Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Throdin 03-25-08, 06:47 PM	Okay so Ive looked at the Eberron cosmology and how the planes orbit around the material plane. I have also looked at the great wheel from the DMG. Now Im creating my own planes and Im trying to think of unique way of how the planes come to together. Ive thought of some ideas like a pyramid shape but I havent perfected it. Does anyone have any ideas from their campaign settings?
Naderion 03-25-08, 07:12 PM	How you arrange them on a planar map is eventually of little importance. You could make a pyramid of the great wheel by placing the material plane on top, the inner planes as the second layer, and the outer planes as the third layer, with a farplane as the base for example. It's more about the interaction of the planes, that makes a cosmology stand out. For example, an interesting thing about the great wheel is, that you can actually walk from one outer plane to the next and eventually make one long journey around the whole wheel In my setting, this mechanic aplies to the four elemental planes. Sometimes you reach the bottom of the plane of water and arrive at the plane of earth. If you burrow further, you could at some point come onto streams of lava, which flow into the plane of fire. And when you fly through the flames, the fire will sometimes turn into smoke and the smoke will clear into the clouds of the plane of air, where it is possible to follow the falling rain to reach the surface of the plane of water. This should be impossible, since each of those planes is infinite in all directions, but the laws of 3D space don't apply in 5D environments like the planes. Now the interesting part is, that there's one "point" where all four elemental planes touch which each other, which is nothing else but the Matrial Plane. Because of this planar arrangement, every location where one of the elements appears in very pure form, can serve as a natural portal to the elemental planes. If you dig long enough, you can burrow into the plane of earth. Vulcanoes are often portals into the plane of fire, and wind-swept chasms can often be used to travel to the plane of air. The most important side effect is, that elemental creatures can travel effortlessly to and from the material plane. They are still mysterious spirits of nature, but as normal as dryads and satyrs and even more numerous. Also, in my setting celestials and fiends do exist, but usually don't play a part in mortal life. The role of outsiders in other games is taken by extremely powerful fey instead. The eberron cosmology has to very distinct types of outsiders, which are the quori and the dealkyr. So if you're interested in creating an original cosmology, see if you can put things into it, which are new or used in new ways. How you eventually draw all those planes onto a chart in the end, doesn't really matter.
Swordbreaker 03-27-08, 11:53 AM	Well, shape should just be like, oh snap, no one has done this before. Mine is shaped like a tear-drop, and the planar set-up is based off the actual neo-pagan/new age Astral Plane, which is being used for 4e (I practice Wicca, so I know those things). One major thing is that simple isn't always bad.
sciborg3 03-27-08, 12:22 PM	Naderion, love your cosmology ideas. Another possible meeting place of the elements iirc was the Plane of Wood/Plants in the MoTP. One could also use the ideas from 4e's cosmology where iirc it's elemental base, material, then spiritual (Astral Sea). That's more of a pyramid shape. I think one question that's important is how much travel is permitted between planes. The more portals you have the harder it is to justify why people can't easily migrate between planes. imo "why can't angels take everyone to Heaven?" is one of the harder things to resolve.
Mr_Seth 03-27-08, 09:29 PM	A few ideas of my own... in bullet point format. Because everything is better with bullet points. The planes have shattered and collapsed into the material plane; all planes except the astral and etherial exist as planar islands on the great sea. Remove the elemental planes; all other planes on the great wheel exist as-is. In addition, the great wheel borders OTHER great wheels... each with their own pantheons, prime material planes, subplanes, et al. There are three material planes; when someone dies on one, they are reincarnated in a new form on the next, as soon as a form is ready for them to inhabit. The same billion souls have been going through this cycle since they were forged by the gods. Remove the material plane. Wait for your players to say "HUUUUUUH?"