Welcome to Primera, a 5e Campaign Setting

[DiscipleofBob]

Hello all. For a new 2018 campaign I’m looking to create a homebrew world I can use for 5e. I have a basic outline, but the goal is a ton of fantastic locations in all sorts of environments with room for all sorts of character and quest concepts. A lot of the archetypes have a ton of flavor attached to them, so I want every subclass to have an in-universe location and/or organization they can be part of. Bardic colleges are actual academic institutions that send out adventurers to gather information, one College for each Bardic College in the PHB and Xanathar’s. For each Cleric domain there is a single major deity like Pelor for light or Bahamut for war, each with a cathedral somewhere in the world that is the central location for that deity’s clerics. Each Druid circle has a sacred grove in the appropriate environment.

For those of you who enjoy helping others build their worlds, I’m looking for suggestions on things and places to put in this world and ways to flesh it out. Below is the general outline and the barebones description and region I have thus far. I’m currently trying to decide where each “archetype organization/location” goes and develop other cities and locations to put in each region.

So without further ado:
Welcome to Primera

It is the 5th Age of Primera. It is a time of peace after centuries of conflict between nations over long-forgotten causes such as nationalism. It is an age of innovation and exploration, of individual betterment and high ambition. Arcane practitioners find new and exciting ways to tap into magical forces. Once forgotten primal practices of nature such as beast totem worship and druid circles are being rediscovered. Academic institutions of all kinds are growing in the pursuit of knowledge. Inventors and entrepreneurs are reshaping the world every day. But with such ambition comes greed and fear. The world may be at peace, but conflict is ever on the horizon. Forgotten evils may yet return, or perhaps they never left to begin with. This is Primera, home of all that is good and evil, lawful and chaotic, but mostly somewhere in between.

Arcadia – A magocracy ruled by the brightest arcane minds in the world, this collection of artificial floating islands is known to every wizard, sorcerer, warlock, and more.

Aquainsula – One of the four ancient human kingdoms, this coastline is seemingly a tropical paradise, though it hides equally exotic threats in its beauty.

Cassarabia – This vast desert hides tombs and ruins from ancient powers, remote settlements of outlaws and outcasts, and many more mysteries in its shifting sands.

Dusklight – This perpetually twilit, seemingly desolate forested region is filled with tricksters as well as the nightmarish monsters one would expect from its shadows.

Geotopia – This collection of vast carved out caverns and mountainside cities is the seat of Dwarven culture and civilization, consisting of volcanic caverns, hollowed out rock quarries, and underground coves.

Gnovaskosha – Considered a myth by most folk, gnomes swear up and down (but mostly down) that their ancient homeland is a pinnacle of advanced gnomish civilization, if it even exists at all since it’s never appeared on any official maps or credible history books.

Highthrone – These vast mountains, considered the highest point in all of Primera, and the collective throne of the gods, are inhabited by a theocracy of scholars and priests of all faiths, often a neutral source of mediation between feuding political forces.

Iskara – This frozen tundra may seem barren, but snow-dwelling barbarians thrive as well as the cold-dwelling monsters guard even deeper secrets in this winter wonderland.

Maelstra – One of the four ancient kingdoms of man, taken over by greed and oligarchy, before taken over again in a labor revolution. While perpetually in a lower class fueled recession, it is nonetheless a center of trade and opportunity, but also crime.

Khromferra – The ancient land of dragons, rules by 10 ancient dragons in an uneasy truce that have carved their own territories over Dragonborn and kobold citizenry, draconian fauna, and ever burgeoning magic item and blacksmithing economy.

Omourpelago – This collection of remote, exotic islands hold a wide variety of strange, unique cultures and challenges.

Pyrenobel – One of the four ancient kingdoms of man, now populated by Tiefling after a deal between the nation’s now missing rulers and devils. Now the cursed, volcanic craggy nation is divided between religious zealots seeking redemption and various Machiavellian forces embracing the devilish influence.

Stonewall – One of the four ancient kingdoms of man, the site of many wars and ever-changing borders, now a collection of warlord-run fiefdoms, scattered with ruins of old strongholds, outposts, and now defunct walls, some of which have secret tunnels interconnected in a complex labyrinth.

Underdark – Not appearing on any map due to its nature, the vast underground realm of the Underdark only has a few vaguely friendly contacts with the rest of the world. Drow, duergar, and more inhabit this seemingly endless, bottomless series of caverns that when combined would dwarf the rest of the world.

Wildhearth – This elven nation is almost entirely covered in a forest of impossibly large trees, big enough to carve cities into. The elves developed their technology in tune with nature. Their cities are often grown rather than built.

[DiscipleofBob]

I don't want to put a bunch of blank posts for future content, but I am going to use this post as a "to-do" list to prioritize which parts of Primera I need to develop first.

To Do:

Barbarians - each archetype has a spiritual animal as a beast totem, not just bear, wolf, eagle, tiger, and elk, but Berserker (dire beast), Battlerager (hedgehog/porcupine), Ancestral Guardian (raven or other animal associated with the dead), Storm Herald (thunderbird), and Zealot (phoenix). I'd like to have it so that there's no more than one tribe per region listed above. The question is: where?

Bards - Five bardic colleges: Lore, Valor, Glamour, Whispers, and Blades. Each using the musical aspect as a front to train adventurers and gather information. But which 5 regions should get a bardic college? What else can differentiate the colleges from each other? I had the idea of the colleges being found by an old party of adventurers/rock band that founded the college to pass on bardic skills and acquiring information so no more evil forces prevail thanks to lost legends that could have prevented their rise.

Clerics - With one major deity per domain, some of these write themselves. Ioun - Knowledge, Pelor - Light, Melora - Nature, Kord - Tempest, Bahamut - War, Raven Queen - Death, just need deities for Life, Trickery, Arcana, and Forge. I'll pull D&D deities where possible or make my own in case no one fits the bill.

(More to come)