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LoC's Guide To The Omniverse 3.0 (Repost)



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Ðari

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I was poking around the forum and found Kegan's old Guide and thought I would share it.

LoC's Guide To Role-Playing


This is for newbs, n00bs, and experienced Role-Players alike. So pay attention.

(Note: To get to a certain section, press Ctrl+F and then type in one of the sections, 0.1, 04., etc.)

Table of Contents

++++++Basics Guide++++++
0.1 Creating A Good Role-Play
0.2 Guide To Posting/Literacy
0.3 Creating A Good Role-Play Character
0.4 RP Combat

++++++The Omniverse++++++
1.0 The Omniverse At a Glance
1.1 The Beginning -- Seven Precursor Planes:
1.A The Plane of Chaos
1.B The Astral Plane
1.C The (Prime) Material/Physical Plane

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

0.1 Creating A Good Role-Play


So, you often find yourselves, as a Role-Player, how do you make a good successful Role-Play? Well, let me tell you, it goes beyond just the Role-Play, or at least you will realize that by the end of this.

However, let's start with the Role-Play itself.



The Storyline

The most important part of the Role-Play. Also, the Role-Play itself. You will notice as you browse these or other RP Forums, that there are many different storylines. Some people choose to base their RP's off of pre-fabricated storylines (such as Kingdom Hearts or Harry Potter). Some choose a crossover of different things ( Like Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion). Then there are those who choose to create their own, original (contradictive, heh) Role-Play.

Let me literate. There is no true-blue original storyline. Somebody somewhere has already done it. Thought I would get that out of the way real quick.

Now, here you are, sitting there, trying to come up with your Storyline. What to do? What to be? What to base it around? Well, there are many different things you could do.

However, most of your Role-Plays (regardless of being original or not) will be based on one of these Archetypes:


1. Good Vs. Evil -- Solid Block -- What I mean is just classic Good Vs. Evil. Not really much more there.

2. Quest! -- One or more (usually) characters go on a quest to retrieve something or to find someone, usually a treasure.

3. Romance -- Yes, these Role-Plays usually end up being extremely cheesy (the books based on this usually are as well). These are not quite as common as the first two, but they do pop up quite a bit.

4. Comedy -- Yes, Comedy Role-Plays. They are there.


There are other types, but more than likely, they can be traced back to one of these four, or a combination.


Now, what kind of type are you going to pick? You may want to go on a Quest for the Holy Grail (metaphorically speaking). You may want to have a Knight Vs. Evil Wizard.

It all varies from person to person.


Now, what kind of setting?

There are three main settings (sub-types as well) that people pick from:

Medieval (Past) -- This isn't just Castles and Kings. Medieval Time Eras were around the time of Samurai as well.

Realistic (Present) -- Usually a calm Earth-bound setting. Some city, or some far away place in the country.

Sci-Fi (Futuristic) -- Aliens and Spaceships galore!


Notice that all three of these really are, just Past, Present, and Future. However, in RP terms we usually refer to them as Medieval, Realistic, or Sci-Fi.


Now, you have your setting, and your Archetype -- Time to personalize!

For instance, let's say I chose a Quest, and I wanted to go with Realistic (Present).

My storyline, if I wanted to go with the idea, could be along this:

A young man goes on a hunt to find his family's missing Heirloom. Within it lies the secrets of proving that he is of Royal Blood.


That was way too thin, but you should get the idea though.

Now, once you have your idea out, go over it, SEVERAL times. Add more to it, take some off if you think it's too long. Your Role-Play Storyline should be thought out though! Not necessarily four paragraphs long, but at least to get something good.


I am going to ask this once, please don't make a cookie-cutter kind of storyline. What I mean by this, is that, if your Role-Play storyline is only three lines long, you seriously have a problem! That's just some generic bull. Give it life, dammit! Give it a twist, or make something new happen.


Okay, well let's say you do have a decent storyline now. Let's work on it one last time.

Literacy.

Wait, what's that word?

Literacy.

Ah, I like the sound of that. You know, when they came up with the keyboard for the first ever Type-Writer, they gave you all the keys and symbols necessary to be clear and literate.

If you have been in an American School for eight years and you still do not know how to write a good basic sentence, you should never Role-Play. Ever.

Use Microsoft Word or Word Perfect if it helps. Word Pad does not do Spell Check. Use Spell & Grammar Check to help you get better (especially if you are just that desperate).

Note: If you are worried about your posts and such, write them up in one of these Programs as well.

Now I myself, have been Role-Playing and writing long enough (and I had enough common sense to pay attention while learning my Primary Language ) to go on without using one of these programs, and making minimal mistakes.




Alright, so you have your storyline and such ready. YOU ARE NOT THROUGH QUITE YET!!

Now comes the next part.



Rules

You need to set up some basic rules for your Role-Play. I mean, your RP won't go on very long if you don't set any rules.


What kind of rules do you want? Well it really depends. In my opinion, there are two things that I do not allow, and are always first in my Rules.

God Moding and Power Playing

God Moding -- Your character is essentially, a God. He can do anything, and has virtually no weakness, and cannot be hurt. Even Valyon can be hurt, and I have had that character for the longest of any of mine. No character is invincible.

Power Playing -- This is when someone tries to control your character, or, in the case of a fight, automatically lands a hit without giving them any chance to counter or what have you.


Now, other things you may want to look for in rules:

Literacy -- You probably want to post this if you want complete thoughts in Role-Play, instead of a post like this:

" I wlk over 2 the persn nad say high!!!11oneone"


"Gah! Get back!" Destroys the evil malignant post with a sledgehammer, and then buries it in the backyard.


Anyways, that is bad literacy (the Bold one). You want to be able to understand your fellow Role-Player. Now a few mistakes is acceptable, but if they start getting Dumbass-happy, then you have something to watch out for.


Another rule you may want to look at is One-Lining. This is, what it says. When the person posts basically one line in your Role-Play. This means they usually lack the skill (might just be plain lazy) to put some detail into their post.

In example, instead of this:

"Valyon walked over to the large rock and sat down, thinking."


You could post something like this (if you tried):

"There was a ruffling sound against the ground as the lone male known as Valyon slowly made his way over to the large edifice sticking forth from the ground. He examined the cool solid top of the rock, making sure as to not find any insect or small creature laying there, before he slowly sat down upon it. In doing this, he slowly let his mind wander, as he went for a swim into the stream of mentality that was his thought process."


Now, wasn't that better? You can do it to, just bother to actually learn and put some detail and get creative.


Now, there are other rules you might want to look at :

Romance -- do you want guy/girl (or homo action in some cases -- no not taking a shot at homos) action going on in your RP? Some people feel this might ruin their role-play. Honestly, in most of mine I allow it.

Cursing -- This stupid f---ing s&#t comes up so d@@@n much. That kind of stuff. Do you want to allow it? How much? Yeah things like that.

Having Fun -- this isn't so much a rule as a novelty.

Password -- Some people post this rule. They usually post a word or a phrase that people need to put when posting their templates to join a role play. I do this occassionally, so that some newb can't just run up and join out of nowhere. People usually have this rule as proof that the person read the rules, and cannot claim ignorance.


There are other rules out there, you just got to think about it!



Template

This is what a person fills out to join a Role-Play. This is them basically putting an application up for their character, a... description sheet of their character. It usually encompasses the basics, like this:


Name:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Personality:
Bio: (For those who are just that ignorant, this is their history, a summary of their life, you don't have to put it all into detail)


Some people like to add extra stuff, depending on their Role-Play, like these:

Weapon
Theme Song
Side


These things vary depending on how much you want people to describe their character in your Role-Play. There shouldn't be much more to explain here.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


0.2 Guide To Posting/Literacy

Well, you already know how to make a good Role-Play. You should anyways, if not, read it first. This is for posting in a Role-Play, whether it is yours or not.

Now, many people ask me, how can I post that much? Where do I get my... muse, of sorts? Well, this is a simple task.

By the end of this, you will be able to take a post like this:

"Bob walked into the house and sat down on the couch."

Into:

"Bob emitted a small yawn, as he paced the distance at a walking speed. He was headed into the house to sit down and relax for a little while. He crossed the threshold that was the door of his home, as he already felt the eaves of relaxation dawning upon him. He was glad to be home once again, indeed, especially after the busy day he had had.

Bob observed the normalities and regular order of his living room. It was how it had been. There was a long, beige-colored couch, with a small round glass table perched in front of it. About five feet in front of this was his T.V., a twenty-seven inch plasma screen. He smiled at it a moment, it was like a baby to him. He made his way over to his couch, and plopped down on it, stretching out as he did, glad to be home indeed, as he flicked the television on."


Alright, well what is the first thing that comes to mind when you look at those two posts? If you said "THE SECOND ONE IS F---ING HUGE COMPARED THAT LITTLE LINE!" Then you are right my friend. This is the one thing that people cannot seem to grasp in Role-Play: Detail.


Question: When you write a story or a poem, even if it's just for fun, or when you read a book, do you notice the striking similarity between that and Role-Playing? You are right (well, most Poetry isnt', but I read Epic Poetry... 'tis a tad bit different).

Writing a story, is basically the same thing as Role-Playing. If you write, then you should Role-Play how you write. If you answer this with "Well when I write it's short." then you should not write my friend. DETAIL. Use it. It is there for a reason.

Creativity is a huge factor, if not the biggest. Writing and Role-Playing both require it. Think of Creativity to these things like fuel to a vehicle; without much of it, you won't get far. Now, keep that in mind as you write your posts! It isn't hard to be creative, just put more detail, put in a little something about your surroundings, and maybe something your character is thinking about; it doesn't have to be huge.

-- I should point out that I am not implying your posts should be five fuggin paragraphs long. NO. Just, at least a paragraph (which is as small as five sentences). Remember, there are little tips. For instance, SPELL OUT YOUR NUMBERS! Damn, you should know how to spell 7!! S-e-v-e-n. How hard is that? Hey, and it just increased the size of your post! Great.

Basically, the only way to get better at this, is to do two things:

1. Read books/novels
2. Practice. -- Practice is the key to everything.


Now, let's move on to Literacy. This to me is just as important as making a good post. Literacy is (though I should NOT have to be explaining this; if you are Role-Playing and you don't know what this means I swear to GOD I will find you and slit your throat while you sleep) the grammatical and spelling correctness in your language, mainly when it comes to writing.

Now, what does this mean to you? Well, it means going from this:

"Steve wlked over 2 the door hey theree bob he siad."

To:

"Steve walked over to the door. "Hey there, Bob", he said to the figure that stood there."


Now, I don't want any of that "I can do that but I'm just lazy" shit. No, that won't fly. If you can't bother to give a little bit of care to your post then you should go away and never return. You disgrace yourself and others. You mock Role-Playing for what it is and, in my opinion, ruin it for everyone else.

Literacy, basically, you need to have a grasp of English (95% of you should, it IS YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE!). This isn't hard to do. You know that place you go to for about eight hours a day? School, yeah, that's the place. Yes, well, they teach you your language!! Isn't that so cool! Yeah! Why aren't you paying attention?! Oh, that's right. You're too cool for school. Well, you may be, but English is natural to you, and you should at least have the intelligence and decency to learn it.

If you are honestly just bad at English, more than 90% of you should have a program on your computer, either called Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect. These programs you can type in, for such things as Word Processing or writing a story. Type up your posts in one of these programs, and then correct everything, and then post! It isn't that hard, and won't take more than about ten more seconds of your time (ten seconds to copy/paste your post into the Quick Reply/Reply Box).

If you don't have one of these programs, then are you familiar with Shareware? Programs like Limewire or Kazaa? Download the program off one of these (Note: I do not endorce this, it is illegal). You could do it the legal way by going to a Pawn Shop or Wal-Mart (both about the same in quality -laugh laugh-) or a computer store and buy one of these programs. Honestly, if you look, you can probably find one for about 40 or 50 bucks, probably cheaper if you go to a Pawn Shop.

Note: These programs will not solve all your Spelling/Grammatical Errors, but give you a good start.

Alright, basically that's it! I honestly can give no more advice, except for this golden rule:

PRACTICE

Hey, and these things may seem a little tedious or boring at first, but trust me, they will make Role-Playing more fun for you, and more enjoyable for those Role-Playing with you. Not only that, but it will make them respect you more!

(Honestly, do you think I got where I am today by being a crappy RP'er? Hell. No.)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

0.3 Creating A Good Role-Play Character

For those of you who know me, you know that all of my characters are at least decent. Eighty percent of them are usually great characters.

Well, for those of you who don't (know me), I bet you often wonder how some of these people make such good Role-Play Characters. Well, I am going to give you a good start.


First, let's look at the Role-Play. I will be using an Example for this Guide. Let's say you are joining my Responsibilty Of Magic Role-Play. In this Role-Play, there are eight teenagers, all of which have a unique magical ability. Well, here is my character for that Role-Play:


Name: Ketsueki Sang -- Ketsu for short

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Appearance: His eyes are crimson in color. He stands about 5'11 and weighs about 145 lbs. Fit, but not muscular. He has a paler complection, and is, by dubbed looks, goth/outsider. He has a reason to be nowadays. He wears black clothing, black pants, a black shirt with Jack Skellington's face on the front of it, and a blazer over this, with thin white pinstripes. He wears a Seven Star Pendant. His hair is raven black, with a hint of blue in it.

Personality: His temprament is very odd. He seems to be docile, calm, quiet in nature at times. However, this can quickly changed. Moody would be a fair term to describe him, but without implying a PMS-esque nature. He is very intelligent, but at the same time, not much of a talker. He can speak through body language though.

Bio: Ketsu had a great life. He was raised by loving parents, in a luxurious manor. He went to private schools, and had many friends. He traveled the world even, and was well liked by children and adults alike.

Had is the key word.

At the age of ten, his parents received word that, because of a stock fall from the company they backed, they would be going bankrupt. They were to go to Sweden to transition the stock to actual money, so that they would be secure. It was a normal day in a sense, they would be fine as long as his parents made it on time.

They didn't. In fact, they never made it at all.

The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, and they lost their money. With his parents dead, and no other family to turn to, he was put into an orphanage. He wanted to commit suicide. He tried. This was how he discovered his powers. He had cut his wrist, and was bleeding to death quite hastily, but, at the last moment from the fear in him, he wished himself back to life, and his blood suddenly found its way back into his body.

He started to experiment with his abilities, and soon found out what he was capable of, especially after doing some research. He left the orphanage at thirteen, and found a job at an instrument store, that sold mainly guitars, drums, basses, and keyboards, along with mixing and electronic equipment. He has been working there ever since. He did, thankfully, complete High School.

Magic Type: Blood Magic -- One of, if not the, most dangerous type of magic -- to the user and to others. You use blood, be it yours or your opponents, to your advantage. You can craft weaponry or armor out of blood, as well as other abilities of blood. You may find yourself growing weak if you use your own blood, though it is most often used.

Ultimate Spell: Blood Magic -- Bloodbath:This immensely powerful technique is glorious and terrifying to behold. The user can only use this once. It has only been used once in all of its known history, and the only thing that was known from this technique, was the fact that the user was dead afterwards, along with the four-hundred soldiers that had were attacking him. The user had no blood left.


Alright. Let's break this down a bit.

When you are joing a Role-Play, you should first look at the story, read it, you don't have to memorize it, but at least know what the basic line is and what's going down. Don't go into a Role-Play about Medieval Knights with a Renegade Cop from the Future (-cough-Terminator-cough-). That would just be stupid.

So, after you know the story, read the RULES!!!!! God, 70% of Role-Players just dive headlong into a Role-Play without reading the rules. More and more Role-Plays have PASSWORDS on them now. This means you have to post a certain word or phrase or do something to join the Role-Play. This is to keep the newbs and n00bs (no offense, this probably applies to most of you) out. It also proves to them you read the rules. That means, you can't say later on you didn't, and can't feign ignorance.

Now that you have the rules read, read the Template they want you to follow. Note that some people don't post a template, they may not want you to post one, or have a more unique idea (Who Am I does this).


Okay, so you have all the nitty-gritty down out of the way. Phew, that's over with.

So, let's refer back to my RP Character. We will be using him as an Example.

First of all, we will be looking at the template.

"Name: Ketsueki Sang -- Ketsu for short"

A name. What's in a name? Nevermind, Shakespeare reference. A name is of course manditory for your character, regardless of whether or not you have to post a template.

Now you should center your character around what the Role-Play is about. This is about magic, notice how I used it here.

My character uses Blood Magic. I decided, for his name, I went and translated blood into two other languages.

Ketsueki : Japanese | Sang : French

You don't have to do this, but get creative with a name. Just don't get stupid.


"Age:18

Gender: Male"

I shouldn't have to explain that. However, remember, when reading a template that you have to post your character by, (or the content of the Role-Play) try to make your character more...sensable. If it is a Role-Play about Teenagers, like this one was, then they should probably not be over 19 years old, but no younger than 14. For this one, the youngest was 16.

"Appearance: His eyes are crimson in color. He stands about 5'11 and weighs about 145 lbs. Fit, but not muscular. He has a paler complection, and is, by dubbed looks, goth/outsider. He has a reason to be nowadays. He wears black clothing, black pants, a black shirt with Jack Skellington's face on the front of it, and a blazer over this, with thin white pinstripes. He wears a Seven Star Pendant. His hair is raven black, with a hint of blue in it."

Appearance. You should know, of course, this means what your character looks like. Now, most of the time, people (and I do too) use pictures. Link to them. Now you should understand, that if you pick a picture of a character that has wings, and the Role-Play is REALISTIC, then you either want to find another picture, or make a note that your character does not actually have wings.


Now, some people describe their character. This is fine too. If anything, it's actually better in a sense, because it let's you practice that detail we talked about earlier . Don't make your character just like some sort of stock-factory machine character like:

He wears black pants, a black shirt, black shoes, has black hair, and blue eyes. " Put some more detail into it! What kind of black hair? There is more than one shade! Any shirt in particular he/she wears? What about height and weight and body build? There is so much you could put into this.



"Personality: His temprament is very odd. He seems to be docile, calm, quiet in nature at times. However, this can quickly changed. Moody would be a fair term to describe him, but without implying a PMS-esque nature. He is very intelligent, but at the same time, not much of a talker. He can speak through body language though."

Personality. Now, let's face it, there are those Cookie-Cutter Personalities out there, like "He/she doesn't talk much, and keeps to themselves. Very intelligent and artistic." Or " He/she is usually the life of the party, outgoing and athletic."

Now, I understand that there are only so many Personalities out there. Hey, you can mix and match though. Look at mine. Come up with something!



"Bio: Ketsu had a great life. He was raised by loving parents, in a luxurious manor. He went to private schools, and had many friends. He traveled the world even, and was well liked by children and adults alike.

Had is the key word.

At the age of ten, his parents received word that, because of a stock fall from the company they backed, they would be going bankrupt. They were to go to Sweden to transition the stock to actual money, so that they would be secure. It was a normal day in a sense, they would be fine as long as his parents made it on time.

They didn't. In fact, they never made it at all.

The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, and they lost their money. With his parents dead, and no other family to turn to, he was put into an orphanage. He wanted to commit suicide. He tried. This was how he discovered his powers. He had cut his wrist, and was bleeding to death quite hastily, but, at the last moment from the fear in him, he wished himself back to life, and his blood suddenly found its way back into his body.

He started to experiment with his abilities, and soon found out what he was capable of, especially after doing some research. He left the orphanage at thirteen, and found a job at an instrument store, that sold mainly guitars, drums, basses, and keyboards, along with mixing and electronic equipment. He has been working there ever since. He did, thankfully, complete High School."


Bio, a.k.a., Biography. This is your character's History. What was their life? Now, something that pisses many of the better Role-Players off (and many Role-Players in general) is the whole "His/her past is unknown, they seem to be very secretive" shit. GOD! :mad: If I could just kill everyone that has posted this -- well then about 98% of the RP'ers would be gone.

Anyway, don't be intimidated! This does NOT mean your Bio has to be extremely long. Summarize their life! Anything interesting happen in their life? Did they sing or skateboard for a while? Do they work somewhere? There are so many things you could put.

If all else fails, model them after your life.

It doesn't exactly have to be after your life, but hey, it's a good start.



Now, those are the basics of a Template and creating a character. Many times, there will be extra things to fill out in a template, but, don't fret. Just remember, be creative! Unless you have to post a specific thing, like whether they are a good guy or a bad guy, or what your Theme Song is. These extra-cirriculars are nothing to be worried about.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
0.4 RP Combat

TEN-HUT SOLDIER!

Just kidding. Now, this section is devoted to something I have been trying to think of how to construct for awhile now (Note why the section title was up, yet this section was not up). So, we are finally to something everyone can appreciate (if done correctly) -- RP Combat.

Role-Play Combat, though fun, is a very hard thing to do. Many people end up over doing things and God Mode a little, or Power Play -- even those like me do it. NO ONE CAN ESCAPE THIS. It is a natural flaw in the way everyone Role-Plays.

We can minimize this flaw though.

Basically, combat will revolve around two things -- Melee, and Power Character.

You know when you're fighting hand-to-hand, down to the nitty-gritty with some dirtbag heap staring you right in the eye? Then again, maybe you are going sword-to-sword with a samurai of the past. This is called Melee. Melee is combat that does not involve powers. Just physical or weapon force again physical or weapon force. Nothing special. Your weapon might be some sort of super forged steel sword, but nothing magical goes on here.

Power Character is the exact opposite. Forget bare brawn, you want to rip open a world of hurt using Black magic! Or maybe you want to unload an assload of elemental pain on that lizard guy.

Well, forget it. You have to learn about these things first. Combat is very fun, and very easy, once you grasp the basic concept. I also apologize in advance for making RP seem like a labor rather than a fun thing. It's supposed to be fun, but, it should also be fun and enjoyable for others.

In combat, you want to remember a couple of things. The first, would be, remember the two top laws: No God Moding & No Power Playing. If you don't know what those are, refer to Section 0.1, it's in there. If you remember these two rules, you should be fine.

Now, I should point out, as before, sometimes you won't be able to avoid this. Then again, it's okay to bend the rules occassionally. This doesn't mean go God Mode happy on your friend's ass, no no no... This means that if you do have to do one of these so once in a blue moon, then it's okay. No harm done.

Next thing you should know, is, be descriptive. A basic rule of thumb here is, that, when you are making an attack, you may want to describe what is happening. I mean, after all, it would suck if suddenly the guy that was drop kick you suddenly had a gun he was holding to the back of your neck. EXPLAIN how you got there, or how it works. Explain what the move may do, especially if you think your opponent won't know how it works.

A good example is to watch an RP Battle. They're a craze me and a guy started a good bit back, but there has been a lull in them. I will instead link you to one between two very awesome characters. Click Here! That is a PC battle, betwee Valyon Lightstar and Ukiah Oregon. Now, I would like to point out something else. In PC, don't go flinging around attacks or magic that you don't know anything about because you seen someone else use them. No, that isn't a good thing. Stick to what you are good at.

This means, don't go magic happy if you are better off doing hand-to-hand combat. More than likely the other guy will own you. Or there might be a load of confusion.

Anyway, another good rule of thumb, is to make your moves...flow. One of the reasons I am such an accomplished Role-Player is the fact that, my post are neither pages long, nor a couple of sentences short. They are decent size (though I have many a time before made very long posts) and they flow. This means that everything seems to connect. This will not only help you out, but help the opponent out as well, so they know what to do.

Other than this, I can give no better advice. You just need to practice, and, if possible, learn from a good example (*cough*ValyonUkiahfight*cough*). I leave you with this now, and hope for you the best.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++


1.0 The Omniverse


Yeah... "It's about damn time" is probably what most of you are thinking at the moment. I apologize for being so lax on this...seeing as how there were so many that wanted to learn about the Omniverse, so, without further ado, I present:

The Omniverse at a Glance.



The Omniverse. So many ways one could explain it... so many ways that people have already tried. I have found myself to often describe it like this, in my past and current experiences:

The Omniverse isn't a Universe. It isn't a Multiverse. If you were to somehow put all planes, dimensions, realities, worlds, solar systems, galaxies, universes, and multiverses into an Acorn Shell, you would get the Omniverse. It is as simple as it is named: Omni -- All; Verse -- Collection. This seems weird, but it is a set truth. All Role-Play, games, books, movies, and anything of a fictional nature takes place within this monstrous cluster of all things within a relative boundary of the imaginative and dulchred. It is always expanding to the infinite and vanishing to the negative.Thus, the Omniverse shall never, ever cease to exist.


That might sound a little fancy or worded oddly, but hey, it is a simple truth. One of few that exist in life (even if this isn't real life...ironic...ha). No one can really say they know the full Omniverse...because this would be impossible; mainly because of that second-to-last sentence. However, I will start you on the road to at least a basic knowledge of it and its workings.

I feel that Role-Players need to familiarize themselves with the Omniverse, to know that, not only is there more out there than they realize, but that everything has a way of tying together, and there is always a chance for something new.

So, in this case, where would we start? Why, at the beginning of course...

The Beginning of the Omniverse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Beginning -- Seven Precursor Planes


In the beginning...there wa--

No, no, no. I hate it when things start like that. We are going to discuss the beginning of the Omniverse, and, in it, the Seven Precursor Planes. These planes are as they named... Precusor...-y... Yeah, anyway, they are the primary seven planes, and two Dominant Planes spawn from each one (then there are miscellaneous planes spawned from these Dominant Planes... but they aren't so important... not at the moment anyway). So, let's get started. I will discuss, in order of how they lay... in importance, and in stature (In other words, if you were to look at a diagram of the Omniverse and how the planes lie you would see them in this order...either from inner to outer or from top to bottom, depending how you want to look. My personal favorite is that they are all intertwined).


1.A The Plane of Chaos
From this plane...all has come, and to it... all will return.

You've probably heard those words before in various stories and religions. Well, truth is, most things center around things forming from a chaotic epicenter of energy or darkness. Thus is true in the Omniverse. This plane is also called the Primary Plane, though while slightly more important than the others... it serves no higher purpose. Upon this plane, only one being exists -- Father Chaos...Lord Chaos... God Chaos...God of -- You get the picture. He, she, it, whatever you want to call it (though primarly thought of as masculine), lies at the center of this plane... usually in a deep slumber. Upon this plane lies chaos, in its raw form. You can't really say chaos energy... because energy is a by-product.

It is below this plane (once again, depending how you look at their layout) that the Nexus exists. The Nexus is simply the point were all things meet... the Chaos Plane not withstanding, seeing as how if anything were to truly connect with the plane without a proper connection, then everything would be eradicated...and the Omniverse would have to try and start... all... over... again. From this plane, chaos seeps into the other planes... as to why this chaos doesn't destroy things, remains to be investigated, but it more than likely has to do with the fact that it doesn't pass directly into a plane... but absorbs the plane itself, in an odd kind of way.

(Note: For those wondering or guessing, this is where Valyon draws one of his most powerful resources -- Chaos itself. )

Now, some of you might be saying, that "Chaos cannot be a Precursor... because there has to be order (or law, whatever) to balance it." NO, this is not true. Chaos in itself, is so...chaotic, that it creates an odd balance; it in itself is the order to the Omniverse. However, order is on another topic...which will be covered later.

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1.B The Astral Plane

This plane... is the one that most usually try to use in a fight or other things. This plane, is where your mental self exists, your soul, so to speak. The Ethereal Plane is a sub-level of this plane and is known as a Dominant Plane. Either way, the Astral Plane is basically where people like shamen draw their powers from. This plane is so closely molded to the material plane, that the two are sometimes undiscernable.

Think of it like this. When a dragon takes a human form, his body has to go somewhere... it shifts to the Astral Plane. Those who are able to see on both the Material plane and Astral can see the dragon in his true form... as if it were an aura of sorts around him. Astral abilities are among some of the most powerful techniques that can be mastered. However, mastery is difficult, considering there is a chance you could end up destroying yourself. This plane is the first beyond the physical, but is more denser than the next ones.

It is also this plane in which most can use to travel to other worlds, planes, and "time" periods. This plane is sort of like the step between all the rest of the planes, in a sense. However, it is a Precursor for the exact same reason -- it connects the other planes. There are several layers to this plane in itself, without the Dominant Planes that descend from it.

The Astral Plane is the plane of thought, memory, and psychic energy; it is where gods go when they die or are forgotten (or, most likely, both). It is a barren place with only rare bits of solid matter; some creatures, such as the tyrannous githyanki, use the petrified corpses of dead gods as floating fortresses. The Astral Plane is unique in that it is infinitesimal instead of infinite; there is no space or time here, though both catch up with you when you leave. The souls of the newly dead from the Prime Material Plane pass through here on their way to the afterlife or Outer Planes.
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1.C The (Prime) Material/Physical Plane


Hi Kids! I did get something done over my summer vacation... another plane! And this one is very, very important. This is the plane that we all exist on and that most actions are taken on. In fact, you could say this and the Astral Plane are on the same level of importance, but I am digressing.

Now, how to explain this plane? Well, I guess what I said before about us being on it, is a very good start. This is the plane in which laws such as physics apply... one-hundred-percent-of-the-time. No exceptions. Well, there is one in a sense. Magic itself is an exception to almost every rule (after I get done with the Planes, I'll probably cover magic or something). This is by far the largest plane, and acts as a binding for all the other planes -- after all, they're all connected to this one in some way or another. However, in itself there is a paradox -- while all planes share a connection to this one, none are directly connected.

Now, the reason why I had Prime in parentheses, is because I was recently reading one of my old D&D books, and it brought to my attention that the Material Plane is, in reality, more than one plane. The Prime Plane in this case, is the big one. It's the Universe as we know it. Now, when you get into alternate universes, you diverge from the Prime Material, and into just regular material planes. I hope this explains it to you. The only exception to this is the plane of Faerun. Faerun is an entity within itself and is almost self-supporting. Remember that.

Well, that pretty much sums up what I can say about the (Prime) Material/Physical Plane (and its counterparts). Stay tuned, I should have another plane up soon!
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Work-in-Progress

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I may add more later on, and more than likely, it will be later on down this thread. So watch for my posts on here, if you like this thread, subscribe! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them on here. If you flame though, you will be punished -- severly.

I hope you have learned something. Remember two things, always, when doing anything associated with Role-Play:

Creativity.
Practice.
 
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