Altherra is a dark fantasy world blending sword & sorcery, grimdark fantasy, mythic horror, and remnants of forgotten magitech civilizations.

Most nations exist amidst the ruins of older empires. Ancient technologies survive as misunderstood relics. Sorcery is looked upon with suspicion, many blaming magic misuse for past disasters.

The world is fragmented geographically and politically. Travel is dangerous. Wilderness dominates civilization.

The setting emphasizes:

• decay

• exploration

• cultural conflict

• ancient horrors

• ambiguous morality

• strange religions

• survival in hostile frontiers

CORE SETTING ASSUMPTIONS

• Firearms are rare and unreliable.

• Most people never travel more than 20 miles from home.

• Magic is looked on with fear and suspicion.

• Ancient ruins are common.

• Demons cannot easily manifest physically without rituals.

• The undead are real and universally feared.

• Literacy is uncommon outside cities and temples.

• Most maps are inaccurate.

• Gods demonstrably exist through miracles and divine magic.

• Travel between continents is dangerous and uncommon.

COSMOLOGY

Reality is divided between:

• the mortal world

• the spirit world

• the outer void

Sorcery draws upon unstable energies from the outer void.

Altherra is a world that—until recently—suffered under the absolute rule of a despotic vampire dynasty ruled by the Crimson King, eldest and most powerful of all vampires. 1500 years ago the Crimson King attempted a great ritual to become a god… the ritual failed, the moon cracked and the sky rained blue fire, forcing most people to flee to ancient dungeons and stronghold below ground.

Now, their ancestors have returned to the surface and have attempted to re-establish their kingdoms only to find that they now share the world with mutants, twisted magics and much stranger remnants of the lost days. The once floating Sky Cities are fallen, crashed to earth, save one that drifts in the sky, as a dark, lifeless reminder of the times before the cataclysm.

Altherra is my home campaign world that original served as the setting for my Smoke & Snow games, set in the frozen northern country of Valkonnen:

• Smoke & Snow - Season 1 Youtube Playlist

• Smoke & Snow - Season 2 Youtube Playlist

The second campaign culminated in the players failing to stop the Crimson King.

Currently there are two campaign running in the setting (both sandbox using Shadowdark as the rules system):

• Jungle of Death - set in the hostile land of Xerkassa.

• The Cobalt Desert - set in the crumbling grandeur of Altherra’s great desert country Kemet.

This section of the substack is to post my general musings and thoughts concerning the world of Altherra as a whole.