So I have recently been doing some lore writing for my world, and I have been getting myself into some dead ends when writing. My world is called Asinia and I am currently writing the way that the world began. The gods who created the world, there were in total ten of them (they are all homebrew). Later in the end of the first age of my world, simply known as "The Titan Ages", a lot of life would go extinct when one of three moons that orbit the planet exploded and some fragments crashed into the planet. The original race created by the gods, the precursor to all other races, known as the Dhaurresa were wiped https://nox.tips/ out because of the shockwave, but the shockwave also brought magic into the world.
The problem I have been running into is giving a reason for why things like the nine hells and such exist in my world? What kind of society were the Dhaurresa? and many other questions. If anyone has some ideas I can use for my world or any questions, I would be very happy for those and I hope everyone has a good day.
You could also go for a Stranger Things style interpretation of outer planes, where they were these weird and mysterious places that may (or may not!) have always existed, and doors to them were only torn open when that big old moon exploded magic everywhere.
Then you could have fun reasons for interactions with all sorts of creatures from Beyond, as they're all essentially exploring this "new" place (the prime material plane).
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
Does it need the Nine Hells? Does it exist in a Great Wheel cosmology? Have you considered a different cosmology altogether? You could go all Divine Comedy and have three different stages of a journey in the afterlife through condemnation, redemption, and paradise, no Great Wheel. You could alter the Great Wheel (which, itself, drew a tiny bit of inspiration from the Divine Comedy which, in turn, was inspired by other sources).
For some reason, a lot of societies on this planet came up with dividing astronomic things into 12. Pick a number and start dividing things like that. If there are 10 primordials, have 10 primary constellations and 10-month years all dedicated to aspects of each of the original deities. Each one rules over a Plane of existence in a new Great Wheel.
In some lore, eternal punishment is eternal regret caused by being outcast by the deities, never to enter into any paradise and left to wander to void alone, never meeting any other lost souls. If the 10 deities are all "good" (including possibly "good" as being a necessary aspect of life instead of being "nice"), the only Hell would be denying a soul entry to any of their paradises.
A lot of What Ifs.
Consider that deities in some D&D settings are created and destroyed by belief or lack thereof. Supposedly in one setting, Blipdoolpoolp is a creation of the mind-flayed, permanently insane Kuo-toa and did not exist prior.
What have the people concluded as the reasons behind things without regard to the truth behind it? Do the people think the moons (as deities) fought with each other and the neutral arbitrator of the three was cast down by the chaotic brother and dogmatic sister who now chase each other around the cosmos? Has this belief gone rampant enough to actually create the three deities?
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
An obvious (to me) starting point is to reverse the question - since you’re having problems finding a reason why the hells and other outer planes exist, then maybe they don’t. Yes you need a source location for devils and demons but maybe they are simply the inhabitants of other planets or stars that can be brought across the intervening gulfs via magic gates and spoken to via magic spells and rituals. As for the Dhaurressia, how did they transition into the present species? Did they evolve in isolated pockets leading to the various species? Were they altered/transformed into new species by the wave of magic rushing across the world and then had to find others of their sort in order to survive and breed ? Did this lead to a “great migration” of people’s trying to find others of their type and lands that fit their new forms? Or did they just settle together finding mates of their type and trying to hold their society together despite the changes? Or something in between? What happened and how is going to have a huge say in how your cultures are set up.
So I have recently been doing some lore writing for my world, and I have been getting myself into some dead ends when writing. My world is called Asinia and I am currently writing the way that the world began. The gods who created the world, there were in total ten of them (they are all homebrew). Later in the end of the first age of my world, simply known as "The Titan Ages", a lot of life would go extinct when one of three moons that orbit the planet exploded and some fragments crashed into the planet. The original race created by the gods, the precursor to all other races, known as the Dhaurresa were wiped out because of the shockwave, but the shockwave also brought magic into the world.
The problem I have been running into is giving a reason for why things like the nine hells and such exist in my world? What kind of society were the Dhaurresa? and many other questions. If anyone has some ideas I can use for my world or any questions, I would be very happy for those and I hope everyone has a good day.
In a time, long before the written word - the gods found a slumbering world; however there was no law; only chaos, murder and mayhem.
The gods sent their angels (and whatever else) to battle these demons and devils who roamed this world - and created three prisons for the demons and devils.
One of the prisons was for the weaker demons; easily containing them.
The second was for the much stronger demons; holding them.
The third was for the actual archfiends.
They were taken away from the world and forced to watch as the world prospered under the new reign of the gods.
Those prisons were the three moons.
At long last, however, the darkness has grown strong enough to shatter the moons and shatter the prisons.
The demons felt their magic - as well as the magic of the gods, whom imprisoned them - seep into the world.
Quickly, the demons and devils teleported away (into the Nine Planes of Hell, safe from the eyes of the gods).
Seconding the question of why the nine hells are needed. The existence of a hell or hells implies a moral universe. That's not a bad thing for a storytelling game, but it also isn't needed for any story other than the Fortunate Fall. So long as the Dhaurresa weren't Catholic, you don't have to shoehorn them in.
I have a ridiculously awesome idea I need to use sometime. A world that's a riff of most fantasy tropes but makes it into a joke. For example, you need to got to the league of heroes, adventurers, mages, and whatnot HAM-W to get a hero license. Each town has an assigned hero group, and the association of bad guys and rude people ABGRP, assigns a villain to each town as well. There could be the lady of the loch, an adventure obsessed mermaid who is insistent to give a "legendary" weapon to each person who comes their way. Then villains have to do their quota of evil deeds in order to keep their villain licensee, but heroes have to stop them.
For the Dhaurresa I'd make them high-tech since you make it clear that magic only entered the world with their fall . This doesn't necessarily mean you have to go reinventing the wheel when it comes to mechanics - a Dhaurresa laser rifle may look weird but in game terms it functions just like a Wand of Magic Missiles.
For the Nine Hells I'd sort of go with the suggestions a few others have made and get rid of them if they don't fit your cosmology. Fiends can instead be the servants of an evil deity, interloping invaders from another dimension or the corrupted souls of villainous deceased humanoids.
An idea for your version of the hells: Perhaps there were once 12 God's instead of 10. You could have their fall be linked to the destruction of the moon. Either their fall caused the destruction or they were perhaps cast down because of its destruction. Neither believe themselves to be at fault, but both are certain the other is. They hate each other, the other God's for "unfairly" punishing them, and the world itself for getting to carry on while they stew in misery. One was drawn to a strict code and drew other souls like themselves eventually becoming the father/mother of devils. While the other embraced freedom, becoming the progenitor of demons. Both wage a constant war on everything else.
Edit- As for the race: Considering it was called the Titans Age, why not have them be the forerunners to Giants? The smallest might have been a measly 8 feet tall, while the largest were close to 20. Instead of technology like some have suggested, why not the finest smith's the realms have ever known? Even with most of their crafts lost in the cataclysm, and the fact that they have not a drop of magic, what remains is worth more than its weight in platinum. A massive tower forged of the purest white marble. The pride of the lord who claimed it. Each room is twenty feet high, and the outside marble is so radiant that it almost seems to glow in the twin moonlight.
A fortress deep underground forged of strange black stone. Impervious to modern weapons and it seems like magic just slides right off it.
Weapons often far too big for normal hands, but as sharp as the strongest magic blades. Never rusting or breaking. Enough to make even the most surly Dwarven Smith weep tears at the beauty of the craftsmanship.
Giants themselves could be the descendents of the survivors of the cataclysm. Having been irrevocably altered both physically and mentally by the addition of magic.
So this is just a small bit of lore I have in my world regarding the eyes.
In my campaign setting, the phrase "The eyes are the window to the soul" is fairly literal. The state of one's eyes often reflects the state of their soul. For example, when someone is harnessing great magical power, their eyes will begin to glow. Or if their soul has been forcibly removed from their body, the eyes will become colorless. And if someone is under a charm, their eye color will change to match that of the person they are being charmed by.
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Call me Zeg.
I enjoy making homebew, and making characters in hero forge. Shoot me a message if you want your character created at no charge.
Here's an idea I used for my world lore, which also contained 10 deities. There is a set amount of good and evil in the universe, so if the majority of deities are good, then there has to be one or two extremely concentrated strongholds of evil to balance it out. Those could be the Nine Hells or other dimensions. The original society may have been extremely lawful-aligned and been aware that their lives were controlled by their certain fates.
So I have recently been doing some lore writing for my world, and I have been getting myself into some dead ends when writing. My world is called Asinia and I am currently writing the way that the world began. The gods who created the world, there were in total ten of them (they are all homebrew). Later in the end of the first age of my world, simply known as "The Titan Ages", a lot of life would go extinct when one of three moons that orbit the planet exploded and some fragments crashed into the planet. The original race created by the gods, the precursor to all other races, known as the Dhaurresa were wiped https://nox.tips/ out because of the shockwave, but the shockwave also brought magic into the world.
The problem I have been running into is giving a reason for why things like the nine hells and such exist in my world? What kind of society were the Dhaurresa? and many other questions. If anyone has some ideas I can use for my world or any questions, I would be very happy for those and I hope everyone has a good day.
The nine hells can be the traditional interpretation, be a prison or punishment for those responsible for the destruction of the three moons.
As for the type of society, you have to see a little what kind of environment and living conditions they are in at the moment.
You could also go for a Stranger Things style interpretation of outer planes, where they were these weird and mysterious places that may (or may not!) have always existed, and doors to them were only torn open when that big old moon exploded magic everywhere.
Then you could have fun reasons for interactions with all sorts of creatures from Beyond, as they're all essentially exploring this "new" place (the prime material plane).
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
Does it need the Nine Hells? Does it exist in a Great Wheel cosmology? Have you considered a different cosmology altogether? You could go all Divine Comedy and have three different stages of a journey in the afterlife through condemnation, redemption, and paradise, no Great Wheel. You could alter the Great Wheel (which, itself, drew a tiny bit of inspiration from the Divine Comedy which, in turn, was inspired by other sources).
For some reason, a lot of societies on this planet came up with dividing astronomic things into 12. Pick a number and start dividing things like that. If there are 10 primordials, have 10 primary constellations and 10-month years all dedicated to aspects of each of the original deities. Each one rules over a Plane of existence in a new Great Wheel.
In some lore, eternal punishment is eternal regret caused by being outcast by the deities, never to enter into any paradise and left to wander to void alone, never meeting any other lost souls. If the 10 deities are all "good" (including possibly "good" as being a necessary aspect of life instead of being "nice"), the only Hell would be denying a soul entry to any of their paradises.
A lot of What Ifs.
Consider that deities in some D&D settings are created and destroyed by belief or lack thereof. Supposedly in one setting, Blipdoolpoolp is a creation of the mind-flayed, permanently insane Kuo-toa and did not exist prior.
What have the people concluded as the reasons behind things without regard to the truth behind it? Do the people think the moons (as deities) fought with each other and the neutral arbitrator of the three was cast down by the chaotic brother and dogmatic sister who now chase each other around the cosmos? Has this belief gone rampant enough to actually create the three deities?
Questions questions. Always questions.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
An obvious (to me) starting point is to reverse the question - since you’re having problems finding a reason why the hells and other outer planes exist, then maybe they don’t. Yes you need a source location for devils and demons but maybe they are simply the inhabitants of other planets or stars that can be brought across the intervening gulfs via magic gates and spoken to via magic spells and rituals. As for the Dhaurressia, how did they transition into the present species? Did they evolve in isolated pockets leading to the various species? Were they altered/transformed into new species by the wave of magic rushing across the world and then had to find others of their sort in order to survive and breed ? Did this lead to a “great migration” of people’s trying to find others of their type and lands that fit their new forms? Or did they just settle together finding mates of their type and trying to hold their society together despite the changes? Or something in between? What happened and how is going to have a huge say in how your cultures are set up.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Why not mix aberrations, demons and ddevils as beings from the far realm?
In a time, long before the written word - the gods found a slumbering world; however there was no law; only chaos, murder and mayhem.
The gods sent their angels (and whatever else) to battle these demons and devils who roamed this world - and created three prisons for the demons and devils.
One of the prisons was for the weaker demons; easily containing them.
The second was for the much stronger demons; holding them.
The third was for the actual archfiends.
They were taken away from the world and forced to watch as the world prospered under the new reign of the gods.
Those prisons were the three moons.
At long last, however, the darkness has grown strong enough to shatter the moons and shatter the prisons.
The demons felt their magic - as well as the magic of the gods, whom imprisoned them - seep into the world.
Quickly, the demons and devils teleported away (into the Nine Planes of Hell, safe from the eyes of the gods).
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Seconding the question of why the nine hells are needed. The existence of a hell or hells implies a moral universe. That's not a bad thing for a storytelling game, but it also isn't needed for any story other than the Fortunate Fall. So long as the Dhaurresa weren't Catholic, you don't have to shoehorn them in.
I have a ridiculously awesome idea I need to use sometime. A world that's a riff of most fantasy tropes but makes it into a joke. For example, you need to got to the league of heroes, adventurers, mages, and whatnot HAM-W to get a hero license. Each town has an assigned hero group, and the association of bad guys and rude people ABGRP, assigns a villain to each town as well. There could be the lady of the loch, an adventure obsessed mermaid who is insistent to give a "legendary" weapon to each person who comes their way. Then villains have to do their quota of evil deeds in order to keep their villain licensee, but heroes have to stop them.
Edit: Oops, posted this on the wrong thread
Quokkas are objectively the best animal, anyone who disagrees needs a psychiatric evaluation
For the Dhaurresa I'd make them high-tech since you make it clear that magic only entered the world with their fall . This doesn't necessarily mean you have to go reinventing the wheel when it comes to mechanics - a Dhaurresa laser rifle may look weird but in game terms it functions just like a Wand of Magic Missiles.
For the Nine Hells I'd sort of go with the suggestions a few others have made and get rid of them if they don't fit your cosmology. Fiends can instead be the servants of an evil deity, interloping invaders from another dimension or the corrupted souls of villainous deceased humanoids.
An idea for your version of the hells: Perhaps there were once 12 God's instead of 10. You could have their fall be linked to the destruction of the moon. Either their fall caused the destruction or they were perhaps cast down because of its destruction. Neither believe themselves to be at fault, but both are certain the other is. They hate each other, the other God's for "unfairly" punishing them, and the world itself for getting to carry on while they stew in misery. One was drawn to a strict code and drew other souls like themselves eventually becoming the father/mother of devils. While the other embraced freedom, becoming the progenitor of demons. Both wage a constant war on everything else.
Edit- As for the race: Considering it was called the Titans Age, why not have them be the forerunners to Giants? The smallest might have been a measly 8 feet tall, while the largest were close to 20. Instead of technology like some have suggested, why not the finest smith's the realms have ever known? Even with most of their crafts lost in the cataclysm, and the fact that they have not a drop of magic, what remains is worth more than its weight in platinum. A massive tower forged of the purest white marble. The pride of the lord who claimed it. Each room is twenty feet high, and the outside marble is so radiant that it almost seems to glow in the twin moonlight.
A fortress deep underground forged of strange black stone. Impervious to modern weapons and it seems like magic just slides right off it.
Weapons often far too big for normal hands, but as sharp as the strongest magic blades. Never rusting or breaking. Enough to make even the most surly Dwarven Smith weep tears at the beauty of the craftsmanship.
Giants themselves could be the descendents of the survivors of the cataclysm. Having been irrevocably altered both physically and mentally by the addition of magic.
So this is just a small bit of lore I have in my world regarding the eyes.
In my campaign setting, the phrase "The eyes are the window to the soul" is fairly literal. The state of one's eyes often reflects the state of their soul. For example, when someone is harnessing great magical power, their eyes will begin to glow. Or if their soul has been forcibly removed from their body, the eyes will become colorless. And if someone is under a charm, their eye color will change to match that of the person they are being charmed by.
Call me Zeg.
I enjoy making homebew, and making characters in hero forge. Shoot me a message if you want your character created at no charge.
Here's an idea I used for my world lore, which also contained 10 deities. There is a set amount of good and evil in the universe, so if the majority of deities are good, then there has to be one or two extremely concentrated strongholds of evil to balance it out. Those could be the Nine Hells or other dimensions. The original society may have been extremely lawful-aligned and been aware that their lives were controlled by their certain fates.
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