Domhain Sceal



"Domhain Sceal" is a troper project to create a detailed, entertaining and functional campaign setting for use with fantasy tabletop systems. It's system-free- No attention is paid to the concept of mechanical rules, allowing the combined creativity of half a dozen people to be focused on the story and flavour.

The general approach of the project is "different but familiar," providing twists on many things while still paying homage to the traditional archetype. Of note, races are approached as a physical template; within each race exists a multitude of cultures, averting the "one race, one creed, one king" issue seen in many RPGs.

The setting is still very much under construction, so new sections (and, of course, tropes) will be added frequently. Contributions are welcome, but please make sure your idea hasn't been covered yet.

The Campaign
Title: Domhain Scéal. Pronounced "Dome-han skeel." Closest translation for "Trope Land" in Irish. Since this project is going on over on TV Tropes, you should look at the forum thread over there, or their version of the trope DomhainSceal page.

Tropes applying to this setting:

 * Ancient Artifact: Several, Nuada's Treasures amongst them.
 * Animated Armor/Adaptive Armor: While not their default form, many mimics become these for people in order to get their warmth.
 * Anti-Villain: Black Emperor Hrod. He does terrible, awful things, but has genuinely improved the lives of his citizens to a huge degree.
 * Artifact of Doom: The Staff of Power.
 * Chest Monster: Played with, Mimics were first discovered as this but as time passed they integrated into society as a whole. These days it's very rare for a mimic to be lurking in a cold dungeon hunting for prey.
 * Clock Punk: Dwarves.
 * Familiar: Witches have them.
 * Fantastic Racism: Some humans believe themselves superior to other races. Some members of other races agree.
 * Fantastic Science: There are several areas of science that study different aspects and effects of magic and ley lines.
 * Game Face: Wraiths, werewolves. Doppelgangers sometimes master a form to act as this.
 * Gods Need Prayer Badly: Apotheosis is triggered by collective mortal thought impacting the Aether.
 * Half-Human Hybrid: Played with, possibly inverted. Humans are hybrids of the other races.
 * Logical Weakness: Mimics shapeshiting his hindered by cold temperatures.
 * Nighkin see aether as pale light which makes hunting by day a near impossibility.
 * Our absolutely everything is different.
 * Planet of Hats: Averting this is one of the major goals.
 * Rules Lawyer: Witches and mystics are these in-universe.
 * Sealed Army in a Can: Nuada's Silver Legion.
 * Sealed Evil in a Duel: The fairy Ashbleidd is the only reason Anduriel hasn't manifested and ravaged the planet yet.
 * Shapeshifter Baggage: Averted by Mimics, who make themselves change size by manipulating their density.
 * Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Mimics require warmth to shapeshift, if the temperature drops low enough they will be effectively mode locked until they get warmer.
 * Steampunk
 * Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: How wizards operate, as opposed to other magicians.
 * Troperiffic
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Mimics intelligence and movement is also effected by the cold, making them dumb and slow when temperature drop below 70.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting: Doppelgangers and Mimics.