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4e Cosmology and History

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
circumnavigate
Feb 13, 2010 15:35:37 Every now and then I come across specifics to the 4e DND accepted cosmology and history. Now, before I get responses that the game is mine and I can do what I want, I fully realize this. But I'd love to know what the *accepted* and written cosmology and history of the canonical 4e dnd universe is, in writing, somewhere. Like, when I come to the evil alignments and gods in the DMG, they talk about how a god can die, but it takes a lot of rituals and powerful heroes, etc. But they also say that Asmodeus was the first one to kill a god. Cool. How? When?

I see lots of references to the Dawn War between Gods and Primordials. I like these concepts, and I'd like to either use them or use them just for inspiration. Where is this history written?? Shouldn't there be like, just a simple rundown of what happened to make the world what it is today? Did the gods craft the Natural World? Did they do that after the Dawn War? I have the PHB, DMG, DMG2, Manual of the Planes, and I still can't find anything like this summary anywhere in there. Please help, or explain it to me here? THANKS!
#2
Preston_R
Feb 13, 2010 23:01:42 I don't think it exists. There's a lot of snippets here and there, and some of them contradict one another in places (like the origins of the Gods and their relationships)

A few things are certain though

The primordials were born of the elemental chaos.

They created the world from the elemental chaos. (or found it and started mucking with it, depending on the legends you read)

The world birthed its reflections - the Shadowfel, the Faewild, and the Astral Sea. Maybe.

The gods were born in the and of the astral sea. Maybe, or they created it. Or their birth created it. Depends on who you ask.

The Gods created Mortals in the world and started mucking with the Primordials toy. Or the Mortals created the gods. Or something.

The primordials got all pissy about the Gods imposing order on their world, and they started a war. Or the gods got tired of the primordials killing their mortals and started a war. Or Llolth started it. Depends on who you ask. Lots of fighting, gods and primordials died or got imprisoned.

The Primal Spirits told the Gods and the Primordials to get the hell of their lawn cause they were messing up the garden.
#3
hidden17
Feb 16, 2010 17:55:52 Pretty much that. 4e cosmology and history is pretty much fill-in-the-blanks, and most of it is up to the individual GM. Third edition cosmology is much more clearly defined, and I'd advise using that if you want a pre-built cosmology, history and metaphysics to play about with rather than having to essentially make your own.

The Manual of the Planes (4e) helps a bit, but it's more of a collection of good ideas and neat little places rather than an overview of the big picture or an attempt to fill in all the gaps.
#4
Aerodyth
Feb 17, 2010 11:22:38 On the mortal end of things, the last empire was Nerith, but that was destroyed when a gnoll invasion killed the entire royal line in the final battle

Before that was the Dragoonborn empire (Akrosha) and Tiefling's (Bael Turath) but they got into a was which destroyed both empires.

Outside of that, there's not much. Names are most likely spelled wrong, but anyways. There's no timeline for those events though I use 100 and 500 years ago as the fall of each of the dynasties though I think it's hinted that it's been more than that for each.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 circumnavigate Feb 13, 2010 15:35:37	Every now and then I come across specifics to the 4e DND accepted cosmology and history. Now, before I get responses that the game is mine and I can do what I want, I fully realize this. But I'd love to know what the accepted and written cosmology and history of the canonical 4e dnd universe is, in writing, somewhere. Like, when I come to the evil alignments and gods in the DMG, they talk about how a god can die, but it takes a lot of rituals and powerful heroes, etc. But they also say that Asmodeus was the first one to kill a god. Cool. How? When? I see lots of references to the Dawn War between Gods and Primordials. I like these concepts, and I'd like to either use them or use them just for inspiration. Where is this history written?? Shouldn't there be like, just a simple rundown of what happened to make the world what it is today? Did the gods craft the Natural World? Did they do that after the Dawn War? I have the PHB, DMG, DMG2, Manual of the Planes, and I still can't find anything like this summary anywhere in there. Please help, or explain it to me here? THANKS!
#2 Preston_R Feb 13, 2010 23:01:42	I don't think it exists. There's a lot of snippets here and there, and some of them contradict one another in places (like the origins of the Gods and their relationships) A few things are certain though The primordials were born of the elemental chaos. They created the world from the elemental chaos. (or found it and started mucking with it, depending on the legends you read) The world birthed its reflections - the Shadowfel, the Faewild, and the Astral Sea. Maybe. The gods were born in the and of the astral sea. Maybe, or they created it. Or their birth created it. Depends on who you ask. The Gods created Mortals in the world and started mucking with the Primordials toy. Or the Mortals created the gods. Or something. The primordials got all pissy about the Gods imposing order on their world, and they started a war. Or the gods got tired of the primordials killing their mortals and started a war. Or Llolth started it. Depends on who you ask. Lots of fighting, gods and primordials died or got imprisoned. The Primal Spirits told the Gods and the Primordials to get the hell of their lawn cause they were messing up the garden.
#3 hidden17 Feb 16, 2010 17:55:52	Pretty much that. 4e cosmology and history is pretty much fill-in-the-blanks, and most of it is up to the individual GM. Third edition cosmology is much more clearly defined, and I'd advise using that if you want a pre-built cosmology, history and metaphysics to play about with rather than having to essentially make your own. The Manual of the Planes (4e) helps a bit, but it's more of a collection of good ideas and neat little places rather than an overview of the big picture or an attempt to fill in all the gaps.
#4 Aerodyth Feb 17, 2010 11:22:38	On the mortal end of things, the last empire was Nerith, but that was destroyed when a gnoll invasion killed the entire royal line in the final battle Before that was the Dragoonborn empire (Akrosha) and Tiefling's (Bael Turath) but they got into a was which destroyed both empires. Outside of that, there's not much. Names are most likely spelled wrong, but anyways. There's no timeline for those events though I use 100 and 500 years ago as the fall of each of the dynasties though I think it's hinted that it's been more than that for each.