Planar Configurations; How Do You Design The Multiverse?

Mouseferatu said:

Truth be told, I rarely worry about it. I assume the planes I need for a given campaign are "out there," but I don't tend to concern myself with how they line up with each other, because such distinctions are meaningless where planar travel is concerned.

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Umbran said:

This covers most of my campaigns as well.

There is an element of "do not specify that which you don't have to" involved here. If the arrangement of the planes is not plot-relevant, don't specify it. THat way if and when it becomes relevant, you can make it what you want or need without contradicting yourself.

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Bitbrain said:

My homebrew setting has only five planes of existence:

OVERHEAVEN - the domain of the gods and celestials. Currently focusing their attention on the creation of parallel universes of the Material Plane.

ETHEREAL PLANE - fog-enshrouded expanse within which float the demi-planes, the most prominent of which are the Astral Sea, the Feywild, and the Shadowfell.

MATERIAL PLANE - the place where the four elements seperate from each other to enable the continued existence of life.

ELEMENTAL CHAOS - the place where the four elements continuously merge with each other.

ABYSS - the prison of the fiends.

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Bawylie said:

Hard pass on the Great Wheel.

The closest official cosmology would be 4E’s, with the feywild modeled after “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” and the Shadowfell modeled after “Stranger Things.” Special thanks to both those shows for nailing those particular aesthetics for me.

Elemental Chaos and Astral Sea need some more solidifying but the Darksiders video game series comes close enough.

I like my “material realm” or whatever to look like something between the dark ages and the Renaissance. I particularly like me some points of light in a dangerous world type feel.

I tend to dislike planes and plane shifting as a theme but I’m very cool with the concept of intrusion, invasion, and broken boundaries.

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jgsugden said:

I keep it simple.

There is an infinitely wide (and flat) Prime Material Plane. It has three mirror plans - the Shadowfell, the Feywild, and the Ethereal Plane. Those planes constantly evolve to reflect the PMP in their own special ways. As the plane is infinitely huge, it allows for all sorts of campaign worlds to be set in it - and any type of PC to be played in any game.

There is an Astral Plane that is infinite in size and is the easiest way to connect the planes. My 'Spelljammers' sail this Astral Plane, allowing those with little magic to conduct business across the planes - which is lucrative. Dwarves and Giff are the most common sailors - Dwarves have extensive mining operations in....

There is an Elemental Plane that is filled with pockets of each element (and each paraelement). Dwarves are well known for traveling to this plane to work mines in deposits of Earth.

There is a Hell Plane. The 666 'layers' of the Abyss, the 9 Hells, etc... are all regions within this greater Hell. Asmodeus claims to rule the whole thing, but really he only controls the 9 Hells which cover a scant few billion square miles - only a small fraction of the mapped areas of the plane.

There is a Heaven Plane. It also is subdivided into various territories that align with traditional cosmologies. It is not unlimited in size. This is a reason why the Gods are selected about who is allowed to come here in the afterlife, and why many are reincarnated back to the PMP rather than enjoying an eternal blissful afterlife.

There are Negative Energy and Positive Energy Planes. They're uninhabitable and a huge mystery.

Then there is the Far Realm - which is an alien cosmology that is slowly colliding into 'our' cosmology. The collision was first detected a few thousand years ago and has only slowly progressed in the time since discovery, but it is the source of Aberrations, Elder Gods and other alien concepts. The Far Realm is much older - and seems to be slowly collapsing.

Finally, there are pocket dimensions that connect to the Astral Sea. These may be as small as a box or seemingly infinitely large, but most of them are empty - until someone fills them. Their physics are not always like that of the PMP...

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Aebir-Toril said:

Hmm, so you dislike the formulaic nature of the traditional Great Wheel arrangement?

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Aebir-Toril said:

Interesting, I have never before considered putting the Feywild and Shadowfell in the Ethereal Plane. One question, why is the Astral Plane in the Ethereal?

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