First time posting on here, so excuse the clumsy nature of this thread.I've been pretty unsatisfied with how bare bones and downright vacant the Elemental Planes are in traditional Dungeons and Dragons. So I started writing my own additions, which has slowly ballooned out into a much bigger project. Adding not only new locations, but also biomes, creatures, cultures, and ways of life. In short, aside from showing off what I have so far, I need help. I've pretty much exhausted my pool of knowledge and inspiration and I'm far from done. So I'm throwing my net into this ocean hoping to get new perspectives and ideas that I wouldn't have on my own. I don't just want to make something up just for the hell of it, I want to make something that feels cohesive and plausible given the fantastical elements. Math, Science, History, Obscure Mechanics, One Off Ideas - I want it all.If any of this sounds interesting, please take a look. Over 40k works split over the Planes of Fire, Air, and Water.https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HqK-6In4kTF6I0n2vgdNhe6YlUiezjFKpkFyNQWaFYw/edit?usp=sharing You can contact me on Discord: loregenesis
>>96314431Why the fuck is it a spreadsheet instead of a normal document?
>>96314587It was easier for me to organize the information that way. Especially since the boxes on the right directly relate to the boxes on the left. If everything was just vertical then the info would blend together.
>>96314431You're familiar with pic-related, right?
>>96314869Yeah, you can kinda think of this as a modern version of Plane Scape. If I ever actually get to the point where I turn this into a book.
>>96314892Well, did you rely on it? Gotta be honest: after Spelljammer and every single thing in Forgotten Realms since 2e, a "modern version of Planescapes" doesn't sound appealing.
>>96314908Not really, looked back on it to remember why I was unsatisfied with it. Look, this is all that it says about both the Plane of Magma and Ooze. It's basically nothing.
>>96314908I know it's a nit pick, but imagine you lived in the Plane of Magma. What would you call your home? Cause it's certainly not "Plane of Magma".Nowhere have I seen, actually gives these places proper names.
>>96314956Well, good luck with your project.
>>96314988Thanks, definitely going to need it.Feel free to comment on the sheet with any ideas or suggestions. Still stuck in the plane of water, and I need the help.
Everyone and their mother have folders with shit like yours. You are asking for help without even having a plan.>lets be creativeis not a plan. Why would anyone work on your world instead of working on their own?It's all a wall of text anyways. You gotta make a CYOA or text adventure or a card game or a /qst/ thread or whatever out of it.
I did a campaign with a similar elemental planes thing too. If I remember this thread exists tommorow I'll write things up about it.
>>96315772Please do anon, it sounds based and we need more people to share their stuff like this, not enough people do these days, not like in the times of yore…
>>96315772I'd appreciate if you did. Would be cool to see what other people have come up with in this same idea. Even cool mechanics or lore would be nice. Currently trying to come up with ideas for the Ice, Salt, and Ooze biomes for the Plane of Water. So anything in that direction would be extra helpful.
>>96315465Just doing it for the love of the game, no real harm in seeing if it catches anyone else's attention. Though I did worry that this would clog up the board, sorry if that was the case.I did think about actually adding images, but I didn't want to get bogged down by trying to find something that comes close to what I described. And I'm too broke for commissions.
>>96314956You're clearly going about this the wrong way.The main elemental planes have been done over and over again. I recommend dipping into Pathfinder and earlier editions for content.If your interest is in the paraelemental planes you should focus on them. A guide of the lesser planes would also mesh well to existing works. Lots of people with homebrew settings have the maim four or six planes meshed out, but few go as far to set up the paraelementals.Alternatively you could focus on a single plane you find most interesting and actually write some settlements, characters and adventures that a GM could use. Having a setpiece isn't worth that much unless the players have stuff to interact with. A book talking about a single plane is more useful anyway because having an adventure go into more thannone or two for an extended period of time is pretty rare anyway.As far as my personal opinion goes, I'd abandon ALl planes without a directional gravity. These are completely impractical for travel or combat oriented play and get old REALLY fast. That doesn't mean they have to conform to reality in the macroscopic sense (so bubble worlds, flat worlds, toroids, mobius bands, etc is fine and cool for the big map), but for the love of god let there be a ground for people walk on in most areas. A surface is also always much more interesting than a filled volume or a void. Even with something like plane of air I'd be tempted to 'flatten' it just so that basic stuff like travel distances aren't such a hassle. For example by having up go to plane of void and down to plane of water.
>>96314869Man this is ancient. Seriously, it's from 2e?
>>96323630If I was smart and rational, I'd probably would have done it that way. But already too deep, and kinda made everything from the ground up. This is really more of something to use as a foundation, actually answer the little things that get overlooked and add more than just a plane with a single element in it.I do agree that combat is better off with terrain, though even in the plane of air you'd more likely fight on the bow of a ship then free floating. Couldn't imagine a party just traveling countless miles of open air and actually facing an encounter randomly. More likely to get eaten by some random titanic sky beast than anything else.
>>96326541Well it's D&D setting material that's actually good. So of course it's from 2e.
>>96329312Why did things get so bad over time? Do the people making D&D just have no idea what works anymore?
>>96314431Write some random books and put in lore hooks
>>96330837Not OP, but based, did you make any more like this?
>>96333365Yes I do. I have written three fourths of a thousand page book, but I dont really know what to do with it, its full of stuff like this.
>>96333365Also another extract.p.s donut steal, unless you really want to lift ideas
>>96333365
>>96329312So nothing since 2e has been good? Then why are we currently on 5e?
>>96314431Love this anon, you are a saint! Do you have any advice for someone looking to create their own elemental settings please?
>>96339497Inertia. >>96314869 Dark Sun and Spelljammer would at least be intriguing in their own right divorced from the system.
>>96336073>>96336118>>96336206OP here, this is some amazing work. Your writing has an amazing blend of religion/mysticism/magic and scholarly pondering. Reading it felt as if I had pulled a book from some academic library from a world far more magical in nature.You're the type of person I would love to sit down and talk to about fantasy. I've never been good with the more human aspects of worldbuilding, find it much easier to describe the places and building then those who built or live in them.Interested to see how my work would look through your perspective. Amazing job on writing 750+ pages with the same level of polish, I do hope you find time to finish it. I possible I'd like to see more, you're also welcome to contact me through them temp account in the post.either way, thanks for sharing, best of luck.
>>96329238You're not too deep. You got a lore blurb for a couple of planes and thats pretty much it.Also terrain and subjective gravity are different things. The point is that if you're having a fight on a ship in the plane of air and everyone has 3D movement, you might have every character in a different Z-coordinate every turn. Okay, you show it with some dice or tokens, but when you got five people all at different elevations and now you need to figure out who can charge who in melee? Or who gets hit by an AoE spell?
>>96314431Where do you look for ideas? Because this is impressive!
>>96344972Eh, it's less of a quantifiable amount of what is written and more the effort and drive. I'm just too attached to what I'm doing, and since it's still fun to do not really incentivized to stop.Now for the combat, I have three lines of thinking.1st: I'd see how the physics would work in the scenario and understand how to simplify the situation. Given that everything in the plane of air is technically falling and not flying, the second you leave ship you'll actually just get left behind, since the ship with its propulsion is moving faster than you can fall. In this way you make the 3D movement more of an risky desperation play then just "I do it cause I can". Heck the pirates would probably have ways to stay on a moving ship that the player wouldn't putting them in a unique disadvantage.2nd:Keeping with the 1st idea, but just removing 3D movement entirely, just have the sky ships have their own gravity. If you fall out of the ship's gravity well, then boom you're gone. That way you have control over the boundary of the gravitational field and the directionality. (Personally I would have the ship have a gravitational core, like a mini planet, so that there can be fun situations like fighting above and bellow the ship)3rd:You can just ask your player to not, if you think it's too much of a hassle to deal with. It's your world after all, and people are there for the fun.Your player will understand if you're upfront, and if not then that player might not be right for your game.I know this one is a copout but it's kinda true though. Your world your rules.(Also, I don't think charging would work at all since you're technically falling and charging implies a certain level of fines that you wouldn't have access to. All AoE spells tell you the radius, so their Z-axes component will actually be used for once, idk I don't see much of a problem with that one.)
Interesting stuff here. I like the idea of powerful artisans having an almost draconic terraforming effect, and that beauty = political power. Think I might borrow that for my setting.Here's some random stuff to pay it forward:>Sweet NothingsSemi-intangible beetles that shimmer with bright prismatic colors as they flutter through the air, the rustling of their wings sounding like cheeky whispered nonsense. Quite tasty, sugary, hence the name.>TililTiny birds that look somewhat like tadpoles, as they only have a single feather. They survive in swarms, organizing into a complex hive-like structure of hunters, guards, and freighters.>SnapwindA meteorological occurrence where an air current collapses in on itself following the golden ratio. It builds power and speed at an exponential rate, collapsing with a deafening crack that obliterates anything at the singularity point. A distinctive hollow whistle for ~30 seconds is the only warning - though given the unpredictable nature of the phenomenon, the devastation area might not be as easy to avoid as you'd think.>The Chyak-Jenok.A collection of weapons wielded by the Dukes of the wind, each one a sentient object that grants the wielder incredible power while trying to get them to fulfil the weapon's own ends.Centuries ago, the plane of Aura was brought to order under a single archduke. Before he could pass from age, he forged the Chyak-Jenok and split his soul among them. The dukes were to wield them in his stead, guided by those fragments of his mind.But he was betrayed; for the Daaki Tok-tok, evil smiths of black feather and soul, took Chyak-Kunok, the dart-whip, deep into Maelstrom to corrupt and warp it. Kunok began to twist its wielder's mind, revelling at the chaos it caused. One by one, it turned its siblings against each other, and since then not one of the weapons has had more than a shaky alliance with any other.Also got a list of the weapons if you fancy, but this comment is way too long as i-
>>96348947Not using tank combat is also a great way to have this not be a problem
>>96341875>>96347914Thank you, I appreciate the compliments. I really was expecting this thread to be quickly buried, so I'm quite glad this has had so much interaction so far.As for suggestions, I'll try my best, though off the bat I can say there isn't a one stop shop for ideas.In the simplest way possible, most of my ideas start from one of two seed. Either I am unsatisfied with the current "official" depiction of whatever fantasy thing I'm looking into, or I saw something cool that would be interesting reinterpreted into something fantastical.from there I place it into whatever world I was building at the time and then work backwards to explain why it is that way or what mechanics need to be implemented to make it make sense.A good example would be the plane of fire and why I chose to do that one first. It really bothered me that every single depiction of the plane of fire looked more like the plane of magma. So I stewed on the idea of how to make a place that is only fire without it being boring. My solution was to concede and make it plasma, which gave me ideas to play with magnetism and solar phenomena. From there things just fell into place, occasionally asking what would it be like to live on the surface of the sun. (Though I will admit that a flowing lake of magnetized molten metal on the surface of the sun isn't all that realistic but sometimes you just have to defer to the rule of cool, you know.)Hopefully that helped, feel free to ask anything else, or use the temp discord if you'd like.
>>96314431How long have you been working on this?
>>96354274I’ve had the initial ideas rattling around in my head almost three years ago, but I only really started writing a year and a half ago. Even then it’s been an on again off again writing style, coming back whenever I’m hit with sudden inspiration.
>>96314858I can see that. Ignore that anon, it looks fine to me.
I'm not interested in it from a GM perspective because if I need to, I'll create something myself; but I like the scope of this project and your creativity. A lot of this stuff is pretty clever and I hope you'll have fun making it.
>>96349828>Either I am unsatisfied with the current "official" depiction of whatever fantasy thing I'm looking into, or I saw something cool that would be interesting reinterpreted into something fantastical.I'd love to hear more about times that you've done either, both in relation to this and with other stuff you've made.Also, you're right about the plane of fire being oddly magma based, that's probably a concession so that players can more easily go there without being vaporized while still having a "fiery" aesthetic, at leas that's my guess. And/or maybe leakage between the planes. A similar logic would explain why there's breathable air in the plane of earth, for instance.
>>96314431I wasn't able to open the Google Sheet, but I added you! I love the elemental planes.
>>96359753Of the top of my head was the idea that helped me find the thematic core of the plane of lightning: Tesla coil musichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4apTqsfNbk&list=RDQMlGjIG9R27WQ&index=9Just imagining what an entire civilization could do with 100x more power and magic.Which made me think what else they could do with that technology but also they really like to jam out.I haven't gotten there yet but I have at least named all the separate regions after all the music genres I like:Border of Steam: Punk Lord Playhouse Border of Ice: Chillcore Carnaval Border of Air: Carillion Sanctuary Border of Smoke: WarThunder Theater Border of Radiance: Nightglow RaveHeck, a good portion of how I've organized things is because of my fascination with the concept of infinity and how many different was they can be expressed.
>>96314431Apprently the link is expired, didn't know that could happen, so here's a new one with the actual ability to leave comments and edits.https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HqK-6In4kTF6I0n2vgdNhe6YlUiezjFKpkFyNQWaFYw/edit?usp=sharing
>>96359753As for concessions, sure but I found creative solutions are better. Especially when you layer concession on top of concessions.Cause like, there ISN'T air in the plane of Earth. There used to be spells like breath fire and breath earth just for situations like these. But the company didn't want to deal with that and just dumbed it down. In my opinion players should NEED to prepare to go into these more "extreme" planes---fire nullification, fire breathing, even sunglasses if they are sensitive to light---that should be the basic stuff they need to do before even thinking about going. Not to mention where, or else they get dropped in the middle of nowhere with the closest civilization hundreds of miles away.Might just be a me thing, but prep should be part of the journey.
>>96363300Thanks!
>>96363300I didn’t know either. At least it’ll work now, thanks.
>>96361852I know, right? OP is a saint!
>>96314431Just discovered this. I’ve actually been considering a project of my own in which the afterlives are a part of the elemental planes, so there’s a Heaven and Hell for each element. So the Fire plane Hell would basically be this, the Water Heaven would look like a beach, or maybe a giant luxury ship, etc. I’d love to talk with you more about this idea if you’re up to it, OP.
>>96363354The AD&D manual of the planes describes elemental motes/bubbles in other elemental planes, even the non-para-elemental ones, for example, the plane of air can contain floating spheres of dust or fire, and the elemental plane of earth can contain pockets of air (which could probably lose oxygen or cave-in).
>>96361852>>96371078Glad you all enjoyed the concept, please feel free to add me on discord, would love to talk more.I've got the day off tomorrow, will probably be asleep for the next 12 hours but then I'll be back to talk.As always Discord: loregenesisLooking forward to chatting.
>>96372214Oh certainly, but that's still still a spec in what is essentially infinity. You'd have to be extremely luck to find these motes outside of major points of civilization. I wouldn't doubt that the grand capital city in the plane of earth has an abundant source of air, magma, fire, and even water.But some village out in the middle of nowhere, I can imagine they don't even know that air exists and it would be important to extraplanar entities.Though an interesting thing that I remember from the plane of earth is that it actively hates pockets and seeks to crush until the gap is gone.So if you did want to rest in a pocket of air or small cavern you'll have to be constantly fighting the darkened walls as the slowly close in around you. Looking forward to explore the sheer claustrophobic terror when I get to the plane or earth (Xanadu)
Hey guys OP here, going to start working on the next region in the plane of water (Tír Fo Thuinn): Border of Ice: Islands of Grasping Frost.Currently in the idea gathering faze, so I wanted to ask whoever is still keeping up with this post.What are some cool or interesting things about the polar oceans and what lives within those frigid waters.The world is sometimes stranger than fiction, so it helps to use reality to make fantasy more interesting.Any info is appreciated, heck not just organisms and environment, but if you're more of a history/culture nerd I would love to here what sort of people would choose to live in such a cold environment and what that would do to their culture.Not sure if this should be turned into its own thread, not really a "native" here so don't really know the protocols, but I'm satisfied with tacking this on.
>>96372709I do too! Thanks!
>>96372709>will probably be asleep for the next 12 hoursI feel you! Sleep tight OP!
>>96314431We need more anons like you OP! BTW, I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on Genasi and other elemental beings/races.
>>96372820The arctic water pump is kinda cool how it basically runs the whole system of ocean currents.Are you planning to map the planes. Air and water at least would be neat to have known prevailing currents when planning an expedition. In both cases places with convenient currents would also be great for mercantile settlements.
Bump
>>96382723Hmm, I haven't changed much fundamentally about the planes, so it really hasn't been all that necessary to change much of what is already present. But I do have qualms with the fact that all the djinns are copy pasted Arabic coded people with slightly different color pallets. So if I if I ever get around to talking specifically about the native races, I'd make each djinn culturally different from one another. For example, given that my plane of water (Tír Fo Thuinn) is way more culturally aligned with Celtic and Norse culture/mythology, being a Nøkken or Selkie instead of djinns.Aside from that, I've always been more on the side of "let my players figure it out" (tm)If they want to play a tabaxi from the plane of water, sure as long as they are willing to put in the work and explain how a tabaxi or tabaxi-like creature came to be native to that plane. the more the work with me the more willing I'd be to help reflavor abilities to be more elementally themed.Tbh, if it passes the rule of cool then I'll probably add it and then beat my head against a wall try to justify its existence later.See attached image: Cool design for water elemental dwarfs which will probably be how the heads of the Håndverker Family canonically look like.(Art by: Jaka Prawira https://ellinsworth.artstation.com/)
>>96314431Besides picture related, where do you look for ideas, especially about elementals?
>>96390506Well, if I'm going to be 100% honest, the answer would be everywhere. Books, movies, tv shows, science facts, green texts, tumbler posts, mystery, history, pinterest, artstation, my own imagination.I have a 50gb folder of art that inspires me and at least 10,000 saved links to artists that I enjoy.and yet I still find more, which is why I've started reaching out more, more brains means more avenues of thought.But in my opinion, it's less about finding things and more about what you do with what you did find. Simply asking yourself what if this was made of fire or this took place deep in the mantle of the earth.From there you then have to understand how it works in that context. The whole thing sounds childish but surprisingly effective. That's how I ended cultivating entire orchards on the surface of a star, why wouldn't there be druids in the plane of fire.
>>96391644How long have you been lurking here? Have you just never checked out elemental threads before?
>>96392807I don't lurk 4chan pretty much at all.This is quite literally the first thread I've made here.Most of the stuff I see from 4chan is the stuff that is able to break out of here.
>>96392918Right, well heads up you're replying to a bot. Just assume any vague prompting questions on any elemental/religion/god/magic system thread is not genuine, because it's probably just farming you for engagement
>>96393008Huh, weird. Why would that even be a thing?It's not like you can get money from engagement here.Not like I'm complaining all that much, at least it keeps this thread alive.Though most of the discussion seems to have died off.
>>96393178The running theory is that it's being done by an autist with a fixation on certain subjects, which is much worse than a paid shill because at least shills go away when the money runs out. Either way, this thread's probably going to be kept on life support for the next month regardless of whether there's any actual human activity in it.
>>96393493Wow, isn't that just great.If all that's going to happen here is bot, I might as well start a new thread.Wasn't able to get the ball rolling on discussing the nature of the artic waters that I wanted.Hey, at the risk of sounding really stupid, you got any recommendations or pointers on how to make a thread that's a bit more functional?Was trying to get something like this.>>96372820Though I don't think just grabbing this an slapping on a new thread would work.
>>96393178>It's not like you can get money from engagement hereWhy do you think they removed the unique poster count? DIT is no longer theory, at least when it comes to this site.>>96393594>any recommendations or pointers on how to make a thread that's a bit more functional?Try it in r/worldbuilding. It's practically impossible to have decent discussion when there's a good chance you're talking to a vampire brick wall. You can try baiting people into connecting through various angles, but just straight up saying "hi I like this thing let's talk about it" is going to be met with silence unless you're very lucky.
>>96314858Have you heard about this fancy new concept called paragraphs and columns?
Bump for my own nefarious reasons
>>96400909What he said, lol. What are your reasons, BTW, just enjoying it?
>>96391644Impressive! Shame that the folder is probably too large to share with us.
>>96405023>>96405309>>96405554>>96405566>>96405654kill yourself bumpfag
>>96314858Based.
>>96315772Wow, that sure was a good 12 night's sleep. Now time to find my old campaign notes!DISCLAIMER: I WROTE THIS AS A HIGHSCHOOL FRESHMAN IN 2018It's a little depressing that this was the campaign I had the most fun running, even if it did die to COVID, but that's what the joy of youth brings I guess.For context, the first lore piece was for a one-shot, with a several-decade timeskip following. There's more material for the one-shot but it's adventure specific cliffnotes more than lore.>Setting Overview:The material plane is gone, blasted away into a million little fragments. The outer planes followed suit, cracking away to practically nothing. Yet the base forms of the cosmos, the elements, remained. Empires and gods were deposited alongside monsters and madness, all clamoring for a position in the new world amidst the old inhabitants of the elemental planes. Over a millennium has passed since then, and order had seemed to return, for a time, but old rivalries and new discoveries have started building up and a confrontation seems inevitable.
>>96407382The World:The adventure takes place in the town of Ironfall, located on the plane of Air, an endless expanse of sky and clouds.The plane is theoretically infinite, and while the quasi-elemental planes scattered throughout it can be reached by natural means, the semi-elemental planes of Ice and Smoke, which serve as borders between the major planes, can only be reached through either magical navigation or instinctively by inhabitants of the respective planes.A day night cycle does exist on the plane of air, despite a lack of any solid horizon. The transition occurs between day and night each cycle when the sun or moon passes behind a large cloud, one which is always present at the point when it is needed. Day length and temperature follow a roughly seasonal pattern, with the yearly changes following a drastic variance. Solstices last up to a week, and temperatures can range between -60 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit.Islands are typically either fragments of the Material and it’s sister planes, or little bits of the outer planes. Both airships and islands are suspended primarily by elemental or magical forces, but a growing group are held aloft by alchemical science or balloons.There is a definitive “down” on the plane of Air, with anyone who falls having a long trip before hitting one of the plane’s borders or islands. Air density does also appear to get lighter the higher one goes, until either Smoke, Lightning, or vacuum is reached.The region of Air which Ironfall resides in is known as “The Splinter,” a collection of island fragments ruled over by The Mainland, the largest known island in the Plane of Air, roughly the size of Cuba and Britain combined. The Mainland holds the remains of the largest empire of the old world, now under the control of the Grand Caliph of the Djinn from his distant cloud-palace.
>>96407385 While the technology level before the destruction of the material plane is uncertain the modern tech level hovers between the 1600s-1880s with the assistance of magitech. The Djinn promote new works of art, but tend to frown upon most technological and magical research, with specific items outright banned from the capitol cloud palace. The average Sky-Port will have running water and plumbing, a fire-arm possessing police force, and perhaps a few factories. A strange factor of the world is the anti-magical properties of gunpowder, with gunsmoke or powder “Smothering” spells and magical effects. The higher quality the powder, the higher level spells it is capable of smothering. In reverse, improperly stored gunpowder will often sour if left in the presence of magic residue for too long. Guns can and have been enchanted, but specific materials must be used to prevent explosive misfirings. Currently firearm technology is at a roughly 18th century level, with the development of cartridge bullets still perhaps a decade or two away. The creatures of the Feywild have been hit particularly hard by the destruction of their homeland and the new nature of the world, of iron and steel, is antithetical to their existence. While gnomes are mostly unaffected, needing only a few houseplants to remain in peak condition amidst gears and pipes, elves and similar beings age faster and die sputtering smoke and soot like the very machines around them, with beings such as dryads only being able to bear life in a sky-port for a week at most. While the Djinn claim total control of the Plane of Air, their power has started slipping. The Efreet have begun increasing incursions from the Plane of Fire, internal factions seek to break away from the grasp of the grand Caliph, and violent storms and beasts make control of an empire much more difficult.
Towards the plane of Smoke lies the Free Cities, a group of islands and balloon towns held together by a profiteering spirit and a sense of complete liberty. They make their fortune harvesting the spirits and fumes of the plane of smoke, and out of war profiteering between the Djinn and Efreet. Recently they’ve begun expansion outwards into Djinn territory to protect themselves from the Efreet, sparking a slow burning war.The Town:Ironfall is a sky-port, a resting place for the great variance of airships which ply the endless skies. It lies close to the migration routes of sky-whales, and so has made an existence catering to the whalers and the pirates who would hunt them. It is home to roughly 1,500 semi-permanent residents. There are two factories in Ironfall, a sky-whale processing plant, and an atmospheric Aetherium refinery. The whale plant does a brisk business in canning whale meat and in glue and candle production for a quarter of the year, and remains closed for the rest until whalers bring in their catches again. The Aetherium plant extracted the titular alchemical substance from the nearby atmosphere and any magical items it could get its hands on, but has dried up it’s supply and is struggling to make ends meet. The harbourmaster runs Ironfall from the top of the island, regulating trade, taxes, and little else. His guard force stops the most heinous of crimes, but will often turn an blind eye to many activities. The head man himself is not inherently evil or corrupt, but does not want to bother with what he considers petty issues. There are four layers to the island, the underside where the dregs of the town hang their hovels on the waste pipes of the island, the docks, situated around the rim of the island and it’s center of trade, the warrens, a network of tight streets and tighter alleyways where the residents make their homes, and the high district, where the factories, the lighthouse, and the harbour master's office tower over the town.
>>96407398 Amidst the pirates, petty thieves, and occasional elemental incursion there lurks a deeper threat within Ironfall, The Veiled Inferno. They are a violently libertarian group with reputed ties to the free islands. They despise the interference of the Djinn in the lives of the mundane races, and push for the advancement of technology to the bleeding edge. Their methods are brutal and violent, gathering support and followers for a time before striking out from hidden tunnels and alleyways to take sky-ports by force. Recently more and more rumors have been spreading about their presence on Ironfall, and it seems to be only a matter of time before the island is consumed in the inferno.The People: The Harbourmaster:A pragmatic and studious man, first to find and settle the island nearly 50 years ago in his youth. He kept his power through quick dealings and force of will. His police force has become increasingly lax over the years as the harbourmaster started to take bribes from pirates and smugglers, eventually just implementing official taxes in exchange for basic protection from higher law. Sooty Jim:Mirthful and Extroverted, Sooty Jim a gnome who owns The Flaming Tanker, a rowdy tavern aimed at the sky-farers of the port, renowned for its pipe-whiskey and miscellaneous meat-pie. Sooty Jim himself has extensive criminal connections, and if the right questions are asked can very easily provide the average sky-farer with some of the best weapons in town. His stock has been drying up recently, when asked Jim will mention overly-zealous privateers and change the topic. Captain Dawson:Owner of Dawson’s Halfyard, a miniscule shipbuilding operation, he fancies himself a business mogol despite his small earnings, sending trade voyages out whenever he scrape together profit. Prideful and ambitious, Dawson is the owner of the PC’s ship and the chief holder of their debt. Not a captain.
>>96407401 Sheikh Ali Al-Alzuaphaum:A non-Noble Djinn and lord of the nearest Cloud-Palace, if you can call it that. He has come to collect the yearly tribute to the Grand Caliph, and retains a haughty, if interested, attitude regarding Ironfall. The town only barely meets requirements for a full tithe, and it’s poor reputation amongst the local Djinn as a hunk of metal and rock filled with nothing but pirates has inspired the Sheikh to bring four of his best Janni guards, twenty-five mortal soldiers, and two sky-skiffs to guard his own vessel. He is paranoid in regards to the recent rumours of The Veiled Inferno, and has made clear his intention to bring the wrath of the Genies down upon the town should his visit go awry.The Plot:The PC’s are back from a long voyage on a small sky-skiff. Their adventure (Which presumably is the reason they are 3rd level) took them all the way to the Free cities and back, a common, if dangerous, trade route. There they traded a tank of whale oil for one of exotic fumes from the plane of Smoke. Back in town, they turned in their cargo and spent a night in The Flaming Tanker until a meeting with Captain Dawson could be arranged. The streets around them as they arrived were filled with talk of the Tithing Festivities. The adventure begins on the morning of The Grand Tithing. The PC’s captain and accountant have a meeting with Captain Dawson to discuss payment, someone needs to get repairs for the ship, and someone needs to stock up for the next voyage, whenever that may be. The streets of Ironfall are dangerous, so the PC’s should probably travel in a group or pairs at least, but that’s up to them.That's all there is for the one-shot. I had paper notes somewhere but they're long buried and forgotten. I can post the stuff from the wider campaign if anyone would like to see.
>>96407405>I can post the stuff from the wider campaign if anyone would like to see.Yes, please do!
>>96407974workbump so I can do just that at some point.Don't expect too much in volume or quality.
>>96411462Here's a post from January 2020 detailing stuff. I had originally called the setting "Gales of War" but my players didn't care for it so I renamed it "Endless Horizons" but fuck you it's still Gales of War. Think steampunk picrel when you hear New Design warforged, and normal warforged for old design.Okay, so in Endless Horizons there are two main divisions of "warforged" Old Design and Modern Design. Old design is typically from the old world, though new ones can be made. These are your typical warforged, muscle cord made of wood, souls signs on head, etc. They are typically either found in the floating wreckage of fortresses or palaces of the rich and eccentric. If you begin play as one of these you don't recall the old world, but there are exanples of those who do, to an extent. Modern design warforged are more mechanical in nature, powered by a chained elemental spirit. They are very common as servants and labourers. Modern design warforged are often enslaved in great numbers in locations like the gigantic city of mainland and the dwarven foward base in the plane of earth. All warforged have complete free will and a soul. Old design warforged have problems with fuel based technology (Which has varying antimagical proporties in Endless Horizons, more on that later) typically manifesting as a growing tiredness if spent in proximity to great quantities of fuel-based technology, culminating in a sleep-like shutdown state until removed from the area. (Takes about a week in a big city) Modern design warforged, being more mechanical in nature with their elemental spirits acting as the only major magical component of the body, are less effected by this but are generally more looked down upon or mistrusted.
>>96413390Most of my other stuff is too plot-specific or lost in paper form, so I'll write from memory and what I can pluck from here on out.>Skyships in the first adventure were wood with balloons, classic fantasy stuff.>Skyships in the campaign looked like picrel but flying>Pockets of influence from the destroyed planes were floating around, the players ended up driving through a plane of shadow infused pocket on their way to dwarven settlements and encountered a naturally occurring vampire castle.>The sky dwarves lived on a flying mountain, which in the sky looks like an iceberg of rock. Because land is at a premium they determined each clan's influence by how much footage they control. The players were shipping a rare and expensive "Crate of holding" over so that one clan could increase its holdings by having extradimensional space>Elves work for the Djinn, Orcs live on the border of the plane of Ice in a sort of Inuit-Tibetan style deal>Rare smokes from the plane of smoke include things that are not normally smoke, like inhalable whiskey and cheese.>AC power was never invented because there's no such thing as long distance when everyone lives on islands. This had little if any bearing on anything but cool worldbuilding details are what I lived and died on (I still do)>You might think that different species would prefer to live in different planes, but at the end of the day even rock-loving dwarves and gnomes still need air to breathe. The plane of earth has a bad habit of expanding inwards to fill up pockets.>I found reference to a "fuming fae", which I think is like a zombie except it's a fae creature someone left next to a boiler for too long until it started burning and sputtering like a furnace too>After the timeskip, Ironfall has been destroyed. In its place is a flotilla of rebels. They are not the good guys, being half influenced by the plane of Fire (the name "veiled inferno" should make it pretty obvious) and otherwise by something else
>>96413481>The Djinn are torn between wanting to be in charge and having a philosophical devotion to freedom. Luckily having the outer planes be destroyed means there's not exactly a predefined alignment system anymore.>Sky islands all move in orbits like a solar system. Most of the ones the players visited were in the orbit of the grand palaces of the Djinn.>The absence of anything to block the sun until sunset meant that you could be blinded at dawn or dusk. I had this so that players in exposed areas had to roll to avoid it, and that those areas were abandoned at that time of day.>One of the larger cities visited had a layer of smog above it. Above this smog was the criminal overworld, where various tethered balloons and temporary platforms were all tied together. Only made men knew the way between the smokestacks to gaps in the smog where clandestine business could be conducted>Spelllock rifles are firearms which rely on magic to produce a spark. Since gunpowder doesn't play nice with magic (it sticks to it like how coal dust sticks to your lungs) they were prone to failure, but could also work much better than other types when properly made>Something about "Radio Lounges", which best I can guess are like old Nickelodeons but for radio shows? Radios and electricity had a relationship with magic somehow.>Thick fogs are referred to as "Edge-tippers" because you fall off the island when you get drunk in such weather>The dwarf clans were all named after weapons. Axes, hammers, etc.I found more files with a weird naming structure. Guess there's more after all.
>>96413549THE DWARVEN HOLDS:Overview:The Dwarven Holds are an odd spot in the sky. They have the highest island density of any known region, yet one of the lowest population densities. This is mostly due to how dwarves operate as a species, which is to say, slowly. Their society is based around the family unit as the individual. This means that while what happens inside of a family is up to its members externally they collectively share rights such as voting privileges. General societal status relies on a complex system of concentric parliaments, each of which have slight power over the ones below them, and not much relevance elsewhere. The largest three families at any given time form a triumvirate at the top, being the only real power holders in the area, though still extremely weak when compared with the grand Caliph of the Djinn. Size, and therefore status, of families is dependent not on members but more on land holdings. This means that though 40 dwarves could be crammed on a single rock it’s more preferable to have 40 dwarves over 40-160 rocks. The dwarves have three primary exports, Metal, Military, and Mechanism. The largest dwarven family, the Axes, are in possession of a massive portal to the Plane of Earth, giving them a near monopoly on the import of metal to the Plane of Air, they ship off large freight shipments across the known planes. The second largest family, the Hammers, have specialized into the sale of cheap but effective mercenary companies, consisting mostly of cheaply made new design warforged with experienced dwarven commanders. Their tactics have become dated in recent years, with their only major update from firing line tactics being the switch from flintlocks to bolt action rifles. They sell their services primarily to the grand Caliph of the Djinn, but they also subcontract to various smaller parties.
>>96413594The third largest family has neither the advantages of the Warforged production of the Hammers or the sheer monopolistic might of the Axes. Instead the Pikes have chosen quality over quantity. They produce mechanisms, mostly clockwork, which they then shrink down through the use of magic to create some of the most advanced machinery known to the Planes.The game, which started in real time about a year after the one-shot, made it through a dungeon, several town adventures, a sky voyage, another dungeon, and then intrigue in the dwarven holds (which is why there's a lot of lore for them)I think it was maybe 14 or so sessions. We were going at once a week, sometimes twice. The game ended on a cliffhanger after the players had become involved with the assassination of the leading Dwarven family's head, sparking a coal-seam fire in the dwarven mountainhome (secretly a portal to the plane of fire from which to mount an invasion)We played other stuff over the Pandemic, and still game on occasion when schedules permit. So not the saddest ending all in all. Definitely the most fun I ever had with 5e. The secret seems to be slapping on every single third party supplement you think looks cool and then just letting the different OP monsters and equipment options balance each other out, sort of.I can answer any questions, or at least try. Sorry about taking a while to post all of this.
Bump of interest
>>96413390Thanks anon!
>>96413390We need more anons posting things like this. Thanks!
>>96413630>The game ended on a cliffhanger after the players had become involved with the assassination of the leading Dwarven family's head, sparking a coal-seam fire in the dwarven mountainhome (secretly a portal to the plane of fire from which to mount an invasion)What would you have done with that if the campaign had continued?
>>96429611A lot of that would have depended on where the players wanted to go next. I think they were leaning towards the palace of the Grand Djinn. Maybe. In the short term their options were to either get under-the-table repairs and try to flee (their ship had been damaged on the trip to the dwarven citadel but all the dwarves were now busy with the mine/assasination situation and no one was allowed out) or to help sort out the mine situation to prove themselves to the dwarves. Or something else, they're a clever lot. One of the rewards they chose for completing their job was a complement of 10 warforged crewmembers for their ship which I think was factoring into their plans somehow. One wanted to start a merc company I think.The overarching plan was the growing war between Fire and Air, which is being orchestrated by a third party as alluded to with the Veiled inferno bit. The party had transported a mysterious and reserved engineer with them when shipping the crate of holding, he was involved with that contract somehow but didn't elaborate and they didn't press him. He would have shown up again in the future. The basic idea is that the same principle which enables new-design warforged (magically miniaturized components and extra-dimensional storage for safe computing space by said components) could be extended to a grand scale, creating a massive mechanical computer spread between pocket dimensions which would be orchestrating the conflict, seeing it as a literal game to win in a War Games kind of way. I had also been reading the Ghosts of Station X so I think that was creeping in too.I can't remember if I ever settled on what caused the other planes to blow up in the first place. I think halflings may have been involved.
>>96429670>I think halflings may have been involved.Okay, I have to hear more about this.
>>96429670>Ghosts of Station XHuh, I have got to check out Atomic Robo sometime.
>>96429670Okay, this sounds awesome! Is there anything more that you can remember about this?
Wow! I am truly impressed with this. Key points:- The inventiveness. - The uniqueness.- The creativity on display.What else can you tell us about it, aside from what you've already shared? [Feel free to modify this to better fit your needs]
>>96440890I second this ask please. You’re an inspiration to all the anons here!
>>96441790...Are you doing this on purpose? The general consensus is that you're just a turboautist, but even you can't be this dense.Unless you just skim read it, which would also make sense. Either way, go fuck yourself LL.
Bumping
>>96314431Happy Labor Day! What are your thoughts on elemental holidays and festivals BTW, OP?
>>96449206>>96452886Oi! I asked you a mother fucking question >>96442914
OP here, finally back, glad to see this thread is still alive.>>96407382Thanks for coming back and sharing, some really cool ideas. Destroying everything except the elemental planes is a wild jumping off point! Though I feel like just having a day/night cycle with a sun that conveniently sets behind clouds is a bit too handwavy for me. Given that your setting has the planes can be reached, just have the plane of fire be the “sun” either 24/7 light or if you still want night make it so that the plane of smoke becomes too thick for hours at a time.Or just simply have it be a portal to the plane of fire that opens up on a consistent bases. Possibly even one that was artificially made and carried across the sky to replicate day/night cycles.
>>96455003Glad to see you back OP! How was your weekend? As for what you said to the other anon about the portal opening up on a regular basis, what if it shifts between each of the elemental planes consistently? Also, to the fine anons in this thread, do you have any great art related to the elemental planes, or the elements in general, like this image I found of a reimagined plane of Earth?
>>96449206>>96454342>>96440890Yeah, not really sure what this is all about but bot or autist, I don’t really care.As long as the questions are interesting, I’ll see about answering them.But yeah, holidays… kinda more of a cultural question. They’re pretty disconnected to the environment itself and wholly dependent on the history and culture of the people.Technically Sundowning (a cyclical natural disaster described in the google sheets) would be a sort of holiday. A very morbid one but there would probably also be a celebration afterwards for surviving another cycle.And in the plane of water proper (Tír Fo Thuinn) the Anáil na Mara would definitely count as a week long celebration event.So really, it just depends on the people. But those are my examples, probably more that I’m forgetting at the moment that are in the google sheets.(Sorry for the slow reply. Apparently using college Wi-Fi gets you a ban?)
>>96455066>>96454872This is pretty good for play, but just for inspiration you kinda just need to look around. Ironically starting this process has opened my eyes to looking for stuff like that. Gotta think outside the box sometimes.I’ve got some stuff on my computer, I’ll post on here later.
>>96455003> just have the plane of fire be the “sun” either 24/7 light or if you still want night make it so that the plane of smoke becomes too thick for hours at a time.I cannot believe I didn't think of that.
>>96455066Finally home, here are a couple.Different environments that aren't always fantastical, but do just enough to get the juices flowing.
>>96461903>>96461903
>>96455066Here.
