It is something I had always thought about: Zendikar is one of the most marvellous fantasy worlds I've ever known about. Browsing through the Planeswalker's Guide To Zendikar is always great, the artwork is top-notch and awe-inspiring, and even if it's rather filled of cliches here and there, what kind of fun fantasy world isn't?
I thought that maybe some D&D players could not know about Zendikar (although I doubt that) and others would either don't like it, love it, or maybe right out think MtG shouldn't be mixed with D&D. So these are the options in the poll!
The "I don't know what Zendikar is" may also be the right answer if you just don't know enough about it to decide if it would make a good D&D world.
EDIT: Since so many don't know enough about Zendikar, I have organized the sources and spiced with some visuals in this thread: Designing a Zendikar D&D campaign setting/world
I like it. Lots of inspiring pics.
And it has solid story too.
Plus, it could host a lot of new mechanics, or none at all, it's very flexible. After the success of Dark Sun, I see Zendikar as something very viable.
Of course, none of this stops you from running a game set in Zendikar. Which would bre pretty awesome.
As awesome as Zendikar is as a setting (it was meant to emmulate a DnD world, hence all the pulp action and fantasy adventure locals), it will never happen. If I recall, there is something of a rivalry between the different branches of WotC. Furthermore, crossing material kind of dillutes brand identity. Then again, there are some Zendikar mechanics meant to be evocative of DnD mechancis (hence the Zen Vampires getting extra boosts when enemies are "bloodied" and monsters which "level up").
Of course, none of this stops you from running a game set in Zendikar. Which would bre pretty awesome.
I would have said exactly the same words, except for the rivalry between the two branches: I didn't know it existed, but I could have guessed it.
I could also guess that at the very least, the D&D team thinks that the rivalry exist among the players and the communities, and so they would make their products stay away from the MtG flavor.
The poll was meant to also let the developers know our feelings towards this surprisingly delicate matter. Because in the remote chance that they really stayed away from the thing because they thought it was OUR direction, this might be a way to let them know we could actually enjoy a twist.
Maybe?
Green primal (Middleworld)
Black shadow (Shadowfell)
White divine (Astral Sea)
Red elemental (Elemental Chaos) especially energy effects
Blue arcane (Feywild) especially mental effects
Maybe?
Green primal (Middleworld)
Black shadow (Shadowfell)
White divine (Astral Sea)
Red elemental (Elemental Chaos) especially energy effects
Blue arcane (Feywild) especially mental effects
I didn't think about how the typical 4e cosmology might have interacted with Zendikar, but I think Zendikar's "Roil" force might have something to do with them, opening new possibilities.
In Zendikar, the Roil modifies the landscape and the magical energies thereby contained... I envision the echo-planes as being completely merged with the natural world, going "on and off" depending on the roil.
For example, exploring an ancient ruin or tinkering with strange features of the landscape might trigger a passage to the Shadowfell or to the Feywild. Which could also be seen as influences of mana colors as you suggested! I'd view them more as temporary changes of the natural world than "ongoing" echoes of it. For example, saying that a city exist only in the Feywild, in classic core world D&D would mean you have to find its location in the natural world and then travel to the Feywild in that place. So you go there and then come back. In Zendikar, it could be more like "bringing the Feywild into the world" instead of travelling to it. And then you would need to "push it back away", or leave it there with the possibility that it influences more and more land, until a whole region of the world actually becomes Feywild.
The Elemental Chaos on Zendikar is... All around you. It's blended with the world, and could BE the Roil itself. Then, to actually access the infinite Elemental Chaos would be another thing, it might require finding a rift zone. But what is sure is that the interactions between the Elemental Chaos and Zendikar should be close, more or less like the "normal" interactions of Feywild and Shadowfell with a classic natural world.
Zendikar may even be a veeery large elemental realm, as big as a real planet so that people and creatures inside would not realize that they are in the Elemental Chaos. But this would pose many problems, for example what to do with the other planes. But it gives an idea of how much of the Elemental Chaos could be into Zendikar.
Which brings me a great idea: the setting could be characterized by the fact that the characters and few other individuals can actually shape the landscape with their wills. Battles would turn exquisitely interesting if gravity, solid ground, and dangerous terrain could be controlled by the characters OR their enemies.
See, Zendikar would look very promising as a D&D campaign setting.
In Zendikar, the Roil modifies the landscape and the magical energies thereby contained. For example, exploring an ancient ruin or tinkering with strange features of the landscape might trigger a passage to the Shadowfell or to the Feywild. Which could also be seen as influences of mana colors as you suggested! I'd view them more as temporary changes than "ongoing" echoes of it.
For example, saying that a city exist only in the Feywild, in classic core world D&D would mean you have to find its location in the natural world and then travel to the Feywild in that place. So you go there and then come back. In Zendikar, it could be more like "bringing the Feywild into the world" instead of travelling to it. And then you would need to "push it back away", or leave it there with the possibility that it influences more and more land, until a whole region of the world actually becomes Feywild.
The Elemental Chaos on Zendikar is ... All around you. It's blended with the world, and could BE the Roil itself. Then, to actually access the infinite Elemental Chaos would be another thing. It might require finding a rift zone. But the interactions between the Elemental Chaos and Zendikar should be close, like the "normal" interactions of Feywild and Shadowfell with a classic natural world.
Zendikar may even be a veeery large elemental realm, as big as a planet so people inside would not realize they are in the Elemental Chaos. But this would pose problems, for example, what to do with the other planes. But it gives an idea of how much of the Elemental Chaos could be into Zendikar.
Zendikar as an Elemental realm sounds cool. The 'veils' between it and other planes seem 'volitile', so other planes tend to bleed in. If such a 'roil' from an other plane entirely obsorbs a region of Zendikar, is the region still accessible from Zendikar or does it disappear from Zendikar?
Which brings me a great idea: the setting could be characterized by the fact that the characters and few other individuals can actually shape the landscape with their wills. Battles would turn exquisitely interesting if gravity, solid ground, and dangerous terrain could be controlled by the characters OR their enemies.
Sounds appropriate. Reminds me of this cool Elemental feature (Plane Below, 7) ...
Influence Instability
You bend the blane to your will, smashing a nearby object into your foe or creating energy that dose it harm.
Atwill • [variable]
Standard action, Ranged 15/30
Target: Int v Refl
Special: If arcana trained, add implement bonus to attack rolls.
Hit: 2d10 +Int [choose] acd, cld, fir, ltg, poi, rad, thu, or unt.
L21: 4d10.
The main difference would be, in Zendicar, maybe with an action point, you could do a zone (at paragon?) and a three-dimensional slide (at epic?).
s for the power quoting, that's exactly what i was thinking, along with the one for changing terrain type.About the planar thing, I meant it more like if the planes were all contained "inside" zendikar, and physical changes (like Influence Instability or similar powers) could simply "let the planes come out". But that would completely change the significance of planes. However, the effct is more or less the same of your "a 'roil' from an other plane entirely absorbs a region of Zendikar". And I would say "Yes, the region would still be accessible, but you'd need to deal with a LOT of dangerous terrains that would constitute the boundaries of the newly "influenced" region, because it changed physically, also in position, maybe starting to float on earthmotes and such. So if you used to access the forest just by walking your way into it, after it "becomes feywild", you could find yourself into a lot of cliffhanging, because it now sits on top of multiple earthmotes...!
By the way, I started a "sister thread" in the Campaign Workshop forum, where I'm also posting quotes from you (it's becoming a habit!
)... It would be appropriate to discuss these details there!Designing a Zendikar D&D campaign setting/world
Since so many seem to not know enough about Zendikar, that is a good place to start!
Archaon, your Zendikar presentation looks pretty sweet. I like the idea of it as an Elemental realm. Is it possible to build Genasi and Githzerai into the setting, or do you prefer to stay true to the MtG canon?
Thanks, stay tuned for the public group I'm going to create in order to have a proper dedicated forum!
I'd say Genasi are perfectly ok, they can be interpreted very similarly to devas in the standard world: instead of angels bound by primal spirits, they would directly be spirits (which in zendikar's case can very well be elemental more than primal) incarnated.
Githzerai could be a "visitor race" with no problem.
Also, devas are again perfectly ok with the flavor, but they would have made a pact with no less than elemental entities for a twist! Knowing what Zendikar is supposed to imprison, it's not unthinkable to see elemental and divine working together...
I think the key of creating an appealing D&D Zendikar setting is making it feel D&D. Any reference to mana color would be translated into the correspondent power source (following the general scheme of White=Divine, Blue=Arcane/Psionic, Black=Shadow, Red=Elemental/Arcane, Green=Primal), and every reference to "mana" could find varied explanations, in some cases also remainign as mana, but explaining its concept into D&D-savvy words. After all it is only a measure of power, and the fact that it can come from the land itself becomes pretty D&D-canon-ish, when acknowledging that the land of Zendikar is land of Elemental Chaos...
The vast majority of even mechanical aspects of the game can be re-engineered as D&D rules with very interesting outcomes, especially when it comes to monsters...
I'm converting monsters and it's a blast. For now I've got a spooky Aether Figment and a majestic Felidar Sovereign, both with great story and feel, google them or look at the Felidar in the image representing the Sejiri region in my thread
Commentning on the results of the poll:
Sometime during the last 3 hours we got a SECOND person voting "No". Before this time, only one person had voted no. A surprising amount of people didn't know about Zendikar or, following the guideline I provided, they voted "don't know what it is" but meant "don't know enough to decide if it would be good or bad". It's actually an irrelevant part of the poll (hence the neutral green color
) because it can be easily solved by reading the lore. Also recently, the "Yes" have surpassed the "I don't like the idea of mixing D&D with Magic The Gathering". Of course, my take on the latter is again that it is caused by misinformation: by creating a D&D setting, we're actually excluding everything related to Magic The Gathering, with some things remaining as unidentifiable legacies, that only people that also plays MtG would recognize, and those are surely among the ones who voted Yes, or more probably "Yes and I had already thought about it". And speaking of this, I'm proud to say this latter option was the most voted, and summed up with the "Yes" it makes for a very much welcome 47%, which, if normalized against the nigh irrelevant last two options, is a staggering majority.(On a negative note, only 40-42 people have voted, still too few!)