My first time posting so if this is considered uncool, I apologize.
I am running my first campaign as DM, we are running Lost Mines of Phandelver for now as a starter, but I am writing my how homebrew campaign for after we finish that. I don't really have any DM or D&D friends beyond my play group, but since this is my first time writing a campaign I was looking for feedback on whether this is a dumb idea or too cliche:
My players are in Faerun, but have various expressed interest in some of the other settings. So I was thinking of doing a twist on the “Library of Fate” trope. There exist in the world various tomes that are living histories of other realms, when you open to the last page it is still being written magically. The first one they’d find is titles “Ebberon: Rising From the Last War”. The book suddenly starts to glow and they get sucked in to the book. They awake to find themselves in Eberron. After some adventures and investigation, they find another book, say to Exandria, Spelljammer, Ravnica etc. they find clues along the way that eventually leads them to the library of fate which has been raided by some evil entity (haven't decided exactly what one yet). Which is how the books got loose in the world. They are charged by the Librarian Eternal to track down the missing times and stop the evil that stole them, having adventures in a bunch of the different realms along the way. Culminates in defeating the evil and restoring the integrity of the Library.
What do we think? Too cliché and derivative? Too meta to name the magic tomes after the real world source books for each realm?
I think it sounds cool but really ambitious for a first time DM. It takes a lot of work and prep to make different campaign settings feel distinct, and they all need to be populated with content and plot hooks that coincide with the main themes of the setting. If you try to do too much with not enough prep, you might leave all the distinct worlds feeling samey, and at that point why even have distinct worlds?
My advice for a new dm would be to try to focus on one campaign setting, and maybe over the course of your campaign you can include one-shot adventures that feature the players hopping to different worlds occasionally, but I wouldn't make world hopping a main feature unless, again, you're prepared to do a lot of prep
Actually ignore most of that. It's bad advice. Do the cool thing!
Thanks! I'm not too worried about prep, I am obsessive about prep and spend hours studying the sourcebooks and have played at least one adventure in each of the worlds they'd visit as a player so am not unfamiliar with them, but it is a good reminder to be fully prepared!
I run the game as if all worlds are one. The various realms are just maps
Nothing saying that Ebberron cannot be the next country to the East
But it is kind of a cool idea to get sucked through a book into another world. Kind of like Chronicles of Narnia
That was my first instinct but I was looking for a hook on how these different worlds would realistically be so different from each other and then wanted a story reason to visit multiple different ones so thought tying their existence to the overarching story would be more interesting than "we went to the country next door"
I think this is an absolutely wonderful idea. Please give it a try!
I think the concern of trying to take in too much information is a valid one, (I personally am not smart enough to run a published campaign, I can never remember details to the various worlds), but as always for DMs I would just simply advise to just prepare whatever you are comfortable and let the players tell the rest of the story for you.
So you don't have ALL the freaking dragon houses in Eberron memorized? Don't sweat it. (Or like me just cheat and google stuff on the go. The party doesn't need to know)
Pick one small-ish part of a particular book, study just that part until you're reasonably certain you can run ONE session out of it, and you're good! And once you've knocked out that session just study on that particular lore for just ONE more session. Small steps are good enough.
Quite frankly I like this particular "trope", it very much has a Saturday Morning Cartoons vibe to it. Give it a go, have your party save the realms.
"Too derivative"? "Too meta"?
Pfft. Let not these words hinder you. As long as your players are laughing and having a good time, the session was a success.
My only suggestion would be don't decide in advance that they are going to visit every world. They may well do so, but after some time, you may realize, for example, there's no real reason to go to Theros. If that's the case, don't force it. Along with that, don't decide which order they'll visit the different worlds. Maybe have an idea in your head, but be willing to switch things up if, maybe a second trip to Ravinca makes more sense than heading to one of the settings from Radiant Citadel -- don't sleep on radiant Citadel, by the way, there's like a dozen worlds in that one book.
Also, I'll point out Spelljammer isn't really a world, it's all the worlds, and the space between them. Honestly, the whole campaign could happen via a spelljammer ship if you decide you don't want to do the magic books. Also, this cosmic library could be located in an Astral Dominion or in the body of a dead god (god of knowledge would be a bit on the nose, but could work), floating in the astral sea instead of on a traditional world.
That’s a good point, one idea I had was to decide where the different volumes are scattered in the world and then just let things go how ever they choose and it is random what world they go to next, if they do at all, based on how they choose to explore the world. I love the idea of the library being in the body of a dead god floating amongst the astral sea, has real Knowwhere from Marvel vibes to it, I may have to do that!
Quite frankly I like this particular "trope", it very much has a Saturday Morning Cartoons vibe to it. Give it a go, have your party save the realms.
"Too derivative"? "Too meta"?
Pfft. Let not these words hinder you. As long as your players are laughing and having a good time, the session was a success.
Let us all know how it goes!
that’s kind of the feel I was going for, one of those classic old school Saturday morning cartoons where the kids get pulled in to the book and then have a bunch of adventures along the way of finding their way home
I think it's a great idea. Try to gauge your players' interest beforehand though. You mentioned that they are interested in other worlds, but sometimes "interested in," means they want to build characters there, you know? So if what they really want is to try playing a warforged or a mage of high sorcery, popping into Krynn or Ebberon with their Forgotten Realms character isn't going to be what they're looking for. Does that make sense? If what they want is characters from those worlds, maybe when they step into each book, they wind up inhabiting characters who are already there, or transforming into something closer to the native inhabitants. Of course that adds a massive layer of complexity to the whole thing, but it also works in a Saturday Morning cartoon kind of way...
As far as cliche and meta...psshh. You know your gaming group better than I do. Unless they frequently complain about things being cliche or cheesy, you're probably fine.
That’s a good point, one idea I had was to decide where the different volumes are scattered in the world and then just let things go how ever they choose and it is random what world they go to next, if they do at all, based on how they choose to explore the world. I love the idea of the library being in the body of a dead god floating amongst the astral sea, has real Knowwhere from Marvel vibes to it, I may have to do that!
I generally stay away from random. Let the story develop, and take the characters where it needs.
Half the time, one of the players will say something because they think they figured out the master plan, and it ends up being a better idea than the plan you had in mind. Then, of course, you do that instead. You get credit for a devious plan, and the player gets to feel good for figuring it out.
Now, if no one has any ideas, random can work fine. But often, as you go, you’ll see one place will be a more natural fit, and go there. Basically, just keep options open. Don’t let a random chart tell you what to do.
That’s a good point, one idea I had was to decide where the different volumes are scattered in the world and then just let things go how ever they choose and it is random what world they go to next, if they do at all, based on how they choose to explore the world. I love the idea of the library being in the body of a dead god floating amongst the astral sea, has real Knowwhere from Marvel vibes to it, I may have to do that!
I generally stay away from random. Let the story develop, and take the characters where it needs.
that’s a good point, by random I just meant that id make some notes and have on hand that say the Lord of Blades has a book, there is one hidden in shard, etc. and if their choices wind up leading them to deal with the lord of blades, they find it, if they don’t, no matter.
there are a few shows that have been around that combined assorted children's story worlds, and some rather big names have explored several different worlds and futures and more -- so yeah, this is totally doable, once you have the macGuffin in play, and it sounds like you do.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I think it's a great idea. Try to gauge your players' interest beforehand though. You mentioned that they are interested in other worlds, but sometimes "interested in," means they want to build characters there, you know? So if what they really want is to try playing a warforged or a mage of high sorcery, popping into Krynn or Ebberon with their Forgotten Realms character isn't going to be what they're looking for. Does that make sense? If what they want is characters from those worlds, maybe when they step into each book, they wind up inhabiting characters who are already there, or transforming into something closer to the native inhabitants. Of course that adds a massive layer of complexity to the whole thing, but it also works in a Saturday Morning cartoon kind of way...
As far as cliche and meta...psshh. You know your gaming group better than I do. Unless they frequently complain about things being cliche or cheesy, you're probably fine.
During character creation they had the option of creating characters based on any of the source material so I am not to worried about that, but I do really LOVE the idea of them being transported IN TO characters in the world they are sucked in to, that has a very 80's/90's saturday morning/after school show feel to it that I am going to have to think about how I might do that, thanks for the inspiration!
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My first time posting so if this is considered uncool, I apologize.
I am running my first campaign as DM, we are running Lost Mines of Phandelver for now as a starter, but I am writing my how homebrew campaign for after we finish that. I don't really have any DM or D&D friends beyond my play group, but since this is my first time writing a campaign I was looking for feedback on whether this is a dumb idea or too cliche:
My players are in Faerun, but have various expressed interest in some of the other settings. So I was thinking of doing a twist on the “Library of Fate” trope. There exist in the world various tomes that are living histories of other realms, when you open to the last page it is still being written magically. The first one they’d find is titles “Ebberon: Rising From the Last War”. The book suddenly starts to glow and they get sucked in to the book. They awake to find themselves in Eberron. After some adventures and investigation, they find another book, say to Exandria, Spelljammer, Ravnica etc. they find clues along the way that eventually leads them to the library of fate which has been raided by some evil entity (haven't decided exactly what one yet). Which is how the books got loose in the world. They are charged by the Librarian Eternal to track down the missing times and stop the evil that stole them, having adventures in a bunch of the different realms along the way. Culminates in defeating the evil and restoring the integrity of the Library.
What do we think? Too cliché and derivative? Too meta to name the magic tomes after the real world source books for each realm?
I think it sounds cool but really ambitious for a first time DM. It takes a lot of work and prep to make different campaign settings feel distinct, and they all need to be populated with content and plot hooks that coincide with the main themes of the setting. If you try to do too much with not enough prep, you might leave all the distinct worlds feeling samey, and at that point why even have distinct worlds?My advice for a new dm would be to try to focus on one campaign setting, and maybe over the course of your campaign you can include one-shot adventures that feature the players hopping to different worlds occasionally, but I wouldn't make world hopping a main feature unless, again, you're prepared to do a lot of prepActually ignore most of that. It's bad advice. Do the cool thing!
Thanks! I'm not too worried about prep, I am obsessive about prep and spend hours studying the sourcebooks and have played at least one adventure in each of the worlds they'd visit as a player so am not unfamiliar with them, but it is a good reminder to be fully prepared!
I run the game as if all worlds are one. The various realms are just maps
Nothing saying that Ebberron cannot be the next country to the East
But it is kind of a cool idea to get sucked through a book into another world. Kind of like Chronicles of Narnia
That was my first instinct but I was looking for a hook on how these different worlds would realistically be so different from each other and then wanted a story reason to visit multiple different ones so thought tying their existence to the overarching story would be more interesting than "we went to the country next door"
I think this is an absolutely wonderful idea. Please give it a try!
I think the concern of trying to take in too much information is a valid one, (I personally am not smart enough to run a published campaign, I can never remember details to the various worlds), but as always for DMs I would just simply advise to just prepare whatever you are comfortable and let the players tell the rest of the story for you.
So you don't have ALL the freaking dragon houses in Eberron memorized? Don't sweat it. (Or like me just cheat and google stuff on the go. The party doesn't need to know)
Pick one small-ish part of a particular book, study just that part until you're reasonably certain you can run ONE session out of it, and you're good! And once you've knocked out that session just study on that particular lore for just ONE more session. Small steps are good enough.
Quite frankly I like this particular "trope", it very much has a Saturday Morning Cartoons vibe to it. Give it a go, have your party save the realms.
"Too derivative"? "Too meta"?
Pfft. Let not these words hinder you. As long as your players are laughing and having a good time, the session was a success.
Let us all know how it goes!
It seems like a cool idea, why not?
My only suggestion would be don't decide in advance that they are going to visit every world. They may well do so, but after some time, you may realize, for example, there's no real reason to go to Theros. If that's the case, don't force it. Along with that, don't decide which order they'll visit the different worlds. Maybe have an idea in your head, but be willing to switch things up if, maybe a second trip to Ravinca makes more sense than heading to one of the settings from Radiant Citadel -- don't sleep on radiant Citadel, by the way, there's like a dozen worlds in that one book.
Also, I'll point out Spelljammer isn't really a world, it's all the worlds, and the space between them. Honestly, the whole campaign could happen via a spelljammer ship if you decide you don't want to do the magic books. Also, this cosmic library could be located in an Astral Dominion or in the body of a dead god (god of knowledge would be a bit on the nose, but could work), floating in the astral sea instead of on a traditional world.
That’s a good point, one idea I had was to decide where the different volumes are scattered in the world and then just let things go how ever they choose and it is random what world they go to next, if they do at all, based on how they choose to explore the world. I love the idea of the library being in the body of a dead god floating amongst the astral sea, has real Knowwhere from Marvel vibes to it, I may have to do that!
that’s kind of the feel I was going for, one of those classic old school Saturday morning cartoons where the kids get pulled in to the book and then have a bunch of adventures along the way of finding their way home
I think it's a great idea. Try to gauge your players' interest beforehand though. You mentioned that they are interested in other worlds, but sometimes "interested in," means they want to build characters there, you know? So if what they really want is to try playing a warforged or a mage of high sorcery, popping into Krynn or Ebberon with their Forgotten Realms character isn't going to be what they're looking for. Does that make sense? If what they want is characters from those worlds, maybe when they step into each book, they wind up inhabiting characters who are already there, or transforming into something closer to the native inhabitants. Of course that adds a massive layer of complexity to the whole thing, but it also works in a Saturday Morning cartoon kind of way...
As far as cliche and meta...psshh. You know your gaming group better than I do. Unless they frequently complain about things being cliche or cheesy, you're probably fine.
I generally stay away from random. Let the story develop, and take the characters where it needs.
Half the time, one of the players will say something because they think they figured out the master plan, and it ends up being a better idea than the plan you had in mind. Then, of course, you do that instead. You get credit for a devious plan, and the player gets to feel good for figuring it out.
Now, if no one has any ideas, random can work fine. But often, as you go, you’ll see one place will be a more natural fit, and go there. Basically, just keep options open. Don’t let a random chart tell you what to do.
that’s a good point, by random I just meant that id make some notes and have on hand that say the Lord of Blades has a book, there is one hidden in shard, etc. and if their choices wind up leading them to deal with the lord of blades, they find it, if they don’t, no matter.
there are a few shows that have been around that combined assorted children's story worlds, and some rather big names have explored several different worlds and futures and more -- so yeah, this is totally doable, once you have the macGuffin in play, and it sounds like you do.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
During character creation they had the option of creating characters based on any of the source material so I am not to worried about that, but I do really LOVE the idea of them being transported IN TO characters in the world they are sucked in to, that has a very 80's/90's saturday morning/after school show feel to it that I am going to have to think about how I might do that, thanks for the inspiration!