Blending Worlds

[Odhanan]

Hi there.

We all have been discussing regularly about using "this city" into "that world" or implementing "this locale" into "that universe", or even "this material plane" into "that cosmology".

I'd like to exchange ideas on something a bit different: the blending of worlds or how to use two or more actual settings as a single one (so, I'm not talking of just adjusting one piece of a source to make it fit another whole, but rather to use two "wholes" side by side).

Did you take for instance the Diamond Throne and use it in the same world as Praemal?

Or the Known World of Goodman Games as just another continent to the Wilderlands of Necromancer Games ?

Give me your examples of "collages" of worlds. How did it work out? What did you modify to make it work out, if anything at all? What type of blends do you like to do?

I'd like to hear about your experiences.

 

[sakkara]

I've done a couple things in my campaigns over the years. I don't homebrew, and generally use the Forgotten Realms as my campaign world.

Blending worlds originally started simply as an exercise in order to give player's access to material from different settings (ie., playing in the Forgotten Realms, but wanting to use elements of Eberron, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Rokugan, Necromancer Games/Malhavoc Press/Bastion Press material).

In the beginning I just handwaved the separation of the game worlds, and didn't focus on it much at all, assuming people from "elsewhere" had journeyed to the Realms, not focusing on what the relationship was -- separate worlds/parallel dimensions/alternate prime material planes/etc.

Now what I am doing is formalizing it -- treating different game worlds as different continents on the same world. I have also been trying to create a mechanic to tie Teleport spells to a Knowledge: Geography type roll for the "other" continents -- not allowing blind Teleporting. But I don't have it quite figured out yet...

SIDENOTE: Love your Seven Spires homebrew, and the blogs for it and your Praemal campaign.


Sakkara

 

[Psion]

My current homebrew world is made specifically to take advantage of third party d20 products to fill in the blanks so I don't have to. It includes:

- Sahasra (Dog Soul Publishing)
- Mindshadows (Green Ronin)
- Freeport (Green Ronin)
- Bards Gate / Plains of Mayfarrow (Necromancer Games)
- Bluffside (RoninArts/ex-Mystic Eye Games)
- The Burning Sands (RoninArts/ex-Mystic Eye Games)
- Hamunaptra (Green Ronin)
- The Wilderlands (Judges Guild/Necromancer Games)
- Visiria (Darkfuries)
- The Maelstrom Pantheon (Darkfuries)
- The Nexus (from Book of Eldritch Might, malhavoc)
- The cities from Seven Cities (Atlas)
- The civilizations from Seven Civilizations (Atlas)

I wanted to use Ptolus, but the backstory (the bit about no Planar Travel prior to the REAL Night of Dissolution) actively interferes with my game world's backstory.

 

[S'mon]

Or the Known World of Goodman Games as just another continent to the Wilderlands of Necromancer Games ?

Hm, sounds good...

I can't say I've done this, I toyed with blending Wilderlands into my homebrew but decided to keep them separate, which I think works better. I tend to go for a Moorcockian sort of setup anyway with lots of planar travel.