Fear To Tread

Ninevehn's 5E D&D game.

Chargen

• Races
  • Dwarf. Short, rugged people with a talent for metal and stone work.
  • Elf. Tall and pointy-eared, with a mystical bent.
  • Halfling. Short and less rugged, but sensible and optimistic.
  • Human. You know what these are.
  • Dragonborn. Metallic-scaled descendents of Bahamut.
  • Gnome. Dimunitive herders and crafters, with a penchant for clockwork and devices.
  • Half-Elf. Rare mix of human and elf.
  • Half-Orc. Represents both civilized orcs and their human hybrids.
  • Tiefling. Humans tainted by their ancestors' pact with Asmodeus. Often nobility.

• Classes
  • Barbarian. Mighty thews, giant axes and berserking. Mostly melee striker with some tank.
  • Bard. Singers, loremasters and manipulators. Mostly healers with some control via enchantments and illusions.
  • Cleric. The followers of their chosen god. Healing casters with some tank and melee.
  • Druid. Followers of an older, primal magic. They heal, do animal stuff, shapeshift and have a decent mix of spells.
  • Fighter. Masters of war. They're very flexible, with options for tank, melee, ranged, buffs, control and even some wizard spells.
  • Monk. Disciplined warriors of the empty fist. They're self-sufficient, do solid melee damage and have a lot of interesting abilities.
  • Paladin. Righteous warriors and defenders. Melee tanks with some cleric casting and healing.
  • Ranger. Patrollers of the wild places. They're flexible scouts with some druid-like spells and mixed melee/ranged options. Can have a beast ally.
  • Rogue. Sneaks and backstabbers. Stealth, lock-picking and mixed melee/ranged game, with a wizard-casting option.
  • Sorcerer. Natural spellcasters. They're mostly damage spells, with tricks for customizing their spells on the fly.
  • Warlock. Make pacts with things from beyond your world! Mix of melee and offensive casting, with spell buffs and a potential familiar.
  • Wizard. The learned caster. They have a great deal of utility magic, as well as solid control and damage.

Triple Alliance

History

Halflings brought savage orcish and human tribes together under one banner to defend each other against the chromatic dragons. Over centuries, this union has created an intermingled culture and population that is both vibrant and strong.

The final turning point in the War Against Dragons is central to the current state of the Triple Alliance. Despite heroic efforts and generations of fighting and sacrifice, the alliance was unable to break the power of the dragons, largely because any time they got close, Tiamat would descend from the heavens and incinerate everything. In desperation, many of the human leaders joined a secret cabal to find the power necessary to keep The Queen of Dragons out of the fight. They found the answer in the dark flames of Hell, and made pacts with fiendish powers up to Asmodeus himself, pacts that altered their very flesh and blood. They wielded the terrible power they'd bought to curse Tiamat, sending her crashing from the skies and crawling back to her island in tatters. At this moment, the paladins of Bahamut struck, not at the Queen, but at the human nobles, bringing them low before the evil they'd sold their souls for could infect the world. They spared the children of these nobles, and from them are the tieflings descended. This act of seeming betrayal is known as the Sacrifice of Saints, and is generally accepted in the stories to have been a fate the infernal nobles planned on.

Demographics

• 30% Halfling
• 30% Human
• 30% Orc
• 4% Tiefling
• 2% Dwarf
• 1% each of Gnomes, Dragonborn and Elves (including Half-Elves).

Halflings dominate the agrarian river valleys, orcs are most common along the northern coast and western foothills, while humans are dominant along the southern coast and eastern woodlands and plains.

Geography

There are foothills and low mountains in the west, two broad river valleys in the center, rugged coasts in the north and south and rolling forests that taper into flat plains in the east. There are few good ports, and no deepwater ports at all in the north. The Triple Alliance is roughly in the center of the continent.

Government

Feudal electorship. Archdukes, Dukes and Counts vote to elevate a Duke or Archduke to the High Kingship, a position held for life. Barons serve viscounts or counts, who in turn serve Dukes or Archdukes. Some barons and counts are styled 'free', and swear fealty directly to the High King. Archdukes, Dukes and Free Counts may attend the Council, an advisory parliament with little hard power (but substantial influence), as may several high-ranking clerics, important guild leaders and powerful mages.

Religion

Religion is an important part of life in the Triple Alliance, and religious tolerance is considered an important civic ideal. The primary religion centers on the Neufiad, which contains nine gods, three from each of the founding Races of the Triple Alliance.The orcs contributed the Goddess of Love and War, the Goddess of Fire and the God of the Spirit World. Humans put forth the Goddess of Death, the God of Walls and the God of Knowledge. Halflings added the Goddess of the Sun, the God of Agriculture and the Goddess of Luck. Three minor gods are also associated with this pantheon, the Goddess of Nature, the God of the Moon and the God of Magic.

Elvish, Gnomish, Dwarvish and (metallic) Draconic religions are also practiced in the Triple Alliance by members of those races, in far smaller numbers. The Paladins of Bahumat are notably integrated tightly into the nation.

The Cloud Republic

Dwarves on the mountaintops. With a surprisingly tough navy. And skyships. They are located west of the Triple Alliance, on a mountainous and arid peninsula.

The Elven Isles

North of the Triple Alliance, across the Narrow Sea, are the elves. They are reclusive and rarely send trade ships to the mainland, but are recognized as the masters of the sea. Their fleets still periodically patrol the draconic coast.

Tiamat's Dominion

The long island and surrounding archipelago south of the Triple Alliance and stretching east below the hobgoblin lands, is ruled by the Queen of Dragons in the flesh. Lizardmen, kobolds and chromatic dragons and dragonborn control the land here, and they await the day their royal goddess frees herself from the wasting curse set upon her so that they might once more reave the lands to their north.

The True Empire

East of the Triple Alliance lies a rapidly growing militant empire of hobgoblins. While they've long been a threat, their increasing organization, unity and tactical acumen is a cause for concern. They make regular use of conquered goblins, bugbears, savage orcs, trolls and other large humanoids in their regiments.