Edda
5/10/1009 AC
Scope
The motivation behind building Edda
Edda is a world made for Stories. Whether that's Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, or other RPG systems, or creative writing, it's a world meant to house grand heroes, maniacal and nuanced villains, and interesting lands and plots to be had at any moment. It's a lot of work, and I've barely gotten started getting down everything I want to, but with time, effort, and love, it'll be exactly where I want it to be, and that means the world to me, having the freedom for my writing.
You could have your generic fantasy adventure, a story all about traveling chefs, a murder mystery, or even a romantic comedy, all within the walls of Edda and it's lands, and none of it would be out of place, and that's why I love creating the world.
The goal of the project
I'm wanting to create an omni-genre setting, one that gives me the freedom to write about anything and anyone, and gives other people that same freedom if they so desire. However, at the end of the day, I'm looking to create a series of stories connected to each other by setting and characters, even as they wander through entirely different plots.
Edda's Unique Selling point
What I find the most unique thing about Edda is how I've (hopefully) designed it to accommodate any kind of character. There's room for the Human Fighters and the Half-Elf Half-Tiefling Sorcerer/Warlock/Bard multi classes, or the living toaster-bot Muscle Wizards. It can fit the pirate looking for treasure or glory along with the student just looking to pay tuition, or the romantic villager looking for love, or the archwizard looking for world domination.
Theme
Genre
Edda can fit many genres into its boundaries, but the overarching genres will definitely be High-Magic Fantasy and Action/Adventure.
Reader Experience
That depends on the Story, but I want to leave readers/players with the experience of a wider world beyond the page/sessions that the characters/their characters can affect and change.
Reader Tone
Edda is a pretty Bright world. A nation one generation out of a grand civil war, people are focused on peace and prosperity more than combat and cruel actions, but evil lies underneath that cover and the powers that be are not always content with their lot in life.
Recurring Themes
I'm not the deepest person, and I try not to preach too much towards my audience, but the biggest thing in Edda is the idea that everything matters. Choices, people, actions, no matter what, things matter. YOU matter. Additionally, the idea that there isn't an innately bad or good person, just actions, circumstances, and responses.
Character Agency
This is actually something I struggle with. In sessions, I want to give players the agency to do whatever they like and influence the story and the world in unique ways, but that sort of wild freedom can leave a story ungrounded, so when it comes to creative writing I attempt to keep it down to one area or mission.
Focus
Drama
A long-dead cult, The Ravens Cult, is rearing its ugly head into Edda once more, with a renewed worship of Dread Gods, but also a strong anti-magic message that leads to the assaults of important Mage institutions and activities.
Strange Leyline readings are rocketing across Edda. None of them are cataclysmic, the active Druids, Clerics, and Wizards of the land make sure of that, but incrementally the differences in averages are starting to pile up, leading many to worry something is about to happen.
Rumors are flying about The Royal Bladesingers of Hippolyta, and their alleged acts of terrorism against the Orc people of the nation, but also of incursions into neighboring nations and using their almost-zealotry fueled rage against innocents of other nations.
In Magnum Opus, the Northern Slavers are active again, stealing innocent townsfolk in the dead of night, and disappearing into thin air, leading official forces to have little faith against them.
There have been several dreadful rises in monster attacks, including Vampires, Werewolves, and Undead by the droves, leading to an increased number of jobs for Mercenary Guilds and Guards, but a curious situation for innocent town folk.