Epic Meepo
Hero
Some random ideas for campaign settings. Here's a setting inspired by a tangent in another thread:
The Down Below
Three species of humanoid wombats inhabit the caverns known as the Down Below: bare-nosed wombats (who have the same traits as Halflings); hairy-nosed wombats (who have the same traits as Dwarves); and giant wombats (who have the same traits as Orcs).
Giant and hairy-nosed wombats inhabit the deepest caverns of the Down Below, though they make occasional forays into the mysterious world above. Bare-nosed wombats inhabit shallow burrows with links to both the Down Below and the world above. These latter wombats regularly spend time above ground.
The wombats share their subterranean habitat with a variety of other creatures. All mammals in the Down Below are marsupials. Their numbers include marsupial wolves, tigers, and gnolls. Marsupial devils (creatures which have the same statistics as barghests) are also present in at least one islolated cavern.
A female wombat has a pouch of skin on her torso which could theoretically carry newborn young, but the pouch evolved when wombats still walked on four legs instead of two. When standing on two legs, the opening of a wombat’s pouch faces the ground, rendering it useless for its intended purpose.
Since they can’t effectively carry thier young in their pouches, wombats instead swaddle thier infants in blankets and carry them in harnesses designed for that express purpose. This allows wombat communities to tend their young collectively, freely passing swaddled infants from parent to parent.
Wombats inhabit burrows carved into the sides of larger caverns, the latter of which serve as common spaces. Glowing crystals and phosphorescent fungus grow throughout the caverns of the Down Below, providing soft light whose brightness and color vary from one light source to the next.
The Outside Lands
Nomadic humans who roam the world above refer to their lands as the Outside (as opposed to the inside spaces contained in the caverns of the Down Below or within the rooms of permanent structures). The nomads share their lands with sedentary humans, humanoid robots, and vampires.
The Outside consists of a large mainland, plus several small islands off the coast. Most areas on the mainland are wide-open spaces, interrupted here and there by scattered forests, hills, and mountains. Central deserts and coastal plains dominate the land, whose climate is largely temperate.
Tribes of nomadic humans roam the central deserts, hunting and gathering to survive. Sedentary humans inhabit coastal towns and villages ruled by aristocratic vampires. Robots gather in their own permanent settlements, often monasteries at the feet of ancient monolithic towers of unknown origin.
Vampires (both living and undead) first arrived in the Outside lands when the Midnight Empire—a nation of vampires beyond the sea—established a penal colony on the mainland. The colonists were banished from their homeland for deviant behavior: treating humans as people instead of mere chattel and food.
Later generations of colonists proved less enlighened. These vampires subjugated many humans in long wars of conquest. According to legend, some humans escaped this fate by praying to the land’s mysterious monoliths. The monoliths transformed these humans into robots with no blood for vampires to drink.
The robots themselves have no memory of how they were created and only vague memories of their past lives as humans. Most robots take it on faith that they were transformed by the monolithic towers that dot the landscape. These robots are highly religious, performing elaborate ceremonies to honor their creators.
Elsewhere, the vampires rule their human subjects with an iron fist. The vampires maintain an uneasy truce with the humanoid robots. As long as the robots keep to thier monasteries and cause no trouble, the vampires ignore them. Likewise with the human nomads of the central deserts.
All three factions—vampires, robots, and nomads—conduct occasional trade with travelling wombat merchants. The people of the Outside don’t otherwise have much contact with the Down Below, a situation which suits the wombats just fine. The wombats don’t want Outsiders meddling in their world.
Adventure Sites
Hostile gnolls and devils maintain secret outposts in the caverns of the Down Below. From these hidden bases, the fiends conduct raids, capture prisoners, and otherwise menace the peaceful wombat peoples.
Vampire merchants from the world above have taken an interest in the tunnels of the Down Below. They are exploring possible routes for a trade road through the sunless, subterranean world.
The coastal cities of the vampire aristocrats are sinister places where favored courtiers partake in palace intrigue and oppressed common folk routinely disappear in the night.
Robot cults operate out of secret tunnels under certain cities. The cults recruit desperate humans who are never seen again. The cultists claim the recruits are being transformed into new robots.
Outlaws from the coastal cities camp in the wilderness of the Outside and amongst the tribes of the central desert. These wandering outlaws engage in banditry—and in plots to overthrow the vampire elite.
The mysterious monolithic towers revered by the robot peoples have no obvious means of entry, but their interiors—which extend both above and below ground—contain unseen vaults and untold wonders.
An artifact inside one particular monolith contains the lost memories of all humanoid robots, including vivid recollections of past oppression, any remembrance of which could incite a war between robots and vampires.
The Down Below
Three species of humanoid wombats inhabit the caverns known as the Down Below: bare-nosed wombats (who have the same traits as Halflings); hairy-nosed wombats (who have the same traits as Dwarves); and giant wombats (who have the same traits as Orcs).
Giant and hairy-nosed wombats inhabit the deepest caverns of the Down Below, though they make occasional forays into the mysterious world above. Bare-nosed wombats inhabit shallow burrows with links to both the Down Below and the world above. These latter wombats regularly spend time above ground.
The wombats share their subterranean habitat with a variety of other creatures. All mammals in the Down Below are marsupials. Their numbers include marsupial wolves, tigers, and gnolls. Marsupial devils (creatures which have the same statistics as barghests) are also present in at least one islolated cavern.
A female wombat has a pouch of skin on her torso which could theoretically carry newborn young, but the pouch evolved when wombats still walked on four legs instead of two. When standing on two legs, the opening of a wombat’s pouch faces the ground, rendering it useless for its intended purpose.
Since they can’t effectively carry thier young in their pouches, wombats instead swaddle thier infants in blankets and carry them in harnesses designed for that express purpose. This allows wombat communities to tend their young collectively, freely passing swaddled infants from parent to parent.
Wombats inhabit burrows carved into the sides of larger caverns, the latter of which serve as common spaces. Glowing crystals and phosphorescent fungus grow throughout the caverns of the Down Below, providing soft light whose brightness and color vary from one light source to the next.
The Outside Lands
Nomadic humans who roam the world above refer to their lands as the Outside (as opposed to the inside spaces contained in the caverns of the Down Below or within the rooms of permanent structures). The nomads share their lands with sedentary humans, humanoid robots, and vampires.
The Outside consists of a large mainland, plus several small islands off the coast. Most areas on the mainland are wide-open spaces, interrupted here and there by scattered forests, hills, and mountains. Central deserts and coastal plains dominate the land, whose climate is largely temperate.
Tribes of nomadic humans roam the central deserts, hunting and gathering to survive. Sedentary humans inhabit coastal towns and villages ruled by aristocratic vampires. Robots gather in their own permanent settlements, often monasteries at the feet of ancient monolithic towers of unknown origin.
Vampires (both living and undead) first arrived in the Outside lands when the Midnight Empire—a nation of vampires beyond the sea—established a penal colony on the mainland. The colonists were banished from their homeland for deviant behavior: treating humans as people instead of mere chattel and food.
Later generations of colonists proved less enlighened. These vampires subjugated many humans in long wars of conquest. According to legend, some humans escaped this fate by praying to the land’s mysterious monoliths. The monoliths transformed these humans into robots with no blood for vampires to drink.
The robots themselves have no memory of how they were created and only vague memories of their past lives as humans. Most robots take it on faith that they were transformed by the monolithic towers that dot the landscape. These robots are highly religious, performing elaborate ceremonies to honor their creators.
Elsewhere, the vampires rule their human subjects with an iron fist. The vampires maintain an uneasy truce with the humanoid robots. As long as the robots keep to thier monasteries and cause no trouble, the vampires ignore them. Likewise with the human nomads of the central deserts.
All three factions—vampires, robots, and nomads—conduct occasional trade with travelling wombat merchants. The people of the Outside don’t otherwise have much contact with the Down Below, a situation which suits the wombats just fine. The wombats don’t want Outsiders meddling in their world.
Adventure Sites
Hostile gnolls and devils maintain secret outposts in the caverns of the Down Below. From these hidden bases, the fiends conduct raids, capture prisoners, and otherwise menace the peaceful wombat peoples.
Vampire merchants from the world above have taken an interest in the tunnels of the Down Below. They are exploring possible routes for a trade road through the sunless, subterranean world.
The coastal cities of the vampire aristocrats are sinister places where favored courtiers partake in palace intrigue and oppressed common folk routinely disappear in the night.
Robot cults operate out of secret tunnels under certain cities. The cults recruit desperate humans who are never seen again. The cultists claim the recruits are being transformed into new robots.
Outlaws from the coastal cities camp in the wilderness of the Outside and amongst the tribes of the central desert. These wandering outlaws engage in banditry—and in plots to overthrow the vampire elite.
The mysterious monolithic towers revered by the robot peoples have no obvious means of entry, but their interiors—which extend both above and below ground—contain unseen vaults and untold wonders.
An artifact inside one particular monolith contains the lost memories of all humanoid robots, including vivid recollections of past oppression, any remembrance of which could incite a war between robots and vampires.
