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View Full Version : Getting Players Curious about the Cosmology



Dr. Yes
2013-08-29, 08:26 PM
My group is nearing the home stretch of a campaign I've been running for about six months now, and it's about time to start building toward the climax. I'm having some issues bringing it back around smoothly, though, and I wonder if the Playground can help. Some background:

The material world is split into a number of habitable planes linked by permanent portals. The game started as a hex-unfogging adventure in a newly-discovered jungle plane, which the players quickly found out was already inhabited. One faction in the new world overruns and blocks the portal; the other faction helps the PCs find another way back home in exchange for promising to kill the first faction's leader: a big ol' mean linnorm. Fast foward a bit and the PCs are back in the inhabited worlds, trying to recruit allies to run back in and attack the wyrm. Lately they have been running around doing this and that for regional nobles in an effort to curry favor and secure military support, and just last session made nice with the local church.

Here's the tweest, and if any of my players are reading I would ask that you stop now: the big secret of the setting is that the material planes are basically eggs for the gods, which are "fertilized" by a sentient mortal being tapping directly into the plane's energy font and merging with it. This causes the physical plane to disintegrate, and the newly born god may then rebuild the world in whatever way it pleases. The players have essentially stumbled on a conflict between two different parties who want to ascend using the same plane, and at the end the one that they don't kill will claim the world for itself and grant them a boon for their help before scooting them back home.

The risk here is that this all ends up coming out of left field, basically just ending the campaign on a big "Huh?" moment for the players. I'm struggling to think of ways to get them asking really big-picture questions like "Why is the world here?" and "Where do gods come from?" Any advice?

Rhynn
2013-08-29, 09:34 PM
Drop obvious hints that the worlds are constructed: ancient ruins left behind, arcane texts making references or speculations about ascension and origins... then let your players pursue them.

Also, do I see a bit of Death Gate there?

Thrudd
2013-08-29, 10:21 PM
They could find out from someone that the entire world (as they know it) is in danger of being destroyed. The jungle world will be destroyed, and their plane could be as well, through the actions of the fighting parties. Maybe they find out that one or both of the parties are attempting to become gods. Maybe a religious person will ask "how could the gods allow that to happen? they must stop this". Perhaps they find out from an oracle who is supposed to speak for the gods that the gods have nothing to say on the subject, or refuse to help. The players hopefully are motivated to save the world they live in, and will attempt to find out why the gods sit idly by while a potential usurper threatens existence. Maybe this will involve astral travel and outer plane hopping, or seeking out oracles and sages or holy artifacts/temples or whatever way you might present for them to communicate somehow with the gods. Maybe there is an ancient powerful scrying ritual to open a pathway to communicate, that they will need to quest for. Over the course of these god-searching quests, they will need to search ancient lore, and learn about the cosmology in more detail, eventually culminating in the knowledge of what the gods really are and what the world is intended for. With the knowledge in hand, they will make their final decision about what to do in the war.
If you want it to be impactful, you can't just reveal at the end of the campaign "oh, by the way, the worlds are all god eggs, and that guy you helped is now a god." That would indeed by a "huh?" or "ok, whatever" moment. I would say you need at least three or four more longish adventures before you get to the climax of your campaign, to point them towards the cosmic questions and really be invested in it.

Yora
2013-08-30, 03:32 AM
I read some article a few days ago adressing that. It basically comes down to that players care for and remember things that are relevant for their characters to make choices. If having the knowledge or not does not affect the actions they take, there's a low chance that they will remember it. The information must be relevant. If it is not part of whatever they are currently doing, it's just flavor text that they don't consider having anything to do with their situation.

Link (http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/misc/players-caring.html)

Dr. Yes
2013-08-30, 09:41 AM
Never heard of Death Gate. Nothing new under the sun, as they say.

Thrudd, it might seem obvious but I hadn't even thought about raising the stakes to include their home world. That definitely makes for a better narrative.

Very helpful article, Yora. That gives me some ideas for tying in legacies that they already know about, too. Definitely bookmarking it for future use.


Thanks for the help! I think I've got a pretty solid idea of how to proceed now.