Will Each Plane Still Have its Own Identity?
Lore forum
Posted on May 24, 2023, 10:21 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I definitely am interested to see how the opening of omenpaths between planes shall affect the multiverse, but I am worried that the planes may start to feel less distinct from each other, as inhabitants of each plane visit others, because one of my favorite aspects of this game is how each plane feels unique and has its own identity, and too much crossover between the planes could cause them to feel too similar and less distinct from each other.
What does everyone else say about this? Will each plane still have its own distinct identity?
Daveslab2022 Or we know Emrakul is still alive, and Nashi is experimenting with Tamiyo's powers, plus Realmbreaker puncturing the Blind Eternities could stir the Eldrazi into action once again.
May 24, 2023 10:50 p.m.
plakjekaas says... #4
When intercontinental travel became commonplace, you could say the America's lost their identity.
You could also say their identity was adjusted to something new, but not less unique.
Change doesn't necessarily mean loss of uniqueness.
May 24, 2023 11:38 p.m.
I'm not really world about the planes becoming indistinct, although they might become fuzzy (more so than they are already, in my opinion). My big concern is that the Omenpaths - unpredictable, ephemeral, and all-around unreliable - will just be plot trains that put important characters exactly where they need to be, when they need to be there. I'd be happy to be wrong. I'd like to see a self-contained story where someone who was an ordinary civilian, who had been hiding from the monsters from outside the sky instead of heroically fighting the Phyrexians, gets sucked up into one for better or worse. I'd like to see a story where the protagonist of the moment gets catastrophically sidetracked because their Omenpath disappears after going somewhere they didn't expect. Are we going to get these stories?
May 25, 2023 2:57 p.m.
I doubt we will see those stories, because they are contrary to the point of an Omenpath.
Speaking as the Forever DM, the Omenpaths seem like a DM contrivance used to force players back onto the rails when they catastrophically sidetrack the plot, which is something they are driven to do (evidenced by your own stated desire to see it.) So I wouldn't count on it.
May 30, 2023 7:54 p.m.
KongMing Assuming the story protagonists are the "players" in your comparison, I don't see my story suggestions as re-railment. I see them as background events, a way to establish what the Omenpaths can do without directly affecting the main story. There aren't really characters acting independently of the authors; everything is directly controlled by the story team. The DM, to continue the analogy, is running the PCs as well.
Still, I agree that we probably won't see these stories.
May 31, 2023 2:08 a.m.
KongMing Sure, but that's not quite my point.
In a D&D session, you get spontaneous decisions that are woven into the narrative. If a PC gets sidetracked because they thought they saw something in the distance, and ended up lost and alone because of their choices in the moment, then that character needs to get re-rerailed. The story was not designed to respond to their choices like that, and the decisions were made without full knowledge of potential consequences
If a planeswalker story protagonist gets sidetracked because they thought they saw something in the distance, and ended up lost and alone because of their choices in the moment, then that character is trapped. This would be a plot point suggested in a meeting, reviewed by the story lead, accepted, developed in detail by the story team, edited, written by an author specifically contracted to write the story of Protagonist getting lost, edited again, and then published.
In a TTRPG session, catastrophic sidetracking is a spontaneous problem that needs to get fixed, or at least developed in the moment. In narrative fiction (not sure that's the right term, but I can't come up with a better one), it's a plot point that has been pre-developed and approved by at least two groups.
If Teferi inspects an Omenpath and ends up trapped on Mercadia instead of Zhalfir, that's because it's a known story point that Teferi needs to not be on Zhalfir, not because Teferi's player decided to mess around. That's the central point I'm trying to make.
May 31, 2023 2:53 p.m.
I understand your point, I don't think you get mine.
A good DM would prevent the player from ending up lost and alone in the first place with a DM contrivance, like an Omenpath. When you build it into the plot, like an Omenpath, all the better, because then it doesn't break the immersion when you explain to the player why they aren't destined for this series of decisions.
You didn't say the planeswalker is lost because they examine and follow an Omenpath, you said they would be lost because the Omenpath disappeared. I don't think that would happen, because it's contrary to the point of the Omenpath - to keep a story on the rails. If it does happen, then yes, as you said, it would be an intentional plot device used by the Wizards team to give a nonexample of an Omenpath - but it is still centered on the Omenpath being 'the rail.'
I think you're losing/diluting your own point, and what I was responding to. Maybe reread my original post.
May 31, 2023 11:34 p.m.
plakjekaas says... #11
The suggestion was a civilian getting lost and the portal closing behind them as a plot device, not a planeswalker getting railroaded by DM contrivance. There might be a wall in between both your points, and you're both talking to either side '^^
It's a big change in the multiverse, the only way to find out what stories are possible, is to wait for them to be published, I'm afraid.
The individual planes might get entangled a bit, but this might make the entire M:tG IP a bit more coherent.
June 1, 2023 12:56 a.m.
I understand that, and that's exactly what I was responding to, yes. There's no wall - I think you're confused too.
June 1, 2023 8:28 a.m.
KongMing Could you please re-explain your point?
"the Omenpaths seem like a DM contrivance used to force players back onto the rails when they catastrophically sidetrack the plot, which is something they are driven to do"
There's not really a DM in this situation. If a character gets de-railed as part of the Magic story, that's because several story outlines, editors, and authors agreed to have that character get de-railed. It's not a spontaneous decisions in any way, and arguably the story can't be de-railed--wherever it is, that's exactly where it's supposed to be.
My central point was that while the Omenpaths have been described as erratic and unreliable, I'm concerned that they will never be shown that way in-story. I believe that, either as a stand-alone story or as part of a greater story, the Omenpaths should be shown acting as described.
My interpretation of your response, and I apologize if I'm getting this wrong, is that you're saying the Omenpaths should be used to deliver the protagonists to the locations where the plot needs them, so that they can advance the plot. In my mind, that's exactly the opposite of "erratic and unreliable." In this case, the Omenpaths simply replace planeswalking and make it more available to more people, which I see as a loss of story potential as well as contradicting the description of the Omenpaths.
So either I'm misunderstanding your premise, or we're fundamentally disagreeing on the intent of the Omenpaths.
"Now, the Omenpaths can vary quite a bit. Some can be tiny, some huge. Some permanent, some temporary. Some stable, some moving. They present a great risk for non-Planeswalkers, as there's no promise of a way back."
- https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/doing-the-aftermath
"some could be one-way"
- https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/716944586946265088/are-omenpaths-permanent-or-do-they-close-after-a
June 2, 2023 12:03 p.m.
Daveslab2022 says... #14
Comparing a literary narrative to an on the fly story that unfolds as you play is not something that makes sense to do.
With the story of magic there is a plan from beginning to middle to end. If a character gets sidetracked, that’s a plot point. It’s part of the narrative. It’s not something that happened accidentally.
In D&D you have multiple people making decisions in real time that cause a narrative to be formed. If a character gets sidetracked, it’s not a plot point it’s a mistake.
Daveslab2022 says... #2
The “omenpaths” are just the plot device being used to set up whatever the next big bad is.
It could be some mysterious entity from a plane we don’t know about yet who gains access to a specific part of the multi verse.
Not a big chance that WOTC will blend the different identities together, because then the game loses its flavor.
The reason for different planes is for new mechanics and ideas to be introduced. If we were always on Dominaria, the difference between scrying and surveilling is more difficult to understand.
May 24, 2023 10:48 p.m.