Thoughts on a Twisted, Generic D&D Campaign

While walking my kiddos to school and then coming home the other day, I started thinking about how taking the stock fantasy world D&D uses, and giving it a little bit of a twist, that would make it fresher experience to all the BTDT crowd. For now I’m not digging into doing a map of this world, just the people populating it. There should be a logical flow to some of this, so everything makes a little sense with just passing info. Then over time and playing, details can be filled in if needed.

Let’s start with Elves. Tossing out the Tolkienesque descended Elves (and various subtypes all the editions have added) we’re used too, and we’ll replace them with just three types: Surface, Underground, and Wild. We’ll keep the extreme longevity and other abilities, but tweak the fluff of them.

• Surface Elves look physically just like your typical fantasy elf. But they are all very dark skinned, with tones running from olive to almost black. Hair color tends to follow the same colors as humans and other demihumans. They can grow facial hair, but it is sparse and only comes in like a goatee. They absolutely love art or artistry in all their various forms, but due to their long lives, they can be very snobbish or elitist about their current favorite “thing” this decade (or century, their patient). Temperament wise, they run the gamut from good to evil, just like humans/other demihumans. However while they are cordial to other races, they do not tend to make friends or forge alliances with them, due to elves often outliving other races, their descendants, and in some cases the country they lived in. This is why there are several Elf enclaves within other countries borders, that tend to remain neutral to the country’s politicking. Culturally, their like the Achaemenid Empire (the first Persian Empire), in that they have regional governors, standard imperial coinage, and tax districts. Also like the Achaemenid Empire, they -nationally- follow one god, but they are tolerant of other religions.

• Underground Elves are the descendants of clans who assassinated the king, and tried to install weak willed puppet on the throne. Failing, they fled the kingdom and laid blame on another clan for their collective failure. Some sought help through arcane means, and eventually followed their new demon god and its spawn into the underground. Several thousands of years living in darkness, they have -as a people- lost the ability to see completely. This is compensated by enormous ears -that they can individually move- and a hearing range that is comparable to bats. They are of course all albinos. Additionally, their pantheon of gods is lead by the demon god that first helped them.

• Wild Elves are descended from the other group of Elves that fled the kingdom. Instead of seeking aid, they fled far from their home lands and hide in the depth of an ancient wood. From there they raid the surrounding countries. Other than being blood thirsty savages, not much else is known about them or their customs.

Well, that seems to be the state of things right now. I have a few ideas dwarves, gnomes, and halflings, but they need a bit of time to percolate.