Lineage or Curse?- There are two types of werewolves the natural werewolves or the werewolves who are made by the curse of lycanthropy. While physically there is almost no major factors that physically differ between the two, natural werewolves tend to make better use of their werewolf form than a cursed werewolf.
With werewolves there are two widely held beliefs. Some reckon that the first werewolves were cursed by the moon Goddess for acts of heresy. Another widely held belief is that the first werewolves were actually gifted by the goddess Selune for being devout worshipers. However with the Moonborn subrace only the second belief is considered for that subrace due to their natural connection to nature and the divine.
The Nordic
city of Hellhest. Where, according to Legend, a group of Heroes once stopped a
Mad Wizard from summoning a Stone Titan.
A group of
four unknown heroes had saved the city of Hellhest from certain destruction long
ago. A statue and four maple trees erected in their honor.
When I
create a fantasy city like this I like to keep a nice balance between the
fantastical and the functional. Make it possible for the DM to create his own
stories with the elements provided, but try to not to insert too much
complexity so that it remains manageable to navigate the city. There are just a
couple of major defining details and multiple minor details that any DM could
be able to interpret in his own way.
In order to
bring the city of Hellhest to life, I decided to make both a 2 dimensional top view
and a 3 dimensional side view of the city. I’ve only provided detail to the
city and the rest of the mountain it has been built upon, that way a DM should
be able to place it wherever he would like to inside of his own campaign.
I’ve also
provided a two part tutorial for the making off this city map on youtube, you
can find part 1 right HERE
If you are
interested in more of my work, I’ve updated my website to make it much easier
to find all of my free content: www.crossheadstudios.com
This time out in the wild at a small river crossing. I like rocks, so I added another little hill. This one has some standing stones. Maybe it’s a ritual gathering place. Maybe it’s a watch tower hill of sorts. Oooh, and maybe there’s a cave under the little hill. That could be fun. Or it could be a tomb mound. And the standing stones mark the spot.
The Roman
region of my Campaign Setting, also known as Hyperion, is driven by the pursuit
of knowledge. Trying to do everything in their power to make life easier for
its inhabitants. Creating a force of magical constructs, who serve both as its
military and menial laborers.
It is ruled
by a college of scientist, with at its head a ruler called the Overseer. Scientists
who believe that knowledge is the highest good and that anything that stands in
the way of their pursuit is folly. The “ruling class” speak plain, weighing
their words carefully, as not to waste time and mislead.
After they had
overthrown the last rulers, squabbling nobles who were only out for power and
constantly fighting amongst themselves, the Hyperions built a city as a symbol
of their intellectual prowess. This city is Libria. Libria was built at the
edge of the world, right near the boundary between this realm and the Eternal
realm, the massive void beyond. Its greatest feature is the cities citadel, a
true display of both their scientific and magical superiority, as it was built
beyond the border between the realms. While two massive chains keep it attached
to the mortal realm, one magically infused gemstone keep the entire rock, upon
which the citadel is built, afloat in the realm beyond. They appropriately
named it: the Eternal Citadel.
The City
Libria was
designed as both a city and a university. On the mainland you will find the
housing districts, where the “common folk live, and on the connected island are
the university districts. Some of which can be visited freely, the ones who are
connected by bridges to the mainland, and some are restricted to specific academics.
In order to reach these academics are granted magical keystones upon their
admission to a university. Upon approaching an access point, with the appropriate
keystone in your possession, a magical stone bridge will start to take form in the gap between two access points.
The
districts that most people are allowed to visit are affiliated with the
university in some form. Like a market district that sells weapons forged by
the arcane district, ranging from cheap weapons made by students to expensive
weaponry made by professors. An entertainment district, where you can find both
expensive and cheap entertainment (Cheap
meaning you allow yourself to become subject of a social experiment by students
of the social sciences.) A judicial district and a botanical garden.
There are
also a couple of isolated islands where you will find more of those arcane gemstones
that keep the entire city magically powered.
Intertextuality
Creating
something I always tend to reference things that have inspired me. Like the
actual shape of the city is based on a caffeine molecule, science, the fuel that keeps
me going late at night. The name of the city as a reference to the movie
Equilibrium, a movie about exacting control and by trying to eliminate the
emotional in favor of the rational. The idea of language as a means of
expressing only exact statements comes from Wittgenstein’s Tractatus.
References to Artificial Intelligence and the technological advancement in the
magical constructs.
I’m
interested in providing role-playing challenges for my players. Very different
regions where what is praised in one region as a strength, might be seen in
another as a weakness. All of these concepts are based on what players chose to
focus their strengths and weaknesses on in the abilities of their character. That way their character might feel at home in one region and completely out of place in the next. In
Hyperion, for example, people praise intelligence as the highest good and charisma as
something corruptive. People who use their words to charm people into trusting
them, without any truth to their character. As Socrates put it: “The Fallacy of
the Artisans”
