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SDragon · April 27, 2007, 09:36:28 AM

Quote from: IshmaylFor water to be completely transparent, it would also have to have the same density as air... which definitely makes things pretty interesting... for one thing, at such a density, does it still support life the same way, or does some other chemical make life flourish? Also, how does that work with marine life that need a particular density to swim and/or float? Not to mention, what does it do to the ocean currents, and thus the weather patterns of the world. Interesting....

Not neccessarily. First, other gases with different densities are completely transparent, which suggests that transparency isn't directly associated with density.

Second, you're using physics; It's very possible that this world might not have the same laws of physics that our world has.

Túrin · April 27, 2007, 10:29:28 AM

I guess jumping in the pool really would become a leap of faith then. :)

Moniker · April 27, 2007, 11:29:07 AM

I don't think that an alternative physics-based world would really work. Like a lot of science fiction, they sound great on paper but simply could not play out all that well in an ongoing roleplaying game that assumes players suspend disbelief well enough to become vested into the setting.

Here are my ideas:

Peasant campaign setting, based out of medieval Spain during the Inquisition.

'Trapped on an island', low magic world where the native Elves (which wouldn't be recognized as Elves) are cannibals and seek the players. The players stumble across a bastion along the ocean, where others who've been trapped on the island have holed up against the island menace. The island is on a straight, and is within view of a nearby island but the ocean swarms with all sorts of carnivorous life. Boats that could traverse the waters would be impossible, as the waters are too torrid to ply.

A retelling of the story of a Christ-like religion, where one player becomes a savior to a peoples that are born into slavery. Low magic world.

Wild, Wild West-type setting (sci-fi western, without gadgetry). Imagine World War 2 technology on a smaller scale in the Old West.

World War 1-type setting, complete with huge, bulky steam and gas-powered mechs.

Victorian age superhero game (think Gotham by Gaslight).

Medieval-based superhero game. I cannot imagine conceptually how this works, unless it is an ultra low magic setting where heroes and villains are barons and kings.

Inner core game (a campaign in a Hollow World setting), where the world is slowly disintegrating and crumbling into the Astral. The elemental plains tug and push along the four corners of the world, and have significant effect on plant life and peoples.

SDragon · May 22, 2007, 06:36:16 PM

[ic=The Complex]

All of life, and all of time is like a gigantic apartment building. Find the right key, and suddenly you're introduced to a veritable maze of hallways, staircases, and unmarked doors. Go down the right hallway, and you can be some one else. Up or down the right staircase, and you can be somewhen else. The trick, of course, is to always remember where your Door is, and never to wander too far from home.[/ic]

khyron1144 · June 26, 2007, 11:37:45 PM

1) All the dimensions (Heavens, Hells, alternate history Earths, etc.) connect up to one dimension that is about a half-mile across. On this small dimension that is the nexus of reality, they built a college.
The portals into other dimensions are invisible and about four feet wide. Some of them might be one-way only, stranding those that walk through in the other dimension forver. They surround the entire cirumference of the circular nexus dimension. These rules might make for not quite infinite other dimensions, but there would certainly be a lot. [How many times does four feet go into 0.25 miles^2 times pi?] [edit: it's PiR^2 not PiD^2, that may make a difference somewhere along the line]

2) The world is a cylinder with a diameter equal to Earth's diameter from pole to pole and an about equal height. People generally live on the circular ends of the cylinder. On these inhabited ends all levels of technology and magic exist in concentirc circles. Technology goes up as one nears the rim. Magic goes up as one nears the center.
Towards the middle is D&D land: technology of a just before the renaisaince level and magic that doesn't quite dominate all aspects of life.
There are tunnels leading into the interior of the cylinder. These are the dungeon-equivalents of this setting.

limetom · June 26, 2007, 11:46:18 PM

Quote from: khyron1144...These rules might make for not quite infinite other dimensions, but there would certainly be a lot. [How many times does four feet go into 0.5 miles^2 times pi?]

There would be approximately 5,473,911 other dimensions.

khyron1144 · June 26, 2007, 11:58:19 PM

Quote from: limetom
Quote from: khyron1144...These rules might make for not quite infinite other dimensions, but there would certainly be a lot. [How many times does four feet go into 0.5 miles^2 times pi?]

Thanks for doing the math. That's quite a lot.

Stargate525 · June 27, 2007, 12:22:58 AM

alright, assuming that they're 6x4 ft portals, how many can we get if they surround the place in a sphere?

LordVreeg · June 27, 2007, 12:38:59 AM

[ic=drive your caster's nuts] Spells, spell point, spell slots, whatever you use, do not come back as quickly. Say a few days for a 1/3 expenditure, a week for a permanant expenditure. Casters will be a little more strategic...

Spells have a success%, and do not always work The closer a spell is the max ability of the caster, the greater the chance it screws up. [/ic]

I actually use both of these.

SDragon · July 23, 2007, 12:06:44 PM

A postapocolyptic setting, with no known records of any events before the early-mid eighteenth century, and the ethos of "history repeats itself".

Vehicles could be used as war machines and "beasts" of burden, with garbage trucks being used like macedonian elephants, and motorcycles working as horses. Almost all major events would be unwittingly recreating history.

Atlantis · July 24, 2007, 02:03:10 PM

pre-Dune setting based in it's Butlerian Jihad era

Hibou · July 24, 2007, 03:35:48 PM

Every fifth son of a fifth son is born with paragon-level mental capacity and effectively unlimited lifespan, allowing the possibility of a Plato's Republic-type society to arise and have a much better chance of functioning indefinitely.

sparkletwist · July 24, 2007, 05:31:32 PM

Here are some that are a bit more subtle than some of the ideas, but I think if your players enjoy immersing themselves in the setting, they can create some interesting twists--

[ic=Modified Societies]
It's a matriarchy-- women are in charge.

Magic is banned in normal society.

Atheism is the normal idea, and belief in gods is a new idea. This could go with the "underground-magic" setting above.

Some activity we'd regard as commonplace: shaving, wearing the color green, etc., is regarded as immmoral.

A modern style totalitarian state has developed with the assistance of magical telepathic propaganda.

People are immortal, like some ideas of elves. Progress is slow, ennui common.
[/ic]

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