Renewal (3.5 Setting Fantasy/New World, still WIP)

[lvl 1 sharnian]

Renewal
(Name Pending)
Overview

Coming Soon

[lvl 1 sharnian]

History/Spellscourge

The Spellscourge was a cataclysmic event that completely destroyed conventional magic. The survivors had to develop a new way of casting; channeling. Channeling allowed them to slowly, but safely draw spell energies and hopefully prevent another Spellscourge. In doing so, they could achieve more powerful effect at the cost of swiftness. Although magicians got around this limitation, magic-dependent creatures weren’t so lucky; most of them died off, starved of their basic life essence.
In the beginning, magic was barely controlled, used with reckless abandon. There were many tales of devil pacts and undead liches. Even wizards in their towers, forever locked away, content to study dusty tomes for years end. However, eventually this was too much of a strain on the planes and an event now known as the Spellscourge began. Everyone near the center of the blast was killed instantly as a torrent of raw magical tore past them, sucked into the epicenter. Everyone in the continent felt their magical powers drain away, most of them died from the shock. Magical creatures collapsed without magic to support their bodies. The area now known as the Spellscourge was completely obliterated; nothing can grow there, magical or not, living creatures feel their essence drain away while in the area, and even the new method of channeling magic seems to fail to work in the Spellscourge.
Scholars are unsure of what caused the Spellscourge. However, there have been some theories as to what caused it:

• Soon after Pun Pun’s ascension to godhood, he destroyed magic so no one could be as powerful as he was
• Asmodeus’s ascension to godhood
• The End of the Blood War
• A wizard did it
• War between the Gods and the temporary alliance of the Demons and the Devils. Plausible as all the gods (excluding Pun-Pun) and Demons/Devils (excluding Demogorgon and Asmodeus) are dead

[lvl 1 sharnian]

Organizations

There are nine organizations that make up the continent, each laying claim to part of the continent by establishing their own country.

Spellscorned:
The Spellscorned were the first to realize what happened after the Spellscourge; most magic at the time had been completely destroyed and severed, leaving them powerless. They blamed magic for causing the disaster and from then on swore to rid the world of magic once and for all.
The five founding members, themselves powerful magicians and creatures of magic, invoked a powerful artifact to seal off their region from the terrors of magic forever. However, they were not completely successful in their endeavors; they only managed to prevent the casting of magic and to suppress magic; creatures powered by magic such as undead and constructs were still able to exist within the area to a certain point. Soon after realizing this, they decided that the only way to keep them safe was by eliminating all traces of magic in the continent. They thought that although martial forces were not as powerful as magicians, if they were intensely trained, they could easily defeat the tactics of the so-called magicians. As such, they currently have one of the largest standing armies on the continent and are one of the most technological advanced countries. Resource deficiencies are a major problem for them and have prompted several invasions to fuel the war machine.
The spellscorned occupy [country] along the southeast coast and have a mighty seawall protecting their harbor as well as a massive land wall covering their borders. Multiple expansions, combined with their habit of building walls around the edge, have resulted in the country being a multi-ringed fortress. The inhabitants and their government express an almost extreme “for my country” fervor.

The Faithful:
The Faithful is an organization founded to spread worship of the True One. They believe arcane magic is evil and only the True One can return the world back into its former glory. They believe that everyone needs to worship him and only him as the other gods are working against him.
Legends have it that a traveling priest of the True One, having problems with his faith, decided to take a walk in the area now known as the Spellscourge. While he was deep in prayer, the Spellscourge hit. Sure that this was his final moments, the priest braced himself for death. However, when he opened his eyes, an angel was standing next to him, wings outstretched. He found himself unharmed and the angel told him that the True One was not finished with him, bidding him to seek a certain newborn child in a faraway village. The priest set off at once, not stopping for food or water, arriving at the village within a month. Once he was there, he found the child, born to a peasant family. The child was clearly an aasimar with a strong lineage of celestials. He could converse with the clearly and wisely with the adults and elders of the village. The priest quickly told his story, blessed the child, and fell over, dead from exhaustion. The village then became the first hub of the Faithful.
The Faithful occupy [country] in the southwest coast. They maintain the continent’s largest and most powerful navy. They launch various crusades every year to try and convert or conquer the non-believers. Their people are very religious, some likening them to narrow-minded templars.

Darmaani Empire:
The Darmaani are a group of Desert Lords headed by a Maharaja that rule the desert country of Darmaani. They seek to expand their empire and trade routes, competing mainly with [merchants]. The Darmaani frequently send out raids for more slave workers.
In the beginning, Darmaani was split into six different regions, each ruled by a Desert Lord. They were constantly warring against each other, trying to wrest control of the land. This continued on for hundreds of years until the Spellscourge came. Due to the Spellscourge, the Darmaani lost most of the power of their armies, which had become magic-dependant by then. To make matters worse, they were under invasion by the Spellscorned, and losing terribly because even still, none of the Desert Lords wished to ally against this threat. Then came a mysterious old man, he promised to teach the Desert Lords how to use magic again, but only if they banded together to repel the Spellscorned. With their new-found arcana, the Desert Lords drove back the Spellscorned, who were shocked by their sudden usage of magic. As agreed, after the war, they dissolved the barriers and surprisingly, chose to elect the old man as Maharaja to rule over them. The empire flourished and their trade began to grow prompting them to begin an aggressive expansion campaign.
The Darmaani Empire occupies Darmaani in the Great Desert midway between [peaceful country] and [antimagic country]. As they originated in the sands, their armies place emphasis on swift lightly-armored troops with magicians harnessing the power of the deserts to aid them. They’re currently sending slave-raids and a brutal expansion campaign.

Guardians of the Totem:
The Guardians of the Totem consists of various tribes around [mountain] devoted to defending the Totem on the summit. They seek to protect the Totem by eliminating any threat to the Totem. The Guardians maintain a reverence towards nature and believe that arcane magic is the source of the Spellscourge and an abomination to nature so they plan to eliminate all sources of it to safeguard the Totem.
The Totem was originally known as the “Totem.” There used to be more than one “Totem;” they used to be practically everywhere; early tribes thought that the Totems were an embodiment of the strength of Nature and began to study them. Leading up to the Spellscourge, the signs began to appear in the Totems and the tribes tried to warn the continent, but they failed to heed their advice. After the Spellscourge, many Totems were wiped out by the initial wave and the most of the others were destroyed by their own protectors, corrupted mockeries of their former self. The tribe overseeing the Totem of [mountain] decided they alone were not enough to defend the last remaining Totem so they gathered the last of the tribes to unify them towards defending the Totem. A chief was elected and war was waged on the mages of the continent.
The Guardians of the Totem occupy the [mountain] in the center of the continent. Due to their reverence for nature and distrust of arcane magic, they are lightly-armored with a few divine casters in the back to augment the infantry. Currently, they are leading raids to disrupt the more “civilized” countries.

Knights of the Scarlet Order:
The Knights of the Scarlet Order are a group of knights dedicated to ridding the continent of the unnatural. They believe that the Spellscourge was a warning sent from the gods (or what remains of them) to tell that mortals cannot handle arcane magic.
The Knights of the Scarlet Order was founded by a single knight returning home from a campaign in the South. He was a deeply religious and superstitious man. On the way home from a recent campaign, he noticed that the wildlife was becoming increasing vicious and unruly. He put it out of his mind until he stopped at a shack to rest for the night. Inside was an old man hunched over a table. The knight called out to the man, but he did not stir. He got closer and called out once more, asking if he had a spare bed. When the knight got close, he turned the old man around and saw to his horror that it was a corpse, on the verge of animating. Praying to the gods, the knight destroyed the corpse, cutting off his head and stabbing it in the heart. Afterwards, he bathed it in holy water and cremated the body. When he came back inside, on the desk was the old man’s journal, telling of his descent into darkness in his quest to reclaim his lost magic. After reading through it, the knight became convinced that it was arcane magic and demonic works that caused the Spellscourge. When he returned to his homeland, he started an order of knights now known as the Scarlet Order to prevent anymore atrocities such as this from happening.
The Knights of the Scarlet Order occupy [country] in the Northwest of the continent. As knights, they favor cavalry and heavy armor with archers to back them up. Currently, they do not have any specific plan for invasion, keeping an eye out for any disturbances.

The Asmodean Covenant:
The Asmodean Covenant is a group of dark arcanists from Kryntil. They believe in human supremacy and seek to rid the world of all other races. They prefer to work from the background and using deceptive tactics.
Rumors has it that the Covenant was founded a cult that worshipped the Spellscourge. Before the Spellscourge, they were just small-time rebels from a nearby village, gathering to complain about the government. However, when the Spellscourge hit, they happened to be near and saw how everything they once feared (undead, constructs, outsiders, and the like), just dropped dead. Amazed, they returned home to find that their elders and the governments’ magicians were unable to utilize any magic at all. Sensing an opportunity coming to overthrow the elders, the Covenant decided to research the Spellscourge. While they were unable to find anything about the Spellscourge, they did discover the name “Asmodeus.” They decided to make covenant with Asmodeus to learn dark magics. Soon after, they conquered the village and wrought terror upon the hillsides. As they grew more and more powerful, they began to gather disciples to add to their covenant to form the Asmodean Covenant. Recalling how everything but they had died in the area of the Spellscourge, they decided to finish what the Spellscourge had started and eliminate everyone else but humans.
The Asmodean Covenant is based from the Kryntil island chain on the southwest of the continent. In combat, they use infantry as cannon fodder to protect the casters while they start their spells. Currently, they are launching an extermination campaign against the rest of the continent.


Merchants’ Guild:
The Merchants’ Guild is a group of merchants working together standardize prices and make sure the economy is not disrupted. They have tried to stay out of the war and have not been affected much by the Spellscourge.
The Merchants’ Guild did not have an original founder as many merchants can attest. Back before the Spellscourge, most merchants just bought and sold at whatever price they pleased. Local merchants would keep lowering and lowering prices until they all went out of business. This eventually caused an economic collapse as adventurers just haphazardly threw large amounts of gold into the town, furthering its descent. Things continued this way until several merchants chose to start a guild with standardized prices and powerful connections. Over time, most every merchant became part of the guild, thus stabilizing the economy. After the Spellscourge, things went mainly on as normal, except for the merchants who specialized in magic items quickly went bankrupt.
The Merchants’ Guild is located in [country], in the center of the continent, under the [totem country]. They generally hire mercenaries to fight their battles, as they have no standing army. Nothing unusual is happening in the Merchants’ Guild.

The Free Peoples:
The Free Peoples is a group of war-hating people trying to stay out of the war. They believe nothing can be gained from fighting in the war and that the fighting will ruin their country.
The Free Peoples are relatively new compared to the other factions. They arose only a few hundred years ago. Dissidents, dissatisfied with the war, grouped together and founded their own country away from the fierce fighting that devastated their homelands. Eventually, they developed a modest trading economy with some of the best tobacco in the continent.
The Free Peoples live in [country], located at the top of the continent. Although they despise war, most have some training or at least an interest in archery. They are currently minding their own business.

Order of the Scattered Steps:
The Order of the Scattered Steps is a group of magicians dedicated to study the ruins of [country]. They believe that the way to reverse the Spellscourge is hidden within the ruins.
The Order is believed to have been founded by several wandering scholar sages. After the Spellscourge, scholars left to search for an answer. In time, they discovered some ancient ruins from before the Spellscourge. They were amazed to discover that some of its magics had survived. Remaining behind to study it, the scholars spent more and more of their time there, eventually starting whole cities dedicated to unlocking the ruin’s secrets. Their cities sprung up around the teleportation circles, using them to quickly transport supplies and as a form of quick travel.
The Order of the Scattered Steps occupy [country] on an island northwest of the continent. They are generally apathetic to issues of the rest of the continent. Currently, they are still investigating the ruins.

[lvl 1 sharnian]

Planes

Coming Soon

[lvl 1 sharnian]

Magic/Psionics

Magic

Magic has been affected the most by the Spellscourge; standard magic has been abolished. Channeling is now the dominant form of casting.
Rather than schools, spells are now categorized into conduits, which are like pathways through which spell energies can be formed into spells. Each conduit has a list of spells associated with it. Divine channelers pray to the gods to form their conduits. Arcane channelers draw the energies themselves, without the help of gods. Channeling takes time, though not really noticeable outside of combat.

Psionics

Psionics has not been heard of for thousands of years, but there are stories of youths running around setting inns on fire and slaughtering cattle with nothing, but their minds.

In short, coming soon.

[lvl 1 sharnian]

Alignment/Religions

Coming Soon

[lvl 1 sharnian]

Inhabitants

Spellstarved - Monsters who have survived the Spellscourge, but still need magic to survive

Coming Soon

[lvl 1 sharnian]

Classes

Base Classes

Arcanist – Wizard replacement
Pactsurger – Sorcerer replacement
Divine Vessel – Cleric replacement
Avatar – Druid replacement

All casters (including Bards, Paladins, and Rangers) are to be replaced

More to come

Prestige Classes

Coming Soon

[lvl 1 sharnian]

Character Options

Coming Soon

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Currency, Equipment, and Economy

Coming Soon

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FAQ

Q. Who made this wonderful campaign setting template?
A. TabletopNuke from our own forums