RPG in the world of Nimenra

– What is this...? I have no knowledge of this...
– No, you don't Everam, I will take care of it.
– Hm? Oh, it is You.
– Yes, you can just sit back and prepare for what else is around the corner. I take care of this.

— Everam, Teller of Nimenra talking to A

RPG is a fun pastime and can create bigger than life stories for a world or setting. Nimenra, however, is meant to be the setting of a series of novels and not an RPG. That said, with some consideration of the world, you can play a character in the world of Nimenra. These considerations should not be seen as rules, except if you want to be lore-friendly to the world that is. This article is meant to explain partly what the GM and Players should consider and/or what to expect from Nimenra as a world of RPG. Many things are still under construction, but that will most likely not affect the fantasy capable minds of the readers.
Shall we start?

Considerations overall

Nimenra is a large continent, as you can expect and what one-shots or campaigns that are created and/or made for it will most likely take place during or before the main events of the current novel that is being written. That said, in the future, there might be some one-shot settings that take place after the main novels have been written and published. But that future is a long way away. When playing RPG in Nimenra you can consider this:

• When you play you have three races to choose from, Humans, Dwarfs and Demons. Demons, or Necur as they call themselves, is a homebrew race made by A of Worldkeymaster for Nimenra. When the statblock is placed somewhere along here, you are free to use it to creat a Necur character. Do note, however, that there is a large ongoing war between the Humans of Telamirein and Demons of Nekuram, which does not make cooperation easy between them.
• This brings up the second consideration, that when playing in Telamirein, there are no Demons to speak of. Only Humans and Dwarfs are the being that one will meet within the human kingdoms. The threat Demons present and the stories about them have created large superstition and feelings of ill among the common people beyond The Valdenwhik. Demons are the enemies of Humanity, and even if the Dwarven Kingdom has withdrawn from the conflict, they have ill will towards Demons. Humans and Dwarves that are from Marlun, however, is another story all together and might even be friendly or in love with Demons.
• Third, magic in Nimenra has few rules and has a mix of a hard and soft magic system. While Humans can use it, it seems like it is hard for them. For Dwarfs, it seems even harder and very few, if any, magic users exist beyond the rune makers and users. Thus, magic users that are "good" with magic are rare. Wizards and mages are collectively gathered in guilds and/or learning places where magic is studied if they are strong and capable enough. Countries have very big interests in these individuals. While some commonfolk use magic in their day-to-day life, many of them are called Elementalists, none are as epic or strong as the wizards of DnD, Harry Potter or Skyrim. The most powerful spells in the RPG systems should thus be limited more in style with the Warhammer 4e RPG, you won't see archmages or battle wizards walking the streets. Powerful healing magic is also rare and doesn't heal life-threatening wounds or sickness immediately. Teleportation time magic does not exist from what all know. Necromancy might have existed, or not, in the past but is unheard of across Nimenra.

Playing a Demon

While playing as a Human and Dwarf might be familiar due to that they are common in most fantasy and RPG worlds, Necur/Demons are their own spices in Nimenra. Playing as a Demon one is to consider where they are from mostly. A Demon from Nekuram has probably heard as much evil about Humans as Humans have about them. Thus they might be holding some sort of resentment or unliking toward Humans. On the other hand, Demons from Marlun might be friends, lovers or family with Humans. Still, don't think all Humans or Demons in Marlun agree with that thought, the history of war between the races span close to 1000 years and such wounds won't heal even for the ones in-between. In Glarn as a example, the demons still live somewhat in both separate and mixed districts from Humans even after several centuries of living side by side.
Playing a Necur is similar to playing a Teifling from DnD, they don't fully fit in among Humans in Glarn and other places across Marlun, but do their best and live their life as valuable members of communities and other groups.
Follow the link to the DnD5e Species sheet here: Necur

• Fourthly magic items do exist but should be considered very rare or if present at all in the hands of Players. This will impact DnD5e especially, as GM and Players use them to boost a character's capabilities on and off the battlefield. While magic items exist, they are kept either secret or in the possession of great/important people. Don't expect your average knight, or Knightess of Relinnias, to walk around with a magic sword or spear. The enhancement of weapons has been a hard piece to solve for everyone. Dwarfs use runes, but their willingness to share, as will be stated, is clearly a no.
• The fifth consideration is the biggest one: Nimenra is under construction. Some things are simply not known by the author himself yet as He explores and is promoted to create within Nimenra. This also means that a GM has to think for themselves about parts of society, religion and role-playing elements. While this article sets up what the author believes that the GM and Player need, read and think about all this. Leave a comment or suggestion too, it does help. A lot. Nimenra should be alive after all. The stories GMs and Players explore are in an entirely different way than He could have thought this world would experience.

Now with these general considerations are written, let one thing be clear: It is up to the GM in the end. Whatever the author thinks and considers for the world can and probably will be to an extent disregarded by GMs. Players and GMs should have fun, but these three considerations are made so that the consistency of Nimenra remains. They are also thought of when a one-shot is written, so in a way, they are considered already. Either way, have fun. Just... don't destroy the world...

Considerations for the use of DnD5e

The original system of most RPGs. Or so it is told.
DnD or Dungeons and Dragons is one of the most played RPG systems out in the real world. That is also why the author chooses it as the system of choice for Nimenra. And also to write some considerations if one might use it in Nimenra and as one-shots are written with two systems in mind.
As stated before, these are considerations for lore-friendliness and some tips for the GM and Players. They are not rules. If you want to be a warlock with a holy spirit as a contractor, go ahead but that is not something that exists in Nimenra, or so the author thinks. He does not know, yet...

1. Humans and Dwarfs can have origins that are located to the right. These should be considered as "subspecies" choices and not backgrounds. Dwarfs still gain the baseline +2 Constitution added from being a Dwarf as DnDBeyond, the SRD5.1 and the Player's Handbook states on page 20. For the Necur there will be no sub-species yet.
2. The DnD5e classes to be played in Nimenra are as followed: Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Fighters, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer and Wizard. Within these classes are also several exceptions due to the lack of support in lore and some considerations when playing them. Some are the following:
   • Barbarians can't be Storm Herald or Totem Warriors.
   • Bards can't be College of Creation, College of Glamour and College of Whispers.
   • Druids can't be Circle of Dream, Circle of Spores, Circle of Stars and Circle of Twilight. Also, their wild shape is often frowned upon, seeing as they unleash some inner beast and Fey spirits don't exist.
   • Fighters can't be Arcane Archer, Echo Knight or any of the Psi classes. Rune Knight is exclusively restricted to Dwarfs of Kingdom Dwarf Origin and they know the Runic Language of Kadiah instead of Giant, as Giants don't exist in Nimenra.
   • Paladins have only one God that they can dedicate themselves to. That Goddess is Reliona with the Oaths: Oath of the Guardian or the Oath of Devotion and are probably part of the Order of the Holy Relinnias. With that said, the Oath to the Crown is available for those dedicating themselves to their country. While Oath of Conquest would fit Orfordwhelm's knights, due to their stance on magic, they would not have these.
   • Rangers can't be Fey Wanderers, Horizon Walker and Swarm Keeper. Due to the nature of Telamirein and Nimenra overall, Beast masters can't have "exotic" creatures such as a scorpion, dinosaur (Sorry Janet!) or apes. The Player should also think about what kind of creature follows them. Having a wolf as a companion might find people frowning upon the Player in question.
   • Rogues can't be Phantom and Soul Knife.
   • Sorcerers can't play Aberrant Mind, Clockwork Soul and Draconic Bloodline. Wild Magic is fun to play but its concept within the world of Nimenra is that of a dangerous, unstable magic user. People, if they know, would be extremely cautious and are more likely to secure an individual of such power to keep them from being a danger rather than allowing them to go free. Overall, real Sorcerers are few, as inherent magic abilities in humans are weak and must be trained, most of the time. The ones that are discovered to be strong with magic by birth are most likely to be picked up by their country's leaders in which they have been born.
   • Wizards can't use Bladesinging, Chronugy Magic, Graviturgy Magic, School of Conjuration, School of Illusion and School of Necromancy. Wizards' subclasses have the most restrictions of all since magical schools are quite bound by a classic magic system. That said, some spells in the DnD5e spellbook are not used in Nimenra. But instead of limiting the spell wielding too much, that becomes free of restrictions, for now...
   • Any later additions beyond 2020 are yet to be considered.

1. As stated Dwarfs have a hard time using magic and thus have magical resistance in the way of removing 1/4 of all magic damage. This is also one reason that there are very few Dwarfs that are magic users. Those who can use magic are more likely to be a Runic Knight or use Runes as a magic focus.
2. The various monsters in the DnD5e Monster Manual have no lore-friendly way of telling. As of now, all animals can be used that are commonly found in a temperate climate, such as wolves and various birds. Giant Wolf is found roaming the woods and other monstrosities but can be hard to determine. What the author would recommend is that most enemies that Players meet are Humans and the occasional Dwarfs in Telamirein while Demons are only available in Nekuram.

Magical healing in DnD5e can be very powerful. Consider half the amount of healing from 3:de level spells and above. And lastly, resurrections through magic can essentially only be done by the Gods, so no resurrection spells.

If any one-shot or campagin takes place in Marlun furing The War for Marlun, use whatever NPC enhancements in the manual and add +2 to Constitution and +1 to strength for Nekuram's NPC Soldiers and such. Mages should probably be considered one level stronger than the mage in the monster manual due to Demons inherent magical abilities. Marlun is dangerous and at war after all...

Considerations for the use of Warhammer RP 4ed

Now the author has yet to play Warhammer RPG 4ed (herby shortened to WRP4e) but has played Warhammer RPG 2ed. Using 2ed was considered but since 4ed has just come out two years ago, that one is more... fresh and seems to be more in a working condition compared to 3ed. As the author has read into 4ed, its class system and the Warhammer system overall mirror quite well with Nimenra. But as with DnD5e above, there are some considerations that have to be thought about before going into WRP4e. And as stated above: They are not rules. If you want to play by the rules of WRP4e, go ahead and do it, the author won't come to hunt you. Yet.

1. The first is that there is no mutation or any such dangers of magic use as in WRPG4e and the Warhammer world. Chaos and Dark magic do not exist. Nimenra's magical ways are not fully thought out and can be seen as an in-between of a soft and hard magic system. There are rules to it but none that need to be told. Magic should not be seen as much a danger as in Warhammer.
2. Some careers are... how to say... hard to translate into the world of Nimenra. Thus, some things have to be cleared as with the classes of DnD5e:
   • Hedge Witches are not seen as dangerous and avoided as in the Warhammer universe or the Career explains them. Many of them are Elementalists, those who are capable of using Earth magic and have small healing magic capabilities. They are rather more celebrated in a small village than seen as evil or avoided.
   • Riverwarden, Wrecker and Seaman Careers don't have an equivalent in Nimenra. While rivers are a vital part of life and trade in Nimenra and Telamirein, there is no official river guard and there are no navies except for Ravero's.
   • It is recommended not to use Witches Career. Instead, the Hedge Witches are a better representation of their collective "non-formally-educated" stance.
   • The Slayer, Warrior Priest and Witch Hunter Careers are not used as there is no equivalent to them.
3. The corruption rules can be ignored, as the Ruinous Powers of Warhammer have no equivalent in Nimenra. However, there are some cults that can be considered... unnatural and might be following Others.
4. There are no Skaven, neither in the Warhammer universe nor Nimenra! Jokes aside, as with DND5e, some monsters just don't exist in Nimenra. Use wildlife and common NPC enemies. If you were to go to Marlun during the war and meet Nekuram's army, add an additional +10 to Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill and Intellect, +5 to toughness and Willpower to your standard enemy soldier and if you roll up a Demon character overall with a Human base stat line for now.

Ending statement

There you have it, now go and play RPG in Nimenra! Just remember though:

The code is more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.

— Hector Barbossa, Pirates of the Caribbean

If you don't want to use some or all of the considerations for a system, then don't use them. While the author wants you to play in the most lore-friendly way possible in Nimenra, having fun as Players and GM is the first and foremost goal of all. Now, Thank you for reading this wall of text and good luck in whatever adventure awaits!

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