Manual of the Planes

CHAPTER 4:THE MATERIALPLANE44Monster-Dominant Material Planes: There’s noreason why the races in Chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbookhave to dominate—or even exist on—every MaterialPlane. An alternate Material Plane might feature a greatnation-state of minotaurs at war with centaur and lamiabarbarians. Meanwhile, a sorcerous order of rakshasas controlsevents from behind the scenes, and the minotaurs’grimlock slaves agitate for their freedom. The commonplayer character races are long extinct, so visitors to thisalternate Material Plane will be the focus of great curiosity.On another alternate Material Plane, a magical experimentgone awry released a massive surge of negativeenergy, transforming everyone on the plane into undead.Liches and vampire-lords now war across the witheredlandscape, leading armies of skeletons, zombies, ghouls,and wights and employing spectres and ghosts as scoutsand spies.Material Planes with Other Pantheons: The residentsof an alternate Material Plane don’t necessarily worship thedeities familiar to the rest of the cosmology. Perhaps deitiessuch as Pelor and Hextor take different guises and use differentnames on alternate Material planes, or maybe there’san entirely different pantheon of deities. An alternateMaterial Plane is a good place to start if you’re interested inintroducing new deities to an existing campaign. Maybethe gods of Greek myth sit atop Mount Olympus on analternate Material Plane, and powerful characters who visitcan wrestle with Hercules or get Athena’s assistance with aparticularly difficult puzzle.Fantastic Geography Material Planes: These alternateMaterial Planes are just like Oerth except for radicallydifferent landscapes. Imagine an alternate Material Planewhere huge mountains float above the earth, lazily driftingacross the sky like clouds. Veins of “liftstone” can be minedfrom these floating islands of rock, and the ore can powerflying ships and floating castle-fortresses. Liftstone is sovaluable that the floating mountains are prized territoryfought over by powerful beings and nations. Most peoplelive on the solid surface of the plane in the shadow of overlordswho rule from their floating mountains.On another alternate Material Plane, society hassprung up around a single river that flows in a circle as itmeanders across a continent. Because magic powers theriver, it’s possible to float on a raft downstream and visitevery major city and culture on the alternate MaterialPlane, returning to the original riverbank after a journeyof several months. Some stretches of the river are dangerous;others bustle with commerce. And when the starsare right, the flow of the river reverses, throwing theplane into war and anarchy.Other Published Campaigns: Because every MaterialPlane can have its own cosmology, entering an alternateMaterial Plane is akin to moving into another world. Thecharacters can travel to a unique world you’ve createdyourself or one of the existing campaign worlds publishedby Wizards of the Coast. You may choose to send the charactersthrough a portal connecting your home campaignto the world of Greyhawk. After they deal with theTemple of Elemental Evil, the characters can come back totheir home Material Plane, sealing the gate behind them.REACHING ALTERNATE MATERIAL PLANESThere are a number of ways to reach an alternate MaterialPlane, should such planes exist in your cosmology.Plane of Shadow: As noted in the Plane of Shadowsection of Chapter 5, it is possible to move deeper intothe plane and farther from the Material Plane. While thetrip may be hazardous, it could be possible to reach analternate Material Plane through the Plane of Shadow.Whether such planes exist or are easily accessibledepends on how you’ve constructed your cosmology.Shadow Portal: This looks like any other interplanarportal (in other words, it can look like just about anything).But instead of passing through the Astral Plane,the portal passes through the Plane of Shadow to reach analternate Material Plane. The shadow portal may have anyof the properties of a normal portal.Demiplane: A small plane can act as a “corridorbetween worlds.” If two Material Planes access the samedemiplane from opposite sides, the demiplane becomes apath between them. The demiplane may have its ownguardians or traps, and the connecting portals on eitherside may be intermittent or unreliable.Interplanar Accident: A generally irreversible event,for instance some cataclysmic accident such as breaking astaff of power, might weaken the walls between realitiessufficiently to propel someone onto an alternate MaterialPlane. As another option, a roll of 100 on Table 3–5:Random Planar Destinations can send those involved toan alternate Material Plane.pqqqqrsDIVINE SPELLCASTING AND ALTERNATEIf a divine spellcaster who receives spells from a deity arrivesMATERIAL PLANESby interplanar accident, however, the connection may beEven if an alternate Material Plane has its own pantheon of severed. Such a character might have to locate a new deity thatdeities, divine spellcasters can still gain their spells provided matches up with the alignments and beliefs of his or her oldthat they have access to their native plane through spells or deity before receiving spells again. Certain spells and domainsportals. Indeed, their deity may be extremely interested in this may no longer be available until the switch is made—andnew area full of potential converts. Conversely, the native deities converting to a new faith may not be an easy process.on the alternate Material Plane (if any) may take a great interest Alternatively, a cleric cut off from his deity might simply veneratethe principles he stands for, connecting to his domains inin a new religion sweeping the plane. Such transplants may beresponsible for the same deities appearing on different worlds. the same way that clerics unaffiliated with a deity do.pqqqqrs