Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kenkai 01-14-04, 05:10 PM	I know that the different campaign settings take place on different worlds. Beyond that my understanding is weak. Are the different campaign settings different planets all on the material plane? Are they different planes in the same multiverse? Are they completely seperate universes? Do they all exist in the DnD dimension (for lack of a better word) or if you are playing in the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk doesn't exist?
Incenjucar 01-14-04, 05:14 PM	The Term "Campaign Setting" means, basically, "Planned Location". That is, it's the location (Setting) where you have your string of adventures (the campaign). It can be one world, several worlds, the place between worlds, a single continent on a multi-continent world, etc. It tends to establish the style(s) of the game more than anything else. A setting can be anywhere from a large city and its surroundings, to a country, to a continent, to a world, to all of existance. Multiple settings can occur, entirely seperate, on a single game world. Whether they exist together is entirely up to the DM. I play Planescape style, which means that you can get to any world from any other world via the planes. Other DMs may say that FR and GH don't exist at the same time, at all, period, anymore than Greyhawk exists in the Dune universe.
Kenkai 01-14-04, 05:17 PM	well in the main DnD game, minus house rules, do they exist together? I don't know if they have done much with it in 3.5 but they couldn't have changed it much since the old editions?
Sulaco 01-14-04, 05:20 PM	Originally posted by Kenkai I know that the different campaign settings take place on different worlds. Beyond that my understanding is weak. Are the different campaign settings different planets all on the material plane? Are they different planes in the same multiverse? Are they completely seperate universes? Do they all exist in the DnD dimension (for lack of a better word) or if you are playing in the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk doesn't exist? Yes. No. Maybe. I know it's a bit flippant, but it can be any and all of the above, or none of them. A setting is a self-contained collection of people, places, things, history, events, organizations, monsters, etc. that define a environment in which you game can take place. Think of it in terms of books or movies. The Land of Oz, Middle Earth, and the Star Wars universe are all settings. The first is a small portion of an otherwise undescribed area, the second is a single world, and the third is an entire galaxy, yet all are settings. In general terms only those settings by a single manufacturer and in a single line are going to be considered part fo the same univerese if at all. For example, the Scarred Lands (by Sword & Sorcery Studios) and Greyhawk (By WotC) are not officially part of the same universe (though the DM can change this of course) but Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms are. Does that help any?
Kenkai 01-14-04, 05:26 PM	so for simplicities sake, Elminster felt like going to Greyhawk, he could? He could also visit Krynn and Eberron? How does this affect the pantheons (has this even been detailed?). I mean, Ao is supposedly the alpha and omega of the Forgotten realms, but is he of Greyhawk as well? What about the power that is supposedly over him?
Kuje31 01-14-04, 05:45 PM	FR is no longer connected nor ever has been a part of of the Great Wheel, according to 3e update for FR. The universe (I.E. campaign setting) that makes up the Forgotten Realms is its own seperate universe now, but in the past all worlds were connected to each other through the Prime. They were all just small crystal spheres on the infinite Prime Material. So going by the 3e edition changes, Elminster technically could never visit Greyhawk (unless you use the variant optional rule of going through the Shadow Plane). Nor could any one else from other campaign settings on the Prime (like Greyhawk, etc) visit the Realms.
Incenjucar 01-14-04, 05:46 PM	In 2e, Elminster HAS been to Greyhawk. He's a planewalker on occassion, after all. In 3e, he likely has, but it's a tad harder for him to get there. Not enough to slow him down, mind you. Ao is the overpower of Toril, and, so far as we know, ONLY Toril. He may not even have any power away from it, whatsoever, or is simply a really nasty greater god on the planes. He has no known relation to places beyond Toril.
J. Grenemyer 01-14-04, 05:47 PM	Prior to third Edition the various campaign settings all operated within the same cosmology. With the advent of Third Edition, each campaign setting now has its own, separate cosmology. Thus, Elminster could still visit Greyhawk, he’d just have a more roundabout path (through the Plane of Shadow) to follow before getting there. Also, Ao is still the “Alpha and Omega” of the Faerûnian Cosmology, in part because the cosmology exists as a completely separate entity from the other cosmologies. I don’t know about the power that he reports to, but I imagine that power would have almost no relevance to your game or your players, so it’s not something to worry about. As for Eberon, I don’t know if that setting’s Deities bar interlopers from other Cosmologies or not, but I imagine El could visit if he wanted. Look to the currently in print Third Edition Manual of the Planes as well as the upcoming Player’s Guide to Faerûn for details. Also, the MotP FaQ (available online) has some answers on how the Faerûnian cosmology functions. :)
Kenkai 01-14-04, 05:55 PM	whats the Plane of Shadows? or is that in MotP? this sounds really cool, wish i was around for the much more detailed 2nd edition.
JoAT 01-14-04, 06:55 PM	Actually, according to some of the older issues of Dragon, Elminsiter has also been to earth, holding parties with Dalamar and Mordenkainien (I think... I don't remember exactly who it was from Greyhawk...) at Greenwood's place, I belive. That is if you want to belive those "The Wizards Three" Articles. I belive in 3e now, it would still be relatively easy to get from plane to plane/world to world, it would just require a diffrent means of transportation - the outer planes, have, apparently all suddenly shifted and changed for each individual setting, becomeing what the clueless of those worlds belive in, as opposed to what used to be real. But, it seems like all the other planes are still in place, as they were before - Krynn, Greyhawk and Toril all still have connections to the astral, ethreal and (now a full plane, yay!) shadow planes, as well as the elemental planes... though, apparently, except for the shadow plane, these are all indepentant variations of themselves, even though besides the fact that they all have the same basic creation pattern, beings that live there, and no real physical or magical diffrence from each other, they're all diffrent... Errrrr... tangents bad. Basicly, all this means is that you take the shadow plane or (given that there is no diffrence between the other planes for various worlds, at least, not offically), the ethereal or astral planes, and pop yourself over, just as it was in the old days... Just.. with... a diffrent plane, I guess. Or you can use the insane ammounts of portals Faerun has, and transport yourself thusly (perhaps a couple to Oerth and Krynn were overlooked in the massive restructuring of reality...)