From Compendium of Worldly Lore
The world of Domum is vibrant and violent, merry and fractious, and full of immense kindness and caustic evil. Life here is synonymous with war and struggle; if not against enemy armies or oppressive governments then against the ravages of nature or extraplanar threats. Kings succumb to curses of madness, mothers starve with their children, and defenders of all creeds and kinds die in the name of their causes. However bleak it may seem, life's shadow cannot exist without light. As if possessed by some global spirit of charity and laughter, the people of Domum fight back against the constant flow of misfortune the world constantly attempts to smother them with. Long, painful winters become marked with warm hearths and laughter as visitors tell stories in taverns. Adventurers band together to fight against all odds in defense of their homeland. Towns band together to ensure no-one goes hungry. There will always times, people, and places of selfish evil where pain breeds like maggots in the skin of the world. But the one constant in all of Domum's history is that no matter the time, place, or circumstance, people will always band together and weather the storms.
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Domum Game Content
Domum Setting Lore
- Life in Domum
- Arcane and Divine Magic
- Geography of the World
- Cosmology of Domum
- History of the World
An Introduction to Domum
A World of Magic and Artifice
Domum is highly magically active; ambient magical power means that one in every five children born will have some kind of aptitude for magic (although a much smaller proportion of them actually receive the training to use it). Natural deposits of enchanted stone and gems mean that any household of moderate wealth has access to some measure of magical amenities, and the upper echelons of society enjoy supernatural comfort others can only dream of. The industrious dwarves and inventive gnomes use these materials to create a great variety of magical machines; these artifices can be found everywhere from magical labs to some particularly forward-thinking farms. Due to meticulously preserved historical records and the great longevity of many of the world's races, many thousands of years' worth of cultural and technological progress have been preserved, leading to what many consider a golden age of comfort and power. The events leading up to the Age of Steel have drawn the longevity golden age into question, but regardless of its classification, the present day is one of advancement and luxury even if it lacks in stability.
The Age of Steel
The year is 211 of the Age of Steel - a mere two centuries since the evil wizard Giritrix cast a great spell over the Prime Material plane to seal it from all the other planes of existence. The seal lasted just over a hundred years before Giritrix was killed and the spell was broken at the hands of a legendary group of adventurers. In that time, the world had rapidly fallen into Chaos as magic of all kinds began to break down and cease functioning. The world-spanning Imperium of the Rising Sun fell as a power from hell arose to kill the God-King, leaving all the Imperium's regional leaders to vie for land and power in the aftermath. Man's faith in magic fell, and technology began to advance in the presence of war and absence of magic. Hence the Age of Magic ended and the Age of Steel began.
The present day shows little in the way of stabilization. Much of the world is still fractured, although the vast continent-spanning wars have mostly ended as power struggles have been resolved. Both international and intracontinental trade has mostly resumed, with players both old and new gaining traction once again, but piracy is still higher than ever.
Despite the turmoil, progress continues to march on. The first train tracks are being laid in the west, and the first steam-powered industrial machinery is being invented by the gnomish-dwarven alliance in the east. The Praedish empire, now free of the grip of the Imperium, have begun to design the first gunpowder-based firearms in response to their wartime deficiencies. These technologies are still in their infancy, but will soon grow to compete with magical amenities in the coming decades and centuries.
A Gray World
While the world of Domum features great feats of Good and Evil, conflict between Law and Chaos, and strongly defined morality of all kinds, the definitions of what exactly "alignment" means is blurred at the edges. Sometimes it can be the greatest heroes that cause the greatest downfalls, and the most selfish of people that create great good. A Lawful Good character may kill hundreds of invaders when their home city is attacked, and a Chaotic Evil character may support an orphanage if they feel they stand to gain from it. In Domum, alignment is not necessarily a person's goals and outlook, but more often simply the way they choose to approach life's challenges: are they more selfish, or selfless? Do they prefer to act in the heat of the moment, or will they fall back on trusted rules and methods? This is the kind of morality found in the world of Domum.
Tone and Inspirations
While Domum is an original setting, it is heavily inspired by other TTRPG settings, such as the worlds of The Forgotten Realms and Golarion. Domum attempts to be backwards-compatible with these settings, which means most adventures written to take place in The Forgotten Realms and Golarion can also be run in Domum with some modification!
Many distinctive features from these other settings can be found in Domum - from the cities of Waterdeep, Myth Drannor, and Magnimar, all the way to Chult (which has become an Island), the Dragon Coast, and Fallen Netheril. Of course, all of these places haven't simply been copied! Every bit of Domum is original, and these well-known names still hold untold secrets in Domum!