Welcome to Thireila

Most of Thireilas history lies buried in ruins. Before the wars there was a time of peace. Not peace all over the world. If all cultures have one thing in common, then it is their lust for conflict. But what brought our world close to death was no nation known to us. As the Hordes of Ifrinn rose from their home they brought death and destruction. The Demonlords and Archdevils easily dispatched most armies of our world and only the gods could save us, giving up their eternal bodies and banishing themselves from our realm. 

Welcome to Thireila. The world of demon ashes. This world is a setting for Dungeon Crawl Classic, which i use for most of my game sessions. While it might not differentiate itself too much from most DCC Settings, being a classic medieval fantasy world, it lies the simple groundwork easily to grasp, with enough depth to let players connect to the setting with ease.

History

 

Nobody really knows how old this world is. It has seen many civilizations rise and fall, as centuries passed by, leaving no one to tell the tales. But some tales outlast time itself. As magic was discovered the borders between the realms became only mere suggestion for the ancient wizards and war became horrific, as demons and devils joined in on the action. The ancient entities, we now refer to as gods, were among the most powerful to ever set foot on our realm. Nobody knows where they came from or how long they existed. 

In the early days of Thireila many species were created. Some were children of the gods, some just appeared on the face of this world. Those races of the first age were as diverse as they were powerful. The gods were excited about them but some feared they could rival them in power. As time passed, the ancient races discovered a new source of power to utilize. Magic. The wild and untamed energy of magic was as powerful as it was dangerous and only few of the gods could grasp it, as their power was something completely different.

Around this time rivalries and conflicts between the gods became more common. Wars were waged, Alliances were formed and broke, and the races of Thireila were forced into those without another chance. These conflicts all left their marks on this world and as the gods got carried away by their displays of power a new Threat emerged. A magical realm, Ifrinn, was discovered by the ancient mages and the barrier that kept those worlds apart got damaged by the experiments of the ever so curious wizards.

As the barrier lost its strength some of the inhabitants of Ifrinn made it into our world. Demons and Devils, beings of pure chaos and destruction, seeking to bring ruin to our world. Most gods were disgusted by those beings but a few aligned with them as they too sought chaos. The fight against the demons and their allies was short and those gods who could wield the magical powers tried their best at restoring the barrier to Ifrinn, but the punishment for those races who brought the Demons to Thireila was grave. Only few races of this time are still alive.

As time passed a new race emerged. Not created by a single god, but children of many the humans were different then those who came before them. Unlike others he humans acknowledged all the gods and were seeking their guidance instead of avoiding them. This led them to grow, building cities and keeps, founding nations and empires. And the gods rivalries calmed down, for a while.

As humanity grew in power they discovered more and more about the world and themselves. Most Gods were not opposed to the humans wielding magic, but quickly found out that they lacked the power and control to rival the mages of old. They thought, they could not tear down the barrier into the realm of demons, but they were wrong. Meanwhile the demons found other ways, breaking down the wall from their side and corrupting other races. The first to be corrupted were the elves of the black forest and they among many others joined them. As the gods noticed what happened it was too late.

The hordes of Ifrinn brought the biggest wave of destruction upon Thireila that was ever seen. The human empires fell within days and soon the Archdevils sat upon the thrones and the Demonlords killed every soul in their path. The gods had to save their world. In an act of desperation they performed a ritual, which changed the world forever. The ritual destroyed the hordes of Ifrinn nearly completly. The Leaders of the Invasion were torn apart by the ritual and only few demons remained. Humanity came close to extinction but survived, but the Gods themselves did not. At least not as they were before. Their bodies were destroyed and only their will remained alive.

Today, 300 years after the ritual, the barrier between the realms is as weak as it ever was, but Ifrinns hordes were stopped. Nobody knows if, or when, they will return but for now Thireila seems safe. The races of Thireila reclaimed some of the land, which was scorched by the Demons and Devils and the world slowly begins to recover. The gods are still there, but they lost most of their power. They gain some power through the faith and worship of those humans who still believe in their ways but it is only a shadow of their former glory.

The World of Thireila 

 

Thireila got twisted and damaged by the war waged with the Hordes of Ifrinn.

The place where human culture formally blossomed, the heart of humanity, lies now deep within The Ashes. This is where the Demons struck first. This desolate region is a demonic wasteland. Few humans still live there, and even fewer by their own will. Although the Demonlords where banished others claimed their place and the Ashes are still home of the demonic hordes.

What remains of the former Empire has fled to the south. Still run by the glorious empress and her bloodline, they hope to one day reclaim the Ashes and rebuild their reign.  Living in a hot region dominated by savanna and deserts the memory of fresh, green grass and the hope to one day return to such regions drives the people of the Empire. They are caught between desolation and hope, preparing for a war against the demonic hordes they can't possibly win.

The Free Realms were once part of the Empire but with the fall of the empire those with the power decided to keep it for themselves. No one rules the Free Realms. The Free Realms rule themselves. Kings, Barons, mighty mages, corrupt wizards, powerful traders and wealthy nobleman reign over their own land and conflict among each other is as frequent as conflict with the plundering hordes of the Ashes or the Traitors of the Land of the Fallen. 

Not all nations fought against the Demons. The Land of the Fallen once was the exile for enemies of the Empire. They quickly joined the demonic hordes and fell victims to the endless corruption. To this day they believe in the power the demons grant and plan to expand their reign, waging war against the Free Realms and the Empire.

The Wildlands have always been unconquered and remain so to  this day. Barbaric tribes wander through the land of snow and ice fighting for survival everyday. Some wonder what might lie buried beneath the ice, as ancient tales tell of long lost kingdoms ruling these lands.

In the northwest lies the Land of lost Hope. While the demonic siege has finally ended the, the corruption, ruining the ground and the people, slowly grows through the land. Sulfuric rain comes from the south and the rivers carry blood and acid. Their days are numbered and they know it.

The Eternal Coast has remained untouched. To the wonders of everyone, including the inhabitants, the hordes simply stopped and moved away. The coast is ruled by the Coastal Kings and has no real means of connecting to the remainder of the world. but they are safe. Somehow.

Far in the north there is rumored to be an island called De'thraga. Many ships have sailed there over the time but none have returned.

Religion

 

While there are many being of godlike powers, those the humans refer to as gods are of a special kind. While they lost their body during the war with Ifrinn their will is still strong enough to impact the world. Most Humans worship the gods and the gods may give their faithful some of their power, if it serves their will. Those gods are the gods which the humans worship.

Lawful	Neutral	Chaotic
Imna - Goddess of Honor	Janu - God of Diplomacy and Secrets	Elyra - Goddess of Myteries and Magic*
Parthia - Goddess of Justice and Nobility	Molyk - God of Creation	Hog - God of Beasts and Combat
Paturo - God of Wisdom and Age	Tirif - Goddess of Nature and Weather	Matho - God of Desperation and Hope
Ralwonir - God of Purity and Health	Tjorael - God of Hospitality and Alcohol	Olnoth - God of Pestilence and Illness
Torgej - God of Craftmanship and Trade	Travendra - Goddess of Death and Fate	Shantu Sulfar - Goddess of Alchemy and the Moon
Vorlukay - God of the Undead	Urr - God of War	Zeyai - Goddess of the Sea

* Elyra has only few clerics and mostly acts as a patron to aspiring Magicians

Playing in Thireila

This world is not a well defined place with established cities and routes. It is a backdrop towards your own creations and should be treated as such. If you want more than just a backdrop, why not "Roll out a region". This works especially well for the Free Kingdoms. Most Adventure modules can easily be placed in this world and i will post some plot hooks and modules in the future. Here are some general Suggestions how to improve upon this feeling.

- Literacy is hard to come by. Only characters with an appropriate occupation or an intelligence modifier of +1 or higher are able to read fluently. Characters with no intelligence modifier can read but slowly and badly. Reading a book is a task worth many years for those. Wizards will become literate over time, no matter how intelligent they are.

- Money is worth a lot. This is a general suggestion for DCC. Reduce all the monetary rewards and prices listed in modules and books by one step. For example 10 gold turn into 10 silver. This will keep gold a rarity as it should be, while also keeping the economy of the game working.

- Survival is not guaranteed. While many fantasy settings imply that food and shelter are given, settlements and even bigger towns struggle with providing this in Thireila. While the Free Realms generally have it better than the empire, the suffering of the people can be felt from small hamlet to big city.

- Magic is feared. Most commoners associate magic with demons and the unknown. If you are a wizard who openly and alone walks into a small hamlet, you should be expecting pitchforks and torches. At least in those regions close to the Ashes

What comes next

 

The next weeks will see many updates to this world and i will try posting something new every Friday. Next week we'll take a closer look at Religion and i will present some fleshed out gods. While this might not seem to be much more than a draft there will be more!

Until then... Goodbye

About Dungeon Crawl Classics

Welcome to Out of Curiosity. This Blog will serve as a place to share thoughts, impressions and creations. In the forseeable future most of my posts will have one thing in common. They will be, more or less closely tied to the "Dungeon Crawl Classics" RPG. Why DCC?

I have been playing Role Playing Games for over 10 years and have tried many Systems and settings. I first started playing with "The Dark Eye" (like most german roleplayers) and played TDE (DSA) for years. I immediatly got hooked into gaming and it has been my favorite hobby ever since. For DSA, i enjoyed the setting but found the well-defined world quite limiting and as i tried other systems i began having issues with the system in general. But still. DSA has been the source of some of my finest memories in gaming, but my gaming group fell apart. I soon found myself more interested in non-fantasy Roleplaying and spent many fun sessions within Shadowrun, Dark Heresy, Traveller and Vampire. And every time i wanted to play some fantasy. I just didn't know how to start. I did not care too much for DSA anymore and, despite years of play and many books owned, Pathfinder just was not what i wanted from fantasy RPG. So i began to look around.

I played DCC some time before I ever heard of DCC. At a small Convention someone ran Dungeon World with a fan made rule set called "Funnel World". We played Sailors on the Starless Sea (A fact that I only found out three years later, as I bought the adventure after many recommendations). It was fresh and fun but didn't stick with me. It took me another two years until, at another convention, a friend presented DCC and I was quite interested. I can't recall why I was so excited about it, but the more liberal approach to fantasy Roleplaying and the rework of how spellcasters work in comparison to DnD hooked me. I got the book and now I consider DCC a personal favorite.

Enough backstory. Let's talk about the Thing. I don't wanna tell you to like it and i definitly don't want to say, that DnD is bad. It is not. I just want  to explain my point of view and show you some of the merits this system has. 

So the question is: Why do I like this thing?

It is not for nostalgia, as i am far too young to have any nostalgia towards old school Dungeon Crawls. The Dark eye is not about dungeons. I played Pathfinder, before ever playing any DnD and my first session of aDnD was a month ago. So i don't just like this old school inspired system for old times sake.

First of all: DCC is focused around characters. While this might sound weird, looking at an Old School System with only 4 classes in total and non humans being limited to their own "racial class", creating a character shows a different approach. The personality and development of a character is not tracked on the character sheet but up to the player. There are no rules regarding how you have to play your character except for being either lawful, neutral or chaotic. While leveling up is important the most drastic improvements or changes in DCC come from story elements, like blessing of gods, magical artifacts, demonic intervention and many more. So what makes a character unique is not recorded on sheet but lies within its background and history.

Furthermore Dungeon Crawl Classics simply has amazing systems aiding those character developments and helping in creating epic moments in a natural way. The systems all leave lots of space for players to be creative with and the inclusion of many random tables into gameplay creates an expectancy that anything can happen. But how does randomness and creativity work together? The game never forces you into one direction. Reading the rulebook will give you the impression, that you, as gamemaster, should choose when to insert randomness. Yes, critical hits do use random tables but if my fighter describes how he wants to stab the orc into the leg and rolls a critical hit, then why even roll for a crit and not just let the leg come off? Nothing stops you of doing this! That why the gamemaster is called judge. Randomness does not have to be applied, but when it is... Things tend to get hillarious.

But most importantly, for me, DCC feels like a template to make what you want out of your game. There is no predefined world and no lore knowledge which is mandatory. If you have an Idea, then simply go for it. And this extends to game systems. Meddling with classes or systems is not this hard because balance is not done through stats but through expecting players to pick their encounters wisely. There are few systems except for luck that apply to all characters so you don't have to keep those systems in mind when designing new stuff. Be it new classes, new encounters, new monsters or new worlds. Not only is it easy to implement. There are many people who already do this stuff and just a quick search on the internet will leave you with tons of fanmade stuff, some free, some not, all worth looking at, for this system.

Last but not least. Modules for DCC are awesome. Goodman games knows how to pick, choose and make good adventure modules and those for Dungeon Crawl Classics are mostly top-notch. For everyone interested in fantasy roleplaying i can not recommend them enough. They know that, just because your characters are inexperienced and of low level, this does not mean that things won't become epic and crazy. There are no small goblin lairs on which to spend 3 evenings of cleaning up. No. You are a peasant nothing more than a pitchfork? Ever heard of the Lords of Chaos? No? Well... that's you problem. DCC starts of epic, at low levels and doesn't slow down and this spirit translates into all their modules. 

I could continue writing about why I like DCC for a long time, but I want to write more general articles about some of those things at some point and this one went really long for a opening post.. The future will bring more focused posts, but opening with a post about my current favorite System and why creating things for it is so much fun felt like the right way to start this.

So far, thanks for reading.
Marc