Hey guys, I’m working on a building a Dying Earth style world for a new campaign i’ll Be running later in the year. And I was curious if you lovely folks had any particular things that you loved about the sub-genre etc. Recomendations for reading/cool thing to possibly draw from are appreciated.
I liked the 'everyone gets psionics' part of Dark Sun. I think it really helped amp up the 'wild west' nature of the world--everyone is potentially a threat, in ways that you have no idea of when you meet them or pass them on the street. That harmless looking old woman could explode your head :) And...psionics should be dangerous enough to cut through a lot of magic defenses. Not OP, but not just 'another magic'.
I think the city-state thing is fairly important, and makes a lot of sense. This is a world where large nations have collapsed, and people who can grab power can only really hold it over areas they can reasonably reach. That leaves these concentric circles of threat/safety. If you're enemies with the rule of a city, the farther you get from the city, the safer you are, even if technically you are still in their 'claimed area'. And if you are friendly, you may need to keep getting closer to the city in order to be safe from other enemies.
Also lots of wild areas. Wild magic, unsettled lands, lands that used to be settled and are overrun now, sunken cities, etc. But...I would clamp down on the extra-planar stuff. A Dying Earth setting is itself a threat, just because safety is so hard to find. It takes the threat away if you can easily pop away to another plane, or call on beings from other planes for help. "You're on your own" should be the feeling.
For a specific thing, I also very much liked the magic in Dark Sun that drew energy/life from the earth, plants, and people around the caster. Super cool system, and very thematic. Why did the earth die? Oh, because people like that guy killed everything around them when they cast spells.
Hey guys, I’m working on a building a Dying Earth style world for a new campaign i’ll Be running later in the year. And I was curious if you lovely folks had any particular things that you loved about the sub-genre etc. Recomendations for reading/cool thing to possibly draw from are appreciated.
I liked the 'everyone gets psionics' part of Dark Sun. I think it really helped amp up the 'wild west' nature of the world--everyone is potentially a threat, in ways that you have no idea of when you meet them or pass them on the street. That harmless looking old woman could explode your head :) And...psionics should be dangerous enough to cut through a lot of magic defenses. Not OP, but not just 'another magic'.
I think the city-state thing is fairly important, and makes a lot of sense. This is a world where large nations have collapsed, and people who can grab power can only really hold it over areas they can reasonably reach. That leaves these concentric circles of threat/safety. If you're enemies with the rule of a city, the farther you get from the city, the safer you are, even if technically you are still in their 'claimed area'. And if you are friendly, you may need to keep getting closer to the city in order to be safe from other enemies.
Also lots of wild areas. Wild magic, unsettled lands, lands that used to be settled and are overrun now, sunken cities, etc. But...I would clamp down on the extra-planar stuff. A Dying Earth setting is itself a threat, just because safety is so hard to find. It takes the threat away if you can easily pop away to another plane, or call on beings from other planes for help. "You're on your own" should be the feeling.
For a specific thing, I also very much liked the magic in Dark Sun that drew energy/life from the earth, plants, and people around the caster. Super cool system, and very thematic. Why did the earth die? Oh, because people like that guy killed everything around them when they cast spells.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)