|
Post by DM Mitch on Feb 5, 2015 20:12:59 GMT
On our podcast, we have been able to tell all of you about our worlds; my world of Aatos, and DM Chris' world of Panthia. Now we want to hear from you! Tell us all about your worlds! Go!
|
|
|
Post by dm_mainprize on Feb 5, 2015 23:45:07 GMT
I will start! My worlds is still in its infancy. I have one city called Novudun that is "fully" fleshed out. It is nestled down on the coast in the Bay of Pearls. I have drawn a map but it only includes Novudun and the surrounding 25i-sh miles. I have a rough timeline of my world that leads from Creation to the Age of Heroes. My world has a 10 month calendar, each month consists of 4 weeks and each week is 9 days long. There are 2 moons in my world. My pantheon is very loose at this moment, as I am struggling with how many gods to have, which gods to borrow or alter from existing materials, and things pertaining to the gods. The layout of my "multiverse" is something along these line. Outer Planes are called the God Planes. That is where the Gods live. Moving inward is the Astral Planes where beings of thought or beings bade of ideas exist. Next is the Elemental Chaos, where the various elemental beings live. And lastly inside all of those is the Prime World that includes the world players are in as well as its two mirror versions, Terra Umbra and Terra Lumos (shadowfell/feywild alternatives). The Underdark equivalent in my world is called Nuin-Dur. I have gone through the monster manual and kinda assigned each monster to one of these places, in hopes that it will give each location/realm/plane a very distinct feel. Terra Umbra and Nuin-Dur, though both dark scary places are dark and scary for different reasons and their denizens are very different as well. The playable race in my world vary vastly depending on what time period you play in. In the early days of my world it is mostly beast folk of various kinds where as in the age of Heroes its it more in line with the standard playable races from the 5e players handbook. I am using 5e and I am a first time DM. As soon as my group finishes the 5e Starter Set we are going to move to my world. My biggest inspiration for my world is Tolkien's writing, and the Legend of Drizzt books.
Thanks for reading!
DM_Mainprize
|
|
|
Post by friartook on Feb 6, 2015 15:52:12 GMT
Hello all, Friar Took here, Very glad to see these forums starting up. I hope to see a lot of great discussion and ideas here as our community grows! The world I have created for my weekly group is a fully home brew world with strong themes, but few concrete locations and history. Cosmically, I have kept with the fairly traditional Cosmic Wheel idea of the planes out of the old Planescape setting and the Manual of the Planes (both 2nd edition I believe). Planescape is by far my favorite commercial campaign setting and I wanted to keep the door open for entering it out of this world. Astronomically, the world is kind of odd. The planet is actually a habitable moon of a gas giant (think Endor). One of my players is a math major and is running some orbital numbers for me so I can create an accurate calendar for the world. You see, the planet orbits a gas giant, so there are periods of the year when the gas giant blocks out the stars at night (called Redlight) and a period of the year where it eclipses the sun (The Long Dark) and the planet alternates between starlight and total darkness. These factors effect the behavior of vampires, lycanthropes and druids. I haven't named the world yet, I am very cautious where names are concerned. Its too easy to just throw a weird sounding name on a place and have it be wrong. Names are important, just ask Patrick Rothfuss. The history is loose, but here is what I have: There was a great and ancient civilization that ruled the world eons ago. They have left relics and magical "technologies" scattered in ruins around the world. These relics are often emblazoned with runes of power written in an ancient form of draconic that seem to imbue objects with magical power. The draconic language these are written in is unknown to even the Dragonborn (there are no dragons in this world now, but perhaps there were at one time...?), but some artificers have learned to make use of some runes to create and enchant magical items. The players are currently in a time of burgeoning renaissance. There was a terrible catastrophe of some kind in the distant past. Life itself was almost destroyed, and the races of the world have slowly recovered. At this time, they are coming out of a dark age that has lasted tens of thousands of years. So long, that even the elves, with their long memories, cannot remember its beginnings nor the catastrophe that set everything off. For us (the players and DM), this means that much of the world is unknown, and that many of the races are sundered and untrusting of one another. There's a lot of other detail (I could write a book, and still not have named the dang place!), but I won't bore everyone with it here. A couple interesting dynamics I've thrown in: There are several powerful "evil" factions with world altering plans/goals lurking in the background of the game. The players are just starting out, so they have seen some of the peripheral indications of these plans, but are unaware of the greater forces behind them. I have played with the concept of gods in my campaign. Clerics do not gain their spellcasting abilities from the power of their deity. Rather, the Cleric's faith powers the spells, and also gives power to the god they invoke with their prayers. This may seem like a silly rhetoric distinction, but it actually completely changes the power dynamic of gods in the game. Gods gain in power and ascendancy through the faith and number of their worshipers. Gods cannot intervene directly in the material plane. Instead, they must manipulate the denizens of the material plane into doing what they want and gaining them power. They can send lesser planer beings into the world, but only if that being is summoned by someone from the material plane. This dynamic also means there can be multiple gods representing the same concept; so you can have more than one Sun God, and these gods may cause their followers to fight one another in an attempt to gain ascendancy in their domain. I am so looking forward to hearing everyone's ideas and worlds! Keep up the good work and don't forget to have fun. D&D is game, after all.
|
|
|
Post by DM Mitch on Feb 6, 2015 20:29:31 GMT
My pantheon is very loose at this moment, as I am struggling with how many gods to have, which gods to borrow or alter from existing materials, and things pertaining to the gods. Mainprize, I use to have the same problem. Deciding what gods existed in my world was a long process. I think part of the beauty in you playing a campaign in the early days of your world is that this is more than ok. In my world for example, there were the gods that created the world (they of course had to have been there from the beginning) but then, after Aatos' creation, many other gods came to it, and joined the pantheon. It would make sense that the more a world grows, the more gods would take an interest in it. I would be interested in hearing what gods you have already chosen.
|
|
|
Post by dm_mainprize on Feb 6, 2015 22:34:19 GMT
"I haven't named the world yet, I am very cautious where names are concerned." I love this, I couldn't agree more. I haven't named my world either and each time I try it ends up with lots of names I know I dont like. The names I have picked "Novudun" - the city my players start in is based off some old words novus- meaning "new" and dun- meaning " a fortified place or camp" novus coming from latin and dun coming from old irish. So it is not only a New Town, but it's the town where New Players start. Also Terra Umbra and Terra Lumos meaning dark world and light world. I wish you the best of luck with names and naming. I also really love the idea of clerics worship/spells giving power of the gods. It reminds me of like stargate sg-1 and the power of the system lords. What do you plan to do to track this power? will you track it? is there a cap at which one god gains supreme control or moves up in the ranks of the pantheon? Anyway love that idea!! Now DM Mitch, I haven't really chosen any specific gods yet, I love Norse mythology so I have a strong desire to adopt/adapt many of its gods, I also love tolkien, re-read the first 7 chapters of Silmarillion today as a matter of fact. So I also really want to adapt/adopt the Valar and Maiar (Ainur) as a pantheon into my world. I am trying to decide if i need multiple pantheons for the various races, or one pantheon that all races acknowledge but only worship a select few from. So there's a bit more info on my struggle in pantheon creation.
|
|
|
Post by DM Mitch on Feb 7, 2015 1:32:39 GMT
Tolkien's gods of Middle Earth have been a huge inspiration for me as well. When considering whether to have 1 pantheon or multiple for different races, also (not to bog you down with too much) but consider false religions as well. For example, the Warforged in my world do not worship any gods, but instead they worship the "Cosmic Cog." This is the cog, or wheel that keeps time and space "turning." Or even altered religions. In certain jungles of Aatos, Kord is worshiped by tribes who depict him as a tribal mask wearing barbarian. Some go as far to believe he is a Cannibal.
|
|
|
Post by friartook on Feb 7, 2015 15:56:21 GMT
I also really love the idea of clerics worship/spells giving power of the gods. It reminds me of like stargate sg-1 and the power of the system lords. What do you plan to do to track this power? will you track it? is there a cap at which one god gains supreme control or moves up in the ranks of the pantheon? I have no plans to track worshiper influence and ascendancy at this time. If the campaign ever moves to Planescape, I may have to start. One of the major themes of Planescape is the ascendancy of philosophy. The players could alter the structure and course of the planes through their actions and the strength of their beliefs. There was even a mechanic called (if I remember correctly) Belief Points. These worked similarly to the 5e mechanic of Inspiration; by taking actions based solely on their PC's chosen philosophy the players could be awarded Belief Points, which could later be used to alter die rolls. I don't remember the minutia, but its a cool concept. Tracking divine influence may be difficult, because in my mind the "Faith Score" of any given god would be based on both number of worshipers and the strength of their faith. For example, one of my PCs is Cleric of Light. He worships light as a concept, representing love, knowledge, life, etc. He has encountered a sect of Pelor worshipers, who actually were retained to resurrect him. He took a sort of "pat on the head" attitude toward these guys. His god has no name, it is light itself and all it represents. Thus, he considers his faith purer and stronger than these humans (he's a high elf) who have to anthropomorphize light in order to have faith in it. So, even though the Pelor worshipers are more numerous, the Order of Divine Illumination has the purer faith. Tricky stuff to track. Currently I plan to use this as a plot device only. I have a vague plan to pit two "good" faiths or two "evil" faiths against each other, and create a situation where the players have to choose sides in order to prevent a greater catastrophe. The players may have to align themselves with an evil organization in order stop another evil organization. Or they may have to go to battle against a good organization whose goals may harm the world in some way. I'm keeping it vague on purpose for now. My players have little concept of any of these larger workings. They have also shown remarkable talent in choosing the path I have least planned, so I tend to not waste my time on too much prep and improvise larger issues.
|
|
Skeggjold
Commoner
Posts: 19
Favorite D&D Class: Druid/Forestal also GM
|
Post by Skeggjold on Feb 8, 2015 18:17:30 GMT
Miðgarðr (The name of my world)
Land and wrecked and ruined by the flames and powers of darkness. Where humanity's last gasp is slowly exhaling across the land.
|
|
|
Post by dm_mainprize on Feb 8, 2015 23:58:34 GMT
Miðgarðr (The name of my world) Land and wrecked and ruined by the flames and powers of darkness. Where humanity's last gasp is slowly exhaling across the land. Sounds like Morgoth's dream world.
|
|
Skeggjold
Commoner
Posts: 19
Favorite D&D Class: Druid/Forestal also GM
|
Post by Skeggjold on Feb 9, 2015 0:43:21 GMT
Miðgarðr (The name of my world) Land and wrecked and ruined by the flames and powers of darkness. Where humanity's last gasp is slowly exhaling across the land. Sounds like Morgoth's dream world. That is a compliment ... Thank You Yes I have been heavily influenced by Toilken
|
|
|
Post by dm_mainprize on Feb 9, 2015 0:51:09 GMT
It would be interesting to see a author as brilliant as tolkien create a universe where Melkor wins and becomes the Master of Arda.
|
|
Skeggjold
Commoner
Posts: 19
Favorite D&D Class: Druid/Forestal also GM
|
Post by Skeggjold on Feb 9, 2015 12:29:57 GMT
In the books that Christopher has put out from his fathers writings Melkor does come back. Like all the other times the the Valar notice only when it is too late. Halls of Mandos have to be emptied. They know they have to release Feanor but.. However it does say how it ends. I forget who holds Melkor down one person on the right another on the left and the Turin with the with the "Black Sword" runs him through. I think that is all in this one book I have linked below. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lays_of_Beleriand
|
|
|
Post by DMC on Feb 9, 2015 22:17:37 GMT
First, pay no heed to the continent's name. I'd just come off of seeing Starship Troopers and thought it was a cool fantasy name. Anyhow, this is the overall picture of my main homebrew continent, made using Campaign Cartographer. I ran this place for the better part of 10 years, and there's still areas or the north and west left un-touched, since my campaigns typically start from the micro and get more expansive, rather than everything being a dramatic world-shaking event.
|
|
|
Post by nerdbillydelux on Feb 10, 2015 12:47:07 GMT
On the topic of naming your world, don't be afraid of changing the name of your world as the worlds timeline progresses. for example (as a small joke just for my brother) i named the early version of my world panterra after his favorite band and it was also a play on Pangaea and Terra as the world in its early years was a super-continent before being struck by a meteor. And now even still the name of the world varies based on the region the players are in.
|
|
|
Post by kirklas164 on Sept 9, 2015 17:10:34 GMT
I just started listening to DMB and I love it. I'm fairly new to tabletop roleplaying games but that hasn't stopped me from also being the GM for my playgroup (mostly because no one else wanted to). I thought I'd share my world creation steps and idea for everyone.
The idea I had for this world was that the players would play characters imbued with a soul that had the potential, when they do something great, of becoming a god. When they attain godhood and depending on their power level, they would get to do things like change things in a ecosystem, add a landmass, or introduce a new race.
I always have trouble creating things out of whole cloth, but I am really good at making systems to create things. So what I did for my world was randomly assign a number of tectonic plates between 5 and 10, got 9, and randomly assigned them a direction and an elevation between deep ocean, shallow sea, shallow land and high land and moved them around for a bit. When two plates met in opposite directions I rolled 6 sided dice to see which would be subsumed by the other. Then I figured out where the continents would be. I ended up with four major continents for the world (roughly the size of Mars) with varying elevations between them. I went with no axial tilt so I wouldn't feel the need to keep track of seasons. I then decided on an age and went with young, so I randomly chose four fantasy races, one for each continent. I then randomly chose the government for each on and the alignment for each society.
What I ended up with were 4 societies of different primary races: Neutral Good Gerontocratic Giants (homebrew race), Chaotic Evil Plutocratic Halflings, True Neutral Feudalistic Wood Elves, and Chaotic Good Theocratic Drow.
The giants were the easiest to create a society for, as I just made them tribalistic nomads whose survival depended upon remembering where the next oasis was going to be. The revere their elders, and to make survival something strong enough to lean on their elders for I made their continent hostile. Instead of normal soil, it has layers of black volcanic sand that lets freshwater wick through it, so the only plants that can grow there are large trees that have roots deep enough and bases broad enough to suck up enough water to survive (e.g. Baobob trees) and most of the plat trophic level is filled in by fungus who can loose spores to bloom when it rains. After setting wind patterns, I decided it would rain often in the north and in the very south, but storm often everywhere for that added bit of hostility. I based their culture and language on as close a real life analog as I could find in the Berber peoples, and named them the Azaghim.
For the halflings, I wondered what a selfish, evil, money-grubbing society would look like, so I created a libertarian paradise. They live in wooded houses on the northern continent surrounding a giant lake. The richest members of their society live opulent lifestyles while they let the poor starve and kill each other. They are the only society that regularly has members visit every continent, as the primary way to create wealth for them is through trade. They're a selfish, evil bunch that doesn't really have a real-world analogue, so for their language I based it on Dutch for their history as a trading society and called them the Deelmensen.
The Elves were trickier. True neutral is tough to express for a character let alone a society. I tried to think of real life examples of true neutral things, and science was the first thing I could think of. Like technology, the process itself is a morally neutral act, it's only in the application that moral judgments can be made. So I decided the elves would be based around their noble class, who would pursue interests until they grew bored of it, and then pursue something else. I based their culture around medieval Italy and it's city states, and called them the Sognatore.
The Drow were the hardest, as this a world that doesn't have gods yet. What I decided was that they would worship a super advanced creature that would be superficially similar to another more common creature in the world. Brief ecology note, it's always bugged me that Dragons are always the only hexapods in fantasy world. If they have six limbs, that means they should come from a long line of creatures with six limbs who all served various ecological niches. In light of that, I had them worship a pack-dwelling, solitary hunting hexapodal reptile that resides in my world's underdark named the galtazi. I treated the underdark like any other ecological niche, with the added idea that magic emanating from the interior of the planet would be used by plants instead of sunlight. Unbeknownst to the drow, the great creature they actualy worship as the greatest of the galtazi is actually a legendary Gold Dragon. It's lair effects as described in the 5e handbook are present in every Drow city, including the opalescent mists. Also, I gave each race one characteristic that had to remain unchanged regardless of their society (for example, wood elves were naturalists, Giants were tribal, Orcs would be brutal, etc.) and the Drow aspect was slavers. To reconcile chaotic good with slavery, I decided they would be very welcome to anyone who professed their faith and their salves would be freed after a time of work and worship to prove their dedictation. I based their language on Turkish, and they call themselves the Ibadet.
My players were able to choose any society to begin and chose to start their campaign with the giants, but I'm sure wherever they went they'd have had a good time.
|
|