So, I occasionally think about building Minecraft adventure maps. Even though the trend has sort of passed I feel like. I had this idea about using command blocks to make it forever night. You have to go into a dungeon to get an item, a gold sphere or something, and then bring it to a citadel to make the sun shine.
But that's boring in that context, let's recontextualize it to Tabletop RPGs.
High atop the Solar Mount, from which the sun rises every day, is the Citadel of the Sun. This fortress holds the sun when it is not in the sky. In the top of the highest most defensible tower is the golden orb of the sun. The sun orb is guarded by paladins who worship the sun keeper. The sun keeper is a mortal, voted into this position by priests and paladins and bishops and arch bishops through a system involving smoke and flumes and quiet rooms that are overly painted. He is literally a god, because the orb is literally the sun. The current Sun keeper is the son of the previous one. This is slightly controversial but he won the vote because as he's said. "I have no other option."
The sun keeper is also a god. He has the power of the sun, and is able to grant a fragment of that power to the faithful. Clerics of Light literally ask him for their power. They pray to the sun however, not directly to him. The Sun Keeper is like the suns manager, he writes the schedule and keeps it, but the sun orb does the work.
The previous Sun Keeper, his mother, died defending it. You see everyone wants the sun. Wizards want it, because they want to make a copy or study it or put it into a furnace, whatever wizards do. The entire underdark wants it because they don't have one down there. Some mad kings want it, because they want the power for themselves. And zealots of other gods want to control it to build their gods power.
On the opposite side of the known world is the Lunar Tower. It is guarded by mad mages, and mad paladins, and in the middle of a lycanthrope infested wood. It holds the Lunar Orb. The mages study the moon and it's phases. Because the moon makes magic more powerful. On a full moon give magic users advantage on spell checks. No one person controls the moon, it's a council of mages and bishops who manage it and study it. Because while the sun always rises, the moon changes, it's temperamental. Some nights it fails to rise at all, instead brooding in the tower. This is the source of much debate and people arguing.
People still want to steal the moon, but for very bad reasons. Again, some kingdoms think they can do it better. Some mages believe it is the source of all magic (sort of) and want to channel all it's power (bad idea). Strangely, many denizens of the far realm want the moon for their own odd purposes.
Now, we did the major stuff, now the weird stuff.
People think druids control the weather, and that is true in so far as they guard it. There is a crystal clear lake from which all rain comes. It is where all rivers lead. The druids there guard it with their lives. If you're nice to them, maybe they'll let you take some rain home with you in a bottle.
All snow lives in the mountains, and arctic druids protect it. Wind comes from a very narrow valley which again, druids protect. Again, they will let you have SOME, if you're nice and you do them a favor. You see, they are constantly under attack, and people do steal from them often. They want what was stolen back. Letting stolen wind or rain out of bottle is enough to send it home, same with any weather. The natural systems in place will always return it.
All trees come from one mother tree and father tree, which elves jealously guard. They've been known to plant saplings in barren places for money. But the trees speak to them, and they don't like getting yelled at for offenses to the trees. Things that offend trees are many and various. Cutting down a young tree, cutting down a very old tree, cutting down a tree during mating season. Cutting down a tree during growing season. Basically, all trees must be asked before being chopped down.
I don't need to tell you how impractical that is.
There's Ideas here I'm missing, but I'll come up with more later.
~H
But that's boring in that context, let's recontextualize it to Tabletop RPGs.
High atop the Solar Mount, from which the sun rises every day, is the Citadel of the Sun. This fortress holds the sun when it is not in the sky. In the top of the highest most defensible tower is the golden orb of the sun. The sun orb is guarded by paladins who worship the sun keeper. The sun keeper is a mortal, voted into this position by priests and paladins and bishops and arch bishops through a system involving smoke and flumes and quiet rooms that are overly painted. He is literally a god, because the orb is literally the sun. The current Sun keeper is the son of the previous one. This is slightly controversial but he won the vote because as he's said. "I have no other option."
The sun keeper is also a god. He has the power of the sun, and is able to grant a fragment of that power to the faithful. Clerics of Light literally ask him for their power. They pray to the sun however, not directly to him. The Sun Keeper is like the suns manager, he writes the schedule and keeps it, but the sun orb does the work.
The previous Sun Keeper, his mother, died defending it. You see everyone wants the sun. Wizards want it, because they want to make a copy or study it or put it into a furnace, whatever wizards do. The entire underdark wants it because they don't have one down there. Some mad kings want it, because they want the power for themselves. And zealots of other gods want to control it to build their gods power.
On the opposite side of the known world is the Lunar Tower. It is guarded by mad mages, and mad paladins, and in the middle of a lycanthrope infested wood. It holds the Lunar Orb. The mages study the moon and it's phases. Because the moon makes magic more powerful. On a full moon give magic users advantage on spell checks. No one person controls the moon, it's a council of mages and bishops who manage it and study it. Because while the sun always rises, the moon changes, it's temperamental. Some nights it fails to rise at all, instead brooding in the tower. This is the source of much debate and people arguing.
People still want to steal the moon, but for very bad reasons. Again, some kingdoms think they can do it better. Some mages believe it is the source of all magic (sort of) and want to channel all it's power (bad idea). Strangely, many denizens of the far realm want the moon for their own odd purposes.
Now, we did the major stuff, now the weird stuff.
People think druids control the weather, and that is true in so far as they guard it. There is a crystal clear lake from which all rain comes. It is where all rivers lead. The druids there guard it with their lives. If you're nice to them, maybe they'll let you take some rain home with you in a bottle.
All snow lives in the mountains, and arctic druids protect it. Wind comes from a very narrow valley which again, druids protect. Again, they will let you have SOME, if you're nice and you do them a favor. You see, they are constantly under attack, and people do steal from them often. They want what was stolen back. Letting stolen wind or rain out of bottle is enough to send it home, same with any weather. The natural systems in place will always return it.
All trees come from one mother tree and father tree, which elves jealously guard. They've been known to plant saplings in barren places for money. But the trees speak to them, and they don't like getting yelled at for offenses to the trees. Things that offend trees are many and various. Cutting down a young tree, cutting down a very old tree, cutting down a tree during mating season. Cutting down a tree during growing season. Basically, all trees must be asked before being chopped down.
I don't need to tell you how impractical that is.
There's Ideas here I'm missing, but I'll come up with more later.
~H
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