Help needed - Fleshing out Fragments

[Skein]

Hi all,

I'm hoping you can help flesh out some details of the world below:

I have a homebrew universe I have created, known as Fragments.

The premise is that in ancient history there was one world, a world of gods and beasts of legends. A great war between the Ancients smashed reality itself, shattering the world into a thousand fragments, each with its own magic and reality.

Aeons have passed since then, and across the fragments races and civilisations have risen and fallen. In the last thousand years, the younger races have discovered a simple means of travel between these Fragments, at certain points on each world a simple spell of Portal can be used by most mages.

Magic itself is drawn from the energy of the breaking, that surrounds all Fragments.

Some fragments are too flooded by the magic and are unstable to travel to, homing Fey, Fiends and worse.

Comparatively rapidly after the discovery of Portals, a Fragment has been named Union and has turned into the de-facto trading capital of the worlds, a multi-racial world built on the back of trade and exploration.

My campaign hook is the Portal spell hasn't been found by accident, the barriers between the worlds has been weakening for millenia, after a Fiend's dark rite affected reality.

This means that the Fiend's fragment (and others) were starting to bleed into other Realms. Spellcasters long gone created Sealing Crystal's to halt the thinning reality, but even those have begun to fail.

The PCs are sent to where a crystal has been found... You get the idea.

So here's where I need help:
1.) I need some ideas on how to make Union City, trading capital of worlds, distinctive and interesting for the players.

2.) I need ideas for Fragments themselves, small pocket worlds with their own histories, now being visited for (perhaps) the first time. Physical and Magical rules may vary, homebrew races are fine. They can be any size, isolationist or welcoming. Anything goes.

[Wizard_Lizard]

Fragment idea: Dwarfholm
The originating fragment for the dwarves. Seperated into three layers, Upper Dwarfholm, the surface, home to hill dwarves and stout halflings. Lower Dwarfholm, the home of the Moyntain Dwarves, filled with mines, and vast jeweled cities. Deep Dwarfholm, home of the Deurgar. This section bleeds with Svartalfheim (Deep Alfheim), and Svirneblheim (Deep Gnomnia) Also bleeds with the Great Deep, home of the Illithids and other eldritch horrors.

Alfheim, Seperated once again into three sections. Highalfheim, which bleeds with the hub and is populated by high elves. Wudalfheim, a vast forest, populated by wood elves. And Svartalfheim, a deep cavernous layer, home to the Svartalfs (Drow.)

I think that the hub should be populated by Humans, and Highelves, also it should be humanity's fragment of origin.

[brian 333]

Lawful beings of power may learn to draw nearby fragments together to rejoin them, shaping the newly merged land with consideration of what was already there. This may be why dwarf- fragment is contiguous with the underdark fragment, for example.

Chaotic beings of power may learn to break large fragments apart.

What constitutes power is debateable, but I propose epic level. I wouldn't restrict it to a particular class.

On the other hand, perhaps beings who ascend to godhood may be required for this.

[Wizard_Lizard]

that makes sense.

[the_david]

Union would be a city like Sigil, with many portals, right? I'm picturing arcane/mercane traveling from plane to plane but living in Union. Denizens of Leng would work too, but they live on Leng, so...

I had an idea for a prison demiplane that might not be a good fit entirely. You could plane shift into the plane, but not out of the plane. One of the traits it had was that even though it looks like a flat plane, it actually loops around. If you'd walk in a straight line you'd eventually end up where you started. It's just a random quirk that gives character to the plane that doesn't make sense in our universe.

You could add some kind of transative plane between the fragments. I'm not sure if you really need an Astral, Shadow and Ethereal plane though. You can probably replace those with "the Transative Plane" and call it a day.

What would happen if two fragments collide? Could they break? Or would they simply overlap and influence each other?

Can a powerful mage make their own demiplane by fragmenting a fragment?

[the_david]

One of the fragments could be a mobius strip.

I've already mentioned fragmenting the fragments. What about making the world whole again? It seems like a good start for a plot.

I really love this idea. I don't really care for the great wheel cosmology, so this is just amazing.

[Quizatzhaderac]

Mechanics of portals. How much thought have you given to how the portals actually work? Can you portal from any fragment to any fragment? Can you portal from anywhere in a fragment to anywhere in a fragment?

My recommendation: There are natural portal points where the fragments where joined in the original world. A small amount of magic can create a temporary portal (much less than even lesser teleport) at these natural points. Some fragments are "far away" from others by virtue of distance in the original world and number of intermediate fragments one must transverse.

Arbitrary portals are possible, but complicated. Some kind of connection needs to be established first (like a cultist on fragment A working with a demon on fragment B), afterwords one sophisticated mage is enough (a la plane shift). Sealing crystals prevent this connection forming.

Arbitrary permanent portals are a huge deal. They cost a fortune, take years, and are difficult to hide.

Fragment: the sand Not one fragment, but thousands of small fragments (like if you carve a boulder into ten rocks, you'll have probably created a pile of sand sized particles in the processes). Largest can support a small village and it's farms, smallest are basically a room. Connected by a series of permanent portals. Local knowledge navigating them is a must as some are perilous (poison atmosphere, monsters, whole fragment is an axis mundi).

[brian 333]

A Fragment Named Irm

A small fragment encompasses what appears to be a neo-gothic manor house and several acres of lawn and gardens around it. From this fragment countless small fragments from dust-sized to boulder-sized can be seen in orbit. Four of these are large enough to have buildings on them, but have no surrounding grounds.

A work in progress twice interrupted by token timeouts.

[Izzyboshi]

On the edge of reality is a tiny fragment, all that is left of a once beautiful and magical world. Each successive generation has faced the decline of magic and their world as the tales told by their elders seem like more and more a remote dream of a landscape with no seeming end and the miracles it once possessed. Every year the world grew smaller and the inhabitants made do with less as they themselves were starved of magic.

That is until the outsiders arrived. Drawing on magic brought with them from their own fragments the inhabitants were at first overjoyed to see magic again... and then horrified. Having made do with so little for so long their bodies can handle only the smallest amount. What should heal instead kills , what should warm burns and what should harm further dissolves their reality. Desperate they seek a place where they can hold fast and survive. They no longer dream of miracles and they distrust and fear those who come through the portal. Clinging to a dying world they seek an answer that seems remote and elusive. Are they too far gone to be helped?

[the_david]

The fragmented dungeon.

This dungeon is split up over 2 (or more) fragments. In order to find the MacGuffin at the end of the dungeon, the heroes must first find a portal to the other fragment

[Quizatzhaderac]

The fragmented dungeon.

This dungeon is split up over 2 (or more) fragment. In order to find the MacGuffin at the end of the dungeon, the heroes must first find a portal to the other fragment

Or repeatedly, because the dungeon's halves don't contain contiguous paths. And the party can go through the portals a limited number of times.

[Bohandas]

Are these fragments seperate planes or is it more of a floating islands type thing?

[Evil DM Mark3]

1.) I need some ideas on how to make Union City, trading capital of worlds, distinctive and interesting for the players.

Looks like you and I are looking for the same thing . If anyone posts on my thread (Kairdew) feel free to steal . Meanwhile, some general ideas. Obviously trade cities are cosmopolitan, aim for a more TN/CN feeling as any sort of homogeneous culture won't make sense. To become the hub the will have to be willing to work with most or all other factions, although they can have rivals. Pay attention to NPC veriaty, particularly as spending time here is a great way to hint at things from other Fragments, so I would almost want to do it last. While there will likely be a single dominant race (which I would want to be non-human just for a change) you should have about a 1 in 3 chance of a random passer by being from another Fragment. Trade brings wealth and wealth attracts migrants after all.

2.) I need ideas for Fragments themselves, small pocket worlds with their own histories, now being visited for (perhaps) the first time. Physical and Magical rules may vary, homebrew races are fine. They can be any size, isolationist or welcoming. Anything goes.

OK, not fully fleshed out some of these and some are stolen from media, but some ideas:

Labarios: A vast iron walled labyrinth with limited other natural resources, even water and soil are in short supply. An ancient thinking construct was built by the original people trapped there to manage their few resources. The unapproved use of any resource, even breathing, is a capital offence and all such use is monitored with powerful magic. The construct also refuses to accept that the Portal spell exists, meaning it sees all visitors as illegal citizens in need of culling.

Talkathir: A large pastoral fragment in which metal cannot exist. Metal exposed to the air slowly corrodes and turns to powder, with the exception of a few rare exceptions which are now a major import. The lands are fertile however and produce high quality foods in great quantities. There are two major issues however, first eating just foods from Talkathir (and they are exporting in bulk to aquire aluminium, titanium and the other "sovereign" metals that now hold semi-divine status in their Fragment) eventually causes anaemia and other deficiencies and visitors from other Fragments suffer from "the bleaching", a sickness that sets in over the course of several days whose symptoms start flu-like, then progress to loss of consciousness, arrhythmias, seizures, and death. (Turns our iron is important to the functioning of people and being in your blood only delays the effects of Talkathir's air).

The Nolvien Tunnel: A Fragment that consists of a tunnel about 12ft wide inside a rock sheath about 3ft wide. Beyond this is nothing (or the in-between shard void). Signs at the entrance to the tunnel declare (in text that shifts to become readable in the reader's native language) that is is the safety access to The Nolvien Testing Facility and that access to this facility is 20 miles down the tunnel. It also warns of a range of hazards that don't seem to translate properly (the sign in fact seems damaged at this point). No one has ever some back from exploring the tunnel.

The Hut on Nowhere Hill: This Fragment consists of a hill with a gentle gradient, in whatever direction the traveller heads. If they want to go up they go up, if they want to go down they go down, two people can be side by side but find themselves separated (it is a peculiar and eye-watering experience as the human mind can't process it properly, its like watching a live action 3D Escher painting). The hill has no bottom and the top is always 400ft up from wherever you decide to start walking up. At the top there is a small ramshackle hut made from wooden planks that the current resident claims was there when he arrived. The resident is studying the nature of Fragments, claiming that the borders of this Fragment are unusual in some way (might make a useful info-NPC).

Hollowhalls: Little is known about this Fragment due to the dangers of exploring it. It seems antithetical to life (although visitors aren't struck dead they had better have brought food with them, nothing edible grows here), lacks any sun or similar illumination and more-over antithetical to true death for nothing that dies here leaves. The Fragment is vast and dotted with the remains of cities, castles, towns, prettified forests, frozen swamps and so on. It is also crawling with hordes of ghosts that, over the aeons, have been driver utterly mad and who now lash out at any and all who come near them. The only place where visitors might be able to find rebite would be a the castle known as Hollowhall or one of its outlying keeps and watchtowers. The residents are secretive as to why (any may not in fact know as those responsible might not have survived) but the several thousand military personnel stationed here merged with their armour upon death, retaining a semblance of a physical form. This has also allowed them to retain their sanity, but the tedium has been significant. They have no food or drink to offer but can offer safety and sanctuary for travellers in exchange for news or even just a break in the endless, tireless, watch.

[the_david]

Are these fragments seperate planes or is it more of a floating islands type thing?

The OP hasn't responded in a month. Judging from his other thread they are planes. I'd like to know if there is some kind of afterlife in this setting, as the fiends in this setting just live on another fragment.

[the_david]

A city that has been split in two during the Fragmenting. Time moves slower on one side. To the people living on that side it seems that the Fragmenting only happened a few days/months/years ago. Most people are still wondering if their friends and relatives are okay.
The other side of the city is a ruin. Either nobody survived the Fragmenting, or they died of old age/demons. Whichever seems worse to you.
Okay, I'm an arse. Also, be careful with this one, because time outside of the slow time fragment flows superfast. That is one crazy way of ruining a campaign.

Another idea I had was that dragons are the fragmented bodies of Bahamut and Tiamat, with factions of dragons wanting to reunite and other factions wanting individuality and freedom. Okay, that would already be a great campaign.

[the_david]

Earth is part of a large fragment that has the dead magic trait. Theoretically there can be a portal to Earth, but it would be a one way portal.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

[brian 333]

While I assumed the fragments would share a single reality and the physical laws would be the same everywhere, it seems everyone else assumed each fragment now exists in its own universe with its own laws.

Okay. But how is that different from the standard D&D multiverse?

It might help me if the OP stated the physical model he intends to use so I can build toward that.

[the_david]

A great war between the Ancients smashed reality itself, shattering the world into a thousand fragments, each with its own magic and reality.

Seems pretty obvious to me.