[Any] Swords & Cthulhu: the World of Zhultoom

[Turanil]

Due to request, here is a brief outline of the world corresponding to the map I posted in the Art forum. The map can be found here in higher resolution.

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Size of the world: Well, undefined. I would say, 1000 miles from Wisloth to Breakwater.

World Style: Think Conan's Hyboria + Zothique + Dying Earth by Jack Vance + Newhon by Fritz Leiber + some Cthulhu mythos thrown in. Countless civilizations left their mark on the world, but most of it now lies in ruins. There is some post-apocalyptic flavor in this otherwise fantasy world, as some items and artifacts of ancient advanced technology can still be found here and there.

Races: No Tolkien, no gnomes!! It's more like humans (of course), plus degenerate humans (half-orcs), tieflings (touched by supernatural evil), and dwarves. Dwarves are the descendants of a slave race that was bred by serpentmen to toil in the mines in a distant antiquity. As such dwarves get bonus to hit against serpentmen and snake-creatures, not against goblins.

Classes: There is somewhere around here, a document to convert/use AD&D1e rules in a dark-age, dark sword& sorcery setting. I would take inspiration from it. World is grim, sorcery is corrupting, etc.

Religions: No pantheons as is usual with D&D settings. No Pelor, no Odin, no what not. Instead there is many cults. Think dark cults of obscure mad Cthulhu deities. See also a thread in The Workshop forum that discussed that, and gave examples of dark cults led by lamias, yuan-tis, whatever. In any case, such cults are almost never widespread, but occasional and independent of each others. Then, there is two organized religions:
1) The Issamnites, a Scarlet Brotherhood-inspired cult of fighting-disciples who will eradicate mutants, blasphemy, etc., and kill sorcerers (1e monks are really effective at slaying magic-users). They are evil, probably opposed to the PCs, but they usually fight a greater evil.
2) The Church of the Law of One, a monotheistic religion of intolerant and stringent fanatics who hate all magic, and (as clerics) gain magical resistance and improved turn undead/demons abilities, but lose spells.

City-states: no more kingdoms (at least human-kingdoms) in this world. More like several city states controlling some land around them:

1. Wisloth: I would use Lankhmar (my old 1e supplement) for this one.

2. Nakhmir: A city of evil, hidden in the mountains. Bleak and black towers without windows, and extensive mazes of corridors and underground chambers below. A lot of slaves (including many dwarves) ruled by a caste of necromancers dealing with demons and afraid of the outside world. A society deep in treachery, scheming, backstabbing, etc. Often sends raids of slavers to capture people, etc. In any case, Nakhmir is the place to sell magical items, learn new spells, etc.

3. Lumina: The "bright city of light" is ruled by the Church of the Law of One (see above). It is not a joyful place, but at least it's mostly devoid of supernatural evil, and relatively safe provided you follow Church edicts and don't practice magic. Lots of crusaders.

4. Asylium: One of the oldest cities in this part of the world. Many advanced technology remains, although the city is another of medieval fantasy. Here, the only allowed cult is that of the God of Knowledge, who incidentally resides in th city. The "god" is in fact an AI in some wondrous machine from a distant antiquity. The "god's" priests are all savants and scientists versed in ancient technomancy. (That would need a new class.)

5. Bastion: Dwarven bunker city, full of warriors and mercenary companies, and owning several advanced technological weapons from the past. Lately these dwarves plan to ally with Lumina and then storm Nakhmir (to release the dwarves slaves held here). Years ago they already sent an army, but it was a disaster as it was wiped out by demons.

6. Gorge Keep: Another fortified city, on top of a mountain, and guarding the highlands from southern invasions. Many haunted battlefields around: danger of undead.

7. Breakwater: Pirate-city, for which I would use Freeport.

8. Zhalygia: Ancient and decadent city of splendor. Live isolated, sustaining themselves with magic of all sorts. City is full of palaces, large roads, etc., but with few inhabitants, and horrors lurking in abandoned places. All the outside world is dangerous wilderness where gnoll tribe roams, etc.

Beyond: Mostly non-human lands. To the south is a dying empire of dragonkin-lizardmen, elsewhere are yuan-ti, mind-flayers, etc. Far to the North, the demon Tsattoghua hold sway in the winterland wastes.

Well, you see the idea.

[Turanil]

By the way, any comment, any idea to change or to add to this setting, is welcome. After all, I have no plan for doing something with this right now. Only if I see people having interest in such a setting, would I get an incentive to put more into it. So if someone tells me: "I rather see this city being this or that instead of what you told", or "I well see adding that to this part currently not defined", it could give me some interesting ideas. So don't be shy about commenting and contributing. Including giving a name to this campaign world.

[Golan2072]

So, if I understand correctly, in your setting religion (at least the major religions) opposes magic; so could a Cleric and an M-U be members of the same adventuring party?

[Turanil]

So, if I understand correctly, in your setting religion (at least the major religions) opposes magic; so could a Cleric and an M-U be members of the same adventuring party?

Templars (clerics without spells but MR, from the Church of Law) and Disciples (Scarlet Brotherhood inspired monks) hate magic, and thus would not adventure with magic-users.

Now, there could be a party with templars and monks, but without spellcasters; or there could be a party with magic-users and normal spellcasting clerics of some obscure cult, and they would better remain wary of templars and disciples. PC clerics don't need to be of the major religions. As a GM I would let the cleric's player invent his own cleric's local cult; just it wouldn't be a widespread religion with temples, organization, etc. Maybe that PC cleric would be like an agent of some supernatural being (not even a god in its own right), who would not necessarily act as a priest per se. I would be flexible in this regard. After all, the classes exist as they are, let players create the fluff they want, provided it would fit well in the setting*.

(*: I could even let a player come up with this: cleric belongs to a dissident sect of the Church of the Law of One. This sect is not fanatically anti-magical, but instead thinks that evil supernatural beings must be fought with magic. It's just that these clerics think only them should be allowed to cast spells, and that their magic is benign, not of the corrupting sort wielded by sorcerers. Of course, the Church of the Law of One sees them as heretics who fell prey to the "dark side" so to speak.)

Classes:

Disciple: Just as per the monk class (maybe with d6 HD). They hate sorcery and necromancers, but aren't above using a few magical items (although they don't like others using them). Limit on magical items owned by monks apply.

Templar: Cleric class with the following changes: No spells. Turn Undead as clerics of two levels higher; Turn Undead also includes extraplanar beings (demons, elementals, etc.), but these are turned at the templar's level. Fanaticism: +2 to hit, dmg, AC and saving throws when combating creatures that are obviously supernatural. Sense Magic at will, works as Detect Magic, but templar senses magic rather than seeing magical auras. Magic Resistance: 20% + 5% per level. Restrictions: forbidden to use magic of any sort; cannot associate with spellcasters.

Savant: ??? In d20, there is supplements providing classes and rules for technology; these would have to be adapted.

Crusader: Paladin without spells (i.e.: paladin as per C&C rules).

Warden: Ranger without spells (i.e.: ranger as per C&C rules).

[tkdco2]

Here are some ideas I had a while back. Feel free to use whatever you like.

[Turanil]

Here are some ideas I had a while back. Feel free to use whatever you like.

Okay. I will use it to develop the city-state of Zhalygia:

Zhalygia:

-- Zhalygia is today a city-state, isolated from the surrounding lands by its great fortified wall, but having contacts with the outside world through its port and ships. It once was the capital of a once-mighty empire, but the empire is no more but in name, having become lawless wilderness controlled by horde of gnolls that nonetheless do not dare attack the city. Zhalygia is still the city of splendors it was, but its corrupt and decadent inhabitants used to practice magic, have become few; the streets and palace of the city are often abandoned and falling in disrepair.

-- A cult dedicated to some god of death has become the state religion since the fall of the empire, and human sacrifice has become a common occurrence (although of slaves, visitors, captured strangers, etc. rather than Zhalygia proper citizens). The last emperor is the high priest of the cult; he has lived for centuries, and is responsible for the empire's downfall. He is insane, but the peple of Zhalygia still love and respect him for all his past deeds (he was a great hero) but some of them are starting questioning his motives.

-- Long ago, the empire defeated the serpentmen, and drove its last members into hiding (underground). However, these glorious days are long gone. Nowadays, everybody knows that serpentmen are now lurking the catacombs below the city. They are referred to as "those that dwell below, or those that slither..." The serpentmen waited for a long time, and plotted their revenge for centuries; now the revenge is close. It is said that the serpentmen are ruled by a queen who appears as a beautiful woman, but can turn into a serpent (i.e.: a yuan-ti that can shapechange).

-- The people of Zhalygia have been held in the belief that their god of death protects them from being overrun by the serpentmen. However, more and more people begin to suspect that no god at all protects them; instead, the emperor is sacrificing humans to the serpentmen, so they would spare the city. Yet, the truth is much more grim: The last emperor is actually a pureblood yuanti! One of his ancestors had unknowingly wedded a pureblood who corrupted him (and by extension, the empire). All their descendants were yuan-ti purebloods. But then, the serpentmen feel the time is right for them to get their revenge upon the empire, and upon all humans they have with a passion. The emperor doesn't feel like slaughtering all of the city's human inhabitants; however he will soon marry with a beautiful princess. This princess is in fact a yuan-ti pureblood who shapechange into a beautiful human maiden; she does exert a great amount of influence over the emperor and is further corrupting his already decadent and tyrannical rule of the empire. She plans to openly declare the serpentmen the true masters and inhabitants of the city after having gruesomely slaughtered all of the current populace.

[Turanil]

Again borrowed from your thread:

The bird people: There is a race of bird people (in fact Aarackokra). They were enemies of the serpentmen, and allied with the empire to overthrow them. However, the alliance was merely one of convenience. Once the serpentmen were overthrown, the bird people and the humans parted ways and have not interacted since. The heroes may need the help of the aarackokra or accidentally stumble upon their eyries. In either case, these will view the humans with suspicion, if not hostility.

Aarackokra would live on top of mountains. They would have access to the monk class (they wouldn't be of the Scarlet-brotherhood-like cult, but would practice their own tradition). Maybe this race can be used as PCs (the race has been given as a PC race in some 2e supplements, including POS&P).

[SmootRK]

Great map. I really like the style you utilize.

[tkdco2]

Awesome writeups!

[dosmil]

I like it!

What did you use to create the map?

[Turanil]

The map is first drawn using a pen and paper, then scanned and worked extensivey using photoshop.

That said, seeing the little success this thread got, I guess that most people don't much appreciate science-fantasy (old pulp technology mixed in a fantasy world). In any case, I see that it was a good idea to not develop this setting, as so few people are interested in it.

[dosmil]

Don't give up yet!

What are Tanith and Ush like?

[Turanil]

What are Tanith and Ush like?

Not thought about it yet. Of course, the few interested people could also provide ideas...

I guess we could have it as two cities opposed to each others, that have been conflicting for ages. On both sides, sorcerers have sent demons and armies attack the other, but until now, nobody prevailed, and the cities were never destroyed even if the inhabitants suffered.

9. Tanith: City of dark green stone, dedicated to a dreaded god of the sea (in fact Cthulhu under another name and less dreadful guise). The masters of the city (aboleths) live in the undercity, an extensive maze filled with water.

10. Ush: City of white marble towers, dedicated to a dreaded god of the air (in fact Hastur under another name and less dreadful guise). The masters of the city (either Beholders or Mind Flayers*) live in the top of the towers.

In both cities, the human inhabitants do not know who their rulers and masters are, and that they serve as slaves and food for them. In fact, military expeditions are great for this, as not only the two alien races can wage wars, but also eat the prisoners of war without too much awakening the inhabitants attention.

Well, any suggestion, addition, modification is of course welcome.
(*: since Hastur is traditionally depicted as a being relatively similar to Cthulhu, with lots of tentacles and living inside the lake of Hali, having Mind-flayers as worshipers should rather fit IMO. Some pic here.)

[Turanil]

Of course, there already have been great contributions on these forums, and I could use some of them before they totally fall into oblivion. For example the city of scorpion-men as described in this thread could be used for the small town around the Obsidian Tower.

[ckutalik]

The map is wonderful as all have said, and I definitely dig many of the pieces going into your stew.

The description of the dwarven bunker town reminded me somewhat tangentially of Ursula LeGuin's dwarves in her science fantasy novel, Rocannon's World.

[BroccoliRage]

I like your map alot.

It would be a real shame to not develope this further. Keep it up.

[Turanil]

Some new parts:

11. Windols Steppes: This vast region is mostly populated by goblinoid races. In the northern mountains and forests are found bugbears (the Windols, as inspired by the Wendols in the 13th Warrior movie). In the steppes themselves roam tribes of hobgoblins (the Huturl, as inspired by the Huns). Goblins live hidden in caverns, underground realms, etc. They are often raided by bugbear as a source of food, and as hobgoblins as slaves. Otherwise, all the three races pay their respect to Tsattoghua. The great demon-god is said to reside on the Bleak Spire, a lonely cold peak always surrounded by mists and clouds. Tsattoghua appears a giant white and furred toad demon (see pic here); for his servants and avatar, Hezrou demons should be appropriate. There is no church or cult per se, dedicated to Tsattoghua. Instead some people craving for magical power sometimes seek him (usually hobgoblins); if he accept to give them power, they become of the cleric class (but are considered some kind of sorcerers rather than priests). As a payment they will have to sacrifice one victim per level per month onto some sort of altar; failure to do so results in the cleric-sorcerer to be turned into an hideous mindless monster that will ravage the countryside until killed.

12. Winter Hall: This is the Vikings' city, that was originally built by giants long ago. Below the city is a great tomb in which lies the huge stone statue of a one-eyed giant. It is believed that the giant was once living, but eventually was turned to stone by the Drowned God. People in the city call him Wodan, and worship him as a local deity. Wodan, who is also called the "Storm God" is the enemy of the Drowned God.

The Drowned God is a grim deity of the sea, and some people whisper: a cult of Cthulhu in disguise. It is otherwise inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire:

The Drowned God

Worshipped solely by the Ironmen in Westeros, the Drowned God's domain is the sea. The religion of the Drowned God is old, dating back to before the Andal invasion. The Andal invaders of the Iron Islands converted to the local religion rather than supplant it with the Seven as they did in the South. The Drowned God religion supports the Ironmen's naval, Viking-like culture. They believe that the Drowned God created them to rape, reave, and carve out kingdoms. The Drowned God himself is believed to have brought flame from the sea and sailed the world with fire and sword. The eternal enemy of the Drowned God is called the Storm God.

Drowning and resurrection feature prominently in the prayers and rituals of the Drowned God religion. Drowning is the traditional method of execution for the Ironmen, but it is also considered a holy act, and the most faithful have no fear of it. Newborn are "drowned" shortly after birth, being submerged into or anointed with saltwater. Clergymen, called Drowned Men, are drowned a second time in earnest and brought back to life with a crude form of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Drowned Men wear roughspun robes of mottled green, grey, and blue. They carry driftwood cudgels to use in battle, and skins of saltwater to perform ritual anointments. A common prayer is, "What is dead can never die, but rises again, harder and stronger."

[tkdco2]

The map is first drawn using a pen and paper, then scanned and worked extensivey using photoshop.

That said, seeing the little success this thread got, I guess that most people don't much appreciate science-fantasy (old pulp technology mixed in a fantasy world). In any case, I see that it was a good idea to not develop this setting, as so few people are interested in it.

Don't be discouraged. I've developed settings that haven't been used much. Of course, I rarely game nowadays, so I put all my creative efforts into building worlds. Even if they don't get used much, it's a creative outlet to keep me from going nuts.

[Turanil]

13. The Dead Sea: This one is inspired by the real Dead Sea, but in the context of a grim fantasy setting.

So, long ago this inner sea began to evaporate. Nowadays, the Dead Sea's level is 1400 feet below sea level, and the sea is full of salt, ten times more than the oceans. There is no living creatures in the Dead Sea, but undead and supernatural beings (fiends, elementals) are common.

There once was a (corrupt and blasphemous) port-city on the shores of the Dead Sea, but it was destroyed "by the gods from the sky" (or supposedly a fleet of flying war-machines) long ago, and now its ruins are haunted. The port is empty, with ancient boats decaying on the ground. The seashore is now three miles away from the city.

In the salty desert surrounding the Dead Sea, are found some horrid creatures of Chaos. For example, the crawling leviathan. This hideous beast is a sort of undead giant killer whale, that crawls on the ground in search of living creatures to slay. Ghouls and fiends also roam these dreaded areas.

1) A Scarlet Brotherhood-inspired cult, of fighting-disciples who will eradicate mutants, blasphemy, etc., and kill sorcerers (1e monks are really effective at slaying magic-users). They are evil, probably opposed to the PCs, but they usually fight a greater evil.

Okay, this brotherhood is going to be the Issamnites, who are nicknamed by most people the "Gray Robes" because of their traditional garb.

The Issamnites are a sect striving for racial purity: they especially want to eradicate mutants (another PC race, based on Mutant Future rules) and humanoids perverted by Chaos / the Cthulhu mythos; this includes gnolls who are warped humanoids, orcs who are degenerated humans, and all goblinoids as they worship Tsattoghua. The Issamnites also hate sorcery (although they are pragmatic enough to keep some non-evil magical items when they find them) and seek the destruction of most magic-users. They only tolerate the few clerics of their community.

Issamnites travel far and wide for their discreet crusade, but their community is located in some (well protected) caverns near the Dead Sea, in an area protected by some ancient artifact of technology. When any creature enters the area, they are blasted with fire from far above in the sky. Only those who wear a special talisman (that cannot be reproduced by mundane nor magical means, but maybe by a savant expert in technology) are spared the Heaven's Fire that "protects the just". Only disciples are granted such a talisman. Those in the Issamnites community who don't get one (i.e.: everybody who is not a monk) must stay within the caverns or will be likewise targeted by Heaven's Fire.

Issamnites can either be males or females and marry among themselves only. All those who are apt will be trained into the Disciple path (Monk class), but the community of course has members who weren't up the strict regimen and end up other classes or zero-level. The disciples are the only ones who will leave the community and travel far away. It could be that they are on a quest of their own, seeking something special rather than just trying to eradicate those who do not fit their idea of racial purity.

[Turanil]

it's a creative outlet to keep me from going nuts.

Yeah, that' also what gets me creating stuff for rpg that likely will never (or very little) be used. I enjoy it as much as playing, where I cannot play much these days (lack of time and players).

[Turanil]

Chaos and warped creatures:

Many of the strange D&D creatures are not natural, but come from mad genetic-engineering from a distant past, or from chaos warping magic. Hence, a gelatinous cube has not been invented by nature, but it's a giant amoeba once created by mad scientists. Gnolls too are totally unnatural, they result from a curse, where their distant forebears were humans (a whole city) who were granted this new aspect by some demon-gods.

Then, many of the evil supernatural critters such as minotaurs, harpies, lamias or medusas, originally were humanoid servants of the dark chaos gods (Cthulhu mythos) who have been "elevated" to a "higher status" by their horrid masters. Often, these creatures will not age, only dying from violent death. They now act as leaders and priests among mortal humanoids. Sometimes whole communities or nations will be warped, such as orcs, for instance, who were humans who devolved to a more bestial nature because of their worship of the mad gods. However, becoming a harpy/minotaur/etc. is reserved only to faithful servants, and are meant to be a mark of nobility, where normal humans as they stand, are considered despicable cattle.

Note however, that this doesn't apply to all weird creatures. For example, Aboleths, Beholders and Mind-flayers are in fact alien species from distant worlds who came to this planet in some unknown fashion (it is suspected that they came through great gates across the void of space, that can open only when the "stars are right"). There is also a few races that are considered natural on this planet, such as the Winged Folk (Aarackokra).

[tkdco2]

You can also rule that some of the stranger creatures, especially the more powerful ones, are unique monsters. Fighting the Minotaur would be more memorable than fighting a minotaur. Some creatures could also be summoned from the Underworld (even if they are native to the Prime Material Plane in other AD&D campaigns), which would add to their mystique.

[Turanil]

Sure, with the so many monsters that were created for AD&D, many could be a unique occurrence. The minotaur is a good example; there wouldn't be necessary only one, but they would be very few, not a race able to reproduce over the ages, only humanoids transformed by some powerful curse or magic.

Otherwise, I forgot to add that fiends, demons and elementals remain supernatural and extraplanar species of their own. Just they do not naturally belong to the mortal world. Many are bound into the underworld, and can be summoned by wizards.

Overall I am aiming toward a Lovecraftian feel in this setting, but wanted to rationalize a few things. I think that having gnolls (and the like) having been humanoids warped by Chaos in the past, rather than just another bipedal race that roams the land, adds to th flavor. Less vanilla fantasy, more grim sword and sorcery. At least, this is what I hope.

[Turanil]

Okay, I adapted this logo made a while ago.



And then, there is this drawing. At first I made a regular female mage studying her spellbook. But then, the face was flawed, and finally the whole picture looked boring. As such I did redraw another face (added with photoshop), but of mind-flayer to have something less usual. In any case, this should be perfect in a PDF of that setting. Why not, I could finally complete it someday, but will remain a succinct setting (not too much detail, GMs who per chance would use it, will have to fill in the blanks and create the details).

[Turanil]

A quick sketch to see what could be done...

[Grim]

A quick sketch to see what could be done...

I like this as-is.

[Greyharp]

This is all fantastic stuff Turanil, I encourage to keep going. In the last 6 to 12 months I have been inspired by threads on the Original D&D Discusion forum, and blogs like Grognardia and World of Thool, not to mention the Fight On! zine, delving into the literature that inspired the creators of our beloved game. You have managed to pull all these various elements together into one setting and I believe it is a project that deserves to be finished. I hope you do so as it's certainly a world I would love to game in.

[Turanil]

Thanks for the encouragements!

I might go on after all. However, I am already working on a simulacrum game, so this is going to take much time before completion. I have also strongly considered using existing campaign setting material from OGL and Creative Commons sources, to speed up the process...

By the way, that would be useful to know what are the various important info in a campaign setting, apart from descriptions of places and cities.

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Beyond The Map:

The map obviously represents a very small part of the planet. So, one will quickly wonder what lies beyond. In fact there is definitely no plan to ever describe the whole world, except for the following, vague general outline:

-- Humans have, in all probability, almost disappeared from the planet. They are only found in this small western portion of the continent. There is probably other continents, who knows. So elsewhere are found non-human sentient races.

-- Southern continent (south beyond the land of Keloth): vast desert of burning sands. In fact, it's even possible to put Dark Sun in there! Otherwise, there are found the last crumbling remains of antique civilization of lizardfolk / dragonmen. These were (and still are) in fact dire enemies of the serpentmen (yuan-tis), and not allies.

-- Elsewhere: three races of giant insects occupy the vast expense of polluted wastelands, deserts, savannas, and what not. They are the Tri-Kreen, Scorpionmen and Formians (a creature that appeared in 3e). For sme reason they don't seem to bother come and see what happens in the "known world" of humans.

-- Many mountains beyond: it appears that the Winged Folk (Aarackokra) are not only found in the mountains of the known world, but also in high places far away.

[Zulgyan]

Hey, good pics!

[Greyharp]

By the way, that would be useful to know what are the various important info in a campaign setting, apart from descriptions of places and cities.

I would go a brief history of the world of Zhultoom, with emphasis on "brief", so as to leave it open for GM's to personalise it as much as possible. Perhaps a page-worth covering both ancient and recent history. Maybe some short sections discussing politics, typical settlements and population, travel, races, languages, and organisations (religious and secular). Perhaps a section dealing with adventuring advice, money, rumours, inns and taverns, and random encounters. Avoiding a calendar is good idea I think, as that seems to put some folks off using some products, especially if it's too radically different from what they use in their current campaign. (Some people seem to feel an obligation to use everything within a setting.)

I quite like the way the Greyhawk folio does things - a sentence or short paragraph for each geographical feature, and the layout of the gazetteer section with countries detailed by name, ruler's title and class, capital city's name and population, nation's population including rough non-human numbers, and major resources. It's amazing how such a lot of stuff can be covered in a small amount of space.