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View Full Version : DM Help Starting a new campaigin custom world to Forgotten Realms exists



Akisa
2016-07-10, 12:57 AM
We're starting a new campaign where characters seem to want to be a mixture between FR and a custom campaign world. We (I was a player at the time and my wizard), established a permanent portal between Neverwinter and a large city called Vorel in the custom campaign world (calling the New World from now on). But I was wondering how should gods of FR try to interact with this new world, as it doesn't have wall of faithless and AO was the king of the gods and granted spells in the new world. I kind of don't want AO to grant spells, but I kind of want an in game reason other than "lolz someone was pretending to be AO". Perhaps now that the two worlds are linked his direct influence is not needed? Although Loth and Elistraee was active in the new world long before the portal was established (though Drow that follow Loth and those that follow Elistraee are more of a 50-50 split and oppose each other).

My old wizard character had became immortal after she had married an heir Neverwinter and has become countess of the land containing Vorel. Luskan was trashed during the succession war with Never Winter- Vorel (Water deep remained neutral in the conflict). Would trade to and from Neverwinter and the gate effect Water Deep's view point of Neverwinter and start a rivarlity?

(PS Spell Plague never happened and never will). The campaign will start 10 years after the 3.x FR campaign book with characters being nobodies at level one in the New World, but end up dealing with FR influences trying to influence the new world.

Bohandas
2016-07-10, 01:04 AM
IIRC some of this (re. gods' interactions with worlds on which they are not yet known or venerated) has been covered canonically in the old 2e Spelljammer and Planescape settings, which linked several other settings, including FRCS, together. I don;t have the time at the moment to look up the specifics though.

HatMadder
2016-07-10, 05:11 AM
I'm not very familiar with the backstory to these worlds and interactions, but if I'm not wrong the question is how should the gods of Forgotton Realms interact with a newly attached world?

Simple solution, now that there's a link, Ao extends the gods duties to include this New World.

Bit more complex, have gods go for broke. It's a whole new world, they're trying to gain followers, gain influence, gain power. Might shift the focus of the campaign a bit, but you can tone it down if that's unwanted.

Beleriphon
2016-07-10, 01:20 PM
I'm not very familiar with the backstory to these worlds and interactions, but if I'm not wrong the question is how should the gods of Forgotton Realms interact with a newly attached world?

Simple solution, now that there's a link, Ao extends the gods duties to include this New World.

Bit more complex, have gods go for broke. It's a whole new world, they're trying to gain followers, gain influence, gain power. Might shift the focus of the campaign a bit, but you can tone it down if that's unwanted.

Some gods would for sure go for broke. Cyric, Bane, Bhaal and the other overtly Evil gods would do everything possible to gain as many followers as possible. They're traditional enemies like Tyr, Torm, Mystra, and other Good gods would do the same. The more neutral, or natural element gods like Umberlee, would probably end up being worshiped by virtue of the fact that all their priest need to do is say "Hey, don't want to drown in a storm do this to appease Umberlee."

LibraryOgre
2016-07-11, 05:34 PM
Going with the Spelljammer rationale, here's how it would work:

In the Forgotten Realms, AO is in charge of the deities, and can decide who is and who is not a deity. As a courtesy, he allows clerics from outsphere deities to maintain their clerical powers so long as they stay in the sphere and don't try to settle... think of it as giving them a temporary work visa.

Now, on the deity side, just because AO casts a deity out of the sphere doesn't mean they stop being a Deity... cutting Tyr off from the Realms doesn't make him mortal, it just means he can't grant powers in the Realms anymore. So, a deity cut off from the Realms might move into the new sphere and maintain power... provided he wasn't a Realms-only deity who lost all his worshippers when AO dropped the axe.

In this new sphere (Vorel?), AO would not have that power, and it appears there is no overdeity ruling there, so Realms deities would be free to expand there, and AO couldn't really stop them, unless he became overdeity of that sphere. More than likely, Vorelian clerics would keep their powers in the Realms if there temporarily, though AO would have to decide how this all works, long-term, if interchange became common.

Joe the Rat
2016-07-12, 07:16 AM
FR is somewhat unique in that they have their own mini-cosmology going (which may or may not be "the usual" with a different theographic arrangement). If you are on the Great Wheel cosmology, cross-planar deities work as normal because it is their follower gaining spells, not the world bending to the outsider's influence. Gods as Ryobi toolbox and batteries, cleric as handyman.

Now, the FR does have Ed AO, and as Mark Hall suggests, allows operation as a courtesy (plus the whole layer of separation between AO and mortals, of which Clerics count). But unless Vorel has something built in to say otherwise, FR Clerics should be just fine.

The idea of FR Gods expanding into the New World as part of the "FR influences trying to influence the new world" would make a good plot hook. People having their patrons (or being weirded out by non-clerics proclaiming devotion to only one deity rather than the whole pantheon), or clashes between followers of pantheons, or pantheons themselves gives you cultural and cosmic plotlines.

Bohandas
2016-07-13, 04:08 PM
FR is somewhat unique in that they have their own mini-cosmology going

Only as of 3e, (which also moved Dragonlance to a setting-specific cosmology)