So I have this head canon (i suppose as DM i can have whatever it want, anyways) about reality actually having a "will". And i'm looking for some ideas and criticism about what i have.
Reality / The Universe / Existence / ETC, is not sentient / sapient / alive. It simply is. It may be described as having "feelings" or "thoughts", it does not. It may be "pissed" that someone is ******* with it and "decide" to "retaliate" - something happens that can only be It responding in kind; i.e. A wizard is ******* with time (say, trying to reverse ALL time by a few hundred years.), simply reverse time around 20 minutes, then age the wizard into a decrepit state. People may plead / beg / pray for something and end up getting it - most likely just an actual deity answering the call, possibly in lieu of It, as if "asked to" It can exert its' "will"; i.e. There are a few entities dotted around the worlds/planes that are truly immortal. Nothing can fully kill them. No-one knows why or how - only that they cannot die, as if they are not allowed to die for whatever reason.
So yea. Any tips to make this more realized or possible more interactable (as in making it appear in a campaign in some way) would be neat. Or just some criticism.
You are getting into some interesting metaphysics.
I would look up "The Fates", which I believe are part of Greek Mythology, for some guidance. Perhaps a simple way to put it in the universe you want to craft is "Nothing is free, the universe always presents a bill, eventually".
You are getting into some interesting metaphysics.
I would look up "The Fates", which I believe are part of Greek Mythology, for some guidance. Perhaps a simple way to put it in the universe you want to craft is "Nothing is free, the universe always presents a bill, eventually".
Some people believe in karma - the notion that you eventually get what you deserve (there's also the concept of reincarnation; a similar notion, though "eventually" then means "in your next life"). Your head canon wouldn't be outlandish at all to them.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Reality / The Universe / Existence / ETC, is not sentient / sapient / alive. It simply is.
It may be described as having "feelings" or "thoughts", it does not.
These statements.... contradict the following one:
It may be "pissed" that someone is ****ing with it and "decide" to "retaliate"
How can something without feelings be "pissed?" How can something without sentience "retaliate?" This doesn't make any sense to me. If something is retaliating as a result of you pissing it off, then that something is sentient, and has feelings, by definition.
You also say there are deities or immortals who can do things like answer prayers... To me it seems like the universe can be unfeeling and non-sentient, but the deities can be feeling and sentient, and if they decide to, say, defend reality from the mortals, they might be the ones who get "pissed off" and "retaliate."
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Reality / The Universe / Existence / ETC, is not sentient / sapient / alive. It simply is.
It may be described as having "feelings" or "thoughts", it does not.
These statements.... contradict the following one:
It may be "pissed" that someone is ****ing with it and "decide" to "retaliate"
How can something without feelings be "pissed?" How can something without sentience "retaliate?" This doesn't make any sense to me. If something is retaliating as a result of you pissing it off, then that something is sentient, and has feelings, by definition.
You also say there are deities or immortals who can do things like answer prayers... To me it seems like the universe can be unfeeling and non-sentient, but the deities can be feeling and sentient, and if they decide to, say, defend reality from the mortals, they might be the ones who get "pissed off" and "retaliate."
Bio makes a good point.
I think a better way for the OP to think of it as the universe is neutral AND sentient, and always trying to maintain a balance. For every good act, there must be an evil act, and vice versa. Or, if a player's char does something evil, you can bet the Universe will do something evil back at that char, sometime in the future.
Like I said in my previous post, you are diving into a deep metaphysics pool. Such a D&D universe may be difficult for your players to grasp unless you explicitly spell out the philosophy you are trying to embed in your campaign. Experience has proven that most players miss obvious clues, let alone subtle philosophical ones.
I think you are heading down a road of frustration.
Reality / The Universe / Existence / ETC, is not sentient / sapient / alive. It simply is.
It may be described as having "feelings" or "thoughts", it does not.
These statements.... contradict the following one:
It may be "pissed" that someone is ****ing with it and "decide" to "retaliate"
How can something without feelings be "pissed?" How can something without sentience "retaliate?" This doesn't make any sense to me. If something is retaliating as a result of you pissing it off, then that something is sentient, and has feelings, by definition.
You also say there are deities or immortals who can do things like answer prayers... To me it seems like the universe can be unfeeling and non-sentient, but the deities can be feeling and sentient, and if they decide to, say, defend reality from the mortals, they might be the ones who get "pissed off" and "retaliate."
Bio makes a good point.
I think a better way for the OP to think of it as the universe is neutral AND sentient, and always trying to maintain a balance. For every good act, there must be an evil act, and vice versa. Or, if a player's char does something evil, you can bet the Universe will do something evil back at that char, sometime in the future.
Like I said in my previous post, you are diving into a deep metaphysics pool. Such a D&D universe may be difficult for your players to grasp unless you explicitly spell out the philosophy you are trying to embed in your campaign. Experience has proven that most players miss obvious clues, let alone subtle philosophical ones.
I think you are heading down a road of frustration.
The players don't have to understand this cosmic force on anything more than a superficial level. Regardless of what kootranova1 decides to make of it, just telling the players something like "karma is real and anyone committing sufficiently atrocious evil or performing powerfully good acts is likely to find a cosmic force punishing or rewarding them in this lifetime" seems plenty to me. The players don't need to know the how or why, just that this is a real thing in the setting. Same if it's about not tampering with the fabric of the universe, or preserving some kind of balance or destiny, or the Fates or Furies being active forces, or anything else. There's no need to unravel the metaphysics completely, unless that's an understanding the players might actually acquire at some point.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Trying to maintain a balance, and being repaid in kind for acts of good and evil (karma) seem at odds to me. If the goal is to maintain balance, and you perform an act of good, wouldn’t that require an evil act to happen in order to balance it out? (It makes me think of the dark crystal when one of the bad guys died, a good one would just wink out at the same time.)
If you do good, and are repaid with more good, that’s not balancing, that’s tipping the scales doubly toward good. Unless you assume there are roughly the same number and intensity of good and evil acts, and there is a balance in the aggregate. But at that point, it seems like it would not require intervention from a higher power to maintain a balance.
Reality / The Universe / Existence / ETC, is not sentient / sapient / alive. It simply is.
It may be described as having "feelings" or "thoughts", it does not.
These statements.... contradict the following one:
It may be "pissed" that someone is ****ing with it and "decide" to "retaliate"
How can something without feelings be "pissed?" How can something without sentience "retaliate?" This doesn't make any sense to me. If something is retaliating as a result of you pissing it off, then that something is sentient, and has feelings, by definition.
You also say there are deities or immortals who can do things like answer prayers... To me it seems like the universe can be unfeeling and non-sentient, but the deities can be feeling and sentient, and if they decide to, say, defend reality from the mortals, they might be the ones who get "pissed off" and "retaliate."
I can see how it looks contradicting.
My point was that is may appear that "It" is "pissed", which is an emotion, but that is just how it is described.
No-one can truly know nor understand just what is happening.
But yea, my writing sucks and i totally see how what i have is a bit...iffy.
Bio makes a good point.
I think a better way for the OP to think of it as the universe is neutral AND sentient, and always trying to maintain a balance. For every good act, there must be an evil act, and vice versa. Or, if a player's char does something evil, you can bet the Universe will do something evil back at that char, sometime in the future.
Like I said in my previous post, you are diving into a deep metaphysics pool. Such a D&D universe may be difficult for your players to grasp unless you explicitly spell out the philosophy you are trying to embed in your campaign. Experience has proven that most players miss obvious clues, let alone subtle philosophical ones.
I think you are heading down a road of frustration.
Yea, after reading some comments it looks like i might need to re-evaluate the whole non-sentient thing, as it only complicates the whole premise.
The keeping balance part is actually what i was sort-of shooting for; in that "It" exerts will to force things into play/balance/existence.
Frustration is what fuels me.
The players don't have to understand this cosmic force on anything more than a superficial level. Regardless of what kootranova1 decides to make of it, just telling the players something like "karma is real and anyone committing sufficiently atrocious evil or performing powerfully good acts is likely to find a cosmic force punishing or rewarding them in this lifetime" seems plenty to me. The players don't need to know the how or why, just that this is a real thing in the setting. Same if it's about not tampering with the fabric of the universe, or preserving some kind of balance or destiny, or the Fates or Furies being active forces, or anything else. There's no need to unravel the metaphysics completely, unless that's an understanding the players might actually acquire at some point.
Yea that does sound a lot easier than trying to force bullshit philosophies that i half-assed down their throats.
Though the Karma part, while good, does seem a tad difficult to place in DnD. Since their are a bunch of people committing acts that go against multiple laws of nature; such as necromancers/liches. Maybe the whole losing their minds thing is karma? They get their desire of immortality fulfilled, but insanity is the price they pay.
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So I have this head canon (i suppose as DM i can have whatever it want, anyways) about reality actually having a "will". And i'm looking for some ideas and criticism about what i have.
Reality / The Universe / Existence / ETC, is not sentient / sapient / alive. It simply is.
It may be described as having "feelings" or "thoughts", it does not.
It may be "pissed" that someone is ******* with it and "decide" to "retaliate" - something happens that can only be It responding in kind;
i.e. A wizard is ******* with time (say, trying to reverse ALL time by a few hundred years.), simply reverse time around 20 minutes, then age the wizard into a decrepit state.
People may plead / beg / pray for something and end up getting it - most likely just an actual deity answering the call, possibly in lieu of It, as if "asked to"
It can exert its' "will";
i.e. There are a few entities dotted around the worlds/planes that are truly immortal. Nothing can fully kill them. No-one knows why or how - only that they cannot die, as if they are not allowed to die for whatever reason.
So yea. Any tips to make this more realized or possible more interactable (as in making it appear in a campaign in some way) would be neat. Or just some criticism.
24-90-44283-5426
You are getting into some interesting metaphysics.
I would look up "The Fates", which I believe are part of Greek Mythology, for some guidance. Perhaps a simple way to put it in the universe you want to craft is "Nothing is free, the universe always presents a bill, eventually".
I'll give it a google, thanks for the suggestion.
24-90-44283-5426
Some people believe in karma - the notion that you eventually get what you deserve (there's also the concept of reincarnation; a similar notion, though "eventually" then means "in your next life"). Your head canon wouldn't be outlandish at all to them.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
These statements.... contradict the following one:
How can something without feelings be "pissed?" How can something without sentience "retaliate?" This doesn't make any sense to me. If something is retaliating as a result of you pissing it off, then that something is sentient, and has feelings, by definition.
You also say there are deities or immortals who can do things like answer prayers... To me it seems like the universe can be unfeeling and non-sentient, but the deities can be feeling and sentient, and if they decide to, say, defend reality from the mortals, they might be the ones who get "pissed off" and "retaliate."
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Bio makes a good point.
I think a better way for the OP to think of it as the universe is neutral AND sentient, and always trying to maintain a balance. For every good act, there must be an evil act, and vice versa. Or, if a player's char does something evil, you can bet the Universe will do something evil back at that char, sometime in the future.
Like I said in my previous post, you are diving into a deep metaphysics pool. Such a D&D universe may be difficult for your players to grasp unless you explicitly spell out the philosophy you are trying to embed in your campaign. Experience has proven that most players miss obvious clues, let alone subtle philosophical ones.
I think you are heading down a road of frustration.
The players don't have to understand this cosmic force on anything more than a superficial level. Regardless of what kootranova1 decides to make of it, just telling the players something like "karma is real and anyone committing sufficiently atrocious evil or performing powerfully good acts is likely to find a cosmic force punishing or rewarding them in this lifetime" seems plenty to me. The players don't need to know the how or why, just that this is a real thing in the setting. Same if it's about not tampering with the fabric of the universe, or preserving some kind of balance or destiny, or the Fates or Furies being active forces, or anything else. There's no need to unravel the metaphysics completely, unless that's an understanding the players might actually acquire at some point.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Trying to maintain a balance, and being repaid in kind for acts of good and evil (karma) seem at odds to me. If the goal is to maintain balance, and you perform an act of good, wouldn’t that require an evil act to happen in order to balance it out? (It makes me think of the dark crystal when one of the bad guys died, a good one would just wink out at the same time.)
If you do good, and are repaid with more good, that’s not balancing, that’s tipping the scales doubly toward good. Unless you assume there are roughly the same number and intensity of good and evil acts, and there is a balance in the aggregate. But at that point, it seems like it would not require intervention from a higher power to maintain a balance.
I can see how it looks contradicting.
My point was that is may appear that "It" is "pissed", which is an emotion, but that is just how it is described.
No-one can truly know nor understand just what is happening.
But yea, my writing sucks and i totally see how what i have is a bit...iffy.
Yea, after reading some comments it looks like i might need to re-evaluate the whole non-sentient thing, as it only complicates the whole premise.
The keeping balance part is actually what i was sort-of shooting for; in that "It" exerts will to force things into play/balance/existence.
Frustration is what fuels me.
Yea that does sound a lot easier than trying to force bullshit philosophies that i half-assed down their throats.
Though the Karma part, while good, does seem a tad difficult to place in DnD. Since their are a bunch of people committing acts that go against multiple laws of nature; such as necromancers/liches. Maybe the whole losing their minds thing is karma? They get their desire of immortality fulfilled, but insanity is the price they pay.
24-90-44283-5426