[Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Have a setting you like or a home brew you want to share? Do it here.
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Hoid
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[Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by Hoid »

...as Echoes of the Multiverse need not focus exclusively on M&M, I thought it would be nice to try to collaboratively build a Pathfinder setting! Anyone and everyone is invited to join in...but there ARE some ground rules:
1>-Any entry must be 'not-silly'. Weird is fine, however...but wacky is not fine.

2>-Posters should not contradict or undo the work of other posters. That s**t is annoying, so don't do it.

3>-Only generic settingless Pathfinder material is free for inclusion. So...no taking things from Golarion and plopping it into this collaborative project.

4>-Gods are all-powerful, needing no stats. Some gods are nevertheless stronger than others, however.

5>-Don't be disruptive. If you don't want to participate, then kindly do not s**t all over the thread.

6>-Kerp contributions brief, but descriptive.

Aaaand...that's it. Feel free to join in!

THE GODS:
Anqu. N female intermediate deity of primordial earth. 2nd-eldest of all deities. Inhabits Equilibrium.
Argentum. N male intermediate deity of occult magic; twin brother of Aurum. Inhabits Equilibrium.
---Aurum. N male intermediate deity of arcane magic; twin brother of Argentum. Inhabits Equilibrium.
---The Living Wish. The herald of Argentum and Aurum.
Baelnorn. CN male greater deity of animals, destruction, ferocity and war. He uneasily shares dominion over war with his polar opposite, Brudjik the Purple.
Brudjik the Purple. LN male intermediate deity of cunning, smithing and war. He uneasily shares dominion over war with his polar opposite, Baelnorn.
Dawn. NG male lesser deity of rebirth and second chances. Inhabits Night-Sought.
Father. CE male lesser deity of fear and insects; son of the Unseen Ultimatum, and brother of Anqu. Inhabits the Howling Frosthells.
Forgebinder the Sunbeast. LG male intermediate deity of artifice, the dawning sun, technology and virtue; an ascended mortal.
Gaaarzhule the Nothingself. NE genderless demideity of oblivion.
The Ghost of Stheno. N female quasideity of Imvir warfare. Inhabits Equilibrium.
The Great Frog God. N male demideity of amphibians, bullywugs, grippli, ponds, swamps and rivers. Inhabits Equilibrium.
Hadik. LN male quasideity of bureaucracy; son of Urtarin.
Isiri. N female greater deity of the sun and valor.
Kirgir Stormbreaker. CE male quasideity of earthquakes and trolls.
Leviathan. N male quasideity of songs and wisdom. Inhabits Equilibrium.
Mad Mab. CN female greater deity of all fey creatures.
---Mad Mab's 'gods'. Fey are weird. Really weird.
---Mad Mab. Her courts and her realms.
Mesektet. CE female intermediate deity of the moon.
Mortuus. NE male intermediate deity of famine, plague and starvation.
The nameless kobold snake demigoddess. LE female demideity of serpents.
Nisri. N female greater deity of contradictions and inclusivity, along with her famous Pact! Inhabits Equilibrium.
Oberon. LN male intermediate deity of the twisted, illogical laws of the fey; the son of Mad Mab; the husband of Titania.
Puck. CN male intermediate deity of fey illusions and fey trickery; the son of Mad Mab.
Rinati. CN female intermediate deity of change and imagination; sister of Urtarin.
Skybearer. CG female intermediate deity of birds, democracy, freedom, rebellions, the sky and udaeoi.
Tinto. CG female greater deity of art, innocence, protection and stars.
Titania. LN female intermediate deity of fey magic and fey prayers (praying being something fey often do in very odd ways).
Toron. LE male intermediate deity of cruelty, hatred, nightmares and torture; Toron is Turug's twin brother.
Turug. LG male intermediate deity of dreams, imagination and literacy; Turug is Toron's twin brother.
The Unseen Ultimatum. CN genderless intermediate deity of madness and The End of the World; progenitor of Anqu and of Father. Eldest of all gods.
Urkutoth. NE male demideity of the grave.
Urtarin. LE female greater deity of order and perfection; sister of Rinati; Hadik is her son.

Divine lineages. Part 1. The brood of Anqu!
Divine lineages. Part 2: Mad Mab!

The Pact of Non-Manifestation. A divine treaty that prevents most gods from openly manifesting upon the earth; some of the weakest gods are exempt, however!

MAGIC:
Arcanium. Physically-embodied magical substance.
---The Arcanium Gates. The finest of dwarf-magics.
Biomancy. An introduction.
---Biomancy. Drow biomancy: gnolls.
---Biomancy. Drow biomancy: sprikkirs.
---Biomancy. Hobgoblin biomancy: ettins.
Cloudships. An introduction.
Golems. Traditional non-magitech magical constructs.
Living spells. The weirdest of all magic.
Necromancy. An introduction.
The Philosophy of Yunlo. An arcane spellcasting Code of Ethics, invented by Sir Yunlo of Un!
Psionics and oneiromancy. Unusual magic, to be sure.

RACES AND MONSTERS:
Catfolk. An introduction.
Celestials. An introduction.
Dragons. An introduction. Chromatics and metallics!
Dreamingfolk. Animate dreams: an introduction.
Dreamingfolk. Brownies. An introduction.
Dreamingfolk. Gnomes: an introduction.
---Dreamingfolk. Svirfneblin: an introduction.
Dreamingfolk. Kitsune: an introduction.
---Dreamingfolk. Brown-furred kitsune: an introduction.
---Dreamingfolk. Sionnach: elf/kitsune hybrids.
Dreamingfolk. Noctfauna: an introduction.
Dreamingfolk. Oneirofauna: an introduction.
Dreamingfolk. Tengu: an introduction.
Drow and elves. A joint introduction!
---Drow. An introduction.
---Grey elves. An introduction.
---Icefolk. Snow elves ('the Chilled').
---Sprikkir. An introduction.
Dwarves, halflings and humans: the humae. An introduction.
---Derro dwarves. An introduction.
Ettins. An introduction.
The fey. An introduction.
---The fey: the feykin. Part 1. Feykin, in general.
---The fey: the feykin Part 2. Dwarf feykin.
Fiends. An introduction.
---Asuras. Asura hybrids.
---Tieflings. Fiendish planestouched.
Flumphs. Gentle creatures from the Unfiltered Void.
Giants. An introduction.
---Giants. Ogres: an introduction.
Gnolls. An introduction.
Hobgoblins. An introduction.
Pegasi, horses and unicorns. An introduction.
Kobolds. An introduction.
Minotaurs. An introduction.
Myceloids and neothelids. An introduction.
Orcs. Orcish living-conditions.
Owlbears. An introduction.
Perytons and perykin. An introduction.
Planestouched. An introduction.
R'ktthckk'Xx Aboleth bioweapon cloudship.
The Squamous. An introduction.
---Aboleths. An introduction.
---Aboleths. Their seagoing vessels.
---Aboleths. The seawolf plague.
---Derro dwarves. An introduction.
---Shoggoths. Aboleth-created abominations.
Those who stand between good and evil. CN, LN and N outsiders: an introduction!
Trolls. An introduction.
Wargs. Evil wolves.
Whales. They're sentient!
Wunderhüte. HATS!
Wyrwoods. Creations of the Ind!
Yithians. From the depths of the Unfiltered Void.

NPCs:
The Battlemage. Two heroes disguised as one hero.
The Bearer of Gold and Silver. The holy man of Ind.
The Ebon. An evil drow adventuring party.
Esver and West. A mated pair of dragons with a literally diabolical goal in mind!
The Father of Fear Azazel of Hellgate. Evil mythic vampire human mesmerist.
The God-stag and Saint Itreya Sunwings. The two most important people in Faithhold.
The Illusionati. We do not exist. Move along.
Lom Ifke, the Shining Knight. A hero in way over his head.
The Maw. 8-millennia-old spellcasting ex-hobgoblin abomination.
Noroj, That Which Lurks. Gigantic mutant lizardfolk minstrel.
The Order of Purity. Blood-purist antipaladins.
Queen Bastet of Felithia. Catfolk queen.
The Shadow Coven. The Material Plane thieves' guild.
Sir Yunlo of Un. The greatest lich on the Material Plane!
The Starsearcher Twins. Alress (NG) and Anvus (CG), mortal sons of Tinto.
The Untold. Madmen sworn to the Unseen Ultimatum.
The Vigilant Few. Heroes-for-hire!
Zamar Kuribek. Hobgoblin commander.

KINGDOMS:
The Eastern Continent:
The Everlasting State of Un. A kingdom of less-than-malevolent undead and a democracy!
The Faithhold. A kingdom in turmoil.
Gnaslivia. An introduction.
---Gnaslivia. The citizenry.
The Great Walker. KONG! KONG! KONG!
Iceloc. A frozen land, undesirous of outside contact.
Ind. Part 1.
---Ind. Part 2.
---Ind. The Seraphim Wheels.
---Ind. The Lensman cloudship.
The Inma Lrar. Million-year-old demiplanes.
The Ir. The highest of High Elven Magic.
Kor-Tun. Ancient dwarfhall and eldest still-extant mortal civilization.
---The Arcanium Gates. The finest of dwarf-magics.
---The Order of the Arcanian. A mighty dwarf knighthood!
---Kor. The Capitol of Kor-Tun.
---The House Re-Magnified. The dwarf temple to Anqu, in the Great Hall of Kor.
Mishin-shapir. A hill giant steading with an unusual monarch.
The Nhajjhu Empire. Part 1.
Null. A kitsune kingdom: an introduction.
The Promethean Exchange. Last holdouts of the udaeoi race.
The Queendom of Felithia. An introduction.
The Queendom of Sarith. An introduction.
---The Queendom of Sarith. Saerith's gnoll problems.
Rackspur. An introduction.
The Spellwound. Site of a contained magical apocalypse.
Usht. The world-infamous Nightmarecity.
Vilki. Ind's buffer-state with the Nhajjhu Empire.

The central islands:
The Elemental Domiciles' earthly beachhead. Part 1.
The Ir. The highest of High Elven Magic.

The Western Continent:
The Chin Empire. Part 1.
The Crescent. A slice of heaven on earth.
The eSereket. Massive evil horde of savages, now under duergar dwarf control.
The Green Teardrop. Birthplace of the android and robot races.
Ile. The world's most famous city-state.
---The Arcanium Gates. The finest of dwarf-magics.
---Ile. The Diviners' Assembly.
The Imvit Empire. Part 1.
The Ir. The highest of High Elven Magic.
The Iron Spikes. A mountain range.
The Ishi hordes. Part 1.
The Isil Giants. Which stand alongside King's Road.
The Lands Most West. An introduction.
---The Lands Most West, The kingdom of Yulsi.
Oakstump. Sleepy hamlet with a hell of a secret!
Rütinium. Bordering alongside the Chin Empire.
Sevencity. Site of the seven Anyportals as well as major trade-port.
The Shifting Ivory Labyrinth. An enigmatic home of horrors.
The Worldsedge Bogs. Where magic poisons the land.
Yul. An introduction.

The North Pole:
The Doorway to the Sun and the Moon. An aboleth portal now under drow control.

The South Pole:
The Magespine. A magics-enhancing tower built by sentient golems!

The open ocean:
Faignl. Aboleths! The Nautilis!

The Eastern Continent's Underdark:
Aðalfinaugur. Svirfneblin city.

The central islands' Underdark:

The Western Continent's Underdark:

OUTER SPACE:
The moon:
Luna. An introduction.
The Faminewind. Horrifying bioweapons of the drow...!
The Shifting Ivory Labyrinth. An enigmatic home of horrors.

Outer space, itself:
Astrology and constellations. The future, made manifest.
The Ulfiltered Void. The larger universe beyond the earth.

COSMOLOGY:
Demiplanes:
The Exiled Hell. Prison-demiplane of a race of half-fiend orcs ('the Kruule').
The Realm of the Ever-Lasting Mana Cascades. A never-ending magical 'apocalypse-in-a-jar'.
The Watchmazes. Impossibly ancient creations of the neothelids.

The Forge of Creation:
The Forge of Creation. An introduction.
Thought-Spun. An introduction.
---Thought-Spun. The nature of dreams and souls.
---The Midnight Reavers. Literal dream-pirates.

The Elemental Domiciles:
An introduction to the Elemental Domiciles.
A description of the Elemental Domiciles.
The Shifting Ivory Labyrinth. An enigmatic home of horrors.

The Outer Planes:
The Beyond. The CN Outer Plane. Home of proteans and most CN deities.
Chronotinuum. The LN Outer Plane. Home of axiomites and inevitables and most LN deities.
Equilibrium. The N Outer Plane. Home of aeons and psychopomps and most N deities.
Faerie. The CG Outer Plane. Home of angels and azatas and most CG deities.
The Great Hollow Nothing. The NE Outer Plane. Home of daemons and divs and most NE deities.
The Howling Frosthells. The CE Outer Plane. Home to demons, qlippoths and most CE deities.
Infernis. The LE Outer Plane. Home of asuras, devils and kytons and most LE deities.
Paradise. The NG Outer Plane. Home of agathions, angels and most NG deities.
Seraphim. The LG Outer Plane. Home of angels, archons and most LG deities.
---Seraphim. The Defaced Throne.
Last edited by Hoid on Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:54 am, edited 304 times in total.
Hoid
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by Hoid »

The world's name is not known. It's just 'the world', as far as its inhabitants are concerned. There're two continents of roughly equal size. There's only one moon.

There is only a single mega-sized pantheon of deities.
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

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Elves are the eldest race created by the gods. Drow are elves who turned away to the worship of evil gods, but instead of being banished below the earth, were exiled to the moon. Over time, drow learned to use the Plane of Dreams to reach the planet below and raid it for slaves!

Orcs and goblinoids are descended from drow who interbred with demons (to produce orcs) or devils (to produce goblinoids).
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by Hoid »

The Elemental Planes and the Transitive Planes are welded together, in this cosmology:

The Elemental Plane of Air and the Elemental Plane of Fire merge with the more traditional Astral Plane to create the Firesea.

The Elemental Plane of Earth and the Ethereal Plane link up and create the Mistforest.

The Elemental Plane of Water and the Shadow Plane form the amalgamated Benthic Abyss.
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

*shrug*

The races of Humans, Halfings, and Dwarves were once one and the same, a collective species known as the Humae. A genetic divergence happened naturally over the course of thousands of years, as magic played with the genomes of early Humae. Once known to be very tall, bulky, and hairy creatures, these traits began to lessen until the first major split occured about 200k years prior to the current date.

A group of humae found themselves trapped within a cave system that was saturated with a rare shiny and clear ore, aterwards discovered to in fact be crystalized mana. This ore, known later as Arcanium, sped up the natural process which resulted in a transition of tall hairy beings, into shorter and stout creatures who've adapted to life underground. Dwarves, as they're now called, forged an empire upon Arcanium, which persists to this day as their strongest dwarven kingdom.

Halfings meanwhile, came about much more slowly and overtime, only emerging as a full species nearly 100k years ago. They became much smaller, yet remained nearly as hairy as their ancestors, in particular regarding to their large feet. Unlike dwarves or baseline humanity, they never felt the urge to form an empire, and have instead grown used to a peacful existince on the fringes of society.

Humae in time became Humans, shrinking to an average of five to six feet in height, and generally being nearly hairless. Other minor genetic divergences have occured over time, resulting in a series of unique ethniticies though they are largely superficial.

Modern historians are aware of the common ancestry of the three races, and it's well known that any of the three Humae divergents are capable of hybridization, though offspring are often infertile.
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by Hoid »

"Shrug"?

Sigh. Something tells me this is an ill-omened start...
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Hey, I actually find this idea very interesting. :D

I was just shuging in a sorra, "Hey, why not?" sorta manner.
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by Hoid »

Ah!
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by Hoid »

Anqu: Neutral intermediate deity.
Home Plane/Realm: Equilibrium/The Great Caverns Beneath the World.
Portfolio: Primordial earth.
Clerics' Alignment: CN, LN, N, NE, NG.
Domains/Subdomains: Artifice, Earth [Cave], Rune, Strength.
Holy Symbol: A Stone Age fertility idol.
Sacred Animal: A giant land-sloth.
Sacred Color: Rust-red.

Anqu is the N female intermediate deity of primordial earth, and is the 2nd-oldest of all deities. She manifests as a great, obese Neanderthal "fertility idol" come to life, primitive and barbaric. She is the mother of a great many gods, as well as her favored mortal people, the giants.

(Seriously people; in the real world a bajillion such idols have been found at Stone Age dig sites.)

Giants are an artificial race, created when Anqu, goddess of primordial earth and stone, symbolically 'mated' with the four elements.

Gardudas, also consider Anqu their creator, though she receives little worship from them...!

Anqu is served by aeons, earth elementals, psychopomps and shaitan genies. Anqu's petitioners spend a blissful eternity in quiet communion with the stones of all planes (including the earth).
Last edited by Hoid on Mon Nov 28, 2016 10:05 pm, edited 14 times in total.
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

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Isiri: Neutral greater deity.
Home Plane/Realm: Equilibrium/The Source Above the Stars.
Portfolio: The sun and valor.
Clerics' Alignments: CN, LN, N, NE, NG.
Domains/Subdomains: Fire, Nobility, Sun, War.
Holy Symbol: A half-sunburst.
Sacred Animal: A lion.
Sacred Color: Gold.

Isiri, goddess of the sun and valor, is THE most widely-worshipped deity by the three branches of Humae. She's N, and is a greater deity.

Isiri manifests as a beautiful warrior-queen, wearing heavy plate crafted from mithral, and wielding a khopesh sword almost too large to be believed. Her hair is like spun gold, and her countenance is stern and uncompromising.

Virtually every diurnal race in the entire world prays to Isiri on at least some occasions. Thus, her faithful can be found just about everywhere, making Isiri one of THE most prayed-to deities in existence.

She is served directly by fire-infused aeons, fire-infused agathions and fire-infused daemons, as well as by celestial and fiendish air and fire elementals. Isiri's petitioners are glorious, radiant warrior-kings and warrior-queens, shining brighter than the sun, physically perfect and of unconquerable wills; they spend eternity overcoming obstacles and improving themselves thereby.
Last edited by Hoid on Mon Nov 28, 2016 10:07 pm, edited 14 times in total.
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by zackepic22 »

Various subraces of Fae have been found throughout the world, mostly close to portals that link to their home planes, one of which resembles a giant, beautiful, colorful glen. Fae of most subraces are either light-hearted or malevolent tricksters, with the former physically being more colorful, and the latter physically looking more pale and lifeless. Most Fae can be quite powerful, but, not as powerful as the gods.
Last edited by zackepic22 on Sat Nov 26, 2016 11:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Practiced necromancy has been a largely controversial subject since the early days of magical study, with numerous arguments for or against the practice. The magic involved is itself not distinctly evil or good in nature, with the intent of the necromancer being the true deciding factor. Despite this, it is still considred a Dark Art, and necromancers are usually viewed with suspition regardless of their moral standing.
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

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Hobgoblins are imperialistic and very civilized. They make the finest non-magical steel around...
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

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Gnomes are suspected of possesing origins within Halflings who mated with fae, though the truth is far stranger. The species originated within the dreams of early elves, thoughtforms that were born in part due to their potent magical nature. They existed primarily within the realm of dreams until the superb arcane nature of elves waned, the spontaneous emergence of these creatures ceasing entirely. They passed through the realm of fae, and were granted physical bodies as a result. Eventually these beings migrated to The World and integrated into society.
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Re: [Pathfinder]Collaberative world-building exercise...

Post by zackepic22 »

Biomancy is a rare magical art, yet being from various races seem to use it: Mad Human Biomancers seem to number in the dozens. Elves use it to change to alter and gradually strengthen their natural defenses. Drow use it for a range of things, mostly in regards to their slaves, and Hobgoblin Biomancers are highly regarded for their ability to continually improve upon every member of their race, with the most experienced of their Biomancers considered high up in the nobility chain, second to only royals and royal advisors.
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