Irion
1735 AE
Scope
The motivation behind building Irion
I'm building a world centred around a society that is rebuilding after a major disturbance to society. This is largely an exercise in therapeutic worldbuilding, with the option of a D&D campaign with some friends exploring these concepts.
The goal of the project
My core goal is to make a world that is interesting, somewhat believable, and gives people who read on it a sense of hope for its future. I'm working largely within the nation of Kinilan, and have set a relatively firm limit for background worldbuilding as this marks the start of an eventual D&D campaign I hope to run in this world. I want to give my players a sense of being able to help build the future, as the current crisis in 2020 has somewhat robbed us all of the feeling that things will work out for the best.
Irion's Unique Selling point
I have two major selling points for this world, and they are somewhat related:
The first is my take on the D&D magic system. In my world, magic is an everpresent force that builds potential over time at an alarming rate. When that potential builds to too great a level - as it naturally tends to do even over a handful of days - it creates a burst of magical energy similar to lightning, but having a random magical effect. Some of these are beneficial, or at least benign, but many are quite destructive and terrifying. Society has long ago developed a device that can suppress the magical field in an area, but doing so prevents magi from accessing the most extraordinary magical workings (tenth and eleventh level spells from older versions of D&D)
The second is the Great War, a roughly century long war between Kinilan and its neighbouring kingdom of Chelestra. This war is heavily inspired by more recent wars, most notably World War I, This war is meant as a plot device to put the country of Kinilan into position where they are just starting to recover, and to give me a reason to have a settled area that lacks the magical suppression field that most settled civilizations rely on for survival.
Theme
Genre
This is a world that combines elements of Renaissance Fantasy and early industrialization, with opportunities for both urban and traditional fantasy adventures. Historical elements are drawn from much later periods, for example the revolutionary overthrow of the nobility from the French Revolution, and a war with similar erosion of restraint and morality to World War I.
Reader Experience
I want the world of Irion to be both hopeful and dangerously unpredictable.
Reader Tone
I'm looking for a tone similar to the Witcher games or the original Mistborn trilogy. A world where man and magic have done a lot of harm, but also a lot of good to combat that. Where there are terrible threats, but nothing that is insurmountable.
Recurring Themes
- Magic spontaneously creating strange threats to be defeated.
- Political machinations causing best laid plans to go astray
- There's always a light at the end of the tunnel
Character Agency
My goal at present is largely to build a past, a history of the world up to the start of a campaign. Once a campaign is happening, I will be using player actions to influence what directions I build toward. I'm taking some elements from the West-Marches style of campaign, at least early on, which limits the duration of adventures, but I still want them to have an impact on the region the players are in beyond merely returning things to a status quo.
Focus
Drama
A decades long war ended less than a year ago, leaving the Iron Hills a shattered ruin. The rulers of Kinilan are eager to restore the Hills to their former glory.
During the war, an artifact designed to stabilize magic in the region was destroyed, now allowing surges of magic to sweep through the area, wreaking havoc.
Agents from Chelestra, the old enemy in the war, sneak across the border and work to slow the reconstruction efforts in the Iron Hills. Some are disguised as bandits, waylaying shipments and emissaries, others take a more subtle approach.
With food reserves exhausted by the long war and an unusually early onset of winter catching some crops still in the field, there are fears that there will not be enough food to last until the next harvest. Food prices are rising, and many of the working class are already being forced to choose between paying for food or rent, and some are walking to the Iron Hills, in hopes that the government sponsored reconstruction efforts will have work for them.
Many powers struggle for power in the Kinilan capital. The military has gained enough influence during the long war to be able to dictate policy with little regard for those who legally hold power, and the nobles have been working a long, careful plan to restore the Monarchy.
Irion is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.