Dungeon Master's Guide

actual homes aren't literally places at all, but exemplify
the idea that the Outer Planes are realms of thought and
spirit. As with the Elemental Planes, one can imagine
the perceptible part of the Outer Planes as a border
region, while extensive spiritual regions lie beyond
ordinary sensory experience.
Even in perceptible regions, appearances can be
deceptive. Initially, many of the Outer Planes appear
hospitable and familiar to natives of the Material Plane.
But the landscape can change at a whim of the powerful
forces that dwell on these planes, which can remake
them completely, effectively erasing and rebuilding
existence to better fulfill their divine needs.
Distance is a virtually meaningless concept on the
Outer Planes. The perceptible regions of the planes can
seem quite small, but they can also stretch on to what
seems like infinity. Adventurers could take a guided
tour of the Nine Hells, from the first layer to the ninth,
in a single day- if the powers of the Hells desire it. Or it
could take weeks for travelers to make a grueling trek
across a single layer.
The default Outer Planes are a group of sixteen planes
that correspond to the eight alignments (excluding
neutrality, which is represented by the Outlands,
described in the section on "Other Planes") and the
shades of distinction between them.
THE OUTER PLANES
Outer Plane
Mount Celestia, the Seven Heavens of
Bytopia, the Twin Paradises of
Elysium, the Blessed Fields of
The Beastlands, the Wilderness of
Arborea, the Olympian Glades of
Ysgard , the Heroic Domains of
Limbo, the Ever-Changing Chaos of
Pandemonium, the Windswept Depths of
The Abyss, the Infinite Layers of
Carceri, the Tarterian Depths of
Hades, the Gray Waste of
Gehenna, the Bleak Eternity of
The Nine Hells of Baator
Acheron, the Infinite Battlefield of
Mechanus, the Clockwork Nirvana of
Arcadia, the Peaceable Kingdoms of
Alignment
LG
NG, LG
NG
NG, CG
CG
CN,CG
CN
CN, CE
CE
NE,CE
NE
NE, LE
LE
LN , LE
LN
LN , LG
The planes with an element of good in their nature are
called the Upper Planes, while those with an element
of evil are the Lower Planes. A plane's alignment is
its essence, and a character whose alignment doesn't
match the plane's alignment experiences a sense of
dissonance there. When a good creature visits Elysium,
for example, it feels in tune with the plane, but an
evil creature feels out of tune and more than a little
uncomfortable.
The Upper Planes are the home of celestial creatures,
including angels, couatls , and pegasi. The Lower Planes
are the home of fiends: demons, devils, yugoloths,
and their ilk. The planes in between host their own
unique denizens: the construct race of modrons
inhabit Mechanus, and the aberrations called slaadi
thrive in Limbo.
LAYERS OF THE O UTER PLANES
Most of the Outer Planes include a number of distinct
environments or realms. These realms are often
imagined and depicted as a stack of related parts of the
same plane, so travelers refer to them as layers. For
example, Mount Celestia resembles a seven-tiered layer
cake, the Nine Hells has nine layers, and the Abyss has
a seemingly endless number of layers.
Most portals from elsewhere reach the first layer of a
multilayered plane. This layer is variously depicted as
the top or bottom layer, depending on the plane. As the
arrival point for most visitors, the first layer functions
like a city gate for that plane.
TRAVELING THE OUTER PLANES
Traveling between the Outer Planes isn't dissimilar
from reaching the Outer Planes in the first place.
Characters traveling by means of the astral projection
spell can go from one plane into the Astral Plane, and
there search out a color pool leading to the desired
destination. Characters can also use plane shift to reach
a different plane more directly. Most often, though,
characters use portals- either a portal that links the two
planes directly or a portal leading to Sigil, City of Door .
which holds portals to all the planes.
Two planar features connect multiple Outer Planes
together: the River Styx and the Infinite Staircase.
Other planar crossings might exist in your campaign,
such as a World Tree whose roots touch the Lower
Planes and whose branches reach to the Upper Planes.
or it might be possible to walk from one plane to another
in your cosmology.
THE RIVER STYX
This river bubbles with grease, foul flotsam, and
the putrid remains of battles along its banks. Any
creature other than a fiend that tastes or touches the
water ·is affected by a feeblemind spell. The DC of the
Intelligence saving throw to resist the effect is 15.
The Styx churns through the top layers of Acheron,
the Nine Hells, Gehenna, Hades, Carceri, the Abyss, and
Pandemonium. Tributaries of the Styx snake onto lower
layers of these planes. For example, a tendril of the Styx
winds through every layer of the Nine Hells, allowing
passage from one layer of that plane to the next.
Sinister ferries float on the waters of the Styx, crewed
by pilots skilled in negotiating the unpredictable
currents and eddies of the river. For a price, these pilots
are willing to carry passengers from plane to plane.
Some of them are fiends, while others are the souls of
dead creatures from the Material Plane.
THE INFINITE STAIRCASE
The Infinite Staircase is an extradimensional spiral
staircase that connects the planes. An entrance to the
Infinite Staircase usually appears as a nondescript
door. Beyond the portal lies a small landing with an
equally nondescript stairway leading up and down. The
Infinite Staircase changes appearance as it climbs and
CHAPTER 2 I CREATING A MULTT\'ERSE