I'm looking to make a story that's pretty heavily DnD based. Not sure about publishing but that would be the main goal, so using Forgotten Realms content like the pantheons/deities, spell names etc. is out of the question.
So...how exactly do you go about creating these gods and spell names/types? Schools of magic are fascinating but for some reason, thinking (for example) "School of Elements" as opposed to "School of Evocation" doesn't quite have the same name to it. Similar to (again, for example) "Lightning Bolt" as opposed to "Witch Bolt", "Fire Spray" as opposed to "Burning Hands", etc...names have never been my strong suit, lol. How the heck do you think of "Ioun, goddess of knowledge, prophecy and skill", or get a huge five-headed dragon tyrant when you look at pre-existing Tiamat?
Just a lot of stuff to think about. Any particularly creative homebrew DMs have any advice? Also on the side of classes, like artificers or Matt Mercer's blood cleric and bloodhunter...jeez, even more stuff to think about.
There are numerous creative processes that lend structure and offer various tools for inspiration - but in the end it always boils to 'you make it up as you go.'
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I'm looking to make a story that's pretty heavily DnD based. Not sure about publishing but that would be the main goal, so using Forgotten Realms content like the pantheons/deities, spell names etc. is out of the question.
So...how exactly do you go about creating these gods and spell names/types? Schools of magic are fascinating but for some reason, thinking (for example) "School of Elements" as opposed to "School of Evocation" doesn't quite have the same name to it. Similar to (again, for example) "Lightning Bolt" as opposed to "Witch Bolt", "Fire Spray" as opposed to "Burning Hands", etc...names have never been my strong suit, lol. How the heck do you think of "Ioun, goddess of knowledge, prophecy and skill", or get a huge five-headed dragon tyrant when you look at pre-existing Tiamat?
Just a lot of stuff to think about. Any particularly creative homebrew DMs have any advice? Also on the side of classes, like artificers or Matt Mercer's blood cleric and bloodhunter...jeez, even more stuff to think about.
If you're hoping to publish, you probably want it to be less like D&D.
Fortunately, a lot of D&D's design is kind of weird as narrative devices.
Think about things in terms of what the story needs, rather than how they'd be in D&D. Instead of your protagonists having "classes", decide what they need to be good and bad at -- those are the things they have learned because of the lives they have lead. You probably want to have some idea of what magic is like, but it doesn't need to be the named, self-contained spells of D&D.
For gods in particular, look at some examples of real-world pantheons and practices. Again, it doesn't need to be as much like D&D, which is conceptually kind of odd.
Keep in mind that as far as official pantheons go they come from two sources: 1) ancient real world pantheons - possibly modified by 2) the minds of the creators of the published worlds. So, for example, the FR pantheon(s) aren’t actually a TSR/WotC creation, they are the Ed Greenwood’s creation purchased by WotC. for your world you will have to make up your own, names included.
Yes they are, Greenwood used a mix of Egyptian and Babylonian deities for Unther and Mulhorund as they fit his history and free to use. Ancient Earth ( and modern for that matter) deities are copyright free so you can use them.
WotC didn't, not really. They inherited them when they bought the product line.
The original classes were also inherited from the combat war game that the roleplay was added to by the famous creators of D&D.
Everything else was created/defined/written up within the system by the players and designers.
As far as building your own system goes, I would STRONGLY recommend trying a variety of systems from different publishers first. The various D&D engines are far more restrictive than functional. But they are what the majority of people know.
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I'm looking to make a story that's pretty heavily DnD based. Not sure about publishing but that would be the main goal, so using Forgotten Realms content like the pantheons/deities, spell names etc. is out of the question.
So...how exactly do you go about creating these gods and spell names/types? Schools of magic are fascinating but for some reason, thinking (for example) "School of Elements" as opposed to "School of Evocation" doesn't quite have the same name to it. Similar to (again, for example) "Lightning Bolt" as opposed to "Witch Bolt", "Fire Spray" as opposed to "Burning Hands", etc...names have never been my strong suit, lol. How the heck do you think of "Ioun, goddess of knowledge, prophecy and skill", or get a huge five-headed dragon tyrant when you look at pre-existing Tiamat?
Just a lot of stuff to think about. Any particularly creative homebrew DMs have any advice? Also on the side of classes, like artificers or Matt Mercer's blood cleric and bloodhunter...jeez, even more stuff to think about.
There are numerous creative processes that lend structure and offer various tools for inspiration - but in the end it always boils to 'you make it up as you go.'
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Crowdsourced iteration.
If you're hoping to publish, you probably want it to be less like D&D.
Fortunately, a lot of D&D's design is kind of weird as narrative devices.
Think about things in terms of what the story needs, rather than how they'd be in D&D. Instead of your protagonists having "classes", decide what they need to be good and bad at -- those are the things they have learned because of the lives they have lead. You probably want to have some idea of what magic is like, but it doesn't need to be the named, self-contained spells of D&D.
For gods in particular, look at some examples of real-world pantheons and practices. Again, it doesn't need to be as much like D&D, which is conceptually kind of odd.
Keep in mind that as far as official pantheons go they come from two sources:
1) ancient real world pantheons - possibly modified by
2) the minds of the creators of the published worlds.
So, for example, the FR pantheon(s) aren’t actually a TSR/WotC creation, they are the Ed Greenwood’s creation purchased by WotC.
for your world you will have to make up your own, names included.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
tiamat and bahumat are both names of mesopotamian gods...
Race: Not Human. that's for sure
Class: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes/general of the goose horde
Alignment: Lawful Evil
fun fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
King Of TVs.
Yes they are, Greenwood used a mix of Egyptian and Babylonian deities for Unther and Mulhorund as they fit his history and free to use. Ancient Earth ( and modern for that matter) deities are copyright free so you can use them.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
WotC didn't, not really. They inherited them when they bought the product line.
The original classes were also inherited from the combat war game that the roleplay was added to by the famous creators of D&D.
Everything else was created/defined/written up within the system by the players and designers.
As far as building your own system goes, I would STRONGLY recommend trying a variety of systems from different publishers first. The various D&D engines are far more restrictive than functional. But they are what the majority of people know.