D&D 5E Us Building a "Fundamentally 5E" Setting From Scratch Together

[Stormonu]

Within the swirling chaos of the Fractured Realms, the "Anchors" act to bring stability to the zones around them, the WIld Magic Storms abate, and the planar bleeds and cosmic echoes halt out beyond the borders of their influence. But the stability must be maintained, beyond the borders the chaos of planar bleeds and storms still rage and push against the borders. Should the Anchors venture forth the stability of their domain erodes.
Fortunately, Anchors are able to establish Nexus Bastions - cities, sanctuaries, lairs - that both reflect the personality, class, and beliefs of the Anchor and help reality crystalize fulfilling the ultimate goal of reforging what was lost.

I really like this - the "Center" of the universe becomes the Elemental Chaos, and as "Anchors" appear, worlds/plane crystalize into reality. These realities move further outward from the center (storms, chaos and wild magic) as they "crystalize" or are tamed. The Outer Planes (excepting Limbo) are the ultimate expression of crystalized realities, impossible to erode due to the sheer power of the entries upon them. In the midrealms, where reality hasn't fully crystalized, alternate realities can form when powerful individuals bring conflicting realities to their realm - one might be overseen by a powerful paladin that defeated a great evil, but just a reality over exists an identical realm where instead the evil lich won. Should they ever become aware of each other (which should be relatively rare), sparks may fly and the realities mesh/overlap/interact to resolve the differences and either crystalize into one reality or fall back towards chaos and dissolution..

 

[Reynard]

I really like this - the "Center" of the universe becomes the Elemental Chaos, and as "Anchors" appear, worlds/plane crystalize into reality. These realities move further outward from the center (storms, chaos and wild magic) as they "crystalize" or are tamed. The Outer Planes (excepting Limbo) are the ultimate expression of crystalized realities, impossible to erode due to the sheer power of the entries upon them. In the midrealms, where reality hasn't fully crystalized, alternate realities can form when powerful individuals bring conflicting realities to their realm - one might be overseen by a powerful paladin that defeated a great evil, but just a reality over exists an identical realm where instead the evil lich won. Should they ever become aware of each other (which should be relatively rare), sparks may fly and the realities mesh/overlap/interact to resolve the differences and either crystalize into one reality or fall back towards chaos and dissolution..

This is a cool idea, but too far toward Planescape for my tastes.

I think a fundamental 5E campaign should still be terrestrial in nature, but the planes should be closer and having more tangible influence.

 

[Corinnguard]

I think a fundamental 5E campaign should still be terrestrial in nature, but the planes should be closer and having more tangible influence.

The tangible influence here could be similar to the manifestation zones that exist on Eberron. Only on this world, these manifestation zones are more common and are much larger.

 

[Stalker0]

I’ll do one more small one.

The White Door

The white door is made of white alabaster, unadorned save for the simple brass door knob. The door appears standing on a flat surface, and looking at either side reveals the same image.

The door can be opened from either side, one side opens to a pitch black darkness, the other a near blinding white light. You cannot see beyond this to what is on the other side.

Every person that has entered the door has never returned (at least that’s what the histories say).

The door remains in one place for a year and a day, when it disappears and reappears somewhere else in the world.

The door is considered to have the spells mind blank and invulnerability on it. If the spells are dispelled they return in 1 minute, but if the door is destroyed in that time frame it remains gone until it’s normal duration is up, then reappears in its new location.

 

[Stormonu]

This is a cool idea, but too far toward Planescape for my tastes.

I think a fundamental 5E campaign should still be terrestrial in nature, but the planes should be closer and having more tangible influence.

Understood. I'm off to develop on my thoughts for this. It's too good for me to lose on pouncing on it.

 

[Scribe]

I believe noblebright is the genre you’re looking for.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

Needless to say, the Shattering was a mass casualty event. Seas boiled, skies fell, cities became buried under mountains - as various planar energies washed into other realms and echoes on the Prime Material plane; boiling, exploding, warping as they came into contact with each other. Countless civilizations were wiped from existence; and the remains of their passing are everywhere - "tomb cities", buried dwelling places, artifacts from alien worlds. All left for the survivors to pick over.

There are the ruins all over where sentient creatures were brought to places they could not continue to live or survive; or were forced to adapt and move on from. One former city might now be stuck on a vertical rock face; coral dwellings of an aquatic society might be found in a dry, icy wasteland. And the ruins are occasionally from creatures vastly different to the locals in stabilized shards of reality.

 

[Reynard]

Needless to say, the Shattering was a mass casualty event. Seas boiled, skies fell, cities became buried under mountains - as various planar energies washed into other realms and echoes on the Prime Material plane; boiling, exploding, warping as they came into contact with each other. Countless civilizations were wiped from existence; and the remains of their passing are everywhere - "tomb cities", buried dwelling places, artifacts from alien worlds. All left for the survivors to pick over.

There are the ruins all over where sentient creatures were brought to places they could not continue to live or survive; or were forced to adapt and move on from. One former city might now be stuck on a vertical rock face; coral dwellings of an aquatic society might be found in a dry, icy wasteland. And the ruins are occasionally from creatures vastly different to the locals in stabilized shards of reality.

Those are good instincts but I, personally, would push that WAY into the past. I don't think a post apocalyptic setting is going to feel as much like 5E (as someone upthread mentioned).

 

[Shadowdweller00]

Those are good instincts but I, personally, would push that WAY into the past. I don't think a post apocalyptic setting is going to feel as much like 5E (as someone upthread mentioned).

It wasn't actually my intent to imply any sort of timeline. The Shattering doesn't have to have occurred at all recently - more than enough time for the local residents to have disposed of the dead, sealed off dangerous places. Completely forget about things. Or for entire new ecosystems to grow over the remains of stuff.

 

[TwoSix]

Those are good instincts but I, personally, would push that WAY into the past. I don't think a post apocalyptic setting is going to feel as much like 5E (as someone upthread mentioned).

Solid D&D campaigns should be post-post-apocalyptic. There was a great shining magical empire, but it broke, and things were bad, but we're past that, and now even the rebuilding is in the past.