I'm trying to create a Mutliverse, meaning several planes of existance parallel to each other. My problem is I was able to set the Multiverse but the not the planes themselves, any advice?
Keep working on it. You're asking us to come up with the very core of your setting for you. If it's to be your story, you need to do this yourself. What this comes down to is creating a variety of settings rather than just one. "Excuse me, sir, could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?" "Practice, practice, practice."
If you can get hold of Agatha Christie's Hound of Death (collection of horror short stories) her handling of other dimensions is one of my favourites. Are you writing hard sci-fi? or science fantasy ? That will make a difference in how much flexibility you have.
There are no limitations other than the fact fabled heroes are supposed to be made out of each one. I think it tends more to be science fantasy. The closest thing I have in mind is the Magic CCG multiverse.
Each plane of existence could have a different color sky? Kinda lame but it gives cheap and easy visual imagery which would let people know where they are. I don't think that it should be so simple as that, but I do believe creating something which can easily be referenced to show the change of planes would be a good idea. Something subtle in each plane would be cool.
If you lean towards fantasy maybe your MC could have a different name, hair colour etc in each one. Do you need access between them ?
The idea is each plane has its own genre post-apocalyptic, cyber punk, horror and so on. Each plane will have its own quirks working for him. The common thing between them is they are all at war. The idea was that several plains after sometime developed sufficient technology allowing inter-plane travel. I think I need to get from present day and work backwards. I need to set down the different affiliation involved in each plain to make it unique. I'm starting to figure out how to do it. They all start tabula rasa only to slowly reach a breaking point from which they are at constant war. I'm having trouble making them more different from each other though.
New problem. The plains are starting to be too much a like. It was essential that each plain would have a war between 3 factions. It pretty much falls into the same paradigm. The local head god decides his/her plain has to be a certain way. The people develop a certain culture over time. Due to a power struggle, starts a time of complete anarchy. With time, 3 great empires rose. I'm thinking what if the gods in the first decided to let them be at war so they won't overthrow their gods or stop believing in them thus rendering them useless. I could make it so all the plains started as the head gods wanted reaching their cultural pinnacle. At one point something terrible happend to the entire multiverse. Each plain will develop into a "dark age" of its own according to its culture. I don't know if this paradigm is wrong but it is: Conception Reaching Pinnacle Cross-Plain Destruction Dissolution WAR, WAR, WAR How does that sound, and how can I make them different from one another?
A purpose. Try put a different purpose. Old purpose that the solution going to war is power, wealth, women. And also there's a lot of thing around us that came with purpose to defeat and be defeated like (card game, chess, etc).
for me, add moral lesson. At least something that what you want try to talk to. A message. A solution after conquer purpose. (well, I take Communications major. Sure it affect me a lot what I'm thinking)
Okay sounds cool. One thing bugs me though. I'm not sure aout what will cause the moral rift people will just go and leave in different opposing nations.
I suggest seeing how other authors handle parallel worlds first. For this, I suggest there 2: His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman - I like the way he handles traveling between the worlds, and in one case, creates a world that's similar to the protagonists world, and at the same time .. different (With patches of poignant familiarity right next to the downright outlandish) The Dark Tower by Stephen King - The traveling between the worlds is not what I like about this one, but the worlds themselves are incredible. He creates a sense that different worlds are affecting eachother and connected through a central hub (The Dark Tower). As the tower is crumbling, the seams holding these worlds apart are also crumbling. The result of this is that most worlds have entered a post-apocalyptic state that appears to be caused by political and economic problems (unless you know about the crumbling tower). Both of these are a series (the first is a trilogy, and the second is 7 books works of reading). I suggest not judging the first one by the movie they made recently: The Golden Compass. It's an extreme case of a movie having completely failed to resemble the plot and message of the book.
Magic the Gathering is a card game which has a storyline that follows different planes and battles between those with different locations, values and often on a pretty big scale. The Shadowmoor arc had some good short stories as well about this, but I think the Phyrexian storyline was more about one world versus another.
I would believe if the OP were to take inspiration from any of the Magic storylines, I would suggest the Shards of Alara story, as it is pretty much what he is intending to do.
Eh. Alara isn't really a multiverse case I think, afterall it was a whole world before the sundering. Then the conflux basically smashed them back together. Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria was actual interplanar war. So making the individual planes comes into play with how they would deal with a true alien invasion from another world's inhabitants.
I agree, but maybe he can draw from both of them? I suggested Alara because it was a bit more like the OP's idea, but you are right about the phyrexians and Dominaria though.
Hey guys. Thanks for the input. The way I'm going with this in the end is this: Each plane is divided to 18 small "isles" and the void between them. There are 9 planes. It is basically a huge system of flat planets.
