Let's build YOUR setting! Idea smorgasbord

[bionicleFanatic]

The plane of smoke isn't a bottomless expanse of vapour like the plane of air: instead there is a solid ground composed of ash that becomes more and more compressed the further it descends, eventually becoming veins of coal coal.

As pockets of air move across the plane, the topmost ash rises on the current until the area appear to be snowing in reverse. Over the years this uncovers the slivers of coal, which stick up from the ground like distorted obsidian trees.

[Bohandas]

Elves have a reputation for being magical not because of their traditions of wizardry, but rather because their long lifespans and mean that a far greater than standard percentage of their common folk have the time to train in magical NPC classes like Adept and Magewright.

To recap yhe DMG (pg 139) a standard human village is 91% commoners, 5% warriors, 3% experts, 0.5% aristocrats and 0.5% adepts

Under this system, an elf village would break down closer to

commoner 10%, warrior 5%, expert 15%, Adept 46%, Magewright 17%, Aristocrat 8%

and a dwarf village
Commoner 14%, warrior 16%, expert 16%, Urban Adept 34%, magewright 19%, Aristocrat 1%

[brian 333]

Technology and magic are antithetical. Where one is powerful tthe other is weak.

This creates a multiverse where there are millions of Prime Material Planes, some with technological galactic empires and others with magical pandimensional magocracies. Between these two extremes there are infinite combinations, with a sweet spot of low-tech, low-magic worlds in the center.

The thing is, when one or the other becomes more powerful, the balance shifts. The world begins to conform to one or the other. Great mages fail as Steampunk cultures grow more dominant, and technological wonders fail as wizardry grows more effective.

The PCs enter the game as the world is tipping one way or the other, charged with restoring the lost art before the world falls completely to one side or the other of the scale.

So, for example, if there is a powerful wizard, the team must reclaim lost technology to defeat him, and vice versa.

Note that there is the possibility that balance can be maintained by equalizing progress in both arts. It seldom succeeds because if the power level is high enough, a slight nudge can send the whole system into a feedback loop. If the players choose this option, they will have to invent a brake system to prevent positive reinforcement of the dominant system from rendering the other ineffective.

If anyone is interested in campaign concepts to get a group started on this, let me know.

[jqavins]

Building on that, there should be, among the millions of worlds, some worlds in which one - let's say tech, though it works either way - is in a stable majority position. Tech provides most of the wiz-bang, labor saving, life saving, world changing stuff, but magic hangs in there. Magic, though weak, can do a few particular things that tech can't, so those who can do it, though weak by the standards of most D&D-like worlds, are highly sought after.

Also, does the magic-or-tech choice have to cover a whole world? Could there be worlds where one is dominant in some places and the other in other places (probably other continents so direct contact is limited)?

[brian 333]

Also, does the magic-or-tech choice have to cover a whole world? Could there be worlds where one is dominant in some places and the other in other places (probably other continents so direct contact is limited)?

This would be a potential world in the sweet spot I described. So long as both progress more or less equally, both can become more effective. It would require balance between the two systems to be maintained.

Note that this might have the same effect as multiclassing as a cleric/wizard. A level 12 wizard or cleric can beat the snot out of a level 6/6 cleric/wizard due to access to more powerful spells; however, the multiclass character is much more versatile.

Of course, your world may have hybrid solutions to problems that neither science alone could conceive. An obvious example is magical guns which fire non-magical bullets and non-magical guns which fire magical bullets.

[Sizzlefoot]

In the beginning, there was war. Gods and demons fought for control of the world for eons, neither side giving up. Each major deity and demon created a race to act as their soldiers and servants. On the side of the gods were the humans, elves, dwarves, and such. On the demonic side were the orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres, etc. Eventually, the gods won and imprisoned the demons in a series of deep caverns. The demon spawn broke free from their dark masters, gaining free will. However, they are often treated with cruelty and prejudice for what their ancestors did.

[Bohandas]

The trance state elves enter to rest is not a calm hypnotic or meditatibe state, instead it's more like a DMT trip

[brian 333]

The Spire

In the vast open ocean a spire rises over 900 feet, (300m,) the remnant core of an extinct volcano. The ocean waves have carved the mountain's sides away, their broken remains forming a vast reef at the base of the spire.

Beyond the reef massive schools of sharks patrol, joined by giant sqiud and jellyfish in the night. These creatures feed on the many fish which breed and live in the broken remnants of the mountain in and just below the surf which churns over the rocks, carving a maze of channels through the rubble of the former mountainside. In this maze clams encrust the rocks as sea stars and urchins, crabs and fish hunt among the algae covered rocks.

The outer ring of the reef extends up to five miles from the central spire. A dozen or so shipwrecks litter the reefs in various stages of decay with another dozen or so either ground into debris fields by the ocean's swells or buried in shifting sand, clams, and soft corals.

Within a half-mile of the central spire a scree-slope girds the spire, inhabited largely by rats which feed on the detritus washed ashore by the sea or dropped from above. Among the rocks land crabs patrol, competing with the rats for limited space and food.

Collapsed lava tubes extend beneath the pile of boulders occasionally giving access to caves in which the true masters of the island reside. A scrag colony hunts among the reefs, waging an unending war amongst themselves for dominance of the reef. Their ever-shifting political situation is as convoluted as the channels through the reef, with no alliance lasting beyond an immediate crisis.

Aside from some salt grass and dwarf shrubbery, there is little plant growth above the tide line. Up the cliff face green-tipped branches stand here and there, but most of the spire is bare stone the color of rust, stained white by generations of sea-birds who compete for space on the many ledges and crevices of the cliffs.

At the summit stands a strange castle or temple made of stacked stone, built with no mortar. The many stairs and balconies appear to have no purpose, and most of the rooms are not roofed. There are some small rooms near the center of the structure which are better protected from ceaseless winds and regular storms.

Within these rooms are signs of habitation. There is no fire, but the tatters of materials salvaged from the shipwrecks lie scattered about, along with feathers and birds' bones.

The inhabitant will hide from any intruder, and will only reluctantly reveal himself if tempted with food and water. He us a human, a fact which is difficult to discern due to his feathered birdskin clothing, sunburnt and wrinkled skin, and halo of wiriy white hair and beard that hides all but his eyes and toothless mouth.

This human has lost or forgotten his voice. Other than grunts of an involountary nature he makes no attempt to vocalize. Indeed, he makes no attempt to communicate at all, remaining skittish and prone to bolt at any moment. His hands and feet, as well as his elbows and knees, are scarred and heavily calloused. Hd is an unparalleled expert at climbing on thd rocks, traversing what appear to be blank walls as easily as mist humans walk down a street.

On occasion he forages down on the rocks below, but he does his best to avoid the skrags. He can easily climb up and away from them, and when they pursue him they soon tire of the chase or become distracted by the sea-bird colonies on the cliffs.

[GaelofDarkness]

There is a hidden glade deep within an ancient forest. This place is close to the Feywild and portals leading there do open from time to time. Druids protect this place to keep the balance of nature and the planes by scaring off interlopers and intentionally obfuscating the way there. Unfortunately, the glade has a unique resource and that means there are always people eager to exploit it.

A certain family of magical moth species can be found there, and only there. Each species glows a different color which in and of itself makes them quite valuable. But their true value is the dust on their wings. Depending on the color, this dust can trigger intense emotional states. A pinch dissolved in one's drink can make a person feel unrestrained joy, love, contentedness or horrific fear, pain or rage. There are no lasting effects on one's health - most unlike narcotics that might produce similar results. So the dust that causes positive experiences is the vice of choice for the uppermost of the upper classes and those that cause negative emotions have found use in warfare and torture. Harvesting the dust without harming the moths' wings is exceedingly difficult and once the wing is broken there will be no more dust. There has been no success in breeding the moths in captivity and so groups with questionable scruples frequently seek out the glade to find more moths. The druids ensure that they can never take the same path twice, but this has not yet prevented interlopers from meddling in fey matters they do not understand.

[Sizzlefoot]

Orcs eat magic. When an orc eats an arcane spellcaster, there is a chance that the orc will learn a couple of cantrips or a 1st-level spell. They can also do this with magic items, which leads to rather odd newspaper headlines such as "Local orc chieftain killed after attempting to devour +1 sword".

[DuctTapeKatar]

There is no 'multi-planar' system, or at least one that the material plane knows of. Spirits and the like are part of the world, a never-ending force that permeates every single aspect and idea, lingering on every breath and gliding through every body.

Demons are spirits born from powerful emotion, such as grief, greed, anger, and the like. They can spawn anywhere the emotion settles and wells into pools where they coagulate into the area around it. A demon that springs from a battlefield may be a tall figure made from the metal from blades and bone of those who passed away in combat, furiously attacking those it believes to be formidable warriors. An imp that is born in a brothel may be born from the discarded remains of aborted fetuses, a small pathetic mewling creature that yearns for love and purpose. Demons born from animals may spawn as a dire creature, an emotional amplification of their kind's nature.

Stronger Archdemons are sins and deeds of the many made physical. A succubus is born from a civilization's unmitigated lust and decadence. A Balor is wrath incarnate, born from a tyrant's endless conquest and just as ravenous. A Demon of the Undead may form when emotions of ghosts, ghouls, and vampires pool into a hideous monstrosity that seeks to eke life out of every nook and cranny, a bearing a hungering maw that can never be filled. An Archdemon's mere presence can spawn even more demons from their surroundings, every little emotion given form and mind. Congregations of demons become spawning pits of swirling feeling and soul, the air itself almost solid as they breed new demons that immediately seek to create more kin. A person within that space may be torn body and soul, swept away in a confusing swirl of raw spirit as their pieces are in turn forged into a demon. These pits become nigh-impenetrable thresholds that require the aid of a paladin or a holy crusade to destroy.

Though a demon's presence is disturbing to the mortal races, and many have dedicated themselves to preventing their spawning and ensuring their demise, not every demon is inherently evil, nor do all of them wish to harm anyone. A wandering demon of mourning may be a kindly creature of dirt and grass, eager to heal and protect, while a similar creature of loss may be a vengeful mass of vine and bone willing to perpetuate a cycle of grief.

Demons, after their birth, are physical creatures, and will not dissipate if the emotions that birthed them fade with the ages. Some might require food and sleep, but others will be content to sit like stone until disturbed. Their lives are varied, every single one being a unique being with a small soul nested inside of it. Being practically immortal, a demon is capable of living peaceful decades or a few destructive seconds of howling rage.

[Kickaha]

The petitioners in the shanty-towns outside the Divine Domains want desperately to enter- not only because they want to be in the realm of their deities, but because those who aren't within the Divine Domains will eventually fade away if they are forgotten by the mortal world, and the mortal soul craves permanence.

This is why the Raven Queen's festival focuses on the remembrance of the dead.

[Bohandas]

Minor alignment tweaks. All of the 8 non-true-neutral alignments are treated as equally close to true neutral.

Also there is at least some degree of formal recognition of the fact that there seems to be a horseshoe effect going on with aligned outsiders in that the most powerful outer planar outsiders of a given alignment are often lax in their adherence to their alignment*, so that the midrange outsiders are actually the truest representations of their alignments

*Gwynharwyf is the tutelary spirit of solving problems with violence, the demon lords practice institutionalized slavery and build towns, Asmodeus foments rebellion against himself, Ssendam and Ygorl brought order and regularity to slaadi biology, Zaphkiel spends all his time holed up alone in the seventh heaven, etc.

[jqavins]

Minor alignment tweaks. All of the 8 non-true-neutral alignments are treated as equally close to true neutral.

That's fairly common, with the alignment grid being replaced by an alignment wheel. (I made a picture but I can't upload it from work. Argh.) This geometry implies that it's impossible to be both completely one thing and completely another. For example, LG can't be fully lawful (all the way to the left of the wheel) and completely good (all the way to the top of the wheel) at the same time. Which arguably makes sense, as those positions would sometimes come into conflict, e.g. what society should do with a starving person who steals bread. LG must balance the two options: neither treating such people as unmitigated thieves (LN) nor ignoring such crimes (NG). One can only be about 70.7% of each before making balance of the two impossible.

This also allows (actually, the grid also allows) for considering the nine alignments as very coarse descriptions, while a person's alignment may be anywhere within the wheel (or grid) and even move a little bit without consequence. One day the judge is in a more strict mood, leans toward lawful, and sentences the starving thief to five days in the clink (where he will be fed) and on another day he is in a kind mood and the sentence is to work off the debt as the baker's unpaid assistant for a day (during which the baker will feed him). Either way is LG, and the drifting around is inconsequential.

I have a character (in a sandbox world where the DM downplays the importance of alignment) who's position on the wheel averages right on the border between TN and NG. He's basically good, but not strongly so. I call his alignment Pretty Good (PG).

[Bohandas]

That's fairly common, with the alignment grid being replaced by an alignment wheel. (I made a picture but I can't upload it from work. Argh.) This geometry implies that it's impossible to be both completely one thing and completely another. For example, LG can't be fully lawful (all the way to the left of the wheel) and completely good (all the way to the top of the wheel) at the same time. Which arguably makes sense, as those positions would sometimes come into conflict, e.g. what society should do with a starving person who steals bread. LG must balance the two options: neither treating such people as unmitigated thieves (LN) nor ignoring such crimes (NG). One can only be about 70.7% of each before making balance of the two impossible.

Plus it brings it into concordance with Planescape's fluff which explicitly describes the arrangement of the aligned outer planes as a "wheel"

[jqavins]

I got the picture uploaded.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VdA...w?usp=drivesdk
Each region of the figure has the same area, though the TN middle may look smaller.

[Bohandas]

What picture?

[jqavins]

Working on it. I uploaded it to Google Drive. Ensured the permissions there would allow others to view it. And the BB Code for the [IMG] is there in the post. I'll get it fixed when I can.

UPDATE: Try the link.

[Dargaron]

Some extra-planar stuff, aka: Demons, Devils and Spirits, oh my!

Spoiler: Demons

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Demons are one of the three primary extraplanar beings that mortals tend to encounter. Metaphysically, Demons are best described as personifications of universal imperfections: suffering, disharmony, hatred, etc. They are almost completely concerned with spreading destruction and suffering to every corner of the universe..

However, if one were to talk amicably with a Demon Lord, they would be quite happy to explain why Demons do what they do. Demon Lords are perfectly well aware that, in a perfect world, they would not exist. Demons believe that the universe arose spontaneously out of a state of perfect potentiality: in effect, since nothing existed to prejudice further creation, anything could come to be out of that initial state.

Demons cause suffering in order to empower themselves so that they can metaphysically overpower all other actors and destroy the universe in a single act of complete destruction, reverting everything back to the primordial state. After that, there are two options:
-The first option is that the universe reforms as a perfectly harmonious, perfectly self-contained system, which will exist eternally and be devoid of suffering or hatred. In that case, no new demons would emerge, and the cycle would end in paradise for all.
-The second option is that the universe would reform in yet another imperfect state, at which point, more demons would spawn (by necessity) and carry out yet another universal destruction until the first option came about.

The "current" crop of Demons have no way of knowing whether they are the first or the seven-hundred and first batch of demons engaged in this plan: after all, universal destruction means that there is absolutely nothign left. All they know is that, since they exist, their objective hasn't been achieved. In essence, they are gambling that causing an enormous (but finite) amount of suffering will eventually lead to an eternity of paradise.

That said, the details of The Plan are reserved solely for the Demon Lords and their immediate subordinates (Balors know a little bit, Marliths know almost nothing). Most Demons believe that they are the first "generation" of Demons, and that if they succeed in their endeavor, that they will survive the destruction of everything, everywhere (somehow), and continue to exist in the post-apocalypse paradise. Only the Demon Lords are in on the self-destructive parts of The Plan.

If you somehow get a Demon Lord to speak frankly, they will generally present themselves as the only entities in the universe willing to do what needs to be done in order to achieve paradise. They honestly believe that their actions are the highest order of self-sacrifice and nobility, despite the short-term suffering they cause. Demon Lords are also highly providential: in their mind, Demons are the self-correcting force of the universe, pushing inevitably towards perfection simply by virtue of existing and fulfilling their nature.

The closest thing to a "failure state" for Demons is if somehow, mortals or some other metaphysical force (Devils, Spirits, Angels etc.) reduce the levels of suffering in the universe to such a level that Demons continue to exist, but are too weak to actually carry out their Plan. They view Perfection (capitol P) as something like the Speed of Light: it is impossible to move from a state of near-perfection to Perfection, and the only way to actually achieve Perfection is for it to arise spontaneously. This, in their mind, would condemn the universe to an eternity of continued suffering, which is intolerable to any Demon Lord.

Spoiler: Devils

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Devils are often seen as the Demons' sneakier counterparts: instead of causing destruction for its own sake, Devils cloak their actions as motivated by justice in its purest form, and genuinely believe that if they had universal domination, their methods could resolve all conflicts and inequities.

Devils are physical representations of the principle of Retribution. They openly ply their services to mortals wherever possible, appealing to the mortal desire for bad things to happen to bad people. They don't necessarily take into account circumstances or mitigating factors: if a mortal believes that someone else has wronged them, then a Devil is quite happy to inflict severe punishment upon the "offending" party.

It's even entirely possible for a Devil to engage in tormenting two mortals simultaneously on behalf of one another: for example, an overbearing landlord and a resentful tenant might both feel that the other is treating them unfairly, at which point the Devil will proceed to ruin both parties, leaving itself and Devil-kind as the only beneficiaries. Devils do not see such actions as contrary to their sense of justice: a Devil would tell you that both the landlord and the tenant were deserving of punishment, and that the Devil meted out what was necessary.

Among themselves, Devils are kept in line by similar principles: it helps that all Devils have a minor telepathic ability, which allows them to project their emotions to other Devils. Therefore, another Devil is the only individual to whom a Devil will grant the "benefit of the doubt," so long as that other Devil does not display any hostility. that said, Devil society is built on a lie: Higher-ranking Devils have the capacity to mask their emotions from the scans of lower-ranking Devils, allowing them to engage in malicious behavior against their subordinates without provoking retaliation. That said, there are consequences for such behavior: Devils which are exposed to too much "double-think" gain the ability to sense and mask emotions as if they were significantly higher-ranking Devils, allowing them to successfully challenge and depose their immediate superiors before running into the next level of the Devilish hierarchy whom they cannot overcome.

If an Archdevil were somehow coerced into being entirely honest, they would tell the listener that the end-state the Devils desire is for the entire universe (or at least the mortal plane) to be subject to their judgments. Any individual, from the meekest to the mightiest, would have the power of instant, devastating retaliation against any other individual that they felt had wronged them, and once the mortal population had been sufficiently winnowed, the principle of Mutually-Assured Destruction would force all individuals to treat one another with perfect empathy. Afterwards, the presence of the Devils would no longer be needed to enforce order, and the barriers between mortal and Devil society would be completely abolished: the mortal plane would simply be an extension of the Hells inhabited by non-Devils.

Spoiler: Spirits

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Spirits are, ironically, the extra-planar beings who are least-likely to seek out travel to the mortal world, yet are the easiest and most common extraplanar beings to be summoned by mortal spellcasters. While both Demons and Devils have grandiose plans for irrevocably changing the structure of the universe, spirits (in their natural state) are entirely passive.

The Spirits derive from an extraplanar space called the Concord. Spirits are, in essence, expressions of mathematical principles. There is one, Prime Spirit, which has never been observed, but is posited to exist due to the nature of lesser Spirits. This Prime Spirit comprises slightly less than half of the Concord, and is comprised of two Secondary Spirits, each of which is composed of two Tertiary Spirits, and so on (theoretically) ad infinitum. Most spirits are designated by number: for example, there are eight Eights, sixteen Sixteens, etc, with the relative power of each Spirit level declining rapidly.

Because of their relatively fixed nature, it is easy for mortal spellcasters to summon Spirits to the their realm; being non-physical, conceptual beings, these Spirits are usually bound to particularly perfect gemstones and use nearby matter to construct ad-hoc bodies for themselves. A particularly well-prepared caster might already have the gem set into an artificial body for the Spirit to inhabit: a suit of armor, a statue, a preserved corpse, etc. Otherwise, the Spirit will accumulate a rag-tag body of whatever detritus it can find.

Because of their mathematical nature, summoning a Spirit isn't particularly disruptive to the Concord: if a Thirty-Two is summoned, than another Thirty-Two will be generated almost instantly by the natural processes of the plane. However, in the event that the original Thirty-Two is banished from the Material Plane, there will be a considerable disruption to the Concord, as every single Thirty-Two, and every Spirit which derives from the Thirty-Twos, suffers from severe disruption, because it is not fulfilling its nature: the Thirty-Twos are temporarily Thirty-Threes, and thus, fail to interface properly with the Sixteens above them. Eventually, one of the Thirty-Threes will be destroyed in the chaos, but the process is fairly traumatic for the entirety of Concord, with more trauma the higher-level the Spirit.

The most powerful Spirit ever summoned to the Material Plane by a mortal was a Thirty-Two: as the Spirits become more powerful, they become more complicated, and the summoning ritual requires the summoner to properly comprehend everything about the spirit they intend to summon. As a self-defense mechanism, once a mortal spellcaster has summoned a spirit, Concord wipes the requisite memories from the spellcaster's mind, forcing them to relearn the nature of the spirit before summoning another like it. (Read: a justification for XP costs).

The most powerful spirit on record to ever enter the Material Plane is a Four, which was summoned by Moradin, the Forged God, as proof of his divinity shortly after he came into being. Only the combined power of Moradin's Incarnate (basically, his fully-Divine physical body) and a number of divine Avatars (semi-independent fragments of other gods) were able to keep it in check, and upon returning the Four to the Concord, spirit-summoning was unavailable for decades as the Concord was wracked by enormous turmoil.

[Beleriphon]

My favourite bit of my own setting is the Church of the Singularity, its a monotheistic church based on music and science nomenclature. with a hierarchy I might have borrowed from another particularly well known monotheistic religion. One of the knightly orders are the Carolers. Their whole shtick is that they sing while in battle, and use shields that when struck sound like gongs.

[Bohandas]

The sizes of the outer planes are not so much "infinite" as they are "unlimited". You'll never reach an end to them and for the most part they won;t wrap around, but their outlaying unexplored regions are generally undefined until observed (except for Mechanus which is a rigidly defined fractal) and are generated as they are explored, so there isn't an infinite amount of things going on with an infinite number of creatures in an infinite number of regions not in mutual contact with each other - it doesn't make sense to have large chunks of the planes of belief that nobody is aware of or that aren't aware of each other - yet at the same time there will always be more of the plane to explore and expand into

[Man_Over_Game]

The world you're on experiences the seasons as reflections of the four alchemical elements. Fire is Summer, Water is Winter, Fall is Wind and Spring is Earth. The Earth season is prone to earthquakes, Fire has drought, the Wind season is prone to tornadoes, and Water has floods.

This isn't just a reflavoring of the seasons, this is because your world is actually a mobile plane that's "orbiting" around 4 elemental planes to maintain balance. Your world was an experiment to create an artificial plane capable of sustaining life by simply using the excess energy of the four elemental planes by moving adjacent to them, and it was considered a grand success by its creator. The life on the world is a bit harsher than most, though, as elementals often visit the artificial plane and cause regular havoc, but sometimes they are a welcome sight that some people use for development (such as getting the aid of a water elemental during the season of Fire, or an Earth/Fire elemental to assist with forging, etc.).

[Draconi Redfir]

At some point hundreds of years ago, a Ring of Sustenance somehow wound up in the middle of the desert. Maybe the adventurer wearing it died or something idk.

Some time later, a seed found it's way inside that ring, resting against one of it's inner walls. As far as the Ring was concerned, this counted as the seed "Wearing" it.

This seed then began to grow, the ring providing it with all the water and nutrients it needed to survive in the arid, sandy, hot environment of the desert. It grew into a large Tree, with the ring still wrapped around it's trunk or one of it's roots. In time, this Tree began to sprout fruits, which would fall and decompose into the soil below, bringing nutrition to the ground. The Tree's roots would spread wide, and eventually sprout new trees, still connected to the first. These Trees would also benefit from the ring of sustenance thanks to this connection. Like their parent, these trees would also grow and drop fruit, slowing bringing life to the area as sand turned into soil, and animals began to gather. Eventually, a small oasis was formed without any water, all reliant around this one Tree and it's ring.

Humans (or some other race) eventually trickle in, all likely wanderers who got lost in the desert, and found their way to the Tree and decided to stay. They likely worship the Tree as a spirit, and live off the oasis it provides. They don't have any water, but the fruit provides them with juice, and the animals that gathered are just enough to support them. Eventually through various means, people are able to graft branches of other fruit-bearing Trees to the Ring-tree, allowing a wider variety of fruits to be provided for the people to eat. By this point, the ground is probably just fertile enough to support a small degree of farming, and trade routes and tourism likely open up as more people discover the oasis, allowing for imports of cattle, goods, and gold.

Bonus points of your party decides to screw it all up because they want that Ring of Sustenance.

[Dawgmoah]

I've always been interested in Astrology; the signs in the stars, portents of change.

So I sat down and factored up the celestial bodies for my campaign. The constellations, comets, meteor showers, planets, moons, etc. Set the intervals and times they would be visible in the sky. Then I started them all off at one point. A person with some knowledge of the skies could then figure out the exact time "creation" started. And of course with the portents in the sky comes the great changes to the world. Stealing a line from Tolkien, I had a greater god of evil put a moon in the sky as a sign of his power. And of course the various planets, constellations, and so on give different results for portents and agents of change.

For example certain evil monsters are more active when some celestial events are happening. While the forces of good are stronger when their signs are in the heavens.

It is a framework which the DM can use to explain countless events and happenings in the world if desired.

[Sizzlefoot]

The world is a gigantic dead beast. The sentient races were all maggots eating its rotting flesh. But the beast's corpse is being devoured far too quickly- and it's the only source of food.

[Draconi Redfir]

Divine Magic can only be cast through the right hand, and Arcane Magic can only be cast through the left hand. (or vise-versa, not important.)

As a result (assuming most people are right-handed like in the real world) a vast majority of people are only ever able to master Divine magic, as casting Arcane magic would require them to use their non-dominant hand, and it never works out too well. Those who ARE left handed are exceedingly rare and can use arcane magic no problem, though they struggle with divine magic. In VERY rare cases, someone might be Ambidextrous, being able to use both hands equally well. These individuals are the only ones able to become duo-spellcasters such as Mystic Theurge. Often these individuals are treated as legends or myths.

In some cases, such as those who wish to be powerful wizards, but were born right-handed, individuals may break, remove, or mutilate their dominant hand in order to necessitate the development of their off-hand into a new dominant-hand. Such procedures are dangerous and extreme, often with those who perform them being considered chaotic and insane. Less horrific versions of this procedure could simply be restraining the dominant hand behind the back for an extended period of time, though temptation and other factors rarely cause this to work as well as the more extreme measures.

Being Right handed doesn't automatically make you a Divine caster, just as being left-handed doesn't automatically make you an Arcane caster, indeed most people don't have any magic at all. Your dominant hand mainly determines what natural talent or skill level you would have with either given form. As a right-handed individual, you COULD learn simple arcane spells, but it would take much longer then learning divine spells of the same level for you, and casting higher-level spells may become dangerous due to the requirement of more precise hand gestures and the like.

[Sizzlefoot]

Divine Magic can only be cast through the right hand, and Arcane Magic can only be cast through the left hand. (or vise-versa, not important.)

As a result (assuming most people are right-handed like in the real world) a vast majority of people are only ever able to master Divine magic, as casting Arcane magic would require them to use their non-dominant hand, and it never works out too well. Those who ARE left handed are exceedingly rare and can use arcane magic no problem, though they struggle with divine magic. In VERY rare cases, someone might be Ambidextrous, being able to use both hands equally well. These individuals are the only ones able to become duo-spellcasters such as Mystic Theurge. Often these individuals are treated as legends or myths.

In some cases, such as those who wish to be powerful wizards, but were born right-handed, individuals may break, remove, or mutilate their dominant hand in order to necessitate the development of their off-hand into a new dominant-hand. Such procedures are dangerous and extreme, often with those who perform them being considered chaotic and insane. Less horrific versions of this procedure could simply be restraining the dominant hand behind the back for an extended period of time, though temptation and other factors rarely cause this to work as well as the more extreme measures.

Being Right handed doesn't automatically make you a Divine caster, just as being left-handed doesn't automatically make you an Arcane caster, indeed most people don't have any magic at all. Your dominant hand mainly determines what natural talent or skill level you would have with either given form. As a right-handed individual, you COULD learn simple arcane spells, but it would take much longer then learning divine spells of the same level for you, and casting higher-level spells may become dangerous due to the requirement of more precise hand gestures and the like.

Yay, I'm a lefty! Was this inspired by the left hand/right hand paths of esotericism?

[Draconi Redfir]

Yay, I'm a lefty! Was this inspired by the left hand/right hand paths of esotericism?

Nope.

in actuality, it all started when someone on the forums started talking about their own world, where magic was based on the caster's sex. Only women could cast some magic, only men could cast others, etc. Some people on the playground had a problem with it, and i defended it by saying it was just a theme, and saying it wasn't much different then having magic associated by what hand you cast it from.

and then the idea kind of just grew from there

[Sizzlefoot]

Nope.

in actuality, it all started when someone on the forums started talking about their own world, where magic was based on the caster's sex. Only women could cast some magic, only men could cast others, etc. Some people on the playground had a problem with it, and i defended it by saying it was just a theme, and saying it wasn't much different then having magic associated by what hand you cast it from.

and then the idea kind of just grew from there

It's a pretty neat idea, in my opinion. You still might find the right-hand/left-hand paths interesting.

[jqavins]

Less horrific versions of this procedure could simply be restraining the dominant hand behind the back for an extended period of time, though temptation and other factors rarely cause this to work as well as the more extreme measures.

Alternatively, the mutilated hand could be seen as an admirable sign of dedication, especially a mutilated left hand which is a sign of great religious devotion.