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M A N U A L O F T H E P L A N E S

Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, David Noonan

U.S., CANADA,

ASIA, PACIFIC, & LATIN AMERICA

Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

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Distributed to the hobby, toy, and comic trade in the United States and Canada by regional distributors. Distributed in the

United States to the book trade by Holtzbrinck Publishing. Distributed in Canada to the book trade by Fenn Ltd. Distributed

worldwide by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and regional distributors.

This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use

of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental.

©2001 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Made in the U.S.A.

Playtesters: Jason Carl, Michele Carter, Andy Collins, Monte Cook, Bruce Cordell, Cameron Curtis, Jesse Decker,

David Eckelberry, Cory J. Herndon, Gwendolyn FM Kestrel, Toby Latin, Will McDermott, Rich Redman, Thomas M.

Reid, Steve Schubert, Chris Thomason, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Penny Williams, Skip Williams.

Resources: This book is built from the bones of giants. From the initial planar visions of Gary Gygax and Dave

Sutherland, through Jeff Grubb’s original, almost-talmudic Manual of the Planes, with its contributions by Roger

Moore and Ed Greenwood, to the vibrant Planescape work of David Cook, Colin McComb, Michele Carter, and Monte

Cook, the planes have been an ever-evolving cosmology. Other resources for this work include the new Forgotten

Realms® Campaign Setting by Ed Greenwood, Skip Williams, Sean K Reynolds, and Rob Heinsoo; Dragon

® Magazine#272 "The King and Queen of Dragons" by Skip Williams; Guide to the Ethereal Plane by Bruce R. Cordell, PsionicsHandbook by Bruce R. Cordell; Tangents by Bruce R. Cordell; Tome and Blood by Bruce R. Cordell and Skip Williams.

Based on the original Dungeons & Dragons® rules created by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and the new Dungeons

& Dragons game designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.

Questions? 1-800-324-6496 620 -WTC11850

Visit our website at www.wizards.com/dnd

A D D I T I O N A L D E S I G N

Andy Collins, Monte Cook, Steve

Miller, Rich Redman, Sean K Reynolds,

Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Skip Williams,

James Wyatt

E D I T O R S

David Noonan, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes

C R E A T I V E D I R E C T O R

Ed Stark

P R O J E C T M A N A G E R

Justin Ziran

P R O D U C T I O N M A N A G E R

Chas DeLong

B U S I N E S S M A N A G E R

Anthony Valterra

A R T D I R E C T O R

Dawn Murin

C O V E R I L L U S T R A T I O N

Arnie Swekel

I N T E R I O R I L L U S T R A T I O N S

Matt Cavotta, Monte Moore,

Wayne Reynolds, Darrell Riche,

David Roach, Arnie Swekel

G R A P H I C D E S I G N E R S

Sherry Floyd, Dawn Murin

C A R T O G R A P H E R

Todd Gamble

T Y P E S E T T I N G

Erin Dorries

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ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Manual of the Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 1: Nature of the Planes . . . . . . 5Introducing the Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6What Is a Plane? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Planar Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Chapter 2: Connecting the Planes. . . 15Planar Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15The D&D Cosmology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Building Your Own Cosmology . . . . . . . . . . 16Getting from Plane to Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 3: Characters and Magic . . . 23Monsters as Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Prestige Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Magic on the Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32New Spells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chapter 4: The Material Plane . . . . . . 41Material Plane Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Alternate Material Planes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Chapter 5: The Transitive Planes . . . . 45Moving among Transitive Planes . . . . . . . . . 45Astral Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Ethereal Plane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Plane of Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Chapter 6: The Inner Planes . . . . . . . . 65Inner Planes Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Inner Planes Links. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Connecting Inner Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Inner Planes Inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Elemental Plane of Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Elemental Plane of Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Elemental Plane of Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Elemental Plane of Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Negative Energy Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Positive Energy Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Chapter 7: The Outer Planes . . . . . . . . 85Outer Planes Traits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Outer Planes Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Traveling the Outer Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Outer Planes Inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Heroic Domains of Ysgard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo. . . . . . . . . . 92Windswept Depths of Pandemonium. . . . . 96Infinite Layers of the Abyss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Tarterian Depths of Carceri . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Gray Waste of Hades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Bleak Eternity of Gehenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Nine Hells of Baator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Infernal Battlefield of Acheron . . . . . . . . . 123Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus . . . . . . . 126Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia . . . . . . . . . 130Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia . . . . 132Twin Paradises of Bytopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Blessed Fields of Elysium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Wilderness of the Beastlands . . . . . . . . . . . 141Olympian Glades of Arborea . . . . . . . . . . . 144Concordant Domain of the Outlands . . . . 147Outer Planar Encounter Tables. . . . . . . . . . 152

Chapter 8: Demiplanes . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Demiplane Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Demiplane Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Random Demiplane Generator . . . . . . . . . 154Neth, the Plane that Lives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

The Observatorium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Common Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Chapter 9: Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Astral Dreadnought. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Bariaur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Celestial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Demon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Devil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166Energon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Ephemera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Genie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Githyanki. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174Githzerai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Inevitable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Mercane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179Paraelemental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180Yugoloth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Appendix: Variant Planesand Cosmologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Region of Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201The Plane of Mirrors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204Spirit World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206Elemental Plane of Cold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206Elemental Plane of Wood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207Temporal Energy Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208Plane of Faerie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Far Realm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Myriad Planes Cosmology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213Doppel Cosmology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215Orrery Cosmology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Winding Road Cosmology . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218Planar Anomalies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Index and List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . 222

List of Maps and DiagramsD&D Cosmology Schematic Diagram . . . . . 7D&D Cosmology: The Great Wheel . . . . . . . 8Shapes of the Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Planar Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17A Simple Cosmology: The Omniverse . . . . 20Astral Color Pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Ethereal Curtains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57The Plane of Shadow

and Alternate Cosmologies . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Three-Dimensional Models

of the Inner Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67The Outer Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Ysgard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Limbo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Pandemonium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Abyss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Carceri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Hades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Gehenna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112The Nine Hells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Acheron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Mechanus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Arcadia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Celestia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Bytopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137Elysium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Beastlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Arborea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Outlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Region of Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Myriad Planes Cosmology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

List of SidebarsCombat in Three Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Time along the Great Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Layered Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Switching Cosmologiesin Midstream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Raising the Curtain: RevealingYour Cosmology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Portal Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21New Item: Dimensional Sextant . . . . . . . . . . . 22Random Planar Destinations. . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Divine Spellcasting and

Alternate Material Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Characters in Motion: How it Feels

on the Transitive Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Option: Morphing the Astral . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Option: A Channeled Astral Plane . . . . . . . 50Astral Carrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Option: The Deep Ethereal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Option: Without the Ethereal. . . . . . . . . . . . 55Option: Multiple Ethereals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58New Item: Ethereal Tapestry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59An Alternative Cosmology

for the Transitive Planes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Option: Without the Plane of Shadow . . . . 62Option: Shadows of Other Planes . . . . . . . . 63Variant: Shadowdancers and

the Plane of Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Option: Without the Inner Planes. . . . . . . . 67Digging Your Way Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Option: The Pantheon that

Morphs Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Option: Without the Outer Planes . . . . . . . 90The Blood War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Option: Ysgard as a Material World . . . . . . . 91What Can I Do with Controlled Limbo? . . . 94Option: Limbo, the Edge of Reality . . . . . . . 95Slaad Lords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Windstorms on Pandemonium . . . . . . . . . . 97The Ships of Chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Random Abyssal Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101The Return of Orcus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Sinmaker’s Surprise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106The Grays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Gray Wasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110The Crawling City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Acidic Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114The Dark Eight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Lord of the First: Bel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Lord of the Second:

Dispater the Archduke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Tiamat, the Chromatic Dragon. . . . . . . . . . 118Lord of the Third:

Mammon the Viscount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Lords of the Fourth: Lady Fierna

and Archduke Belial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Lord of the Fifth: Prince Levistus . . . . . . . 121Lord of the Sixth: The Hag Countess . . . . 121Lord of the Seventh:

Baalzebul the Archduke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Lord of the Eighth: Mephistopheles . . . . . 122Lord of the Ninth: Asmodeus, King

of the Nine Hells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123The Orc–Goblin War among the Cubes . . 124Resisting Preservation on Thuldanin . . . . 126Surviving an Ocanthus Bladestorm. . . . . . 126The Storm Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon . . . . . . . . . 133Option: Gnomes Alone on Bytopia . . . . . . 137Ehlonna, Deity of the Woodlands . . . . . . . 143Option: More Deities in Arvandor . . . . . . 146Option: The Nastily Neutral Outlands . . . 148Dream Travel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202Lucid Dreaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203How to Get to the Plane of Mirrors. . . . . . 205Nastier Faerie Traits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211More Accessible Faerie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Modifying Ethereal Access Spells . . . . . . . 215Variant: Stronger Elemental Ascendancy. . 218 3

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IntroductionThis book is about elsewhere.

It is about heaven and hell. It is about the buildingblocks of the universe and the palaces of the deities. Itis about glowing portals and paths through mist andshadow.

It is about the universe and the cosmology that holdsit all together. It is about the planes of existence.

The idea of “elsewhere”—realms and domains morepowerful and more strange than our own—has alwaysbeen a part of our mythology. Orpheus descends into theland of the dead, and deities dwell on Olympian mounts.Beings both fair and foul are summoned from far-offrealms to do the caster’s bidding. Terra incognito. Landsunknown. Here be monsters.

Manual of the Planes is more than just a listing of thehomes of the devils, demons, celestials, and elementals.It provides the tools that you can use to create your ownuniverses and cosmologies. You can customize the layoutof your planes just as you do the nations and cities ofyour adventures—and the planes have infinite potentialfor expansion.

Manual of the Planes requires the use of the Player ’sHandbook, DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide, and Monster Manual.With it you can build your own universes and turn yourplayers loose in the other planes of existence.

Go explore!

MANUAL OF THE PLANESThis book presents information for both the DungeonMaster and players, taking them on a grand tour of theplanes. Manual of the Planes is primarily for DMs, thoughplayers can read through its pages as well. If your DM iscreating a unique cosmology, you won’t spoil any sur-prises by reading this book.

Nature of the Planes (Chapter 1): This chapteranswers the basic questions: What is a plane, and whatdo we do with them? It explains planar traits, the build-ing blocks of your cosmology. It’s a do-it-yourself guideto building your own dimensions and universes.

Connecting the Planes (Chapter 2): Having builtyour worlds, this chapter delves into stringing themtogether. How do you move from plane to plane, andwhat are the access points?

Characters and Magic (Chapter 3): This sectionpresents new options for characters, including prestigeclasses (divine agent, gatecrasher, planar champion, andplaneshifter) and new spells such as ether blast, realitymaelstrom, and shadowfade.

The Material Plane (Chapter 4): This chapter beginsa grand tour of the planes by discussing the plane youprobably call home. The Material Plane is usually thecore of your campaign and the start of all stories.

The Transitive Planes (Chapter 5): These are theplanes that take you elsewhere, planes of transportationand movement. They are the glue that holds the otherplanes together, but each has its own perils.

The Inner Planes (Chapter 6) : This chapterexplores the raw elements and energies that make upyour cosmology. They are the most hostile of the planes,and powerful elementals call them home. They are rawpower without direction.

The Outer Planes (Chapter 7): The deities them-selves call these planes home, as do other extraplanarpowers that meddle with mortals and the Material Plane.They are the homes of pantheons and deities.

The Demiplanes (Chapter 8): These are minorplanes, bits of folded reality shaped by their creators. Onthe demiplanes, the DM can throw away the rules andcreate anything imaginable.

Throughout these chapters, examples are provided forthe “Great Wheel”—the D&D cosmology. The GreatWheel is a representation of the planar arrangementdescribed in the D&D rulebooks and the one most play-ers are familiar with. But these examples are presentedonly as a handy starting point for those who want some-thing to use immediately. DMs are encouraged to createtheir own cosmologies that reflect the needs of theirown campaigns. Using the Great Wheel is fine for a typ-ical fantasy campaign, but it might not be the best choicefor a campaign that is closely connected to a specific cul-ture such as the ancient Greeks or the Norse.

Monsters (Chapter 9): Here you’ll find monsters andcreatures that live on these planes. These include bothfull monster write-ups and templates that allow the DMto give an otherworldly aspect to creatures from theMaterial Plane.

Appendix: Finally, we offer examples of differenttypes of planes and planar arrangements that are notpart of the Great Wheel. These demonstrations of“cool stuff you can do” stress that, even though Manualof the Planes presents the D&D cosmology, you can dowhatever you like for your own adventures. Insideyou’ll explore such interesting places as the ElementalPlane of Wood, the Plane of Mirrors, and the Outer Planeof Faerie.

Now, with the tools provided within this book, youcan build your own mythic universes and turn yourimagination loose on the wonders of many universes.

May it take you elsewhere.

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he door was unlike any that Lidda, Tordek, and theothers had seen before. Its frame was made of carved rosequartz, and its keystone was a blood-red gem as large as

Tordek’s head. Deep runes had been carved into the gem,warning of dire peril to all who opened the portal. The door

itself was made of iron and warm to the touch.Straining at a huge door ring threaded through a gargoyle

carving, Tordek pulled the door open. Lidda’s ears popped as thegreat door swung open.

Beyond the door spun a universe filled with great spinningdisks. As far as the eye could see, these interlocking gears turnedagainst each other, each resting on others for support. At first itlooked like something was growing on the disks, but the heroessoon realized that these growths were entire cities, populated bystrangely shaped beings. As they watched, the air rippledwithin the clockwork universe and an efreet appeared out ofnowhere, flying toward one of the clockwork cities.

“Face it, guys,” said Lidda. “This is a whole new ball game.”

The planes are new worlds, alternate realities, and otherdimensions that may exist just next door to the placesthat the characters are already comfortable with. Butthese are places where the basic rules every adventurertakes for granted no longer apply, and the safety of thecharacters’ hearth and home is far away indeed.

Other planes may exist just behind that magicalmirror, on the other side of a fearsome portal, or beyond

a rainbow-lighted waterfall. These gateways letDungeon Masters (DMs) take their campaigns intoliterally a new dimension, creating new lands forthe players to explore.

The planes can also be the homes of powerfulentities, both malevolent and benign, who willchallenge the characters. In their native lands,the characters may already have encounteredcreatures from other dimensions, such asdemons or elementals. But the monsters have a“home turf ” advantage on the planes, andthey’re backed up by even more powerful fig-ures undreamt of on the Material Plane.

The planes, and the connections amongthem, are unique for every campaign. They maybe as organized as a celestial bureaucracy or aschaotic as a system where planar portals openand close randomly. The arrangement of theplanes might be well known to the characters,or a mystery that they must solve.

In this book, we provide the Great Wheelplanar arrangement for the D&D game as anexample. However, other campaign settingsmay have their own planar arrangements thatvary from the ones presented here.

The core planar arrangements are providedas an example, and you should choose which 5

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parts to keep and which parts to create anew. The centerof the Great Wheel is Oerth, the core world for theD&D game. Around it lie the Inner Planes of fire andwater, earth and air, and positive and negative energy.Beyond are the planes of good and evil, law and chaos.The white mists of the Astral Plane connect it all.

You can use the tools within this book to create yourown cosmology. If you do so, you should inform yourplayers that this is not a book-run cosmology. Then letthem discover all the nuances of the planes for them-selves. This adds to the excitement, mystery, and sense ofwonder, and it reminds everyone at the table that not allthe answers can be found in rulebooks.

INTRODUCING THE PLANESThis book contains a vast array of possibilities for an ongo-ing campaign. We highly recommend that you do notdump this entire body of information into your campaignat once. As your characters gradually grow in power, sotoo should they gradually become aware of the power ofthe planes and the challenges they pose.

Introducing the Planes: The best introduction to theplanes for low-level characters is through creatures sum-moned by means of spells such as summon monster I. Herethe characters first meet such creatures as the celestialeagle or the fiendish dire rat. Stress how these creaturesseem nobler (for the celestial creatures) or more frighten-ing (for the infernal ones) than the ones found in the nat-ural world. At this point, all you have to do is hint atworlds beyond the one characters already know.

Meeting More Monsters: As the characters advancein levels, they start to encounter more monsters that callother planes home. They may battle salamanders fromthe Elemental Plane of Fire or demons from the Abyss. Asthey face and defeat these creatures, they learn that notall monsters of the other realms are scary versions offamiliar creatures. Many have unique abilities thatshould keep the characters on their toes.

First Journeys: The characters’ first expeditions toother planes may be with help from outside forces, oreven involuntary (a trap set off, a doorway walkedthrough). The players may find a portal leading intoanother plane or be sent on a mission by a wizard. Theymay stumble across the entrance to a tiny demiplane.

Regardless, the players may find themselves in anotherdimension and discover that traditional rules (such asgravity) no longer automatically apply. Some of the planesare not only hostile but downright deadly to the uniniti-ated. Be sure your players are up to the challenge not onlyof the planar creatures but also of the planar terrain itself.Within the Great Wheel of the D&D cosmology, theOuter Planes (homes to the deities) tend to be more hos-pitable than the Inner Planes (where elements exist intheir raw, untamed forms).

During this middle period, the DM can control the levelof access characters have to the planes by the number ofportals available, the nature of the traps, and the whims

of the nonplayer character (NPC) wizard who sent theminto the plane of Limbo.

Freedom to Travel: Eventually, however, the playersgain magic items (such as a cubic gate) or spells (ethereal jauntand plane shift at 5th level and astral projection at 9th) thatallow planar travel. At this point, the characters have thefreedom to move among the planes and the experiencenecessary to stand up to the hostile terrain and the poten-tially unfriendly inhabitants. Throwing them into an OuterPlane against their will no longer works. They just usemagic to return. The characters need reasons to travel to theplanes, and adventures that engage their interest and keepthem there. The characters start setting their own planaragendas: treasure, glory, or just the thrill of exploration.

Finally, the characters may reach a point where theywant to settle down in another plane, perhaps a demi-plane of their own construction or a carved-out kingdomwithin an existing Outer Plane. The planes are wideenough and wild enough to cater to every style of adven-turing. There is always room for more on the planes.

WHAT IS A PLANE?The planes of existence are different realities with inter-woven connections. Except for rare linking points, eachplane is effectively its own universe with its own naturallaws. The planes are home to more powerful variants offamiliar creatures and unique monsters, all of which haveadapted to their strange environments.

The planes break down into a number of general types:Material Planes, Transitive Planes, Inner Planes, OuterPlanes, and demiplanes. These types aren’t exclusive (youmay find deities on the Transitive Planes, for example),but most planes fall neatly into one category.

Material Planes: These planes are the ones most famil-iar to characters and are usually the setting for a standardD&D campaign. The Material Planes tend to be the mostearthlike and operate under the same set of natural laws.The D&D rules are designed with Material Planes inmind. Most campaign settings have only one MaterialPlane in a campaign setting, and the Material Plane is the“home base” for that campaign.

Transitive Planes: This mixed bag of planes aregrouped together by a common use: getting from oneplace to another. The Astral Plane is used to reach otherplanes, while the Ethereal Plane and the Plane of Shadoware both used for transportation within the MaterialPlane they’re connected to. These planes have thestrongest regular interaction with the Material Plane andare often accessed by using various spells. They havenative inhabitants as well.

Inner Planes: Also called planes of power, these reali-ties are incarnations of the basic building blocks of theuniverse. They are made up of a single energy or elementthat overwhelms all others. The natives of Inner Planesare made of these elements as well.

The Inner Planes can be divided into two groups: ele-mental planes, which symbolize the physical properties

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D&D Cosmology Schematic Diagram

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