Feleriand - First Age in a distorted mirror
This months RPG Blog Carnival is Other Worlds https://www.kjd-imc.org/blog/rpg-blog-carnival-other-worlds/
When I decided to try fantasy adventuring game once again I was set on low but epic fantasy as is similar in Lord of the Rings and other works of J.R.R. Tolkien. First thing that comes to mind is Middle-earth but I think this land is too well known and I wouldn't want to explain my decisions about this or that part of the world during game time. So Beleriand.
In Polish the word "feler" means something broken, low quality, a defect. And that's how it will be. I want my elves to be distant, proud and a little crazy. I want my dwarves to be weird and obsessive. I want halflings to be wild and feral. and Valar to be these distant, unknowable gods who wage distant wars of heaven. Which is why it's FELERiand. Looks similar but oh boy it is some twisted place when you look at it from my angle.
the Other
Elves are too powerful and distant to mingle with humans. They hide in their enchanted woods (Doriath), within magically hidden valleys (Gondolin) or in well scouted and secured plains next to a city in the mountains (Nargothrond). They are proud, magical and treat humans more like cattle than another sapient beings. They all seem to be these ephemeral androgynous peoples.
Dwarves are these alien peoples, they sometimes behave like stones and other times they obsess over mining or crafting work and don't sleep or eat for days. Totally not interested in lives of other kin unless they engage in direct conflict or trade. They live in mountainous fortresses (Nogrod, Belegost) or in fortresses among plains or hills (Amon Rûdh).
Hobbits (yeah, let's keep the name, I don't publish it anywhere so whatever!) are these small folk who hide in plain sight of other peoples. They build their villages to be hidden from others, either underground or in places no other kin even considers. There are no specific places they live in, no kingdoms or countries, as they move away once their home is identified and others can visit. Hobbits seem rather feral and animalistic to human cultures. Like badger-people XD
To be a Human
I don't want to be original. I want some archetypical human cultures, established but still quite weak kingdoms. OR maybe even not kingdoms but chiefdoms or tribes.
So let's start with the north, the harsh and black-haired Cymmerians of Beleriand. I know Turin (Conan the Barbarian of this setting) was from Dor-lómin so place like this will be the land of tough and bitter people from the north. They can be quite noble but also very distant and potentially even cruel, dealing with cold weather as well as monsters and enemies from Angband.
Then we get to kinda wilder people, those living in Brethil - a forest near elven lands (Doriath). These people like to hunt, they live in the woods, close to the wilderness, I guess they'd be potentially friends with some hobbits. Their culture is focused on hunters, warriors and survival.
Next place and human culture would be living in Dorthonion - forested highlands near Gondolin. These people are probably some magical and scholarly archetype, as they got their land from elven kings. This is the culture of education as well as strategic war against the enemy. They might be closer to elves in their view and goals but in my Feleriand elves do not respect humans, so the situation might be tense. Or maybe it is the place of hope and understanding between these peoples?
And last human ancestry, I know it is not really canon but I think Estolad would do. The plains through which most human tribes went through. I guess it could be a place of humans form all over, kingdom of those without home? Or maybe those more friendly with dwarves due to being closer to mountains and trading routes? Yeah, it is a thing to work on.
Magic?
Not really. I think I'd like to keep it low fantasy, so potentially some people might have special blessings or items, potentially even minor abilities that are mystical in nature but outright magic is alien to human condition. "Spells" could potentially be rituals of summoning and binding magical spirits to do things for you? So they are not 'arcane' and they can be directed against magic-user at any moment. But mostly just humans, warriors, rangers, thieves and stuff.
Enemy!
Morgoth doesn't really care about humans. They are not strong enough to be any sort of danger to Angband's power. Valar are far away and operate in the shadows. Only elves are in direct conflict. So as a human you probably won't stand directly against him. You may clash with the monsters, pollution and orcish warbands. The Enemy is not your main enemy.
What is the Point?
What I actually like about fantasy Beleriand is how dark and twisted it would've been to regular humans. Of course we read about heroes and elves and humans raised among elves and tragic fates and noble nobles who fight the big bad. But from few glimpses we get about regular humanfolk life from Children of Húrin for example seems dire and bleak. Humans try to live in Beleriand, they set up farms, raise fences around them and have to deal with elven armies, orc attacks and human bandits. They struggle and fight against overwhelming forces. Turin was a noble partly raised in elven court. Most of humans he meets are regular peasants with no view on Gondolin, Doriath, Angband or even who are elves besides powerful beings from hidden kingdoms.
Considering how elves were constantly at war or in hiding from orcs and other Morgoth's forces it must've felt for people like they are stuck in between dangerous unknowable powers. Once they settled somewhere they had to march somewhere else. They went from one place to another, constantly having to deal with orcs, being looked down upon by elves, struggling against the world. And each time any of them achieved something great they were snatched by elven courts to be dealing with elven things, helping them with war in the north or whatever - Húrins and Huors and Berens of the world. And the most human of human heroes in First Age - Turin Turambar - is this cursed brooding warrior full of scars whose presence brings only detriment to his people. That's dark.
Also magic was known only to elves and other beings. There was no god to ease the pain, as we know from the stories of the east humans quickly stopped hearing Iluvlatar's voice and were abandoned at mercy of Melkor's spies and creatures. They worshipped some ephemeral spirits, raised statues and kurgans without contact with any real divinity - besides sometimes The Evil One. As a regular human you don't get any fun stuff. You are not one of the nobles befriended to elves. You are peasants, servants, warriors, hunters and just people who try to survive. Orcs treat you like meals, elves treat you like nuisance, dwarves treat you with suspicion, hobbits? Who are hobbits? You've never seen one, you swear. The war waged by elves is unknown to you, the bigger things fly over your head - your life is terrible right here and right now.
So this is your sword and sorcery setting right now. Humans are few. Enemies are endless. Non-humans are unfriendly at best. But there are ruins and treasures and magical (low magical) equipment in places. You need to prepare and fortify your home if you want to survive another war or catastrophe. Quite an inversion of standard conquest-driven DnD tropes.