jgsugden
Legend
What are some classic elements of D&D that you disregard in your campaigns in favor of your own constructs? Here are a few examples from my setting where I either changed or introduced something as a core feature of my setting that changes the game dramatically from how most campaigns work:
Planar Structure: I have a simplified planar structure that combines most of the outer planes into a singular Heaven Plane, a singular Hell plane, and some pocket dimensions floating in the Astral Plane. I also combine all of the elemental Planes into a single plane. The first version of this was created in the 80s and it has evolved with the editions, but I find it so much easier to run. This also gives me more freedom when building my pantheon of Gods as there is more comingling.
Dragon Heads: Dragons do not have different style heads based upon type. I can have red dragons with the curved horns typically seen in the books on a black dragon.
The Magical Weave: The magic in my setting comes in 5 types: Arcane, Divine, Nature, Supernatural and Psionic. The first three types reach spellcasters via the Spell Weave - with Nature casters drawing power through the weave directly from the Positive and Negative Energy Planes, Divine Spellcasters having their magic delivered to them through the weave as it is pushed out by Outsiders, and Arcane Magic being stolen/harnassed from the weave. Psionic Energy and Supernatural Magic (like ghosts and chemistry) originate outside the weave and thus are not impacted by Counterspell, Detect Magic, etc... (which all connect to magic via the weave).
God Touched: Heroes and other major figures in the game have a trait called God Touched. It essentially means they get to benefit from the normal rules for class advancement, death saves, etc... that are in the PHB/DMG/etc... If you're not God Touched, it is much harder. If you devote your human life to magic you might reach 5th level as a wizard in your elder years. If you are wounded and drop below zero hps, you continue to track hps and die when your negative hps equal your hd + your con modifier. You also lose 1 hp per turn until you are stabilized, and a failed death save does 5 damage to you. As managing this can be tough 'in game', I have a sheet with prerolled death saves and hp tracking so that I can just use the next column to track what happens to downed foes if it matters.
Destiny: Fate plays a huge roll in my games. Certain events are predestined. The path to them can change easily, but avoiding them is extremely difficult and is not something the powers of the universe like to tolerate as it 'changes the plan'. It is a common trope in my setting that the PCs have to change destiny to prevent a wrong - and then they have to suffer the consequences of rewriting future history.
Planar Structure: I have a simplified planar structure that combines most of the outer planes into a singular Heaven Plane, a singular Hell plane, and some pocket dimensions floating in the Astral Plane. I also combine all of the elemental Planes into a single plane. The first version of this was created in the 80s and it has evolved with the editions, but I find it so much easier to run. This also gives me more freedom when building my pantheon of Gods as there is more comingling.
Dragon Heads: Dragons do not have different style heads based upon type. I can have red dragons with the curved horns typically seen in the books on a black dragon.
The Magical Weave: The magic in my setting comes in 5 types: Arcane, Divine, Nature, Supernatural and Psionic. The first three types reach spellcasters via the Spell Weave - with Nature casters drawing power through the weave directly from the Positive and Negative Energy Planes, Divine Spellcasters having their magic delivered to them through the weave as it is pushed out by Outsiders, and Arcane Magic being stolen/harnassed from the weave. Psionic Energy and Supernatural Magic (like ghosts and chemistry) originate outside the weave and thus are not impacted by Counterspell, Detect Magic, etc... (which all connect to magic via the weave).
God Touched: Heroes and other major figures in the game have a trait called God Touched. It essentially means they get to benefit from the normal rules for class advancement, death saves, etc... that are in the PHB/DMG/etc... If you're not God Touched, it is much harder. If you devote your human life to magic you might reach 5th level as a wizard in your elder years. If you are wounded and drop below zero hps, you continue to track hps and die when your negative hps equal your hd + your con modifier. You also lose 1 hp per turn until you are stabilized, and a failed death save does 5 damage to you. As managing this can be tough 'in game', I have a sheet with prerolled death saves and hp tracking so that I can just use the next column to track what happens to downed foes if it matters.
Destiny: Fate plays a huge roll in my games. Certain events are predestined. The path to them can change easily, but avoiding them is extremely difficult and is not something the powers of the universe like to tolerate as it 'changes the plan'. It is a common trope in my setting that the PCs have to change destiny to prevent a wrong - and then they have to suffer the consequences of rewriting future history.
