Larisnar

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Larisnar is the setting for Warlords of the Accordlands. It's mostly grimdark but there's hope - and the PCs are that hope. It shares that much with Dragonlance.

For d20 System players, Andrew Getting and his crew (Allison Medwin, Todd Rowland et al.) described most of it in The World Atlas; that's the book we got so that's the book we're using.

The book starts with 24 pages of background lore. This is split into Centuries - we're in the tenth. The calendar counts from the downfall of the Dragon: body in the underworld, soul / last-breath in the sky. If you read all that tl;dr in the book you did better than we could.

The Dwarves here burrowed too greedily and too deep, as usual; and hit upon an ancient demon, also about par for the course. To fight the darkness, the dwarves have built golems - again not exactly a trope-subversion if you consider where the dwarven lore comes from (oy!). These constructs may or may not be like those Grey Sqaargs in the Fiend Factory WD-21. They are gargoyles, here.

These dwarves' demon unfortunately happens to be THE demon: the corpse of the Dragon, who was killed in order to make this world. Its body is "gnawed by nameless things" which have spawned the Abyssals. These show up in a golden theme.

The scaly Elves, meanwhile, are cursed. Unlike most elves elsewhere they only live to age 30. They have a way out, though: necromancy. The humans laid a geas on them over a century ago not to use necromancy, which hardly endeared us to them; although, that geas has run out. Alternatively they can take the "Golden Path" ... to sell their souls to the Abyss. Yikes!

The Deverenians are the Nephilim, to the north. They are sort-of humans, but better - and arrogant. Think Lawful Evil Melniboneans, and/or those dragon-lords in Feist's Midkemia books. Their fascism-themed government venerates the Storm, which is the soul of the Dragon ripped from its corpse down below.

The Nothrog subvert absolutely no tropes: they're the Orks from Warhammer, but unfunny. Or Uruk-Hai. Or maybe hobgoblins, or Chorrim. Anyway they're violent militants out East.

The Free Kingdoms, which are us standard humies, somehow have to survive all these threats. The Campaign Adventure Book (again, for d20) is the canonical Adventure Path to weave through it all.

Another Dragonlance-like note here is that full-on demigods walk among men and nephilim . . . which, if you've played in Greyhawk, often means Trouble. Take Teufeltiger. He is listed as a god of Evil, and he belongs to the Deverenian pantheon; but he acts more as a banished Loki, doing evil or good as long as it serves his own ends, which ends are "get myself back to the Divine realms, where I can get fed peeled grapes by hot ganymedes again". Nobody trusts this guy except his followers.

Oh right, and then there are the Medusan Lords. They've had 150 years to hatch their plots, Scarlet Brotherhood style.

Third Party Dungeons & Dragons Campaign Settings
Basic D&D Wilderlands of High Fantasy
AD&D Kingdoms of Kalamar
3rd/3.5 Edition ArcanisAvadnuBlue RoseDawnforgeDiamond ThroneDragonmechDragonstarEredaneGolarionIron KingdomsKingdoms of KalamarLarisnarMidgardPtolusRokuganScarred LandsSpellslingerWilderlands of High FantasyWorld of Farland
4th Edition EredaneKingdoms of KalamarMidgardWorld of Farland
5th Edition ArkadiaAskisBlack IronBlue RoseBrancaloniaChronicles of AeresFallen CamelotGrim HollowHumblewoodIron Kingdoms: RequiemThe Islands of Sina UnaKisartaMidgardMists of AkumaThe Ninth WorldOdyssey of the DragonlordsPrimeval ThulePtolusRokuganScarred LandsSeas of VodariSvillandThrones & BonesVast KaviyaWorld of Farland