So off the other thread on setting detail the challenge is to come up with an inspiring gamable fantasy setting in 500 words + some descriptive heading info on classes, races, genre etc etc

Krillian Empire
Flavour : S&S
Tropes: Faded Empire, Darkness is Rising, Trouble in the East, The Old Gods are Stirring
Cultural Motifs: Slavic, Shamanism, bears
Classes:
Warrior –sellswords, barbarians, horselords, soldiers, bandits, slavers, raiders, bounty hunters
Mages – wizards, battlemages, priests, shaman, demonologists, sages
Rogues – scouts, guides, thieves, assassins, highwaymen, minstrels, treasurehunters
Races: Human, Craal (triefling)
 
The Krillian Empire covered the northern continent of Lastor. From the northern steppes down to the High Karaks it existed for a thousand years. The Killia had originally originated in the North west near the Sea of Salt as a collection of warring brutish tribes. Under Ran Gol  they established a large kingdom. It was in the 30th year of Gol's reign, that he was put to his sternest test.
The Jinn Mok were a demonic race that had been cast out of the world in ages past, so long before that even their existence was now nothing more than myth and legend. They came back into the world in raging storm. Other kingdoms fell before them but the Krillia persevered and in time began to drive them back. For ten years they fought under the banner of Ran Gol and his patron the Thunder god Perun, but eventually it was Gol's son Ran Chat who with a force of 500 of the greatest warriors forced their way through the Rend and sealed it from the other side.
Remnants of Jinn Mok remained. Gol set about the task of restoring peace. His son Ran Tso finished the job and set the foundations of the Empire. Local kingdoms and tribes were left to flourish under their own laws but the Krillian imposed a system of governors who oversaw each province. Perun became the state religion and the shamanistic practices of old were driven into the corners or resurfaced in new forms.
Over the next 600 years the empire flourished the capital migrated to the city of Tesk on Lake Byka. Science and the Arts flourished and large colleges, called Habs grew up like secular monasteries. The cities grew increasingly powerful and tensions started to develop. A thousand  years ago scientists extended their studies into the Etheric realms and Magick came to the world. The new knowledge was enough to push the Empire over the precipice the tensions that had developed fell into open war led by Etheric Sorcerers full and brimming with new found powers. The Wars raged for two hundred years. The Empire established a bastion of peace were the new magicks were banned in it's old NW homelands. Other kingdoms rose and fell and the links between regions were eroded and weakened. The Free Companies, roving bands of soldiers for hire were founded.
Now all that remains of empire is a small kingdom on the Sea of Salt that still traces it's ancestors to Ran Gol, old coins bearing Perun's thunderbolt and the occasional Hab that has survived the Times of Trouble.
50 years ago a race of half demon hybrids, The Craal, opened up a new pass and started to make inroads into the southern kingdoms. They established the city of Dosa on the southern plains in the shadow of the mountains. They brought with them plenty of gold which they look to trade for iron, stone, timber and slaves  buying everything such that their city has boomed beyond measure but rumours persist that the Jinn Mok are string once more and that the Craal are working with them in some way or even are descended from those that fled.

Personally,i need more detail than this, but i do like the idea you have. Just for my style, it wouldn't fit. I think there is probably a market for it. It would be very easy for you to bang out tons of these in pdf format. Maybe present them as setting starters? Where the idea is this is a seed the GM uses to begin and grow a caaign.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;734967Personally,i need more detail than this, but i do like the idea you have. Just for my style, it wouldn't fit. I think there is probably a market for it. It would be very easy for you to bang out tons of these in pdf format. Maybe present them as setting starters? Where the idea is this is a seed the GM uses to begin and grow a caaign.

If I ever turned my heartbreaker into a distributable pdf I would include 10 of these at the back maybe expanded to a page each.

That one took me about 20 minutes and 10 of those were spell checking and trimming it down from 800 words....

its easy to spin settings that cover
i) waring kingdoms
ii) trading city states
iii) the dwarven / goblin wars
iv) Rennaisance swashbucklers
v) the pirate coast
vi) etc etc

Then I would do a setting book that was more traidtional and was really a demonstration of how to implement the archetype (sub-class) builder, race builder, religion builder etc from the main rules.

Ardeal is a land of primeval forest, mountains, valleys, and rivers. A mostly temperate climate exists in the valleys. The valleys being a combination of meadows, and deep forest. These valleys are where most of the towns and villages are located. The unique topography of the area, does create fog on a regular basis. More so in the fall, and spring. As one progresses up the taller peaks they move from alpine forests to snow covered caps. These caps are the source of the many rivers. Rich in resources such as wood, wool, lignite, iron, lead, gold, copper, salt and sulfur. Yet little of it has been tapped into. This is partly due to the remoteness, of the area and the shorter growing season in the valleys.
    The residents of Ardeal tend to be a superstitious lot and with good reason. Dark things lurk in the shadows of the towns, woods, and mountains. Only occasionally having contact with these things. When they do appear it is an ill omen, resulting in death. Folk healers, clergy, and hedge wizards try to protect the peasants as best they can with charms and spells. But sometimes these events can only be stopped by the intervention of the Ardeal Guard. But many times the kingdom likes to employ what are known as hunters. They tend to operate in a quieter, and more effective manner. As the creatures of the night tend toward the undead, and lycanthropes. Which at times require special tactics.
    The dominant race is human. Probably due to the remoteness demi-humans are very rare in Ardeal. The most prevalent of the demi human races would be elves and half elves. They stick to civilization though. As they claim the the woods are haunted by evil. Dwarves tend to work in the mines. But they claim something thing unholy permeates the rock. Halflings are almost unknown in Ardeal. As their carefree, relaxed ways conflict with the hard work and toil found here. Half Orcs and their brash ways tend to be dealt with harshly by the guard. Those that escape to the wilderness tend to come up missing.  
    The land is under the watch of two primary deities, Perun and Veles. The two of them stand in opposition in almost every way. Perun is a heavenly god of thunder and lightning, fiery and dry, who rules the living world from his citadel high above, located on the top of the highest branch of the World Tree. Veles is a chthonic god associated with waters, earthly and wet, lord of the underworld, who rules the realm of the dead from down in the roots of the World Tree. Perun is a giver of rain to farmers, god of war and weapons, invoked by fighters. Veles is a god of cattle, protector of shepherds, associated with magic and commerce. There are other gods that are revered. But there are no other large churches. Only small scattered chapels.

Quote from: Ronin;735310Ardeal is a land of primeval forest, mountains, valleys, and rivers. A mostly temperate climate exists in the valleys. The valleys being a combination of meadows, and deep forest. These valleys are where most of the towns and villages are located. The unique topography of the area, does create fog on a regular basis. More so in the fall, and spring. As one progresses up the taller peaks they move from alpine forests to snow covered caps. These caps are the source of the many rivers. Rich in resources such as wood, wool, lignite, iron, lead, gold, copper, salt and sulfur. Yet little of it has been tapped into. This is partly due to the remoteness, of the area and the shorter growing season in the valleys.
    The residents of Ardeal tend to be a superstitious lot and with good reason. Dark things lurk in the shadows of the towns, woods, and mountains. Only occasionally having contact with these things. When they do appear it is an ill omen, resulting in death. Folk healers, clergy, and hedge wizards try to protect the peasants as best they can with charms and spells. But sometimes these events can only be stopped by the intervention of the Ardeal Guard. But many times the kingdom likes to employ what are known as hunters. They tend to operate in a quieter, and more effective manner. As the creatures of the night tend toward the undead, and lycanthropes. Which at times require special tactics.
    The dominant race is human. Probably due to the remoteness demi-humans are very rare in Ardeal. The most prevalent of the demi human races would be elves and half elves. They stick to civilization though. As they claim the the woods are haunted by evil. Dwarves tend to work in the mines. But they claim something thing unholy permeates the rock. Halflings are almost unknown in Ardeal. As their carefree, relaxed ways conflict with the hard work and toil found here. Half Orcs and their brash ways tend to be dealt with harshly by the guard. Those that escape to the wilderness tend to come up missing.  
    The land is under the watch of two primary deities, Perun and Veles. The two of them stand in opposition in almost every way. Perun is a heavenly god of thunder and lightning, fiery and dry, who rules the living world from his citadel high above, located on the top of the highest branch of the World Tree. Veles is a chthonic god associated with waters, earthly and wet, lord of the underworld, who rules the realm of the dead from down in the roots of the World Tree. Perun is a giver of rain to farmers, god of war and weapons, invoked by fighters. Veles is a god of cattle, protector of shepherds, associated with magic and commerce. There are other gods that are revered. But there are no other large churches. Only small scattered chapels.

Nice reuse of Perun

Thanks:hatsoff:

The Hornberg
Flavour : High fantasy
Tropes: Knights of High Renown,  Court Magicians, The Sidhe Court, War against Evil
Cultural Motifs: Charlemagne, Fairy Tales
Classes:
Warrior –Knights, paladins, soldiers, archers, rangers, Sihde knights, bandits, Goblin/Orcish raiders, Goblin Warg Riders, Orcish Legionaires
Mages – Magicians, Hedge Mages, Sidhe enchanters, sages, witches, orcish shaman
Rogues – scouts, Sidhe tricksters, thieves, minstrels, outlaws, goblin assassins, orcish slavers
Races: Human, Sidhe (various categories of faey folk covering hobbits through High Elves), Goblinoids

The Hornberg spans a broad expanse of temperate land between the lofty Marne Mountains to the West and the Silver Sea to the East. Effectively a large peninsular it is 500 miles across at the foothills of the Marne and tapers away quickly once you pass the mouth of the River Bask at Baskport on the northern shore to the easternmost Telspont some 900 miles from the mountains.
The land is temperate with thick forests to the West and South thinning out to rich agricultural lands on the plain of the Bask.  
The larea is divided into a 7 small kingdoms, known as Duchies.  The smallest being the Grey Isle off the Southern coast, home to the Citadel of Wizardy, and the largest and wealthiest being The Duchy of Vey extending from Baskport, it's capital deep into the interior. Aside from these human kingdoms however sits the Twilight realm of the Shide. For many years the two worlds lived in fear of one another. Tales of missing children, soured milk and spoilt crops let to many a barrow raising and a scouring of the deep woods and other parts of the Twilight land. However, once the goblins organised themselves into more than petty raiders the two sides formed an alliance and developed a grudging respect for each other. The Sidhe admire the human ability to craft items and make permanent dwellings and till the ground, the humans for their part are enamoured with the Shidhe's gift for glamour and enchantment.
Sitting in opposition to the Sidhe and the Seven Kingoms are the forces of the Charak Di. The goblins of the mountains have always raided The Hornberg, indeed many saw them and the Sidhe as much the same but a hundred years ago their assaults changed and they were bolstered in number and strength. The Orcs brought discipline and the religion of their god Charak the Destroyer. They sacked Oldtown the capital of the Duchy of Sander and raised their way to the Great Bow on the Bask. But an alliance between the Sidhe and the Humans drove them back.
The Order of the Stone was founded as a group who could act apart from minor politics and territorial disputes and deal with the menace. Led by the Council, made up of representatives of each kingdom and the Sidhe court it maintains a large standing army and is is in a constants state of war.
The Charak Di continue to try and penetrate the defenses of the Order with continuous raids. Heavier assaults occur in a roughly five year cycle which many believe have reference to the cult of Charak. The Orchish Legions are formidable but goblin infiltration and raiders mounted on wargs are a more common risk.
Meanwhile the Greymen, as the wizards of the Citadel are known and who have always acted as advisers to the kings of The Hornberg, have been working with their Sidhe counterparts to try and identify the weakness that may end the Charak threat for good.

Port Kar
Flavour : Grimdark Fantasy
Tropes: There is no honour amongst thieves, pirates, Lankhmar,
Cultural Motifs: Southern European, Renaissance
Classes:
Warrior –Sellsword, Corsair, Pit Fighter, Rake, City Watch, The Crimson Order
Mages – Wizards, Oracles, priests, Lizardmen Shamen, tricksters,
Rogues – Thieves, Assassins, Beggars, Fence, cutpurse, pirate, gambler, actor, shipwright, sailor, Mechanics, smugglers
Races: Human, Khazad (Dwarves), Sau (Lizardmen), and half-breeds

Squalid, Malignant Port Kar (my thanks to John Norman for the name and that little quote) sits like a cancer on the the rim of the Sea of Salt. It is surrounded by the dense swamps of the Gelli Delta. Almost unapproachable by land the only access to the city is the sea, forgetting of course the Sau that have lived on the delta for millennia and the smugglers that wend their way past the alligators in their small boats laden with spices, drugs, liquor and other less savory contraband.
The city was founded two thousand years ago when the the Golden Empire was in its peak and the Gelli was navigable all the way up to the Falls of Glass. The Empire has long since faded and the old city has been taken apart and rebuilt as the old foundations sink further into the mire.
Port Kar itself was a focus of the League of Isles for a time before infighting and Sukaj pirates put pay to that idealistic dream. Now it sits perched on the edge of extinction like and old man clinging bitterly on to life when his body has all but given up.
The City is ruled by the Legis a title bestowed by the city's elite for a period of 10 years. In that time the Legis does as much as they can to line their pockets in every way possible and to avoid assassination. Of the last 8 Legi none have manged to last their full term in office, one lasted only 12 days. The Legis rules the city with the Crimson Order and elite order of eunuchs selected at age 5 from the city's plentiful orphanages and trained in the fighting arts only 1in 2 survive to adulthood. Known locally as the redboys, blood brothers or simply The Red they act as the royal guard and elite military. The city watch take care of more mundane policing activities.
The city has four sources of income. The trellis flowers, known locally as Old Man's Beard, which  grow in the swamp can be harvested and refined to produce the narcotic Muse, which is then exported across the known world. The local cuisine has become legendary. The need to make the most out of any scrap of food however inedible means that Karian chefs are most sought after, and many a king in their distant palaces dine on morsels that the locals wouldn't feed to their dogs. The Mechanics, mostly dwarven in ancestry at some point though these days its hard to tell, produce a wide range of devices that are exported far and wide. The most popular are firearms. The last source of income for the city is murder, whether in the fighting pits where a man with a steady nerve, lots of luck and a fast blade can win a fortune in a night, or loose everything in a moment; the heavily armed corsair ships that sit in the harbour and raid the sea lanes in search of booty; or the taverns around the harbour where a man's life can be bought for the price of a meal. Murder is the real business of Port Kar.
The Sau, Dwarves and men of the city mix and interbreed freely, other races can be found sporadically mostly on the docks. Their religions are just as mixed and it is said that Karians will worship anything and everything. Out in the swamps the Sau still live in tribal groups making a living from fishing and selling trellis flowers to smugglers. The swamps are still full of old Empire ruins sunken into the land and other darker older creatures.

So on the cycle back from work in the tropical heat I was thinking about this idea and porting it to 5e. The thought was, micro setting + custom backgrounds + factions (possible links to backgrounds) + a map might end up being quite a useful tool.
My thought process was a the level of detail presented here on one page with a 1 page map and a double page spread of customer backgrounds (2 per setting) possible custom races, and a couple of factions.  

This in turn lead me to check out how easy maps were to knock up in photoshop. Haven't really used photoshop for this before but in 3 hours tonight turned out this first draft whilst sitting in front of the telly. Easier than I thought really. Not professional but another practice session and it would be passable. If I can fix the rivers and the lake. I would need to take a look at cities but that should be easier if anything.



So do we think it's got any legs?

In fact as a pdf it would be trivial to include a set of maps. Political, demographic, topological, roads and cities, zones with wilderness encounter tables. Its all just a photoshop layer off the main map, bish bash and all that.

Shit you could even add hexes if you really needed to ( )

Quote from: jibbajibba;786191So on the cycle back from work in the tropical heat I was thinking about this idea and porting it to 5e. The thought was, micro setting + custom backgrounds + factions (possible links to backgrounds) + a map might end up being quite a useful tool.
My thought process was a the level of detail presented here on one page with a 1 page map and a double page spread of customer backgrounds (2 per setting) possible custom races, and a couple of factions.  

This in turn lead me to check out how easy maps were to knock up in photoshop. Haven't really used photoshop for this before but in 3 hours tonight turned out this first draft whilst sitting in front of the telly. Easier than I thought really. Not professional but another practice session and it would be passable. If I can fix the rivers and the lake. I would need to take a look at cities but that should be easier if anything.



So do we think it's got any legs?

Absolutely. You've also pretty much eliminated overhead. If you have photoshop I assume you have indesign. With those two programs you can easily make a PDF of this. You might want to commission a single cover illustration to use for the whole line but otherwise I think you can do this without spending a penny.

It is small enough that I think editing your own work won't be an issue (but you will want to make a point of going over it to look for any typos or inconsistencies).

Put one up every week or every month on RPGnow or something and I think you will get a nice little revenue stream at virtually no cost to yourself. I don't know how much you will make with something like this because you would probably need to price it fairly low given the size. But I can certainly see it attracting loyal customers and I can see it becoming more profitable the longer you have it up and the more you have (that is why I suggest once a week because it keeps nudging the sales of the previous releases).

Also, as a note, I think one thing this will be good for is GMs who need a fast description of a place off their main map (a distant continent or a section they haven't really fleshed out). So I would try to make the stuff as portable as possible in that respect. I could easily see myself hoarding a bunch of these and whipping them out when I need to give a quick and clear description of a place that comes up unexpectedly. I see a lot of re-skinning potential here.