The Campaign Builder's Guild

In the beginning, there were four beings of absolute power.  They combined their efforts and poured out their essence to build the multiverse.  As they created, their minds ebbed, and they were being drained of their being.  So, being unable to continue, these beings created 12 reflections, weaker facets of themselves, to continue in their endeavor and watch over their creation.  Through this process, the four beings became pure, reduced to concepts.  however, they still use their comparatively incredible power to watch over and protect the world(s) they made.

The twelve beings would come to be known as the "Ancients" by the sages, and would work to finish the worlds.  Unfortunately, as independent beings posessing free will, they were incapable of working in absolute harmony.  As they labored to bring about the multiverse, disputes erupted between the twelve.  As a result, the world was created with great variety in it's features.  As each God came to manifest his will, a different element of the world came to be.  whether it was the massive forests, the great mountains, or the vast oceans that were made, diversity grew everywhere.  As the gods saw the worlds they had built, they noticed that everything was extreme, and perhaps even inhospitable to anything but the gods they were.  So, the Ancients agreed to cooperate one time, and from this great effort came Egridar.  Although still a canvas covered by many painters, this world became an appealing blend of all the gods' personality and essence.

Now, as the world had become complete, the four stirred from their mild slumber to flood the worlds with their power.  Coarse and unshaped, this power granted life to many creatures that continue to stalk the world to this day. Caught unawares, the Ancients scrambled to channel the last of this power to create the divine races.  Each ancient breathed life into their own creation, creating beings who reflected their values.  When they finished, they recognized that a small spark of divine energy was left over, and from this humans were made.  

In this final charge of energy, the Ancients realized that they could no longer enter Egridar.  Puzzled by this development, the Twelve contented themselves with watching their masterpiece from afar and manipulating their pawns to effect change.  

Another unforeseen consequence arose as the first living creature died.  As the Gods stood by, an unseen force judged the soul of the being and sent it too one of the worlds that had been created earlier.  Then, the Twelve watched as the soul became the first celestial, adapting to the exotic environment, and by it's very presence changing the realm itself.  in this manner was the first heaven created, and the other heavens, along with the Hells followed shortly after.  

Now, as many empires rose and fell, and the Twelve watched painfully, the celestials and fiends both conspired to contact the great four.  With great expense and effort, they finally managed to stir them from the second slumber.  with evident terror, the planar powers looked on helplessly as the four awoke and released power once more, and granted 13 beings on Egridar a power which rivaled the Ancients.  These "Ascendants" were to look over the realm which was untouchable by the Ancients.  

Now, the Ancients were greatly offended by this indication of their ineptitude and sought a way to eliminate the Ascendants.  There is currently a hidden war of the divinity spreading across the multiverse, as the Ascendants must fight to keep their newfound power.  


This is where the next story begins...

although, as my setting changes, this story will undoubtedly become irrelevant and innacuarate, it currently provides an interesting exposiion of the pantheonic system which exists in my campaign setting.  i hpe you enjoyed it, and b all emans leave your comments, questions, and advice here.  

Also, I would like to thnk Kalos Mer and CYMRO for their valuable contributions to my setting and this story.  

I like it. I've always found genesis stories kind of lame, even though they seem almost necessary to a diverse fantasy setting, but this one is pretty good. The origon of the planes, the gods, and the worlds all wrapped up in a tight little package without being too wordy. Good job.

thanks, it was a bit lacking in dialogue I think, and it will definitely need som editing down the road, but your praise is recieved graciously.

Perhaps it could use some tidying up, but keep it short. These planar origin stories take up so much space some times it gets kind of silly. It's mythology; that doesn't require a billion word essay to convey the point. How often does the genesis of the world come up in an actual gaming session?

It makes a good introduction to the pantheon of the world, and beyond that almost nothing. A page dedicated to subject is perfect, because it gives the general idea, and not all the details. Who knows the details anyway? The gods themselves, the DM, and that's about it. Once you get through the intro, you can use it to lead into the gods, and from there the good stuff that has a real effect on the players and the stories, like priesthoods, cults, etc.

Indeed, but I enjoy the genesis stories, so I might spend a bit more time on them than is strictly necessary.

QuoteIndeed, but I enjoy the genesis stories, so I might spend a bit more time on them than is strictly necessary.

A simple difference in personal taste. I can respect that.

I feel like when the genesis story is 'historical', then NastyNate may well be right - that is, when the gods ACTUALLY created the world and are still around to talk about it.  In such situations, give a brief overview and move on.

In situations where it's 'mythical', however (IE, they are stories told by particular cultures), then my position changes - in this case, such origin stories tell a great deal about the cultures who hold them.

In THIS case, I feel like the circumstances justify 20's attention, however.  The conflict between different classes of gods is at the center of the story-arcs he will create, so it may be best to give the information in detail, so we know the foundation of the conflict.

I would make a recommendation - why not post the more-or-less 'factual' account over in your campaign thread, and instead put versions as told by followers of different camps here?

After all, a servant of the Ancients would certainly have a different POV on the whole thing than a servant of the Ascendants.

That's a great idea.  I'll leave what i have up for now though, and perhaps once I get the details worked out a bit better, then I will put up some stories from the different perspectives.

Nice, I like it. I now am wondering if my own genesis stories, of which three are posted on this board now, are as good. Should I swing by your WotC thread and read more, or wait around here for more?

Sorry, some real criticsm: I think the brevity of it is a strength, but I would like to know more about each of the 12 and 13 deities. They're bound to be very important for the setting, though that's possibly info for your actual thread and not this fiction one.

Reading this made me wonder if you were making a world where players could play divinities. Heh.

I have no WoTC thread actually, what you see is what you get.  Most, if not all of this information has been changed, so please check out the critique Godswalk thread in campaign elements.