Epic of Adaera [Massive High Fantasy World]

[Xzayler]

Welcome.

The OOC for this RP is open, you can come join us now.

I am planning on setting up a fantasy rp focusing on an Alagaesia-like world from the Inheritance cycle (Eragon).

This is big work for me so it might take a while until I really make a thread for this. You can help though.

Sorry for the mess. I was in a rush, will slowly clean up here though.

MAP

This rp will be featuring
-Races, but keeping some like Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, and of course Dragons. I am planning on introducing a snow-dwelling, a reptilian, an orcish sort and other races.
-A massive fully made up medieval-fantasy world with different kingdoms, deserts, rivers, invented towns, huge mountains. Areas will have background stories and descriptions. A visual map will also be made.
-An extensive storyline which will make this rp really become an epic. There will be kingdoms at war and bad guys and battles. Honestly, the storyline quality depends more on you, the roleplayers, but I will give a lot of background and will intervene and have a character as well. (Not "the main character")

I plan on making this rp fairly serious, with no fights over things, I am fine with discussion, but no raging. I promise I will not godmod and give you no reason to leave. I will always answer PMs.

How you can help
-I need names for places, such as cities, geographical feautures, castles and everything else, including races and an good title for the actual RP.
-More races. Make them fairly humanoid unless they are supposed to be some creatures, I will consider them all though. I won't accept many though, I don't want too many races.
-Kingdoms, or cultures. Like nomad desert tribes, barbaric villages, order of the arcane. Anything like that. Could even be an underwater city.
-Any other ideas, concerning lore, features, powers (mind reading, magic, what else?) And anything else.

Note, don't post CSs yet!

This is going to be quite a bit of work, so I'd like to know if people are actually interested.

[Nobunaga Jin]

I'll try this out. I can ask a friend of mine to help you with lore. I'll help out with other aspects that you need help with

[Xzayler]

Thank you very much.
I made a map sketch, it's pretty big, I'll upload it soon. This is very WIP so things might change though.

Place names

Adaera

Places
Empire
-Gward Haetht
-Ironbridge (River town)
-Meadowbrook (village)
-Duringham (Small town)
-Barrenhoff (village)
-Bluford (village)
-Rivermouth Harbor (Nothern Harbor)
-Telrain (town)
-Icathe (city)
-Gazaso (Southern City)
-Amberway (town)
-Fresnia (village)
-Rivermead (village)
-Pinedale (village)
-Glanta (southern village)
-Glens (city)
-Deah (village)
-Khlabash (southern Port)
-Dawehsh (Southern Capital)
Castles
-HighHold
-Ivory Gates
-Tragas (southern)

Northeners
-Eyrar
-Njarey
-Kjaranskiv
-Fljot
-Berufell
-Jeoln (Harbor)
-Laugar
-Landsfjoror
-Hefn
Castles
-Rejjor
-Hrafn

Dwarven
-Farthen Dûr
-Dûr Thurum
-Dûr Bherbor
-Dherdirth
-Gimfuruhm
-Gelmlodir
-Thulboldahr
-Dhir Thorim

Elven
-Illenora
-Aesir
-Faolin
-Naeshys
-Mytsenoris
-Haalthaes
-Unarith
-Ilyel Thaesi
-Ryfthalas

Narvenian
-Issith
-Cytcal
-Lithmis
-Thassys

Gran'zulian
-Narg'hôl
-Urzul
-Mazog
-Shelor
-Zhurg

I basically just copy-pasted my text edit note file. I'll clear up soon. Tomorrow latest, no worries.

[Primal Conundrum]

Fair warning, if you try to detail the entire world before beginning the game, you'll never start. I'm a career game designer and I've run Dungeons and Dragons games for over a decade, and if you try to build an entire world in-depth then not only will it take you forever but most of the content will be wasted as the players only see bits of it and simply have no reason to go to some places.

The best way to build a sprawling, epic fantasy world is to have a general idea of the rest of the world, and highly develop the area where the campaign will start and perhaps some of the surrounding areas that you're interested in using as plot hooks. As the players move outwards, you can develop the details of the world in the direction they're going. Along with resulting in vastly less work for you, it also means that you have a lot more freedom since nothing is set in stone, and you can have things happen as you need them. For example, perhaps it would really help the storyline if the party stumbled into some small village after barely surviving a bandit attack- if you don't have the world detailed, you can plop a village down no problem. If you've already made all the details, then the party might just be shit out of luck, and could end up just dying in the wilderness as a rather anticlimactic game ending.

I like big fantasy worlds, but I also like the joy of discovery. It's easier for the person running the game and often more fun for the players if everything isn't set in stone from square one.

Anyway, I am interested. I've got an idea for a big, hulking, Lizardfolk voodoo witchdoctor that I think would be pretty fun. Fair warning though, he's not exactly good aligned.

[Xzayler]

Primal Conundrum said
-snip-

Thanks for the advice, really, but I wasn't planning to write a novel on every single village. I know I didn't write this anywhere so it's my fault but basically. Bigger villages are displayed on the map, (I can't seem to upload it in good enough detail, I have slow internet as well I'll find a solution), but you actually CAN plop down a village during the RP. A smaller one of course, towns, are already made and the major geography like a desert, elven forests, mountains, are already made. However, you can decide there a big hill somewhere or a smaller lake, be reasonale though, there probably won't be an almost mountain thing in the centre of the plains, nor a lake in the desert.

Also, I am kind of against killing characters without the approval of the roleplayer because I think its unfair to just decide that some random guy now has to die and the person can't post anymore, it's like kicking someone out for no reason. I don't believe I have the right to accept someone into the rp and then kick him out, after he put work into it.

What I will do is: write a general, broad history of the situation between kingdoms, races etc.; lightly describe the culture of different races, like the 9 dwarf clans I made up. (btw I need names for those as well.)

And yes, there are lizardmen, mostly living near the desert. You can be a "baddy", I'm actually really happy you want to be one so we get a view from both sides. Or did you mean that you're char will be a sort of only for myself? In any case it's all good. Varied chars are always welcome.

@everyone.
I do like criticism and advice like the post above. I will always take all your ideas under consideration and will discuss them if needed, so you are encourage to speak your mind.
If I get a couple more interest, I will start working on a nice, proper OOC thread where everything will be very organized.

[Primal Conundrum]

Was actually thinking more a lizardman from a swampy area- think something like the Lousiana Bayou. I doubt he thinks of himself as being particularly evil, but I imagine a lot of others think he's quite vile. I've got a few ideas for magic involving severed heads, and I have this hilarious mental image of him doing a musical number in a shack in a swamp, where reanimated shrunken heads take the place of woodland creatures in a big parody of disney princess style musicals.

Anyway yeah, he'd probably be mostly self-interested, and if his goals happened to align with the goals of a good group, he'd happily work with them. I could see him being a sometimes ally, sometimes enemy that's super useful when he's on their side, but at the same time a dangerous foe when they oppose him.

I imagine that Desert Lizardfolk and Swamp Lizardfolk could just be different subraces. I can picture the desert ones being smaller and lighter coloured, while the swamp ones are larger than humans and often have dark green or even black coloration.

I mean in the desert in the real world, to my knowledge lizards tend to be small, while in swamps you get crocodiles. Kinda thinking along those lines.

[Nariata]

I can help with this soon.

[Xzayler]

Primal
I have a snowy area, plains, grasslands, a desert, great forests, huge mountains, lakes, rivers oceans, but not swamps. Good idea, I'll add it. I was thinking of a sort of reptile person, I think they were originally from some Greek myth but I might be making that up, and Greeks weren't living in swampy areas but islands. These lizardmen, which I called Narven, live mainly next to the big oasis and in the close area. And if i manage to add a swamp, there as well. And yeah, the head musical sounds pretty funny.

Nariata, thank you, I'm looking forward to it.

To finish the plan of the map and the naming, I just need to name the ocean, some rivers, only the main ones, I leave the rest up to you. I will borrow some names from the Inheritance novels though, because they sound cool :P

[Aristocles]

I have a setting of my own as well. If you don't mind me importing one of my characters (like the one in my avatar), maybe I could join too.

I could link you it some information on it if you like. It's called "Other Earth", and the main characters in it are the dracons. I have information on it at the D&D wiki, too.

[Xzayler]

Aristocles said
I have a setting of my own as well. If you don't mind me importing one of my characters (like the one in my avatar), maybe I could join too.I could link you it some information on it if you like. It's called "Other Earth", and the main characters in it are the dracons. I have information on it at the D&D wiki, too.

IDK honestly, there's dragons which are big mighty and intelligent beasts. And Elves and Dwarves and Narven and the Gran'zul. Dragon people? Hm... sorry man but I don't think it would really fit. The closest things seem to be the Narven which are basically reptilian lizard-people.

BTW, I have the map in first post. never mind the ugly mountains, and the occasional missing names. I will get someone to make a pretty one :)

[Aristocles]

So, there's all sorts of other things, but not dragon people? You seemingly have everything else under the sun, but that won't fit? That's not being cool, man. How can you allow lizard people, but not dragon people? You really should reconsider.

[Primal Conundrum]

Aristocles said
So, there's all sorts of other things, but not dragon people? You seemingly have everything else under the sun, but that won't fit? That's not being cool, man. How can you allow lizard people, but not dragon people? You really should reconsider.

Personally I always thought dragon people were kind of silly.

Also, depending on what dragons are like in this world, they might just legitimately not fit.

[Aristocles]

Oh, these aren't the offspring of dragons and humans, if that's what you mean. They're like the lizard people in this setting, only replace the word "lizard" with "dragon." How are they any more silly than "lizardfolk"? It's just not making any sense.

Or, just consider them lizard people with horns and a weak acid breath. That's really all they are. There's no good reason to exclude something like them. None.

[Xzayler]

Look, I'm not picking on you but all the races are pretty diverse if you ask me. The whole point is that I already have everything. I dont have centaurs or halflings, or minotaurs either. Dragon people are too similar to the Narven, and the Dragons themselves as well.
What can Dragon people do that changes them from from the Narven?

Dragons are magical creatures by birth with immense power which they can't control. People and other races can learn to control magic but dont have the power of the Dragons. Dragons are supposed to be unique, as they kind of are a focus in this RP.
Please give me detail on their abilities and such and I will figure out what to do with them.

Lizard people are Narven. They are reptilians. I already have reptiluan people in this rp. If you want to give yours acid breath and horns its fine because they are pretty reptilian feautures. But there wont be a Draconis race

[Primal Conundrum]

Aristocles said
Or, just consider them lizard people with horns and a weak acid breath. That's really all they are. There's no good reason to exclude something like them. None.

If that's all they are, then it sounds like they're so barely different that there's hardly even much point in including them, especially since lizard people were apparently already intended to be included in the setting.

[Aristocles]

So, you are accepting them? If you weren't, why ask for details?

So, what can these dracons do that's different? A great deal, probably. It is likely a difference of culture more than biology, as dracons come from a desert with many independent kingdoms, cities, and states. They don't have the inherent powers of dragons, apart from a weak acid breath, but they do have many of the superficial features that dragons have, such as fangs, claws, a tail, horns, and a great deal of physical strength. The males are quite strong, and the females are quite agile. As a species, they are civilized, for the most part, save for some migratory tribes.

One detail you might find interesting is that dracons did not evolve naturally, but were the result of an magical mixture of humanoid and dragon blood. As I said before, I could link you to outside sources, but until you tell me straight-up that you have let them in, I will spare you a more detailed explanation, unless there are some specifics you simply must know first.

And these dracons are no more dragons than a monkey is a human. Similar, but clearly and obviously operating on two different levels.

And no, you don't have "everything." No one does. You even contradict yourself: "The whole point is that I already have everything. I dont have centaurs or halflings, or minotaurs either." So, you have everything, but not halflings, minotaurs, or centaurs... which means you don't have everything.

Don't be so close-minded. You won't make many friends by excluding people.

[Aristocles]

Primal Conundrum said
If that's all they are, then it sounds like they're so barely different that there's hardly even much point in including them, especially since lizard people were apparently already intended to be included in the setting.

There are physical differences, which are relatively slight, and cultural differences, which are likely much, much greater. The latter are important too. You can use the same logic for elves vs. humans, who also have slight physical differences, but have great cultural differences.

[Xzayler]

Elves are immortal bu ageing, have very good physical abilities, good magic potential. Humans have numbers and can also wield magic very well.

Could you specify the culture of your race?

[Primal Conundrum]

Aristocles said
So, you are accepting them? If you weren't, why ask for details?So, what can these dracons do that's different? A great deal, probably. It is likely a difference of culture more than biology, as dracons come from a desert with many independent kingdoms, cities, and states. They don't have the inherent powers of dragons, apart from a weak acid breath, but they do have many of the superficial features that dragons have, such as fangs, claws, a tail, horns, and a great deal of physical strength. The males are quite strong, and the females are quite agile. As a species, they are civilized, for the most part, save for some migratory tribes. One detail you might find interesting is that dracons did not evolve naturally, but were the result of an magical mixture of humanoid and dragon blood. As I said before, I could link you to outside sources, but until you tell me straight-up that you have let them in, I will spare you a more detailed explanation, unless there are some specifics you simply must know first. And these dracons are no more dragons than a monkey is a human. Similar, but clearly and obviously operating on two different levels. And no, you don't have "everything." No one does. You even contradict yourself: "The whole point is that I already have everything. I dont have centaurs or halflings, or minotaurs either." So, you have everything, but not halflings, minotaurs, or centaurs... which means you don't have everything.Don't be so close-minded. You won't make many friends by excluding people.

When he said he had everything, he meant that he had everything he needed / wanted for the setting, not that the setting has EVERYTHING.

Also, Elves and Humans have some quite substantial physical differences, which of course vary by what your source material is. They might appear fairly similar, but Elves need less sleep, are more in tune with magic, live VASTLY longer lives, etc. It's not just cultural.

You say that he might not make friends by excluding people, I'd answer that you're not going to make many friends by being so standoffish and taking things personally. Not wanting the race you brought up isn't an insult to you, just basically saying hey, try another race. I mean if swamp lizardfolk hadn't been okay, I would have shrugged and made a different character.

[Aristocles]

Xzayler said
Lizard people are Narven. They are reptilians. I already have reptiluan people in this rp. If you want to give yours acid breath and horns its fine because they are pretty reptilian feautures. But there wont be a Draconis race

I used to be like you, always insisting on keeping every last little detail straight, always having to have things my way. If someone wanted more than one variety of elf, you'd probably let them have their way, so don't act like "The great Oz has spoken!" on me. You can fit two species of reptilian people.

Look, if I changed the dracons for this setting into subspecies of Narven, would that satisfy you?