The 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide and Player’s Handbook provide endless inspiration to me. Despite the author’s explicit claims to the contrary, I feel like the material was written with a very specific setting in mind, one that draws heavily from the histories and cultures of the British Isles in the Medieval era. It explains why the most common settings such as Mystara, Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms are all similar to each other with minor, personal tweaks, and why wildly different settings such as the Dark Sun required a heavy adaption to the rules.
So I’ve decided to take my own crack at it, and generate my own setting using the same Medieval English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish and Roman influences that I believe informed AD&D itself, and with a twist to tie it to our real world while yet keeping it comfortably in fantasy.
Setting:
The campaign is set in a fictional dukedom in the British Isles during the Arthurian Age. The Lord of this land is Sir Wrys, a famous Paladin and member of the Knights of the Round Table, and his stronghold is established at Castle Caerhafon, around which has grown the town of Caerhafon, where the adventure begins. The town of Caerhafon is mostly populated by humans, and is a bright spot of civilization and order surrounded by untamed wilderness. Farming, hunting, and fishing from the river are all means of self-subsistence in the area, and while there is ample trade most of the manufacture is performed in cottage industries by single families or small artisan's guilds. St. Cuthburt is the patron saint of the land, and a Cathedral devoted to him resides in the city, overseen by Bishop Robert Jarrat.
Outside the protective stone walls of Caerhafon are the wilds of the English countryside where the Pagan people live. The Pagans live in small clan villages and worship a pantheon of gods drawn from their own myth and history. Though every village has a clan Elder that is seen as an authority figure, there is no central authority that rules them. Religiously, the Pagans revere the Druids, who travel amongst the natural world and meet in Circles at sites scattered across the land. Life for the Pagans is dangerous and unpredictable, as they are frequently at the mercy of wild animals, mischievous magical creatures, and the whims of Nature herself in harsh weather, famine, and long winters. Battles with rival clans are constant, though the same clans might wage war on each other in the summer only to declare a truce to reap the harvest and share festivities before the winter.
The Pagans and the Duchy of Caerhafon are permanent enemies. The Duke sees the Pagans as lawless barbarians that must be civilized by force if necessary, the Bishop sees them as targets for either conversion or a Crusade, and he uses the Pagan as a scapegoat for any and all manners of ailments that befall the dukedom. The Pagans themselves see the English as unwelcome invaders and enemies of their way of life, and destroyers of Nature and the sacred places of the gods.
The Adventure:
Into this tense climate comes a catastrophe, somehow the Devils are being summoned onto Earth. A Devil brought into the world causes carnage and unnatural phenomena in a large area around himself. The dead rise and walk among the living as undead monsters, demons follow in his wake and prey upon the innocent, and supernatural beings are let free to cause havoc. Even after a Devil leaves, wicked monsters may linger in his path and remain a permanent threat. The Duke, Sir Wrys is committed finding the source of these devil summonings and has organized bands of men to scour the countryside and bring swift justice to those responsible. The Church blames anyone performing unsanctioned acts of magic or anyone that has dealings with the supernatural, and the Bishop has put out bounties on anyone suspected of devil worship and summoning, and on any information leading to the identification of such. Obviously, most of the blame is placed toward the Pagan people, for their godless ways and "inviting" the Devil into this world, if they were not the outright cause, and the Church is happy to encourage excursions into Pagan lands.
The players can choose which, if any, of these factions to join and where they wish to originate, and will get caught up in the quest to halt the devil summons.
Cosmology:
Since this adventure doesn't take place in a previously published campaign world, I thought I'd add a few notes about the cosmology of this universe. It is radically different from our own world or the official campaign worlds. Instead, it is based on a literal reading of the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Humanity and the other mortal races live on Earth, which is the whole known world and stretches on as far as can be seen and leads into some strange, unknown places. Above the Earth exists the Heavens, where God and the celestial beings live. Below the Earth is the Underworld, the center of which is a Pit, and it is called Hell. Many mortal and immortal beings live within the three planes and though a Devil's spirit is immortal, when it is called into the mortal world the form it takes is mortal and can be killed to banish the Devil back into the Underworld.
Classes:
At this point, I only have a minor change to the Cleric class. The class is based off the description in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player Handbook, but instead of choosing a deity to follow, the implied religions of all Clerics is that of St. Cuthburt, with the exception of evil Clerics who worship devil masters. The Cleric Spell list is unchanged.
Cleric ranks have been changed to reflect the religious shift, and now the ranks are:
lvl 1 - Acolyte
lvl 2 - Adept
lvl 3 - Priest
lvl 4 - Vicar
lvl 5 - Curate
lvl 6 - Pastor
lvl 7 - Chancellor
lvl 8 - Bishop
lvl 9 - Archbishop
lvl 10 - Cardinal
Druid ranks and spells are unchanged
Magic and Magic-Users:
Magic User spells and ranks are unchanged, but they perform different functions in the opposing factions. The study of magic is an important institution in the Duke's kingdom, and many scholars, ministers, and other learned men are some level of magic-user. A large University exists under license from the Duke and is the central hub of magic learning in his territory, with many branches and satellite schools. It is headed by a Wizard, who is also counted as one of the Duke's advisors. Outside of the University system, any magic use in the kingdom is considered unauthorized and a punishable offense.
The Pagan clans view magic use differently. For them, magic is a part of life and part of the natural world, and many villages have herbalists, medicine women, and other cottage magicians supporting them. The transfer of magical knowledge happens in an apprenticeship manner, in which a higher level Magic User will take a younger one under his wing to teach spells and arcana. Those with the will and aptitude to become Magic Users are encouraged to travel around the world, seeking knowledge and wisened teachers, from village to wilderness, honing their craft.
True Wizards though, are part of neither faction but live in remote places on their own, in windswept towers or hidden strongholds far from intruding eyes, where they hoard their magical knowledge and perform their research. Some are attracted to the political power and stability of Arthur's Kingdom, such as Merlin who holds court at Camelot, while others prefer the freedom and awe they gain among the Pagans, and travel with the Druids.
*
I support my theory with a further point about the Elves. In English
folklore, the elves are shorter than humans and more whimsical, and
sometimes they have dark skin and are burned by iron, which means this
myth was influenced by the faerie myths of the Celts and Irish. On the
other hand, Elves in Germanic folklore are creatures of the trees, tall,
pale skinned and malevolent. And it is specifically English styled
Elves which form the basis of D&D’s elves, as opposed to Germanic
style, which were adapted for use in The Lord of the Rings. Gary Gygax
specifically mentioned his description of the Elven race to explain the
differences between his own work and J. R. R. Tolkien’s.
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