THE MATERIAL PLANE
The Material Plane is the nexus where the philosophical
and elemental forces tha! define the other planes colIide
in lhe jumbled existence of mortal life and mundane
matter. AlI the worlds of 0&0 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.
The worlds of the Material Plane are infinitely diverse,
for lhey reflect the creative imagination of the DMs
who set their games there, as weJl as the players whose
heroes adventure there. They include magic-wasled
desert planets and island-dotted waler worlds, worlds
where magic combines with advanced technology and
others trapped in an endless Stone Age, worlds where
the gods walk and places they have abandoned.
The best-known worlds in lhe multiverse are lhe
ones lha! have been published as official campaign
settings for the 0&0 game over the years-Greyhawk,
Blackmoor, Dragonlance, the Forgotten Realms,
Mystara, Birthright, Dark Sun, and Eberron, among
others. Each of these worlds boasts its own cast of
heroic adventurers and scheming villains, its own
ancient ruins and forgotten artifacts, its own dungeons
and its own dragons. But if your campaign takes place
on one of these worlds, it belongs to your DM-you
mighl imagine it as one of thousands of paralIel versions
of the world, which might diverge wildly from the
published version.
MATERIAL ECHOES
The Material Plane is a richly magical place, and its
magical nalure is reflected in the two planes that share
its central place in the multiverse. The Feywild and the
ShadowfelI are paralIel dimensions occupying the same
cosmological space, so they are often calIed echo planes
or mirrar planes to the Material Plane. The worlds and
landscapes of these planes mirror lhe natural world
of the Material Plane but reflect those fealures into
different forms-more marvelous and magical in the
Feywild, distorted and colorless in the Shadowfell.
Where a volcano stands in the Malerial Plane, a
mountain topped with skyscraper-sized crystals that
glow with internai fire towers in lhe Feywild, and a
jagged rock outcrapping resembling a skuJl marks the
spot on the Shadowfell.
The Feywild, also calIed the Plane of Faerie, is a land
of soft lights and wonder, a country of little people with
great desires, a place of music and death. lt is a realm
of eternal twilight, with slow lanterns bobbing in the
gentle breeze and huge fireflies buzzing through graves
and fields. The sky is alight with the faded colors of
lhe setting, or perhaps rising, sun. But, in fact, the sun
neve r truly sets or rises; it remains stationary, dusky
and low in the sky. Away fram the settled areas ruled by
the Seelie Court, lhe land is a tangle of sharp-toothed
brambles and syrupy fens-perfect territory for the
Unseelie to hunt their prey. Fey creatures, such as those
brought to the world by conjure woad/and beings and
similar spelIs, dwelI in the Feywild.
The Shadowfell, also calIed the Plane af Shadaw, is
a darkly lighted dimension, a world af black and white
where colar has been leached fram everything. lt is a
place af taxic darkness that hates the light, where the
sky is a black vault with neither sun nor stars.
POSITIVE ANO NEGATIVE PLANES
Like a dome above the other planes, the Positive Plane is the
source of radianl energy and lhe raw life force lhal suffuses
allliving beings, from lhe puny lo lhe sublime, Ils dark
refleclion is lhe Negative Plane, lhe source of necrolic energy
lhal deslroys lhe Iiving and animales the undead
PLANAR TRAVEL
When adventurers travei into other planes of existence,
they are undertaking a legendary journey acrass the
thresholds of existence to a mythic destination where
they strive to complete their quest. Such a journey is the
stuff of legend. Braving the realms of the dead. seeking
out the celestial servants of a deity. or bargaining with
an efreeti in its home city will be the subject of song and
story for years to come.
Travel to the planes beyond the Material Plane can be
accomplished in two ways: by casting a spell or by using
a planar portal.
Spells.
A number of spells allow direct or indirect
access to other planes of existence. Plane shift and
gate can transport adventurers directly to any other
plane of existence. with different degrees of precision.
Etherealness allows adventurers to enter the Ethereal
Plane and traveI fram there to any of the planes it
touches-the Shadowfell. the Feywild. or the Elemental
Planes. And the astral projection spelllets adventurers
praject themselves into the Astral Plane and traveI to
the Outer Planes.
Portals.
A 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
portaIs are like doorways, a clear window, or a fog-
shrauded passage, and simply stepping through it effects the interplanar traveI. Others 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 in turn.
Some are vortices, typically joining an Elemental Plane with a
very similar location on the Material Plane. such as the
heart of a voleano (leading to the Plane of Fire) or the
depths of the ocean (to the Plane of Water).
TRANSITIVE PLANES
The Ethereal Plane and the Astral Plane are called the
Transitive Planes. They are mostly featureless realms
that serve primarily as ways to traveI from one plane
to another. Spells such as etherealness and astral
projection allow characters to enter these planes and
traverse them to reach the planes beyond.
The Ethereal Plane is a misty, fog-bound dimension
that is sometimes described as a great oceano Its shores,
called the Border Ethereal. overlap the Material Plane
and the lnner Planes, so that every location on those
planes has a corresponding location on the Ethereal
Plane. Certain creatures can see into the Border
Ethereal. and the see invisibility and true seeing spell
grunt that ability. Some magical effects also extend fram
the Material Plane into the Border Ethereal. particularly
effects that use force energy such as forcecage and wall
of force.
The depths of the plane, the Deep Ethereal, are
a region of swirling mists and colorful fogs.
The Astral Plane is the realm of thought and dream.
where visitors traveI as disembodied souls to reach
the planes of the divine and demonic. It is a great,
silvery sea. the same above and below, with swirling
wisps of white and gray streaking among motes of light
resembling distant stars. Erratic whirlpools of color
flicker in midair like spinning coins. Occasional bits of
solid matter can be found here, but most of the Astral
Plane is an endless. open domain.
INNER PLANES
The Inner Planes surround and enfold the Material
Plane and its echoes, providing the raw elemental
substance from which ali the worlds were made. The
four Elemental Planes-Ai r, Earth. Fire, and Water-
form a ring araund the Material Plane. suspended within the churning Elemental Chaos.
At their innermost edges. where they are closest to the Material Plane (in a conceptual if not a literal geographical sense). the four Elemental Planes
resemble a world in the Material Plane. The four
elements mingle together as they do in the Material
Plane. forming land. sea. and sky. Farther from the
Material Plane. though, the Elemental Planes are both
alien and hostile. Here, the elements exist in their
purest form-great expanses of solid earth. blazing fire.
crystal-clear water, and unsullied air. These regions
are little-known. so when discussing the Plane of Fire.
for example, a speaker usually means just the border
region. At the farthest extents of the Inner Planes,
the pure elements dissolve and bleed together into an
unending tumult of clashing energies and colliding
substance, the Elemental Chaos.
OUTER PLANES
If the Inner Planes are the raw matter and energy that
makes up the multiverse, the Outer Planes are the
direction. thought and purpose for such construction.
Accordingly. many sages refer to the Outer Planes as
divine planes, spiritual planes. or godly planes, for the
Outer Planes are best known as the homes of deities.
When discussing anything to do with deities, the
language used must be highly metaphorical. Their
actual homes are not literally "places" at ali, 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 sort of border region, while extensive spiritual regions
lie beyond ordinary sensory experience.
Even in those 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 the
whims of the powerful forces that live on the Outer
Planes. The desires of the mighty forces that dwell on
these planes can remake them completely, effectively
erasing and rebuilding existence itself to bettcr fulfill
their own needs.
The planes with some element of good in their nature
are called the Upper Planes. Celestial creatures such
as angels and pegasi dwell in the Upper Planes. Planes
with some element of evil are the Lower Planes. Fiends
such as demons, devils, and yugoloths dwell in the
Lower Planes. A plane's alignment is its essence, and
a character whose alignment doesn't match the plane's
experiences a profound 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.
Distance is a virtually meaningless concept on the
Outer Planes. The perceptible regions of the planes
often seem quite small, but they can also stretch on to
what seems like infinity. It might be possible to 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 il. Or it could take weeks for travelers to make a
grueling trek across a single layer.
The most well-known Outer Planes are a group of
sixteen planes that correspond to the eight alignments
(excluding neutrality) and the shades of distinction
between them.
OTHER PLANES
Existing somehow between or beyond the known planes
of existence are a variety of other realms.
SIGIL AND THE OUTLANDS
The Outlands is the plane between the Outer Planes, a
plane of neutrality, but not the neutrality of nothingness.
Instead it incorporates a little of everything, keeping it
ali in a paradoxical balance-simultaneously concordant
and in opposition. It is a broad region of varied terrain,
with open prairies, towering mountains, and twisting,
shallow rivers, strongly resembling an ordinary world
of the Material Plane.
The Outlands is circular, like a great wheel-in fact,
Ihose who envlsion the Ouler Planes as a wheel point
to the Outlands as proof, calling il a microcosm of the planes. That argument might be circular, however,
for it is possible that the arrangement of the Outlands
inspired the idea of the Great Wheel in the first place.
Around the outside edge of the circle, evenly spaced,
are the gate-towns: sixleen settlements, each built
around a portal leading to one of the Outer Planes. Each
town shares many of the characteristics of the plane
where its gate leads.
At the center of the Outlands, like the axle of the
planar wheel, the Spire shoots impossibly high into the
sky. Above this thin peak floats the ring-shaped city of
Sigil, the City of Doors. This bustling planar metropolis
holds countless portais to other planes and worlds.
Sigil is a trader's city. Goods, merchandise, and
information come to it from across the planes. There
is a brisk trade in information about the planes, in
particular in the command words or items required for
the operation of particular portais. These portal keys
are highly sought after, and many travelers within the
city are looking for a particular portal or a portal key
to allow them to continue on their way.
DEMIPLANES
Demiplanes are small extradimensional spaces with
their own unique rules. They are pieces of reality that
don't se em to fit anywhere else. Demiplanes come
into being by a variety of means. Some are created by
spells, such as demiplane, or generated at the desire of a
powerful deity or other force. They may exist naturally,
as a fold of existing reality that has been pinched olf
from the rest of the multiverse, or as a baby universe
growing in power. A given demiplane can be entered
through a single point where it touches another plane.
Theoretically, a plane shift spell can also carry travelers
to a demiplane, but the proper frequency required
for the tuning fork is extremely hard to acquire. The
gate spell is more reliable, assuming the caster knows
of the demiplane.
THE FAR REALM
The Far Realm is beyond the known muItiverse. In fact,
it might be an entirely separate multiverse with its own
physical and magical laws. Where stray energies from
the Far Realm leak onto another plane, life and matter
are warped and twisted into alien shapes that defy
ordinary geometry and biology.
The entities that abide in the Far Realm are toa alien
for a normal mind to accept without damage. Titanic
creatures swim through nothingness, preoccupied
with madness. Unspeakable things whisper awful
truths to those who dare listen. For mortais, knowledge
of the Far Realm Is a triumph of mind over the rude
boundaries of matter, space, and eventually sanity.
There are no known portaIs lo the Far Realm, or
at least none that are still viable. Ancient elves once
pierced the boundary of eons with a vast portal to the
Far Realm within a mountain called Firestorm Peak,
but their civilization imploded in bloody terror and
the portaI's location-even its home world-is long-
forgotten. Other portaIs might still exist, marked by the
alien forces leaking through to corrupt the Material
Plane around them.
