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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Croesus" data-source="post: 4580780" data-attributes="member: 35019">I like the idea of this, but I want to make one suggestion: Design the cosmology so that it matters to the characters at all levels.I suspect most players couldn't care less about cosmology because it doesn't really matter to their characters, or if it does, it only matters when their high-level and capable of traveling the planes. Yet some of the best fantasy stories I've read have a cosmology that matters to the story, that adds a unique and interesting element. A new cosmology needs this.So you might start by asking certain questions:*Where do familiars come from? I really like Monte Cook's idea of "virtual" familiars, ala Golden Compass. *Along the same lines, how about summoned creatures? Are they real, or "virtual"? If real, should a caster perform a ceremony of some sort to bind the creature to service? If so, what is offered to the creature, whether as carrot or stick? What are the consequences? (Something I did for my players years ago was based on a Dragon article, where they always summoned the same celestial creatures, who had individual personalities. They really seemed to like that element in what was otherwise just another combat spell.)*Demons, devils, daemons, etc. Do they exist? If so, why? To what purpose? Can they travel between planes, and if so, how? Do they need help to enter our world? If so, who helps them and why? Is sacrificing an unwilling vicitm sufficient, or must the sacrifice come from the devotee (say, their first born)?*Can people travel to other planes? If so, how difficult is it? How common? What's required - special site, ritual, time? Is such joining of planes feared? If so, can it be blocked by magical or mundane means, and if so, how can such blocks be bypassed?Many of these questions touch more on campaign design than cosmology design, but it seems to me a good cosmology will automatically lead to such questions. If at the end of the day the cosmology has no significant impact on the campaign, it's mostly wasted effort. The effort might be enjoyable for its own sake, just not terribly useful.</blockquote>

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