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<blockquote data-quote="paradox42" data-source="post: 5202817" data-attributes="member: 29746"><p><strong>The Return of the (Thread) King</strong></p><p></p><p>Yes, Kev. Yes you will.</p><p></p><p>Apologies to all for being away so long- it's true I'm not getting paid for this stuff, but it's rude for me to promise future posts and then not make any. Honestly, I have no valid excuses; I just haven't felt inspired (and also, for the last couple of months I took the time to enjoy a break from any role-playing games at all). It's not that I don't still enjoy roleplaying, mind you; it's just that running a weekly game for close to ten years sort of takes up a significant amount of life-space and I've enjoyed filling my sudden extra time with activities I hadn't had time and energy for during the last decade. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>But no matter. Slowly, but surely, my brain has been recharging its batteries, and in the back of my mind I have been figuring out what sort of game to try next assuming I run one (which my former players have largely been clamoring for). Among other possibilities, I've considered how the Reality described in this thread would have been changed by the events of the Grand Nexus, so that I can run campaigns set in the times after the last one. Story continuity is a nice way to begin, plus it would be interesting to have all those former PCs running around as super-powered NPCs (though several, in particular the new First One, will almost certainly not make an appearance on the stage for a very long time in a new game).</p><p></p><p>"Grand Nexus," you curious readers ask? What's that? Aha, I answer. That brings me to the subject of today's post. For, while I did promise last time to detail some of the Soul Objects which played a large role in my game stories over the years, I realized once I actually started thinking about them in detail that I can't really do it without explaining another key concept of my game campaign first. That concept, which in some ways was more important than any other, was the concept of the Nexus Event, plural Nexus Events or just Nexi.</p><p></p><p>This is not a concept based in any game rules, nor have I seen it articulated in any game book (though it wouldn't surprise me to learn somebody else had come up with it under a different name). It's really more of a plotting mechanism, much as artifacts are supposed to be in mortal games. It's a somewhat difficult concept to get across, so please post questions if what I type here tonight is too confusing to follow; however, I did get it across to my players at least, so hopefully I'll be able to do it again.</p><p></p><p>To understand what a Nexus Event is, first consider the significant events of history. Take the world of Toril, the Forgotten Realms: you have the fall of Netheril, the destruction of Myth Drannor, The Time of Troubles, the discovery and invasion of Maztica, the time of Lolth's Silence, and most recently the Spellplague- just to name a few. These are grand and terrible events that affect entire continents, entire civilizations, at once. The fall of Netheril, Time of Troubles, and Spellplague managed to affect the entire planet, for that matter, and arguably many planes of existence as well; Lolth's Silence occurred during her rearrangement of her home realm and nearly destroyed Drow civilization. For Oerth, the world of Greyhawk, obvious events would include the Rain of Colorless Fire/Invoked Devastation, and the return of Kyuss if you're including the <em>Age of Worms</em> adventure path in your game. Events like these are few and far between, but they're the stuff games are made of; these are the events that the coolest adventures revolve around. In a metaplot, they form the backbone of the history that your players and their characters learn about and talk about, and compare their own lives and deeds to.</p><p></p><p>But that's not a Nexus. A Nexus is something more than that, which is why it deserves the capitalized title. Take significant historical events like those I listed above, and arrange them in such a manner that they begin to occur more frequently. Say, instead of one per thousand years, you start getting one per century instead- then one per decade, then one per year, and while this is happening, some years you get <strong>two</strong> per year, then three, and suddenly the world and multiverse go through a whole host of massive changes so quickly and of such vast scope that they're all but incomprehensible. Now picture an "acceleration of significance" like that, happening not just on Toril, but <em>also</em> on Oerth, <em>and</em> on Krynn, <em>and</em> on every other world and plane, all at the same time. When the crux of it all occurs, when things finally start to settle down again, many things that happen <em>after</em> it would have been unimaginable to anybody living <em>before</em> it.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>THAT</em></strong> is a Nexus Event. It is a happening of such incredible scope and force, that it literally changes the entire outlook on history for those who pass through it and survive; and not only that, but it actually has a way of twisting histories about itself on multiple planes of existence simultaneously (in fact, usually all of them). The key idea with Nexus Events is that they invariably involve an acceleration of significance, a buildup of powers and forces that's unprecedented and possibly unimaginable (certainly for a typical Commoner). If that sort of acceleration <strong>doesn't</strong> happen, then it isn't a Nexus Event, no matter how forceful or massive the changes wrought by the event may be. If you want a real-world example for comparison, many believers in the upcoming 2012 event (whether apocalypse or otherwise) state in their predictions that it will involve massive changes and "temporal acceleration" similar to a Nexus Event.</p><p></p><p>Among other side effects of Nexus Events, I postulated to the players (when I first explained this concept to them) that Nexus Events also have a funny way of spawning new gods: people living in times around Nexus Events can go from urchin to archmage, or farmer to pharaoh, in mere months. Commoners can start out fighting orcs in a wheat field and end up a few short years later as the newest objects of worship in the pantheon, actual <strong>gods</strong> of War, Crops, or the Harvest, to name a few examples. Obviously, the PCs in my games were living around Nexus Events!</p><p></p><p>Conveniently, for DMs, a Nexus Event has another far-reaching effect, this one affecting any temporal effects used near one. Prophecies and actual temporal vision such as Precognition, can only see <em>up to</em> a Nexus Event, never past it. Even the Goddess of Time herself told the pre-divine PCs that she was unable to see anything past the (then) upcoming Nexus involving a massive demonic invasion of the PCs' homeworld. This doesn't just affect temporal vision, though- in games featuring time travel as a possibility (such as mine), Nexus Events cause hiccups if not outright blockages to time travel. That <em>Timereaver</em> spell might be able to take Raistlin back to the time of Istar, but if we assume that the Cataclysm was a Nexus (it probably wasn't due to the lack of acceleration, but just for the sake of argument, say it was), but if he tried to go deeper into the past <strong>beyond</strong> the Cataclysm, then his spell would dump him out in the wrong historical era, or possibly just fail to work at all. Nexus Events do weird things to time, and screw up anything that requires objects or information crossing it.</p><p></p><p>But then, having explained Nexus Events to my players, I compounded it. What do you think would happen, I asked my players, if you live through a Nexus Event, and then the next one doesn't happen after 200 years (like the last one did), but rather 20? And what if the next Nexus after <strong>that</strong> happens in only 2 years? In other words, <em>what if the very acceleration of history which signals a Nexus begins to occur in the frequency of Nexus Events themselves?</em></p><p></p><p>The answer to that question: the Grand Nexus. It was the Nexus of Nexi, the fulcrum around which all of history, all of time, all of fate and destiny, all of possibility, twisted and spun. Every cosmos, every plane, every world, was affected. All of them, at the same time (if that notion even has meaning once you cross the Far Realm). And of course, the Grand Nexus was in fact the opening of the Final Gate, and the waking of the Demiurge, which the PCs had better-than-front-row seats for. In fact, they proved to be critical participants in it, though they were hardly the only ones (this leaves room for future campaigns I run in the same Reality to end in Transcendence as well, which I find to be a most satisfying notion).</p><p></p><p>I will mention now that I further postulated, on the day the campaign ended, that it was in fact the dimensional twisting caused by the great Ring Portal focusing all its power on the Layer of the Ritual so the Final Gate could be opened which actually created the Nexus Event phenomenon. They were, in other words, ripples created by the Ring and spread out across all possible histories and timelines as it twisted and tore the dimensional fabric to help open the Final Gate. Where ripples crossed and amplified each other, where you had not just "waves" of history but spikes, that's where Nexus Events occur. Also, because this artifact was a Cosmic one (literally, the Soul Object of a Sidereal), this means that Sidereals can break the prohibition against temporal effects working at a Nexus. I'd suggest that having Slipstream would be enough to allow a Sidereal to see past, or time-travel past, a Nexus Event with impunity, as long as it isn't the Grand Nexus (that was and remains a barrier to even them). Mere gods who have Slipstream as an esoteric, by contrast, are still limited; only actual cosmic beings can overcome events of truly cosmic significance.</p><p></p><p>And on that note, since the Ring is itself a Soul Object, I'll segue into the next post (which <strong>will</strong> be about some of the big artifacts and Soul Objects in my game). <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="paradox42, post: 5202817, member: 29746"] [b]The Return of the (Thread) King[/b] Yes, Kev. Yes you will. Apologies to all for being away so long- it's true I'm not getting paid for this stuff, but it's rude for me to promise future posts and then not make any. Honestly, I have no valid excuses; I just haven't felt inspired (and also, for the last couple of months I took the time to enjoy a break from any role-playing games at all). It's not that I don't still enjoy roleplaying, mind you; it's just that running a weekly game for close to ten years sort of takes up a significant amount of life-space and I've enjoyed filling my sudden extra time with activities I hadn't had time and energy for during the last decade. :) But no matter. Slowly, but surely, my brain has been recharging its batteries, and in the back of my mind I have been figuring out what sort of game to try next assuming I run one (which my former players have largely been clamoring for). Among other possibilities, I've considered how the Reality described in this thread would have been changed by the events of the Grand Nexus, so that I can run campaigns set in the times after the last one. Story continuity is a nice way to begin, plus it would be interesting to have all those former PCs running around as super-powered NPCs (though several, in particular the new First One, will almost certainly not make an appearance on the stage for a very long time in a new game). "Grand Nexus," you curious readers ask? What's that? Aha, I answer. That brings me to the subject of today's post. For, while I did promise last time to detail some of the Soul Objects which played a large role in my game stories over the years, I realized once I actually started thinking about them in detail that I can't really do it without explaining another key concept of my game campaign first. That concept, which in some ways was more important than any other, was the concept of the Nexus Event, plural Nexus Events or just Nexi. This is not a concept based in any game rules, nor have I seen it articulated in any game book (though it wouldn't surprise me to learn somebody else had come up with it under a different name). It's really more of a plotting mechanism, much as artifacts are supposed to be in mortal games. It's a somewhat difficult concept to get across, so please post questions if what I type here tonight is too confusing to follow; however, I did get it across to my players at least, so hopefully I'll be able to do it again. To understand what a Nexus Event is, first consider the significant events of history. Take the world of Toril, the Forgotten Realms: you have the fall of Netheril, the destruction of Myth Drannor, The Time of Troubles, the discovery and invasion of Maztica, the time of Lolth's Silence, and most recently the Spellplague- just to name a few. These are grand and terrible events that affect entire continents, entire civilizations, at once. The fall of Netheril, Time of Troubles, and Spellplague managed to affect the entire planet, for that matter, and arguably many planes of existence as well; Lolth's Silence occurred during her rearrangement of her home realm and nearly destroyed Drow civilization. For Oerth, the world of Greyhawk, obvious events would include the Rain of Colorless Fire/Invoked Devastation, and the return of Kyuss if you're including the [I]Age of Worms[/I] adventure path in your game. Events like these are few and far between, but they're the stuff games are made of; these are the events that the coolest adventures revolve around. In a metaplot, they form the backbone of the history that your players and their characters learn about and talk about, and compare their own lives and deeds to. But that's not a Nexus. A Nexus is something more than that, which is why it deserves the capitalized title. Take significant historical events like those I listed above, and arrange them in such a manner that they begin to occur more frequently. Say, instead of one per thousand years, you start getting one per century instead- then one per decade, then one per year, and while this is happening, some years you get [B]two[/B] per year, then three, and suddenly the world and multiverse go through a whole host of massive changes so quickly and of such vast scope that they're all but incomprehensible. Now picture an "acceleration of significance" like that, happening not just on Toril, but [I]also[/I] on Oerth, [I]and[/I] on Krynn, [I]and[/I] on every other world and plane, all at the same time. When the crux of it all occurs, when things finally start to settle down again, many things that happen [I]after[/I] it would have been unimaginable to anybody living [I]before[/I] it. [B][I]THAT[/I][/B] is a Nexus Event. It is a happening of such incredible scope and force, that it literally changes the entire outlook on history for those who pass through it and survive; and not only that, but it actually has a way of twisting histories about itself on multiple planes of existence simultaneously (in fact, usually all of them). The key idea with Nexus Events is that they invariably involve an acceleration of significance, a buildup of powers and forces that's unprecedented and possibly unimaginable (certainly for a typical Commoner). If that sort of acceleration [B]doesn't[/B] happen, then it isn't a Nexus Event, no matter how forceful or massive the changes wrought by the event may be. If you want a real-world example for comparison, many believers in the upcoming 2012 event (whether apocalypse or otherwise) state in their predictions that it will involve massive changes and "temporal acceleration" similar to a Nexus Event. Among other side effects of Nexus Events, I postulated to the players (when I first explained this concept to them) that Nexus Events also have a funny way of spawning new gods: people living in times around Nexus Events can go from urchin to archmage, or farmer to pharaoh, in mere months. Commoners can start out fighting orcs in a wheat field and end up a few short years later as the newest objects of worship in the pantheon, actual [B]gods[/B] of War, Crops, or the Harvest, to name a few examples. Obviously, the PCs in my games were living around Nexus Events! Conveniently, for DMs, a Nexus Event has another far-reaching effect, this one affecting any temporal effects used near one. Prophecies and actual temporal vision such as Precognition, can only see [I]up to[/I] a Nexus Event, never past it. Even the Goddess of Time herself told the pre-divine PCs that she was unable to see anything past the (then) upcoming Nexus involving a massive demonic invasion of the PCs' homeworld. This doesn't just affect temporal vision, though- in games featuring time travel as a possibility (such as mine), Nexus Events cause hiccups if not outright blockages to time travel. That [I]Timereaver[/I] spell might be able to take Raistlin back to the time of Istar, but if we assume that the Cataclysm was a Nexus (it probably wasn't due to the lack of acceleration, but just for the sake of argument, say it was), but if he tried to go deeper into the past [B]beyond[/B] the Cataclysm, then his spell would dump him out in the wrong historical era, or possibly just fail to work at all. Nexus Events do weird things to time, and screw up anything that requires objects or information crossing it. But then, having explained Nexus Events to my players, I compounded it. What do you think would happen, I asked my players, if you live through a Nexus Event, and then the next one doesn't happen after 200 years (like the last one did), but rather 20? And what if the next Nexus after [B]that[/B] happens in only 2 years? In other words, [I]what if the very acceleration of history which signals a Nexus begins to occur in the frequency of Nexus Events themselves?[/I] The answer to that question: the Grand Nexus. It was the Nexus of Nexi, the fulcrum around which all of history, all of time, all of fate and destiny, all of possibility, twisted and spun. Every cosmos, every plane, every world, was affected. All of them, at the same time (if that notion even has meaning once you cross the Far Realm). And of course, the Grand Nexus was in fact the opening of the Final Gate, and the waking of the Demiurge, which the PCs had better-than-front-row seats for. In fact, they proved to be critical participants in it, though they were hardly the only ones (this leaves room for future campaigns I run in the same Reality to end in Transcendence as well, which I find to be a most satisfying notion). I will mention now that I further postulated, on the day the campaign ended, that it was in fact the dimensional twisting caused by the great Ring Portal focusing all its power on the Layer of the Ritual so the Final Gate could be opened which actually created the Nexus Event phenomenon. They were, in other words, ripples created by the Ring and spread out across all possible histories and timelines as it twisted and tore the dimensional fabric to help open the Final Gate. Where ripples crossed and amplified each other, where you had not just "waves" of history but spikes, that's where Nexus Events occur. Also, because this artifact was a Cosmic one (literally, the Soul Object of a Sidereal), this means that Sidereals can break the prohibition against temporal effects working at a Nexus. I'd suggest that having Slipstream would be enough to allow a Sidereal to see past, or time-travel past, a Nexus Event with impunity, as long as it isn't the Grand Nexus (that was and remains a barrier to even them). Mere gods who have Slipstream as an esoteric, by contrast, are still limited; only actual cosmic beings can overcome events of truly cosmic significance. And on that note, since the Ring is itself a Soul Object, I'll segue into the next post (which [B]will[/B] be about some of the big artifacts and Soul Objects in my game). :) [/QUOTE]
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