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Original alternatives.

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
May 02, 2005 13:50:14 Greetings,

I'm fairly new to these boards so let me start by apologizing in advance if someone has already posted something like this.

I was wondering if anyone here was willing to detail an entirely different multiverse to the one presented in the planescape setting, which they may have come up with for a campaign or two. I'm developing something myself but I am curious to see what ideas other people have had.

I'm just looking for a short overview and some information on how well it worked out. ( if it was played at all). Such a design might include a completely new take on magic or the undead for example; Or perhaps a whole new concept for planes and other dimensions and how travel between these places is achieved. It may work with the 3e rules or some entirely different system of your own devising.

I'm also particularly interested in names and language, I think that a good name is the most underrated tool in role playing, so if anyone has incorperated some original names, perhaps from little known languages and cultures for the universe/heaven/hell I would thoroughly enjoy hearing about them.

Thanks a lot for indulging in my little experiment.

PS: I realize that I don't have a particularly imaginative name (in my opinion) or much of a personality at this point, but that's my lot.

-----------------
The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, who cannot speak, fly about freely - Attributed to the Grand Lama of Saskya, who flourished in the 1200s
#2
ripvanwormer
May 02, 2005 14:58:47 See this thread, to start with.

And

http://boards1.wizards.com/archive/index.php/t-50670.html
http://boards1.wizards.com/archive/index.php/t-53132.html
http://boards1.wizards.com/archive/index.php/t-54883.html
http://boards1.wizards.com/archive/index.php/t-105279.html
#3
ohtar_turinson
May 02, 2005 14:59:49 The planescape board probably isn't the place to talk about alternate cosmologies. You want the "Deites and the Planes" Board, which isn't as tightly defined as "Planescape" is, and will provide you with more options.

(I don't have my notes with me or I'd answer your question- I designed a couple cosmologies before I discovered planescape, but they were pretty simplistic.)
#4
zombiegleemax
May 02, 2005 15:09:09 I suppose I put it here because my desire for an alternative cosmology largely appeared as a result of my love of planescape. It's the "planescape crowd" whose ideas I want to hear, I'm sure people who love planescape must have at some point wanted to take an aspect of it that's set in stone and entirely make it their own.
#5
ripvanwormer
May 02, 2005 15:11:26 This post in the Deities & the Planes FAQ has a lot of fan-made cosmologies: http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=5948946&postcount=7

And hopefully you've seen the Mimir's Mapping the Infinite: http://www.mimir.net/mapinfinity/
#6
ripvanwormer
May 02, 2005 15:18:46 Here's a cosmology I created for a Greyhawk campaign:

Cosmology

I once said that creating geneologies of the gods is like organizing your CDs in alphetical order by genre. I've got a lot of genres here.

PLANES

The Ethereal Plane is a place of raw spirit older than nature, and ghost-races who hop in and out of the world at will.

The Ghost World, also known as the Shroud World or the Damned World, is where lurk the unhallowed souls of mortals who are barred from the worlds beyond.

Faerie is the home of the Seelie and Unseelie hosts

The Abyss of Pandemonium and the Nine Pits of Hell are the homelands of the demons and devils, respectively.

The Dreaming is a plane that everyone visits when they sleep. The nightmare gods Incabulos and Cegilune hold territories here, as do the dreaming-gods Celestian and Delleb.

Shadow is where the shadows of all things overlap

The Loom is the source of all Fate.

Chaos is the unformed and ungoverned realm outside creation and above the Abyss

The Wheel of Law, the Bastion, and the Seven Heavens of Celestia are the domains of Cosmic Order.

Balance is the cosmic source of neutrality, invisioned by the druids of the Old Faith as a great tree, and by the priests of Boccob as a vast pair of scales. The gods come here to parley.

The Tree of Runes is the source of all runic magic. A deity, variously described as Wee Jas, Olidammara, or Dugmaren (for whom it was the Cavern of Runes), died here to bring the runes to mortals.

The Caverns of Madness are the dwelling place of the gods Erythnul, Hruggrek, and Raxivort, as well as older gods who are now imprisoned.

The Shattered Heaven is the battlefield of the gods. It was broken long ago by an invasion from the Hells and the Abyss (perhaps the one said to have created the world), and it's now used as a rallying point and training ground for the celestials. Those gods and celestials for whom the Seven Heavens are too constraining come here to dwell.

The Burning Heaven is the torch from which the sun and stars were lit, and the domain of Pelor.

The Shadow Heaven is a plane where every delight is available, but none of it is real. This seems to be the homeland of the gnomes.

The Inner Planes are the source of all elements and the forces of life and death. Connections with the Inner Planes renew and replenish the world.

The Phantom Plane is mentioned in some old texts inspired by the Suel. It includes everything that can't be explained by the common cosmology.

Place of Serpents is the home of the Father of Reptiles and the serpent-god Merrshaulk. It's adjacent to the Abyss. The Hell-toad Gorlam is also nearby, guarding the underworld from orcs.

The Four Depths of the Netherworld are the lower planes, although not everything that lives there is evil. All souls pass through this domain, which is also the home of Allitur and Wee Jas, and frequently visited by Celestian. The dwarven and orcish gods eternally battle by the River Acheron. Layers of the first plane include Ocanthos and Nidvellir.

The Lower Depths of Everlasting Gloom are below the first netherworld, and ruled ultimately by Nerull.

Plane of Imprisonment, or Dread is the home of some dark and elder entity defeated by the gods.

Catswold is the home of the Cat Lord and Xan Yae.

The Celestial Hunting Grounds are what mortals see as the 12 Lairs of the Zodiac. The paragons of various animals and symbols live and hunt here.

The Outer Nothing exists outside the multiverse. Celestian, in his far wanderings, reached this point once and swore never to return.

The Vault of Empyrea is the Seventh Heaven, beyond which is ultimate Good.

The Desert of Loss is an empty heaven dotted with the ruins of old gods' realms, titans' graves, and tribes of asuras, undead devas, bralani eladrins, and opinici. Massive things like turtles the size of cities crawl slowly across the waste, fruitlessly seeking breeding grounds that dissolved eons before.
#7
ohtar_turinson
May 02, 2005 20:28:04 Not a cosmology in and of itself, this was an idea I came up with a while ago to explain how a war could work between planes. Know ye well, this was before I knew what Planescape was- I'd had the MotP for about a week at this point. I've elaborated a little bit.

The outer planes don't have to be connected by instantaneous portals. Certainly some portals are instantaneous, especially if they don't leave the plane, but others aren't. They instead lead to a planar pathway, a highly mutable... tunnel with walls that look like softly glowing quicksilver which extends everywhere that portals do. These tunnels criss-cross and there are some places huge 'caverns,' massive crossroads. It is at these intersections that there is a constant battle for control of portalways. Sometimes these crossroads would become full demiplanes in their own right, little blasted battle fields in their own right.

The paths themselves shift constantly, so that sometimes a fortress built on what was a main through way, where once armies of ravening demons clashed with divine servents, could in a short time become a backwater, held at half strength by a disgraced commander.

There are backroads too. Places which lead to potential portals, or where portals might have been once, and now something else lives there... something not even a full patrol of fiends or a company of celestials would relish meeting. These things come forth sometimes, and when they do, the battles stop, and soon there is a scramble to rebuild the shattered fortresses.

There are, of course, safer ways to travel. Planeshift from one plane to another works, to a degree. Planeshift put the user on the Pathway, ethereal (or the equivilant, anyway), invisible and hastened, with a knowledge of where the portal to come out is, and the fastest route. Precious little can impede them, but should they delay to long, or worse, try to teleport, they would... vanish. No one knows what has happened to them. Those that have vanished in this fashion are said to have gone Beyond, and their souls cannot be found by any, perhaps not even the gods.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax May 02, 2005 13:50:14	Greetings, I'm fairly new to these boards so let me start by apologizing in advance if someone has already posted something like this. I was wondering if anyone here was willing to detail an entirely different multiverse to the one presented in the planescape setting, which they may have come up with for a campaign or two. I'm developing something myself but I am curious to see what ideas other people have had. I'm just looking for a short overview and some information on how well it worked out. ( if it was played at all). Such a design might include a completely new take on magic or the undead for example; Or perhaps a whole new concept for planes and other dimensions and how travel between these places is achieved. It may work with the 3e rules or some entirely different system of your own devising. I'm also particularly interested in names and language, I think that a good name is the most underrated tool in role playing, so if anyone has incorperated some original names, perhaps from little known languages and cultures for the universe/heaven/hell I would thoroughly enjoy hearing about them. Thanks a lot for indulging in my little experiment. PS: I realize that I don't have a particularly imaginative name (in my opinion) or much of a personality at this point, but that's my lot. ----------------- The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, who cannot speak, fly about freely - Attributed to the Grand Lama of Saskya, who flourished in the 1200s
#2 ripvanwormer May 02, 2005 14:58:47	See this thread, to start with. And http://boards1.wizards.com/archive/index.php/t-50670.html http://boards1.wizards.com/archive/index.php/t-53132.html http://boards1.wizards.com/archive/index.php/t-54883.html http://boards1.wizards.com/archive/index.php/t-105279.html
#3 ohtar_turinson May 02, 2005 14:59:49	The planescape board probably isn't the place to talk about alternate cosmologies. You want the "Deites and the Planes" Board, which isn't as tightly defined as "Planescape" is, and will provide you with more options. (I don't have my notes with me or I'd answer your question- I designed a couple cosmologies before I discovered planescape, but they were pretty simplistic.)
#4 zombiegleemax May 02, 2005 15:09:09	I suppose I put it here because my desire for an alternative cosmology largely appeared as a result of my love of planescape. It's the "planescape crowd" whose ideas I want to hear, I'm sure people who love planescape must have at some point wanted to take an aspect of it that's set in stone and entirely make it their own.
#5 ripvanwormer May 02, 2005 15:11:26	This post in the Deities & the Planes FAQ has a lot of fan-made cosmologies: http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=5948946&postcount=7 And hopefully you've seen the Mimir's Mapping the Infinite: http://www.mimir.net/mapinfinity/
#6 ripvanwormer May 02, 2005 15:18:46	Here's a cosmology I created for a Greyhawk campaign: Cosmology I once said that creating geneologies of the gods is like organizing your CDs in alphetical order by genre. I've got a lot of genres here. PLANES The Ethereal Plane is a place of raw spirit older than nature, and ghost-races who hop in and out of the world at will. The Ghost World, also known as the Shroud World or the Damned World, is where lurk the unhallowed souls of mortals who are barred from the worlds beyond. Faerie is the home of the Seelie and Unseelie hosts The Abyss of Pandemonium and the Nine Pits of Hell are the homelands of the demons and devils, respectively. The Dreaming is a plane that everyone visits when they sleep. The nightmare gods Incabulos and Cegilune hold territories here, as do the dreaming-gods Celestian and Delleb. Shadow is where the shadows of all things overlap The Loom is the source of all Fate. Chaos is the unformed and ungoverned realm outside creation and above the Abyss The Wheel of Law, the Bastion, and the Seven Heavens of Celestia are the domains of Cosmic Order. Balance is the cosmic source of neutrality, invisioned by the druids of the Old Faith as a great tree, and by the priests of Boccob as a vast pair of scales. The gods come here to parley. The Tree of Runes is the source of all runic magic. A deity, variously described as Wee Jas, Olidammara, or Dugmaren (for whom it was the Cavern of Runes), died here to bring the runes to mortals. The Caverns of Madness are the dwelling place of the gods Erythnul, Hruggrek, and Raxivort, as well as older gods who are now imprisoned. The Shattered Heaven is the battlefield of the gods. It was broken long ago by an invasion from the Hells and the Abyss (perhaps the one said to have created the world), and it's now used as a rallying point and training ground for the celestials. Those gods and celestials for whom the Seven Heavens are too constraining come here to dwell. The Burning Heaven is the torch from which the sun and stars were lit, and the domain of Pelor. The Shadow Heaven is a plane where every delight is available, but none of it is real. This seems to be the homeland of the gnomes. The Inner Planes are the source of all elements and the forces of life and death. Connections with the Inner Planes renew and replenish the world. The Phantom Plane is mentioned in some old texts inspired by the Suel. It includes everything that can't be explained by the common cosmology. Place of Serpents is the home of the Father of Reptiles and the serpent-god Merrshaulk. It's adjacent to the Abyss. The Hell-toad Gorlam is also nearby, guarding the underworld from orcs. The Four Depths of the Netherworld are the lower planes, although not everything that lives there is evil. All souls pass through this domain, which is also the home of Allitur and Wee Jas, and frequently visited by Celestian. The dwarven and orcish gods eternally battle by the River Acheron. Layers of the first plane include Ocanthos and Nidvellir. The Lower Depths of Everlasting Gloom are below the first netherworld, and ruled ultimately by Nerull. Plane of Imprisonment, or Dread is the home of some dark and elder entity defeated by the gods. Catswold is the home of the Cat Lord and Xan Yae. The Celestial Hunting Grounds are what mortals see as the 12 Lairs of the Zodiac. The paragons of various animals and symbols live and hunt here. The Outer Nothing exists outside the multiverse. Celestian, in his far wanderings, reached this point once and swore never to return. The Vault of Empyrea is the Seventh Heaven, beyond which is ultimate Good. The Desert of Loss is an empty heaven dotted with the ruins of old gods' realms, titans' graves, and tribes of asuras, undead devas, bralani eladrins, and opinici. Massive things like turtles the size of cities crawl slowly across the waste, fruitlessly seeking breeding grounds that dissolved eons before.
#7 ohtar_turinson May 02, 2005 20:28:04	Not a cosmology in and of itself, this was an idea I came up with a while ago to explain how a war could work between planes. Know ye well, this was before I knew what Planescape was- I'd had the MotP for about a week at this point. I've elaborated a little bit. The outer planes don't have to be connected by instantaneous portals. Certainly some portals are instantaneous, especially if they don't leave the plane, but others aren't. They instead lead to a planar pathway, a highly mutable... tunnel with walls that look like softly glowing quicksilver which extends everywhere that portals do. These tunnels criss-cross and there are some places huge 'caverns,' massive crossroads. It is at these intersections that there is a constant battle for control of portalways. Sometimes these crossroads would become full demiplanes in their own right, little blasted battle fields in their own right. The paths themselves shift constantly, so that sometimes a fortress built on what was a main through way, where once armies of ravening demons clashed with divine servents, could in a short time become a backwater, held at half strength by a disgraced commander. There are backroads too. Places which lead to potential portals, or where portals might have been once, and now something else lives there... something not even a full patrol of fiends or a company of celestials would relish meeting. These things come forth sometimes, and when they do, the battles stop, and soon there is a scramble to rebuild the shattered fortresses. There are, of course, safer ways to travel. Planeshift from one plane to another works, to a degree. Planeshift put the user on the Pathway, ethereal (or the equivilant, anyway), invisible and hastened, with a knowledge of where the portal to come out is, and the fastest route. Precious little can impede them, but should they delay to long, or worse, try to teleport, they would... vanish. No one knows what has happened to them. Those that have vanished in this fashion are said to have gone Beyond, and their souls cannot be found by any, perhaps not even the gods.