Need help identifying main antagonistic force.
Jan 10, 2017 21:27:20 GMT -8
Post by lowkeyoh on Jan 10, 2017 21:27:20 GMT -8
Bit of background on my worldbuilding. Fantasy homebrew setting for D&D5e
Long time ago there was a civilization that was a great deal more sophisticated with magic and magical technology than standard fantasy civilization. I envision them as post-scarcity, but that's really neither here nor there. The backbone of the civilization was teleportation technology. Instead of simply jumping into the astral plane and then jumping out at your destination, a la normal magic, they found a way to bend space-time and connect two points together through a gate.
So the general geography of their civilization is that of a megacity. In earth terms, imagine the bulk of everyone living in LA. It's got nice weather. But if you wanted to live in snowy Canada, you can. Or Australia. Or Italy. And because you're connected with gates, it's all one city. You can wake up in Hawaii, go surfing, go though your settlement's gate to the main city, shop for whatever you need, and be back home in an hour. New settlements don't have to be based on geographical needs. You don't need a town next to a mine, or a choice hunting ground, or anything, because you can live where you want and be anywhere in civilization in a matter of minutes. So settlements tend to be in the more interesting and beautiful places of the world.
But when you bend space-time enough eventually you get a tear. Or a weakening. Or something. And there was a force of some kind that came though that threatened this civilization. So they gathered everyone up in central hub of the city and teleported it to the moon. Or another plane. Somewhere. They noped the fuck out is the important part, leaving a huge crater in the relative middle of no where in the present day.
So here's my dilemma. I've basically just established your run of the mill cosmic horror set ups. It's what makes sense. Eldar gods and shoggoths start pouring though tears, mages shit their pants, undo everything and run away. And while that's an interesting story, it just feels too predictable. It feels like it's been done before. But I don't know what else to do, really.
One recommendation from my meatspace game is that they were tapping into a realm beyond the astral plane to power their magic. Something more fundamental. They were tapping into the essence of metaphysics. The abstract collection of all life energy and experience. The invaders were the physical manifestations of things like joy and love and hate and jealousy and the concept of property. I like this idea, but it seems too esoteric and hard to portray.
Simply saying that they're demons seems not scary enough. Elder Gods seems too cliche. Metaphysical manifestations seems too verbose. Forgotten Gods seems too fantasy.
I can't really come up with a good background for this malevolent force and because of that I can't really define the stakes of the conflict between this and the civilization that came before who is fighting it. Because that civilization is the primary antagonists int he campaign as of now. But if they players join forces with them, well then I need a defined greater evil. Or not. But I'll have to understand what they are fighting to understand the lengths to which they will go.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Long time ago there was a civilization that was a great deal more sophisticated with magic and magical technology than standard fantasy civilization. I envision them as post-scarcity, but that's really neither here nor there. The backbone of the civilization was teleportation technology. Instead of simply jumping into the astral plane and then jumping out at your destination, a la normal magic, they found a way to bend space-time and connect two points together through a gate.
So the general geography of their civilization is that of a megacity. In earth terms, imagine the bulk of everyone living in LA. It's got nice weather. But if you wanted to live in snowy Canada, you can. Or Australia. Or Italy. And because you're connected with gates, it's all one city. You can wake up in Hawaii, go surfing, go though your settlement's gate to the main city, shop for whatever you need, and be back home in an hour. New settlements don't have to be based on geographical needs. You don't need a town next to a mine, or a choice hunting ground, or anything, because you can live where you want and be anywhere in civilization in a matter of minutes. So settlements tend to be in the more interesting and beautiful places of the world.
But when you bend space-time enough eventually you get a tear. Or a weakening. Or something. And there was a force of some kind that came though that threatened this civilization. So they gathered everyone up in central hub of the city and teleported it to the moon. Or another plane. Somewhere. They noped the fuck out is the important part, leaving a huge crater in the relative middle of no where in the present day.
So here's my dilemma. I've basically just established your run of the mill cosmic horror set ups. It's what makes sense. Eldar gods and shoggoths start pouring though tears, mages shit their pants, undo everything and run away. And while that's an interesting story, it just feels too predictable. It feels like it's been done before. But I don't know what else to do, really.
One recommendation from my meatspace game is that they were tapping into a realm beyond the astral plane to power their magic. Something more fundamental. They were tapping into the essence of metaphysics. The abstract collection of all life energy and experience. The invaders were the physical manifestations of things like joy and love and hate and jealousy and the concept of property. I like this idea, but it seems too esoteric and hard to portray.
Simply saying that they're demons seems not scary enough. Elder Gods seems too cliche. Metaphysical manifestations seems too verbose. Forgotten Gods seems too fantasy.
I can't really come up with a good background for this malevolent force and because of that I can't really define the stakes of the conflict between this and the civilization that came before who is fighting it. Because that civilization is the primary antagonists int he campaign as of now. But if they players join forces with them, well then I need a defined greater evil. Or not. But I'll have to understand what they are fighting to understand the lengths to which they will go.
Any ideas would be appreciated.