#d&d worldbuilding

[capngoosey]

Trying to start a D&D campaign with some coworkers. They’re struggling to come up with character ideas for a world that’s made of food, so I gave them a buffet of ideas

[ithinkthiswasabadidea]

I wrote the phrase "Toilet Skeleton" ONCE. One (1) time. Into my notes for dnd world building, because I thought it would be a funny thing for my players to find during a session some day

And now whenever I have to put -toilet paper- onto my shopping list, it AUTO FILLS TO TOILET SKELETON. I DON'T NEED TO BUY A TOILET SKELETON 😭💀💀💀💀💀

[nerd-at-sea5]

worldbuilding: when i go into way to much detail and play god and my characters are all suddenly becoming atheists

[katjapetersart]

NPCtember 3: An arcane interpreter works during a lecture at Ninestar Arcane Academy.

Polyglot arcanists are often hired as arcane subtitlers. Using illusion magics like Prestidigitation, they can translate, interpret or subtitle speakers live. In a multicultural, multilingual city as Ninestar, they are often used by public speakers wishing to make a statement on inclusion.

They are also employed for nearly every lecture at Ninestar Arcane Academy. Spellcasters have a high risk of disability due to their chaotic field. The most high ranking lecturers usually need accessibility options.

Derrek loves his job and really values his accuracy and connection to the lecturers. He wishes he had more time to chat with the students- he loves seeing the younger generations of arcanists. When he gets the chance, he tries to convince them to specialize in arcane linguistics.

(And a companion comic.🏜🌄, or for vocal speakers, Golden-Sun Warmed-Rock-Home, is an Awakened lion. He is communicating with direct telepathy with Derrek here. He uses written or typed word with mouth utensils. He also uses a telepathy to speech device, but because his grasp of language requires a lot of effort, the telepathy to speech device is often muddled or hard to understand.

If he can, he sends his telepathy directly to an interpreter who speaks fluent Common. In the lecture, Derrek might be accompanied by a vocal interpreter, or might also be saying the words out loud at the same time.)

[neilanuruodo]

I can't think of any specific question so this is your free "ramble about any fic or idea or character you want" card now!!

Thank you so much for the free license! (...and sorry I've been so slow to respond. I'm about 1/8th of a person trying to get by in life LOL)

I'm gonna take this as an opportunity to talk about the worldbuilding I've done more or less within Toril, specifically in creating a number of related illithid colonies that behave rather differently than others in the Underdark. It... started as one and just got a bit out of hand, as worldbuilding tends to do, heh.

It began with a trio of illithid OCs in a throuple and the colony that gave rise to them, and then I began thinking about how their colony might have come about in the first place and that turned into a fanfic featuring madness, tragedy, and Ilsensine's meddling. I haven't updated it in a little while but it's far from forgotten, and I have plans to work on it as soon as I clear out a few smaller ideas that are pestering me.

The ultimate aim for this story is to create a setting that people will be welcome to use in their own games or writing, either the specific colony and NPCs I've come up with or other colonies founded by this one that they can tailor to their own wishes. (And all with thanks to @tcfactory for putting the idea of a "wine aunt Elder Brain" into my mind in the first place. The ulitharid that becomes this particular Elder Brain ends up being one of the main characters in this fic eventually.)

The main point of view character is an illithid who has begun dabbling in the arcane, but before they are caught and made to flee for their life madness seizes the colony. They manage to protect themself with a spell, and then (along with a few other survivors and the help of a visiting ulitharid) they begin putting their lives back together, albeit in a new order. The other survivors are the priests of Ilsensine, and the fic is written from each of their perspectives in the form of records left behind, inscribed in the absence of an Elder Brain to hold their knowledge.

If this sounds interesting and up your alley, feel free to check it out, though I certainly won't be offended if you'd rather wait for actual updates or until it's finished.

And thanks again for the lovely ask!

[cosmosis-mitosis]

Welcome to another new edition of the cosmosisverse!! Aka, me yapping about my dungeons and dragons universe lore :]

The antagonists of the main storyline of the campaign I’m currently running worship a group known as the Five Great Dragons.

These are, well, godly dragons. Being very old entities, older than Tiamat and Bahamut and some eldritch entities known to be worshipped in Nesmirith. The Five Great Dragons are believed to be the parentage behind Tiamat, the creatures who created her, as they’re all based after Tiamat’s five heads. Having blue, red, green, white, and black in their little roster.

These dragons have long since had their names removed from history, erased as they are believed to have been false gods and simply very ancient and very powerful dragons. Tiamat is known to have been a hydra for millennia, there is no known predecessor.

The group worshipping these dragons, the leaders of the renowned and massive Thieves Guild the Everwyn, believe otherwise. They believe that these dragons are living, breathing entities. Possibly being trapped within the body and heads of Tiamat, or chained in the deep abyss of the Void alongside the Pandemonium and the Instrument.

[snackastackas]

B1;T1 — Titans, Gods, and the Four Great Powers

The ever knowledgeable titans of old created the heavens, mortal plane and the underworld from nothing, populating it with humans from a grand design of existence in which they would create and destroy in reference from. From nothing spoke four great powers alien even to the titans,

“We are patient Thánatos, judicial Limos, conquesting Zelos and irascible Martius, we wish to spread onto all four corners your world the cruelty of nature strong and ever-present; death, famine, pestilence and war. In return, we shall create a pact to hold the world by its four corners strong and high so it may sit between the underworld and heaven.” 

The ever knowledgeable titans agreed, and the pact was sealed. Humans now died and knew pain, however they now went to the underworld and the heavens beamed down to them so their world would grow full and healthy with life. The ever knowledgeable titans would go on to create the gods to take over their heavenly duties upon the mortal realms so they may bring their attention elsewhere, leaving them the heavens unto where they would look down to the mortal plane. However, the gods were burdened with human attributes that gave them many flaws; jealousy, love, hate, greed and much more. They decided to abuse their heavenly responsibilities, removing sleep and night, giving the humans fire and magic, and creating elves, dwarves, and many more fantastic peoples. Mortal kingdoms arose and civilisation flourished, yet when the ever knowledgeable titans returned their attention they brought with them their ire. They spoke with rolling thunder and the power of earthquakes,

“Our children who we give power to so you may maintain the world have abused our trust, made a mockery of the grand design and spat in the face of our respect. We will destroy your creations and wipe humans from this world; we will cause great chasms in the earth, send our lightning down and toss the sea onto the land.” 

The gods grew angry with their superior titans and waged war, if given heavenly power, why not use it? The titans slew many gods and bent, broke and misshaped many more, but one god called Basileus the Venerable slew the titan called Lightning, his first daughter Armathan the Ruined slew Sea, and their brother in arms Hades the Vigilant slew Damned. Basellius the Venerable rallied the gods and slew or imprisoned the ever knowledgeable titans. The gods continued to shower their mortals with many more gifts, and used their total freedom to infringe on the edges of the pact with the four great powers that held up the portal plane, healing pestilence, creating bountiful harvests, reviving the dead and commanding peace. The great powers called out,

“Great titan-spawn above, you transgress upon our pact. Conquesting pestilence, judicial famine, patient death, and irascible war should run through your world that we hold aloft. You break your own cycle of life and the world grows much too crowded and heavy to hold aloft.” 

The gods retorted, offended by the habitually stoic four powers and responded egoistically,

“Your ways are cruel and archaic; such a pact was made with the tyrannical titans, and calling us their spawn is as much an insult to us as your influence is to the mortal plane. We have no obligation to humor demands from owners of depraved portfolios of power such as yourself. Our heavenly power demonstrates ultimate good and reason whilst yours bring suffering and pain, and we have slain even the titans; what threat could you pose”

Two of the members of the four powers grew into great uproar—one louder than the other—the underworld shook with the stomping of feet each as large as moons and bellows of anger louder than lightning itself. Patient Thánatos, unmoving, spoke with reason that they should wait and that the gods will come to reason. Judicial Limos, surpassing patient Thánatos only slightly in volume, spoke bluntly that justice will come to all, even the gods. Conquesting Zelos, once again more voluminous in speech, retorted that the gods have already broken the wheel of nature and that justice will not reach them. Irascible Martius then spoke in turn the most loud of them all, that their pact was voided and that the gods must be dealt with. With that, irascible Martius let go of the world, and it flew greatly out of balance. The earth trembled and fractured, and one side of the plane descended down to the underworld where then great kingdoms slid into, and the other side scorched by the heavens was left in ruin and became a charred desert. Irascible Martius then roared to the heavens

“You all try with powers greater than your own, and for that we demonstrate our horrible power greater than even the titans.” 

Irascible Matrius then cleaved the underworld in two with one massive swing of his sword, and then scooped all the denizens of his half of the underworld into one hand and scorched that same half in eternal flame. He then blew a putrid smog onto these damned, and turned them into demons, placing them onto the mortal plane and into his scorched half of the underworld. He then returned to lift the mortal plane and took over from conquesting Zelos so that she may shoot from her bow a shooting star that would empower the demons onto a march through the mortal plane, conquering their way to the heavens. Returning, it became judicial Limos’s turn, where they swapped the sun with the moon and left it so until an equal time had passed, then the two would turn as they should. Finally, it became patient Thánatos’ turn to let the other three hold the mortal plane, and made it so the god’s interference would bring immediate death upon any individual they dared to help or interfere with. The great powers then left the mortal plane lopsided. The gods cried out,

“We recognise your great power, and fear for our mortals and the endurance of our heavenly gates that hold against your wicked bevy of demons. Please oh great ones return to which the planes once were, and we will respect your pact.”

The four great powers then slowly responded,

“Let this be a lesson for you foolish gods, as patient Thánatos, judicial Limos, conquesting Zelos and irascible Martius never forget a promise. Leave the plane as so until the moon returns to be cradled by the underworld and the sun returns to the heavens, then the world will be held aloft equally once more.”

[bonkusdonkus]

Maybe it’s because I’m an edgy dork, but I have a soft spot in fantasy settings to do sort of a reverse thing with some of the old fantasy stereotypes.

For example, in my setting that I’ve had cooking in the back of my mind for years, Gnolls are usually good aligned. They travel in semi-nomadic packs on set routes across the world, and they see it as their duty to keep those routes safe from bandits and monsters, both for their safety and the safety of other travelers. Travelers and merchants across the world use these routes because they’re some of the safest around, since no sane monster or bandit wants to tangle with a wandering army of 8ft tall hyenas who can bite through steel.

They also strongly believe in hospitality, and any fellow wanderers they meet they greet as kin, offering them food and shelter. Big friendly giggle dogs who love to meet new people.

Also, it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure, but I like evil elves. An ancient, ageless empire that once ruled the world by twisting nature itself to their whims. The younger races have driven them back, their dominion crumbles, now they hide in their timeless forests, watching, plotting, waiting for the younger races to whither and age as all mortal things do, so that they might reclaim their verdant domain once more…

Like I said, I’m an edgy dork, and reversing tropes is fun.

[jesseisstuckinside]

Based on your new DM post, what is the general fauna in it?

hey oaty I want you to know that I'm not ignoring this question but it's WAY more in-depth and now I'm making a map starting with my own Pangea and I am overthinking EVERYTHING

[blazestar345]

Hey!!! Please ask me questions about my D&D world. Whether through my ask box, comments, or reblogs. I wanna talk about it so badly. Also your questions may prompt me to add something cool to it so ask your weird out of pocket questions.

(It's inspired by Rolling with Difficulty's planescape setting so if you see it on those tags that's why)

[a-normal-swan]

True, and in the edition I play it is still coded in the rules. A cleric can't be more than 1 alignment step away from their patron.

But wouldn't it be fun and nice to change things so this could work?

DnD Character Concept: A Cleric who insists stubbornly and earnestly that their obviously evil patron deity (I'm thinking Lolth or Asmodeus but really any Evil Greater God would do) is actually Good and Benevolent and Just and dismisses all evidence to the contrary as slander from rival deities. Their proof to their claim? Using their divinely granted powers for the most intensely Good tasks and quests they can find: feeding the hungry, protecting the weak, curing the sick- all done in the name of their Terrible Dread Lord and without any expectation of compensation or string attached.

The deity in question is all "???" but keeps granting the cleric power because all that free worship and influence from the people who now pray to them is nice, and hey if the cleric wants to put in the leg work to launder the deity's reputation what reason do they have to say no?

Only it turns out that the cleric is actually playing 4D chess because of the way faith works in Faerun (and most DnD settings). As more and more worshipers start believing The Terrible Dread Lord is actually a Good and Kind and Noble god they start to be influenced by that to become Good and Kind and Noble. Slowly but surely they find themselves warping to match the perception of the masses. It starts by just giving a few random blessings out of what they think is pity, or maybe sending a sign to help someone who is lost on what the deity insists is a whim....but it snowballs until you have Lolth smiting down slavers or Asmodeus sending out devil's to drag down a tyrant to the depths of hell and then they realize 'oh oh no' but by then it's to late: the religious reform movement within their flock is too massive and been ignored for too long as benign. They can't just turn around and smite their own followers- not only because it's tacky but because they feel... compassion and responsibility for those that look to them for guidece.

And then you have the cleric, who at level twenty is literally their most powerful agent and also the high priest of this out of control heresy smugly sipping their tea because, because they where right all along. Their faith in their deity is vindicated- after all what is faith if not believing in something so strongly, against all evidence, that it becomes truth onto itself?

[tradgoth-elves]

I should make a pinned post so here we go!

I'm a goth who saw the Shadar-kai, saw what the lore was aiming for and how it missed completely, and decided to remake it in my own image. So. Follow me if you want rare and occasional updates on Shadar-kai worldbuilding. I'll be breaking down everything from religion and societal structure to fashion, art, language and more.

I'm drawing a lot of inspiration from trad goth sources, especially The Crow for some obvious reasons, as well as the gothic genre(s) as a whole.

Feel free to ask me anything!

[prokopetz]

Game design exercise: You've been tasked with creating a non-trademark-infringing version of the beholder. The design brief specifies that your version should have ten creepy eyestalks with ten distinct magic powers, like the standard beholder, but these powers must not overlap with even one of the standard beholder powers.

For the purpose of this exercise, assume that the forbidden list consists of exactly the ten magic eyeball powers that are present in the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Monster Manual. (i.e., you don't need to research every magic eyeball power that's ever been attributed to a beholder in every iteration of D&D ever published.)

For reference, these ten powers are:

Controls your mind

Paralyses you

Makes you afraid

Slows you down

Makes you weak

General purpose telekinesis

Puts you to sleep

Turns you to stone

Disintegration ray

Just fucking kills you

These are all off limits.

So:

What ten magic eyeball powers do you give your legally-not-a-beholder?

[katjapetersart]

I've been very busy with other pieces, so NPCtember's goal is gonna be 20 characters.

NPCtember 15: A working lady poses for a sketch by a friend.

It's a nice spring day, the sun is warm but the wind is cool. They're far away enough from the docks now that the fish smell is less. No luck on the Big Bridge but it doesn't matter. Here's a nice place.

Her friend tells her to sit how she likes. Well, her dad always said 'cross your ankles like a good girl when you're in the city' and that's what she's gonna do. How long will this take? He isn't usually fast. What will he look at? Oh, a guard drake. No, no, don't look, gotta stay still. They're pretty close by to the common market. Maybe they could go get a lobster sandwich, or some eel. That'd be nice.

Wind's a bit chilly. She can hear the crews of the ships around. Tomorrow it's back to her job on the docks as well. Hopefully the boss is better and they can actually set sail to pick up those bricks.

Oh, it's done.

Being a river city, though it prides itself on its universities, a lot of economy is based on the backs of many hardworking dock workers. They're almost always not citizens, work hard for little pay, but also have a strong community that can breed highly specialized workers and shipfolks. Containerization is not a thing quite yet, so similarly shaped loads are a little bit of peace from difficult, unsteady loads.

[a-normal-swan]

Pelor's tits, there are so many things you could do with this. Just off the top of my head:

originally just one moral axis between Law and Chaos, then suddenly there's a Good to Evil cross-axis.

First appearance of Tieflings, dragonborn, etc. Aasimar appeared at the same time as tieflings, but then disappeared again while tieflings stayed.

there were never elf or gnome or halfling barbarian cultures before but now there are (3e). Maybe some corner of the world had a sort of Bronze Age collapse and they are the survivors?

Wizards used to either be generalists or specialists in Necromancy. Then somebody figured out how to specialize in other schools of Magic.

Sorcerers didn't exist and then they did (3e). This is probably not a setting where sorcerers come from dragon-fucking. Or maybe it IS and that raises questions about why there was suddenly so much dragon-fucking!

Bards used to be this elite group with really stringent entrance requirements, and then (2e) it got a LOT easier to be a bard. I bet old-school (1e) bards really resent having the entrance requirements lowered.

For years I've had this on-again-off-again project about creating a D&D setting that uses edition changes to build a World of Darkness style metaplot. And maybe I should start parting the veil on it a bit.

The history of the world of Qwerth is told from the time of the Great War of Law and Chaos onward, anything before that being lost to the mists of prehistory. So basically I'm starting from Chainmail.

The changes in the game that affect changes in lore are those that actually affect how something works within the fictional world. Going from THAC0 to base attack bonus is nothing, nobody in the world talks about those things. But halflings having druids and then not having druids and then having druids again? That's something, that can tell us something about the world and its history.

There's a lot to cover, so I'm gonna crowdsource this a bit.

Whatever you vote for, I'd appreciate suggestions for that type of thing so I can make a follow-up poll.

[sirobvious]

“You just wrote your medieval fantasy setting to have medieval gender roles and homophobia and prejudice because you secretly fantasize about being able to be sexist and homophobic in a land with no PoC without any pushback! It’s fantasy, there’s dragons and wizards, it doesn’t have to have prejudice unless you, the writer, want it like that! In *my* D&D setting, there’s no sexism or homophobia, so that gay transgender women of all races can be holy knights fighting to protect the good kingdom from the endless hordes of the evil dark race that has threatened its borders for a thousand years!”