D&D 5E The Multiverse is back....

TerraDave · Jul 4, 2014

The 2E version could be cheesy (lets not just have elminster, lets have all the top mages together!), but the potential is there. To say have characters move from your home brew, to dark sun, to eberon, to the old west...which you could do anyways, but now more officially. Or to have Mordekainan as a past visitor in your world. And so on, and so forth.

And an official meta setting is much cooler then say just FR (or any one of them) as the "default setting".

Mika · Jul 4, 2014

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
They're doing what, exactly? Reprinting that for 5E?

They assigned deities from all settings (including the Known World/Mystara, which had its own distinct cosmology) to planes on the AD&D "Great Wheel" cosmology -- which required assigning alignments to deities previously described only in Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic terms.

So I was basically complaining about WotC unifying the cosmology for 5E as TSR did in that 2E product that most of you have never even heard of.

TerraDave · Jul 4, 2014

Mika said:
They assigned deities from all settings (including the Known World/Mystara, which had its own distinct cosmology) to planes on the AD&D "Great Wheel" cosmology --

They then moved things away from the great wheel...now they move it all back, including Eberon, which was never there?

We have only seen part of this, but will be interesting to find out.

caudor · Jul 4, 2014

Yum

This is good news. I'd like to have a little Spelljammer, Planescape, and Ravenloft sauce on my D&D burger.

doctorhook · Jul 4, 2014

Shemeska said:
It's one step in the right direction at least.

It's been six years, but I still can't wait to hear more about how WotC has ruined Planescape for you again.

TerraDave said:
They then moved things away from the great wheel...now they move it all back, including Eberon, which was never there?

Eberron is a self-contained universe whose planes don't correspond well with those of the Great Wheel. Changing the number of planes in the Eberron universe breaks the Baker's Dozen, which is a significant pattern in the setting; in 4E Eberron, it was tolerable to sort the planes according to the World-Axis cosmology (e.g.: Fernia and Risia are the "Elemental Chaos", and Daanvi and Shavarath are in the "Astral Sea"), but adding The Nine Hells to Eberron broke the pattern for no good reason.

I don't mind Spelljammer and Planescape, but I won't be allowing any crossovers with Eberron in my game.

Lord Blackstone · Jul 4, 2014

I am hoping for a book called Multiverse. A write up on ALL of the campaign settings and how they are tied together with ideas to link your personal homebrew. Yes, most people can figure it out themselves, but getting another perspective doesn't hurt.

Sonny · Jul 5, 2014

I think there's a bigger reason for the multiverse then just 2e nostalgia or finding a way to bring all campaigns together. Brand Identity - Just like the references to Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk and Dragonlance in the Basic Rulebook. The quotes from the novels as well. Everything is there to remind people *this* is Dungeons & Dragons. It's history, it's worlds, it's heroes and villains. With Pathfinder and a slew of other retro-clones out there, D&D's history and IP are something no one else can claim and use in their products. It's one of D&D biggest strengths and WoTC is capitalizing on it. As they should.

Kobold Avenger · Jul 5, 2014

I'm of the view that the multiverse can't truly be mapped, and that a cosmology is just a way of seeing/conceptualizing how various planes fit together. All cosmological systems are valid, but the Great Wheel fits because it's so far been the best way of conceptualizing the planes for the vast majority of sages and philosophers, especially those who live around Sigil.

SkidAce · Jul 5, 2014

Kobold Avenger said:
I'm of the view that the multiverse can't truly be mapped, and that a cosmology is just a way of seeing/conceptualizing how various planes fit together. All cosmological systems are valid, but the Great Wheel fits because it's so far been the best way of conceptualizing the planes for the vast majority of sages and philosophers, especially those who live around Sigil.

Same here, encompassing, yet flexible.