The Campaign Builder's Guild

WARNING: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
A better part of Diis Manibus' appeal is its treasure-trove of secrets hidden just beneath the standard DnD (with those few tweaks we've seen so far). Reading this may ruin the fun for any player of the setting, as a large number of plots revolve around uncovering secrets. On the other hand, DMs of the setting should definately read this in order to better understand the complex plot and conspiracy of this world.

NOTE: POST FEEDBACK ON DISCUSSION THREAD.

The first secret: Origins of Humanity.

Humans are not of this world. Rather, they are native to this world and not the world of Diis Manibus. THIS world where I type and you read this post.

Not far into the future, maybe a thousand or one and a half thousand years from now, the sun makes an early transition to red dwarf status in the testing of what can only be described as a nuclear fire-scrying device meant to give humanity (or perhaps just one human) near omnipotence. So humanity packs its bags and heads for other worlds. The two main settlements (Ask and Embla) take root in the vicinity of Cancer and Aquarius. The settlement in Cancer thrives and attains new levels of enlightenment not yet dreamed of. The settlement in Aquarius does not fare nearly as well, almost perishing before an onslought of extraterrestrials (called Gogmagog or Frekigeri) bearing strange weapons, etc. As a last resort, humanity escapes into the world of Diis Manibus (other DMs may opt for a sort of "recollapsed" reality in which humanity rewrote EVERYTHING around themselves).

The first human city in this world, Ygerne appeared at the bottom of the ocean. Their first greeting by other intelligent life was the aboleths. I'll go into more details on the aboleths when I cover the "sunken city" adventure.

The cryptic term for humanity is "sons of the seventh Manu", while the aboleths of Ygerne called themselves the Matsya.

Quantum Magic
(The conspiracy of the re-collapsing history.)

When humanity recollapsed the universe around itself, it de-stabilized the very fabric of reality to the point where everything became extraordinarily malleable. In the following post, I will explain the scientific possibility of magic and its implications in the plot.

The Collapsing Wave Function: This bit's simple. So long as no one's looking, an electron is everywhere it possibly could be... it exists in many places at once and even manages to act on and repel itself (two electrons of like charge... even though they are the same electron). The minute anyone is watching, the electron maintains a fixed position. In short, electrons behave differently depending on observation. Furthermore, repeated experiments show that intention influences dice, random number generators, etc. This implies that intention, when held properly, singles out one reality out of many possibilities.

Entanglement: Two electrons created together will both react simultaneously to a stimulus applied to one electron. This phenomena occurs regardless of the distance between electrons. This means that distance is actually an artificial construct, and that information and stimuli can cross infinite voids instantaneously. Puts the speed of light to shame. In a continuation of the collapsing wave functions theme, test subjects have also been able to influence numbers post-generation. In addition, neural studies have shown that the brain responds instantaneously to stimuli in the fingers, but lags in response to stimuli directly in the brain. Both phenomena imply that time is likewise an artificial construct, and that one can act directly on the past and future, as well as being able to see it.

M-Theory: M-theory claims that the universe is composed of many imperceptible membranes... like other universes somehow mingled with our own, although the resemblance between most membranes and anything that could be called a "place" or a "plane" is minimal. Some have hypothesized that a consciousness viewing the visible membrane from outside would see the entire realm of possibility through the past, the present, and the future. Others have said that the reason gravity is so much weaker than magnetism is that gravity "leaks" from another membrane.

Magic can utilize any number of these theories. The proper breathing, movement, chants, and material aides conspire to enable the mind to do incredible things. Even things that seem difficult to explain can be. Fireball? One of these days, that sun is going to become a red dwarf. The entire world will be engulfed in plasma. That means I can create a simultaneity between then and now in a small locale, filling a 40ft sphere with plasma. When the spell ends, the plasma returns to its place in the timestream. This goes on the temporal entanglement theory. Divination can run on temporal entanglement and m-theory. A lich prevents certain wave functions from collapsing, allowing him to remain both alive and dead, so long as both are possible. Even extraordinary effects like Evard's black tentacles work. Some time in the future, someone casts Evard's black tentacles. You can use simultaneity to mimic it. Meanwhile, the caster in the future is mimicing yours in the past! Anything that is possible and many things that otherwise aren't can be achieved through magic. All a caster needs is the proper state of mind.

Effects on the Game:
1) The ultimate conspiracy throughout the entirety of the game is that there are those who see the unstable universe around them and know that it can be stable, and that the entire field of quantum possibillity can be reduced to one truth. The ultimate conspiracy isn't the death of the universe or the oppression of the people in it. The ultimate goal of the conspiracy is to make reality one reality bent to the will of a select few or a single individual. Everything, even the past, could be thus subjicated... if only they had the right tools! I will ellaborate on this conspiracy just about everywhere, so keep your eye out for it.

2) The DM has the option of making a bigger deal about the concept that one possible reality opposes another. Aberrations may "never have existed" unless they manage to erase the human reality, or visa versa. The undead are abhorrent abominations because they embrace simultaneity of life and death, comprimising their own realities (equivalent to "selling one's soul") in the process. People might really have a reason to fear arcane magic. Even if it is harmless, its implications about reality are something most people would be reluctant to consider.

3) The DM has the option of (sparingly) re-writing history before the players are even aware that this can be done. I can guarantee you they'll want to investigate, and the challenges of a constantly crumbling reality are great. For example, a PC can suddenly have a sister... or never have had one. A notable NPC can "change". A person the PCs killed could be alive... and terribly confused at the PCs' response. And why shouldn't he be? He never died! He might never have even met the PCs! Again, this is optional. Use it sparingly at first, guage player response, then see if you want to delve into a world this surreal. If the players are really curious why this is happening (even if it's a little distressing... ESPECIALLY if it's distressing) you should apply this tactic liberally. If they get annoyed with you, the DM, then ease off.

For those of you who haven't already guessed it, the demiurgical pantheon (or at the very least Ptah) is essentially human. Whether Ptah is the character who turned the sun all red dwarf in his omnipotence scheme or whether he might be one of the Japanese scientist who recently attempted the creation of a new universe I'm going to leave open-ended for the time being.

Furthermore, the gods themselves are required for the completion of the "conspiracy". Whoever finds this out, travels to the four spheres (planets), consults the great light at the heart of the nebula, and brings the gods back to earth (plus maybe constructing the Alfadur engine, the destuction of the great machines at the world's heart, and the manipulation of the Sayoshant) pretty much has the authority to pwn reality.