Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Important facts about your campaign world
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 6739029" data-attributes="member: 5100"><p><strong>1. The Prime material is the battleground between the angels and fiends.</strong></p><p></p><p>Creation was good and harmonic. Then something happened and the demons and devils Fell. They fight with the angels and with each other for the souls of the mortal races. Celestial and infernal creatures roam the ethereal (near astral) regularly, and effects such as <u>see invisible</u> can be terrifying in their revelations. Eventually, the forces of Good will win and the Fiends will be utterly destroyed, but souls are in jeopardy until that day. This much is known by mortals. </p><p></p><p>What is unknown to mortals is that the devils believe they can change the outcome of the war by holding enough souls as a bargaining chip, or even as a means of usurping power. Souls are precious and the forces of creation are loathe to see them utterly destroyed. The devils want to stand on a pile of souls so large that no one is willing to hurl them into oblivion. Demons, on the other hand, have accepted that they will eventually cease to exist. They seek to survive as long as possible, but also to send as much of creation as possible ahead of them into the pit. If you look at the Abyss as a great wormhole to oblivion, the core being of the devils stands at the precipice and is building a levy of souls to give them stable ground from which to fight. The demons are past the point of no return and flailing wildly to slow their fall and drag bits of creation with them.</p><p></p><p>Angels fight to protect the souls of mortals. They do not directly use them, but generally feel a "calling" to gather as many as they can to the upper planes. The are more reactive than proactive, which troubles some of them greatly. Elves are not truly counted among the mortal races. Instead, they are a race of celestials that gave up their place to shepherd the mortals. This fact is lost to ancient histories, forgotten even to the elves. Today, elves are no more wise or elevated than any of the mortal races. The only remnant of their once exulted state is that they possess spirits which are constantly reborn, rather than true souls that go to their final rewards. These spirits can be claimed by the fiends almost as easily as mortal souls, however, but even the fiends don't know whether they are any more valuable than souls.</p><p></p><p><strong>2. And other, more primal, forces.</strong></p><p></p><p>Also unknown to most mortals is that the "gods" they worship (or fear) are beings that started out their existence as other types of creatures -- mostly celestials or fiends, but a few were mortal -- and somehow became entangled with certain primal archetypes to the point that they gained power from that relationship. Their power doesn't appear to be related to the number of worshipers so much as the prominence of their domains. Death does not need your prayers; it is simply inevitable. These immortals often struggle in their understanding of the universe as much as mortals. </p><p></p><p>Ancient lore speaks of a benevolent creative force. Many immortals, celestials, and even fiends believe this force is what cast out the fiends. Time dulls even an immortal's memory, though. There are competing theories that say the original celestials fought among themselves and the losers became the fiends. In this version, the Creator distanced itself from the corrupt creation, with the immortals eventually coming to power to fill the void.</p><p></p><p>Entropy is clearly in force, however. The degeneration of the elves, the loss of immortal memories, and even the howl of the Abyss speak to the multiverse slowly, but inescapably falling apart. Whether entropy is sentient, or even a necessary peer to creation is a matter of debate among scholars both mortal and ageless.</p><p></p><p><strong>3. History repeats itself, but often on a different scale.</strong></p><p></p><p>Wars in the heavens are reflected as wars on the Prime. Nations form and dissolve, but there are always "heroes" and "villains". Every few centuries, similar artifacts come into play. Civilization progresses to a point, but is always set back in a never-ending cycle of dark age and rebirth. An understanding of cause always gives an advantage, but the movements of entropy ensure full knowledge is hard to come by.</p><p></p><p><strong>4. Bonus fact: There are no elephants, but there is a species of burrowing raptors.</strong></p><p></p><p>This started as a joke, because someone observed that all fantasy worlds have essentially the same list of natural animals. The "no elephants", especially, worked its way into canon that old players occasionally threw out to new players.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mercule, post: 6739029, member: 5100"] [B]1. The Prime material is the battleground between the angels and fiends.[/B] Creation was good and harmonic. Then something happened and the demons and devils Fell. They fight with the angels and with each other for the souls of the mortal races. Celestial and infernal creatures roam the ethereal (near astral) regularly, and effects such as [U]see invisible[/U] can be terrifying in their revelations. Eventually, the forces of Good will win and the Fiends will be utterly destroyed, but souls are in jeopardy until that day. This much is known by mortals. What is unknown to mortals is that the devils believe they can change the outcome of the war by holding enough souls as a bargaining chip, or even as a means of usurping power. Souls are precious and the forces of creation are loathe to see them utterly destroyed. The devils want to stand on a pile of souls so large that no one is willing to hurl them into oblivion. Demons, on the other hand, have accepted that they will eventually cease to exist. They seek to survive as long as possible, but also to send as much of creation as possible ahead of them into the pit. If you look at the Abyss as a great wormhole to oblivion, the core being of the devils stands at the precipice and is building a levy of souls to give them stable ground from which to fight. The demons are past the point of no return and flailing wildly to slow their fall and drag bits of creation with them. Angels fight to protect the souls of mortals. They do not directly use them, but generally feel a "calling" to gather as many as they can to the upper planes. The are more reactive than proactive, which troubles some of them greatly. Elves are not truly counted among the mortal races. Instead, they are a race of celestials that gave up their place to shepherd the mortals. This fact is lost to ancient histories, forgotten even to the elves. Today, elves are no more wise or elevated than any of the mortal races. The only remnant of their once exulted state is that they possess spirits which are constantly reborn, rather than true souls that go to their final rewards. These spirits can be claimed by the fiends almost as easily as mortal souls, however, but even the fiends don't know whether they are any more valuable than souls. [B]2. And other, more primal, forces.[/B] Also unknown to most mortals is that the "gods" they worship (or fear) are beings that started out their existence as other types of creatures -- mostly celestials or fiends, but a few were mortal -- and somehow became entangled with certain primal archetypes to the point that they gained power from that relationship. Their power doesn't appear to be related to the number of worshipers so much as the prominence of their domains. Death does not need your prayers; it is simply inevitable. These immortals often struggle in their understanding of the universe as much as mortals. Ancient lore speaks of a benevolent creative force. Many immortals, celestials, and even fiends believe this force is what cast out the fiends. Time dulls even an immortal's memory, though. There are competing theories that say the original celestials fought among themselves and the losers became the fiends. In this version, the Creator distanced itself from the corrupt creation, with the immortals eventually coming to power to fill the void. Entropy is clearly in force, however. The degeneration of the elves, the loss of immortal memories, and even the howl of the Abyss speak to the multiverse slowly, but inescapably falling apart. Whether entropy is sentient, or even a necessary peer to creation is a matter of debate among scholars both mortal and ageless. [B]3. History repeats itself, but often on a different scale.[/B] Wars in the heavens are reflected as wars on the Prime. Nations form and dissolve, but there are always "heroes" and "villains". Every few centuries, similar artifacts come into play. Civilization progresses to a point, but is always set back in a never-ending cycle of dark age and rebirth. An understanding of cause always gives an advantage, but the movements of entropy ensure full knowledge is hard to come by. [B]4. Bonus fact: There are no elephants, but there is a species of burrowing raptors.[/B] This started as a joke, because someone observed that all fantasy worlds have essentially the same list of natural animals. The "no elephants", especially, worked its way into canon that old players occasionally threw out to new players. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Important facts about your campaign world
Top