Nightowl
Champion
Ursäkta engelskan, men jag har korspostat detta till www.rpg.net och jag är åt helsike för lat att översätta det.
The Hobgoblin hegemony rules the surface world - at least the more important parts of it. When it was just separated feudal warlords it was bad enough, but now no human kingdom kan hope to exist, when the Grand Emperor-General of the Hobgoblins have used the hobgoblinoid bent for ruthless organisation and unified them all.
The only civilised humans are secondary citizens in the Hegemony; in the last Dwarf-Goblinoid war, when the young Hegemony needed to step up its production, they introduced not only the idea of industry, but of Goblin production by night, Human production by day, 24 hours straight. The Goblin may strut and claim their Goblinoid heritage, but except for those who make it into the Dire Wolf cavalry, they are also just tools to their bigger brothers. In fact, some of the Hobs prefer human slaves for their greater courage and strength, traits admired by them.
The Hegemony wants to expand; they are a warlike people, and gladiatorial mock combats and eternal duelling stretches only so far. They do their best to eradicate the few barbarian tribes that exist - humans, elves and orcs - but these people live in distant areas without much worth - 'pacification' is all well, but the Emperor-General likes to give his boys some land as a reward, and who, frankly, wants what's there? Only their holy devotion to eradicate the hated elves and orcs, symbols of unruly Chaos, keeps them going at it.
Underworld a whole world waits; unfortunately, the Kobold Commune's sorcerer-elects (first among equals, tyrants of mediocrity) conquered it first, slaying instead of enslaving, since the distrustful kobolds only trust slaves charmed into obedience, like their lizardfolk storm troops. The Commune are masters of sorcery, not to mention excavationa and engineering. Any conquest of the Underdark must entail sending many Goblins down to die, given the size of the passages. Although there are always more Goblins where they came from, the Hobgoblin warrior aristocracy hates the thought of a war where they may not show their courage first in line. Giving the damned kobolds more fodder for charm and animate dead spells is just a waste of resources.
However, daring Hobgoblin conquistadors have found whole new worlds over the seas; ironclad ships steam out to enslave the rest of the world.
The 'good' races are all but extinct. The only ones who still have a civilisation are the dwarves, but they have all been driven to the joyless duergar path - Laduger saves, when the world is a dark and dangerous place. The noble mountain dwarves where invaded by the kobold treachery after given free passage from the last war with the Hegemony. Only small groups of Hill Dwarves survive in the wild, trading their technical skills to small groups of human, elven and orcish barbarians (politics make strange bedfellows) as advisers and craftsmen.
Of the elves, gnomes and halflings, only the wild subraces have survived - wild elves, tallfellows and forest gnomes have their various ways of hiding where the Hegemony haven't turned the earth into plantations and industries. More wary than crusading, they also have to contend with orcs and humans fighting them.
Among the dwarves, however, is the desire to strike back - to make a resistance against the Hegemony and the Commune, but to do that they must convince those essentially Chaotic barbarians of so many tribes to unite. They have allies among the humans and even the goblins that toil for the Hegemony - but most of the people there have had their will broken for generations. The dwarves do remember, however. There are too few of them, so they are dying out (that, by the way, is why you see so few dwarven females - they were slaughtered on the Home Front by the Hegemony).
Before that happens, the world must be set free. Maybe these 'New Worlds' hold people that could help them. Maybe the Kobolds and Hobgoblins can be brought to devastating war with each other...
The heroes are barbarians and rangers, wilderness folk oppressed by evil, and the dwarven resistance fighters who have hidden among them. The traditionally savage races of kobolds, goblins and hobgoblins are well-organised and advanced, and still very much Evil.
I dunno why, but I always thought striking from a disadvantage felt more good and heroic.
Erik
The Hobgoblin hegemony rules the surface world - at least the more important parts of it. When it was just separated feudal warlords it was bad enough, but now no human kingdom kan hope to exist, when the Grand Emperor-General of the Hobgoblins have used the hobgoblinoid bent for ruthless organisation and unified them all.
The only civilised humans are secondary citizens in the Hegemony; in the last Dwarf-Goblinoid war, when the young Hegemony needed to step up its production, they introduced not only the idea of industry, but of Goblin production by night, Human production by day, 24 hours straight. The Goblin may strut and claim their Goblinoid heritage, but except for those who make it into the Dire Wolf cavalry, they are also just tools to their bigger brothers. In fact, some of the Hobs prefer human slaves for their greater courage and strength, traits admired by them.
The Hegemony wants to expand; they are a warlike people, and gladiatorial mock combats and eternal duelling stretches only so far. They do their best to eradicate the few barbarian tribes that exist - humans, elves and orcs - but these people live in distant areas without much worth - 'pacification' is all well, but the Emperor-General likes to give his boys some land as a reward, and who, frankly, wants what's there? Only their holy devotion to eradicate the hated elves and orcs, symbols of unruly Chaos, keeps them going at it.
Underworld a whole world waits; unfortunately, the Kobold Commune's sorcerer-elects (first among equals, tyrants of mediocrity) conquered it first, slaying instead of enslaving, since the distrustful kobolds only trust slaves charmed into obedience, like their lizardfolk storm troops. The Commune are masters of sorcery, not to mention excavationa and engineering. Any conquest of the Underdark must entail sending many Goblins down to die, given the size of the passages. Although there are always more Goblins where they came from, the Hobgoblin warrior aristocracy hates the thought of a war where they may not show their courage first in line. Giving the damned kobolds more fodder for charm and animate dead spells is just a waste of resources.
However, daring Hobgoblin conquistadors have found whole new worlds over the seas; ironclad ships steam out to enslave the rest of the world.
The 'good' races are all but extinct. The only ones who still have a civilisation are the dwarves, but they have all been driven to the joyless duergar path - Laduger saves, when the world is a dark and dangerous place. The noble mountain dwarves where invaded by the kobold treachery after given free passage from the last war with the Hegemony. Only small groups of Hill Dwarves survive in the wild, trading their technical skills to small groups of human, elven and orcish barbarians (politics make strange bedfellows) as advisers and craftsmen.
Of the elves, gnomes and halflings, only the wild subraces have survived - wild elves, tallfellows and forest gnomes have their various ways of hiding where the Hegemony haven't turned the earth into plantations and industries. More wary than crusading, they also have to contend with orcs and humans fighting them.
Among the dwarves, however, is the desire to strike back - to make a resistance against the Hegemony and the Commune, but to do that they must convince those essentially Chaotic barbarians of so many tribes to unite. They have allies among the humans and even the goblins that toil for the Hegemony - but most of the people there have had their will broken for generations. The dwarves do remember, however. There are too few of them, so they are dying out (that, by the way, is why you see so few dwarven females - they were slaughtered on the Home Front by the Hegemony).
Before that happens, the world must be set free. Maybe these 'New Worlds' hold people that could help them. Maybe the Kobolds and Hobgoblins can be brought to devastating war with each other...
The heroes are barbarians and rangers, wilderness folk oppressed by evil, and the dwarven resistance fighters who have hidden among them. The traditionally savage races of kobolds, goblins and hobgoblins are well-organised and advanced, and still very much Evil.
I dunno why, but I always thought striking from a disadvantage felt more good and heroic.
Erik
