Create an RPG multiverse from scratch

[CreamCloud0]

Easy peasy. I have written up several to be honest.

You could use 10-D Omniverse type; or something Tegmark, Brian Greene.


No, multiverse means multiple universes, whether parallels or alternate universes. It could also include dimensions on top of that.

DnD Cosmology is very similar to DC Comics, for instance.

unfortunately i am not aquainted with how the multiverse functions in any of those mentioned franchises with the exception of slight passing knowledge of the DC justice league episode where they get taken to an alternate dimension where flash died and they became the justice lords, but a throughline of multiverses is that they're primarily reflections of some form of the 'main' universe, 'the same world except [X thing happened] or [Y exists]' structure

 

[Rogerd1]

unfortunately i am not aquainted with how the multiverse functions in any of those mentioned franchises with the exception of slight passing knowledge of the DC justice league episode where they get taken to an alternate dimension where flash died and they became the justice lords, but a throughline of multiverses is that they're primarily reflections of some form of the 'main' universe, 'the same world except [X thing happened] or [Y exists]' structure

DC Cosmology

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/3/35/DCMultiverseMap.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/2000?cb=20200113203652

The Bleed contains each material universe. Outside of that is the Sphere of the Gods, similar to the DnD Outer Planes. Now the gods in DC are stories made manifest, and a manifest of a platonic ideal / concept. Interestingly, in DC, the gods can fracture, the New gods have, such that there can be a physical aspect in a universe.

Above the Gods is the dimension of Imagination, and it is where Mxy and his species live. Now Limbo is where IIRC all characters go when they are being forgotten.

Outside of this is the Multiversal Control Room, where the Monitors return if they are killed.

This is the Source Wall, and beyond that are other multiverses.

Now other cosmologies work differently.

The pdf below is from MIT, and details how Max Tegmark multiverse theory works.

https://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/PDF/multiverse_sciam.pdf

Brian Greene's multiverse theories.

The Hidden Reality - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The YT link may help you too.


I hope this helps you?

 

[Reynard]

The form I toy will every once in a while -- it shows up in game design docs I have written, fiction outlines, and other random creative sketching -- is that every world is just a parallel universe with slightly different laws of physics. Some are close enough you might not even notice if you traveled there, others are distinct but intelligible (Faerie) and others are terrifying (Hell, The Upside Down). In some, entities set themselves up as what we would call gods and monsters. Others are completely devoid of anything we might recognize as life. But the key is they are are essentially the same structurally. Mount Fuji, Mars and Andromeda are where they are in all of them. So if you do travel to one of the parallels, you can at least navigate.

 

[DammitVictor]

I was already working on it... my Shroompunk setting, my life's work, is an infinite number of anachronistic magitech sword & sorcery Worlds-- both single biome and complex-- connected by a sprawling network of living, evolving megadungeons. Every few years, connections to 2-3 Worlds spontaneously appear in any given World, and 2-3 old, previously stable connections are severed. These Worlds are populated with a remix of D&D's greatest hits filtered through a Filmation/Nintendo lens: all humans are planetouched, tortles are dragonborn, and the autognomes invented themselves.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

A multiverse is what you create to form a shared continuity of existing properties. Nobody wants a multiverse just for a multiverse's sake.

Gary Gygax would disagree with you. I mean, once you let him out of the coffin he's been trapped in for years.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

when you say multiverse i assume you mean something closer to the planar system, all the realms as parts (if not specifically connected parts) of a greater whole than like, parralel universes spiderverse-type multiverse?

Yes. I posted this in the TTRPG section, and not the Geek Talk section, for that reason.

Dungeon Master’s Guide

Everything a Dungeon Master needs to weave legendary stories for the world’s greatest roleplaying game. Entertain and Inspire Your Players.

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[aramis erak]

So you're starting from scratch.

What would your multiverse look like, and why?

If they're looking fantasy, that's pretty easy...

• Oriental 5 Elements: Fire, Water, Air, Metal, Wood.
• The elemental planes surround the material, with Void above and Energy below.
• 3 types of magical power source
  • Wizardry -- the most powerful, but it impedes further spells for a while when used... must pass the skill check to cast. A badly failed roll is a miscast, and it is something else.
  • Faith -- the most stable, provided one keeps the tenets. If you're in good standing, it always works; the check is to see if you've overused it and temporarily lose standing. Never miscasts, either.
  • Alchemy -- doesn't always create what's desired, but always imbues some magic.
• Primary cultures derived from bronze age Greco-Balkan regional cultures.
• the med and its islands get blown up a bit, making the Egypt area further south... nothing mapped past Western Pakistan.
• No metaplot in core. Several stems that can provide a baseline for a GM selected metaplot.
• Religions built on a variety of cults, some public, some not, with traditional Greco-Roman pantheism style obligations laid out.
• No "chaos vs the world" in the initial setup.
• Very clear drawbacks for either lacking a cultic affiliation or for violating one's cultic tenets. None of those tenets are belief-based; they're pure behavioral strictures either must or must not.
• Divinations used often. Given minor but useful bonuses.

 

[ichabod]

I've already got one that would probably work with some name changing. Two transitive spheres, one for spirit, one for mind. The standard four elemental spheres. Eight spheres of the dead, where spirits go when they die. Sixteen spheres beyond that for all sorts of weird existences. Are there 32 spheres beyond that? Who knows?

 

[Bernese]

mine is very Lovecraft inspired. first is our universe, with infinite alternate realities. these alternate reality's serve as the planes of the setting. for example, the "plane of water" is just a alternate earth mostly covered in oceans. to get between these universes, you have to go through the gauntlet, a higher dimensional space. it is a vast freezing blackness, but not cold enough to kill you instantly. it is a very dangerous place, filled with horrible creatures like blotballs and anglehounds. it is even possible to use it for time travel.

 

[John Dallman]

Well, I would not try to make esoteric physics justification for a multiverse, because (a) I'd get them wrong in some way and (b) they'd go out of date. I'd take the propositions of David Lewis's Modal Realism, and flavour them with Modal Jazz. In practice, this creates an artificial constraint on the basic concepts of individual universes: you have to make a motto for them out of at least three words taken from the titles of modal jazz tracks or albums. At least, that's the creation method I thought up in five minutes, and since I've run campaigns that required me to make up new universes every hour or so, I have some practice.