Is Your Setting Pretty Much Earth?

[Drew]

In other words, is it an earth-sized sphere orbiting a sol-like star? Generally speaking, do the rules of physics of the real world apply to your fantasy world?

If so, why? How do you feel about flat worlds? Worlds where the sky is actually a demi-plane hung with crystaline lanterns. Worlds where sailing east will eventually result in falling off the world. Worlds where the sun is actually a burning ship drawn across the sky each day by magic flying condors.

Are there worlds out there that actually reflect medieval "science" and superstition? Do you think it would be cool to game in such a setting, or would it strike you as "wrong?" Why do we have such a proliferation of "mundane" worlds in a magical/fantastic gaming genre?

 

[RangerWickett]

I like magical science, so I take real world stuff and spruce it up with fantasy. In my fantasy setting, there are 8 main planes (planets), which orbit the Sun.

1. Plane of Fire (Mercury)
2. Plane of Air (Venus)
3. Plane of Life, the campaign setting (Earth)
4. Plane of Water (Mars)
5. Plane of Earth (the asteroids)
6. Plane of Space (Jupiter), which is surrounded by a ringworld that is the. . .
7. Plane of Time (Saturn's rings)
8. Plane of Death (Pluto)

Moons are demi-planes. If you want to go outside the planar system, it is very difficult, because the distances are so vast.

 

[palleomortis]

Yea, It's a lot easier, but I will probably change that, after reading "the far realm" from one of the latest dragon mags.

 

[diaglo]

nope, there is no Earth.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Why do we have such a proliferation of "mundane" worlds in a magical/fantastic gaming genre?

Because too many people know enough science to bone over the DM.

A flat earth? You know the horizon will be extended, right? Have you thought about how that's going to affect weather patterns? Or is it just a flat plane that's just like earth, in which case why not make the thing a ball? Take Terry Pratchet's Diskworld. How, exactly, is it different from Earth? Sure every now and then they talk about the "rim" and the "hub". But those exotic locales pretty much aren't used. The real charm of Diskworld is the characters.

And there, I think is the reason why DMs just punt and build an earthlike world. What's the point of having the solar system operate like a giant astrolab, giving the planet a ring with fifteen moons, or having all volcanoes reach down into the Forge of the World, when at the end of the day you're still knocking off goblins for their gold peices?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the grand details of a given world are the easiest to create. The gods, the ten thousand year histories, cosmology, contienents, dragon kingdoms ... all of these are not terribly difficult to create. What's hard is figuring out small villages and figuring out just how they've survived living next to the evil reptile cult for so long and what would persuade them to call on adventurers. The devil, as they say, is in the details.

But don't let me stop anyone from creating fanastic realms! I really do like those things! I just don't want people to stop there!

Happy gaming!

 

[JimAde]

My world is very ho-hum normal. Planet with a single large moon circling a star with a few other planets. Blah blah.

Funkier worlds are great, but I was going for a "realistic" fantasy feel for this campaign. One liberty I have taken is that the planet as a whole is not nearly as big as Earth. People don't know it, but they could sail around the whole thing in just a few months (assuming they could find supplies and don't get sunk by the storms, etc.). I'm planning to have the PCs discover this at some point because it's politically important to the campaign.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Mine tend to be very earthlike... one sun, one moon, etc. It's just easier for all involved to get into the setting. And the armchair scientist in me just doesn't want to have to deal with weird tides, the effect binary suns would have on an ecosystem, weather, etc. I'm a lazy DM.

Though one of these days I'm going to crack and run a pulp campaign set in Edgar Rice Burrough's hollow earth setting of Pellucidar. I can't help it. It's in my blood and it's gonna happen someday.

 

[Aristotle]

is it an earth-sized sphere orbiting a sol-like star? Generally speaking, do the rules of physics of the real world apply to your fantasy world?

Mine is somewhat different, but not entirely. I'd gladly go into a longwinded explanation of my world, if that is what you are looking for.

Why do we have such a proliferation of "mundane" worlds in a magical/fantastic gaming genre?

I can't remember where I first heard this, and I don't remember the quote exactly. I think it was a science fiction or fantasy author who said it. The stranger your world is, the more you have to work as an author (read: DM) to keep the reader (read: player) immersed in your fantasy. Any lack of ability to do so on your part will force the reader to have to work harder, sometimes at the expense of fully enjoying the work, to maintain the illusion.

In other words: It's much simpler to run a "mundane" world. The minds of the DM and the players are already conditioned to accept blue skies, green plants, and gravity pulling things down. You can certainly change things like that, but be prepared to slip up now and then or have players that forget about the changes.

Some changes are easier to accept than others. A flat world or chariot sun (so long as it generally looks the same from the ground) have little impact on the day to day lives of the people, and therefore don't require any additional work for immersion. These devices only become visible, and relevant, when the characters are directly interacting with them ... making them interesting diversions rather than constant elements that need to be regularly reinforced in the minds of the players.

 

[A'koss]

Well, IMC, the "sun" is really a huge portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire that cartwheels around the world. It spins off many smaller portals in it's wake which remain as burning embers in the night sky. So even though the "constellations" are ever-changing at night, there is a distinct "trail" or cluster of portals from which sailors can navagate by at night.

The world itself is round... or at least was... or should I say, "One day will be again"... The world was quite literally shattered during the time of Ragnarok (well, each culture has their own "End of the World" theory), the sun and moon consumed, but the next generation of gods, along with the new World Tree, are slowly binding the world back together again. However, where the campaign takes place (in a region which is relatively whole again) they have no idea that the other half of the world is little more than floating debris which will take milennia to re-integrate with the rest of the world.

And to further complicate matters, there is a great deal of raw elemental material clustered together in an unstable orbit around the world. This "moon" is a loose collection iof ice, rock, magma and various other material racked by constant storms. Sometimes fragments drift off and fall to the planet's surface - mostly small stuff, but every once in a while...

Cheers!

 

[Drew]

Well, IMC, the "sun" is really a huge portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire that cartwheels around the world...The world was quite literally shattered during the time of Ragnarok...next generation of gods, along with the new World Tree, are slowly binding the world back together again...

Neat stuff.

Mine is somewhat different, but not entirely. I'd gladly go into a longwinded explanation of my world, if that is what you are looking for.

Sure.