Story
Urban Arcana's story varies from GM to GM, but they usually share these common factors. Urban Arcana takes place on Earth, or a slight variation of it. Ever since the dawn of time, creatures from another world have been appearing on Earth due to a force called Shadow. Creatures such as Elves, Kobolds, Gnoll, Aasimar, and others have inhabited earth for years, with no memory of the world they came from due to "The Gift of Lethe". They have always assimilated into human society because most "Mundane" or normal humans believe them to be fictional, and therefore see them as other mundanes. This is helped along by the fact that the Common tongue of D&D is always identical to the language of the area that they appear in (A sort of Deus Ex Machina to over come language barriers). In recent years however, Shadow activity has increased, with an influx of new Shadowkind appearing. The reason for this varies from campaign to campaign, some times never being explained at all. This has resulted in the formation of various organizations.
- Department 7, from the original d20 Modern. This version is headed by a female Mage, similar to the head agents of spy films. Most players are members of department 7.
- The Corsone syndicate, a reference to The Godfather. This mafia appears to be mundane at first, but as the player digs deeper, they find that it is run by shadowkind, usually a Mind Flayer.
- The Fraternal Order of Vigilance, a Hate Group dedicated to killing shadowkind. The philanthropic organization is a front for their more sinister means. Usually a villain. The Module might involve trying to expose them, or avoiding them.
- The Black Feathers, Eco-Terrorist run by an Elf. Mostly Neutral.
- A shadow television network.
Other organizations are corporations that are run by a genie, a medieval themed fast food restaurant run by shadow, or a homeless shelter for recently displaced shadowkind. One module involves Department 7's benefactor being a Gold Dragon.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)