D&D General What Does Your Cosmology Look Like?

[dave2008]

They are fairly close and 5e made some syncretisms to include aspects of the 4e World Axis such as the Feywild and Shadowfell but you still have to make some decisions one way or the other. Are the Astral Domains the ones in 4e or are they the outer planar ring of the Great Wheel or are they both there and if so how do they interact? Is the Abyss a corrupted part of the Elemental Chaos or an astral domain? Is there an Ethereal Plane enveloping the elemental planes and connecting to the Feywild and Shadowfell?

Actually I don't feel I do have to make those choices. Like I said, I don't think either of those models is "correct." They are both correct from a point and wrong from another.

 

[Charlaquin]

Actually I don't feel I do have to make those choices. Like I said, I don't think either of those models is "correct." They are both correct from a point and wrong from another.

That’s the thing about models. All models are wrong; good models are still useful.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Mine is similar to the GW, but with a few differences. People don't have alignment, but actions do. The simple adventurer's guide says: if you hit someone or zap them with a spell, it is lawful if you were trying to conform to some standard, chaotic if you were trying to defy some standard, and neutral if you don't want anyone thinking too much about it. It is neutral on the good evil axis if it was just business (no emotional attachment). If you enjoyed the pain you caused (even if it was inflicted on an "evil" creature), that is evil. If you did it to protect someone or something, that is good. Of course there is more to life that hitting someone...

The Outlands are still TN (it was just business and you don't want anyone thinking about it too much). Sigil's Shadow, traditional Outlands, is one level, the Beast Lands are a second level, and the Gatelands are the third level. The Gatelands are the (relatively) safest place for mortals on the outer planes. The Raven Queen (Goddess of Fate, Winter, and Death) has her realm in the Beast Lands.

Mechanus (conforming to a standard and it is just business) is pretty much standard D&D. Helm (God of Proceduralism--do it the way the book says or else...) makes his realm here.

Limbo (defying a standard and it is just business) is similar, but the Slaad can sense if a humanoid can host a more power Slaad. If the Slaad infects someone and they turn into a Slaad, the original Slaad dies and its spirit animates the new one. Slaad defy the standard of "you were reborn a red slaad (or whatever) and thus you will stay", but they don't hit down. A common wandering Limbo is pretty safe from the Slaad; most PC's are not. Kord (God of Physical Training and Storms) makes his realm here.

The Grey Wastes (I enjoyed hurting you, but I don't want anyone to think about it too much) are pretty standard D&D. Zehir (God of Assassination and Darkness and patron of Yuan ti) dwells here.

In my Dawn War, it was gods vs god monsters (although a few monsters like Zehir became gods), most of the god monsters are held in eternal sleep in Elysium (I only attacked to protect someone else, and I don't want anyone thinking about it). Elistraee (Goddess of Diplomacy) resides here.

When Asmodeus became a god, he left the 9 Hells (although he still has a lot of connections), but they are still the home of acts where the perpetrator enjoyed the pain they caused and was happy that it conformed to some standard. Although it is commonly assumed that Baalzebub is just a fly-headed devil, Asmodeus actually turned him into the fly-headed lord of the Rakshasa (who as a group seem pretty happy about it). The laws of Hell allow a non-devil to rule a level, but not all of Hell, thus seemingly permanently thwarting Baalzebub's ambitions. Former god monster turned God of Bloodsports (which doesn't necessarily involve death, just a contest with rules where the aim is to hurt, kill, or incapacitate someone or something), Sekoloh stalks Stygia.

There is no more convention-defying upper realm than Bytopia, where the Aasimon dwell (basically any celestial that looks like an animal that shouldn't have wings but does) hoping to inspire mortals to defy (or better yet, change) laws or rules that prevent mortals from doing good to each other. Saranrae (Goddess of Mercy, Forgiveness, and the Sun) dwells here.

The Abyss is an ocean of bile where an island whose size is based on your infamy rises up when you first fall in (and it is always funny when the murderhobos get an island). In theory, everything there comes from acts where the perpetrator enjoyed causing pain and defying some standard, but the Abyss also enjoys absorbing chunks of real estate damaged when things like humanoids, beasts, dragons, giants, and fey are changed into fiends, undead, constructs, aberrations, monstrosities, or oozes; demon lords are empowered to make more transformations. Defying a standard can also mean failing to meet it, which Valprak (God of Consuming things to get power) embodies because he fled when the other giant gods sacrificed themselves to defeat the god monsters; He is (barely) tolerated by the Abyss. Lolth spends 6 months every year in the Abyss, but she is a demon lord, not a god, during this time.

Hestavar is where actions that held to a standard while protecting someone else are honored. Iomedea (Goddess of Duty) can be found in the planes that surround the great city.

Most gods dwell in the transitional planes between the big ones (less like having a neighborhood association looking over your shoulder).

• Bane (God of Discipline) and Gruumsh (God of Emotional Toughness, Animal Husbandry, and Butchery [the grocery store kind]) content in the astral seas of Archeron (LN with evil tendencies) to be the head lawful god when (if) the twilight war between good and evil occurs.
• Moradin (God of Enduring Art) and Bahamut (God of Nobility "with great power comes great responsibility") guard Mt. Celestia (LN with good tendencies) which is meant to be the final bastion of law in the law vs. chaos twilight war.
• Corellon (God of Performance Art) and Cayden Cailean (God of Folk Heroes and Protests) hold Ysgard (CN with good tendencies) once home of the giant gods where giants now strive to become scions of the lost gods.
• Between Limbo and the Abyss, the twisting tunnels of Pandemonium (CN with evil tendencies) are the home of Besmara (Goddess of Risk Taking and Excitement) and former god monster Laogzed (God of Intimidating Displays to Defend your Territory; he hasn't quite made the same jump as the other former god monsters) can be found there.
• I flipped Carceri and Gehenna around. Fallen celestials end up in Carceri which projects the appearance of respectability hiding the cruelty beneath. The devils bound a huge treasure in the depth, which Tiamat (Goddess of Greed, Pride, and Love/Lust [dragons only]) found, pleased to have a horde that couldn't be robbed, but then annoyed that she couldn't move it (or any treasure she added to the pile) either [A side note: PC's precious metals and jewels can't leave either]. Dura (Goddess of Hegemony and Revenge), Moradin's daughter, enslaves fiends to in the depths to form an army to get revenge on oppressors (and their descendants no matter how distant), and Asmodeus (God of Surveillance, "Security" (according to the church of Asmodeus), and Tyranny (according to anyone who has to deal with the church of Asmodeus)) tempts fallen celestials to serve him as he plans to become the leader of evil if the Twilight War ends up being evil vs. good.
• Yugoloths rule most of Gehenna (NE with chaotic tendencies), but half the year Lolth (Goddess of Gambling whose venerations include making the loser pay if they can't afford it, hurting anyone caught trying to cheat, and, surprisingly no one, trying to cheat) hangs out here and it is considered the home of Vecna (God of Secrets whose venerations include hurting someone to keep a secret and hurting someone to expose a secret, including those orcs and goblins the murderhobos killed trying to find some lost treasure), but no one is sure if he is ever there.
• Arborea (NG with chaotic tendencies) is where some of the gods with...checkered pasts make up for it, including Garl Glittergold (God of Subtle Goodness and Sneakiness [for a good cause]), Nusemnee (Zehir's daughter and Goddess of Redemption), and Desna (former god monster and Goddess Dreams, Travel, and Personal Growth). Redeemed fiends can be found here hoping Desna will turn them into celestials (with a good word from Nusemnee).
• Arcadia (NG with lawful tendencies) is the home of Erastil (God of Families and Communities), a former god monster who leads a coalition of celestials concerned that the Twilight War will be good vs evil instead of law vs. chaos, and Yolanda (Goddess of Agriculture [mostly Horticulture]) who is the reason that turning humanoids, fey, etc. into plants doesn't help the Abyss when Zuggtmoy made the mistaking of assuming that a Goddess of Agriculture was easy prey.

 

[Li Shenron]

Doesn't anyone play a Cleric or Paladin in your games?

If I'm a player looking to play a Cleric I'd kinda like to know right up front what the setting's options are in terms of deities to worship, faith requirements (if any) for each, alignment or ethos of each, spheres of influence of each (if relevant), and so forth.

If you-as-DM haven't got that laid out ahead of time then as a player I've no idea what I'm getting into if I decide to play a Cleric.

Yes I understand your approach (which is likely the most common one), but you wouldn't need to worry. I let a Cleric player decide what deity they represent, whatever it is (although I normally draw the red line at real-world contemporary relevant religions to avoid sensitive discussions): it can be picked from a D&D book, imported from another source, or designed by the player. Then for practical purposes such as temples and other clergy, such deity "exists" in the setting. But I still don't need to say where is the home of that deity, until it becomes relevant. And even if it becomes relevant, it doesn't need to be a traditional outer plane.

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.

But for instance right now I'm in the middle of running the original Ravenloft adventure, and there are no deities defined. The PC party has a Cleric and a Paladin, and they didn't choose any deity! It just doesn't matter in this adventure.

 

[GrimCo]

While in my homebrew there are religions, gods themselves are gone. There is outer plane, kind of like afterlife where souls go. Angels/devils (yes, for all intents and purposes, those are same) are servants of 5 departed goods. They try (operational word, try) to collect souls of faithful of their respected deities and bring them in their part of same shared "plane". Demons are beings from material plane, not outsiders. There are demiplanes created by powerful casters and elemental spirits. And no, plane shift and similar plane hoping spells don't exists.