D&D 5E The cosmology of the Wheel and the Aether

[dave2008]

OK, I've been having some discussions about the ramifications of adding MtG worlds to the D&D cosmos with @slobster and @Urriak Uruk and it got me thinking. What would a unified cosmos look like that blends elements of both, yet allows them to be separate. Here is what I came up with:

1. The Blind Eternities from MtG are analagous to the nebulous "Far Realm" in the D&D cosmos. Though the image makes it look like it is a vast space, it is not. The Blind Eternities area a sublime shadow. It is not space or a place, but the concept between space and reality. Here the be aberrations (including Eldrazi). Passing through the Blind Eternities is nearly impossible. Typical spells do not work, and even planes walking is almost inconceivable through the depths of the Far Realm. Gods can travel through it with great effort, but doing so attracts the attention of the Eldritch Titans (Eldrazi, Azathoth, etc.) and it tends to damage the boundary between a reality and the Blind Eternities, allow aberrations to infect reality.
2. The Border Realities are areas were the Blind Eternities are weaker. They are created by the close conceptual proximity of separate realities. Most magic (plane shift, gate, etc.) will not penetrate the border realities; however, planes walking and some very power rituals / magic might. A door in Sigil might lead to Athas or Eberron for example, but it couldn't reach the Aether Realties.
3. The Great Wheel reality is the general reality of D&D. Any world / plane that can be reached by a spell, such as teleport, gate, or plane shift, in D&D is in this reality.
4. The Athas reality exists in the border reality of the Great Wheel. It is in close enough "orbit" that powerful magic can allow travel between the two, but not standard spells.
5. The Eberron reality exists in the border reality of the Great Wheel. It is in close enough "orbit" that powerful magic can allow travel between the two, but not standard spells. It might be slightly further out than Athas, requiring even more powerful magic to reach.
6. The Aether realities are all the planes from MtG. Their close proximity to each creates a border reality that allows planes walking between these worlds. The Aether realities are in the abstract "orbit"of the Great Wheel reality, but they are so far out that the vast metaphysical space that separates them makes it virtually impossible for planeswalkers or deities to travel between the two.

So that is what I came up with, just thought I would share.

 

[cbwjm]

I'm surprised no one has commented on this, I think it is a great way for explaining how the various multiverses and distant planes like Athas and Eberron are arranged in a planar cosmology. It even allows for expansion, you could throw in another set of planes if you wanted, perhaps orbiting the great wheel in a similar fashion to the MtG planes but at a faster rate so that every few thousand years there is a crossover allowing for travel between them before they separate again making travel impossible.

 

[dave2008]

I'm surprised no one has commented on this, I think it is a great way for explaining how the various multiverses and distant planes like Athas and Eberron are arranged in a planar cosmology. It even allows for expansion, you could throw in another set of planes if you wanted, perhaps orbiting the great wheel in a similar fashion to the MtG planes but at a faster rate so that every few thousand years there is a crossover allowing for travel between them before they separate again making travel impossible.

Thank you for the reply! I was hoping I would get more comments and discussion, oh well Maybe your comment will start a trend

That being said, I love the idea of "orbits" changing the proximity of some realities to others. I even thought that could apply Athas and/or Eberron. And it might explain why very rarely you get some crossing over.

I also like the idea there could be any number of realities either outside the wheel, or worlds within. The distinction is whether the can or cannot access the wheel. Of course a separate reality could even have its own version of the wheel.

They only thing I couldn't really reconcile was spelljamming the phlogiston. I just see the worlds within the wheel being separated by the void of interstellar space. I just don't see the need for phlogiston and crystal spheres. My idea would be for spelljammers to have magic "crystal" spheres around them allowing activity on the ship to act as if it was on a world, and at the same time allow it to fly through space. I don't see a need for another layer of sci-fantasy there. Am I missing something?

 

[cbwjm]

Honestly, I didn't even think about spelljammer, it's pretty much the bottom of my list of settings and I always found the whole separate crystal spheres for each setting a weird one. I'd probably either run with your suggestion of a mystic sphere around ships to allow them to traverse space or even have spelljamming vessel shifting the ship into the astral or ethereal planes when travelling between worlds.

 

[SkidAce]

I treat "phlogiston" as if it was Astral. If I have a more sciencey campaign its astral/hyperspace.

Explains fast travel, works for many types of campaigns.

That being said, my "Astral" doesnt have a lot of places in it, its more transitive. i.e. the nine hells is a solar system.

 

[dave2008]

I treat "phlogiston" as if it was Astral. If I have a more sciencey campaign its astral/hyperspace.

Explains fast travel, works for many types of campaigns.

That being said, my "Astral" doesnt have a lot of places in it, its more transitive. i.e. the nine hells is a solar system.

Is there a particular reason you chose the astral and ethereal. I didn't think you could spelljam to the outer planes, but to be honest I am not that familiar with spelljamer

 

[SkidAce]

Is there a particular reason you chose the astral and ethereal. I didn't think you could spelljam to the outer planes, but to be honest I am not that familiar with spelljamer

I really dont have outer planes. They are actual star systems (granted heavily modified by deities/powers)
So the Astral works great for the majority of world to world travel.

The ethereal is used to get to "shadows of reality" next to worlds, such as the shadow realm, fey wild etc. Deep ethereal leads to Limbo, from whence all things came.

I might have a pic that lays it out....

 

[SkidAce]

 

[SkidAce]

Also, maybe incomprehensible to others, but works for me...

404 Hobbits Not found

www.worldanvil.com

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

They only thing I couldn't really reconcile was spelljamming the phlogiston. I just see the worlds within the wheel being separated by the void of interstellar space. I just don't see the need for phlogiston and crystal spheres. My idea would be for spelljammers to have magic "crystal" spheres around them allowing activity on the ship to act as if it was on a world, and at the same time allow it to fly through space. I don't see a need for another layer of sci-fantasy there. Am I missing something?

In practical terms, the main purpose of the crystal spheres is to delineate the areas of influence of the various pantheons of deities. One could abstract that into metaphysical spheres, rather than physical barriers.

Another thought I had was was that one might measure "distance" between the planes by shared points of contact. The worlds of the Radiant Triangle share the same planar connections, so are effectively coterminous. Athas has no connection to the Outer Planes (making it one step removed), Eberron has no connection to the Inner or Outer planes (making it two steps removed), and-so-forth.