Elementalist

Sorry about that. I figured that if waited for replies before putting up information on magic, dragonworlds, and races, nobody would ever reply because my post had no content, and then it would never get any content because it had no replies... So I chose the lesser of two evils. This does seem to be the standard format for setting showcases on this forum.

It looks like I need to clarify the Arcus section- the Legion was founded 50 years before Arcus began to hit heat death, and it took them about that much time to conquer the world, but several centuries passed after that. During that time they both solidified their control on Arcus and began to wage war against the lesser realms. Arcus has the advantage of possessing magic and technology TLR didn't, allowing more effective surveillance. Additionally, the reason the movement was so popular in the first place was because the plane had previously been torn apart by religious wars fought between its previous nations, causing a strong anti-religious sentiment. I think we may need to agree to disagree on the angels.

Thanks for the feedback! I had noticed that some of the elements of this setting didn't mesh with mainstream D&D; I'm considering swapping out any proprietary materials (like illithids) for original creations and divorcing the setting from D&D entirely. I hadn't noticed the similarity to Eberron, but on second glance you're entirely right; I'm not sure what I could do about though without invalidating the setting's premise. With regards to the angels, their moral ambiguity is actually my favorite thing about them, since it distinguishes them from similar beings in other settings and makes them more unique. The world of Arcus is completely under the Legion's political control, but their manpower shortages mean that there are some areas that have almost no Legion presence, where the Chainbreakers or religious remnants can hide. The Chainbreakers are currently the only religious resistance of note, since the Legion was quite thorough in stamping out religion, similar to how the Lord Ruler destroyed all opposing religions in Mistborn. As for ideological resistances, there are numerous little sub-factions within both of the Legion's corps that interpret Victus's mission differently, but I'd regard that as an internal struggle rather than actual rebellion. I should point out, though, that the Chainbreakers rebellion isn't purely religious; rather, they adopted a religion that advocated resisting higher powers after the group was already formed. They accept anyone who wants to overthrow the system (mostly orcs).

Though this is a d&d setting, I'd say it's original enough to post here on the Creator's Corner. I'm always looking for feedback, so if you see an area in need of improvement, please do point it out.

Reserved for technology

Races When a sapient being dies, its soul discharges its heat into the dimension it's in. The husk then sinks into the ground. When it reaches the mantle (or lava sea for a lesser realm), it floats on top of it, gradually absorbing heat from the world. Once it has absorbed enough, it is drawn back to the surface and reincarnated. There's a small chance that a soul may instead be flung out into the Spiritvoid. A soul that had a connection to a spirit at the time of death (the soul of a divine practitioner) is far more likely to be flung into the Spiritvoid. Spirits consume the heat of such souls, and then frequently fight over the husks. The victor can then use the husk to create a sapient in a lesser realm they create, or inhabit and fuse with a husk to make it easier to gain entry to a dimension (because souls can pass through the veil effortlessly, but spirits cannot). Spirits occasionally create more esoteric afterlives for their realms that defy the rules presented here. It is possible to harvest soul-husks directly from the mantle or the lava sea. Whatever heat these husks have collected can be expunged, and the husks themselves can be made subservient to the practitioner and used to animate dead bodies to the practitioner's will. This practice is called necromancy. In most cases, husks on the lava seas of lesser realms are drawn out to the edges of the world, and are far less plentiful than husks on dragonworlds due to the smaller populations of lesser realms. This makes it easier to collect husks through drilling operations on dragonworlds than it is to dredge them from the lava seas of lesser realms. For some reason, some races- such as humans, dwarves, and elves- can be found both in the dragonworlds and numerous lesser realms across the cosmos. Theories abound to explain this phenomenon. The two most popular on the dragonworlds are as follows: either the lesser realms' creator-spirits were attempting to mimic the accomplishments of the dragon-gods, or those realms were settled by travelers from the dragonworlds long ago. Non-dragonworld-centric theories have entirely eluded the dragonworlds' esteemed scholars. Many lesser realms also possess entirely unique races designed by their creator-spirits. These races can range in biology and culture from the familiar, to the absurd, to the horrifying. Angels Dragonborn Dwarves Elves Gnomes Goblins Halflings Humans Illithids Kobolds Orcs Spirits Tieflings

Dragonworlds Arcus Derrethorn Zuryl

MagicDISCLAIMER: The basic concept of this magic system (the idea of magic in some way powered by other dimensions) belongs to a friend of mine, and is used with his permission. All worldbuilding and magic system beyond that is my original creation.All magic in the dragon-dimensions has a price. The dragon-gods were (according to their worshipers) divine beings of glory and fire, and it was infusing that fire into their worlds that gave them true life. All flowery religious trappings aside, it is clear that magic in the dragon-dimensions is undeniably linked to the energy available in each of those dimensions; specifically, their net heat. In addition to being a physical property of matter, heat in the dragon-dimensions is also a property of the soul, and like any heat, soul-heat can be used as a resource by the desperate or immoral.Regardless of the source, the energy from all spells must come from somewhere.Practitioners of Arcane Magic draw energy from mage-beacons.Practitioners of Divine Magic draw energy from spirits.Both spirits and mage-beacons ultimately drain heat from the world they're in; in turn, this causes the soul-heat of living things to drain back out into the world in a twisted version of thermodynamics. As a world begins to run out of heat, the borders between it and the Spiritvoid become thin and eventually fracture, allowing spirits to physically enter it. Such spirits consume the heat of the world even more quickly, perpetuating the vicious cycle and reducing the world to a frozen hellscape. After significant time in this state, the world dissolves back into the Spiritvoid.Casting a spell requires that the practitioner think along specific paths. Verbal, somatic, and material components are mnemonic aids that place the practicioner in the correct mindset to use a spell. With practice, the correct mindsets can be achieved without the help of aids, allowing a practitioner to eschew verbal, somatic, and/or material components.AUTHOR'S NOTE: This system could best be described as being hard magic with regards to power sources but soft magic with regards to effects produced. The general rule is that the magical capabilities of each individual character are set in stone, but the possibilities for what capabilities are available are limited only by the power source rules. Arcane Magic Divine Magic

The Dragon-Dimensions Campaign Setting Cosmology There are three dragonworlds that form the core of the cosmology. These are Arcus, Derrethorn, and Zuryl, each named after the dragon that created it. Each dragonworld is a dimension (supposedly) created by a dragon-god, wrought wholesale from nothing by the dragon-god's magic. However, in order to create their dimensions, the dragon-gods had to permanently expend their own power, infusing it into their world. Most believe that this killed them, though some religions believe that they live on in the land and worship nature, while others believe that the dragon-gods actually left their worlds and await those gods' return. There was once a fourth dragonworld, known as Nil; however, it fell to heat-death as a result of the overuse of magic.Numerous (though not infinite) other planes of existence surround the three dragonworlds. These worlds were generally created by particularly powerful spirits, and are known (to the inhabitants of the dragonworlds) as "lesser realms." Some of the creator-spirits infused themselves wholly into their realms like the dragon-gods did, but others only expended a part of their power to create their worlds, and rule over them still. The Spiritvoid is not a dimension, but it separates every dimension. Each dimension contains only a single planet- no satellites, no sun, no greater universe. Lesser realms frequently contain even less; a single continent or even a single region floating on a sea of lava on a flat plane. There are exceptions to this, however. There are spells that allow a practitioner to travel from one dimension to another. Additionally, it is possible to create gates, arcane constructs of both magic and technology, which even non-practitioners may use to pass between worlds en-masse.

Looks interesting! I like how you created a dualistic system without falling into the cliche of creating an ethical division between each side (like, making one side good and the other evil). I think the bright-siders could turn out to be quite unique, but you'll need to be very cautious to distinguish them from the "Vulcan" stereotype that hits a lot of logically-minded cultures. Having the more logical group on the bright side and the more emotional group on the dark is a nice contrast to how those ideals are usually portrayed; it makes thematic sense that an Enlightenment culture would be more exposed to the light.

Not sure where else on the Creator's Corner to ask this question, so I'll fall back to the old standby of Creation Daily. In your opinion, would an self-made D&D campaign setting count as an original creation, or would it count as a fanwork? I've recently had my brain hijacked by a D&D setting idea which I'd like to show off, but I'm not sure if the Creator's Corner is the right place for that if it doesn't actually count as an original creation.

Sorry to necro this thread, but I've emailed Chaos and I haven't gotten a response. I'm experiencing this validation error; can anyone help me contact Chaos to fix it? My original display name is Elementalist.

How did you come up with ideas for such unique and interesting cultures as the Chaod Leu and the Taravoy? Do you have any tips another aspiring worldbuilder could use to make their own cultures and religions less derivative?

The Empire is definitely isolationist and hoards its tech, but that's actually part of the problem. Because none of the other nations have the same level of technology, it's difficult to reconcile a story set in the Kajhal Baronies with one set in the Amadorian Empire. I worry the shift would cause too many problems for readers. I'm not certain there's room in the plot to have any of my characters travel to another nation. However, what I could do is have a character start off in another nation for a couple of chapters before traveling back to the Empire. That would give me enough time to showcase the differences in enough detail that the next few books wouldn't seem totally off.