Level Up (A5E) A Level Up Cosmology

[Eyes of Nine]

Wizards of the Coast is supporting Level Up by publishing A5E-compatible adventures

Wait, what?

 

[RangerWickett]

Well, we are compatible with dungeons and dragons, and so by the commutative property, they are compatible with us. It's simply a matter of perspective to see that Wizards of the Coast is publishing books that are compatible with our rule set.

 

[VanguardHero]

It's the best usage of o5e content I can think of xD

Also, if the Cosmology is left largely adaptable, is the Pantheon similar? Or is there a distinct and developed set of gods?

 

[Steampunkette]

Level Up does not specifically use the planets of ZEITGEIST. They're one example of how planes can manifest, but aren't inherent to the rules.

There aren't specific upper planes or lower planes mentioned, mostly for space reasons, but also so we don't contradict adventures that you might run that have assumed planes. While we appreciate that Wizards of the Coast is supporting Level Up by publishing A5E-compatible adventures, we don't think they ought to have to run their setting ideas past us. If you want to use Descent into Avernus, you can find a place for it in our cosmology. (Probably in the Lower Planes.)

The purple stuff is a representation of an elemental chaos. Certain areas within that chaos can be firmly codified as representing one primary element, and doing so in a physical form that mortals could explore, but there are expanses where physical matter gives way to pure energy of that type, and at some point those energies mingle and roil with other elemental energies. Most of those places are incompatible with beings of flesh and blood.

As for the ethereal and astral, nearly every world has its own ethereal plane, which is a sort of meta place, where it is possible to exist and observe but not interact with physical reality. Then there's the astral plane, where existence itself is harder to quantify, and ideas matter more than, well, matter. If you go use the right magic to go to the astral plane, it's possible to send your mind to other worlds simply by imagining yourself there.

Again, that's more detail than we really go into in the Adventurer's Guide appendix. I think my word count limit was about 3000.

I could kiss the Level Up team over their decision to intentionally make things adaptable to different worlds and settings, rather than D&D's current push to codify everything into one unified setting.

I won't, of course. At least some of you are married, most of you are uninterested, and the air fare would result in crippling debt...

But I -could-.

 

[RangerWickett]

It's the best usage of o5e content I can think of xD

Also, if the Cosmology is left largely adaptable, is the Pantheon similar? Or is there a distinct and developed set of gods?

I didn't work on that, but I don't believe there's a stated list of deities.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Nice set up! Just a few changes, and a I could see using this for my setting...

 

[Zaukrie]

Level Up does not specifically use the planets of ZEITGEIST. They're one example of how planes can manifest, but aren't inherent to the rules.

There aren't specific upper planes or lower planes mentioned, mostly for space reasons, but also so we don't contradict adventures that you might run that have assumed planes. While we appreciate that Wizards of the Coast is supporting Level Up by publishing A5E-compatible adventures, we don't think they ought to have to run their setting ideas past us. If you want to use Descent into Avernus, you can find a place for it in our cosmology. (Probably in the Lower Planes.)

The purple stuff is a representation of an elemental chaos. Certain areas within that chaos can be firmly codified as representing one primary element, and doing so in a physical form that mortals could explore, but there are expanses where physical matter gives way to pure energy of that type, and at some point those energies mingle and roil with other elemental energies. Most of those places are incompatible with beings of flesh and blood.

As for the ethereal and astral, nearly every world has its own ethereal plane, which is a sort of meta place, where it is possible to exist and observe but not interact with physical reality. Then there's the astral plane, where existence itself is harder to quantify, and ideas matter more than, well, matter. If you go use the right magic to go to the astral plane, it's possible to send your mind to other worlds simply by imagining yourself there.

Again, that's more detail than we really go into in the Adventurer's Guide appendix. I think my word count limit was about 3000.

well, I'd buy a product that was longer than 3000 words about this cosmology (probably).

 

[VanguardHero]

I didn't work on that, but I don't believe there's a stated list of deities.

Mashup of 4e and Pathfinder Pantheons it is

 

[Scribe]

Whoa whoa. I didnt realize this was part of things.

This changes my plans...

 

[thelordofthemorning]

So, one question, because this is something about how WotC/the Great Wheel is doing things in 5e that really bugs me.

Is there an implication or assumption that all worlds in the multiverse use the same planes cosmology, or not? Like maybe they are made of the same "stuff, like generic upper/lower planes spirit material, or the concept of fire, but are the specific upper and lower planes and elemental planes, etc. allowed to be different and only connect to one or a handful of material worlds? Can each setting have their own elemental plane of fire that is different and has no connection to the elemental plane of fire for another world, and still have those worlds inhabit the same multiverse? Are different worlds able to have different numbers of planes, and different organizations of those planes, resulting in radically different individual cosmologies (think the Great Wheel, the original Dragonlance Planes which were not the Great Wheel, and Eberron for example) and still coexist in this same multiverse? Like maybe one world has 4 elementals planes, and another has 4 different elemental planes, and another has only one elemental chaos that is not divided into separate planes at all? Or one world that is based entirely on good vs. evil, and another based on law vs. chaos Moorcock style? And maybe another recreating the 9 realms of Norse mythology.

Sorry for getting a bit rambley there, but I guess what it ultimately boils down to is, how flexible is it. Are we allowed to let our creativity run free in designing our own worlds and still have them feel like they are a valid and accepted part of the standard level up multiverse (yes I realize you can always ignore lore and do your own thing, but it I still prefer for the official framework to be flexible enough to support that creativity without you having to do your own thing)? Because the 5e Great Wheel and what WotC is doing now, they don't allow for that, and I'm really hoping level up does.