Ideas for 'Realms/Planes'

[Genth]

So I am running a very mission based and 'modular' pathfinder game with some similarities to planescape and spelljammer - the basic idea is that the player characters have been invited to work for this mysterious "master of stones", and are being send from a cushy interplanar palace to all sorts of different realms and planes. It seems to have turned out to be an excellent 'drop in/out' campaign which can handle players being available or unavailable week to week!

The sort of secret (Players of my 'the Spheres' game do not open this spoiler box please) is the multiverse is an enormous dyson-style sphere. 'Suns' are local stars - actually deities of a form which have decided to look after and illuminate their various places. 'realms' are those places on the inner surface - analogous to prime material planes, with sunlight, normal air, and technically accessible via Voidship (altho' very very few cultures have those!). 'planes' are those places 'beneath' the inner surface, inside the shell-structure of the sphere itself. These are analogous to elemental and spiritual planes.

So given this, I've been having fun coming up with all sorts of 'planet of hat' oddball realms and planes. And I thought I might throw it to the playground as a brainstorming idea - so please give me your random ideas for neat realms and or planes! The only rule is no Gunpowder or Firearms, because of reasons.

A couple of notes:

Deities are not the most powerful things in this setting. They are almost always entirely restricted to a single plane/realm, and there are many beings who are 'above' them in terms of power. Stars for one tend to have nigh-omnipotence over the places they illuminate, however most are content to simply watch.

The vast majority of planes and realms are isolated - there are no permanent connections in or out of them, and the denizens do not have the capability to leave (i.e. they have not invented, or do not have access to planar travel). These places tend to have no knowledge of other realms, and if they have knowledge of planes, it would only be from summoning.

Some places have standard connections between realms and/or planes - sometimes small hidden gateways, othertimes large portal networks through which trade and migration occurs. Some also have Voidships which can ply routes 'inside' the sphere. There are even small floating stations within the void for trade and resupplying.

There are also multi-realm dangers. The Apocalypse Horde, for example, is a vast (Millions and millions) 'army' of almost unbelievable variety, whose modus operandi is to ravage an entire realm over the course of decades, recruit, enslave and pillage everything they can, often destroying even the natural laws of the realm, before tearing open a kilometres-wide portal to their next target.

Another example would be the Hest Oleun, a beautiful race, elegant and refined, who wield holy light to defend weaker realms from potential barbarisms... as long as those realms bend the knee to the 'People of Light'

------

So, open to any ideas, just kinda wanting a brainstorm :)

Thanks!

[MaddHadda_|106|]

So I am running a very mission based and 'modular' pathfinder game with some similarities to planescape and spelljammer - the basic idea is that the player characters have been invited to work for this mysterious "master of stones", and are being send from a cushy interplanar palace to all sorts of different realms and planes. It seems to have turned out to be an excellent 'drop in/out' campaign which can handle players being available or unavailable week to week!

The sort of secret (Players of my 'the Spheres' game do not open this spoiler box please) is the multiverse is an enormous dyson-style sphere. 'Suns' are local stars - actually deities of a form which have decided to look after and illuminate their various places. 'realms' are those places on the inner surface - analogous to prime material planes, with sunlight, normal air, and technically accessible via Voidship (altho' very very few cultures have those!). 'planes' are those places 'beneath' the inner surface, inside the shell-structure of the sphere itself. These are analogous to elemental and spiritual planes.

So given this, I've been having fun coming up with all sorts of 'planet of hat' oddball realms and planes. And I thought I might throw it to the playground as a brainstorming idea - so please give me your random ideas for neat realms and or planes! The only rule is no Gunpowder or Firearms, because of reasons.

A couple of notes:

Deities are not the most powerful things in this setting. They are almost always entirely restricted to a single plane/realm, and there are many beings who are 'above' them in terms of power. Stars for one tend to have nigh-omnipotence over the places they illuminate, however most are content to simply watch.

The vast majority of planes and realms are isolated - there are no permanent connections in or out of them, and the denizens do not have the capability to leave (i.e. they have not invented, or do not have access to planar travel). These places tend to have no knowledge of other realms, and if they have knowledge of planes, it would only be from summoning.

Some places have standard connections between realms and/or planes - sometimes small hidden gateways, othertimes large portal networks through which trade and migration occurs. Some also have Voidships which can ply routes 'inside' the sphere. There are even small floating stations within the void for trade and resupplying.

There are also multi-realm dangers. The Apocalypse Horde, for example, is a vast (Millions and millions) 'army' of almost unbelievable variety, whose modus operandi is to ravage an entire realm over the course of decades, recruit, enslave and pillage everything they can, often destroying even the natural laws of the realm, before tearing open a kilometres-wide portal to their next target.

Another example would be the Hest Oleun, a beautiful race, elegant and refined, who wield holy light to defend weaker realms from potential barbarisms... as long as those realms bend the knee to the 'People of Light'

------

So, open to any ideas, just kinda wanting a brainstorm :)

Thanks!

Well I can't really advise on the world building as it's far to open ended and "anything goes" for my style, but I would like to say you should try and first define the differences between planes, realms, and the universe. I was a bit confused at first as to which was which and what connected where. In the typical d&d cosmos the term realm is not generally used, but I kinda see it as the different non-physically connected material planes (such as the worlds in which different campaign settings take place). On to planes though; changing the planes cosmology can be complicated and messy, so I believe sticking to the "planes being the separate levels of existence in the world" is really the only viable way to go about it. These planes having the connections from one place to the other and your multidimensional cities and the like. Your usage of universe was what confused me the most though, as in general the universe is, well, the known physical universe. Any separate material planes are a part of a different universe, as in the multiverse theory. To me realm and universe seem a bit interchangeable, but would say universe is the more literal. Obviously your campaign world doesn't follow all these general theoretical scientific principles, but changing the meaning of a word can be really confusing for people so keep that in mind. But first thing you should do is explain what you mean by each phrase at the very beginning to make it as clear and concise as possible, as well try to keep it to one term per definition.

[Genth]

Ok. I thought it was clear.

The entire setting for this campaign - the 'universe' consists of a Dyson Sphere.
There is an interior to this sphere - the as in 'in the middle of the ball' as it were - which is called the Void.
On the interior surface of this sphere are countless topologically flat 'realms'. These are analogous to planets, or the material planes one finds in multiplanar games (as in, they are normal places, with a sun, ground, air and usually water.)
Between the interior surface of this sphere and the hypothetical 'outside' of the sphere are pockets of substance and location which are called planes. These are analogous to different planes in other campaigns, such as the various heavens/hells, elemental planes etc. They *do not* have the same structure or cosmology as D&D planes, but will share similar aesthetics as magic and cosmic influence have much more of an effect there. There are 'Hell-like' and 'heaven-like' planes.
Inside the Void there are: Stars, which are sentient and hold a lot of power; Voidships, actual vessels which, Spelljammer-style, can travel to different realms (but not planes) by going into the void and then 'down' again to the desired location; and bits of rock, planetoids, floating bubbles of water, some of which are inhabited.
It would make no sense to call a plane or a realm a universe, as in a very real sense, *everywhere* in this setting is connected. If you were omnipotent and could fly freely and phase through any and all matter (as some beings in this setting are) you could visit any part of this universe by floating there.
You'll note I use the phrase 'universe' in there. That's not really workable, but I've used it because of the connectedness. Despite everything being connected, different realms (and by extension, planes) have wildly different laws of nature, particularly with respect to magic and divine power. Multiverse would give a better feel for how different realms are allowed to be, but if it confuses people, it can change.

[MaddHadda_|106|]

Ok. I thought it was clear.

The entire setting for this campaign - the 'universe' consists of a Dyson Sphere.
There is an interior to this sphere - the as in 'in the middle of the ball' as it were - which is called the Void.
On the interior surface of this sphere are countless topologically flat 'realms'. These are analogous to planets, or the material planes one finds in multiplanar games (as in, they are normal places, with a sun, ground, air and usually water.)
Between the interior surface of this sphere and the hypothetical 'outside' of the sphere are pockets of substance and location which are called planes. These are analogous to different planes in other campaigns, such as the various heavens/hells, elemental planes etc. They *do not* have the same structure or cosmology as D&D planes, but will share similar aesthetics as magic and cosmic influence have much more of an effect there. There are 'Hell-like' and 'heaven-like' planes.
Inside the Void there are: Stars, which are sentient and hold a lot of power; Voidships, actual vessels which, Spelljammer-style, can travel to different realms (but not planes) by going into the void and then 'down' again to the desired location; and bits of rock, planetoids, floating bubbles of water, some of which are inhabited.
It would make no sense to call a plane or a realm a universe, as in a very real sense, *everywhere* in this setting is connected. If you were omnipotent and could fly freely and phase through any and all matter (as some beings in this setting are) you could visit any part of this universe by floating there.
You'll note I use the phrase 'universe' in there. That's not really workable, but I've used it because of the connectedness. Despite everything being connected, different realms (and by extension, planes) have wildly different laws of nature, particularly with respect to magic and divine power. Multiverse would give a better feel for how different realms are allowed to be, but if it confuses people, it can change.

Oh wow yeah that is a quite a bit different than what I interpreted it as from the way explained in your first post. This one is much more precise and defined, though breaking it up into titled sections to instill naming conventions will also aid in making it easy to understand for players. So in essence it's all one big physical universe with sections that are made of some altered space that require certain specifics to break through? It's a pretty cool concept for a campaign setting. Basicly though maybe less trying to jumble words together and make it sounds complex and lay it out simple; A large universe, with smaller restricted planar quadrants separating many core worlds (or something to this liking of course, this is just a quick example). Using comparisons such a Dyson spheres can be confusing, specifically sense a Dyson sphere is, and correct me if im wrong, but a group of orbital satellites that surround and absorb the energy of a star to send elsewhere to make the star habitable or sustain a habitable environment in the station itself. Im def not a huge Star Trek fan though so this is more scientific knowledge from the original hypothetical theory by Freeman so what we know may be different if your going off pop culture there.