Mages of Monvesia - Malefactors

RETCON NOTE: This post replaces portions of "Mages of Monvesia;" see also "Mages of Monvesia - Scholars."

Mastery of the arcane arts can be achieved by strengthening one's connection to the Spheres of Power.  This can be approached through formal study (see scholars), or else through otherworldy pacts or natural power.  The latter typically exist outside of "accepted" society, and are therefore called malefactors--commonly understood as "evil-doers," though originally meant to mean "incorrect doers."  There is nothing inherently evil about the sorcerer or warlock.

Enhancements to the class features of both these classes can be found in Unearthed Arcana.

Sorcerer

Different races have their own traditions "explaining" the nature of sorcerers.  To an extent, each version of the sorcerer story is true.  That is, these different versions of what a sorcerer is represent the sorcerous origins common to that race's history.

According to the omnipresent Senarian churches of the humans in Prace, sorcerers are possessed of an inborn connection to one of the Spheres.  While all adherents of the elemental philosophies believe that every being has such a connection, it is the sorcerers who have accepted it and gained power from it.   A sorcerer's elemental connection may be tied to his or her race (or culture, if human), personal philosophy/temperament, season of birth, etc.--but it does not define every aspect of the character.  Two origins reflect this:  Shadow Magic (Xanathar's Guide) and Storm Sorcery (Sword Coast or Xanathar's Guide).

Until such time as other, official origins are introduced, these two can be used to mimick the other elements.  Use Shadow Magic for Light Magic: reversing references to necrotic and radiant damage as well as darkness and light.  Use Storm Sorcery for other primal elements, such as Flood, Quake, and Wildfire Sorcery:  use alternate damage types and movement speeds as appropriate.

Among the successors races of the Empire of the Morning and Evening Star, it is said that sorcery is the result of having had a Dragon Ancestor.  This connection is not necessarily one of direct ancestry, but could represent a bloodline having been favored by one of the dragon lords of old.

Remember, there are only six types of dragons in Monvesia--each associated with one of the elemental forces of one of the Spheres.  Therefore, this is one origin that also follows the Temperamental beliefs of the Senarian churches.  (An early version of 5th Edition Monvesia used a variation on the Dragon Ancestor to represent Elemental Magic).

In the land of Desolation in Raviq, the HMDJVNW have taken control and cursed the native races into submission with a psychosomatic ailment known as Taint.  This cure is so potent in Desolation, that even the land, the neighboring Frenetic Ocean, and magic itself have become warped.  Some who have been affected by the Taint have also gained a connection to the Wild Magic that was released into the world because of it.

Dragonborn of Monvesia

RETCON NOTE:  In addition to providing new information for the campaign setting, this post also necessitated edits to "Dragons of Monvesia" and "Lizardfolk of Henjal."  With lizardfolk, dragonborn are a part of a class of humanoids called scalikind; this grouping also includes kobolds, nagi, and even yuan-ti.  The scalikind races are all originally native to Henjal.

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Language Analog: Dragonborn speak the monster language Dragon, which has no real world analog.
Inspiration: Dragonborn lore; dragons of the Palladium Megaverse
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Tainted Counterpart: None; dragonborn are immune to taint
Temperamental Association: By color--

• White - Altruist
• Gold - Materialist
• Green - Dynamist
• Blue - Idealist
• Red - Vitalist
• Black - Nihilist

For the sake of starting Alignment Points, dragonborn gain 2 AP for the listed Temperament at character creation.

Names: As presented in the Player's Handbook; it is not uncommon for a dragon to have their draconic name (imprinted in their racial memory by their mother or parents) as well as a common youth name chosen based on the cultures in which the dragonborn spends their early years.

Classifying Monvesian Creatures

RETCON NOTE:  Portions of this posts are sysematically being replaced by a series of posts under the heading of "Classifying Monvesian Creatures":

• Aberrations, Celestials, Fiends
• Anachromisms, Doubles, Thoughtforms
• Beasts & Monstrosities
• Divinities
• Elementals
• Fey [& Plants]
• Humanoids & Giants
• Undead

General information about creature classification in this setting will remain in this post.

As has been pointed out in previous posts, the nature of Monvesia is different from that other D&D worlds.  To accommodate these differences, there needs to be some minor shuffling of creatures.  A few new monster types have even been created.  The creature types of Monvesia are listed below, showing those both new and altered.

Beasts

Many creatures normally classified as monstrocities are included among the beasts of Monvesia. 

• Catoblepas [beast]
• Roc [beast]

Daemons (Multiple Types)

Daemons are a family of several monster types, each tied to one of the three-Sphere transitive planes. Five of these types already exist in the game, and three are new: Aberrations, Anachronisms, Doubles, Celestials, Fey, Fiends, Thoughforms, and Undead.

Sphinxes [Etc.] of Nefret

In Nefret, the role that would traditionally be served by dragons in other fantasy settings is instead served by Sphinxes.  Because of this, one partocular aspect of the 3.x rules needs to be modified:  Creature types.  With so few dragons and dragon-kin in the world, it does not make sense for "Dragon" to be a unique creature type.  On the other hand, the prominence of sphinxes and sphinx-kin  may benefit from the creation of a "Sphinx" creature type.

Another aspect related to this that was already changed in play was the replacement of the Draconic language with the Sphinx language where it applies to arcane magic.  Furthermore, sorcerers do not have the option of a draconic bloodline (neither a sphinx bloodline, for that matter).

Dragons of Monvesia

The game is called Dungeons and Dragons, after all, so I suppose I should touch on the nature of dragon-kind in the world.  The dragons of Monvesia follow a variation of the model presented in B/X, BECMI, and RC:  There are only 6 dragons, and they are not differentiated between metallic and chromatic--they are simply dragons.  There is only one species of [true] dragon, composed of six variations.

A dragon may be of the same color as its father or its mother.  There is a chance, however, that a shared recessive gene carried by both parents might produce a dragon of any other color.

The philosophical temperaments of human religion are associated with colors according to the traditional nomenclature of draconic coloration.  Rakasta, who do not see color in the same way that other races do, use an alternate naming scheme based on other precious materials.

Any dragon may be of any temperament, regardless of apparent color.

Innate Spellcasters: All Monvesian dragons have a chance of being innate spellcasters (as described on p. 86 of the Monster Manual).  

True dragons can be found in Prace and Henjal.  They were unknown to humans and goliaths in Raviq.