This is Part 06 of a series wherein we talk about generating an entire campaign, on-the-fly, for your favorite fantasy role-playing game(s). In the future, it might have a tighter focus on either D&D or Pathfinder, but for now, let's consider this material more-or-less generic.
NOTE: All the usual polyhedron dice are used for DCS, though today, we'll only be using 1d12.
What existed before this world? Was it another world, filled with gods and heroes? An endless plane of energy or thought? Or maybe there was nothing at all?
Pure Ugliness
Roll 1d12:
01 -- The world before was draped in suffering. Despair was universal; nothing held beauty, all was painful to look upon, or even contemplate. The gods felt this world was too much like perdition, and rebuilt it. Same say, it really was a hell, and that parts still remain that way, in the hidden corners of the world.
02 -- The previous world was filled with impossible angles, cyclopean heights, and unnatural dimensions that would strain the mind to even view. It was built by beings which found these reality-bending formations normal. The gods known today battled with them, and that world was destroyed.
03 -- The previous world was much like this one, except that anger, jealousy, resentfulness, and lies were as common as air. It was a world of detestable notions and ambitions, and the gods destroyed it in a fit of righteous fury.
04 -- The old world held nothing but sin and evil. It was a hell made by demonic beings that considered themselves gods. The true gods defeated them in a great war, which crushed that world. The current world was formed from the wreckage of it.
05 -- The previous world formed spontaneously, apparently on its own. It was without form, comeliness, or merit. Only when the gods crafted this new world, did they bring grace and beauty to it.
06 -- The old world was deliberately created by the gods as a nightmarish prison for powerful beings. That world was destroyed when these beings escaped, but some say a few never made it off, and are trapped in this new world now.
07 -- The old world was practice for the gods, who were attempting to create a paradise. It was filled with displeasing elements, which offended their eyes, so they destroyed it and started over. Some say they are still displeased.
08 -- The previous world was created by a single godly being who valued nothing but beauty. It was an incredible place, filled with wondrous vistas, grand landscapes, and pastoral charm. It was defaced by only one thing: the beings which dwelled upon it. They were flawed and prone to mistakes, so the disgusted god destroyed the entire world to be rid of them.
09 -- The old world was much like the current one, except that the races on it were malformed and disturbing for the gods to look upon. The gods recrafted these races again and again, but they grew worse in appearance each time. The gods finally destroyed the world, itself, and started all over again. Some say, the gods feel that the current races are no better than those of the old world. Others say that this tale is actually a prophesy of what is to come, not a creation myth.
10 -- The old world was a convulsive, disturbing mess of a place, filled with heaving unpleasantness. The gods detested this place and destroyed it, but they saved the beings who lived upon it, and placed them in the new world. Some say that when people have nightmares, they are actually remembering that earlier, failed world.
11 -- When the gods were forming their own paradise home, they removed what they didn't like about it, the way a sculptor chisels away marble from a work-in-progress. The old world was one of the cast-off pieces, and though it had life upon it, the piece was without form or any beauty. One or more of the gods took an interest after some time, and reshaped this scrap into the present world.
12 -- Reality is cyclical, oscillating between extremes of divine beauty and infernal ugliness. As the present world falls into chaos, hatred, and fear, it grows ever closer to its ending and rebirth, whereupon all will start again in perfect order and loveliness. There are secret cults that seek to stave off this cycle, and others that seek to hasten it.
To be continued...
Image: Clothing, apparel, helmet and game by Ian Gonzalez, released under the Unsplash License. Modified by David in Inkscape.