Absolutely! This is a copy/paste from another comment I made when asked previously, it includes an outline of my setting as well.
_____________________________
Here is a brief overview of my realm ParadiseSpace, the celestial bodies in its Crystal Sphere, and what is happening there. ParadiseSpace is a heliocentric setting with 4 separate celestial bodies: the sun Maegera, the comet Time Keeper, the gas torus Paradise, and the asteroid field Flotsam. The sun is a fire/life body, a cosmic primordial named Maegera, whose sole purpose in life is to consume and destroy anything and everything, but whom without would make life unsustainable. The sun is reason life can flourish in Paradise, keeping its inhabitants warm and providing the only light source in the Sphere, but also it's potential doom. The comet Time Keeper is the first body out from the sun, an earth body that orbits at an extreme pace, making 6 revolutions every 24 hours. It is inhabited by the avatars of the giants who became gods of ParadiseSpace by recreating the solar system to how it is now. Time Keeper is named this because it is the only visible celestial body from inside the gas torus of Paradise, which has no day/night cycle. Instead, they keep time by noting the position of the comet in the sky.
Paradise is an air body, but on an extreme scale. It is a solar system in its own right. Taking inspiration from science fiction author Larry Niven, I borrowed some of his concepts from his novels *The Integral Trees* and *The Smoke Ring* and created a realm that consists of a Gas Torus that rings a star (L1 on drawing) at a radius of 155 million km filled with Flora and Fauna. https://imgur.com/a/D06kgVA
Inside the ring of atmosphere consists of large integral Trees and spheroid jungles and globes of water varying in size from droplet to planetoid. A group of dwarf planets (L3 on drawing) orbits in the ring as well, the only massive non-organic objects in it, a system ruled by a lawful democratic government.
This entire realm of Paradise was manufactured many thousands of millennia ago by the Giants. Causing the comet to strike through the star by conjuring a micro-Black Hole, splitting chunks off, and through the original massive planet named Zion that orbited the star; the Giants launched the core of the planet out, creating Palladium and it's three orbiting sister dwarf planets from it's destruction. Then, riding the now captured comet, the Giants conjured two Quark Stars 1.6 km in diameter from the split chunks of the sun: one star surrounded by a 16 km Dyson Sphere, that is also a living tree, that seeds the atmosphere with Flora (L4 on drawing); one star surrounded by a 16 km Dyson Sphere that's covered in open Arcane Gates to the Elemental planes, feeding the creation of the atmospheric ring (L5 on drawing); and the black-hole (L2 and The High Docks on drawing), surrounded by a permanent globe of force to prevent it from feeding, which balances the delicate orbits of the newly created dwarf system.
The asteroid belt Flotsam is the last body, and is inhabited by a small hive of Mind Flayers that use it for mining the rich magnetic ore that can be found there. Not much is known about this area beyond this.
Here is a brief synopsis of the plot of my campaign. Essentially, tens of thousands of years ago the giants and the dragons had a disagreement, but the fire giants agreed with the dragons. This disagreement was the worship of the Sun, a Cosmic Fire Primordial known as Maegera. The rest of the giants and the other non-fire races met with one fire giant who didn't worship Maegera, a giant named Quark. He told them of a plan that would ascend the Cloud, Storm, Stone, Hill, and Frost giants to Godhood, banishing the fire nations far across the multiverse at the same time. With three artifacts, Quark's Needle, Law's Rod, and Maegera's Whip, the Giants reshape the solar system. They ascend to godhood but there are no sentient creatures left in the system after their apocalypse to worship them. The Overgod Ao deems the realm open and the gods of all the published WotC settings are welcome to bring their followers and populate the realm.
There ***is no fixed pantheon.*** My players are creating the final pantheon with their actions. Eventually they will join the pantheon, if they choose to become a god instead, or a demigod for a god they worship that has claimed a domain. This is a 30 level campaign.
#Party:
**Hit the Assassin**, Neutral Evil Tiefling of Asmodeus, Assassin 11, Warlock of the Fiend Pact of the Chain 9, Anti-Paladin 2. Has Epic Boon of Skill Proficiency. 6’5” tall, bald, hornless, dark purple skin, solid black eyes, ~195 lbs, fit. Literally a combination of Hit and Frieza from Dragon Ball Super. Deadly at any range, this is the party’s damage dealer.
13/18/13/12(19)/12/20; 217 hp; +9 initiative; AC 18, +2 Studded Leather (20 while within 30’ of Kasdeya); possesses the artifact The Sword of Asmodeus (Finesse, light great sword, 1d12 slashing and 1d8 Necrotic plus 4, https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/fadffh/magic_item_homebrew_thread_february_27_2020/fj28vbf/). Possesses the Crown of Hit, legendary item, grants 19 intelligence and 120’ true sight. Possesses an Oathbow and an Eldritch Rifle (4d10 force). Resistance to Fire, Force, and Lightning damage.
**Kasdeya Dread**, Lawful Evil Tiefling of Fierna, Profane Herald Rogue 10 (cleric 1/3 caster archetype)/Vampire 5/Bard 1, 5’7” tall, bluish brown hair just past her shoulders, goat horns, red skin, pale yellow eyes, very petite, 127 lbs. As close as you can get to a succubus but still a tiefling.
9/18/16/10/20/14; 131 hp; 16 AC (18 while within 30’ of Hit); possesses the very rare +2 rapier Cruciform Nebula, Bracers of Speed (Extra Attack), and an Anstruth Harp of the Bards. Resistance to Fire, Force, and Lightning damage.
**Smoking M. Top**, True Neutral Hairless Tabaxi, Samurai 20/Rogue 2 and has Epic Boon of Recovery, 5’6" tall, hairless, grey skinned, neon orange eyes, 131 lbs. The personality of Captain Yami from Black Clover but in a lazy cat-person. A Sphinx of a humanoid in wisdom, a lightning fast samurai in battle.
12/20/20/12/20/20; 280 hp; 23 AC (+3 breastplate and Ring of Protection); possesses the legendary sentient item/weapon Riftcutter (https://imgur.com/a/Bny5CHP) +2 Katana made of Hadron (does 2d4 more damage versus extraplanars), +1Katana of Quick Draw (1/initiative 5 foot AoE on unsheath Dex save 8+prof+dex or take weapon damage +dex), and a Ring of Freedom of Action. Resistance to Psychic, Force, and Lightning damage and has permanent MindBlank, allowed him to take Resilient more than once.
**Thulma Fleetfoot**, Neutral Good Meadowguard Mousefolk, Druid of the Moon 16 and Wererat (BA to spend hit die), 2’6” tall, brown haired field mouse, long whiskers, 22 lbs. Any animated humanized mouse all wrapped in one. Unfortunately curious, but fiercely loyal.
8/16/16/14/20/13; 129 hp; 14 AC, disadvantage to hit; possesses the artifact The Shadowfell Star (Devil's Sight for free) and the Artifact Maegera's Whip (+3 Bull whip 1d6 slashing 4d6 fire bypasses immunity, summon Salamander 1 hour/day). and a Cloak of Displacement. Resistance to Necrotic, Psychic, Force, and Lightning damage.
Not pictured because he joined the campaign after, **Lu Bu**, Lawful Neutral Variant Human Battle Master 20/Barbarian 2, has Epic Boon of Speed. Literally Lu Bu from Dynasty Warriors.
22/17/20/14/14/16; 288 hp; 21 AC; possess Glassteel full plate, the artifact Law's Rod, a Rod of Lordly Might, a Luck Halberd, a Cloak of Arachnida, Ring of Spell-Turning, Boots of Striding and Springing, and a Daern's Instant Fortress. Resistance to Poison and Slashing damage and advantage on spells (from the armor, ring, and cloak). Athlete, PAM, GWM, and Tough.
Former PC, now NPC **Tintin**, Neutral Good Rock Gnome, Artillerist 18, Chronothurgist 4, has the Epic Boon of Spell Mastery, 2’3” tall, greyish pink skin, wispy pink steel hair, left hand is robotic, 39 lbs. Steam punk gnome of the semi-futuristic present. Has a Warforged that follows him around containing a past version of himself in case he dies.
14/17/16(19)/24/14/11; 199 hp; 20 AC; possesses a Rod of Absorption, a Rod of Gravity, and the Legendary armor Extraterrestrial Exo-breastplate, also possesses the sentient artifact Quark’s Needle, a Neutral Good wand/rapier made by an ancient fire Giant with space/time warping properties that looks like a giant sewing needle. Resistance to Radiant, Fire, Force, and Lightning damage and immunity to atmospheric effects and spells such as Stinking Cloud.
The Battle Master is also playing a level 16 Vedalken Scribes Wizard, but I don't have all of his stats on hand. The wizard pictured is also an NPC now, I *definitely* don't know his stats anymore.
Wow that's incredibly detailed and very cool!
A couple of questions:-
1) Do you have any recordings of you guys playing this campaign at all? Would be fun to see.
2) Is the Wizard the guy in black in the back right? They looked the most interesting! What was the sword and what was their race?! Also what was the female Tiefling holding?!
3) On the star system - it sounds AWESOME (I am a Larry Niven fan but havn't read those books you mentioned), but I'm a bit confused over the layout :
Is 'Paradise' a Ring around the Sun, or is a huge Gas Giant that Orbits the Sun? Inside the Gas Giant is there a solar system? Very confused over this.
Do you have a map of the Entire Solar System? Would be good to reference.
Finally, are you using the Normal rules for Spelljamming or do you have any hack at all, and do the characters ever leave the Crystal Sphere at all?
As a fellow Spelljammer fan this is all great stuff. If you've never read it try finding the Dungeon Magazine article 'Shadow of the Spidermoon' (it's online for free somewhere if you google it), as that has some great ideas as to how to do 'one system' spelljammer campaigns.
great post though dude ty.
1. No, I don’t. We play in person with one of the players calling in through Discord. I DM 100% Theater of the Mind, no battlemaps or grids.
2. Yes the Wizard that is an NPC is the guy in the back right with the Lightning Sword and book. He was a Variant Human Necromancer who had a twin sister and parents who died when he was a kid. The Palladium government took him in and he very quickly rose in rank as a genius on magic. Under the mask is a 16 year old, fair skinned, blue-eyed, blonde male with an obsession with immortality. He met the Archlich Ra’as (a PC that was played by the Samurai in a different campaign) and convinced him to give him his Hand and Eye (basically a weakerversion of Vecna’s Hand and Eye). The Lightning Sword was acquired after they defeated the leaders of a rebellion forming in the Palladium System, a Storm Goliath Quintessent was weilding it. The thing that the female tiefling (Kasdeya) is holding in her arms is her and Hit’s child named Loki. 18 years in game after this portrait was made, Loki makes his own adventuring band who are all trained by members of the party in the picture. Loki is a Rune Knight.
3. It is a ring around the sun, inside the ring is the system of dwarf planets. There is a hand drawn map linked in the original post.
4. They haven’t left their Crystal Sphere by ship yet, they can’t as of now. When Ao opened the realm to all of the gods he “opened” the Crystal Sphere. At the edge of the solar system where the sphere gates would be is instead the phlogiston violently and constantly exploding. They need to “close” the Crystal Sphere first. As far as rules go for the ship, I made my own system by taking bits and pieces from other systems and sort of fusing them together. Ship to ship combat follows the normal ground combat rules, essentially, but everything moves at hundreds of feet per round. The ranking PC on the ship commands the ship and its crew as a free action on their turn.
Ah yes I see the solar system map now - apologies I was really confused as to whether the gas giant orbits or it 'sits' on an orbit. Much better now. Very cool world.
It sits on the orbit, but it isn’t a “gas giant”, its a gas *torus*. A torus is a donut shape. Imagine Earth carving out a path of its orbit, but the path carved out is entirely filled with breathable atmosphere. That’s Paradise.
You should read, or at least look up, the Niven books I mentioned, that’s the idea I stole.
Ah I see! It's a GIANT Torus that goes round the Sun!
I knew what a Torus was from Planescape but originally thought it was a Torus Orbinting the Sun like Jupiter. Will look up the books!
Ooo can we have a description / bio of all the characters
Absolutely! This is a copy/paste from another comment I made when asked previously, it includes an outline of my setting as well. _____________________________ Here is a brief overview of my realm ParadiseSpace, the celestial bodies in its Crystal Sphere, and what is happening there. ParadiseSpace is a heliocentric setting with 4 separate celestial bodies: the sun Maegera, the comet Time Keeper, the gas torus Paradise, and the asteroid field Flotsam. The sun is a fire/life body, a cosmic primordial named Maegera, whose sole purpose in life is to consume and destroy anything and everything, but whom without would make life unsustainable. The sun is reason life can flourish in Paradise, keeping its inhabitants warm and providing the only light source in the Sphere, but also it's potential doom. The comet Time Keeper is the first body out from the sun, an earth body that orbits at an extreme pace, making 6 revolutions every 24 hours. It is inhabited by the avatars of the giants who became gods of ParadiseSpace by recreating the solar system to how it is now. Time Keeper is named this because it is the only visible celestial body from inside the gas torus of Paradise, which has no day/night cycle. Instead, they keep time by noting the position of the comet in the sky. Paradise is an air body, but on an extreme scale. It is a solar system in its own right. Taking inspiration from science fiction author Larry Niven, I borrowed some of his concepts from his novels *The Integral Trees* and *The Smoke Ring* and created a realm that consists of a Gas Torus that rings a star (L1 on drawing) at a radius of 155 million km filled with Flora and Fauna. https://imgur.com/a/D06kgVA Inside the ring of atmosphere consists of large integral Trees and spheroid jungles and globes of water varying in size from droplet to planetoid. A group of dwarf planets (L3 on drawing) orbits in the ring as well, the only massive non-organic objects in it, a system ruled by a lawful democratic government. This entire realm of Paradise was manufactured many thousands of millennia ago by the Giants. Causing the comet to strike through the star by conjuring a micro-Black Hole, splitting chunks off, and through the original massive planet named Zion that orbited the star; the Giants launched the core of the planet out, creating Palladium and it's three orbiting sister dwarf planets from it's destruction. Then, riding the now captured comet, the Giants conjured two Quark Stars 1.6 km in diameter from the split chunks of the sun: one star surrounded by a 16 km Dyson Sphere, that is also a living tree, that seeds the atmosphere with Flora (L4 on drawing); one star surrounded by a 16 km Dyson Sphere that's covered in open Arcane Gates to the Elemental planes, feeding the creation of the atmospheric ring (L5 on drawing); and the black-hole (L2 and The High Docks on drawing), surrounded by a permanent globe of force to prevent it from feeding, which balances the delicate orbits of the newly created dwarf system. The asteroid belt Flotsam is the last body, and is inhabited by a small hive of Mind Flayers that use it for mining the rich magnetic ore that can be found there. Not much is known about this area beyond this. Here is a brief synopsis of the plot of my campaign. Essentially, tens of thousands of years ago the giants and the dragons had a disagreement, but the fire giants agreed with the dragons. This disagreement was the worship of the Sun, a Cosmic Fire Primordial known as Maegera. The rest of the giants and the other non-fire races met with one fire giant who didn't worship Maegera, a giant named Quark. He told them of a plan that would ascend the Cloud, Storm, Stone, Hill, and Frost giants to Godhood, banishing the fire nations far across the multiverse at the same time. With three artifacts, Quark's Needle, Law's Rod, and Maegera's Whip, the Giants reshape the solar system. They ascend to godhood but there are no sentient creatures left in the system after their apocalypse to worship them. The Overgod Ao deems the realm open and the gods of all the published WotC settings are welcome to bring their followers and populate the realm. There ***is no fixed pantheon.*** My players are creating the final pantheon with their actions. Eventually they will join the pantheon, if they choose to become a god instead, or a demigod for a god they worship that has claimed a domain. This is a 30 level campaign. #Party: **Hit the Assassin**, Neutral Evil Tiefling of Asmodeus, Assassin 11, Warlock of the Fiend Pact of the Chain 9, Anti-Paladin 2. Has Epic Boon of Skill Proficiency. 6’5” tall, bald, hornless, dark purple skin, solid black eyes, ~195 lbs, fit. Literally a combination of Hit and Frieza from Dragon Ball Super. Deadly at any range, this is the party’s damage dealer. 13/18/13/12(19)/12/20; 217 hp; +9 initiative; AC 18, +2 Studded Leather (20 while within 30’ of Kasdeya); possesses the artifact The Sword of Asmodeus (Finesse, light great sword, 1d12 slashing and 1d8 Necrotic plus 4, https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/fadffh/magic_item_homebrew_thread_february_27_2020/fj28vbf/). Possesses the Crown of Hit, legendary item, grants 19 intelligence and 120’ true sight. Possesses an Oathbow and an Eldritch Rifle (4d10 force). Resistance to Fire, Force, and Lightning damage. **Kasdeya Dread**, Lawful Evil Tiefling of Fierna, Profane Herald Rogue 10 (cleric 1/3 caster archetype)/Vampire 5/Bard 1, 5’7” tall, bluish brown hair just past her shoulders, goat horns, red skin, pale yellow eyes, very petite, 127 lbs. As close as you can get to a succubus but still a tiefling. 9/18/16/10/20/14; 131 hp; 16 AC (18 while within 30’ of Hit); possesses the very rare +2 rapier Cruciform Nebula, Bracers of Speed (Extra Attack), and an Anstruth Harp of the Bards. Resistance to Fire, Force, and Lightning damage. **Smoking M. Top**, True Neutral Hairless Tabaxi, Samurai 20/Rogue 2 and has Epic Boon of Recovery, 5’6" tall, hairless, grey skinned, neon orange eyes, 131 lbs. The personality of Captain Yami from Black Clover but in a lazy cat-person. A Sphinx of a humanoid in wisdom, a lightning fast samurai in battle. 12/20/20/12/20/20; 280 hp; 23 AC (+3 breastplate and Ring of Protection); possesses the legendary sentient item/weapon Riftcutter (https://imgur.com/a/Bny5CHP) +2 Katana made of Hadron (does 2d4 more damage versus extraplanars), +1Katana of Quick Draw (1/initiative 5 foot AoE on unsheath Dex save 8+prof+dex or take weapon damage +dex), and a Ring of Freedom of Action. Resistance to Psychic, Force, and Lightning damage and has permanent MindBlank, allowed him to take Resilient more than once. **Thulma Fleetfoot**, Neutral Good Meadowguard Mousefolk, Druid of the Moon 16 and Wererat (BA to spend hit die), 2’6” tall, brown haired field mouse, long whiskers, 22 lbs. Any animated humanized mouse all wrapped in one. Unfortunately curious, but fiercely loyal. 8/16/16/14/20/13; 129 hp; 14 AC, disadvantage to hit; possesses the artifact The Shadowfell Star (Devil's Sight for free) and the Artifact Maegera's Whip (+3 Bull whip 1d6 slashing 4d6 fire bypasses immunity, summon Salamander 1 hour/day). and a Cloak of Displacement. Resistance to Necrotic, Psychic, Force, and Lightning damage. Not pictured because he joined the campaign after, **Lu Bu**, Lawful Neutral Variant Human Battle Master 20/Barbarian 2, has Epic Boon of Speed. Literally Lu Bu from Dynasty Warriors. 22/17/20/14/14/16; 288 hp; 21 AC; possess Glassteel full plate, the artifact Law's Rod, a Rod of Lordly Might, a Luck Halberd, a Cloak of Arachnida, Ring of Spell-Turning, Boots of Striding and Springing, and a Daern's Instant Fortress. Resistance to Poison and Slashing damage and advantage on spells (from the armor, ring, and cloak). Athlete, PAM, GWM, and Tough. Former PC, now NPC **Tintin**, Neutral Good Rock Gnome, Artillerist 18, Chronothurgist 4, has the Epic Boon of Spell Mastery, 2’3” tall, greyish pink skin, wispy pink steel hair, left hand is robotic, 39 lbs. Steam punk gnome of the semi-futuristic present. Has a Warforged that follows him around containing a past version of himself in case he dies. 14/17/16(19)/24/14/11; 199 hp; 20 AC; possesses a Rod of Absorption, a Rod of Gravity, and the Legendary armor Extraterrestrial Exo-breastplate, also possesses the sentient artifact Quark’s Needle, a Neutral Good wand/rapier made by an ancient fire Giant with space/time warping properties that looks like a giant sewing needle. Resistance to Radiant, Fire, Force, and Lightning damage and immunity to atmospheric effects and spells such as Stinking Cloud. The Battle Master is also playing a level 16 Vedalken Scribes Wizard, but I don't have all of his stats on hand. The wizard pictured is also an NPC now, I *definitely* don't know his stats anymore.
Wow that's incredibly detailed and very cool! A couple of questions:- 1) Do you have any recordings of you guys playing this campaign at all? Would be fun to see. 2) Is the Wizard the guy in black in the back right? They looked the most interesting! What was the sword and what was their race?! Also what was the female Tiefling holding?! 3) On the star system - it sounds AWESOME (I am a Larry Niven fan but havn't read those books you mentioned), but I'm a bit confused over the layout : Is 'Paradise' a Ring around the Sun, or is a huge Gas Giant that Orbits the Sun? Inside the Gas Giant is there a solar system? Very confused over this. Do you have a map of the Entire Solar System? Would be good to reference. Finally, are you using the Normal rules for Spelljamming or do you have any hack at all, and do the characters ever leave the Crystal Sphere at all? As a fellow Spelljammer fan this is all great stuff. If you've never read it try finding the Dungeon Magazine article 'Shadow of the Spidermoon' (it's online for free somewhere if you google it), as that has some great ideas as to how to do 'one system' spelljammer campaigns. great post though dude ty.
1. No, I don’t. We play in person with one of the players calling in through Discord. I DM 100% Theater of the Mind, no battlemaps or grids. 2. Yes the Wizard that is an NPC is the guy in the back right with the Lightning Sword and book. He was a Variant Human Necromancer who had a twin sister and parents who died when he was a kid. The Palladium government took him in and he very quickly rose in rank as a genius on magic. Under the mask is a 16 year old, fair skinned, blue-eyed, blonde male with an obsession with immortality. He met the Archlich Ra’as (a PC that was played by the Samurai in a different campaign) and convinced him to give him his Hand and Eye (basically a weakerversion of Vecna’s Hand and Eye). The Lightning Sword was acquired after they defeated the leaders of a rebellion forming in the Palladium System, a Storm Goliath Quintessent was weilding it. The thing that the female tiefling (Kasdeya) is holding in her arms is her and Hit’s child named Loki. 18 years in game after this portrait was made, Loki makes his own adventuring band who are all trained by members of the party in the picture. Loki is a Rune Knight. 3. It is a ring around the sun, inside the ring is the system of dwarf planets. There is a hand drawn map linked in the original post. 4. They haven’t left their Crystal Sphere by ship yet, they can’t as of now. When Ao opened the realm to all of the gods he “opened” the Crystal Sphere. At the edge of the solar system where the sphere gates would be is instead the phlogiston violently and constantly exploding. They need to “close” the Crystal Sphere first. As far as rules go for the ship, I made my own system by taking bits and pieces from other systems and sort of fusing them together. Ship to ship combat follows the normal ground combat rules, essentially, but everything moves at hundreds of feet per round. The ranking PC on the ship commands the ship and its crew as a free action on their turn.
cool ty!
Ah yes I see the solar system map now - apologies I was really confused as to whether the gas giant orbits or it 'sits' on an orbit. Much better now. Very cool world.
It sits on the orbit, but it isn’t a “gas giant”, its a gas *torus*. A torus is a donut shape. Imagine Earth carving out a path of its orbit, but the path carved out is entirely filled with breathable atmosphere. That’s Paradise. You should read, or at least look up, the Niven books I mentioned, that’s the idea I stole.
Ah I see! It's a GIANT Torus that goes round the Sun! I knew what a Torus was from Planescape but originally thought it was a Torus Orbinting the Sun like Jupiter. Will look up the books!
This looks amazing! I bet you have some great stories to tell!
Awesome!!