World Within The World: What's It Like?

[Seeen]

This is basically a crackpot theorist thread for how the world in the Rift works. I think a thread like this may exist all ready, but I could not find it.

Here are my two theories:

Hardcore World

The party is quickly approaching Epic-level. The comic titles are hinting that they will go through the rift. So what if this world within is much more difficult, where 21st-level is its effective 1st-level? Yeah...

Different Universal Laws

Is the world within the rift in a different version? Is it using, say, Pathfinder? What if the order goes in, but retains their own 3.5th edition rules while still being in a world with a totally different version? What hardships would they face?

Feel free to elaborate on those and post your own.

[Ramien]

I hope we don't see a world running under a different edition/rules set. That's been done already :smallwink:

I'm expecting it to be something that sheer force is not going to be able to make much of a difference - But they will find a world in there that has something living on it, so they have two worlds whose fate hangs in the balance, and they'll need to protect both in the end.

[Oakianus]

I think my main 'theory' regarding the world within a world is that it's probably run by the Greek pantheon, which was sucked into the rift rather than completely destroyed. Or at least, there'll be something significant related to that pantheon inside of the rift, which is much more vague and not terribly useful.

I have no idea how that's going to actually be expressed or whether the Order will have any direct contact with those Gods, but I'm almost positive there's something Greek in there, and I'm not talking about Rusty "Spitter" Cartwright.

[Trillium]

It may indeed be an epic world, inhabited by Greek gods, instead of mortals.
Being a non-theistic cleric would really help there, being cut off from OOTSverse gods (and fighting their peers, after all).

[NerdyKris]

This is basically a crackpot theorist thread for how the world in the Rift works. I think a thread like this may exist all ready, but I could not find it.

Here are my two theories:

Hardcore World

The party is quickly approaching Epic-level. The comic titles are hinting that they will go through the rift. So what if this world within is much more difficult, where 21st-level is its effective 1st-level? Yeah...

Different Universal Laws

Is the world within the rift in a different version? Is it using, say, Pathfinder? What if the order goes in, but retains their own 3.5th edition rules while still being in a world with a totally different version? What hardships would they face?

Feel free to elaborate on those and post your own.

Neither one. This comic hasn't done rules jokes in a long time, and has been moving away from putting down stats for most of it's run. Switching over to a new ruleset would be pointless and confusing for people who already don't play D&D, which is a majority of the readers.

[Irenaeus]

Hardcore World

The party is quickly approaching Epic-level. The comic titles are hinting that they will go through the rift. So what if this world within is much more difficult, where 21st-level is its effective 1st-level? Yeah...
I'm not sure going from 8th to 15th* in 929 strips over a period of 10 years qualifies as "quickly approaching". At this rate, they'll be epic by strip 1600 in 2020.**

That's a pretty long time to avoid Tarquin in their present situation.


*Or something like that.
**All calculations based on assumptions I haven't bothered to look up, as well as not not actually calculated.

[AgentofHellfire]

My own totally out there theory is that the World-Within-the-World is our modern day earth, but I'm not completely sure of that.

[Plerumque]

That's what I always just assumed.

[NerdyKris]

My own totally out there theory is that the World-Within-the-World is our modern day earth, but I'm not completely sure of that.

Besides the author explicitly stating that it is not, that is such a cliched, terrible idea that it has never, ever worked once in the history of mankind.

[orrion]

This is basically a crackpot theorist thread for how the world in the Rift works. I think a thread like this may exist all ready, but I could not find it.

Here are my two theories:

Hardcore World

The party is quickly approaching Epic-level. The comic titles are hinting that they will go through the rift. So what if this world within is much more difficult, where 21st-level is its effective 1st-level? Yeah...

Different Universal Laws

Is the world within the rift in a different version? Is it using, say, Pathfinder? What if the order goes in, but retains their own 3.5th edition rules while still being in a world with a totally different version? What hardships would they face?

Feel free to elaborate on those and post your own.

The comic titles aren't hinting anything yet that I can see.

"Go" is saying that they're starting over again, really. Real fight starts now.

"Through" is Tarquin stabbing Roy through Elan.

Of course, the next comic title could be "The Rift" and totally destroy that, but whatever. I don't see how the rift would come into play in 1 comic, unless the Giant posts a triple/quadruple comic.

Even if they end up going through it, though, I seriously doubt there would be a new rules set in the rift. Remember, the Giant debunked upgrading the comic to 4.0 because he would have to spend a hell of a lot of time on rules exposition and changes that had nothing to do with the plot. I do not see him doing a 180 on that with the rift world.

[AgentofHellfire]

Besides the author explicitly stating that it is not,

Mind linking me to such a statement? I don't recall it being in the Index of the Giant's comments.


that is such a cliched, terrible idea that it has never, ever worked once in the history of mankind.

No, it'd be clichéd if the OOTS team was from earth and went to the fantasy universe. The inverse of that is still pretty original.

[NerdyKris]

Mind linking me to such a statement? I don't recall it being in the Index of the Giant's comments.

From the commentary in "Don't Split the Party":


Until then, the secret of the world-within-the-world (wich no, is NOT our Earth) will remain unknown.



No, it'd be clichéd if the OOTS team was from earth and went to the fantasy universe. The inverse of that is still pretty original.

It's really not. I can name any number of 80's movies that involve a character appearing in the "real world". It's a cliche. It also makes zero sense, when literally any other idea would be more interesting than "It's our world, so nothing is gonna work there and let's have these precocious teens help their favorite characters get back home!"

Seriously, it's been done to death.

[AgentofHellfire]

From the commentary in "Don't Split the Party":

Hrm. Ah, well, would've been fun.






It's really not. I can name any number of 80's movies that involve a character appearing in the "real world". It's a cliche. It also makes zero sense, when literally any other idea would be more interesting than "It's our world, so nothing is gonna work there and let's have these precocious teens help their favorite characters get back home!"

Seriously, it's been done to death.

"It's our world"=/="It's our world, so nothing's gonna work there and let's have these precocious teens help their favorite characters get back home". So no, not done to death unless you add in a whole lot of other assumptions about what happens afterward.

I was in fact personally thinking of either an "it's our world and everything works there so now the Order has to save earth from an invading Infernal army" or an "In a final rush to escape death, the Order goes through the snarl, finding a world that is literally paradise [parts of ours would be]. Though they can return any time they like, most of them don't want to, and live out the rest of their lives inside the world within the Snarl."