Millstone85
2019-01-03, 07:32 PM
Just brainstorming.
I never did play Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth, because of bad reviews, but I liked the premise of the game. With the Earth on its way to a great castastrophy, all nations focus their efforts on building colonial spaceships. One such vessel finds its way to a planet that, while more inhabitable than a lifeless rock, is full of strange, toxic and agressive wildlife. The game revolves around three philosophies, called technological affinities, intermediary routes between them, and five possible victories. And yes, I am told Alpha Centauri did it much better.
Anyway, I have been wondering for a while what a D&D version of this would look like. Now, having finished reading Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica, I think it might be relatively easy to reflavor the 10th district as the landing site of a colonial spelljammer, surrounded by a world of aberrations, oozes and other creepy things.
There would be four driving ideals:
Heritage Mat'Selesnya, the Worldsoul, still lives through the plants, beasts, humanoids and fey who travelled together to this new planet. We must preserve our heritage, and pass it on unaltered to our ever more numerous children.
Transmigration This planet has a pulse not unlike our Mat'Selesnya, and already we are recognized as intruders and wanted dead. But fear not, for we are also offered a glorious rebirth in a form that pleases our new mother.
Instrumentality Had our knowledge been greater and our tools more advanced, we could have settled on a world of raw elemental resources, blasted and transmutated it all into new tools and snacks, and missed the flowers none.
Reclamation This planet is but a temporary retreat. We must rebuild our forces and teach our children about the homeworld that must be reclaimed from demons.
The guilds would now look like this:
Selesnya Conclave (Heritage) Instead of trying to unite nature and civilization in benevolent harmony, this version of the conclave champions one version of nature at the expense of another. It otherwise functions the same: growing communities of gardeners and green knights, each centered on a large tree and the dryad linked to it.
Golgari Swarm (Transmigration) The swarm lives, not in sewers, but in settlements that willingly expose themselves to the endemic wildlife, making the protective domes more and more permeable. The beliefs and goals of the Golgari Swarm are antithetical to those of the Selesnya Conclave, and both are preparing for an all-out war.
Izzet League (Instrumentality) The ultimate goal of the Izzet League is to once again take sail beyond the stars, having vastly expanded the definition of an inhabitable planet. The two previous guilds appreciate the Izzet League's willingness to remove itself from the scene, though they imagine the Izzet odyssey ending with a fireball on some distant rock.
Simic Combine (Transmigration/Instrumentality) As in official Ravnica, members of the Simic Combine seek to transform both themselves and their environment in a neverending cycle of accelerated evolution. While they use both Selesnya and Golgari methods, their beliefs are a meeting point between the Golgari willingness to change and the Izzet desire for emancipation.
Azorius Senate (Heritage/Instrumentality) The Azorius Senate shares the Selesnya Conclave's imperative to remember and recreate their lost homeworld, but it prioritizes cultural matters and the achievements of humanoids, which also brings it in line with the Izzet League. It has become the dominant authority of the landing site, but holds little power beyond it.
Orzrhov Syndicate (Heritage/Transmigration) The Orzrhov Syndicate believes that humanoidkind's heritage is best preserved in vaults, both of the banking and burial types. They paradoxically embrace the transformation of undeath to further cling to the past.
Boros Legion (Reclamation) The catastrophy that claimed the homeworld was an abyssal incursion. Encouraged by angels, many still think the demons can be pushed back. They also feel shame when thinking about all the people who were left behind to suffer. Thus, a crusade is building up.
House Dimir (Reclamation) The planet was found uninhabited, but evidence is piling up that it wasn't always so. Or it would be piling up, House Dimir believes, if everyone wasn't hiding it. What is more, the planet's first inhabitants appear to have hold wondrous power. Gathering as much information as possible about these precursors, and pethaps contacting them, must be the key to reclaiming the homeworld.
Cult of Rakdos The cult mocks all four ideals, convinced that it is only a matter of time before the Abyss claims this planet as well. Much more covert than in official Ravnica, the cult is mostly known as a pervasive defeatism in certain artistic circles.
Gruul Clans There is always one thing I can't find how to convert. As in Beyond Earth, the local wildlife fills the role of raiding barbarians.
I never did play Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth, because of bad reviews, but I liked the premise of the game. With the Earth on its way to a great castastrophy, all nations focus their efforts on building colonial spaceships. One such vessel finds its way to a planet that, while more inhabitable than a lifeless rock, is full of strange, toxic and agressive wildlife. The game revolves around three philosophies, called technological affinities, intermediary routes between them, and five possible victories. And yes, I am told Alpha Centauri did it much better.
Anyway, I have been wondering for a while what a D&D version of this would look like. Now, having finished reading Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica, I think it might be relatively easy to reflavor the 10th district as the landing site of a colonial spelljammer, surrounded by a world of aberrations, oozes and other creepy things.
There would be four driving ideals:
Heritage Mat'Selesnya, the Worldsoul, still lives through the plants, beasts, humanoids and fey who travelled together to this new planet. We must preserve our heritage, and pass it on unaltered to our ever more numerous children.
Transmigration This planet has a pulse not unlike our Mat'Selesnya, and already we are recognized as intruders and wanted dead. But fear not, for we are also offered a glorious rebirth in a form that pleases our new mother.
Instrumentality Had our knowledge been greater and our tools more advanced, we could have settled on a world of raw elemental resources, blasted and transmutated it all into new tools and snacks, and missed the flowers none.
Reclamation This planet is but a temporary retreat. We must rebuild our forces and teach our children about the homeworld that must be reclaimed from demons.
The guilds would now look like this:
Selesnya Conclave (Heritage) Instead of trying to unite nature and civilization in benevolent harmony, this version of the conclave champions one version of nature at the expense of another. It otherwise functions the same: growing communities of gardeners and green knights, each centered on a large tree and the dryad linked to it.
Golgari Swarm (Transmigration) The swarm lives, not in sewers, but in settlements that willingly expose themselves to the endemic wildlife, making the protective domes more and more permeable. The beliefs and goals of the Golgari Swarm are antithetical to those of the Selesnya Conclave, and both are preparing for an all-out war.
Izzet League (Instrumentality) The ultimate goal of the Izzet League is to once again take sail beyond the stars, having vastly expanded the definition of an inhabitable planet. The two previous guilds appreciate the Izzet League's willingness to remove itself from the scene, though they imagine the Izzet odyssey ending with a fireball on some distant rock.
Simic Combine (Transmigration/Instrumentality) As in official Ravnica, members of the Simic Combine seek to transform both themselves and their environment in a neverending cycle of accelerated evolution. While they use both Selesnya and Golgari methods, their beliefs are a meeting point between the Golgari willingness to change and the Izzet desire for emancipation.
Azorius Senate (Heritage/Instrumentality) The Azorius Senate shares the Selesnya Conclave's imperative to remember and recreate their lost homeworld, but it prioritizes cultural matters and the achievements of humanoids, which also brings it in line with the Izzet League. It has become the dominant authority of the landing site, but holds little power beyond it.
Orzrhov Syndicate (Heritage/Transmigration) The Orzrhov Syndicate believes that humanoidkind's heritage is best preserved in vaults, both of the banking and burial types. They paradoxically embrace the transformation of undeath to further cling to the past.
Boros Legion (Reclamation) The catastrophy that claimed the homeworld was an abyssal incursion. Encouraged by angels, many still think the demons can be pushed back. They also feel shame when thinking about all the people who were left behind to suffer. Thus, a crusade is building up.
House Dimir (Reclamation) The planet was found uninhabited, but evidence is piling up that it wasn't always so. Or it would be piling up, House Dimir believes, if everyone wasn't hiding it. What is more, the planet's first inhabitants appear to have hold wondrous power. Gathering as much information as possible about these precursors, and pethaps contacting them, must be the key to reclaiming the homeworld.
Cult of Rakdos The cult mocks all four ideals, convinced that it is only a matter of time before the Abyss claims this planet as well. Much more covert than in official Ravnica, the cult is mostly known as a pervasive defeatism in certain artistic circles.
Gruul Clans There is always one thing I can't find how to convert. As in Beyond Earth, the local wildlife fills the role of raiding barbarians.