New Setting idea: a place called the Overholy Lands

[gyor]

Okay we know the bodies of dead gods end up in the Astral Plane, but what happens when an Overgod dies?

The idea is that the Overgod is so powerful its Planet sized body actually warped the Astral Plane around it, changing how that space works.

One such Overgod is now called the Overholy Lands, a world floating in the Astral Plane and distorting the,
Astral Plane around it.

See large groups of Pilgrims travel to the Overholy in order to build new gods out of the dead flesh and thoughts of the Overgod. So the Overholy is covered with Temple Cities and Monastaries dedicated to building the perfect God. Other cities are devoted to harvesting the flesh to feed to their preexisting Gods from other worlds. And yet others explore the Overholy for the weapons and secrets to fight the Gods.

Naturally this "world" is filled with Holy Wars.

As for dungeons, they are a byproduct of the, dead Overgods nightmares, and spring up in a location and disappear just as easily. They are a kind of local weather pattern, and these nightmares can suck entire cities into dungeons for months on end.

Unlike in the rest of the astral time exists around the Overgod, but not in a predictable fashion. Time seems to function more like weather, with different regions experiencing time moving faster and others slower, depending on time systems.

One does not reach the Overholy by spell or portal, but rather by spiritual pilgrimage filled with challenges, by the end of which one finds oneself on the Overholy.

 

[squibbles]

Seems pretty cool.

Is it meant to be a self-contained setting that level 1s can start in or a location in a larger multiverse that PCs have to travel to?

I think it would be cooler as the former, in which case this part is really all the hook you need:

large groups of Pilgrims travel to the Overholy in order to build new gods out of the dead flesh and thoughts of the Overgod. So the Overholy is covered with Temple Cities and Monastaries dedicated to building the perfect God. Other cities are devoted to harvesting the flesh to feed to their preexisting Gods from other worlds. And yet others explore the Overholy for the weapons and secrets to fight the Gods.

Naturally this "world" is filled with Holy Wars.

As for dungeons, they are a byproduct of the, dead Overgods nightmares, and spring up in a location and disappear just as easily. They are a kind of local weather pattern, and these nightmares can suck entire cities into dungeons for months on end.

3+ religious factions fighting each other everywhere the PCs go, with temple cities that sometimes vanish into/become dungeons, is excellent grist for adventures.

There's no need to point out that it's in the astral plane, is the body of an overgod specifically, or predictably warps spacetime around it. Those big picture sorts of things are best left opaque to players.

I would also suggest having some dungeons be overtly inside the god's body, with creepy organic overtones, i.e. being swarmed by plaque slimes and white blood celestials in the immaculate enamel cathedral under one of Ao's giant molars--and, of course, it'd be more fun if you never explicitly tell the players where it is.