Dungeonosophy
Legend
Now that the unified multiverse is returning, might as well do it in a big way.
Take the Grand History of the Realms, and whittle it down to essentials. Then take essential events from the timeline of all the other published D&D worlds, including the Planescape and Spelljammer meta-settings. Smooth out and retcon any continuity snags. Synchronize their timelines...and voila!...a grand history of the multiverse.
Here's some existing attempts to hash out a multiversal timeline:
Temporal Chronology of the Primes: https://web.archive.org/web/20110711085358/http://www.geonomicon.com/chronology/chronology.htm
Spelljammer Timeline: http://www.spelljammer.org/essays/history/pw_timeline.html
Unified Multiversal Timeline: http://planejammerchronicles.com/about-2/
Timaresh's Timeline: http://www.rilmani.org/timaresh/Timeline
Timeline Converter: https://web.archive.org/web/2004072...dros.com/Jebgarg/Nidoking/moa/dnd/chrono.html
Also relevant is TSR's "Chronomancy and the Multiverse" (RTF download) which notionally includes (though without dates) many worlds within the D&D Multiverse, including such obscure worlds as Historical Reference Campaign & Masque of the Red Death (D&D Earth), Gamma World, and Council of Wyrms.
Even though I'm a longtime D&D aficionado, browsing through these timelines again reminds me that the D&D Multiverse has a lot of storytelling potential as a coherent "mythology of mythologies."
Such a book would be a good opportunity to highlight the concept of the Alternate Timeline. Every event ever described in a D&D book, even if it was retconned in a later book, actually did take place...it's just that these events took place on a slightly divergent timeline. From another perspective, each of these Alternate Timelines is a distinct World in WotC's D&D Multiverse. (And every DM's or gaming group's multiverse is an entirely separate parallel D&D Multiverse too.)
D&D Earth (or the various timelines/campaign models thereof) ought to be included too.
Mystara is one key world which hasn't been clearly synchronized with the other timelines.
Note that the BECMI iteration of Mystara is, according to canon, in a separate reality from the 2E Reality of Planescape/Spelljammer. Mystara also exists in the 2E Reality, and has been partially portrayed by the 3E Reality, 4E Reality, and 5E Reality (through Dragon magazine and web articles, such as the one about Bargle, and the mention of Mystara in 5E Basic D&D).
Take the Grand History of the Realms, and whittle it down to essentials. Then take essential events from the timeline of all the other published D&D worlds, including the Planescape and Spelljammer meta-settings. Smooth out and retcon any continuity snags. Synchronize their timelines...and voila!...a grand history of the multiverse.
Here's some existing attempts to hash out a multiversal timeline:
Temporal Chronology of the Primes: https://web.archive.org/web/20110711085358/http://www.geonomicon.com/chronology/chronology.htm
Spelljammer Timeline: http://www.spelljammer.org/essays/history/pw_timeline.html
Unified Multiversal Timeline: http://planejammerchronicles.com/about-2/
Timaresh's Timeline: http://www.rilmani.org/timaresh/Timeline
Timeline Converter: https://web.archive.org/web/2004072...dros.com/Jebgarg/Nidoking/moa/dnd/chrono.html
Also relevant is TSR's "Chronomancy and the Multiverse" (RTF download) which notionally includes (though without dates) many worlds within the D&D Multiverse, including such obscure worlds as Historical Reference Campaign & Masque of the Red Death (D&D Earth), Gamma World, and Council of Wyrms.
Even though I'm a longtime D&D aficionado, browsing through these timelines again reminds me that the D&D Multiverse has a lot of storytelling potential as a coherent "mythology of mythologies."
Such a book would be a good opportunity to highlight the concept of the Alternate Timeline. Every event ever described in a D&D book, even if it was retconned in a later book, actually did take place...it's just that these events took place on a slightly divergent timeline. From another perspective, each of these Alternate Timelines is a distinct World in WotC's D&D Multiverse. (And every DM's or gaming group's multiverse is an entirely separate parallel D&D Multiverse too.)
D&D Earth (or the various timelines/campaign models thereof) ought to be included too.
Mystara is one key world which hasn't been clearly synchronized with the other timelines.
- Here are the known crossovers between Mystara and the other worlds: http://pandius.com/mystchar.html
- (I'd add to this list the world-gates which were mentioned in the AD&D conversion guide in the back of some of the Gazetteers and connect Mystara with Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. And also the world-gates from the Book of Marvelous Magic, which connect Mystara to Greyhawk, Dawn Patrol, Boot Hill, Gangbusters, and other early settings.)
- Here's one enthusiast's attempt: http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?p=133501#p133501
- And discussion of details here: http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3223
- The discussion includes future events, such as correlations with the Greyhawk 2000 "D&D Modern" setting.
- For reference, here's the existing Mystara timeline: http://pandius.com/timeline.html
Note that the BECMI iteration of Mystara is, according to canon, in a separate reality from the 2E Reality of Planescape/Spelljammer. Mystara also exists in the 2E Reality, and has been partially portrayed by the 3E Reality, 4E Reality, and 5E Reality (through Dragon magazine and web articles, such as the one about Bargle, and the mention of Mystara in 5E Basic D&D).
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