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Rothaen: a Dungeon World Compatible Setting & RPG Audio Set

Created by Wes Otis

A dark pulp setting with modern story elements that is compatible with the Dungeon World system.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

The Fist of Edik
about 7 years ago – Wed, Apr 19, 2017 at 06:24:00 PM

Hello everyone,

Below is the Fist of Edik. The idea is from one of our cultist backers. I'm looking forward to the other ideas from our remaining cultist backers. Rothaen has several secret societies and cults that players can fight against or, if they so desire, become a part of. Hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the process. 

Thanks

Wes

The Fist of Edik (Fanatic, Dangerous, Chaotic)  

Active Locations: Scaldival and Findi  

Leader: Grob Ironskull (militant, fanatic, smart)  

Cult goals: Reclaim the lands to the west, which were sold and are now Findi.  

“Deep in the bowels of the earth, Edik sits on a throne of bone and blood waiting–WAITING for his people to wake up and take back what he had so generously given them. The lands to the west are Scaldival, and they belong to us, not Findi. They cannot just be sold to the highest bidder. Our people fought and bled to free ourselves from the chains of the Athix Empire for what? To sell off our children’s birthright? The queen’s need for gold blinded her to the fact that our land is more important than coin. Lands are worth dying for–money is not. She forgot the sea was our gateway to the rest of the world and that having to pay for the right to use our docks in our coastal cities is the greatest insult of all! My brothers and sisters, it’s time to remove those who are weak at the top and take back what is ours! We will not rest, ‘til Scaldival is whole again! We will make Edik proud of his people! Raise your iron and fight for your fatherland!”-Grob Ironskull, leader of The Fist of Edik  

The Fist of Edik has one mission: make Scaldival whole again. After the Athix Civil War, Scaldival was broke and its cities where in ruins. The queen needed a way to pay for reconstruction and sold off a large portion of land to the west for the gold to do so (see Scaldival in Nations & Lands). Grob Ironskull, a veteran of the civil war and outspoken critic of the crown, was outraged. He had fought hard for Scaldival’s independence, and with the flick of a quill pen, a third of the nation was gone, not to mention that it has caused Scaldival to become landlocked, a fact that Grob throws into his heated frothing rants anytime he can. 

 The cult is made up of mostly barbarian war veteran who see the government as too bloated with regulations and too weak in maintaining the borders established after the war. Because of the sale, many members lost their homes and had to move east or become citizens of Findi. Some families owned their lands for generations and feel the queen had no right to sell them. Grob plays on these emotions and leaves out the fact that, had the queen not sold the land, Scaldival would have fallen, more than likely to Luxinvale in the north or even the Athix Empire in the south. 

 The Fist of Edik has just over 900 members presently and is divided into two parts. Their public face recruits new members while painting the government’s policies in the worst light possible. They hold rallies where they give out free food and beer while talking about the tragedy of the war and the arrogance of the crown in selling off the people’s land. In public, they refer to themselves as Edik’s Forgotten Warriors to play on the emotions of patriotic Scaldivalians. It is public knowledge that the Fist and the Warriors are one in the same, though Grob likes to claim they are not. 

The Fist of Edik hides its membership. Those who run the rallies are known to the public as Edik’s Forgotten Warriors. The Fist is extremely violent. In Findi, they attack merchants and businesses. Grob feels if he can cause enough problems in the name of Scaldival against Findi, they must declare war. That is exactly the kind of thing that would help his cause. The raids take a heavy toll on the Fist. Many members are slain during these attacks, leading to high turnover in the ranks. Grob would like to raise a force large enough to take the capital and then use Scaldival’s armies to take back the lands to the west. 

The message of the Fist is gaining popularity, and though chaotic in their tactics, they have struck some harsh blows against the crown. The nobles and elites of Scaldival have beefed up security. The queen has offered gold for any information that leads to the arrest of a Fist member. She has even thought of arresting Grob, but he has not broken any laws she can prove. Right now, it’s a cat-and-mouse game between the crown and the Fist. 

 The Fist of Edik moves: 

• Attack a merchant in Findi 

• Burn a Findi Business 

• Spread rumors of corruption about the crown 

• Give money to the poor, with a message 

• Hold a rally to gain support 

• Pressure nobles to go against the crown 

• Kidnap a noble 

 • Murder a Findi merchant

The Fist of Edik's fatherland, Scaldival
The Fist of Edik's fatherland, Scaldival

 

Preview of the Sun Elves
about 7 years ago – Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 12:22:41 AM

Editing on the first draft of the play test pack is going well. Right now the races are done and the classes are being worked on. Below is the write up of the sun elves for you to take a look at. 

Sun Elves

(Magical, Arrogant, Cunning)  

6 HP, 1 Armor  

Staff (1d6 damage)  Close 

Look 

Tall and graceful, with fine features and pale skin, sun elves are regarded as the most beautiful people of Rothaen. Their hair is silver, red, blond, or brown, while their eyes are green, light blue, reddish hazel or jade in color. They have a very angelic look. 

Society 

 Sun elves ruled a vast empire for tens of thousands of years, during which they experimented on who they regarded as “lesser beings”—like humans. Not only did they create orcs and other hideous monsters by mutating humans with magic, they also enslaved many types of humans and humanoids. Their arrogance and cruelty towards their slaves was a major contributor to their downfall and, ironically, their own enslavement under the Athix Empire. 

Sun elf society has a rigid caste system founded on a family lineage which traces back to their creator gods Yuthie and Asue. Asue gave birth to 100 sun elves who were placed in Rothaen’s forest. These elves married and created the noble families. The first sun elves were great warriors and wizards with demigod-like powers. The elven chronicles tell stories of their great deeds in the early days of Rothaen. Yuthie decided there needed to be more sun elves, whom the original 100 could rule over and guide. He created the 10,000 more sun elves from the bark of the life tree Iggdrysil but, unlike the first 100, these elves were not perfect and had no special powers. As time went on though, the pure elf descendants would marry those created by Yuthie in order to expand noble families. Those elves who can trace their lineage back to a pure Asue child are called an asuema or child of perfection. The asuema are always at the top of elven society. 

Note: Mountain dwarves and sun elves may seem similar with regards to their superiority complex, but they are not. Mountain dwarves feel that they have a right to all the minerals of earth, but they do not see all other races as lesser beings. Most sun elves, on the other hand, feel they are ordained to rule the world. This is the same viewpoint the ethnic Atheleans hold who ruled the Athix Empire and enslaved sun elves for over a thousand years. 

The next rung down are those who cannot show that they are descendants of the original 100. They make up the largest population of sun elves and though they are not considered true pure bloods, they do run large portions of the government, hold elections for low-ranking positions, and can gain power through commerce. One way to make themselves feel better about not being on the top rung is to look down on other “lesser” races. 

The last rung are the half-elves, who often are raised by their human parents far away from sun elves. When they do encounter other sun elves, they are scorned and ridiculed. There are laws on the books in Daceana that discriminate against half-elves. They cannot vote, are not allowed to marry, and are not allowed to live in some cities.

Sun elves try to cover up their inherent racism with public relation ploys and elf-washing of history. What they want the world to believe is that they are a wise and noble race. They claim that non-sun elves are not allowed in some areas due to religious traditions or customs that outsiders just wouldn’t understand. They play up that they were slaves to humans for years while flat-out denying that they themselves had human slaves for centuries as well or that they committed just as many atrocities as the Athix Empire. There are even reports Daceana has been taking secret shipments of slaves from the pirate nations, though this has not been confirmed. 

The Call 

Sun elves allow their people to heed The Call and descend to the blight warrens underground as newly-corrupted dark elves. The society is, itself, skewed towards evil, which means a higher amount of their people fall victim to The Call. Dark elves do not cause harm to the sun elf way of life, and the sun elves, in general, do not care about the damage the dark elves do to other races. Why kill the enemy of your enemy? 

Culture 

Sun elf opera has been described as the best way to cause the slow and painful death of a non-elf. Banned in many countries, these seven-hour-long productions have been known to drive non-elves screaming into the streets. A critic once said, “A sun elf on a stage is more terrifying than a dragon on your doorstep.” 

One area of art that sun elves excel at is the creation of armor and weapons. Elven chain is prized by any lucky enough to find some in their size, and elven bows can get top coin. Sun elf weapons are graceful in their design and are always done with intricate inlays. 

Outlook 

The average sun elf is mainly concerned with living a self-centered life of ease. They don’t hate humans per se, but they view them as slightly more intelligent orcs. It should be noted that there are sun elf hate groups that target humans and humanoids. The higher up the purity ladder of elf society one goes, the more superior and insufferable they can be. 

Sun Elf Characters 

Sun Elf adventurers do not agree with their people’s views, which puts them at odds with their countrymen. Though they may still come off as arrogant, they do enjoy the company of other races and try their best not to look down on them. There is always some tension between humans and sun elves that can take time to get past, but once they do, they are loyal friends. Sun elves are the same as the standard elves in Dungeon World with regards to which character classes they can be, with the exception of bards, which no elf can be. 

More art for the book by shugmonkey

Ekaterina was born in the frozen night land of Kivca, but now sails the pirate infested seas.
Ekaterina was born in the frozen night land of Kivca, but now sails the pirate infested seas.
 

Edit update
about 7 years ago – Wed, Mar 29, 2017 at 04:49:02 PM

Hi all!

Here is a fast update of what is going on. Michelle is half way through the edit for the play test pack. Hamish is working on three lands which are Crysom, Malo, and Taseki Empire. I'm writing and making maps. The one I created for Hamish is below, but there may be changes. As soon as I get more art, I'll let you see it. 

Thanks everyone! 

Wes

 

Where are we at?
about 7 years ago – Thu, Mar 16, 2017 at 09:34:18 PM

Hello all!

Here is a rundown of what up with Rothaen. 

  • Art is being worked on for all three books. 
  • The play test pack is has been handed off to Michelle to edit. 
  • Hamish is starting on his portion of the core book. 
  • I'm working on the core book. 
  • We have two more adventure to complete for Quest of Rothaen. 
  • I'm working on maps in the evening. I have 8 more to go. 

I will update again when the play test PDFs go out. The will contain the races, compendium classes, as well as the map and write up for the Athix Empire. With all this, you will be able to do an ongoing adventure if you want. Also, as I finish more, I'll add it to pack. 

Here is some art I just got. 

Scaldival Warrior
Scaldival Warrior

 

The first Noden clan
The first Noden clan

 Have a great week everyone!

Wes

Rincrin and Numenera
about 7 years ago – Sun, Feb 26, 2017 at 08:12:58 PM

Small Preview and Numenera

Below is a rough draft of the rincrin, one of the new races for Rothaen. It is the final race and now the playtest packet is being edited. As soon as all of it is ready, I'll be sending out the PDFs for you to start playing. My idea is to keep adding to the packets as I go along so you play more and more areas. These are rough drafts with little editing so please keep in mind becuese things will change.

The Numenera audio collection Kickstarter has 54 hours left, please consider backing it.

Rincrin Strong, Towering, Passionate 

Tribal, Hunters, Survivors

10 HP, 2 Armor

Horn (1d10+1 damage)

Close, Thick Skin

Special Move: Charge, (2d8+2 damage) With a roar, the rincrin hurtle themselves at their foe, ramming into them with unstoppable force.

Above is the stats for NPC rincrin, class playbooks will be used for PCs.

Looks

Rincrin are large, rhino-like humanoids standing at over 8 feet (244 cm) tall, weighing up to 600 pounds (272 kg). They have thick, light gray to dark black skin, black eyes, and a horn on the end of their snout. It can be difficult to tell what gender a Rincrin is, as they don’t dress or outwardly infer any gender.

Society

The first rincrin were the magical creation of the Pharaoh Lich Amed-Ri, ruler of ancient Asi. These 5000 immortal constructs were tasked with protecting the Pharaoh and his lands.  One thousand years later, when Amed-Ri disappeared and the old kingdom fell, they were released from service to the throne by Sultan Asut of the new Asi government. Not knowing how to dispel them, he cast them out into the desert.

The rincrin wandered for centuries, looking for a new life but finding only scorn for their part in Amed-Ri’s court. Finally, they met a jinni named Haurz’Aldee, who offered to grant them their wish of mortality and the ability to have children if they worshiped her as their goddess.   

They took the deal. Tired of wandering the desert endlessly, they just wanted peace. With their new-found mortality, they started families and tried to integrate into human society, but their past still followed them. As the original rincrin died, they learned Haurz’Aldee had the power to grant a wish and make them mortal, but she had no place for their dead to go. Their souls were trapped on Rothaen.

Now, the spirits of the rincrin’s dead kinsmen stay in their family’s house, “living” side by side with their descendants. This has made assimilation into human society even more problematic. Fighting their past of being created by an undead tyrant and being surrounded by their dead relatives in spirit form has not helped the transition. In turn, rincrin try their best to prove their worth to the very people who fear them. They become guards, day laborers, and army infantry, working harder and longer than any other person.

Family is very important to them, because they are stuck with one another even after death.  They spend all their time clustered inside tight-knit families. Human cities can be cramped for rincrin, so they live in their own areas or just outside a city. There are tribes that sill live as nomads.  

Culture

The rincrin work ethic does not leave much time for the arts, but they are great storytellers. Having spectral family members passing down tales of their long history gives them a lot to draw from. They tend to enjoy human theaters, though many do not allow their kind into the show. They wear colorful clothing made of cotton.

Outlook

The rincrin have been focusing on breaking their deal with Haurz’Aldee and allowing their dead to finally rest. They worship her, yes, but they have also started to worship human gods as well. They are an optimistic people, but at the same time they carry a deep sadness. The memories and stories of their ancestors haunt them.

Rincrin Characters

Adventuring rincrin are usually looking for a way to escape the pact they made with Haurz’Aldee. They also could be trying to make a name for themselves while dispelling the stereotypes of their people.

Fighters

As a starting move, you get to use Charge (2d8+2 damage). With a roar, you hurtle yourself at your foe, ramming into them with unstoppable force.

Clerics

Holy Bellow: When you roar during battle, your companions get a +2 to their next move. You can perform this move once per combat.

Thank you for all your support!

Wes