45
votes
Accepted
How is the Blood War a balanced conflict?
This is addressed directly in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
The first chapter is all about the Blood War. A very simplified and brief synopsis of the reasons the Blood War is a stalemate:
Demons have ...
- 33.1k
28
votes
Does any lore text explain why the planes of Acheron, Gehenna, and Carceri are the alignment they are?
Noted in your forum thread, but the best descriptions of Acheron and Carceri that I have seen—based in, but not directly quoted from, actual text—are those by Jade Ripley (who goes by Lord_Gareth here ...
- 343k
26
votes
How is the Blood War a balanced conflict?
No one in power wants the Blood War to end just yet
Neither Hell’s archdukes nor the demon princes are especially interested in ending the Blood War right now. Both have their own schemes independent ...
- 343k
22
votes
Why does arcane magic work outside Toril?
Mystra's Weave and the Multiverse
Using the Planescape parlance, this question is in the style of a "clueless prime". The Planescape setting is actually an over-setting, covering all of the ...
- 21.7k
20
votes
Does any lore text explain why the planes of Acheron, Gehenna, and Carceri are the alignment they are?
Primarily, this is based on precedent
Each of these planes was introduced in the article "Planes: The Concepts of Spatial, Temporal and Physical Relationships in D&D", in The Dragon #8, released ...
- 1,092
18
votes
Accepted
Which editions of D&D used these various cosmologies as their default?
Great Wheel—1e kinda, 2e, 3e, 5e
You are correct that the Great Wheel cosmology was used in at least 2e, 3e, and 5e. It was codified, and most thoroughly detailed, in 2e’s Planescape setting.
Prior to ...
- 343k
17
votes
Accepted
About the Cosmology of Mage the Ascension
That image you're using is one I created for the Unofficial White Wolf Wiki. I founded the Wiki, work for the current publishers of Mage, and 2001's Guide to the Traditions was my first RPG credit. I'...
- 194
16
votes
Why does arcane magic work outside Toril?
The Weave is not limited to Toril.
The Players Handbook (p.205) does not limit the Weave to Toril, not even to the Forgotten Realms. It seems that only the name "Weave" is limited to the Realms.
The ...
- 18.2k
13
votes
Accepted
Which Planes Border the Astral Plane in the Great Wheel Cosmology?
The default 5E cosmology is unclear on some of the connections. I'll give the best answers I can give here on how the Astral borders other planes in the default cosmology:
The prime Material Plane (...
- 8,263
13
votes
Accepted
Does the spell Misty Step transit through the Ethereal Plane?
Misty Step does not transit the caster through the ethereal plane
Traditionally, it's a Fey spell that transforms you into a 'silver mist'
Flavour-wise, the original form of the spell was more akin to ...
- 5,867
12
votes
Is there an absolute rest frame in Forgotten Realms or D&D cosmology?
Frame Challenge (pun intended): The rules of D&D are not a physics simulator.
This question goes beyond what the rules are concerned with, and beyond what is necessary for adjudicating the rules. ...
- 141k
10
votes
Why does arcane magic work outside Toril?
In the history of the Weave it has been destroyed twice, once when an Arch-Wizard attempted to steal the power of Mystra, which destabilized the Weave, resulting in the requirement that Mystra ...
- 15.7k
8
votes
Accepted
What happens if a petitioner is brought back to the Material Plane?
Petitioners can't leave their plane.
According to Manual of the Planes, p. 55, petitioners are bound to their plane and cannot be made to leave:
Planar Commitment: Petitioners cannot leave the ...
- 78.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Is there an absolute rest frame in Forgotten Realms or D&D cosmology?
It's whatever you want it to be.
As stated by Thomas, it isn't a physics simulator, it's a framework to enable enjoyable play. So if you want a Glyph cast on a moving city to activate when the city ...
- 6,188
7
votes
Accepted
Do existing benefits of the piety system continue to work in planes other than Theros?
It is up to the DM.
While researching this question, I have found nothing definitive, but I have found some things that can help guide a DM toward a ruling.
The gods get their power from you, not the ...
- 141k
6
votes
Accepted
How to Even Begin Understanding the Underworld's Geography/Cosmology?
This is left intentionally vague for the storyteller to best interpret as the story requires. And taking every intepretation across a chronicle would certainly not be out of place for a game of W:tO.
...
- 689
3
votes
What happens if a petitioner is brought back to the Material Plane?
In the novel Annihilation from the War of the Spider Queen series of novels, a halfling petitioner named Dietr manages to come back to the Prime Material Plane via a portal, but he becomes a huecuva ...
3
votes
How Can I Understand Anima's Cosmology, Particularly with Regards to Time
While this may or may not be a full answer, I wanted give some basis, especially since this is a wonderful yet unappreciated system:
Any of the "create thing such that it always existed" or "remove ...
- 504
3
votes
Qashmallim, and the similarity to Angels?
The book Demon Storyteller's Gude has an entire Demon/Promethean crossover section titled "Lead Into Gold," with a subsection dedicated to this question:
Intelligence Operations: The Principle and ...
- 1,456
3
votes
Accepted
Different worlds sharing gods in Multiverse
Short summary: Multispheric powers can be at different levels of power in multiple spheres, with corresponding consequences.
Below you will find a long answer, mainly because you are asking multiple ...
- 21.7k
3
votes
Different worlds sharing gods in Multiverse
I don’t believe a deity can be a “greater god” in one world and anything else in another—that is, I believe that when the 5e Dungeon Master’s Guide refers to “greater god,” it refers to what previous ...
- 343k
3
votes
Accepted
Which Time Travel Paradigm Does Fate of Cthulhu Use?
The writing up of the temporal cosmology in the book is neither detailed nor complete (and even outright whimsical in places), but certain things can be concluded from the bits scattered throughout ...
2
votes
Which Time Travel Paradigm Does Fate of Cthulhu Use?
Have you found and read this review of an alpha version of the Kickstarter product?
I'll just go by your linked list of paradigms. The review appears to reveal that history in Fate of Cthulhu is ...
- 2,806
2
votes
Accepted
What happened to the Barrens of Doom and Despair during and after the Spellplague?
It has been renamed to the Banehold and floats around in the Astral Sea as one of the Astral Dominions. See p62 of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide.
Seeing as the "Barrens of Doom and Despair" ...
- 4,249
1
vote
What is the Feywild like in realmspace?
From the description of the Feywild in the DMG (p. 49):
The sky is alight with the faded colors of an ever-setting sun, which never truly sets (or rises for that matter); it remains stationary, ...
- 318
1
vote
What was behind the creation of the gods/planes?
This may reinforce what others have said about the multi-verse being Ancient or eternal from another source.There are hints within the Forgotten Realms setting of "layers of gods". In the second ...
- 347
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