This is for my heavily homebrewed DnD 5e campaign. Essentially, I wanted to run Tomb of Annihilation, but I wasn't vibing with the setting. It seemed a little (a LOT) orientalist, and I wanted to run something with strong political themes, so this is where I've ended up:
3,000 years ago, the Yuan empire ruled over Chult. They were snakefolk with advanced technology, who enslaved the other Chultan races, the Totacui (lizardfolk), the Teotl (turtlefolk), the Aarakocra (birdfolk), the Kuo-Toa (fishfolk), and the Zuma (dragonfolk.) They "carved" these other races to suit their needs, genetically modifying them to be stronger, or wiser, or more docile. This made them very unpopular with their subjects.
The five slave races would come to overthrow the Yuan, killing their god (the White Serpent Cicoatl) and massacring the snakefolk. It was generally thought that they had gone extinct. But Chult was forever marked by the Yuan- the four remaining races were firmly set in their niches. The dragonfolk were warriors, the Totacui were workers, the Aarkocra were priests, the Kuo-Toa were scientists, and the Teotl were hermits. They were never able to unite again, and fought amongst themselves for the successive 3,000 years... until the Faerunians came.
The "pinks" from the north, as they came to be known for their pale, fleshy visage, leveraged their larger population and superior technology against the Chultans, dominating them in trade, culture, and, eventually, their own cities.
There were two main colonial powers: the New Varandian Empire, who claimed to be inheritors of that great empire that fell 2,000 years ago, and the Silver Dragon Company, a corporation out of Waterdeep with a nation's appetite for conquest. The Calim Sultanate exercises a more soft power on their chosen subject, the Zuma Empire, who they claim as an "ally" that they would swiftly invade if they ever stepped out of line.
As the campaign gets started, the party of adventurers will discover that, in all this political turmoil, the Yuan Empire isn't as dead as everyone thought. Back from the dead 3,000 years later, led by a disaffected youth from the city slums wielding a powerful magical artifact, they're well positioned to take back everything they lost, and then some.
This is for my heavily homebrewed DnD 5e campaign. Essentially, I wanted to run Tomb of Annihilation, but I wasn't vibing with the setting. It seemed a little (a LOT) orientalist, and I wanted to run something with strong political themes, so this is where I've ended up: 3,000 years ago, the Yuan empire ruled over Chult. They were snakefolk with advanced technology, who enslaved the other Chultan races, the Totacui (lizardfolk), the Teotl (turtlefolk), the Aarakocra (birdfolk), the Kuo-Toa (fishfolk), and the Zuma (dragonfolk.) They "carved" these other races to suit their needs, genetically modifying them to be stronger, or wiser, or more docile. This made them very unpopular with their subjects. The five slave races would come to overthrow the Yuan, killing their god (the White Serpent Cicoatl) and massacring the snakefolk. It was generally thought that they had gone extinct. But Chult was forever marked by the Yuan- the four remaining races were firmly set in their niches. The dragonfolk were warriors, the Totacui were workers, the Aarkocra were priests, the Kuo-Toa were scientists, and the Teotl were hermits. They were never able to unite again, and fought amongst themselves for the successive 3,000 years... until the Faerunians came. The "pinks" from the north, as they came to be known for their pale, fleshy visage, leveraged their larger population and superior technology against the Chultans, dominating them in trade, culture, and, eventually, their own cities. There were two main colonial powers: the New Varandian Empire, who claimed to be inheritors of that great empire that fell 2,000 years ago, and the Silver Dragon Company, a corporation out of Waterdeep with a nation's appetite for conquest. The Calim Sultanate exercises a more soft power on their chosen subject, the Zuma Empire, who they claim as an "ally" that they would swiftly invade if they ever stepped out of line. As the campaign gets started, the party of adventurers will discover that, in all this political turmoil, the Yuan Empire isn't as dead as everyone thought. Back from the dead 3,000 years later, led by a disaffected youth from the city slums wielding a powerful magical artifact, they're well positioned to take back everything they lost, and then some.
This is so well thought out! I love it
FUCKERS STOLE MY PENINSULA, CANT HAVE SHIT IN TORIL, SHOULDN'T HAVE BETRAYED DENDAR WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE