Questions tagged [cosmology]
For questions pertaining to the overall metaphysical structure of a setting.
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Where does the Sun go at night?
Planes are flat, right? And the Material Plane is infinitely large?
I typically describe the sky material plane in a manner similar to that of the Earth: there's a sun in the sky and clouds and ...
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How is the Blood War a balanced conflict?
There are 2 sides to the Blood War. The Nine Hells and the Abyss.
Devils, from the Nine Hells:
Are Lawful, orderly and disciplined
Take the souls of mortals they can make deals with either in life ...
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Does any lore text explain why the planes of Acheron, Gehenna, and Carceri are the alignment they are?
Acheron is between pure law and lawful evil; Gehenna is between pure evil and lawful evil; and Carceri is between pure evil and chaotic evil.
But this seems wrong to me. It seems to me that Acheron ...
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Why does arcane magic work outside Toril?
I'm currently DMing a campaign in the Forgotten Realms, but I want to later on add some Planescape and Spelljammer stuff in the story, allowing the PCs to travel beyond the world of Toril to other ...
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What are the planes of D&D 4e? Where did they come from, and how are they connected?
I understand that in D&D 4e's default setting there are planes, and I know a bit about them: the material plane is where the people generally are, and there's a "feywild" where the Eladrin and ...
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About the Cosmology of Mage the Ascension
I've been trying to make sense of the Tapestry's structure in Mage the Ascension as described in the 20th anniversary edition, but there some points I'm not sure I understood correctly.
So, if I get ...
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How to Even Begin Understanding the Underworld's Geography/Cosmology?
Each time I get curious about WtO and try reading about parts of its setting, I hit a lot of crosslinks but am having trouble envisioning the basic zoomed-out geography and how they all relate to each ...
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Which editions of D&D used these various cosmologies as their default?
There seem to be multiple ways to arrange the planes in D&D. There's the Great Wheel cosmology, the World Axis cosmology and the World Tree cosmology.
The D&D 5e PHB (Appendix C, p. 303 ...
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What was behind the creation of the gods/planes?
While reading about some of the gods and they all have their own mythology as to how they came to be. For example, I understand that Corellon created the elves and how the Drow got started and so ...
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Which Planes Border the Astral Plane in the Great Wheel Cosmology?
After going through the Great Wheel Cosmology and going through the various wikia articles on the subject, I feel it's unclear which planes border the Astral one in D&D 5e.
I've found plenty of ...
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What is the Feywild like in realmspace?
The 5th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide describes the Feywild as "an alternate dimension that occupies the same cosmological space" parallel to the "Material Plane". Typically, the Feywild is ...
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What breaks using nWoD rules with classic WoD cosmology?
What major problems will I run into if I ran an nWoD game with the classic WoD cosmology being the "true" cosmology? At this point, my major (only) concerns are the big three (Werewolf, Mage and ...
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Does the spell Misty Step transit through the Ethereal Plane?
In older D&D lore, most teleportation type spells worked like a short and (almost?) instantaneous transit through the Ethereal Plane.
I'm working on a monster species with Succubus ancestry, being ...
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Planar Ownership—how does it work?
Numerous deities and demons are "owners" of planes in the D&D cosmology. My question is for rules sources on the topic how the following questions can be answered:
How is an entity the legal ...
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What might "The Demiurge" be?
Reading Belial's Brood and it says, in the standard I will neither confirm nor deny the truth of this, that Belial is the right hand of the Demiurge. Now, I feel like something else has been called ...
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Qashmallim, and the similarity to Angels?
So I've been putting together a story in my chronicle, the premise in it is that the God Machine uses Pyros as sort of of fuel. The God Machine is using a Centimani to refine flux into Pyros. ...
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Different worlds sharing gods in Multiverse
In 5th Edition, the DMG says in the Divine Rank sidebar that:
Some gods are worshiped on multiple worlds and have a different rank on each world, depending on their influence there.
The greater ...
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What happened to the Barrens of Doom and Despair during and after the Spellplague?
Originally the Forgotten Realm shared a cosmology with other D&D settings, which was The Great Wheel cosmology. But with 3rd edition it separated and the Great Tree cosmology was created. In the ...
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Do existing benefits of the piety system continue to work in planes other than Theros?
The Mythic Odysseys of Theros book introduces mechanics for Piety (p. 36):
The strength of your devotion to your god is measured by your piety score. As you increase that score, you gain blessings ...
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Which Time Travel Paradigm Does Fate of Cthulhu Use?
I'm trying to evaluate the degree to which Fate of Cthulhu is worth my time, money, and either waiting time or hassle related to buying specifically the PDF (I have no need for the dead tree version ...
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Where did the Eladrin come from?
Fiendish Codex I (p. 105 and onwards) details the war at the start of the multiverse between the forces of Law (all of the gods and their servants) against the forces of Chaos (the obyrith and their ...
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What happens if a petitioner is brought back to the Material Plane?
A petitioner is, essentially, the soul of a deceased character that has found its way to the plane to which it belongs. However, as far as I am aware, it does retain its level and abilities - at least ...
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World Axis Cosmology
I have a few uncertainties concerning World Axis Cosmology.
Are all planes alternative universes? (That is, there is no way to travel physically from one to another - only by portals and magic.)
Is ...
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How Can I Understand Anima's Cosmology, Particularly with Regards to Time
So, I really like Anima, and I've had a lot of fun playing it. I'd like to GM it but it seems a bit overwhelming compared due to the high powered nature of the game. I've GMed Amber before, but Anima ...
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Is there a high-level overview of Cosmology and Prehistory?
Based on The Voice of an Angel and other tales, e.g. Atlantis, Father Wolf, has anyone tried to put together a very high level historical summary for the World of Darkness? Obviously a lot of this ...
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Question about cosmology in 5e [duplicate]
I have a question about cosmology.
I googled for a long time, but did not find the answer to this question anywhere. We have a prime material plane, inside of which crystal spheres(also called worlds) ...
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Is there an absolute rest frame in Forgotten Realms or D&D cosmology?
Certain spells and effects are defined in the rest frame of a certain unspecified observer which makes me wonder if it is the rest frame of the spellcaster or it is an absolute cosmological rest frame ...
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