D&D General What Does Your Cosmology Look Like?

dave2008 said:

IMO, the world axis is the same as the 5e version of the wheel - just seen from a different perspective. I don't think any of the D&D cosmologies are a100% as described in their respective books. I take the stance those descriptions are created by mortals trying to make sense of what they can't possibly understand and are therefore incomplete and incorrect to some degree.

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They are fairly close and 5e made some syncretisms to include aspects of the 4e World Axis such as the Feywild and Shadowfell but you still have to make some decisions one way or the other. Are the Astral Domains the ones in 4e or are they the outer planar ring of the Great Wheel or are they both there and if so how do they interact? Is the Abyss a corrupted part of the Elemental Chaos or an astral domain? Is there an Ethereal Plane enveloping the elemental planes and connecting to the Feywild and Shadowfell?

The whole question of whether you need to know the specifics a cosmology also hinges on whether you're more play focused or more world-building focused. If your setting is a place where the PCs have their adventures and rarely have anything to do with the actual cosmology, then you probably don't need to know much about it until you do. On the other hand, if you're building from scratch where the act of worldbuilding is how you have fun then cosmology is incredibly important.

cimbrog said:

The whole question of whether you need to know the specifics a cosmology also hinges on whether you're more play focused or more world-building focused. If your setting is a place where the PCs have their adventures and rarely have anything to do with the actual cosmology, then you probably don't need to know much about it until you do. On the other hand, if you're building from scratch where the act of worldbuilding is how you have fun then cosmology is incredibly important.

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3rd Option: PCs have lots of planar adventures

Li Shenron said:

Oddly enough, where a deity spends most of their time has rarely been a question that I felt the need to answer... the people in the fantasy world obviously are free to narrate such things, but they are just theories and beliefs. I don't need to establish facts in advance.

BUT... I have to say that I also tend not to define deities & pantheons in advance either!

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Doesn't anyone play a Cleric or Paladin in your games?

If I'm a player looking to play a Cleric I'd kinda like to know right up front what the setting's options are in terms of deities to worship, faith requirements (if any) for each, alignment or ethos of each, spheres of influence of each (if relevant), and so forth.

If you-as-DM haven't got that laid out ahead of time then as a player I've no idea what I'm getting into if I decide to play a Cleric.

Umbran said:

Yeah. Admittedly, my approach is easier when my deities are not, well, "people". Non-corporeal, powers and spirits don't need a "location" to "live". Physical "location" may not even apply at all.

Mere mortals will speak of them as if they are people, and have places to live, but that's the "lore" I was speaking of. Those are all stories and metaphors mortals use to find ways to relate to these powers, but mortals often mistake their metaphors for reality after a few generations...

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I much more go for the Greek/Norse "the gods are real, and they meddle in our affairs" approach.

Reynard said:

I don't actually care where the gods live, or if they are even real. In fact, I would say that planar adventures are more fun if they don't involve the gods.

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Those two things aren't necessarily connected.

Inter-planar adventuring doesn't need to involve deities any more than does a simple dungeon crawl down in the local woods.

However, when Clerics first get the spell Planeshift it's nice if right away they have somewhere they can go; a deity's home plane (which can still be a veeeeerrrrry big place) is perfect for this.

This is going to sound funny, but- who actually knows? The Great Wheel- which I use- is one interpretation of the cosmology. The World Axis (4e) cosmology, which I also use, is another, pretty much equally valid, interpretation of the cosmology. There are, doubtless, others in the campaign world as well that haven't been discovered/explored (or created) yet.

The thing about planes and such is that you can't actually see or experience the arrangement. You interpret passing from one to another in a certain way; you might think that going from Hades to Gehenna is a physical passage that you make, and assume they are next to each other or connected. So, sure! That's fine.

But what's really going on? How are things actually arranged? Well, any picture you draw will be, by necessity, you interpretation of that arrangement; whether in a Wheel, or in some other formation, you are imposing that vision- even if you have learned it from others- on the planes, trying to explain something you can't actually experience, and that's the best you can do.

Lanefan said:

I much more go for the Greek/Norse "the gods are real, and they meddle in our affairs" approach.

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Note: Meddling in mortal affairs does not require gods to be "people" themselves.

Gods can also do a whole lot of meddling without anyone noticing.

My players haven't reached the level were they would be traveling the planes.

However, when the time comes, my cosmology will be structured like the 1E or 2E wheel.