The Fleshforge Legacy Mk. II [3.5 Campaign Setting, PEACH!]

[Admiral Squish]

The Fleshforge Legacy

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Table of Contents:
1: Introduction, Current Project Status
2: Map, Geographic information
3: Races
4: New Monsters, Old Monsters Reflavored
5: Classes, Feats, Spells
6: Equipment, Grafts, Symbionts
7: Religion and Cosmology
8: Reserved

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Introduction

Long ago, the world of Tryor was a mundane realm. Unaware of their place in the multiverse, the plane was primitive, unspoiled. Animals wandered the land, hunted by primitive tribes of men. Magic did not exist here, and life was short, simplistic, and brutal. But everything changed one day, when the fabric of the world screamed and the protective shell guarding the realm tore, split by powerful, otherworldly magic. The shapers arrived that day, powerful beings from beyond the plane of mortals. They were capable of great and terrible feats, using a strange power yet unseen upon this world.

The primitive humans saw these otherworldly creatures as gods or monsters. Some fought them, but they were no match for the shaper’s incredible power. The shapers soon had a stranglehold on the primative world. They saw this raw, mundane world as the perfect petri dish, an unspoiled world to shape to their will. The shaper’s powerful magic warped flesh and bone, warping normal creatures into monsters and changing mankind into the many forms that now roam the lands.

Over the next 5000 years, the world changed. Cities grew, the land itself was reshaped, birds and beasts took on ever more exotic and alien forms until they became the norm. The shapers, however, were divided. The shapers split into six factions, each with a different idea of what to do with the realm, each taking a portion of their new-found home as their own. The shaper nations competed and cooperated, sometimes even fought, but things were stable.

Only a short 100 years ago however, the shapers were overthrown in a massive, coordinated strike by their most intelligent creations and most trusted aides, the illithid. The illithid slew many of the shapers, and drove the others off, back into the multiverse. But the illithid were not liberators, they were dictators. Unconcerned with the shaper’s creations, the illithid used the magical artifacts of their former masters to make themselves more powerful. The common races took their opportunity and rose as one to strike down the illithid tyrants, quickly deposing them and driving them underground. In revenge, the illithid released all the shaper’s most dangerous, violent creations upon the world, uncontrolled. It is only now that the dust is finally beginning to settle in a world ravaged by corruptive magic and terrible beasts.

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Current Status:
Working through the races.

[Admiral Squish]

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction, Current Project Status
2: Map, Geographic information
3: Races
4: New Monsters, Old Monsters Reflavored
5: Classes, Feats, Spells
6: Equipment, Grafts, Symbionts
7: Religion and Cosmology
8: Reserved

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Geography

Spoiler

Myralis, the Devastated Metropolis

Spoiler

Myralis, the central nation, was founded first among all the others. It’s central palace, Vitikal, is placed upon the spot the shapers first entered this world. Once the takeover was complete, the shapers created a massive, tiered pyramid on the spot, to mark their conquest. At the base of it sprung up a massive, sprawling civilization, a metropolis maintained by magic, on a scale unheard of previously. Once the Cropring was established, the city reached it’s limits and instead of furthering its outward expansion, it grew taller and taller, the city refining itself to accommodate the growing numbers of occupants.

Myralis quickly became the focal point of the shaper civilization, housing the illithid thought-machines and creating some of the most unique and revolutionary creatures known. Many of the beasts served no practical purpose, merely being made out of scientific curiosity. The center also produced a number of the most practical beings, the dragons, the mass-production trolls, and the illithid. A great many grafts and symbionts saw their birth in the central nation’s labs.

However, the central nation was also the site of the shaper’s downfall. When the elder brains reached sentience, they overthrew their masters, taking their place, becoming the illithid nation. Using their master’s artifacts, the illithid altered themselves, becoming more powerful mentally and physically. However, they proved to be less effective at rule than their former masters, and the other races rose up, driving them underground into the catacombs beneath the city. As they left, however, the illithid unleashed all the bizarre, ungodly creations of their former masters, leaving the sprawling metropolis an uninhabitable wasteland, dominated by bizarre, twisted monsters and corruptive magic.

Ibaia, the Crop Ring

Spoiler

The crop ring is a huge, five-mile-wide ring that completely encircles the central nation. The ring is made of many concentric rings, each an acre wide and separated by short stone walls. At each cardinal point, there is a large, unwalled area. The inner and outer walls are massive, several-foot thick walls of stone. Along the inner wall, there are sixteen huge structures, massive stone towers riddled with caves and poles jutting this way and that. Each of these massive structures houses an aerie of raptorans that maintain the order in the crop circle as well as gathering and distributing the grain produced.

The crop ring is a system of six created creatures that together produce all the grain the world needs. The first species created is the grain itself, a sort of ultra-high-yield rice that grows out of a tangled ball of bitter, tuberous roots. The second species is the paddy eels, a breed of black, writhing eels that eat insects that come too close to the water’s surface. Then there are the hulking scytheboars, massive boars with razor-sharp, outward curving tusks. The scytheboars eat the paddy eels. The next species is the shoveltusk, a creature that resembles a small elephant with hooked tusks. The shoveltusk eats plants and roots, but the grain’s bitter roots are unsatisfying. Finally, the cropguard lizards dwell among the tall stalks of the grain, feeding on insects and small birds.

As fall approaches, the cycle begins. The paddy eels and the grain are fully mature. The paddy eels have spent the summer spawning, laying their eggs in the roots of the grain. Then, the Scytheboars come. They come and thrash their hooked tusks side to side, lopping off the grain stalks and stirring the paddy eels into a frenzy. In their panic, the paddy eels rush to the borders of the paddy and beach themselves, where they are eaten by the scytheboars. The scytheboars repeat this process until the entire paddy is clear-cut and they have eaten their fill of eels. Then, the go to the space between paddies to sleep off the meal. Behind them come the shoveltusks. They seek the plants that have taken root in the paddy, but the grain laying on the water makes their hunt impossible. So, they gather the stalks with their trunks and tusks, depositing them in piles on the banks of the paddies. Then, with their food exposed, the shoveltusks may eat their fill of the weeds. As winter comes, the remaining paddy eels die off, fertilizing the soil of the paddies. As spring comes, the young eels hatch and begin to mature. By the time summer arrives, the grain stalks are tall enough for the cropguard lizards to move in and protect the budding grain from those who would steal it’s fruits. When the scythe boars arrive, the cropguards flee to the next paddy, sending the ones dwelling there on to the next paddy, and so on, as the cycle begins anew.

Currently, the raptorans continue to perform their duties of maintaining the cropring, disseminating the collected grain to the rest of the continent, fulfilling their duties. However, their new task is to guard both their aeries the croprings from the legions of horrors that now dominate the central nation

Engor, the Great Jungle:

Spoiler

The eastern lands have always been filled with dense forest, shifting to proud pines in the north and sweltering mangrove swamps in the south. However, since the shapers came, the canopy soars, with massive trees ten feet across stretching hundreds of feet into the air. The forests thrum with life in all it’s forms, though the forest dwellers here are more manicured than most. The shapers who founded Engor were among the first to forge outward from their pyramid, seeing the abundance of life in the forests as the perfect place to practice their craft. Among their first creations were the elves, who they used to tend the forests and maintain the order.

Over time, the shapers of Engor developed a culture of graceful, subtle changes. A tweak here, a shift there, and a beast’s instinct was subverted to their purposes. The shapers made the trees bear fruits of massive size, and forced the animals to guard and harvest the fruit. The elves were their loyal servants, eager to please the shaper masters. But some 500 years ago, the shapers of Engor created the shifters, a new race to serve as their greatest servants. The elves were abandoned, if not destroyed outright. Those that survived swore vengance on the amoral shapers and thus began the elven crusade to destroy all things created or corrupted by the shaper’s magic.

The overthrow of the shapers left the shifters and elves in the eastern forests to settle their differences on the tip of a blade. As if that were not enough, the shifter have begun to realize that each passing generation further weakens their primal bloodlines, leaving them weaker and weaker while the elves slowly expand their numbers. Both races are too wrapped up in their own problems to fulfill their original duties, leaving the forest to slowly go back to wildnerness. But a bigger, harsher wilderness than anything seen on the planet before.

Austrus, the Rolling Expanse

Spoiler

Austrus consists of a massive, sprawling plains, dotted by trees and low, rolling hills. The land is extremely fertile and easily available, allowing the western shapers to produce all the crops the crop-ring doesn’t. But there is one other major advantage to the sprawling, rolling grasslands. There is space in abundance, and the western shifters took advantage of it to create all manner of titanic creatures. At first, they settled for creating simply larger versions of the existing beings. But individual shaper settlements, marked by pyramids similar to the great pyramid of Vitikal, felt a growing sense of rivalry among one-another. Each began to try to outdo the other, creating bigger, more impressive beasts than their rival’s.

Soon, the plains were the home of all kinds of megascale fauna. It began with the orcs and golaiths, then giant versions of traditional beasts. Then the giants, and then more exotic creations, massive magical beasts of all descriptions. Then, the most impressive creations of the western shapers, the dinosaurs, lumbering reptilian creatures engineered to the pinnacle of biological perfection. As a final testament to their power, the two most powerful settlements created rival saurians, the bloodthirsty battletitan and the towering judatitan.

When the Illithid cast out the shapers, the goliaths were the first to demand their extermination. Alongside the orcs, they rode into battle atop the titanic creations of the shapers to cast out the Illithid, and quickly brought down their corrupt lords. However, once the battle was won and they returned once more to the western plains, the orcs grew angry with the goliaths. The goliaths had settled into the leadership position in the absence of the shapers, and the orcs were not happy. They felt the goliaths had stolen the power and glory that rightfully belonged to the orcs. The orcs clashed with the goliaths, but eventually, the goliaths won out, and the orcs became outcasts. Warriors without a war, they now roam the grasslands in tribal bands riding atop dinosaurs. The once-proud warriors now live as bandits, using their skill with the blade to take what they need.

Utova, the Frozen Wastes

Spoiler

Utova is nation in two parts. The mountains were the first place settled by the shapers. They created the dwarves to serve them there, and the citadels rapidly expanded downward as the dwarves honeycombed the mountains with mines and caverns. The shapers used the mountains as their home, but used the expansive tundra as their laboratory. The harsh elements of the north provided interesting challenges, and the northern shapers welcomed them, creating strange and interesting solutions to the cold and lack of food.

The dwarves however, were not working fast enough for the taste of their masters. They were still valuable creations for their keen intellect and knowledge of stone and steel, however, and so the shapers created kobolds to dig the mines and tunnels for the dwarves, allowing the dwarves more time for their intellectual pursuits. With this new time, the dwarves could focus their minds of architecture and crafting, creating beautiful weapons and tools unmatched by any other race. As well, the dwarves advanced in magic, tapping into the slowly-growing well of power the shapers brought into the world. Combining the two, the dwarves created golems and constructs of all sorts, using them as labor. Eventually, the dwarves sciences produced the war forged, a race of intelligent golems. Seeing these creations, the shapers were pleased, viewing the dwarves as following in their footsteps. Now completely free of manual labor, the dwarves could focus entirely upon creating glorious subterranean architecture and crafting beautiful and deadly weapons.

When the shapers were overthrown, the dwarves armed their own creations and marched on the mountain-dwelling illithids, quickly exterminating them. However, when the other races of the world called on them to help depose the illithid of the central nation, the dwarves refused. They sold weapons and armor to the warriors of the other races, but refused to march, themselves. They sealed off the borders of the mountains, content to live isolated within their walls of stone. However, despite the featureless façade of the mountains, all is not well in the dwarves lands. A vampiric infection has entered the mountains in the eastern end, and the dwarves struggle to hold back the slowly advancing undead plague with their construct armies.

Ferrara, the Ebon Sands

Spoiler

The southern lands were inhospitable even before the shapers came. The volcanic souther tip of the continent has been slowly rising for millennia. A row of volcanic mountains separates if from the rest of the continent, though few ever found much use for the enormous, black-sand desert that dominates the center of the peninsula, where few creatures managed to eke out an existence. The rough terrain was no deterrent to the shapers though, who moved in below the enormous desert, boring tunnels in solid stone where the harsh sun and shredding winds could be ignored, the only sign of their presence on the surface being the tiered pyramids they raised above their settlements. The southern end of the peninsula rises out of the water in sheer cliffs, trading posts established out of tunnels set into the sides of them.

The southern shapers were distant with all the other shaper nations by virtue of geography. Much of the southern shaper’s work was done in silence, with none of the showboating and bragging often found in other nations. Most subterranean creatures originated in the south, where the tunnels are the most expansive and well-maintained. Some, however, were built tough enough to survive the incredibly harsh black sands above, thick-skinned reptilians and insectoids.

When the shapers were ousted, the south remained silent as ever. But when it came time to destroy the illithid, the south came out in force, many-armed insectoids mounted upon the backs of dragons flew into the central nation, razing huge stretches of it and dealing vital blows to the illithid forces. When they fell, the south simply returned to the sands. Now, fire giants and dragons patrol the volcanic mountains, allowing only the raptoran grain shipments to enter, and the ports trade sparingly, the inhabitants of the south not speaking, and allowing no outsiders entry. Those raptoran that pass the mountain barriers tell tales of walking fortresses made of ivory and emerald and strange creatures.

Arcas, the Sunken Glory

Spoiler

Positioned offshore from the eastern forests, the ocean nation is a collection of islands that stretch from the northern mountains all the way down to the southern tip of the southern lands. The islands are fertile and vibrant with life, each sporting it’s own ecosystem and individual government. The islands themselves are a confederacy, a remainder from then the shapers ruled, each shaper the undisputed ruler of its own island. The shapers of old cooperated very little, each creating their own works. However, one thing was common among the ocean shapers. They all valued beauty. What that meant exactly was different from shaper to shaper.

The oceanic shapers produce creatures of all description, but the general theme was to make each island and each island’s surrounding waters as beautiful as possible. This led to dozens, if not hundreds of brilliantly-plumed birds being created, alongside multicolored coral and iridescent fish. The competition escalated over time, and soon the shapers were creating sentient servants to maintain their own aquatic gardens and sabotage their neighbor’s. Further and further it escalated as they began to produce aquatic guardians to prevent their coral beds from being sabotaged, massive sharks, ramfish, and other aquatic beasts. But then, one of the shapers created the star whale, a massive creature dotted with hypnotic, shimmering, multicolored lights. It swam a slow migration all through the islands, and as it passed each, the shapers were reminded of the beauty they had almost forgotten to strive for, and halted their escalating arms race. The star whale went into hibernation at the end of it’s journey. Ever since, the ocean nations have believed the passing of a star whale to be a great omen of peace.

When the illithid took over, they had no interest in beauty or peace. The populations of the islands quickly overthrew their failed masters and formed a great confederacy. Many islanders wished to help overthrow the illithid of the central nation, but their biology made the trek impossible. Some tried, only to be attacked en-route by the elves and driven back to the sea. The ocean nations are all different, from one to the next, but thus far, they have all held up a truce. However, recently, the sahuagin have been making raids upon other, nearby islands. The sahuagin king claims these are rebels and ne’er-do-wells acting individually, but they are becoming increasingly organized.

[Admiral Squish]

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction, Current Project Status
2: Map, Geographic information
3: Races
4: New Monsters, Old Monsters Reflavored
5: Classes, Feats, Spells
6: Equipment, Grafts, Symbionts
7: Religion and Cosmology
8: Reserved

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Races:

Humans
Before the shapers came, the humans were the only intelligent beings in Tryor. They wandered the world in loose tribes and hunted animals. In the days of the shapers, members of the human race became slaves. They were adaptable and bred quickly, making them useful in almost any setting. Though not designed for any specific task their sheer numbers made them useful. When the shapers left, the human race settled wherever they found themselves, building communities out of whatever was on hand and forming the beginnings of nations.

Dwarves
Dwarves are known to be masters of crafting and architecture, creating weapons of unsurpassed beauty and strength, as well as awe-inspiring structures of a scale impossible for any other race. However, while they trade their weapons openly for a good price, and will occasionally take contracts to design structures, they refuse to become involved in the affairs of other races.

Elves
Elves are a race of warriors and hunters. Abandoned by the shapers, they have gone feral, seeking to destroy all things created by the corruptive magic of the shapers. Elves are well known for their skill with bow, axe and kukri, and are known to favor ambushes and guerilla tactics.

Gnomes
Gnomes are a race of healers, alchemists, and engineers. They are known to be compassionate, thoughtful, and curious. Almost all shaper settlements had a handful of gnomes on hand, with the majority of the populations dwelling in the central nation. They served as healers and surgeons, their small hands and sharp senses granting them a greater talent with details. With the shapers gone, the gnomes generally do their part to treat all living things.

Halflings
On the surface, halflings are a jovial, personable race with an affection for music and art. They roam between the nations in traveling caravans, providing music, dance, and selling beautiful crafts to any town they stop in. The shapers used them largely as jesters and entertainment, but the Halfling race carries a dark secret in their blood, a secret hiding in the shadow of their smiles.

Shadow Halflings
Shadow Halflings are the dark reflection of the halfling race, the dark secret the race keeps. One if five halflings is born as a shadow halfling. Shadow halflings lack the presence and social grace of their halfling brothers and sister, but they are unmatched in the arts of stealth. The shapers buit the shadow halflings into the bloodline of the halfling race to use them as a Trojan horse. On the surface, a shadow halfling is merely a somewhat less charming halfling,

Orcs
Orcs are a race of proud warriors, battle-hardened soldiers, and fierce bandits. Originally created by the eastern shapers to serve as a sort of military and police force, the orcs have developed a strong warrior culture based around honor and service. When the shapers left, the orcs tried to form a kingdom in the east, but knew nothing of the actual arts of leadership. Eventually, angry and embittered, the orc nation disbanded. Now, the orcish warriors travel in warbands from atop the backs of dinosaurs, raiding villages and taking what they need.

Warforged
The mechanical creations of the dwarves, the warforged serve their creators as bodyguards, personal servants, and soldiers. The warforged are made off of designs refined out of golems, designed to be more intelligent and adaptable, able to perform complex tasks unlike their mindless counterparts. This intelligence is why the dwarves use the warforged as personal assistants and bodyguards.

Shifters
Shifters, sometimes called “the weretouched,” dwell in the eastern forests. The eastern shapers created them to replace the elves as their tree-tenders. Created by tainting human bloodlines with animalistic traits, the shifters can take on the power of their bestial bloodlines in a process known as shifting. In the beginning, the shifters could take on more power, becoming hybrids of man and beast or even becoming the beast itself, however the bloodlines have been diluting over the generations, a process the shifter elders are desperately trying to slow.

Changelings
Changelings are subtle shapeshifters capable of disguising their appearance, created by the shifters of Myralis. Originally, their ability to mimic other races made them the ideal test subjects for the shapers, who would perform tests on them over and over. When the common races gathered to throw down the illithids, many of the visiting armies left with changelings hiding in their numbers. Now, the changelings dwell among every race, some living one life, others living in many.

Goliaths
Goliaths are massive creatures unafraid of throwing their weight around in a fight. Highly competitive, these powerful warriors can prove to be powerful allies and welcome additions to any adventuring party. The goliaths were the first experiment in scaling up humanoids, created by the shapers of the western plains to serve as herd-tenders. When the shapers left, most continued their traditional migrations through the plains, but many others settled down, forming a great gathering place in the center of the western plains around a shaper pyramid.

Raptorans
Raptorans Are a race of avians created by the shapers of Myralis to serve in the crop ring. The main feature that set them apart from the rest of the common races is the large, feathery wings that sprout from their backs and their talon-like feet. The raptorans are sexually dimorphic, a trait engineered by the shapers. Males are larger than the females, with more colorful plumage and powerful, ripping talons. They serve the crop ring as guardians and warriors. The females, in contrast, are smaller, with more dexterous talons and dull brown plumage. They are the labor, gathering the crops, separating them, and maintaining the balance of the crop circle.

Papago
Papago are a race of brilliantly-plumed avians from a small, tropical island in the southern portion of Arcas. The papago were designed off the basic structure of the raptorans to tend the island and maintain the tropical paradise the island’s shaper had built. However, the papago were not as successful as their relatives, and saw only limited use among the southern islands. When the shapers left, the papago were mostly unchanged, though perhaps they took longer naps. However, only 20 years ago, the Papago were displaced from their original island home by a fierce, sudden attack by an army of kuo-toa and a terrible storm giant warlord. Displaced, the papago are trying to put down new roots and muster the forces to retake their home.

Chimerans
Chimerans are a race of strange, widely-varied humanoids. An unintentional creation of the shapers, the chimerans are the result of thousands on thousands of failed shaper experiments interbreeding and mixing until their genetic makeup is impossible to predict from one generation to the next. The chimerans dwell in scattered communities throughout the world, though many still live near Myralis, and some ever remain within it, in scattered communities clinging to life among the ruins.

Illithids
Illithids are a race of extremely intelligent creatures designed to work as organic computers, a network of minds linked around the central hubs of the elder brains. When the illithid overthrew the shapers, the vast majority altered themselves, making themselves more powerful and deadly. However, some elder brain communities refused the transformation, remaining in their original form. These illithid remained on the surface when the rest of their race was driven underground, and struggle to prove themselves different from their brethren.

Baqir
The baqir (ba-keer) are a race of reptilians created by the shapers of Ferrara. Among the first creations of the southern shapers, they were created by mixing the bloodlines of the native humans with those of the lizards that populated the sands. The baqir are swift-footed warriors and survivors, traveling the ebon sands in small tribal groups.

Hashim
Hashim are a race of huge, powerfully built reptilian warriors. With powerful teeth and razor-sharp claws, the hashim were created through the same methods that the baqir were, the southern shapers used the giants created in the east as their base instead of humans. The hashim were a success. Used by the shapers as guardians and enforcers, the hashim became quite widespread in the southern regions.

Kobolds

[Admiral Squish]

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction, Current Project Status
2: Map, Geographic information
3: Races
4: New Monsters, Old Monsters Reflavored
5: Classes, Feats, Spells
6: Equipment, Grafts, Symbionts
7: Religion and Cosmology
8: Reserved

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New Monsters

Forge Beast
A living forge that eats stone and ore, then excretes the processed minerals in metallic pellets. Created by the shapers to serve the dwarves.

Visceral Horde
A swarm of mutated organs, torn free from their host, driven by the need to survive at all costs. A side-effect of too much transmutation.

Shapers

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Old Monster Reflavored

[Admiral Squish]

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction, Current Project Status
2: Map, Geographic information
3: Races
4: New Monsters, Old Monsters Reflavored
5: Classes, Feats, Spells
6: Equipment, Grafts, Symbionts
7: Religion and Cosmology
8: Reserved

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Classes

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Prestige Classes

Warform Initiate
The shifters are known for there connection to the blood of beasts. A savage animal lurks beneath the face of every shifter. Most shifters live their lives dealing with this bestial nature, suppressing the animal urges and killer instinct. Some embrace it, losing themselves to savage fury. Others seek the root of it, training to unlock their animal heritage and claim the power of their ancestors. Still others choose a new route. Utilizing shaper artifacts, intense training, and agonizing magical treatments, these shifters purify their forms, transforming themselves into living weapons. These devoted warriors sacrifice their bodies to the service of the shifter nation forevermore, becoming living engines of destruction for their people.

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Feats

Racial Feats

Feat Name	Prerequisites	Effect
Extra Mutation	Chimeran, 1st Level	You gain a third mutation
Magewarped Weapons	Chimeran, Natural Weapon	Allow natural weapons to be enchanted as weapons.
Magewarped Skin	Chimeran, Natural Armor or spell Resistance	Gain DR/Magic
Potent Mutations	Chimeran	Your mutations are more potent than normal
Silencing Blow	Shadow Halfling, Sneack attack +2d6	Temporarily silence your target.
Split Psionics	Chimeran, Split Mind mutation, Manifester Level 11	Manifest two powers as a full-round action, hold two psionic focuses

Spoiler

Extra Mutation:
Your body is slightly more warped than most of your peers
Prerequisites: Chimeran
Benefit: Choose an additional mutation from any mutation list. You may not choose a mutation you already possess.
Special: This feat can only be taken at first level.

Magewarped Weapons
The natural weapons granted by your mixed heritage have a bit of magic about them
Prerequisites: Chimeran, Natural Weapons
Benefit: Treat all natural weapons gained through Chimeran mutations as Magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and may be enchanted as a masterwork weapon, though you are required to be present at all times for the enchanting.

Magewarped Skin
The armored hide granted by your mixed heritage retains shreds of the magic that created your race
Prerequisites: Chimeran, Natural Armor Bonus or Spell Resistance
Benefit: You gain 1 point of damage reduction/magic for every point of constitution bonus you possess.

Potent Mutations
Your mutations are stronger than you vitality would suggest
Prerequisites: Chimeran
Benefit: Your constitution bonus is considered to be 2 points higher for the purpose of calculating the effects of Chimeran mutations

Silencing Blow [Ambush]
You can infuse your sneak attacks with the magical essence of silence.
Prerequisites: Shadow Halfling, sneak attack +2d6
Benefit: A sucessful sneak attack surrounds your target with a field of supernatural silence. This area of silence is identical to the effect produced by the shadow halfling's silence ability, and lasts for a number of rounds equal to your character level. You can dismiss this effect as a standard action.
Using this feat reduces your sneak attack damage by 1d6.

Split Psionics
Your duality of mind and long use of psionics let you split your focus
Prerequisites: Chimeran, Split Mind Mutation, Manifester level 11
Benefit: The second side of your mind is capable of focusing on psionic powers on its own. If you take a full round action while manifesting a psionic power you may manifest a second power with a manifester level five levels lower than normal. Both powers may not have a manifesting time longer than a standard action. In addition, you can hold two psionic focuses at once, expending and regaining each focus separately.

General Feats:

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Spells:

[Admiral Squish]

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction, Current Project Status
2: Map, Geographic information
3: Races
4: New Monsters, Old Monsters Reflavored
5: Classes, Feats, Spells
6: Equipment, Grafts, Symbionts
7: Religion and Cosmology
8: Reserved

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Equipment

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Grafts

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Symbionts

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Items

[Admiral Squish]

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction, Current Project Status
2: Map, Geographic information
3: Races
4: New Monsters, Old Monsters Reflavored
5: Classes, Feats, Spells
6: Equipment, Grafts, Symbionts
7: Religion and Cosmology
8: Reserved

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The Outer Gods
Immortal, unchanging beings from the outer planes, locked in an eternal war with one-another. Incredibly powerful, but distant from the problems of Tryor.

The Elemental Gods
The most powerful elemental beings in existance, each rules over their respective elemental planes and influences the flow of their elements upon Tryor.

The Inner Gods
A multitude of young deities that rose in the wake of the shaper's control. They take many forms and embody many concepts. Relatively weak, the inner gods are extremely close to the people of Tryor.

[Admiral Squish]

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction, Current Project Status
2: Map, Geographic information
3: Races
4: New Monsters, Old Monsters Reflavored
5: Classes, Feats, Spells
6: Equipment, Grafts, Symbionts
7: Religion and Cosmology
8: Reserved

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(Reserved for Expansion)

And with that, the skeletal construction is finished. You may now begin commenting.

[Admiral Squish]

Posted Orc fluff and stats posted!

Seriously, no comments yet?

[Realms of Chaos]

Shadow halflings seem a bit overpowered unless I'm missing something. I see that you've given all of the races a face-lift but try comparing it to your normal halfling:
Both races gain a total of +12 to skill checks (one getting 6 +2 bonuses and the other getting 2 +4 and 2 +2 bonuses) and the shadow halfling gains a generally more useful ability bonus, +10 speed, darkvision, and a silence effect at will without any more sacrifices.
In fact, let's take a deeper look at the silence effect. With this ability, the halfling automatically succeeds on all move silently checks, can kill enemies without attracting more, noiselessly break through windows and other obstacles, stop cornered spellcasters from casting most spells, and so forth. Much like a goliath's powerful build, this ability seems to deserve a +1 LA in its own right.

I know that these classes are given a far better shove into their respective roles than the PHB races (most halflings will be bards/sorcerers, after all, and won't need worry about their inferiority at rogue-ness) but the bonuses given to the shadow halfling just seem a bit... better than most of the other races (other than the flexibility of humans and uber-spellcasting of dwarves).

Speaking of the dwarves, the number of spellcasting benefits given to them is also a bit insane. +1 to DCs, +2 to penetration, +2 to saves against them, +2 to UMD, and 10% reduction of spell failure (not to mention the +2 int which makes for a great wizard). That is a lot, more than I've seen any other race gain. Perhaps remove one of those bonuses seeing as you've retained many of the base bonuses for being a dwarf and spellcasting is already pretty darn powerful anyways.

I'd raise an issue about how this system seems to be funneling every class into its own racial niche but that's just a matter of personal opinion. Even so, I'd feel pretty sad trying to come up with an innovative class/race combo in this setting and being forced to give up the small parade of benefits I could've had by selecting the "right" race.

[Admiral Squish]

Huzzah! Commentary!

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

Shadow halflings seem a bit overpowered unless I'm missing something. I see that you've given all of the races a face-lift but try comparing it to your normal halfling:
Both races gain a total of +12 to skill checks (one getting 6 +2 bonuses and the other getting 2 +4 and 2 +2 bonuses) and the shadow halfling gains a generally more useful ability bonus, +10 speed, darkvision, and a silence effect at will without any more sacrifices.
In fact, let's take a deeper look at the silence effect. With this ability, the halfling automatically succeeds on all move silently checks, can kill enemies without attracting more, noiselessly break through windows and other obstacles, stop cornered spellcasters from casting most spells, and so forth. Much like a goliath's powerful build, this ability seems to deserve a +1 LA in its own right.

I know that these classes are given a far better shove into their respective roles than the PHB races (most halflings will be bards/sorcerers, after all, and won't need worry about their inferiority at rogue-ness) but the bonuses given to the shadow halfling just seem a bit... better than most of the other races (other than the flexibility of humans and uber-spellcasting of dwarves).

Well, to make shadow halflings, I stole a lot of the ideas from whisper gnomes (could you tell?). The main departure is in the modified silence ability. I didn't really like the idea of the defining ability of the race being only usable 1/day. So, I made it at-will, in exchange for a severely attenuated range. However, if it is a problem, I could certainly add on a limiter of some sort. Perhaps a number of rounds/day, divided up as you wish? Or, a simple LA +1 could be applied with minimal fuss.

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

Speaking of the dwarves, the number of spellcasting benefits given to them is also a bit insane. +1 to DCs, +2 to penetration, +2 to saves against them, +2 to UMD, and 10% reduction of spell failure (not to mention the +2 int which makes for a great wizard). That is a lot, more than I've seen any other race gain. Perhaps remove one of those bonuses seeing as you've retained many of the base bonuses for being a dwarf and spellcasting is already pretty darn powerful anyways.

True. I suppose I didn't take the full effect of magic into account when working. It was largely based off the way the phb dwarves are built with, basically a dozen seemingly-random bonuses here and there. What if I reduced it to +2 vs spells, +2 to UMD, and the 10% ASF reduction?

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

I'd raise an issue about how this system seems to be funneling every class into its own racial niche but that's just a matter of personal opinion. Even so, I'd feel pretty sad trying to come up with an innovative class/race combo in this setting and being forced to give up the small parade of benefits I could've had by selecting the "right" race.

Feel free to voice your opinions, I'm posting this here so I can get people's opinions. I want this to be a setting that anyone can use, and if the public doesn't tell me what they think, then that's not gonna happen.

However, on your point, much of the streamlining was intentional. You've got to keep in mind that a bunch of near-god beings essentially designed each of these races for a specific purpose. And to be honest, though the roles are switched around, I think it's pretty much the same as the traditional core races in terms of selecting race. Playing an elven barbarian in core would be just about as bad a choice as playing an elven wizard in this setting.

[Realms of Chaos]

Originally Posted by Admiral Squish

Well, to make shadow halflings, I stole a lot of the ideas from whisper gnomes (could you tell?). The main departure is in the modified silence ability. I didn't really like the idea of the defining ability of the race being only usable 1/day. So, I made it at-will, in exchange for a severely attenuated range. However, if it is a problem, I could certainly add on a limiter of some sort. Perhaps a number of rounds/day, divided up as you wish? Or, a simple LA +1 could be applied with minimal fuss.

I did indeed think of whisper gnomes when I read this race. While rounds/day is an interesting approach, having a 5-foot range makes it actually quite a bit more formidable than a whisper gnome's personal silence (which guarantees move silently checks and nothing else) so I'd keep it as is and tack a level adjustment there for minimal fuss/confusion.

Originally Posted by Admiral Squish

True. I suppose I didn't take the full effect of magic into account when working. It was largely based off the way the phb dwarves are built with, basically a dozen seemingly-random bonuses here and there. What if I reduced it to +2 vs spells, +2 to UMD, and the 10% ASF reduction?

That would be awesome, ImO.

Turning my attention to the silencing blow feat, it it your intention to let rogues whack allies with a blackjack to give them unsurpassed stealth? If not, you may want to consider changing the wording. Also, why would a rogue ever choose not to use this feat with every single sneak attack? It seems like it should have a cost (considering that it effectively short-circuits casters) such as uses per day or remaking it as an ambush feat (perhaps removing the saving throw altogether to compensate).

[Admiral Squish]

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

I did indeed think of whisper gnomes when I read this race. While rounds/day is an interesting approach, having a 5-foot range makes it actually quite a bit more formidable than a whisper gnome's personal silence (which guarantees move silently checks and nothing else) so I'd keep it as is and tack a level adjustment there for minimal fuss/confusion.

The whisper gnome ability actually isn't actually personal-only. It's a silence spell centered on him, so it's a 20-foot sphere that moves with him. Granted, they only get it once/day for a minute. If I went with the rounds/day, how do you think would be a good way to calculate it? I'm considering (level x 2)+ cha mod.

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

That would be awesome, ImO.

Alright, consider it done.

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

Turning my attention to the silencing blow feat, it it your intention to let rogues whack allies with a blackjack to give them unsurpassed stealth? If not, you may want to consider changing the wording. Also, why would a rogue ever choose not to use this feat with every single sneak attack? It seems like it should have a cost (considering that it effectively short-circuits casters) such as uses per day or remaking it as an ambush feat (perhaps removing the saving throw altogether to compensate).

Well, I could have it consume rounds of use, or go with the ambush feat idea.

[Realms of Chaos]

hmm... seems that I've been reading whisper gnomes incorrectly for years.

That being the case, your suggested system for rounds/day sounds simply sublime.

[Admiral Squish]

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

hmm... seems that I've been reading whisper gnomes incorrectly for years.

That being the case, your suggested system for rounds/day sounds simply sublime.

Alright, the shadow halfling and dwarf entries are edited, and I remade silencing blow into an ambush feat.

Anything else?

[PAZelos]

I think that by making silencing blow an ambush feat you're supposed to have it reduce the damage of the sneak attack as a trade-off for the effect.

Also i think the duration of the silence is a bit too much. Imo just one round of silence would be enough since it could catch a caster off-guard in the first round making him (probably) waste a spell while hes not aware of the silence effect and most inportantly forcing him to move away before casting the next spell (thus provoking attacks of opportunity).

[Admiral Squish]

Originally Posted by PAZelos

I think that by making silencing blow an ambush feat you're supposed to have it reduce the damage of the sneak attack as a trade-off for the effect.

Also i think the duration of the silence is a bit too much. Imo just one round of silence would be enough since it could catch a caster off-guard in the first round making him (probably) waste a spell while hes not aware of the silence effect and most inportantly forcing him to move away before casting the next spell (thus provoking attacks of opportunity).

Can't beleive I forgot the reduced damage clause.

Also, the duration is based directly off the whisper gnome feat. I really don't think a minute of minimal-radius silence should be that big of a deal at level 10.

[PAZelos]

dunno about the whisper gnome but yeah, the duration aint that big a deal...thinking about it now it would only be a bother if you had used this feat like 5-6 times (or god forbid in a single round with spring attack, rapid blitz etc :P) you'd have to keep track of a lot of silence squares during combat...just that

[Admiral Squish]

Originally Posted by PAZelos

dunno about the whisper gnome but yeah, the duration aint that big a deal...thinking about it now it would only be a bother if you had used this feat like 5-6 times (or god forbid in a single round with spring attack, rapid blitz etc :P) you'd have to keep track of a lot of silence squares during combat...just that

It'd essentially just be whoever got hit and anything adjacent to them. Plus, it's a rogue feat, and it's unlikely a rogue will be qualifying for sneak attacks on multiple targets in a round.

Also, does anyone have any comments on the fluff aspects? Is it an interesting concept? Do people like what I did with the races? I'm dyin' here.

[Land Outcast]

I like this, I quite like this.

Introduction:
Its history reminds of most typical settings about the coming of greater beings and creation/manipulation of the world by their hands (and through their respective facets). Of later fall of the greater beings and of the alliance of races.
Now, it was a great idea that about the Shapers reconfiguring reality so that "birds and beasts took on ever more exotic and alien forms until they became the norm", it accounts nicely -with no magical cataclysm- for the incredible heterogeneus flora and fauna of typical D&D.
On top of that, "the illithid released all the shaper’s most dangerous, violent creations upon the world, uncontrolled" makes for a great world for adventurers, allows for a "points of light" style of game, or a "this is life, beyond the city walls it is death", or at the very least "well, we'll just go to that city... I hope it's still standing... this map is fourty years old".

Myralis, the Devastated Metropolis:
Good, nice hint of decadence in creating life "just to satiate curiosity", and an open door to symbionts and bioengeneering. I'm curious about dragons now.
Besides, not a metropolis/dungeon, but the god-city turned dungeon? perhaps even with some pocket of civilization inside fighting for survival against the only sources of food? yep, good.

Ibaia, the Crop Ring:
I feel all that ecology is far too perfectly mechanical, it strains verosimilitude, at least for me. But I guess the perfection is exactly the point of the Crop Ring of the gods city.
Note: never liked raptorans, but that's me.
Note2:the concentric rings remind me of the Labyrinth (Death Door Cycle, M. Weis & T. Hickman), just inverted (that is, dangers -terrain and creatures- awaits at the center and spread outwards instead of being a ward around the "eye of the storm".

Engor, the Great Jungle:
Well, mandatory great jungle/forest. I might ask... are there any permanent settlements in here or has the overabundance of resources allowed any developing culture to adopt a nomadic forager/hunter communities? Are there any incursions by other races?
Interesting feud between elves and shifters, but with the information as of now just that, interesting.

Austrus, the Rolling Expanse:
"Land of Giants" then. I definitely approve of how geography-ecology-sociology work to define each other.
About the "my creature is bigger than yours": was it between shapers or between shaper settlements? was the manipulation of life privilege of shapers and Illithids?
Note:There is quite a bit of resentment in this world, isn't there? Illithid/Shapers, AllRaces/Illithid, Elves/Shifters, Goliath/Orcs... I see a nice defininf trait here, there's bound to be some strong racism and prejudice.

Utova, the Frozen Wastes:
Another place used as experimental grounds... all these experiments in city, plains and tundra make me think they were some seriously curious, cientist-like beings these shapers (that and the petri dish mention).
The dwarves shift towards magic and constructs, aided by kobolds... Sorry but beyond the magic shift (which, linked to constructs and weapons ain't new) I'm not surprised by this region, dwarves -as usual- sealed themselves into their kingdoms under the mountain and are fighting a dreadful war hidden to all eyes.
Don't be confused, I'm not saying the ideas are bad, just that it's the same story once again. Of course it works -I'm a classic dwarf fan myself- but on a new world I'd expect something else.
Note: perhaps you could have written a bit less about dwarves themselves and a bit more about the ecology/geography.
Note2: growing "well of power"? what is it? is it still growing?
Note3: how were the undead originated, are they product of the shapers?

Ferrara, the Ebon Sands:
I love the mistery, the "silent dark continent" feel here, it just screams adventure even if the driving force is just mapping a sector of Ferrara or trying to set a trade dependancy (with something like opium for example, or even something like sweet grapes -sure those insectoids would love them).
Another strong point for me: the visual of the ebon sands (black sand has always given me a most surreal feel, I even took the bother to ground some coal to dust so as to show my players the sands they were threading upon on the first hell).
The mistery reinforced by the alien-shaped insectoids... I'd run a short campaign based on the exploration of such a setting.

Arcas, the Sunken Glory:
Island-states of heterogeneus tropical flavors, and even a small bit of legend interwoven there, I like it. And we have more resentment here and some fierce independance. I'll just recommend you to be careful and not allow too many flavors/cultures to appear like a patchwork to players or DMs.
The increasing sahuagin menace gives little to think about by itself.

[Land Outcast]

Note: love the precisions upon racial languages, it is great that you add flavor to something normally overlooked as having flavor potential (except for the obvious Draconic, Infernal, etc). "Elven Longhand" - exquisite.

Humans:
I love the fact a character can say "my great grandfather fought the Illithids", and that there can be the rare NPC -or character, why not?- who actually fought in his youth against the Illithid, being one of the many hands which created this new world... because, for humans, it is essentially a new world (which is awesome in its derivations, from those who embrace similar ways to those of their ancient masters, to those who gather a mass of people and wander off to settle "new" lands, from those embracing philosophies to those inventing gods to those doing both).
[And yet more resentment, elves allow only humans into the settlements, and even that's on rare occasions.]

Dwarves:
The idea of dwarves in other lands as exiles is thought provoking, real good even if not 100% new, then it ties in with the importance of the dwarven name and gives another detail to work with for flavor's sake.
[Dwarves/Elves];[Dwarves/Kobolds]

Elves:
Classic classy twist, the elves-gone-feral, but I particularly like how resting through the typical 4-hour trance acquires new significance, to a race of survivalists. Also, how this king of feral is a real change, not as in, for example, Wood Elves in FR, who fail to transmit any survivalist culture trait.
[Elves/everyone else]

Gnomes:
Pacifists... I wonder if players would accept that or more often than not decide they are off-the-norm; it would certainly provide interesting characters if it holds.
Heh, like the thing about nickname hoarding.
Note: never considered the gnome as a PC... at a difference with the halfling (which we usually take as funny guys) we have always taken the gnome as the one who tries to be serious and fails at it. It's a group thing, just commenting.

Halflings:
Just read this "a secret hiding in the shadow of their smiles"... now, that's kickass.
Yey! Gypsies!
Like this far better than the standard halfling.

Shadow Halflings:
And these, these give Halfling communities/race depth and shading. It stages a social drama, and gives a danger rating to the jolly carabaneers.
The idea of a genetic trojan horse is priceless, fertile source of plot hooks.

Orcs:
Proud warriors who lost cohesion, honorable fighters fallen to raiding for resources... and they are no brutes, they will take a hot bath if it is available... They consider elves to be barbarians and dwarves to be cowards...
I'm sold!

------------------------------------------

I'm not too crazy about Gnomes and Dwarves, but LOVE the other races, hope you find these comments to be useful!

[Admiral Squish]

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

I like this, I quite like this.

I'm glad to hear it! It's a relief to hear it, too. I've told some friends about it, but none of them really know D&D, so getting gamer-commentary is so, so reassuring.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Introduction:
Its history reminds of most typical settings about the coming of greater beings and creation/manipulation of the world by their hands (and through their respective facets). Of later fall of the greater beings and of the alliance of races.
Now, it was a great idea that about the Shapers reconfiguring reality so that "birds and beasts took on ever more exotic and alien forms until they became the norm", it accounts nicely -with no magical cataclysm- for the incredible heterogeneus flora and fauna of typical D&D.
On top of that, "the illithid released all the shaper’s most dangerous, violent creations upon the world, uncontrolled" makes for a great world for adventurers, allows for a "points of light" style of game, or a "this is life, beyond the city walls it is death", or at the very least "well, we'll just go to that city... I hope it's still standing... this map is fourty years old".

Well, firstly, the 'alliance of the races' was pretty much a one-time thing, and it wasn't so much an alliance as it was everybody ganging up on the illithid.

You're pretty much right on the mark, though. One of the themes I was going for was systems breaking down. Everything was perfectly arranged under the shapers. The races didn't care about each other because they were too busy doing their jobs. Food and housing was provided, and everthing was managed. Now that the shapers are gone and the illithid delivered a terrible blow to the systems in place by releasing everything, the entire world suddenly had to start figuring out what to do now that nobody was giving orders. It's been a chaotic and crazy century since then, and the races are collectively just starting to find their feet again, but a multitude of other systems are starting to break. Alliances fall apart, the dwarven empire is being slowly overrun by undead, and monsters are breeding wild. The crop ring is nowhere near as efficient as it once was, but the raptorans are struggling to keep it together. The shifter's bloodlines are slowly weakening...

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Myralis, the Devastated Metropolis:
Good, nice hint of decadence in creating life "just to satiate curiosity", and an open door to symbionts and bioengeneering. I'm curious about dragons now.
Besides, not a metropolis/dungeon, but the god-city turned dungeon? perhaps even with some pocket of civilization inside fighting for survival against the only sources of food? yep, good.

Dragons will be covered in detail, but the basic idea is that dragons served as part general and part siege weapon.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Ibaia, the Crop Ring:
I feel all that ecology is far too perfectly mechanical, it strains verosimilitude, at least for me. But I guess the perfection is exactly the point of the Crop Ring of the gods city.
Note: never liked raptorans, but that's me.
Note2:the concentric rings remind me of the Labyrinth (Death Door Cycle, M. Weis & T. Hickman), just inverted (that is, dangers -terrain and creatures- awaits at the center and spread outwards instead of being a ward around the "eye of the storm".

It's a system very carefully maintained by the raptorans, which is the only reason it hasn't fallen apart already. It is essentially a giant organic machine, however, so you're basically spot on.

Note: I don't really either, but I think they fit the bill too well for me to ignore them.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Engor, the Great Jungle:
Well, mandatory great jungle/forest. I might ask... are there any permanent settlements in here or has the overabundance of resources allowed any developing culture to adopt a nomadic forager/hunter communities? Are there any incursions by other races?
Interesting feud between elves and shifters, but with the information as of now just that, interesting.

There are permanent settlements, yes. There are a few human cities here and there, and the shifters create some relatively elaborate tree-cities. The elves are completely nomadic, however.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Austrus, the Rolling Expanse:
"Land of Giants" then. I definitely approve of how geography-ecology-sociology work to define each other.
About the "my creature is bigger than yours": was it between shapers or between shaper settlements? was the manipulation of life privilege of shapers and Illithids?
Note:There is quite a bit of resentment in this world, isn't there? Illithid/Shapers, AllRaces/Illithid, Elves/Shifters, Goliath/Orcs... I see a nice defininf trait here, there's bound to be some strong racism and prejudice.

Shaper settlements were competing, though shaper settlements could be anywhere from one to 20 shapers working together. The flesh-shaping was mostly the privilege of the shapers and illithids, mostly because of their powerful, inherent magic. Sometimes other races would be allowed to work it, but only under close supervision, and it would be really rare since the shapers don't usually let their minions grow strong enough to contribute.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Utova, the Frozen Wastes:
Another place used as experimental grounds... all these experiments in city, plains and tundra make me think they were some seriously curious, cientist-like beings these shapers (that and the petri dish mention).
The dwarves shift towards magic and constructs, aided by kobolds... Sorry but beyond the magic shift (which, linked to constructs and weapons ain't new) I'm not surprised by this region, dwarves -as usual- sealed themselves into their kingdoms under the mountain and are fighting a dreadful war hidden to all eyes.
Don't be confused, I'm not saying the ideas are bad, just that it's the same story once again. Of course it works -I'm a classic dwarf fan myself- but on a new world I'd expect something else.
Note: perhaps you could have written a bit less about dwarves themselves and a bit more about the ecology/geography.
Note2: growing "well of power"? what is it? is it still growing?
Note3: how were the undead originated, are they product of the shapers?

The shapers are somewhere between the Zern from MM IV and the Daelkyr. They're also ultra-lawful and they defininitely fit the scientist archetype.

I suppose that's true. I thought making the dwarves more intellectual builders and less warrior-folk would be enough of a change. But then, by the time I was finsihed, the dwarves were pretty well-tied into the rest of the setting, making them a bit difficult to change.

Note: That's probably true.

Note 2: I mentioned it in the intro, I think. The world was completely mundane before the shapers came, and since they broke the protective shell, magic has seeped in from the elemental planes. Imagine an airtight container in a chamber full of gas. Then poke a hole in the container, and the gasses seep in. Except the gas in this case is magic.

Note 3: Related to the above response, the undead arose organically as negative energy seeped into the plane. The shapers actually tried to get rid of them, but they keep popping up. The shapers sort of viewed them as pests.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Ferrara, the Ebon Sands:
I love the mistery, the "silent dark continent" feel here, it just screams adventure even if the driving force is just mapping a sector of Ferrara or trying to set a trade dependancy (with something like opium for example, or even something like sweet grapes -sure those insectoids would love them).
Another strong point for me: the visual of the ebon sands (black sand has always given me a most surreal feel, I even took the bother to ground some coal to dust so as to show my players the sands they were threading upon on the first hell).
The mistery reinforced by the alien-shaped insectoids... I'd run a short campaign based on the exploration of such a setting.

Yeah, I was quite proud of the black sand thing. I figured it would be fitting for a desert surrounded by volcanoes. And I could certainly see the thri-keen having a serious craving for sweets.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Arcas, the Sunken Glory:
Island-states of heterogeneus tropical flavors, and even a small bit of legend interwoven there, I like it. And we have more resentment here and some fierce independance. I'll just recommend you to be careful and not allow too many flavors/cultures to appear like a patchwork to players or DMs.
The increasing sahuagin menace gives little to think about by itself.

The main reason for the conferated islands is the breadth of material for aquatic settings and campaigns. I figure multiple islands with different leaders would be the best way to explain it.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Note: love the precisions upon racial languages, it is great that you add flavor to something normally overlooked as having flavor potential (except for the obvious Draconic, Infernal, etc). "Elven Longhand" - exquisite.

I always though nobody payed enough attention to languages, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to really give them some flavor if their own.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Humans:
I love the fact a character can say "my great grandfather fought the Illithids", and that there can be the rare NPC -or character, why not?- who actually fought in his youth against the Illithid, being one of the many hands which created this new world... because, for humans, it is essentially a new world (which is awesome in its derivations, from those who embrace similar ways to those of their ancient masters, to those who gather a mass of people and wander off to settle "new" lands, from those embracing philosophies to those inventing gods to those doing both).
[And yet more resentment, elves allow only humans into the settlements, and even that's on rare occasions.]

I do like the way the recentness of the illithid uprising makes it so the short-lived races are born in a world where the shapers are more boogiemen of legend than overlords, while the older races still feel the sting of the master's whip.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Dwarves:
The idea of dwarves in other lands as exiles is thought provoking, real good even if not 100% new, then it ties in with the importance of the dwarven name and gives another detail to work with for flavor's sake.
[Dwarves/Elves];[Dwarves/Kobolds]

I'm glad you enjoy it.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Elves:
Classic classy twist, the elves-gone-feral, but I particularly like how resting through the typical 4-hour trance acquires new significance, to a race of survivalists. Also, how this king of feral is a real change, not as in, for example, Wood Elves in FR, who fail to transmit any survivalist culture trait.
[Elves/everyone else]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Gnomes:
Pacifists... I wonder if players would accept that or more often than not decide they are off-the-norm; it would certainly provide interesting characters if it holds.
Heh, like the thing about nickname hoarding.
Note: never considered the gnome as a PC... at a difference with the halfling (which we usually take as funny guys) we have always taken the gnome as the one who tries to be serious and fails at it. It's a group thing, just commenting.

I'm pretty sure most players will go with more violent gnomes. Still, this will hopefully encourage that player who would be willing to play a pacifist to actually play a pacifist.

The nickname hoarding is based off the traditional gnomes many names thing, but I think this way handles it better.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Halflings:
Just read this "a secret hiding in the shadow of their smiles"... now, that's kickass.
Yey! Gypsies!
Like this far better than the standard halfling.

I'm glad you enjoy them. I always though that the designers didn't pay enough attention to the charismatic halfling. They've got plenty of fluff to say halflings are charismatic and all that, but they didn't have any mechanical advantage to back up the fluff.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Shadow Halflings:
And these, these give Halfling communities/race depth and shading. It stages a social drama, and gives a danger rating to the jolly carabaneers.
The idea of a genetic trojan horse is priceless, fertile source of plot hooks.

I was so proud of this one. Even if the idea for the race itself is stolen from whisper gnomes, I think this is infinitely more fun.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

Orcs:
Proud warriors who lost cohesion, honorable fighters fallen to raiding for resources... and they are no brutes, they will take a hot bath if it is available... They consider elves to be barbarians and dwarves to be cowards...
I'm sold!

I'm glad you like! Sorta tried to give them a fluff somewhere between samurai, native american, and viking, which was partially inspired by that pic. When I found it, I just wanted the orcs to be a proud warrior race, then the picture really wrote the fluff for me.

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

I'm not too crazy about Gnomes and Dwarves, but LOVE the other races, hope you find these comments to be useful!

I do! Thanks SO much for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. Keep watching, and I promise you will enjoy the rest just as much!

[Admiral Squish]

Alright! I finally finished the (only slightly modified) warforged. Enjoy!

Spoiler

Spoiler

The mechanical creations of the dwarves, the warforged serve their creators as bodyguards, personal servants, and soldiers. The warforged are made off of designs refined out of golems, designed to be more intelligent and adaptable, able to perform complex tasks unlike their mindless counterparts. This intelligence is why the dwarves use the warforged as personal assistants and bodyguards.

Personality: The warforged were created to fight and serve, and perform both tasks with the same coldly logical outlook. They fight fiercely and without remorse, displaying an adaptability impossible for mindless automatons. In servitude they are efficient and formal, taking harsh criticisms and even physical blows with a cool, emotionless demeanor. Those warforged freed from dwarven slavery are often confused at first, unsure of who to go to for orders. The longer a warforged remains free, however, the more human they become, showing more and more emotions as they learn there is more to life than the next set of orders.

Physical Description: All warforged stand an even six feet in height, and, as standard models, weighing approximately 250 pounds. Warforged bodies are shaped like a broad-shouldered human, composed of multiple materials. Obsidian, iron, stone, darkwood, silver, and other materials. Despite their large size and unique construction, warforged move with surprising grace and flexibility. Flexible plates connected by fibrous bundles make up the body of a warforged, topped by a mostly featureless head with eyes that glow red, green, blue, or white. Some warforged are painted with different colors or designs.
Warforged have no physical distinction of gender; all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape. In personality, some warforged seem more masculine or feminine, but different people might judge the same warforged in different ways. The warforged themselves seem unconcerned with matters of gender. They do not age naturally, though their bodies do decay slowly even as their minds improve through learning and experience.
Unique among constructs, warforged have learned to modify their bodies through magic and training. Many warforged are adorned with heavier metal plates than those their creator originally endowed them with. This customized armor, built-in weaponry, and other enhancements to their physical form help to differentiate one warforged from another. The main distinguishing mark however is the task mark on their forehead. All warforged are engraved with a task mark upon their creation. The task mark is a dwarven rune that usually matches up to the honor name of the dwarf they were created to serve. However, those created as rank-and-file warriors are engraved with the dwarven rune for ‘soldier’. Those elite military warforged that gain rank have their task marks modified to suit their new rank.

Relations: Warforged are loyal to their dwarven creators above all else. Personal warforged give the orders of their specific master precedence, while soldier warforged give precedence to the orders of their commanders, but they all must obey the orders of the dwarves. The dwarves have a number of strict laws regarding the warforged, their treatment, and their servitude. If a personal warforged’s master dies, the warforged is freed. A free warforged can leave the dwarven mountains if he wishes, or remain in the mountains and take his master’s place.

Alignment: Most warforged are lawful, much like their dwarven creators, and show no preference for good or evil. Just as many warforged grow bitter and hateful during their servitude as those who deeply enjoy the company of their masters and do the right thing. The longer a warforged has been free the more likely they are to take on lawful traits.

Warforged Lands: The warforged don’t have their own nation, living among the dwarves as slaves or scattered across the lands. However, as more dwarves die and their warforged are freed, the number of free warforged grows slowly and steadily, giving them greater and greater influence in the mountains. Free warforged most often settle among humans, where their tireless bodies are welcome additions to the work force or military.

Language: Warforged speak common and dwarven. Both languages are spoken with very little inflection or tone. Freed warforged tend to pick up more human speech habits.

Names: Among dwarves, personal warforged are referred to by their master’s name with the tek- prefix. Similarly, soldiers are referred to by rank with an attached tek- prefix. However, among other warforged or non-dwarf humanoids, most warforged name themselves, taking the name of a item or task and repurposing it as a name.

Adventurers: \Warforged adventurers are usually freed warforged eager to explore the world beyond the mountains, though there are a number of AWOL soldiers and retired war veterans.

WARFORGED RACIAL TRAITS
These traits are in addition to the normal warforged traits, except where noted.

• Darkvision: Warforged can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and warforged can function just fine with no light at all.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Dwarven
• Favored Class: Crusader. A multiclass warforged’s crusader class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for Multicasting. This trait replaces the warforged’s favored class.

[Admiral Squish]

I seem to have overestimated the capacity of posts. By the time I'm done, I may end up with three race posts.

Anyways, the reflavoring of shifters is posted.

Shifters

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Spoiler

Shifters, sometimes called “the weretouched,” dwell in the eastern forests. The eastern shapers created them to replace the elves as their tree-tenders. Created by tainting human bloodlines with animalistic traits, the shifters can take on the power of their bestial bloodlines in a process known as shifting. In the beginning, the shifters could take on more power, becoming hybrids of man and beast or even becoming the beast itself, however the bloodlines have been diluting over the generations, a process the shifter elders are desperately trying to slow.

Personality: The personality and behavior of shifters are influenced by their animal natures. Many are boorish and crude, while others are quiet, shifty, and solitary. Like there bestial bloodlines, shifters have a survivalist personality and think of most activities in terms of predator and prey, hunter and hunted. They view survival as a challenge, and strive to be self-reliant and adaptable.

Physical Description: Shifters are basically humanoid in shape, but their bodies are exceptionally lithe and agile. They often move in a crouched posture, with a rolling stride while their companions walk normally alongside. Their faces have a bestial cast, with wide, flat noses, large eyes and heavy eyebrows, pointed ears, and long sideburns (in both sexes). Their forearms and lower legs grow long hair, and the hair of their heads is thick and worn long. Their hair is often braided and tied with straps of leather. They often wear simple, practical clothing of animal hide, and wear trinkets of animal bone, predator fangs, and carved ivory.

Relations: Shifters mostly want to be left alone. The elves have waged a 500-year guerilla crusade against the shifter cities. Without the forces of the shapers at the shifter’s backs, the elven strikes have only intensified. The shapers generally don’t do much trading, preferring to support themselves on the forest’s bounty and their own hard work. Their long war with the elves has colored their views of humanoids in general. While they don’t kill non-elves immediately, they certainly don’t particularly trust them. Shifters have a strong nationalistic bent.

Alignment: Shifters are usually neutral, viewing the struggle to survive as more important than moral or ethical concerns about how survival is maintained. Those with herbivore ancestry tend towards more lawful natures, while those with predator blood generally are more chaotic.

Shifter Lands: Shifters dwell in the eastern forests, living in semi-fortified cities with bronzewood walls. Shifter cities are built into the forest, with structures using the titanic trees as support. The building often come in two or more layers, with wooden walkways running from tree to tree and watchtowers poking out of the canopy to survey the treetops.

Language: Shifters speak common, and rarely learn more languages. However, they speak a dialect of common that is fortified with guttural grunts, growls, purrs, and other vocalizations. In addition, shifter communication relies heavily on body language.

Names: Shifter names usually consist of a personal name and a clan name. Shifters with particularly powerful bloodlines are often giving titles based upon their heritage.

Adventurers: Shifter adventurers are rather common, shifters usually taking on the mantle of ranger, druid, and barbarian.

[Admiral Squish]

For now, at least, my pollution of the homebrew forum is complete, and the reformatting of the project is successful! Hopefully, this drums up a little more traffic, as well.

[Super_Dave]

This is clearly the most intricate project you've attempted so far, so kudos for just getting it off the ground. There's clearly a lot of detail here, and you've obviously given each aspect a ton of thought.

I like the fact that this world is kind of messed up and complicated, rather than the traditional "humanoids-are-good-and-like-each-other-except-for-elves-and-dwarves-but-they-can-overcome-centuries-of-prejudice-when-they-need-to" setting. I also like that slave-holding races (i.e., dwarves) aren't automatically evil. It opens the door for complex roleplaying.

The growth-and-harvesting cycle for the Cropring was probably the coolest thing I've read in Homebrew Design in a while. It's really cool! It also explains what the monsters are doing there, and why there are so many, which is something a lot of people overlook. Ecology is important to a setting!

Putting the Elves in conflict with the Shifters was a good idea. Sort of examines the dichotomy between "pretty nature" and "scary nature". I'd be intrigued to see how it turns out.

Do you have stats for the Shapers themselves? I'm kind of curious to see what they look like, but I'm also kind of wary of telling the players too much. I kind of like the air of mystery that comes from not having any idea what they look like. But then again, I guess it hasn't really been long enough for everyone to have forgotten what they look like.

I'll post more comments as you post more material.

[Admiral Squish]

Originally Posted by Super_Dave

This is clearly the most intricate project you've attempted so far, so kudos for just getting it off the ground. There's clearly a lot of detail here, and you've obviously given each aspect a ton of thought.

This whole thing has been fermenting in the back of my mind over the last eight months or so, which is really what gives it all this depth. Like a fine wine, it has aged wonderfully.

Originally Posted by Super_Dave

I like the fact that this world is kind of messed up and complicated, rather than the traditional "humanoids-are-good-and-like-each-other-except-for-elves-and-dwarves-but-they-can-overcome-centuries-of-prejudice-when-they-need-to" setting. I also like that slave-holding races (i.e., dwarves) aren't automatically evil. It opens the door for complex roleplaying.

Yeah, it looks like that's going to be a major point in this setting, all this confusion and anger and complicated relationships. The only real problem with it is that everything is so interwoven that I have to change EVERYTHING to fit.

Originally Posted by Super_Dave

The growth-and-harvesting cycle for the Cropring was probably the coolest thing I've read in Homebrew Design in a while. It's really cool! It also explains what the monsters are doing there, and why there are so many, which is something a lot of people overlook. Ecology is important to a setting!

Always something I thought was so neglected in other settings. I mean, at times, they made some gestures at ecology, but rarely a serious effort, in my opinion. Still, now that I'm on this project, I can see why it would be played loosely. Tying back into the response above, if somebody has to change anything, then they have to change a lot of things.

Originally Posted by Super_Dave

Putting the Elves in conflict with the Shifters was a good idea. Sort of examines the dichotomy between "pretty nature" and "scary nature". I'd be intrigued to see how it turns out.

That was actually a facet of this I hadn't considered, though it does add an interesting level to the conflict if I think about it in that way.

Originally Posted by Super_Dave

Do you have stats for the Shapers themselves? I'm kind of curious to see what they look like, but I'm also kind of wary of telling the players too much. I kind of like the air of mystery that comes from not having any idea what they look like. But then again, I guess it hasn't really been long enough for everyone to have forgotten what they look like.

Not yet, actually, though most of the stats are ready in my head. They're going to have a lot of transmutation SLAs, like baleful polymorph, polymorph, polymorph any object, shapechange, and a whole bunch of others. Then they're going to have a racial extraordinary ability to alter their own bodies in strange ways, like becoming boneless, or bulking up, or sprouting tentacles. Appearance-wise, they're somewhere between the Zern from MM IV and the Daelkyr from the ECS.

Originally Posted by Super_Dave

I'll post more comments as you post more material.

Alright, I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

[Land Outcast]

Originally Posted by Super_Dave

Putting the Elves in conflict with the Shifters was a good idea. Sort of examines the dichotomy between "pretty nature" and "scary nature". I'd be intrigued to see how it turns out.

I'm not quite with you there, I actually like the fact that elves have turned into gritty survivalists who shoot you on sight, they don't have much "pretty nature" left nowadays.
And shifters might be "scary nature", yet they have more communication and other kinds of peaceful exchange between cultures.

---------------------

@Admiral:
How do warforged get their freedom? by accident, prize, favor or law?
How would shifter society be, militaristic? tribal? this question came up because of the combination of internal physiological/psychological differences and the fact that they live in semi-fortified cities, that is, forced to live together.

[Admiral Squish]

Originally Posted by Land Outcast

@Admiral:
How do warforged get their freedom? by accident, prize, favor or law?
How would shifter society be, militaristic? tribal? this question came up because of the combination of internal physiological/psychological differences and the fact that they live in semi-fortified cities, that is, forced to live together.

Personal-service warforged are freed once their owner dies, though there are thorough investigations to rule out the warforged's involvement in his death. Other than that, warforged can be freed by the declaration of their owner, or, in times of peace, their commanders. Warforged soldiers must serve a minimum of 50 years before they are eligible to be freed.

Shifter society has become relatively more militaristic since the shifters left. Mostly out of necessity, since the elves have redoubled their guerrilla war on the shifter communities in the shaper's absence. They're still relatively tribal, divided somewhat along trait lines, but they've had to band together into larger communities to survive the increasing elven violence.

I'll go write those bits into their entries.

I'm working on the goliath writeup now, though I'm having a bit of trouble with it. I kinda want to make them dino-cowboys. It would explain the large size and great strength, both being necessary to handle the massive beasts. However, I did have them as the more-or-less rulers of the western plains, the ones politically displacing the orcs, so I think they would need to have stable communities and kingdoms. I could make it so they USED to be the dino-cowboys, I suppose...

[Admiral Squish]

Added in goliaths, hopefully I struck a nice balance with the cowboy thing.

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Spoiler

Goliaths are massive creatures unafraid of throwing their weight around in a fight. Highly competitive, these powerful warriors can prove to be powerful allies and welcome additions to any adventuring party. The goliaths were the first experiment in scaling up humanoids, created by the shapers of the western plains to serve as herd-tenders. When the shapers left, most continued their traditional migrations through the plains, but many others settled down, forming a great gathering place in the center of the western plains around a shaper pyramid.

Personality: Golliaths are well-known for their almost foolhardy daring, trusting their thick hide, massive size, and powerful muscles to carry them through any battle. Goliaths are extremely competititive, and adore competitions of strength, speed, and skill. Sport is everywhere in goliath cities, everything from competitive games of ball to arena combat and footraces. Most goliaths are extremely focused on strength and physical fitness. The weak and old are generally regarded as inferior to the young and fit, though those goliaths with other talents, such as gifted magicians or charismatic politicians may be able to delay their ridicule.

Physical Description: A typical goliath is larger than the largest orc. Most stand between 7 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 280 and 340 pounds. Unlike with most other races, there is no appreciable difference in height or weight between male and female goliaths. Goliaths have gray skin, mottled with dark and light patches that goliath shamans say hint at a particular goliath’s fate. Lithoderms—coin-sized bone-and-skin growths as hard as pebbles—speckle their arms, shoulders, and torso. Their skulls have a jutting eyebrow ridge, wide jaw, and occasional lithoderms as well. Female goliaths have dark hair on their heads, grown to great length and always kept braided. Male goliaths generally have hair only on their limbs. Goliaths’ eyes are a brilliant blue or green, and they often seem to glow a little from underneath their furrowed brows. Because their skin mottling has cultural significance, goliaths generally dress lightly, males almost always going shirtless, with females wearing minimal tops, displaying their skin patterns for all to see. For the same reason, few goliaths would willingly get a tattoo—to draw on one’s skin is tantamount to trying to rewrite one’s fate. Goliaths instead decorate themselves with jewelry, often sporting ear, nose, or brow rings. A goliath’s lithoderms are also common places to embed a gem or two, since they have few nerve endings and stand out on the goliath’s body already.

Relations: Most goliaths are friendly and pleasant out on the fields. Anyone who can keep up and lend a hand is welcome, and those who can prove their skill are worthy of respect, no matter their race. One who offers a hand will often earn themselves a tasty meal at the night’s camp. The goliaths who live in the great gathering are somewhat less welcoming, but still quite friendly.

Goliaths were once close to the orcs, who often worked alongside them, and showed a great respect for the goliath’s massive charges. However, ever since the assault on Myralis, the orcs and the goliaths have grown apart. Goliaths get along well with gnomes, who often help them maintain the health of their herds. Many goliath tribes travel with a gnome or two for a season. Goliaths are also extremely fond of dwarven weapons, and will often trade for them, enjoying the fine workmanship. They don’t respect the dwarves’ policy on non-involvement, but the enchanting beauty and superb effectiveness of dwarven weapons makes up for it to most goliaths. Most goliaths enjoy halfling caravans, and more often than not, there is one or more halfling caravans in the great gathering at any time. However, the constant travel of goliath herds makes it unlikely for an goliath on the trail to run across a caravan. The goliaths have mixed relations with giants. Most giants treat goliaths well, though there are always those troublemakers who decide to try and make the goliaths into slaves. Conflict inevitably ensues.

Alignment: Most goliaths who wander the plains favor chaotic alignments, with a noticeable tendancy towards good. The golaiths of the great gathering share this propensity for goodness, but they are far more evenly-spread across the chaos and law axis.

Goliath Lands: Goliaths are spread all across the western plains, wandering with the herds. There are a few settlements spotted here and there in the grasslands, but the only true goliath city is the Great Gathering. Originally a simple gathering place, where goliaths would herd their herds at the end of the season to harvest their meat, hide, and bone, the Great Gathering has grown into a proper city, with a grand arena where competitions of all sort are held, and large stone structures serve as permanent homes to many goliaths, and communal lodges for the traveling goliaths. Traveling goliaths move every few days, following the herds, only setting up tents in winter, in the far north, or when it’s raining.

Language: Goliaths speak Gol-kaa, a simple tongue with only 13 sounds. It is speaken phonetically, and often sounds quite primitive. The language was spoken only, with no written aspect, until the Great Gathering became a city proper. Gol-kaa is written with dwarven script. In recent years, the gol-kaa of the goliath of the Great Gathering has taken on a more proper tone, being referred to as High Gol-kaa, while the ones who travel the plains generally speak Low Gol-kaa.

Names: Goliath names come in three parts. There is a first name and a clan name at birth. When a goliath comes of age, he is given a name related to his most impressive deed or talent. If the goliath exceeds his former deed, the chief will give that goliath if given a new name. These middle names are refered to as ‘glory names’, and any goliath will proudly introduce himself with, at a minimum, his first name and glory name.

Adventurers: Goliath adventurers are extremely common. Adventuring is the natural choice for goliaths seeking a truly impressive glory name, and their size, strength, and toughnesss all lend themselves well to martial combat.

GOLIATH RACIAL TRAITS

• +4 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution. Goliaths are incredibly strong and durable. However, their bulk makes them somewhat less agile.
• Goliath base land speed is 40 feet. Goliaths have long legs and a bounding stride.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, goliaths have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. However, see the powerful build ability description below for more details.
• Monstrous Humanoid: As monstrous humanoids, goliaths are proficient with all simple weapons, but they have no proficiency with any armor or shield.
• Powerful Build: The physical stature of a goliath lets him function in many ways as if he were one size category larger. Whenever a goliath is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the goliath is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. A goliath is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect him. A goliath can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject’s size category.
• +2 Natural Armor. Goliaths have thick skin and their lithoderms only improve the protection offered.
• +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks: When speaking to one another, goliaths tend to augment their verbal communication with subtle body language. They are likewise able to “read” the unintentional body language of others.
• +2 bonus to handle animal and survival checks. Goliath life trains the young goliaths to survive in the wilderness and how to deal with animals.
• Goad Proficiency: All goliaths are considered to be proficient with the Goad (Frostburn, pg. 76)
• Automatic Languages: Common and Gol-Kaa. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Gnomish, Halfling, Terran
• Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass goliath’s barbarian class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty. The life of most goliaths produces many barbarians
• Level Adjustment +1