Codex of the Infinite Planes

[Quickleaf]

I'd like to use the Codex of the Infinite Planes as an adventure hook, and could use the sagacious wisdom of all those familiar with its lore

I read this article by Denis Tereault and consider it an excellent coverage of the Codex, albeit lots of interpretation and fan-generated stuff (nothing wrong with that, I'm just looking for official lore): http://melkot.com/arcane/codex.html

I'm particularly interested in sites & NPCs associated with the Codex, as well as its most iconic powers, from official publications or from DUNGEON & DRAGON magazines.

According to Book of Artifacts, the three main powers of the book are planeshift, raise dead, and summoning a greater fiend for 24 hours IIRC.

Tzunk the Archmage (of Greyhawk fame) is mentioned several times; in AL-QADIM Secrets of the Lamp he is mentioned as using the Codex to lay siege to the City of Brass and falling under the assault of the efreeti. Later, in GREYHAWK Iuz the Evil mentions that Tzunk couldn't be killed exactly and so the efreeti sultan sundered him into many parts across the planes, and his Hands are said to lie in a tomb in the Northern Wastes of the Flaness, guarded by stone golems that sound a lot like maruts.

I also know the 3e Epic Level Handbook had an adventure with the the Codex as a McGuffin, but none of the NPCs or sites involved gained traction. Lore-wise, it suggests the resting place of the Codex was not the City of Brass but the stronghold of a mighty mage in the Elemental Plane of Fire.

Finally several issues of DRAGON had a story called The Plane Truth by David Zeb Cook, culminating in DRAGON #205. It detailed a mage named Fallendor who had been cursed to record lore for the Codex in his dreams. Because its fiction, there are no clear rules guidelines for how that might work exactly. However, Fallendor discovers a way to escape his slavery to the Codex by writing his treacherous life onto the skin of a paladin planewalker. At the conclusion, the two swap bodies. The paladin's fate is unclear, but it suggests he becomes a slave to the Codex. Fallendor lives in another man's skin, with his final act of betrayal of the paladin tattooed on his face, and still feels the compulsion to write at night, but throws away the pages.

So that's everything I know. From what I've heard SPELLJAMMER may have some references to the Codex and its lore, and the Wikipedia entry informed me that the Codex originally appeared in the 1976 Eldritch Wizardry, then appeared in the 1e DMG, the 2e Book of Artifacts and Encyclopedia Magica vol. II. Can any great sages of D&D shed some light on this artifact for me?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The 3E stuff sounds consistent with the rest to me -- who's to say the efreeti were able to hold onto the codex?

Good stuff there; I only know it from the 1E and 3E DMGs, and as I recall, the difference is mostly that the 1E stuff is written in High Gygaxian.

 

[Quickleaf]

The 3E stuff sounds consistent with the rest to me -- who's to say the efreeti were able to hold onto the codex?

Good stuff there; I only know it from the 1E and 3E DMGs, and as I recall, the difference is mostly that the 1E stuff is written in High Gygaxian.

Oh yes, thematically the 3e Epic Handbook story about the Codex makes sense, it's just that none o the personalities involved were veery interesting nor did they gain any name recognition.

So far the only two NPCs I know of connected to the Codex with traction in D&D are GREYHAWK wizards:

Yagrax the wizard-priest of the Isle of Woe
Tzunk the Archmage

Possibly also Zagig the Demigod?

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

The problem with the Codex is that there is so little official lore - I think you have all the references - and, what lore there is, simply doesn't add up to enough to make it interesting. Personally, I just go with Denis Tereault's interpretation as canon. It's far more detailed and interesting than anything official and fills in all the gaps nicely.

 

[Downandoutpgh]

@Quickleaf

I was following your work on the Codex of the Infinite Planes adventure over at Planewalker. Unfortunately, I can't seem to register over there to chime in. I love the concept that you have fleshed out and dig all the work that you have put in to date.

Did you ever manage to make more progress versus the link that you had posted at: http://www.planewalker.com/content/5th-edition-planescape-campaign

You clearly put a huge amount of time into that work product and I would love to contribute if possible. I am currently taking my PCs through an adventure that is based on elements of your work on the Codex adventure.

If you are no longer working on this adventure, I would love to pick up the reins and keep developing it.

Let me know your thoughts and if you think there may be a way to work together (or separately, whatever works for you).

 

[Quickleaf]

@Quickleaf

I was following your work on the Codex of the Infinite Planes adventure over at Planewalker. Unfortunately, I can't seem to register over there to chime in. I love the concept that you have fleshed out and dig all the work that you have put in to date.

Did you ever manage to make more progress versus the link that you had posted at: http://www.planewalker.com/content/5th-edition-planescape-campaign

You clearly put a huge amount of time into that work product and I would love to contribute if possible. I am currently taking my PCs through an adventure that is based on elements of your work on the Codex adventure.

If you are no longer working on this adventure, I would love to pick up the reins and keep developing it.

Let me know your thoughts and if you think there may be a way to work together (or separately, whatever works for you).

Hey Downandout, no I haven't done anything significant with my Planescape adventure in a while. Moved onto other projects and been really busy in real life. But I always have a soft spot for Planescape.

How has your campaign been going?

 

[Downandoutpgh]

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION]

Thanks for the reply. It's been going really great actually, thank mostly to your work on the Infinite Codex adventure. I've been filling in the gaps where necessary and kind of rewrote chapter I to fit into my setting and get my Primes over to the Planes.

I am giving the party their first taste of the Queen/BBEG at next session. I decided I would do it through a very visceral, very deadly dream sequence wherein they each have a separate, distinct, character-specific and extremely unsettling dream before finding themselves together in a dark corner of somewhere that looks like the ethereal plane. There will be a few baddies there that are each tailored to antagonize a specific PC and they will ultimately TPK (in the dream, not actual character death) before waking up under odd circumstances.

They won't know it was the Queen, but they will hear her talking about the party faintly in the background as she watches all of this proceed. The party will know that someone is interested in testing the group and finding out what makes them tick. I also wanted to give them a taste of what they are up against without risking an actual TPK. Put a little fear of god in them, so to speak.

I think this would fit in with the Queen of Air & Darkness as well. She wouldn't risk direct engagement prior to having more intel on who these pesky Primes are, what they do or don't know, and what, if any, actual power they have (not much as it turns out).

I took a lot of liberties with the work you had produced in molding things to our setting, but your work was a huge inspiration and extremely exciting. Even though I had a lot of fun with Planescape when I was younger, I actually wasn't even thinking of messing with it again until I had read your stuff. Kudos to you, man. Thanks!

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION]

Thanks for the reply. It's been going really great actually, thank mostly to your work on the Infinite Codex adventure. I've been filling in the gaps where necessary and kind of rewrote chapter I to fit into my setting and get my Primes over to the Planes.

I am giving the party their first taste of the Queen/BBEG at next session. I decided I would do it through a very visceral, very deadly dream sequence wherein they each have a separate, distinct, character-specific and extremely unsettling dream before finding themselves together in a dark corner of somewhere that looks like the ethereal plane. There will be a few baddies there that are each tailored to antagonize a specific PC and they will ultimately TPK (in the dream, not actual character death) before waking up under odd circumstances.

They won't know it was the Queen, but they will hear her talking about the party faintly in the background as she watches all of this proceed. The party will know that someone is interested in testing the group and finding out what makes them tick. I also wanted to give them a taste of what they are up against without risking an actual TPK. Put a little fear of god in them, so to speak.

I think this would fit in with the Queen of Air & Darkness as well. She wouldn't risk direct engagement prior to having more intel on who these pesky Primes are, what they do or don't know, and what, if any, actual power they have (not much as it turns out).

I took a lot of liberties with the work you had produced in molding things to our setting, but your work was a huge inspiration and extremely exciting. Even though I had a lot of fun with Planescape when I was younger, I actually wasn't even thinking of messing with it again until I had read your stuff. Kudos to you, man. Thanks!

Cheers! Glad to hear your Planescape game is off to a great start! I'm very flattered that my ideas for Codex were helpful & I love hearing how fellow DMs tailor, tweak, and kitbash adventure ideas to make it their own.