[5e] Brave New World - The Two Paths (My first campaign setting)

[gutza1]

9/14/14:This is my first campaign setting. It's been brewing in my mind for months now, and I am looking for feedback. I will post small parts of fluff over time, with the overview and inspiration being posted right now and the fluff for the races, classes, and new backgrounds/feats coming next. Remember, if there is something ambiguous, it will probably be clarified with more posts by me.

Spoiler: Inspiration/Background

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I first played D&D last February, and I was hooked. It was the D&D Next Playtest, and I played a rock gnome tinkerer(actually a fighter because there wasn't a tinkerer class)/inventor/scientist who wanted to break the medieval stasis of the campaign setting (a custom one, but I don't know much about it though, except that the Greyhawk deities rule in it.). However, the DM said, in his own words, that "nobody is inventing a gun." While the campaign was fun, I was disappointed that I my character would not achieve his goal. I had read about Arcanum, and was inspired by having standard fantasy races in a completely different tech level with a conflict between science and magic (I don't like mixing the two because one can easily break the universe, like building a rocket with a bag of holding as a fuel tank, thereby giving it unlimited dV). However, steampunk is quickly becoming a cliche of its own in fantasy settings. So I wondered, what if, I advanced the tech level even further, got rid of the "Elves like magic, dwarves like Technology" cliche, and made half of the world a standard Medieval Fantasy with some very powerful super weapons, and the other half having the cool tech, but with very few people being spell casters? The result was the basics of the Brave New World that I am presenting to you now.

Spoiler: Overview

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The world of Yrth was once just a standard, cliche fantasy setting, except that it was in a heliocentric solar system that lay in a galaxy that was a part of 13.7 billion year old universe, but those are just details. The deities of this world had seen how humanity(this includes the PHB races) had gone from mere apes trying to survive a brutal ice age and the rise of magic to potentially becoming the dominant species on Yrth. They decided to create a divine curse that would prevent technology from advancing beyond the (at the time) current medieval period and let the art of magic reign supreme. However, various gods of craft, nature, and freedom saw that the "Great Curse" was a form of oppression. They secretly planned to break the curse and let advanced technology have a place in the world as well as magic. When a lich's superweapon malfunctioned, the "liberating" gods used the outflow of magical energy to break the "Great Curse" on Yrth. Some races began to invent, discover, and advance in tech. However, their new inventions began to become harder and harder to enchant and merge with magic. When the tech-oriented civilizations reached the Industrial Era, their technology just could not be used to create Magitech. They discovered that the entire universe was a battleground between the natural laws of physics and the magical laws that sought to subvert them. While the magic-oriented half of the world stayed mostly the same, with only politics changing over time, the tech-oriented half is now at a near future(late 2020's) tech level, with the cosmic conflict between the two "Great Paths" fueling a cold war between the magic nations and the tech nations. Open conflict may break out at any moment, and the world is in need of adventures to shape the future of this "Brave New World".

Chapter 1- The World:
Inspiration/Background
Overview
Overall Tone
Races WIP
Classes - Coming Soon^TM
Geography - Coming Soon^TM
Magic Countries - Coming Soon^TM
Tech Countries - Coming Soon^TM
Deities - Coming Soon^TM
Planes - Coming Soon^TM

Chapter 2- The Changes for Tech-Originating Characters:
Racial Trait Changes - Coming Soon^TM
Class Changes - Coming Soon^TM
Skill Changes - Coming Soon^TM

Chapter 3 - New Crunch Stuff
New Skills - Coming Soon^TM
New Backgrounds - Coming Soon^TM
New Feats - Coming Soon^TM
New Services - Coming Soon^TM
New Items - Coming Soon^TM
The Internet - Coming Soon^TM
Vehicles - Coming Soon^TM
Weapons - Coming Soon^TM

Disclaimer: Many of the new crunch stuff will be filled out after the 5e DMG comes out.

[gutza1]

Okay, here is the fluff for the races, as well as the overall tone of the campaign setting.

Spoiler: Overall Tone

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Brave New World is supposed to be generally realistic. That means that, while magic exists and some monsters are purely fantasy, the planets go around the sun, the world is made of periodic atoms, and spaceships follow the laws of orbital mechanics(better brush up on your Kerbal Space Program skills). While good tends to win over very long periods of time, there may be times when evil wins. Nobody is perfect(just like in real life), and just like in Eberron, alignments are general guidelines for behavior, not metaphorical straitjackets. Overall, there is a sense of discovery and uncertainty, as fantasy races learn to cope that half of the world fights with guided missiles & guns(heh, that should be the name of a role playing game) instead of swords and sorcerers. Many races born in the tech world differ from their medieval counterparts, and many of them are trying to define what an elf or a dwarf really is.

Spoiler: Races

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While the races of Brave New World in the magic-aligned half of the world remain mostly the same as the PHB races, the tech-half races are noticeably changed. Humans, elves, half-elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes look mostly the same, with height being the only characteristic locked in place. An elf could be easily mistaken for a human until someone looks at his/her ears. A dwarf and a vertically challenged human could be only told apart by looking at their physiology. All non-human meta-humans that were created through divine intervention are also known as the Chosen of the god or goddess that created them. Most of the new fluff is for the tech-born members of a race, since the magic-born ones are basically the same as in the PHB. All tech-born humanoid races except for halflings live to about 100 years since the magic that sustained the tech-born elves and dwarves' very long lives went away. These next 5 races are all part of homo sapiens:

Humans(Homo Sapiens Sapiens Wise Man): Humans are the oldest race to walk Yrth. They evolved 100,000 years ago in the Brave New World equivalent of Africa, and all other races were created through divine intervention. Most of racial humanity's different cultures are similar to those in RL, so there's not much more to say. Humans are the most populous race because they are the original humanoids.

Elves(Homo Sapiens elegans Elegant Wise Man): Elves, the Chosen of Corellon Larethian, were birthed as an attempt to create the perfect humanoid in Correllon's eyes. However, nothing is perfect, and the elves quickly became racist or weak. However, most non-evil tech-born elves have overcome their racial hatred, and the good ones work for the Greater Good (Tech-born elves are more like the Tau from Warhammer 40k than actual elf-like factions). Tech-born elves are far more integrated into global culture than their elusive magic-born cousins. Tech-born high elves believe in the power of science and space exploration, while tech-born wood elves seek to prevent the destructive exploitation of the environment and slow global warming. The drow developed a tech-level that would be equivalent to sixty years ahead of our own in RL a thousand years before any other nation, but their betrayal of Lolth, the goddess that caused their divergence from normal elves and had sworn to revenge herself on the drow after they betrayed her, and their lack of numbers forced them to build large interstellar arcs and leave Yrth for a habitable planet in a nearby solar system, Civilization:Beyond Earth style.

Orcs(Homo Sapiens Pugnus Fighting Wise Man): Orcs were created by Gruumsh as a way to avenge the other deities' mistreatment and mocking of him. While magic-born orcs still are the usual chaotic evil race they always are, the tech-born orcs are just as intelligent as other humanoids and rule a large nation with an iron fist. The lawful evil tech-born orcs are inspired by the Nazis and Soviet Russia. While they do not look like one, orcs are part of the same species as humans and elves because of their ability to produce hybrids with humans that are fertile. The orcs believe that Gruumsh and their race is worthy of respect and will use any means necessary to prove that fact to any other nation. However, their dystopian society receives a lot of flak and is frequently denounced as an enemy to the free world, magic or tech aligned. Tech-born orcs have made large advances in weapons technology and are currently trying to weaponize outer space, even though that is outlawed by certain treaties (just like in RL). Most citizens of the tech-born orc nation are extremely patriotic, and their leaders are usually Lawful Evil.

Half Elves: Half-elves are more common in technology-aligned civilizations because the fact of tech-born elves and humans having the same lifespans invalidates age-related angst in the elf-human hybrids known as half-elves. However, human women's fetish for large muscles(more commonly found in humans) and facial hair(which elves never have) means that almost all half-elves came either a half-elf couple or from a human father and an elf mother. However, half-elves are far more integrated into society because of the existence of a global tech-born race-encompassing culture that most tech-born are born into.

Half Orcs: Tech-born half-orcs are looked upon with less suspicion and are a race that breeds true just like Brave New World's and Eberron's half elves. Tech-born half orcs often are separated enough from their orc fathers that they do not feel the underlying influence of Gruumsh anymore. They are fully integrated into the global tech-born culture and lead ordinary lives just like most other tech-borns.

The next three races are members of a sister species to Homo Sapiens that is a distant descendant of Yrthian Neanderthals. They are just as intelligent as Homo Sapiens however, and two of them are a race in the basic rules.

Dwarves(Homo Neanderthaldeduxis Industrius Industrious Man descended from Neanderthals): Tech-born dwarves are more introverted than other races. While their nations contribute a large percentage of industrial production and their engineers are sought around the tech-aligned world, they prefer to keep the goings on in their nations hidden. Many tech-born Mountain dwarves live in large, high-tech Arcologies built in mountains in their own nations and operate large automated mining complexes. Hill dwarves live in cities just like most other members of nations and many of them are integrated into global tech-born society. Dwarves have mapped out large areas of the long-abandoned Underdark and have unearthed many high-tech drow artifacts, from which scholars have pieced together the history of the long-gone subrace.

Halflings(Homo Neanderthaldeduxis Socialis Sociable Man descended from Neanderthals): Both magic and tech born haltings have no nation of their own, but they are experts in the social sciences and often serve as politicians and economists. They are very gracious and slightly British just like Tokien's hobbits. However, they are large opponents to space exploration, arguing that the funds spent on it could be much better used for social equality programs.

Gnomes(Homo Neanderthaldeduxis Ingeniosus Inventive Man descended from Neanderthals): Gnomes are an inventive race that are both scientists and engineers. They are responsible, along with elves and dwarves, for a large amount of technological development and are respected in the global tech-aligned Yrthian culture. They helped designed the Moon rocket, the gun, the steam engine, and many more inventions. Forest gnomes often live in rural areas as farmers and ecologists, while rock gnomes often live as scientists and engineers.

The last two PHB races are very different from other humanoids:

Tieflings: Testing has shown that tieflings are genetically identical to humans. Scholoars believe their fiendish appearance is caused by their ancient curse, which warps their embryos from their natural human development into the infernal form so reviled by many people. Many tieflings just want to live a somewhat normal life, but others stay true to their heritage and become cult members or criminals.

Dragonborn(Draconis Quasi-Hominis Man-like Dragon) Dragonborn are direct cousins of dragons and were created by Bahamut and Tiamat as a populous race of helpers meant to serve the true dragons. Almost all dragonborn are magic-born, and do not lose any of their supernatural abilities if they are tech-born. Many people treat dragonborn with curiosity, but they are elusive and introverted. They live as part of a secret globe-spanning society led by the true dragons, with many dragonborn living in hidden communities that are part of a secret globe-spanning society. Only one true dragon, a Lawful Neutral Green Dragon called Parthx, advocates the use of technology in his dragonborn subjects.

[gutza1]

Fixed my second post. Now its information is accurate.

[gutza1]

Sorry I haven't been posting more info. School has been occupying my time. This weekend I promise I'll post more stuff. BTW I hope someone will give feedback.

[gutza1]

I've edited the races post and added a metric-****ton of lore.