I'd like to bump this, simply because I'd love to see more OP input. Ideas so far have been spectactular, but I'd like some clarification on the OP's part.
Eladrin Cities - how would you discribe these? Do they travel between the feywild and the main world at a whim? On a schedule? How do the city-dwellers live?
How many of the playable races in the MM are...playable? Are Orcs and Hobgoblins unplayable because of the conflicts with the empire?
Want the tl;dr of my posts? Read the bold text; I put it there to highlight the main points for ease of skimming.
I was going to hold this for a few more pages... but a bump means business. :D (and I'll try to answer those specific questions as soon as I'm free to do more than copy paste my documents).
The Church of the Imperial Pantheon The gods exist and their will is made manifest upon the world by the courses laid forth by the machinations of their exarchs and the direct influence, or interference, of their divine agents, the angels. Although the existence of the gods is unquestionable, the interpretation of their wishes is often dependent upon the understanding and awareness of each culture that has been affected by the agents of any particular god. Generally speaking, it is fairly clear that the gods prefer to leave interpretation of their existence to the mortal races, for in their teeming masses, the many thousand interpretations of their divine will more often than not grant them a claim more vast than any singular true word or text would. As such, gods have only in very rare, very momentous occasions, directly influenced the course of the world, the creation of Kingdom of Solanthis being the most recent example of such an occurrence.
Specifically within the realm of the continent, its holdings and multitudinous kingdoms, the ways in which a person or group refers to the gods does more to reflect their own beliefs or motives than the will of the gods themselves. Additionally, while angels appear to act as servants of the Church, these openly public personas are often little more than a plainly cast veneer of public humility used to shroud the often overt maneuverings of religious movements that span reaches that dwarf the claims of kings, the Houses, and even the Emperor himself.
There are few universal traditions amongst the many cultures of the continent, and first amongst them is that the names of the gods are pure and best left unsaid. Using the proper name of a god is never a good thing, even by ordained members of a god’s own faith. Ranging from a potentially fatal error, tempting divine forces, to outright heresy in the minds of many a radical order, few ever invoke the proper name of a god without considering the consequences. Instead, most rely upon indirect references in the form of honorifics and epithets which are at once roundabout, revealing, and considered just and proper ways of referring to the gods. At a most basic level, the different forms of address are present within the setting as a means of creating a degree of complexity that more often makes religion a fracturing issue, where even two worshippers of Kord may fail to see eye to eye, as one devotes himself to Kord as the Storm God, while the other worships Kord as the Strife God.
Based upon legends and seemingly ageless hearsay, each god reacts differently upon hearing its name. While the gods are not believed to be omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient, they have their agents in the world, and even if they cannot hear everything, it is said that the gods, even if they do little else, listen to the words of mortals—especially when given the chance. Superstition holds that Torog will burrow up from the Underdark and swallow those who invoke his name (PHB 23), while Kord presents challenges or storms to batter those who call to him. It is said that if you wish to speak to Lolth, you need only tell a spider, while snakes will come in the sleep of those who dare utter the name of Zehir. Death comes to all however, and does so without words, so it is appropriate that the proper name of the Raven Queen is, as by default, long forgotten. While she does have various descriptive epithets that can be applied to winter, she alone is the one divine force all mortals know by the same name for true. As many a wounded soldier has learned, lying alone upon the field, calling to the Raven Queen will not bring an end to the pain, even as it brings the crows.
Echoes of the Theocratic Monarchy When the first Emperor refused the Sun Crown, Pelor’s church was there to scoop it up, both the literal artifact, and the role of theological leadership which the Kings of Solanthis had long carried. For four hundred years, generations of Kings from four distinct dynasties (all of which still bear a strong hand in politics, one now as an Imperial line, and the other three as bearers of strong Imperial holdings) held a divine mandate to protect the people of the downs of Solanthis. While Pelor bestowed the Sun Crown and the Sun Text upon the first King, neither came with a clear method of rule, but rather was a covenant between a protective god and the conditions by which the protected must act to earn such divine intervention.
In the earliest days before the first King was given power, the mortal races around the region known as Solanthis could only eke out lives of suffering and despair, often roaming in semi-nomadic state, building settlements which would eventually be discovered by gnolls and other monstrous races or come across by powerful beasts of prey. Uprooted, they moved through the wilderness, settling where they could. Pelor’s protection of Solanthis lasted long enough for the people to build strong walls, and his light was as a beacon to the multitude who, when gathered, were strong enough to repel even the great beasts of prey that roamed the wild.
The price for this protection was fairly indirect, and was transmitted to the public through a beneficent rule of the king, which has remained in place into the time of Imperial rule, despite calls by skeptics who suggest that public works are now primarily a political act. Given freedoms by their government, and enjoying the bounty of Pelor, who is also the god of harvests, the people found themselves free to begin exploring the many mysteries of the world which their parents and grandparents could not. Early philosophy began as a questioning of the intentions of Pelor and the apparent lack of involvement on the parts of the other gods which the diverse population of Solanthis worshipped. Although some extreme theorists sought to position Pelor as the highest god, or as a patron god, the first king extinguished the rising popularity of this line of thought through an edict that acknowledged the many gods as integral to the wellbeing of the people. This edict identified the gods which today are sometimes refered to as the Gods of the First Dynasty, because the epithets used by the first King, and his line, are different from those used by the other dynasties. The modern “Imperial Pantheon” is representative of the epithets or honorifics used by the fourth dynasty, the Imperial dynasty, in reference to the gods.
Although the use of a god’s title is generally considered to be indicative of a person’s circumstances at that moment, or possibly their faith, there is potential for an interpretation of allegiance, or favoritism towards, a particular dynasty (now a Great House) by the use of title that matches that dynasty’s pantheon. Overlap does exist however, which complicates matters.
As a final note, the individual races of Solanthis do not have names for the gods. There isn’t a special name bestowed upon Moradin by the dwarves anymore than there is a special name bestowed upon Moradin by the humans as a whole. As such, all people in Solanthis are open to consideration when they refer to a god, and none say, “Oh, that is simply the way [non-human race] refers to that god,” while thinking nothing more of it.
The Gods What follows is a list of the gods proper names, followed by the monikers used by the Imperial Pantheon, followed then by the Third, Second, and First Dynasty. Players who have characters with origins beyond the borders of Solanthis are welcome to invent appropriate titles for the gods based upon their own culture’s perspective.
[LIST TO BE COMPLETED]
Evil and Chaotic Evil Gods When the first king made his proclamation recognizing all of the gods, this included the evil gods and chaotic evil gods. Recognition, he emphasized, did not equate to adoption or tolerance of these gods. Instead, the first king acknowledged these forces that the people of Solanthis would know those gods who Pelor opposed, and their ways as well. Even today, the Church of the Imperial Pantheon goes to great lengths to educate the commoners about the evil gods and the dangers they bring to the world, mixing equal parts truth and fiction into a four hundred year old oratory artform which can curl the toes of even the most cosmopolitan, self-proclaimed enlightened skeptic.
Despite the first king’s warnings, and the regular sermons of the faithful, cults of the evil and chaotic evil gods exist in Solanthis, as they do in other parts of the world. Open worship of these gods is strictly forbidden, and there are many orders of the various faiths that will zealously strike and persecute cultists and cabalists.
Warlocks who adhere to an Infernal Pact are immune to this persecution only if they either evade it, or bear the brand of an Apostate, one of the few devils bound eternally deep below the arcane prison Murus Sorcerous. Although the brand indicates an association with a particular devil, it does not denote conspiracy with it, nor does it mean loyalty or a relationship of any kind. A common member of the Empire is as likely to charge a branded warlock with heresy as they are to charge a wizard.
I'd like to bump this, simply because I'd love to see more OP input. Ideas so far have been spectactular, but I'd like some clarification on the OP's part.
Eladrin Cities - how would you discribe these? Do they travel between the feywild and the main world at a whim? On a schedule? How do the city-dwellers live?
How many of the playable races in the MM are...playable? Are Orcs and Hobgoblins unplayable because of the conflicts with the empire?
I picture eladrin cities as something of a cross between the Black Castle of the movie Krull (in how they function) and a sort of high fantasy ivory towered elven architecture typically associated with magicky elves (in how they look).
They appear and disappear in a single day, to reappear one year later in another location. Each city is a nation unto itself. The eladrin have four castes based upon the four seasons of the year, and each season represents the four elements of mortal life (the metaphorical spring, summer, autumn, and winter of life)--elements which seem so distant to the eladrin that they embrace it as a sort of eternal novelty. While these castes are considered separate parts of eladrin culture, they are more like affiliations than unbreakable positions in society--it is only the longterm quality of the eladrin mindset which makes the castes largely unshakable.
So, while the eladrin themselves enjoy a mostly ageless existence, being young almost up until the end of their existences, their cities transition between the radical seasonal patterns of the feywild--some cities basking in fields of eternal blossoming while others are forever shrouded in the snow and mist of strange, unearthly winter valleys--only to return to the world in some sort of annual ritual of renewal, anchoring themselves briefly to the reality of the material world, lest they lose time itself in the beauty of an unchanging autumnal rain.
Another quality of their movement can be associated with their culture's purposeful detachment from the conflict between the drow and the moon elves. The moon elves believe that their symbiotic, if sometimes deadly, relationship with nature (and their use of Nature as a source of power [see Druid, Shaman, etc in future releases]) allows them to maintain a grasp on the leylines of the world. The drow believe that the leylines, if pulled into the Underdark (again) would bring forth the Spider's Moon (again).
The eladrin believe that Sehanine, the current moon and similarly named goddess, and the Spider's Moon and Lolth, are the same moon and the same goddess. The question, which they have elected to disengage from answering, is if Sehanine is so much the perfect trickster-illusionist goddess that she's got even her own worshippers fooled, or if Lolth is such a betrayer goddess of lies that she gives favor to the enemies of her own worshipers, or if Sehanine/Lolth is capable of being both simultaneously. The eladrin have distanced themselves from the natural world, of which the material leylines, the Underdark, and the moon of which the goddess/es are such an integral part.
Of course, the rub is that this can easily be attributed to an illusion on the part of Sehanine, a scheme of Lolth's, or both... given the fact that the Feywild has an Underdark of its own (replete with cyclopses and Fomorians), and that no matter how much the eladrin may think they are free of the world, they are still bound to the web of the leylines.
The second question, about which MM races are playable... The short answer is "none or few; if few, warforged, dopplegangers, or shifters."
Even the warforged are given such a tight leash that they'd have to be played by a player who is totally into the idea of being an automaton piece of property that depends upon living beings to keep it running with residuum. If a player is going for the whole Face Dancer aspect of Dune, a DM might want to consider making a group who is able to produce Dopplegangers... but that can of worms - along with cloning, are parts of the series which are considered to be a direct reaction to the upending which was brought by the messiah Muad'dib and his children... so unless you introduce the setting with the specific intentions of really throwing it for a loop, I'd leave Dopples out too.
However, I've been toying around with lycanthropes as a major power in the wilderness who have aligned themselves strongly with the moon elves. Moon... werewolves... seems to work. The were-tribes refer to themselves as the Senahin, and the Shifters are attached to the were-tribes as a sort of between group that could reasonably interact within an Imperial setting.
Muad'dib himself is one of the best potential plot devices/story pieces for a Dune-inspired setting. In this setting, I would use a character based on one aspect of Muad'dib to help drive the story. Instead of a chosen one/messiah figure, I would make him already part of the status quo power structure, and give him a role leading one of the big organizations, such as an arcane house. This Muad'dib figure is a ritual master specialized in divination rituals, and he guides his organization in a master plan determined through divination of the results of multiple possible actions and outcomes. Hence, he's more like Paul in the second book than the first, where he's fallen into the trap of divination such that he won't take a course of action that he can't divine the outcome of, and is leading society (or an important part of society) on a path of stagnation.
I kind of pictured the muad'dib figure in my campaign as hiding out in the desert.
In another note, I start my campaign with this setting on Sunday. I will probably start a separate thread to talk about that (or would that be a separate forum?)
Ramses III wrote:
Muad'dib himself is one of the best potential plot devices/story pieces for a Dune-inspired setting. In this setting, I would use a character based on one aspect of Muad'dib to help drive the story. Instead of a chosen one/messiah figure, I would make him already part of the status quo power structure, and give him a role leading one of the big organizations, such as an arcane house. This Muad'dib figure is a ritual master specialized in divination rituals, and he guides his organization in a master plan determined through divination of the results of multiple possible actions and outcomes. Hence, he's more like Paul in the second book than the first, where he's fallen into the trap of divination such that he won't take a course of action that he can't divine the outcome of, and is leading society (or an important part of society) on a path of stagnation.
Muad'dib himself is one of the best potential plot devices/story pieces for a Dune-inspired setting. In this setting, I would use a character based on one aspect of Muad'dib to help drive the story. Instead of a chosen one/messiah figure, I would make him already part of the status quo power structure, and give him a role leading one of the big organizations, such as an arcane house. This Muad'dib figure is a ritual master specialized in divination rituals, and he guides his organization in a master plan determined through divination of the results of multiple possible actions and outcomes. Hence, he's more like Paul in the second book than the first, where he's fallen into the trap of divination such that he won't take a course of action that he can't divine the outcome of, and is leading society (or an important part of society) on a path of stagnation.
I disagree with your first sentence, but by all means- whatever works for an individual's campaign. Personally I'd rather eat a sock than see a GMNPC, or someone at the table, pulling the sort of things that Muad'dib did on any level (or fill the role of "chosen one" as he did).
Putting a Prophet/Savior character into the setting has far too much potential for introducing a stifling metaplot. If there's one individual who Knows The Future, then the other political factions are really his puppets... this is good for a novel, and bad for a game IMO, especially since the players cannot take up the role of this all-knower within the limitations of 4E and thusly, are also at best relegated to being his puppets, no matter how they resist.
I'm avoiding the Bene Gesserits, making a blatant Atreides "doomed to fall" house, and any sort of Muad'dib. Putting them into the setting irrevocably alters campaign plots, and also sets up a sort of GMNPC that I'm not up to making a requirement of the setting.
That said, if the purpose of a campaign is to specifically play out a fantasy version of the novels, enjoy whatever works at your table!
I kind of pictured the muad'dib figure in my campaign as hiding out in the desert.
In another note, I start my campaign with this setting on Sunday. I will probably start a separate thread to talk about that (or would that be a separate forum?)
I don't see an Actual Play forum here... I know rpg.net / enworld have them.. I'd appreciate a reference/link to the setting anywhere you set up shop. Also, wow- beating me to using my own setting! My group is still pushing through Keep on the Shadowfell.
Each city is a nation unto itself. The eladrin have four castes based upon the four seasons of the year, and each season represents the four elements of mortal life (the metaphorical spring, summer, autumn, and winter of life)--elements which seem so distant to the eladrin that they embrace it as a sort of eternal novelty.
Don't know why but I thought of the Tau from Warhammer 40K when I read this.
clark411 wrote:
Also, wow- beating me to using my own setting! My group is still pushing through Keep on the Shadowfell.
Enigmatic, open, and ready to be explored and expanded.
I am not as familiar with Dune as a should be, but I LOVE this concept. I am going to be running two campaigns. One I intend to develop my own world. But if you are fine with it, I would love to use Solanthis and help you expand!
