Manual of the Planes

2of the common room into other parts of the World SerpentInn (see World Serpent Inn Features, below).The World Serpent Inn is a Transitive Plane that canreplace the Astral Plane in D&D core cosmology, or incosmologies that eschew the Astral Plane. While theAstral Plane is generally accessible from any point onother planes, the World Serpent Inn is coterminouswith (connected to) a given other plane at only one particularpoint at a time, and sometimes not at all (seeWorld Serpent Inn Links, below).World Serpent Inn TraitsEach plane has attributes known as traits, whichdefine the basic laws operating within that particularpart of the universe. These traits include the nature ofgravity and time, the size and sometimes the shape ofthe plane, and how stable it is. (That is, are its featuresrelatively fixed, or can they be moved around by magic,mental powers, godly decrees, or just plain bruteforce?) Elemental or energy traits, normally theprovince of the Inner Planes, represent affinities withparticular elemental or energy forces. Alignment traits,which often define the Outer Planes, indicate a dispositionof the plane and its inhabitants toward one ormore of the standard alignments. A plane may also havemagical traits, which affect the way magic works there.For example, some magical traits enhance spells andspell-like abilities, causing them to function as ifaffected by one or more metamagic feats (such asQuicken Spell, Extend Spell, or the like). Othersimpede magic, typically making spells more difficult tocast and spell-like abilities more difficult to use, but notnegating them entirely. Finally, a plane may have itsown unique traits. One such trait might cause a particularspell or spell-like effect to work in a certain way,while another might grant special abilities to inhabitantsand transients alike while they are within theplanar boundaries.The World Serpent Inn has the following traits.• Normal Gravity: Gravity is the same as it is foryour regular campaign.• Timeless: In the World Serpent Inn, creatures donot age. They do hunger and thirst, however, sofood is provided from a kitchen alongside thecommon room. This kitchen, in turn, connectswith vast catacombs and warehouses.• Infinite Size: Though the World Serpent Inn islimited by walls, floors, and ceilings, it extends forever.Visitors can wander through the back passagesand chambers forever, or until they findthemselves back in the common room.• Alterable Morphic Trait: The items and terrainnative to the plane can be affected by normalactions (brute force, magic, and the like).• No Elemental or Alignment Traits: The World SerpentInn has no tendencies favoring one particularelement or alignment over another.• Minor Positive Energy Dominant Trait: The WorldSerpent Inn has a mild affinity for positive energy,which makes it seem more vibrant than mostother planes. All individuals in the Inn gain fasthealing 2 and may even regrow lost limbs overtime.• Impeded Magic: All spells and spell-like abilities,whether arcane or divine in nature, areimpeded within the World Serpent Inn. To cast aspell or use a spell-like ability, a creature mustmake a successful Spellcraft check (DC 15 + thespell’s level).• Damage Reduction: While within the commonroom of the Inn, all individuals gain damagereduction 10/–. Leaving the common roomnegates this benefit.• Visibility: This unique trait of the World SerpentInn grants all within the ability to see invisible tothe limits of their normal sight range as thoughaffected by a see invisibility spell. As a result, invisibleand ethereal creatures are plainly visible toeveryone with any sort of visual capability, thoughethereal beings remain incorporeal. Potions ofinvisibility and rings of invisibility simply do notfunction here.World Serpent Inn LinksThe Inn’s primary portal (called the main entrance)connects its common room with first one destination,then another, seemingly at random. On the connectedplane, the portal usually takes on an appearance appropriatefor its surroundings, such as a never-beforenoticedstorefront in town, a roadside tavern convenientlyplaced to provide shelter from a storm, or acavern revealed by a rockslide. Anachronistic appearancesare possible, but rare.Often, it seems as though the World Serpent Inn iswaiting for a particular individual or group to cross itsthreshold. Once that occurs, the portal vanishes, onlyto open anew elsewhere—on either the same connectedplane or a new one. Roll on the table below todetermine the portal’s new location.The portal, regardless of its appearance, is alwaysmarked with the symbol of a serpent curled into a horizontalfigure eight (the sign of infinity), eating its own