Welcome to Rings

Hello, and welcome to the World of Rings. This campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition is designed for group play in a high-magic, light and bright fantasy world full of walking, talking beastfolk. The following information will give you a brief overview of the setting and some advice for creating a character to roleplay in it. Thank you for exploring this world.

What is this World?

The World, as it's known to its inhabitants, is a flat plane that extends infinitely in all directions. There are three "rings" of continents that the setting gets its name from. At the center of all of these is an enormously tall mountain that contains a godly and magical artifact called the Fallen Heart, the physical heart of a dead divinity that pumps magic, a liquid resource, into the world. The other ringed landmasses that surround the Heart are broken up into regions and nations that are filled with towns, cities, and unique locales, all populated by beastfolk. The rest is oceans - deep, dark, and dangerous oceans that extend out farther than anyone has ever been before.   There are no standard D&D races to find - all the sentient life that walks and talks in this world are magically evolved animals that resemble real-world creatures. On a walk through town you'd bump into goats, wolves, mice, elephants, lions, lizards, owls, apes, hyenas, frogs, and many many more species all living together in relative harmony. You can read more about them all in the Player's Handbook. Like animals in our world, the playable species have unique adaptations that give them differing traits. The ape-like simani are great at climbing, while the avian aarakocra can soar through the sky. The hulking crocodilian krodyl or the bovine minotaurs make natural warriors, while the nimble bat-folk noctera or the rodent timus can be capable rogues.   The peace between wildly different species is possible because of the most important document in this world, The Law of Speech. All creatures that talk are to be treated as equals, and none are superior to the rest. Of course, this doesn't mean there aren't bandits, warlords, and dark wizards to fight. There's still war between nations, ancients evils, and undiscovered places full of treasure and peril. There are also plenty of wild and dangerous creatures to fight. Some are magical, some are mundane, but all can test an adventuring party's mettle.   Though magic is abundant, there are still mundane and reliable ways to travel the world. Travel between the rings is made on ships and other ocean vessels. Domesticated wild beasts pull carts and wagons across land. Though the average folk may never ride one, sometimes you can spot airships soaring through the sky, or riders on the backs of giant birds.  

Creating a Character & Choosing a Species

One thing to note right away: If you'd prefer to assign your ability scores to different stats, feel free. The abilities listed for each species are suggestions, but if you and your group would prefer to use newer D&D 5E rules and assign them to scores of your choosing, that's perfectly fine. Whatever helps you and your group build the characters you want to play!   There are a lot of playable beastfolk in the world of Rings. If you already have an idea of which you'd like to play as, you can go ahead and skip ahead. If you're not sure where to start with selecting one, here are a few pieces of advice that might help you narrow it down:

• As mentioned above, you can assign your ability scores to any ability you wish. The abilities mentioned on each species page are the suggested ones, but as long as you keep the same ability score values, you can select different abilities if you want to.
• Pay attention to species traits. Some, like many birdfolk, can fly. Some gain advantage on certain skill checks or using specific senses. Some have unique methods of traversing their environment, like climbing, leaping, or fitting in tight spaces. Some have built in combat abilities or unique powers. These are really what to focus on, the lore and fluff can come after.
• It might help to think of a class first. If you want to be a fighter, a species like the Lycan, Rhox, Leonin, or Ursinin could be a good pick based on their traits. If you're looking for a magic user, a species like the Otus or Cervids might make more sense. If you want to play a ranger or thief, you might consider the Vulpine, Kenku, or Tabaxi. If you're feeling bardic, you might want to pick the Simani or Bullywug.
• Some species are meant to be analogous to standard D&D races, even though their traits may be different. You can think of the role they play in the setting as similar to a standard race. Lycans and simani are meant to fill roles similar to humans, while otus are more like gnomes, cervids are like elves, timus like halflings, ursinin like goliaths, gnolls like orcs, lipoti like dwarves, and iruxi like goblins. If there's a D&D race you enjoy playing, take a look at what species might fill the same thematic role.

 

Abundant Magic

Magic is a natural resource in this world, produced by the Fallen Heart. It tends to flow like a liquid, flooding from the Heart down into the oceans, and from there to the rains, into the ground, and ultimately to trace amounts in the blood of all living things. This means spellcasters are common in this world, as are magical beasts and beings. One suggestion for running a game in this setting based on the high amounts of magic: give all players, regardless of class, a cantrip at 3rd level. The magic in their blood can become more concentrated over the course of the game, or their innate spellcasting potential can be realized. This is totally optional, of course, but adds to the feeling of the setting.