The 10 things the average person knows in the Lands of Legend

I make references to my setting on this blog but today I realised I never went in detail. Today I am rectifying that. It is a fantasy setting, a "too high" fantasy setting. 

An early map of a continent. (from 6+years ago)
 

1. There was an apocalypse that wiped out the people before us. Their marvels lie in ruin and writhe against magic. Gods, powerful spirits and very few ancient lizard folk were there when the apocalypse was happening and they keep the events to themselves. There is no knowledge before the sky ripped in two and magic poured on the land. 

2. The apocalypse brought magic to the mortals. When the mortal survivors saw the old world collapse, Mana made itself known. It floated from the sky and gave the people a way to survive a cruel new world. There is now so much magic, the world is drowning in it.

3. The gods shattered into thousands of pieces. Now they walk the earth, a fragment of what they used to be. You can find them in the small and quiet places of the world. 

4. Promises, tradition and rituals hold more power than any blade. The supernatural and the natural operate on laws and customs no mortal is ever allowed to know. The wilds are a mystery that shouldn't be investigated.

5. Monsters come from a underworld, a creature so large, it warps the laws of space and time inside of itself. They are filled with emotions, dreams and nightmares of mortals. Those who go into the mythic underworld leave as cautionary tales or sagas of myths and tales. 

6. Violence is rare, as bloodshed begun the apocalypse and forgiveness ended it. 

7. The world is new, where empires are beginning and most people want to build a world that doesn't repeat the mistakes of their ancestors.

8. Technology is advancing where the Great Cities are connected by rail and great balloons can dot the sky like clouds. 

9. The greatest evil in the Lands of Legend is the exploitation. Mortals don't see the suffering that causes their short term gains. 

10. The people you pity are the Hanged. The Hanged are those that broke their promises, dug too deep or thought their power would always be by their side. They are husks, hollow and trapped in a body they can't escape.

From Sly Flourish

I find making too many large scale decisions very difficult but I have done deep dives and thinking on individual aspects of the setting that these ten things are true. This setting is heavily inspired by Eberron with bits of Golarion, Forgotten Realms, Fallout in there. Another huge inspiration is the Mario, Kirby and Legend of Zelda series where the environment is happy and hopeful but they occasionally stop and do some existential dread (especially in Kirby games). Lastly the book series Beast Quest (particularly 1-10 and 41-50) was a strong inspiration for the setting. 

 

This setting has grown and evolved as I have. I found a map (pictured above) yesterday from when I was around 12 set in the Lands of Legend. The setting has it's own system that I cobbled together over time. A final note on the setting is that it's not grimdark, but there are dark elements to it. If it's not clear, hope and forgiveness are the kind of thing I like to see in my setting. There is still room for fighting and evil creatures but I hate violence and combat so my settings don't encourage violence. Also as I am writing this the real world feels more and more like a grimdark setting so i would like a change of pace.

Clickables

Knicks and Knacks packs a light discussion on inventory 

Vaults of Zin stacks the stats and talks about status conditions  

Garamondia makes some Xcom style enemies 

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