Hollow, with a molten magma layer sandwiched in between the two "Surfaces". The Hollow portion is a mix with one portion being more technologicaly advanced, while the other portions are more primitive. The techno part is where I will put any thing I want to use from eberron or iron kingdoms, with the primitive portions belonging to cultures that don't have a place on my surface world.
Is your fantasy world hollow?
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Fieari
Explorer
Depends on what you mean by hollow. The very very VERY center of the world I use is hollow, but that doesn't mean that the rest of it isn't solid and molten and whatnot (perhaps with a few pockets here and there, and there's rumored to be a tunnel, but that's never been confirmed)
I use the Realm of Elahrair's world, which unfortunately, has been taken off the internet except for a copyright notice which basically says "I made this, I invented it, it's mine, don't use it anymore, don't use the name, go away!" Although not in so many words. The basic concept is of a world which has magic and breathable air and a biosphere and everything because of the dreams of a sleeping girl at the core of the world. Always loved that setting, and I use it in my home games, where the person who had the original idea can't stop me from using it.
As for a Dyson Sphere, the main problem with such a thing would be that since "gravity" is formed by spinning the sphere, near the "equator" you'd have normal or above normal gravity, and near the "poles" you'd have 0 gravity, or next to it. I'm assuming that there's some sort of mechanism for not having a massive greenhouse effect. Vents of some sort? I don't know.
Anyway, the gravity thing is the reason that ringworlds are more practical than dyson spheres. Heh. My physics professor had us go over these while we were studying torque to find the spin needed for maximum livable area.
More information: http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=31272
Also see: http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=798849
I use the Realm of Elahrair's world, which unfortunately, has been taken off the internet except for a copyright notice which basically says "I made this, I invented it, it's mine, don't use it anymore, don't use the name, go away!" Although not in so many words. The basic concept is of a world which has magic and breathable air and a biosphere and everything because of the dreams of a sleeping girl at the core of the world. Always loved that setting, and I use it in my home games, where the person who had the original idea can't stop me from using it.
As for a Dyson Sphere, the main problem with such a thing would be that since "gravity" is formed by spinning the sphere, near the "equator" you'd have normal or above normal gravity, and near the "poles" you'd have 0 gravity, or next to it. I'm assuming that there's some sort of mechanism for not having a massive greenhouse effect. Vents of some sort? I don't know.
Anyway, the gravity thing is the reason that ringworlds are more practical than dyson spheres. Heh. My physics professor had us go over these while we were studying torque to find the spin needed for maximum livable area.
More information: http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=31272
Also see: http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=798849
Aeric
Explorer
The world I'm currently using is homebrew, but not by me (well, maybe 5% of it is me, the rest is by my friend and fellow ENWorld poster Vrylakos). It's not hollow, nor does it have a molten core, or any kind of core for that matter. The world is a bunch of floating islands and continents in a seemingly endless sea of air.
My own homebrewed world, which is still in the making, did have one area that was like Verne's "hollow" world: primitive tribesmen and dinosaurs living in an immense underground cavern, the light for which was provided by an artifact that had to do with fire (and was also the power holding the cavern ceiling up). Dunno if I'll include that in the final version; it was more of a location for part of the campaign I was going to run at the time.
Man, I haven't thought about Hollow World for a while....
My own homebrewed world, which is still in the making, did have one area that was like Verne's "hollow" world: primitive tribesmen and dinosaurs living in an immense underground cavern, the light for which was provided by an artifact that had to do with fire (and was also the power holding the cavern ceiling up). Dunno if I'll include that in the final version; it was more of a location for part of the campaign I was going to run at the time.
Man, I haven't thought about Hollow World for a while....
Gez
First Post
It's hard to say for my world.
Basically, it sure is hollow, but space and time are all mixed-up, folded, fused, torn apart, and painted with strange colors when you goes too deep.
Below the "underdark", you find yourself in a fold of space-time dimensions and wind up on the Elemental Plane of Earth. If you found a way to move past this "vortex", then you would arrive not in a hollow world nor in a molten core, but in another plane altogether. The "lower planes" are slowly eating the world from the inside...
By Dyson, as the name implies.
The webcomic Schlock Mercenary used Dyson spheres. But the sphere themselves are not inhabitable (artificial gravity problems, spinning it fast enough to have gravity -- actually inertia -- on most of the surface would destroy it). However, a number of planets and stations can be contained within the sphere, and the sphere is used to collect all the otherwise "wasted" energy.
Basically, it sure is hollow, but space and time are all mixed-up, folded, fused, torn apart, and painted with strange colors when you goes too deep.
Below the "underdark", you find yourself in a fold of space-time dimensions and wind up on the Elemental Plane of Earth. If you found a way to move past this "vortex", then you would arrive not in a hollow world nor in a molten core, but in another plane altogether. The "lower planes" are slowly eating the world from the inside...
dead said:
By Dyson, as the name implies.
The webcomic Schlock Mercenary used Dyson spheres. But the sphere themselves are not inhabitable (artificial gravity problems, spinning it fast enough to have gravity -- actually inertia -- on most of the surface would destroy it). However, a number of planets and stations can be contained within the sphere, and the sphere is used to collect all the otherwise "wasted" energy.
Deadguy
First Post
dead said:
Dead, take a look at this, which gives a good overview and origin.
That would depend on the format of the sphere. But a 'solid' sphere could be terraformed to have seas and continents across much of its enormous surface.
Outside is open to the vacuum, so the exterior is pretty much just a radiator of waste heat from the interior.
No, you'd create a layer of air across the interior surface. You still have a star shining at the centre of the sphere - that's its source of energy.
A Dyson Sphere would be an... impressive... game setting, even if you never used more than a tiny fraction of a percent of its surface area. Indeed, you might unfold an entire planar cosmology across that surface!
Magus Coeruleus
Explorer
Just some more info on Hollow World:
First, some trivia: The "sun" casts a reddish light, so everything looks that way. In addition to the continents and oceans on the inner surface, there are floating continents that orbit the sun. There are openings at the poles of the planet that allow movement between the outer and inner worlds, but they are affected by a powerful (Immortal-level) antimagic effect, so it is very difficult and dangerous to schlep through these regions. Certain types of spells don't work in the HW--these mainly help maintain the balance of power between cultures and prevent easy travel, cultural change, etc. so that they stayed more or less "frozen in time." HW-born PCs get certain advantages and disadvantages according to the culture/race if they follow tradition but they can (as exceptional individuals) choose to violate those norms but lose some of the traditional benefits as a result. The famous _Rules Cyclopedia_ for OD&D rules (which is like a PHB, DMG, MM, setting overview for the outer AND inner world, plus rules for running dominions, mass combats, Immortals, EVERYTHING for cover price $25) includes a bit of info on and a two-page spread full-color map of the Hollow World.
The _Hollow World_ boxed set has maps, a player's guide that focuses on specific races and classes; a dm's guide with history of the HW; atlas, major cities, NPCs, alt rules, general campaign info, etc.; and an adventure booklet with some short adventures.
The _Wrath of the Immortals_ boxed set includes some material on the Hollow World and significant parts of the campaign take place there.
There are three Gazetteers (like the ones for which the Known World/Mystara is famous, although they are not called "Gazetteers" per se) for HW:
HWR1 Accessory: Sons of Azca [M-Aztecs]
HWR2 Accessory: Kingdom of Nithia [M-Ancient Egypt]
HWR3 Accessory: The Milenian Empire [M-Classical Greece]
There is one stand-alone adventure:
HWQ1 Adventure: The Milenian Scepter [effects of Wrath of the Immortals on Milenia]
There is a "Blood Brethren Trilogy" of adventures set in the HW that allows surface-worlders to enter the HW and romp across many of the HW lands and trying to foil a plot by an Entropic Immortal:
HWA1 Adventure: Nightwail [mostly in outer world and Azcan Empire]
HWA2 Adventure: Nightrage [mostly in Nithia]
HWA3 Adventure: Nightstorm [mostly in a land called Shahjapur, a sort of M-India that debuts and is highly detailed here (like a mini-Gazetteer as part of the adventure)]
I have DMed a Wrath of the Immortals campaign and incorporated the Blood Brethren Trilogy, modified largely because WotI events already got the PCs into the HW so I skipped all of the outer world stuff from HWA1. I also swapped the captive in HWA3 (I'm being vague to prevent major spoilers) with Benekander from WotI to further integrate the two plots. It was also interesting to have PCs encounter HW Hutaakans and Traldar given that they had, early in their adventuring career and years earlier in both game time and real time, come upon the few remaining ones on the outer world in the Valley of the Hutaakans.
HW is like a preserve the Immortals have set aside for creatures and cultures that would otherwise go extinct on the outer world. This is why you end up with a lot of things inspired by ancient Earth civilizations (compared to the more medieval ones on the outer surface) and all of the "Lost World" stuff. If you are interested in that sort of theme, regardless of the specifics, I'd recommend getting a hold of the HW boxed set and, if you like it, any of the other materials. Not all are superb, but assuming you can get them at an affordable price (the Gazetteer and adventure cover prices ranged from $9-$11 each, coming out in 1990-1992), I think it's worth the read.
First, some trivia: The "sun" casts a reddish light, so everything looks that way. In addition to the continents and oceans on the inner surface, there are floating continents that orbit the sun. There are openings at the poles of the planet that allow movement between the outer and inner worlds, but they are affected by a powerful (Immortal-level) antimagic effect, so it is very difficult and dangerous to schlep through these regions. Certain types of spells don't work in the HW--these mainly help maintain the balance of power between cultures and prevent easy travel, cultural change, etc. so that they stayed more or less "frozen in time." HW-born PCs get certain advantages and disadvantages according to the culture/race if they follow tradition but they can (as exceptional individuals) choose to violate those norms but lose some of the traditional benefits as a result. The famous _Rules Cyclopedia_ for OD&D rules (which is like a PHB, DMG, MM, setting overview for the outer AND inner world, plus rules for running dominions, mass combats, Immortals, EVERYTHING for cover price $25) includes a bit of info on and a two-page spread full-color map of the Hollow World.
The _Hollow World_ boxed set has maps, a player's guide that focuses on specific races and classes; a dm's guide with history of the HW; atlas, major cities, NPCs, alt rules, general campaign info, etc.; and an adventure booklet with some short adventures.
The _Wrath of the Immortals_ boxed set includes some material on the Hollow World and significant parts of the campaign take place there.
There are three Gazetteers (like the ones for which the Known World/Mystara is famous, although they are not called "Gazetteers" per se) for HW:
HWR1 Accessory: Sons of Azca [M-Aztecs]
HWR2 Accessory: Kingdom of Nithia [M-Ancient Egypt]
HWR3 Accessory: The Milenian Empire [M-Classical Greece]
There is one stand-alone adventure:
HWQ1 Adventure: The Milenian Scepter [effects of Wrath of the Immortals on Milenia]
There is a "Blood Brethren Trilogy" of adventures set in the HW that allows surface-worlders to enter the HW and romp across many of the HW lands and trying to foil a plot by an Entropic Immortal:
HWA1 Adventure: Nightwail [mostly in outer world and Azcan Empire]
HWA2 Adventure: Nightrage [mostly in Nithia]
HWA3 Adventure: Nightstorm [mostly in a land called Shahjapur, a sort of M-India that debuts and is highly detailed here (like a mini-Gazetteer as part of the adventure)]
I have DMed a Wrath of the Immortals campaign and incorporated the Blood Brethren Trilogy, modified largely because WotI events already got the PCs into the HW so I skipped all of the outer world stuff from HWA1. I also swapped the captive in HWA3 (I'm being vague to prevent major spoilers) with Benekander from WotI to further integrate the two plots. It was also interesting to have PCs encounter HW Hutaakans and Traldar given that they had, early in their adventuring career and years earlier in both game time and real time, come upon the few remaining ones on the outer world in the Valley of the Hutaakans.
HW is like a preserve the Immortals have set aside for creatures and cultures that would otherwise go extinct on the outer world. This is why you end up with a lot of things inspired by ancient Earth civilizations (compared to the more medieval ones on the outer surface) and all of the "Lost World" stuff. If you are interested in that sort of theme, regardless of the specifics, I'd recommend getting a hold of the HW boxed set and, if you like it, any of the other materials. Not all are superb, but assuming you can get them at an affordable price (the Gazetteer and adventure cover prices ranged from $9-$11 each, coming out in 1990-1992), I think it's worth the read.
Can a ring world be hollow...
<Insert shameless plug here>There's also a couple Hollow World articles in recent issues of Dragon (#315 and 319, if I recall).</End shameless plug>
The first one has a template and some feats primarily for Azcan bad guys. The second has some druid spells and lizardfolk monster class progression for the Malpheggi lizardfolk swamps.
When I dusted off my old Hollow World boxed set for the first article, I was really struck by how it so perfectly fit for a hodge-podge sort of world (Aztecs, classical Greeks, pirates, etc.) that can encompass any sort of adventure and PC that people would want.
The first one has a template and some feats primarily for Azcan bad guys. The second has some druid spells and lizardfolk monster class progression for the Malpheggi lizardfolk swamps.
When I dusted off my old Hollow World boxed set for the first article, I was really struck by how it so perfectly fit for a hodge-podge sort of world (Aztecs, classical Greeks, pirates, etc.) that can encompass any sort of adventure and PC that people would want.
Navior
First Post
Graywolf-ELM said:
I pretty much do exactly the same thing. When I said that it could be a lot of work, I didn't mean to imply that it was difficult work, just that depending on how much you need to use, there was potentially a lot to do. If the PCs travel a lot, you might need to convert things quite frequently. On the other hand, if they stay in the same general area, there could be very little to do.
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