D&D General Ysgard - How to use?

[Shades of Eternity]

It's the last location I must visit to revisit my upper plane posts, but it has the opposite problem of every other upper plane.

It seems that all you need to do is pull out your Marvel comics and Nordic mythology, and you've got a game there.

Ironically, it's creating writer's block because it's already done.

What's Ysgard's one unique thing, and how have you used it in your game?

 

[Maialideth]

I recently started a Planescape campaign, and sent the level 3 players to Ysgard to fight frost giants. Ysgard's schtick is that anyone who dies in battle is resurrected at the next dawn without any consequences. So it is easy to create "suicide" missions or maybe battle arena fights. Ysgard should be about larger-than-life heroics, action before thought, consequences be damned.

My three level 3 players, with the help of some Glorium berserkers, actually managed to defeat 3 frost giants (though the giants only made one attack each per round, and the players died but the berserkers got the final blow against the last giant. It was epic).

 

[Baron Opal II]

There's a quote from RuneQuest / Glorantha that always stuck with me from the cult of Ernalda the Earth Mother- "Violence is always an option, but there is always another way." Ysgard typifies that statement to me. You can always bash your way through a problem, but it is not definitively the best way. Furthermore, you're not necessarily penalized for taking the violent path since you will likely get back up at dawn.

And everybody knows this, if only instinctually. It is a place of impatience and repetition, where wisdom can be won but usually through the path of hard knocks. Being patient and thinking your way through a problem is valid, but why would you take the path of least glory? Are you some sort of coward?

 

[Yaarel]

It's the last location I must visit to revisit my upper plane posts, but it has the opposite problem of every other upper plane.

It seems that all you need to do is pull out your Marvel comics and Nordic mythology, and you've got a game there.

Ironically, it's creating writer's block because it's already done.

What's Ysgard's one unique thing, and how have you used it in your game?

All the Elf stuff of Arborea relocated to the Feywild.

All the Norse stuff feels best relocating to the Border Ethereal, and be regional. These are animistic concepts that refer to the natural worlds, the Material Plane, specific mountains and so on.

This leaves Ysgard mostly empty.

 

[Yaarel]

The most important aspect of Ysgard is its alignment, CCG, Chaotic by Chaotic Good, also known as Chaotic with Good tendencies.

Here, extreme individualism is the highest ethic. Only personal relationships matter. There is distrust and hostility against any kind of societal obligation or social pressure − except for the enforcement of personal freedoms. At the same time, the individualism leans toward Good in the sense of respecting other peoples freedoms, and supporting other peoples choices, and encouraging each person to be the best version of one self. Alliances are networks of friends, and sexuality often polyamorous.

Economy is individualistic and competitive, and likewise organizing around personal friendships and commitments to individuals.

 

[Necropolitan]

In Ysgard your enemies will come back even if you kill them, so your only options are trapping them, killing them while they're not on Ysgard, or finding a way to make them not your enemies anymore.

Each of those has numerous ways they could be used in an adventure.

 

[Yaarel]

Kord is in Ysgard. This implies that Kord has tendencies toward Good, and that wasnt my impression at all.

He is a personification of strength and storms. He draws inspiration from Norse Tor (Þórr), but is more specifically a D&Dism. I feel Kord can handle all of the popculture tropes about Thor, without misrepresenting the Norse traditions.

But alignment is a central aspect of the identity of Kord. So the extreme individualism is prominent. He manifests personal strength, and uncontrollable storms. And the Good leaning is important. Strength can altruistically assist and protect friends. Storms bring vegetation life. And so on.

 

[Yaarel]

Because the Chaotic alignment respects individualism, personal choices, and is tolerant of diversity, Chaotic contributes ethically to the cosmos.

In Norse, the term Ysgard appears to be: Yss Garðr. Yss is "commotion", noise, thronging crowds, masses. An uncontrollable population, where individuals do what they want. Garðr is "fencing", in this context like a fort, or perhaps a courtyard garden. There is a sense of Good protectiveness, and individuals looking out for each other.

 

[Baron Opal II]

In Ysgard your enemies will come back even if you kill them, so your only options are trapping them, killing them while they're not on Ysgard, or finding a way to make them not your enemies anymore.

Each of those has numerous ways they could be used in an adventure.

True, however, they are your enemies today, and perhaps allies tomorrow. Such is how I see the chaotic nature of that plane.

"Eskar, you dog! How come you back here?"

Crap... "Bevlin... I need to cross this pass to reach the the town of Hammerslay. Don't think to stand in my way, for I have in kin need!"

"Kin in trouble, eh?" Bevlin smirks as he puts his arm around his cousin's shoulders. "This one gets neck deep in hot water often enough. How much trouble?"

"Enough that I may need to gather a dozen strong fighters in town. He tried to steal some idol from a throng of scalies."

Bevlin looks over at his cousin, "Listen Ollin, this one took my head clean off with a clever swing of that axe yestereve. You watch yourself around him. And you," he points to Eskar, "don't think I'll fall for that trick again! Scaled folk, you say? That could be interesting... Plenty of glory or just a bash-about?"

Well, well... "I imagine there will be enough glory for a dozen of us, and plenty of jet and lapis that they hoard to pass around. Interested?"

"Let's go! We're bored sitting in this pass. Come on, Ollin!"

 

[Stormonu]

In Ysgard your enemies will come back even if you kill them, so your only options are trapping them, killing them while they're not on Ysgard, or finding a way to make them not your enemies anymore.

Each of those has numerous ways they could be used in an adventure.

I'm reminded of the Deep Space 9 episode S1E13 - Battle Lines, where two encampments are cursed to fight each other forever, being resurrected after the battle to repeat the process endlessly.

I'm also reminded of the end of the first Dr. Strange Movie with the time loop, or Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow. Characters might be in a sort of ground hog day situation where they can repeatedly bash a foe's head in (or get bashed themselves), but need to find an alternative solution to their problem - which might be in a completely different direction to get out of the constant war.

(Maybe that's why so many of the Norse stories involve trickery - Loki & Thor repeated fights so many times they had to come up with a novel way to finally solve the issue).