Tuesday, February 16, 2016

WORLDS WITHOUT END

Lately I've been interested in being able to switch quickly from one type of campaign to another and been thinking a lot of games like TORG where you many different types of setting and genre were present in a single game. This is why Sertorius and Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate are connected via a potential portal (and in theory pretty much all my campaigns are accessible through this means). But these portals are highly exceptional and I've been toying with a mega-setting that has more fluid transition from one setting to the next. It is something I'm considering using when I run 5E (I may use it for Network as well but right now it is just something I'm thinking of doing when I run 5E in a couple of months or so). 

It isn't terribly original but I think it would give me a lot of flexibility. And again, this is just for my personal campaign, not something I have any intention of publishing. The concept is an endless world, a campaign setting that is literally without end. Because it is an infinite surface, pretty much every possibility could play out in different places (even real world history could be repeated in certain corners). So you might have primitive cave men living in one distant region, but millions of miles away, there exists a society with advanced technology and time travel capabilities (obviously an infinite and presumably flat world, might mean some significant differences should space travel be possible as well). 

There would be countless fantasy settings, allowing me to run Ravenloft in one spot, Gamandria in another. It would have modern settings, historical settings, etc. In order to justify strikingly different physics in genres, I may incorporate some kind of belief based physics (whatever the predominant world view in a given place is governs what is possible and impossible). Alternatively I may get more specific and have the genre physics be the product of local gods. 

While the more advanced societies might have quick means of travel allowing easy shifting from one campaign setting to the next, I am thinking of using portal gates for the less advanced ones. However I want to play around with them more, making them crucial sources of power. If they are two-way portals, they might also pose a danger to those near them. But I could see a potentate establishing control of a gate, fortifying it and using it to acquire knowledge, resources, etc. Whole trade system could be oriented around these gates depending on where they lead. 

I think in order to allow for the most possible genres and settings there would need to be a pretty flexible and open cosmology (which is why I initially leaned toward physics and reality being somewhat governed by beliefs). It would be difficult to have an overarching cosmology that gave me the ability to have both Ravenloft and 2001. But I do like consistent and thorough cosmologies so I plan to think about this aspect a bit before reaching a final decision. 

These are my early thoughts on the subject at least. 


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