Assigning Outsiders

[Baron Opal]

I've always had a bit of a guilty pleasure in thinking of ways of mixing the color scheme from Magic into D&D. After reading what I could of the Dusk setting by one of our own, I got to thinking about how I would incorporate it.

One of the things that I considered is what a magician would summon if they were tied to a particular color. Right at the moment I'm minimizing the "color" aspect and thinking of it more as a set of alignments or allegiances. So..

Given a radial, five axis alignment system containing:

Nobility --> Archons
Logic --> Inevitables (Need some smaller ones)
Passion --> ?
Instinct --> ?
Selfishness --> Yugoloths? Devils? Something lower planar.

I've already assigned modrons and slaad to other parts of the cosmology (and changed them a bit) so they're not available for this scheme.

Any ideas?

 

[Sammael]

Nobility --> Archons
Logic --> Modrons
Passion --> Eladrin
Instinct --> Slaadi
Selfishness --> Yugoloths

 

[Sejs]

Nobility ~> Archons.

Logic ~> Inevitables, Modrons.

Passion ~> Eladrins.

Selfishness ~> Yugoloths, Devils.



... Instinct ~> Demons. You'd need to tweak the appearance and flavor only slightly, and make 'em more chaotic than evil. Other than that they hit the major points: Fight. Breed. Dominate. Preserve Self. Expand.

 

[Merkuri]

I know it's not your original question, but you might want to rename selfishness. It stands out as the one evil thing. Everything else sounds pretty neutral in terms of good-evil (even Nobility, which I assume is white). Call it something like, I dunno, Ambition?

 

[hbarsquared]

I like this idea of "five axis alignment" How would you construct the allied/opposite alignments?

My guesses would start with:

Logic opposite Instinct
Nobility allied with Selflishness

 

[paradox42]

Since the "alignments" used are said to be based on Magic's colors, I'd figure they match up as
Nobility <--> White
Logic <--> Blue
Passion <--> Red
Instinct <--> Green
Selfishness <--> Black

Barol Opal can certainly correct me if I'm wrong, but with this I'd say one can match up Outsiders thusly:
Nobility: Angels, Archons, Guardinals, Eladrins
Logic: Archons, Inevitables, Modrons, Devils
Passion: Eladrins, Slaadi, Demons
Instinct: Guardinals, Daemons/Yugoloths, Slaadi, Modrons (and any Celestial/Fiendish/Anarchic/Axiomatic animal that would normally go on a Summon Monster [number] list)
Selfishness: Devils, Daemons/Yugoloths, Demodands/Gehreleths, Demons

Instinct is really the hardest one, since in Magic it's the color of nature. Doesn't match up well with any of the Outer Planes really, except maybe the Beastlands. Instinct could get all the Elementals, though- maybe that should be its hook.

EDIT: Oops, just noticed the note about Modrons and Slaadi being unavailable. Removing them from the above list leaves Passion and Logic kind of bare, but if we allow Elementals to be part of these lists as well then you can match the Elements up as you like and fill them out again. In that case though, I'd go with Instinct as using all the Elementals and none of the Outsiders.

 

[Baron Opal]

"Worldbuilding"



Yes, the alignments do match up to those colors, Paradox. Exactly right.

Selfishness isn’t a great name, I agree. I also would like to have a better name for white than “nobility” as I plan to use nobility as a descriptor for how closely a person hews to a particular alignment. In the society I envision, a Logician might despise an Instinctive or a Passionate but if they follow the dictates of the philosophy they are “noble”. They’re respected for “practicing what they preach”, as it were.

Ambition is good. I thought of Egoism, but that didn’t have the right ring to it.

Elementals are a good idea for Instinct, but they’re already reserved too.

Rather than using the Great Wheel, I’m using a nested shell model. The material plane (Mortal Planes) are mid-level and the Five Elements hold the most sway (4 + Darkness). There are no elemental planes, rather nature spirits can take on pure elemental bodies according to their natures. So, there are fire and air elementals but they co-exist with humans. A couple shells up are the more “outer planes” type realms (Primal Planes). Here the principles of the Five Ideals are in control. There are still some material planes here; there is ground to walk on, air to breathe, &c., but concepts and ideals are more important and more real.

Further up and out the realms become more spiritual in nature. The Mortal planes with their material Elements are far away. The Primal planes and their Ideals begin to weaken. Here the Three Axioms reign uncontested. These are the fundamental forces of Creation, much like the four forces that govern the play of matter and energy in our universe.

So, looking at this “top-down”, so to speak:

The Three Axioms

Obelisk: Source of Law – Modrons marched from here.
Maelstrom: Source of Chaos – Slaadi spawned from here.
Pattern: Source of Harmony – No associated race.

The Five Ideals

Nobility, Logic, Passion, Instinct, Ambition: Most outsiders are generated from here.

Veil of Dreams

Keeps the primals from overtly messing with the mortals. They are subject to the vagaries of mortal dreams. Thus, they can simply cease to be if they wander into a mortal’s dream just before he wakes up. The fey are from the Veil. They are betwixt and between all things and thus can be found in hidden areas and know of secret paths. They both disdain and envy mortals and primals alike.

The Five Elements

Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Darkness: Elementals are from here.

Further down are the broken planes, where ideals cease to matter and anarchy rules. Past the shattered shores of Gehenna where lost dreams are found is the Last Bastion. Here Asmoder rules with an iron fist and keeping watch on the Iron Sun, his penance. From the Iron Sun things from outside that should not be seek to break into Creation. He watches over it with his legions of followers and slaves, jailor to those whom he would like to lead against those whom he despises yet is bound to serve.

My players are getting to the point where these details are becoming important, so I have to start solidifying my imaginings.

 

[Merkuri]

Selfishness isn’t a great name, I agree. I also would like to have a better name for white than “nobility”...

How about Sacrifice? Or Charity? Mercy? How about Heart, or is that too cheesy?

 

[Hypersmurf]

How about Heart, or is that too cheesy?

I always felt sorry for that poor Planeteer.

-Hyp.

 

[awayfarer]

I always felt sorry for that poor Planeteer.

-Hyp.

Go Ma Ti!

Heart!