Post by hubertbartels on Oct 1, 2020 13:49:59 GMT -5
Introduction
In examining the various campaign settings for Dungeons and Dragons, 5th Edition, I was able to find only a few examples of Regency campaigns. This falls into a style called 'Flintlocks & Fantasy' and although uncommon in Role Playing Games, is more popular in published fiction. What is 'Flintlocks & Fantasy'? It is fantasy with the addition of early firearms. Or it is stories of post Renaissance with the addition of magic.
The Regency roughly spans the years 1780-1830, from King George’s madness, through the regency of Prince George IV, the reign of King George IV and the reign and death of King William IV. This was the time of the Napoleon Wars, the Congress of Vienna and Waterloo. The industrial revolution was just about to get underway while England abolished slavery. This was the time of Wilberforce, Pitt the Younger and Palmerston.
This was also the time when the first Gothic novels are being written. John Polidori wrote of the first vampires while Mary Shelley described the creation of Dr. Frankenstein’s being. This is when science-fiction and horror was first started.
It was the heyday of stage coaches, fox hunting and sporting life in England while the first railroad spread from the cities. Canal mania was in the air with people making and losing fortunes on the construction. It was the time of Beau Brummel and the Corinthians, of the Empire dress with high waist lines and small bonnets. George Cruikshank and James Gillray drew satirical drawings of their world while Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters wrote it down.
Background
In the summer of 1588 with the Spanish Armada threatening the shores of England, Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) changed history when she summoned back Doctor John Dee (1527-1609) and Sir Edmund Kelly (1555-1597) from Europe. She asked Doctor Dee and Sir Edmund Kelly to use their skills in contacting angels to save England from the Spaniards.
Doctor Dee, a noted mathematician, astrologer and Sir Edmund Kelly, a well known spiritualist, returned to the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey where they had previously had some limited success. Armed with Sir Edmund’s ‘The Book of Dunsten’ and Doctor Dee’s ‘Seal of God’, they attempted to open communications with the Heavenly Host.
Their attempt broke ancient seals on magic and permitted the inhabitants of the Feywild to once again step on the soil of the world. With their new allies and the power of the elementals, Doctor Dee and Sir Edmund Kelly were able to raise the storms that broke the back of the Armada.
But the world would never be the same afterwards. From the hills of Cornwall, the valleys of Wales, and the mountains of the Rhine in Germany, dwarves came forth, looking to sell the products of their forges. Haughty elves stepped from gates leading to the Feywild, seeking to find amusement among humans. Gnomes slipped past them, some settling in the forests and woods of England, others finding a home in the cities, crafting jewelry and counting money. Halflings came with the elves, founding villages in the Cotswold and Surrey and other unspoiled regions of England. And the mightiest of all, dragons, made their way back into the world.
With so many portals into the Feywild and other regions, other things also returned to the world. Some Russian nobles found themselves with large communities of orcs and half-orcs instead of meek Russian serfs. American pioneers came under increasing pressure from firbolgs and trolls as well as the magical powers of Native American shaman, slowing down the pressure to settle the west.
It is now the first decade of the 19th century. There are elves throughout the British Empire, even serving in the Parliament. Dwarves can be seen in the streets of London, jostling with humans and others. Goblins are living in the South of London, along with hobgoblins and bugbears.
Arcane magic has taken root among humans with a few studying the art from wizards while others are able to use spells thanks to patrons or their background. They are supposed to be under the control of the Invisible College but many do not join.
The Established Churches such as the Church of England and the Roman Catholics officially disapprove of magic, both arcane and divine, citing the Bible’s Deuteronomy 18.10-11 that warns against dealing with witches, charmers, wizards or necromancers. You will never find clerics with divine magic in the Established Churches.