EarthSeraphEdna
Explorer
Also, never mind that the amount of planes that can be squeezed in is ambiguous. It could be possible to have a 15+ plane bonanza given multi-slotting of icons.
The question is, what is that core [campaign setting] concept? There are a couple old standbys, chief among them the idea of the "Overriding Story;" in other words, an ongoing conflict that sets the tone and defines the entire world. There is one Big Evil out there that is the source of all the problems. Personally, I don't care for this method for an RPG setting. Invariably, you end up with a situation where the players either achieve victory and thus alter the entire setting, or can never achieve victory and thus are superfluous. I believe that in order to be a compelling setting for an ongoing game, the setting has to support multiple villains with varied goals and unrelated plots. If you create a setting with one villain, you are really making a campaign, not a campaign setting.
Mmm; I very much agree. Ranger, you invented an entire setting for your campaign- that is amazing, and it is part of why Zeit is as good as it is. But, I fear you may be stretching it too far with this.
On "a world that you're changing, so you can have a sense of the specific consequences of your choice", Sanj- I could see this working by running adventures set in Lanjyr's past. Have them add context, add new reasons to care about the nations that will be reshaped come 500 AOV. You might even be able to squeeze in some decisions and enemies of sizeable scale. Going for adventures in the future... not so much.
I think you're fixating too much on the AP. Other stories can happen after it.
The Revolutionary War in the US and the decisions about the Constitution afterward were pivotal, but that didn't mean no interesting stories happened after 1789.
The way I see it, a setting book can focus on the cultural aftermath, with a presumed 'default' planar arrangement, and guidelines for how the, well, ten or so groups who finished the AP could adjust things if they want to continue in the setting.
Honestly, there's a big universe of RPG settings. If you finish the AP and don't look how we envision the aftermath, I don't think it takes away from your own gaming experience.
A story taking place during one of the many Yerasol Wars could be quite interesting I think.The Revolutionary War in the US and the decisions about the Constitution afterward were pivotal, but that didn't mean no interesting stories happened after 1789.
Honestly the 'right' answer is not to choose at the climax. Reject the idea that your ideal world is more valid than anyone else's.