Modding in the Planes

[K]

So, the idea was to mod in the DnD Inner and Outer Planes.

Here's the things I'dd think you'd need:
1. Maps that have isolated "no connection" spaces so that the planes can only be reached by travel magic. In those spaces you put in specific sites (Fire sites for Elemental Plane of Fire, etc).
2. Ways of keeping Dominion from bleeding into them.

Now, the first is relatively easy. The second is harder.

Some ideas:

1. Is there a site that removes dominion?
2. How high of a heretic value is possible on a modded unit? I was thinking that there could be units placed in the map that are "Lords of the Planes" with high heretic values and Stealth.

Is any of this possible?

[Sombre]

Dominion won't bleed into provinces with no connections unless something which causes dominion growth is there.

So if they sent a prophet out there you'd have dominion appear. But otherwise, dominion spreads along connections.

[HoneyBadger]

Adding the inner and outer planes is a nice idea, but you might consider cutting them down a bit, to be a little more manageable...D&D suffers from a bad case of "kitchen-sink syndrome", expressed nowhere so strongly as in it's celestial cosmology.

[Aezeal]

hehe you are right honey.. Personally I'd just stick with the faerun map and maybe pimp that maximally or something

[Singularity24601]

Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

Adding the inner and outer planes is a nice idea, but you might consider cutting them down a bit, to be a little more manageable...D&D suffers from a bad case of "kitchen-sink syndrome", expressed nowhere so strongly as in it's celestial cosmology.

Agreed. They're apparently trying to tone it down for 4th edition. Meanwhile, there's always other real-world mythologies with similar themes, like the various planes on Yggdrasil the World Tree.

[HoneyBadger]

What I would suggest is to start small. It's a great idea, K, and it's got lots of potential, especially since you won't have to worry about Dom spread, sites will (hopefully) soon be modified, and we might even get Population modification, sometime in the future (where this idea will *really* take off).

But I think that, if you just confine yourself to one Province, or a few related Provinces, at a time, and make those as good as they possibly can be, you'll get people more excited about the idea-which will ultimately benefit everyone-and you'll help yourself, by making high-quality products that can be built upon.

And I would suggest giving atleast a little bit of thought to creating a "dimension" of your own-it's a really fun project, because it allows you to invent a location that's completely different from anything on Earth, and yet still relates to Earth, and can be related to, by human beings. You're unconfined by physics, ecology, geographical boundaries, etc. Your only limits are making it function in the game, in a balanced way, as a working Province, and making it something that other people can understand, and enjoy.

[Endoperez]

There was that great, HUGE map that had the Dominions magic "planes" in the sides. You didn't have to teleport there IIRC, but it was so big that you wanted to. Besides, going to the Astral land would pay off rather quickly.

I don't remember the name, but you might have seen it. I suggest playing it, deciding what you want to do better, and starting in small scale. Three-layered map with underground tunnels and cloud-cities floating above the lands and connected with bridges sounds simple enough.


There's also Hollow World, Dom:PPP map with separate underground and paradise areas.


" This is an experimental map with three levels. The Primal Plane is magically rich and well defended. There is only one entrance to the Primal Plane. The Underworld is also quite well defended. There are several entrances into the underworld, including underwater ones. The sea provinces also have two levels."

[Aezeal]

Well the whole idea isn't balanced in anyway since non air, non astral nations would have a very hard time competing.

PS you should look up one of my maps, not the most beautifull but it has caves, land and then cloud regions lots of bottle necks ect

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=36053 --> this is it

you could also make the regions owned by AI controlled thingies which start with advantages (modded in the map file) In my gangwars map (see below) I've also found out a way to make another nation take place in a bottleneck (between you and the AI's that start more powerfull) and then make that AI do nothing (I think it acutally isn't AI anymore but still a separate nation, I really can't remember how I did that but it should bereproducable) but still have it allied with the AI nations so they don't break out.

Makes it so you can fight for the "material" plane and then if you want you could attack the AI which blocks the real AI's and force your way into the outer realms by attacking (for example) an elemental temple with the acces to one of the planes.

In my map there was room for 4 players , they where put 2 together, they seperated by a powerfull indie province and then agian 2 together.. so you have an enemy to start with.
They if you want to moce to the inner city (ti's a city map) you could attack at the gates (where the inactive AI is) within the gates there where 2 AI's that started off more powerfull, but htey could attack eachother and then later another gate to the castle where the King (and his nations) started, not much land but a lot of bonusses there.

Try the map and see the options you could use.

[K]

Originally Posted by Aezeal

Well the whole idea isn't balanced in anyway since non air, non astral nations would have a very hard time competing.

Death and nature can also be used to travel. Air and Astral are only a benefit early to SCs who can fight the indies on the Planes (army size Astral is late, and Air can't move armies).

I think only 4 elemental and 4-5 outer planes are really necessary.

[Endovior]

Hmm. If you're talking about the standard 'Great Wheel', then it does seem easily doable... just stick the elemental/outer planes around the edge of the map as you desire, littered with appropriate sites, without gates to the 'Prime'. The magic sites that you'd get seem obvious, too...

Celestia: Astral
Arborea: Nature
Abyss: Blood
Baator: Death

You don't really need too many more planes then that... although you could just as easily scatter in the less noteworthy outer planes as individual provinces connecting the whole in a true 'Great Wheel', although this has problems of it's own (Mechanus the only province connecting Heaven and Hell?).

Really, it mostly depends on just how large you want the map to be, and how good your art skills are. It's really the art that'll make or break the map, as the site/critter modding to add the flavor shouldn't be all that hard to pull off.