Manual of the Planes

save (DC 25) or gain a negative level. A creature whosenegative levels equal its current levels or Hit Dice is slain,becoming a wraith.The negative energy protection spell protects a traveler fromthe damage and energy drains of negative-dominant planes.ALIGNMENT TRAITSCertain planes, in particular the divine planes, havealignments just as characters do. Most of the inhabitantsof these planes also have that particular alignment, evenpowerful creatures such as deities. In addition, creaturesof alignments contrary to the plane have a tougher timedealing with its natives and situations.How a plane develops an alignment trait is a chickenand-eggsituation. Certain planes are predisposed to particularalignments, so creatures of those alignments tendto settle there. This makes the planes even more disposedto that alignment, and so on. In the D&D cosmology,all but one of the Outer Planes have predispositionsto certain alignments. That does not have to be true for“home of the deities” planes you create.The alignment trait of a plane affects social interactionsthere. Characters who follow alignments other than mostof the inhabitants may find life more difficult.Alignment traits have multiple components. First arethe moral (good or evil) and ethical (lawful or chaotic)components; a plane can have either a moral component,an ethical component, or one of each. Second, the traitdescribes whether each moral or ethical component ismildly or strongly applied.Good-Aligned/Evil-Aligned: These planes havechosen a side in the battle of good versus evil. A universethat regularly pits angels against devils probably hasgood-aligned and evil-aligned planes.Law-Aligned/Chaos-Aligned: Law versus chaos isthe key struggle for these planes. A cosmology that pitsarmies of devils against hordes of demons has lawalignedand chaos-aligned planes.It’s likely that the alignment trait for some planes hastwo components: one moral and one ethical. There arelaw-aligned, good-aligned planes, and chaos-aligned,evil-aligned planes, for example. But there aren’t goodaligned,evil-aligned planes (opposing moral components)or law-aligned, chaos-aligned planes (opposingethical components).Each part of the alignment trait gets a descriptor,mildly or strongly, to show how powerful the tug of alignmentis on the plane. A plane could be mildly goodaligned,strongly chaos-aligned, for example.Mildly Aligned: Creatures who have an alignmentopposite a mild alignment of a plane suffer a –2 circumstancepenalty on all Charisma-based checks. Evil characterson a mildly good-aligned plane, for example, havea hard time getting along with the natives. Whether acharacter is lawful, neutral, or chaotic wouldn’t matterfor such a plane—only good, neutral, or evil.Strongly Aligned: These planes apply the –2 circumstancepenalty to all creatures not of the plane’s alignment.In other words, neutral characters suffer the penaltytoo. A strongly good-aligned, strongly law-alignedplane would apply the penalty to creatures with a neutralaspect to their alignment (as well as to evil orchaotic creatures).The circumstance penalty on strongly aligned planescovers more situations, too. The –2 penalty affects allIntelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based checks. It’sas if the plane itself was standing in your way.The penalties for the moral and ethical components ofthe alignment trait do stack. A neutral evil character on amildly good-aligned, strongly chaos-aligned plane wouldsuffer a –2 penalty on Charisma-based checks for beingevil on a mildly good plane, and another –2 penalty onIntelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based checks forbeing neutral on a strongly chaos-aligned plane. Such acharacter would have a –4 circumstance penalty onCharisma-based checks and a –2 circumstance penalty onIntelligence- and Wisdom-based checks.Neutral-Aligned: A mildly neutral-aligned plane doesnot apply a circumstance penalty to anyone. Such a planecould become a gathering point where those of differentalignments could meet, or the prize that extraplanarforces fight over.A strongly neutral-aligned plane stands in oppositionto good, evil, law, and chaos. Such a plane may be moreconcerned with the balance of the alignments than withaccommodating and accepting alternate points of view.Strongly neutral-aligned planes apply the –2 circumstancepenalty to any creature that isn’t neutral. Thepenalty is applied twice (once for law/chaos, and once forgood/evil), so neutral good, neutral evil, lawful neutral,and chaotic neutral creatures suffer a –2 penalty andlawful good, chaotic good, chaotic evil, and lawful evilcreatures suffer a –4 penalty.Material Planes are usually mildly neutral-aligned,though they may contain high concentrations of evil orgood, law or chaos in places. This often makes the MaterialPlane a battleground for the various aligned planesand their natives, who may try to change the alignmenttrait of the Material Plane itself.MAGIC TRAITSThe magic trait tells how a plane handles spells andsupernatural abilities. As with other traits, the magic traitdescribes how magic works compared to how it works onthe Material Plane. Particular locations on a plane (suchas those under the direct control of deities) may be pocketswhere a different magic trait applies.Normal Magic: This magic trait means that all thespells and supernatural abilities function as written.Dead Magic: These planes have no magic at all. Aplane with the dead magic trait functions in all respectslike an antimagic field spell. Divination spells cannotdetect subjects within a dead magic plane, nor can aspellcaster use teleport or another spell to move in or out.The only exception to the “no magic” rule is permanentplanar portals, which still function normally. SpellcastersCHAPTER 1:NATURE OFTHE PLANES13