Difference between revisions of "LetsBuild5e:Questions"

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===History and Mythology===
 
===History and Mythology===
−
 
−
'''Which of the following propositions do you support or oppose?'''
 
−
 
−
1: All gods have flexible genders, depending on context.<br />
 
−
2: The gods have many names - several for each culture in which they're worshipped.<br />
 
−
3: The humans and orcs of the Old Imperial culture and its successors in the magocracies mostly depict the gods as heroic orcs and humans, except that the Trickster is usually shown as a dark elf or other non-orc, non-human.<br />
 
−
4: The steppe tribes avoid direct depictions of the gods, and instead depict their regalia or other inanimate attributes.<br />
 
−
5: Traditional dwarvish culture holds that a god may be depicted in any form, but it is the written or carved name of the deity that makes it a meaningful depiction.<br />
 
−
6: Traditional gnomish culture favours ostenatious and complex depictions of the gods, often using heroic statues completely covered with names, praise-names and hymns to the relevant deity.<br />
 
−
7: The halflings use a system, developed by the steppe halflings, where each god is represented almost exclusively by a simple pictogram derived from the steppe tribes' symbolism for the gods.<br />
 
−
8: The predominant elven culture is iconophobic: direct depictions of the gods are forbidden - even their names are only written in specific contexts - but songs and recitations are used widely to refer to and praise the gods.<br />
 
−
9: It is unknown to non-dragonborn whether the dragonborn even worship the same gods as the warm-blooded species.<br />
 
−
10: The insect-people have a lifestyle that is mysterious to outsiders: it appears highly ritualised, but no conventional religious observance has ever been noted.<br />
 
  
 
===Geography===
 
===Geography===
  
−
'''Which of the following propositions for filling out the map do you support or oppose?'''
+
===Politics and Society===
  
−
1: The starting city is in the triangle at the southwest corner of the map, between the mountains, the hills, and the edge of the steppe.<br />
+
'''How do thieves' guilds fit into the setting?'''
−
2: The starting city is in the centre of the map, between the two large river forks.<br />
 
−
3: The starting city is by the smaller river fork in the north of the map, close to the mountains.<br />
 
−
4: The elven trade capital is at the most northerly of the river mouths in the northeast corner.<br />
 
−
5: The elves have a separate administrative capital where the second river down passes from the hill country to the coastal plain.<br />
 
−
6: An independent nation has its capital at the river fork at the extreme right centre of the map.<br />
 
−
7: The nation of Wáyéhì speakers where (some of) the central bard colleges are is about two map-widths east of the northeast corner of the map.<br />
 
−
8: The mountain orc kingdom is the triangle in the southwest corner, and has its current capital on the river, halfway from the foothills to the falls.<br />
 
−
9: There are small dwarf-majority nations (with dragonborn enclaves) along almost every river as it passes through the foothills on the eastern side of the great mountains.<br />
 
−
10: The cloud-ringed peak in the northwest is believed by the locals to be the world's highest mountain, and is revered as an axis mundi.<br />
 
−
11: Beyond the mountains to the west is an extensive basin-and-range system with many salt lakes and pocket deserts; it's not widely known how far beyond it the next ocean is.<br />
 
−
12: The steppes are about one map-height wide; in the far south they turn to tundra and taiga, beyond which is a high ice sheet.<br />
 
  
−
===Politics and Society===
+
(Question from Metal Fatigue)
  
−
'''How prevalent are the various PC classes?'''
+
1: Every city has one; they enforce a monopoly on crime by means of violence.<br />
−
 
+
2: Some cities have organized thieves' guilds, while others do not.<br />
−
Players have 19 points each to assign to the 12 classes in the Player's Handbook.
+
3: "Guild" is a misnomer—they're more like criminal gangs, competing for territory.<br />
 +
4: Most crime is unorganized, with gangs or "guilds" covering only specific rackets (such as protection).<br />
  
 
===Miscellaneous===
 
===Miscellaneous===
  
−
'''Which of the following propositions do you agree with?'''
 
−
 
−
1: Barbarian totem warriors revere fey nature spirits who manifest as animals.<br />
 
−
2: Barbarian totem warriors revere semi-divine ancestors who embodied specific virtues.<br />
 
−
3: All monastic orders are philosophical in nature; none of them specifically reveres a spirit or deity.<br />
 
−
4: The Four Elements monks were outlawed by the magocracy along with the bards.<br />
 
−
5: The Four Elements monks were covertly backed by the magocracy to provide spies and street-fighters.<br />
 
−
6: Druids worship nature as an abstract force.<br />
 
−
7: Druids are the leading clergy of one or more minor nature deities.<br />
 
−
8: A lot of Moon Druids are elves, especially wood elves trying to promote natural forest growth.<br />
 
−
9: A lot of Land Druids are halflings, trying to make the land more fruitful.<br />
 
−
10: The Paladin Oath of the Ancients is usually administered by the druid circles.<br />
 
−
11: The Oath of Righteousness is usually made to one or several gods.<br />
 
−
12: The Oath of Vengeance isn't really fully understood by anyone - it's on a par with oracles for 'mysterious spiritual stuff'.<br />
 
−
13: The Bardic College of Valor stems from the Old Empire, and is heavily dominated by orcs and half-orcs.<br />
 
−
14: The Bardic College of Lore is an ancient organization, claiming descent from before the last flip, and has very stringent requirements in order for a member to be declared a "master".<br />
 
−
15: The Barbarian Path of the Berserker is whispered to be a curse from the Elder Dragon God on the unruly children of the younger gods, twisted into a blessing by the barbarians. If they did not go mad from time to time, it is said, all humanoids would be slightly more prone to anger and violence, which might be enough to push civilization over the edge.<br />
 
−
16: Fighters with the Champion Archetype usually hark back to the great martial masters of the Old Empire, who devoted their lives to becoming superlative masters of one form of fighting.<br />
 
−
17: The Mage Guilds created the Eldritch Knight Fighter Archetype, training the most intelligence of their mercenary leaders with some magic as well.<br />
 
−
18: The Way of the Open Palm monk order is originally an elven tradition, teaching its adherents to achieve enlightenment by eschewing all unnecessary material possessions, which includes teaching them to use their body alone as the greatest weapon. The drow took the teachings to the steppes with them, however, and now many small monasteries on the steppes teach this art as a means of furthering self-reliance.<br />
 
−
19: The Arcane Trickster rogue archetype is very new, having developed in the years leading up to the rebellion as dissidents tried to learn arcane magic to defend against the wizards.<br />
 
−
20: Wild Magic origin sorcerers are extremely new and rare (as opposed to draconic bloodline sorcerers, who are common as dirt). The Wild Magic origin sorcerers just started showing up within the last year, after the rebellion. Most people think of them as just something new and weird, but some elves claim they're an omen of bad things coming, linking them to elven legends about the fall of their empire on the other side.<br />
 
−
21: The Oath of Vengeance is generally understood to be a twisted blessing from the Trickster on those who swear revenge with sufficient passion.<br />
 
  
 
[[LetsBuild5e:Main Page|Back to main]]
 
[[LetsBuild5e:Main Page|Back to main]]
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===History and Mythology===
 
===History and Mythology===
  
−
'''Which monsters are culturally signficant?'''
+
'''What are the names of the gods and heroes of legend?'''
  
 
===Geography===
 
===Geography===
−
 
−
'''Are there volcanoes and earthquakes in this setting?'''
 
  
 
===Politics and Society===
 
===Politics and Society===
  
−
'''What do people think about "adventurers"?'''
+
===Miscellaneous===
  
−
(Question from Kelly Pedersen and Metal Fatigue)
+
'''What rumours are current?'''
  
−
1: It's not only considered deeply, deeply weird to make a job out of getting in trouble, people actively dislike adventurers because they only show up when there's trouble, or else to screw up the local economy by dumping a hoard of old coins and other valuables onto the market.<br />
+
(I've italicised the element of each rumour that would need to be true; the rest could be true or false.)
−
2: People have adventurers, but people think it's deeply, deeply weird to make it your job. Almost no one does.<br />
 
−
3: It's recognized that you can make something of a living as a wandering problem-solver and tomb-raider, but it's pretty uncommon. People may look at you suspiciously.<br />
 
−
4: It's a reasonably common profession, at least in relation to its risk. No one's very surprised when you tell them you're an adventurer, though they might mention they'd never do it themselves.<br />
 
−
5: It's such a common occupation that it's at least somewhat formalized - there are adventurers' associations who help their membership, shops that cater specifically or even exclusively to adventurers, and other elements of society designed around them.<br />
 
−
6: It's a full-blown cultural institution. There's a Guild of Adventurers, the leaders of nation have Official Questors, and you can go to Adventurer's School to learn to be the best adventurer you can be.<br />
 
  
−
===Miscellaneous===
+
* ''According to street gossip just before the revolution'', the mages were planning to raid the city's cemeteries to turn the bodies into undead labourers.
 +
* ''According to the popular interpretation of a recent gnomish apocalypse'', the sides of the world change places when the gods are sickened by mortal civilisation, and let chief-fiend wreak chaos.
 +
* ''According to popular superstition'', bodies that are not properly buried in hallowed, marked graves can rise as mindless undead; when the flip approaches, this happens everywhere at once.
 +
* ''According to the elvish irredentists'', the flip is brought about by cultural weakness, which is why it is so urgent to re-establish the elven empire without the flaws it possessed before.
 +
* ''According to someone in the tavern'' there are several villas in the city which have not been opened since the mages who owned them died in the revolution; they could be full of treasure, or just magical traps.
 +
* ''The steppe nomads will not accept silver coinage; according to rumours in countries further north'', that's because many of them are lycanthropes.
 +
* ''According to a half-elven sage'', the world flips sides because the gods cannot control it; their pact with chief-fiend prevents them stabilising it properly.
 +
* ''According to gossip among former mage students'', the world flipped because someone spoke its true name in the Divine Language; be careful with your Old Mystic in case you do the same thing by accident.
 +
* ''According to a bard who left town last week'', the half-orc woman who calls herself the heir of the conqueror is only missing one piece of the imperial regalia; she'll pay handsomely if anyone can get it for her.
 +
* ''According to a drunken elf who had to be prevented from jumping off the wall'', the dwarves have already begun abandoning their holdings in order to begin the journey to the far side.
 +
* ''According to a ragged preacher who wanders the slums'', the insect-people have betrayed the warm-blooded races; the earthworks will not stand.
 +
* ''According to dwarven workers in the marketplace'', a major mine of some sort of precious resource (gold, silver, gems, or more magical substances) is somewhere in the mountains to the west, its location lost after its discoverer died without telling anyone where it is.
 +
* ''It's whispered by priestly novitiates'' that the gods have once again taken on mortal forms and are wandering the world, most notably the Trickster, the Love deity, and the Scholar deity.
  
−
'''What features and facilities does the starting city have?'''
+
'''Do your characters know each other? If so, how?'''
  
 
[[LetsBuild5e:Main Page|Back to main]]
 
[[LetsBuild5e:Main Page|Back to main]]
Line 100: Line 59:
 
===History and Mythology===
 
===History and Mythology===
  
−
===Geography===
+
'''How universal are historical/legendary figures?'''
 +
 
 +
1: Every culture has its own, with no obvious relations between them.<br />
 +
2: Every culture has several unique cultural figures, but there are a few that have obvious parallels in other cultures.<br />
 +
3: Most cultural figures have obvious analogs in other cultures, though with different names and often different roles.<br />
 +
4: Essentially all cultural figures are shared. Though each culture has their own names for them, their roles in the stories and histories are basically the same.<br />
 +
5: All cultures have the same cultural figures, right down to the same names.<br />
  
−
'''How many other nations immediately border the starting nation?'''
+
'''What legendary artefacts are believed to exist?'''
  
−
===Politics and Society===
+
* The trappings of the old empire: the weapons and armour of the emperor, presumably something suitably archaic (to the current era) like a bronze spear and shield.<br />
 +
* The original seat of power - a stone of Scone type deal.<br />
 +
* The dwarven map of the underworld which they used to travel during the last flip - carved into a series of stone tablets and sealed into an ark of the covenant style casket.<br />
 +
* The legendary halfling cornucopia - which they say fed them during a time of famine.<br />
 +
* The elven compass - the only one known in this setting which magically charts the route to the safe way to navigate the falls at the edge. Currently kept on board the flagship of the elven boat-city.<br />
 +
* The original tome in which the folk hero wrote the words stolen from the divine tongue. Kept locked away as just to look upon those words will drive most mortals insane.<br />
 +
* Sacred items of the dragonborn, said to come from the hoard of the last true dragon (many counterfeit items also exist, only certain dragonborn priests know how to tell the real from the fake artifacts).<br />
 +
* A magical conch shell, said to be the first ever musical instrument & held in the main bardic college in the country where wayehi hails from. It is said that if you hold it to your ear you can hear the echoes of the song that created the world, but also that if you blow on it in a time of great need then the ghost of one of the great folk heroes will appear to guide you.<br />
 +
* The girdle of the Trickster. Appears to be a simple rope belt. Magical identification reveals it to be a cursed belt of gender changing. In fact it is neither of these and putting on the belt actually has the same effect as if a card were picked at random from a Deck of Many Things (the gender changing ID is actually an epic level casting of ''Nystul's Magical Aura'' with ''Permanancy'').<br />
  
−
'''How do thieves' guilds fit into the setting?'''
+
===Geography===
  
−
(Question from Metal Fatigue)
+
'''What sort of natural resources are there?'''
  
−
1: Every city has one; they enforce a monopoly on crime by means of violence.<br />
+
1: Strictly ones found on Earth: wood, iron, marble, etc.<br />
−
2: Some cities have organized thieves' guilds, while others do not.<br />
+
2: Mostly mundane resources, but there are one or two unusual and special ones as well - orichalcum, magic crystals, never-cooling lava, whatever.<br />
−
3: "Guild" is a misnomer—they're more like criminal gangs, competing for territory.<br />
+
3: Mundane resources exist, but they also have magical versions scattered about - iron has cold iron deposits mixed in, there are "dryad oak" trees that are unusually tough/self-regenerating, and so on.<br />
−
4: Most crime is unorganized, with gangs or "guilds" covering only specific rackets (such as protection).<br />
+
4: There are mundane resources and a whole bunch of special resources that aren't necessarily tied to a mundane type - all of the examples from 2, and more, can be found and utilized.<br />
 +
5: There are mundane resources, magical variants of them, and non-variant special resources.<br />
 +
6: There's no such thing as "mundane" resources - every material has some potential magical properties: iron naturally damages fey and inhibits magic, ice contains spirits of cold that can be unleashed to freeze an area, oak wood can absorb blood and grow to heal itself, and so forth.<br />
  
−
===Miscellaneous===
+
'''What is the state of seafaring and maritime trade?'''
  
−
'''What rumours are current?'''
+
===Politics and Society===
  
−
(I've italicised the element of each rumour that would need to be true; the rest could be true or false.)
+
===Miscellaneous===
  
−
* ''According to street gossip just before the revolution'', the mages were planning to raid the city's cemeteries to turn the bodies into undead labourers.
 
−
* ''According to the popular interpretation of a recent gnomish apocalypse'', the sides of the world change places when the gods are sickened by mortal civilisation, and let chief-fiend wreak chaos.
 
−
* ''According to popular superstition'', bodies that are not properly buried in hallowed, marked graves can rise as mindless undead; when the flip approaches, this happens everywhere at once.
 
−
* ''According to the elvish irredentists'', the flip is brought about by cultural weakness, which is why it is so urgent to re-establish the elven empire without the flaws it possessed before.
 
−
* ''According to someone in the tavern'' there are several villas in the city which have not been opened since the mages who owned them died in the revolution; they could be full of treasure, or just magical traps.
 
−
* ''The steppe nomads will not accept silver coinage; according to rumours in countries further north'', that's because many of them are lycanthropes.
 
−
* ''According to a half-elven sage'', the world flips sides because the gods cannot control it; their pact with chief-fiend prevents them stabilising it properly.
 
−
* ''According to gossip among former mage students'', the world flipped because someone spoke its true name in the Divine Language; be careful with your Old Mystic in case you do the same thing by accident.
 
−
* ''According to a bard who left town last week'', the half-orc woman who calls herself the heir of the conqueror is only missing one piece of the imperial regalia; she'll pay handsomely if anyone can get it for her.
 
−
* ''According to a drunken elf who had to be prevented from jumping off the wall'', the dwarves have already begun abandoning their holdings in order to begin the journey to the far side.
 
−
* ''According to a ragged preacher who wanders the slums'', the insect-people have betrayed the warm-blooded races; the earthworks will not stand.
 
−
* ''According to dwarven workers in the marketplace'', a major mine of some sort of precious resource (gold, silver, gems, or more magical substances) is somewhere in the mountains to the west, its location lost after its discoverer died without telling anyone where it is.
 
−
* ''It's whispered by priestly novitiates'' that the gods have once again taken on mortal forms and are wandering the world, most notably the Trickster, the Love deity, and the Scholar deity.
 
  
 
[[LetsBuild5e:Main Page|Back to main]]
 
[[LetsBuild5e:Main Page|Back to main]]

Revision as of 09:26, 14 September 2015

Currently voting

History and Mythology

Geography

Politics and Society

How do thieves' guilds fit into the setting?

(Question from Metal Fatigue)

1: Every city has one; they enforce a monopoly on crime by means of violence.
2: Some cities have organized thieves' guilds, while others do not.
3: "Guild" is a misnomer—they're more like criminal gangs, competing for territory.
4: Most crime is unorganized, with gangs or "guilds" covering only specific rackets (such as protection).

Miscellaneous

Back to main

Open for discussion

History and Mythology

What are the names of the gods and heroes of legend?

Geography

Politics and Society

Miscellaneous

What rumours are current?

(I've italicised the element of each rumour that would need to be true; the rest could be true or false.)

  • According to street gossip just before the revolution, the mages were planning to raid the city's cemeteries to turn the bodies into undead labourers.
  • According to the popular interpretation of a recent gnomish apocalypse, the sides of the world change places when the gods are sickened by mortal civilisation, and let chief-fiend wreak chaos.
  • According to popular superstition, bodies that are not properly buried in hallowed, marked graves can rise as mindless undead; when the flip approaches, this happens everywhere at once.
  • According to the elvish irredentists, the flip is brought about by cultural weakness, which is why it is so urgent to re-establish the elven empire without the flaws it possessed before.
  • According to someone in the tavern there are several villas in the city which have not been opened since the mages who owned them died in the revolution; they could be full of treasure, or just magical traps.
  • The steppe nomads will not accept silver coinage; according to rumours in countries further north, that's because many of them are lycanthropes.
  • According to a half-elven sage, the world flips sides because the gods cannot control it; their pact with chief-fiend prevents them stabilising it properly.
  • According to gossip among former mage students, the world flipped because someone spoke its true name in the Divine Language; be careful with your Old Mystic in case you do the same thing by accident.
  • According to a bard who left town last week, the half-orc woman who calls herself the heir of the conqueror is only missing one piece of the imperial regalia; she'll pay handsomely if anyone can get it for her.
  • According to a drunken elf who had to be prevented from jumping off the wall, the dwarves have already begun abandoning their holdings in order to begin the journey to the far side.
  • According to a ragged preacher who wanders the slums, the insect-people have betrayed the warm-blooded races; the earthworks will not stand.
  • According to dwarven workers in the marketplace, a major mine of some sort of precious resource (gold, silver, gems, or more magical substances) is somewhere in the mountains to the west, its location lost after its discoverer died without telling anyone where it is.
  • It's whispered by priestly novitiates that the gods have once again taken on mortal forms and are wandering the world, most notably the Trickster, the Love deity, and the Scholar deity.

Do your characters know each other? If so, how?

Back to main

Coming soon

History and Mythology

How universal are historical/legendary figures?

1: Every culture has its own, with no obvious relations between them.
2: Every culture has several unique cultural figures, but there are a few that have obvious parallels in other cultures.
3: Most cultural figures have obvious analogs in other cultures, though with different names and often different roles.
4: Essentially all cultural figures are shared. Though each culture has their own names for them, their roles in the stories and histories are basically the same.
5: All cultures have the same cultural figures, right down to the same names.

What legendary artefacts are believed to exist?

  • The trappings of the old empire: the weapons and armour of the emperor, presumably something suitably archaic (to the current era) like a bronze spear and shield.
  • The original seat of power - a stone of Scone type deal.
  • The dwarven map of the underworld which they used to travel during the last flip - carved into a series of stone tablets and sealed into an ark of the covenant style casket.
  • The legendary halfling cornucopia - which they say fed them during a time of famine.
  • The elven compass - the only one known in this setting which magically charts the route to the safe way to navigate the falls at the edge. Currently kept on board the flagship of the elven boat-city.
  • The original tome in which the folk hero wrote the words stolen from the divine tongue. Kept locked away as just to look upon those words will drive most mortals insane.
  • Sacred items of the dragonborn, said to come from the hoard of the last true dragon (many counterfeit items also exist, only certain dragonborn priests know how to tell the real from the fake artifacts).
  • A magical conch shell, said to be the first ever musical instrument & held in the main bardic college in the country where wayehi hails from. It is said that if you hold it to your ear you can hear the echoes of the song that created the world, but also that if you blow on it in a time of great need then the ghost of one of the great folk heroes will appear to guide you.
  • The girdle of the Trickster. Appears to be a simple rope belt. Magical identification reveals it to be a cursed belt of gender changing. In fact it is neither of these and putting on the belt actually has the same effect as if a card were picked at random from a Deck of Many Things (the gender changing ID is actually an epic level casting of Nystul's Magical Aura with Permanancy).

Geography

What sort of natural resources are there?

1: Strictly ones found on Earth: wood, iron, marble, etc.
2: Mostly mundane resources, but there are one or two unusual and special ones as well - orichalcum, magic crystals, never-cooling lava, whatever.
3: Mundane resources exist, but they also have magical versions scattered about - iron has cold iron deposits mixed in, there are "dryad oak" trees that are unusually tough/self-regenerating, and so on.
4: There are mundane resources and a whole bunch of special resources that aren't necessarily tied to a mundane type - all of the examples from 2, and more, can be found and utilized.
5: There are mundane resources, magical variants of them, and non-variant special resources.
6: There's no such thing as "mundane" resources - every material has some potential magical properties: iron naturally damages fey and inhibits magic, ice contains spirits of cold that can be unleashed to freeze an area, oak wood can absorb blood and grow to heal itself, and so forth.

What is the state of seafaring and maritime trade?

Politics and Society

Miscellaneous

Back to main

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