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+--- Thread: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn (/showthread.php?tid=2325)
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Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Zeromaru X - 10-01-2017
As part of my ongoing 4e Blackmoor campaign, I worked in a place of origin for dragonborn characters (as my brother and I are big fans of all draconic, and my brother was playing a dragonborn character). So, here comes Rodhin, the dragonborn city-state located in the Spine of the Dragon, that was mentioned in the few promotional materials released for the Age of the Wolf sourcebooks in 2009
To celebrate this year's Dave Arneson Game Day, I want to share it with all of you here. The lore here is compatible with the current year of the d20 Blackmoor campaign (year 1030). If you allow dragonborn in your campaigns (perhaps, if you're playing with the 4e or 5e rules), you're free to use my version of Rodhin if you want.
Update 01/10/2024:
This is the new version of Rodhin, that is more faithful to the lore of "Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: Age of the Wolf" (2024). As I'm a big fan of the original dragonborn lore, I have tried to maintain a balance between their traditional lore and the elements from Age of the Wolf (that presents the dragonborn civilization as inspired by Tsarist Russia). Have fun.
______________________
LEGACY VERSION:
This is my old version of Rodhin. It will remain archived here for posterity.
Re: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Havard - 10-01-2017
Wow! This is very cool Zeromaru! Thank you so much for sharing this with us on this very special day!
I have only had time for a quick read through, but I really like what you have done here. Adding Dragonborn to Blackmoor might be seen as controversial by some old schoolers, but this is very much in line with what Zeitgeist Games and Code Monkey Press were planning for Blackmoor 4E.
Rodhin did appear on the preview maps that were released for Age of the Wolf and this has been identified as how they wanted to introduce the Dragonborn race into the setting. I like how you tied in the lore with the Dragon Gods for their backstory and connected Dragonia and its new relationship with this city.
I also like your ideas about the Dragonborn and their access to technology. This does seem to make them different from Dragonborn of other settings?
-Havard
Re: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Zeromaru X - 10-01-2017
Havard Wrote:Wow! This is very cool Zeromaru! Thank you so much for sharing this with us on this very special day!
I have only had time for a quick read through, but I really like what you have done here. Adding Dragonborn to Blackmoor might be seen as controversial by some old schoolers, but this is very much in line with what Zeitgeist Games and Code Monkey Press were planning for Blackmoor 4E.
Well, as someone who started playing D&D in 4e, I thank them for that. It was a way to add my favorite D&D stuff to the first campaign world. And to entice my players to play it as well, as most of my friends only knew about the Realms or Dragonlance (thanks to the novels).
Now, we mostly play with 5e rules, but the dragonborn are still a thing in 5e.
Havard Wrote:Rodhin did appear on the preview maps that were released for Age of the Wolf and this has been identified as how they wanted to introduce the Dragonborn race into the setting. I like how you tied in the lore with the Dragon Gods for their backstory and connected Dragonia and its new relationship with this city.
The idea is there in the 4e Campaign guide. Is not much developed, just a paragraph saying that the dragonborn from a civilization to the south opened an embassy in Dragonia, and from there is that the dragonborn adventurers in 4e come from. I linked that to Rodhin, to give the city relevance in the campaign.
I have yet to develop how people in Blackmoor see them, but I like your Peshwah view of dragons. Following that idea, to the Peshwah, the dragonborn perhaps are like living gods or something like that.
Havard Wrote:I also like your ideas about the Dragonborn and their access to technology. This does seem to make them different from Dragonborn of other settings?
-Havard
The technology stuff its unique to Blackmoor
At least, in the Realms and in Nentir Vale, the dragonborn are more of using traditional medieval weapons.Also, unlike the near atheists dragonborn of the Realms, my blackmoorian dragonborn are a deeply spiritual people. Their King... well, Queen currently, is basically the pope.
EDIT:
Now that Yaztromo point me out to this Zeitgeist setting, maybe I will give dragonborn mastery over smokepowder instead of steam stuff.
Re: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Havard - 10-01-2017
Zeromaru X Wrote:The idea is there in the 4e Campaign guide. Is not much developed, just a paragraph saying that the dragonborn from a civilization to the south opened an embassy in Dragonia, and from there is that the dragonborn adventurers in 4e come from. I linked that to Rodhin, to give the city relevance in the campaign.
That is cool. I had forgotten what that entry in the 4E book said. I like that you are making use of the smaller references and building upon those. This is pretty much how I like to do my world building as well. I think your way of connecting the dots here make alot of sense.
Quote:I have yet to develop how people in Blackmoor see them, but I like your Peshwah view of dragons. Following that idea, to the Peshwah, the dragonborn perhaps are like living gods or something like that.
Glad you liked that article.
I am sure some Peshwa might see Dragonborn as that. Others perhaps might see them as messengers from the gods.
The people of Blackmoor might be suspicious of a new race at first. On the other hand, Blackmoorians are used to weird things. Dave Arneson was very liberal at allowing players to take the role of unusual characters or monsters as their PCs. This might suggest that seeing monstrous creatures walking around in Blackmoor town might not be unheard of.
Quote:The technology stuff its unique to Blackmoor
Well, that is a good point. Better build on the things that are already established for the setting. Also, the proximity to the Valley of the Ancients does make it reasonable that these guys might have snatched some tech from the City of the Gods.
Quote:Also, unlike the near atheists dragonborn of the Realms, my blackmoorian dragonborn are a deeply spiritual people. Their King... well, Queen currently, is basically the pope.
Nice! I like this idea very much.
Quote:Now that Yaztromo point me out to this Zeitgeist setting, maybe I will give dragonborn mastery over smokepowder instead of steam stuff.[/quote]
Sounds rather dragon-ish!
-Havard
Re: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Rafael - 10-07-2017
That's an exceptional little contribution, Zeromaru! Thank you!
Re: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Havard - 10-15-2017
Think the Dragonborn of Rodhin have dared venture into the tunnels leading to Sophie's caves?
As mentioned elsewhere, the character of Toffmar seems perfect to use with this city.
-Havard
Re: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Zeromaru X - 10-16-2017
Havard Wrote:Think the Dragonborn of Rodhin have dared venture into the tunnels leading to Sophie's caves?
Perhaps the youngings of Clan Torah, as they want to live up to the legends of the ancestral founders of the clan, and want to do some heroics on their own. And as mentioned in your topic, the lorekeepers of Kayitz will likely want to exchange art lore with Sophie.
Re: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Havard - 10-19-2017
Zeromaru X Wrote:Havard Wrote:Think the Dragonborn of Rodhin have dared venture into the tunnels leading to Sophie's caves?
Perhaps the youngings of Clan Torah, as they want to live up to the legends of the ancestral founders of the clan, and want to do some heroics on their own. And as mentioned in your topic, the lorekeepers of Kayitz will likely want to exchange art lore with Sophie.
These are great ideas! I love tying things together like this
-Havard
Re: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Zeromaru X - 12-22-2018
I've updated the lore of Rodhin to reflect a few developments from my campaing. I've also reduced the clans to seven (because I cannot come up with ideas for the rest), and so added Clans Geber and Nashim to complete the clans.
I also removed the idea of minor class, replacing them with the Barshem caste. And expanded into the dragonborn castes a bit, adding the ideas from scales color = status from Boddynock's blog entries.
Re: Rodhin, the city of the dragonborn - Zeromaru X - 09-28-2020
Updated with some new info about the castes that came in my campaign (before it entered into an eternal hiatus...). Specifically, I added a new caste (the mundanes) and the rest of draconic lineages from 5e's rules.
Also, removed some unpleasant stuff I don't know why I added to begin with...