Evolving Arcana

Monte Cook and Michael Mearls over the middle 2000s composed a ruleset, Arcana Unearthed. This was fit (mainly) to Stephen Donaldson's first Covenant / Land series, which they credited, but they weren't up for selling "Raping Lena: The RPG" to the public. So a new setting was designed: the Diamond Throne in Terrakal on the world Serran. AU and DT together got firstly some retconning ("Tenebrean Seeds") then an overhaul: Arcana Evolved. That overhaul didn't do as well.

(It's being kickstarter'd again. I am not involved with this.)

In my opinion, AE was what killed this line. I thought the reintroduction of the dragons was hamfisted metaplotting, even worse than the notorious Greyhawk Wars which at least TRIED to involve gamers. And the big lizard homeland Pallembor is too physically close to the Diamond Throne region. It was all too much change too forced too fast.

To save the Lands Of The Diamond Throne: I suggest interposing more space between these realms and more time between these rules. I suggest what we were promised: an evolution.

Luckily, we already have such bridges implicit in the AU book. First, DT hosts some impressive barriers already: the Bitter Peaks, Verdune / Thartholan, and the Fields of Ash. If we're looking to do better foreshadowing there's the new Eremor, a castle on the harrids' side of the Neck. The mojh probably know all about it already.

I do like the harrids, by the way. Skaraven is nice as it is. For adventurers and harrids, I mean; less so for the locals! Our work, then, is all northwest.

We delete every settlement from Meluge Arakan north to the edge of Sheresta (which we keep). The Tardiff Desert, a natural waste, merges with the Fields of Ash - all quite Paynims / Suloise, for those of a certain age.

I'd keep the Cage of Teeth in the Glass Mountains - but not in its AE form. The Bitter Peaks remains the dramojh base (as Ruins of Intrigue). In my world the dramojh reached further west, where they maintained the Cage to imprison and to interrogate dragons. Maybe there aren't any live dragons left there but there can certainly be all manner of dragonlike horror.

We keep the Tenebrean Seeds and Transcendence and racial-levels. I agree that if the dramojh used Seeds in the Bitter Peaks, making their own abominations, they're not to be had there anymore. Points west are another matter. Seeds may be hinted from Thartholan, Eremor, and/or the Cage. "Demigod" Dahmra certainly has access and the harrids' Red King probably had access once. We do not involve the dragons (or dracha) directly.

Pallembor, where dragons actually live, is pushed west off this map. Not off the coast though. I'm thinking: the Tardiff can be a massive Gobi-like arid steppe that goes further west than what Monte would allow. The Tardiff still has dracha! - just not on the part of the map we see.

What I propose here should extend the map, keep all I can keep of AE's additions - and delay the Dragons' Return.

MORE 2/20: Similar for The Children Of The Rune. I'd push most of that runic stuff to Kish, with some stragglers in outlying parts of the Diamond Throne setting. Runechildren are dragonbound so not as pure as the setting says they are; find them in Verdune.