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View Full Version : Creating you own universe: If you had the powers of a 30th level wizard



GoC
2009-05-05, 04:31 PM
Crossposting from elsewhere:

If you were going to create your own universe and decide how to populate it what it will be like?
You're also a Divine Rank 0 (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineRanksAndPowers.htm#rank0) deity (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineRanksAndPowers.htm#divineCharacteristics). Due to brokeness ordinary epic magic has been switched for this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37410).
Here's (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/spells/genesis.htm) a list of basic spells with this one (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/spells/genesis.htm) vital. Here's (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3515727&postcount=17) the spell to create your own species. You can decide whether each species you create will be capable of learning magic and whether it's members will be able to gain class levels.
You cannot gain levels nor can any of your creations pass level 20.
You start off in an infinite empty astral plane.

What would your universe look like?

Zhalath
2009-05-05, 07:42 PM
I'd actually try to imitate the Material Plane, just because I like having physics and such that I know work.
However, for fun, I'd have areas of low gravity. In those regions, giant spongy fungus grows. It makes them feel good when you bounce on them. Get the picture?
Also, I'd create people, and give them strange powers (like telekinesis). I wouldn't rule over them, but just ask for some company, from time to time. Also, if they fought too much, I'd yell at them, then create a monster randomly (like owlbears).
Also, I'd teach myself to cast in my sleep, so I can make my dreams real, mostly so I can understand them.
Oh, and cats. It needs cats.

Chronos
2009-05-05, 07:44 PM
For starters, I'd make my universe shaped like a rhombic dodecahedron with opposite faces identified, because man, that's just the coolest topology ever.

chiasaur11
2009-05-05, 07:54 PM
Flat disc.

Five elephants.

Giant turtle.

What can I say?

Fan of the classics.

GoC
2009-05-05, 08:39 PM
Flat disc.

Five elephants.

Giant turtle.

What can I say?

Fan of the classics.

Emm...
I'm not sure you can do that...
Where are you going to get the massive number of caster levels needed to create the turtle? I'm also unsure if Discworld's narrativium, slow light and magic is doable in D&D.

Zhalath: Which material plane? Ours? Nice.:smallbiggrin:

Trizap
2009-05-05, 08:50 PM
my own world? let see..........the landmass would splattered everywhere, floating continents, flying rivers and such, solid ride-able clouds, portals to random places on the floating continents, one of the continents would be a tropical paradise filled with cat girls, another one would be entirely city with supercool hi-tech, another would be wild wild western only with lasers and motorcycles and then there would be these floating islands where time, space and gravity are like putty and can be played around with, air ships would be everywhere, oh yeah, that reminds me one of the continents would be final fantasy-esque setting, and don't forget the rainbow dragons and oh yeah.......Icefire

and I would rule it all with my awesome flying multicolored palace filled with catgirls.

Riffington
2009-05-05, 08:55 PM
Avocado trees would grow next to Tuna bushes.

GoC
2009-05-05, 08:56 PM
my own world? let see..........the landmass would splattered everywhere, floating continents, flying rivers and such, solid ride-able clouds, portals to random places on the floating continents, one of the continents would be a tropical paradise filled with cat girls, another one would be entirely city with supercool hi-tech, another would be wild wild western only with lasers and motorcycles and then there would be these floating islands where time, space and gravity are like putty and can be played around with, air ships would be everywhere, oh yeah, that reminds me one of the continents would be final fantasy-esque setting, and don't forget the rainbow dragons and oh yeah.......Icefire

and I would rule it all with my awesome flying multicolored palace filled with catgirls.

I would like to point out that you are not omnipotent. Merely very powerful.
And that while you can create landmasses it take millions of years so doing it after sentient life is established is impossible.

Copacetic
2009-05-05, 09:16 PM
Using Genesis?

Sky's the Limit; Literally.

I'm thinking a gravity lacking world filled with semi-sold clouds?

And cats.

Lots of cats.

SurlySeraph
2009-05-05, 10:13 PM
Basically Mount Celestia, but with more necromancers. Also, demons would periodically pop out of the ground to give the populace something to stab.

JoshuaZ
2009-05-05, 10:14 PM
For starters, I'd make my universe shaped like a rhombic dodecahedron with opposite faces identified, because man, that's just the coolest topology ever.

Is that orientable? Non-orientable topologies make for really bad universes. Being able to swap what is left-handed and right-handed will be really confusing. (That's even if we don't think of actual biological issues from left v. right handed molecules).

Chronos
2009-05-06, 12:19 AM
Is that orientable? Non-orientable topologies make for really bad universes. Being able to swap what is left-handed and right-handed will be really confusing. (That's even if we don't think of actual biological issues from left v. right handed molecules).I'd be more worried about the implications on the Weak Force than on molecular biology (or on catgirl biology, for that matter). But yes, it is orientable. And it's also the closest thing you'll ever get to a spherical unit cell, in a flat topology.

monty
2009-05-06, 12:22 AM
I'm trying to think of a clever comment regarding pointless topology. I suppose this metacomment will do well enough.

JoshuaZ
2009-05-07, 12:58 AM
I'd be more worried about the implications on the Weak Force than on molecular biology (or on catgirl biology, for that matter). But yes, it is orientable. And it's also the closest thing you'll ever get to a spherical unit cell, in a flat topology.

What's the issue with the weak force? I don't quite see how a weird topology would make the weak force behave badly but I'm a math person not a physicist.

Tempest Fennac
2009-05-07, 01:08 AM
I'd probably make 1 planet with continants which were based off levels from Sonic 1 (namely Greenhill, Marble, Springyard and a more organic version of Starlight). For races, I'd want to create a load of half animals while making magic incredibly common place, in addition to providing fast-growing Goodberry-producing bushes. I'd probably make other planets using Sonic levels for inspiration. Technology would pronbably be limited due to how powerful magic would probably be better for things like going between planets, sending messages, etc.

TakeV
2009-05-07, 01:28 AM
Is it just me, or is this entire concept the greatest campaign idea, ever? Your group has recently ascended to godhood, and left to create their own universe. After the campaign is over, you also now have your own campaign setting that you could release. :)

Mikeavelli
2009-05-07, 01:44 AM
I would create not one, but five planets. Instead of orbiting around a giant ball of gas and fire held in place by physics and gravity, they would by juggled by a galaxy-sized (but otherwise humanoid) Jester. Every thousand years, the Jester would catch one of the planets, and hurl it up into the air again, causing massive destruction.

Inevitably, the shorter-lived races would find this legend to be ridiculous, and ignore the warning signs, except for a party of between four and six plucky youths destined to lead their peoples on an exodus the likes of which haven't been seen since, well, about a thousand years ago.

FoE
2009-05-07, 01:50 AM
I'm still working out the details, but I see a lot of cheerleader outfits, beach volleyball, girls who look like Mary Jane Watson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_Watson) and topless sunbathing involved. Also, Spider-Man is my best friend and we solve crimes together. Sexy crimes.

Trizap
2009-05-16, 01:38 PM
I would like to point out that you are not omnipotent. Merely very powerful.
And that while you can create landmasses it take millions of years so doing it after sentient life is established is impossible.

so? I don't concern myself with reasoning when my imagination is involved.

TSED
2009-05-17, 06:04 AM
1) It'd be a plane that is literally infinite with its landmass/etc. stretching towards the horizons forever. Defying physics, gravity would be normal.

2) Landmasses would always be square shaped. This is just for ease of cartographers, etc. Additionally, resources on them would be equally distributed and very plentiful. No barren wastelands! Squares would still be really bloody huge, probably Eurasia-esque. Only lakes, rivers, and the like would prevent the huge temperature fluctuations that such in-land climes tend to get.

3) The different landmasses would be house populations of ideologies, not nations. The Kingdom of Whatever would be a totally foreign concept. It'd be, say, The Area Where Democracy Happens And Everyone Has Relatively Rightwing Leanings, or The Dictatorship Where Private Property Is Abolished, or The Super Liberal Area Where Anything That Does Not Impede The Rights Of Others Goes, or etc.

4) I would start up an International Peace Corps, essentially stopping dictators or whatever from preventing peasants from emigrating to a place more suited to their ideals.

5) Now that the political / geographical situation is mostly dealt with, let's look at some biology:

- Carnivores don't exist. Sure, the organism is still there, just now it's herbivorous. Packs of wolves chowing down on trees, giant squid collecting fields of seaweed, etc. Good times. Omnivores aren't meat eaters either, to be clear. This includes sapients. (Note: I'm not a vegetarian or even close to one, but a world where no animal gets eaten would probably be a better one)
- Forests! HUGE forests! With trees the size of mountains and whatever! Sure there's only a couple of those, but then you get all sorts of trees underneath! Woo!
- Mushroom forests too, just because it'd be awesome.
- Nothing poisonous. Hurray! No diseases either.
- Bugs would be pretty. All of them. Birds would be everywhere.
- Aquatic life would just be brimming with fascinating creatures. All the stereotypically saline creatures would be freshwater, though, because there'd be no saltwater.
- Which means you can get gorgeous whale-sharks and the like in large rivers.
- All sorts of crazy stuff. There will be a kind of... thing (magical whorls? Bodies of magic water that stick together, even in deep sea? Aquatic / aerial insects that fly around and connect DNA?)... that will create new species by combining the last two macroscopic species that were involved. Bear / lizards! Man / horses! Oakturtles! Everything! Hurray! They'll be viable and create a bunch of different ages that aren't related, thus creating brand new populations of interesting things all the time.
- No creature would be capable of being aesthetically displeasing. Including sentients. Ugliness would just break the physical laws of the world.


Still wouldn't be a Utopia, but dang it'd be close.

Kornaki
2009-05-17, 12:05 PM
We've actually done this once in campaign... rather than origin of species though, my brother whipped out the epic spell that animates objects and makes them sentient. Far more fun that way

The Glyphstone
2009-05-17, 12:36 PM
- Carnivores don't exist. Sure, the organism is still there, just now it's herbivorous. Packs of wolves chowing down on trees, giant squid collecting fields of seaweed, etc. Good times. Omnivores aren't meat eaters either, to be clear. This includes sapients. (Note: I'm not a vegetarian or even close to one, but a world where no animal gets eaten would probably be a better one)
.

As long as you remember to alter the biological/nutritional needs of creatures so they either don't need the resources they would get from the meat or can get it in sufficient quantities from eating plants, and also remember to mess with reproduction rates and fertility to counteract the lack of predation to prevent overpopulation....yeah, it'd probably be a happier world for everyone, though I'd certainly miss my Bacon Sausage Doublestack English Muffinburgers...:smallbiggrin:

Chrono22
2009-05-17, 01:04 PM
I'd probably make it a dyson sphere. Except that the shell itself would be thick enough to generate a gravitational pull. Not a large one, mind you, but enough to keep objects on the interior from collapsing into the sun. The whole contraption would be rotating at a high speed. The shell would turn a large amount of the sun's radiation into electromagnetic fields, which would guide most of the harmful radiation out of holes on the poles. Gravity would range from 2xearth gravity on the equator, to almost nothing near the poles. This would allow ships and aircraft to leave the ionosphere easily.
The sheer size of the interior of the plane would be so large, that vast portions of it would be unpopulated.
Life on my planet would probably be artificial- think warforged, or the artifact creatures from magic the gathering. Except, they also have methods of reproducing themselves. Either by building their "young" or creating hives/factories.

Gnorman
2009-05-17, 01:18 PM
I'm still working out the details, but I see a lot of cheerleader outfits, beach volleyball, girls who look like Mary Jane Watson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_Watson) and topless sunbathing involved. Also, Spider-Man is my best friend and we solve crimes together. Sexy crimes.

Thread over. Face Of Evil wins.

Eldan
2009-05-17, 01:40 PM
I would start with a vast, but shallow ocean of breathable liquid. Like the kind they kept that mouse in in the famous experiment. Then I would scatter countless small islands over it, with half of them tropical, the other half cold temperate. Next would probably be an underwater mag-lev monorail and a zeppelin transport system. There would, of course, be places of low gravity where one could, by jumping, fly into the upper athmosphere and land again without any damage.
Hmm. Now it's getting difficult. I mean, I would add fascinating new animals, but earth already has some damn interesting ones. So, I'd probably start with those and then add dinosaurs and placoderms.
Then I'd start monster-hunting contests.

CapedLuigiYoshi
2009-05-17, 01:48 PM
I'd put in ? blocks and areas of subjective directional gravity.

I may add more to this post later.

Doresain
2009-05-17, 02:14 PM
id make a massive planet-sized assembly station that creates Necron-like constructs and invade all the other worlds in the multiverse...just for teh lulz

raptor1056
2009-05-17, 02:48 PM
my own world? let see..........the landmass would splattered everywhere, floating continents, flying rivers and such, solid ride-able clouds, portals to random places on the floating continents, one of the continents would be a tropical paradise filled with cat girls, another one would be entirely city with supercool hi-tech, another would be wild wild western only with lasers and motorcycles and then there would be these floating islands where time, space and gravity are like putty and can be played around with, air ships would be everywhere, oh yeah, that reminds me one of the continents would be final fantasy-esque setting, and don't forget the rainbow dragons and oh yeah.......Icefire

and I would rule it all with my awesome flying multicolored palace filled with catgirls.

I hate to be the one to say it but... gah. You, friend, have a disturbing (and sadly unattainable) fetish.

Jesus, was that really my first post?

As for my world, it would be a single, infinitely large, flat, gray plain. No grass or anything, just hardpack. It has one inhabitant, and one copy of Camus's "The Myth of Sisyphus."

AgentPaper
2009-05-17, 02:48 PM
First things first-make a star to serve as the sun. Just a great big light source that will last forever, or at least long enough that I don't mind replacing it when need be. Then, find out how far from the sun things get livable at, or at least comfortable. Mark that distance, and make a sphere with that distance as it's radius, with the sun in the center. Make sure the sphere is thick enough to provide it's own gravity, and hence atmosphere. 1G should be the most comfortable. Fill with life to taste.

PrismaticPIA
2009-05-17, 04:17 PM
I would create a world that always changes. Mountains rise up in weeks, forests a million miles square, migrating a thousand miles in a matter of months. Rivers that routinely change direction on 6 different axis. These changes would be non-violent spectacular geological events, and a cartographer's worst nightmare.

I'd have an infinite variety of magical sites around the plane. Crystal caverns that sing, upside down lakes, and other random places the convey special abilities and bizarre magical powers...including one site where a terrible evil sleeps....

Every person born in my world would be born with a special power (mechanically speaking, each person will be ability to cast one spell from a domain. The limitations vary from person to person).

That's just for starters.

GoC
2009-05-17, 05:33 PM
For races, I'd want to create a load of half animals while making magic incredibly common place
To everyone: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE elaborate!
It's no fun just saying you'd make animals without describing all the cool-looking things you'd make!:smallbiggrin:

3) The different landmasses would be house populations of ideologies, not nations. The Kingdom of Whatever would be a totally foreign concept. It'd be, say, The Area Where Democracy Happens And Everyone Has Relatively Rightwing Leanings, or The Dictatorship Where Private Property Is Abolished, or The Super Liberal Area Where Anything That Does Not Impede The Rights Of Others Goes, or etc.
So if a person has differing political views they must leave their family and friends?
Somewhat screwed up utopia there...:smallconfused:


- Carnivores don't exist. Sure, the organism is still there, just now it's herbivorous. Packs of wolves chowing down on trees, giant squid collecting fields of seaweed, etc. Good times. Omnivores aren't meat eaters either, to be clear. This includes sapients. (Note: I'm not a vegetarian or even close to one, but a world where no animal gets eaten would probably be a better one)
I know I shouldn't criticize other's idea of paradise but how would this work? What defines an animal? Do krill count? Are bacteria animals?
This assumes real world biology of course.

Alcopop
2009-05-17, 05:53 PM
my own world? let see..........the landmass would splattered everywhere, floating continents, flying rivers and such, solid ride-able clouds, portals to random places on the floating continents, one of the continents would be a tropical paradise filled with cat girls, another one would be entirely city with supercool hi-tech, another would be wild wild western only with lasers and motorcycles and then there would be these floating islands where time, space and gravity are like putty and can be played around with, air ships would be everywhere, oh yeah, that reminds me one of the continents would be final fantasy-esque setting, and don't forget the rainbow dragons and oh yeah.......Icefire

and I would rule it all with my awesome flying multicolored palace filled with catgirls.

Can I live in your universe? :P

Mine would be a land of honey and milk! complete with honey and milk oozes!

Doresain
2009-05-17, 09:32 PM
my own world? let see..........the landmass would splattered everywhere, floating continents, flying rivers and such, solid ride-able clouds, portals to random places on the floating continents, one of the continents would be a tropical paradise filled with cat girls, another one would be entirely city with supercool hi-tech, another would be wild wild western only with lasers and motorcycles and then there would be these floating islands where time, space and gravity are like putty and can be played around with, air ships would be everywhere, oh yeah, that reminds me one of the continents would be final fantasy-esque setting, and don't forget the rainbow dragons and oh yeah.......Icefire

and I would rule it all with my awesome flying multicolored palace filled with catgirls.

this would be the first world my planet-sized Necron legion would attack

Chrono22
2009-05-18, 04:18 PM
I'd probably make it a dyson sphere. Except that the shell itself would be thick enough to generate a gravitational pull. Not a large one, mind you, but enough to keep objects on the interior from collapsing into the sun. The whole contraption would be rotating at a high speed. The shell would turn a large amount of the sun's radiation into electromagnetic fields, which would guide most of the harmful radiation out of holes on the poles. Gravity would range from 2xearth gravity on the equator, to almost nothing near the poles. This would allow ships and aircraft to leave the ionosphere easily.
The sheer size of the interior of the plane would be so large, that vast portions of it would be unpopulated.
Life on my planet would probably be artificial- think warforged, or the artifact creatures from magic the gathering. Except, they also have methods of reproducing themselves. Either by building their "young" or creating hives/factories.

I'll elaborate on what creatures would populate this world, for the OP's benefit.
There would be several vast seas, composed of mercury. These would be populated by slivers, nanobot swarms, and oozes. The oozes would be similar to jellyfish, in that they harness electric charges and acids to neutralize their prey. The oozes would range in size from a few inches across to the size of small cities.
Arcbound creatures would congregate around the north and south poles, due to the powerful electromagnetic fields that surround them. Since they feed and grow by assimilating the charges and components of other beings, they would be the "predators" of the lands.
Myr are essentially a race of clones. Some are more specialized, based on the environment they live in, but they are by and large mechanically identical. They have a hive mind, and reproduce via gigantic factories. The hive mind allows them to share memories, sight, and perspectives. Their goal is unity- they are obsessively lawful according to the law/chaos dichotomy. There are occasionally individual members of the Myr that reject the hive and close their minds. These myr are perceived to be traitors and abominations by other myr. It is the ultimate goal of the myr to unite the entire universe... under their control, of course.
Warforged would be the only truly sentient race of the world, with their own technologies. Their cities would be vast networks of tunnels that connect the inner surfaces with the outer ones. Since they have no need of sustenance or rest, normal social drives wouldn't exist. Rather, the individual would be obsessed with the acquisition of information and new sensations. Memory chips would be a form of currency.
Rather than holding to any specific forms of tradition, warforged societies would be based around philosophies. One society might prioritize comfort and physical enjoyment above anything else. Another might choose valor as the highest virtue. These differences don't usually result in wars, but can.

The entire planet is actually "alive" in a fashion. As an artificial structure, it has an AI which controls the weather and life preserving processes of the the inner surface. As "god" or the spirit of the world, it might call upon a group of heroes to protect the order or world from inner or outer threats.

There would also be a variety of plant life in the world. Some of it would be animate, but most would be the mundane variety.

That's all I've got for now. Are you planning to turn these into locations for a spelljammer campaign?

Levyathyn
2009-05-21, 01:32 AM
I had a large, elaborate post here before, but it all boiled down to one concept. I would make a primal world, huge in size and primitive in nature. The planet would be run by a simple recursive algorithm to spawn life in random patterns; Patterns I would maake sure were extremely dangerous. The geology would fluctuate at a gentle clip; Faster than Earth's but too slow to notice. Arctic wilderness, forests, deserts, swamps, oceans, rivers, mountains, steppes; Every type of climate and terrain possible would be somewhere on the planet at all times shifting around in the night. Thus, alone on this huge, disparate planet full of dangerous, unearthly beasts, I would hunt. Perhaps barehanded, or with a spear. Maybe even a bow. But I'd make it s fair as possible; I'd use a limited avatar, and not directly change anything. Save one single item. I would sculpt and create a race of velociraptors that would let me ride them into battle. Once finished with that, I'd make it orbit a blue dwarf and have seven moons, the four largest of which would be visible some nights.

Rapidwhirl
2009-05-21, 10:57 PM
First, I would do independent research into Neutralize Poison (permanent).... Just because.

Then I would create a mountainous region, not an entire planet, just a 1,000 mile area filled with rocks, metals and water. I'll add onto it later if I feel like it. There would be a gentle energy source like the sun, that would always be providing a comfortable amount of light and heat. It would have the same physical laws as earth does, with one major exception: This world would lean toward order as opposed to entropy. The irony is that it would just about mess up everything. The perk is that things and people become fixed and healed (respectively) when they come here.

Cell growth would progress faster and reverse the errors made during mitosis. You could reattach a severed appendage by holding it in place. When it comes to nonliving things, and once living things, it becomes trickier. For something which is broken into multiple pieces to be made whole again, it must be placed back together. Objects with holes in them, or lack pieces will not be filled in, though they will be repaired as much as possible. Dead cells, corpses, fingernail clippings, and hair have lost their life, and will not grow. Fortunately, very few things die here.

It is important to note that nothing will rot unless bacteria steps in, including waste matter, thus it would be removed from the plane for that process to continue. consequently, will be launched into rival universes. With virtually nothing dying, bacteria and fungus will starve. The types which consume living flesh will have to overcome fortified immune systems.

Sounds cool so far, right? I'll move on, though you can ask me how this world would function without the breaking down effect we are so accustomed to.

With a nice place like this, there can't be any drawbacks, right? It's now time to create my new species. Now, I'm going to come right out and say it: I have never done this before.

I stick with humanoid, add the subtype of earth. (1)
Increase Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity by 2 each. (6)
They rely on nitrogen and carbon for respiration, as such they exhale cyanide.
Same fertility rate as humans. (+50% total)
They have Plane Shift (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planeShift.htm) and Greater Teleport (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/teleportGreater.htm) as Spell Like Abilities. (7 + 4 = 11)
Greater Teleport can be used at will. (3)
They age as Elves do. (1)
They gain +1 to all Abilities, Hit Dice and Natural Armor (7) every ten years. (12)
They ignore the Hit Die requirement for their Spell Like Abilities, but cannot use them until the Required amount of Hit Dice is reached. (4)

Subtotal:45 + (45 x 50%)
Total: 68

I would have to use Amplify Magic a full 68 times and cast for 136 days to make a pair of them.... I would call them "Larrcs", because it's easy to say and a quick Google search says that it isn't taken yet.

Naturally, I would make an edible plant that converts cyanide into carbon and nitrogen, bring basic plants and animals in, (etc) before making the new species.

With all of this created, I would wait in MY realm, building and advancing until the population is high enough to travel to other planes. All it would take is a breath to kill. Although we could be nice and simply leave it at dumping our trash on your lawn...