A land of wonder, dragons, giants, fairies, and way too many burrowing murder bugs.
Salutations exalted roleplayers. I seek to create a roleplaying universe(May even make a future region for it to centralize if it's popular enough) inspired by fantasy genre works such as D&D and more. But what I want is not copious amounts of handwavium, but to have a world that has physics and a bit of realism! In addition to being set in the 16th to 20th centuries, it is to be an nightmare of a place to live. Think death worlds from Warhammer 40K. Kathorix sports hilariously concerning amounts of monstrous creatures, a metric f-ton of hostile wildlife, natural disasters are common, and the death world can use magic that your people cannot. Because player races cannot use magic on Kathorix.
Why does Kathorix suck? We're going to blame a daemon lord for now.
It's not all bad though, you've got guns and ingenuity. You can always choose to be dwarves as well, they're scary strong... although bunkers are not safe from much more frightening underground creatures they have to deal with.
We have a map maker!
Normally I would've polished and expanded this concept a lot more before launching it like this, but a self-help book told me to just do it and worry about cleaning up the mess as I go. So here are some notes and ideas I've jotted down so far:
Rules;
Some rules do not apply to Kathorix, only players.
No magic(basically keep everything physically possible), does not apply to the planet, just your species.
The world is incredibly hostile and brimming with hostile creatures.
There are no "evil" or "good" species. Don't lock yourself into the expectations given to say elves and how they're 'supposed' to act like.
Rules can be broken with my approval.
Your nation's seat of power and a majority of your nation must reside within your species home turf before expansion, though it can be taken and your people pushed into new lands.
Normal Roleplay etiquette and NS rules apply.
Notable technologies and their time of invention on Kathorix;
Land Navigation;
Ancient-Trained War Beasts
Ancient-War Wagon
1784-Self-powered Rail Locomotives
1899-Armored Car
1903-Tank
Air Navigation;
1783-Hot Air Balloon
1852-Airship
1853-Glider
1874-Self-propelled Glider
1890-Aeroplane
1899-Rigid Airship
Sea Navigation;
1873-Steel Ships (the only ocean-going vessels that can reasonably survive the worst of sea monster attacks)
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Established Sentient Species, their Home turf, and Racial advantages(feel free to tg new ones to me or post below);
Humans; River Valleys; Humans have incredible endurance potential and are predisposed towards overreaction against threats whether they're real or not.
Goblinoids, (goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears); None; Goblins are fast breeders giving numerical superiority, Bugbears are very strong, have long limbs, as well as being stealthy. However, Goblins are small and weak, and Bugbears are low in number. Hobgoblins occupy a middle ground and are very similar to humans in many ways. Ancient Goblinoid civilization was built through teamwork, willing or unwilling, between the three related species.
Dwarves; Caves and artificial underground works; Dwarves are incredibly strong with a low center of gravity, immune to most poisonous gases, and can wear armor that's nigh impervious to small arms. However, Dwarves are physically short and slow for a medium-sized humanoid. They also have natural night vision.
Elves; Forest; Have superior mobility and dexterity compared to others.
Drow; Caverns; Have superior mobility and dexterity compared to others, natural night vision, and are immune to most poison gases. Are sensitive to bright light.
Orcs; none; Large and strong like a bugbear but faster breeders and naturally resilient, an orc survives pretty much every wound and ailment.
Vassrael, A humanoid serpentine species; Desert, swamp, jungle; Venomous with natural armor and serpentine muscles making them very dangerous in melee, are resistant to most poisons. They also have natural night vision. Cold Blooded making them physically slow when sufficiently cold.
Satyr, basically a man-goat cross; Forests and Mountains; Have an agile pair of legs good for jumping and balancing in precarious places.
Almost every nation still around has survived the onslaught throughout the ages by having some sort of guardian to call upon, though some guardians may be had unwillingly. Some examples include;
Your people have gained the goodwill or attention of a dragon, the worlds apex predator. In return for pampering or straight up subjugation and possibly worship, the Dragon will protect your lands against creatures that threaten your societies existence.
Your people have struck a deal with one or more malevolent spirits or other natural sentient magical phenomena. In return for protecting some place or thing for, say a Wraith, with your lives, it will appear and protect your civilization in it's most dire need.
Your people have obtained the blessing of a deity, maybe even a whole pantheon. Through worship, they get their power, and maybe through prayers and offerings, they might just do something to help their favorite people out.
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(I'm going to make a dice table for this probably)Natural disasters aside from irl ones which are also common:
Unique Creatures;
So, yeah. Hit me with any thoughts, ideas, opinions, questions you may have.
For the first roleplay side of things, I was thinking of having those interested in Kathorix play as their Kathorix-borne nations try to navigate their way to kill the demon lord in a sort of historic foundation-ing prequel game. Though this is only because Kathorix is in its infancy as a universe for us to roleplay within.