Design and Development: Cosmology

[Baduin]

Feywild (or Fey Wilderness) and Shadowfell(s), apart from ungainly names, are an enormous improvement to D&D. In fact, Gary Gygax apparently had something like Feywild in mind from the beginning. He wrote recently:

"

Gary, I understand that the world of Aerth is a fleshing-out of what was in part undeveloped and/or implicit in your original Greyhawk campaign world. How did the counter-earth of Phaeree figure into your original D&D campaign world? Did you always envision most of the non-human critters (elves, giants, dragons, etc.) as being "away from home [i. e., Phaeree]" when on Oerth? Or was Aerth's Phaeree a later conception? In either case, it is a most intriguing way of presenting a solid ecology for a fantasy world. It allows for a magical "alternate Earth" setting, allowing it to remain humanocentric and answering the question, "How can these monsters be here without totally screwing-up the world's ecology?" [Answer: The monsters aren't native to the campaign world. They are interlopers from another world, arriving here through magical gates.]

And once again let me congratulate you on your Epic of Aerth book. It is simply packed with good stuff.
...

I always assumed that the strange creatures in the D&D fantasy world were natives of another world. This is implicit in most folklore and fantasy alike. I simply did not elucidate that until I write the Mythus rules and detailed its world setting Aerth.

So thank you for the very kind words in regards my creative efforts in prresenting RPG concepts.

In the Lejendary Earth (Learth) world setting I have included the concept of alternate worlds for the non-himan races and most monstrous creatures as well, and added another concept I have not actually spent a lot of time explaining, 3D space anomalies. The setting for the LA game-based novel Eye of Glory is a land that is on Learth but anomalous. the surface area it takes up on the planet is only about 1/100th of its actual size, and entering the place is possible only in a special location or two, rather as one must assume Shangri-la exists and is accessed.

Cheers,
Gary (in haste to have a pre-dinner cocktail )

"

As regards Succubi, I think their presence in the Abyss can be explained quite easily. We know that Ice Devils are actually captive demons. So, if Succubi are actually devils, what do they do in Abyss? When the question is so stated, the answer is obvious. The usual duty of Succubi is to seduce, corrupt and control. So, they have been sent to Abyss in order to control the demons.

It also pretty well explains the reason why both Malcanthet and Shami-Amourae oppose Demogorgon in the last Dungeon Adventure Path - that is the reason for which they have been sent to Abyss. They were to control him, and when that proved impossible, to betray and defeat him.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Read through the rest of this thread, they're here.

(I kid, I kid!)

Man, did I walk into that, or what....

 

[Stormtalon]

Planejamming!! (Those two quirky settings always were a nice fit.)

Ooooh, enchanted ships pushing thru the planar barriers to get to the Astral Sea -- and being the only safe way there! Hmmm, this gives ideas, yesssss.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Another thing that comes to mind - trying to get myself off of my silly kick - is that this brings to mind the planar strucutre in Ars Magica, where a section of Faerie can be accessed via faerie rings, etc. Its even possible for sections of tihs world to be "swapped out" for a similarly sized section of the other plane (I forget what the word is that they use in Ars Magica)... Which is something I've used in my game.

 

[sckeener]

Another thing that comes to mind - trying to get myself off of my silly kick - is that this brings to mind the planar strucutre in Ars Magica, where a section of Faerie can be accessed via faerie rings, etc. Its even possible for sections of tihs world to be "swapped out" for a similarly sized section of the other plane (I forget what the word is that they use in Ars Magica)... Which is something I've used in my game.

yup...hence why the faerie stuff didn't seem strange to me at all. I, too, have been doing regiones from ars magica in my D&D games.

I prefer to bleed over from one plane to another near a gate and regiones work for that.

 

[Shortman McLeod]

However, I can envision the sea of flesh : an amalgation (is that even a word ?) of billions of dretchs moaning and groaning, while beeing slowly attracted toward the center of he abyss, where they are shred to bits. The soul energy released by their death and suffering forms dark bolts thousands of miles long, that corrupt the essence of the elemental creatures they strike.

Argh! You guys, stop coming up with cool images that I must steal for my next campaign!

Seriously bro, that was cool.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

an amalgation (is that even a word ?)

Well, the spelling is amalgamation but you certainly used it right. Good use of imagery.

 

[Gentlegamer]

I wonder if the designers have been reading Nifft the Lean lately . . .

 

[Aloïsius]

Argh! You guys, stop coming up with cool images that I must steal for my next campaign!

Seriously bro, that was cool.

I think Jack Vance should receive a part of the credit : Murgen cite a "course of flesh" (IIRC) in the Lyonnesse book, just two words used in a planar context that sparkled my imagination.

However, the question about this sea of flesh is : what to do with it, as a DM ? How make a "fun" adventure in such a place ?

It would need something else, I guess : physical structures to interact with, like shores, islands, reefs...
I can imagine the PC having to sneak inside Demogorgon realm. They must swim under the sea of flesh (better have a good protective spell, or something) ; pass through voratious demonic reefs, navigate by using the position of the river of fire floating above in the sky to guide them ; resist the current of the fleshsea ; escape from one dretch cataract where Vrocks are prying upon falling creatures like seabirds on newborne turtles ; negociate a free passage in some Charon-like boat ; and, then, they can enter Demogorgon real by the "rear door", without triggering the alarm.

Well, the spelling is amalgamation

I knew I read something like that somewhere. Alas, google did have pages about "amalgation", so I did not looked further. Next time, I will use a translator if I need to say "amalgame" in english.

 

[Rechan]

You know, the reason for why this reminds you of the Exalted cosmology (it's not "spot on", IMO, though) might just be that both games are tapping to similar mythological material... Feywild is the Faerie, Shadowfell is the Greek underworld, the gods are off living in their heavens. It's common ancestry and convergent evolution, I think, and it might do D&D some good.

Hate to point this out, but one of the 4e designers did work on the Exalted setting, too.