adapted by James Nostack

Monte Cook is a game designer who worked on the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Apparently the game that emerged wasn't dungeon-y & dragon-y enough to suit him, so when he got the chance he released a heavily modified version of the game, called Arcana Unearthed (abbreviated AU). Arcana Unearthed was going to be D&D done right: no elves or any of that stuff, a sophisticated new magic system, a swarm of new races and classes, and technical tweaks out the wazoo.

Since the Shadow of Yesterday itself was a self-conscious attempt at creating a "better" version of the same material, I thought it would be ironic and educational to model Mr. Cook's idealized version of Dungeons & Dragons through Mr. Nixon's. (This is done without permission from Mr. Cook or Mr. Nixon, and I will remove it if they ask me to. No challenge to Mr. Cook 's copyright or IP is intended.)

Setting Background

(paraphrased and simplified)
Once upon a time there was the Land of Dragons. The Dragons were mighty, and their might bred cruelty. They tormented the sons of Man, brought fire to the forests of the Fairies, and ravaged the earth. Their tyranny was matched only by their sadism, and the peoples of the land cried for succor.

Then the Giants arrived from the uttermost east in their black-prowed ships. The Giants saw the plight of the people and it moved them to rage. Ferocious, unstoppable, and brilliant tacticians, the Giants liberated the Dragons' slaves, and in a series of titanic battles drove the Dragons to some other world from whence they can never return.

Upon this victory, the Giants took stewardship over the peoples and their territory, and created the Dor-Erthenos--Land of the Diamond Throne. For three hundred years they have sought to repair the legacy of the Dragons and create a prosperous realm.

Themes

The Land of the Diamond Throne is a setting about ritual, tradition, community, and self-determination. I guess there are other themes too. Basically I'm just killing time while visiting my parents' house. Do you know what's delicious? Breyer's All-Natural Strawberry ice cream. They should make a roleplaying game about that.

Conversion Disclaimer

This is my personal take on the Diamond Throne setting. It puts new things in, takes old things out, does the hokey-pokey, etc. Some Arcana Unearthed purists may not like this! Obviously that doesn't bother me much. If others are intrigued I encourage them to pick up Arcana Unearthed, The Diamond Throne, and the Legacy of Dragons from Malhavoc Press.

Subsections Galore

• AU RacesAndBeasts - Giants, Fairies, Dragon-Spawn, Jackal-Kin, etc.
• AU Homelands - Realm of the Diamond Throne, Harrowdeep, the Waste Lands, etc.
• AU Classes - The Shadow of Yesterday is classless, so these are merely suggestions
• AU Magical Crunch - the Akashic memory, Green magic, Pattern magic, Witchery, etc.
• AU Sample Characters