D&D General Let's make the upper planes playable!

1. Every outer plane needs its locals. Part of the problem is that they use Angels as a grab bag to fill in the whole upper planes, thus making them generic.
2. Every plane needs one unique thing that can be built on.
3. It cannot be just because it was invaded by bad guys, and you are bad enough, dude, to save the planes.
4. It still has to be built on the same overall themes. You cannot turn Bytopia into a plane of the Abyss or anything like that.

So what can be done?
Some thoughts. I'd argue that the only planes that really matter are the eight alignments (Mt Celestia, Arborea, Elysium, Mechanus, Limbo, Hell, Abyss, Hades) plus Sigil - all other planes exist only as glorified transitional planes. Places you walk through to get somewhere else. You don't really need to build on them, since their entire thing is a blending of other planes as a sort of neutral ground.

Angels might be "found" in all planes, but archons, guardinals and eladrin/celestial fey are all distinct beings found in LG, NG and CG planes.

I can see Arborea throwing the planar equivalent of the Olympics (especially since Arborea contains the greek pantheon.) and having warrior tournaments dialed up to 11.

Elysium is all about the good aspects of nature, so you can go there for seeking ingredients to counter a plague or curse. It might also be the primary source of good aligned familiars, given how many of them are animal shaped celestials. So, tracking down the familiar to a wizard or druid who passed away for information might be a thing.
 

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Okay did Cardinalian - aces low

I am open to any feedback.
 

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I set an entire 3.5 campaign in Ysgard 20 ish years ago. It was great being able to stage massive, tough battles and have the PCs feel like real heroes. The downside was, after that campaign ended (invasion by Azathoth and the Lovecraftian Elder Gods etc), it was hard to interest my players in another that WASN'T set in Ysgard, since they had so much fun feeling well nigh invincible.
 

Ysgard has so much going for it that I probably don't need to do anything for it.

Just grab a book of Nordic mythology and/or a marvel comic and most of the work is done for you.

but I will ask

what is different From Ysgard when compared to the 9 realms of myth?
 

Ysgard has so much going for it that I probably don't need to do anything for it.

Just grab a book of Nordic mythology and/or a marvel comic and most of the work is done for you.

but I will ask

what is different From Ysgard when compared to the 9 realms of myth?
Doesn’t have 9 Realms. Does have Brariur. One of the layers is made of tons of floating earthburgs, and another is below a lake of fire and seems like it’s under ground with a fire roof. Those are some top of my head things.
 



Plots that take place in a world that's perfectly good are hard.

But the elemental plane of fire isn't fire in every square inch. It's fire-themed, but there's still air and earth and even a bit of water.

So I'm fine with the good alignment planes being a solid representation of that alignment in, like, the settled areas, while still having swaths of the world where problems still crop up. After all, what does it mean to be good if there exist no circumstances where one might be faced with a moral quandary. One could argue that for a good-aligned plane to matter, there must be beings attempting to do evil so that the planar inhabitants can assert their alignment as they save the day, in the same way that evil planes torture folks eternally for sins that do not warrant eternal torment - because if the punishment was just, it wouldn't be evil.
 

Bytopia could be a location to adventure honestly in it's default setup. Bytopia is the land of the industrious, who enjoy working hard and doing all sorts of jobs. But while the first Layer is peaceful and tranquil, the second is rough, dangerous, and challenging for those who want to put more effort into it.
 

Bytopia could be a location to adventure honestly in it's default setup. Bytopia is the land of the industrious, who enjoy working hard and doing all sorts of jobs. But while the first Layer is peaceful and tranquil, the second is rough, dangerous, and challenging for those who want to put more effort into it.
I can see it. An example of this would be the Federation's attitude towards colonies. They are almost invariably founded by those folks unsatisfied by the ease and lack of external challemge inherent in the UFP's post-scarcity society, and so leave the core worlds to test themselves on a new one.
 

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