DM Guide

> CommonBorne exists as a setting for not just "one" campaign, but many diverse campaigns.
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Welcoming DMs to the CommonBorne realm!

This is a handy guide to help people who wish to DM using the world of CommonBorne as a setting. Here we will cover the basics of how to use this setting as a world to spring off your own unique story based on a unique pre-existing world that has stories and lore all of it's own.

## Come up with a story

The Commonborne setting has multiple factions you can play with, of varying degrees of good and ill, and using them as the basis you can create a huge, sprawling campaign.

Or you can make your own faction up! If you want a mad king who oppresses his people, and he *has* to be a king, make a small kingdom out in the Wilds. Why not, after all?

### Commonborne's setting is a framework, not a story

It's not here to tell a certain story, it's here to support multiple stories, and adventures, across all the lands.

## Creating a space to play

The CommonBorne world is comprised of two parts, the Northern Continents and the Southern. However, even though these places are resplendent in their own unique and diverse cultures, you may notice that there is no official regional map, outside of a few key locations such as capital cities.

### Why is there no in-detail map?

CommonBorne is a setting, and as such the cities, rivers, forests and more are created by the DM as they make up a part of the world for the story to happen. Remember- The world is Very Big, and there are tens of thousands of potential cities on every landmass.

You want a samurai drama in the Draconic Empire? Simply draw up a map of the region they inhabit, consider vaguely where in the Empire it is, but don't worry about a definite location. There are a lot of feuding Daimyo there, far more than the canon ones listed, have fun creating your own!

Or let's say you want to have a courtly intrigue. You can make up your own noble families in the Royaume, come up with their backstories, feud, reasons for fighting and more, and then run your campaign. There is no complete list of every single noble family in the entire Royaume, no list of every city, and no worry of stepping on "Canon".

### So we can create our own stories?

Exactly! This serves as a guideline, to take away some of the more complex aspects of world building and creating factions, thus allowing you to come up with a story you want and fit it in a culture that it works with. Want a story about building a railroad? You can! A harmless tale about people in a small farming village attacked by Goblins? Why not!

An epic world-changing saga about a god falling to earth? Go for it!

## What is CommonBorne for, exactly?

Like the Forgotten Realms or any other setting, CommonBorne is designed to be a realm that you can invent stories and campaigns to happen in. It is not built for any one campaign, but rather to be an umbrella for people to invent many campaigns they desire to see.

### So, why not just use the Forgotten Realms?

D&D settings are steeped in Tolkein's medieval fantasy land. Which, while good for most games, is limiting. CommonBorne was created to serve as a sort-of more modern setting- with contraptions and vehicles like those seen in the run up to World War 1, with muskets slowly being phased out in favour of more powerful rifles, and motorvehicles and steamtrains allowing for rapid transport.

No official D&D setting lets players take on a giant with a WW1-era tank. Or ramp off a Dragon's back on a motorbike. This setting covers that gap.

### So we can just have whatever we want happen?

Yes, that's the idea. You can have a war break out between Republica and Midland, Landricus DeLeon be assassinated, throw the Royaume into chaos, have the Divine Church explode, whatever you want for your game. You can even set it in the future or past. If our admins like what you did, it'll even be added to official canon for future players and DMs to build from.

## Canon and You

So, now you're ready to create your campaign. But is your story Canon for the whole setting, or just your session? The answer is... it could be both!

### Is there a limit for what I can do?

Absolutely not. Much like how you can have your roleplay group run into and kill and loot Drizzt Do'Urden, or join forces with Strahd, you can use any of the characters and settings as you see fit for your own exploits.

### Using 'Canon' Characters

Canon characters, such as Landricus DeLeon, have a character page complete with stats, personality, and personal history (Or biography) this is written as a guide to help you portray him should he feature in your CommonBorne campaign. But what happens in the campaign is up to you and your players.

### Will my campaign affect others playing the setting?

If you want it to, your campaigns can either be all in your own head-canon space on the CommonBorne realm, or you can try to fit them into main series canon where others can play off from it.

The timeline of CommonBorne as it heads into the Dawn Era is a collaborative event, made possible through many campaigns, with hopefully many DMs.

If you post your story to the Wiki, you can place a Player Content notice at the top of the page (copy it from the top of the Player Content page) this allows players to know that it is not official canon content yet.

However, campaigns that the CommonBorne founders like, or are agreed upon as valid events in canon by most of the setting's users with consent of admins, will be added to official setting canon!

## **IMPORTANT REMINDERS**

### Label your pages!

Please make sure, when adding pages to the wiki, to put the Player Content warning at the top of the page and add it to a category named after your campaign. This allows players and admins to view similar related content with ease.

* **Please place the Player Content warning at the top of all pages you add to the wiki.**
* **Please add all additions in one Campaign to a Category named for it (for example, add all characters, PCs, items and settings you create for your campaign to a category named after it.**

### CommonBorne is a *collaborative* domain!

Placing characters on the wiki allows others to play with them in their own campaigns. ***However***, please do not edit another person's character page unless you are their DM or a site Admin.

* **Unless you are an Admin, do not edit another person's pages without permission.**

## Player Content Warning

Copy and paste this to the top of any pages you create on the wiki, if it's not already present.

other parts of the wiki.
Please read the guide on *Player Content* and the ***DM Guide*** for more information.

But you can leave out the text above and below it.

Alternatively, add the Template called "Article: Character", "Article: Location", "Article: Item", or "Article: Party"