The Planes
The various planes of existence are realms of myth and mystery. They’re not simply other worlds, but dimensions formed and governed by spiritual and elemental principles.
The Outer Planes are realms of spirituality and thought. They are the spheres where celestials, fiends, and deities exist. The plane of Elysium, for example, isn’t merely a place where good creatures dwell, and not even simply the place where spirits of good creatures go when they die. It is the plane of goodness, a spiritual realm where evil can’t flourish. It is as much a state of being and of mind as it is a physical location.
The Inner Planes exemplify the physical essence and elemental nature of air, earth, fire, and water. The Elemental Plane of Fire, for example, embodies the essence of fire. The plane’s entire substance is suffused with the fundamental nature of fire: energy, passion, transformation, and destruction. Even objects of solid brass or basalt seem to dance with flame, in a visible and palpable manifestation of the vibrancy of fire’s dominion.
In this context, the Material Plane is the nexus where all these philosophical and elemental forces collide in the jumbled existence of mortal life and matter. The worlds of D&D exist within the Material Plane, making it the starting point for most campaigns and adventures. The rest of the multiverse is defined in relation to the Material Plane.
Planar Categories:
The planes of the default D&D cosmology are grouped in the following categories:
The Material Plane and Its Echoes. The Feywild and the Shadowfell are reflections of the Material Plane.
The Transitive Planes. The Ethereal Plane and the Astral Plane are mostly featureless planes that serve primarily as pathways to travel from one plane to another.
The Inner Planes. The four Elemental Planes (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water), plus the Elemental Chaos that surrounds them, are the Inner Planes.
The Outer Planes. Sixteen Outer Planes correspond to the eight non-neutral alignments and shades of philosophical difference between them.
The Positive and Negative Planes. These two planes enfold the rest of the cosmology, providing the raw forces of life and death that underlie the rest of existence in the multiverse.
The Void. This is like an endless sea, it connects each universe together whether that be other dnd universes or the copy righted ones :).
Pocket Dimensions. My own dimensions or side dimensions, they existed through there own means or are prisons for whoever they contain. The Great Wheel:
The default cosmological arrangement presented in the Player’s Handbook visualizes the planes as a group of concentric wheels, with the Material Plane and its echoes at the centre. The Inner Planes form a wheel around the Material Plane, enveloped in the Ethereal Plane. Then the Outer Planes form another wheel around and behind (or above or below) that one, arranged according to alignment, with the Outlands linking them all. This arrangement makes sense of the way the River Styx flows among the Lower Planes, connecting Acheron, the Nine Hells, Gehenna, Hades, Carceri, the Abyss, and Pandemonium like beads on a string. But it’s not the only possible explanation of the river’s course. Planar Travel:
When adventurers travel to other planes of existence, they undertake a legendary journey that might force them to face supernatural guardians and undergo various ordeals. The nature of that journey and the trials along the way depend in part on the means of travel, and whether the adventurers find a magic portal or use a spell to carry them. Planar Portals:
“Portal” is a general term for a stationary interplanar connection that links a specific location on one plane to a specific location on another. Some portals function like doorways, appearing as a clear window or a fog-shrouded passage, and interplanar travel is as simple as stepping through the doorway. Other portals are locations — circles of standing stones, soaring towers, sailing ships, or even whole towns — that exist in multiple planes at once or flicker from one plane to another. Some are vortices, joining an Elemental Plane with a very similar location on the Material Plane, such as the heart of a volcano (leading to the Plane of Fire) or the depths of the ocean (to the Plane of Water). Passing through a planar portal can be the simplest way to travel from the Material Plane to a desired location on another plane. Most of the time, though, a portal presents an adventure in itself. First, the adventurers must find a portal that leads where they want to go. Most portals exist in distant locations, and a portal’s location often has thematic similarities to the plane it leads to. For example, a portal to the heavenly mountain of Celestia might be located on a mountain peak.
Second, portals often have guardians charged with ensuring that undesirable people don’t pass through. Depending on the portal’s destination, “undesirable people” might include evil characters, good characters, cowards, thieves, anyone wearing a robe, or any mortal creature. A portal’s guardian is typically a powerful magical creature, such as a genie, sphinx, titan, or native of the portal’s destination plane.
Finally, most portals don’t stand open all the time, but open only in particular situations or when a certain requirement is met. A portal can have any conceivable requirement, but the following are the most common:
Time. The portal functions only at particular times: during a full moon on the Material Plane, or every ten days, or when the stars are in a particular position. Once it opens, such a portal remains open for a limited time, such as for three days following the full moon, or for an hour, or for 1d4 + 1 rounds.
Situation. The portal functions only if a particular condition is met. A situation-keyed portal opens on a clear night, or when it rains, or when a certain spell is cast in its vicinity.
Random. A random portal functions for a random period, then shuts down for a similarly random duration. Typically, such a portal allows 1d6 + 6 travellers to pass through, then shuts down for 1d6 days.
Command Word. The portal functions only if a particular command word is spoken. Sometimes the word must be spoken as a character passes through the portal (which is otherwise a mundane doorway, window, or similar opening). Other portals open when the command word is spoken and remain open for a short time.
Key. The portal functions if the traveller is holding a particular object; the item acts much like a key to a door. This key item can be a common object or a particular key created for that portal. The city of Sigil above the Outlands is known as the City of Doors because it features an overwhelming number of such item-keyed portals.
Learning and meeting a portal’s requirements can draw characters into further adventures as they chase down a key item, scour old libraries for command words, or consult sages to find the right time to visit the portal. Spells:
A number of spells allow direct or indirect access to other planes of existence. Plane shift and gate can directly transport adventurers to any other plane, with different degrees of precision. Etherealness allows adventurers to enter the Ethereal Plane. And the astral projection spell lets adventurers project themselves into the Astral Plane and from there travel to the Outer Planes. Plane Shift. The plane shift spell has two important limitations. The first is the material component: a small, forked, metal rod (like a tuning fork) attuned to the desired planar destination. The spell requires the proper resonating frequency to home in on the correct location, and the fork must be made of the right material (sometimes a complex alloy) to focus the spell’s magic properly. Crafting the fork is expensive (at least 250 gp), but even the act of researching the correct specifications can lead to adventure. After all, not many people voluntarily travel into the depths of Carceri, so very few know what kind of tuning fork is required to get there. Second, the spell doesn’t send the caster to a specific location unless he or she has specialized information. The sigil sequence of a teleportation circle located on another plane allows the caster to travel directly to that circle, but such knowledge is even harder to come by than the specifications of the required tuning fork. Otherwise, the spell transports the caster to a location in the general vicinity of the desired spot. Wherever the adventurers arrive, they’ll most likely still need to undertake a journey to reach the object of a planar quest. Gate. The gate spell opens a portal linked to a specific point on another plane of existence. The spell provides a shortcut to a planar destination, bypassing many of the guardians and trials that would normally fill such a journey. But this 9th-level spell is out of reach for all but the most powerful characters, and it does nothing to negate any obstacles that wait at the destination. The gate spell is powerful, but not infallible. A deity, demon lord, or other powerful entity can prevent such a portal from opening within its dominion. (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/creating-a-multiverse#PlanarTravel)
The planes of the default D&D cosmology are grouped in the following categories:
The Material Plane and Its Echoes. The Feywild and the Shadowfell are reflections of the Material Plane.
The Transitive Planes. The Ethereal Plane and the Astral Plane are mostly featureless planes that serve primarily as pathways to travel from one plane to another.
The Inner Planes. The four Elemental Planes (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water), plus the Elemental Chaos that surrounds them, are the Inner Planes.
The Outer Planes. Sixteen Outer Planes correspond to the eight non-neutral alignments and shades of philosophical difference between them.
The Positive and Negative Planes. These two planes enfold the rest of the cosmology, providing the raw forces of life and death that underlie the rest of existence in the multiverse.
The Void. This is like an endless sea, it connects each universe together whether that be other dnd universes or the copy righted ones :).
Pocket Dimensions. My own dimensions or side dimensions, they existed through there own means or are prisons for whoever they contain. The Great Wheel:
The default cosmological arrangement presented in the Player’s Handbook visualizes the planes as a group of concentric wheels, with the Material Plane and its echoes at the centre. The Inner Planes form a wheel around the Material Plane, enveloped in the Ethereal Plane. Then the Outer Planes form another wheel around and behind (or above or below) that one, arranged according to alignment, with the Outlands linking them all. This arrangement makes sense of the way the River Styx flows among the Lower Planes, connecting Acheron, the Nine Hells, Gehenna, Hades, Carceri, the Abyss, and Pandemonium like beads on a string. But it’s not the only possible explanation of the river’s course. Planar Travel:
When adventurers travel to other planes of existence, they undertake a legendary journey that might force them to face supernatural guardians and undergo various ordeals. The nature of that journey and the trials along the way depend in part on the means of travel, and whether the adventurers find a magic portal or use a spell to carry them. Planar Portals:
“Portal” is a general term for a stationary interplanar connection that links a specific location on one plane to a specific location on another. Some portals function like doorways, appearing as a clear window or a fog-shrouded passage, and interplanar travel is as simple as stepping through the doorway. Other portals are locations — circles of standing stones, soaring towers, sailing ships, or even whole towns — that exist in multiple planes at once or flicker from one plane to another. Some are vortices, joining an Elemental Plane with a very similar location on the Material Plane, such as the heart of a volcano (leading to the Plane of Fire) or the depths of the ocean (to the Plane of Water). Passing through a planar portal can be the simplest way to travel from the Material Plane to a desired location on another plane. Most of the time, though, a portal presents an adventure in itself. First, the adventurers must find a portal that leads where they want to go. Most portals exist in distant locations, and a portal’s location often has thematic similarities to the plane it leads to. For example, a portal to the heavenly mountain of Celestia might be located on a mountain peak.
Second, portals often have guardians charged with ensuring that undesirable people don’t pass through. Depending on the portal’s destination, “undesirable people” might include evil characters, good characters, cowards, thieves, anyone wearing a robe, or any mortal creature. A portal’s guardian is typically a powerful magical creature, such as a genie, sphinx, titan, or native of the portal’s destination plane.
Finally, most portals don’t stand open all the time, but open only in particular situations or when a certain requirement is met. A portal can have any conceivable requirement, but the following are the most common:
Time. The portal functions only at particular times: during a full moon on the Material Plane, or every ten days, or when the stars are in a particular position. Once it opens, such a portal remains open for a limited time, such as for three days following the full moon, or for an hour, or for 1d4 + 1 rounds.
Situation. The portal functions only if a particular condition is met. A situation-keyed portal opens on a clear night, or when it rains, or when a certain spell is cast in its vicinity.
Random. A random portal functions for a random period, then shuts down for a similarly random duration. Typically, such a portal allows 1d6 + 6 travellers to pass through, then shuts down for 1d6 days.
Command Word. The portal functions only if a particular command word is spoken. Sometimes the word must be spoken as a character passes through the portal (which is otherwise a mundane doorway, window, or similar opening). Other portals open when the command word is spoken and remain open for a short time.
Key. The portal functions if the traveller is holding a particular object; the item acts much like a key to a door. This key item can be a common object or a particular key created for that portal. The city of Sigil above the Outlands is known as the City of Doors because it features an overwhelming number of such item-keyed portals.
Learning and meeting a portal’s requirements can draw characters into further adventures as they chase down a key item, scour old libraries for command words, or consult sages to find the right time to visit the portal. Spells:
A number of spells allow direct or indirect access to other planes of existence. Plane shift and gate can directly transport adventurers to any other plane, with different degrees of precision. Etherealness allows adventurers to enter the Ethereal Plane. And the astral projection spell lets adventurers project themselves into the Astral Plane and from there travel to the Outer Planes. Plane Shift. The plane shift spell has two important limitations. The first is the material component: a small, forked, metal rod (like a tuning fork) attuned to the desired planar destination. The spell requires the proper resonating frequency to home in on the correct location, and the fork must be made of the right material (sometimes a complex alloy) to focus the spell’s magic properly. Crafting the fork is expensive (at least 250 gp), but even the act of researching the correct specifications can lead to adventure. After all, not many people voluntarily travel into the depths of Carceri, so very few know what kind of tuning fork is required to get there. Second, the spell doesn’t send the caster to a specific location unless he or she has specialized information. The sigil sequence of a teleportation circle located on another plane allows the caster to travel directly to that circle, but such knowledge is even harder to come by than the specifications of the required tuning fork. Otherwise, the spell transports the caster to a location in the general vicinity of the desired spot. Wherever the adventurers arrive, they’ll most likely still need to undertake a journey to reach the object of a planar quest. Gate. The gate spell opens a portal linked to a specific point on another plane of existence. The spell provides a shortcut to a planar destination, bypassing many of the guardians and trials that would normally fill such a journey. But this 9th-level spell is out of reach for all but the most powerful characters, and it does nothing to negate any obstacles that wait at the destination. The gate spell is powerful, but not infallible. A deity, demon lord, or other powerful entity can prevent such a portal from opening within its dominion. (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/creating-a-multiverse#PlanarTravel)
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