Portal:Gamemasters

Quickly Adapting to Quelmar

Running a one-shot, a new RPG system, or a story in Quelmar and aren't sure how to quickly place it in the realm? Here's some guidance.

• Quelmar is flat and curved like an upside-down dinner plate.
• If you are telling a fantasy story (and not a modern one), then the sky is Red.
• If you are telling a modern story (and not a fantasy one), then the sky is Blue and magic is rare and seemingly nonexistent.
• There is a single moon in the night sky on any given night (though Quelmar Moons are a source of great speculation and conspiracy) and many, many constellations.
• There are 6 Creator Gods who have gone by many names over the millennia. They created the world and have always watched over it.
  • Garl Glittergold, who created the gnomes.
  • Gruumsh, who created the orcs.
  • Mielikki, who created the dryads.
  • Moradin, who created the dwarves.
  • Obad-Hai, who created the centaurs.
  • Pelor, who created the rakshasa.
• The biggest city in the world is Galik.
• Large-scale stories are often defined by their wars, whether they take place during a war, or explore the prologues or epilogues to these great conflicts.
• Small-scale stories often explore singular towns, cities, or areas, and are excellent for world-building a very small part of the greater realm.
• Quelmar’s central conflict has been with Tiamat, who arose to kill the creator gods long ago in the Holy War, only to be banished and return 800 years later to start a second war. The second war eventually damages the realm irreversibly, causing everything to come to an end 600 years after the second war.
• The very center of the realm is Tiamat’s home-base, an land called Kiston, and for most of the realm’s history, wasn’t thought to be an island but a deadly whirlpool. Whether Kiston is well known, rumored, or unheard of, it always prevents any easy travel diagonally in the realm.

Quick Adaption Cheat Sheet

If you are super short on time, use one of the following lists to quickly grab a person, place, or thing to establish yourself in Quelmar.

• Use the following pages to grab a location your character is from, or where your adventures takes place.
  • Isonhound Places (Jungles and Forests)
  • Osugbo Places (Valleys and lush Mountains)
  • Pteris Places (Deserts and badlands)
  • Amusa Places (Volcanoes, plains, a little of everything)
• Introduce a fantastical item or weapon that has been seen in the realm before
  • Magic Weapons
  • Items
  • Magic Items
• Introduce a strange race into your game that is specific to Quelmar
  • Illumian
  • Ursanids
  • Wyvernborn
  • Autom
  • More!