turn that frown upside down!

Demons. So many fucking demons. I put effort into my cities, and such, but I fucking love my demonic pantheon.

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>>51916978
Right now, I have two cultures/countries with a distinct look. its mostly me putting stuff I like into a blender but I'm so proud of my indo/romans and gaelic chinese

>>51916978
My players actually wanted me to write a source book for how the demons in my setting worked. It was a concept I did put a fair amount of work into, but expected to remain mostly unspoken or seen. Then in the first few sessions the hedge wizard sells his soul to an imp to not die, and then the rest of the party proceeded to sell pain, secrets, organs, and unknowingly bids on their souls to said demon for information and skills, and completely embedded themselves in demonic politics.

>>51918205
shit, I need to work on my baddies. sounds good homie

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>>51916511
The problem with my settings is that they are (in my opinion) well thought out and usually feature very distinct cultures that are ripped straight out of history but often overshadow the players. I know this is my weakness and I'm actively trying to write plots that give the players a clear place to get involved, rather than just being observers as a greater world moves around them with no influence or input of their own.

>>51918070
>gaelic chinese
If they look like Mylène Jampanoï, I'm not even mad.

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>>51918344
thats the general look near the coastal countries

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Probably these guys. Heavily Greek inspired elephants with a bit of Roman expansionism. At war with Native American based Orcs and a very aggravating swamp with necrotic properties. In that it is filled with an insectoid parasite that inhabits and 'animates' dead flesh.

I'm quite proud of my incredibly conceptual and decentralized magic 'system'. There's no power source, no mana or magicka, no nebulous energy everything draws off of, there's no real clear cut explanation of what it is and there's a million different ways it works. It's like folk magic, it's all very highly symbolic and situational, lots of intent, will, naturally magical properties in ingredients and incantations and places, underlying laws of a vaster, absolute nature - I'm already rambling. It's honestly how I wish magic worked in more things, to keep magic, well, magical and mystical.

>>51916511
The thing I'm proud of most in my homebrews is the complete lack of elves.

I'll put in a custom-made race or two to replace them. Something less pretty, and less obvious that Gygax had a crush on Tolkien. You want to be agile and fragile? Here, have a fish-person.

Some of my homebrew worlds, they just never existed. Some, they did exist and are dead/dying. Regardless, I'm angry enough about elves in D&D that they don't show up in my sessions. And I'm happy with that.

>>51920753
always wanted to use elephant people for my setting

>>51916511
I stole almost all of it from Might & Magic 7 and Heroes 3's setting and Monster Hunter's lore.

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>>51916511
I really needed to read this today.

I think what I'm proud of most is the religions and organizations I've made that reflect human history and the themes of never letting go. Not that my story is all that deep, but another thing I'm proud of is the work I've been putting into my setting's bestiary and some of the organizations.

Sometimes I feel bad for stealing a few things from other settings, like my totallynotSangheili who are a bit more raptor-like and their jaw is only split down the middle instead of across as well, just to avoid any legal troubles if I ever publish anything... Sometimes I just feel like I could do the species other people make better justice. Other times it feels wrong to create a similar culture without staying true to the species it is from.

>first campaign ever
>bran new to dnd and DMing
>decide to come up with setting
>make this weird hoof shaped country
>"yeah takes place here"
>spend about 1 and a half hours working on it
>basically the bad guy is a lich
>and in the north to the mountains are dwarves
>and in the south are humans
>BUT THEY ARE HAVING A CIVIL WAR
>and lich is using this opportunity to build power so he can take over the world
>absorbs souls into his phlactery
>somehow absorbs the souls of the party
>they have to fight out of this weird evil crystal dimention with evil creatures of the deformed spirits
>they go toward the lich
>i just throw bandits and owlbears at them
>it's super fun, guys are enjoying it
>still don't get far because we were transitioning from 4e to 3.5e
>still wanna rework that old setting
>still have the sick drawing of the map done by my dropout art major friend who makes cool shit 24/7

if there's anything i miss from high school, it was my goofy and laid back dnd group. i don't miss the vyvanse tho

>>51916511
Either the worlds creation myth and basic history or the setttings metaphysics and magic system, then again that's all I really have so far.

How can a god of death be lawful good? I belive "nice guy with the crappy job of leading everyone towards afterlife" fits the description but i want to read your ideas

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>>51923880
Done
Just make them someone nice who guides the dead to well death.

>>51923986
Nice

>>51923880
perhaps his job isn't so much to guide the souls as much as it is to tell and write down the stories of them. his plane is a vast library with the great stories of the people, creatures, and beings who have died. the tiniest detail of even the smallest mercenary band gets its own book to explain where they were from and the expeditions they had been on. if one of the mortal desires is to be remembered regardless of where they go in the afterlife, then this god is doing them a service by writing down their stories. even the smallest, most forgotten victims of the age would have their voices heard in some form. in that sense he's also omnipotent of the past.

those who are able to access his vast library are awarded with a nigh infinite sea of knowledge at their fingertips. the god himself guides those good souls who search for helpful knowledge and banishes those who wish to use his library for greater evil.

>>51916511
But anon, my heart IS shitty and dull.

>>51916511
I'm one of those people who sees different schools of magic, superpowers, etc, and is prone to wanting to mix them all up.

I took ever variety of supernatural power available to me in the books I had, made a small humanoid country based on each one to the best of my ability, and as the players made their way through it they got a sense of the differences of each one and I managed to facilitate a shift in culture and presentation based on the means they had available.

And when all was said and done, and the majority of those countries were various forms of ruined and wrecked at the end of the campaign, from mis-steps, mistakes, and even intentional decisions, the epic-campaign ravaged setting wasn't destroyed or unusable, but instead ripe for new growth and new conflicts.

I'm proud that the setting I created something that would survive contact with its own potential destruction, actually turned out better in the end for it, changing from vague concepts into viable fantasy into something with history, character and substance.

For now I'm letting it sit fallow while the spin-off runs its course and testing waters with a fresh one. When I return to it I'm looking forward to how the next era looks to change in the future.

>>51923986
Be Odin.

>>51924443
While that is a great concept, there's another deity in the same pantheon that's basically that guy already also he's neutral because intervention usually means changing history and that's a no no for him anyway I think I'm gonna go with what
>>51923986 said

New question, do you guys start local and then expand or rather think the setting from the big picture and then get more detailed in smaller places as you go?

>>51916511

I'm proud that the Finn in my group said that my representation of his culture's history and flavor in my setting was pretty good.

I'm proud that my players told me that my NPCs seem unique and believable, but not overly snowflakey or cringey.

I'm also proud of my setting for the fact that Half-Elves are seen by Elves as a good way to empower, expand, and prolong their species, rather than a disgrace to be ignored.

>>51923880
My setting in the works has 3 gods of death. In the setting reincarnation is static. it's just a thing. You die, you're reincarnated.
If you challenge Death to a game and win, you survive of course, but if you lose, you are pulled from the reincarnation cycle, leading to kids being born without souls, etc.
The three gods of death are the Chaotic Evil, he takes the appearance of a massive Oni, and he goads you for your death, trying to get you to challenge him so he can reap you from the cycle.
Neutral- Grim Reaper Esc, explains your options, but implies reincarnation is a better choice as the world is beginning to run out of souls.
And Lawful Good- the Angel of Death. She takes you quickly and firmly to your next life and will try to convince you not to challenge her, because she will win, she has been doing this a while, and she doesnt want to see the world run out of souls.

This is also the setting I'm trying to make Undead scary again in. Zombies have their souls removed from the cycle, vampires are op because they consume the finite souls in the world, liches work because their soul is safe in a box over there, so they cant die.

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>>51916511
My players said they liked the lore of my Dark Heresy campaign (I home-brewed an extra world into the Calixis sector) so I'm proud of that.

Thanks for turning my frown upside down anon <:)

>>51916511

Space economy where the unit of currency is small platinum beads with a single wood shaving inside.

'Credits' or other forms of digital money don't exist beyond small local economies, because while FTL travels exists FTL communication does not, and FTL still takes time to cross systems. So a planet can have a digital economy, and that might even extend out to the moons, nearby space stations or even the next planet over with a time delay. But further out you get, the greater the need becomes for a form of hard currency in your pocket, and if you plan on traveling between systems you need something that is considered good anywhere.

The platinum itself is just a cheap container. In a future where asteroid mining is a thing, materials like gold or platinum are so plentiful that they are basically worthless. The real value is the wood shaving. Terraforming is a very long, highly imperfect process. Most places simply don't have the soil required to grow trees, and the places that do are using it to grow either food or wood's much more economical cousin bamboo. And Earth is a shitheap that no one gives a shit about anymore that is still under blockade to keep its balkanized shitflinging from spilling out and effecting worlds that matter.

The world that serves as the biggest trade hub has the strongest inter-planetary economy, and their currency is widely regarded as valid basically anywhere. They have a special kind of genetically engineered tree that grows in their soil and makes pretty flowers for the royal family. Purely a luxury item.

So they put the wood shavings into the beads to mark them as valuable and prevent counterfitting. Growing trees would be an issue for counterfitters anyway, and the royal family doesn't sell seeds for their special trees so its unlikely they could ever replicate the right KIND of wood for the counterfeit anyway.

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I keep procrastinating for work on my actual setting, but I'm pretty proud of the dwarves.

>Hard, grim and strange
>Finest craftsmen in the land, of course, but not for function. Mostly obsessed with aesthetic and visual finery
>Ruling elite are xenophobic almost exclusively toward the most attractive of races, dismissive toward the rest
>Finest torture implements in the land, as well!
>Shamans make thorny copper crowns to use on criminal sorts, providing 'electroshock therapy'
>The failures are unfeeling, near-mindless monstrosities, useful as labor or transformed into units of psychotic masked killers
>'Dipping' an also frequent sight, whether dunking a thief into a vat of molten iron or casting part (or if very eccentric, all) of a noble-person in magically treated molten gold, silver, or platinum.

Other than these facts, they're fairly dwarfish so far. Also

>Their grave markers are granite faces carved in the likeness of the dead. Can't define it quite yet, likely more to do with the obsession with visual appeal and visual memory being the most important
>Great kings, craftsmen and warriors are given the most magnanimous busts, the greatest tombs could be dwarf-shaped dungeons in their own right
>Their mother-goddess is a mighty forge-maid, daughter of the original Lord and Lady of Earth and Fire. She physically exists in their capital city
>Their king in any given dynasty is always married first to this Goddess, and she bears an inbred demigod son who will be the next King. This is all according to her will.
>She is probably quite evil.

>>51921114

I like this. Real sword and sorcery games need more of it.

>>51920753

Stealing this.

>>51931440
>while FTL travels exists FTL communication does not
I love this conceit for Space Operas. It gets a real "Galactic age of sail" vibe kickstarted in short order.

>>51916511

Russio-JapanOrcs, WITH GREAT STONKING CANNONS!

>>51916511
its rather basic but im happy that i decided that in my sci fi setting, that earth isnt ruled by the UN or just the federation cliche but rather the mos powerful nations all share earth but individually control colonies and territories in the system, oh and space vikings.

>>51916511
I'm most proud that I took the time to add a bunch of information on ancillary aspects of life that adventurers previous wouldn't or didn't care about, like farming styles, local cuisine, cultural differences etc. My players have warmed up to these aspects nicely, which I've enjoyed since before that we would usually run pretty standard murdo-hobo-lite games.

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>>51916511
There's several different nations with unique and interesting political systems, histories of warfare, alliances, betrayals, grievances... and the players can completely ignore ALL of it if they want! The nations are grouped together a fair distance from the 'frontier' where the monsters and treasure hunting happens so the players can go for political intrigue or just ditch it completely. Need a militaristic nation of burly fighting men? How about one filled with well-meaning religious zealots? An aristocratic city-state with ties to dark magic and demon worship? They're all there, but the players aren't forced to deal with any of them if they don't want to.

>>51918344
See, I had this problem as well until I realigned my thinking. The places in your campaign setting aren't important until the players choose to MAKE them important. Give your party a map, ask them where they want to go, and build your story around the places and people they choose to spend their time on. For example, I have two current groups in my setting. One group is exploring the northern tundra filled with creepy forests and NotVikings (pic related), the other is on a tropical island to the south rubbing shoulders with pirates and searching for lost relics of an ancient civilization.

Also, when in doubt, plant a huge untamed or unexplored wilderness beyond a huge mountain ridge. Who knows what's on the other side? If your players don't like anything you've already planned out, let them head that way and find something new and interesting.

>>51923880

Osiris works for that. he's a steward of the dead. look in the 3.5 d&d book Deities and Demigods for some good info

>>51923880
They're not exactly what you're looking for but look up the Ghostwalk campaign setting for D&D 3E, it includes Aluvan and Dracanish, NG and LN death gods. You can take their respective dogmas and roughly fuse them into the following:

"Do not fear death, for death is merely the reuniting of the body and the spirit in an afterlife filled with joy and peace. Guard the bodies of the dead from desecration, and usher the unhappy souls of the dead into the afterlife. Only resurrect those with clear unfinished business, and help wayward spirits in whatever business keeps them on the mortal plane, within reason. Finish whatever you start, for it is better to finish one task then start ten and finish none. Do not hasten a person's journey to the afterlife through violence unless you have to, and aid those in pain or suffering who wish to pass on. Oppose necromancers and malevolent spirits, as well as anyone who tries to extend their lifespan unnaturally, for their rejecting of mortality is a rejection of the cycle of existence itself."

>>51923880
>How can a god of death be lawful good?
Ask Osiris. Or Anubis, even -- Protector of tombs, guide of souls, and Judge of the Dead. In D&D terms that's a pretty Lawful Good portfolio (or at least one with both Lawful and Good elements)

>>51916511
The part of my setting that I'm most proud of is the system I created to play it even though the system is a little simple.

>>51916511
I'm ridiculously proud of my sun-worshipping pseudo-australian dwarves. They demolish mountains to build ziggurats which reach towards the sun for their daily devotionals. The affluent Dwarves live higher up on the ziggurat, while the slums are far down on the shady slopes.

A nice, simple, monotheistic system. Just fantasy!God and his angels and saints versus Satan and his staff. It's a bit Catholic for my taste, but it's simpler than a colossal pantheon of mythical whosawhatsits like other settings. As for arcane magic, nobody knows where it comes from, but considering all the scrolls/grimoires/tomes (the three tiers of magical information storage) have Voynich Manuscript-tier encryption, odds are nobody will. It takes real intelligence and loopy thinking to decrypt a scroll enough to make it work, let alone figure out its source. You're probably better off just praying.

>>51923880
Without him, the dead don't die, roaming the earth and doing evil to the living.

He is a stickler for the rules, which he believes is the surest way to promote the good of all creation.

>>51916511
No elves, using other races to fill their roles.
Humans are new to the world, so they don't have the sprawling empires or the overwhelming population that they do in most settings. In fact, they're by far a minority race.
Good necromancers are very possible. I'm making all healing spells to be considered necromantic in nature, so anyone who heals with magic are considered to be necromancers.


>>51924443
Stealing this.

>goes by many titles; The First Scribe, The Universal Scribe, The First Psychopomp, Death.
>Has trillions of arms, constantly writing the tales of ever living creature across the planes.
>When when something dies, two psychopomps are sent out. One takes the finished book to be put on a shelf in Death's realm, and one goes to escort the creatures soul to its final rest. Both tasks are completed at the same time.
>Beings who achieve sentient undeath are abhorred by Death and her attendants, but they can do nothing to rectify the violation and instead leave it to mortals to handle.

Thanks anon.

>>51916511
>implying I have enough of a setting to be proud of

Whale-hunting islander Dwarves. A creation myth where Fire is the enemy of the rest of nature because his three sisters (who hold dominion over the rest of it) locked him up for being ugly. A lineage of humanoids beginning with the Giants and their lost war against the Fey.

So many ideas, but I can never put them together into anything coherent.

>>51916511
In my setting gods originate from Fae who chose to back humanity along with the then fae prince of lies. They have since adapted and evolved with civilization and it has been a sore point with the fae for years who see the praises the gods get and find themselves absent of it since their patrons are only the wild creatures and wretches desperate for power.

In doing so they tried to create Elves to be a superior human, but elves are slightly flawed because rather then evolving their civilization it was simply created so they are unnatural. Elves are by default a higher level being then a human and a random elf can easily fight off a trained human knight but elfs are just... unsettling to be around. Like a fleshy robot, they don't really understand why they do things, they just do it.

>>51923880
I had a Lawful Good god of Murderers and Hell.

Specifically, he is a warden who claims the soul of all foul beings who break the grim tome of law that is his holy book. Those who fall under his patronage are in reality those who will be claimed in his joyless cells.

Lawful good isn't really lawful happy, he keeps miserable company.