Setting Overview

The Severance

Centuries ago, the Severance tore across Masada like a wound through the world itself. The cause remains contested: scholars debate whether mortals twisted forbidden arts into the heart of creation, whether divine betrayal sparked the catastrophe, or whether something else entirely broke the order of things. What cannot be disputed is the result, miracles and disasters raged unchecked across the land. Seas boiled. Forests turned to ash. Mountains split as though struck by invisible blades. And the gods themselves were shattered into fragments and echoes.

When the chaos passed, silence followed. Nations collapsed. Histories crumbled. Those who survived found themselves with fragments instead of records, stories instead of truth. From that broken inheritance, new peoples built what they could, shaping the world we know today.

The Powers That Endure

The Empire of New Antioch forged unity through service and sacrifice. It grants citizenship only to those who prove themselves through war, labor, priesthood, or exploration. To Antioch, service is covenant, evidence that survival demands sacrifice from all. Its legions march with discipline, its laws leave little room for ambiguity, and its people see themselves as guardians of order in a world that remembers chaos.

The Elden Concordat chose a different path, binding disparate communities through mutual oath and shared memory. Less kingdom than alliance, it values consensus over decree, tradition over expediency. Its Council debates slowly but decides with weight, believing that survival without meaning is no survival worth having.

Between these powers lies an uneasy peace that has endured for generations, though never without tension.

The Vale rests to the south west of New Antioch in a region of deep woods, slow rivers, and small settlements that has prospered quietly through timber and tradition. For centuries it was overlooked, left to its own rhythms. Its people practice quiet piety and seasonal rites, content to be forgotten by the larger world.

But something is changing. Crops wither despite good soil. Animals birth twisted offspring. The forest grows restless, as though something long-dormant stirs beneath its roots. What is failing may not be mere harvest, but something sacred at the foundation of the Vale itself.

Wolf's Chapel

At the Vale's heart sits Wolf's Chapel, a timber village of modest prosperity and stubborn independence. Its prized wood flows to distant markets, its people keep to old ways, and its steward Wilhelm Starkather works to keep both empire and trouble at arm's length.

The village is small but proud, where neighbors know each other's burdens and strangers are measured carefully. Yet even here, unease spreads. Harvests spoil. Dreams turn dark. The chapel's flame burns lower each night while prayers grow more desperate.

Wolf's Chapel claims no great history, commands no armies, rules no vast lands. But here, where empire meets forest and old ways meet new troubles, choices will be made that echo far beyond its borders.

The Story Ahead

This campaign follows ordinary people confronting extraordinary circumstances. No prophecies guide your path. No destiny demands your service. What happens depends on what you choose to do when the familiar world begins to fracture.

You will face questions without easy answers: When old gods stay silent, what fills the silence? When survival demands sacrifice, who pays the price? When power offers solutions, what cost proves too high?

Your choices will matter because you are the ones making them.

Campaign Details

System: D&D 5e with curated homebrew content
Starting Level: 1-3
Ability Scores: Standard Array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8)
Restrictions: Multiclassing disabled, Peace Domain banned, custom lineages not permitted
Approved Content: All official classes/subclasses, select third-party (Grim Hollow, LaserLlama, Mage Hand Press)
Magic: Uncommon in human settlements, more prevalent in the Vale
Focus: Player agency, meaningful consequences, collaborative worldbuilding