Asalay Setting Guide

Asalay is the city of adventure, a settlement primed for virtually any campaign willing to contain itself to one city. In a few words, it is a massive metropolis built as a trade hub on top of a super-dungeon that adventurers flock from around the world to try and plunder. Dungeoneering, exploring, urban adventuring, intrigue, detective work, the whole goose and gander can work here. The city being a beacon of adventurers also ensures a regular flow of higher level NPCs, items, and hooks.
A city accustomed to adventurers is quite an unusual thing, and it comes with its own themes, aesthetics, and quirks.

Aesthetics Themes and Tones

Asalay is a big city that consumes would-be adventurers and explorers for growth and profit. Its industries and trades rely on the fact that 9 out of 10 adventuring novices either perish or give up to become workers trapped in the lower districts. Those 1 out of 10 that succeed get to be glamorous beacons of wealth and fame that are the targets and want and envy. It's a story that has repeated itself many times in real life, in cities around the world and through time. So think of early modern Paris, or Singapore, or Los Angeles, or New York City - that's the kind of glitz, glamour, decay, and disillusion this city has to offer.
How you want to play with those themes and tones is up to you. Maybe you'll indulge your players in the unique feeling of making it big in a crowded industry; maybe success and failure both are traps and the city is an antagonist in itself; maybe the players will get to be heralds of change that fight the power.
It isn't just intoxicating promises of success and adventure that are tones here - the immense pluralism and diversity of this city contributes a lot to an aesthetic of a global crossroads. Every kind of person from every corner of the planet can wander into Asalay, and that offers a very colorful, wild aesthetic quality to the place. It also allows for hog wild NPCs and happenings however often you want.

Designing a Character

Every class, species, and background could reasonably work here. But the vast array of choices can be intimidating in itself - so let's start with some questions.

• Are you a native of the city or kingdom of Asalay or are you an adventurer who just arrived? If you're a native, is your family a long-time member of the region or are you descended from failed adventurers yourself?
• If you are a long-time native, you're likely of the Ishkibite religion and were taught that The Underworld was a holy and dangerous place where Gods dwell at the bottom. Adventurers who dive into it for profit are sneered upon. Is it piety, desperation, or something else that drives you?
• If your family is descended from adventurers, did they raise you to succeed where they failed? Do they disapprove? Did they try to assimilate to local culture, or did you grow up in a mixed-cultural household?
• If you or your family aren't locals, check out the Basics page for continents that sound cool to come from

Species-wise, there is a slight social preference for humans in religious spaces, but nothing particularly important for character creation.
Depending upon your background, it's time for a name. If you're a native or your family tried to assimilate, pick a name from the Azalen Language name list. If you're from another continent feel free to try a language from one of theirs (or just whatever name you'd like).

• For the Desmian continent, try Desmian language
• For Samvara, try Selkie Language, Shenek Language, or Emprisaran
• For Ekraht, try Zeruan language
• For Suneka, try High Sunekan
• For Maradia, try Ortesian Language
• For Stildane, try Wakingtongue language
• For Garadel, try Herilzek language or Tolzek Language
• For Nafena, try Nomic Language 
• For Sonev, try Runevan language 
• For Ibith, try High Ibithan 
• For Inahng, try Calazan Language 

For second, third, or fourth languages: Selkie is useful for trade, Desmian Cat is useful for talking to cats, Kenaren is useful for Ishkibite religious texts, some corporations may use Zeruan, aquatic groups may speak Ratkataren, and those who study the dungeon as an academic may know Draconic.
In terms of background, Guild Artisan could be played as having corporate family contacts. Acolyte of Ishkibism definitely would get a lot of mileage here (though Acolytes of other faiths will likely find friends in the minority-religion neighborhoods, so don't worry). Given that the city is a black hole that sucks you in, Sailor might not be that useful for travel, but there are lots of crews that might become chummy with you separately so it depends on your RP goals. Outlander won't be useful in the city, but may be useful in the dungeon itself. And there's a lot of organized crime here, so Criminal backgrounds carry some weight.
Some fun class-related Hooks:

• Paladins of Ishkibal will find a draw here, as it is one of the holy sites of a sect of his religion
• A big magical academy known as The Arcanum exists in the heart of the city, good for wizards or sorcerers or bards
• Warlocks are unusually accepted here, and many feel calls from the patrons to reach the deepest depths of the dungeon
• Totem Barbarians from this region have a special deal with The Exorcist's Guild to act as ghost-punching, paperwork-assisting shamans. The Exorcist's Guild also has a base here.
• Dragon Sorcerers are brought in large numbers from Ekraht by the corporations

I hope that makes character-building easier.

Designing a Campaign

While the presence of a super-dungeon under the city may make campaigns appear fairly obvious as to what to do, there are actually a multitude of options available in this setting.
Firstly, there are the dungeon games. A Company Dungeoneering Game, where the players explore and survive The Underworld as contracted workers for a corporation in the city is a good call for those who want either a clearly structured no-nonsense dungeoneering game, a tragic rockstar story, or a story of discovery and rebellion with the stakes built right in. A Secret Dungeoneering Game, where the players stumble onto a hidden entrance to the Underworld and can secretly dungeon delve without the proper authority's permission can be a dungeoneering romp or a fun sandbox exploration and intrigue game. And a Temple Dungeoneering Game, where the players work as sacred agents of the Temple of Ishkibal the Dragon delving for sacred knowledge, can be (again) classic dungeoneering or build into a larger plot in a more structured way.
For those looking for more variety, try mixing in some Urban Exploration (fighting with or against criminal groups, escaped monsters hiding in the sewers, and the like), Intrigue (supporting one of the city's factions against another, through heists, assassinations, or otherwise), and Mysteries (such as solving a series of terrible murders, hunting a master-thief, etc).
Talk with your group about what mixture of these elements you're looking for - Asalay has them all, so only restrict your options to one if you feel it would give focus to your game.
For those seeking traditional Good versus Evil, the Apocalypse Game here isn't a bad addition. An Apocalypse Game has lots of diverse threats and enemies, as well as high stakes. I'm keeping things vague here on purpose here, but the Monster Manual is all about filling in some of these blanks.

• The Cults of the Dark One Orthodox Desmiani and Seruvian zealots are all being armed with strange unholy weapons, many of which turn them into monsters. Just about anyone willing to cause problems is being armed or distorted, and vulnerable populations are being captured for sacrifice. Mysterious cults are manipulating people from above... time for intrigue!
• Uh Oh! Godzilla is a Plague Vector! In the seas, aquatic kaiju are rising from the sea at random, dripping with plague and spewing out twisted amphibious monstrosities
• Fight an Army of Demons. An Army of Monsters is gathering in the Southwest and hopes to march upon Asalay to infest the Underworld with their corruption.