D&D Cosmology: the old and the new. Where do you stand?

[Nifft]

I'm confident that I can use the rules to make my homebrew, just like I did with 3e's rules.

4e sounds like its constituents are closer to what I use anyway.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Li Shenron]

Some new ideas are intriguing. I probably pick what I like and discard the rest, but it's even possible I'll use it as a whole for a while.

 

[Wombat]

Never, ever liked D&D cosmology, any variation of it.

The new version is simply another version to ignore in my book.

 

[GreatLemur]

I'm okay with the new cosmology, but I'll probably use it about as often as I used the Great Wheel: not at all.

 

[Mark Hope]

I used the Great Wheel all the time for my old homebrew. My new one uses something else I came up with. And my DS games have Athas' traditionally oddball cosmology. I'd use the Wheel again in a heartbeat, though, for Planescape, Spelljammer or Greyhawk games. I think it's great.

That said, I voted that I was enthusiastic for the new cosmology because anything so clearly derived from the World of Darkness gets my vote regardless of what game it's in. Beyond that, it's all academic for me, as I'm not planning to switch over to 4e... so I'm not really sure what I'm doing in this thread

 

[Jhaelen]

To be honest, before the advent of the Planescape setting I never even considered actually using one of those outer planes in play. For me they were just part of the setting's background.

Part of the reason was the difficulty of traveling to those planes and an even bigger part was the difficulty of surviving there once you got there. Besides I always found it difficult to think of a reason why anyone would want to go there.

Now, in my current 3E campaign I've decided for the first time to actually play a couple of high level adventures out there.

 

[JohnSnow]

And polls like this explain why WotC decided to ditch the Great Wheel.

I don't like it, and have never used it. I used some of the planes (Asgard and the Hells got some play in an early campaign I was in), but one of the things I liked about Eberron was that it created a new and useful cosmology.

I like the new setup even more. It's reminiscent of what I was working on for my homebrew.

And it's more universal and portable without being flavorless. Universal is good. Portable is good. Especially when it comes to recruiting new players.

 

[Glyfair]

Part of the reason was the difficulty of traveling to those planes and an even bigger part was the difficulty of surviving there once you got there. Besides I always found it difficult to think of a reason why anyone would want to go there.

At the time, I believed that Planescape was created just so that all this stuff that was out there would be "playable." Most people didn't play high-level games, quitting before they reached high enough levels to venture to the planes. One of the big selling points was "you can go to the planes at 1st level!"

What I find is ironic is that at least part of these changes have the same intent. Let's make the planes more playable. Who ever goes to the negative material plane?