Manual of the Planes

There is no day or night on the Astral Plane. Instead agray radiance lights the entire plane from all directions.While there seems to be nothing in the area, vision fadesat about 600 feet. Other senses function normally.Psychic StormsThere are winds in the Astral Plane, but they do not usuallyaffect the astral traveler. Clothing and hair tends toflutter backward during astral travel, but rarely do thepsychic winds blow more strongly than a light breeze.But occasionally, part of the Astral Plane flares up intoa psychic storm that whips through the area, delayingtravelers or driving them onto other planes. Psychicstorms may also affect the minds of travelers.The storm itself usually brews up without warning.The Astral Plane darkens in one direction, and thedarkness quickly engulfs everything in its path. Onlythose who move directly away from a psychic storm ata speed of 320 feet can outrun it. Others are overtakenby the storm.Those caught within the grip of a psychic wind mightbe blown off course and suffer mentally from the psychicturbulence of the storm. Though they are violent,psychic storms have consistent winds, so several travelerscaught in the same psychic storm are blown to thesame destination. Consult the following table, rollingonce per group for location effects, and once per individualfor mental effect:Table 5–2: Psychic StormsLocation Effect, Travelers in Physical Formd% Effect01–40 Diverted. Add 1d6 hours to travel time.41–60 Blown off course. Add 3d10 hours to travel time.61–80 Lost. Begin travel again as if starting anew.81–100 Sent through random color pool. Roll onTable 5–1: Random Color Pools.Location Effect, Travelers in Astral Formd% Effect01–40 Diverted. Add 1d6 hours to travel time.41–60 Blown off course. Add 3d10 hours to travel time.61–80 Lost. Begin travel again as if starting anew.81–95 Silver cord takes 2d10 points of damage, thentraveler diverted (as above).96–100 Silver cord takes 4d10 points of damage, then travelerblown off course (as above).Mental Effectd% Effect01–40 Stunned (no saving throw) for 1d6 minutes.41–50 Confused (Will save DC 20 negates), as confusionspell, for 3d8 minutes.51–60 Unconscious (Fort save DC 20 negates)for 1d10 hours.61–80 Fear (Will save DC 20 negates), as spell,for 2d10 minutes.81–90 Feebleminded (Will save DC 20 negates), asfeeblemind spell, for 2d10 hours.91–95 Pain (Fort save DC 25 negates), as symbol of pain,for 2d10×10 minutes.96–100 Insanity (Will save DC 25 negates), as the spell.Astral ObjectsBits of solid matter are strewn through the Astral Plane.Most of these objects have been sucked through colorpools or left behind by careless (or deceased) adventurers.It’s easy for travelers to spot such items (subject to theusual maximum vision range) and maneuver towardthem. Natives of the Astral Plane, in particular thegithyanki, often sail the astral winds looking for bits ofdebris to add to their own fortresses and hoards.About 10% of found debris may be valuable (the equivalentof a 10th-level treasure; see Chapter 7 of the DUNGEONMASTER’s Guide). Such treasure may be in the form of alocked chest, a dead body, or a bag of holding that met an uglyfate when it was put inside a portable hole and cast onto theAstral Plane. Valuable treasures found in this manner oftenhave powerful owners who want their valuables back.Dead DeitiesIf your cosmology has deceased deities in it (forgottenpowers of the ancient past, deities worshiped by nowdeadraces, or even full pantheons that lost a power struggle),the Astral Plane is where the physical forms of thosedeities can rest—the deities’ graveyard.What happens when a deity dies—and, for that matter,whether deities can truly die at all—is up to you. Butimagine the massive form of a long-forgotten deity floatingon the Astral Plane, overgrown with detritus andmoss to the point that it is no longer immediately recognizable.These vaguely humanoid lumps are anywherefrom a few hundred feet to several miles long. Deaddeities have gravity localized to them. Astral denizenscan find a “down” there and walk around normally,though they can leave again and be free of the deaddeity’s gravity with just a thought.Because the massive physical bodies of the deities areindestructible, they may be built upon. Some races,including the more agnostic githyanki, have used deaddeities as bases of operation. A dead deity cannot be visiblymoved, nor taken out of the Astral Plane. Attempts toforce a dead deity elsewhere results in it snapping rightback to where it sits on the Astral Plane.Given that these massive bodies exist, what are thedead deities? It is up to you, but here are a few ideas:• They are truly the mortal forms of the deities, and theyneed only to be reunited with their life-spirit andconsciousness to return to full power.• They are not deities at all, but rather gravestones forthe deities—great idols from the Outer Planes thatwere cast adrift when that particular deity disappeared.• They are deities all right, but they aren’t dead. Theyonly sleep, waiting until their followers return andgather sufficient strength to allow them to awaken andremake the cosmos.The process of restoring deities to life likewise dependson your cosmology, but having the body present is probablya good starting point. As a result, travelers whoCHAPTER 5:THE TRANSITIVEPLANES51