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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Igwilly" data-source="post: 7003240" data-attributes="member: 6801225">Well, right now, I’m thinking about how to run a game in which the Earth is flat. This demands to determine “gravity” as being directed to the ground (below or above, depending on the side). I believe some side-effects are:1.Time zones: Basically, in the real world, if one starts to move on the east-west axis too much, the time marked in your clock will be different from the one marked in the sky, precisely because of the Earth’s shape: different places are in different moments of the day (as the sky). If the world is flat, however, every place will mark the same time in the clock. Day and night would occur simultaneously everywhere, and your clock would not need to be adjusted.2.Stars: In the real world, one of the keys factors as to the discovery of Earth’s shape is the sky that appears on the night: if one moves too much on the north-south axis, the sky will not be the same anymore; known stars and constellations are not there, and there’ll be new and strange stars and constellations. This happens because of the Earth’s shape. If the world is flat, however, the sky at night will be the same for everybody, and such change should not occur.3.Maps: in our real-world, flat maps are inaccurate no matter how they are made: Earth is round and the map is flat; there’ll always be error. Such a thing would not occur if the Earth is flat: all maps would (supposedly) be of perfect or near-perfect accuracy, with no distortion.4.Horizon: if the Earth is flat, the horizon line will be limited only by human vision: nothing would simply disappear by going far away, until your sight is not capable of detecting them anymore. This could make observation on-land much more precise. Perhaps your king will see his enemies approaching the kingdom much early. That could change something in the world.5.There is the danger of falling over the edge, if one moves far away from the center. Honestly, there’s no way to determine an always-applicable effect for this: this is of your craft; you should decide what happens when someone falls over the edge. There’s the interesting question as to what, if anything, exists on the other side of the planet. This can be a source of great mystery.I should note that I did see RPG settings using this proposition:•13th Age: basically, right in the core book, at chapter’s start on describing the world, it states that the world of 13th Age is flat, with the Underworld being underground and the Overworld being high above the clouds.•2e Spelljammer: I believe one of the possible shapes for planets is the flat one.Now, if you ask me, I almost never use real-world astronomy/physics laws in my world. The problem is not the general proposition, though, but there’s one thing that always bugs me in RPGs: stars. Basically, real-world stars have such power/energy that would make most fantasy gods look like weak blades of grass. I think their size and their nature as giant nuclear reactors are the main factors here: an Earth-sized ball of eternal fire is fine to me.I also had this idea: all stars are man-sized crystals which provide life for planets both physically and metaphysically, giving light/heat and the magical/metaphysical substance which mortal souls are made. They may be actually doors to the Otherworld, the source of life, which follows a different set of rules about the star-planet dynamics. Just an idea.</blockquote>

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