What D&D world or setting would you choose to live in?

[PhoenixPhyre]

Spoiler: Quick Reponses

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For Stability, what do you mean that the Great Mechanism's "prime directive" is to promote Stability? #1Define what stability it promotes. For example, if the world transitioned along #2straight / lgbt lines, or monogamy vs polygamy, racism vs tolerance, or to cannibalism or vegetarianism, would the Great Mechanism care? If #3humanity and/or goblinkind evolved wings, or merged back into a single species, would it care? #4If separationists decided to split off a sizable chunk of a continent and form New Atlantis (or whatever they in-character decided to call their new island continent), would it care? #5If someone tried to create a new form of ("technology"-based) magic, would it care? #6If someone foresaw viral Borg doom, and tried to disconnect the world from the realm of Dream, would it care? #7If someone tried to change demons (all, or a subset thereof) to a diet of Hatred, would it care?#8 If someone tried to create a new species of dragon, would it care? If someone tried to exterminate all Rust Monsters, or all Dinosaurs, to make a species Extinct, would it care? #9If someone tried to craft a "weave" atop all magic, to provide a new interface to magic, would it care? #10And how does the Great Mechanism promote whatever branch(es) of stability it cares about?

#11For Exploration,
a) Aesthetics matter to me, particularly if I'm living there. I'm a bit of a sensate. That's all I meant about Aesthetics, as one reason why I wouldn't enjoy living on and Exploring Placia.
b) Do you really believe that you would be able to Explore the underpinnings of your reality by living there anywhere near as effectively as by GMing?
c) I haven't found that my underpinnings really change by running others in the world. Granted, that's probably in part because I was building the world for well over a decade before I ran anyone in it.

#12For being Born There With Knowledge
a) oh, that's exactly the mechanic some of my "gods" use to instantiate into and Explore a world, so not closed to them at all.
b) you said that there's precedent - in your world? In D&D?
c) If it's not being done by some godlike being who can fake being a clueless baby (possibly by actually being a clueless baby, with extra knowledge "to the side", like multiple computer threads), how, exactly, does this work?

#13For Borg Virus, why? What is its purpose? What (if any) defenses does it have?

1. The exact parameters are unknown, it's an adaptive system. But what is known is that it is designed to promote the continued existence of mortals, and some measure of them flourishing. It's known that there's a minimum "power budget" to keep the universe functional, and all anima, all power originates in mortal souls. So the big triggers are things that would cull large numbers of mortals. Another significant trigger is letting demons run free without the chains of summoning. Other Powers (whether gods, ascendants, or even devils and demons) care more about the exact shape that life takes, and would interfere a whole lot sooner than the Mechanism itself.
2. Meh.
3. As long as no large numbers (as in percentage points of the whole population) died doing so, meh.
4. Been done. Twice, actually. In the beginning there were only 3 continents. Now there are 5. Although the GM has adapted and one of the directives it gave to the new gods was "let's not have that sort of thing happen again". So if you can do it without killing many people, you can likely get away with it. Mostly. Good luck though, the tools required for those last two (even when wielded by creatures much stronger than people, in situations that allowed much stronger powers than currently exist) are sentient, hidden, and currently inoperable.
5. Creating a totally new form of magic requires a Wish. Which means waiting for the Forge to recharge. Which last time took ~4k years.
6. That's not a meaningful statement. You can't do that, because the Dreaming Dark is everything that can even potentially exist. That's like saying "let's destroy spacetime itself in this region". But yes, any attempt to enact a mad and impossible plan like that would draw the GM's attention. The Crystal Shell is the barrier that keeps the Awakener out (at least its main "body", although minor bits leak through and are hunted by angels).
7. Impossible, again by definition. A demon that does not consume souls would be consumed by the jotnar, the parasite that makes them a demon. To be a demon is to host a jotnar, an entity (although that's a stretch) of pure entropy. You have to pay the jotnar, and the currency it demands is souls. Captured ones or your own, it doesn't care.
8. Meh, again with the caveat of "don't cause too many deaths doing so."
9. There you'd have to worry about the god of magic more than the GM--it's his divine role to oversee exactly how magic works. And he's no Mystra--he's totally willing to tweak it to stop obnoxious people like that. Because his primary mandate is "don't let people blow up the world again using magic." So you'd find yourself completely unable to cast anything. Or no matter what you did, only bunnies would come out. He'd probably start by sending his clerics to tell you to knock it off. But you wouldn't listen. So eventually, he'd escalate to just turning off your access to power. That's part of what I meant about super powerful, but super limited. If you challenge a core part of their domain, they don't have limits. No stat blocks, just "they win." Outside of that, they're highly limited in what actions they can take directly.
10. It's the thing that controls how the fabric of reality reacts. The angels are its minions, and the ones it uses when only minor interventions are required. Beyond that are the demigods and ascendants who would know that you're trying to mess things up and act. Beyond that are the real defenses. A DC INFINITY+1 Gate, pulling you to a micron above the Oblivion Gate (whose touch is non-existence, and who always hungers). Cutting you (and the surrounding terrain) off from the rest of reality in a bubble universe. Etc. It's the OS/hardware of the universe. Kill -9 is an option if it really needs to.

11. a) My opening statement was "I'd rather go to none of them, because no internet and modern tech." I'm a wimp. But there is beauty in Dreams of Hope. And non-beauty--it's no utopia.
b) I'd be able to explore the details. The things that I can't plan and won't come up in game. The exact smells of the bread being baked. The shape of the leaves. The quality of the light from the two moons. Things like that. Things you can't put into words.
c) We differ there. I write because I have players--that's what gives me inspiration to explore areas. And watching it come alive in the hands of players is a source of joy.

12. It's not that easy. Your "gods" require a connection, and are part of a different Dream. To do so would require being a Dreamer yourself, which is another class of being entirely. The kind that make minor beings such as Ao look insignificant, the kind that can alter, create, or destroy universes with an idle thought and none can gainsay them except the Dreamer who made those universes.

The one precedent (in universe) was a boy who was pierced and "killed" by a crystallized shard of a Dreamer, destroyed in battle against the Awakener. He arose with fragments of those memories, believing himself to be that entity, incarnated to warn the world about the Awakener and to rally the forces of the world against it. In the end, his "wife" (quotes because there are no words to really describe things), his companion Dreamer, came for that fragment as he battled the Awakener at the edge of the Shell and he rejoined her. And it was only a tiny fragment--anything larger would be destroyed on entry.

So you'd never get a whole self through. I was speaking as if those normal limits were released but for me and I, the ur-Dreamer, could walk there in the flesh. Which isn't normally possible.

13. It believes (if that phrase even makes sense here) that it is the Dark's immune system and that all the Dreams are aberrations that must be removed so that the Dark can be peaceful/whole. Once everything is part of it, then it will end itself, leaving nothing. And it's actually pretty serious about that. And as far as defenses, it's a Dreamer. One who has assimilated countless Dreams already. Remember, these are entities who can only be opposed by other Dreamers. And you ain't one of them. The one particular Dream (containing Quartus) was constructed, in part, to ward out the Awakener. Part of that is that to enter is to be forced into physical form, where it is vulnerable. Only the most minor elements can leak through, and most of those are destroyed on entry by the angelic legions. Not without cost (nothing without cost). Occasionally tiny fragments leak to the surface, where they infect people and things until cleansed (whether by mortals or by angels, although mortals prefer if the angels don't do it, because collateral damage isn't one of their concerns). Heck, even demons will pause in their rampages to obliterate Awakener shards that they sense. Nothing like a common threat to put the usual squabbles on hold.

[Quertus]

A small paragraph in 4e essentials errata told you could use older dnd content or a similar phrasing(they probably meant older 4e content but they wrote it wrong and did not specify it had to be 4e content)

Oh, that's hilarious! Well, I guess Quertus would be willing to visit RAW 4e worlds, after all.

(not that it matters to Quertus, but how would a RAW 2e or 3e character stand up in a(n otherwise) 4e world?)

[Telok]

Oh, that's hilarious! Well, I guess Quertus would be willing to visit RAW 4e worlds, after all.

(not that it matters to Quertus, but how would a RAW 2e or 3e character stand up in a(n otherwise) 4e world?)

Weirdly.

Assume that you translate saves bonus/malus and ac/to-hit in a reasonable frame. Levels can actually go 1:1 pretty easily. The previous edition characters will have real magic items & artifacts, actual useful immunities to stuff, armies & followers, save against pretty much everything except on a 1 at higher levels, stuff like that.

[noob]

I believe 4e characters had a lot of brute force at level 1 relatively to 3.5 and 2e characters.
If you can survive the first few levels(for example with gratuitous pet spam) you then stand out relatively to 4e characters.

[Quertus]

Weirdly.

Assume that you translate saves bonus/malus and ac/to-hit in a reasonable frame. Levels can actually go 1:1 pretty easily. The previous edition characters will have real magic items & artifacts, actual useful immunities to stuff, armies & followers, save against pretty much everything except on a 1 at higher levels, stuff like that.

I believe 4e characters had a lot of brute force at level 1 relatively to 3.5 and 2e characters.
If you can survive the first few levels(for example with gratuitous pet spam) you then stand out relatively to 4e characters.

So Quertus, as an already epic Wizard, should have no problems?

[noob]

So Quertus, as an already epic Wizard, should have no problems?

Your basic abilities outmatch vastly 4e characters at that point both in terms of mobility and range.
Just by teleporting around and throwing damage spells from far(which is likely to be a bad strategy in 3.5e) you could win a lot of fights without ever thinking.
But once you factor in the classical boosts like greater invisibility the match becomes exceedingly hard for the 4e characters.
And all that was assuming you were behaving like a braindead evoker but if you are smarter than that the gap increases ridiculously.

[Quertus]

Your basic abilities outmatch vastly 4e characters at that point both in terms of mobility and range.
Just by teleporting around and throwing damage spells from far(which is likely to be a bad strategy in 3.5e) you could win a lot of fights without ever thinking.
But once you factor in the classical boosts like greater invisibility the match becomes exceedingly hard for the 4e characters.
And all that was assuming you were behaving like a braindead evoker but if you are smarter than that the gap increases ridiculously.

My tactically-inept academia mage has no idea what you're talking about

I guess I'll have to update Quertus' "preferences".

[noob]

My tactically-inept academia mage has no idea what you're talking about

I guess I'll have to update Quertus' "preferences".

I guess "flee with teleport and rain fire on the opponents" is too complicated tactics.

[Alcore]

I never truly answered in my first post...


Forgotten Realms, Barovia provence

5e is the edition, Barovia is locked into demiplane and is a stable realm ruled by an evil vampire...

Level 1 human fighter with tier one vampirism from the Grim Hollow setting. Can walk in daylight, if there was any, and immortal. Get a job as a guard and spend a decade or two in a town before moving onto the next. Being 99% human if i juggle the three towns there would be a 40 year lapse before i entered a city again.

Much like Strahd i might have trouble finding people with souls to feed from but only once every 7 days doesn't sound too bad.

[Rule-Of-Three]

It feels like a cop-out, but I'd choose Monte Cook's 2nd ed. version of Sigil every day. No cataclysmic dragonic wars (Krynn), nuclear holocausts (Mystara), dying worlds (Dark Sun), or whatever catastrophe of the day (Toril). Aberynis (Birthright) is worth consideration, and in fact felt closer to european medieval states than Oerth. Spelljammer....I wanted to like it, as I love swashbuckling. But no. Nobody would actually choose a realm in the Demiplane of Dread.

Maybe Eberron too. Breland and Aundaire seemed like there were some degrees of stability and civil rights there, and the Eldeen Reach might be remote enough to escape the machinations of men most of the time. The Mror Holds too are probably safe enough.

Nothing tops Sigil though. I'm a NPC expert whose strength is in what I know and how I apply it. Anywhere other than Sigil, dudes like me die to everything. In Sigil, I can be a player on the Great Wheel equal to demon lords and powers.

Proverbially hiding behind the Lady of Pain's skirt, of course.

[Eldan]

It feels like a cop-out, but I'd choose Monte Cook's 2nd ed. version of Sigil every day. No cataclysmic dragonic wars (Krynn), nuclear holocausts (Mystara), dying worlds (Dark Sun), or whatever catastrophe of the day (Toril).

Nothing tops Sigil though. I'm a NPC expert whose strength is in what I know and how I apply it. Anywhere other than Sigil, dudes like me die to everything. In Sigil, I can be a player on the Great Wheel equal to demon lords and powers.

Proverbially hiding behind the Lady of Pain's skirt, of course.

Um, Faction War? Die, Vecna, Die? Both bad decisions, but canon, and both quite catastrophic for the average Sigilite.

[Quertus]

It feels like a cop-out, but I'd choose Monte Cook's 2nd ed. version of Sigil every day.

Nothing tops Sigil though. I'm a NPC expert whose strength is in what I know and how I apply it. Anywhere other than Sigil, dudes like me die to everything. In Sigil, I can be a player on the Great Wheel equal to demon lords and powers.

Proverbially hiding behind the Lady of Pain's skirt, of course.

Um, Faction War? Die, Vecna, Die? Both bad decisions, but canon, and both quite catastrophic for the average Sigilite.

Also, have you noticed that the laws there aren't exactly conducive to anyone's continued existence? Something like (AFB), "you attacked and killed that demon? Understandable, given your unfamiliarity with the rules here. However, you mispronounced my name. Sentence is execution."

[Eldan]

Ugh, yeah, that. I mean, most D&D settings don't even go into how the law works (one assumes either magistrates or just nobles more or less judging at whim), but Sigil's entire legal system is horrifying. The Police, Tax System and Judicary are all entirely made up of members of the relevant faction, and thus incredibly partisan, with weird philosophies. The police are some kind of benevolent fascists, the prison system is run by a death cult, the judges are weird law-scientists who are looking to break their own codes and the tax system is run by... I don't even know what. Anarcho-capitalists? That is if you aren't unlucky and the courts are full that day, so you are pushed off to one of the alternate courts which are run by demons, for their entertainment.

[Democratus]

Middle Earth, I think.

Any time that was not a huge war - which is the majority of the time in that world.

[Eladrinblade]

Forgotten realms, as a moon elf in evermeet, preferably the quiet west coast.

Eberron is too similar to the modern world, which is just absolute garbage imo.

[noob]

Forgotten realms, as a moon elf in evermeet, preferably the quiet west coast.

Eberron is too similar to the modern world, which is just absolute garbage imo.

Eberron is one of the settings that have low amounts of world ending calamities.
In FR there is "so many invisible epic wizards you can not throw a fireball without hitting one" and world ending calamities are the average Tuesday.
Also if you are atheist(you consider the FR gods are just powerful creatures and that they do not deserve your worship) then after your death you are tortured in a wall until you stop existing and all the FR gods made competitions to be more awful than each other.
People who complains about the modern world are people who did not have to cultivate their own food with plants that have 100 times less(in fact probably even less) yield than modern plants, lose half of their teeth, get most of what they gained taxed by a noble and fall ill and become forever exhausted by the sequelae of their disease.(all that ignoring how toiling hard all day long is very bad for your body and shortens your lifespan and an hundred other problems)
The past is a foreign country where just living was hard in itself: the reason why not having jobs is more and more common in the modern times is that people who lacks a job no longer dies of hunger or cold.

[Saint-Just]

People who complains about the modern world are people who did not have to cultivate their own food with plants that have 100 times less(in fact probably even less) wield than modern plants, lose half of their teeth, get most of what they gained taxed by a noble and fall ill and become forever exhausted by the sequels of their disease.(all that ignoring how toiling hard all day long is very bad for your body and shortens your lifespan and an hundred other problems)
The past is a foreign country where just living was hard in itself: the reason why not having jobs is more and more common in the modern times is that people who lacks a job no longer dies of hunger or cold.

Don't try sound so dramatic, it's merely 16 times lower than modern productivity Difference in vegetable yields is even lower. Turnips, anyone?

(Ok, if you cleave close to history it's pretty bad, except that even for FR there is somewhat contradictory information for how close it conforms to historical mores. Also if you are a PC and not a monk you start with a common laborer's wage for two years in equipment and pocket money, higher stats, more skills and class abilities, so you are not going to be in that place in social order. Still can be bad unless magic changes a lot of everyday things. And no contention on gods).

Also it's yield and sequelae. Sorry, but I cannot help myself

[Clistenes]

Some worlds may be typical medieval crap, others may be way better and closer to the modern world...

For all we know, Gnomes could have discovered modern farming techniques 1,000 years ago, and Elves could have developed vaccines and antibiotics 10,000 years ago. Plus Dwarves and Svirniflim could be mining enough metals and minerals that their price is even lower than in the modern world...

We just don't know; it depends on every setting...

[Luccan]

Eberron is one of the settings that have low amounts of world ending calamities.

I mean, the only thing holding Eberron back from another continent-spanning war atm is that everyone still remembers an entire kingdom blew up to end the last one. And no one is quite sure why. Give it a decade or two and they could easily be trying to all kill each other again. Or maybe the Lord of Blades or whatever he's called gathers enough Warforged and begins his own crusade with a robot army. Or the alien intelligence the Kalashtar are fighting finally start gaining ground. Etc.

I agree it seems generally nicer, it's definitely my pick, but its threats are very real and seem much more... present in everyone's life. It seems in FR as long as you're far enough from a big city you're basically fine (unless the next child of destiny happens to grow up there). Occasionally some goblins might slaughter your cows, but I'm not sure any D&D setting is truly safe from random low-level adventuring tropes hitting unsuspecting settlements.

[Xervous]

I mean, the only thing holding Eberron back

Oh, what’s that? Horoscope says to torch a country? There’s the umptydozen dragons milling about Argonessen eating rocks and staring at the sky until the GM needs an arbitrary number of epic level flying lizard wizards. My single biggest gripe right there, how Eberron wastes dragons at the conceptual level.

[Quertus]

So, have we established that, outside a) homebrew, or b) very specific time and place requests, D&D worlds are not terribly conducive to the type of life / stability that we would want?

[GrayDeath]

Oh, what’s that? Horoscope says to torch a country? There’s the umptydozen dragons milling about Argonessen eating rocks and staring at the sky until the GM needs an arbitrary number of epic level flying lizard wizards. My single biggest gripe right there, how Eberron wastes dragons at the conceptual level.

Dragon lounging in Argonessen looks your way.

Oh, ehm, sorry, was that your rock little halfling?
I only ate it because I ran out of Breland Shortbread....you have some? marbvelous!

So, have we established that, outside a) homebrew, or b) very specific time and place requests, D&D worlds are not terribly conducive to the type of life / stability that we would want?

Again, unless one is quite a bit more powerful and less mortallity-challenged, sadly agreed.

[Eladrinblade]

So, have we established that, outside a) homebrew, or b) very specific time and place requests, D&D worlds are not terribly conducive to the type of life / stability that we would want?

Who is "we"? Modern life is pointless drudgery in a world with a civilization I am 100% not a fan of. In a D&D world you live in a world with magic and get an almost guaranteed afterlife.

[Tanarii]

Depends on the edition.

BECMI or AD&D 1e, none of them. Death is a high probability result of being 1st level, without some serious DM fudging or house rules.

2e, Council of Wyrms dragon, for exactly the same reason.

3e through 5e, probably an adapted Mystara in the Known World area. I know the setting very well, and all that knowledge would come in handy. And survival rates are pretty high, close to 100% using the default rules for 4e/5e.

[Quertus]

2e, Council of Wyrms dragon, .

Wait, Council of Wyrms is 2e?

OK… 2e had a *lot* of dragons - does that setting handle them all? If a dragon flew in from outside, or a new species was created, how would they react?

And what were "starting" characters expected to look like in that setting?

Related question: how long until 3e hits? 4e? Forgotten Realms, same question.

[sktarq]

Well for the PC side of things they basically started you as a bronze, silver, or gold (a half dragon of gnome, dwarf, or elf types) though splats may have expanded that later.

And I think they basically just kept to the main ten metallic/chromatic types with the gems (amethyst, crystal, emerald, topaz, sapphire), semi-precious gem (the pearl, amber, jaquinth), steel, mercury, cloud, steam, brown, shadow, deep, etc etc etc all being politely ignored...but again I only ever played with the original boxed set.

And being a dragon in all that wouldn't be all that bad TBH. Especially depending on your relationship with your parents. The having to adventure to gain a hoard in order to age up has its risks but then again I always figured just taxing a mine/development area may be better long term.

[Alcore]

Who is "we"? Modern life is pointless drudgery in a world with a civilization I am 100% not a fan of. In a D&D world you live in a world with magic and get an almost guaranteed afterlife.

Goods points until the last. Escaping modern society is the dream

Gods use you as a rescource in most settings. You are food. Your long afterlife is dependent on being unappetizing... hence why i chose an undead creature. In a place that true death means rebirth in that tiny space. Equally dreary

[Quertus]

Right, so, two other alternative translations: 1st level D&D character, any world, and starting character, any world.

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An obvious answer might be 1st level D&D character in *this* world. However, 2e declared this a low-magic world; 3e ignored that. So the results might well be undefined. Further, earning XP by killing things might be frowned upon. And there's probably not a lot of good loot in this world.

No, I think that a 1st level D&D character might actually do best in a Transhumanist setting, where they can "kill" to their heart's content, and the bioengineered threats can be worth plenty of XP.

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Any system, in any world?

As tempting as something like Exalted or Scion may sound, I think a "starting" superhero in the modern world would be hard to top - especially if they had an omnipower that could do things like "Cure Disease".

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Full list of my votes:

Me
2e Placia
Paradox (Not!Rifts) Not!Earth
Forgotten Realms as presented in The Open Door
Marvel(/DC)

Generic person
Everday
Paradox (Not!Rifts) Not!Earth
Forgotten Realms as presented in The Open Door
Harry Potter

Cross-system
D&D in Eclipse Phase
M&M in real world

[Telwar]

If anything goes, Star Trek, somewhere in the Federation, for reasons stated upthread. Post-scarcity and getting to do what I want to be productive? Hell yeah sign me up.

If we're limited to fantasy, LotR, sometime on Numenor significantly prior to their going bat-s*** crazy and getting themselves Atlantis-ed.

If we're limited to D&D? It took me a while to figure this out, but Birthright setting, in the nation of Muden in Brechtur. While they have Problems, they're not the "congratulations being run down by a knight or having your land burned in an impending civil war" of Anuire (which one? All of them!), the general impending collapse of civilization in the Khinasi lands, the cold dark savagery of Vosgaard, or the cold Viking-ness of Rjurik lands. Muden is in generally a good spot, and Brechtur in general has a higher tech level than the rest of the setting, with specialization and trade. And, even if I don't get to be a full blooded wizard, magicians can make bank.

A runner-up is Eberron, where I could live in a city and *probably* not worry about being drafted for the Next War for at least another ten years, and by that point I could probably emigrate someplace or get into a House and benefit from their more-or-less extraterritoriality.

[Kishigane]

Probably either Eberron or Mystara, personally. Former has a higher living standard, and the latter I have a soft spot for ever since first learning of it through the Capcom beat em ups.