Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Eltheynn 05-11-04, 03:56 PM	THE WORLDBUILDERS FOUNDATION Maintained by Eltheynn (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=176454) Important Announcement: This Foundation is working on the development of a Campaign Setting. If you think you can help and/or contribute in any way, please, by all means do so. Updates on the status of the project will be posted on this page: - June 3rd: Voting on the major physical traits of the World has begun. Voting is open to everyone until the tally of votes, which will take place on June 20th, at 14:40 (GMT+1:00). - June 20th: Voting on the major physical traits of the World has ended. Discussion regarding the Setting's Pantheon is now taking place. - November 26th: Project stopped temporarily. TABLE OF CONTENTS Post 1: FAQ and Member List Post 2: Custom Campaign Settings by WotC Boardmembers Post 3: Unexpected Interruption, courtesy of Lord Nat. :P Post 4: Useful Links & Stuff FAQ & INSTRUCTIONS Q. What is the Worldbuilders Foundation? This Foundation is a group of like-minded individuals who all share a common interest: Worldbuilding. Q. What do we do here? It is intended as a thread where anyone can discuss worldbuilding and related issues, ask for feedback on their own settings and as a group where we'd work towards accomplishing the goal of developing better Campaign Settings Q. How do I join? All you need to do is post in this thread saying that you'd like to join. It's not necessary, however, to apply for membership to post in the Foundation thread. Regardless of whether you join or not, make sure to keep on topic if you post. Q. Do I have to join? No, as previously stated, you don’t have to join. Anyone is welcome to pop in and post a quick reply or whatever. Although we would love for you to join, so why not go ahead? ;) Q. How can I have my Homebrew Campaing Setting listed here? Do I have to link to it here? You don't have to link to your homebrew world here, but feel free to do so, so people can find it more easily. Bear in mind, however, that if you only post to the Foundation to plug your Campaign Setting and don't contribute, I can't guarantee that it will stay listed. To have your Campaign Setting listed in this thread, simply post a reply to this thread with the name and a link to your World's thread. To post your World’s link, do either of the following but replace (parentheses) with : For Settings not posted on the boards: (url=www.whateverthelinkis)Name of World(/url) For Settings posted on the boards: (thread=threadnumber)Name of World(/thread) I will not go through the Homebrew Board pages trying to capture every world that members post; it takes too much time. All you need to do is reply with your link and up it goes. Please do not post your World's Information here directly (at least not the whole thing, you're free to post small details if need be when you're asking for advice). Do not refer to your signature (I usually have the Sig Display limit set to 10 lines, so I might miss it). And do not email me your World or your link. Finally as one last note: Please contribute. It's not nice when people just join to put in their sigs that they're members of "Foundation X". If you do that, membership may be revoked, unless you state you are leaving for a bit for vacation or can't post for awhile. Also, remember that some topics that may be discussed here are source of opinionated arguments and as such, can cause trouble. When discussing topics such as politics and/or religion, keep them to fantasy Worlds, and leave real life out of the discussion. Help the Foundation to avoid flamewars. If you can think of anything that you feel may need to be added to the FAQ, don't hesitate to make suggestions. I'll add it if it's not already covered. FAQ Author: Eltheynn [b]MEMBER LIST 77IM Belgarion BloodSoakedAngel Devinmdp Eltheynn (Threadkeeper) Fuzzy Logic Inc. His Majesty Mineral Raeph RoastSlinky Silmarien Aldalome Teatime Thasis Thrassoss Urias WorldConquerer
Eltheynn 05-11-04, 03:59 PM	HOMEBREW CAMPAIGN SETTINGS BY THE WotC BOARDS MEMBERS 77IM The Magicant, The Heartstone: Where Arcane Magic Begat the Renaissance. AZER FIRELORD Undar: On the Decay of Arrogant Civilisations. Tales from Undar: About the Historical events that took place in Undar, in the form of stories. BELGARION Currently Unnamed World: An interesting Campaign Setting in dire need of help. DEVINMDP World of Therra (home.earthlink.net/~devinc/therra3.htm): Not just another Campaign Setting... Disclaimer: The above link leads to an external website MINERAL Extir: Three Blood Islands. ROASTSLINKY Azaquaxl:A Setting based in Feudal Mesoamerica. WORLDCONQUERER The World of Dragonblade
Lord Nat 05-11-04, 04:00 PM	*Waves* Hey I like this idea for a Foundation. You will be hearing from me as I get deeper into my Foundation's stuff and start working on some worlds. Welcom to The Guild House ^_^
Eltheynn 05-11-04, 04:00 PM	INTERESTING LINKS & STUFF Bait the Bard’s DM Advice Thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=139013) D20 System’s System Reference Document 3.5 (http://3.5srd.com/web/sovelior_sage_srd/Sovelior%20SRD/home.html) Kaya Kenobi’s Useful DM Links (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=181536) Necrosnoop110's Campaign Idea Compilation (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190950) Open Gaming Foundation’s System Reference Document 3.0 (http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd.html) Salacious Angel's Homebrew Tips & Help Thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=156032) The Nerevarine's Real Big List of Worldbuilding Links (http://www.geocities.com/worldbuildingonline/) The Swedish Viking's Guilds, Orders & Organizations List (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=192228) Trollbill’s Dictionary of Terminology (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=109235) TwinBahamut's 100 Tips For Making Your Own Setting (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=51087) WotC’s Official D&D FAQs (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20030221a) WotC’s System Reference Document 3.5 (http://www.wizards.com/D20/article.asp?x=srd35)
Eltheynn 05-11-04, 04:29 PM	Originally posted by Lord Nat *Waves* Hey I like this idea for a Foundation. You will be hearing from me as I get deeper into my Foundation's stuff and start working on some worlds. Welcom to The Guild House ^_^ Glad you like it. You're welcome to collaborate/join/whatever... BTW, anyone knows why the :censored: the link to the third post does not work properly. Also, I'm looking for a Co-Threadkeeper, as I'll probably be up to my neck in work soon, and I could use some help.
Silmarien Aldalome 05-11-04, 05:54 PM	yyyeesss! Well done on your initiative! Sign me up. Lord Nat - greetings. I'd like to discuss ideas about mythology/cosmology for the first world-building topic. What are your ideas about a Pantheon and the kinds of mythical themes that a good pantheon needs to inspire player characters (I've got some stuff to post - but I'd like your thoughts) Regards stav
Eltheynn 05-12-04, 09:29 AM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome yyyeesss! Well done on your initiative! Sign me up. Lord Nat - greetings. I'd like to discuss ideas about mythology/cosmology for the first world-building topic. What are your ideas about a Pantheon and the kinds of mythical themes that a good pantheon needs to inspire player characters (I've got some stuff to post - but I'd like your thoughts) Regards stav On mythology: I think there must be gods that represent some basic concepts like War, Love, Death, Justice, concepts that are fundamental pillars of the society. And then some more symbolic ones, "metaphorical divinities", so to speak, that represent more abstract concepts, like the deities of Light (representing Light, Good, Life, etc) and Darkness (representing Darkness, Evil, Death, etc). As pointed out by the last example, there must also exist some kind of conflict between deities, something that makes the different clergies ally with others and fight to accomplish certain goals. In short, the Pantheon, to be effective, needs to attract the attention of worshippers and be worshipper-friendly (i.e. a God of Green Radioactive Cheese is not needed, but if I find that the Pantheon as it is does nto cover my spiritual needs, I''ll not worship any deity of it - an example of this is the Roman (or was it Greek) Pantheon which had a Temple to the Unknown God). Regarding worldbuilding, there are two approaches to creating a religion: The Deities can either be an important part of the World, or they can just be there, and it doesn't really matter if you believe or not. If you want religion to be an important part of the world, using it as plot hook and to motivate actions that take place and are important, whether among the PC's or as part of the timeline, it's obvious that you have to go with the former. After all, what's the point of a cleric if nobody gives a damn about what he says? However, the second approach offers interesting possibilities, and can be cause of conflicts that make the world go, such as the diehard believers that want their beliefs to spread and have to go against the majority who does not believe a word of what they preach. I'll ellaborate a bit more later today, or tomorrow. Thanks for joining, Sil (you've been added to the list of members), and for getting the ball to start rolling with an interesting topic of discussion. Which reminds me that I have to edit a few things...
Urias 05-12-04, 10:31 AM	Hey, great idea for a foundation. I've spent quite some time designing my own fantasy world, and it's nice to have a forum to discuss issues and topics regarding worldbuilding. Sign me up! Regarding the mythology, you made some good poiints. I lean towards the "active pantheon" myself. And you do need a conflict to make it dynamic. The light and darkness/good and evil theme is perhaps overused, but it is a theme which is essential in not only d&d, but in real-world mythologies and human existence. hmm. gotta go. I'll post more later.
Eltheynn 05-12-04, 12:16 PM	Originally posted by Urias Hey, great idea for a foundation. I've spent quite some time designing my own fantasy world, and it's nice to have a forum to discuss issues and topics regarding worldbuilding. Sign me up! Regarding the mythology, you made some good poiints. I lean towards the "active pantheon" myself. And you do need a conflict to make it dynamic. The light and darkness/good and evil theme is perhaps overused, but it is a theme which is essential in not only d&d, but in real-world mythologies and human existence. hmm. gotta go. I'll post more later. Glad to have you here, Urias! As to your point that those themes are overused: Yes, they are. But frankly, they're, as you say, essential, and I couldn'tthink of others. Anyone has any suggestions for other simillarly important topics that could serve simillar purposes? *goes to edit member list*
RoastSlinky 05-13-04, 12:25 AM	I'd like to join up... I'm currently working on myAzaquaxl Campaign Setting (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=238040) and the collaborative Urban Planes Project (http://www.forums4free.net/urbanps/), which seems to have died right now (we have legal difficulties with Planescape PI). About pantheons... I think that it's not neccessary to have a "Pantheon" per say. Monotheistic or spiritualist religons are just as valid. In Azaquaxl, there's still a Pantheon (the Three Serpents and the Thirteen Gods), but there's also strong spiritualistic ties. It's always a good idea to think outside the four-pointed quadrangle.
Eltheynn 05-13-04, 07:33 AM	Originally posted by RoastSlinky I'd like to join up... I'm currently working on myAzaquaxl Campaign Setting (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=238040) and the collaborative Urban Planes Project (http://www.forums4free.net/urbanps/), which seems to have died right now (we have legal difficulties with Planescape PI). About pantheons... I think that it's not neccessary to have a "Pantheon" per say. Monotheistic or spiritualist religons are just as valid. In Azaquaxl, there's still a Pantheon (the Three Serpents and the Thirteen Gods), but there's also strong spiritualistic ties. It's always a good idea to think outside the four-pointed quadrangle. Welcome aboard! Monotheistic and spiritualistic religions can work wonders too, and I like that this point has been brought up... 'Cause I think that these two forms of religion work differently when it comes to creating conflict and all that. Let me explain: #1: Monotheism would need conflicting sects, or the church to be a strong force, with lots of power, either by means of a very devoted population and/or political and economical power, if we want Monotheistic religion to (at least partially) move the world. #2: conflicts in Spiritualistic religions could be created by rival clans as well, but otherwise the same points regarding Monotheism can apply. I'm interested on seeing how you handled it, 'cause I did use a Totemic religion with strong emotional/spiritual/traditional ties for a world of mine, and we may be able to help each other. And tying the discussion wth the Totemic Pantheon I mentioned, anyone hasany thoughts on how this type of religion can be handled to avoid associating it with more tribal/primitive societies? In other words, could an Animistic, Totemic religion relying more in Spiritual ties than in blind faith be used with more developed and advanced societies (think Feudal Middle Ages but with totems and spirits as deities)? @ RoastSlinky: You've been added to the list of members, and Azaquaxl is now lnked in the list of Homebrew Settings.
Tenzhi 05-13-04, 10:20 AM	On the pantheon front: IMO, it's not even necessary that all gods actively seek worshippers. The best gods are the enigmatic Elf-Eating kind that stick around like unwanted houseguests - occasionally seeming to provide the PCs with help and other times antagonizing the PCs with their sinister machinations (and sometimes doing both at once, though the PCs may not realize it until later). Or better yet, the fallen or forgotten gods waiting patiently (or not so patiently) for their cults to finally fuel their triumphant rise back to their former glory.
Urias 05-13-04, 03:05 PM	Great that the discussion has begun rolling... Here's some thoughts I have: There are a hundred ways to create a mythology/religion, and all of them can be very effective. Passive/distant gods can work very well. They'll be more enigmatic and mysterious. No one is really sure what their agenda is. This could lead to religious schisms and various cults inside the same religion. A spirit/nature religion becomes nearer the inhabitants (for example mountains and terrain features has their own spirit, animals have protector spirits and so on...) In my campaign world I have a combination. The youngest pantheon (human pantheon) is the active one, with strong churches and powerful priests. In addition there are several elder gods, who are more distant with few worshippers, the Earthmother, elemental gods, and dark and ancient deities from when the universe was young. There is also a mysterious spirit-world, closely tied to nature. About totemic/spirit worship in an advanced civilization: I'm no expert on japanese religion, but I think japanese Shintoism is the example you were looking for. As I understand it is/was some form of ancestor worship/nature religion, and also tied to emperor-worship. hmm, this is becoming a very long post. Also, there is one thing I would like your opinion on: world-creation versus d&d/d20 system. Although I think the d20-system is a good basis-system for a fantasy-game, I feel that it in many ways put more constraints and narrowness on world-making than opening up an endless array of possibilities. Anyone has any thoughts on that? Finally, when writing a mythology/creation myth, it should of course be of epic/mythical proportions, but I feel the most important thing is to create a myth which is both beautiful and poetic. A story which has the ingredients worthy of a mythical epos.
Urias 05-13-04, 03:13 PM	About divine conflict other than the struggle between good and evil. Although d&d has the law/chaos conflict as an almost equal force, I feel it is a little contrived to be used as a basis for a world conflict. Schisms in a monotheistic religion was a good example. The only other thing I can think of is if there is two different pantheons, neither of which is inherently good or evil, who struggles for dominance in the world.
The Swedish Viking 05-13-04, 04:14 PM	Why hello, look at that, my thread´s listed somewhere! Someone actually bothered to list a thread by me as good thread for worlbuilding! YAY! :D :D
The Swedish Viking 05-13-04, 04:24 PM	On the note of deities and mythology. I prefer using standard D&D deities for my campaigns, incorporating any deities I even find mentioned in obscure one-liners in the Monster Manual. I go with the Active-Deities line, preferring war between conflicting religions, evil sects and extremist movements, and all kinds of wacked cults, religions, pantheons. There are a few big issues that people seldom think about when creating pantheons and mythologies. 1. What happens to people when they die? In standard D&D, people go to the Outer Plane corresponding to their Alignment and Deity when they die and live forever, or until someone brings them back. All well and done; this however brings up the question why not some goody-fellow wouldn´t just kill himself or go and get killed so that he, in addition to sacrificing his life to help others, just ends up in heaven and lives like a saint for the rest of eternity? What happens when people bring back others from the Outer Plane (or travel to the Outer Plane), find out what happens when you die, spread it, and everybody just drops and stops fearing death, repents, and begin doing good deeds to get into heaven? Hmmm... 2. Where does Magic come from? An integral part of any campaign setting, wher does Magic come from? Does it come from the deities or from some other source? Does anyone even -know where- it comes from? 3. Why? The big "why" question. A game that feels such an itching need to explain and detail every little aspect and issue of deities and demigods and pantheons, you think would contain some clue as to -why- the Deities go around creating worlds all the time. Why do they constantly bother to create the same races on the same worlds all the time, too? 4. Where? Okay, the standard D&D setting is located on the Material Plane with many planes surrounding it (the material plane). But how does this account for the extremely large amount of incredibly different CS:es and the unreasonably large amount of Pantheons? Does this mean there are fiftyeleven pantheons and worlds located all on the Material Plane (on different planets)? I prefer to go with the variant that the Material Plane contains many smaller and different worlds (parallel universes), all connected in a relatively similar fashion to the Outer Planes, etc.
Eltheynn 05-13-04, 05:42 PM	WOW! Lots of posts! Well, lessee: @ Elf-Bane: You bring a good point. Already established cults with enough power couldn't care less. And distant deities work wonders when plotting adventures (who here hasn't fought the evil worshippers of [insert Deity here] who wwant to get a long lost relic to destroy the world?), and for many other purposes... @Urias: I indeed had Shintoism in mind. And many other simillar forms of religion, mainly animistic traditional african and/or south-american tribal mythos. Spiritualistic religions do IMHO opinion offer great opportunities for schisms, as they depend heavily on the worshiper and how he perceives things. But then again, this is true of even the most hierarchised (sp?) religions, even those that are widespread and have a well-known and respected leader have thier "out -of-the-norm" members. Regarding other conflicts: Law/Chaos is not used as often as Good/Evil, I agree. Other such concepts may be Life/Death (which do not necessarily relate to Good and Evil), or even Magic/Technology (imagine a country governed by a Technocracy, and a few Magic Users who want things to be like they used to, when magic was still permitted. That screams conflict, and religion could play an important role on it, as an ally of either side [Gods of Magic exist in most settings, after all]). As to the System/Worldbuilding thing: I don't really care about the system. I tend to build worlds regardless of the system I'm using. And IMHO, it shouldn't matter if it's D20, GURPS or whatever other system... Care to ellaborate your points? I'm curious as to what you find so limiting. @Viking: That thread is awesome! It just had to be there! Now, about the points you bring up: #1: Mostly 'cause killing yourself, or deliberately doing something that will get you killed only to go to your Deity's Home Plane, would not be seen as something worthy of reward by the Deity, in most cases. Also, IIRC, souls merged with the plane, instead of "living" with the deity to serve Him/Her. The later is only true for devoted folllowers of said God. #2: Various responses I can think of: The first would be that it comes from the Gods, or that it's the remains of the energy they used to shape the World, or a myriad of other things... #3: Every setting has its own world and deities, and no two settings have to interfere... The Gods create one world (one setting) and that's all... Why? Because they can, because they want the void thsat surrounds them to be populated, etc. This raises a question, though: Where do the Gods come from? #4: Each setting can correspond to a different Prime Material Plane, but your multiversal approach is as good. I'll get to it later on when (if) we discuss cosmology... My major worries are when you have civilisations with really different mythos and deities... Did both pantheons collaborate and create a world which they then shared, telling their children a biased story on how they were created, is one of the Pantheons false, or what?
Urias 05-13-04, 07:58 PM	What happens when people bring back others from the Outer Plane (or travel to the Outer Plane), find out what happens when you die, spread it, and everybody just drops and stops fearing death, repents, and begin doing good deeds to get into heaven? Hmmm... Well, if they tell the same story of paradise the priests of the heavenly gods have preached for eternity, they would be nothing but another voice in the crowd, wouldn't they? And if they have been raised, hopefully they won't remember anything, or else they'd long to return to paradise for the rest of their lives. Also, some people will always choose to serve the gods of darkness, even though they know they'll end up in that other place. My major worries are when you have civilisations with really different mythos and deities... Did both pantheons collaborate and create a world which they then shared, telling their children a biased story on how they were created, is one of the Pantheons false, or what? Also 3 and 4: My solution is to have a common origin. Even though two different cultures have widely varying mythologies, they should all stem from the same beginning, even though their mutual origins are lost in the aeons since the beginning. Also, humans (or elves or dragons or whatever) should have the same origin, and not be created independently a thousand different places. Maybe they have spread across the multiverse, adopting different deities on different worlds. And a god could well unjustly claim it was their creator, if only to tie them closer to its own existence. This raises a question, though: Where do the Gods come from? Heh. The eternal question: How did it all begin? What was first? I permit myself to add a small excerpt from my own creation myth as an example: "Ages and ages past, before the beginning of time, there was nothing. No sound, nor any day, nor any night, nor any stars, nor any moons, nor any trees, nor any earth, nor any sea. There was no universe, only an infinity of nothingness. Then, in the eternal void, there was a flash of light. And from nothing came everything. The light grew, shining like a million stars and overflowing with pure life. The light grew still, and from it other lights separated and grew, and from them yet other lights separated and grew. They flowed into each other and apart again, and still the lights grew. This was the birth of the universe and the birth of life. From this primordial chaos of life and energy, the largest of the newborn stars gained sentience. And the thought and the will was born. This purest and most ancient of beings are in ancient texts referred to as Irea, which means Creator. Irea tamed the chaos, and he was foremost of the newborn gods, for they were all his children. Their light now shone where before there had been nothing, and they were called the Ada, the first beings of the universe. " To cut a long story short: they created paradise, but in doing so unwittingly created an opposite, a dark realm. War ensued. The first world was shattered into a million pieces, which became the myriads of worlds in the universe. Thus, I have created a common creation of the universe from which all worlds and gods stem.
Silmarien Aldalome 05-13-04, 08:34 PM	Originally posted by Eltheynn Thanks for joining, Sil (you've been added to the list of members), and for getting the ball to start rolling with an interesting topic of discussion.... anytime....*looks upstream* - The colloseum cheers in a cacophany of sounds The excerpt about creation reads well - colour, light, sound and smell. Evocative. I love the discussion about "schizms" - as a basis for plot-devices and mythological architecture. We seem to have law-chaos, good-bad, love-hate, light-dark. Spiritualism and totemic concepts popping up as well. The comments about Deities representing pillars of society and abstract comments - thoughtful. I'll add in one "The Iconoclasts" who - see sacrilege in the portrayal of Deity-in-image. And - I'll add in one extra - as we have developed it at the Multiverse Foundation - that in many ways converges with many ideas here. The basis being in the idea of "schizms" - that the Universe creates itself through the opportunity affored by the confluence between twin-polar-opposites. I've got a mythological excerpt that I'll post too (for your enjoyment to read only). The Tale of The Beginning They came from nowhere as points of light in a Great Darkness. A sudden well spring of Voice where there were none before. And so they gathered together in the Great Void - for there was naught else that yet existed. In this way, they found solace and kinship with each other. Together they gathered and then saw that each of them was distinct and comprised of many aspects whose varied composition was a great tapestry in the Darkness. And each was glad, for company dispelled the Void and music was brought forth, and Thought with it. This was the Place of No Time - the Eternity of The Void. And with that Thought - there was sudden discovery, and the blending of many competing Voices - who each had something to say. For with awareness, they had discovered that they were in a Formless and Structureless Place. The Void of No Place and No Time an Eternal Never Ending vastness of unimaginable proportions. Discovering Vastness and Infinity, they learned how to order thought into distinct Aspects. There was marvel at this in the beginning as they blended light, sound, form and matter into being. But also from this came the Time of Strife, where Magic was invented by necessity. For so it was that in The Making - it became possible that thought could clash with thought - and the Twin Polar Opposites of the cosmos were formed: This and That, Wrong and Right, Black and White, Good and Evil, Light and Dark. Some took one pole of thought - and they called it "good" and in so doing - they sheared off the Twin Polar Opposite - who others called The Shadow of Life - "evil". Others found disorder and they named this Chaos and from this Law was crafted in response. And the Twin Polar Opposites became afraid of each other - and so these Aspects strove towards Mastery. But Lo! It was from all things the Sisters of Twin Polar Opposites were born and the Lights gravitated in constellations of thought - and so was born Otherness. And the Place of No Space and No Time was also beautiful. Comprised of an Infinity of Possibilities and ever changing formlessness. Yet as the Aspects conflicted, suddenly, Magical Power was created. By ordering thought - they also discovered that anything was possible. And each of them discovered a distinct kind of magic. At first, the basic elements were formed - heat, light, gravity, magnetism and electricity. And they marvelled - for now Light could create Light - and the Void was filled. Thus - the Stars were born. Stardust from Void. And Time and Space were sheared apart - so that they could bring Order to Disorder, Law from Chaos. But the Sisters of Chaos and Brothers of Evil were stirred to wrath and they devised ways of Ending and Scattering. For they sensed that without these things, The Void would be filled with Endless Sameness and an Eternity without Change. Thus they strove - bringing forth all their Lore to Create. And as the Twin Polar Opposites strove - they discovered the Higher Elements - Magic, the Planes and Divinity. And so Realmspace and the Multiverse were born. Where intersecting Planes of the Fifth Dimension and Beyond cast off to infinity - and where anything was possible and where paradox defined all Aspects of Nature. Thence, the world Coalesced into distinct but overlapping Aspects. They looked about and were glad - for from this turmoil of conflict - they had created something beautiful. They descended into the world - where the Mantle of the Deities casts through every aspect of Life. They had made a place of Great Magic. But a changing Magic. Where the Laws of Certainty are shifted by great discoveries, and where the Laboratories of Mages and Forges of the Swordsmiths form the Powers of world.
The Swedish Viking 05-14-04, 01:59 AM	(grins evilly as he finally got the discussion going) :behold:
Eltheynn 05-14-04, 11:00 AM	:OMG! Now that's a creation Mythos, both of 'em. Me likes, specially Sil's concept that when anything is created, thus is its opposite created as well. Kinda Yin and Yang thingie... @ Urias: And what'd happen if they told a different story? I personally have chosen the "you can't remember" approach to solve this, but I'd like to hear other ideas. Also, regarding different religions in the same world: As of now in my World a common origin is nigh-impossible... But hey, I like challenges. I'm sure it can be worked out. For example the idea of a God lying and saying "Uh, yeah. I created you all" is a good one. I may plug my own Mythos here once I've worked on it a bit more...
Urias 05-14-04, 04:43 PM	@ Urias: And what'd happen if they told a different story? Heh. That gave me a cool idea: What about a world where the story preached by the priests is as far away from the truth you can come? Imagine a world where the god/gods are actually pure evil, but pretend to be good. Instead of paradise the souls are consumed by demonic forces or something. A whole campaign can be built around that idea, the characters slowly suspecting something is not as it seems. When they finally learn the horrible truth, they face a powerful church and fanatic followers labeling them heretics and evil. Also, they probably wouldn't find the populace friendly either, since the church has held power over and indoctrinated the people for centuries. If one of them is charismatic they could maybe attract followers and start an underground cult/insurgency bent on revealing the lies and overthrowing the established theocracy. Of course, most people will believe the priests and view the characters and their cult as evil... Hehe. Everything turned upside down, I like that.
Silmarien Aldalome 05-14-04, 10:01 PM	Originally posted by Eltheynn :OMG! Now that's a creation Mythos, both of 'em. Me likes, specially Sil's concept that when anything is created, thus is its opposite created as well. Kinda Yin and Yang thingie... *bows+extends gratitude* @ Urias: And what'd happen if they told a different story? I personally have chosen the "you can't remember" approach to solve this, but I'd like to hear other ideas. bring it on Urias - *grins* Read your last post. Very cool. It inspires my thinking on what a God of Deception, Treachery, Trickery and Falsity would look and act like. And - what about "why" they exist? I'd love to see this idea fleshed out more..... Also, regarding different religions in the same world: As of now in my World a common origin is nigh-impossible... But hey, I like challenges. I'm sure it can be worked out. For example the idea of a God lying and saying "Uh, yeah. I created you all" is a good one. I'm curious to understand what you mean here....sounds like an interesting area.... I may plug my own Mythos here once I've worked on it a bit more... Bring it ON! -
RoastSlinky 05-14-04, 11:31 PM	Man, my Creation Story pales in comparison to those two. Great work. Urias: that is possibly the coolest campaign idea ever... I would put that into my setting if I thought it would work well with the story. All this talk about religon has given me an idea... what would a world be like with no religon, or no gods?
Eltheynn 05-15-04, 10:34 AM	Originally posted by Urias Heh. That gave me a cool idea: What about a world where the story preached by the priests is as far away from the truth you can come? Imagine a world where the god/gods are actually pure evil, but pretend to be good. Instead of paradise the souls are consumed by demonic forces or something. A whole campaign can be built around that idea, the characters slowly suspecting something is not as it seems. When they finally learn the horrible truth, they face a powerful church and fanatic followers labeling them heretics and evil. Also, they probably wouldn't find the populace friendly either, since the church has held power over and indoctrinated the people for centuries. If one of them is charismatic they could maybe attract followers and start an underground cult/insurgency bent on revealing the lies and overthrowing the established theocracy. Of course, most people will believe the priests and view the characters and their cult as evil... Hehe. Everything turned upside down, I like that. Been there, done that... It's a really good idea, which I've used for the world I'm working on (we'll see how it goes in-game if I get to use it). If the DM knows what he's doing, and the player's don't suspect anything, it can be a shock. @Sil: Why do gods exist? IMCS, they were created by an Overdeity (two, actually, simillar to your Twin Polar Opposites idea). One of the deities just creates, and the other destroys whatever is created, to maintain the statu quo. But, other reasons may include the ubiquitous "they created themselves/they were always there", or many others. AS to your question about common origin: I'm not working alone on the CS. I started on a small part of it just for kicks, and then Savras asked if I had some spare land and if he could help... I said "Yes, of course", and he began working on a big Russia-like Imperium. Problem #1: That Empire is Monotheistic, whereas the religion in the Zone I've been working on is Monotheistic in Nature, with some Ascended Gods (once mortals, now Powers-That-Be), and a few gods whose worship is forbidden (heck, I even have a Deity who is trapped on a Prison Plane and nobody knows about it). Problem #2: Two contradictory stories can't both be true, and these two religions are as contradictory as they can possibly be... But I'm sure it can be worked out with the ideas presented here. @RoastSlinky: First obvious thing, no divine magic. No clerics, paladins, probably no druids, or at least spell-less variants of the Druid and Ranger. Paladins may be substituted by a Knight Class of sorts. Then, not having gods, the cultures would be not quite what we're used to. Far less spiritual and probably more leaning to either Arcane Magic (Magocracies governing the world's nations), or science... Instead of churches having power, others may take this niche (merchants, mages, etc.). I'll try to find the file with the Mythology and Religion related details of my CS, and post the Creation Mythos later... I couldn't find it to save my own life now *tries the 20th 3 1/2'' disk in the hopes it's the one he's lookig for*.
Tenzhi 05-15-04, 10:53 AM	Divine magic doesn't require gods or religion to exist (unless you're in the Best-Left-Forgotten-Realms).
Eltheynn 05-15-04, 11:08 AM	Originally posted by Tenzhi Divine magic doesn't require gods or religion to exist (unless you're in the Best-Left-Forgotten-Realms). Or IMC, where there are no Godless Clerics. Druids and Rangers, on the other hand... Those can be Godless if so they wish. Divine Magic, being divine would require Divine Beings to exist, wouldn't it? Not necesarily Gods/Religion, but [spiritual crisis] there must be something...[/spiritual crisis] However, I think your post brings an interesting point, Tenzhi. Where did Divine Magic come from if there are no Gods? Sheer force of will and pure faith? IMHO, without gifted subjects who are capable of performing it just by having strong beliefs and force of will (kinda like innate magic for Sorceres, or the Power of mind for a psionic), having Divine magic just because sounds strange...
Urias 05-16-04, 10:28 AM	Eltheynn, Silmarien, RoastSlinky: (regarding creation myth) Hey, thanks! Glad you liked it :) Urias: that is possibly the coolest campaign idea ever... I would put that into my setting if I thought it would work well with the story. RoastSlinky: Yeah, it's a really cool idea. :) Divine magic doesn't require gods or religion to exist (unless you're in the Best-Left-Forgotten-Realms). Tenzhi: Well, if you channel divine power (be it from a specific god or a cosmic force of "good"), you harness spiritual energy, and that is IMO by definition religion. All this talk about religon has given me an idea... what would a world be like with no religon, or no gods? RoastSlinky: Well, the society would probably either be leaning heavily on arcane magic or be very materialistic/physicist. No one would be able to heal and cure diseases (unless you grant wizards that power), and if arcane magic was scarce the humans would probably be the underdog in competition with beasts and monsters. Perhaps the only settlements are small fortified towns subject to attacks and raids, with large areas of hostile wilderness around it. It still really depends on what kind of civilization you want. But unless you want an extremely materialistic and rational culture, they should still have colorful myths and legends. What I find interesting to explore is if the world has always been without gods. If it hasn't, then why are the gods gone? Perhaps the gods abandoned the world because of some great and ancient sin by the inhabitants. Perhaps the gods all died in a divine war. Or (the idea I find most intriguing) perhaps the inhabitants themselves abandoned their gods, and turned away from religion... And - what about "why" they exist? I'd love to see this idea fleshed out more..... Silmarien: Hmm... I'm not sure if you mean why the gods created the races of the world, or why the gods themselves exist. If it's the latter, do you mean why they were created or what drives them? Eltheynn: Could you give some more details about the two cultures in your campaign setting? I am curious as to why the two mythologies are so contradictory to each other.
Eltheynn 05-16-04, 11:31 AM	Originally posted by Urias Tenzhi: Well, if you channel divine power (be it from a specific god or a cosmic force of "good"), you harness spiritual energy, and that is IMO by definition religion. Religion is the relationship of the worshippers with their deity, the organised array of cults, practises, prayers and whatnot that a specific group engages in as acts of worship towards a divine being. Hernessing spiritual energy is an ability of certain people, who are granted the ability by the deities themselves for being more pious and/or devoted than the rest. RoastSlinky: Well, the society would probably either be leaning heavily on arcane magic or be very materialistic/physicist. No one would be able to heal and cure diseases (unless you grant wizards that power), and if arcane magic was scarce the humans would probably be the underdog in competition with beasts and monsters. 2 things: #1: Heal Skill ;) There, now you can heal... #2: The underdog? Not if they have enough technology, which can be developed in place of magic. But this is a new whole thing... What I find interesting to explore is if the world has always been without gods. Interesting idea. I assume the inhabitants of the world would still invent some form of religion during their history, even if it's abandoned after. However, if they actually know for sure that there are no divinities... Then, I'd go with what I posted earlier about civilisations without religion. [/B] Eltheynn: Could you give some more details about the two cultures in your campaign setting? I am curious as to why the two mythologies are so contradictory to each other. [/B] ATM, I can't. As I said, it's a collaborative project, and I lack the time and info to post it here now... But the primary rreason is their nature, one being politheistic and the other one being monotheistic.
Urias 05-16-04, 12:27 PM	Religion is the relationship of the worshippers with their deity, the organised array of cults, practises, prayers and whatnot that a specific group engages in as acts of worship towards a divine being. Hernessing spiritual energy is an ability of certain people, who are granted the ability by the deities themselves for being more pious and/or devoted than the rest. Eltheynn - I didn't say it was the definition of religion, simply that a world where people harness spiritual energy should as consequence have religion. Religion does not need to be the worship of a specific deity or pantheon, but it does need to be worship/devotion to supernatural forces. I would also define spiritualism, shamanism, and nature-worship (druids) as religion. Obviously, if the world has priests/clerics, it has religion. Otherwise, it becomes a question of definition/taste whether people can wield divine power in a world without religion. It is certainly doable to define that life itself is supernatural, and that some people can wield divine power simply by tapping into their own spiritual energy. Still, my opinion is that a system of beliefs that acknowledges the supernatural/spiritual at least borders on religion.
Ouroboros 05-16-04, 02:11 PM	When there aren't any gods where to the death go to. Reincarnation? Disapearing as salt in water? Unhappy souls that linger in the world. where the living build entire cities for the death?
thasis 05-16-04, 05:07 PM	Can I join because I need help designing my homebrew world called Darkwood!!! A planet the size of jupiter times a google-plex (this is a real number by the way)!!!
Silmarien Aldalome 05-16-04, 07:44 PM	Originally posted by thasis Can I join because I need help designing my homebrew world called Darkwood!!! A planet the size of jupiter times a google-plex (this is a real number by the way)!!! Of course you can! Come on down. .....please explain Darkwood a bit.... stav
thasis 05-16-04, 09:52 PM	Darkwood is a campaign with unlimited possibilties. The campaign will alow pretty much anything the Me the DM approves and that alot. So far I have one player in the campaign but right no he's with a NPC party on a alternate material plane based of Diablo II. His plans are to travel to darkwood as soon as the wizard NPC gets Plain Shift. I am currently designing a group of continents called the Three Kingdoms. There is one good aligned kingdom, one evil aligned kingdom, and one neutrul aligned kingdom. Once I get some maps and info I'll put it onto a website since I'm a web site designer.
Eltheynn 05-17-04, 10:25 AM	@Urias: I was half-jokin, as evidenced by the :P smiley that I forgot to use... Yeah, Shamanism, Spiritualism and all that are religions indeed. And any belief that includes "[Divine Being X] exists" is indeed a religion. About wielding Divine Power in a world without divinities, I like your idea... But I'd tend to go with spontaneus casting, kinda like the sorcerers of divine magic. For further references, a search on these boards for Adept conversions as a PC class, or a Mystic Class could be of help... Although the Dragonlance CS includes a Mystic, IIRC. @Ouroboros: Welcome ;) As to your question, I'll tell you about my campaign. There are gods indeed, but they are in Planes far from the Material Plane, and a barrier prevents the souls of the Dead from getting to these planes, so I decided to have said souls inhabit the Ethereal Plane. Although I know of other DM's who, not having Gods in their campaigns, decided that once you're dead... Well, you're dead. Gone, kaput, dissapeared, goodbye... And the idea of Reincarnation sounds interesting, specialy for Oriental-flavored campaigns.... @Thasis: Welcome aboard. You sure can join! If you've posted info about your CS and want it linked on this thread, provide a link and I'll add it to the list. For now, you've been added to the Member List. Jupiter times a googleplex? I SO want to see a full map of Darkwood :P The idea of having three diferent aligned kingdoms is interesting, it provides the basis for a conflict in an easy way. I, however, advise you to be careful with what you allow... Too much stuff can scare the players, or the DM, or both ;) Or even become pretty broken pretty easy. Although it's good to see a DM brave enough to devise a campaign which offers that many possibilities. Good luck with it, and if you need help, ask either here or in the Homebrew Help Thread, linked in the fourth post of this thread. The folks here and there will sure help you.
thasis 05-17-04, 08:30 PM	Originally posted by Eltheynn Jupiter times a googleplex? I SO want to see a full map of Darkwood :P The idea of having three diferent aligned kingdoms is interesting, it provides the basis for a conflict in an easy way. I, however, advise you to be careful with what you allow... Too much stuff can scare the players, or the DM, or both ;) Or even become pretty broken pretty easy. Although it's good to see a DM brave enough to devise a campaign which offers that many possibilities. Good luck with it, and if you need help, ask either here or in the Homebrew Help Thread, linked in the fourth post of this thread. The folks here and there will sure help you. Thanks for letting me join guys. And about the world map, I will be making a map of the three kingdoms. I'll post a link to the map once my website gets up and going.
Silmarien Aldalome 05-17-04, 09:06 PM	G'day Elthyn - very nice post. I enjoy allowing players to use "spontaneous casting" too. I livens up the campaign world, I find. Also - I usually subject the Laws of Magic to fundamental changes, as the campaign unfolds. I usually use Astrological themes to make this more interesting. E.g. "the three stars..blah, blah and blah are aligned, and Mystra screams in terror - for the Dark Lord has fused Necromancy with Abjuration and has altered the Laws of Magic thereby....." Originally posted by thasis Darkwood is a campaign with unlimited possibilties. The campaign will alow pretty much anything the Me the DM approves and that alot. So far I have one player in the campaign but right no he's with a NPC party on a alternate material plane based of Diablo II. His plans are to travel to darkwood as soon as the wizard NPC gets Plain Shift. I am currently designing a group of continents called the Three Kingdoms. There is one good aligned kingdom, one evil aligned kingdom, and one neutrul aligned kingdom. Once I get some maps and info I'll put it onto a website since I'm a web site designer. I was wondering what the mythological basis for your magic on this world was. I find that providing mythology and superimposing it on D&D core rules - usually gets the players interested. I also have a smattering of ueber magicy things that pop up in major game-themes. While I don't (usually) allow players to partake of these things - I sometimes do. I also usually introduce "player-lineage" themes. Players can really engage with their PC's if they are descended of some kind of famous character. Summary: Thus - themes of mythology and destiny tend to reinforce the poignancy of world-building. Cheers stav
thasis 05-17-04, 10:30 PM	Well my brothers character who is actualy the only character on my campaign is currently in develpment stage so I think the idea of making him a decendent of some famous guy would be great. Theres only one problem. He is a barbarion. Barbarions I find usualy come from a background of killing and bashing so unless his father killed someone powerful theres realy nothing for him to decend from. Great advice though.
Eltheynn 05-18-04, 10:01 AM	@Thasis: But that's not full-size! :sad: :P For those who don't know, "the size of Jupiter times a googleplex" amounts to: Jupiter has a diameter of 88,700 miles. It's radius is therefore 44,350 miles, and it's size (volume) is 365400789864805.13138586628728021 miles. A googleplex (aka googolplex) is 10^(10^100), that is, a one followed by 10^100 zeroes. Multiply that by the size of Jupiter as shown above, and I'm not even gonna type that number down, as we'd need a new thread specifically devoted to typing the number ;) That's why I wanna see a full map ;) But to keep this on-topic: @Sil: I too find that having the players be related to an important person in the world is a good idea, but I feel one should take care with who the PC's descend from, lest you want an uber-character who says: "I own this and that 'cause my father blahblahblah and I can do blahblahblah and stuff and whatnot", and you end up DMing for the King of the Multiverse, the Ruler of the Overgods and the Grandson of the Creator of all Things Known... IMC there will be a few noble (and not so noble) houses, and PC's will have the possibility of being related to these, if so they wish. But I'm not telling 'em, they must come with their backgrouns themselves, and we'll see if I approve of it. And if you tie Mythology with the theme of ancestors and all that, it can work wonders towards making the world more appealing to players, and far more interesting. @Thasis: Barbarian, you say? Well, let me get into Narrator Voice in order to best give some ideas for you to relate that barbarian to someone important (and not necessarily a bashing kill-em-all brute), but remember that if that new relationship screws with the character's current background, it's best to leave things as they are now. That said, gathe 'round and heed the call of the Storyteller, who knows legends untold and long forgotten, yadda-yadda and all that: See that brute down there? -whispered Kirian, the Blacksmith, to his mate- He be da grandson of da grandson of Othil, da Cheiftain that slaughter'd the Mad King Tharask during the War of Despair, and then help'd to rebuild this very Kingdom, even providing some of his strongest men to help reinforce da Army. A brave fellah, if you ask me, and not quite da mad killer one may expect an inhabitant of da Salt Desert to be. He proclaimed da law that declared da most barbaric 'n' cruel traditions of his clan to be forbidden, and has improved da relationship of da Barbarian Tribes with da Kingdom, his son being a skilled Diplomat. It's amazing how they be managin' to civilise their kin whilst maintaining their beliefs and most traditions... Hmmm... I wonder what he be doing here... So, you see, it's possible to have a Barbarian who is not all about killing and bashing, and who descends from someone important who did some more than killing some random known guy... Hmmm, I like this Foundation thing so far... We've discussed Mythology, and a bit of Magic and History -specifically lineages. Good stuff so far... But as the possibility of a world with no religion has been discussed, what about Worlds with little or no Magic (whether arcane or divine)? What about what I call the First Stage Campagins (campaigns that take part in a recently formed world, so players can help shape and develop it, probably playing agian later on, as the sons of the sons of the... of the characters they first played as)?
Urias 05-18-04, 03:25 PM	@Urias: I was half-jokin, as evidenced by the smiley that I forgot to use... Glad to hear it Eltheynn :) Welcome thasis!
thasis 05-18-04, 06:16 PM	I'm thinking of putting a dark sort of feel on my three continents area like the evil side is winning the war. Douse anybody have any ideas to make a realy dark setting.
Urias 05-18-04, 07:59 PM	I'm thinking of putting a dark sort of feel on my three continents area like the evil side is winning the war. Douse anybody have any ideas to make a realy dark setting. Some ideas to add a dark flavor to your world is to have the society gripped by emotions like fear, apathy, mistrust, and despair. Unrest and chaos could be a problem in the cities, and plague, famine and poverty is widespread. You could add murders, lynch-mobs, martial law, informers, spies, sabotage, and things like that. Also, try to make it seem that the forces of good is fighting a losing battle against evil not only in the war, but also in the hearts of the people. If you manage that, it should add a really dark flavor to your setting... :88E: I'll add a little narration: Report by Legion Commander Arthanan: Supreme Legion Commander. I regret to inform you that the food caravan from Bor was attacked by brigands in the hills of Jar’thanok, and all the soldiers guarding it were murdered. Our forces have not yet been able to recover the supplies of grain stolen in the raid. Due to the food shortage, rioting has broken out in the poorer quarters of Mar Anon, and has later spread to other areas of the city. The city’s military has responded with lethal force, but has not been able to contain the uprising. Fires are burning many places in the city, and looting and killing is widespread. We have lost nearly two full regiments, and unless we receive reinforcements from the capital I estimate it will take at least a week to crush the uprising and reinstate law in Mar Anon. In honor and vigilance, Legion Commander Arthanan of Mar Anon.
thasis 05-18-04, 10:23 PM	@Urias Thanks for the ideas Urias, Also great narration.
Eltheynn 05-19-04, 04:43 AM	Good ideas and good story, Urias ;) It will help me with my CS as well, as there are a couple places that could use some "Dark Flavor". Sooo.... Any thoughts on either the questions I included at the end of my final post (First Stage Campaigns and/or "Low-to-none existant Magic" Worlds, or on the new topic of "giving a dark feel to your setting"? For example, regarding the last one, I'm of the mind that the society of such a World would tend to be more uncaring, not minding the consequences of their actions -after all, they're more likely to not have something to loose. Therefore, IMHO such a society would be mosly comprised of Chaotic, Non-Good people, perhaps Lawful Evil rulers and/or criminal organisations that take over because the real authority is not strong enough at this moment, lots of corrupt people and whatnot... That way, you've merged the flavor with everyday's life, making it more believable, and an integral part of your campaign, the trademark of the setting, so to speak.
Silmarien Aldalome 05-19-04, 06:38 PM	@Urias - yep I agree with Elthynn - it's great. ....society gripped by emotions like fear, apathy, mistrust, and despair. Unrest and chaos could be a problem in the cities, and plague, famine and poverty is widespread. You could add murders, lynch-mobs, martial law, informers, spies, sabotage, and things like that.... This stuff is a strong basis for an exciting campaign, me thinks. "Lych-mobs" - *chuckles nervously* - god - one Lych is scary enough, lettalone a pack - this is really thought-provoking material dude.... Originally posted by thasis I'm thinking of putting a dark sort of feel on my three continents area like the evil side is winning the war. Douse anybody have any ideas to make a realy dark setting. Hi there Thasis! OK - hmm - have you read a book called "A Wrinkle in Time" - in a nutshell - it's much like The Dark side of the Force - or Sauronic themes. Even though done many times - they continue to inspire us. We just need to rework the mythology of "Darkness" into something unique. E.g. forces that inflitrate the psyche - and a plot-device behind it (you know - like layers of secrecy up through the echelons of the power's of darkness, and double-takes and double-betrayals etc) - with twists and subterfuge. What would be the "nature" of such forces what are your thoughts? E.g. an unearthed Ancient Artifact, a Time-Travelling spirit, a malevolent race of infiltrators, a "Shadow Force" - cast by the psyche of gods..... Cheers stav
Eltheynn 05-20-04, 03:45 AM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome @Urias - yep I agree with Elthynn - it's great. This stuff is a strong basis for an exciting campaign, me thinks. "Lych-mobs" - *chuckles nervously* - god - one Lych is scary enough, lettalone a pack - this is really thought-provoking material dude.... :rofl: You missed a "n" there, fellah... I'm trying to imagine a mob of liches coming after my players, and wow is it scary ;) We just need to rework the mythology of "Darkness" into something unique. Which is a difficult task, what with it having been done to death... Any ideas? E.g. forces that inflitrate the psyche - and a plot-device behind it (you know - like layers of secrecy up through the echelons of the power's of darkness, and double-takes and double-betrayals etc) - with twists and subterfuge. What would be the "nature" of such forces what are your thoughts? E.g. an unearthed Ancient Artifact, a Time-Travelling spirit, a malevolent race of infiltrators, a "Shadow Force" - cast by the psyche of gods..... Cheers stav Whatever it is that can lay such an intrincate plot and get away with treason and has the necessary resources to do what you suggest must be pretty powerful...Such a force would have to be at least someone very powerful and rich... If not a supernatural being. Evil Cults and Schizoid Deities are always fun. IMC, I'm using a whole Race. Created by a certain Deity, they took over part of the World, and established a dictatorship. But as all things are doomed to fall and die, so is their power, and they're not as powerful now, their Empire of Terror is falling apart and although they're managing to keep there, soner or later they'll be weak enough for a revolution to start... Due to their political/military/economical actions there's poverty, hate, an enforced religion, etc... And this ain't good for poor commoners, drowning in misery... And if the mob is not happy, well, as of now they've nothing to loose, so...
Silmarien Aldalome 05-20-04, 10:42 PM	:rofl: You missed a "n" there, fellah... I'm trying to imagine a mob of liches coming after my players, and wow is it scary ;) ...Almost as scary as being sung to by Nana Mouskouri for 24 hours without a break (I actually really like her voice - it's the glasses I struggle with) Whatever it is that can lay such an intrincate plot and get away with treason and has the necessary resources to do what you suggest must be pretty powerful...Such a force would have to be at least someone very powerful and rich... If not a supernatural being. Evil Cults and Schizoid Deities are always fun. IMC, I'm using a whole Race. Created by a certain Deity, they took over part of the World, and established a dictatorship. But as all things are doomed to fall and die, so is their power, and they're not as powerful now, their Empire of Terror is falling apart and although they're managing to keep there, soner or later they'll be weak enough for a revolution to start... Due to their political/military/economical actions there's poverty, hate, an enforced religion, etc... And this ain't good for poor commoners, drowning in misery... And if the mob is not happy, well, as of now they've nothing to loose, so... Nice one - "dictatorship" being the essence of tyranny, evil, draconian power, loss of freedom, despotism, cruelty.....etc. I've had an idea that has a basis in Faerunian Cosmology. It also recapitulates basic ideas from The Dark Years in Tolkie....:censored: mythology. The Goddess of Magic is imprisoned by a band of despotic Deities. Their head deity has been around since creation - and has a big grudge against her brothers and sisters. The Goddess of Darkness, has slowly had her power bled from her, by investing it into the manifestation of cruel and corrupt artifacts. These artifacts are scattered all over the cosmos on a number of worlds. Their Essence is ill, fell, and distorts life. They are, however, unified, and have left the Dark Goddess weakened, and vulnerable. Thus, to reinvigorate her power, she seeks to subsume other gods into herself. Thereby, she may continue her ill-guided purpose. On those worlds where there are enough of the artifacts - the power from the Demiplane of Shadow can influence the socio-political forces as they unfold through the echelons of power. The changes in worlds are slow and indirect, not noticed, but incremental. In this way, the Dark Goddess seeks to bring the Universe into Shadow. Offset against this polarisation - are the Lords of Light (excuse the kitch reference - anyone got a better name). Who - are Custodians and Protectors of Life in its Clean and Unsullied state. Their influence is in the Breaking of Secrecy, the Dispelling of Darkness, and the Purification of Illness. Their journey and influence is to provoke Redemption and Inspiration.
Eltheynn 05-21-04, 08:21 AM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome ...Almost as scary as being sung to by Nana Mouskouri for 24 hours without a break (I actually really like her voice - it's the glasses I struggle with) It's not that bad... Try changing Nana for, say... Vampiria :P And if you don't know the band, do your ears and mental sanity a favor and never ever listen to them :P Nice one - "dictatorship" being the essence of tyranny, evil, draconian power, loss of freedom, despotism, cruelty.....etc. I've had an idea that has a basis in Faerunian Cosmology. It also recapitulates basic ideas from The Dark Years in Tolkie....:censored: mythology. The Goddess of Magic is imprisoned by a band of despotic Deities. Their head deity has been around since creation - and has a big grudge against her brothers and sisters. The Goddess of Darkness, has slowly had her power bled from her, by investing it into the manifestation of cruel and corrupt artifacts. These artifacts are scattered all over the cosmos on a number of worlds. Their Essence is ill, fell, and distorts life. They are, however, unified, and have left the Dark Goddess weakened, and vulnerable. Thus, to reinvigorate her power, she seeks to subsume other gods into herself. Thereby, she may continue her ill-guided purpose. On those worlds where there are enough of the artifacts - the power from the Demiplane of Shadow can influence the socio-political forces as they unfold through the echelons of power. The changes in worlds are slow and indirect, not noticed, but incremental. In this way, the Dark Goddess seeks to bring the Universe into Shadow. Offset against this polarisation - are the Lords of Light (excuse the kitch reference - anyone got a better name). Who - are Custodians and Protectors of Life in its Clean and Unsullied state. Their influence is in the Breaking of Secrecy, the Dispelling of Darkness, and the Purification of Illness. Their journey and influence is to provoke Redemption and Inspiration. And speaking of fresh, new ideas on how to use the cliche themes of fantasy conflict... WOW! I take it you're having the inhabitants of the Plane of Shadow play a part on this, for example by serving the Deity of Darkness and becoming important in the world's politics in order to bes serve their Godess's purposes? Either way, you're onto something here, and that idea has some great potential if it's well developed (which I'm sure it'll).
Lord Nat 05-22-04, 01:00 AM	http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=244106 Random world idea I came up with to kill some time till my bro was done with an anime I want to watch. Hope you like it. If you have any ideas or any thing (AT ALL) to ask about it just post it and I will come up with some thing. I work by coming up with it as I go so asking stuff gives me a lot of ideas.
thasis 05-22-04, 03:19 PM	Originally posted by Lord Nat http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=244106 Random world idea I came up with to kill some time till my bro was done with an anime I want to watch. Hope you like it. If you have any ideas or any thing (AT ALL) to ask about it just post it and I will come up with some thing. I work by coming up with it as I go so asking stuff gives me a lot of ideas. Intressting idea Lord Nat
Lord Nat 05-22-04, 10:27 PM	Originally posted by thasis Intressting idea Lord Nat Thank you. Most my ideas for stuff start out like that with basic idea and then as people ask me about it and post what they think I come up with stuff to add. I have about 20 drafts of ideas that have not been worked out just yet ^_^
Raeph 05-23-04, 12:42 AM	sign me up! hehe, worldbuilding.. perfect.. finnaly my dream of a land filled with bunny manned catapults.. i mean... finnaly a place thats right for me :D :angel: Me and some friends, or so far only me, are making a board dedicated to the creation of new worlds and stuff, such as magic, races, (magic systems that is), etc. Sadly, the url escapes me, as it is not on the wotc boards. And I am at my cousins, and do not have the link in favorites. This is why I need a spellbook :eek:. Oh well. Also, on another note, I dont actualy want a world of bunny manned catapults. AND on a different other note, hi. I hope this is the palce for me. And so far, it definatly looks that way :D :D :D
Silmarien Aldalome 05-23-04, 01:37 AM	@Raeph - *welcome aboard* - any questions? Is there anything you need, to help you feel comfortable? A short word on my posting habits. I've got subscriptions with just about every thread in the Guild House cosmos. So - I "cycle" my responses in two ways. First off - I will always answer your questions, but it may take a day or three. Secondly - sometimes a Foundation needs closer attention for a short phase. I've returned here to find the place filled with life - and it's *great*. For Lord Nat - everyone - there's some *really* cools stuff at Multiverse Foundation. I'd invite you all to have a look.... :) Also - the stuff you posted in the URL is very :cool: - as always! For Thasis Greetings Master of Evil *grins* well-met. For Eltheynn It's not that bad... Try changing Nana for, say... Vampiria And if you don't know the band, do your ears and mental sanity a favor and never ever listen to them.. :rofl: OK - thanx for the feedback - I've had another idea to toss into the ring. The Demiplane of Inversion This plane is the Mirror Image Opposite plane of Probabilities. It's essential organisation in terms of "cause and effect" run in opposition to those of ***all*** the current planes of existence. The Demiplane of Inversion is, however, inderdependetly tied to our own. The events of our planes sent "trickle effects" (and through inversions) into the Demiplane of Inversion. To make it clearer by way of example: If you try to hit a being from the Demiplane of Inversion - a miss is a hit, and a hit is a miss. If they save successfully, the take effects from spells, and vice-versa. So...start playing with this one - and let your imaginations run with it - and I invite you to think about how "cause and effect" map across the planes. And Why would we have visits in our planes from theirs? What has the effects of our work/world/pwoer had on theirs, and what plot devices does this conjure.... questions/comments welcome. Enjoy - stav
thasis 05-23-04, 02:20 AM	An intressting idea Silmarien. Could be used for all sworts od devious ideas. A realy good idea would be to use a inflict spell on yourself but instead of hurting yourself you would heal yourself.
Ouroboros 05-23-04, 07:17 AM	But it means you enter the world of the death. If you die you are born if you are born you die... you have to breath the air out to breath....you will get into jail for saving somthings live.... you are a hero for killing someone.... I think alignment spells are not reversed there i think you or the target change alignment or not AAAAARGGGH!!! how confusing :D
Eltheynn 05-23-04, 09:57 AM	Confusing indeed... Sil, I dunno what you took, but I want to try it... So gimme a bit, wouldya? ;) But first things first... Raeph, welcome aboard. Actually, bunny manned catapults could work for a one-shot adventure, but whatever... If you check that URL, and want to post the link here, I'll update the Useful links & Stuff section of the thread with it. About that Plane thingie... I think there should be a limit to the Inversion... I mean, if it's the exact opposite of everything, when you go forward, you're going backwards... Gravity is reversed, you become younger instead of aging... You change gender upon entering it! Oh, my! Definitely, there must be a limit to it... Otherwise, it'd be really difficult to use in a game, reversing everything and keping track of it to re-reverse it once you get out of the plane... Yet, when you get out, you're entering it, since everything is reversed.... care to enlighten us on how this could be handled, Sil? Mind you, the idea is cool, but it's mind-boogling at the very least...
Raeph 05-23-04, 12:33 PM	Does that mean, about the plane. if you enter, and you're a wizard, do you become a sor or a barbarian? Um. Dnd wise that is. Does that mean any common folk who enters gains magic? And how much. The opposite of 0 is, in this case, infinity. Does that mean normal people become gods? gods become commoners? does air become fire? does everyone gain infinite elemental, magical, and normal resistances? ok. I walk in. I become a god. the end. I win. heh. :angel:
thasis 05-23-04, 01:13 PM	The whole idea is difficult. With a little bit a tweaking it could become extremly useful and intressting though.
Raeph 05-25-04, 09:32 PM	Originally posted by thasis The whole idea is difficult. With a little bit a tweaking it could become extremly useful and intressting though. taking the easy way out eh? lol. Well ok. whatever.
Eltheynn 05-26-04, 04:32 AM	Some limitations that are a must in this plane are the ones that produce a paradox (i.e. when you enter the plane, you get out of it, yet you can't get out if you're not in, which you can't be since you want to enter), and those that are too powerful (i.e. the commoner becoming a God). Changes to classes are tricky, as one may argue that the opposite of a Wizard is a Fighter... But why not a barbarian? So, IMHO, get rid of class changes if you're gonna use that plane. Yet, other chages may as well stay, such as gravity, aging (but beware of cheesy "I stay there lots of time, so I can't die of old age" types. To avid it, just ssay that the changes go back to normal once you leave the plane, or that no matter how young you are, if you actually lived through your max age, you're dead), the "a hit is a miss" and "healing causes damage" things (and their opposites)... It'd also be interesting to have Wild magic zones there... But determining the opposite of a spell may prove tricky as well... Dunno. Well, whatever... I have to go, now. More on that later, when (if) I have some free time.
Eltheynn 05-28-04, 09:31 AM	An attempt at a write-up of Sil's Plane thingie: The Demiplane of Inversion This Demiplane, set in between the rest of Planes, is a realm of counterparts and opposites, of causes and effects -whatever you may find in the other planes has an opposite in the Demiplane of Inversion, or causes an effect there. Physical Traits: No Gravity (Maybe Subjective Directional?), Erratic Time (Timeless?), Self-containded Shape. Morphic Traits: Highly Morphic. No Alignment or Elemental & Energy Traits. Magic Traits: Wild Magic by default, as a result of the various effects that the events of other planes have here. Other effects on Magic may be caused by events on the other Planes. Special: At DM's discretion, further changes may be made, such as making every hit a miss and every miss a hit, or making healing spells actually damage, or even affecting movement, so when you turn left you're really turning right. And to solve the problem of deciding which effects happen, what about using the waxing/waning Planes thing from Eberron? So the dominant effects would be the ones that are caused by the planes that are closer to this Demiplane... The DM tabulates possible effects and decides which ones to use based on what would make the game keep going, unless s/he establishes a period of time for every plane during which it's waxing or waning.... Your thoughts?
Azer Firelord 05-28-04, 07:08 PM	Yes, Eberron should have some more great material (the orbiting planes thing can so clearly have a thousand variants...) On the Gods- my campaign uses the cliche 'develop magic from technology of today' for its backstory- basically humans use genetic engineering to become elves and drow: drow make loads of 'cool' monsters, just cos they can, also begin to tap arcane magic, then drow make Gods, just cos they can, but the Gods get angry with the arrogant drow and shove them underground- source of divine magic...anyway point being this leads to some interesting thoughts on the pantheon. Another way to create a world is to think of a theme and then build the world around the theme-say dwarves with beards of fire and skin of bronze:D Or you can try making a world that explains the core rules races and classes cohernently- now thats a challenge!
Silmarien Aldalome 05-28-04, 10:35 PM	Greetings Azer Firelord - and thanX kindly for the feedback on the Plane of Inversion. The write up is really :cool: Eltheynn - I'm seeing a series of interconnected mirror-image opposite planes. Here's the crucial bit: Inversions occur wherever there are probabilities involved Thus - in one casting of Lore on Inversions - anywhere in our Universe where Probability is involved (a dice roll) - the Demi Plane of Inversion runs to opposite Probabilities. The Mage was experimenting in his laboratory - exploring alchemy and its relationship to the Arcane. The rarest of substances had been located: strange metals and rare earths only recently discovered. It was by accident, purely, that Inversion Effects were measured in the Mage's Laboratory, when one day, he discovered how to make effect preceed cause. Carefully collated data revealed that, under the right conditions, the effects of the explosion - preceeded the explosion - which then retracted into normal matter. This amazed the Mage. For, right before his very eyes, he had worked out how Un-Explosions could be systematically created (or rather Uncreated). In a flood of insight, he then discovered, that "unprobability" was a plausible hypothesis and he began experimenting with Unspace and Untime. Long into the night he worked, and the villagers said that many a time they saw light, sound and heat pulsing from the Mage's tower. But one day, he went missing - and when The Mage didn't turn up to Meetings of Elders, the people began a great search. They found him absent from his laboratory. But this one note they found ..I will attempt the Inverse Traversion this very night. It can be prooved that Inversions propel themselves Inwards as well as Outwards. Thus - if I protect myself with the Inverse Transverse Induction by way of an Incantrixator Lateral Percept and Subductive Incursion, then I should be able to make the Journey. May the Goddess protect me on my Way.... Several months later - The Mage reappeared in Space. His first words were "Unspace exists" as he dusted his battered robes....
Eltheynn 05-29-04, 02:24 PM	Cool story, Sil... Me likes... Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome Inversions occur wherever there are probabilities involved So... Whenever dice are rolled (not an in-game event) and that effects in-game... Something opposite happens on the Plane? No matter where the effect caused by the result of the roll happens? OK, change the Alignment Traits to Chaotic, and I mean a lot. ;) Glad you like the write-up, and that you clarified what is affected in the Demiplane... It'd just be weird to find your half-orc male barbarian changed into an elven female wizard... In fact, that Demiplane could be he center of a Cosmology... The Prime Material would be surrounded by the Alignment Planes (Plane of Good, of Evil, Law and Chaos) and the Energy and Elemental Planes. All the Planes would be interconnected by the Astral, the Ethereal and the Plane of Shadow... And cloaking it all would be the Demiplane of Inversion, connected to every Plane and effecting them all... Greetings Azer, and welcome. Interesting theme for a world, the one you have there... I have always liked the idea of introducing a bit of technology in D&D... And you took it a step further... Genetic Engineering? Wow, I'm sure your campaigns would merge well with some d20 Modern material... A crossover of sorts using both games sounds interesting. But on a not-so-related note... Mind ellaborating on the "explaining the races and classes coherently" bit? What are your ideas regarding this? And while we are discussing Planes as well... Anyone, feel free to comment on the cosmology of your campaign... or does everybody use The Great Wheel? ;)
Azer Firelord 05-29-04, 02:33 PM	Well, this probably wasn't clear from my post, but the technology aspect has now been lost- to my world's current inhabitants, it is all 'magic'- they (if they are arcane spellcasters) know the mystic words and the ingredients which tap the power, but they would be amazed to link it with'technology' as they understand it, which barely gets past the arqebus. Anyway- my cosmology is pretty heavy on the 'parallel universe' take on the planes- I have an infinite number of primes in theory- 3 of which have been fleshed out (1 being the 'original' prime, or 001 as it is called by ancient runes...the drow made the other planes too). The two alternatives are both interesting to me- in one, everything's alignment is flipped (a bit like Silmarien's plane of reversal)- dwarves are generally Chaotic Evil, demons are always Lawful Good: it really disturbed my players when they wandered into it:D The other is a prime where Goblins rule the world and other races are their slaves. The Goblins, who have slightly better stats than the ones in the MM (-2 Str, +2 Cha), invaded my main world by opening gateways, and I had a campaign centred around closing the gateways and curing the mayhem. However, the Great Wheel is still my basic take- and I'm planning on incorporating Ebberon's planes as well!
thasis 05-29-04, 08:05 PM	All hail the Goblins!!!
Azer Firelord 05-30-04, 03:32 PM	I've made a post over at the Prestige Classes boards about integrating Prestige Classes from other sources into one's own worlds. I will put the link in here when I find it... http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=249113 It is getiing little attention on that board because it is about fluff and the board's ethos is crunch:rolleyes: But if people here could take a look I would be happy:angel:
thasis 05-31-04, 07:56 PM	Originally posted by Azer Firelord I've made a post over at the Prestige Classes boards about integrating Prestige Classes from other sources into one's own worlds. I will put the link in here when I find it... http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=249113 It is getiing little attention on that board because it is about fluff and the board's ethos is crunch:rolleyes: But if people here could take a look I would be happy:angel: I like it.:king:
Azer Firelord 05-31-04, 08:04 PM	Thankyou. Now, 'elaborating the races and classes coherently'. If you are playing by the Core Rules, certain things are automatically true about your campaign setting (for the moment- you can vary them later.,.) One of these is the presence of the Core Races and Classes. A good way to develop material, and indeed a necessary step for a pedant like me, is to work out how those races and classes came to be in your campaign world and why they have the relations they do (as indicated in the Phb flavor text, that is). Just one example: We all know elves and dwarves don't get on (with the polite exception of present company at the Guildhouse). On my world, the dwarves once served the elves as cheif engineers and overseers (the actual workers were goblinoids), on the moon. However, they secretly build teleportation devices to the surface, where the elves had forbidden them to go. When the elves found this out, they exiled the dwarves from the moon. But the workers (goblinoids), rose up against the elves. To save themselves, the elves enticed the goblinoids through the teleportation devices of the dwarves- landing them right in the middle of the dwarven holds.... As you can see, this bit of backstory explains a number of things we all know about the races- but I'm sure others can do it differently...
thasis 05-31-04, 08:22 PM	The moon idea is original but weird.
Azer Firelord 05-31-04, 08:34 PM	Actually the 'moon idea' comes straight out of the 1st edition DMG, which suggests having a breathable atmosphere extending all the way to the moon (aargh, physics nightmare...). Well, I developed it a bit but that was where I started. Of course, three campaigns ago my players blew up the moon...makes lycanthropy and a few other things confusing...
thasis 05-31-04, 11:14 PM	Blowing up planets and moons and dungeons and houses and... well... everything else is extremely fun. There should be a foundation for people who like to blow things up. Am I rambiling of-topic again arn't I. Sorry. :invasion:
Eltheynn 06-01-04, 05:32 AM	Sorry, sorry, sorry for the late replies... Exams are a real *bleep*, guys and gals... But well, on topic now: Azer, your ideas are 73|-| K00L|\|3ZZ, in and of themselves... The treatment of tech, and how it relates to magic, and the difference between the current technology level and the past level... And that Moon thingie is awesome! Although you missed ellaborating on the classes, and I wonder why it was forbidden for darves to get to the surface. Just curious... IMC, I worked out the relationship between the races by means of a war which made all races enemies of each other (and even certain members of a race were enemies of thier own kin, as no race did entirely join either group of the two that fought the war). When the War rose, some beings of every race joined one army, and the rest joined the other army. Only two races (Dwarves and Mistkin [a homebrew race]) joined one army exclusively. The ones that lost the war, were forced to exile, eventually evolving and changing (exiled elves => drow, for example). Then the ones who won altered history to suit their tastes (thus their cause became the one and only holy cause to fight for, yadda yadda), flat out lying and spreading the seeds of hate amongst the races, whom as of lately have started to get rid of all hate and are united against the opression they suffer... I know, solving it using a war is cliche, but hey... It works! As for classes, I'm thinking of getting rid of Paladins (which would be a PrC) and Monks (which don't fit). To explain the rest of classes, if you have wars, you have fighters, if you have religion, you have clerics, if you have cities, you have rogues, Barbarian is a culture... Etc, etc... And the new ones I'll add once I finish them, I've made them so it's easier for me to introduce them... You just have to think about what is logical for your world to have developed (i.e. in a world that has never seen a war, and therefore has no need of armies, a fighter makes little to no sense, and a world without gods does not need clerics, whereas a world without mountains would tend to have no Dwarves). Once you know what fits, it's easier to tweak the fluff (or even the crunch) of a class or race to fit what you need. @Thasis: The Blast-it-All Foundation? OMG!!!! :OMG! :P
Azer Firelord 06-01-04, 06:34 AM	:angel: Thankyou very much... if you like hearing my stories, visit this thread- and please comment! http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=3577737#post3577737 Well, yes your analysis of the classes thing is pretty shrewd: Fighters, Clerics, Rogues, all these classes existed pretty much from the beginning of recorded history in my campaign. It is Wizards that are the interesting case- how did people first learn about arcane magic, to write it down, to memorise it, what effect does this have. Why is arcane magic so rare? (I maintain that the rarity of arcane magic is implicit in the Core Rules, and hence if you don't want it to be rare, you need to rethink the Core Rules- for example, Eberron introduces a new NPC class to make low level magic more common). Well, you already know something of my approach to arcance magic...as far as the elves go. Humans (primitives living on Undar while elven civilisation on the moon flourished), were not taught the arcane arts by the elves when they first ventured to the surface for holiday trips (note, this is why the dwarves were banned- it is a class thing:( ) . However, after the Sundering (the quarrel between Dwarves and Elves, the elves were less picky about their allies and trained humans rapidly in the arcane magicks- so rapidly they did not emphasise the vast dangers involved, which was to lead to (with sincere apologies to T.Pratchett), the Mage Wars...when each mage became a country in his own tower and random magical effects caused bizarre mutations (many monster races date from this period). Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Mage Wars mean arcane casters are now disliked and distrusted by most of the population and many of the churches, and hence using 'magitech' is just incomprehensible to the people of Undar;) . There are other stories you can tell around Paladins, Rangers, Sorcerers, Druids, etc: and the Prestige Classes have similar issues. Oh, and yes, Monks are silly (IMHO). However, this is not to disparage Eletheyn's comments on letting the classes flow out of your world rather than vice versa- this can also work well.
Ouroboros 06-01-04, 12:31 PM	Is anybody using the noble in the Dragonlance core rule book in it's world ?
Eltheynn 06-01-04, 03:06 PM	Originally posted by Azer Firelord :angel: Thankyou very much... if you like hearing my stories, visit this thread- and please comment! http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=3577737 I'll, ASAP... I'm busy with exams now, but I'll... It is Wizards that are the interesting case- how did people first learn about arcane magic, to write it down, to memorise it, what effect does this have. Why is arcane magic so rare? (I maintain that the rarity of arcane magic is implicit in the Core Rules, and hence if you don't want it to be rare, you need to rethink the Core Rules- for example, Eberron introduces a new NPC class to make low level magic more common). Well, you already know something of my approach to arcance magic...as far as the elves go. Humans (primitives living on Undar while elven civilisation on the moon flourished), were not taught the arcane arts by the elves when they first ventured to the surface for holiday trips (note, this is why the dwarves were banned- it is a class thing:( ) . However, after the Sundering (the quarrel between Dwarves and Elves, the elves were less picky about their allies and trained humans rapidly in the arcane magicks- so rapidly they did not emphasise the vast dangers involved, which was to lead to (with sincere apologies to T.Pratchett), the Mage Wars...when each mage became a country in his own tower and random magical effects caused bizarre mutations (many monster races date from this period). Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Mage Wars mean arcane casters are now disliked and distrusted by most of the population and many of the churches, and hence using 'magitech' is just incomprehensible to the people of Undar;) . There are other stories you can tell around Paladins, Rangers, Sorcerers, Druids, etc: and the Prestige Classes have similar issues. Oh, and yes, Monks are silly (IMHO). Interesting... BTW, do you want either the Story thread or the Crunch thread in the Index of CS's by members of the foundation?... It may make easier for you to keep all feedback to one thread... Whereas now you have my comments here and the possibility of getting feedback on the other two threads... BTW: Monks ain't silly if handled well in the correct setting... But I'll tweak the fighter to accomodate a non monastery related unarmed fighter better than it does now... However, this is not to disparage Eletheyn's comments on letting the classes flow out of your world rather than vice versa- this can also work well. You'd better not be disparaging my commments!!! :P Just kidding... It can indeed work both ways, you can either develop a world to fit the classes, or the other way around... And you've kinda let classes flow from your setting as well, for if Dwarves hadn't trained humans in magic, wizards would not be what they are... Although I can see them existing either way... No matter how, to make your world consistant, you have to have every detail to make sense and be a logical part of the world as it is... @Ouroboros: Sorry, I don't do DL... But I'm willing to let the characters have levels in Aristocrat ;)
Azer Firelord 06-01-04, 03:18 PM	Yes please give links to the story thread and the other thread I mentioned earlier (the prestige classes one), in the appropriate places, provided they meet your standards. I am in the midst of exams too.:(
Eltheynn 06-02-04, 04:57 AM	Originally posted by Azer Firelord Yes please give links to the story thread and the other thread I mentioned earlier (the prestige classes one), in the appropriate places, provided they meet your standards. I am in the midst of exams too.:( Added the Undar and Tales of Undar threads... And fixed a couple bloody typos in the first post... :embarrass
Azer Firelord 06-02-04, 07:15 AM	Thankyou Elethynn. Interesting title you have given the thread...actually I do tend toward the decline and fall/tragedy elements in my stories. Especially where the elves are concerned. The bits where the stories get postive are when my PCs step in:) Heroes struggling against fate...so, what do people think about this sort of 'atmospheric' issue?
Eltheynn 06-02-04, 07:28 AM	Originally posted by Azer Firelord Thankyou Elethynn. Interesting title you have given the thread...actually I do tend toward the decline and fall/tragedy elements in my stories. Especially where the elves are concerned. The bits where the stories get postive are when my PCs step in:) Heroes struggling against fate...so, what do people think about this sort of 'atmospheric' issue? Blame my creativity, which tends to be higher when I'm bored ;) As to your question, I think the element of decline and all that helps to give the world's heroes a reason to exist... Seriously, who'd ever be a hero if everything was perfect and good? The inhabitants of a Setting can be either the Good Guys, the Bad Guys, or The Guys That Don't Care © If they don't care, they won't be PC's (or they might, but why?)... And no matter if they're good or bad, they need a reason to make them plausible. A reason that, IMHO, can only exist in a world where Evil is present and is a force ('cause if Evil is not such, Bad guys make no sense, and without Bad guys to fight against, why have Good guys adventuring?). That does not mean that there must be decadence, but (although it can be done), I have trouble imagining an Evil Dictator Overlord © that brings happiness and prosperity to the country S/he rules over....
thrassoss 06-03-04, 03:35 AM	...Wow...holy friggin cow... I've been reading and posting on the wizards boards for years but never really paid attention to the whole member of whatever in peoples sig's...boy it seems I've been really missing out. This place is awesome. I would appreciate it if I could join this foundation as I do a lot of worldbuilding stuff. I have about a dozen folders plus hundreds of loose pages I will begin to organize into a website to post so that if any would be interested in looking at my world they could. Some problems I've encountered with worldbuilding that perhaps someone here could help me with. How big are mountains and how are they distributed within a mountain range? I'm ex army so I'm used to dealing with a 1:50,000 scale topographical map and would like to make a topographical map to about a 1 inch to 12 mile scale or so but I have no idea what size to make mountains. I've looked quite a few places online and haven't seen anything viable. The Tolkienian style maps work well when dealing with scales like 1 inch to 40 miles+ but anything under that and I fear a PC might say "we goto that mountain right there". Also along the same line of questioning how often at what scale do you show rivers and streams, lakes and ponds. I suppose a site that would offer a map with an adjustable scale would solve this problem and the previous one but nothing I can find online has anything of this nature. Along the lines of the whole religion descution I think I go a little farther than some. Currently I accept any DnD dieties into my realm because I am not done with my patheon list. Though all PC's know when i'm done all those dieties will be removed and supplanted with my own patheons. Currently I have a list of about 20 or so flushed out dieties. The thematic orginization of the pantheons are the there are a few greater dieties, usually acting as a head of a pantheon or subdivision of a pantheon, then intermediate and lesser dieties fill out the rest of the pantheon. Then each diety has a number of saints(demigods) undernieth him that act as more 'concrete' interpretations of thier diety's 'abstract' goal. IE the greater diety Relnor the Light has the domains Sun,Healing,Good currently I have 4 cults in his religion; the cult of St. Edibus 'the healer of the sick'(domains Healing and Good), the cult of St Cassius 'the hunter of the dead'(domains Sun and Good),the cult of St. Bassion 'the healing warmth of the sun'(domains Sun and Healing), and the cult of St. Barthacus 'the warrior who shall not yield'(domains War and Good). Notice that you can worship Relnor(generally) and still get the domain of War if you belong to the cult of St. Barthacus.I'm looking at having to design roughly 40+ more dieties than I have now to fully flesh out the entirety of what I have planned. I know this is getting to be a pretty long post but I would also like to comment that an attitude that I try to take is that few things are inherently evil I usually take at least a half subjective stance on alignment and such. Good and Evil IMC rarely get into conflict over 'your evil you must die''your good we must sacrifice you'. Its usually more like one contry not dealing with wandering monsters near the border of another country and then tarrifing the goods from said contry. Good vs Evil usually doesn't come into it until its found out that a politician is being influence by a vampire to help move these 2 countries to war. Anyway thanks ahead of time for any response I get and I'd just like to say this place is great
BloodSoakedAngel 06-03-04, 05:38 PM	Greetings, If I may I would like to join your foundation. It is interesting to see the entire worlds that people make and to see how tey create their patheons and people that live within it. Also, if you can could someone tell me what the topic is at the moment. I would gladly contribute when i have the topic. Thank You. ~Blood~:devil:
Eltheynn 06-04-04, 09:06 AM	Wow!!! *gets out of the shitload of work that surrounds him* Oookay, this is getting a better response that I thout it'd get. @ thrassoss & BloodSoakedAngel: Welcome, ye've both been added to the member list. Or rather, you'll be as soon as I post this and edit the other post... @BloodSoakedAngel: The last discussed topic was the element of decadence and how it helps to seet the mood for the world, if such element exists. Other discussed topics have been religion, cosmology, magic... Feel free to comment on any of those or raise a different one. @thrassoss: I'm afraid I won't be of much help, but mountains can go from a few hundred to several thousand meters. Anything less should be a hill, and if you set the Earth mountains as a standard, you shouldn't be getting mountains over 9,000 meters. Other than that, your idea of having cults of Saints related to deities is a good one. I definitely like it. Allows focused worship for deities that cover an extensive (extended?) portfolio, although it makes for a hell of a pantheon... 40ish Deities plus Saints.... That's loads of work you've there. ;) If you ever post a thread about your world in the Homebrew boards and want it listed in the list of Settings by Members, let me know... ;) Finally, you raise a good point on using Relative Morals (which I also tend to use in D&D)... It's a bit more of work for the DM generally, but hey... Well, gotta go now... See (read :P) you all soon.
Ouroboros 06-04-04, 01:14 PM	The world I work on is called Méte it has a martial plane (duh) The negative plane also the plane of shadow isn't connected against the martial plane but against the elemental plane of water. that is around the martial plane. The elemental plane of earth lies under the water and martial plane. under it lies the plane of fair (world of the death) (evil) The Dreamwebs (where dreams are made) Dwarvenhome (home of the Jade Dwarves and the Sun) The Sun is also the elemental plane of Fire that rises above the martial plane each day. above the martial plane are the elemental plane of Air The plane of Milk (celestial) (good) The Clock world plane of steel (lawful)l The feather plane (lawful) The plane of the moon (evil) At the elemental plane of earth grows a tree (the elemental plane of wood that suports the 4 above planes
BloodSoakedAngel 06-04-04, 03:02 PM	Okay, well I most likely will not talk about the element of decadence because at the moment I am half awake, plus the fact I haven't heard of the word. On the topic of religion, It is a basic concept that all worlds should have. Most beings would need a powerful creator being to have solace to. I love the idea of the numerous saints also. I cannot explain why I like it cause again half asleep but I will later. Cosmology, in most of my campaigns I have only the material realm. Although in the one that I am working with now, I am using many ranging from The elemental plane of fire and a homebrewed one of Phantomira, A moon plane that is adjacent to the plane of shadow (although sadly it is not finished yet). And sadly my words seem odd when I read them. ~Blood
Silmarien Aldalome 06-04-04, 10:36 PM	[GM-Voice]Well done everyone! This is a really :cool: Foundation and Eltheynn+Everyone - you're doing a great job. You guyz will be up for some nominations and awards at Guild House G-Oscars (games-oscars - we'll be having a stickied thread at some state).[/GM-Voice] First off - I'll answer a question, before joining in the above stuff. So... Whenever dice are rolled (not an in-game event) and that effects in-game... Something opposite happens on the Plane? No matter where the effect caused by the result of the roll happens? This goes to the heart of the matter and well noted Elthynn. We've got a number of options that could apply, and because the idea is so new, I'm still exploring the possibilities. I was imagining that our Plane and the Inverse Plane are inter-dependent. So - yes - I'm thinking that inverse probabilities apply on their plane. Thus - where someone has a success here - some person/event on the Inverse Plane has a non-success. An "accident" here is a "willed" event at the Demiplane. A "disaster" here is locked to an event that conveys "exultation" in the Inverse Plane. There's some flavour text that goes with this - I'll post it next! *grins* In fact, that Demiplane could be he center of a Cosmology... The Prime Material would be surrounded by the Alignment Planes (Plane of Good, of Evil, Law and Chaos) and the Energy and Elemental Planes. All the Planes would be interconnected by the Astral, the Ethereal and the Plane of Shadow... And cloaking it all would be the Demiplane of Inversion, connected to every Plane and effecting them all... Well noted. Now you're on the wavelength. This series of Interconnections is where one could develop a ka-gillion world-ish ideas. @thrassoss - :bow: welcome and good to see you! @Ouro+Elth+Thrass+BSAngel+Thasis+Azer Firelord! I loved reading your work - the posts on this foundation are particularly intriguing, colourful and energetic. How big are mountains and how are they distributed within a mountain range? I love the idea of typographical maps - a-la Tolkien-esque style. It would be like seeing the lands from above in a Seeing Stone. If Mount Everest is 9 kilometers high (900,000 cm), then it would be 0.9 cm high (1/3 of an inch) when the reduction factor was 1:1,000,000. Thus, a map for Australia (about 4,000 km wide, or 400,000,000 cm) would reduce to a 400 cm map (0.40 meters or about 0.50 yards). You'd need colours to assist to capture the contours. You could paint it as if the sunlight was rising - so these 1/3 of inch mountains would cast shadows, accentuating their presence. Hi Blood Soaked Angel - I'm curious to hear more about Moon Planes. .....After returning from a many-month absence, being awed by his experience in the new plane of existence, the Archmage retreated into his Tower, working late into the night by the flickering torchlight. He could be seen about town, occasionally seeking rare substances from visiting Traders, or wandering the woods late at night or excavating rock quarries looking for rare minerals. For he was devising new Lore and incanting new Arcane Vocalisations, which sometimes caused strange sub-vocal explosions. He writes in a great Tome, recording experiments as he draws strange symbols on paper. For, as oft as not, these sub-vocal explosions occur in that place come to be known as Unspace. This is the space between words but interlocked with words. It is the space between life - an alternate Dimension somehow interlocked with our own. So strange that my senses struggle to describe the experience. But I think I have worked out how to make a Meta-Dimensional Scrying device - by fusing Living Crystalline substances with rare-earth metals and Stardust. For, Our Cosmos is comprised of materials forged in Suns first of all - and many of these substances, I have found, resonate more closely with Unspace than others. And so - he worked tirelessely over a large Crystalline Sphere - infusing it with rare earths as he uttered complex syllables of arcane sound over the device. And one night, many after his return, when the Villagers thought him gone again, from his tower, there came a series of sub-vocal explosions, a surge of light and sound. Eventually, these strange disturbances ceased, and thereafter, a constant glow could be seen in the upper room of the Arch Mage's tower....
BloodSoakedAngel 06-05-04, 09:37 PM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome Hi Blood Soaked Angel - I'm curious to hear more about Moon Planes. Well my Moon Plane is currently an shadow-inhabited orb in the Material Plane's atmoshpere which is accessible from the Material Plane as well. It has no vegetation and the same amount of gravity like that on the Material Plane, the surface is a type of crystalline mineral. Basically it has a connection to the Plane of Shadow, I thought about the "Dark side of the Moon" at this point, which makes it have some shadow creatures living on its surface. Now the only reason the people of the Material Plane can see it is because it also has a minor connection with the Posivite Energy Plane which at brightens the core thus allowing it to glow making people see it. I will post and write more of its stuff later on cause I don't have my books nor do I have my notes either.
thasis 06-06-04, 04:41 PM	Moon planes?
Eltheynn 06-07-04, 05:02 AM	@Ouroboros: Martial Plane is the best typo ever! ;) Thanks for the good laugh. But, now in all seriousness, me likes your cosmology. A different take on that kind of things, and definitely interesting. Though I wonder if you've taken into account certain spells (Ethereal Jaunt) and monsters that require of certain Planes (such as Astral & Ethereal, which you seem to have ommitted) to exist. How're you handling this, in case these planes do not exist in your cosmology? @BSA: Only having the Material Plane rises the same question I posed to Ouroboros. But I assume you both went the easy way, not keeping track of every little consequence on the game mechanics that your tweaks may have. Apart from that, the idea of having the Moon be a plane in and of itself, with connections to other planes, is a cool one. I assume travelling between certain Planes could beeasier if you get to the Moon Plane? @Sil: "And the Goscar goes to"... :P But yeah, the idea of tying opposite events in the Demiplane and the PMP seems the way to go... Not overly complicated, yet it makes for an interesting hook. Looking forward to seeing that flavor text ;) So... Well, I think that covers it... Off to work after the mandatory Foundation-keeping. Aaaawww.... So many ideas, so little time... :P ;) You're all doing a great job at keeping this alive. Thanks for showing your interest :cool:
thasis 06-07-04, 06:35 PM	Hi guys. Recently I started to make a Novel called Return of Thasis that takes place in a world (or Bioverse to be correct) called Bio. A bioverse is a collection of Multiverses and a Multiverse is a collection of universes. It takes place in the future. So far into the future that I had to make up a new number to show how far into the future. The number is called a Bio-Plex. A Bio-Plex is a 1 with a google-plex zero's behind it. In the future man has designed devices to stop the sun from exploding, stop the world from dying, and the such. They have divices beyond are current comprehension. In this future magic doesn't exist and monsters never came into being. Well that all changes. In the future a group of scientists were working in a lab and accidentely opened a portal to another universe, Earth 2. It was known as Earth 2 because of its exact resebelance to Earth. Anyway. This portal became unstable after the first couple of hours and started this massive springing of portals all over the place to other universes. On other universes ther were portals to other universes. The possibility became infinite. With all the opening of portals magic came from its hibernation state and apeared. People could now cast spells. Out of portals came monsters such as Goblins and Trolls and all sorts of weird beasts. Magor wars started hapening all over the main universe and the other universe. This is the Bio setting. I'm thinking of playing a game in this setting. Any suggestions.
Silmarien Aldalome 06-08-04, 12:20 AM	You're all doing a great job at keeping this alive. Thanks for showing your interest :cool: That's because we gotta great Threadkeeper. Thanx for your time and effort. @Sil: "And the Goscar goes to"... :P But yeah, the idea of tying opposite events in the Demiplane and the PMP seems the way to go... Not overly complicated, yet it makes for an interesting hook. Looking forward to seeing that flavor text ;) Everyone check out the latest sticky - authored by Ouroborus. And please enjoy! (not quite a Goscar - but something else). We have one "rotating" sticky (about once a month) for novel, or interesting ideas. I've also nominated this Foundation for consideration at next viewing.... Back to business - Hi there Thasis - good to see you. I like the idea of "randomised ruptures in Unspace" that cause discontinuities in the universe. Wouldn't you like to see Earth transformed into a magical zone? I've often (imagined) that Earth's Weave got damaged, and that we exist in a giant Dead Magic Zone. But that the possibility of Restoring Lore will one day be a possiblity. In terms of a magical universe - ....the Mage was muttering to himself "but - this is impossible, a paradox. If I'm successful at this end, the Portal will be Unsuccessful in the plane of Inversion. I need a two-way link between our world and theirs. But how? How can the probability of success be anything but the mirror image opposite - categorically?" And he continued to mutter to himself like this for many days, until his beard grew long, and he pulled at it. But then it came to him "Aha!" he cried out "what I need is a two-level, pulsing an On-Off system of "rapid shunting". Thereby, the sender and transmitter can exchange messages by this mode....." He then proceeded to device a magical "holding" zone - a place where thought itself could be held in magical suspension. He muttered to himself "That's where you store the images and words - until the next 'shunt' when the on here goes to off, and the off there, goes to on....." And so - his Orb was not like a normal magical orb, for the Mage devised it so that it was more like a flickering light. The magic he would need to have a flickering magic item was new to the world. And so it took many many days to prepare the device. But when he was finally done, the Mage had completed the Final Verse of the Inversion Matrix, the great Orb suddenly flared to life - and then off again, an on - in cycles so rapid that it was like looking at a strobe light. Thence - he stared into the Orb......
Eltheynn 06-08-04, 05:26 AM	Originally posted by thasis Hi guys. Recently I started to make a Novel called Return of Thasis that takes place in a world (or Bioverse to be correct) called Bio. A bioverse is a collection of Multiverses and a Multiverse is a collection of universes. It takes place in the future. So far into the future that I had to make up a new number to show how far into the future. The number is called a Bio-Plex. A Bio-Plex is a 1 with a google-plex zero's behind it. In the future man has designed devices to stop the sun from exploding, stop the world from dying, and the such. They have divices beyond are current comprehension. In this future magic doesn't exist and monsters never came into being. Well that all changes. In the future a group of scientists were working in a lab and accidentely opened a portal to another universe, Earth 2. It was known as Earth 2 because of its exact resebelance to Earth. Anyway. This portal became unstable after the first couple of hours and started this massive springing of portals all over the place to other universes. On other universes ther were portals to other universes. The possibility became infinite. With all the opening of portals magic came from its hibernation state and apeared. People could now cast spells. Out of portals came monsters such as Goblins and Trolls and all sorts of weird beasts. Magor wars started hapening all over the main universe and the other universe. This is the Bio setting. I'm thinking of playing a game in this setting. Any suggestions. This is sooo screaming to be adapted to either d20 Modern or D&D.... Good luck with getting it published ;) Suggestions? Well, not much as far as a novel is concerned, 'cause I'm no writer... But for a d20 Modern or D&d world, it'd be important to decide if the ability to use Magic is something you're born with, or kinda a mutation (as by what you say, it seems magic is not studied, and people just discovered what they could do). Also, with all the possibilities the different planes offer, I'd go with something heavy on planar travelling and quests to exotic and strange worlds... That reminds me of the Myst series (or even Stargate), but I digress... Nonetheless, if you ever need help, feedback or ideas, let us know... I'm sure someone here can help, and will do so. On another note: @Sil: You're making me blush, buddy :embarrass Thanks for the compliment and the nomination ;) Restoring the Weave, you say? Hmmm... If I had the time, I'd tinker with an Order of Mages devoted to this cause, probably including a related PrC... And I maybe will, once I'm done with College. Until then, any ideas? And BTW, that's a good job at solving the Paradoxes on the Demiplane of Inversion, and a good story... Heh, it certainly makes it more interesting to see your ideas developed in an IC (kinda) way... I had also thought on having either what you suggest, or two portals, magically connected. That way, when the portal that leads to the Demiplane is succesful, opening there and sending someone from the PMP, the one that would send someone TO the PMP closes... It'd be kinda like having a crossroads that connected the two portals, and barring one of the paths for as long as the other is being used... It still needs some thought and maybe a couple changes to make the theory work, but I think it could work well.
Magius 06-09-04, 09:09 AM	Hi! First time in the guild, seems like a good thread, though I've only read a few posts. I just had a question/problem with a homebrew I'm planning, wondering if you could help. I started the world building backwards, think. I started with the most interesting places and people, the heroes and locations that will make the world memorable. This stage went fine. At the end of that stage I had a good list of, IMO, fascinating locations and personalities to blend in. Next step: pantheon. I made the gods, again, quite unconventionally (I think...I've never made a homebrew except this one, so I don't really know what the norm is). I made a list of ideals, principles, platforms, portfolios, whatever you want to call it. I put all of these portfolios on paper, each as a god. I knew that this would not be the final list, since I had very 'petty' deities- that is, deities with insignificant portfolios (god of taverns, god of hunger, god of rain, etc.)- and a vvvveeeerrrryyyy long list of them. Like five or six notebook pages. So I culled them, combining one porfolio with another until I had a reasonable amount (26 in the end, IIRC) and each one represented a solid platform. Step two finished. Step three: ideas. These are a few things that make the world unique, things I made up. For instance, I made up a few games, such as 'battleground' and 'arena'. Step four: map. This is where I got stuck. You see, I have plenty of fascinating cities, but nothing in between. I tried just placing them more or less randomely, but that didn't work out. I just got a jumble of words and circles. What I need is the syntax between the cities. 'plain' nations, basically. Not too exciting, not dull, just one or two characteristics that set them apart. The FR has quite a few of these, for instance. So, in short, my problem is not with the fantastic but with the simple. I need nations to include the interesting cities. I also need a shape for my map. This is less of an issue- I can always draw one randomely- but I'd like a certain guideline. The first thing I thought of was something that sounded fun- pangaea. The original state of the continents, before they turned into what they are today. Advice? Magius.
devinmdp 06-11-04, 06:40 PM	I would like to join the foundation. I have an 11-year old homebrew that is pretty extensively documented on the campaign website. World of Therra (home.earthlink.net/~devinc/therra3.htm) I've been told I have pretty good maps and a very extensive listing of stuff for the world, and there are other DMs in the US and New Zealand who are supposedly gaming in the world. I welcome contributions of ANY kind from outside parties, including monsters, spells, prose, write-ups, scenarios, etc. Regards, Devin
Silmarien Aldalome 06-11-04, 10:40 PM	Hi there Devin and Magius. I had also thought on having either what you suggest, or two portals, magically connected. That way, when the portal that leads to the Demiplane is succesful, opening there and sending someone from the PMP, the one that would send someone TO the PMP closes... It'd be kinda like having a crossroads that connected the two portals, and barring one of the paths for as long as the other is being used... It still needs some thought and maybe a couple changes to make the theory work, but I think it could work well. @Eltheynn Sounds :cool: Two Portals magically connected I like what you're suggesting here. Yes. Needs some kinda "shunt non-space" node in the centre - a "holding zone" for the moment of "nothingness" when Inversion probabilities swap between the two planes. @Magius ideals, principles, platforms, portfolios Sounds really interesting, and well thought out. About your question: "simple" concepts connecting cities. *scratches head* hmm, you could have Forbidden Zones, marked out by the epitaphs and monoliths left behind by an ancient vanished civilisation. This might add extra mystery to the world you are building. Living Forest is usually a tool I apply as well: a Sentient Forest, or land that is sentient in a different kind of way to the world of cities. Nature, nomads, living stone. That sort of thing. Just two ideas.... @Devinmp - you've been busy - how fantastic is that. Well done. Mapping is fun and brings a world to life. Inspired mapping, sometimes is influenced by mood. Meaning, I find with world-building that inspiration comes in waves. And that there is a sense of awe and mystery - or nostalgia that goes with it. Visual thinking is also really important. Music helps. Regards stav
devinmdp 06-12-04, 03:44 AM	"@Devinmp - you've been busy - how fantastic is that. Well done. Mapping is fun and brings a world to life. Inspired mapping, sometimes is influenced by mood." I honestly think good maps are possibly the single most important element to a campaign world. Speaking for myself, I remember the first time I saw the old Greyhawk fold out maps or the first Faerun maps. Or the first Gloranthan maps. Maps inspire players. They stoke the imagination. I started my world out with a map. Everything grew from there. That's why I have put so much effort into my campaign maps. Devin
Eltheynn 06-12-04, 10:19 AM	@Devin: Added to member list. Therra is added to the CS section. Good job, I like what you've done... @Sil: Maybe a "Temporal Stasis zone" of sorts could work? Prepared to be activated when the person crosses the portal and to go off once the probabilities have swapped? Kinda like a Contingency effect or something to switch the statsis on and off...
Magius 06-12-04, 03:29 PM	About your question: "simple" concepts connecting cities. *scratches head* hmm, you could have Forbidden Zones, marked out by the epitaphs and monoliths left behind by an ancient vanished civilisation. This might add extra mystery to the world you are building. What I meant was, I need some nations with no huge political intrigues, just one or two twists- for instance, one of the places I intend to make is a nation ruled by a council of ten- of which three are former adventurers, retired, who gain enormous support from the public for their heroic tales in service of the nation. I don;t have the rest of the details right here, but that's the main point. You see? No real twists, but seomthing of intrigue that I can build on. Celebrities as governers, basically. I have intersting enough cities with various twist, I just need 'simple' nations to connect between them. Basically, I have a London without an England. In the FR, most of the nations have one or two twists. Take Rashemen. It is a pretty normal nation, except women are considered more civilized and powerful than the barbaric men. In Aglarond, there is nothing really special; a slightly above-average polpulation of half-elves and the home of Alassra Silverhand, The Simbul. Things like that!
devinmdp 06-14-04, 01:33 PM	Originally posted by Magius What I meant was, I need some nations with no huge political intrigues, just one or two twists- for instance, one of the places I intend to make is a nation ruled by a council of ten- of which three are former adventurers, retired, who gain enormous support from the public for their heroic tales in service of the nation. I don;t have the rest of the details right here, but that's the main point. You see? No real twists, but seomthing of intrigue that I can build on. Celebrities as governers, basically. I have intersting enough cities with various twist, I just need 'simple' nations to connect between them. Basically, I have a London without an England. New to this board, but just a caveat. Not saying it applies to you...but your post brought it to mind. Sometimes I think some worldbuilders are too enamoured of twists. In other words, if everything has a twist, then you risk twists becoming mundane. In my world I don't try to have every nation have a twist. Some are rather mundane...monarchies, etc. That allows the nations that I do twist to be more...well....twisty-seeming. Devin
Magius 06-14-04, 04:05 PM	That's exactly my problem! If I just jumble up the city-states I have now and put them one next to the other, What I get is "to your right, we have the city of infinite gems (just examples, of course; no such thing in my world), built three hundred years ago by a depressed monk; To your left, a town containing the most ferocious creature that ever lived. Right behind you is a monument to the greatest wizard of all time, which is now haunted by ghosts. Right behind me is the city of rogues, in which the average life expectancy is three seconds. In there you will find a cache of magical items unlike any other in the world. *yawn*." I need mundane, simple nations, with no twists but just a normal life. Of course, it will have something to make it unique, but that is mostly up to history, not the nation today necessarily. All I need is a regular nation.
devinmdp 06-14-04, 04:09 PM	Originally posted by Magius That's exactly my problem! If I just jumble up the city-states I have now and put them one next to the other, What I get is "to your right, we have the city of infinite gems (just examples, of course; no such thing in my world), built three hundred years ago by a depressed monk; To your left, a town containing the most ferocious creature that ever lived. Right behind you is a monument to the greatest wizard of all time, which is now haunted by ghosts. Right behind me is the city of rogues, in which the average life expectancy is three seconds. In there you will find a cache of magical items unlike any other in the world. *yawn*." I need mundane, simple nations, with no twists but just a normal life. Of course, it will have something to make it unique, but that is mostly up to history, not the nation today necessarily. All I need is a regular nation. Then it would seem to me your best course would be to read up on some real life ancient civilizations and societies and use those as models. Devin
thasis 06-14-04, 08:37 PM	Hello. I've been absent for some time now and I have returned. A while back on pg.4 someone said something about how magic is aquired in my Bio-Verse setting. In my setting Magic can be studied, born with, or made availible through chemical enchancements.
Eltheynn 06-15-04, 04:57 AM	Originally posted by thasis Hello. I've been absent for some time now and I have returned. A while back on pg.4 someone said something about how magic is aquired in my Bio-Verse setting. In my setting Magic can be studied, born with, or made availible through chemical enchancements. Studied = Wizards; Born with = Sorcerers; Made available through chemical enhancements = ???... New class maybe? Some kind of Magical Chemist? It's interesting, indeed... Chemical products that either enhance the capabilities of an individual or make it mutate so it develops said capabilities... @Magius: I have to agree with Devin here... Your best bet to make a town seem your average medieval everyday town, is to base it off your average medieval everyday town. On the first page of this foundation is a post devoted to links in which you'll find the Nerevarine's Big list of Worldbuilding lnks or somesuch... It has lots of things that may prove useful to you. Take into account that only major cities are (or rather, should be) worthy of twists, as hamlets and villages, although they may possess distinctive traits, those will not be as known, if only 'cause the hamlet/village/whatever is not important or big enough...
Belgarion 06-16-04, 12:10 PM	sign me up...i'm currently working on a world...which is as yet unnamed with 3 other people....but i'm doing all the work and could really use some feedback. just to put it out there now...i'm rather sporadic when it comes to the boards....sometimes it will seem as though i don't sleep...and other times you'll be wondering if i dropped off the face of the earth...but i always check in at least once a week... i'll post more later... Bel edit:added url to my just begun thread for the world i'm working on... Currently Unnamed World (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=259587)
BloodSoakedAngel 06-17-04, 02:45 PM	Could someone tell me what the current topic is at the moment, I have been absent for some time and I am somewhat lost on what we are talking about. Thanks. ~Blood~
Eltheynn 06-17-04, 05:05 PM	Originally posted by BloodSoakedAngel Could someone tell me what the current topic is at the moment, I have been absent for some time and I am somewhat lost on what we are talking about. Thanks. ~Blood~ Currently without a definite topic.... Sil's Demiplane of Inversion was the last discussed topic, and last posts since then have been members requesting for help on some details of their CS's... Oh, and Thasis' CS has been discussed as well... @ Belgarion: I'll add you and your CS by tomorrow.... Gotta go now...
thasis 06-18-04, 12:38 AM	A good topic would be how to create a Epic Prc that could create whole worlds. It could be called the Worldbuilder (origanal name eh, LOL).
Eltheynn 06-18-04, 07:57 AM	Originally posted by thasis A good topic would be how to create a Epic Prc that could create whole worlds. It could be called the Worldbuilder (origanal name eh, LOL). Dontcha mean EPIC? :P Notice the difference in size, and capitalisation... Even if done at a smaller scale (say, via the Genesis spell), it'd take a rather powerful character to build worlds... IMHO, creating worlds should either be left to Gods or casuality for big worlds, or to really powerful characters (I'm talking a level 25 to 30 Wizard here) for simple demiplanes over which he could rule... But maybe that's just me and my ideas of balance... I0ts an interesting idea nontheless... Any thoughts on it, fellow worldbuilders? @Belgarion: Added.
Magius 06-18-04, 08:22 AM	Manual of the planes, PrC, forget the name of the PrC but he has to be arcane, gets his own demiplane at 10th level. I think prerequisites to it include 5th level spells, so you can have your own plane at 17th level, not 25. As for creating whole worlds, that is definitely epic, and high epic. The PrC I'm talking about has little or no control over the plane's developement, IIRC, and it's pretty small. what size are you talking about? If you're talking FR size, you've got to be pretty darn high up. If you're talking about australia size, that would take a minimally epic character if not under his control, much more epic if it is under his control. Another question: Could he decide his own physical rules, like time and gravity?
Eltheynn 06-18-04, 09:21 AM	Originally posted by Magius Manual of the planes, PrC, forget the name of the PrC but he has to be arcane, gets his own demiplane at 10th level. I think prerequisites to it include 5th level spells, so you can have your own plane at 17th level, not 25. I think it's via a (probably overpowered IMHO) 9th level spell, Genesis, IIRC... But I could be wrong... As for creating whole worlds, that is definitely epic, and high epic. The PrC I'm talking about has little or no control over the plane's developement, IIRC, and it's pretty small. what size are you talking about? If you're talking FR size, you've got to be pretty darn high up. If you're talking about australia size, that would take a minimally epic character if not under his control, much more epic if it is under his control. FR size would be God-only stuff, wouldn't it? It's pretty big... However, I'd allow a character that was about level 30 to get a small Plane or continent (up to the size of Australia at most) if he manages to find a rather balanced way of creating it.... Another question: Could he decide his own physical rules, like time and gravity? If using the Genesis spell, I think it's possible to decide a few traits (not sure though, don't have the books with me here), such as gravity (not sure about time, it could get cheesy by using the Demiplane of eternal Resting trick: that is, create a timeless plane, you go there to rest and heal and when you're back, no time has passed)... If the character is a deity, it's definitely possible and probable...
Magius 06-18-04, 11:11 AM	I think it's via a (probably overpowered IMHO) 9th level spell, Genesis, IIRC... But I could be wrong... I think it's a unique trait granted to the PrC, not a spell. Isn't genesis in Deities and demigods, or epic level handbook? I remember seeing the spell recently, and I haven't looked in the MOTP for quite a while... Definitely god-stuff only, but epic level handbook is indefinite. So when I said pretty darn high up, I meant, you know, eighty plus :D. I thought of the time problem, that's why I asked the question. Better yet, he could make a backwards time plane and never age, only get younger! Or lose weight with upside down gravity.
thasis 06-19-04, 12:18 AM	The Prc that can create his own demiplane is called the Planeshifter.
Silmarien Aldalome 06-19-04, 01:11 AM	Hi there everyone - good to see the activity here. @Sil: Maybe a "Temporal Stasis zone" of sorts could work? Prepared to be activated when the person crosses the portal and to go off once the probabilities have swapped? Kinda like a Contingency effect or something to switch the statsis on and off... Hmmm, the analogy I've been playing with draws on some physics. Does anyone know anything about wave mechanics. There is a silent node at the point the positive and negative amplitudes of two waves meets. I imagine an equivalent "point of null probability" exists at the nexus of our Plane and the Inverse Plane. And that crossing into the Inverse Plane requires crossing the Point of Oblivion where the two planes' probabilities intersect. Therefore, at each side of the "transfer conduit" you'd need an "unnanihilator" to "put you back together again. So, I see the process of moving across planes as 1. creating a magical method that opens a door between our Plane and the Inverse Plane. 2. An "annihilation" protocol - which is then shunting Matter into the Null Node between Worlds. 3. An "unannihilation" protocol. By definition - annihilation in our plane would "cause" unannihilation in the Inverse Plane. The Mage studies the Probability maps in the Arcane Laboratory - and continues to refine the Rare Earths that he carefully mined from the Ruins of Aarendor. These strange substances are needed to create the Annihilation Protocols of the Magical Inversion Matrix.....the mage studies the flashing Orb that scries into the unknown Universe, and his eyes watch in wided eyed wonder as colour, form and images of far off worlds reflects off his face.... A good topic would be how to create a Epic Prc that could create whole worlds. It could be called the Worldbuilder (origanal name eh, LOL). I like the idea of creating new Laws of Existence, about things like gravity, time etc. At their heart, genesis spells and spell-like effects create order out of disorder in their manifestations (at least in our universe). The Epic Level Handbook is fairly adaptable to this kind of initiative, and there's no reason to not consider methods that go beyond Epic Level handbook, I suppose too.... stav
Eltheynn 06-19-04, 10:26 AM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome Hmmm, the analogy I've been playing with draws on some physics. Does anyone know anything about wave mechanics. There is a silent node at the point the positive and negative amplitudes of two waves meets. So if there's a high probability of something hapening here, and a low probability of it happening on the Demiplane of Inversion, and we open a Nexus joining both planes... The probability of it happening in the Nexus is zero, therefore making it a safe path, as it's very likely that nothing will happen there? I imagine an equivalent "point of null probability" exists at the nexus of our Plane and the Inverse Plane. And that crossing into the Inverse Plane requires crossing the Point of Oblivion where the two planes' probabilities intersect. Me likes. Better than the Temporal Stasis Zone, yet it serves the same purpose, a safe way to pass between the two planes. Therefore, at each side of the "transfer conduit" you'd need an "unnanihilator" to "put you back together again. So, I see the process of moving across planes as 1. creating a magical method that opens a door between our Plane and the Inverse Plane. 2. An "annihilation" protocol - which is then shunting Matter into the Null Node between Worlds. 3. An "unannihilation" protocol. By definition - annihilation in our plane would "cause" unannihilation in the Inverse Plane. So as soon as you step into the Point of Oblivion you're sent into the Demiplane of inversion, as your dissapearing in the PMP causes your appearing in the DoI... I like the idea of creating new Laws of Existence, about things like gravity, time etc. As do I, and I've devised a new Gravity Trait... Unless it already exists and I'm unaware of it... ;) Random Gravity: A plane with the Random Gravity trait does not have a definite Gravity, and changes between No Gravity, Subjective Directional, Objective Directional, etc... A nice chart for rolling the state of Gravity in any given instant of time, and you're done... At their heart, genesis spells and spell-like effects create order out of disorder in their manifestations (at least in our universe). Or disorder out of order... It depends on how you see it. Imagine a Universe where there are no planets, and everything is just a mass of Matter, or even a void... But everything is in order. Until Mr. Elminsmartass the Wizard goes there and casts Genesis or a simillar effect, creating a plane or planet there... This universe would no longer be in order, as the newly created plane(t) would be an anomaly... The Epic Level Handbook is fairly adaptable to this kind of initiative, and there's no reason to not consider methods that go beyond Epic Level handbook, I suppose too.... stav Beyond Epic? You're scaring me, considering the ELH has no cap in levels... Care to ellaborate on what you intend to accomplish by surpassing Epic Level Handboook? And on what these methods you talk about would consist of? ;)
hekker 06-19-04, 10:54 AM	The planeshifter demiplane is quite small. IMO, it grows only 1 ft/day untill a radius of 10 ft *caster lvl is reached. That's why I think you can build it as soon as 17th.
Silmarien Aldalome 06-20-04, 11:15 PM	Originally posted by Eltheynn So as soon as you step into the Point of Oblivion you're sent into the Demiplane of inversion, as your dissapearing in the PMP causes your appearing in the DoI... Since Annihiliation and Creation run in opposed directions - it's the Annihiliation Protocols in our Plane that results in successful trasfer to the Inversion Plane.... Beyond Epic? You're scaring me, considering the ELH has no cap in levels... Care to ellaborate on what you intend to accomplish by surpassing Epic Level Handboook? And on what these methods you talk about would consist of? ;) I'm comparing Epic to Netherese Magic. Since Mystra has banned mega high level casting - and given than Epic level magic is a goer under Mystra - Epic level must be lesser in power than 12th level Netherese magic. The basis for the magic is still magic - but just more profound in scope. Where the focus is on mofification to the laws of nature - and on understanding of the universe. For example, the Laws of Life and Death might be different. @Hekker G'day there - good to see you. stav
Eltheynn 06-21-04, 05:52 AM	I'm comparing Epic to Netherese Magic. Since Mystra has banned mega high level casting - and given than Epic level magic is a goer under Mystra - Epic level must be lesser in power than 12th level Netherese magic. The basis for the magic is still magic - but just more profound in scope. Where the focus is on mofification to the laws of nature - and on understanding of the universe. For example, the Laws of Life and Death might be different. @Hekker G'day there - good to see you. stav Can't comment, as I don't do FR... But I'm interested as to which changes you suggest to these laws of Nature... I'm having that image of Undead that heal when exposed to Positive Energy, instead of the other way around... :smirk: Or... Gawd! Masochistic creatures that are hurt every round they don't receive damage, and heal when hit by a weapon!!! The underlying message, of course, is: Be careful with what you change. It's fun, yes, but still... ;)
Silmarien Aldalome 06-21-04, 05:45 PM	...for, the opening of the Portal disrupted the fabric of reality. It was an unforseen thing. The full import would only be revealed in time. The cloistering of power, spirit, earth and elements was both fused and broken, so that even the very laws of magic were remade. For in the collision of reaties, between worlds with and without magic, the heavens exploded into surging miasma, raining ruin on many worlds, and sparing others. The ripples passed through Unspace and could be felt all throughout the Universe by those who would listen. And thus, the cycle of birth-death, spirit and nature at is heart was irrevocably altered. And in this new Order of Life - Beings stepped into the Power vacuum. And they had powers unimaginable.
Eltheynn 06-22-04, 06:45 AM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome ...for, the opening of the Portal disrupted the fabric of reality. It was an unforseen thing. The full import would only be revealed in time. The cloistering of power, spirit, earth and elements was both fused and broken, so that even the very laws of magic were remade. For in the collision of reaties, between worlds with and without magic, the heavens exploded into surging miasma, raining ruin on many worlds, and sparing others. The ripples passed through Unspace and could be felt all throughout the Universe by those who would listen. And thus, the cycle of birth-death, spirit and nature at is heart was irrevocably altered. And in this new Order of Life - Beings stepped into the Power vacuum. And they had powers unimaginable. AAARGH!!! OK, after Postatog ate my post... Here it goes again: Read the Above as "Dontcha play with something you can't fully control"... It's an interesting possibility, Sil, although as I read it, it seems to suggest that the laws and forces of magic govern partially or totally the multiverse. I, however, suggest a different approach: That the same applies to the laws and forces of science (physics, chemistry, biology), either being those the ones that control the universe, or both magic and science being equally important. It is in the later case that an appropriate balance between both Science and Magic is required, IMHO. Because if both are equally important, an imbalance towards either side is likely to have undesired consequences. I remember a computer game called "The Longest Journey" (which BTW I highly recommend) that had the same theme: The world was, in fact, TWO worlds (one being 100% fantasy and magic, the other science, reason and technology) between which there must be absolute equilibrium always, or else both worlds are warped out of existance... Anyway, either could really work, provoking the appearance of Dead (or Wild) Magic Zones, changes in Gravity and Time, mutations and a bucketload of other possibilities. I suggest stressing the important of either magic or science depending on whether the CS is a high-magic one or not. It seems quite obvious that if it's high magic, then magic should be more important than science, even if only slightly so...
Silmarien Aldalome 06-22-04, 07:04 AM	Hey there Eltheynn mmm hmmm - so - maybe the possibility exists that scientific forces are like an anathema to magical forces. So that the emergence of the one - suppresses the expression of the other. Or - in a politicised "conspiracy theory" model - beings of Science are jealous of Magic - and so quash Magical Lore in order to elevate themselves above all others.... ...and the cloistering Miasma contained the silent screams of 10,000 dead, whose spirits were a beating presence. Their faces rushing at you in the thickness of the airs. And from the airs, they descended and ordered things as they would in the new world, taking heed of none. The old Libraries were destroyed the towers of the Old World smashed into ruins. The magical Lore destroyed. In the New Order, the Wizards were persecuted - tortured, and given strange medical treatments that altered their minds so that they could not cast spells. For so jealous were the new Overlords - that they sought to suppress magic. But - deep in the Earth - there remained a secret Enclave....
Eltheynn 06-22-04, 07:40 AM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome Hey there Eltheynn mmm hmmm - so - maybe the possibility exists that scientific forces are like an anathema to magical forces. So that the emergence of the one - suppresses the expression of the other. Or - in a politicised "conspiracy theory" model - beings of Science are jealous of Magic - and so quash Magical Lore in order to elevate themselves above all others.... Yup... That's certainly a possibility, as valid as having both forces be allies, understanding that science and magic are both necessary... It all depends on the flavour you want for the CS ...and the cloistering Miasma contained the silent screams of 10,000 dead, whose spirits were a beating presence. Their faces rushing at you in the thickness of the airs. And from the airs, they descended and ordered things as they would in the new world, taking heed of none. The old Libraries were destroyed the towers of the Old World smashed into ruins. The magical Lore destroyed. In the New Order, the Wizards were persecuted - tortured, and given strange medical treatments that altered their minds so that they could not cast spells. For so jealous were the new Overlords - that they sought to suppress magic. But - deep in the Earth - there remained a secret Enclave.... Sil. get your ideas published, NOW (preferably as a novel or somesuch)... ;) You're a good storyteller, and this bit of text screams CS as well... It suggests lots of things that could be used when developing a world in which the tech level is higher than in your Average Medieval Fantasy World (tm).
Ouroboros 07-01-04, 01:47 PM	This foundation has been duped foundation of the month! Way to Go! :D May it be a sign of many post this month! And what about creating a foundation world?:behold:
Eltheynn 07-01-04, 02:53 PM	Originally posted by Ouroboros This foundation has been duped foundation of the month! Way to Go! :D May it be a sign of many post this month! And what about creating a foundation world?:behold: *insert fanfare* :king: Yay! Go Worldbuilding! In the name of the whole Foundation, I thank whomever there is to thank for this recognition, and expect that this gives the Foundation new strenght... I'm planning a few things now that have to do with this Foundation to some extent, and that plus school leaves me little to no time to post... Sorry about that. But, while working a bit on my CS, I came to think about its political organisation... And thought I'd ask for feedback on it. As of now, I have an empire divided in "countys" or "provinces". In the past, the empire governed the whole peninsula, but due to the action of rebel groups war broke up, and at the end (because the Empire lost, big time) new kingdom was formed, independent from the empire, but related to it through mercantile relationship. Then there's a group of inslands inhabited by barbaric sailors whom the Empire uses as defense against pirates and basically lets them be because the Army of the Empire is not what it used to be, so to speak... And then, there's a small desert inhabited by a few outlaws and wrong-doers that have associated in nomadic groups, abandoning the evil ways... The empire keeps an eye on these nomads ("just in case", they say), but otherwise just lets them be as well. Do you find it feasible? Wouldn't the Empire try to grow in power again and take over all the other groups? Also, about the members of the Foundation (and whomever wants to contribute) creating a World... When do we start? If nobody is against that, I could even start a new thread to develop the idea... Members of the Foundation, whaddaya say?
devinmdp 07-01-04, 03:15 PM	Regarding the Empire on the peninsula, if you look at the Roman Empire, they sometimes ere very persistant in regaining lost territory and sometimes not. It really depends on the effort involved, the political ramifications of the moment, and the cost/benefit of it all. In your case, I note a peninsula has only one land approach. The Empire might therefore prefer a friendly but independent state at the base of the peninsula to simultaneously act as a buffer state between whatever lies beyond the peninsula while not having to pay for the upkeep of a border guard itself. In such a case, why would it want such territory back? Most Empires operate on a cost/benefit approach. They are fairly pragmatic. Now, I could also think of reasons why an Empire would want to reclaim such a territory. 1. To keep the army busy and away from the Imperial Heartland (i.e. no coups). 2. To start up a war fervor to cause the masses to turn a blind eye to some internal crisis. 3. Because the other nation is not friendly with the Empire or is not acting as a good enough buffer state. 4. To send a message to other border nations to tow the line. Devin
De Batavier 07-01-04, 05:23 PM	Yes and let's not forget an Emporer who wants to go down in history as a conqueror. The ego of the Emporer and the prestige of his reign will be a factor If a part of the Empire splits of, it will also be important to show strength or else other parts will split. But an Empire must be realistic in what it can and can't conquer. The Romans left the Scots alone, Hadrianus wall (or how you spell it). So a cost and benefit analyses will certainly play a role. So i would add 5) Emporers Ego 6) Signal to other internal hotspots.
Ouroboros 07-02-04, 01:41 AM	(7) How do they look at the people of the new kingdom if they are seen as vermin the emporer has no choice to start a war. -- Creating the world could start today:) so what should be the style greek?, Celtic, Azteck, African, Hindu?, chineze, Renocance, Alien, shaman, Spelljammer style, emberon style? It would be nice if most of the foundations could find a home in this world
Eltheynn 07-02-04, 09:14 AM	Thanks for the responses... Let's start: @devin: The only approach of land to this peninsula is guarded well by a range of mountains which is nigh-unsurpassable. Suffice to say none of the few who tried to get to the other side, be it either by sea (which is possible as well) or by land, came back to tell... However, I find the idea of internal crisis appealing... Not to justify conquering the lost land, but to justify NOT conquering it... I'm definitely having some internal struggle (corruption, economical trouble and all that) that will make the Empire think twice before starting a war. @De Batavier: I'm currently tinkering with the benefits and costs of several courses of action... So far, letting the rebel kingdom unconquered but friendly seems the best way to go... @Ouroboros: Hmmm... Your average Joe in the Empire could care less about the other kingdoms, there's enough trouble already to think about things other than surviving... So I'd say they see them as they'd see someone of the empire, just not as screwed. About the building of a World, and the interaction of Foundations... We could start choosing a theme or something (In this same thread? Or do I start a new one?), and develop the Flavour, the Political relationship, the History (all along with the Storytellers Foundation, maybe), and ask several foundations (such as the All Races Foundation or The Amazing Creators Foundation) to develop new classes/races/spells/feats/monsters as needed. AS for a flavour & theme, I think we could blend several of these... After all, a big enough world could have several cultures, with differing levels of technology and magic development... Hindu mixed with Renaissance, anyone? ;)
De Batavier 07-02-04, 09:40 AM	Yes having an ally is better than an enemy, certainly if you have internal troubles. But i think Emperors will think about the lost prestige. Also what economic value has the lost land, are their rich ore deposits. An Emporers first priority would however be gaining the loyalty of his own armies. Which in your world might be problematic. An emporer wil first try to consolidate his own powerbase before expanding. If he is the one losing the land or his predecessor was and they are related, he might see regaining territory as his duty. I agree several culturels and levels of technological advancements can exist together. See our own history for an example. Building a foundation world, it must contain all of the current an future foundations. I would say magic and psionics must be present, an oriental setting, connections to other planes, all races. I don't own Eberron, only heart of it from friends, but to me this sounds like a setting close to most of the foundations.
Ouroboros 07-02-04, 11:57 AM	Originally posted by Eltheynn About the building of a World, and the interaction of Foundations... We could start choosing a theme or something (In this same thread? Or do I start a new one?), and develop the Flavour, the Political relationship, the History (all along with the Storytellers Foundation, maybe), and ask several foundations (such as the All Races Foundation or The Amazing Creators Foundation) to develop new classes/races/spells/feats/monsters as needed. AS for a flavour & theme, I think we could blend several of these... After all, a big enough world could have several cultures, with differing levels of technology and magic development... Hindu mixed with Renaissance, anyone? ;) Yes all the races should be prested making half-elves one of the strongest of the world the foundation is still going strong I don't no if I like the topic of working to gether with other foundations there are a lot of things that are to be strited out in the world. How do they planes co exists with each other? Do we keep the planar wheel?
Eltheynn 07-02-04, 01:37 PM	@De Batavier: Guess I shouldn't have said "Empire"... There's no emperor, but a Council of Nobles, although what they wanted was to effectively form a united country under its rule, that's why I said "Empire"... And in said Council, there are differing opinions, ranging from those who want to restore their rulership to its former glory, to those who think it's best to get rid of all internal trouble before starting a big war. the majority, however, will want to be sure they regain the land once and for all, even if it means not attacking for a while... This'll provide a false sensation of peace and tranquility... @Ouroboros: I think the details such as the allowed races, the cosmology, deities and all that should be decided based upon the flavor and theme, and that working with other foundations, while it may prove difficult, could offer good results, due to specialisation and sharing of the bucketload of work building a world represents. To set that straight, I suggest that we vote on everything we do. If the idea of voting is accepted, I was thinking of setting it as follows: First voting will be to set the physical characteristics of the wrold. List it's general shape and size, as well as the shape and size of its moons (if any - list also the number of moons), and the number of suns (if any). Today is June 3rd, 2004. Hour: 14:40 (GMT+1:00) On June 20th, 2004, at 14:40 (GMT+1:00), I'll tally the votes. Whaddaya say? Enough time? I'm also updating the front page with an announcement of the project.
De Batavier 07-02-04, 01:42 PM	Yes that changes things. It does allow more intrigue. The nobles must form alliances with the others to get a majority vote. Has one or more nobles a specific interes in the lost lands? :cool:
Eltheynn 07-02-04, 02:25 PM	Originally posted by De Batavier Yes that changes things. It does allow more intrigue. The nobles must form alliances with the others to get a majority vote. Has one or more nobles a specific interes in the lost lands? :cool: Yup, I'll have at least one noble family be interested on these lands... Political Intrigue games, here we go!
Ouroboros 07-03-04, 05:35 AM	My vote goes to work out the basics first: How many moons does the world have 0, 1,2, 3--7 or are all moons cruhed and there is a whole astroid field around the world (The moon graveyard) How many suns? the shape of the world? round, a d4? What is the most cumon landscape? desert, sea, mushrooms, steel, forrests, caves, ice, void, magma,
Eltheynn 07-03-04, 08:37 AM	@Ouro: Good idea. I've edited my last post as appropriate, and I'll update the notice atr the first page to include the current state of the project. My vote: I vote for the sake of simplicity and avoiding headaches that the World is round, very much like our Earth in shape and size. It has one diying sun (which becomes colder as it ages), and two moons. The majority of the northern land is covered by ice and snowy mountains, the only plants being in tundra-like plains... At the southern part of the world, however, life is easier. Climate, while still being cold, is less so, and there are even a few small forests thanks to some rivers created by the melting of snow and ice...
De Batavier 07-03-04, 08:50 AM	Hmm, could make it some sort of opposed Athas, where using powers or spells draws heat from the world, making it progressingly colder. Only a few volcanos make oasis of green and warm zones. Savage tribes in the north fight constantly over the resources, a life meaning less than some wood to burn or use in building. :cool:
Ouroboros 07-03-04, 03:45 PM	I really love the cold world idea :cool: but I would love to see in the underdark heat giving mushrooms with derro's as there caretakers (it is so a underrated dwarven race) I vote for 2 a 3 moons and 2 moons crushed into the moon graveyard. How about the moons being elemental planes evil, good, neutral, law and choas (with choas and good crushed by the material plane) shape of world round is good but d10 shaped would be cool to. The dying sun is a good idea but I vote for a second sun to far away to give any heat. (just as our sun is to the planet pluto)
Ouroboros 07-04-04, 01:22 AM	There must be a big city in this world that houses the Guild house. And what are the WizzO's gods? Arch devils, angels ect. powerfull wizards? Avatars?
Eltheynn 07-04-04, 09:36 AM	@Ouro: Wouldn't that favor the LE alignment? Not that I care that much (LE is FUN to play!!! ;)), just asking... But I like the idea of Planes located in the Moons, IIRC one of the members of the foundation uses it in his/her CS... BTW, if you wanna work out the physics of a d10-shaped planet, go ahead... J/K :P The WizO's would be the Pantheon, o'course... The Church of Mel, the Fraxians and all that... Mel would be an over-deity, Dox and Atog would be the Head of the Pantheon and the rest of WizO's, the different Deitys...
Ouroboros 07-04-04, 09:57 AM	What I had in mind is hey full Law moon WereAnts :D neutral werewolves, evil WereChimps In away it would favour LE but the powers to be still have to go past the moon graveyard where choas and good rule. Chaos and good don't have mutch power to effect the world but they can defend it from the other planes. As for my d10 idea the world doesn't have to be like that but a map of the world could be just like the eurapians did with africa making border giving each race (or folk) a place to live in (and going straid to other towns ect. Making more problems that solving it
Ouroboros 07-07-04, 11:59 AM	This is what we got so far Moons 2-- 1 vote 3-- 1 vote Suns 1-- 1 vote 2-- 1 vote Shape of world round-- 1 vote not so round-- 1 vote Landscape Ice and Snow-- 3 votes Cumon show some more intrested everybody!
Eltheynn 07-08-04, 08:14 AM	Originally posted by Ouroboros This is what we got so far Moons 2-- 1 vote 3-- 1 vote Suns 1-- 1 vote 2-- 1 vote Shape of world round-- 1 vote not so round-- 1 vote Landscape Ice and Snow-- 3 votes Cumon show some more intrested everybody! Someone saved me some work... Thanks, dude. I was about to bump this and make a preliminary tally, but you did it for me... ;) I'll PM at least the members of the foundation later on this day, so they can vote if so they wish... But everyone, remember this is an open voting, everyone can contribute!
Silmarien Aldalome 07-08-04, 09:06 PM	Hi there Ouro, Elthy, DeBe and co. The Blue Sun rises late, and travels low in the horizon during this time of year. The Red Sun does not rise at all. This is the Season of Ice, that lasts 100 Blue Sun Rises. It is the second 50 that are the coldest, as heat escapes from the planet's surface into the Outer Planes. The icy winds blow across the barren landscape, for all is dormant during the Season of Ice. But the plane is broken up by butresses of rock and and on the horizon, you can see peaks of jutting mountains..... There's my vote! *smiles* I'll post the other seasons as we go....and more on the moons. regards stav
BloodSoakedAngel 07-08-04, 09:42 PM	Okay I have come back from my trips, and I am wondering what is happening? It seems we are voting for something although I do not know what for....Could anyone tell me what this is about?
Eltheynn 07-09-04, 07:10 AM	Originally posted by BloodSoakedAngel Okay I have come back from my trips, and I am wondering what is happening? It seems we are voting for something although I do not know what for....Could anyone tell me what this is about? We're creating a Campaign Setting. I posted a notice on the first page of the Thread... Right now the votes are for climate, shape, most common terrain, Suns and moons. Preliminary Tally: Moons 2-- 1 vote 3-- 1 vote Suns 1-- 1 vote 2-- 2 votes Shape of world round-- 1 vote Others-- 1 vote Landscape Ice and Snow-- 4 votes PM's sent to members... As soon as I post this ;)
BloodSoakedAngel 07-09-04, 10:11 AM	Originally posted by Eltheynn We're creating a Campaign Setting. I posted a notice on the first page of the Thread... Right now the votes are for climate, shape, most common terrain, Suns and moons. Preliminary Tally: Moons 2-- 1 vote 3-- 1 vote Suns 1-- 1 vote 2-- 2 votes Shape of world round-- 1 vote Others-- 1 vote Landscape Ice and Snow-- 4 votes I vote for two moons, and one sun. I don't really like suns. I aslo vote for a round world, for the reason whenever I think of a world I always think of it round. Landscape....Toughie. I think I will go wth the Ice and Snow cause then you can have some sort of Ice Age like campaign with survival being the main focus...
Ouroboros 07-09-04, 12:09 PM	I think Sil wanted to vote for extreme weather freezing winter overheated summers (kinda like rusia) Landscape Ice and Snow-- 4 votes Extreme seasons-- 1 vote PS. Tell me if I got you wrong Sil
thasis 07-09-04, 01:18 PM	I'll vote for Ice and Snow
PseudoYorimoto 07-10-04, 12:10 AM	I am interested in joining this, as I am building my own campaign world (the Rapture campaign setting and I would love to help contribute to the foundation's communal setting. I have started work on the races of the Rapture campaign setting if you want to link to it. http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=3916036#post3916036 If you wish to accept me, I will glady give my thoughts on this interesting setting you are developing. I would be glad to hear from you.
Eltheynn 07-10-04, 04:03 PM	Originally posted by PseudoYorimoto I am interested in joining this, as I am building my own campaign world (the Rapture campaign setting and I would love to help contribute to the foundation's communal setting. I have started work on the races of the Rapture campaign setting if you want to link to it. http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=3916036#post3916036 If you wish to accept me, I will glady give my thoughts on this interesting setting you are developing. I would be glad to hear from you. Sure you can join. I'll add you to the member list, though as your link only deals with races and not a CS, I won't add it for now. However, when (if) you post info about the world of Rapture, let me know, and I'll gladly include it on the list of Homebrew CS's... And vote, if you so wish ;) @ Thasis: Thanks for voting. What about the World's Shape, moons and suns? @ Everyone: 10 days till the voting period ends... Get your votes in, c'mon.
thasis 07-11-04, 02:55 AM	I vote for 3 moons, 2 suns, and a cube shaped planet.
De Batavier 07-11-04, 10:07 AM	ice and snow, with hotspots due to vulcanos. 1 moon (flat if world is flat) (inhabited with portal to main world) 1 sun round world (or flat).
PseudoYorimoto 07-11-04, 02:45 PM	Sure you can join. I'll add you to the member list, though as your link only deals with races and not a CS, I won't add it for now. However, when (if) you post info about the world of Rapture, let me know, and I'll gladly include it on the list of Homebrew CS's... And vote, if you so wish Thanks, and thats only the races I am balancing, the CS will be posted on the Homebrew forum as soon as tis finished, just wanted to show a small bit of my work, thats all. As for this world, hm, I say: Extreme Seasons Round-world One Moon Binary Suns (2) I envision a world that has an extremely slow rotation, like mercury, and with varying seasons as such. One (blue) sun should be the domiannt of the two, and a smaller (red) sun would orbit it.
Silmarien Aldalome 07-13-04, 06:12 PM	Hi there people. I think Sil wanted to vote for extreme weather freezing winter overheated summers (kinda like rusia) *chuckles* you gottit Ouro ....but it is also a place of great extremes. For as the seasons change, and with the passing of the low blue sunrises, the giant red sun rises along with the blue. And ever do they move towards the zenith and thus at the peak of the heat, the suns ride high in the skies. For thirty turns of day and night, the blue son is noticably closer to the ground and its heat is greatly amplified. Thence, the ground is scorched by the melding of lights and the hot winds scour the grounds in relentless blasts. You look to the east, and see rocky outcrops project out of the plane on the horizon. To the west, the barren plane takes on a more rugged aspect, moving into low undulating hills in the distance. The South promises some respite from coolness during these times and it is to these regions that the planets life has fled. But to the North, the barren grounds shift to hellish reds, where nothing at all can survive the extremes of season.
77IM 07-14-04, 01:00 PM	1. Please consider me a member! I'm not really intrested in contributing to the collaborative world, but I love world-building and post a lot on Homebrew. 2. Please add my campaign setting to the list at the front of this thread. (The link is in my sig.) Also, there is a list of linked settings here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=262919) which has been updated recently. 3. Someone should really maintain a list of currently active settings on the homebrew board, old settings (those with no posts in the past month) and board member settings hosted elsewhere. Can this thread become that list? Can this thread get linked from Homebrew and stickied? -- 77IM
Eltheynn 07-14-04, 04:09 PM	Originally posted by 77IM 1. Please consider me a member! I'm not really intrested in contributing to the collaborative world, but I love world-building and post a lot on Homebrew. Thy shall be done... Welcome aboard! 2. Please add my campaign setting to the list at the front of this thread. (The link is in my sig.) Also, there is a list of linked settings here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=262919) which has been updated recently. Thanks for that... I'll update this thread ASAP with these settings. 3. Someone should really maintain a list of currently active settings on the homebrew board, old settings (those with no posts in the past month) and board member settings hosted elsewhere. Can this thread become that list? Can this thread get linked from Homebrew and stickied? Uuuh... Lots of work, but I may try... I think I'll post a thread on the homebrew or something if I decide to do it. EDIT: HOLY FRIGGIN' COW!!! 771M, that setting of yours ROCKS!
Mineral 07-15-04, 10:25 AM	Heya Worldbuilders crew - I've been lurking for some time now (mostly over in the Homebrew forums) when I followed a link to your esteemed organization. ;) I've always hated based campaigns I've run out of someone elses setting, so of course I've always been big on worldbuilding and all that. Today I'll be posting up info on my campaign settign work-in-progress called Extir. I'd like to join your group, if you'd have me.
Eltheynn 07-15-04, 12:46 PM	Originally posted by Mineral Heya Worldbuilders crew - I've been lurking for some time now (mostly over in the Homebrew forums) when I followed a link to your esteemed organization. ;) I've always hated based campaigns I've run out of someone elses setting, so of course I've always been big on worldbuilding and all that. Today I'll be posting up info on my campaign settign work-in-progress called Extir. I'd like to join your group, if you'd have me. Sure! Welcome aboard. If you want your Setting to appear on the list at the first page of this thread, provide a link. If you ever need help with details of Extir, by all means feel free to ask here (or on the Homebrew boards, both should work just fine ;))
His Majesty 07-16-04, 03:35 PM	Hello. I'd like to join too (Although I, as well, am not very interested in the world created here - there are already too many world I like on the Homebrew board itself). This looks like a good place. I have my own setting, although it isn't posted anywhere. I frequently post on the Homebrew boards, too. I am working on a FAQ for the Homebrew board, but that'll take some time. On a side note, I think I'll take up 77IM's idea about listing all active and inactive worlds. It'll take time, but it's helpful. Eltheynn: HOLY FRIGGIN' COW!!! 771M, that setting of yours ROCKS! I wholeheartedly agree. :D Good luck to ya' all! BTW - The, um, slogan for 77IM's world says 'begat', not 'began', although I'm not so sure if there's any difference in the meaning in this case.
Mineral 07-16-04, 09:18 PM	Originally posted by Eltheynn Sure! Welcome aboard. If you want your Setting to appear on the list at the first page of this thread, provide a link. If you ever need help with details of Extir, by all means feel free to ask here (or on the Homebrew boards, both should work just fine ;)) Well great then! The link is here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=3973324#post3973324) and the name of the setting is Extir: Three Blood Islands. Feel free to give me and feedback - I sure could use it. Especially regarding the magic system I am setting up (it's not posted yet).
Eltheynn 07-17-04, 09:44 AM	Originally posted by His Majesty Hello. I'd like to join too (Although I, as well, am not very interested in the world created here - there are already too many world I like on the Homebrew board itself). This looks like a good place. I have my own setting, although it isn't posted anywhere. I frequently post on the Homebrew boards, too. I am working on a FAQ for the Homebrew board, but that'll take some time. On a side note, I think I'll take up 77IM's idea about listing all active and inactive worlds. It'll take time, but it's helpful. I wholeheartedly agree. :D Good luck to ya' all! BTW - The, um, slogan for 77IM's world says 'begat', not 'began', although I'm not so sure if there's any difference in the meaning in this case. I assumed "begat" was a typo (as I don't know what "begat" may mean, does the verb "beget" exist?), but 77IM is the one who knows if I'm right or wrong, so I'll wait for him to confirm either possibility. Ye have been added to the member list as well. If you ever post your setting anywhere and want it listed here, feel free to provide a link. BTW, thanks for working on the listing the CS's on the boards, and the FAQ... Both will sure prove useful. If you need help with either, I'm willing to collaborate. @ Mineral: Setting added. I'll give feedback ASAP.
His Majesty 07-17-04, 10:24 AM	From the webster dictionary: Be`get´ ( http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/beget ) v. t. 1. To procreate, as a father or sire; to generate; - commonly said of the father. [i]Yet they a beauteous offspring shall beget. - Milton. 2. To get (with child. 3. To produce as an effect; to cause to exist. Love is begot by fancy. - Granville. It says 'begat' in his signature. But, as I said, there isn't a true difference here - there isn't a great difference between "Where arcane magic begat (caused) the rennaisance" and "Where arcane magic began the rennaisance". I think I might just ask for help with the FAQ / list.. I'll tell you if I need something.
Mineral 07-17-04, 11:41 AM	Oh crap I gave you the wrong link! My bad! :eek: :eek: Here's the real link: Exitr: three Blood Islands (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=276395)
Eltheynn 07-17-04, 11:50 AM	@Majesty: Thanks for the clarification. I've edited it so it reads "begat". @Mineral: Too late, already fixed it... :P
Fuzzy Logic Inc. 07-17-04, 07:17 PM	I'd like to join your foundation. I've always loved coming up with new settings and I dislike using mass-used and generic settings for my games. I haven't posted my homebrew here as of yet, but once I get a sufficient amount of it done, I would like to have it displayed here.
Eltheynn 07-18-04, 10:11 AM	Originally posted by Fuzzy Logic Inc. I'd like to join your foundation. I've always loved coming up with new settings and I dislike using mass-used and generic settings for my games. I haven't posted my homebrew here as of yet, but once I get a sufficient amount of it done, I would like to have it displayed here. Thy Shall Be Done, O Fuzzy One*.... *Read: Addedz0rz to Member List. Welcome!
Silmarien Aldalome 07-18-04, 11:54 PM	Hi there 77IM, Mineral, Fuzzy Logic and His Magesty. Good to see you all and fully Welcome Aboard! regards stav
His Majesty 07-19-04, 06:14 AM	http://img61.photobucket.com/albums/v187/kindalikethis/o_O/wavey.gif Hi Silmarien! Hi everybody! Edit: The smiley isn't working! The smiley isn't working! *panic* When in fear or when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout! When in fear or when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout! When in fear or when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout! ...
Eltheynn 07-19-04, 11:14 AM	use the quotes, like this: [IMG]http://img61.photobucket.com/albums/v187/kindalikethis/o_O/wavey.gif . . . . . . . WTF? It should have worked (it works with the jpg's in WotC's art galleries in the D&D website, might be the file type that causes trouble)... Maybe upload it as a .txt file, or something... EDIT: One day till the voting period ends...
Mineral 07-19-04, 06:56 PM	Hey all, I just posted some brainstorming material for Arcane Magic in my campaign setting, Extir. I'm having a really hard time figuring out how exactly to set it up, so if any of you would mind checking it out and sharing any c&c, I'd really appreciate it. Just follow this rabbit trail.... (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=3993965#post3993965)
Galeros 07-19-04, 08:01 PM	Originally posted by Eltheynn EDIT: One day till the voting period ends... Voting for what? Wheter or not this foundation is foundation of the month or something? I would te for my own, but I do not think many people like mine. Well, I guess if that is what I am voting for, then you have my vote.:)
His Majesty 07-20-04, 07:08 AM	the foundation is already the foundation of the month. He's talking about this, Galeros: Originally posted by Eltheynn Important Announcement: This Foundation is working on the development of a Campaign Setting. If you think you can help and/or contribute in any way, please, by all means do so. Updates on the status of the project will be posted on this page: - June 3rd: Voting on the major physical traits of the World has begun. Voting is open to everyone until the tally of votes, which will take place on June 20th, at 14:40 (GMT+1:00).
Eltheynn 07-20-04, 07:12 AM	Dammit! His Majesty beat me to it... *goes to take a look at Mineral's Thread*
Eltheynn 07-20-04, 09:59 AM	THE VOTING PERIOD HAS ENDED! Definitive Tally: Moons 1-- 2 vote 2-- 2 votes 3-- 1 vote Suns 1-- 3 votes 2-- 3 votes Shape of world round-- 3 votes d10-- 1 vote cube-- 1 vote Landscape Ice and Snow-- 6 votes Extreme seasons-- 2 votes I think that's it. Tell me if you notice any errors on the tally. So the world will be a round icy and snowy land... But there are ties for moons and suns. So, by popular demand and to serve as tie-breaker, the world has 2 suns (one half as big as the other) and 2 moons (one of them crushed, forming a belt of asteroids). So, what'll be the next step to the creation of this CS? Major Continents, Creation Mythos, Cosmology? Perhaps a theme to give to our world?
thasis 07-20-04, 01:46 PM	I say we should write up the gods of the setting.
His Majesty 07-21-04, 12:00 PM	I am not participating in the foundation's worldbuilding. I say you should go for 1.5 moons, and 1.5 suns. Now find a way to explain what that means. Should give you some interesting ideas.
Ouroboros 07-21-04, 12:02 PM	Let's say there are 2 suns and there is 1 moon the other is destroyed forming a astroid beld around the world. that makes 1.5 moons :D
Eltheynn 07-22-04, 06:04 AM	Originally posted by Ouroboros Let's say there are 2 suns and there is 1 moon the other is destroyed forming a astroid beld around the world. that makes 1.5 moons :D And the second sun is half as big as the other one... Thus making it 1.5 big suns? OK, 1.5 each, then *edits post* Sooo... Next part of the world? Any ideas?
Fuzzy Logic Inc. 07-22-04, 02:42 PM	I'd second thasis's idea. If we create a pantheon, it will make it easier to build a backstory on a creation and (perhaps) the destruction of the 1 moon.
Mineral 07-22-04, 03:24 PM	Here's an idea for the 1.5 suns. The "original" sun could be close to dying out and is very large and a deep rustish red in color. This could be for any number of reasons. Some time ago, either a deity or a great mage and/or both or perhaps an enormously pwoerful artifact created the new sun, which is much smaller and brighter, like perhaps a white or even rich blue? And then we could figure out a rotation of the two suns that would give us an explanation for the snow & ice thats prevalent in the world. Possibley, the red sun's rotation could be "Normal" while the small sun could be much slower, only being in the sky for a certain season every year?
Fuzzy Logic Inc. 07-22-04, 05:05 PM	Remember, that if there are widespread ice sheets and glaciers and snowstorms (as per the vote), that two suns would have to be very far away in order for there not to be drastic melting. Although, with the suns being farther away, this could explain the slower rotation around them. Perhaps, the planet itself does not rotate as quickly on its axis as earth does. This would expose less of the surface to the heat and light from the suns and would acoutn for the ice. So, its axial rotation should be against its orbital rotation (clockwise and counter-clockwise respectively). :confused: Wait, I think I just confused myself!
thasis 07-22-04, 09:52 PM	So who also thinks we should work on the patheon. I oready got some support.
Ouroboros 07-23-04, 02:57 AM	If we work on gods all major gods should be included but it would be fun if they are worshipped different exceple Gruumsh and other orc gods are one god It would be best if we make up the plains first (we have the pit of the nine hells and the fire plane. )
Tenzhi 07-23-04, 03:22 AM	If one of the suns is a red, it'll give off less heat, anyway. I say link the dying sun to the positive energy plane, and link the other sun to the negative energy plane. Thus the second sun doesn't even have to give off heat, and the first sun is dying. This is why the planet is perpetually cold.
Silmarien Aldalome 07-23-04, 10:53 PM	I love the idea of developing a Pantheon. We began that some time ago, and I was looking forwards to returning to that theme. I say you should go for 1.5 moons, and 1.5 suns. Now find a way to explain what that means. Should give you some interesting ideas. Hi there everyone - great to see you all and "ruff ruff" to the Elf-Bane (who is Tenzhi everyone). Nicely said Tenzh. Here's some ideas for a Pantheon: When the Aspects discovered Difference - the Cataclysm of Powers was begun. And so - the Pantheon Splintered. Long did the One Aspect hurl powers of Form, Thought, Fire, Electricity and then vast magics from the one to the other. From the maelstrom and within the confluence of forces, was Birthed the Panetheon. This was the Lore of Meta-Confluence, for from the clash of raging powers was Born the Spirits of Existence, capable of existing in a world of Solids. 'Ere the Cataclysm of Powers - this was hithertoo not possible And - about the riddle of 1.5 suns.....here's an idea cast through a mythology idea, that unifies two ideas (one about Pantheons, the other about Number of Suns) The Blue Sun's raging fires were stirred to wrath by the Cataclysm. But the Red Fires burned more coolly and grew larger, rather than hotter to contest the Blue fires. The Red and the Blue hurled themselves towards the one another on a collision course, for the Powers did fear one another. Sensing that the Universe would end should the Blue and the Red collide and to avoid the Great Darkness, The Deity of Time was born - who Split time and space apart - so that as the two Suns were about to collide, the Universe was fractured into Multiverses. But the Deity of Time could not hold the Portal open and a great Space-Time loop was openened that contained the Suns.
Eltheynn 07-24-04, 08:58 AM	So it's Pantheon, Creation Mythos and all that... OK, what about everyone that is interested provides a Creation Mythos and (if possible) a sample Pantheon, and we then decide which we like better? Say, in two or three weeks time, just to make sure everyone has time to post his version?
thasis 07-24-04, 03:59 PM	I'm reading the War of the Souls Trilogy in the Dragonlance series and in that the gods have all left. But this girl with the power of miricles comes and claims to be a vessel of the One God. Why don't we do it like that. The gods have left and a new powerful god has come and tookin over. On creation... Who here has read Calvin and Hobbes. Heres a quote from Calvin and Hobbes that could be very useful... Damn couldn't find it.... Anyway. Since I couldn't find it i give you a general idea... Theres one god and he created the cosmos. He gave them life, food, power and so on. But he wasn't a nice god. He demanded sacrifice. And tribute. When things didn't get his way he destroyed things. Now this were my own ideas come in. Humans weren't the first creatures. Humans were the last creatures created. The creatures weren't paying there tributes and so the one god cursed the Earth. He created the Humans. And we all know what humans do. They destroy and corrupt and generaly kill nature.
Mineral 07-24-04, 08:21 PM	Hmm - that could be interesting. Have the First god be all about being honored and glorified, not giving a damn about his creation. He gets really ****** off after some sort of revolt and creates Humans. For a twist, howabout the people that actually revolted were the Orcs? In his rage, the 1st god perverts their nature and makes them evil. However, eventually one of the 1st god's most powerful mortal leutinents (can't spell - sorry!) eventally slays the First somehow and ascends to deity status. Since that time he elevates mortals of great deeds and stalwart natures to godhood in their own right. However, the 1st god was not totally destroyed and he is seeking his vengence. In that rage he tried to destroy the sun. Another deity sacrificed his or herself and created that second sun, etc etc. So in the end, the world will be set right, orcs will reclaim their noble heritage, and the 1st will ultimately be defeated for all time. Just a bare bones idea if we want to work something off of that.
Fuzzy Logic Inc. 07-24-04, 09:20 PM	Well, I think we shouldn't paint ourselves into a corner by having only a single deity. A church with that much power would easily control everything and create a facist-type power (using its clerics and paladins as gestapo-esque peacekeepers). Though, in my own homebrew, I have a single original god whom spawned other deities as they were needed. As your idea sounds, a god that centered around its own worship would simply destroy any other deities and/or worshippers of those deities, not leaving a whole lot of room for alternative faiths and practices. With those opinions, I run off to work on my own proposal.
Tenzhi 07-25-04, 01:06 AM	Bah. Gods are over-used. I say - go with the worship of unintelligent elemental forces or forces of nature.
Eltheynn 07-29-04, 06:11 AM	Tenzhi's idea, now that I like... It deviates from your Standard D&D CS. Me likes. But I was toying with a different idea. What about if eons ago the Races (regardless of why they exist) of the setting could not die for whatever reason (the configuration of magical energies of the world, for example), therefore having plenty of time to perform great deeds, so some would have accomplished such great tasks that they'd have gathered followers that would have started to think of them as greater beings. Then, somehow, the Races would have stopped being immortal (someone played with magic and messed it up, perhaps?), but the cults formed around the aforementioned people would remain, eventually leading to the creation of a pantheon, but there'd be no real gods. Divine magic (as far as clerics go, at least) would be justified by just stating that the faith and force of will of the followers of a certain cult help to strenghten the powers that said follower already has.
Ouroboros 07-29-04, 12:31 PM	Let's say we follow the alignment idea of moons the good moon has been destroyed and the gods died in this only there spirits remain watching earth and protecting it. Evil has a guise good hasn';t that is why there are paladins to fight evil because good hasn't personal means for it
BloodSoakedAngel 07-29-04, 12:35 PM	Okay I again don't know what we are talking about, anyone care to explain the topic. I briefly got working on a Pantheon and planes? Anyone who give me the topic I thank you... ~Blood
Eltheynn 07-29-04, 04:35 PM	Originally posted by BloodSoakedAngel Okay I again don't know what we are talking about, anyone care to explain the topic. I briefly got working on a Pantheon and planes? Anyone who give me the topic I thank you... ~Blood The current topic is the discussion of ideas for the setting's Pantheon (and Cosmology would be next I guess)... Feel free to submit your own ;) P.S: D'oh! I should have updatted the front page...
thasis 07-29-04, 04:46 PM	my other idea is that gods don't exsisist and that the moons are made of matter. They are made of a energy that produces magic. The humans know this and worrhip the thing like a god. The moon produces both arcane and divine magic.
Ouroboros 07-31-04, 12:59 PM	The Worldbuilders Foundation has lost his foundation of the month status Jule is over August begins This doesn't mean the posting has to stop carry on posting
Eltheynn 08-01-04, 09:28 AM	Originally posted by Ouroboros The Worldbuilders Foundation has lost his foundation of the month status Jule is over August begins This doesn't mean the posting has to stop carry on posting [Obvious and lame Braveheart reference] You may take our Foundation of the Month Status but you'll never take our... erm... Campaign Settings? Whatever...[/Obvious and lame Braveheart reference] Aside of a Pantheon (BTW, if any of you fellow worldbuilders have ideas for it, or want to comment on other people's ideas... Y'know... ;)), when it comes to a cosmology, I think there are quite a few that are a must so as to not interfere with spellcasting. Which is to say, that IMHO, we need at least the Astral, Ethereal and Shadow Planes, the 4 Elemental and 2 Energy Planes, and the Prime Material... And I personally would like to include Sil's Plane of Inversion, but it's not quite necessary...
Silmarien Aldalome 08-03-04, 07:36 PM	Yes Elth, a Cosmology is closely allied to the Planes of Existence. Also - the alliances and links between different gods. That is - the relationships between members of a pantheon. Who likes who, who hates who, and so on. I've also tended to build campaign environments where gods cannot actually enter into the Prime Material Plane. They can only influence the Prime through their worshippers. I.e. "spirit-presences" and ghostly apparitions of gods can be - but a God can't actually appear and change the outcome on the ground. In this way, real power lies in flesh and blood and the gods are dependent on the folk to 'make it so'. ....in the world of Paradox, which is the common name for the Lands all about you, all aspects of nature are multi-faceted. There are no singularities of consciousness in the Pantheon of Aarendor. In fact, the very existence of the gods is dependent on the polarities of consiousness that define schizms of belief. Therefore - the gods' names symbolise their duality and paradoxical heritage. In the beginning - it was Time and Space that were sheared apart by necessity in order to save the world. This created the god named Harmonious Conflict, who most know merely as Lady Angelina. But Harmonious Conflict better describes her nature, because she can only exist by the necessity to separate conflict over space and time. Ephemeral Reality is her Brother, who is the Paradox defined by the collision of the Prime with Transience. He is sometimes known as The Render, because he sees new Beauty in Inspiration and so, will smash into ruins that which has come "before". Thus, he is closely allied to Angelina, because Render needs Time to manifest..... I won't introduce more at this time. Two's enough, but I'll be adding others..... Good to see everyone regards stav
Eltheynn 08-04-04, 07:37 AM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome Yes Elth, a Cosmology is closely allied to the Planes of Existence. Also - the alliances and links between different gods. That is - the relationships between members of a pantheon. Who likes who, who hates who, and so on. I've also tended to build campaign environments where gods cannot actually enter into the Prime Material Plane. They can only influence the Prime through their worshippers. I.e. "spirit-presences" and ghostly apparitions of gods can be - but a God can't actually appear and change the outcome on the ground. In this way, real power lies in flesh and blood and the gods are dependent on the folk to 'make it so'. ....in the world of Paradox, which is the common name for the Lands all about you, all aspects of nature are multi-faceted. There are no singularities of consciousness in the Pantheon of Aarendor. In fact, the very existence of the gods is dependent on the polarities of consiousness that define schizms of belief. Therefore - the gods' names symbolise their duality and paradoxical heritage. In the beginning - it was Time and Space that were sheared apart by necessity in order to save the world. This created the god named Harmonious Conflict, who most know merely as Lady Angelina. But Harmonious Conflict better describes her nature, because she can only exist by the necessity to separate conflict over space and time. Ephemeral Reality is her Brother, who is the Paradox defined by the collision of the Prime with Transience. He is sometimes known as The Render, because he sees new Beauty in Inspiration and so, will smash into ruins that which has come "before". Thus, he is closely allied to Angelina, because Render needs Time to manifest..... I won't introduce more at this time. Two's enough, but I'll be adding others..... Good to see everyone regards stav Quite interesting... Makes for an unusual Pantheon if all Gods & Godesses are allies 'cause they've realised it is best for the World they created... The fluff you provided sounds like the Creation Mythos of my own CS (still working on it and now I realise it had some major structural flaws, dammit!), where by means of a rift in the Void & Nothingness that was the CS before anything was created, two beings appeared, one devoted to creation, the other devoted to destruction, to preserve balance. The creator one created gods, who prevented the destructor from doing his task, hence permitting that the world be created... With everything having an opposite, and no sense without something completely opposed to compare it to...
Silmarien Aldalome 08-04-04, 07:41 PM	not all allies, by any means......in fact, a pantheon without tensions and conflicts is difficult to make engaging for players, maybe? What do the others think? .....but in the stillness and motion of creation, the siblings also warred. When the higher powers were discovered - those beyond the elements, and beyond magnetism and gravity - then Angelina and The Render were stirred to wrath. For in the making of Light, Darkness had no hiding place and in the haste taken by Angelina and The Render, no thought was given to their siblings in the Ordering of the Universe. Thus, jealousy was roused and great Anger between the Aspects erupted so that all the World shook and the skies rained fires and lightnings. "Why did you not consider me in your Making? Where is all that is mine!" It was the Voice of Competitive Malice, who came to be known as The Unmaker. And he was raised to great wrath, so that his eyes burned with black fires and his body radiated with a fell, corruopting Unlight. "For I care not for beauty and light and joy." and he let out an Eternal Cry - so filled with agonising Pain and Hatred that all things in the World were marred in some way. So that Imperfection was Created. And many of the Aspects were corrupted by this fell Force - and one came forth, who was once High and Light, but was now Covert and Cunning. For she sensed that Angelina and The Render were too powerful to defeat. Thus, with sweet tones and false smiles - she came to the aid of The Unmaker and she was named Charming Corruption or The Deceiver in the Common Tongue....
Eltheynn 08-05-04, 05:27 AM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome not all allies, by any means......in fact, a pantheon without tensions and conflicts is difficult to make engaging for players, maybe? What do the others think? That's why I said unusual ;) I agree that a pantheon where everyone is friends with the other gods is difficult, not to say boring.... .....but in the stillness and motion of creation, the siblings also warred. When the higher powers were discovered - those beyond the elements, and beyond magnetism and gravity - then Angelina and The Render were stirred to wrath. For in the making of Light, Darkness had no hiding place and in the haste taken by Angelina and The Render, no thought was given to their siblings in the Ordering of the Universe. Thus, jealousy was roused and great Anger between the Aspects erupted so that all the World shook and the skies rained fires and lightnings. "Why did you not consider me in your Making? Where is all that is mine!" It was the Voice of Competitive Malice, who came to be known as The Unmaker. And he was raised to great wrath, so that his eyes burned with black fires and his body radiated with a fell, corruopting Unlight. "For I care not for beauty and light and joy." and he let out an Eternal Cry - so filled with agonising Pain and Hatred that all things in the World were marred in some way. So that Imperfection was Created. And many of the Aspects were corrupted by this fell Force - and one came forth, who was once High and Light, but was now Covert and Cunning. For she sensed that Angelina and The Render were too powerful to defeat. Thus, with sweet tones and false smiles - she came to the aid of The Unmaker and she was named Charming Corruption or The Deceiver in the Common Tongue.... [/B] :OMG! May I suggest leaving the Creation Mythos to Sil? That stuff is so, so good... I like how for every being that appears there's an opposed one, and how it suggest the impossibility of the former existing without the latter but the impossibility of both co-existing in peace at the same time....
Silmarien Aldalome 08-05-04, 09:22 PM	Hi there Elthy! :bow: What you've said is very flattering - thanx kindly. But - I've every confidence in all of you to bring out your ideas and share them. There are some fantastic ideas upstream. I think a really good pantheon has many "Aspects" - including those from all of the posters.... I wanna see it all. But - I will be sure to continue to build members of the pantheon. They all need stats too. warm regards guyz. Remember - trust your own ideas. stav
devinmdp 08-05-04, 09:27 PM	Don't mean to P in anyone's pot, but initially I thought this forum was about more of an interplay and interchange of ideas amongst world builders. It seems to have morphed into a forum about building a shared world. Is this now the sole purpose of this forum, to design this shared world? Nothing wrong with it...I just wanted to determine if I should remain subscribed to the forum....because to be honest I've enough to do building my own world that I don't have the time or energy to contribute to a shared one. Devin
Eltheynn 08-06-04, 06:34 AM	@Sil: So what do you suggest to include as much stuff as possible from all the ideas posted? @Devin: The Foundation is building a world, but it's not its sole purpose. Everyone is still encouraged to seek feedback here if need be, to share ideas, etc... So if at any time you want to share something, or want us to help with your world, by all means do so... Just as if we weren't building a world, we will help anyway ;) And BTW, it is not compulsory to help to build this world, there are members that are not involved in it. Ellaborating on my idea, and including a few others: ...And so it was that the First of All Creatures gained Knowledge of Self, and conscious of who they were, and of the differences amongst others that were not of their kind, each Race decided to explore the Land and extend their influence over it. And thus no chunk of land was unknows to Them, and no longer were they few in number. But they were still ignorant of the Ultimate Cause, the Reason that would explain the way things were - where had they come from, the Mistery of Creation, of why everything but themselves decayed and died - for during the Ancient Times, they were Immortal. And the Eternal Question echoed in the Souls of all the Races alike. "Why? Why? WHY?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Much time passed, and still the Question remained unsolved. Even though all Races had changed and became Wise and capable of deeds they couldn't have imagined before. Those who followed the Greater Heroes of that time had started to think of them as beings above the common folk, and cults were formed to worship those. But it was written that not all should follow these cults, and for a time the World was shrouded by Darkness, and the Sun dissapeared from the Sky. Only the Two Moons could be seen, slowly approaching each other, until one day they crashed, and upon crashing, one of them was destroyed. But its sacrifice was not in vain, for it moved the Moon that was obscuring the Sun. But this was not the only Benefit, nor there were no Woes after the Crash, for the Energy that the moon radiates gave us the Gift of Magic, but at the same time made the Races mortal. Despite this, some turned to worship the Shattered Moon, that which gave them Light and Magic, but also Death ... Excerpts from "The Book of Ancient Lore", by Alvariel the Sage So, the above encompasses my idea of having a few members of the races be worshipped as gods, the idea of using the Moons as divinities, explains the destroyed Moon, and does not exclude Sil's ideas... There could still be Gods, but they're busy solving their own conflicts or they simply don't care... As far as Elf-bane's idea of worshipping elemental Forces, I suggest a cult of Druids... So there's my idea for the Creation Mythos.
Silmarien Aldalome 08-06-04, 10:07 PM	@Elthynn Hi there Elth. Well said and erm, Threadkept (i.e. past tense of the *new* verb "To Threadkeep") @Devinmp There's plenty for everyone, in the way that suits you. :) I've gone back through the thread, and located your last post. It's a well-constructed analysis, with a sound formulation and fine use of language. I'll take you up on your last words, before continuing the other strand of work of the thread. Originally posted by devinmdp Regarding the Empire on the peninsula, if you look at the Roman Empire, they sometimes ere very persistant in regaining lost territory and sometimes not. It really depends on the effort involved, the political ramifications of the moment, and the cost/benefit of it all. In your case, I note a peninsula has only one land approach. The Empire might therefore prefer a friendly but independent state at the base of the peninsula to simultaneously act as a buffer state between whatever lies beyond the peninsula while not having to pay for the upkeep of a border guard itself. In such a case, why would it want such territory back? Most Empires operate on a cost/benefit approach. They are fairly pragmatic. Now, I could also think of reasons why an Empire would want to reclaim such a territory. 1. To keep the army busy and away from the Imperial Heartland (i.e. no coups). 2. To start up a war fervor to cause the masses to turn a blind eye to some internal crisis. 3. Because the other nation is not friendly with the Empire or is not acting as a good enough buffer state. 4. To send a message to other border nations to tow the line. Devin I think you've astutely pointed out that territory, pragmatism and national self-interest tends to be at the heart of "empire movements". Allied to that (pun intended), the idea about cost-benefit analysis helps us to understand how to think about world-building through imperialists' eyes. In terms of "what is a cost" and "what is a benefit" - some ideas that might be appealing beyond territory, or access to "resource corridors": 1. Political Expediency - by this, I mean, it might foster alliances to either give up or exchange lands (and we've had historical examples of this). 2. Magical or Deific influences. 3. The "spontaneous emergence" of new cultures, that rework the landscape, in ways not directly connected to existing sovereigns. @Elth I like the Moon-Collisions thing. It evoked the following: ....as the moons collided, there was an eruption of primordial energy, so vast that the whole earth shook and a sound so loud that mountains were shattered. Thence the skies rained with the remnants of the moon, and the earth was pelted with a barrage of rock, and the skies filled with meteors for many days. With collision after collision and a great ruination. But, from the moon's heart, there came to the earth a great Living Stone, a radiant and nigh perfect blue sphere that was the Moon's Heart. And this struck the earth and penetrated deeply, bringing the Earth Deity into existence, who was Ordered Chaos, known more commonly as Moon Heart....
thasis 08-06-04, 10:28 PM	did anyone even consider my moons idea!?!
Silmarien Aldalome 08-06-04, 10:57 PM	Thanx for the prompt Thasis. I think several of us liked the idea and we've got three variants on "moonstuff" so far. I reckon your idea is a cool. So - there is some intrinsic property of the matter of the moons - some strange 'metaphysical' property that makes them act like power sources. Perhaps they are comprised of some rare elements that channel power from other planes of existence. The idea reminds me a bit of Mythallar. I'd love to develop the idea more and explore what the 'engine' is for the power and what story might be told by your line of thought. Originally posted by thasis my other idea is that gods don't exsisist and that the moons are made of matter. They are made of a energy that produces magic. The humans know this and worrhip the thing like a god. The moon produces both arcane and divine magic.
Eltheynn 08-07-04, 01:27 PM	@Thasis: I did *points to his own Creation Mythos*. All ideas concerning moons (yours too) are included in my last post. And several others, but it was quite easy to link everything together... @Sil: Thanks verily... As far as Devin's words go, I wholeheartedly agree with you on the major causes of "Imperial movements"... We've had plenty of examples of how those may cause the Emperor to act in a certain way, regardless of the result of the action taken. And we have had examples of utter failure in doing so, which leads me to wonder (not out of curiosity, but to help me with my CS) the following: When do the plebs revolt? How much can people put up with before deciding that even if they die, they're better off fighting for the possibility to live better than tolerating a moron that screws everything as their Emperor? What are the causes of revolts (and how would the rebels organise themselves), and what can happen if the rebels win? What if they lose? Now, as to the Moon Collision: Once again, great storytelling skills you show, Sil... And one more deity we have, this time an Elemental One (though more than bringing into existance, I'd make it so the Deity is kinda "awakened" or "revealed", as though said Deity always existed anyway)... The Earth deity, no less! But she/he/it needs the other three, huh? Well, let's see what my imagination can do today: The time after the collision brought great destruction to our beloved planet, but that Destruction would be the one to bring Creation, the reigning Chaos would be replaced by a new Order, for the chunks of the Moon that landed in the surface caused volcanoes to erupt, and the the eruptions made the Father of Fire roam the land. And the meteors caused the seas to flood, and the Chaos provoked great winds, and in the flood and in the winds, the King of the Tides and the Lady of Air came to this very land we inhabite today... And they, as well as Mother Earth, helped to rebuild the damaged land, and for this they received praise and worship. But alas, the Ancient Traditions are not prone to disappear easily, and only the Druidic Orders are known to worship these Divine beings that came in times of great need. Voila! Here we have the other three Elemental Gods, and a reason to explain Tenzhi's idea (note that the fact only a few druids are known to worship elementals does not mean they are the only ones to do so)... One more idea added into the world, and it seems we can have all them covered, linked and making sense. So far we have the destroyed moon, the worship of great heros, and of moons and elementals, and the source of magic being the destroyed moon... Your opinions and thoughts, fellow worldbuilders?
Teatime 08-13-04, 11:41 AM	1. I would like to join this world building society I am new to DMing I just started, so maybe I can learn some things. I think making worlds would be very fun. 2. I was also wondering what you guys consider when you are making a world such as, Religion, countries, polotics etc... just wondering if you guys could add on since I am new to this world building thing. (My grammar and spelling aren't great though just so you guys know.)
His Magesty 08-14-04, 07:31 AM	All you people who want to, or offered to (I'm looking at you, Eltheynn!) help with the Homebrew FAQ now have a chance to do so, in this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=292441). When do the plebs revolt? How much can people put up with before deciding that even if they die, they're better off fighting for the possibility to live better than tolerating a moron that screws everything as their Emperor? What are the causes of revolts..? I can't define a breaking point, but one thing is sure - if the socio-economical condition of someone is suddenly worsened, he is much more likely to rebel than one whose condition slowly deteriorates. If the process is gradual, people might starve before they try to protest. On the other hand, a sudden tax raise or something like that might cause even people in a pretty good situation to rebel. Edit: Actually, the final breaking point is usually food or water, but riots might begin long before that. Teatime - why don't you come to the Homebrew board? If you need tips, check out this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=51087).
Eltheynn 08-15-04, 12:20 PM	Originally posted by His Magesty All you people who want to, or offered to (I'm looking at you, Eltheynn!) help with the Homebrew FAQ now have a chance to do so, in this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=292441). *looks left and right*: Uh... Me? Oh, yeah, sure... *goes to thread* I can't define a breaking point, but one thing is sure - if the socio-economical condition of someone is suddenly worsened, he is much more likely to rebel than one whose condition slowly deteriorates. If the process is gradual, people might starve before they try to protest. On the other hand, a sudden tax raise or something like that might cause even people in a pretty good situation to rebel. Edit: Actually, the final breaking point is usually food or water, but riots might begin long before that. Exactly my thoughts... Sudden changes provoke sudden responses, and survival (aka good health, food & water) is what tends to make people go "Hey! Here's something wrong...". That will serve me well... *starts taking some notes on the "Reference Notes for CS" notebook* @ teatime: You've been added to the member list, if you ever need feedback or any help with worldbuilding, either on the Homebrew boards or this Foundation you'll get what you need. Welcome aboard! As to your question: I first consider a theme for the world, and work from that. I decide about cultures first, and work the religions from there, and when creating the History of the Campaign Setting, I introduce plausible events that lead to certain political stuff (e.g. monarchies/democracies/plutocracies/etc in the several countries), changes in religions, population of the land, etc. As long as everything has a cause and it's believable (no wars "just because" ;)), everything should be OK... Your best bet though, might be to model your cultures after Real World civilisations, 'cause that way you have half the work done...
thasis 08-15-04, 06:09 PM	Fello world builders i have just found a kick ass site. A magor site completly dedicated to building a world. They alow anyone to join. They are going to a extreme. I highly suggest it. A link is below... Santharian Dream (http://www.santharia.com/) This site i give 2,000,000 thumbs up to. I give it a 15 out of 10 it is jsut asome. I even joined i like it so much. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Eltheynn 08-17-04, 05:49 AM	Originally posted by thasis Fello world builders i have just found a kick ass site. A magor site completly dedicated to building a world. They alow anyone to join. They are going to a extreme. I highly suggest it. A link is below... Santharian Dream (http://www.santharia.com/) This site i give 2,000,000 thumbs up to. I give it a 15 out of 10 it is jsut asome. I even joined i like it so much. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) Heh, good site... I might include it on a new section in the first page of this thread, with the World of Farland, The Fargoth Worldbuilding Project and some other good examples I found... Under the header of "That's how it should be like", o'course ;)
Silmarien Aldalome 08-18-04, 09:27 PM	Originally posted by thasis Fello world builders i have just found a kick ass site. A magor site completly dedicated to building a world. They alow anyone to join. They are going to a extreme. I highly suggest it. A link is below... Santharian Dream (http://www.santharia.com/) This site i give 2,000,000 thumbs up to. I give it a 15 out of 10 it is jsut asome. I even joined i like it so much. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) Yup - those artworks are pretty awesome! Hi there Teatime and His Magesty - 2. I was also wondering what you guys consider when you are making a world such as, Religion, countries, polotics etc... just wondering if you guys could add on since I am new to this world building thing. Here are some things I factor in: 1. A Mythology (with lots of unanswered bits and bobs) 2. A Pantheon (i.e. gods, names, rank, ethos, dogma, alliances, vendettas) 3. Cultural values of different countries. 4. In terms of politics - where power lies, how power is applied. The level of enlightenment of a society versus its cruelty. I always have magical themes interwoven into history. Artifacts - coveted ones or hidden ones. There's nothing like a coveted artifact to be at the centre of centuries of wars, ruin, hardship and toil. And - lots and lots is kept from the players - to be discovered as they unturn each rock and discover things. Sometimes I introduce meta-dimensional themes, temporal causality loops (time themes). @Elth - :cool: Nice one. I liked the Druid theme, in particular. The covert society - enclave idea = *tick* Hey, do we need to summarise our work do you think - and map it into a Library or something? regards stav
Eltheynn 08-19-04, 08:00 AM	Originally posted by Silmarien Aldalome And - lots and lots is kept from the players - to be discovered as they unturn each rock and discover things. Quoted for supreme Truthery @Elth - :cool: Nice one. I liked the Druid theme, in particular. The covert society - enclave idea = *tick* Hey, do we need to summarise our work do you think - and map it into a Library or something? regards stav If everyone agrees (or better, no one disagrees) that the approach we're taking is OK, feel free to do it... As of now, I can't (too much work to maintain both threads up-to-date and keep creating stuff for the CS). And if you don't... Well, is anyone else up to doing some work? BTW, the Creation Mythos seems to be set, including all the given ideas in one form or another, so... Shall we go on to decide the next aspect of the CS? What should it be this time? Theme, Geography, Religion, Politics? I myself vote for Deities and Cosmology (we have yet to define the planes and how they are set, right?), 'cause it follows right off the Creation Mythos, and we can "weave" the two together to have the planes relate to Deities and all that... If we start that, I suggest keeping the Energy Planes, the Elemental Planes, and the Shadow, Ethereal and Astral, to save ourselves some "spellcasting headaches". Other planes that we may need are planes for each of the Aligments, in the case that Alignment plays an important role. We might want them to be waxing/waning a la Eberron to effect spellcasters, or to have them leak into other coterminous planes or something like that... As for Deities, from the Creation Mythos in my post above, I suggest the following: One Drudic Cult to Elemental Forces of Nature. Uncommon, maybe forbidden in some places, even though not only Druids may follow it. Tennets: To respect the forces of nature, not getting on the way of what the Elemental Spirits of Nature decide. Never harm creatures unless it's for self-defense, for eating, or the creature is unnatural (i.e Undeads, Aberrations, etc.) Average Alignment: most members should be TN, with a few beign part Neutral. Temples: Shrines to the Elemental Spirits in secret enclaves deep into the Forest, or in caves. One Cult of the Ancestors. Common, maybe even compulsory. Tennets: Respect everyone equally for their lineage may stem of someone that did great deeds, honor your name and family, blahblahblah.... You get the idea, we can base it off some simillar Real World cults. Average Alignment: Any Lawful? Some Chaotic types may feel strongly about their clans, though, and defend them. And there may be Evil families, but honoring someone Evil is not something a Good person is supposed to do... Temples: Small Altars at everyone's home, dedicated to their own family. One Cult of the Saviour Moon. Common. Tennets: Worship the Moon and Light. Fight to free those dwelling in Darkness (read: the opressed, enslaved, etc.). Bring the Light and sense of Self-sacrifice to benefit others always in your heart. Yadda-yadda... Average Alignment: Any Good? Temples: In open air, only used at night. Big glass roofs in order to see the Moon (or what there is left of it). A Reformist Cult of the Moon and the Ancestors. Uncommon, and frowned upon by the most conservative members of both the Cult of the Ancestors and the Cult of the Saviour Moon. Tennets: The Ancestors sent the moon to collide with the other one and bring back the light. Their philosophy is, thus, a mix of the other two. Average Alignment: Any Good? Temples: Secret or widely known, depends on the place they're at (secret if Conservative Members of the other Cults are a strong force, known otherwise). Again, a mix of the two Cults. And then some may believe there are actually Gods (not the Moon, not the Ancestors, not the Elementals, but Gods like Pelor, Oghma, Wee-Jas, Boccob...), and worship them... So yeah... I think that's it. Your thoughts? P.S: I'll update the front page later, with the example worlds (Santharia, Fargoth and Farland, probably Relative Enthropy), and the notice that we're working on Religions and Cosmology.
Eltheynn 08-31-04, 05:40 AM	AAAAAAH!!!! The boards update ATE my last edits on the first page, as well as the last couple of posts. Well, I'll be updating it in a couple weeks, yet again. And I'll also provide a sample cosmology to get the ball rolling with the World Project we are working on... 'Cos we're still working on it, right? ;)
thasis 08-31-04, 12:31 PM	This board update rocks and sucks at the same time. For some reason I can't find one of my threads that has been around for some time now. Oh, Sorry for getting off-topic. So what are we working on next in the custom world we're doing
Eltheynn 08-31-04, 02:40 PM	Next thing we're working on? I'd say Cosmology (Planes and stuff) would be the logical thing to follow the Pantheon... But the pantheon has yet to be approved by some members. I suggest we put off working on it till the 10th of September, when I will have more time to dedicate to this... By then, I'll PM members of the Foundation to get them to vote if so they wish. BTW, your post probably dissapeared because it was posted after the 24th and before the update. Posts made in this period of time (see my previous post on this foundation) were not transferred to the new boards... Links to threads do not work either, as the system of linking these boards have is different. There's a thread somewhere in the D&D Metaboard (not named Metaboard now, though) about this.
thasis 08-31-04, 08:05 PM	Sorry once again for off-topic but I posted this thing like a month ago. Thats not fair that it got deleted. Now for on topic. What is this world called. If you named it I guess I missed it.
Eltheynn 09-01-04, 06:04 AM	Hmmm... *reviews thread* The world has yet to be named... Any ideas? Well... Considering I'm busy as heck now, what about you guys decide on a name for the world? Once I get out of the bucketload of stuff I have to do, we'll have named world and continue with the rest of stuff. Is that OK? I won't be able to suggest names, tally eventual votes or anything like that, unfortunately, so... Don't count on me for about two weeks. See ya on the 12th of September or so... To the Missing Members (you know who you are), in case you still lurk around here: Is everything OK? Or did the Tarrasque ate you all? :P
thasis 09-01-04, 11:13 AM	I would suggest The Fallen Sun Campaign Setting but thats the name of my campaign I play in. Hmm... good name. I know this is a rip of off a cool game but The Frozen Throne Campaign. Probally no so howbout The Dark Edge of the Moon Campaign Setting.
Fuzzy Logic Inc. 09-05-04, 05:21 PM	Well, are we looking for a setting name? Or a name of the planet itself? If its a setting we're looking for, I like the Forgotten Sun idea. But it sounds too familiar for me too. The Dark Edge of the Moon brings to mind the Dark Side of the Moon album by Pink Flloyd, so we might want to pass that one up.
Silmarien Aldalome 09-07-04, 10:12 PM	I'd say Cosmology (Planes and stuff) would be the logical thing to follow the Pantheon... *grins* Hi there everyone. Well, are we looking for a setting name? Or a name of the planet itself? If its a setting we're looking for, I like the Forgotten Sun idea. But it sounds too familiar for me too. The Dark Edge of the Moon brings to mind the Dark Side of the Moon album by Pink Flloyd, so we might want to pass that one up. The Timeless Passage Campaign The Vaulted Dimensions The Lost Dimensions The Timeless Throne The Vaults of Aarendor...... stav
WorldConquerer 09-08-04, 09:36 PM	I'll join! Link here: The World of Dragonblade
Eltheynn 09-11-04, 11:57 AM	I'll join! Link here: The World of Dragonblade Added to member and Setting lists. By the way, old links no longer work with the new boards, so if you want me to update the linkage to your Setting Threads, post or PM me the appropriate link, please. I'll however try to fix them myself if need be. Thanks. P.S: I r t3h b@ckz00rz!11!shift!!11eleven!1!! YAY!eleventyshiftyone!!11!! EDIT: Do NOT send me (or post) any links, I fixed 'em myself. However, if you find any of them to be malfunctioning, please let me know.
WorldConquerer 09-13-04, 12:36 AM	Time to share campaign setting ideas. They should be ideas that you like and/or are thinking about making, and are no wore developed than "it takes place here" and "here's the idea" . Please include world name (if you have one) and a very short description. This isn't a "show off your world" topic, merely a place to brainstorm ideas. Glacia-- an arctic world Gel-Ratha-- a world dominated by Chaos Minions, very high-tech Fenn-- a fey-heavy world Kurantha-- a standard, yet undead-heavy world [Unamed]-- an arctic, undead-heavy world
Eltheynn 09-13-04, 07:16 AM	Glacia-- an arctic world Me likes as a name for the foundation's Setting, given the fact that the most common landscape is covered in ice and snow ;) BTW, a question for all of you? How do you name your Worlds/Kingdoms/Continents? Just using random cool sounding words? Name Generators? Real-World names? Below is a sample of an idea of mine for the Setting's Cosmology: The Prime Material plane is the center of the Setting's Cosmology. It is shrouded by the Astral, Ethereal and Shadow Planes, and orbiting this Planar Shroud is a ring composed of Fire, Earth, Water and Air, distributed in four different zones. The ring is, however, only one plane, the Plane of Essence. The planes of Positive and Negative Energy are not planes, per se, but threads of pure energy that cross the Material Plane, invisible to us petty mortals, but useful nonetheless... P.S: I know it needs more work, but... It ain't bad, is it? ;) P.P.S: further linkage fixed... Aaaaw
thasis 09-13-04, 09:41 AM	I like the idea of a undead heavy world. Sounds cool. For names, I find something that I have used before and make it sound better. Or I come up with something new. But I make it sound like something cool like The Fallen Sun Campaign Setting or The Voids of Chaos. Usualy I make it relevent to something such as a powerfull guild inside the game. Thats just my two words (or more). Thasis out (beam me up scotty)
Fuzzy Logic Inc. 09-14-04, 04:48 AM	Figuring out names for continents and Kingdoms and the such takes me forever. Usually I pick something off the top of my head that sounds cool and then, while I'm working on it, mold it into something that sounds good. This usually takes a long time, which is why I haven't posted anything for my own setting yet.... :(
His Majesty 09-14-04, 02:08 PM	Well... Considering I'm busy as heck now, what about you guys decide on a name for the world? Once I get out of the bucketload of stuff I have to do, we'll have named world and continue with the rest of stuff. Here's the relevant question from the upcoming FAQ. I know that I should've finished it by now, but I'm busy too. Any additions are welcome. Q: How do I make up names? Some people have a natural talent for naming, but many others find it difficult to come up with names for the different elements of their campaign setting. For all those people, here are some methods that will hopefully help you find the perfect names for your homebrew world. Random Name Generators These are the easiest solution to a “namer’s block”. As their name implies, RNGs generate names for you, drawing from a database or composing them according to certain guidelines. Random Name Generators Squid.org's RNGs (http://www.squid.org/tools/random/index.php) The Star Wars RNG (http://www.dimfuture.net/starwars/random/) Everchanging Book of Names (http://ebon.pyorre.net/) Chris Pound's Name Generation Page (http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~pound/) Seventh Sanctum's RNGs (http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-name.php) Fantasy Name Generator (http://rinkworks.com/namegen/) Kate Monk's Onomastikon (http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/KateMonk/) Behind the Name (http://www.behindthename.com/random.html) Using Real-World Words Carry a notebook in your pocket, and write down interesting words, to use (possibly with some modifications) as names for things in your homebrew. You can also actively search for such words – use a dictionary, and look for interesting words, or translate words into obscure languages (Navaho, Latin, Chinese / Indian dialects, Tolkien’s Quenya or Sindarin, Hebrew, and so on). Language Links Tolkien’s Languages: The Ardalambion (http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/) www.foreignword.biz (http://www.foreignword.biz/directory/) Modifying Existing Words Take a word that you like, or is thematically related to the thing you want to name. Switch around the letters, add a few vowels, and so forth. You could also choose several words, or use parts of words, or use foreign words. For example, I want to play an awakened wild boar, but I can’t find a proper name for him. I choose the words swine and mud. I stare at them for a couple of minutes and finally switch around the letters to create the word Dwemisun. But that sounds a bit too long, so I change it to Dwemsin. The created word doesn’t sound like the component words at all, and is completely original. Random Letter Arrangement Write all of the letters of the alphabet on small pieces of paper. If you aren’t too lazy , write each letter twice and each vowel thrice. Spill the small bits of paper on the floor and rearrange them into words until you’re comfortable with the outcome. You could also do this with a computer instead of bits of paper – open your word-processor, click your keyboard randomly 3-12 times, and edit the resulting word. Repeat as necessary.
His Majesty 09-14-04, 02:51 PM	The Realm of Mortals ("the Material Plane", if you're a scholar) is a wide ring, consisting mostly of water, with several separate continents. Above the lands of mortals the battered moon and glorious sun chase each other in the blue skies. The Realm of Mortals surrounds the Elemental Core, where the elements boil and combine in terrible and magnificent storms. The Realm of Mortals is flanked by two rings. The northern ring is almost completely unexplored by mortals, for it is not a place for the living - this is the Land of the Dead. The Southern ring is known as the Dark Lands, or The Shadows. A land of mystery and wonders, as well as terrible, lucid locations and monsters, the Shadows are not lighted by the sun. They are seperated from the Realm of Mortals, in most places, by large mountain ranges. The easiest way to enter the Shadows is by sea. Above the sun, the moon and the clouds is the Astral Plane. In this land of pure thought the Gods reside in large "demiplanes". The cornerstones of these demiplanes can be viewed on the earth as glittering stars. (The realm of each god lies between several stars.) If you continue to rise above the Astral Plane, you will finally reach the inbearably hot, white nothingness that surrounds the world. The Ethereal is present and not present everywhere, all at once. Some suppose that it is the "glue" that holds everything together. Positive Energy originates from the searing white void that surrounds the world. Negative Energy is destructive, but it is the delicate balance between positive and negative energy that enables life. The most important source of negative energy is the Galesrun, the black river that flows through the Land of the Dead - its waters are saturated with negative energy.
His Majesty 09-14-04, 03:10 PM	To the Missing Members (you know who you are), in case you still lurk around here: Is everything OK? Or did the Tarrasque ate you all? :P I personally was swallowed whole by my homework, and then reincarnated by one of my players, who demands another D&D MCAU RP session. :censored: players. Links to threads do not work either, as the system of linking these boards have is different. Incorrect. Old links sometimes work. This link (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=292441), for example, works. For more info about the new linking system, see this post.
Silmarien Aldalome 09-14-04, 07:27 PM	I personally was swallowed whole by my homework, and then reincarnated by one of my players, who demands another D&D MCAU RP session. :censored: players. Incorrect. Old links sometimes work. This link (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=292441), for example, works. For more info about the new linking system, see this post. Thanx kindly. @His Majesty Very nice. I really like your phonetic swapping idea. It makes for rolling and exotic sounds. Good to see you guyz, BTW. We'll be trying some "interaction threads" out soon. In these - foundations can interact in competition-like exchanges, where a panel of judges (from amongst the posters). Hope everyone's well - c u all soon. s t a v
Eltheynn 09-15-04, 10:05 AM	*takes notes on naming techniques and linkage stuff*: Well, seems I worked for nothing... But the links work either way, so yeah... BTW, that cosmology idea by His Majesty... Good one, fellow... Me likes.
Magius 09-22-04, 01:58 PM	I made an alternate magic system which I recently realized could be the base for a world... The system involves instead of a list of spells, two factors of each spell, the shapers and the shaped. The shapers are the variables of the spell, the different ways an energy could be manipulated (duration, range, targets, shape...). The shaped is a kind of magical energy, raw energy (Fire, Transportation, Conjuration, shadow...). Each mage's class is the shaped he specializes in (There will be pyrowizards, cosmomagi, and necromancers). He has a certain amount of shapers and a certain amount of 'points' to allocate to them. So a fire mage could either cast a fireball or a flame strike or a jet of flame, without resorting to a list; he'd just choose the appropriate shape. Or someone could have a finger of death spell, only modified so it acts also as a chain lightning, jumping from target to target and dealing less damage, or it could be a burst with an area...instead of having a spell for each effect, you'd just have different shapers applied. The player would always have a few notes of commonly cast spells, so that he doesn;t have to define Magic missile each time; he can just look at the note. There's another more complicated factor, but how does it look so far? It could be made into a world simply. Everyone has magic, just different kinds. Instead of just the twelve schools, you know have many many more, and the shapers mean that no two magi will be the same. Also, multiclassing expands the options further. Any comments?
WorldConquerer 09-22-04, 10:08 PM	Sounds very cool. Why didn't I think of that?
turalisj 09-22-04, 10:28 PM	wow, very cool. ive thought up a new diety system. dragons a reveared as gods and elves are the preists. drow worship chromatic dragons and sun elves worship metalic ones. each group of elves has a shrine which the dragon whom the shrine is built for visits every season (fall, spring, summer, winter) and sends his/her children to defend that villiage/community. so watta ya think?
Eltheynn 09-23-04, 10:15 AM	The new magic system is cool... Simillar to the Mage: the Ascension system, but still a bit different. Me likes. The deities system is all but new and original, which does not mean it is bad. Why dragons and only dragons as gods and why elves and only elves as priests, though? What about the other races?
Magius 09-23-04, 01:40 PM	I'm glad the idea is liked. Neat. There's just one last factor, a more complex factor to create and understand; even I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, but it looks neat. It's about multiclassing between the schools. The place I got it from is the semi CRPG Heroes of Might and Magic 4, and it's easiest to explain in that context. In Heroes, the character played can pick different fields of expertise, 5 of which are magical (death, nature, life, chaos, order). There is a special feature in which if you take two schools of magic, you get at certain levels a spell which is a combination of the two schools. For instance, a character with death spells (a lot of undead and demons/devils) and nature spells (a lot of summoning spells) gets a spell called "summon imp", which is of a seperate school. There will be- if I can engineer it- a feature in the magic system in which if you take two schools- say, blood magic and transportation magic- you get a small spell list of spells which are a combination of the two- in the case above, at the higher levels you might have a spell similar to the blood magus's ability (Tome and Blood) to teleport through people's blood, and you can semi-solidify inside the body of the...errm...teleportee and deal a lot of damage. This minimizes the amount of spells in the PHB that cannot be implemented into my system. It also gives an edge to those who choose variety, though 'purists' who stick to a single school will also be greatly rewarded. Edit: Mage: the ascension? What's that system?
His Majesty 09-23-04, 04:36 PM	Mage: The Ascension (The name has probably changed now that the World of Darkness has gone through the Apocalypse) is a White Wolf (www.white-wolf.com) product. Everybody plays mages, which are organized in secret societies, opposing the Technocrats, whose goal is to abolish thought and magic, and I'm too lazy to try to explain any much longer. Pretty cool setting. You might be interested in The Mage Project. I know almost nothing about it, but what I know seems relevant. PS: You're Israeli! Suddenly I'm seeing lots of those. I'm from Jerusalem.
bg2soatob 09-23-04, 05:12 PM	accidental post...
Magius 09-23-04, 05:15 PM	I didn;t understand much about either one. I couldn't get any info on Mage and the mage project looked different than mine. Anyhow, what do you think of the system so far (this is basically it without the details, which I have not yet designed)
Eltheynn 09-23-04, 05:35 PM	I'm glad the idea is liked. Neat. There's just one last factor, a more complex factor to create and understand; even I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, but it looks neat. It's about multiclassing between the schools. The place I got it from is the semi CRPG Heroes of Might and Magic 4, and it's easiest to explain in that context. In Heroes, the character played can pick different fields of expertise, 5 of which are magical (death, nature, life, chaos, order). There is a special feature in which if you take two schools of magic, you get at certain levels a spell which is a combination of the two schools. For instance, a character with death spells (a lot of undead and demons/devils) and nature spells (a lot of summoning spells) gets a spell called "summon imp", which is of a seperate school. There will be- if I can engineer it- a feature in the magic system in which if you take two schools- say, blood magic and transportation magic- you get a small spell list of spells which are a combination of the two- in the case above, at the higher levels you might have a spell similar to the blood magus's ability (Tome and Blood) to teleport through people's blood, and you can semi-solidify inside the body of the...errm...teleportee and deal a lot of damage. This minimizes the amount of spells in the PHB that cannot be implemented into my system. It also gives an edge to those who choose variety, though 'purists' who stick to a single school will also be greatly rewarded. Edit: Mage: the ascension? What's that system? In Mage you can also do effects that are only possible if you take two or more schools (i.e. you can move objects by merely using the Force "school", but to animate it you'd need Life and Primal, and probably Enthropy). In fact, the better effects are achieved by using several schools (Make that security camera turn so you aren't seen while you project your senses through it to see who's at the Security Room, watching the what the camera records. It saved my character's ass ;)). Perhaps you could take a look at the M:tA products to salvage ideas? Most of the work has already been done for you, you just have to convert it to D&D d20. So, I'd have the straight casters cast more powerful spells of the chosen school, whereas the multiclassed ones have lesser spells of both (or more) schools, and more powerful effects created when several schools are used. Fits with the system, and keeps balance. You might also want to assign Spellcraft DC's for certain powerful effects that theoretically the character couldn't pull off if multiclassed characters fall behind in power, but that is overcomplicating if you don't really need it.
Magius 09-24-04, 02:39 AM	So the M:TA system is combining different forces into a single spell, and you have a limited amount of energy to spend? Yeah, that is kind of close to mine. But are there shapers? That is, are there limits on what you can do with the energy, or only an amount of energy you can spend? The idea of shapers is to be able to form the energy into different types of the same energy- fireball, flame strike, flame arrow, burning hands and Aganazzar's schorcher would all fall under the same category and you could cast all of those and more with the right shapers. Can you do this in M:TA? Also, the last factor- the "Summon imp" ability-is missing.
Eltheynn 09-24-04, 10:15 AM	Limits? Well, yes... There's Paradox (paradox is created if the effect is too flashy, 'cause you're literally warping reality, and thus reality turns to you... To keep it short, if you overdo the magic mumbo-jumbo, the GM is free to balance it out by having "strange things" happen to you... for example, if you provoke too much paradox, when it backlashes, you could misteriously fall down the stairs and break your arm, or for extreme cases you can be struck by lightning :P), and then there my GM assigned DC's for the effects (based on what you CAN do, and what you WANT to do), but I don't remember if it was an official rule. I reccommend getting your hands in some M:tA books, now that they're wiping it off completely at WW, they should be cheap, and you won't have to buy new editions every now and then anymore ;) Even if you don't use them for your magic system, it's still a good game IMHO. P.S: As for summoning an imp... I'd restrict it to evil casters, specialised in summoning, and make it a mid-to-high level effect... P.P.S: Soooo... What are we using for a Cosmology? I myself prefer His Majesty's idea, but I ain't the only one here, am I? ;)
Magius 09-26-04, 02:29 AM	Summon imp is just a nickname for it, since that's how I came up with the idea of the effect. Summon imp itself might be summoning plus fiend magic, if there is such a thing, or summoning and negative energy, or just plain summoning...It's not a specific effect, just an example.
His Majesty 10-02-04, 09:50 AM	Ooh, it's quiet in here... :shiftyeyes:
Eltheynn 10-07-04, 12:12 PM	Ooh, it's quiet in here... :shiftyeyes: It certainly is.... I haven't been able to visit the boards for some time, and probably will have to leave again for a looooong time. So, to sum up, the state of the Worldbuilding project is: Minor details of the planet: Done Creation Mythos: Done Religion: Done Cosmology: Undecided, only I and His Majesty presented ideas, and I prefer His Majesty's. The rest: To be done. Lots of work... Someone else will have to take care of the Foundation and the Project if I finally leave... Good luck to whomever does so. For now, I'll be mostly lurking for a time, whenever I can. So read ya, guys and gals. P.S: PM received and post answered, His Majesty. ;)
thasis 10-07-04, 06:03 PM	Your not going to leave the boards permently right?
Eltheynn 10-08-04, 08:42 AM	Your not going to leave the boards permently right? I'm leaving, but not permanently (yet). If I, hoewever, decide to never return (highly improbable, but hey... Who knows?), I'll give notice of it. P.S: I'm going to make my email adress public at my profile, so anybody can reach me if need be.
Eltheynn 11-21-04, 02:39 PM	Holy cow has this been dead since I left!!!! Shall we just declare the Worldbuilding Project dead (since it never sparked too much interest anyway)? I do not mean to end the foundation as well, though. This :bump: is proof of it... Heh, I think I should have promoted this Foundation at the Campaign Workshop board a bit... ;)
thasis 11-21-04, 10:03 PM	Hello Eltheynn. It's nice to see you again. It's been along time. I hope this foundation gets some activity. On world building I'm running a campaign in a homebrew called Fallen Sun. Going realy well. I'm also starting a campaign at school with a couple of the chums. I'm not DMing that one though.
Magius 11-21-04, 10:22 PM	Thought you never would be back. If you want I can get working on my magic system, just to give some activity...Welcome back, regardless.
Eltheynn 11-26-04, 10:23 AM	Well... At least some of you are still there... Do as you please with this foundation, I won't be attending it much, but it'd be nice to see some activity... Y'know, I had expected that it'd remain active even if I left. But whatever, I'll come every once in a while and if someone has posted I'll gladly reply and offer my point of view. @Magius: The guys at the Magic Items and Spells forum may be prove helpful as well... I liked the idea, and if you want, I'll give feedback on what you have, and help with it to the best of my ability. Just don't freak out if I don't reply for weeks ;) P.S: I'll edit the front page noticing of a temporary stop of the Worldbuilding Project... To keep it going we'd need someone to work on this foundation more than I can (and gather the members back), and it's not that easy.
Magius 11-27-04, 10:58 AM	I don't think a system which almost eliminates the spell system would fit on "Magic items and spells"...regardless, if I can give some life to this foundation, all the better. Don't worry about your posting...unlike another forum I participate in, this gives me E-mail notification, which means I won't have to go here independantly. So far I haven't done much...I'm working on what counts as a shaper of a spell and what doesn't. Things like duration and area are obviously shapers, but the actual effect- whether it stuns or deals damage, for instance, will be an ability given to the class. Thus, a 1st level psion (spellcaster with mental shaped points, or mana) will not be able to throw people back with his mind spells, but he will be able to, say, make them shaken, feared, or maybe even stunned. This is part of the shaped; it is the effect the shaped takes. That's off the top of my head. I'll look at what I've done on paper and try to post again with some more stuff. I still have little detail, though.
devinmdp 11-29-04, 02:03 PM	To be honest, I had initially become involved with this forum as a place to potentially discuss general world building issues. But the forum seemed to morph into an effort to build a single specific world, and that just didn't interest me too much.
WorldConquerer 11-29-04, 11:31 PM	To get my message, see what devinmpd just said.
Jharviss 12-21-04, 12:17 AM	I can't say anything against the idea of this board, as I'm an avid world builder. In fact... its basically all I do. So is this guild now closed, like, officially/unofficially? I wouldn't mind reopening it if people were interested. I love building worlds. For those of you who are interested in a group effort world-build, come check out my world, Aldreia (http://www.geocities.com/jharviss/), and if your interested in helping, join the creators, Colabore (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colabore). Its a ton of fun... atleast for me. But then again, I love world building so my opinion is biased. Again, I'd love to have this be an active organization. What do we say?
thasis 12-21-04, 12:55 AM	Well I love worldbuilding and I love this guild so I would love restarting it. Currently I'm working on a campaign based of a old campaign called Darkwood. I have 3 cities done and a forest and a dungeon inside the forest. There's also some mountains. The campaigns main focus is a religious war between a bunch of allied evil gods vs Pelor and his allies. So far evil is winning. That's basically all I got.
WorldConquerer 12-21-04, 01:50 AM	Yes, restart this guild! I'm currently working on a world called the Old Lands. There are no real distinguishing features, pretty typical, but big. And Old is there for a reason. I might get it published, but to avoid getting sued by WotC, I'm creating my own game system called the d.10 system, for lack of a better name. Some of the stuff in my world's history is probably not covered in the Open Gaming Liscence.
Magius 12-21-04, 10:33 AM	Reopen! I'm in the middle of a very complex world- I'm really just starting- and in the middle of a magic system which could easily have its own campaign world surrounding its theme. I haven't been getting around to the system that much, I'm very pressed for time, but I'll post what I think of here. Reopen the thread, I love worldbuilding!
Jharviss 12-21-04, 01:35 PM	Alright! It's been done! Go to here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=353975) to find the new re-opened guild. Woot.
Ishmayl 03-31-06, 07:14 AM	If people are still looking for places to share in their ideas for campaigns and world-building, there is an excellent new community dedicated to that sole cause: the Campaign Builders' Guild (http://www.thecbg.org) The people there are lovely, there are resources available for you to peruse, and recently, we just updated the capabilities of the site to include space for private hosting of a campaign setting. Come on by and say hello! Cheers! -Ishy