Ro; Dinosaurs and Dragons! My next game

[Richard369]

Hey all,

I just wanted to post this as a developing high concept. My last campaign has come to a close (Githyanki Incursion in a modified Greyhawk setting) and now I'm out to make something a bit off the beaten path concerning my own creative flavor.

I want to make a semi-prehistoric world with elements of Bronze age within it.

I don't much do entire planets and solar systems, mainly because that kind of travel, even with magic, wouldn't be incredibly feasible or a requisite for high adventure as even a dragon can only cover so much distance. So, I focus on regions, maybe two continents at most.

I'm thinking mostly hot, humid, dense jungles with some arid and desert thrown into the mix, with a large slash of Mediterranean island and coastline to get the feel right.

Things I will include,

NO COMMON LANGUAGE

NO MAJOR KINGDOMS

NO COMMON CURRENCY

Dinosaurs of many kinds AND Dragons of many kinds

Three city-states that are, in a small way, rising to some kind of power;

One Dwarf city state, carved into the flat side of an enormous arid plateau, richly veined with iron and granite. Themed like the Greek city-states of old with Dwarven Hoplites in Phalanx formations. And a Dwarf Senate of sorts to go along with it.

One Elf city-state deep in the jungles, a "floating" city made within the boughs of ancient, broad leafed trees. Themed similar to Feudal Japan but with only the rarest blades made of steel and the rest of obsidian or bone or some kind of strange bio-enamel and armor made of treated wood and leaves and dino-hide and dragon scales.

And another Elf city-state, built upon the hardened yet lush rock array of a hibernating volcano, surrounded by a vast, but not too vast, stretch of sapphire seas. Themed like Pacific Island culture, with a dash of some metal work and glass work, wielding broad shields made of dragon turtle shells. They might even ride/swim with whales and other sea mammals.

In addition, I'm going to litter the place with the remnants of a fallen empire of Yuan-Ti, Naga, Lizardfolk, snake-centric folk who have fallen from prime and are now only a fragment of their former power, with their most wealthy houses keeping some dominion but still failing.

The rest is going to be tribal-like societies with little to no establishment on the wilds of the land. An exception;

One human tribe/horde has settled in a valley and began to setup shop, not quite a city-state but still building power, the humans there have begun building a rich culture, like the Egyptians, and hold another gestalt of tribes in the bondage of slavery. They have the city that they are building and a tower fortress upriver from such.

Only ONE true god from the human establishment the rest of the faiths will be totemic, nature worship, dragon worship, spirit worship, demon and devil dealing, philosophies, that kind of thing.

Stone Age, Bronze age and a little bit of Iron age tech. I also like the idea of using something like a raw crystal weapon or something as an artifact as the characters get on in levels.

PC Races- additional options-

-The Dumchak- essentially intelligent gorilla people.
-Yuan-Ti- Pureblood only-
-Hobgoblin-
-Goblin-
-Orc-

I want to do something strange with magic, like restrict it to a race, or two or three races only. I know that's going to bring some hate but I think it can be worked well. Maybe not. I'm open to suggestions.

And really I posted this to allow us all to post more suggestions here. This will be at least a year long process, as I plan on playing a character for the time being in the stead of DMing.

Let me know what you all think and what you think might be a fun addition, and of course any questions you have. I like just nerding out creatively.

The land, is called Ro.

[brian 333]

The AD&D 1st ed. Monster Manual has dinos started out. Remember, it was written when Tyranosarus Rex walked upright, so the pictures are a bit off from what you might expect. At least It's a place to start.

[jqavins]

[B]ut with only the rarest blades made of steel...

Historically (if you care) when you've got mostly stone age and a little early bronze age tech, the only iron you'd have is meteoric, which is generally of very poor quality (contrary to many a fantasy trope). Steel should be out of the question. The best metal items (blades or otherwise) would be the bronze ones.

I also like the idea of using something like a raw crystal weapon...

What's "raw crystal"? Is it unpasteurized, like milk?

Only ONE true god from the human establishment the rest of the faiths will be totemic...

Do you mean that among humans there is only one real god worshipped, or that there is only one real god in the world and only humans worship it? Either way, that wants some explanation. If the latter, it also opens a possibility for your desire to "do something strange with magic." You could make arcane magic available to several or all races, but divine magic only to humans, who can't do arcane.

The AD&D 1st ed. Monster Manual has dinos started out. Remember, it was written when Tyranosarus Rex walked upright, so the pictures are a bit off from what you might expect. At least It's a place to start.

Yeah, whenever the DM opened that book to the D's we'd start sweating bullets. Demons, devils, dinosaurs, and dragons, all within a few pages.