D&D General The Realm: A "Based-On" Remake

[Indagare Nogitsune]

So, the Realm (no, not the Forgotten Realms) from the D&D cartoon had some unique geography and astrology. I'm not sure if it'd be possible to exactly recreate the cartoon, but there were some unique features that I think could make for a unique setting based on it.

Spoiler: The Four Suns

In the first episode, "The Night of No Tomorrow" two of them are shown and both are white.

In "Eye of the Beholder" all four are white. Though it's pretty obvious that one is largest and one is second largest. A bit hard to tell if the other two are meant to be different sizes here.

All images below taken from the Episode 7 "A Prison Without Walls"

Separately they are Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue and are of different sizes, with the Yellow being largest, Red being second largest, Blue being third, and Green being smallest.

Here they are aligned like a bullseye. It's unclear how often this configuration occurs, but it does seem to cause the sky to darken like an eclipse even though this is not the case except when they touch.

Here they are not touching and the sky is still bright.

Here they are touching and the sky has darkened.
Note how both the blue and green suns are behind the red one, making the appearance of them in front later rather confusing.

Once fully aligned they all change to one color and shoot a magical beam that somehow manages to directly hit the Dragon's Heart.

Spoiler: The Three Moons

Linking to another thread. The moons pull off some interesting orbital tricks and also seem to change color on occasion.

There are skyles (flying islands) frequently shown. A lot of them are little more than barren shards.

One possibility is that instead of being a dungeon the world was created as a refuge, mostly because we already have Ravenloft as a dungeon.

Another idea is that the Realm is flat but has "wrap around" edges in most places except certain magical citadels. At least two would exist: the Citadel of the North and South and the Citadel of the East and West.

Thoughts?

 

[el-remmen]

Unless there is some info that says otherwise, one way to get around strange orbital mechanics is to have one or more of the suns be creatures/beings/objects.

For example, in my old homebrew one constellation that seemed to move around and sometime wink out and then return were actually enormous space fireflies that would blink on and off and had a soft green look to their light. In that same world the sun was literally the god Ra’s chariot coming out of the underworld and returning to it (the underworld being the underside of the flat world).

The D&D cartoon had a bunch of weird stuff determined by narrative needs (not necessarily consistent world building) so I would take advantage of that looseness in building your own version.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The DVD set had a sort-of map of the Realm that provides some additional details and perspective.

 

[aco175]

In a land that terrible, you wonder how they can grow food and get by.

Of course that may be a trick and the map protects the people from invasion by making it looks so bad that nobody wants to invade.

 

[Indagare Nogitsune]

In a land that terrible, you wonder how they can grow food and get by.

Of course that may be a trick and the map protects the people from invasion by making it looks so bad that nobody wants to invade.

I remember in a couple of episodes they'd be going from forest to desert almost instantly. Or just walking along in some desert wasteland with no food or water, somehow.

 

[Indagare Nogitsune]

Unless there is some info that says otherwise, one way to get around strange orbital mechanics is to have one or more of the suns be creatures/beings/objects.

For example, in my old homebrew one constellation that seemed to move around and sometime wink out and then return were actually enormous space fireflies that would blink on and off and had a soft green look to their light. In that same world the sun was literally the god Ra’s chariot coming out of the underworld and returning to it (the underworld being the underside of the flat world).

The D&D cartoon had a bunch of weird stuff determined by narrative needs (not necessarily consistent world building) so I would take advantage of that looseness in building your own version.

I do like that idea! I really think that fantasy settings miss out a lot by trying to make things more scifi. Settings with magic and real deities should definitely have odder things going on!

Some thoughts (names can be altered with suggestions):

Spoiler: On the Moons

Otel: The largest moon. She is the goddess of Moon Magic: Illusion, Enchantment, and Transformation. She is also associated with death, dreams, sleep, rebirth, transitions, and travel. Her moon-marks resemble a rabbit, which is sacred to her. She is wife to the god Naeco, deity of oceans, seas, trade, travel, water, and weather.
Orla: goddess of archery, athletics, acrobatics, fertility, hunting, wild animals, and the wilderness. She is the elder of the Twin Moons. Her moon-marks resemble a deer, which is sacred to her.
Oren: god of archery, art, crafts, emotions, healing, music, poetry, and prophecy (especially prophetic dreams). He is the younger of the Twin Moons. His moon-marks resemble a raven, which is sacred to him.

The Twin Moons constantly circle their mother over the course of the month and the three are always in the same phase. The basic color of all three is silvery white.
At the beginning of summer (Earth equivalent in the Northern Hemisphere: Beltane, May 1), Otel's moon turns golden during the days of the first full moon while at the beginning of winter (Earth equivalent: Samhain, October 31), it turns icy blue.
On the Summer Solstice, Orla's moon turns red during days of the first full moon while during the Winter Solstice it turns purple. On the Spring Equinox, Oren's moon turns green for the days of the first full moon while during the Fall Equinox it turns orange.

The moons are vehicles controlled by the three moon deities. They were created by the goddess Brigid on commission from the god Naeco who used them to propose to Otel. Because of this tie, they have an influence on water and create the tides.

Spoiler: On the Suns

Dena: The largest sun. She is the younger half-sister to Otel. She is the goddess of Sun Magic: Divination, Healing, and Protection. She is also associated with beauty, fire, joy, light, and love. She is the wife to Menal.
Menal: the second-largest sun. He is the god of archery, athletics, acrobatics, fertility, healing, travel, wild animals, and wilderness. With Otel he is the father of Orla and Oren. He is husband to Dena.
Amel: first born of the Twin Suns. He is the god of commerce, prosperity, travel, and trade.
Adel: second born of the Twin Suns. She is the goddess of justice, order, peace, and truth.

The deities are the suns. Most of the time their auras are too bright for mortal eyes to deal with, so they appear as spheres in the sky, though if someone were to look long enough they'd eventually see the deities themselves. The four wander across the sky, with Dena, Daea, and Adel keeping a constant east-west progress for the day. Menal is known to wander, though since his affair with Otel he's been forbidden to wander when it should be night. On occasion his wandering allows him to cross with Dena and his children, which causes an eclipse-like effect despite all four of them still shining.

Spoiler: Other Deities

Brigid: goddess of agriculture, crafting, fertility, fire, healing, hearth, protection, smithing, and wisdom.
Naeco: god of the ocean, seas, and water in general. He is a god of merchants, sailors, and trade. He has power over the weather. He is the husband of Otel and father of Inix the Trickster.
Inix the Trickster: child of Otel and Naeco. Ze has no set gender and besides being the deity of trickery is also the deity of luck, inspiration, and invention.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

In a land that terrible, you wonder how they can grow food and get by.

Of course that may be a trick and the map protects the people from invasion by making it looks so bad that nobody wants to invade.

It is missing plenty of locales. For example, the Moon Forest, home of the Cloudbears.

 

[Stormonu]

Also, on the suns if the world is geocentric (the suns move around the "earth") , the suns may be on elliptical paths with different endpoints that cause them sometimes to be in front or behind each other.

 

[Indagare Nogitsune]

Also, on the suns if the world is geocentric (the suns move around the "earth") , the suns may be on elliptical paths with different endpoints that cause them sometimes to be in front or behind each other.

Oh I figured that. It's not the suns moving around in variable elliptical paths that bother me, it's that during that conjunction the two suns that end up in front are pretty clearly behind the other and that won't make a lick of sense.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

For other properties called "The Realm", there was this comic series from the early 90's. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/305964/legendlore-v1-the-realm-chronicles

That's kind of what I was hoping this thread was about.

It's not, which is fine!

Carry on :-D