital of the Rabattan nations. The city has gone through a period of exceeding prosperity, rebuilding the high fortress walls and restoring the great civic buildings. Thousands of refugees flooding in from nearby places....along with humanoid races such as orc, goblin and ogres who co-exist in a fanatical theocracy. The old monarchy has gone and been replaced with a despotic council who advocate an alignment based religion. This is a new cult. It is very focused on destroying all other forms of worship and rule, adherence to its principles and doctrine is strict. Harsh punishment awaits those lax in their devotions. There are rumours that babies have been thrown off the city walls into the moat below. The city boasts a large fleet of trading barques and corsairs. The sails of these ships indicate which 'aspect of the divine nature' is to be followed, for the last twenty years that has been the 'fisted gauntlet' of Law. (Burning Sun of Chaos and Scales of Justice for Neutrality).

Stirling
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
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Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:16 am

Re: Natives, Immigrants and Refugees: character creation.

#4 Post by Stirling »

Dwarven society

There are two main strands of dwarven society. One is the branch which contains the usual family of hill, mountain, 'deep' or 'gully' dwarf brothers. We will treat them as one distinct union though players may notice certain familiar differences such as tone of skin, eye colour, beard design, spoken dialect, preference for hammers over axes and other such cultural observations. All of these are native to the Brave New World, with new distant family members migrating occasionally. The players handbook dwarven race characters covers all branches of this side of the dwarven society.

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The second branch of dwarven society are the Duergar. These are a chaotic relative branch (some say evil inspired), who have lived in a forced tolerance of each other over the past hundred years. The Duergar, by culture or religious tradition cut their facial and head hair into unusual mohawks or sport a variety garish head tattoo. This is a rebuke to their dwarven brethren and a constant reminder of past events, primarily that which is locally referred to as ' The Ruined Vein'.(see local lore forum).

The Duergar player character has the following attributes: Their initial charisma is penalised by -2, Duergar have 120'ft darkvision. They have a racial +1 immunity to poisons,. Despite being 'dazzled' by bright sunlight, many Duergar live above ground.

In the main, Duergar live among the towering 'monuments' on the savannah, carving huge totems from stone to dictate community borders and trading frugally with settlers. Some have ventured into town for work though they are a minority of the dwarves to do so.

Within Honeywell and the surrounding savannah, dwarves freely mix in a tolerated peace. Occasional fights break out in saloons between members of opposing clans and generally they worship in separate communes or chapels. As noted in the lore, hundreds of dwarves from both branches died in the Ruined Vein mining disaster, each community blaming the other for sabotaging the tunnels or digging too deep because of greed. Either way, traditional mining in the nearby mountains has long been abandoned and dwarves now eek out a living panning for gold in a local streams or adventuring in the plains. Some dwarves have uncharacteristically taken to the seas to secure well paid but dangerous fishing work or have laid claim to small gemstone mining operations on the desert fringe.

Dwarven rangers may specialize in underground exploration and receive a bonus of +2 to all dungeoneering, survival, investigation and tracking checks.Dwarven may may be of cleric or mage class and both of these may receive a +1 to hit race bonus with warhammers. Similarly dwarven fighters or rogues receive a +1 to hit with axes. Druids and Monks are not available to dwarven raced characters.


Below is a picture of legendary (or notorious) Duergar Jarl: Eiger Stormhorn.

Stirling
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 5472
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:16 am

Re: Natives, Immigrants and Refugees: character creation.

#5 Post by Stirling »

Elven Society

Elven people are rare in the land. Most have taken to the seas and left after decades of barren living. With the blossoming of the savanah and settlers appearing, many elves have returned to the land to reclaim lost family property and land. In the main, most of the elves are wealthy, well schooled and take up the most advantageous careers. Certainly most of the ships that trade have elven captains, navigators or mages on board. Elves that stayed in the land during the drought years gave themselves over to keeping the land.

Nearly all of the local druids come from elven or half-elven ancestry, especially those who attend and harvest the honey from the giant bee hives. These druids have a particular skill and knowledge of these hives and benefit from extra saves vs the bee poisons if stung. There is a legend that says that druids who learn to shape change, never take on the form of the giant bees. To do so means taking on the 'hive mind' and they can never change back again into human form. All elves receive a +1 to hit bonus when using bows and these weapons may be used by elves of any class.

Half-Elf

Numerous half elven people abound. They may benefit from either, but not both, bonus or penalty characteristics from a human or elven heritage. They may be of any class.

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Drow

There are no Drow elven people in the land. The last remaining communities of Drow were forced into exile or killed. Drow are seen as an evil sub-race of elves who worship an evil goddess.

Stirling
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 5472
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:16 am

Re: Natives, Immigrants and Refugees: character creation.

#6 Post by Stirling »

Gnomes, Halfling and Half-Orcs


Very small communities of these races exist outside of the main settlements. They are all by the book as player characters.

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Stirling
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 5472
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:16 am

Re: Natives, Immigrants and Refugees: character creation.

#7 Post by Stirling »

Tieflings

If ever there was a community most distrusted it is that of the Tieflings. These half-breed people trace an infernal ancestry, back to some devilish pact. They are distinguishable by their horns some which grow and protrude like rams horns or curve over their foreheads. Others have less auspicious horns, some to hide their heritage have taken to filing the horns down. Some tieflings sport tails. All tieflings are believed to possess infernal knowledge, most are looked at as being vagabond rogues, assassins or criminals. Certainly most of that is true though they seem to thrive and prosper under this constant suspicion. Wherever there is need of a corner shop, a tiefling sets business up there.

Most of the Rabattan refugees have been smuggled across the desert aided by gangs of tieflings who control a desert 'spice route'. The spice is an addictive opiate harvested in the foreign lands and traded for in the brothels and shipyards of the new world.

In Honeywell town, most of the tieflings gather in the slum district. The Hulsebosch tavern is a focal point for community gatherings. It is rumoured to have a rogue guild operating from inside though that is strenuously denied. This tavern is owned and run by Carola Hollarn, a dominant matriarch in an otherwise patriarchal society. When questioned about her husband, Carola will say, "He is on vacation"".

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There is a strict family culture within tiefling society. The head of the household when spoken to is prefaced as Dominus, the eldest son is Drago, other siblings are either Drake or Doe, depending on their gender. Also such is the general distrust in the communities regarding tieflings that a saying has grown up in religious circles, "Can a tiefling be saved?"Tieflings may be of any class, though they favor martial, rogue or arcane backgrounds. Very few tieflings become ordained clergy though occasional cleric tieflings exist.

All tiefling characters receive +2 dexterity, +2 intelligence, -2 charisma on their initial ability scores. Tieflings have darkvision up to 60'ft. They also have a +2 on bluff and hide checks and have a resistance to Cold, Fire and Electrical based attacks to +5. Tieflings have an natural racial ability to cast Darknessonce per day.

An infamous tiefling rogue has been named as Falryck. A bounty is on his head, wanted for murder.

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