D&D General What Does Your Cosmology Look Like?

[W'rkncacnter]

I think the disconnect here might be that it's quite possible to know how something works, often in great detail, without actually documenting everything.

I have a ton of "notes" about my game setting and my cosmology, as an example, but it's all just saved in the meatware. Nothing is written or saved to a file.

yeah, see, i do that too sometimes, but i feel like i really shouldn't because i end up forgetting or mixing things up at the worst possible moments. not saying anyone else does necessarily, but avoiding that risk is certainly a benefit to writing stuff down

 

[TwoSix]

yeah, see, i do that too sometimes, but i feel like i really shouldn't because i end up forgetting or mixing things up at the worst possible moments. not saying anyone else does necessarily, but avoiding that risk is certainly a benefit to writing stuff down

For me, it does get written down, but usually only in the campaign notes after the session. For D&D-type games, my normal practice is that nothing about the setting is truly "set" until it enters play at the table.

Now, if I do come up with something excessively convoluted (which I'm guilty of now and again), and I'm going to need to explain it to my players, than I do write some notes ahead of time.

 

[Lanefan]

I think the disconnect here might be that it's quite possible to know how something works, often in great detail, without actually documenting everything.

I have a ton of "notes" about my game setting and my cosmology, as an example, but it's all just saved in the meatware. Nothing is written or saved to a file.

I long ago learned that my meatwave server doesn't have nearly as good of an access-that-info-right-now-'cause-I-need-it-right-now function as it would need to have in order to run like this.

 

[cbwjm]

I long ago learned that my meatwave server doesn't have nearly as good of an access-that-info-right-now-'cause-I-need-it-right-now function as it would need to have in order to run like this.

I'm pretty sure my meatwave server puts stuff I want to remember in the bin...

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I'm pretty sure my meatwave server puts stuff I want to remember in the bin...

...and throws stuff you'd rather forget in your face constantly like some kind of virus?

 

[cbwjm]

...and throws stuff you'd rather forget in your face constantly like some kind of virus?

Yep, so many embarressing memories that run on repeat.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Brilliant.

scribbles notes
cavernous tree tunnels, twisting maze roots, underdark cave to root transition

A lot of the caves in my world's Underdark were once part of the Yggdrasil's root system, but were broken somehow (earthquakes, plate tectonics, burrowing monsters, etc).

tree mining?,

Maybe of petrified wood?

Opalized wood looks like it's infused with the power of the Bifrost. So some connection to teleportation/portal magic would make sense.

 

[Retros_x]

because if something related to it comes up you'll already know how it works?

might not be a concern for cosmology specifically but the principle is still there

Well, my answer was for cosmology specifically and yes its not one of my concerns there. I did not say anything about other areas you might prepare for your session.

 

[el-remmen]

No matter what form my description of a cosmology takes when I create it for a setting, it is only the structure as understood by mortals, and it actually works in multifaceted complex ways beyond mortal ken, allowing me to present it however I need in a particular instance, while leaning back on the default understanding for the campaign in general. This also explains why different cultures or subcultures might have different cosmological maps of reality that they adhere to.

I am currently using a two different frames for cosmic beings in my ongoing VF5E project. One being Gods of Law vs. Gods of Chaos (inhabiting the Celestial Courts and the Halls of Discord respectively, with a place called Nuone for the handful of Neutral gods) and prime planes created by the conflict of these two main forces. The other is the 13 Gods (who are in charge of reality, 5 of Law, 5 of Chaos, and 3 Neutral) vs. the Under Gods (various purported lesser divine beings and syncretic formations). These two ways of looking at things help shape religious understanding and conflict among mortals.

 

[el-remmen]

If a player doesn't like to be free to decide like that, I can make suggestions or even make a list of "available deities" for a more traditional approach, but I don't think I need to worry in advance. Then of course if I decide to play an adventure specifically in a published setting such as Forgotten Realms, we use the deities and cosmology of that setting.

This is in part why I went with system I sketch in my post above.

• Player wants established major deities? They can choose one of the 13 Gods.
• Player wants some odd combinaton? Choose or make up a syncretic form of the god/s to worship by putting 2 or more gods together.
• Player wants something else completely? We can collaborate to make up an "Under God" with a growing (or shrinking - depending on the player preference/back story) following in the world.

My hope is that this provides coverage for different approaches/desires while still fitting into the larger scope of how it interacts with the world.