D&D 5E Should Planescape split Olympus and Arvandor into separate Layers of Aborea?

[dave2008]

I dont believe that 5e WotC would have Jesus running around the Planes.

I'm safe then, my 5e Immortals book will have stats for Abrahamic celestials and fiends (including God, angels, devils, etc.).

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Also should something cool be done with Aborea's 3rd layer, like add the Egyptian and Babylonian Pantheons to it?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I dont believe that 5e WotC would have Jesus running around the Planes.

They do have several Jesus Algories running around, and Jesus I think is techniquely a thing is Gothic Earth part of the Ravenloft setting.

 

[Scribe]

They do have several Jesus Algories running around, and Jesus I think is techniquely a thing is Gothic Earth part of the Ravenloft setting.

Sure, allegories, but in 5e, modern current canon? I'd need to see that reference.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Mechabical Subclass options aren't narrative Canon for fluff. But adjusting what counts as "Official D&D Canon," which is after all limited to the in-print books and no more, seems to be a major motivation for making a change at all as brand management. I would not wager that real world God lists will show up anywhere in the new Core books.

I will wager that they will. I will wager 10$ that real world mythologies and deities are mentioned in at least one 2024 core book.

 

[Dausuul]

Props to the OP for including "Go back to the World Axis" as one of the poll options.

As between Olympus and Arvandor... divine domains coexisting on the same layer is normal across the Great Wheel (except for the Abyss, where every two-bit demigod and demon lord wannabe has four layers and a timeshare on the Infinite Staircase). This is necessary to allow room for expansion; each plane has a finite and fairly small number of layers (except, again, the Abyss), so you could never introduce new pantheons if each of them needed their own layer.

So, within the constraints of the Great Wheel, I'd say no, Arvandor and Olympus should not be split out into separate layers.

(But really they should go back to the World Axis. Where, I might add, the question wouldn't even arise.)

 

[Parmandur]

To expand on these wider issues with the Planescape setting/Planes, what does WotC do about the fact that 2 of Limbo's 4 planes are named after Hindu Gods while a third is named after a Chinese Goddess, and that these Deities are pretty much all the favour these layers get.

Might not get any of that in the future.

Just a guess, but I think they moved Tir Na Og to Aboria as a buffer between Olympus and Arvandor.

It's gone from the map, wouldn't expect to see it again.

They do have several Jesus Algories running around, and Jesus I think is techniquely a thing is Gothic Earth part of the Ravenloft setting.

Not in 5E Ravenloft.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

To expand on these wider issues with the Planescape setting/Planes, what does WotC do about the fact that 2 of Limbo's 4 planes are named after Hindu Gods while a third is named after a Chinese Goddess, and that these Deities are pretty much all the favour these layers get.

Limbo only has a single layer - it's all just Limbo.

I think you're referring to various divine domains within Limbo, which is very much a different thing - more akin to the top layer of Ysgard being home to Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Jotunheim, Selune's Gates of the Moon, etc.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Limbo only has a single layer - it's all just Limbo.

I think you're referring to various divine domains within Limbo, which is very much a different thing - more akin to the top layer of Ysgard being home to Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Jotunheim, Selune's Gates of the Moon, etc.

No it turns out Limbo does have layers, 5 layers.

"As described by the Great Wheel cosmology, Limbo had five layers that were nearly indistinguishable from each other. The first four layers were named for the chief race or deity that were most often found there. The fifth layer was referred to as the layer of Lost Gods.[1]"

My source

Limbo

The Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo was an Outer plane in the Great Wheel cosmology model that embodied the chaotic neutral alignment.[10][6] The plane of Warrior's Rest in the World Tree cosmology was similar to Limbo in many ways but not quite as morphic.[11] The batrachi formed a realm in Limbo...

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

 

[Parmandur]

I will wager that they will. I will wager 10$ that real world mythologies and deities are mentioned in at least one 2024 core book.

Mentioned? Potentially. Fully laid out pantheon tucked away in the Great Wheel explicitly? Doubt it.