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Furry-Friendly D&D Settings #6: Scarred Lands
9 months ago
The world of Scarn is a land of dark fantasy, still reeling from a war between the primordial titans and their godly children. Although the titans are dead, the continent of Ghelspad finds itself facing new threats, from the tyrannical Calastian Hegemony expanding its territories through conquest, the secretive Cult of the Ancients seeking world domination at the behest of the death goddess Belsameth, and monstrous titanspawn running amok and laying waste to the divine races (humans, dwarves, etc) and all others who serve the gods.
The Scarred Lands was originally published for 3rd Edition D&D, with later products shifting over to Pathfinder and 5th Edition. The latter RPG is the current line at the moment, and the timeline and metaplot have been advanced in several ways. One of them is most notably the introduction of the “Redeemed,” various titanspawn monsters who turned against their creators. Quite a few titanspawn, Redeemed or otherwise, are anthropomorphic beings.
In terms of Lore, there’s quite a bit of “furry” people in the Scarred Lands. The serpentine Asaathi live in strict feudal hierarchies who once ruled a vast empire. The Sutak are anthropomorphic horses who live as nomadic bands of raiders in the Ukrudan Desert, and whose redeemed counterparts call themselves the Ironbred. The lionlike Manticora are creations of the god war god Vangal to fight the titanspawn, yet are still distrusted by the other divine races for their bloodthirstiness. The ratfolk Slitherin were born from the shed blood of Chern, the titan of decay and disease, and spread across the land in a diaspora where most work in cities as cheap laborers but have a metropolis of their own called the Walled Warren. The Minotaurs originally hail from the Bastion-City of Dromyas in the far north, who were created by Denev the Earthmother. She was the only titan who sided against the rest of her kind and joined the side of the gods. The Minotaurs are capable of creating an inner mental landscape known as the Labyrinth, and more powerful members of their people can draw others into it.
In the dangerous Blood Bayou swampland, a Carnival of Shadows was created from the land’s connection to dreams. Many of its Krew members have animalistic features, such as the birdlike Bone Bosuns who serve as the Carnival’s navy, and Heron Priests act as ambassadors for their master, the Jack of Tears. The Proud are lionlike tauric creatures created by the titan Hrinruuk the Hunter, and roam the plains and savannas as a threat to aany who come upon them. The rhinolike Unitaurs are titanspawn who guard their homelands in the Bleak Savannah from intruders. They originally worshiped the titan Denev before she sided against the rest of her kind, and in modern times unitaurs are less able to drive off human interlopers. In a distant continent known as the Dragon Lands, civilization is split up into various pseudo-Japanese clans ruled by dragons. Kobolds are one of the common races there alongside humans, elves, half-elves, halflings, and tatsuri, the last being near-human beings with notable dragonlike physical features. Vigil Watch: Collected Volume has deeper entries detailing less-prolific areas in the setting, such as the manticora city of Leoni and the roaming Ironbred bands known as the Iron Court.
In regards to Playability, the original 3rd Edition setting was more or less restricted to the traditional core playable races, but the Pathfinder and 5th Edition updates were notable for including many new races. Of the above, the Asaathi, Ironbred, Manticora, and Slitherin are the major furry races in the core Player’s Guide. The Minotaurs are expanded upon in Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad as a playable option, and Vigil Watch: Dromyas is a splatbook that details their capital city and culture. The Dragon Lands never received an official update, with much of its lore relegated to the 3.5 book Lost Tribes of the Scarred Lands. Although not technically official, the Slarecian Vault is a program where fans can self-publish their own material for the Scarred Lands. One of the setting’s most prolific writers, Travis Legge, made a lot of material for the Vault. One of his products, Wracklings, incorporate the dragonborn into the setting as a playable option in a lore-friendly way. He and several other authors worked on the Frostlands of Fenrilik, detailing the arctic continent of the setting. One of the new races in that book are the Krampek, who look like satyrs but have fur from head to toe and are more animalistic overall.
While the modern Scarred Lands has done much to allow for playable anthropomorphic races, it should be noted that they are still distrusted by many of the divine races in that most of them were created by and are still loyal to the titans, who with the exception of Denev were evil-aligned. While there are Redeemed in great enough numbers to form their own independent societies and even integrate into wider society, it is still a recent cultural shift. Some titanspawn, such as the Proud and Unitaurs, still occupy the role of “evil humanoids who attack on sight.”
The Scarred Lands was originally published for 3rd Edition D&D, with later products shifting over to Pathfinder and 5th Edition. The latter RPG is the current line at the moment, and the timeline and metaplot have been advanced in several ways. One of them is most notably the introduction of the “Redeemed,” various titanspawn monsters who turned against their creators. Quite a few titanspawn, Redeemed or otherwise, are anthropomorphic beings.
In terms of Lore, there’s quite a bit of “furry” people in the Scarred Lands. The serpentine Asaathi live in strict feudal hierarchies who once ruled a vast empire. The Sutak are anthropomorphic horses who live as nomadic bands of raiders in the Ukrudan Desert, and whose redeemed counterparts call themselves the Ironbred. The lionlike Manticora are creations of the god war god Vangal to fight the titanspawn, yet are still distrusted by the other divine races for their bloodthirstiness. The ratfolk Slitherin were born from the shed blood of Chern, the titan of decay and disease, and spread across the land in a diaspora where most work in cities as cheap laborers but have a metropolis of their own called the Walled Warren. The Minotaurs originally hail from the Bastion-City of Dromyas in the far north, who were created by Denev the Earthmother. She was the only titan who sided against the rest of her kind and joined the side of the gods. The Minotaurs are capable of creating an inner mental landscape known as the Labyrinth, and more powerful members of their people can draw others into it.
In the dangerous Blood Bayou swampland, a Carnival of Shadows was created from the land’s connection to dreams. Many of its Krew members have animalistic features, such as the birdlike Bone Bosuns who serve as the Carnival’s navy, and Heron Priests act as ambassadors for their master, the Jack of Tears. The Proud are lionlike tauric creatures created by the titan Hrinruuk the Hunter, and roam the plains and savannas as a threat to aany who come upon them. The rhinolike Unitaurs are titanspawn who guard their homelands in the Bleak Savannah from intruders. They originally worshiped the titan Denev before she sided against the rest of her kind, and in modern times unitaurs are less able to drive off human interlopers. In a distant continent known as the Dragon Lands, civilization is split up into various pseudo-Japanese clans ruled by dragons. Kobolds are one of the common races there alongside humans, elves, half-elves, halflings, and tatsuri, the last being near-human beings with notable dragonlike physical features. Vigil Watch: Collected Volume has deeper entries detailing less-prolific areas in the setting, such as the manticora city of Leoni and the roaming Ironbred bands known as the Iron Court.
In regards to Playability, the original 3rd Edition setting was more or less restricted to the traditional core playable races, but the Pathfinder and 5th Edition updates were notable for including many new races. Of the above, the Asaathi, Ironbred, Manticora, and Slitherin are the major furry races in the core Player’s Guide. The Minotaurs are expanded upon in Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad as a playable option, and Vigil Watch: Dromyas is a splatbook that details their capital city and culture. The Dragon Lands never received an official update, with much of its lore relegated to the 3.5 book Lost Tribes of the Scarred Lands. Although not technically official, the Slarecian Vault is a program where fans can self-publish their own material for the Scarred Lands. One of the setting’s most prolific writers, Travis Legge, made a lot of material for the Vault. One of his products, Wracklings, incorporate the dragonborn into the setting as a playable option in a lore-friendly way. He and several other authors worked on the Frostlands of Fenrilik, detailing the arctic continent of the setting. One of the new races in that book are the Krampek, who look like satyrs but have fur from head to toe and are more animalistic overall.
While the modern Scarred Lands has done much to allow for playable anthropomorphic races, it should be noted that they are still distrusted by many of the divine races in that most of them were created by and are still loyal to the titans, who with the exception of Denev were evil-aligned. While there are Redeemed in great enough numbers to form their own independent societies and even integrate into wider society, it is still a recent cultural shift. Some titanspawn, such as the Proud and Unitaurs, still occupy the role of “evil humanoids who attack on sight.”
