Astral Plane

The Astral Plane is the connective tissue between the multiverse, a place both within and outside most of it. For most Material Plane natives, the Astral Plane is little more than a conduit that is used to access the rest of the planes, and even then it may not register as a place worth visiting. But as a realm of powerful thought and pure belief, it can hold wonders and treasures from bygone times and eras just waiting to be discovered.
And while at first glance the Silver Void earns its name as being empty, travelers that go long enough and far enough can find islands of material from across the multiverse. Great physical masses float tranquilly through the Astral Plane. Islands of earth, clouds of water, and more have been pushed or pulled into the Astral Plane by a host of events, accidental and deliberate, from a multitude of other planar destinations.
Adventure seekers drawn into the Astral Plane may find the githyanki city of Tu’narath, explore the vast Field of Stars, search for the legendary Colorless Pool, or mine for rare astral diamonds within the Silver Mountain. These places and more lay scattered about the Astral Plane, just waiting for explorers to uncover.

Geography

LAY OF THE LAND

The Astral Plane is a vast realm of eternal silver twilight, with no discernible direction or regional break across the entire plane. Planewalkers call the plane the Silver Void for a good reason, and upon first contact it presents an empty silvery sea, devoid of any substance. But it is not empty, and the plane operates on thoughts and willpower more than the elemental building blocks of the multiverse. This basis creates a lot of strange situations that can understandably confuse new travelers.
And, contrary to this first impressions, the Astral Plane is not even empty of locations and phenomena. The most commonly encountered feature are color pools – two-dimensional circles of varying color that allow easy transportation to other planes in the multiverse. As one of the most frequently traveled planes across the multiverse, it’s also not uncommon to run into other planar travelers, usually on their way to somewhere, but the sheer size of the Astral Plane makes such encounters rare.
How big is the Astral Plane? Planar scholars have debated this question for ages, and the most common answer is “forever.” There is no end to the Silver Void, where time and direction are meaningless, and the nature of the plane means that finding places to go requires expending mental energy and having a clear vision rather than knowing a specific path or route.
Besides color pools and the detritus of the multiverse, travelers on the Astral Plane are likely to see astral conduits – ribbons and tubes of various color that wind through the Silver Void. These conduits are sealed portals linking the planes of the multiverse, and are used normally by the souls of the dead moving from their place of death to their final resting place. On other planes, astral conduit openings are difficult to find and often have unusual means of accessing them.

Ecosystem

Highlights & Impressions

The below listings include notes on highlighting the nature of the Astral Plane as characters explore and travel through it. These are suggestions of elements that can be used in descriptions of the landscape and denizens with the goal of actualizing the “outside” nature of the multiverse beyond the Material Plane. Use them to incorporate into encounters and adventures on the Astral Plane.
Silvery Vapors. The Astral Plane is filled with endless silvery vapors, constantly swirling and reforming in a vast unending landscape. There is no up or down, no sense of direction at all, and nothing solid to get a bearing from. Sailors and travelers used to more traditional navigation usually find this disorientation distracting, but the githyanki have learned to train their senses to watch for the nearly imperceptible shifts that occur within the Silver Void to navigate.
Time Stands Still. The Astral Plane is a time-locked plane of transitive nature. Things move and drift, and even the astral conduits that weave through the multiverse tend to twist in the silvery nothingness, but a mortal creature doesn’t need food, air, or water for as long as they are in the Astral Plane. Natural aging ceases altogether – hair and fingernails don’t grow, skin doesn’t flake off, and creatures neither increase nor decrease in height due to age. Similarly, wounds don’t heal while in the Silver Void, though magic and other replenishable abilities still need to recharge.
Thought-Powered Action. A thought has a physical connection on the Astral Plane. The very nature of the Silver Void connects it with the latent psychic powers of all beings. The actual physical movement of walking, for example, is incredibly difficult on the Astral Plane at first – the person has to think about the action to have it realized in the smoothest and easiest possible way. Naturally psychic creatures, such as illithids and the gith, find this transition natural, while most others flounder for a bit especially upon first arriving in the Astral Plane. An adventurer has to think about their action as deliberate movements, something most mature beings have long ago mastered in other planes.

Ecosystem Cycles

CYCLE OF TIME

On the Astral Plane, time does not pass the same as it does across the rest of the multiverse, so there is no measure of time that is useful or meaningful. This means that a creature on the Astral Plane does not age for as long as they remain on the Astral Plane, and they also do not feel hunger or thirst. Travelers still “feel” the passage of time – a minute that passes feels like a minute anywhere else, and this time distortion doesn’t affect spells or other time-based effects.

Localized Phenomena

HAZARDS & PHENOMENA

Travelers to the Astral Plane should be aware of the various hazards that can wreak havoc on their journey, such as psychic storms and time ripples. Remembering which color pool leads to which plane can be helpful as well, along with knowing what to expect from the tubes of astral conduit that crisscross the Silver Void.
Astral Conduit The Astral Plane has few natural occurrences, but the conduit system that connects up the various planes of the multiverse is considered one of them. Conduits are similar to portals in that they link two locations on separate planes to each other, but the difference is in the transportation. Portals are like doors – start in one plane, step through a portal, and you’re now somewhere else entirely. Conduits are tubes that can be viewed and interacted with outside of their entrances and exits and they all use the Astral Plane as a middle ground.
The most common use of an astral conduit is invisible and unknown to most people. When a creature dies, its soul instinctively moves to the nearest conduit that correlates to their plane of final rest. They move into the conduit, travel through the Astral Plane, and are deposited at their destination. Simple as that. Living creatures can use astral conduits, and the effect can be disorientating as the mind and body of the traveler is hurled through the length of the conduit for several minutes before reaching the exit.
Astral conduits are difficult to locate as they don’t show up on typical searches, and many conduits only allow travel by physical bodies under certain circumstances, like a specific moon phase or time of day or night. They don’t require keys as a rule and they tend to be more stable than standard portals. They also only allow one-way travel.
Astral Traveler As the Astral Plane touches all of the other planes of the multiverse, it is a natural pathway for many creatures seeking other planes. Whether it’s Material Plane wizards exploring new portals, raiders and pirates choosing their next target, fiends mounting assaults on faraway fortresses, or celestials watching over the order of the multiverse, almost any other type of intelligent creature can be encountered in the Silver Void.
You can use the table below to inspire an astral traveler randomly encountered in the Silver Void. Some can be encountered alone (such as a beholder or lich), while it makes sense for others to have a group of one or more with them (such as the nightmare shepherd or centaur chieftain). You can also roll on the Astral Traveler Purpose table to help outline the nature of the encounter.
1d100 Astral Traveler 01-05 Centaur chieftain 06-10 Gygan hero 11-15 Minotaur hero 16-20 Oceanid 21-25 Gigantes 26-30 Merrenoloth 31-35 Ultroloth 36-40 Arcanaloth 41-45 Ichthys 46-50 Golden ram 51-55 Myrmekes advanced 56-60 Androsphinx 61-65 Eater of hope 66-70 Master of the feast 71-75 Nightmare shepherd 76-80 Chromatic dragon 81-85 Metallic Dragon 86-90 One of the Fates 91-95 Child of Sydon and Lutheria 96-00 Roll Twice 1d20 Astral Traveler Purpose 1-4 Searching for a color pool 5-8 Hunting a target on the Astral Plane 9-12 Hiding from a rival 13-16 Looking for a specific site 17-20 Meeting another creature (roll again on the Astral Traveler table) Color Pool The Astral Plane is famous for its color pools – easily discovered portals to all of the other planes in the multiverse. Each color pool appears on the Astral Plane as a two-dimensional circle, 1d6 x 10 feet in diameter, completely filled in by a single dominant color. The colors match to other planes, though each color pool has a unique and fixed destination point on the other side. Unfortunately, these are general traits, and there are some color pools that do not behave as expected.
Most color pools are one way, which means there is no return journey possible. A rare few are two-way portals, and these tend to be jealously guarded by creatures native to the plane on the other side (for protection against invading githyanki if nothing else!).
Roughly 5% of color pools are incorrect in color, so where a traveler might think the amber color pool they’re moving through is going to take them to the Material Plane, it could in reality deposit them somewhere in Tartarus.
Also, some color pools do not have a fixed location and instead drop the traveler at a random location on the destination plane. It’s about 5% of color pools that fall into this category as well.
1d100 Plane Pool Color 1-11 Tizerus Ruby 12-22 Hades Rust 23-33 Elysium Amber 34-44 Ethereal Plane Spiraling white 45-55 Plane of Air Pale blue 56-66 Plane of Earth Moss granite 67-77 Plane of Fire Fire emerald 78-88 Plane of Water Dark blue 89-00 Material Plane Silver When a color pool is encountered, roll 1d20. If the result is a 1, the color of the pool does not match the destination; roll randomly on the Color Pool Table below to see where it actually leads. If the result is a 2, it’s a color pool without a fixed location. When the characters move through it, they arrive in a random location on the destination plane. Look to the destination plane for possibilities. If the result is a 20, it’s a rare two-way color pool with a way to access it from the destination plane.
Psychic Wind The Astral Plane is not completely devoid of natural phenomena. Psychic winds are not actual storms, but instead a wave of lost memories and thoughts that gather naturally in the Silver Void from points all across the multiverse. What causes a psychic wind to form is not understood, but they travel through the Astral Plane and can wreak havoc on travelers and natives alike.
The arrival of a psychic wind is preceded by a darkening of the silver landscape, but by that point there is no escape – the phenomena moves too quickly and encompasses too broad of an area for creatures to escape. Within minutes of the darkening, the force hits, sending travelers tumbling in a wild chaotic jumble of powerful thoughts and battering emotions.
Psychic winds have two effects. The first is a disorientation, which cannot be avoided. Roll on the Psychic Wind Location Effect table to determine the result. The second is a mental one, and intelligent creatures must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or suffer a random effect from the Psychic Wind Mental Effect table.
1d20 Psychic Wind Location Effect 1 Pushed forward; reduce travel time by 1d6 hours 2-8 Diverted; add 1d6 hours to travel time 9-12 Blow off course; add 3d10 hours to travel time 13-16 Lost; at the end of the travel time, characters arrive at a location other than the intended destination 17-20 Sent through color pool to a random plane (roll on the Astral Color Pools table) Chapter 5: Astral Plane 1d20 Psychic Wind Mental Effect 1-8 Stunned for 1 minute; you can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of your turns to end the effect on yourself 9-10 Short-term madness (see the Dungeon Master’s Guide for details) 11-12 11 (2d10) psychic damage 13-16 22 (4d10) psychic damage 17-18 Long-term madness (see the Dungeon Master’s Guide for details) 19 Unconscious for 5 (1d10) minutes; the effect on you ends if you take damage or if another creature uses an action to shake you awake 20 You suffer the effects of a failed saving throw against the feeblemind spell Time Ripple Time behaves strangely on the Astral Plane, and one of those strange effects is a time ripple that moves through the plane. A time ripple appears as black and white tear in the Silver Void, miles wide and dozens of feet tall. It moves rapidly and is preceded by the sound of crackling. Unlike a psychic wind, characters can avoid a time ripple if they know what it is by making a DC 17 Intelligence saving throw. On a success, they are able to propel themselves out of the way of the incoming anomaly and do not suffer any ill effects.
On a failure, the character is caught in the time ripple. Roll on the below table to determine the effect.
1d20 Time Ripple Effect 1 You age 1d100 years 2-4 You age 1d6 years 5-8 You lose all hit dice; they are regained after a long rest spent outside the Astral Plane 9-12 You lose access to any ability or effect that is usable one per short or long rest; they are regained after a long rest spent outside the Astral Plane 13-16 Any spell slots for levels 4 or higher you have are reduced to 0; they are regained after a long rest spent outside the Astral Plane 17-19 Any spell slots of any level you have are reduced to 0; they are regained after a long rest spent outside the Astral Plane 20 You gain insight into the future. Roll 1d20 and record the result. You can replace the die roll of any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll you make with that result. Once you do so this ability is lost. Random Encounter Tables The below table can be used by the Dungeon Master as a source of inspiration when a party of characters is traveling around the Astral Plane.
1d100 Astral Plane Encounter 01-05 Time ripple 06-10 Psychic wind 11-15 1 astral stalker 16-20 Color pool 21-25 2d6 larva soul leeches and 1d6 adult soul leeches 26-30 1 greater soul leech 31-35 1d6 nightmares 36-40 1 astral dreadnought 41-45 2d6 drift souls 46-50 An androsphinx 51-55 A gynosphinx 56-60 A criosphinx 61-65 A heirocosphinx 66-70 Golden ram 71-75 Golden lion 76-80 A group of keledone 81-85 A sea serpent looking for food 86-90 A passed out drunk satyr floating by 91-95 A false color pool 96-00 Astral traveler

Tourism

GETTING THERE

The simplest way to enter the Astral Plane is through the use of the astral projection spell. Using this spell, travelers into the Silver Void have their spirit forms transported only, leaving their material bodies behind. A special connection called a silver cord links the spirit form to the physical body, allowing the targets to traverse the Astral Plane at will. If the traveler’s spirit form is reduced to 0 hit points, the silver cord simply pulls back the person back to their physical body. Unfortunately, one of the most frequently encountered hostile creatures on the Astral Plane – the githyanki – have special weapons that allow them to cut a silver cord, severing the tie and killing the target immediately. Gates exist across the multiverse linking the various planes to the Astral Plane as well, but these are generally hidden and require a key of some sort to activate. The key for such a portal does not need to be a physical object, it can possibly be a gesture or series of actions instead. Volumes of gate lore are recorded by planar scholars across the multiverse.
Once a traveler has reached the Astral Plane, finding a way out is very straightforward. Floating portals exist in the Silver Void called color pools which link to other gates in other planes. The colors of these pools reflect their destination – ruby for the Tartarus, amber for Elysium, spiraling white for the Ethereal Plane, and so on. This makes the Astral Plane an ideal stopping point for finding a portal to another plane, as it is the only place where such gates are easily identifiable and discovered.

SURVIVING

The Astral Plane is not hostile to life, and some quirk of the “air” in the plane means that any creature that breathes anything can breathe in the Silver Void. Creatures that can only breathe water can travel side-by-side with another creature that breathes only rock. In this way, there are few friendlier planes in the multiverse for simply existing.
However, because time does not pass as it normally would, creatures cannot regain hit points by spending hit dice during a rest and they do not regain hit points during a long rest. Magical healing functions as normal, but bodies do not register time as passing so they don’t heal naturally. Certain areas on the Astral Plane, such as the Inn of the Silver Lantern, have special properties that overcome this aspect of the plane.

TRAVELING AROUND

As a realm of thought, moving around in the Astral Plane is not so much a physical act as a mental one. Creatures on the Astral Plane have a flying speed equal to 3 x its Intelligence score while traveling on the plane. Physical movement is possible as well, but it’s clumsy, so a creature relying on its walking speed has a flying speed equal to half its walking speed. Creatures that can swim or fly can move normally, choosing to use their Intelligence, swimming, or flying speed to move around.
Distance is a very abstract concept on the Astral Plane as well. While the plane is theoretically infinite, reaching a specific destination relies more on willpower and a clear mental picture than anything else. Traveling to a location on the Astral Plane requires a number of hours based on how familiar the traveler is with their destination. Use the following chart as a guide.
Familiarity Travel Time Very familiar 2d6 hours Studied carefully 1d4 x 8 hours Seen casually 2d4 x 8 hours Viewed once 1d6 x 16 hours Description only 2d6 x 16 hours A “very familiar” location is one the traveler has been to multiple times. “Studied carefully” is a well-known place that the traveler has been to at least once. A color pool used previously would usually fall under the “studied carefully” category. “Seen casually” is a place witnessed from a distance, or one that is similar to a better-known location – a color pool of the same color as used previously, for example. “Viewed once” would be a place seen through magic, and “description only” could be related to the traveler verbally or written by a third party.
The nature of the Astral Plane means that there are no encumbrance penalties for travel.

Type

Dimensional plane

Location under

Transitive Planes