Blurb from the Player's Guide
Return to Main Site: To Wander Beneath A Far Star
The Wilderlands setting details an area slightly smaller than the Mediterranean sea and surrounding lands [I use 15-mile hexes instead of the default 5-mile hexes, so triple that size---JS]. Unlike many current published settings where everything has been discovered and most of the world is known, the Wilderlands are largely unexplored and overland travel is dangerous. There are few "nations." Instead the lands are dominated by "city states", principal [published typo corrected---JFS] among them being the City State of the Invincible Overlord and Viridistand, the City of Spices---also known as the City State of the World Emperor. The City State of the Invincible Overlord so dominates the Wilderlands that many campaigns run in this setting are often called City State Campaigns.
Though the the civilization of the Wilderlands centers mostly on the largest city states: Viridistan, the City State of the Imperial Overlord, Tarantis, Valon, Rallu, and Tula, these locations are small in comparison to the vast forests, expansive plains, open seas, trackless deserts, imposing mountains, and wild rivers. The light of civilization in the Wilderlands is a dim spark aginst the dark wilds.
The Wilderlands is a setting in decline. Long ago empires covered the region. But great wars, with the gods themselves fighting alongside men, [have] reduced the splendor of those past civilizations, leaving them in ruins. The most recent such war was the War of the Pious and Philosophers, pitting the followers of magic against the followers of science. That war was some 6000 years ago (though that debate is disputed). Cities that do exist today are generally built on the sites of ancient cities, some among the ruins themselves. Broken roads, curmbled walls, sunken buildings, and half-ruined towers dot the landscape, a constant reminder of the faded past.
Life the Wilderlands can be summed up for the average commoner as follows: solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. The average life expectancy is twenty years unless onle lives in a walled city or town such as the City State, Viridistan, Thunderhold, Modron, Warwik, or other large cities, in which it is only a little higher. Almost all HUman families produce at least ten children, of whom two or three may live long enough to produce children of their own.
In the wilderness villages, wandering monsters and raids of nomads, brigands, and various humanoid species...are the bane of many. Rampant, unchecked disease is common to both walled city and wilderness village; so is infant mortality. The dangers of wandering monsters are lessened in a walled city or town, but the concentration of people in a small area leads to a high crime rate and poor sanitation. [. T]herefore, instead of being slain by a marauding dragon, a city dweller may have his throat slit for the contents of his purse. Few men manage to live past the ripe old age of thirty-five, and the fact that a man is fifty or sixty years old indicates great wisdom on his part (or an incredible run of luck).
Welcome to the Wilderlands, where life is cheap, travel is dangerous, and a strong sword arm is worth more than a purse full of gold!
Citation: Bledsaw, Bob, et al. Player's Guide to the Wilderlands. [City of Publication Uknown]: Necromancer Games/Judges Guild, 2003. 2-3. [Minor grammar and syntax errors corrected in some places by JS.]
