Plane (Dungeons & Dragons)
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- This article is about planes of existence in Dungeons & Dragons. For other uses, see plane.
In the standard cosmology of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the planes of existence are alternate planes or alternate dimensions. They can be grouped into three basic categories: the spatial or substantial planes (containing solid matter, free-standing energy and living creatures); the transitive planes (connecting the other planes and generally containing little, if any, solid matter or native life); and the demiplanes (minor, artificial planes, often possessing qualities of the other two types of planes).
The planes as a whole are usually presented as a series of concentric circles, with alternating spatial and transitive planes; from the center outwards, they are ordered as follows: Inner, Ethereal, Material, Astral, Outer Planes, and the Far Realm. The Shadow Plane and the Dimension of Time, if they are included, are separate from the others, and usually represented as being connected to the Material Plane. Demiplanes, although most commonly connected to the Ethereal Plane, can be found attached to any plane. All planes, save the demiplanes, are infinite in scope and size.
Some Dungeons & Dragons settings have cosmologies that are very different from the "standard" one discussed here. For example, the Eberron setting has only seventeen planes in total, most of which are unique to Eberron.
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[edit] Spatial planes
- The Inner Planes are made up of elemental matter and forces;
- The Prime Material Plane is where the more 'normal' worlds exist, many of which resemble Earth;
- The Outer Planes are the planes of belief and afterlife;
- The Far Realm is a plane far outside the others and often not included in the standard cosmology.
[edit] Transitive planes
[edit] Astral Plane
The Astral Plane is the plane of thought, memory, and psychic energy; it is where gods go when they die or are forgotten (or, most likely, both). It is a barren place with only rare bits of solid matter; some creatures, such as the tyrannous githyanki, use the petrified corpses of dead gods as floating fortresses. The Astral Plane is unique in that it is infinitesimal instead of infinite; there is no space or time here, though both catch up with you when you leave. The souls of the newly dead from the Prime Material Plane pass through here on their way to the afterlife or Outer Planes.
The most common feature of the Astral Plane is the silver cords of travellers using an Astral Projection spell. These cords are the lifelines that keep travellers of the plane from becoming lost, stretching all the way back to the traveller's point of origin.
[edit] Ethereal Plane
The Ethereal is often likened to an ocean, but rather than water it is a sea of boundless possibility. It consists of two parts: the Border Ethereal which connects to the Inner and Prime Material planes, and the Deep Ethereal plane which acts as the incubator to many potential demiplanes and other proto-magical realms. From a Border Ethereal plane a traveler can see a misty greyscale version of the plane from which they are traveling; however, each plane is only connected to its own Border Ethereal, which means inter-planar travel necessitates entering the Deep Ethereal and then exiting into the destination plane's own Border Ethereal plane. Many demiplanes, such as that which houses the Ravenloft setting, can be found in the Deep Ethereal plane; most demiplanes are born here, and many fade back into nothingness here.
In Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition, there is canonically one Ethereal Plane attached to each Material Plane; use of the Deep Ethereal is an optional rule.
[edit] Shadow Plane
The Plane of Shadow was a demiplane in an earlier edition of the game, then was moved to be an Inner Plane connected to the Positive Energy and Negative Energy Planes, but finally became a full-fledged transitive plane in the 3rd edition cosmology. It is, as one would expect, an empty plane of darkness, where shadows are cast without any source of light. The Shadow Plane connects to other planes not only through portals but also through darkness; this is especially true on the Material Plane, where a monster or mage might use the shadows as a form of transportation. It has also been speculated that the Shadow Plane connects many different cosmologies, thus making it possible for a planeswalker to travel between them. The d20 Modern campaigns Shadow Chasers, Urban Arcana, and the d20 Past campaign Shadow Stalkers, are based on this premise. In the Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition this is an optional rule.
[edit] Mirror Planes
Mirror planes were introduced in the Third Edition Manual of the Planes as an optional group of transitive planes. They are small planes that each connect to a group of mirrors that can be located in any other planes throughout the multiverse. A mirror plane takes the form of a long, winding corridor with the mirrors it attaches to hanging like windows along the walls. Mirror planes allow quick travel between the various mirrors that are linked to each, but each plane contains a mirror version of any traveller that enters it. This mirror version has an opposite alignment and will seek to slay his real self to take his place. All mirrors connect to a mirror plane, though each mirror plane usually has only five to twenty mirrors connecting to it.
[edit] Phlogiston
Introduced in the Spelljammer setting, the Phlogiston is not traditionally considered a "plane" but acts very similarly to one. It is a highly flammable gaseous medium in which crystal spheres holding various Prime Material planes float, traversible by Spelljammer ships.
[edit] Temporal Plane
The Plane of Time was known as the Temporal Prime in earlier editions of the game (compare Material Prime, former name for Material Plane). It is a plane where physical travel can result in time travel. A lot of information can be found on the 1995 book Chronomancer. Nevertheless, this plane, although introduced in an official book, is not used by any 3rd edition products.
[edit] Demiplanes
Demiplanes are minor planes, most of which are artificial. Demiplanes are commonly created by demigods and extremely powerful wizards and psions. Naturally-occurring demiplanes are rare; most such demiplanes are actually fragments of other planes that have somehow split off from their parent plane. Demiplanes are often constructed to resemble the Material Plane, though a few — mostly those created by non-humans — are quite alien. Genesis, a 9th level arcane spell, is one of the few printed methods for a player to create a demiplane.
The most notable demiplane is the Demiplane of Dread, the setting of Ravenloft.
[edit] Portals, Conduits and Gates
Portals, conduits and gates are all openings leading from one location to another; some lead to locations in the same plane, others to different planes entirely. Although the three terms are often used interchangeably, there are notable distinctions. Portals are bounded by pre-existing openings (usually doors and arches); the portal is destroyed when the opening is. Portals also require portal keys to open; a key is usually a physical object, but it can also be an action or a state of being. Naturally occurring portals will often appear at random (a common occurrence in the city of Sigil, "City of Doors", in the Planescape campaign setting); some portals only exist for a brief period of time, or shift from one location to another. Conduits are also naturally occurring, but they are natural phenomena, the planar equivalent of whirlpools and tornados. Conduits are only known to occur in the Astral and Ethereal Planes. A type of conduit known as a color pool is a common gateway from the Astral Plane to the Outer Planes. A vortex is a link from a Prime Material world to the Inner Planes, which begin in areas of intense concentration of some element (e.g., the heart of a volcano might be a vortex to the Plane of Fire). Gates are portals that are not bounded by physical apertures; gates are rare, and usually appear as a result of magical spells and rare planar phenomena. Lastly, planar bleeding occurs when regions of two planes coexist; such phenomena are usually short-lived, and disastrous for their environs.
Planar pathways are special landscape features appearing in multiple planes or layers of a plane. Travel along a planar pathway results in travel along the planes. Pathways are crucial tactically, because they are very stable compared to portals or gates, and don't require magic spells or portal keys. One notable planar pathway in the Planescape campaign setting is the River Styx, which flows across the Lower Planes and parts of the Astral Plane. Another is the River Oceanus, which flows through the Upper Planes.
[edit] Alternative interpretations
In the context of the game, there are many theories of the organisation of the planes. For instance, in some lands it is believed that there are multiple Prime Material planes, rather than one containing all the worlds or planets. In these lands the Ethereal planes are believed to surround each Prime Material plane.
See also Alternative theories of the Outer planes.
[edit] Bordering vs co-incident
Planes may border or may be coincident. In particular, the ethereal and shadow planes are often thought of as co-incident with the prime material. In effect, the "boundary" between the two extends through all of space. Thus a ghost in Dungeons & Dragons, which is an ethereal creature, has a location on prime when it is near the border of the prime and ethereal planes. It can "manifest" itself into prime, and force attacks launched from prime can hit it.
[edit] History
In the earliest versions of Dungeons & Dragons, the concept of the Inner, Ethereal, Prime Material, Astral and Outer Planes was introduced; at the time there were only four Inner Planes and no set number of Outer Planes. In the original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (First Edition), the full canonical layout of the planes was presented for the first time; this material was expanded upon in the original Manual of the Planes. The Plane of Shadow was a demiplane here, rather than a separate plane, and most of the Outer Planes went by different names. Many Outer Planes were renamed in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition in the Monstrous Compendium supplement for the Outer Planes, as publisher TSR, Inc. sought to distance itself from terms like "Hell" and "Heaven" that could cause controversy among Christian fundamentalists. In the Third Edition Manual of the Planes, the old and new names were combined together, the Demiplane of Shadow was promoted to the Plane of Shadow, the Prime Material Plane was shortened to the Material Plane, and it was stated that there was one Ethereal Plane connected to each Material Plane.
[edit] See also
- Neth, the Plane That Lives
- Multiverse
- Planescape
- The Plane of Shadow
[edit] References
- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Player's Handbook. TSR, Inc..