Shatterlands

The World

• Once a whole planet, now various size floating earthmotes. Sizes range from 50 square feet up to about 150 square miles.

• Dragons rule the world.

• A wizard king challenged the dragon rule, and was defeated. The final act of the wizard involved a massive ritual spell that was poorly countered by three of the dragons.

• The ritual was corrupted and boosted, resulting in the fracturing of the planet and the complete destruction of the human race.

• The core of the planet remains as a solid sphere of various metals and stone. It is completely covered by ocean, which is much saltier than the original planet's oceans.

• Each earthmote is held aloft through the power of mote crystals. These crystals are rare, so there is much less landmass now than before the shattering. Only areas with mote crystals survived the shattering.

• Larger earthmotes contain large forests and mountains where mining still occurs. However the bulk of lumber, metals, and ornamental stone are conjured rather than gathered.

• There are no longer any seasons. Earthmotes at/near the poles are frozen, those at the equator are hot and humid. Very few earthmotes are desert or arid.

• Water evaporates at the core, becoming clouds at roughly the altitude of the earthmotes, which rains down on most of them as usual.

• Winds are generally gentle unless a thunderstorm is in progress. Storms can occur over land or void without much reason or warning.

• Travel between earthmotes is accomplished through "air jammer" ships. These ships are captained by a magic user (wizard or sorcerer) who controls the movement of the ship through magic. They are kept afloat using special mote crystals embedded in their central mast.

• Gunpowder does not explode in this universe. It does cause a thick smoke and can be used to make smoke "bombs" that do no damage when used. Gunpowder is known as smokepowder in all know languages.

• Air ships are protected through magic and/or various kinds of ballista. Pirates are rare, since a simple Fireball can disable and possibly destroy an air ship in a matter of seconds.

• Earthmotes, especially the smaller ones, travel slowly around in the void. This is known as The Dance. Occasionally they come close to other motes, sometimes (very rarely) causing small wars to break out.

• Some communities have connected motes together through iron chains and bridges.

• The mote crystals in the larger earthmotes are found in a large cluster rather than as a single crystal.

• One of the properties of mote crystals is a kind of field similar to magnetism that prevents them from getting too close to other mote crystals. The larger the crystal/cluster, the greater the distance. Kind of like magnets repelling each other. This has the side effect of not allowing ships powered by a mote crystal to fly over an earthmote.

• The world is populated by many flying creatures adapted to the vast voids between earthmotes. Most fly via wings, but some swimming creatures were transformed to use lighter-than-air bladders for floatation. These use their flippers/tails to provide slow propultion.

Religion

The dieties of Shatterlands are ascended dragons. The seven gods and goddesses represent different aspects of the world, not necessarily the dragons themselves. The gods are not immortal, they participate in conflicts that can sometimes result in their death.

When a position becomes vacant, any ancient dragon that feels so compelled will compete with the others for the right to ascend. Sometimes this competition spills out onto the world, involving thousands of mortal creatures. Normally however, if any mortals get involved it's only a handful of champions aiding one or another dragon in the competition.

All thinking beings on Shatterlands are very much aware of the gods, but none are compelled to worship any of them. Some people may say prayers for protection or fertility, but it is known that such prayers are not answered by gods directly. Churches are very rare, occuring only on very large earthmotes with large populations.

Clierics are the exception, of course, as well as some Paladins who choose to dedicate themselves to one or more of the deities. The devine domain chosed by a cleric dictates which deity they channel their spells through. If a specific deity has died and has not yet been replaced, the cleric simply focuses on another diety within the same domain.

General house rules

• Short rests are 30 minutes instead of 60.

• Any time your character can increase attributes or pick a feat, you must always pick a feat. Half-feats are the only way to increase attributes (baring rare magic).

• If you are taken to 0 hp or less, you gain a level of exhaustion when revived.

• All ones on damage rolls are re-rolled until not a one.

Character Generation

• There are no "half" races, no half-elf, no half-orc, etc. Even before the shattering, cross breeding races didn't exist. It's just not biologically possible. Magic could create unique hybrid individuals, but the creature would not be allowed to go out and adventure.

• No multiclassing unless there's a VERY good reason to do so. Must be discussed before leveling up, out of session.

• All characters get a feat at level 1, that must be tied to the chosen background. This is in addition to any other starting feats the character might get.

• Max HP, plus con bonus, plus proficiency bonus at level 1. Hit die are rolled for each level after that (rolls of 1 are rerolled, as per damage rule below).

• Attribute array: 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10

• 18 is the max attribute value at level one, considering the starting array, racial bonuses, and starting feats. Only one stat can be 18 at level one.

• Humans no longer exist.

• Available PC Races:

  • Autognome

  • Dwarf (Hill, Mountain)

  • Elf (Eladran, High, Wood)

  • Firbolg

  • Giff - Base race from Spelljammer: AiS, modified below.

  • Gnome (Forest, Rock)

  • Goblin

  • Goliath

  • Hadozee

  • Halfling (Ghostwise, Lightfoot, Stout)

  • Harengon

  • Myconid - homebrew

  • Plasmoid - Base race from Spelljammer: AiS, extra details below.

  • Spriggan - homebrew

  • Tabaxi

  • Thri-kreen

  • Tortle

Giff changes

• Replace the Firearms Mastery trait with the following:
  Crossbow Mastery. You have a mystical connection to crossbows that traces back to the gods of the giff, who delighted in such weapons. You have proficiency with all crossbows and ignore the loading property of any crossbow. In addition, attacking at long range with a crossbow doesn’t impose disadvantage on your attack roll.

Plasmoid Extra Details

• Plasmoids only need to eat once per week. Normally the consume food items through osmosis, but they can form mouths in which they shove food, in an effort to fit in with humamoids. They do have to stay hydrated; failing to maintain moisture levels results in a dry outer layer forming and the plasmoid falls into a state of hybernation until enough water is absorbed to regain functionality.

• Plasmoid live in very small groups on Earthmotes at the equator that consist mostly of swampy or tropical rain forest terrain. They have no societal heirarchy, preferring to live solo or in pairs unless the location is small, forcing more of them to live in closer contact.

• Plasmoids are genderless; reproduction occurs when two plasmoids merge pseudopods, formed specifically for the purpose of mating. DNA is passed to the larger of the two plasmoids, who then splits into two with the partner's DNA combining in one of the two halves to create a new individual plasmoid. Plasmoids do not have a childhood, they are formed as functional adults but without any of the experiences of the parents.

• Plasmoids are ageless. Baring injury, they will live forever. There are many who have lived since before the shattering.