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Which was your favourite Forgotten Realms Cosmology?
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<blockquote data-quote="Mephista" data-source="post: 9330974" data-attributes="member: 6786252"><p>And from an OOC perspective. As someone who's played both, they are vastly different from an in character and out of character perspective both. </p><p></p><p>The main astral domains are just... the gods' (plus) homes. You've got three gods chilling on three peaks of Mount Celestia. That's why you go to Mount Celestial - to see Moradin, Bahamut or Pelor. Its clear, consise. You climb and get to them. One mountain per god. </p><p></p><p>In the Great Wheel? Mount Celestia has an infinite size with seven layers, with practically every LG diety having a miniature (yet still infinite in size) domain nestled within these layers (or even crossing them!). You can have three gods on one layer of Mount Celestia, one between two layers, and a layer with none. Depending on which gods exist in your setting. Oh, and Moradin is actually on the plane over one, the one between LG Celestia and LN Mechanus - a bit weird for a LG god. Oh, and each plane has its own environmental trickery and mind-warping effects.</p><p></p><p>The former is just a set of three mountains. The latter is an infinite sized world with nestled domains of infinite sizes contained within. In the world axis, you can just fly your spelljammer up to the mountain and disembark where you need to go. In the Great Wheel, there's a bunch of portal hopping and dealing with metaphysical quirks, like needing to do good deeds to progress in your travel or you never get anywhere - airship travel flat out doesn't work.</p><p></p><p>The complexity of the latter cannot be compared to the former.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>I really don't get where you think anyone's talking about in character instead of out of character. As far as I can tell, its been entirely OOC.</p><p></p><p>Sure, we all have our own opinions on what's good for our own personal tables. However, that doesn't change that the Great Wheel is absolutely far more complex by design and weight of time.</p><p></p><p></p><p>If your argument hinges on level 13+ characters casting 7th level magics? That's a bad argument. Most casters only get one of those slots a day, if ever. Two if you're a level 20 spellcaster. You can't just casually traverse the planes this way. </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the astral dominions are designed for ease of travel WITHOUT teleportation magics of any kind for characters of any level, whereas the Outer Planes deal with planar gateways that need keys, and the mental/environmental effects that need advanced protection from spells or magic items. Lets not forget that visiting ANY outer plane without mental protection literally can transform your personality.</p><p></p><p>See, this is where your argument comes off as disingenuous. There aren't forty astral dominions. Not even forty planes in all the World Axis put together - more like 15 or so. Meanwhile, there's are forty planes in the Great Wheel setting - 17 outer, 18 inner, 4 transitive, 1 material. Over double. </p><p></p><p></p><p>So... is your argument that the two cosmologies are equal complexity because you don't need to bother remembering any of the details of either? Because that is what it sounds like you are saying.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mephista, post: 9330974, member: 6786252"] And from an OOC perspective. As someone who's played both, they are vastly different from an in character and out of character perspective both. The main astral domains are just... the gods' (plus) homes. You've got three gods chilling on three peaks of Mount Celestia. That's why you go to Mount Celestial - to see Moradin, Bahamut or Pelor. Its clear, consise. You climb and get to them. One mountain per god. In the Great Wheel? Mount Celestia has an infinite size with seven layers, with practically every LG diety having a miniature (yet still infinite in size) domain nestled within these layers (or even crossing them!). You can have three gods on one layer of Mount Celestia, one between two layers, and a layer with none. Depending on which gods exist in your setting. Oh, and Moradin is actually on the plane over one, the one between LG Celestia and LN Mechanus - a bit weird for a LG god. Oh, and each plane has its own environmental trickery and mind-warping effects. The former is just a set of three mountains. The latter is an infinite sized world with nestled domains of infinite sizes contained within. In the world axis, you can just fly your spelljammer up to the mountain and disembark where you need to go. In the Great Wheel, there's a bunch of portal hopping and dealing with metaphysical quirks, like needing to do good deeds to progress in your travel or you never get anywhere - airship travel flat out doesn't work. The complexity of the latter cannot be compared to the former. I really don't get where you think anyone's talking about in character instead of out of character. As far as I can tell, its been entirely OOC. Sure, we all have our own opinions on what's good for our own personal tables. However, that doesn't change that the Great Wheel is absolutely far more complex by design and weight of time. If your argument hinges on level 13+ characters casting 7th level magics? That's a bad argument. Most casters only get one of those slots a day, if ever. Two if you're a level 20 spellcaster. You can't just casually traverse the planes this way. Meanwhile, the astral dominions are designed for ease of travel WITHOUT teleportation magics of any kind for characters of any level, whereas the Outer Planes deal with planar gateways that need keys, and the mental/environmental effects that need advanced protection from spells or magic items. Lets not forget that visiting ANY outer plane without mental protection literally can transform your personality. See, this is where your argument comes off as disingenuous. There aren't forty astral dominions. Not even forty planes in all the World Axis put together - more like 15 or so. Meanwhile, there's are forty planes in the Great Wheel setting - 17 outer, 18 inner, 4 transitive, 1 material. Over double. So... is your argument that the two cosmologies are equal complexity because you don't need to bother remembering any of the details of either? Because that is what it sounds like you are saying. [/QUOTE]
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