Manual of the Planes

CHAPTER 2:CONNECTINGTHE PLANES16right magic, inhabitants of the Material Plane can likewisesee and interact with those on the Ethereal Plane(see invisibility and magic missile, for example, both affectthe Ethereal Plane).A plane can be both coexistent and coterminous. ThePlane of Shadow, for example, is coexistent because itoverlaps the Material Plane and can be accessed fromthere with the right spell or ability. But it’s also coterminous—it’spossible to enter the Plane of Shadow at certainpoints, and travel to strange realms beyond the partof the plane that lies coexistent with the Material Plane.(See the map on the following page.)THE D&D COSMOLOGYAs a continuing example, we present the Great Wheel,the D&D cosmology. The Great Wheel demonstrateshow the planes fit together, and it provides a planar networkthat you can use without having to design your owncosmology from the ground up.The Great Wheel consists of twenty-seven planes.They are:Material Plane: The Material Plane encompasses theworld of Oerth and the world presented in the core D&Drulebooks. Alternate Material Planes may exist as well.Three Transitive Planes: The Great Wheel has theEthereal Plane, Astral Plane, and Plane of Shadow.These planes function as described in the D&D corerulebooks.Six Inner Planes: Four elemental planes and twoenergy planes are part of the Great Wheel. The elementalplanes are those of the classic D&D elements: fire, air,earth, and water. The energy planes embody positive andnegative energy.Seventeen Outer Planes: These aligned planes arethe homes of various deities and outsiders, and they areoften layered. The Outer Planes are:• Heroic Domains of Ysgard• Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo• Windswept Depths of Pandemonium• Infinite Layers of the Abyss• Tarterian Depths of Carceri• Gray Waste of Hades• Bleak Eternity of Gehenna• Nine Hells of Baator• Infernal Battlefield of Acheron• Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus• Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia• Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia• Twin Paradises of Bytopia• Blessed Fields of Elysium• Wilderness of the Beastlands• Olympian Glades of Arborea• Concordant Domain of the OutlandsDemiplanes: Finally, the core cosmology contains theoption for as many demiplanes as you desire.ASSEMBLING THE D&D COSMOLOGYThe D&D cosmology consists of the following arrangements:• The Material Plane is at its center.• The Plane of Shadow and the Ethereal Plane are coexistentwith the Material Plane. All planes, including thePlane of Shadow and the Ethereal Plane, are coexistentwith the Astral Plane, which envelops the whole cosmologylike a cloud.• The six Inner Planes surround the Material Plane. Theyare separate from the Material Plane and from eachother (they do not have connections between them).They are each coexistent with the Astral Plane, ofcourse. Each of the Inner Planes has the appropriateelemental or energy trait.• The Outer Planes are arranged in a great wheel aroundthe Material Plane. Each Outer Plane is coterminous tothe planes on either side of it but separate from theother Outer Planes. The exception to this is the ConcordantDomain of the Outlands, which is coterminousto every other Outer Plane and thus a central hubfor dealings between outsiders.The Outer Planes are coexistent with the Astral Plane.They are separate from the Ethereal Plane and the Planeof Shadow, so there are limitations to accessing certainspells while in the Outer Planes. The Outer Planes aremade up of related layers, and the most common access isthrough the top layer of each plane. The good-alignedplanes, also called the celestial planes, are linked by thepath of the River Oceanus, while the evil-aligned, infernalplanes are linked by the path of the River Styx (seePlanar Paths, below).• There are a large number of finite demiplanes that connectall over the place. Individual conduits, freestandinggates, and vortices are also common.BUILDING YOUR OWNCOSMOLOGYPlanes have their own traits and connections, which youcan dictate. Using the planar traits and connectionsestablished in this book, you can build your own planesand develop your own cosmology.The cosmology you create should fit the needs of yourcampaign. Here’s a list of things that a “typical” D&Dcampaign needs a cosmology to provide:• A place for deities.• A place for fiendish creatures to come from.• A place for celestial creatures to come from.• A place for elemental creatures to come from.• A way of getting from one plane to another.• A way for spells that use the Astral Plane, the EtherealPlane, or the Plane of Shadow to function.None of these are an absolute requirement for your campaign.You can run a campaign without deities at all, or with