Starlight Chronicles Setting Info

Better, Simpler Design

You will find that many design choices that make the Starlight Chronicles different from other settings were made in order to make it simpler and easier to understand.

I believe that the best thing when designing stories is to be able to tell stories that matter and resonate with readers and players. In order to achieve that, the consumers of those stories need to be able to understand them. Therefore, making them simpler, more approachable and easier to comprehend are all extremely important if we want the stories to really become memorable and important in the consumer's mind.

The Lorebook

I would like to mention that, for the more interested and intrigued readers, there is also the Lorebook which is the go-to and definitive collection of all that is the Starlight Chronicles setting.

The Lorebook offers all the insight you need in order to understand and run your own campaigns and adventures set in the Starlight Chronicles setting.

It is updated monthly with new entries that range from new ancestries and subclasses to new regions and factions (among, many, other things).

In order to access the Lorebook, you will need to be a Patreon subscriber at the Purveyor of the Arcane tier.

Table of Contents

An easy way to navigate through this page is by pressing CTRL+F on your keyboard and typing in a word relevant to what you would like to read about.

Core Setting Lore
The World and the Planes
Deities and Daemons
Divine Magic
Giants and Dragons
Common Ancestries
Rulers and Factions
Timeline
Appendix A: FAQ

Writing Credit

All of the content found here is written by myself (Kelfecil) and serves as the final explanation on how certain things work in the setting.

Welcome

This page serves as a guide and a help document for people who know a few things about D&D lore and wish to familiarize themselves with the Starlight Chronicles.

This page is dedicated to providing some of the basic lore that connects some of the more known settings to the Starlight Chronicles. Specifically the official setting of Dungeons & Dragons is one that will be reference the most here.

This page will always be open to everyone and all information found here is available for free.

A Different Setting

It is important to understand that while many things in the Starlight Chronicles were inspired by other popular media (books, video games, tabletop RPGs, etc.), the setting is its own thing entirely. It can stand on its own without the need of any other work of fiction in order to make sense.

The stories, ideas and many other things presented in the Starlight Chronicles are just as original as any other work of fiction that was inspired by other popular or not-so-popular creative works.

A lot of the work found within the setting was made while using and referencing the System Reference Document of Dungeons & Dragons*.

*This is used under the Open Gaming License.

The Starlight Chronicles

- Adapting to the Setting

Core Setting Lore

The main premise of the setting is:

The stars guide Fate and Fate guides the souls within the realm. So it was and so it always will be.

Fate

There is a big focus on how the Weave of Fate is constantly changing based on the actions of various things that happen throughout the cosmos and how new heroes rise to change and shape Fate itself.

This is represented in a few different ways, such as:

The threads of Fate that connect everything and everyone within the cosmos.
The butterfly effect that makes every single action affect the rest of the world in some way.
The use of Starlight magic that affects the stars (which can cause the most significant changes in the world).

Magic and Science

While Fate is the most important aspect of the setting, it is important to mention that not everything is explained through magic, as it is very common in most fantasy settings.

In order to cast magic, one must be able to understand it and, in the Starlight Chronicles, this is done through research and study.

For example; while Sorcerers are considered "naturals" at spellcasting, their main talent is being able to see the threads of Fate. That, however, does not make them powerful spellcasters, since if they want to achieve greater spellcasting power, they would have to spend time researching and studying the world and how it works.

Wizards, on the other hand, are well-studied individuals that dedicate a lot of their lives in the hopes of understanding and wielding the powers that the cosmos has to offer.

The Astral Siblings and History

The stories told within the setting mostly follow a historical continuity that takes into account big events (such as the Astral Conflict) in order to set the scene for future adventures.

The Astral Siblings, the gods of the setting, are in most cases, in the center of those stories.

The Lord of Souls

Maaldazar, the Lord of Souls, was the first daemon to have ever been created by the Astral Siblings. He came into existence with the sole purpose of overseeing all of the Souls Plane and the happenings there.

Maaldazar was strong but not strong enough to contest his creators. Just like any other being with immense amount of power who is put in one spot to do just one job, he sometimes became complacent of his station and tried to take control of more than what he was given. For that reason, he also became known as the Lord of Lies.

The Fey Courts

Various creatures in the Fey plane allied themselves with one another and created their own "court." These are basically factions that vied for control of the Fey lands by warring other factions who would seek to do the same.

The most notable courts are:

The Satyr Court

The most war-friendly of all the courts, the satyrs are many and the try to show their strength in numbers whenever they can.

The Faerie Court

A lot of fey creatures fall under the rule of the faeries who have created a monarchy with a Faerie Queen. They are known to be a welcoming and benevolent faction but should you break one of their rules, their wrath is incomparable to that of any other faction.

The Outcasts Court

There are those who opposed the rule of either of the great courts and decided to create their own. Outcasts in their own right, they are very much like anarchists but their diversity allows them to adapt to most situations thus giving them the upper hand in all sorts of conflicts.

Fey Plane

The Fey Plane is a twisted version of the Material Plane where powerful creatures delve. Fey creatures and spirits of all kinds have made this plane their home and have twisted it in many different ways.

🡺Unlike other settings, in the Starlight Chronicles the Fey Plane serves as an "escape plan" of sorts for most mischievous and unruly creatures. There are some fey creatures that have made their kingdoms there, with their own rules and rulers.

(The Fey Plane will be further explored in the Fey Arcana Core Book.)

Lesser Planes

Apart from the three main planes of existence in the Starlight Chronicles, there are also some lesser planes that serve more like "pocket dimensions" of sorts.

These lesser planes are usually rather small in terms of size and landspan. A lesser plane could for example be the castle of a powerful elemental lord or the lands of a demigod where they would bring their subjects for various reasons.

Plane Differences

🡺In other settings, there are many planes and that is just confusing. Not just for players, but also for Game Masters who wish to run a game that brings dangers and introduces stories that make the traversal of the planes of existence very important and even necessary.

In order to simplify all of this, the Starlight Chronicles focuses on just the three main planes of existence and some smaller ones that are sometimes necessary in order to explain certain things.

The Ethereal Plane has been scrapped and has been replaced by the ethereal state one can be in.

The Negative Plane has been scrapped and has been replaced by beings that come from other planes and possess this kind of negative energy.

Similar examples can be found for other planes that have been completely removed.

Should you want to add to the already existing basis of the Starlight Chronicles setting, then it is not too difficult since there is plenty of space and ways to explain new additions.

The World and the Planes

Main Scene

The setting revolves mostly around the things that happen on Latakar, the main planet in the Sea of Stars.

While there are plans to release more stories and adventures that take place on other planets in the future, right now most events take place on Latakar.

The Planes

Unlike other settings, the Starlight Chronicles has only a few planes.

Material Plane

This is where most of the cosmos exists. It encompasses the Sea of Stars, the Planets within it and everything else.

The Sea of Stars is the astral space between the planets.

🡺Unlike the Astral Plane in other settings, the Sea of Stars is a physical place that ships can fly through to reach other planets. Space in the Starlight Chronicles is very much like the non-fictional one with the main difference being that it is not as deadly and creatures can "swim" through it as if it was a more forgiving type of sea.

(The Sea of Stars is further explored in the Starlight Arcana Core Book.)

Souls Plane

This is the second most important plane since it was created by the Astral Siblings so that the souls of the departed can have a place to go to.

🡺The Souls Plane is very much like the "Hell" of many other settings. Instead of dividing it into many different circles or layers, it is instead one grand plane that is ruled by Maldazar, the Lord of Souls, and his many subjects who have divided the land into different sections.

(This plane will be further explored in the Souls Arcana Core Book.)

Deities and Demons

The Astral Siblings

The only gods in the Starlight Chronicles are the Astral Siblings, Ukko, Umi and Zas.

Any other entity in the setting can only manage to accumulate enough power to come somewhat close to the power of the gods. Even then, there is no "ascendance" to godhood and they are only ever known as "demigods."

This is a major difference from most other settings since the Pantheon of other settings is littered with a cluster of names that are easily forgotten by both Game Masters and players. Not only that, but the abundance of god-like figures makes it difficult to comprehend the levels of power and the hierarchy of forces in the setting's universe.

The Power of Demigods

Demigods in the Starlight Chronicles are powerful beings that share a few traits with one another:

Some may have a following and worshippers, much like the gods do.
Some are powerful enough to transcend death or even become immortal. However...
they are not invincible! All demigods have some kind of weakness.
Some can influence various events in significant ways.
They can become the patron of another being or even a whole group and bestow significant power to them.

A great example of a demigod in the Starlight Chronicles is the Ice Mother. She can be the patron for a warlock and is also the "icon of worship" for a whole caste of elves, the Ice Mother's Children.

🡺If you would like to use some of the gods found in another setting but at the same time not mess up the straightforward power balance found within the Starlight Chronicles, then you could introduce them as a new demigod who has a more limited range of power.

Personal Comment:

To be completely honest, "godly" beings are often written pretty badly considering the very extreme lack of balance, continuity and coherence that exists within most fantasy settings. Building a pantheon is no simple task and, unfortunately, most writers end up creating a lot of "powerful" stuff that upsets what could otherwise be an interesting balance of powers in their world.

This is what happens when writers try to introduce "edginess" in their worlds by putting too much power in the hands of many different beings.

Daemons

Instead of the extremely confusing use of multiple type names like demons, devils and fiends, the Starlight Chronicles puts everything under one umbrella and names them Daemons.

Distinctions between daemons of course still exist but those come from the amount and the kind of power they possess.

Maldazar, the Lord of Souls, is the most powerful Daemon and the ruler of the Souls Plane. A Lemure, however, is also a daemon but also one of the weakest of its kind.

🡺If you would like to use signature fiends, demons and devils from other settings, then I would suggest just calling them daemons and then clarifying their position in the chain of power within the Souls Plane.

Divine Magic

Divine magic exists in the Starlight Chronicles and it is very powerful. It comes from the Astral Siblings themselves or from a demigod.

While it is common for the Astral Siblings to rarely ever get involved in the matters of mortal beings, they can still be called upon by a paladin, cleric or priest. This allows mortals to cast divine magic and the potency of this magic is determined by the faith and practice that the individual has.

For example, a cleric can easily lose access to their power should they stop having faith in their god or demigod. Calling upon the power of someone "above" works very much like it does in many other fantasy settings.

Personal Comment:

I find faith and belief to both be extremely important and useful tools that can be used to tell amazing stories in fiction.

Instead of going with crazy new ways to gain divine powers in our fictional worlds, we could look at how non-fictional religion works and what amazing feats of strength humans have achieved with just their faith as their drive.

Using this in fiction, either as a Game Master or as a player, can be extremely interesting and also very powerful as a narrative tool.

Giants and Dragons

Ancient Beings

Giants and Dragons are some of the most ancient beings in the Starlight Chronicles setting.

While there are many very ancient ancestries (e.g. the Estalar), the giants and the dragons are by far the most well-known ones, especially on Latakar.

Giants

Giants were actually just known as the humans of the ancient times. Their size was of no signifance back then since there were not that many creatures that were much smaller than they were.

With time, the Astral Siblings decided to create new creatures. These "new" creatures contested the giants for territory and other things. The giants were a primarily kind race and decided to not go to war against the new, much shorter, creatures. They fled to the mountains and other areas where the smallkin would not be able to live.

The smallkin, however, hunted them down like monsters and destroyed all but a few of them. The few that remained hid away and have rarely ever been seen since.

Giants in the Starlight Chronicles also come with a new ancestry trait; Elemental Affinity. The creature's size increases or decreases depending on how close or far it is from its natural element respectively. The amount of time it spends in a certain environment also affects size.

This means that you could encounter a large-sized frost giant that is roaming away from the cold mountains, while huge-sized frost giants are more common near icy peaks.

🡺 In contrast to other settings, Giants in the Starlight Chronicles are a very rare sight. They follow the same hierarchy as listed in the SRD. Storm, Cloud, Fire, Frost, Stone, Hill and then the rest of the types of giants.

Dragons

Dragons are very powerful creatures in the Starlight Chronicles each with their own motives and plans.

They can all take a humanoid form and thus blend in without ever being spotted (unless someone perceptive and powerful is close to them).

Much like the giants, most of the dragons perished in the hands of the "new" races. Many saw the dragons as divine and sacred creatures since they shared a visage very similar to that of the Astral Siblings themselves (known also as the Dragon Gods).

Many dragons, however, were quite evil, so despite the venerated image that most had of them, they were eventually hunted down and destroyed. Those that remained have now gone into hiding or made lairs that make it extremely difficult for anyone to find them, let alone confront them.

Some dragons created entire clans to perpetuate their plans and schemes. Great examples of such clans are the Path of the Ivory Flame and the Path of the Crimson Flame.

Personal Comment:

Dragons make great NPCs, both friendly and hostile. A dragon that survived the Astral Conflict could be seeing the world in an entirely new light and could want to benefit from its new state.

Ancestry Relationships

🡺 Unlike how it is in most other fantasy settings, the Starlight Chronicles relies on story elements to explain discrimination and other forms of such behavior between creatures of different ancestry.

No one ancestry or race is inherently good or bad, but the environment, their history and many other things can lead to the majority of a group of creature becoming more inclined to behave in a more specific manner (be it good, or bad).

Example; the subjugation and confinement (to the Souls Plane) of daemons has led them to want to break free of their bonds and because of that they constantly try to find ways to trick others and manipulate them for their own gain.

Example; dwarves have hid in mountains for many years and for that reason they are seen as grumpy and too defensive by the outside world. At the same time, they have become quite xenophobic because of the fact that they had to defend their homes against all sorts of creatures, making them wary of any outsider.

Common Ancestries

The Smallkin

After the giants and the dragons, the Astral Siblings created many smaller creatures, such various animals, monsters and humanoids.

Humans and Elves

The two most common ancestries found on Latakar. Humans and elves have worked together since the start of their existence on the planet and most of the great civilizations of the past were built because of them.

Dwarves and Gnomes

Dwarves and Gnomes were created the same time Humans and Elves were, but they hid in the mountains as they were very fearful of the creatures that taller and slimer creatures. For that reason, it took at least a hundred years or so before their existence was known by the rest of the smallkin in Latakar.

Drow

Drow are elves with a much darker skin color and some other features that simply changed over time due to the environment they lived in.

🡺 Unlike how it is in other settings, drow in the Starlight Chronicles are one of the kindest races on Latakar.

Their features changed dramatically due to the fact that they hid away in the Below (the name for the underground areas of Latakar) after they saw signs of the impending conflict between the Astral Siblings (the Astral Conflict). They tried to warn others and even Umi herself, but none of them listened, so they retreated underground for their own safety.

Once the Astral Conflict passed, they slowly started coming back to the surface only to find the land destroyed and left in ruin. Other races saw the Drow as cowards who hid away just to save themselves, but despite these views the Drow continue to try and help everyone they meet in their efforts of rebuilding civilization on the surface.

Other Important Ancestries

There are a few other important ancestries in the Starlight Chronicles namely the following:

Eythereal

The Eythereal feed on Eyther in order to survive and ever since their home planet was destroyed, they try to find other ways to sustain themselves. They usually become traders or pirates who try to acquire goods to consume in an either legal or illegal manner, respectively.

Estalar

The most ancient race in all of the cosmos. The Estalar were the very first creatures created by the Astral Siblings. They were created to be perfect in many different ways and they helped the Astral Siblings with their efforts of building, maintaing and enriching the world around them.

For more information on both of these ancestries, check out Starlight Arcana.

Rulers and Factions

The most important ruling factions and entities in the Starlight Chronicles are the following:

Olbia's Magocracy

With Olbia being the biggest and strongest city in Latakar, the government of the city, the Magocracy, has garnered a lot of power. The magocracy has a say in most if not all matters that concern Latakar and in many cases, people actually fear the council's decisions.

The Magocracy is notorious for its strict decisions and decrees. They are usually the ones that write or erase history.

The Astral Academy

The most prestigious school in all of Latakar. Even the fine schools of the glorious City of Zholis and the academies of Angel City cannot contest the knowledge and prowess that encompasses the Astral Academy.

The best Astromancers have all studied at this school and so have some of the most deranged and evil spellcasters too.

The Tinkerer's Guild

The gnomes and dwarves of Latakar are some of the most brilliant inventors and for that reason, they decided to make it more official by creating a guild that would take in anyone curious or ingenious enough to contribute to their amazing experiments and learnings.

The Tinkerer's Guild is quite famous for designing things never before seen and is actually one of the oldest factions in Latakar. A lot of blueprints and research notes were lost due to the catastrophe brought by the Astral Conflict and many of those blueprints were the ones for creating Starfarers and Light Spheres (the means for traveling through the Sea of Stars).

The Church of Stars

Faith gives power to those who can guide the faithul and for that reason, the Church of Stars is naturally growing in power continuously.

There are many within the Church who aim to guide the faithful towards a better and brighter future by preaching rules and commandments to the followers of the Siblings. At the same time, there are also some within the Church that seek to use the power of the institution for their own personal gains.

Yhasey's Merchant Guild

Trade in a world full of wonders and lost knowledge is one of the most riches-bringing profession one can utilize.

The best traders in all of Latakar are the merchants of Yhasey. One would think that a desert environment like the endless dunes of the west would be a place too barren for any kind of commerce, but the sands hide many valuable things and the merchants of Yhasey know that all too well.

The Merchant Guild holds a lot of power due to its sheer amount of riches within its banks' vaults. It is difficult to make grand decisions when you do not have the funding to make them happen, so the Merchant Guild gets to have a say in many events that concern the realm of Latakar.

The Clans of the East

The mystical Clans of the East seem almost otherwordly to most people that are not from the East. Divided into four clans, they hold meetings where the leaders of each clan make decisions for the whole East.

Many underestimate the power of the Clans and many have also tried and failed to oppose them. They may seem splintered and divided but far from that is true.

Should they want to, the Clans could rival the power of the Magocracy and the Merchant Guild combined. The capital of the East is the Hidden City which many merchants from the west only dream of reaching one day so that they may bring home some of the rarities found within its walls.

The Angelic Guard

Angel City is sort of a rogue city. Mages of the Angelic Guard put a protective bubble around the whole city in order to protect it from the outside world during the Astral Conflict. The isolation, however, took a heavy toll on the people of the city and also their reputation with the rest of the world.

The Angelic Guard of very well-trained and experienced warriors who would give their life to protect their city and its people. Their tacticians are some of the best in Latakar due to their experience of having to adapt to a very harsh and dangerous environment in the northern part of the Frozen Tundra.

Timeline

The timeline below serves as a guide for the events that transpired in the realm.

Knowing what has happened before the time that the players are currently in, helps them understand the realm better. This also allows the GM to explain history in a much better way. In Latakar, knowing the time you are in, is just as important as the location you are at.

Creation

This is the time when the Astral Siblings played their little game of demonstrating their powers to one another. The three planes of the cosmos were created on that day and the realm started to exist.

The First Libraries

With an absent flow of time, the denizens of Latakar were able to quickly understand all around them. It took only a couple hundred years before they started to build entire civilizations and empires. The knowledge they had gathered though and the knowledge that was to come, had to be preserved somehow. For that reason, the first Great Libraries were built. Legends in the future would speak of those libraries as fountains of immense knowledge.

Rise of Astromancy

When the people of Latakar learned how to use Starlight Magic once again, they decided to educate future generations in the correct use of those magical powers. They knew that the instability of Starlight spells could very easily mean that untrained spellcasters could bring havoc to the realm. The creation of The Astral Academy helped interested students understand the powers of the cosmos, study them closer and even use them to help others.

Return of the Void

When the Void Lord, Za'strasz, returned from the abyssal depths of the cosmos. He returned to claim what was once his and he used his newfound Eldritch powers to do that. The Eldritch magic he commanded was drawn directly from the Void itself. He would spread corruption to the Material Plane slowly as he tried to bring more and more creatures to his side, with the end goal being to become the one true ruler of the cosmos once again.

This is when the events of Starlight Arcana's campaign take place.

Council of Stars

It was not long before The Astral Academy started becoming the focus of attention of many political powers in the realm. Even the Astral Siblings themselves kept a close eye on the school but they still did their best to stay out of sight.

With that much power on the line, guidance was needed and it was found in the faces of three powerful individuals. They called it the Council of Stars and they were three very wise and powerful astromancers who together decided what the Academy's decisions on matter that concerned the realm would be.

The individuals were:

Amelia Nightsworn, Archpriestess of the Church of Stars
Aurelius Wyther, Headmaster of the Astral Academy
Falira Dawnblaze, the Outside Element

More Eras

More eras will be added in time as more adventures and books are released.

The Pre-eminent Souls

Unchecked by the Siblings, the creatures of Latakar grew stronger with every passing year as they eventually reached the point where they could transcend the planes with little to no effort. They were able to manipulate even the powers of the Souls Plane and that allowed them to live for many years past their normal life expectancy. The Astral Siblings noticed this and it was a matter of time before Za'strasz would attempt to reclaim his realm.

The Astral Conflict

The central point of the timeline, when the world came apart and then made anew. Very few survived the catastrophe that Za'strasz brought upon the realm.

Daemon Insurrection

When the Lord of Souls, the Daemon Maaldazar, found an opportunity to start expanding his influence and power to other Planes. A few daemons started infiltrating the Material Plane so that they may prepare the ground for the hordes of hell to arrive later with Kalberith himself.

Appendix A: FAQ

In this section, you will find some quick comparisons to other settings and how certain things "translate" in the Starlight Chronicles.

This section will be updated from time to time with new entries.

SC = Starlight Chronicles

Q = Question

A = Answer

Q: What are the Celestials exactly in SC?

A: The Celestials in the Starlight Chronicles are creatures of great power. They are, however, not connected to just good or evil. An angel or deva could very easily "fall from grace" and start doing things for their own benefit.

Angelic beings in SC are all about justice and defending the weak. They are not necessarily "good"-aligned nor are they willing to help anyone and everyone. They are also very secretive and few know of their existence.

The angels are also not connected to the Astral Siblings in any way except for that many of them perform deeds in the name of Ukko who is known to be wrathful against those who seek to cause harm.

Q: Are there dinosaurs in SC?

A: Yes, there are! There are a couple of published adventures, as well as a few side quests, that feature a couple of dinosaurs. They have not yet been "placed" anywhere exactly on the map, but that will soon happen as we develop a more visual and user-friendly map with monster information for various areas.

Q: How is the existence of monsters explained in SC?

A: Simply through the fact that the Astral Siblings were playing a game of "who can create the coolest things." Because of that, the Siblings ended up creating all sorts of creatures that would bring order or create chaos. The Siblings were constantly trying to balance the realm they had created, so, over time, they ended up with something quite varied and also filled with wonders.

Everything was created for a reason.

Q: Why don't the Astral Siblings intervene and do something about the imbalance of the world? For example, with the invasion of the void forces, or the insurrection of daemons?

A: This is something that only a GM should know, but generally the idea is that both Ukko and Umi were so exhausted from their monumental battle against their older brother that they had to spend hundreds of years to fully recover from it.

Appearing in the Material Plane would be a very energy-consuming task so they opt until they can be sure that they are safe from any unexpected harm.

There is a chance they will make a "personal" appearance in a future campaign.

Q: How are the elementals explained? Do they have rulers?

A: Much like in other settings, the elementals beings of pure elemental power and some of them have even developed consciousness. When the Siblings were creating the cosmos, they also needed elements so the elementals were naturally created with them.

The most powerful elementals of each element reside in their own lesser plane and, in most cases, lie dormant there.

If you would like to imagine the size of those lesser planes, then think of a big island full of volcanic activity as the home of the Fire Elemental Lord.

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