Campaign world idea... Flipped coin

[wlmartin]

Hi all

I wouldn't mind some feedback on an idea I had for a campaign world

The world is built on a flat surface, like a coin shape.
Around the edges of the world is the ocean, the eater drains off the edges
Sun is out, everyone sees this as a normal world.

On the flip side of this world we have the opposite.
It is dark (no sunlight) and beings either survive with blindsense or have dark vision.
It is very cold however there is no climate or sun or clouds, no winds so it isn't icy or snowy, no weather. It effectively works like a big cave for all mechanical purposes (like the underdark).

I have this idea, and just have some gaps to fill in about the dark realm
-how do plants function? I need a way (perhaps magical?) that plants function without sun, since then I can build an ecology (food chain etc)
-how does air work? I am not expecting here to be forests so where does air come from?
-how does water work?

I don't mind fudging a few facts and saying (poof it works) but I think that if it doesn't make sense, it will niggle at me and I won't enjoy running it

The purpose of the dark realm is to create an environment for evil to source from.. Dark races, evil people who suffer hardship and resent the upp world ears

I don't just want to copy the under dark, I want something fresh and I welcome any changes to my world idea

 

[Gilladian]

So is the upper world sunlit all the time? No night?

IMC I have a hollow earth, and in the center is a lightless ball of energy that supposedly holds an evil god's soul. It radiates a bitter energy that deep earth plants and, to a lesser degree, creatures, feed from. As far as air, maybe there are cracks in the universe that let elements from the elemental planes seep in. That could provide air, water and energy.

 

[wlmartin]

The upper world with either be seasonal or permenant sunlight, I haven't decided

I like the idea of the hollow earth/dyson sphere idea

I love your ideas
Inner sphere - evil people, eking out a living and the imprisioned evil soul is feeding the, somehow, perhaps even gaining worship. I had a similar idea before.

Then to seal him in, the gods built an outer sphere of good energy, sort of like a bubble that keeps him inside and from which he is weakened.

The flip side is that the good energy bubble grew life on it, thus we have our nicey nice world.

Still leaves a few gaps but perhaps I can ignore them

 

[Gilladian]

If you do want a day-night cycle, you could go with a sort of Egyptian idea. In the day, the sun/God sails across the sky in an open boat and sheds his life giving radiance. But at night, as he crosses the underworld, he is locked in a dark carriage or boat or something, because he lost a battle aeons ago, and this is his penalty. He still sheds a radiation of sorts, but no light. Thus you could have a normalish upper world, and still have an explanation for the dark evil underworld.

 

[Hand of Evil]

You may want to check out Norse mythology for some ideas.

Water from the sunny side will drain to the dark side, it will turn to ice and fall into the void below, where the gravitation of the plane would draw it into orbit, once it goes into the light of the sunny side, it will become rain.

Dark side, you got your fungus for paint life.

The dark side does not have to be "dark" it could have some form of light, a moon or water vapor clouds reflecting light that is just dim for example or even a volcanic landscape.

 

[wlmartin]

You may want to check out Norse mythology for some ideas.

Water from the sunny side will drain to the dark side, it will turn to ice and fall into the void below, where the gravitation of the plane would draw it into orbit, once it goes into the light of the sunny side, it will become rain.

Dark side, you got your fungus for paint life.

The dark side does not have to be "dark" it could have some form of light, a moon or water vapor clouds reflecting light that is just dim for example or even a volcanic landscape.

I had the idea of that, the water draining down from the edges, however on that basis when it falls to the lower level but that level has its own relative gravity, the water would appear to come from below and either be a geyser or such but it wouldnt keep falling since once it hits the median point between gravities it would start going down, and thus a conflict woudl arise between falling water and rising water.

I thought that if it was cold enough that these could form stalegmites coming from the depths below. This however presented a problem to me because i didnt know if there was a limit to the amount of water that flows down? Would it ever stop and if not wouldnt that create an entire continent of these stalegmites.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I had the idea of that, the water draining down from the edges, however on that basis when it falls to the lower level but that level has its own relative gravity, the water would appear to come from below and either be a geyser or such but it wouldnt keep falling since once it hits the median point between gravities it would start going down, and thus a conflict woudl arise between falling water and rising water.

I thought that if it was cold enough that these could form stalegmites coming from the depths below. This however presented a problem to me because i didnt know if there was a limit to the amount of water that flows down? Would it ever stop and if not wouldnt that create an entire continent of these stalagmites.

this being a plane, you can have some strange setups.

 

[Razjah]

To help with some of the light issues, have the sun orbit the coin near the edges. This would effectively put the equator in a ring near the edges of the plane. The dark side would have some light at the edges, but it would be perpetually dusk at the best of conditions. The plant life would likely follow etiolation when they have exposure to some light, the center of the dark side would have fungus or things that can create their own source of light through bio-luminescence.

I think a continent of stalagmites would be awesome. Any living creatures there could have really long slender legs or powerful jumping legs to move through the stalagmites with relative ease. If they grow large enough, sentient creatures could inhabit them as a spin off of the "village in the trees" vibe. Crystal and rope bridges connecting hollowed out stalagmites which they create their homes/shops/and other buildings.

 

[Hand of Evil]

could be tilted that both sides would see some sun.

 

[was]

Maybe use something that grows in the dark, like mushrooms, as the basis for the ecosystem. Also don't forget plant life growing in the oceans producing oxygen. Geothermal vents and lava flows could also come into play.