Earth or Earth-like Worlds

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Kobold Avenger's picture
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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

I know this is definitely a controversial subject based on so many being against what happens after visiting modern Earth, or the idea it'll somehow break certain themes. But many fantasy stories do have some sort of interaction with modern day Earth I can think of His Dark Materials and the Chronicles of Amber (maybe a bad example as stuff from Earth was used to change that balance of those worlds) off the top of my head. It does come up as a common enough place in stories where there are many worlds.

But even if the campaign does cross-over with Earth, it doesn't have to be modern day Earth, it could be Earth of the past like in the 1500's or even 1800's. Or it could be near-future Zombie Apocalypse Earth, or even my idea of Urban Arcana-Masque of the Red Death-Dark Matter Combined Earth.

And let's not discount alternate history Earths like ones where the Confederate-Mexican Alliance fought World War II against the Polish Empire over North Africa. Or one where the United States was founded as a colony by China (rather than Britain) and rebelled against the Ming dynasty establishing San Fransisco as the capital.

So what are your ideas on such worlds?

Zimrazim's picture
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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

I wouldn't want Earth (or alternate Earths) to be involved in the Planscape 'core' material, but I don't see any reason individual DMs couldn't put NPCs (or PCs) from Earth in their games.

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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

I agree with Zimrazim, but if Earth is incorporated, keep in mind that the Prime is infinite and multiple Earths could exsist at once. A person from modern day Earth could meet a person from the 1100s Earth. Thats just always how I pictured it.
Also, with the "Urban Arcana-Masque of the Red Death-Dark Matter Combined Earth" idea, it seems as though this would not be Earth at all. Urban Arcana allows for Earth-like places, but I am pretty sure Masque of the Red Death is just another fantasy world. However, I only have a vauge knowledge of those two and no idea about Dark Matter.

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Medieval Earth

I'd personally use medieval age Earth if D&D characters were going to go there, since it would require the least adjustment for the PCs. The only problematic issue about using the real-world Earth would be the treatment of religion (see any D&D thread about "God" for the flame-wars over alignment...) But any history book should give you oodles of period maps and historical characters, so it's pretty much a pre-built campaign setting. If you allow PC Clerics their spells, however, the NPC priest characters should get spells too for game balance; alternatively, PCs could find that their spells just don't work... Other than deciding the alignment of various NPCs, you're good to go (class should be fairly evident by real-life professions...)

Kobold Avenger's picture
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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

'Wexquif' wrote:
Also, with the "Urban Arcana-Masque of the Red Death-Dark Matter Combined Earth" idea, it seems as though this would not be Earth at all. Urban Arcana allows for Earth-like places, but I am pretty sure Masque of the Red Death is just another fantasy world. However, I only have a vauge knowledge of those two and no idea about Dark Matter.
The idea with that Earth is that the Red Death has been around until around World War I where the Red Death was defeated by the Qabals. While the Red Death disappeared, it turns out humans can be quite evil own their own. And many of the Qabals and former minions of the Red Death remained, such as the Illuminati, Final Church, Thule Society, Freemasons, Knight Templars, etc. The whole act of "defeating" the Red Death weakened the planar boundaries and allowed beings from the Shadow (like the PHB races, the Fraal/Greys, Etoile, Yuan-Ti and more) to come to Earth, hidden from the eyes of the mundane in plain sight. In recent times, a the former Qabal now known as the Hoffman institute as discovered the rise of a phenomena they call Dark Matter, which is really just the Red Death returning.

And on the players behalf, I don't believe in suppressing magic for PCs. It takes away the "fun" from the game. With many of those Earths, the unusual and magical always gets rationalized as something explainable in the minds of the mundane.

ripvanwormer's picture
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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

'Wexquif' wrote:
. Urban Arcana allows for Earth-like places, but I am pretty sure Masque of the Red Death is just another fantasy world.

No, Masque of the Red Death is a dark gothic Victorian/steampunk-era Earth. It might not be our Earth, but it's definitely Earth. And it's been officially linked (in Dragon Magazine) with the Earth of the 2nd edition "historical reference" series - The Celts, Age of Heroes, The Crusades, The Glory of Rome, Charlemagne's Paladins, Viking Campaign Sourcebook - the same world, but in different times and places.

Kobold Avenger's picture
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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

Personally I'll try a near-future zombie-apocalypse Earth since I ponder how things would be so different with D&D characters when watching zombie movies. It's just that traditionally zombies just never played right as monsters in D&D.

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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

H.G.Wells Earth: Victorian steampunk setting with all his monsters and gadgets (and sense of impending doom): Time machines, Invisibilty serums, mad scientists that turn animals into people, Eloi and Morlocs, Martians and their tripod invasion (for a nasty twist martians DON'T die from germs, their invasion of Great Britain is succsesful and they want to expand elswhere), gigant animals and children that have grown to enormous size after eating strange substance called "Food of Gods", etc, etc...

I love ol' H.G. Laughing out loud

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Kobold Avenger's picture
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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

I'd like the whole HG Wells Earth idea.

Though this gives me another idea to explore a Pulp Magazine type Earth, set around the 1920's with the two-fisted heroes, flying aces and the occasional aliens and other threats. Of course it could be combined more with Call of the Cthulhu as well.

And going another direction I could see trying out a sci-fi earth resembling 1960's sci-fi, where everyone sort of dresses like their in the Jetson's or at a rave.

Iavas's picture
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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

Combining the worlds of H.G.Wells, Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, etc. reminds me of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The Victorian era with the various fictional elements such as those created by the above-mentioned authors creates for an interesting setting.

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Earth or Earth-like Worlds

It was long wait for site to come back. But in the mean time I came with following idea for another alternate earth based on classic literal work.

It is Swift's Eearth: based on Gulivers travels this larger earth (well you have to fit in land of Gigants), could be intersting fantasy setting with all those warious cultures and nations. You have self important Liliputans, gigant (I dont rememer how they are called), science obsessed Laputans, and inteligent race of horses and their vile slaves Yahoos.

Anyways for aditional inspiration look up recently published novel about the aftermah of Guliver travels and how his discoveries changed world and societies he discovered. Sorry, but I forgot title. Sad

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