The Usurpers of Kulm campaign is an AD&D 2nd Edition game world designed near entirely by myself. There are pieces and places on Kulm which draw their inspirations from other AD&D game materials, campaign settings and even a few homebrewed settings from various PBeMs I've played in. Unlike other D&D products, where worlds are carved up into separate campaign setting presentations, what I've endeavored to provide here is a complete, concise presentation of the entire world of Kulm in a singular, easily navigable source.

While the source itself is a singular product, each region does have its own section, and each region does have unique rules for allowable PC races, classes and kits. However, each section is accessible from this main page.

The Dark Wrath

There are several factions within the World of Kulm that are pushing a singular agenda, backed by Dark Gods and their followers, toward world domination. Simultaneously, as the nations of Kulm produce heroes who struggle to undo the machinations of the Usurpers, the Usurpers themselves are not idle.

As an agent of the Dark Wrath, you belong to the fellowships of one of the Dark Gods, or are otherwise a confederate of the Dark Gods' cause. You seek to topple the existing world order and put in its place a new order. You may not necessarily be evil, but almost all of what you oppose is good.

Among the Dark Wrath, there are heroes...

• Ioronius Mierlen: A Psionicist and outcast from the city of Staircase. More than anything else, Ioronius is obsessed with controlling travel in the world of Kulm. To do that, two hubs must be secured: the Kingdom of Ghed (which controlls the world's spelljamming travel) and the city of Staircase (planar travel). Ioronius has a special hatred for the Governing Council of Staircase, which he used to be a part of before he was banished. Ioronius' minions are mostly planar creatures.
• Jenson Marr: The Baron of Raevel. This puts the legitimate government of Raevel immediately into the Dark Wrath camp. Baron Marr's goal is to prevent the True King from returning and claiming the throne. He believes Darben Gray, the Steward of Blackgate, either knows where the True King is or has him in protective custody. The Baron is also the leader of a secret society called the Ebon Lynx, which controls all of the major thieves' guilds in Raevel. The Baron's followers and minions are mostly average Raevelans, who are either members of the Court, Baronial Guard or Royal Army who are complicit in his schemes, or else they are members of the Ebon Lynx -- the Baron's hidden hand.
• Professor Phineas P. Phogg: An ingenious gnome professor who teaches at the Armistice Adventurers Academy. Secretly, he is a member of the Dark Council. Professor Phogg seeks to dominate the world's academia, as for too long he has had to survive in the shadows of lesser men's fame and fortune. His minions and followers are either faculty or students of the Academy who share his vision and recognize his intellectual giganticness.
• Solomoriah Loremaster: An Elven Loremaster Bard from Doria, whose soul was corrupted by Shadow Fiends, and is thus now a Shadow himself. Solomoriah commands an army of undead and lower-planar creatures, of which the better part are Shadows and Shadow Fiends. He is also the puppet master behind the revolt in the Western fiefdoms of Doria, engineered by his network of elite undead servants (including a few vampires). A great many of Solomoriah's immediate followers and minions are undead creatures or fiends.
• Taylor Liege: One of the co-regents of Capitol, Taylor and his sidekick, Gerrit, were advisors to the Capitolian Emperor. When the Emperor stepped down to begin the process of becoming a demilich, Taylor and Gerrit assumed power over the Empire, and brought Capitol in-line with the Dark Wrath. With Tristan, Ioronius and Zaxi, Taylor is one of the leaders in the Dark Council. His minions are all Capitolians of one sort or another, though the Dark God Thanatos has given him some especially powerful undead minions.
• Thalgor Icefist: An Ogre-Mage shaman, and the lord of the Icefist Clan ogres in the Hordelands. Thalgor is a significant threat to Blacktooth's continued reign as Warchief, and seeks to overturn Orcish rule in favor of placing himself in charge. Thalgor's allies among the Horde provide goblinoid mercenaries to the Dorian rebels, as well as Bugbear raiders to the Baron's forces in Raevel. In addition to the standard Hordelands races, Thalgor also has a number of exotic monsters, undead and fiends who serve as his elite guard.
• Tristan Dragonbane: Formerly the emissary from the Imperial Elven Navy to the Kingdom of Ghed. After his banishment from Ghed, on terms that were hardly just, Tristan linked up with the Dark Council and became one of its founding members (along with Taylor, Ioronius and Zaxi). Tristan has at his disposal a sizeable fleet of Drow and Insectare vessels, and he was the principle advocate for winning the Morvanians into the Dark Wrath's alliance. Tristan has also mastered secret cloning magics, and so some of his followers are (either knowingly or unknowingly) clones...
• Zaxi McRill: An Elf, and Pallinite Parliament Member representing Alfland. Zaxi became friends with Taylor, Iori and Tristan long ago, and with them formed the basis for what would become the Dark Council, and the Dark Wrath. Zaxi is the ostensible leader of the Dark Council, though in his day job he is number 3 in the Pallinite Parliament's leadership. He hopes to be Prime Minister someday... and aims to use his Dark Wrath connections to make that happen. Zaxi's followers include Red Caps and members of Alflander Independence organizations, as well as Pallinites who are aligned with his cause. Zaxi also has strong ties with the Agusami clan of Iiso, and so occasionally Iisoan mercenaries (such as Zaxi's lover, Jade Garden) are found among his followers.

And there are nations...

• Meropis, a nation formed out of the barbarian races in the Atalantaic Ocean, joined together in alliance by the Sahuagin, Ixitxachitl and the Morkoth. Meropis is a vast, disparate nation of evil sea-creatures, bound together by the Meropid Horde. The Horde is a massive army dedicated to the conquest and destruction of the Kingdom of Atalanta.
• Morvan, also known as the Seventh Aerie, a floating fortress ruled by the evil Fainil. The Morvanians are the ancient enemies of the city of Skyview, and are aligned with the Dark Wrath cause in the hopes that such an alliance will help them destroy and replace Skyview as the penultimate power in Kulm's skies. A number of evil winged races make their homes here, though the Fainil -- sired from the blood of Drow and Tanar'ri -- rule supreme.
• Bauhdenheim is an extra-dimensional pocket-realm accessed by way of a portal on the Isle of Linnorms. Long ago, Vainamoinen and his two brothers Leminkainen and Ilmarinen destroyed the island of Bauhdenheim, which was once a large island that laid southeast of Jotunland, banishing it from the world of Kulm's reality. Loki helped the Bauhdenheimers maintain their ties to Kulm by erecting the gateway, and he left the Linnorms in charge of guarding it. Bauhdenheim is occupied by similar races and people as the Nohrdic Islands, though they are twisted and evil.
• Yuan-Ti Nation, an empire sprawling out across the Eastern portions of the Far World jungle, based out of the ruins of the Temple of Serpents and including the conquered Gaurahni cities of Payit, Tochteotl and Zatal. The Yuan-Ti are the principle race here, though they are served by an underclass of Histachii servants, and are allied with the race of shapechangers known as Jagres.
• The Underdark, host to several distinct and powerful nations, including:
  • Zhanduril, Empire of the Drow
  • Traugoan, the Dark Dwarven (Duergar and Derro) Republic
  • Abstemious, Realm of the Illithids
  • Kaggash, Hive of the Beholders
  • Ilxenariam, Domain of the Ixzan
  • Skummerekus, Kingdom of the Aboleth

 Interested in joining the campaign? Have a character concept you'd like to try out? Shoot an email to the DM: [email protected]