Some time ago I was brainstorming about the magical medieval France setting, which later evolved into the Franc Barrois regional sandbox. While the setting was originally created from the original D&D rules, the ideas evolved during the course of the prep. I started considering using the Outdoor Survival board as a sort of archetypal dreamlands type of dimension characters could access through gates, specific spells and the like. I would then use the OD&D rules for the Outdoor Survival board, and some other set of rules for the material plane, even multiple sets of rules for it, actually. Turns out that I chose the First Edition AD&D rules in the end, but that's beside the point.

When talking about a campaign using multiple rules sets, I talked about how my Seven Spires game (Arcana Evolved) changed the metaphysics of my campaign forever. I already knew that most of my games unfolded in the same campaign multiverse, but it didn't really have a set structure. The Seven Spires changed that.

In that particular game, the players basically found a way to "reboot" the entire setting, which became Praemal (Ptolus), thus trapping the Galchutt, nefarious godlike influences bent on utter and complete Chaos and Dissolution within, while the multiple material planes sprang forth from this archetypal soup, as it were, to evolve as many different worlds which I organized as a spectrum around seven archetypal Alternate Earths reminiscent of E. Gary Gygax's campaign (though they are my own variations rather than strict equivalents, obviously).

These specific Archetypal Alternate Earths are:
_______

Earth: our world and dimension(s). Worlds gravitating around Earth are very similar to our own.

Aerth: The legendary Earths, with more visible legends and archetypes than our own worlds. Magic exists, and is generally structured, with rules, and lawful influences. Good and Evil are concrete forces to be aligned with or against, but not necessarily easily recognizable. There is a rhyme and reason to it all. Pseudo-historic and pseudo-legendary realms will gravitate around Aerth.

Uerth: Realms influenced by Chaos but still holding into a coherent whole, where memes are more fluid, blending into each other. These worlds are generally built of grey moral areas. Worlds with powerful corrupting and/or chaotic magics will be affiliated to Uerth.

Eurth: A step farther away from the legendary worlds of Aerth. The Worlds gravitating around Eurth might feel very strange, maybe faerie-like to our sensibilities. They are more abstract and quintessential, and depart from our Earth's world structures in some major way. Uchronies, worlds with one or two major differences from our world (Castle Falkenstein) might be affiliated to Eurth.

Oerth: The worlds gravitating around Oerth are the most magical of the Enrill. They usually depart from our Earth sensibilities in several major ways. These worlds might have incarnated gods unknown to us walking amongst men, square planets, a Phlogiston between them changing the laws of physics radically, good and evil as positive forces of reality and so on.

Iarth: The worlds of Iarth are corrupt, falling apart, decadent and eaten by worlds-tree worms from within. Even for those worlds which might look coherent, something is deeply wrong and unsettling behind the scenes. Other worlds might be disintegrating in the ether, or have been taken over by alien forces well beyond our wildest nightmares. There is generally no good and evil, no moral compass, no hope in the worlds revolving around black Iarth.

Sages tell us there is a Seventh archetypal Earth, but it's nature is widely debated, as well as its name. There are those who claim that there are actually more archetypal Earths besides, but they are usually not given any credence by those who know of the true nature of the Enrill.
_______

All the games I run, and some of the games I play, happen in the same multiverse, the same overall campaign, with a given cosmological structure, which I call the Enrill. If we represent the Praemal prison plane at the base of a symbolic Worlds Tree representation, with roots going deep into the archetypal plane of non-existence, the trunk springing from that soup of half-baked ideas and archetypes, to then grow and separate to form branches with leaves, different expressions of these same central figures and ideas, this is the basic representation of the Enrill we end up with:



Note the few sample games and their related settings mentioned on this diagram are not necessarily stuck in the position they are shown to be here: Worlds might shift, revolve back and forth between Alternate Earths, some events within them might change their nature and cosmological affiliations, and so on. This diagram is a symbolized representation of the concept simplified, summarized in a two-dimensional form for explanatory purposes only.

Hmm interesting. Like the spread of prime material planes influenced by abutting nearby astral domains.

Though I am entertained by the names, any more Welsh sounding "earths" and one of your players is bound to throw their shoe at you. Just fair warning. I suggest avoiding double ll, ff, and dd just in case; be sparse with gw and wy, too.

My various campaigns are linked as well, although I've never done a diagram like that - looks nice.

Quote from: Opaopajr;666303Hmm interesting. Like the spread of prime material planes influenced by abutting nearby astral domains.

Though I am entertained by the names, any more Welsh sounding "earths" and one of your players is bound to throw their shoe at you. Just fair warning. I suggest avoiding double ll, ff, and dd just in case; be sparse with gw and wy, too.

I'll try to remember that.

Quote from: VectorSigma;666307My various campaigns are linked as well, although I've never done a diagram like that - looks nice.

Heh. So I am not the only one doing this. That's good to know!