Hello my fellow evil masterminds. I'm a DM aiming to create his own world of adventure for the players to explore and discover. The basic premise of the world is that about a hundred year ago, an event known as the Convergence caused all the planes to fuse together into one giant world. My biggest inspirations for this world are Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, One Piece, Final Fantasy/Bravely Default, Adventure Time, a little Dark Souls/Bloodborne for flavor (though not too much as to make it quite as heavy), and of course Critical Role. I had thought of running it similar to a West Marches style game where towns are limited and lack much adventure or should I build it with a few big cities that all have adventures to be held of their own. All I know is I want my players to explore the world and find the various adventure hooks at their own pace and find the adventure as they choose to (which is where One Piece comes into play, a world of endless adventure and fun). Any advice about this or anything to do with this idea at all. I barely know where to start so any advice is welcome!
The basic premise of the world is that about a hundred year ago, an event known as the Convergence caused all the planes to fuse together into one giant world.
Reminds me of the Conjunction of the Spheres from Witcher and it seems to me that such an event would create a fairly dangerous world. For example, just the elemental planes clashing with the material plane alone could be apocalyptic, to say the least. And would easily lead to the creation of something like the Roil in Zendikar or something along the lines of Athas in Dark Sun. And then there are the magical implications as such a world would be bursting with magic. With sorcerers and psionics popping up like weeds, requiring brutal control to occur hard and fast otherwise a world already on the brink of destruction from itself could teeter over the edge into oblivion. And then there are the god level beings from their respective planes and the question of how belief would influence their existence with them now being apart of the material plane. Would the power of the god's wain without the intangible and infinite nature of their former homes? Would the use of magic have a harsh effect on the world (like with Athas) for similar reasons? Because while the world would initially be teeming with magic to such an extent that its overuse could become both commonplace and catastrophic, magic now might be finite and ultimately lead to a barren world where gods drop like flies. Or the world is more prosperous with all its magic, similar to Kaladesh and it's overabundance of aether.
As for availability of towns and the like, that depends on how catastrophic you make the convergence. On the one hand, you can make a harsh world like examples given above, with towns and villages being almost nonexistent due to people having to hide behind the fortified walls of cities. Perhaps even going as far as creating mega-cities as seen in Judge Dredd to both curb overpopulation and protect its citizenry from the dangers beyond. Or such bastions of civilization could be brought about by the god's, who with their remaining divine power shielded their faithful against the harsh reality of the world similar to what happens with Amonkhet. But what cost could such protection have with either option? Tyrannical rule? People used as sacrifices to maintain the cities divine protection? And if towns or villages exist in such a world, what important purpose could they serve to justify such a dangerous scenario? Are they frontier towns meant to lead the push towards expansion? Are they formed from citizens of the cities who voluntarily or involuntarily left to seek refuge away from the harsh rule of their former homes? Or are they glorified resource depots? Towns built on trade, where a population naturally sprung up to mine a vital natural resource.
And after you have figured at all that, what about cultural issues? The material plane alone has many issues with clashing cultures when it comes to the many races of a specific world as well as infighting within each race. So you can imagine the idea of adding races and cultures from other planes would probably lead to all-out war, so even if the world itself was relatively calm (i.e. nothing crazy like the aforementioned Roil) then world war could be the "big threat" always looming over everyone. With the abundance of magic just making matters worse, as each culture potentially have access to magical nukes with itchy trigger fingers ready to push the proverbial "button" like in Hellboy 2 with the Golden Army.
But with all that aside, coming up with this world isn't too different than any other. With the same typical questions having to be answered such as:
If magic exists, how does it work in my world?
If deities and beings of similar power exist, how do they operate and affect things?
What cultures are present in the world and how do they get along?
What laws and form of governing exist in the world?
And after all that is answered along with the choice of how impactful "the Convergence" was in the world, you should be fine. Though I'd recommend you check out the sources I linked for inspiration and honestly with the world being very reminiscent of Witcher, it be a shame to not have a witcher styled character or something similar (like claymores or priests) in your world. Also, I'd look to Eberron for an idea of what a highly magical world might look like. Particularly in regards to technology and war. Plus it seems to me that such a world would be very adventurer friendly, as they'd serve a role similar to the aforementioned witchers. Allowing for adventurers to become celebrities due to their importance at keeping the peace or looked at the same as the very monsters they slay, again like witchers.
Some other things to consider that didn't fit above:
If you have planes like the negative, positive, astral and ethereal plane. How would they manifest when given material form? Would the negative plane turn into a pure terror of destruction? Which for some reason has me thinking of Rage of Bahamut, with Bahamut serving as such an entity.
Would places like the Nine Hells and Mount Celestia become a part of the world i.e. picture Mordor and Rivendell.
If fiends exist in your world, would pacts with them then become commonplace?
How do eldritch beings come into play? They are usually thought to come from elsewhere i.e. the Far Realm. But with everything being jammed together, are such terrors now closer than they've ever been? And if so would the combined efforts of your new world be sufficient in stopping such threats? Presuming they ally with one another of course. With my mind again going to Rage of Bahamut, as Bahamut essentially is an elder evil in such a world.
And the biggest question of all, what happens when things die? If everything is jammed together, do souls go to the respective land mass representing where they would have gone in the outer planes? Or do they just go into nothingness? Or do they become undead? As their souls are tormented by having nowhere to go.
Thanks for all the helpful feedback! To answer your questions: magic exists almost everywhere, with many areas around the world having wild magic that causes strange effects. Gods and Patrons exists, but are somewhat isolated due to their tendency to clash with other forces. Most of the negative planes ended up in the Underdark, but the Abyss appeared as a giant hole in the world. The eldritch beings did not appear in the world, the far realms have been drawn closer closer to the point that certain places in the underdark have become portals and the threat of an eldritch being like cthulu breaking into the world is a greater danger. When things die they are reborn into a new life cycle, I personally believe in karma so I kinda wanted that to be reflected but gods and fiends can affect your karma or even take your soul. the Astral plane is still somewhat separate as it is now the sky above while ethereal plane cloaks the world. the biggest thing about this world is now something known as the Root, which is the core of the Weave from which all magic is drawn is found the heart of a temple floating in the astral sea, and if you should reach the root you can reshape the world.
I feel like something like this has probably made a wreck of the climate. in the natural plane, I imagine it might be ok where it's furthest from the other planes, but horribly chaotic and unsafe where they make contact. the greater the danger, the more likely that mortals have banded together at heavily fortified and well supplied bastions, with smaller villages and towns surviving where it's safer.
I think it would be wise to have at least some cities or some towns, unless you know the players strongly prefer one over the other. Urban adventures have a different feel from rural adventures, and I find being able to switch between the two is an easy way to avoid same-ness every session. Although, I suppose the two sides aren't quite equal. While I can think of some solid reasoning why there might be lots of towns and one city, I can't think of why there might be one town and lots of cities...
Thanks for all the helpful feedback! To answer your questions: magic exists almost everywhere, with many areas around the world having wild magic that causes strange effects. Gods and Patrons exists, but are somewhat isolated due to their tendency to clash with other forces. Most of the negative planes ended up in the Underdark, but the Abyss appeared as a giant hole in the world. The eldritch beings did not appear in the world, the far realms have been drawn closer closer to the point that certain places in the underdark have become portals and the threat of an eldritch being like cthulu breaking into the world is a greater danger. When things die they are reborn into a new life cycle, I personally believe in karma so I kinda wanted that to be reflected but gods and fiends can affect your karma or even take your soul. the Astral plane is still somewhat separate as it is now the sky above while ethereal plane cloaks the world. the biggest thing about this world is now something known as the Root, which is the core of the Weave from which all magic is drawn is found the heart of a temple floating in the astral sea, and if you should reach the root you can reshape the world.
Wild magic effects are good and I could easily imagine god-level beings establishing some sort of territory since their new world is far more fragile than what they were formerly used to. And I like the idea of the negative plane naturally gravitating towards the underdark, as well as the abyss being a straight up hole in the world. Perhaps making it similar to the maelstrom in WoW, having it conceivably result in a continent being torn apart like with the Great Sundering. As for reincarnation, with the nature of the world that makes sense though you might want to consider how that affects undead creation. Also, the astral sea being in the sky sounds cool. Imagining that at night the sky must look like something similar to the aurora borealis. And how exactly does the ethereal plane cloak the world? Is it like a mist or fog? That be spooky.
As for the Root, it's an interesting idea but one that should offer you some caution. Because a place that gives people an on-demand wish is very powerful. Also if such a place is known, it's location would be highly sought after like Atlantis or Laputa in Castle in the Sky. Plus with such power, the environment around it should be very peculiar. Possibly having creatures manifest out of thin air (the leviathans from Kaladesh come to mind) to serve as a form of natural protection and ecosystem for the Root.
And I'd really consider some strange weather phenomena in your world. For context, look at the regional effects of krakens and dragons for an idea of how impactful the elemental plane clashing with the material plane should be. Though keep in mind that spellcasters would soon look to control such effects similar to how lullmages control the Roil in Zendikar.
Thanks for all the helpful feedback! To answer your questions: magic exists almost everywhere, with many areas around the world having wild magic that causes strange effects. Gods and Patrons exists, but are somewhat isolated due to their tendency to clash with other forces. Most of the negative planes ended up in the Underdark, but the Abyss appeared as a giant hole in the world. The eldritch beings did not appear in the world, the far realms have been drawn closer closer to the point that certain places in the underdark have become portals and the threat of an eldritch being like Cthulhu breaking into the world is a greater danger. When things die they are reborn into a new life cycle, I personally believe in karma so I kinda wanted that to be reflected but gods and fiends can affect your karma or even take your soul. the Astral plane is still somewhat separate as it is now the sky above while ethereal plane cloaks the world. the biggest thing about this world is now something known as the Root, which is the core of the Weave from which all magic is drawn is found the heart of a temple floating in the astral sea, and if you should reach the root you can reshape the world.
Wild magic effects are good and I could easily imagine god-level beings establishing some sort of territory since their new world is far more fragile than what they were formerly used to. And I like the idea of the negative plane naturally gravitating towards the underdark, as well as the abyss being a straight up hole in the world. Perhaps making it similar to the maelstrom in WoW, having it conceivably result in a continent being torn apart like with the Great Sundering. As for reincarnation, with the nature of the world that makes sense though you might want to consider how that affects undead creation. Also, the astral sea being in the sky sounds cool. Imagining that at night the sky must look like something similar to the aurora borealis. And how exactly does the ethereal plane cloak the world? Is it like a mist or fog? That be spooky.
As for the Root, it's an interesting idea but one that should offer you some caution. Because a place that gives people an on-demand wish is very powerful. Also if such a place is known, it's location would be highly sought after like Atlantis or Laputa in Castle in the Sky. Plus with such power, the environment around it should be very peculiar. Possibly having creatures manifest out of thin air (the leviathans from Kaladesh come to mind) to serve as a form of natural protection and ecosystem for the Root.
And I'd really consider some strange weather phenomena in your world. For context, look at the regional effects of krakens and dragons for an idea of how impactful the elemental plane clashing with the material plane should be. Though keep in mind that spellcasters would soon look to control such effects similar to how lullmages control the Roil in Zendikar.
Now I really want to play in that setting. The Aurora Borealis, legendary-creature-regional-effect-inspired weather, bloody great flying whales--what's not to like?
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Yes! With astral sea as the sky it caused tons of odd effects in different territories. Some parts of the world are under eternal sunlight and others darkness while some are just normal weather. And the Root is not a place known to almost anyone. Its more of a location I made for the final boss fight. The final boss or Bosses I have come up with are things like a man who wishes to control the entire world (Dungeon Master) or an insane being wishing to destroy everything like Kefka is Final Fantasy 6.
Thank you! My biggest thing is that I love video games like Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda. So I really think of the world as being these collections of territories ruled by "bosses" which is those creatures with lairs whose innate presence shapes the areas around them. Everything from a Unicorn in a small elven forest, to the Lich king of a city plagued by undead, to a might red dragon which claims the sea of magma as its territory
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Hello my fellow evil masterminds. I'm a DM aiming to create his own world of adventure for the players to explore and discover. The basic premise of the world is that about a hundred year ago, an event known as the Convergence caused all the planes to fuse together into one giant world. My biggest inspirations for this world are Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, One Piece, Final Fantasy/Bravely Default, Adventure Time, a little Dark Souls/Bloodborne for flavor (though not too much as to make it quite as heavy), and of course Critical Role. I had thought of running it similar to a West Marches style game where towns are limited and lack much adventure or should I build it with a few big cities that all have adventures to be held of their own. All I know is I want my players to explore the world and find the various adventure hooks at their own pace and find the adventure as they choose to (which is where One Piece comes into play, a world of endless adventure and fun). Any advice about this or anything to do with this idea at all. I barely know where to start so any advice is welcome!
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
YES! I love magic the gathering! Something like Alara meets Breath of the Wild Hyrule.
Reminds me of the Conjunction of the Spheres from Witcher and it seems to me that such an event would create a fairly dangerous world. For example, just the elemental planes clashing with the material plane alone could be apocalyptic, to say the least. And would easily lead to the creation of something like the Roil in Zendikar or something along the lines of Athas in Dark Sun. And then there are the magical implications as such a world would be bursting with magic. With sorcerers and psionics popping up like weeds, requiring brutal control to occur hard and fast otherwise a world already on the brink of destruction from itself could teeter over the edge into oblivion. And then there are the god level beings from their respective planes and the question of how belief would influence their existence with them now being apart of the material plane. Would the power of the god's wain without the intangible and infinite nature of their former homes? Would the use of magic have a harsh effect on the world (like with Athas) for similar reasons? Because while the world would initially be teeming with magic to such an extent that its overuse could become both commonplace and catastrophic, magic now might be finite and ultimately lead to a barren world where gods drop like flies. Or the world is more prosperous with all its magic, similar to Kaladesh and it's overabundance of aether.
As for availability of towns and the like, that depends on how catastrophic you make the convergence. On the one hand, you can make a harsh world like examples given above, with towns and villages being almost nonexistent due to people having to hide behind the fortified walls of cities. Perhaps even going as far as creating mega-cities as seen in Judge Dredd to both curb overpopulation and protect its citizenry from the dangers beyond. Or such bastions of civilization could be brought about by the god's, who with their remaining divine power shielded their faithful against the harsh reality of the world similar to what happens with Amonkhet. But what cost could such protection have with either option? Tyrannical rule? People used as sacrifices to maintain the cities divine protection? And if towns or villages exist in such a world, what important purpose could they serve to justify such a dangerous scenario? Are they frontier towns meant to lead the push towards expansion? Are they formed from citizens of the cities who voluntarily or involuntarily left to seek refuge away from the harsh rule of their former homes? Or are they glorified resource depots? Towns built on trade, where a population naturally sprung up to mine a vital natural resource.
And after you have figured at all that, what about cultural issues? The material plane alone has many issues with clashing cultures when it comes to the many races of a specific world as well as infighting within each race. So you can imagine the idea of adding races and cultures from other planes would probably lead to all-out war, so even if the world itself was relatively calm (i.e. nothing crazy like the aforementioned Roil) then world war could be the "big threat" always looming over everyone. With the abundance of magic just making matters worse, as each culture potentially have access to magical nukes with itchy trigger fingers ready to push the proverbial "button" like in Hellboy 2 with the Golden Army.
But with all that aside, coming up with this world isn't too different than any other. With the same typical questions having to be answered such as:
And after all that is answered along with the choice of how impactful "the Convergence" was in the world, you should be fine. Though I'd recommend you check out the sources I linked for inspiration and honestly with the world being very reminiscent of Witcher, it be a shame to not have a witcher styled character or something similar (like claymores or priests) in your world. Also, I'd look to Eberron for an idea of what a highly magical world might look like. Particularly in regards to technology and war. Plus it seems to me that such a world would be very adventurer friendly, as they'd serve a role similar to the aforementioned witchers. Allowing for adventurers to become celebrities due to their importance at keeping the peace or looked at the same as the very monsters they slay, again like witchers.
Some other things to consider that didn't fit above:
Thanks for all the helpful feedback! To answer your questions: magic exists almost everywhere, with many areas around the world having wild magic that causes strange effects. Gods and Patrons exists, but are somewhat isolated due to their tendency to clash with other forces. Most of the negative planes ended up in the Underdark, but the Abyss appeared as a giant hole in the world. The eldritch beings did not appear in the world, the far realms have been drawn closer closer to the point that certain places in the underdark have become portals and the threat of an eldritch being like cthulu breaking into the world is a greater danger. When things die they are reborn into a new life cycle, I personally believe in karma so I kinda wanted that to be reflected but gods and fiends can affect your karma or even take your soul. the Astral plane is still somewhat separate as it is now the sky above while ethereal plane cloaks the world. the biggest thing about this world is now something known as the Root, which is the core of the Weave from which all magic is drawn is found the heart of a temple floating in the astral sea, and if you should reach the root you can reshape the world.
I feel like something like this has probably made a wreck of the climate. in the natural plane, I imagine it might be ok where it's furthest from the other planes, but horribly chaotic and unsafe where they make contact. the greater the danger, the more likely that mortals have banded together at heavily fortified and well supplied bastions, with smaller villages and towns surviving where it's safer.
I think it would be wise to have at least some cities or some towns, unless you know the players strongly prefer one over the other. Urban adventures have a different feel from rural adventures, and I find being able to switch between the two is an easy way to avoid same-ness every session. Although, I suppose the two sides aren't quite equal. While I can think of some solid reasoning why there might be lots of towns and one city, I can't think of why there might be one town and lots of cities...
That's pretty much correct
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Yes! With astral sea as the sky it caused tons of odd effects in different territories. Some parts of the world are under eternal sunlight and others darkness while some are just normal weather. And the Root is not a place known to almost anyone. Its more of a location I made for the final boss fight. The final boss or Bosses I have come up with are things like a man who wishes to control the entire world (Dungeon Master) or an insane being wishing to destroy everything like Kefka is Final Fantasy 6.
Thank you! My biggest thing is that I love video games like Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda. So I really think of the world as being these collections of territories ruled by "bosses" which is those creatures with lairs whose innate presence shapes the areas around them. Everything from a Unicorn in a small elven forest, to the Lich king of a city plagued by undead, to a might red dragon which claims the sea of magma as its territory