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View Full Version : Alternate cosmology - Comments needed



MrSeth
2006-03-10, 11:55 PM
I'm working on a new campaign setting for... well, for no real reason whatsoever. I actually come up with ideas for `em all the time, but I'm trying to come full circle with this idea. But I digress -

The setting is a post-Godfall D&D world. The reader's digest condensed version of the origin story is that the source of all magic was running dry, so some moderately insane mages tried to link the source to the Fountain of Life, the source of all existence. It worked for about three seconds; the strain of the spell drained all the remaining magic from the world... and sucked the Fountain dry. The result was interplanar chaos; the Plane of Law shattered, sending an echo effect outwards that obliterated all the outer planes, the Gods themselves were warped and twisted into amalgamated beings - those that survived, anyhow - and it only stopped with the return of the uber-distant Overgod.

Cutting to the "present day" of the campaign - there are only five planes. The Celestial plane, the Infernal plane, the Ethereal plane, and the Material Plane - which is huge. All the other, shattered planes (such as the Elemental planes, the Plane of Mirrors, the Plane of Shadows, the Beastlands, et al) exist as scattered islands on the Material plane's surface.

Oh, and lest I forget... the Fifth plane, the one I didn't mention above, is the Other Plane. It lurks on the periphery of existence, and only the greatest of mages know of it. The fact is that no one can get there, and not even the Gods rightly know what it contains.

The basic idea of this setup is to create a world where exploration and swashbuckling action are the center stage... as well as one where players actually get to use the rules from the "Stormwrack" supplement.

Comments? Questions? Cheese nips?

Harnryd
2006-03-13, 02:31 PM
I think most people who read your ideas nodded, thought "sounds good, should work very well", and then felt embarrassed that they hadn't much to add.

But, anyway, your idea with lots of planes reachable (in theory at least) by boats or other mundane means has much potential. The boiling seas surrounding the shards of Elemental Fire, the perfect icebergs and symmetrical currents near the fragments of Mechanus, high adventure indeed! :)

SilverElf4
2006-03-13, 02:38 PM
I agree, I think there's a low post count here because it sounds pretty good altogether.

Just be aware of how some spells might need to be altered to fit the cosmology, divine and arcane.

Everyman
2006-03-13, 03:23 PM
I like the concept a lot. I have this image of a "quilted" world, where certain sections are drastically different from the surrounding landscape due to the influence of the planar shards.

I'd highly recommend you take some notes on planar traits, that way you can adjust magic or effects without having to let players know. Oh, and make sure you rewrite the characteristics a bit. I don't a morphic trait would be wise for a Material Plane.

Otherwise, nice job. I might have to impliment something like this myself!

MrSeth
2006-03-13, 06:49 PM
Excellent! Thanks for the input, guys. ;D More details'll be coming as I write `em...