Physical Traits: These traits set the laws of nature,
including gravity and time.
• Elemental and Energy Traits: These traits determine
the dominance of particular elemental or energy forces.
• Alignment Traits: Just as characters may be lawful
neutral or chaotic good, a plane might be tied to a particular moral or ethical outlook.
• Magic Traits: Magic works differently from plane to
plane, and these traits set the boundaries for what it
can and can’t do.
These traits usually apply to the plane as a whole, but
a plane is a vast place. There may be particular locations
within a plane where the rules are different, perhaps
because of natural effects, godly interference, or magical localities.
PHYSICAL TRAITS
The two most important natural laws set by physical
traits are how gravity works and how time passes. Other
physical traits set the boundaries of the plane (if it has
any) and the nature of its borders. Finally, a physical trait
sets the nature of matter itself, ranging from static and
unchanging to random and ever-shifting.
Gravity
One variable that the DM can change is gravity, ranging
from heavier to lighter to absent entirely. Furthermore,
the direction of gravity’s pull may be unusual, and it
might even change directions within the plane itself.
Normal Gravity: Most planes have gravity similar to
that of the Material Plane. That is, if something weighs 10
pounds on the Material Plane, it weighs 10 pounds here
as well. The usual rules for ability scores, carrying capacity, and encumbrance apply.
Heavy Gravity: The gravity of this plane is much more
intense than the Material Plane. As a result, Balance,
Climb, Jump, Ride, Swim, and Tumble checks suffer a –2
circumstance penalty, as do all attack rolls. All item
weights are effectively doubled, which might affect a
character’s speed. Weapon ranges are halved.
A character’s Strength and Dexterity are not affected,
but these ability scores don’t let the character do as much.
This limitation applies to both travelers from other
planes as well as natives, though the natives know of the
limitation and plan accordingly.
You can double or triple the heavy gravity effect for
particular planes, though they won’t be popular destinations with adventurers.
Characters who fall on a heavy gravity plane take 1d10
points of damage for each 10 feet fallen, to a maximum of
20d10 points of damage.
Light Gravity: The gravity of this plane is less
intense than on the Material Plane. As a result, creatures find that they can lift more, but their movements
tend to be ungainly. Characters on planes with the
light gravity trait suffer a –2 circumstance penalty on
attack rolls and Balance, Ride, Swim, and Tumble
checks. All items weigh half as much. Weapon ranges
double, and characters gain a +2 circumstance bonus
on Climb and Jump checks.
Strength and Dexterity don’t change as a result of light
gravity, but what you can do with such scores does
change. These advantages apply to travelers from other
planes as well as natives.
Falling characters on a light gravity plane take 1d4
points of damage for each 10 feet of the fall, to a maximum of 20d4 points of damage.
You can choose to decrease gravity even further, doubling or tripling the effect for that particular plane.
No Gravity: Individuals in a plane without gravity
merely float in space, unless other mechanisms (such as
magic or force of will) are available to provide a direction
for gravity’s pull. An example of a plane with no gravity is
the Astral Plane, where everyone gets around by simply
imagining themselves moving in a particular direction.
Objective Directional Gravity: The strength of gravity is the same as on the Material Plane, but the direction
is not the traditional “down” toward the ground. It may
be down toward any solid object, at an angle to the plane
itself, or even upward, creating a chandelierlike world
where everyone has to hang on or be thrown out into
the void.
In addition, objective directional gravity may change
from place to place. The direction of “down” may vary, so
individuals may suddenly find themselves falling upward
(similar to the reverse gravity spell) or walking up walls.
Travelers on planes with objective directional gravity
tend to be cautious. No one wants to discover the hard
way that the 100-foot corridor ahead has become a 100-
foot-deep pit.
Subjective Directional Gravity:The strength of gravity is the same, but each individual chooses the direction
of gravity’s pull. Such a plane has no gravity for unattended objects and nonsentient creatures. This can be
very disorienting to the newcomer, but is common on
“weightless” planes such as the Plane of Air.
Characters can move normally on a solid surface by
imagining “down” near their feet. For pockets of matter in
the Elemental Plane of Air, this is the most common way
to generate one’s own gravity. If suspended in midair, a
character “flies” by merely choosing a “down” direction
and “falling” that way
MAGIC ON THE PLANES
A number of spells affect or use planes beyond the Material Plane. What follows is a summary of spells that have a planar aspect. If you wish to modify or eliminate particular planes, you may wish to change or remove these spells from play as well.
Spells marked with an asterisk (*) are new spells described in this chapter.
Spells marked with (F) are spells that use force effects, so they affect the Ethereal Plane in addition to the Material Plane. If you choose not to use the Ethereal Plane in your campaign, they are still useful. You can have spells that create elements without having elemental planes in your cosmology. Similarly, you can have spells that use negative or positive energy without requiring energy planes, and spells that affect alignments without having specific planes for those alignments.
ASTRAL PLANE SPELLS