Omnus - A Setting For Everything [Archive] - Wizards Community

Omnus - A Setting For Everything [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Aktariel
06-17-07, 10:02 PM Omnus
Any Source. Any Idea. Anything Goes.

Ever wanted to play a character you saw on the CharOp boards that drew from six different sources [three of which were setting exclusive]? Ever wanted to start from zero and play up to [and beyond] Deities and Demigods? Ever wanted to fight the thirty-headed tarrasque? Ever wanted to be the thirty-headed tarrasque? Ever wanted to do your best to make the DM cry?

Then this is the campaign setting for you.

But be warned. The DM might be trying just as hard to make you cry.

Omnus is a campaign setting designed to help disparate elements of the DnD multiverse blend seamlessly [or at least fairly smoothly] together. It's kind of like Munchkin Blender.

If you have a book you love, you can use it. If you pulled it out of your a*s and you want to use it and the DM says it's ok, you can. If you have some third party 3.0 edition sourcebook you found behind the bookcase at your gaming store that no one has ever heard of or seen before and you want to use something from there, you can.

Within reason.

This is the key. Omnus is designed for fun, to push the envelope, to let everyone do what they've always wanted to do. There is a place for the Black Octopus. There is not a place for Pun-Pun or the UberERCharger. [Unless your DM says its ok, of course. Which is his problem, not mine.]

With that said, let's get down to the nuts and bolts.

One of the difficulties of making an "everything" setting is that, well, the nice folks at WotC keep publishing new stuff. And the nice folks on the Internet keep making new homebrew. So nailing down what exactly this campaign setting is leaves no room for expansion, which defeats the whole purpose.
Aktariel
06-17-07, 10:05 PM After reflecting on my earlier post, and trying to come to some sort of method for integrating non-Core material [and by Core I mean any WotC product that relates to a standard 1-20 level setting (So ELH and Dei&Dem are out)], I realized that some things [namely some Malhavoc Press alternate players books, in this instance] are extremely difficult to integrate into, or may not even be worth integrating into, a Core campaign [or even higher, if you so desire].

The difficulty is finding a sane and (relatively) reasonable place [for players and DM's alike] to draw the line. If you want an alternate magic setting, go play AE. If you don't like magic at all, go play Iron Heroes. But integrating them into a Core DnD campaign is not [in my humble opinion] worth the effort.

d20 OGL is a great idea. And most of it works just fine with Core. Scarred Lands, Kalamar, Rokugan, Ravenloft, AEG, GRP, etc. Using classes, feats, skills, and ideas from all of these and more is a great boon to optimizers and a great opportunity for roleplayers, with a minimum of work on the part of the DM. Warcraft, A Game of Thrones, and the like, while nominally d20, require more work on the part of the DM to fuse smoothly into a standard [or near standard] campaign.

So what we need is some limits, on a campaign hopefully without them. [As this is shaping up, this is apt to be more a set of guidelines and tools than an actual campaign setting, but perchance I will get around to posting the physical world and the like.]

Anything that you can use in a Core DnD game without modification, goes. Anything that requires very little modification [Warcraft, some Rokugan feats, and the like], goes. Anything that is a new system or a radical departure from the norm, doesn't fly unless your DM says so. [Examples again include a fair bit of Malhavoc Press releases and even Game of Thrones.]

The idea here that we are shooting for is maximum fun and flexibility without a great deal of work in terms of systems integration.

More to follow.
Aktariel
06-17-07, 10:06 PM <Reserved>
Aktariel
06-17-07, 10:06 PM And for a change....

Reserved
Aktariel
06-19-07, 07:20 PM Updated, with a :bump:.
sabrewolf
06-25-07, 01:12 PM Not bad of an idea.. But as for a clue on how to drop these many world together, shake'em and add a cherry on top, you can make the many primes actually outer planes, with the central prime being the common ground and having the uber-mix. Maybe the planes got closer to the prime, planeshifting got easyer and cheaper and the planes started leaking in.. or another neutral plane swaped with the prime.. or it´s like a game that got life of it´s own, becaming a paralell world, with the many planes acessable via portals..

Seems to me the world itself would have faded traits with no dominant aspect, but with cities having themed sections, as well as villages and towns (and areas) that are pockets reflecting some world, setting, plane... That can give one character an origin and a place to relate to, as well as give it the chance to go around and meed everything else.

Just my initial 2 coppers.. ;)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Aktariel 06-17-07, 10:02 PM	Omnus Any Source. Any Idea. Anything Goes. Ever wanted to play a character you saw on the CharOp boards that drew from six different sources [three of which were setting exclusive]? Ever wanted to start from zero and play up to [and beyond] Deities and Demigods? Ever wanted to fight the thirty-headed tarrasque? Ever wanted to be the thirty-headed tarrasque? Ever wanted to do your best to make the DM cry? Then this is the campaign setting for you. But be warned. The DM might be trying just as hard to make you cry. Omnus is a campaign setting designed to help disparate elements of the DnD multiverse blend seamlessly [or at least fairly smoothly] together. It's kind of like Munchkin Blender. If you have a book you love, you can use it. If you pulled it out of your a*s and you want to use it and the DM says it's ok, you can. If you have some third party 3.0 edition sourcebook you found behind the bookcase at your gaming store that no one has ever heard of or seen before and you want to use something from there, you can. Within reason. This is the key. Omnus is designed for fun, to push the envelope, to let everyone do what they've always wanted to do. There is a place for the Black Octopus. There is not a place for Pun-Pun or the UberERCharger. [Unless your DM says its ok, of course. Which is his problem, not mine.] With that said, let's get down to the nuts and bolts. One of the difficulties of making an "everything" setting is that, well, the nice folks at WotC keep publishing new stuff. And the nice folks on the Internet keep making new homebrew. So nailing down what exactly this campaign setting is leaves no room for expansion, which defeats the whole purpose.
Aktariel 06-17-07, 10:05 PM	After reflecting on my earlier post, and trying to come to some sort of method for integrating non-Core material [and by Core I mean any WotC product that relates to a standard 1-20 level setting (So ELH and Dei&Dem are out)], I realized that some things [namely some Malhavoc Press alternate players books, in this instance] are extremely difficult to integrate into, or may not even be worth integrating into, a Core campaign [or even higher, if you so desire]. The difficulty is finding a sane and (relatively) reasonable place [for players and DM's alike] to draw the line. If you want an alternate magic setting, go play AE. If you don't like magic at all, go play Iron Heroes. But integrating them into a Core DnD campaign is not [in my humble opinion] worth the effort. d20 OGL is a great idea. And most of it works just fine with Core. Scarred Lands, Kalamar, Rokugan, Ravenloft, AEG, GRP, etc. Using classes, feats, skills, and ideas from all of these and more is a great boon to optimizers and a great opportunity for roleplayers, with a minimum of work on the part of the DM. Warcraft, A Game of Thrones, and the like, while nominally d20, require more work on the part of the DM to fuse smoothly into a standard [or near standard] campaign. So what we need is some limits, on a campaign hopefully without them. [As this is shaping up, this is apt to be more a set of guidelines and tools than an actual campaign setting, but perchance I will get around to posting the physical world and the like.] Anything that you can use in a Core DnD game without modification, goes. Anything that requires very little modification [Warcraft, some Rokugan feats, and the like], goes. Anything that is a new system or a radical departure from the norm, doesn't fly unless your DM says so. [Examples again include a fair bit of Malhavoc Press releases and even Game of Thrones.] The idea here that we are shooting for is maximum fun and flexibility without a great deal of work in terms of systems integration. More to follow.
Aktariel 06-17-07, 10:06 PM	<Reserved>
Aktariel 06-17-07, 10:06 PM	And for a change.... Reserved
Aktariel 06-19-07, 07:20 PM	Updated, with a :bump:.
sabrewolf 06-25-07, 01:12 PM	Not bad of an idea.. But as for a clue on how to drop these many world together, shake'em and add a cherry on top, you can make the many primes actually outer planes, with the central prime being the common ground and having the uber-mix. Maybe the planes got closer to the prime, planeshifting got easyer and cheaper and the planes started leaking in.. or another neutral plane swaped with the prime.. or it´s like a game that got life of it´s own, becaming a paralell world, with the many planes acessable via portals.. Seems to me the world itself would have faded traits with no dominant aspect, but with cities having themed sections, as well as villages and towns (and areas) that are pockets reflecting some world, setting, plane... That can give one character an origin and a place to relate to, as well as give it the chance to go around and meed everything else. Just my initial 2 coppers.. ;)