Cosmos: The Idea Thread

[Ariel Hapzid]

Well the portals are Plot Devices in my opinion. A lot like the Lightning Rail (trains) from Eberron. I wanted something unique for the universe. I want a serialized set of adventures with a circular structure to it.

The PCs enter a new world through a portal, then they must go find the portal to the next planet. However, it's never that simple. For example, they walk through a freshly opened portal and find themselves caught in the middle of a  World War between many factions. Or the portal they need is already turned on, and guarded by a religious sect that demand payment of some sort to enter the portal.

a lot of the Portals the PCs use will already be turned on and owned by a large and powerful guild. The guild demands a small toll (only a few copper pieces) and you don't have to worry about walking into something dangerous. However, some of the portals will be dormant, or shut down. These dormant portals will require a ritual, a key component to running the portals is Mystidium.

Mystidium is a made up element (of course it's made up) thats viscous and luminescent in it's raw form. In it's more refined form it is more watery and is the component that makes things glow (swords, runes, etc.) It is incredibly valuable, a little dab will do ya, and it's a Macguffin. It will probably have no real game rules to it (at least, not in my game) It's gold by any other name. Some planets may not be interested in gold coins (the currency of the more refined planets) but everyone uses Mystidium, it can be found on most planets. So as treasure, the player's may get a small vial of Mystidium worth 1,000 gold pieces.

I think it's also important that the Portals will be a bit of a mystery. An idea I got from Cyre of Eberron, nobody really knows what happened. I really like the idea that across the universe, on billions of planets, 1,000 years ago, somebody woke up on each of those planets with the uncontrollable urge to build these portals. They don't know why, and most of them aren't even magicians, they just knew what to do.

[Ariel Hapzid]

Have you ever seen the movie Contact? a message is sent out to all intelligent planets (those that produce intelligible radio signals, or something equivalent in your world), which contains the blueprints for the device. They build it, and it connects them into the system. Problem solved. To use your analogy, sending plans for a telephone by message in a bottle.

I have seen Contact, Mathew Mcconaughey's only good role in my opinion. That and Sahara. Anyways the idea is that on billions of worlds intelligent beings woke up and said "Must... Build... Portal..." random people too, like farmers and sheep herders. They cast the spells, gathered the materials and all turned them on simultaneously. The design is something that no body understands, why not just build one portal that goes to all portals? Who says such an Uber-Portal doesn't exist? Who sent the dreams that created the portals in the first place? Those are the great mysteries of life. It's quite elementary, my dear Stargate252, obviously it is a source so omnipotent and unknowable that the pure unadulterated knowledge would drive you mad.  

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Sorcery and Swords: No ray guns, no guns (they are very shoddy of a renaissance level)

What other sorts of magical-tech are there?  Not to belittle your concept, but until I know that I'm not getting more than a "standard fantasy with a world-hopping element added" vibe.  Even if you have a lot of magical tech if all the institutions are the same (aristocracies, guild-controlled industry, etc.) I still wonder what adds the "sci-fi" element to this.  How much fantasy and how much sci-fi are you going for?

[Stargate525]

The PCs enter a new world through a portal, then they must go find the portal to the next planet. However, it's never that simple. For example, they walk through a freshly opened portal and find themselves caught in the middle of a  World War between many factions. Or the portal they need is already turned on, and guarded by a religious sect that demand payment of some sort to enter the portal.

a lot of the Portals the PCs use will already be turned on and owned by a large and powerful guild. The guild demands a small toll (only a few copper pieces) and you don't have to worry about walking into something dangerous. However, some of the portals will be dormant, or shut down. These dormant portals will require a ritual, a key component to running the portals is Mystidium.

So portals are one-way?
 

I have seen Contact, Mathew Mcconaughey's only good role in my opinion. That and Sahara. Anyways the idea is that on billions of worlds intelligent beings woke up and said "Must... Build... Portal..." random people too, like farmers and sheep herders. They cast the spells, gathered the materials and all turned them on simultaneously. The design is something that no body understands, why not just build one portal that goes to all portals? Who says such an Uber-Portal doesn't exist? Who sent the dreams that created the portals in the first place? Those are the great mysteries of life. It's quite elementary, my dear Stargate252, obviously it is a source so omnipotent and unknowable that the pure unadulterated knowledge would drive you mad.  

it's five-two-five. Sheesh.  :cry:

As far as that knowledge, you as the world-builder need to know the answers to those questions, even if the players don't. Although simply beaming the schematics into peoples' heads is also a very nice trick, how does the house... whatever fit into that? Are they building reproductions, or are they the ones who started it?

[Ariel Hapzid]

Sorcery and Swords: No ray guns, no guns (they are very shoddy of a renaissance level)

What other sorts of magical-tech are there?  Not to belittle your concept, but until I know that I'm not getting more than a "standard fantasy with a world-hopping element added" vibe.  Even if you have a lot of magical tech if all the institutions are the same (aristocracies, guild-controlled industry, etc.) I still wonder what adds the "sci-fi" element to this.  How much fantasy and how much sci-fi are you going for?

That's a good question and it's one I have been dealing with since the birth of this project. I think the first part is that I am beginning with something that "works" and that's Fantasy Roleplaying. It's something everybody knows already, everyone understands it and we can keep moving. The Cosmos is all about societies that grew up with the magic available in your average roleplaying game (Wizards can blow stuff up, priests can heal you) and what would they do with that magic. Technology would suffer a lot, and instead of making a gun or more specifically a Ray Gun, they create a Rod of Blasting or something similar. To the people of Cosmos, magic is just like a cellphone, just a part of modern life.

The other thing is the setting. The adventures take place on Worlds (planets, moons, etc.) and these Worlds are going to be treated as fairly as almost any other world you will find (Like Toril in Forgotten Realms) meaning that they will be built with a touch of logic to them. This idea isn't that different from Planescape, the difference is my difference between a world and a plane.

In Planescape you have the Plane of Fire or the Plane of Water or the Plane of Evil so on and so on. In Cosmos, you have worlds that might have a theme to them (like a planet with huge expanses of Jungle, or a planet that has no Landmass, only water) but each World should be enough for you to run a whole series of Adventures without stepping through a portal again. But that's just my philosophy and overlying goal regarding Cosmos.

Oh, and you will never see Volcano Gnomes, or Desert Elves, or even Beholders and Mindflayers. I plan on throwing away the Monster Manual and ripping out the Races section of the Player's Handbook and replacing it with my own alien species. These aliens will be unique, but hopefully enjoyable to play. I also stay away from too much in-game-jargon. I am reading a lot of Star Trek novels, and it always throws me off when they mention a character is a Fallopian and I'm thinking to myself "What the heck is a Fallopian?" then I realize that Fallopian is a body part, the alien's name is Falluvian. It always throws me off, so all Alien names have English sounding names (mostly Kennings like from Beowulf)

As for Magic-Tech, I'm just calling them Magic Items. And they are everything: No Robots, Homunculus and Golems. No Universal Translator, instead they have a piece of jewelry that translates what people say into a language. No Cybernetics, instead the occasional arm made of liquid mithril. No Computers, instead tomes of infinite pages. No cars, instead Tenser's Floating Disk or Flying Carpets. Instead of Camera's I picture a small cube device, you set it down and activate it, then turn it off. Later you can turn it back on and it creates a 360 degree illusion (or similar). Just things like that. No space ships, instead they use a lot of Animals, Golems, or they might have things that seem like technology but are magic. Like a flying boat, or zeppelin, or a small piece of island that flies around.

So I'd say it's 65% Fantasy, 35% Science Fiction

[Ariel Hapzid]

The PCs enter a new world through a portal, then they must go find the portal to the next planet. However, it's never that simple. For example, they walk through a freshly opened portal and find themselves caught in the middle of a  World War between many factions. Or the portal they need is already turned on, and guarded by a religious sect that demand payment of some sort to enter the portal.

a lot of the Portals the PCs use will already be turned on and owned by a large and powerful guild. The guild demands a small toll (only a few copper pieces) and you don't have to worry about walking into something dangerous. However, some of the portals will be dormant, or shut down. These dormant portals will require a ritual, a key component to running the portals is Mystidium.

So portals are one-way?
 

I have seen Contact, Mathew Mcconaughey's only good role in my opinion. That and Sahara. Anyways the idea is that on billions of worlds intelligent beings woke up and said "Must... Build... Portal..." random people too, like farmers and sheep herders. They cast the spells, gathered the materials and all turned them on simultaneously. The design is something that no body understands, why not just build one portal that goes to all portals? Who says such an Uber-Portal doesn't exist? Who sent the dreams that created the portals in the first place? Those are the great mysteries of life. It's quite elementary, my dear Stargate252, obviously it is a source so omnipotent and unknowable that the pure unadulterated knowledge would drive you mad.  

it's five-two-five. Sheesh.  :cry:

As far as that knowledge, you as the world-builder need to know the answers to those questions, even if the players don't. Although simply beaming the schematics into peoples' heads is also a very nice trick, how does the house... whatever fit into that? Are they building reproductions, or are they the ones who started it?

Hmm... Portals are not one way, but someone can close a portal off (by sticking stuff in the way). However, The idea would be to seek out new portals, and if you're going to turn tail every time you walk into a blazing inferno of war then you need a new job :D

I have decided to stick with the dreaming the idea and turning the portal on. It's a lot like Call of Cthulhu where the guy makes the little sculpture as he goes crazy. The difference is that the Sculpture is a gateway and possibly, the builder took his life after the portal was created, so we have no idea why he felt compelled to do it.

[Ariel Hapzid]

[spoiler=New World!]Nius, Throneworld of the Children of the Light

This is one of the many worlds that is a key part of the Alliance. The Alliance is a coalition of several societies that signed nonaggression pacts years ago. This is a very shaky Alliance.

The Children of the Light (or Illumaratoriaas they call themselves) are a theocratic society focused on the worship of an entity known as "The Light". Their race spreads through out the known worlds as missionaries, dedicating their lives to converting the irreligious and building temples to The Light.

The average Child of the Light stands about 5' to 6' tall. They have electric blue skin and white shocks of hair. Their eyes glow purple. They are a society based on religion, seeing themselves as guardians against the coming shadow.

Nius is made up of three major continents, each one settled by it's native people. The first is Throne, a bustling city with Temples on every street, Throne is also the seat of power for the theocracy. It is the doorway to the many holy sites the World of Nius has to offer.

The second is Sword, the military testing ground of the Theocracy. It is a land of desert where Paladins and the Warmages of the Light practice and refine weaponry. It is also the home to several tribes of barbarians. Little is known about the barbarian hordes as most information is squashed by the theocracy.

The third and final continent is Shield, the holy land of The Church of the Light. It is a fabled land, filled with stories and is the setting of the Tome of Faith. Pilgrims from across the universe travel to Shield hoping to pray at one of the many holy sites. This pilgrimage is required for every faithful at least once in their lifetime.  [/spoiler]

So that's just the rough outline, I hope to go into more detail about the nature of the Alliance later today. For now though, it's a lot like NATO but with more infighting. This is also just the bare bones of what I want Nius to be, it's just to whet your appetite and let me get some of my notes down.