Fallen Hope

Fallen Hope as a world

The world of Fallen Hope has no formal name, and it is the result of a modern or slightly more advanced world experiencing the reemergence of magic. Soon after, it collapsed into a post apocalyptic wasteland, which devolved even further as the violence and warfare keep killing off the people who know how to make the war machines and other technology. As technical experts became more scarce, experts in other technical fields were pressed into service, only to cause massive disruptions in other sectors vital to survival. Eventually, the world collapsed entirely, and only by the grace of the newly emergent gods was anything saved at all. While the environment has recovered, the world has only just begun to rebuild true civilization.   The world is full of lost majesty and melancholy. Adventurers frequently walk through the bones of ancient cities, and the naked eye can see man made structures on the moon. Astronomers know that many of the brightest stars in the sky are in truth artificial structures, long abandoned, glittering in reflected sunlight. Archeologists unearth all manner of technology that can no longer be named, let alone made to work. The strongest building materials and metal alloys in use today are scavenged from ancient scrap heaps, not mined from the ground.   The world is less than it once was, and everyone knows it. What's almost worse, is that no one has much idea of how to start recovering it.   For all that, the world is also a place of adventure, excitement, and great hope. While the nations of today and their achievements are no match for those of the old world, they are still worthy of awe.  

Fallen Hope as a setting

The setting is designed for campaigns taking place in the last stage of the above history, where it turns into traditional sword and sorcery. However there are still ruins of ancient cities dotting the landscape, many of which are inhabited (and considered holy) by orcs, goblins, kobolds, and other primitive cultures.   Adventures take place in a what is technically a commonwealth, with four distinct political “zones” or “groups.” Each of these groups has a different legal relationship with the Imperial government, but are nonetheless banded together due to mutual economic and military interests.   The setting is highly flexible, with varying levels of technology and magic, ranging from traditional low fantasy Feudal Kingdoms, to high fantasy Mages' Guilds, to Port Cities reminiscent of Renaissance Italy. Steam punk is not technically a part of the setting, but the world is deliberately designed to allow for the possibility.