Dungeon Master's Guide
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actual homes aren't literally places at all, but exemplify<br />
the idea that the Outer Planes are realms of thought and<br />
spirit. As with the Elemental Planes, one can imagine<br />
the perceptible part of the Outer Planes as a border<br />
region, while extensive spiritual regions lie beyond<br />
ordinary sensory experience.<br />
Even in perceptible regions, appearances can be<br />
deceptive. Initially, many of the Outer Planes appear<br />
hospitable and familiar to natives of the Material Plane.<br />
But the landscape can change at a whim of the powerful<br />
forces that dwell on these planes, which can remake<br />
them completely, effectively erasing and rebuilding<br />
existence to better fulfill their divine needs.<br />
Distance is a virtually meaningless concept on the<br />
Outer Planes. The perceptible regions of the planes can<br />
seem quite small, but they can also stretch on to what<br />
seems like infinity. Adventurers could take a guided<br />
tour of the Nine Hells, from the first layer to the ninth,<br />
in a single day- if the powers of the Hells desire it. Or it<br />
could take weeks for travelers to make a grueling trek<br />
across a single layer.<br />
The default Outer Planes are a group of sixteen planes<br />
that correspond to the eight alignments (excluding<br />
neutrality, which is represented by the Outlands,<br />
described in the section on "Other Planes") and the<br />
shades of distinction between them.<br />
THE OUTER PLANES<br />
Outer Plane<br />
Mount Celestia, the Seven Heavens of<br />
Bytopia, the Twin Paradises of<br />
Elysium, the Blessed Fields of<br />
The Beastlands, the Wilderness of<br />
Arborea, the Olympian Glades of<br />
Ysgard , the Heroic Domains of<br />
Limbo, the Ever-Changing Chaos of<br />
Pandemonium, the Windswept Depths of<br />
The Abyss, the Infinite Layers of<br />
Carceri, the Tarterian Depths of<br />
Hades, the Gray Waste of<br />
Gehenna, the Bleak Eternity of<br />
The Nine Hells of Baator<br />
Acheron, the Infinite Battlefield of<br />
Mechanus, the Clockwork Nirvana of<br />
Arcadia, the Peaceable Kingdoms of<br />
Alignment<br />
LG<br />
NG, LG<br />
NG<br />
NG, CG<br />
CG<br />
CN,CG<br />
CN<br />
CN, CE<br />
CE<br />
NE,CE<br />
NE<br />
NE, LE<br />
LE<br />
LN , LE<br />
LN<br />
LN , LG<br />
The planes with an element of good in their nature are<br />
called the Upper Planes, while those with an element<br />
of evil are the Lower Planes. A plane's alignment is<br />
its essence, and a character whose alignment doesn't<br />
match the plane's alignment experiences a sense of<br />
dissonance there. When a good creature visits Elysium,<br />
for example, it feels in tune with the plane, but an<br />
evil creature feels out of tune and more than a little<br />
uncomfortable.<br />
The Upper Planes are the home of celestial creatures,<br />
including angels, couatls , and pegasi. The Lower Planes<br />
are the home of fiends: demons, devils, yugoloths,<br />
and their ilk. The planes in between host their own<br />
unique denizens: the construct race of modrons<br />
inhabit Mechanus, and the aberrations called slaadi<br />
thrive in Limbo.<br />
LAYERS OF THE O UTER PLANES<br />
Most of the Outer Planes include a number of distinct<br />
environments or realms. These realms are often<br />
imagined and depicted as a stack of related parts of the<br />
same plane, so travelers refer to them as layers. For<br />
example, Mount Celestia resembles a seven-tiered layer<br />
cake, the Nine Hells has nine layers, and the Abyss has<br />
a seemingly endless number of layers.<br />
Most portals from elsewhere reach the first layer of a<br />
multilayered plane. This layer is variously depicted as<br />
the top or bottom layer, depending on the plane. As the<br />
arrival point for most visitors, the first layer functions<br />
like a city gate for that plane.<br />
TRAVELING THE OUTER PLANES<br />
Traveling between the Outer Planes isn't dissimilar<br />
from reaching the Outer Planes in the first place.<br />
Characters traveling by means of the astral projection<br />
spell can go from one plane into the Astral Plane, and<br />
there search out a color pool leading to the desired<br />
destination. Characters can also use plane shift to reach<br />
a different plane more directly. Most often, though,<br />
characters use portals- either a portal that links the two<br />
planes directly or a portal leading to Sigil, City of Door .<br />
which holds portals to all the planes.<br />
Two planar features connect multiple Outer Planes<br />
together: the River Styx and the Infinite Staircase.<br />
Other planar crossings might exist in your campaign,<br />
such as a World Tree whose roots touch the Lower<br />
Planes and whose branches reach to the Upper Planes.<br />
or it might be possible to walk from one plane to another<br />
in your cosmology.<br />
THE RIVER STYX<br />
This river bubbles with grease, foul flotsam, and<br />
the putrid remains of battles along its banks. Any<br />
creature other than a fiend that tastes or touches the<br />
water ·is affected by a feeblemind spell. The DC of the<br />
Intelligence saving throw to resist the effect is 15.<br />
The Styx churns through the top layers of Acheron,<br />
the Nine Hells, Gehenna, Hades, Carceri, the Abyss, and<br />
Pandemonium. Tributaries of the Styx snake onto lower<br />
layers of these planes. For example, a tendril of the Styx<br />
winds through every layer of the Nine Hells, allowing<br />
passage from one layer of that plane to the next.<br />
Sinister ferries float on the waters of the Styx, crewed<br />
by pilots skilled in negotiating the unpredictable<br />
currents and eddies of the river. For a price, these pilots<br />
are willing to carry passengers from plane to plane.<br />
Some of them are fiends, while others are the souls of<br />
dead creatures from the Material Plane.<br />
THE INFINITE STAIRCASE<br />
The Infinite Staircase is an extradimensional spiral<br />
staircase that connects the planes. An entrance to the<br />
Infinite Staircase usually appears as a nondescript<br />
door. Beyond the portal lies a small landing with an<br />
equally nondescript stairway leading up and down. The<br />
Infinite Staircase changes appearance as it climbs and<br />
CHAPTER 2 I CREATING A MULTT\'ERSE