OperaQuest
1 July, Y1117
Scope
The goal of the project
This is first and foremost a homebrew setting for my D&D games, though I want it to feel like a richer and more lived-in world than what might be covered at the table. I want to be able to write extended lore within the setting for players who might be interested in it, and for players to be able to imagine their own stories fitting within this world.
OperaQuest's Unique Selling point
OperaQuest draws heavy inspiration from operas, musical theater, and classical music in general. I encourage my players to come up with concepts for their characters based on or inspired by opera characters, and I run with the interpretations they give me! Things tend to go pretty far off the rails, but honestly? Puccini was wrong and all of his soprano leads should have swords.
Theme
Genre
This is a high-magic Renaissance-inspired high fantasy world. When in doubt, assume the current year is culturally, technologically, and demographically similar to the early 1400s.
Reader Tone
A moderately bright overworld, with threats from the forces of darkness looming in the underworld and on the fringes. Everyday life is comfortable and pleasant for most; the world, as a whole, enjoys a Golden Age. However, without the work of heroic adventurers, this could all too easily collapse.
Recurring Themes
- The most meaningful parts of our journey are the connections we forge with one another; the greatest adventures are love stories (but not necessarily romances).
Drama
In Y1105, a bloody revolution ousted the monarchy in Dreibach and installed a liberal republican government. That government was slowly taken over by a cruel, ambitious emperor; the Dreibach Empire (as it is now known) has amassed an enormous army that has been marching in the borderlands of Cantonova, Erdelan, and Desarmín. Will the Empire make a move to conquer its neighbors?
Among the Emperor of Dreibach's most notable advisors is Sarastro, the reclusive leader of a fast-growing sect of radically strict Osiris worshippers called the Order of Sarastro. The nobles of Dreibach who subscribe to his draconian views on gender, sexuality, and worship are suddenly being privileged over the rest of the empire. How far will Sarastro go to push his views on the people of Dreibach?
The Free City of Cantonova is on the edge of the human-majority Dreibach Empire, but it was founded by the elves and has historically been independent, aligning itself more with the Aquatic Kingdoms and Scalados than with its human neighbors. As part of the treaty that ended the last war between Dreibach and Scalados, Cantonova was guaranteed autonomy for 750 years. This treaty expires on September 1, Y1111. All diplomacy between the kingdoms has come to a standstill; nobody knows the status of the city after that date. If Dreibach asserts authority over the city, will Cantonovans rebel?