Have you ever stopped to think--"Hey, what if World War I was interrupted by the sudden manifestation of magic and the multiverse on Earth?" No? Well, I have. Thus was born my campaign setting, the New Universal Order, AKA the Cardinal Planes. The trouble is, I need to put myself into the head of a speculative fiction writer (not my strongest suit) and rewrite over 100 years of Earth's history. What I know so far is that Orpheus, the planet where magic comes from, was at war with Earth following an event called the Risorgimento (reappearance of magic for the first time in a thousand years), and eventually peace was made, and the development of technology has slowed due to a seasonal interchanging of dependence upon magic and science depending on the time of year it is--given that the leylines rotate around our planet over the course of a year, and anything stronger than a cantrip cannot be cast outside the proximity of one. The current year is circa 2010 AD, but I'm placing the level of technology to be around the late sixties or mid seventies. Meanwhile, time on Orpheus moves differently, and about 10,000 years have gone by. Our first campaign in the Cardinal Planes only takes place on Earth, though, so I can worry about later.
So what I'm saying is that I have the basics figured out, but I'm also writing a whole guide to the world of the Cardinal Planes, and I'd like to get the minutiae ironed out. It'd also be helpful to know all that so I can put the story into the proper context. What I will add is that the canon D&D multiverse does not exist in this setting, but I'm allowing and incorporating all the fifth edition published content and even content from campaign settings in previous editions such as Spelljammer and Planescape.
So, all that said, what do y'all think our world would like today if magic had returned for the first time in a thousand years, and Heaven, Hell, the Feywild, and a simulacrum of Earth bled into and took over parts of our planet?
Much like the invention of firearms granted some groups the ability to absolutely subjugate non-equipped groups, countries that endorsed wizardry quickly would gain much more power. The introduction of magic would lead to a total revision of the old world order, and that coupled with the also world-shaking alien war would lead to a "post-apocalyptic" period. This, as opposed to the introduction of magic, would be what stall technological progress for a time. The governments that reformed should include a mixed bag of those created by strange circumstances, notably:
a communist state
a newly formed country, having thrown off the shackles of its previous rulers
a brutal dictatorship
And (case specific) a magocracy
More will be written...in time! I wish to see this lore sheet. I could see this becoming an interesting different setting, a la Grim Hollow.
Much like the invention of firearms granted some groups the ability to absolutely subjugate non-equipped groups, countries that endorsed wizardry quickly would gain much more power. The introduction of magic would lead to a total revision of the old world order, and that coupled with the also world-shaking alien war would lead to a "post-apocalyptic" period. This, as opposed to the introduction of magic, would be what stall technological progress for a time. The governments that reformed should include a mixed bag of those created by strange circumstances, notably:
a communist state
a newly formed country, having thrown off the shackles of its previous rulers
a brutal dictatorship
And (case specific) a magocracy
More will be written...in time! I wish to see this lore sheet. I could see this becoming an interesting different setting, a la Grim Hollow.
Truly fascinating; I hadn't considered that! I will say an established magocracy does exist--the primary ruling power of Orpheus is an imperial dictatorship run by the Talel Dynasty, a line of tiefling mages supposedly descended from Merlin. (Interestingly enough, Merlin as an Arthurian figure was a tiefling. His mother conceived him with an incubus, and this half-fiendish ancestry was the source of his magical powers.)
i would like to, help with this let me know if there is anything i can help with
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This Mug immediately shared with me a transcendental tale of an Infinite Mug that anchors the Universe and keeps it from folding in on itself. I filed this report under "illogical nonsense" and asked why its sign is in Times New Roman font, when it is basic knowledge that Arial Black is a far superior font. I wondered: How did this mug even get past the assembly line with its theistic beliefs and poor font choices?
quote from Romantically Apocalyptic byVitaly S Alexius
First things first, I'm gonna have to get pretty familiar with the landscape of the decade. Do y'all know any good documentaries I could check out? Also, if y'all want to help me flesh this out, we can start a PM thread
First things first, I'm gonna have to get pretty familiar with the landscape of the decade. Do y'all know any good documentaries I could check out? Also, if y'all want to help me flesh this out, we can start a PM thread
What decade? If you are looking for technology in the 60s, ask your nearest grandparent/boomer. If its about the time around 2010, I can't see it being transferable. You could be looking for 2010 tech details, but clearly not, as the tech is specified as 60s. If it's politics or other world events, none of that will be transferable, as this world is so different by then.
Also, making a setting unique is often done through mechanics, for example:
Ley Line Variations: if a character who casts a spell with an attack roll rolls a 1 on the spell's attack roll, they take the damage as if it had hit them. On a 20, it deals double damage.
I was referring to the 1910s. From what I understand, it was a rather turbulent period, and many new ideas and even countries were vying for a platform in the new century. I'd like to understand the mindset of both the world's hemispheres during this time, so that I may speculate on how they would react following the Risorgimento. As for magic, I had planned on mapping out the leylines themselves and establish the "seasons" in which they operate. I've calculated that the four quarters of our planet would have a little over 90 out of the 365 days of the year (approximately two or three months) to get any serious magic done, similar to harvest seasons for farmers--as opposed to the new country of Thessimede (the location of the campaign) which is a Prime Coterminous Zone of Orpheus, and enjoys access to leveled magic year-round. On Orpheus, magic functions as it would in the Forgotten Realms or other settings, as magic is a foundational element of the demiplane itself. As for the leylines, they are generated by the presence of Orpheus, and spin counter to Earth's rotation the same way Orpheus does.
Firearms and even directed-energy weaponry exist as well, but part of what intrigues me about the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is the coexistence of traditional weaponry and modern weaponry. Even the English army still employed a mounted cavalry in the Great War, though this fell into decline with advent of automatic firearms. I will most likely be implementing the stat blocks from the Reign of Winter: Rasputin Must Die! adventure path from the first edition of Pathfinder for these kinds of weapons, but convert them to work in the 5e system. (This is also something I could use assistance with.) Firearms were one of the main reasons humanity was able to survive the Greater War, but the magic of the Talel Dynasty's imperial army was able to disrupt, match, and even outperform our firearms and heavy artillery. Technology and human civilization have also proven to be anathema to some magics, such as the case of what the Orpheans call "falsefire," or electric light. Directed electric light can disrupt or dispel magical illusions and even invisibility, depending on the strength of said light. Natural magic, such as that employed by druids and, to an extent, rangers, is much more difficult to perform in large cities than it is in the wilderness. i plan on converting the urban druid variant from Pathfinder to this setting, as well--but I wouldn't mind some assistance with that, either. Rangers already have a city variant (I'm playing one right now in a friend's Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign), so I'm not worrying about that.
Anyway, this conflict between magic and human innovation has secured a place in the world for traditional weaponry. You are just as likely to see an adventurer with a sword slung across their back as you are a rifle.
This sounds pretty cool, but I thought about it and unless you have specific questions I’m not sure I’ll be able to help you that much. I’m not an expert on the rules and the 1910s are not an era I know that much about. The 1920s and 1930s I do know about from playing pulp RPGs.
Firearms and even directed-energy weaponry exist as well, but part of what intrigues me about the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is the coexistence of traditional weaponry and modern weaponry. Even the English army still employed a mounted cavalry in the Great War, though this fell into decline with advent of automatic firearms. I will most likely be implementing the stat blocks from the Reign of Winter: Rasputin Must Die! adventure path from the first edition of Pathfinder for these kinds of weapons, but convert them to work in the 5e system. (This is also something I could use assistance with.) Firearms were one of the main reasons humanity was able to survive the Greater War, but the magic of the Talel Dynasty's imperial army was able to disrupt, match, and even outperform our firearms and heavy artillery. Technology and human civilization have also proven to be anathema to some magics, such as the case of what the Orpheans call "falsefire," or electric light. Directed electric light can disrupt or dispel magical illusions and even invisibility, depending on the strength of said light. Natural magic, such as that employed by druids and, to an extent, rangers, is much more difficult to perform in large cities than it is in the wilderness. i plan on converting the urban druid variant from Pathfinder to this setting, as well--but I wouldn't mind some assistance with that, either. Rangers already have a city variant (I'm playing one right now in a friend's Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign), so I'm not worrying about that.
Anyway, this conflict between magic and human innovation has secured a place in the world for traditional weaponry. You are just as likely to see an adventurer with a sword slung across their back as you are a rifle.
I'm sorry to tell you this, but by the 1910s, when your world "diverges" from ours, no one really used cavalry or swords. Cavalry was really just guys with guns on horseback, and even at that point they were hopelessly mowed down. No one with swords can win against something with a gun. Maybe call the swords and armor "power armor/weapons", enhanced with magic so you can explain why they can stand equal with guns. Also, while fireballs are cool, they are outperformed by, say, an 800 mm Dora train gun.
Also, the presence of super-materials in D&D means that tanks could be yet more devastating. A heavy tank can move fast if made partly of mithral.
How does star travel work?
Whoever finds the barrier peaks reference first gets 10 nerd points.
Firearms and even directed-energy weaponry exist as well, but part of what intrigues me about the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is the coexistence of traditional weaponry and modern weaponry. Even the English army still employed a mounted cavalry in the Great War, though this fell into decline with advent of automatic firearms. I will most likely be implementing the stat blocks from the Reign of Winter: Rasputin Must Die! adventure path from the first edition of Pathfinder for these kinds of weapons, but convert them to work in the 5e system. (This is also something I could use assistance with.) Firearms were one of the main reasons humanity was able to survive the Greater War, but the magic of the Talel Dynasty's imperial army was able to disrupt, match, and even outperform our firearms and heavy artillery. Technology and human civilization have also proven to be anathema to some magics, such as the case of what the Orpheans call "falsefire," or electric light. Directed electric light can disrupt or dispel magical illusions and even invisibility, depending on the strength of said light. Natural magic, such as that employed by druids and, to an extent, rangers, is much more difficult to perform in large cities than it is in the wilderness. i plan on converting the urban druid variant from Pathfinder to this setting, as well--but I wouldn't mind some assistance with that, either. Rangers already have a city variant (I'm playing one right now in a friend's Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign), so I'm not worrying about that.
Anyway, this conflict between magic and human innovation has secured a place in the world for traditional weaponry. You are just as likely to see an adventurer with a sword slung across their back as you are a rifle.
I'm sorry to tell you this, but by the 1910s, when your world "diverges" from ours, no one really used cavalry or swords. Cavalry was really just guys with guns on horseback, and even at that point they were hopelessly mowed down. No one with swords can win against something with a gun. Maybe call the swords and armor "power armor/weapons", enhanced with magic so you can explain why they can stand equal with guns. Also, while fireballs are cool, they are outperformed by, say, an 800 mm Dora train gun.
Also, the presence of super-materials in D&D means that tanks could be yet more devastating. A heavy tank can move fast if made partly of mithral.
How does star travel work?
Whoever finds the barrier peaks reference first gets 10 nerd points.
Pretty sure the whole first paragraph is a Barrier Peaks reference 😊
By 1910 sabers for cavalry were pretty much ceremonial, but soldiers did still use bayonets for close combat.
I did some research, and during WWI sabers were still carried into combat by Europeans as sidearms (given that they were vastly outclassed by firearms) but usually only by cavalry and soldiers of high rank. East Asian countries employed swords as late as WWII, but this was also usually for people of rank. Apparently there's footage of katanas cutting off machine gun barrels, but I haven't checked. Still sounds pretty awesome, though.
The way I imagine it going is guns and heavy artillery were certainly a massive advantage for humanity, but leveled magic just seems a lot faster and more reliable. The Orpheans already had many equivalents to the technology of the period--and for the most part, it was faster and more versatile. It's the same reason the American settlers had to worry about bows and arrows when they had muskets. We were slower, but hit harder. They were faster, but hit softer (even if only by a little bit). We possessed ways of disrupting their magic, and they possessed ways of disrupting our technology (I certainly wouldn't want to be inside a tank when the enemy discovered how to use Heat Metal on it). This kind of stalemate mentality has led to a sort of thing described in the first paragraph, where it's considered sensible to at least have edged weapons as a backup if not a primary means of
The best way I can describe the Greater War itself is Earth vs. Eberron, circa the Last War. In addition to works like Moonheart and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, the Cardinal Planes were largely inspired by the works of C.S. Lewis, H.P. Lovecraft, and Brandon Sanderson (particularly the Stormlight Archive, Mistborn, and Wax and Wayne series), but the settings like Eberron, Greyhawk, Sigil, and the Spelljammer universe have all enriched my initial vision.
Interplanetary travel works much the same way it already does in the D&D canon, but I noticed some uncanny parallels between the Phlogiston, Sanderson's Shadesmar (or the Cognitive Realm), the Aetherium of Treasure Planet, and even Lovecraft's Dreamlands, so I've kinda frankensteined them together into a sort of extraplanar space known as Kosmonede, the World of Forms. Space is too impossibly huge to traverse to reach another planet, so inter-realm travel is accomplished by either braving the flows of Kosmonede in specialised vessels designed to survive in its alien environment, or by finding an extraplanar settlement on one of Kosmonede's floating landmasses with established portals to other planets.
Kosmonede reflects the entire Material Plane and all the planets contained within it, but the quintessence which Kosmonede is composed of is especially drawn to planets with intelligent life, where thinking minds, spirits, and gods hold an almost tangible presence in Kosmonede itself. Finding where the flows converge at one of these planets allows you to arrive in a sort of Wraith World fashion a la Lord of the Rings, and a simple plane shift from Kosmonede to the Material Plane allows you to arrive there without entering outer space once. You can exist on a planet while still in Kosmonede, but you're practically a ghost or a shadow, and hold no material presence.
The only planet which cannot be reached this way is Orpheus.
I think you want confirmation for your very cool, yet highly unrealistic, concept, as opposed to history nerds. That sounds harsher than I mean it, but I can't really word it differently. Case in point: vanilla swords and guns being equally viable is cool, but not historical in any way.
I appreciate the concepts, but please keep this a bit more realistic.
Also, you literally just reflavored phlogesten and made it so the players can't visit the only other important planet besides Earth.
Sorry, this comes off way harsher than I expected. Your setting is cool and interesting outside of these few problems. Please don't think I don't like this idea.
I think you want confirmation for your very cool, yet highly unrealistic, concept, as opposed to history nerds. That sounds harsher than I mean it, but I can't really word it differently. Case in point: vanilla swords and guns being equally viable is cool, but not historical in any way.
I appreciate the concepts, but please keep this a bit more realistic.
Also, you literally just reflavored phlogesten and made it so the players can't visit the only other important planet besides Earth.
Sorry, this comes off way harsher than I expected. Your setting is cool and interesting outside of these few problems. Please don't think I don't like this idea.
Don't worry, I asked for and appreciate all the feedback, critical or otherwise. Telling it like it is helps me make this a more believable world. As much as I want samurai cowboys (or samurai that can defeat cowboys like Mifune in Yojimbo), there's no historical precedent for it. That said, I can go the Wax and Wayne route and make guns the primary weapons, but also do some limitations to firearms (magic designed to combat them) unless someone is using a magic-resistant material like the aluminum guns and bullets in the Cosmere, or platinum being immune to metal-bending in the Avatar universe. These options (probably the more exotic metals like mithril, or else some new alloy which I can come up with a name for--probably an alloy with a metal like tungsten, which is known for being a poor conductor of electricity) would be resistant or altogether immune to magical disruption or affectation, and thus favored by adventurers--but they would also be much more expensive than the common firearm. Like you suggested before, traditional armor and weaponry would have to adapt to remain viable, or else be wielded by someone able to resist, deflect, or evade gunfire altogether in a Jedi sort of way. Whether or not the PCs are up against the equivalent of Stormtroopers depends on how well I roll for the enemies. I imagine this being an Orphean innovation, as humans had already phased out of these before the Risorgimento and the Greater War occurred. The logistics of the Greater War itself probably aren't as important as the present day, which is set a little over a century after the fact, but laying down the foundation for the rest of the historical narrative is definitely important.
And you're absolutely right about Kosmonede. I honestly had no intentions about veiling the fact that it was a bastardization of the Astral Plane and the Phlogiston, and the only thing that really distinguishes Kosmonede from the Phlogiston is that it does not replace outer space like it does in the established D&D multiverse. Realmspace and the Crystal Spheres are not a thing in this setting--space (or Deep Heaven as it is known in the Cardinal Planes) is just as cold and vast as it is in real life, and trying to travel anywhere outside the gravity of our sun (or the Field of Arbol) would take decades if not centuries or millennia. Traveling outside our galaxy is not an option, either. The Milky Way galaxy is one of the only things inside of an enormous spatial void. There is simply nothing around us. The Andromeda galaxy is the closest to us, but even that is impossibly far away. Even with magic, we do not yet have the means to accomplish extended interstellar travel inside the Material Plane, which is why traveling through Kosmonede is necessary. Orpheus cannot be reached from Kosmonede because it is not a part of the Material Plane; it's a demiplane, and has its own corresponding miniature World of Forms to reflect its material and symbolic realities (not to mention that would really be going out of the way to visit a planet that is quite literally next door to Earth). Orpheus is only considered a Cardinal Plane like Heaven, Hell, and Faerie because of its local importance and relevance to the planet Earth--on a cosmic scale, it is as insignificant as we are. All that said, star travel won't be necessary until far down the line. The last arc of the campaign is going to be a massive cosmic odyssey.
I can see from your signature and your posts that your are drawing inspiration from some of the best fantasy writers to ever live. This concept sounds great and I would really like to hear about the finished product.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
I think it makes a lot of sense to have the technology be not where our current technology is at, why would you need to invent something that you can already do with magic? That being said, a lot of this would depend on how readily available magic is. Are magic users the ruling class? Or are they feared and hunted in a Salem Witch Trials type of way.
I think a lot of cool inspiration for how magic users and non magic users interact could be taken from Avatar: The Legend of Korra, specifically the first season. There's a lot to do with how powerless people feel in a world surrounded by people with supernatural powers, as well as how magic and technology interact.
You could also incorporate magic into the technology, like maybe cars run on magic rather than gas, or movies are illusions.
I think it makes a lot of sense to have the technology be not where our current technology is at, why would you need to invent something that you can already do with magic? That being said, a lot of this would depend on how readily available magic is. Are magic users the ruling class? Or are they feared and hunted in a Salem Witch Trials type of way.
I think a lot of cool inspiration for how magic users and non magic users interact could be taken from Avatar: The Legend of Korra, specifically the first season. There's a lot to do with how powerless people feel in a world surrounded by people with supernatural powers, as well as how magic and technology interact.
You could also incorporate magic into the technology, like maybe cars run on magic rather than gas, or movies are illusions.
I understand that it is hard to read the entire thread, but part of the thing that keeps it balanced between magic and tech is mentioned in the first post: magic is more and less powerful at different times of year. Also: machine guns, tanks, cars, etc. don't need spell slots. In traditional D&D, even weak magic items are REALLY expensive, so it is hard to afford it. Magic can never really phase out tech.
Also, it is my job to point out the innacurracies :)
For anyone curious, I do have two completed documents for the Cardinal Planes setting: the first of the six core races, and two creature templates similar in function to the Half-Dragon template in the Monster Manual:
The overall aesthetic I'm shooting for with the new races is heavily planar-themed, such as the truefoxes being from Faerie and adapting to a dimundane realm within their own plane, or unmortals being essentially avatars of the Positive Energy Plane. Next I'm working on the ghouls (Lovecraftian gnolls with 3.5e adapated stats) a subrace of celestial dwarves, and probably some more templates which are more appropriate to begin play with than an unmortal. I'm open to suggestions for more base races, as well (especially since I'm allowing content from every published 5e source). I'm thinking of importing more races from 2e and 3.5e--especially ones from Planescape, Spelljammer, and the 3.5e Forgotten Realms--but I'm not sure, yet.
Hello, people of the Internet!
Have you ever stopped to think--"Hey, what if World War I was interrupted by the sudden manifestation of magic and the multiverse on Earth?" No? Well, I have. Thus was born my campaign setting, the New Universal Order, AKA the Cardinal Planes. The trouble is, I need to put myself into the head of a speculative fiction writer (not my strongest suit) and rewrite over 100 years of Earth's history. What I know so far is that Orpheus, the planet where magic comes from, was at war with Earth following an event called the Risorgimento (reappearance of magic for the first time in a thousand years), and eventually peace was made, and the development of technology has slowed due to a seasonal interchanging of dependence upon magic and science depending on the time of year it is--given that the leylines rotate around our planet over the course of a year, and anything stronger than a cantrip cannot be cast outside the proximity of one. The current year is circa 2010 AD, but I'm placing the level of technology to be around the late sixties or mid seventies. Meanwhile, time on Orpheus moves differently, and about 10,000 years have gone by. Our first campaign in the Cardinal Planes only takes place on Earth, though, so I can worry about later.
So what I'm saying is that I have the basics figured out, but I'm also writing a whole guide to the world of the Cardinal Planes, and I'd like to get the minutiae ironed out. It'd also be helpful to know all that so I can put the story into the proper context. What I will add is that the canon D&D multiverse does not exist in this setting, but I'm allowing and incorporating all the fifth edition published content and even content from campaign settings in previous editions such as Spelljammer and Planescape.
So, all that said, what do y'all think our world would like today if magic had returned for the first time in a thousand years, and Heaven, Hell, the Feywild, and a simulacrum of Earth bled into and took over parts of our planet?
Chasing Hymnal - Tabaxi Bard - The Tale of the Pumpkin King
Enzo the Nightmaw - Human Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain."
Much like the invention of firearms granted some groups the ability to absolutely subjugate non-equipped groups, countries that endorsed wizardry quickly would gain much more power. The introduction of magic would lead to a total revision of the old world order, and that coupled with the also world-shaking alien war would lead to a "post-apocalyptic" period. This, as opposed to the introduction of magic, would be what stall technological progress for a time. The governments that reformed should include a mixed bag of those created by strange circumstances, notably:
More will be written...in time! I wish to see this lore sheet. I could see this becoming an interesting different setting, a la Grim Hollow.
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
Truly fascinating; I hadn't considered that! I will say an established magocracy does exist--the primary ruling power of Orpheus is an imperial dictatorship run by the Talel Dynasty, a line of tiefling mages supposedly descended from Merlin. (Interestingly enough, Merlin as an Arthurian figure was a tiefling. His mother conceived him with an incubus, and this half-fiendish ancestry was the source of his magical powers.)
Chasing Hymnal - Tabaxi Bard - The Tale of the Pumpkin King
Enzo the Nightmaw - Human Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain."
I'm not as smart as you guys but i love learning new history and things about so id be happy to help with this project
KNIGHT OF RANDOM
Halike Morgad the Dhampir fist of arlo
Sir strange one of the centaurs
i would like to, help with this let me know if there is anything i can help with
This Mug immediately shared with me a transcendental tale of an Infinite Mug that anchors the Universe and keeps it from folding in on itself. I filed this report under "illogical nonsense" and asked why its sign is in Times New Roman font, when it is basic knowledge that Arial Black is a far superior font. I wondered: How did this mug even get past the assembly line with its theistic beliefs and poor font choices?
quote from Romantically Apocalyptic by Vitaly S Alexius
I’d be happy to read your stuff and offer feedback. I like history.
First things first, I'm gonna have to get pretty familiar with the landscape of the decade. Do y'all know any good documentaries I could check out? Also, if y'all want to help me flesh this out, we can start a PM thread
Chasing Hymnal - Tabaxi Bard - The Tale of the Pumpkin King
Enzo the Nightmaw - Human Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain."
What decade? If you are looking for technology in the 60s, ask your nearest grandparent/boomer. If its about the time around 2010, I can't see it being transferable. You could be looking for 2010 tech details, but clearly not, as the tech is specified as 60s. If it's politics or other world events, none of that will be transferable, as this world is so different by then.
Also, making a setting unique is often done through mechanics, for example:
Orpheus Race: I can't think of anything better than this: https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Foreclaimers_(5e_Race). Change the lore and options as necessary.
Ley Line Variations: if a character who casts a spell with an attack roll rolls a 1 on the spell's attack roll, they take the damage as if it had hit them. On a 20, it deals double damage.
Guns: Reflavor the bows/crossbows as guns.
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
I was referring to the 1910s. From what I understand, it was a rather turbulent period, and many new ideas and even countries were vying for a platform in the new century. I'd like to understand the mindset of both the world's hemispheres during this time, so that I may speculate on how they would react following the Risorgimento. As for magic, I had planned on mapping out the leylines themselves and establish the "seasons" in which they operate. I've calculated that the four quarters of our planet would have a little over 90 out of the 365 days of the year (approximately two or three months) to get any serious magic done, similar to harvest seasons for farmers--as opposed to the new country of Thessimede (the location of the campaign) which is a Prime Coterminous Zone of Orpheus, and enjoys access to leveled magic year-round. On Orpheus, magic functions as it would in the Forgotten Realms or other settings, as magic is a foundational element of the demiplane itself. As for the leylines, they are generated by the presence of Orpheus, and spin counter to Earth's rotation the same way Orpheus does.
Chasing Hymnal - Tabaxi Bard - The Tale of the Pumpkin King
Enzo the Nightmaw - Human Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain."
Firearms and even directed-energy weaponry exist as well, but part of what intrigues me about the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is the coexistence of traditional weaponry and modern weaponry. Even the English army still employed a mounted cavalry in the Great War, though this fell into decline with advent of automatic firearms. I will most likely be implementing the stat blocks from the Reign of Winter: Rasputin Must Die! adventure path from the first edition of Pathfinder for these kinds of weapons, but convert them to work in the 5e system. (This is also something I could use assistance with.) Firearms were one of the main reasons humanity was able to survive the Greater War, but the magic of the Talel Dynasty's imperial army was able to disrupt, match, and even outperform our firearms and heavy artillery. Technology and human civilization have also proven to be anathema to some magics, such as the case of what the Orpheans call "falsefire," or electric light. Directed electric light can disrupt or dispel magical illusions and even invisibility, depending on the strength of said light. Natural magic, such as that employed by druids and, to an extent, rangers, is much more difficult to perform in large cities than it is in the wilderness. i plan on converting the urban druid variant from Pathfinder to this setting, as well--but I wouldn't mind some assistance with that, either. Rangers already have a city variant (I'm playing one right now in a friend's Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign), so I'm not worrying about that.
Anyway, this conflict between magic and human innovation has secured a place in the world for traditional weaponry. You are just as likely to see an adventurer with a sword slung across their back as you are a rifle.
Chasing Hymnal - Tabaxi Bard - The Tale of the Pumpkin King
Enzo the Nightmaw - Human Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain."
This sounds pretty cool, but I thought about it and unless you have specific questions I’m not sure I’ll be able to help you that much. I’m not an expert on the rules and the 1910s are not an era I know that much about. The 1920s and 1930s I do know about from playing pulp RPGs.
I'm sorry to tell you this, but by the 1910s, when your world "diverges" from ours, no one really used cavalry or swords. Cavalry was really just guys with guns on horseback, and even at that point they were hopelessly mowed down. No one with swords can win against something with a gun. Maybe call the swords and armor "power armor/weapons", enhanced with magic so you can explain why they can stand equal with guns. Also, while fireballs are cool, they are outperformed by, say, an 800 mm Dora train gun.
Also, the presence of super-materials in D&D means that tanks could be yet more devastating. A heavy tank can move fast if made partly of mithral.
How does star travel work?
Whoever finds the barrier peaks reference first gets 10 nerd points.
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
Pretty sure the whole first paragraph is a Barrier Peaks reference 😊
By 1910 sabers for cavalry were pretty much ceremonial, but soldiers did still use bayonets for close combat.
I did some research, and during WWI sabers were still carried into combat by Europeans as sidearms (given that they were vastly outclassed by firearms) but usually only by cavalry and soldiers of high rank. East Asian countries employed swords as late as WWII, but this was also usually for people of rank. Apparently there's footage of katanas cutting off machine gun barrels, but I haven't checked. Still sounds pretty awesome, though.
The way I imagine it going is guns and heavy artillery were certainly a massive advantage for humanity, but leveled magic just seems a lot faster and more reliable. The Orpheans already had many equivalents to the technology of the period--and for the most part, it was faster and more versatile. It's the same reason the American settlers had to worry about bows and arrows when they had muskets. We were slower, but hit harder. They were faster, but hit softer (even if only by a little bit). We possessed ways of disrupting their magic, and they possessed ways of disrupting our technology (I certainly wouldn't want to be inside a tank when the enemy discovered how to use Heat Metal on it). This kind of stalemate mentality has led to a sort of thing described in the first paragraph, where it's considered sensible to at least have edged weapons as a backup if not a primary means of
The best way I can describe the Greater War itself is Earth vs. Eberron, circa the Last War. In addition to works like Moonheart and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, the Cardinal Planes were largely inspired by the works of C.S. Lewis, H.P. Lovecraft, and Brandon Sanderson (particularly the Stormlight Archive, Mistborn, and Wax and Wayne series), but the settings like Eberron, Greyhawk, Sigil, and the Spelljammer universe have all enriched my initial vision.
Interplanetary travel works much the same way it already does in the D&D canon, but I noticed some uncanny parallels between the Phlogiston, Sanderson's Shadesmar (or the Cognitive Realm), the Aetherium of Treasure Planet, and even Lovecraft's Dreamlands, so I've kinda frankensteined them together into a sort of extraplanar space known as Kosmonede, the World of Forms. Space is too impossibly huge to traverse to reach another planet, so inter-realm travel is accomplished by either braving the flows of Kosmonede in specialised vessels designed to survive in its alien environment, or by finding an extraplanar settlement on one of Kosmonede's floating landmasses with established portals to other planets.
Kosmonede reflects the entire Material Plane and all the planets contained within it, but the quintessence which Kosmonede is composed of is especially drawn to planets with intelligent life, where thinking minds, spirits, and gods hold an almost tangible presence in Kosmonede itself. Finding where the flows converge at one of these planets allows you to arrive in a sort of Wraith World fashion a la Lord of the Rings, and a simple plane shift from Kosmonede to the Material Plane allows you to arrive there without entering outer space once. You can exist on a planet while still in Kosmonede, but you're practically a ghost or a shadow, and hold no material presence.
The only planet which cannot be reached this way is Orpheus.
Chasing Hymnal - Tabaxi Bard - The Tale of the Pumpkin King
Enzo the Nightmaw - Human Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain."
I think you want confirmation for your very cool, yet highly unrealistic, concept, as opposed to history nerds. That sounds harsher than I mean it, but I can't really word it differently. Case in point: vanilla swords and guns being equally viable is cool, but not historical in any way.
I appreciate the concepts, but please keep this a bit more realistic.
Also, you literally just reflavored phlogesten and made it so the players can't visit the only other important planet besides Earth.
Sorry, this comes off way harsher than I expected. Your setting is cool and interesting outside of these few problems. Please don't think I don't like this idea.
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
Don't worry, I asked for and appreciate all the feedback, critical or otherwise. Telling it like it is helps me make this a more believable world. As much as I want samurai cowboys (or samurai that can defeat cowboys like Mifune in Yojimbo), there's no historical precedent for it. That said, I can go the Wax and Wayne route and make guns the primary weapons, but also do some limitations to firearms (magic designed to combat them) unless someone is using a magic-resistant material like the aluminum guns and bullets in the Cosmere, or platinum being immune to metal-bending in the Avatar universe. These options (probably the more exotic metals like mithril, or else some new alloy which I can come up with a name for--probably an alloy with a metal like tungsten, which is known for being a poor conductor of electricity) would be resistant or altogether immune to magical disruption or affectation, and thus favored by adventurers--but they would also be much more expensive than the common firearm. Like you suggested before, traditional armor and weaponry would have to adapt to remain viable, or else be wielded by someone able to resist, deflect, or evade gunfire altogether in a Jedi sort of way. Whether or not the PCs are up against the equivalent of Stormtroopers depends on how well I roll for the enemies. I imagine this being an Orphean innovation, as humans had already phased out of these before the Risorgimento and the Greater War occurred. The logistics of the Greater War itself probably aren't as important as the present day, which is set a little over a century after the fact, but laying down the foundation for the rest of the historical narrative is definitely important.
And you're absolutely right about Kosmonede. I honestly had no intentions about veiling the fact that it was a bastardization of the Astral Plane and the Phlogiston, and the only thing that really distinguishes Kosmonede from the Phlogiston is that it does not replace outer space like it does in the established D&D multiverse. Realmspace and the Crystal Spheres are not a thing in this setting--space (or Deep Heaven as it is known in the Cardinal Planes) is just as cold and vast as it is in real life, and trying to travel anywhere outside the gravity of our sun (or the Field of Arbol) would take decades if not centuries or millennia. Traveling outside our galaxy is not an option, either. The Milky Way galaxy is one of the only things inside of an enormous spatial void. There is simply nothing around us. The Andromeda galaxy is the closest to us, but even that is impossibly far away. Even with magic, we do not yet have the means to accomplish extended interstellar travel inside the Material Plane, which is why traveling through Kosmonede is necessary. Orpheus cannot be reached from Kosmonede because it is not a part of the Material Plane; it's a demiplane, and has its own corresponding miniature World of Forms to reflect its material and symbolic realities (not to mention that would really be going out of the way to visit a planet that is quite literally next door to Earth). Orpheus is only considered a Cardinal Plane like Heaven, Hell, and Faerie because of its local importance and relevance to the planet Earth--on a cosmic scale, it is as insignificant as we are. All that said, star travel won't be necessary until far down the line. The last arc of the campaign is going to be a massive cosmic odyssey.
Chasing Hymnal - Tabaxi Bard - The Tale of the Pumpkin King
Enzo the Nightmaw - Human Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain."
I can see from your signature and your posts that your are drawing inspiration from some of the best fantasy writers to ever live. This concept sounds great and I would really like to hear about the finished product.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
I think it makes a lot of sense to have the technology be not where our current technology is at, why would you need to invent something that you can already do with magic? That being said, a lot of this would depend on how readily available magic is. Are magic users the ruling class? Or are they feared and hunted in a Salem Witch Trials type of way.
I think a lot of cool inspiration for how magic users and non magic users interact could be taken from Avatar: The Legend of Korra, specifically the first season. There's a lot to do with how powerless people feel in a world surrounded by people with supernatural powers, as well as how magic and technology interact.
You could also incorporate magic into the technology, like maybe cars run on magic rather than gas, or movies are illusions.
I understand that it is hard to read the entire thread, but part of the thing that keeps it balanced between magic and tech is mentioned in the first post: magic is more and less powerful at different times of year. Also: machine guns, tanks, cars, etc. don't need spell slots. In traditional D&D, even weak magic items are REALLY expensive, so it is hard to afford it. Magic can never really phase out tech.
Also, it is my job to point out the innacurracies :)
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
For anyone curious, I do have two completed documents for the Cardinal Planes setting: the first of the six core races, and two creature templates similar in function to the Half-Dragon template in the Monster Manual:
https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MBacjAPmhk-Yj3z5gRN
https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MBzdwnqD8lR1jLtuYAp
The overall aesthetic I'm shooting for with the new races is heavily planar-themed, such as the truefoxes being from Faerie and adapting to a dimundane realm within their own plane, or unmortals being essentially avatars of the Positive Energy Plane. Next I'm working on the ghouls (Lovecraftian gnolls with 3.5e adapated stats) a subrace of celestial dwarves, and probably some more templates which are more appropriate to begin play with than an unmortal. I'm open to suggestions for more base races, as well (especially since I'm allowing content from every published 5e source). I'm thinking of importing more races from 2e and 3.5e--especially ones from Planescape, Spelljammer, and the 3.5e Forgotten Realms--but I'm not sure, yet.
Chasing Hymnal - Tabaxi Bard - The Tale of the Pumpkin King
Enzo the Nightmaw - Human Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan
"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain."