A Dungeon's and Dragons guide to Mundus
This article is meant to introduce players familiar with Dungeons & Dragons (DnD) lore, to the world of Mundus, stating most obvious differences between the 'standard' DnD lore and the world of Mundus. Since these differences may only become evident after playing the campaign or during character creation, this page is prone to updates. As a general read I recommend the following articles: The Universe & The Pantheon. To understand the situation in the Westfork (likely the continent your characters will originate from), an article will follow. Mostly however, the world is a mix-match of our own creations and a lot of topics from published games and such. Therefore, here are our inspiration tools:
- The Elder Scrolls Universe : A large part of our Pantheon (The Pantheon ) is based on this, in particular the Daedra. Furthermore, many creatures are directly implemented in Mundus. This is probably one of the main sources of Mundus. Many thanks go to the Firmament and the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Tabletop RPG.
- The Gothic Universe : The Gothic games (in particular Gothic I & II) are probably my all time favorite. We're implementing their pantheon, kingdoms and much more in Mundus. I really recommend playing the games to anyone who likes this world or my DM-ing as I'm heavily inspired by the Gothic Universe.
- Dragon Age Universe : Particularly the Grey Warden & Darkspawn themes are implemented in Mundus, in addition to Kingdom of Orzammar. Similarly, the Rift Times were a direct implementation of Dragon Age : Inquisition in certain ways. And of course the Zemerian Empire is heavily inspired on its Tevinter counterpart.
- Outward : The Outward game is one of the main inspiration tools for my campaign ran on the island of Rhunaar.
- Grim Hollow : Many dark fantasy tropes for campaigns, as well as advanced weapons, transformations and curses com from this book.
- Dark Souls : Though not too much has been taken from Dark Souls in terms of World Building, but many monsters inhabiting the world of Mundus are inspired on Dark Souls or direct implementations.
- Fable : Mostly for my all-time favorite villain Jack of Blades.
- Witcher : Not too much is used from the Witcher Universe, but many quests are inspired on the conflicts presented in the games. As such, the world deserves an honorable mention.
- Lord of the Rings : Not many themes are based on LOTR in Mundus, but then again it's mostly an unconscious inspiration.
- Game of Thrones : Not much themes or such were taken from Game of Thrones, but many names were borrowed from this universe.
Religion & the world
The world of Mundus does not have the standard set of planes and deities listed in the Player's HandBook (PHB). Similarly the realms of the 'Shadowfell', 'Feywild' and the elemental planes, do not exist. If for some reasons these are interesting for a player, an adaptation of these aspects can likely be made. For all gods that are present, see The Pantheon. I strongly recommend reading "The Universe " "The Pantheon" and possibly "Taxonomy of Monsters & Mystics" to get the distinction from the Forgotten-Realms setting. Even though your character does likely not possess all knowledge presented in these articles, they will likely present a more clear picture of the feeling of Mundus. As a very rough guide, the world can be divided in the Mundane, all things stemming from the mortal plane of Mundus, the Aedric, all things stemming from the Celestial generally "Good" planes, the Daedric, stemming from the Celestial more Neutral or Evil planes, or the Demonic, the outcasts from the other planes of Oblivion cast into the Void. We are planning on writing more on the cultures of Mundus and their religions, the info of which you'll likely be able to find under the respective organization. For now I'd recommend discussing with your DM if you choose to play a Cleric, Paladin or Warlock (more on this below) and reading The Pantheon.Races
Compared to standard DnD lore, the world of Mundus is filled to a lesser extent by all kinds of intelligent fantasy races. While this is not meant to discourage creating a character of a more exotic race, a logical reason for why this character is not killed on sight when entering a civilized location will have to be devised. Apart from this, quite some races that do exist profoundly in both worlds do not share the same heritage and culture. Therefore, below a list with all intelligent humanoid races considered 'normal' in Mundus is found (though just as stated before, most character creation ideas can be adapted to Mundus Lore). Those proceeded by a '*' are found less common in human civilization, but can be easily adapted.- Humans.
- Dwarves
- High Elves
- Orcs
- *Draconians (a.k.a. Dragonborn)
- Dark Elves
- Wood Elves
- *Halflings
Humans
Humans are the most profound race throughout the realms near the Westfork. Similar to other fantasy-worlds, they can be good at anything and aren't affiliated to a particular deity. Their civilizations are generally medieval-inspired, often with a strong religious presence per faction (Kingdom of Myrtana for instance being united by the Chantry of Fire worshiping Innos).Dwarves
The race of dwarves is found spread throughout human-society, often occupying the role of craftsmen, or centralized into their own kingdoms (for instance Kingdom of Orzammar, Kingdom of Mazaar or Kingdom of Kal Shirok). The different Dwarven Kingdoms come from different inspirational sources (Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age). Dwarves aren't necessarily affiliated with a single deity, but often worship the god of Work & Commerce Tethras. Furthermore, dwarven magic users are far more rare compared to the other races. Thus, if you desire to play a dwarven magic-user, it's interesting to discuss this with your DM beforehand (certainly not impossible, but you'll fulfill a promising role in your origin society).Orcs
Orcs are green more burly humanoids in the world of Mundus. They are generally more civilized in our world, compared to the Forgotten Realms setting, more resembling the Elder Scrolls orcs in multiple ways. They don't always follow the sign of some god to smash things for instance. Similar to dwarves, they are often tradition-based but also uphold strength in their society. Orcs are widely spread throughout the world at different locations, being found for instance in the Southern Wilds, Orsinium, Angmar close to the Westfork but also in the far stretches of Nordmar. They worship a variety of deities but widespread faith is found in Malacath and Beliar, with worshipers of each often battling the other.Elves
Elves were uncommon to the Westfork until ~40 years ago, when they awoke in the realm in masses. In ancient times, the elves used to live in the Westfork with their vast kingdom (more on this in the The 40 year interim). However, further away from the Westfork there are massive elven societies such as the powerful Elven Court (eastern neighbor to Zemeria). The subraces of elves were created through divine interference (read more of this in their respective articles), granting them more specialized abilities. To give an idea of their origins: Wood Elves (Bosmer) can be found in Northern Dagobar and the Elven Court. High Elves awoke in the Westfork around 40 years ago and are also the supreme rulers of the Elven Court. Dark Elves are found in the distant realms of Urgath and Morrowind, but also awoke in the Westfork ~40 years ago, as they launched an invasion on the High Elves of the Westfork in ancient times. Contrary to the Forgotten Realms, the Dark Elves (Dunmer) or Drow, do not reside in the Underdark and are only affected by direct sunlight. In addition, they aren't automatically evil-aligned.Draconians (a.k.a. Dragonborn)
Draconians (Dragonborn in D&D-terms, but dubbed Draconians in Mundus as a Dragonborn is a term used to describe those born with a dragon-like gift in the Thuum), are far more rare through the common societies. A large group of Draconians lives somewhat closeby to the Westfork, in the Dragontail Mountains, and can from here be introduced into a more Westfork-centered story. If interested in Draconians, please also read the article on Dragons.Halflings/Hobbits
Halflings, though often confused with small humans or beardless dwarves, are their own race and used to be unknown to the Westfork. Similar to elves, they awoke ~40 years ago from their long slumber to find a realm ruled by humans where their homes once stood. They used to be a farming-caste of the elven society in the Westfork. As to date, there are no other halfing realms known to the societies of the Westfork, other than the hobbits who suddenly awoke there.The "Exotic" Races
In the world of Mundus, there are far fewer exotic races compared to D&D-lore. Certainly when you look at the races encountered in general societies. An exception to this are the Lizardmen, who are known as ancient protectors. They live more secluded, but can be introduced through the Isle of Mirk if interested. Other races such as Tieflings however do not exist in Mundus (particularly because they are reminiscent of the Daedric Dremora). However, if you want to play a more exotic-race because of their stat-bonuses or racial feats, these can be included in one of the other races as well.Classes
Pretty much all classes translate well to the lore of Mundus. Only warlocks differ slightly, as from my point of view a warlock is pretty similar to a cleric in terms of lore. As such, warlocks in Mundus don't have to be evil-like aligned, or follow the commands of a demon (although DnD also mentions something similar through fey-patrons). Similarly, clerics don't have to be good-aligned. Furthermore, apart from your character, the classes presented in D&D are not tigthly adhered to for magic users (e.g. a Fire Magician of Innos is not limited by the Cleric spell list and a sorcerer can for instance learn new spells similar to a wizard). In terms of content, all non PHB, DMG and XGE content should however be discussed with the DM prior to using the content. As such Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (TCoE) is not automatically accepted as valid content.Magic
Magic is certainly not uncommon to the world of Mundus, but in the Westfork most magic practitioners are aligned to some institution. If a magically gifted is not a member of some recognized institution, the mage is often hunted as the people of the Westfork are weary of magic practicioners. As such if you make a magical-class character, think about the institution the character originates from or why he/she is not being hunted or has not been found yet.Schools of Magic
Similar to DnD, the spells in Mundus can be classified into different schools. For sake of simplicity the same schools as found in the PHB are adhered to. However, some of the spells presented through the DnD-sources may be adjusted to flavor the context of Mundus better. The school of conjuration for instance allows users to conjure an otherworldly being to answer the conjurer's call. As the planes of Oblivion come with their own Daedric minions, these entities may be conjured as well (see The Pantheon for further reading), depending on the creature. A warlock's eldritch blast, may be changed when serving a non 'evil like' patron using a different damage type etc.Utilities
Show Mundus-unique magical utilities
While innate spellcasting abilities are great, extending their uses to less magically adept ones or ease the practicioning to less-gifted in the magic community, has been of interest to both magical communities as powerful realms. A magic spell can for instance be channeled to an item, such as a scroll. However, multiple alternatives to scrolls have been en vised across the world, with the most prominent being summarized below:
- Magical scrolls. The most familiar to DnD, a mage knowledgeable of a certain spell may inscribe it onto parchment using particular items. The art of scroll-writing is practiced by most magical institutions and can therefore be considered somewhat common. The benefit of a scroll is its relative ease of crafting and the allowance of casting spells beyond your level of practice. The cost is their one-time usage.
- Magical crystals. An alternative to scrolls are magical crystals, which have a certain amount of uses before crumbling into dust. The art of crafting magical crystals is a secret relished within the Zemerian empire. While a lot more costly than magical scrolls in terms of material components, the crystals show great overall usage even for the non-magically adept. The material components do however rise exponentially with the spell's level, and therefore crystals are rarely found for spells higher than level 1. Cantrip crystals are however quite common and allow the Zemerian army to deploy squads of magic users easily. Their greatest usage is however found in the form of teleportation. The largest amount of crystals crafted in Zemeria are used to craft teleportation crystals, linking them to magical circles placed at the location of arrival.
- Magic runes. The never dusting magical crystals, runes do not crumble upon a certain amount of uses. Rather they offer the spellcaster the opportunity to use spells for which they do not possess the spell-slot level, still expending a spell slot though. Their amount of uses is only governed by the amount of spell slots one has available (may be changed if found to OP). There are two ways to cast runes: 1) One attunes to a specific rune and is granted mastery over it (this way the rune can only be 1 spell lever higher and the process requires particular conditions). 2) A DC must be met in order to use the rune, which can only be attempted once a month. The DC equals 15 + difference in spell slot level and is an arcana check. The spell slots it costs goes as following: cost = 2(dS-1), with dS = difference in spell slot level. Since there are no half spell slots, the rune can not be used to channel an infinite amount of uses of a lower level spell. Compared to crystals, runes are much more costly and difficult to prepare, but with the advantage of unlimited uses. As such runes are great treasures of magical institutions which they treasure, and are often passed down from master to student when the master has no more use of the rune. Similarly to crystals, most runes that are crafted are utilized in teleportation magic. Keep in mind however the rarity of teleportation runes, with often only the leader of a large magical organization or a king possessing a few of these.
Additional Spells
Apart from the standard published spells, Mundus knows some homebrew spells. These spells can be found here : Spells in Mundus. In the same article, spells that are removed from Mundus are also mentioned. Thus I highly recommend reading Spells in Mundus if you decide to play a caster-class.Artisan's Tools
All artisan's tool available in the DnD universe are present in Mundus. Yet, most of them have or will have homebrew crafting rules attached to them. Here the already accepted and processed homebrew for artisan's tools is shown. This allows for easy reference when creating a character, if you are thinking about which tool proficiency to pick. Keep in mind that the actual content is prone to change as time passes.- Herbalism, for gathering plants. It involves the Nature skill.
- Alchemy, to craft bombs, poisons and potions. They require respectively proficiency in Alchemist's supplies, Poisoner's Kit and Herbalism Kit to use efficiently. Furthermore, the Intelligence attribute is used for all of these craftings.
- Smithing, to craft Weapons, Armor and Jewelry. They require proficiency in Smith's tools (or Jeweler's Tools) and use as base attribute Strength for checks. The amount of time one can work on his craft depends on their Constitution attribute score. In addition, certain crafts use Constitution or Dexterity as base attributes for checks, as specified by either an italic 'D' or 'C'.
- Hunting, has no Artisan's tools ascribed to them. Yet, it uses Survival and Nature checks for assigning success or failure. The hunting doesn't involve the actual killing of the creature (as this is specified as combat), but rather the gathering of trophies from the creature.
Bestiary
Most monsters have been grouped under the same Types/Taxons as used by the DnD Universe. Demons/devils are however not the same as in DnD. Your typical demon-like humanoid, e.g. a Dremora, is a Celestial_Daedra (humanoid) to be precise. For more on this, please read Taxonomy of Monsters & Mystics. Read the article in particular if you require specifics on advantages against monster type X etc. For an overview of monsters see either the Category "Monster Manual" or the page Sheets & Monsters (keep in mind both are WIP and prone to change and updates).Languages
Similarly to a different structure in bestiary taxonomy, different languages exist within the world of Mundus. Below you find a short summary on the languages. This part is prone to change however.| Language | Typical Speakers | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Common | Most trading humanoids | Common |
| Dwarvish | Dwarves | Dwarvish |
| Elvish | Elves | Elvish |
| Giant | Giants | Dwarvish |
| Goblin | Goblinoids | Dwarvish |
| Halfling | Halflings | Common |
| Orcish | Orcs | Dwarvish |
| Infernal | Demons | Infernal (similar to Aedric and Daedric) |
| Celestial (Aedric) | Aedra | Aedric |
| Celestial (Daedric) | Daedra | Daedric |
| Draconic | Dragons, draconians | Draconic |
| Deep Speech | Darkspawn | Daedric |
| Primordial | Elementals | Dwarvish |
| Sylvan | Arkayne (ancient Elves), High Elves | Elvish |
| Zemoran | Zemerians, Varantians and Essosians | Zemoran |
Rule Alterations
Not all content below is used for each campaign. Do look at Feats & Classes in Mundus to see which additional features are available (for instance from Grim Hollow). Generally, the alternate rules for mounted combat are used, but the "Grievous Wounds" are only used in specific more dark fantasy adventures.Mounted Combat
Mounted Combat works different in Mundus from what the standard DnD rules show. To represent the actual power a mount brings to the battlefield, the rules were slightly altered as shown below.Mounted Combat Rules
Show rules
If you are mounted, your mount gains the same initiative as you for as long as you're mounted. You can do your movement and actions interchangeably. For example, your mount can move part of its speed, you can do the Attack action, your mount takes the Disengage action and moves the remainder of its speed, after which you can still use half your speed to dismount. Your mount cannot take the Attack action while mounted. All specific actions or Trampling Charge like abilities can't be used by the mount while mounted. If the mount is not mounted, it gains its own initiative and is ultimately controlled by the DM (although if you can communicate with your mount, the mount may perform your suggested course of action).
Mounts can take the following actions while mounted:
- Dash
- Disengage
- Dodge (if taken by the Mount, all attacks are made with Disadvantage by the rider)
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