So the final boss of my levels 1-20 campaign that I've been DMing for quite a while now is an Elder Evil. It is a homebrew campaign in a homebrew world that I created and am thinking my player characters will spend their last few levels in the Far Realm, the home plane of the Elder Evils where they will confront the final boss once and for all. There's only one small problem. I can't figure out what the Far Realm will be like. The Dungeon Master's Guide gives me some information on the Far Realm but not enough on the locations and creatures that live there. Anyone have any ideas for what my player characters should encounter in the Far Realm?
To start here is a cut and paste from Forgotten Realms:
The Far Realm was a plane of madness situated very far from the planes of the standard cosmology. This maddening realm was feared for its power to twist unfortunate visitors into gruesome monsters, and it was from here that aberrations came. According to Malyanna, a servant of the Abolethic Sovereignty, all cosmologies were threatened by the same Far Realm. The Far Realm comprised an infinite number of layers. Unlike the layers of many Outer Planes, these layers were very thin, ranging from an inch to a mile in thickness, each separated from the next by around ten feet. These layers were also transparent, and travelers could glimpse through twenty or so, with each appearing increasingly blurred. The layers were also highly morphic. On the whim of the alien entities that drifted through them, the layers continually evaporated, divided, spawned, and breathed. Changes in the elemental and energy traits of the layers continuously occurred, creating the Far Realm equivalent of a storm. These changes could be seen from far off, moving from layer to layer rather like a storm drifting across a natural world.
The elder evils are basically demi-gods that are hell bent on the destruction of all creation. (Think of the 3 demons in "Nightmare on Elm Street") They would be considered the diametric opposite of the gods. I find it interesting you would jump into a setting this advanced without knowing more before you started! But Forgotten Realms does have a lot of information on these topics.
To start here is a cut and paste from Forgotten Realms:
The Far Realm was a plane of madness situated very far from the planes of the standard cosmology. This maddening realm was feared for its power to twist unfortunate visitors into gruesome monsters, and it was from here that aberrations came. According to Malyanna, a servant of the Abolethic Sovereignty, all cosmologies were threatened by the same Far Realm. The Far Realm comprised an infinite number of layers. Unlike the layers of many Outer Planes, these layers were very thin, ranging from an inch to a mile in thickness, each separated from the next by around ten feet. These layers were also transparent, and travelers could glimpse through twenty or so, with each appearing increasingly blurred. The layers were also highly morphic. On the whim of the alien entities that drifted through them, the layers continually evaporated, divided, spawned, and breathed. Changes in the elemental and energy traits of the layers continuously occurred, creating the Far Realm equivalent of a storm. These changes could be seen from far off, moving from layer to layer rather like a storm drifting across a natural world.
The elder evils are basically demi-gods that are hell bent on the destruction of all creation. (Think of the 3 demons in "Nightmare on Elm Street") They would be considered the diametric opposite of the gods. I find it interesting you would jump into a setting this advanced without knowing more before you started! But Forgotten Realms does have a lot of information on these topics.
Thanks for all the great information! I'll be sure to use this stuff when designing my dungeons and other locations in the Far Realm when my players finally get there.
Very little info on the Far Realm out there but I genreally just resort to HP Lovercraft mytholgy for any reference to it and you also have the Star Spawn monsters in Mordenkainens Tome of Foes. In D&D 3e the Kaorti actually had a monster stat block but they've not come over to 5e so the Star Spawn may need to replace them unless you want to do some homebrewing.
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Very little info on the Far Realm out there but I genreally just resort to HP Lovercraft mytholgy for any reference to it and you also have the Star Spawn monsters in Mordenkainens Tome of Foes. In D&D 3e the Kaorti actually had a monster stat block but they've not come over to 5e so the Star Spawn may need to replace them unless you want to do some homebrewing.
I've actually been using the Star Spawn a lot in my campaign. Thanks for the links, I'll be sure to check them out!
So there's some precedent for having players actually enter the far realm, see the Rrakkma adventure released with Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.
That said, I would not personally allow my players to spend much time in the far realm. When the far realm was first introduced in 2e with Bruce Cordell's The Gates of Firestorm Peak adventure, a player entering the far realm was immediately removed from play, as the far realms were considered far too dangerous both physically and psychically to allow a creature from the standard cosmology to survive. I like that description, because it places the far realm where it should be thematically: a realm of entities far too powerful for even the gods to take on. That ensures that far realm games are as close to cosmic horror as Cordell intended. Allowing players to enter the far realm cheapens the horror, in my mind. It makes familiar something which is meant to be the most unfamiliar setting.
So the final boss of my levels 1-20 campaign that I've been DMing for quite a while now is an Elder Evil. It is a homebrew campaign in a homebrew world that I created and am thinking my player characters will spend their last few levels in the Far Realm, the home plane of the Elder Evils where they will confront the final boss once and for all. There's only one small problem. I can't figure out what the Far Realm will be like. The Dungeon Master's Guide gives me some information on the Far Realm but not enough on the locations and creatures that live there. Anyone have any ideas for what my player characters should encounter in the Far Realm?
To start here is a cut and paste from Forgotten Realms:
The Far Realm was a plane of madness situated very far from the planes of the standard cosmology. This maddening realm was feared for its power to twist unfortunate visitors into gruesome monsters, and it was from here that aberrations came. According to Malyanna, a servant of the Abolethic Sovereignty, all cosmologies were threatened by the same Far Realm. The Far Realm comprised an infinite number of layers. Unlike the layers of many Outer Planes, these layers were very thin, ranging from an inch to a mile in thickness, each separated from the next by around ten feet. These layers were also transparent, and travelers could glimpse through twenty or so, with each appearing increasingly blurred. The layers were also highly morphic. On the whim of the alien entities that drifted through them, the layers continually evaporated, divided, spawned, and breathed. Changes in the elemental and energy traits of the layers continuously occurred, creating the Far Realm equivalent of a storm. These changes could be seen from far off, moving from layer to layer rather like a storm drifting across a natural world.
The elder evils are basically demi-gods that are hell bent on the destruction of all creation. (Think of the 3 demons in "Nightmare on Elm Street") They would be considered the diametric opposite of the gods. I find it interesting you would jump into a setting this advanced without knowing more before you started! But Forgotten Realms does have a lot of information on these topics.
I am not sure what my Spirit Animal is. But whatever that thing is, I am pretty sure it has rabies!
Thanks for all the great information! I'll be sure to use this stuff when designing my dungeons and other locations in the Far Realm when my players finally get there.
Here's a couple of wiki that might help out:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Far_Realm
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Kaorti
Very little info on the Far Realm out there but I genreally just resort to HP Lovercraft mytholgy for any reference to it and you also have the Star Spawn monsters in Mordenkainens Tome of Foes. In D&D 3e the Kaorti actually had a monster stat block but they've not come over to 5e so the Star Spawn may need to replace them unless you want to do some homebrewing.
I've actually been using the Star Spawn a lot in my campaign. Thanks for the links, I'll be sure to check them out!
The far ream is a sea of chaos, where colors not even know to man are there, the far ream is what ever the hell the Elder Evil whats or known for.
Edit: take it like a domain of dread, but then throw out all laws of physics.
(sry for being so late, looking up the far realm)
i am monkeish i hail the monke lord :D:D:D:D
pm me the word tomato
Also praise Jeff the Romba, go feed him clay.
So there's some precedent for having players actually enter the far realm, see the Rrakkma adventure released with Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.
That said, I would not personally allow my players to spend much time in the far realm. When the far realm was first introduced in 2e with Bruce Cordell's The Gates of Firestorm Peak adventure, a player entering the far realm was immediately removed from play, as the far realms were considered far too dangerous both physically and psychically to allow a creature from the standard cosmology to survive. I like that description, because it places the far realm where it should be thematically: a realm of entities far too powerful for even the gods to take on. That ensures that far realm games are as close to cosmic horror as Cordell intended. Allowing players to enter the far realm cheapens the horror, in my mind. It makes familiar something which is meant to be the most unfamiliar setting.
The Domain Bluespur in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft may help you too