How do YOU use the planes?

[kigmatzomat]

I'm curious about something.

Whenever someone describes their method of using the planes, people throw around words like, "philosophy, belief, metaphysical, reflecting, manifestation, symbolism, ect". But how is this different than running a prime campaign? I always see people say they use the planes as a more thought provoking mechanic than just a typical adventuring mechanic

Well, let's take a generic Plane of Law. It has various residents that reflect the inherently lawful aspect of the plane. Here, what is done is sometimes less important than how it is done. Saving a person in an impulsive fashion is worse than ritualized torture and dismemberment (impulsive=chaotic, ritual=order). Locals may react to Neutral Good as if they were chaotic evil and will find a Chaotic person to be completely incomprehensible.

Other "world on its ear" scenarios exist with the alignments. Elemental planes are odd from a laws-of-physics standpoint but otherwise comprehensible. Concept planes can be worse.

IMC, concept planes have some primal theme. The Plane of Life teems with vibrant energy. Unfortunately, it has downsides. There's no death. No big, right? Try eating a steak when it keeps wiggling. Find yourself riddled with minor parasites that consider you to be a wiggling steak that your immune system would normally kill off. Unpleasant, isn't it.

Concept planes with "lofty" ideals tend to influence sentients, which can be very disorienting and hard to roleplay. I tend to treat it as a Control Emotions spell in continuous effect and encourage the players to do their best, usually with notes and the like.

I don't use them often as the players are smart enough to realize that they are Prime material beings with aspects of all the outer planes and are best suited to their home realm.

 

[MtW]

Multiple ways of using planes

One of the two best campaigns I've been part of used the planes in an interesting way. One of the characters (a 3rd lvl rogue) ran across a magic item of godly preportions (it was the ring of Mystra's Champion) and the wearer was forced to be a paladin/sorcerer (the champion could use both divine and arcane magic AND could transcribe divine as arcane and vice vera). As the champion lvl'd, there were new "feats/flaws" that would be burdened upon the character (odd lvl was a flaw, even was a feat). One of the side effects was existing in more than one plane. Your first lvl wearing the ring was 2 planes (Material and ethereal) while only perceiving on 1 plane (material). The second level of wearing the ring, the character was now on 3 planes (Material, Ethereal and a random from a list of 100 we created) while still only percieving on 1 (Material). Anytime the character moved from the percieved plane to another, s/he had to reroll all editional planes s/he existed on while moving from the Material plane to the wanted plane ( Material --> Plane of Neutrality; Ethereal --> random; Plane of Chaos --> random).

It was rather complex, but an interesting introduction to all the characters to the planes. The world was set in a future where all "elves" had been destroyed and all that exists were (although you could take elf as a race and recieve all benefits, you were technically) half elves of varrying degrees. A plane was created to store a huge library of sorts for all worldy information of the time (books were being destroyed). Basically, a dnd world with fewer books and only low lvl spells (until you researched them at the library).

Some of the other items using the planes were a staff when hit would open planar portals.

Oh, and the ring...it was cursed and you couldn't take it off. And it transformed you into a woman (elf). It was kind of created from the Ed Greenwood/Elminster books.

 

[DragonLancer]

Ok, so how do you use the planes in your game?

They are the vast and alien realms beyond the true understanding of mortal races.

They are the homes of the gods.

They are not just a corner of the multiverse, nor a weird adventuring environment. They are places that should inspire terror, wonder and all emotions between.

 

[amazingshafeman]

Our current campaign has a gate crasher in the crew, and every week we have a different DM. The whole thing is chaotic at best. Lots of plane hopping. Fun, though.

The campaign I'm working up has several planes (few of the standards, though) actually colliding with the prime material, with random gates and portals opening at inopportune times. Hopefully the PCs will decide to fix that. If not....well, strange things are afoot at the Circle K, my friend.

 

[Gez]

Some planes IMC (those that correspond to ethereal and elemental planes) are not so much planes as dimensions. They're the same world, but seen in a different fashion. For example, the plane of water is the sum of all water in the world. The three dimensions of height, depth, and width are replaced in your sensorium by three dimensions of aquosity, maybe murkness, pressure, and salinity for example. For most people the sensorium-swapping is not perfect and as such the planar geography doesn't make sense. And there are countless possible elemental planes, since they're just weird magical frame of mind. Provided you can devise the spell to safely alter you to see it, you could go to the Elemental Plane of the Color Yellow, where you'll be able to find all the world's lemons, gold ingots, and canaries, set together among with other yellow things in a most confusing monochromatic world.

Other planes corresponds to other planets or to outer space. They're the birthplace of outsiders.