Keldryn
Adventurer
I don't have any particular love for the "Great Wheel" cosmology. I started D&D with BECMI, and it had its own cosmology: the prime material plane, the four elemental planes, the ethereal plane, the astral plane, an infinite number of outer planes, the dimension of nightmares... So it's definitely not a necessary part of D&D, nor is it something that has always been part of D&D.
I first encountered the "Great Wheel" in Best of Dragon Vol. 1, I think, which is pretty similar to how it appears in the AD&D Player's Handbook.
The positive and negative energy planes never really made a lot of sense to me, and the various para- and quasi-elemental planes that were added later in 1e strike me as rather silly. The alignment-based outer planes feel very rigid and all of the real-world pantheons living side-by-side doesn't appeal to me.
I very much prefer the idea of each campaign setting having its own cosmology. Eberron has a cool setup that fits the world much better than would the Great Wheel. Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous presents a cosmology that is very reminiscent of the Great Wheel, but modified and stripped-down to fit the religions contained in the book.
While I'm not a big fan of the system, I really like 4e's "World Axis" cosmology. I think it is better suited for providing interesting adventuring locations than does the Great Wheel. It also feels more inspired by real-world myths and less by gaming constructs.
I first encountered the "Great Wheel" in Best of Dragon Vol. 1, I think, which is pretty similar to how it appears in the AD&D Player's Handbook.
The positive and negative energy planes never really made a lot of sense to me, and the various para- and quasi-elemental planes that were added later in 1e strike me as rather silly. The alignment-based outer planes feel very rigid and all of the real-world pantheons living side-by-side doesn't appeal to me.
I very much prefer the idea of each campaign setting having its own cosmology. Eberron has a cool setup that fits the world much better than would the Great Wheel. Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous presents a cosmology that is very reminiscent of the Great Wheel, but modified and stripped-down to fit the religions contained in the book.
While I'm not a big fan of the system, I really like 4e's "World Axis" cosmology. I think it is better suited for providing interesting adventuring locations than does the Great Wheel. It also feels more inspired by real-world myths and less by gaming constructs.