The Outer Planes in first edition

[TerraDave]

Most of what I would post is covered...one other thing, the PHB spells have lots of planar implications...and in turn, at that time, the planes were really meant to justify those spells and creatures with planar origins. DMG artifacts (codex of the infinite planes...) are similar.

Anything with potentially planer monsters, like the Fiend Folio, but also stuff in Dragon from Gygax, will have little tidbits.

And that basically all there was, tidbits, until MotP.

 

[BRW Games]

There's also detailed information on astral and ethereal encounters in the 1E DMG. A lot of that got mined directly for MotP.

 

[grodog]

BOZ, here's the bibliography to my "From Kuroth's Quill" column on the planes from Knockspell #3:

Gaming Bibliography

Ed Greenwood’s “The Theory and Use of Gates” provides an excellent overview of gates-related fiction released through the late 1970s. Other than Greenwood’s piece and Sepulchrave’s works, I do not reference fiction otherwise in this bibliography. Instead, I focus narrowly on useful sources about planar architecture and gates, rather than on content describing the people, places, and things found within any specific plane: this is one reason why I don’t list most Planescape titles in the bibliography, for example (that I can’t stand Planescape’s cant is another…). The Dragon Archive details a cornucopia of such content specific to various planes, including the Nine Hells (issues #75, #76, #91), Gladsheim (#90), Hades (#113), and the Demiplane of Shadow (#213), in addition two planar adventures (in issues #67 and #90). In addition, a wide variety of Planescape and d20 products have provided support content detailing specific planes as well, such as Necromancer Games’ City of Brass, most of Mongoose’s line of planar books, and Monte Cook’s Beyond Countless Doorways. If I’ve missed any interesting or worthwhile books about gates and the structure of the planes, do please let me know---I’m always on the lookout for these kinds of resources!

Without further ado, here is my list of preferred sources about gates and planar theory, including many formative articles about the origins of D&D’s “great wheel” multiverse from The Dragon:

• Peter Adkison, The Primal Order, Wizards of the Coast (1992)
• Bruce Cordell, A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, Wizards of the Coast (1998)
• Bruce Cordell and Gwendolyn F. M. Kestrel, Planar Handbook, Wizards of the Coast (2004)
• Jameson Ferris, “Tales of Wyre” (Story Hour) and “Eadric et. al. (The Paladin and his Friends)” (Rogues Gallery) in Sepulchrave’s “Wyre” threads on EN World at http://www.enworld.org/forum/tags/wyre.html (2002 to date)
• Ed Greenwood, “From the City of Brass… …to Dead Orc Pass… In One Small Step: The Theory and Use of Gates” in The Dragon #37 (May 1980)
• Gary Gygax, "The Inner Planes " in Dragon #73 (May 1983)
o "Planes" in The Dragon #8 (July 1977)
o "Playing On the Other Planes of Existence" in The Dragon #32 (December 1979)
o "Protection Circles and the Like..." in Dragon #56 (December 1981)
• Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, and David Noonan , Manual of the Planes, Wizards of the Coast (2001)
• Gareth Hanrahan, Classic Play: Book of the Planes, Mongoose Publishing (2004)
• Dave Howell, Chessboards: The Planes of Possibility, Wizards of the Coast (1994)
• Steven Kienle with Gary Gygax, "Elementary Ideas for Elemental Adventuring" in Dragon #47 (March 1981)
• Lenard Lakofka, “The Inner Planes” in Dragon #42 (October 1980)
• Mike Mearls, Legends & Lairs: Portals & Planes, Fantasy Flights Games (2003)
• Phil Reed, “A Dozen Planar Traits”
• Roger E. Moore with Gary Gygax, “The Astral Plane” in Dragon #67 (November 1982)
• Roger E. Moore, “Gates in the World of Greyhawk” originally in the Greyhawk AOL folder, later available on wizards.com, and now archived on Canonfire at http://www.canonfire.com/cfhtml/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=11 (March 1995)
• Carl Schnurr, Mythic Places and More Mythic Places for Ars Magica, White Wolf (1991)
• David C. Sutherland III with Gary Gygax, Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits, TSR (1980)

Other likely sources for planar inspiration include the rpgs Stormbringer/Elric, Everway, Amber Diceless Roleplaying, and Ars Magica.

It may be helpful, although I don't go as far forward as Planescape in general.

 

[RichGreen]

Hi,

There's a fair bit of info about the Nine Hells in the 1e MMII, although I think this is mostly from the Ed Greenwood articles.

Cheers


Rich

 

[BOZ]

BOZ, here's the bibliography to my "From Kuroth's Quill" column on the planes from Knockspell #3:



It may be helpful, although I don't go as far forward as Planescape in general.

Thanks, that's hot stuff.

 

[grodog]

Thought you might find it helpful, Boz. I apparently forgot to mention the alternate-Prime adventure "City Beyond the Gate" in Dragon 100, too.

 

[JZavoda]

You should check out Gygax's New Infinities novels. There are several great descriptions of his Abyssal planes especially in Dance of Demons and Come Endless Darkness, if I remember correctly. And his short story 'Odd Alley' in the anthology 'Night Arrant' seems to be the seed for Planescape (although some of the later ideas in Prat & DeCamp's 'The Complete Compleat Enchanter' are probably influential to Gygax's work).