Arcanis
Arcanis: World of Shattered Empires, to give the setting its full fancy name, is a Dark Fantasy setting created by Henry Lopez and published by Paradigm Concepts Inc. It was originally a third-party setting for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, but shed those roots to run its own custom-built rule system during the days of 4e. However, it eventually returned to its roots with a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition conversion.
Arcanis is set on the continent of Onara, where a crumbling Coryani Empire (reminiscent of the Western Roman Empire) struggles with newly created nations such as Milandir (reminiscent of the Holy Roman Empire) or Canceri (reminiscent of Russia during the Middle Ages and the Balkans). Unlike many other fantasy roleplaying games, which focus primarily on tactical combat, the Arcanis campaigns focus on moral ambiguity and politics.
Races
The playable Races in Arcanis differ from the traditional races in other Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings. There are seven primary races: Dark-kin (infernally tainted), Dwarves (cursed Giants), Elorii (basically Elves, but with some significant differences), Gnomes (offspring of a human and a dwarf), Humans (including the elementally attuned Kio and Undir), Ss'ressen (Lizard-folk), and Val (touched by the gods with different bloodlines depending on which God was their progenitor). While in the days of the d20srd rules other playable races were allowed—such as Half-Orcs—the most recent Arcanis RPG rules have streamlined the system somewhat to remove these hold-overs from Dungeons & Dragons.
Dark-Kin
Dark-kin are those born with demonic traits. They are usually born from human parents who carry recessive demonic traits. Because of their bloodlines, Dark-kin tend to be marginalized in society. Dark-kin are the results of a period of Onara's history called the Time of Terror, when Demons, Devils, and other Infernals were released from the Hells by the powerful magics of the Myrantian Empire.
Dwarves
Giants were assigned the task of protecting mankind. When they began to lord over man, the king of the gods, Illiir cursed the giants, diminishing them into dwarves. Later, Sarish, the grandson of Illiir and the god of Contracts came to the Dwarves and told them that should they craft the perfect item, their curse would be lifted.
The Dwarves are divided into different groups, called Enclaves. Unlike other humanoids on Onara, dwarves are barred from the afterlife due to their curse. To preserve their souls, each Dwarf carries with him a gem, known as Soul Stone to which their soul is trapped following their death, to be released when the Curse has been lifted.
Elorii
Elves in Arcanis are called Elorii. Made of the traditional Greek elements: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, the Elorii are immortal. Elorii are divided into different sub-races based on their elemental ancestry, adding another subrace known as the Life Elorii, or Ardekenes.
The Elorii were created by four very powerful elementals in conjunction with a "life spirit" called Belisarda, who imbued elemental energies and life force into bioconstructed orc-like creature known as a Gar. Because of this, Elorii do not look like traditional Elves, having distinct fangs as well as other minor differences. These elemental spirits were worshipped by the Elorii as gods; they despise humanity because four of the human gods "absorbed" the four Elemental Lords, leaving only Belisarda. They eventually rebelled against their creators.
Gnomes
Gnomes in Arcanis are ugly, short half-breeds. These Gnomes are not an independent race, but are considered an 'aberration' race, resulting from the unholy breeding between Dwarves and Humans. Gnomes in Arcanis are disgustingly deformed, as the curse applied to dwarves applies equally to the stature of their offspring. However, unlike their Dwarven parents, Gnomes are not barred from the afterlife.
Humans
Humans mirror the traditional Dungeons & Dragons human. Most of humanity are latecomers to the continent of Onara (where most of the current story takes place), but at least one group, the Pengik, predate the Ss'regorean Empire, who have the oldest recorded history. Presently, there are two notable variations of Humanity: The Kio and the Undir. These subraces of Human have been attuned to the elements of air and water, respectively, and display several differences including longer life (Kio) and more elven traits (Undir).
Ss'ressen
Ss'ressen are lizard-men and a major component of the Ssethregoran Empire. This empire consists of many races, many of them serpentine such as Naga and Ssanu snake-men (who replaced the Yuan-ti after the latter were removed from the Open Gaming License content). The Ssethregorans are the oldest civilized group on the continent of Onara and at one point had conquered most of it. They are well known for their strange magics and were responsible for the creation of the Elorii. Originally, they worshiped the gods Kassegore and Yig, but with the rise of the Naga to a ruling position, they now worship vile gods known as the Varn. (Originally, they worshiped slaadi, but with the removal of these beings from the Open Gaming License content, Paradigm Concepts was forced to change this.)
The Black Talon ss'ressen rebelled against the Ssethregoran Empire and fled. They had come to worship a god known as The Fire Dragon. They live in a swampy area of the nation of Milandir. The Ghost Scale are descendants of a splinter group of Black Talons who came upon an artifact in the sewers of Grand Coryan that radiates a magical aura (which so happens to also radiate heat enough to support a ss'eressen clutch) and took to worshiping it as a god by the name of Herka. The Ashen Hide ss'ressen broke off from the Black Talons, deciding that the Fire Dragon was actually the human god of fire and war, Nier. The Ashen Hide Clutch now resides in the nation of Canceri.
Val
Val were created during the God War as the elite warriors of the Gods and thereafter, as the caretakers of Mankind. In their stead, every god sent his servants, the Valinor, to mingle with the populace, and create a semi-divine family capable of aiding mankind. Every Val has a bloodline, which is tied to a specific god; they have divine powers which they may improve; these are related to their bloodline. For example, val'Ossan are tied to Yarris, god of the sea, and can gain Bloodline Powers such as walking on water and controlling sea creatures.
Val are also the only psionic humans in Arcanis. Val always have steel grey eyes, unless they are psionically active; in psions, the iris turns clear, leaving the eye almost entirely white.
Lesser Races
Whilst the above form the "core" races of the Arcanis setting, its slow conversion to 5th edition is unlocking a number of less powerful (geo-politically speaking) races that are, nonetheless, potentially playable.
Codex Geographica I: The Blessed Lands features two races in its bestiary with official PC write-ups; the Ibon, a race of Half-Giants, and the Sama, race of small insectoids who mature from hyper-emotional adolescents to hyper-logical adults.
Codex Geographica II: The Ssethregoran Empire doesn't feature official PC writeups in the same outline as its precursor, but it does offer official NPC stats for the multitude of scalykind races present in its bestiary, and we all know that those might as well be the same thing as a PC writeup in 5th edition!
- Hussuma
- Hylis
- Iguadon
- Kobold
- Naga
- Pleisauran
- Rhamphorike
- Sand Apophics
- Shell-Back
- Ssanu
- Ss'ressen
- Ashen Hide
- Barbed Tail
- Black Talon
- Brood of Ven val'Sosi
- Curled Tail
- Dark Crest
- Death's Head
- Emerald Scale
- Flaming Tongue
- Ghost Scale
- Horned Jowl
- Long Claw
- Razor Claw
- Venomous Scale
- Yissera
5e Classes
In the 5th edition version of the game, the available classes are a tweaked array compared to your standard 5e setting. There are also some unusual twists to the usual rules, to emphasize the setting's lore. For example, clerics on Arcanis are socially restricted - certain deities will only permit certain races or genders to follow them; you can't be a priest of Saluwe unless you're a woman, only female [ss'ressen]] can be clerics AND they can only worship the Fire Dragon, and elorii can only worship Belisarda. Another is that Mystic Theurges do not exist - you cannot practice Divine Magic and Sorcerery, because their beliefs are fundamentally opposed. The exception to this are the Sorcerer-Priests of Sarish, who believe that Sarish is the God of Magic and thus all magic is part of their god's dominion. You can wield Divine Magic and Psionics simultaneously, however, as psionics are viewed as a gift of the gods.
Cleric
Clerics in Arcanis 5e are the same general idea as clerics in other D&D settings; they are the workers of divine magic who speak the wills of the setting's gods.
Fighter
What's there to say? The Arcanis 5e fighter is your generic warrior type.
Fury
Furies fill the role of the Barbarian in the world of Arcanis, being warriors who draw power from savagery.
Holy Champion
Holy Champions are the Paladins of Arcanis.
Psion
Psionic magic is the rarest form of magic on Arcanis, and so taking the Psion class requires you have the Psionic racial trait, which currently only the Val possess.
Ranger
You know what a Ranger is, but Arcanis reinvents the class, which let's face it is more than justified.
Rogue
The humble rogue needs no introduction. Bards are a rogue subclass on Arcanis rather than a fully fledged class in their own right.
Shaman
Perhaps best described as a hybrid of druid and warlock, shamans are Charisma casters who invoke the primal spirits and lesser gods of Arcanis. Like Clerics, they have a specific taboo based on their patron spirit - shamans of Jeggal Sag, the bestial last god ofthe ss'ressen, are forbidden from allowing animals to come to harm (which means no hunting for sport, don't start fights with animals, etc), for example. Unlike druids, wild shaping isn't an inherent part of the shaman arsenal - only the Skin Dancer subclass can do it.
Sorcerer
Arcane magic users in Arcanis are collectively known as Sorcerers, but there two distinct types of sorcerer.
Elder Sorcery is the earliest documented form of arcane magic use, and most closely corresponds to wizardry. It is slow to cast and extremely focused on attention to detail, but this makes it potent - mechanically, Elder Sorcerers are the arcane magic users who can use metamagic, in addition to selecting distinct arcane traditions to follow. The complexities it requires, however, make grasping it impossible for many races on Arcanis, including humans. Mechanically, only races with the Elder Sorcery racial trait, such as Elorii, Ssanu and Sama, can take the Elder Sorcerer class. Elder Sorcerer subclasses in the corebook are the Arcanist (focused on mastering metamagic), the Conjurer, the Elorii Elementalist (an Elorii-exclusive wielder of elemental magic), and the Magi (a gish who fashions arcane energy into obsidian-hued blades and armor).
'Eldritch Sorcery is the "young" magic, likened to a sledgehammer vs. the scalpel of Elder Sorcery, and is closer to the traditional D&D sorcerer, being a Charisma Caster vs. the Intelligence Caster of the Elder Sorcerer. This is the most widespread of the arcane magic styles in the modern era, since most races can learn it - only races with an affinity for Elder Sorcery, most dwarf subraces, and male ss'ressen have no affinity for Eldritch Sorcer. Eldritch Sorcerers can learn metamagic too, but they're not as good at it as the Elder Sorcerers. Eldritch Sorcerer subclasses in the corebook are the Invoker (focused on boosting the raw power of their spells), the Sorcerer-Priest of Sarish, and the War Mage (a gish).
Warlock
Warlocks canonically exist on Arcanis (with the exception of those devoted to the Archfey, as fey don't exist on Arcanis), but they are a shunned, feared class, hunted and outcast by those who recognize what they do.
Elder Warlocks, introduced in the Sorcerous Pacts splatbook, practice a mixture of Elder Sorcery and warlock-like pacts with elemental beings of great power. Because of the similarities between Elder Warlocks and Elder Sorcerers, they are not subject to the same prejudice as regular warlocks, and mechanically are an entirely separate class. Only elorii can be Elder Warlocks, as only their race is both compatible with Elder Sorcery and has the traditions of elemental worship that created the bonds which can be called upon.
Nations
The nations of Arcanis are mostly human affairs, all related to the First Imperium that fell thousands of years ago; most of these are ruled by the Val. The primary human lands are:
- The Republic of Altheria
- The Theocracy of Canceri
- The Coryani Empire
- The Hinterlands
- The Khitani Empire
- The League of Princes
- The Kingdom of Milandir
- Ymandragore
The three Elorii Nations are:
- Elonbé
- Entaris
- Malfea (a.k.a. Malfelen)
The major Dwarven Enclaves are:
- Solanos Mor
- Nol Dappa
- Tulipet
- Tir Betoq
- Encali
There are three major clutches of Ss'ressen (outside of the Ssethregoran Empire), the second two being offshoots of the first:
- Black Talons
- Ashen Hide
- Ghost Scale
The other races are mostly outcasts and wanderers, though occasionally small racial enclaves arise in larger cities, rather than maintaining organized civilizations.
Religion
The Deities of Arcanis are sectioned off into different pantheons. The main pantheon is the Pantheon of Man, housing the human gods. Other pantheons such as the Pantheon of the Elves, are broken, or destroyed leaving only one or no gods behind.
In Arcanis, "true" gods are unconcerned with petty mortal morality, so have no alignment as gods in other settings do; only churches have alignment, depending on what aspects of a god they worship. The Pantheon of Man, for example, does not have alignment, but the Sethregoran Varn Gods do.
The foundation of the pantheon are three brother gods: Illiir, the Patron God of Emperors and Order, Sun God and Head of the Pantheon; Yarris, God of the Sea; and Neroth, God of Death. Further, three Goddesses are their sisters and in some cases consorts: Saluwé, Goddess of the Earth, consort of Illiir; Beltine, Goddess of the Soul, wife of Neroth; and Anshar, Goddess of Pain and Suffering. The children of Illiir and Saluwé are Hurrian, God of Storms and Honorable Combat, the Reluctant Warrior, Nier, God of Fire, War and Slaughter, and Larissa, Oracle of the Gods and (more recently) Goddess of Pleasure. The child of Neroth and Beltine is Cadic, the God of Shadows, Murder, and Music. Larissa and Cadic have a son named Sarish, God of Oaths and Binding of Demons. There is reference to Althares, God of Knowledge, Invention, and Artifice, as being the "Grand Uncle of Sarish," but exactly where he fits into the divine family tree is unclear.
Schisms
The Mother Church of the Pantheon of Man once held all the gods in equal worship, until a schism occurred which drove followers of Neroth, Sarish and Nier to form an independent church, the Dark Triumvirate in Canceri. The Mother Church and the Dark Triumvirate differ in several ways, primarily in that the Dark Triumvirate approves of activities the Mother Church fears: the creation of Undead and the summoning of demons and devils for the most part.
The Ss'ressen and Ssethregoran Gods
The Fire Dragon is the god worshiped by the Black Talon ss'ressen. The Ashen Hide split off from this group, believing that Fire Dragon was actually the human god, Nier.
The Ssethregoran Empire once worshiped the gods Kassegore and Yig. With the ascension of the Naga to a ruling position in the Empire, they have begun to worship a pantheon of beings from another plane known as the Varn.
The Elorii Pantheon
The Elorii follow the Elemental Lords that created them, despite the destruction of four of them. The remaining Elemental Lord, the life spirit Belisarda, was believed to have been destroyed by The Other (or Umor, as the Elorii knew him), until the arrival of a Prophet who claimed this was not true.
- Belisarda – Goddess of Life and Healing
- Keleos – God of Fire
- Mârok – God of Earth
- Osalían – God of Air
- Beröe – Goddess of Water
Elorii heresy
A somewhat common movement among Elorii has been the practice of identifying elemental lords with one of the human gods that supposedly absorbed those elemental lords powers. For instance, some Elorii followers of the Lord of Air consider Hurrian, the Storm Lord in the Pantheon of Man, to be their God. To other Elorii this seems to be heresy and is considered to be so, although the Mother Church (and the Dark Triumvirate in the case of Nier) has little or no issues for Elorii who choose this path.
Myrantian gods
The ancient Myrantian Hegemony had its own pantheon of gods, although much information about them has been lost to the ages. The Mother Church of Coryan considers worship of the Myrantian deities heresy, but allows the worship of traditional Pantheon of Man deities under the names of Myrantian gods. The Myrantian Pantheon seems primarily based on the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, though not entirely. Tzizhet is considered a combination of Sarish and Neroth. Shu is a god of storms, sky, and magic, considered an amalgam of Hurrian and Sarish.
Factions and secret societies
The setting also has secret societies, which are factions who have beliefs and goals that occasionally aid or impede the mission of players. Each faction varies in its goals as well as how secret each faction is. Many secret societies exist in the world, though a good number of them are restricted to non-player characters in the living campaigns. The following secret societies have been open to player characters in the living campaigns:
- The Orthodoxy seeks to maintain orthodox human religion and eradicate heretical worship of the Pantheon of Man.
- The Hawk and Shield seek to eradicate the minions of the Sorcerer King or protect those with arcane gifts from his depredations, respectively.
- The Emerald Society are archaeologists who seek to discover anything and everything about the history of Onara, especially from the First Imperium of Man.
- The Followers of the Azure Way wish to restore mankind to new glory by establishing a united Second Imperium of Man.
- The Mourners in Silence believe that the gods of Arcanis have died or never existed.
- The Swords of Nier are Nierites who follow Leonydas val'Virdan, Sword of the Heavens.
- The Order of the Twilight Bough are Elorii
- The Laerestri are Elorii from Elonbé in the Vastwood. Though their existence is not secret, they sometimes receive secret orders from Elonbé.
In addition, sometimes secret orders are issued to specific nationalities, sides in war, or other subgroups.