Walldorn Campaign Setting

I think it's every Dungeon Masters dream to create their own homebrew setting. Also common is the DM with a setting he continues to add notes for, but never feels ready to unveil for his group. Such has been the case with me, but no more! I have officially unleashed the setting I've been  intermittently working on for at least 5 years upon my players. But before we talk about the game, I should give an idea of my world and the tone I'm going for.

As such I'll post from the players guide I gave to the players during character creation.


 

It has been 999 years since the birth of Thampthr, around 700 years since the fall of the Sarrik empire, which ruled the majority of the continent of Tambrinth and the lands are in darkness. City states war with empires, bandits rob travellers between settlements, raiders and monsters pillage and slaughter where the light of civilization has faded. People huddle behind strong walls and strong arms, holding faith in their hearts to protect them from the dangers beyond.

But there is opportunity in these lands. A new culture of mercenaries, known as adventurers, wander the forests between towns and the back streets of the city's. Often unpredictable, these warriors and explorers seek the ancient treasures and lore of empires past, hunt roving monsters, and generally follow their own paths. While these strange vagabonds are often inconvenient for local people and rulers, they can be incredibly useful when a threat appears that a community can't deal with, and so are usually tolerated. While adventuring can lead to wealth and power, it can also lead to a swift or painful death, but in spite of these risks, there will always be those fools who seek danger with sword and spell.

Walldorn

The city state of Walldorn has been independent for over two hundred years. It sits on what was once the border of the Sarrik empire, and much of the city's architecture reflects this. Some of the ancient Sarriken wonders, such as the aqueduct and sewers still function for the most part, but the knowledge of how to maintain them has been largely lost. Beyond the walls several towns and many villages lie under its protection. Walldorn is currently ruled by the king, Corodan Dorn. The Dorn line has managed to maintain control of the small kingdom since it's founding, which is rare in Tambrinth. Time will tell how long this continues.

To the west lie green farming pastures, and beyond the western border the land of Derrum, more of a loose alliance of smaller kingdoms than a true empire, can be reached. To the north, a vast mountain range blocks most travel to the untamed lands beyond, although only the most foolhardy explorers would cross into the unmapped wilderness. Within the mountains themselves can be found groups of goblins, who offer limited trade and claim to be part of a vast goblin nation underground. They are treated with caution, as goblins on the surface are rarely so diplomatic.

The eastern hills of Walldorn border the Orc nation of Orchadr. As such the people here are never far from a sword or spear. While there are a few forts near the larger towns, most of the villages are only theoretically protected by the militia that stand at their wooden palisades and towers. When more than a simple scouting party attacks, the peasantry are usually left with little choice but to flee to the nearest fortress or hide in the forests. Luckily for the last fifty years the Orcs have been largely content with fighting each other and raids have been relatively few.

South of Walldorn, the vast Cormmorgian Imperium stretches throughout south east Tambrinth. Once a remnant of the eastern Sarrik Empire, Cormmorgium has grown into the strongest political force on the continent, and has been steadily advancing since. Neighbours it cannot conquer, it seeks to control via diplomacy, and it is common to find Cormmorgian envoys in nearby countries, and it is said that spies are never far behind. 

The rest of the information was based around the characters starting village, and some information on more immediate details. I'll post more on this later but for now I think that's enough.

As you might be able to tell, I'm going for a dark age feel, especially since most D&D settings I've seen, like The Forgotten Realms and Golarion, tend to go late medieval, presumably so they can start adding gunpowder. I thought it would be fun to go in the opposite direction.

This setting also has plenty of secrets, but I want to keep those under wraps incase my players are reading this.

Speaking of which, next time we'll introduce the characters.