Icons and Ego, worlds based on characters

[whisperwind1]

So this is a very embryonic idea I have right now, that seems like it would be worth pursuing. I'd love to get you guys' opinion on how to best develop it however.

So 13th Age has the Icon system, where there are NPCs that are basically archetypes of fantasy. The Wizard King, the Dragon Elder, the Overlord and whatever else are these tangible forces the PCs are tied to for better or worse. The Icons are meant to be a driving force behind the stories one tells in 13th Age, ever present in the lives of the PCs, even if only tangentially. Keeping this in mind, I started wondering "why not take it further"? Why not make of the Icons (or a handful of characters like them) literal foundations of the game world, instead of just thematic ones?

The idea I have is basically this: the world is literally composed from the personalities and identities of Icon characters. Like a specific realm is entirely defined by the Ego of an Icon, which accounts for its looks, environment and the stuff you might find within it. Their value, ideals and principles are echoed throughout the realm, and even the very geography is a reflection of who they are as a person. In practice it would be a very over-the-top literalization of the Icon's identity. For example, the Thief King's realm is this massive, colorful and neon-lit casino scape. The streets are paved with poker chips, playing cards form bridges and the entire thing is laid out like a roulette wheel. Everyone living in the realm is part of the industry, working the casinos, providing escort services, and the wildlife are animals associated with luck and wealth. Another example might be the High Priest, whose realm is just a colossal, buttressed temple complex that tiers upwards to a zenith point.

So I thought there could be a variety of these realms, and together they make up the setting. Every place has people with defined identities, and the only gods worshiped are the Icons themselves. I don't even know how this is going to be explained in setting, and the deeper considerations (do these Icons come from elsewhere? Is this place even real?) I thought it would be a cool starting point for a sort of Planescape style setting, where the metaphysical is literalized.

I welcome any feedback, as well as suggestions on how to make this idea work better! Thanks in advance.

[Mith]

So the idea sounds a lot like the idea behind "the Land and the King are One and the Same". Also a God of the High Priest wouldn't work very well, would it? Unless the Priest is like Buddha, then that could work.

An interesting idea. I have a suggestion for an extension on this idea based on Plato's Cave. How about these Archetypes being the more rulers of various planes, with a "Material Plane" being called the Shadow World, with the various Archetype realms being called the Worlds of Light. This has nothing to do with morality, but with the idea of the Archetypes being the light source, and the material plane merely showing a dim, blurred, reflection of the actual truth. PCs, the potential best of their various Archetypes rising in levels, they become closer to resembling their Archetype, being able at the highest level to potentially take on the role of the manifestation of the Archetype itself.

This is just me running with your idea, so you can take and leave as you wish.

[whisperwind1]

So the idea sounds a lot like the idea behind "the Land and the King are One and the Same". Also a God of the High Priest wouldn't work very well, would it? Unless the Priest is like Buddha, then that could work.

An interesting idea. I have a suggestion for an extension on this idea based on Plato's Cave. How about these Archetypes being the more rulers of various planes, with a "Material Plane" being called the Shadow World, with the various Archetype realms being called the Worlds of Light. This has nothing to do with morality, but with the idea of the Archetypes being the light source, and the material plane merely showing a dim, blurred, reflection of the actual truth. PCs, the potential best of their various Archetypes rising in levels, they become closer to resembling their Archetype, being able at the highest level to potentially take on the role of the manifestation of the Archetype itself.

This is just me running with your idea, so you can take and leave as you wish.

Its an interesting idea, but I admit i don't quite understand it. The idea is that the Arcehtypes are an ideal, instead of an actual person? I was going for a kind of Ravenloft situation, where there's an actual character, and the world itself grows from them and their identities. Not at all sure how this would translate as a creation myth mind you, but maybe that's the idea.

[Mith]

I still see the Archetypes as a character/individual, they are just the ideal of that particular role.