The World

The world in which several of Adam's campaigns and much of the fiction at the Library of Highmoon site are set is called Galon. Galon, whose name means “Fourth World” in the ancient Garrite language of its first major human civilization, is a classic Western medieval fantasy world in the tradition of Tolkien and his like

Cosmology

As far as Galon’s inhabitants know, the world is flat, and contained in a massive crystal sphere with the stars embedded in its walls (a typical medieval cosmology). The sun and the moon are both thought to be smaller orbiting bodies, and you can theoretically sail off the edge of the world. The sun is usually just called “the sun,” and the moon is formally named Isinar by humans but more often referred to as “the moon,” or by the name of the primary lunar goddess, Selene. Other planets are known to exist, but are thought of as the distant abodes of angels and largely not viewed any differently than stars, except by astrologers and druids.

There are four seasons identical to our own, a discernible north which is cold and a south which is warm (Galon's south pole is theoretically its warmest spot), a lunar cycle of 30 days, and twelve 30-day months, for a 360-day year (there's a five-day festival at the end of the year, the Festival of All Life, which is technically considered to fall between years). There are 24-hour days and seven-day weeks, and months and days have the same names as ours for ease of reference. In terms of cosmology, Galon is located on the Prime Material Plane, and the Inner, Outer, Astral and Ethereal planes are arranged according to D&D planar cosmology.

The majority of Galon's campaigns take place on the continent of Emrock, in the kingdom of Gregora, although both First Group and Elf Group have recently made inroads into the elven nation of Tulmish.

Wildlife and monsters

Pretty much the typical range of D&D fantasy monsters and Earth wildlife can be found on Galon. I'll let you know if any special natives of Galon become a factor. Faerie folk are a bit stronger there than they are on other worlds, behaving more like Earth faeries in legends than D&D faeries. Otherwise, most animals and monsters are pretty much by the books.

All types of bats are universally reviled as the agents of Markira, the deity of the night and the hunt and primary god of evil, and there are a few special ones, namely the semi-sentient Cursebats (terrible bats with humanlike faces that began as individuals who were bitten by a cursebat while carrying unredeemed sin in their hearts), which serve that god and his mortal followers. Werebats and vampires often owe loyalty to Markira, and a few are even clerics. Owls, moon dogs, and the phoenix (of which there are only two alive) are considered the servants of Ceridwah, goddess of healing and the sun.

In general, you can assume that popular folklore, mythology, and fantasy convention with respect to famous monsters (werewolves, vampires, ogres, dragons, etc.) holds true for Galon, and default to D&D rules for other information unless otherwise stated. I treat angelic and demonic beings in terms of known Earth occult tradition with regards to summonings, true names, and so forth, but I use D&D terminology for various types of demons (tanar'ri and baatezu) and angels (angels, eladrin, devas). Mortal wizards may attempt to summon angels or demons and demand or bargain for power, magic, or services, but this is a dangerous practice at best. A few individuals have a trace of the demon or angel in their heritage; these beings, known as tieflings and aasamir respectively, are very rare and possess unusual powers.

Dragon species are limited to chromatic (black, red, blue, green, and white, all evil), metallic (gold, silver, bronze, copper, and brass, all good) and shadow (evil), and dragons are of the intelligent, magic-using variety. Black dragons as a species became extinct during the Black War; silver dragons, which came to the aid of Gregora during this war, are highly respected as figures of good, and rule their own nation, Sivra Har, which moves about perpetually atop a giant mass of enchanted clouds. A few individuals of half-dragon parentage (almost always the children of humans mated with shapechanged silver, black, red, or gold dragons) exist, but these are very rare. In general, all dragon species saves blacks and silvers have avoided humanity for the most part, and no other dragon varieties have claimed significant territory as a species or made an effort to interact with humans.

Magic

Magic is legal in all the realms of Gregora, although local laws may govern its uses. Most cities and realms have laws against necromancy, storm-raising, trafficking with spirits, and witchcraft, and you can be jailed for charming someone or casting dangerous spells in the streets. Being a mage is a respected profession, although most common people are in awe of such individuals. Mages are rare; in any village with a population of 500 or more you can expect to find at least one spellcaster, but few rise to great power. In regions where the agricultural god Malegrin is popular, magic is not accepted and mages are usually not tolerated well.

At one time, mages on Galon were organized into a single central body known as the Hierarchy, a worldwide order of wizards that laid out the standards of acceptable wizarding behavior and established the uniform system of level ranks, titles, and laws governing magical conduct (it was the Hierarchy that established rules against mages using armor and certain weapons, for instance, and organized spells into 1st through 9th levels of power). The Hierarchy's power was broken many years ago, but the body still exists and most mages pay it at least nominal respect. Hierarchist traditions concerning weapons used, wearing of robes, rules for exchanging spells (it is considered dishonorable to sell spells to another wizard, and one who wishes to learn a spell from you had best be ready to teach you one in return or do you a service), duels for settling conflicts among mages, and deference to those of higher rank are still honored even by most non-Hierarchists. Mages who flagrantly eschew these laws may find themselves fighting off a steady stream of Traditionist mages looking to correct their ways, terminally if necessary.

One key factor of the Hierarchy’s system is that there is a distinction between a mage and a wizard; a wizard is a mage who has achieved at least 11th level, done original magical research and created at least one magical item, and been put through a highly secret test by the Hierarchy's leaders, the Shadowed Council, who meet in a hidden fortress called the Sapphire Citadel. To be called a wizard is a great honor, and a mage who dares call himself so without being tested is impetuous and bragging at best and inviting anger from much more powerful spellcasters at worst. The Hierarchy does not govern witchcraft, and mages and witches persistently do not get along. In spite of this governance, the Hierarchy is not really a factor in most mages' lives, except for those (called Traditionists) who strictly follow its old laws and tenets.

Not everyone can become a wizard; those wishing to use wizardry must be mageborn, or possess innate potential for magic. All elves and gnomes are mageborn, as are about 5-45% of humans (depending largely on whether they have mage ancestry), and less than one in one hundred dwarves, half-orcs, or savage humanoids (if you are a member of any of these races and wish to begin play as a wizard, we can assume you’re mageborn; those wishing to multiclass as mages later may or may not be). Orcs are banned from using wizardy by a divine curse laid by the elven gods (and half-orcs suffer some restrictions when doing so), and halflings possess a racial resistance to magic (reflected in a bonus on all saves vs. spells) that prevents them from mastering the wizard’s arts.

Mages generally follow D&D rules concerning learning, memorization and casting of spells (for those unfamiliar with these rules who want to play a mage, ask me and I’ll let you know the basics). Basically, mages draw their power from their spellbooks; at the beginning of each day, they memorize the spells they want to use that day from the spellbook, and the spells remain in memory until cast. Casting spells required a combination of verbal, somatic (gestures) and material components (the latter being items needed to make a spell work, from blood of bat to rare herbs). I give mages two extra abilities that D&D doesn’t, though– the power to use cantrips (very minor spells like lighting a pipe) at will, although they don't always succeed (a maximum of three cantrips per day plus one per level of the caster as a base, with each additional cantrip beyond this limit increasingly hard to pull off), and the ability to cast spells directly out of their spellbooks without memorizing them (this takes one minute per level of the spell, does not always work, requires all normal spell components to succeed, and puts the spellbook in danger if adverse conditions are present). Mages can also attempt to “raise power”–drawing magical energy from their environment and any available source, such as a full moon or ley line, to generate unique magical effects or enhance their spells. In 3E terms, metamagic feats are available, although I’ve put sharp limits on how item creation feats are used (let me know if you need this explained to you). Generally, I've made magic a bit more flexible and easier to use, but also decreased the reliability of spells and increased the chances of something going awry, to better reflect the fantasy tradition in literature of magic as a mysterious and inexact science.

Sorcerers are somewhat rarer than wizards, although the population at large really can’t tell the difference and uses the terms synonymously. All sorcerers derive their power from a magical bloodline (such as dragons or faeries), a pact with a powerful creature like an angel or demon, or an unusual circumstance such as a magical ceremony imbuing them with power. The exact form a sorcerer’s power takes and how well he is regarded in society at large are largely determined by his power source; one with silver dragon ancestry is likely to be regarded with respect and awe, but a sorcerer whose power stems from a demonic pact will be feared and reviled.

Witchcraft works differently than wizardry…witches cast spells, but don't memorize them, and cast using “power points” much like psions using their powers. A witch may gain his or her power through heredity, poor instruction in wizardry which leads the practitioner to the “shortcuts” of witchcraft, or by striking a bargain with a powerful entity such as a demon, angel, or deity. Witch spells are learned from other witches or through spontaneous effort– the witch tries to shape her power in a new way, and if it succeeds, she's got a new spell. Witches always have to make checks (based on Wisdom) to succeed at their magic, and are subject to critical success and critical failure results. Witchcraft emphasizes subtlety and harmony with nature, and excels at shapechanging magic, illusions, enchantments, healing, and curses. Witches are morally accountable for their magical actions– harmful spells earn the witch black karma, and good spells white karma, both of which eventually catch up with you if they get too out of balance (white karma gives you rewards if it gets high enough, black karma visits retribution for your evil deeds). There are black, white, and gray witches, with most being gray or black. Witches of any types are as misunderstood and ill-treated on Galon as they were on medieval Earth.

Psionics

Psionics are basically unknown on Galon; many individuals, such as wizards and gypsies, have minor psychic talents (usually expressed in the form of feats or skills such as Divination), but the formal system of psychic powers as learned by psionic characters in D&D is undiscovered. Psions exist, but no one has yet formally studied the power enough for it to be widely known. There is no word for the power, and the term “psion” is not found in any human or demihuman language; some such individuals may be called mediums, sensitives, or mesmerists, but most are considered users of a form of magic. A person with psionic powers is generally treated the same as a witch, and most psions themselves have no idea that they aren't witches unless they've studied witchcraft enough to know the difference. In any event, psionic are vanishingly rare, and those with psionic powers seldom gain any real understanding of them unless they're fortunate enough to stumble on a teacher who shares the power and understands it better than they. The only culture on Galon with any grasp of psionics is its gypsies, and they’re loath to share their secrets with outsiders; virtually all psionic gypsies are female humans. Elves never manifest psionic powers, and other non-humans are highly unlikely to do so.