Manual of the Planes

WINDING ROAD LINKSPlanar travelers can pass between adjacent planes throughethereal curtains on the Ethereal Plane, by braving theDark Road of the Plane of Shadow, or with permanentportals between the adjacent planes. Such portals oftenrequire a command item or are time-based intermittentportals, functioning only at particular times of the year.In the Winding Road cosmology, the mercanes know allthe permanent portals between the worlds and lead caravansfrom plane to plane.It is possible to jump over multiple intervening planeswith a plane shift or astral projection spell. Permanent portalsbetween nonadjacent planes do not survive long. Thewinds of the Astral Plane fray them to nothingnesswithin 1d6 hours.FEATURES OF THE WINDING ROADWhile a Winding Road adventure can begin on anyplane, it’s a good idea to start campaigns on a MaterialPlane as described in Chapter 4. One such Material Planeon the Winding road, called Ireth, has the traits of a typicalcampaign setting for D&D.Winding Road Gravity Traitsd% Gravity Trait01–50 Normal gravity51–60 Light gravity61–70 Heavy gravity71–80 No gravity81–90 Subjective directional gravity91–100 Objective directional gravityWinding Road Time Traitsd% Time Trait01–70 Normal time71–75 Flowing faster: One day on this plane = 1 hour onthe original plane76–80 Flowing slower: One day on this plane = 1 week onthe original plane81–90 Erratic91–100 Timeless (with regard to hunger and thirst, andperhaps other aspects as well)Winding Road Morphic Traitsd% Morphic Trait01–50 Alterable51–60 Highly morphic61–85 Divinely morphic86–90 Static91–100 Magically morphicWinding Road Elemental and Energy Traitsd% Trait01–77 No elemental or energy trait78–80 Earth-dominant81–83 Air-dominant84–86 Fire-dominant87–89 Water-dominant90–91 Minor negative-dominant92 Major negative-dominant93–94 Minor positive-dominant95 Major positive-dominant96–100 Elemental and energy trait (roll 1d4 to choose anelement and 1d4 to choose an energy and strength)Ireth is bordered directly by two planes, one lawalignedand the other chaos-aligned. The lawful plane iscalled One, and it has the following traits.• Light Gravity.• Normal Time.• Static.• No Elemental or Energy Traits.• Mildly Law-Aligned.• Normal Magic.On the opposite side is Xato, which has the following traits.• Heavy Gravity.• Normal Time.• Highly Morphic.• No Energy or Elemental Traits.• Mildly Chaos-Aligned.• Normal Magic.Both One and Xato are inhabited by powerful beings oflawful and chaotic nature. Slaadi and githzerai areWinding Road Alignment Traitsd% Alignment Trait01–50 Mildly neutral-aligned51–60 Strongly neutral-aligned61–65 Mildly evil-aligned66–70 Mildly good-aligned71–73 Strongly evil-aligned74–76 Strongly good-aligned77–81 Mildly chaos-aligned82–86 Mildly law-aligned87–89 Strongly chaos-aligned90–92 Strongly law-aligned93 Mildly evil-aligned, mildly chaos-aligned94 Mildly good-aligned, mildly chaos-aligned95 Mildly evil-aligned, mildly law-aligned96 Mildly good-aligned, mildly law-aligned97 Strongly evil-aligned, strongly chaos-aligned98 Strongly good-aligned, strongly chaos-aligned99 Strongly evil-aligned, strongly law-aligned100 Strongly good-aligned, strongly law-alignedWinding Road Magic Traitsd% Magic Trait01–70 Normal magic trait71–80 Impeded magic: A particular spell level, school,subschool, or descriptor of the DM’s choice isaffected81–85 Enhanced magic: A particular spell level, school,subschool, or descriptor of the DM’s choice ismaximized (01-25), enlarged (26–50), empowered(51–75), or extended (76–100)86–95 Limited magic: A particular spell level, school, subschool,or descriptor of the DM’s choice is affected96–100 Dead magic traitAPPENDIX:VARIANT PLANES& COSMOLOGIES219