Appendix 1: The Known Planes of Existence
| The Inner Planes | The Outer Planes | Ethereal Travel and Combat | - | > |
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There exists an infinite
number of parallel universes and planes of existence in the fantastic "multiverse"
of ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.
All of these world co-exist,
but how "real" each is depends entirely on the development of each campaign
referee.
The charts and explanations
which follow show only the various planes tied to that normal existence.
The parallel universes are
not shown, and their existence might or might not be actual.
The Prime Material Plane
The Prime Material Plane
(or Physical Plane) is the "center" of the Inner Planes.
It houses the universe and
all of its parallels.
It is the plane of Terra,
and your campaign, in all likelihood.
The Prime Material
is bounded or permeated by all of the Inner Planes and the Astral
Plane.
The Prime Material Plane
is made up of the four elements plus positive and negative energy.
The Positive
Material Plane
This
is a place of energy and light,
the
place which is the source of much that is vital and active,
the
power supply for good.
Any
creature from the Prime Material that tried to enter the
Positive
Material Plane (e.g. from the Ethereal Plane) would probably
be instantly consumed by the powerful energies there.
The Negative
Material Plane
This
is a place of anti-matter and negative force,
the
source of power for undead,
the
energy area from which evil grows.
No
one is certain what types of creatures may exist on the Negative
(or Positive) Material Plane.
Any
creature from the Prime Material Plane would probably be completely drained
of all life and energy.
The Elemental
Planes
The planes of Air,
Earth,
Fire
and Water "surround" the Prime Material Plane.
Fig. 1 shows one way of
visualizing their relationship to each other and the other Inner Planes.
The Elemental Planes
are represented by the band that surrounds the Prime Material Plane(s).
Don't be fooled by the apparent
sizes of the planes represented in Fig. 1.
There are an infinite number
of parallel Prime Material Planes,
and each and every one of
these are bounded by the Elemental Planes,
so the Elemental Planes
are themselves infinite,
in effect.
Fig. 2 shows one way of
visualizing the Elemental Planes' relationship to each other.
It is possible to actually
physcially move from one Elemental Plane to another by moving through
the Para-Elemental Planes.
The Elemental Planes
are the homes of many different kinds of elemental creatures,
and some of them have the
ability to travel to the Prime Material Plane.
There is probably more traffic
between the Prime Material and the Elemental planes than
between any others.
This is usually either direct
travel (either gates or summoning) or by way of the Ethereal Plane.
There are also nexal points
in distant,
out-of-the-way places on
the Prime Material Plane that lead directly to the Elemental
Planes.
The Para-Elemental
Planes
Where the Elemental Planes
meet are the lesser Para-Elemental Planes.
These are:
The
Plane of Ice, where Air and Water meet.
The
Plane of Dust, at the conjunction of Air and Fire.
The Plane
of Heat, where Fire and Earth converge.
The Plane
of Vapor, at the meeting of Earth and Water.
These planes are home to
many para-elementals,
and they can be reached
in the same manner the Elemental Planes can be reached.
The Ethereal
Plane
The
Ethereal
Plane surrounds,
touches
and permeates all of the Inner Planes and the endless parallel worlds
of the universe without being a part of them.
The
Ethereal
Plane is basically insubstantial, and few "real" creatures actually
live there (though there are rumors of floating islands of solid ether,
populated
by exiles, which drift around the Ethereal Plane).
To
creatures on the Ethereal Plane, objects on the Prime Material
Plane (or any of the Inner Planes) appear as incorporeal phantoms.
Ethereal
creatures may pass through these phantoms with no difficulty,
although
a person "passed through" might experience a chill down the spine.
Ethereal
beings or things are "real" to each other,
however.
Note
that the Ethereal Plane does not extend to the Outer Planes,
so
it is not possible for creatures on those planes to "go ethereal".
Ethereal
travel and combat are explained later.
The
Plane of Shadow
The
Plane
of Shadow co-exists with the Prime Material Plane,
and
is a result of the interaction of that plane and the Positive
and
Negative
Material Planes.
The
Negative
plane
provides the darkness,
and
the Positive plane the light;
these
meet at the Prime Material Plane, which casts the shadow.
Thus
the Plane of Shadow is a place of distorted and mutable shadow-creatures,
of white, black and all shades of gray.
This
plane radiates from the Prime Material to a non-space where endless
vortices spiral to the parallel Prime Material Planes,
and
to the Outer Planes as well.
This
plane can be used to travel to distant worlds,
to
parallel planes, or to the Outer Planes themselves.
Note
that the Astral Plane touches only the upper layer of each of the
Outer
Planes,
and
of the Inner Planes it touches only the Prime Material, see
Fig. 3.
Astral
travel and combat are explained later.
These planes are the homes
of the deities and the source of alignment
(religious/philosophical/ethical
ideals). There is an exact correspondence
between alignment and the
Outer
Planes. Figure 4 and Figure 5 can be
used to visualize this more
clearly. Note that the alignment positions on
the Character Alignment
Graph match up exactly with the Outer Planes of
identical alignment. There
are nine basic alignments, and nine planes
which correspond to those
alignments. There are also eight other planes
between the nine which represent
"borderline" alignments.
As Fig. 4 shows, alignment
is a matter of degree rather than absolute
definition. Thus a lawful
evil character who tended towards neutral evil
would probably end up in
Gehenna
rather than Hades or the Nine Hells.
The seventeen Outer Planes
are as follows:
The Seven
Heavens of absolute lawful good.
The Twin
Paradises of lawful/neutral good.
The layers
of Elysium of neutral good.
The Happy
Hunting Grounds of chaotic/neutral good.
The layers
of Olympus of absolute chaotic good.
The layers
of Gladsheim (Asgard, Vanaheim, etc.) of neutral/good chaotics.
The layers
of Limbo of neutral (absolute) chaos.
The layers
of Pandemonium of neutral/evil chaotics.
The 666
layers of the Abyss of absolute chaotic evil.
The layers
of Tarterus of neutral/chaotic evil.
Hades'
"Three Glooms" of neutral (absolute) evil.
The furnaces
of Gehenna of neutral/lawful evil.
The Nine
Hells of absolute lawful evil.
The nether
layers of Acheron of neutral/evil law.
Nirvana
of neutral (absolute) law.
The layers
of Arcadia of neutral/good law.
The plane
of Concordant Opposition of true neutrals.
As can be seen from Fig.
3, the seventeen Outer Planes contact each other
at their topmost layers.
It is possible to MOVE directly from the upper layer
of one Outer Plane
to an adjacent one (though it is not necessarily advisable
or safe). Thus a being could
go from the topmost layer of the Abyss
to Pandemonium or
Tarterus,
and it is likewise possible to MOVE from
Hades to Tarterus,
Gehenna,
or the plane of Concordant Opposition.
A character can achieve the
ethereal state (move to the Ethereal Plane) BY
various means which incl.
magic spells, magic items, magical ointment
(oil of etherealness)
or psionic discipline. It is possible to MOVE to or about
any of the Inner Planes
which the Ethereal Plane permeates, and it is psb.
to MOVE from plane to plane
ethereally. To MOVE on the Ethereal Plane,
an entity has but to will
movement for it to happen. If concentration
upon movement lases, progress
immed. halts. Ethereal travel is tireless
&& rapid. Creatures
in ethereal state need neither food, drink, REST
nor sleep. Ethereal creatures
may move from plane to plane by moving
from the shadow of one plane
to the shadow of another. This may be accomplished
by concentrating on the
desired destination. This
gets easier w/ practice,
as the being marks out a mental "trail" through
the ether. The first time
a journey between two points is made, the DM
should check for encounters
three times. Ont he second journey, he || she
should check twice, and
on all subsequent journeys between the two
known points, only one check
need be made.
Ethereal Encounters
Encounters occur on a 1 in
20; if the party is following an unfamiliar
"path", check three times
total: at the beginning, midpoint, and at the end
of the journey. If an encounter
is indicated, consult the Ethereal Encounter Table (below)
and roll percentile dice.
Read to the right on the table to
find the creature (and #)
encountered. Evasion is psb. only if the
adventurers are able to
MOVE more quickly than the monster encountered.
This will occur only if
the party is both following a familiar "path" and the
least-intelligent member
of the party has a higher intelligence score than
the most-intelligent pursuer
(due to the fact the ethereal travel is a function
of mental concentration.
Ethereal Encounter Table
01-04 = Aerial servant,
1
05-08 = Basilisk*, 1-2
09-11 = Cockatrice*, 1-4
12-16 = Couatl, 1-4
17-23 = Djinni, 1-6
24 = Dragon, chromatic,
1
25 = Dragon, platinum, 1
26-27 = Efreeti, 1-3
28-32 = Elemental, air,
1
33-34 = Elemental, earth,
1
35-36 = Elemental, fire,
1
37 = Elemental, water, 1
38-42 = Ghost, 1
43-44 = Gorgon*, 1-2
45-46 = Groaning spirit,
1-2
47-51 = Human traveller
-- see Character Subtable**
52-53 = Intellect devourer,
1-2
54-56 = Invisible stalker,
1-3
57-61 = Ki-rin, 1
62-68 = Lammasu, 2-8
69-70 = Medusa*, 1-2
71-72 = Nightmare, 1-4
73-74 = Salamander, 2-5
75-77 = Shedu, 1
78-81 = Spider, phase, 1-6
82-88 = Thought eater, 1-3
89 = Titan, elder, 1
90-92 = Titan, lesser, 1
93-94 = Titan, major, 1
95-97 = Wind walker, 2-5
98-00 = Xorn, 3-6
* These creature's perceptions
extend into the Astral and Ethereal Planes
(as do their magical attack
forms), but they do not actually travel
therein. Their psb. appearance
applies only to situations in which
the encountering party is
near to the PMP, and could
therefore psb. be affected
by the creature's attack forms.
** The Character Subtable
used for DUNGEON RANDOM MONSTER ENCOUNTERS
in the DMG is used, with
the following
modifications: Party size
will be only 1-6. No limits to the # of
characters of one class
apply. There will always be 1 cleric; if there are 2
or more in the party, there
will also be a min of 1 M-U.
Character level will be:
CLERIC, 9th-18th
Druid,
7th-14th
FIGHTER, 8th-15th
Paladin,
7th-16th
Ranger,
7th-16th
MAGIC-USER, 11th-20th
Illusionist,
10th-17th
THIEF, 9th-16th
Assassin,
10th-15th
MONK, 8th-17th
BARD***, 11th-18th
*** 7th or 8th level fighter
ability, 6th to 9th level (d4+5) thief ability.
The Ether Cyclone
The twisting vortex of the
Ether
Cyclone is caused by fluctuations of the Inner
Planes, and as such
is only encountered on ethereal journeys between
planes. There is a non-cumulative
5% chance per plane crossed that a party
will encounter the Ether
Cyclone. The effects of being caught in the
Cyclone are detailed
below:
| Dice Score | Effect of Cyclone |
| 1-10 | Blows so as to move party in random direction at 120' per round, and if travelling is involved, party is slowed as to incur 1 additional encounter check. |
| 11-15 | Blows to a plane different than that which the party is near or desires to travel to; the usual encounter checks must be made. |
| 16-18 | Blows so as to cause party to be lost for 5-60 days, and when no longer lost the party will arrive at a different plane as determined by random means. |
| 19-20 | Storm cyclone causes party to be lost for 10-120 days, and unless save vs. Spells is made, the party is blown to the Astral Plane. If a save is successful, then party will still arrive at a randomly determined plane touched by the ether. |
Ethereal Combat
Though the Inner Planes
are mere phantoms to creatures on the Ethereal
Plane, such creatures
will certainly be "real" to each other, and normal
melee or spell casting is
psb. between ethereal beings. It is also
psb. to combat creatures
who exist or function partially on the Ethereal
Plane. Thus, those
creatures whose attack forms xtend to the ethereal can
be attacked by ethereal
creatures. It is only in these instances that spells
can be CAST from the Ethereal
to the Prime Material Plane, and then they
will only affect the creature
with ethereal connections. Ethereal combat
damage is actual damage.
Astral travel is psb. by
various means incl. magic spells and
psionic disciplines. The
Astral
Plane touches only the endless PMP
and the 17 "first layers"
of the Outer Planes. The Astral Plane
does not touch any of the
Inner
Planes other than the PMP.
It is psb. to MOVE about,
in, or to any of the Prime Material universes or
to the first layers of the
Outer
Planes by means of astral travel (see the
clerical astral
spell for pertinent details). As with ethereal travel, movement
through the Astral Plane
is speedy, and while there the individual
needs no food, drink, REST
or even sleep.
Beings in an astral state
MOVE from place to place simply by concentratting
upon moving to the desired
destination. As with ethereal travel, this gets
easier with practice, as
the astral traveller "learns the way". The DM
should check for encounters
three times on the first journey between two
points, twice on the second
journey, and only once on any subsequent
journeys.
Astral Encounters
Encounters in the Astral
Plane occur on a 1 in 20 chance; check one, two or
three times per journey,
depending on the party's familiarity with the
route followed. Use the
table below to determine creature(s) encountered.
Evasion is handled as described
under Ethereal Encounters (q.v.).
Astral Encounter Table
01-04 Aerial
servant, 1
05-10
Basilisk*, 1-2
11-13
Cockatrice*, 1-4
14-16
Demon, major, 1
17-22
Demon, minor, 1-3
23 Demon,
prince, 1
24 Devil,
arch-, 1
25-28
Devil, greater-, 1
29-37
Devil, lesser-, 1-3
38 Dragon,
chromatic, 1
39 Dragon,
platinum, 1
40-41
Gorgon*, 1-2
42-46
Human traveller -- see Character Subtable**
47-49
Intellect devourer, 1-2
50-55
Invisible stalker, 1-3
56-61
Ki-rin, 1
62-63
Medusa*, 1-2
64-71
Night hag, 1-4
72-74
Nightmare, 1-4
75-79
Rakshasa, 1-3
80-91
Shedu, 2-5
92 Titan,
elder, 1
92-97
Titan, lesser, 1
98-00
Titan, major, 1
* See beneath Ethereal Encounter Table.
** See beneath Ethereal Encounter Table.
Perhaps the most dangerous
thing that can happen to an astral traveller is
getting caught in the psychic
wind. No one knows how or why the wind
blows, but all fear its
effects. The chance of a delayed or disrupted journey
is a non-cumulative 5% per
plane crossed (incl. alternate worlds of
the Prime Material)
or solar system travelled (if journeying across the
Prime Material).
The effects of the psychic wind are as shown below:
| Dice Score | Effect of Wind |
| 1-12 | Slows travel only, incur 1 additional check for random encounter. |
| 13-16 | Blows off course, and party is lost for 2-20 days time, then must return to starting place. |
| 17-19 | Blows off course so that party arrives at a different destination as determined by random method. |
| 20 | Storm blows, and unless a save vs. Magic is made, the silver cord is broken, and the party is killed. If a save is successful, the party is lost for 4-40 days and must return to the starting place thereafter. |
Note: If astral projection
does not involve a silver cord attachment, then
the party concerned is both
lost and arrives at a different destination when
struck by a psychic storm
wind.
Astral Combat
As on the Ethereal Plane,
astral beings are "real" to each other, and can
CAST spells and melee normally.
The major impediment to these activities is
that astral travellers employing
an astral spell or the psionic astral projection
discipline do not carry
their possessions with them into the Astral Plane
(except for certain magic
items that have a multi-planar existence,
e.g. an amulet of the planes).
Beings travelling astrally by these modes
will therefore have to rely
on their natural weaponry or spells without
material components in any
astral melee. Most creatures can do no more
than destroy the astral
body, causing the silver cord to return to the
material body and preventing
further astral travel for a period of time.
Very powerful beings (gods,
demigods, etc.) might be able to snap the
silver cord, thus killing
the astral and material bodies simultaneously.
PLANAR TRAVEL
The purpose of this section
is to sum up all of the information that has been
stated or implied about
planar travel. First, travel among the Inner Planes:
this is usually done by
means of the Ethereal Plane, as it permeates all of
the Inner Planes.
(It is not possible for creatures on the Outer Planes to "go
ethereal"). As with all
planar travel, it is also possible to pass directly from
one plane to another by
means of "gates", thereby avoiding ethereal
travel. A gate may be formed
by a magic spell (such as the gate spell, or
conjure elemental, which
forms a direct opening between the planes), a
magic item (e.g. an amulet
of the planes, a well of many worlds, a cubic
gate, or any of the various
elemental-summoning devices), or divine
intervention. There are
also direct nexial points connecting the Prime Material
and Elemental Planes.
