D&D 5E The D&D Multiverse: The Weird Go Pro (Part 1)

[Snarf Zagyg]

Good artists borrow, great artists steal.

I have been thinking about the speculation for upcoming campaign settings, and specifically about the desire for a Planscape, or a Spelljammer, or a Planjammer type of setting to provide some type of interstitial connection between the various settings- the meta setting to connect them all.

But why re-invent the wheel? We have a perfect solution, already, to allow parties to move between settings weird and wonderful. I think it is time for D&D to go back to the roots of the D&D multiverse. First, a history lesson.

A. The Proto-history of the D&D Multiverse.

D&D's multiverse first started in the campaigns being run by Gary Gygax, but the first print version that I am aware of is in The Strategic Review, vol. 2, no. 1 (February 1976) which had a planar arrangement along with the depictions of alignments (it included Heaven, Paradise, Elysium, Nirvana, Limbo, Hell, Hades, and the Abyss). The next evolution that I am aware of was in Dragon #8 (July 1977), which gave us the first real exploration of the extra-planar nature of the D&D multiverse. It's the beginning of D&D cosmology that we later see expanded on (aka, the Great Wheel). But the most important thing to note in terms of the multiverse are these brief notes in the article:

For game purposes the DM is to assume the existence of an infinite number of co-existing planes. The normal plane for human-type life forms is the Prime Material Plane.
There are seven inner planes. The first (no. 1) is the Prime Material. The planet Earth and everything on it, all of the solar systems and the whole universe are of the Prime Material. The Fantasy worlds you create belong to the Prime Material.

The reason this is early sketch of the multiverse important is that it is, as far as I know, the first written acknowledgement that the Prime Material Plane is legion; it contains not just an infinite set of planes, but a really big infinite set (something something aleph). While most histories of the D&D multiverse then concentrate on the evolution of the various inner and outer planes, it is really this idea of the Prime Material and the infinite number of realities used by Gygax that is so intriguing and worth developing further in 5e, IMO.


B. The AD&D Rule Books Expand on the Multiverse.

The Gygaxian multiverse was then slightly expanded and codified in the AD&D Player's Handbook (1978). Of importance we see the following in the PHB:
There exist an infinite number of parallel universes and planes of existence in the fantastic "multiverse" of ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. ... The Prime Material Plane (or Physical Plane) houses the universe and all of its parallels. It is the plane of Terra, and your campaign, in all likelihood. ... The Ethereal Plane is that which surrounds and touches all of the other Inner Planes, the endless parallel worlds of the universe, without being a part of any of them. (PHB 120).

Later, the Dungeon Master's Guide (1979) was more explicit. The section "TRAVEL IN THE KNOWN PLANES OF EXISTENCE" states the following:
The Known Planes of Existence, as depicted in APPENDIX IV of the PLAYERS HANDBOOK, offer nearly endless possibilities for AD&D play, although some of these new realms will no longer be fantasy as found in swords & sorcery or myth but verge on that of science fiction, horror, or just about anything else desired. How so? The known planes are a part of the "multiverse". In the Prime Material Plane are countless suns, planets, galaxies, universes. So too there are endless parallel worlds. (DMG 57).

Later, the DMG explicitly states that alternate planes in the Prime Material do exist, and states that other game systems that aren't fantasy (such as Boot Hill & Gamma World) can be used. There is even the concept that some planes would allow for breathable atmospheres between the "main planet" and the other planets and moons - an early premonition of Spelljammer!

Later on, the DMG makes it explicit, with conversion tables to allow characters to go back and forth between D&D, Boot Hill, and Gamma World, and explicitly states that all possibilities of adventure are contained within the planes of the Prime Material.
Similarly, there are places where adventurers can journey to a land of pure Greek mythology, into the future where the island of King Kong awaits their pleasure, or through the multiverse to different planets, including Jack Vance’s “Planet of Adventure”, where they hunt sequins in the Carabas while Dirdir and Dirdirmen hunt them. (DMG 112).


C. The Modules & Early Play.

Of course, there was also a rich history of these alternate planes existing in the modules. The go-to example for most people is Q1 (previewed in D3); who can forget that Web Level 4 has teleportation devices to multiple alternate worlds on the prime material plane! The Pharisee - evil elves of Caer Sidi. The Nightmare World of Vald Tolenkov (the proto-Strahd). The last kingdom of the mountain dwarves. And so on.

But they exist in so many modules! Castle Amber has a large proto-plane. EX1 and EX2 (the Alice Adventures) are also funhouse mirror planes. Simply put, there was a general and acknowledged existence of many planes of existence, of many realities, that were considered standard in earlier D&D. All campaigns, all games, from this Earth to Greyhawk to Star Frontiers to all possible home campaigns exist within the Prime Material plane. And this is in accord with what we know from early play in Gygax's campaign. While the examples are multitudinous, we can look at an example from this website as recounted by Jim Ward:

Into the dungeon we boldly walked. The others were old hands and had hand drawn maps of several levels. Mapping looked like a lot of fun. Brian Blume taught me how to trail map so I was recording our turnings as Gary called out the distances. We went into a new section of the dungeon and suddenly everyone in the group was tense and I had no idea why.

“You come upon three doors and each one is a bit strange,” Gary described. “The left one has the picture of an island in the middle of the door (it was the Isle of the Ape in playtest). The middle door has the picture of a walrus on a beach. The right one has a picture of an odd looking humanoid with a strange cap and in its hand is a strange crossbow pistol.”

I wasn't about to say anything. The group chose the door with the island image. We walked through and found ourselves at night with an ocean breeze coming from the west. We moved by moon light and decided not to mark our presence with a torch or lantern. Gary perfectly described the hilly area. We came to a village with no one moving about. I couldn't see anything in the window of the large hut I was looking at so I cast my light spell into the hut. BIG MISTAKE! It seems I woke up ten warrior natives. The magic spooked them and they grabbed their spears and ran for the door.

Isle of the Ape, Alice in Wonderland, Boot Hill. The borders of the planes were porous indeed, in 1974. Greyhawk (the homes setting of Gygax) was on Oerth, and famously had portals to other settings, such as Yarth (magic between Earth and Oerth), Aerth, and Uerth (magic is very weak). (Source- Polyhedron '84 interview).


D. Where did the Infinite Planes of the Prime Material Come From?

There is obviously a general 60s and early 70s gestalt that permeates the idea of infinite planes. But the idea of infinite, slightly different planes on the prime material, and the specific way that you travel between them using the ethereal plane .... while it borrows a little from all sorts of sources, and while it certainly is in line with the general gestalt, I think you can trace the idea to one very specific source.

June, 1970, was the publication date of Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (the author and the series is, of course, name-checked in Appendix N). The primary conceit of the series is that there are an infinite number of "shadow worlds" that the protagonist, Corwin, and certain others can move through, and each is slightly different than the other. There are an infinite number of alternate histories, of worlds, of possibilities, of creatures. While this may not have been the sole source (and certainly not for the outer planes) it certainly seems that it played on outsize role in crystallizing some of the concepts for the Prime Material and the ability to travel between these different parts of the Prime Material plane through the ethereal (the "shadow").


....and why does this matter?

Sometime between the publication of the Manual of the Planes (1987) and Planescape (1994), we began to see a seismic shift in the focus of the D&D multiverse. This is my general belief; outer planes ... well, they seem cool, right? Why not futz about with the outer planes? Why not populate them, and make them interesting? Why not try and make them focal points of adventure? They are weird, and exotic, and an interesting design space. I would further say that the primary issue was the publication of the Manual of the Planes in 1987; prior to this publication, travel between parallel planes in the Prime Material was unexceptional- just something something portal, while travel to the outer planes was exceptional. But the focus and interest in D&D cosmology shifted to those outer planes.

In my opinion, this shift missed the original brilliance of the Prime Material. The Prime Material is, quite literally, everything you could ever imagine. It is all worlds. Ever. It is your friend, Bob's, OD&D Monty Haul campaign. It is the d20 modern world. It is the 4e Gamma World. It is the homebrew Rakshasa world. It is Star Frontiers, but with Kender instead of Sathar. It is our planet, right now, as well as both versions of Battlestar Galactica. It is Warlocks in Battletechs fighting amongst a thousand dying suns, and a comedic Flintstone setting. As weird as a singular Planescape might be, nothing can be as weird as ... everything.

All the campaign settings that have been printed, or can be printed, or can even be imagined, are already within the Prime Material.

So, in a certain sense, there is never a need to worry about how something "fits into" the D&D multiverse.

Because everything is already in the D&D multiverse and always has been. And a focus on this, on the sheer weirdness and variety of the D&D multiverse, allows for D&D to stay weird. In the next post I write, I will discuss, a little more, about the foundational weirdness of D&D and why we should want to continue that with 5e.


Note- I borrowed portions of this from a prior post I wrote so that I can a followup post about D&D essential weirdness. Hope you enjoy!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Just a quick check- any interest in expanding this to Part 2 (why to bring this to 5e, and why it may not be needed)?

 

[dave2008]

Just a quick check- any interest in expanding this to Part 2 (why to bring this to 5e, and why it may not be needed)?

I would be interested and I think that topic would get more discussion than part 1 has.

 

[prabe]

Just a quick check- any interest in expanding this to Part 2 (why to bring this to 5e, and why it may not be needed)?

I'd be interested, though I have no opinion on whether it'd get more discussion. Possibly the "why it may not be needed" part will be a conversation seed.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Just for completeness, multiverse in The Magician's Nephew (1955) - the Wood between the Worlds.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Or even earlier (1894)....here

 

[sable_twilight]

It is Warlocks in Battletechs

Yeah, I am totally running this game at some point.
Which may or may not morph into a 5e Rifts rip off.

 

[Cadence]

D. Where did the Infinite Planes of the Prime Material Come From?

There is obviously a general 60s and early 70s gestalt that permeates the idea of infinite planes. But the idea of infinite, slightly different planes on the prime material, and the specific way that you travel between them using the ethereal plane .... while it borrows a little from all sorts of sources, and while it certainly is in line with the general gestalt, I think you can trace the idea to one very specific source.

June, 1970, was the publication date of Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (the author and the series is, of course, name-checked in Appendix N). The primary conceit of the series is that there are an infinite number of "shadow worlds" that the protagonist, Corwin, and certain others can move through, and each is slightly different than the other. There are an infinite number of alternate histories, of worlds, of possibilities, of creatures. While this may not have been the sole source (and certainly not for the outer planes) it certainly seems that it played on outsize role in crystallizing some of the concepts for the Prime Material and the ability to travel between these different parts of the Prime Material plane through the ethereal (the "shadow").

I'm really curious to hear @Doug McCrae 's Appendix N and beyond take on the origin of the infinite prime material planes.

The first one I read back in the 70s that seemed to hint at a bunch of worlds was C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew (written in 55). A bunch of ponds in a sedate in-between plane isn't quite the ethereal plane though.

 

[Rogerd1]

DC comic's Higher planes are very similar to DnD ones such that if you replace the Speed Force with Astral plane you would not be far off.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I'm really curious to hear @Doug McCrae 's Appendix N and beyond take on the origin of the infinite prime material planes.

In my opinion, its origins are to be found in the work of a large number of different authors from the mid-30s to the mid-70s writing in the alternate history science fiction genre, or influenced by it. Several of them are mentioned in Appendix N – Stanley Weinbaum, L Sprague De Camp, Fletcher Pratt, Poul Anderson, Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny, and Jack Vance.

According to John Clute and Peter Nicholls, Encyclopedia of Science Fiction 2e (1995) "Murray Leinster introduced the idea of alternate worlds to genre SF in Sidewise in Time (1934)". Leinster's alternate worlds come into being as a result of branching decision points in history. They are the infinite number of "roads we do not take." Many other science fiction writers were influenced directly or indirectly by Leinster. From science fiction, the concept made its way into fantasy. EoSF "Parallel Worlds" entry:

Modern uses of the theme [parallel worlds] usually imagine an infinite number of parallel worlds extending in a manifold which contains all possible Earthly histories and perhaps all possible physical universes. The notion that the perceived Universe is simply one single aspect of such a "multiverse" has been lent credence by the "many-worlds interpretation" of the enigmas of quantum mechanics… Modern fantasy novels – including most of those in the intermediate science-fantasy category – sometimes draw upon the legacy of sf recomplication in order to invigorate their use of parallel worlds. Notable examples include Roger Zelazny's Amber series and Michael Moorcock's many Sword-and-Sorcery series, which are all bound together (with some sf novels) within a hypothetical multiverse.​

Examples of Infinite Parallel Worlds

The following excerpts provide evidence that a large number of creators used the idea of infinite parallel worlds (including alternate histories).

Murray Leinster, "Sidewise in Time" in Astounding Stories (June 1934)
There is more than one future we can encounter, and with more or less absence of deliberation we choose among them. But the futures we fail to encounter, upon the roads we do not take, are just as real as the landmarks upon those roads… There are an indefinite number of possible futures, any one of which we would encounter if we took the proper 'forks' in time… As there must be any number of futures, there must have been any number of pasts besides those written down in our histories… and it would follow that there are any number of what you might call 'presents.'

Stanley Weinbaum, "The Worlds of If" in Wonder Stories (August 1935)
The worlds of "if," the weird, unreal worlds that existed beside reality, neither past nor future, but contemporary, yet extemporal. Somewhere among their ghostly infinities existed one that represented the world that would have been had I made the liner.

Stanley Weinbaum, "The Circle of Zero" in Thrilling Wonder Stories (August 1936)
Through all the multifold eternities of the past-future cycle you can't have been always Jack Anders, securities salesman. There will be fragmentary memories, recollections of times when your personality was partially existent, when the Laws of Chance had assembled a being who was not quite Jack Anders, in some period of the infinite worlds that must have risen and died in the span of eternities.

CL Moore, "Greater Than Gods" in Astounding Science Fiction (July 1939)
Before time has caught up with it, while our choice at the crossroads is still unmade, an infinite number of possible futures must exist as it were in suspension, waiting for us in some unimaginable, dimensionless infinity.

L Sprague De Camp and Fletcher Pratt, "The Roaring Trumpet" in Unknown Fantasy Fiction (May 1940)
The world we live in is composed of impressions received through the senses. But there is an infinity of possible worlds, and if the senses can be attuned to receive a different series of impressions, we should infallibly find ourselves living in a different world.

These infinite other worlds… exist in a logical but not in an empirical sense.

Poul Anderson, "Three Hearts and Three Lions" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (September 1953)
Wave mechanics admits the possibility of one other entire universe coexisting with ours, and the lecturer said it was not hard to write the equations for an infinity of such parallel worlds, each with its own laws of nature. In which case – somewhere in the boundlessness of reality, anything you can imagine must actually exist!

He was quite sure now that the old professor had been right… in speculating about multiple infinities of coexistent universes, each with its own laws of nature. This was the one in which Carolingian legend happened to be true, in which magic (mental control of inanimate matter?) was real... And it was possible to go from one cosmos to another; it must have been done in the past, and accounts of such journeys had been written down as myth and romance on his Earth. But there was more to it than that. Being all embedded in the same ultimate reality, these universes seemed to share a strangely parallel course of events.

Robert Sheckley, "The Store of the Worlds" (1958)
From the moment this battered Earth was born out of the sun's fiery womb, it cast off its alternate probability-worlds. Worlds without end, emanating from events large and small… Millions, billions of Earths! An infinity of Earths! And your mind, liberated by me, will be able to select any of these worlds, and to live upon it for a while.

Strange Tales #133 (June 1965)

Strange Tales #148 (September 1966)

Strange Tales #162 (November 1967)

Michael Moorcock, Stormbringer (1965)
Who can know why the Cosmic Balance exists, why Fate exists and the Lords of the Higher Worlds? Why there must always be a champion to fight such battles? There seems to be an infinity of space and time and possibilities. There may be an infinite number of beings, one above the other, who see the final purpose, though, in infinity, there can be no final purpose.

Michael Moorcock, The King of the Swords (1971)
"You mean this Kernow lies in my future?"
"In one future, probably not yours. The future of a corresponding plane, perhaps. There are doubtless other futures where the Vadhagh have proliferated and the Mabden died out. The multiverse contains, after all, an infinity of possibilities."

Michael Moorcock, Count Brass (1973)
There are an infinity of dimensions, of this Earth alone.

Roger Zelazny, Nine Princes in Amber (1970)
Of Shadow I have this to say: there is Shadow and there is Substance, and this is the root of all things. Of Substance, there is only Amber, the real city, upon the real Earth, which contains everything. Of Shadow, there is an infinitude of things. Every possibility exists somewhere as a Shadow of the real. Amber, by its very existence, has cast such in all directions. And what may one say of it beyond? Shadow extends from Amber to Chaos, and all things are possible within it.

Roger Zelazny, The Guns of Avalon (1972)
I was walking in Shadow, seeking a place, a very special place. It had been destroyed once, but I had the power to re-create it, for Amber casts an infinity of shadows. A child of Amber may walk among them, and such was my heritage. You may call them parallel worlds if you wish, alternate universes if you would, the products of a deranged mind if you care to. I call them shadows, as do all who possess the power to walk among them. We select a possibility and we walk until we reach it. So, in a sense, we create it.

Robert Silverberg, "Trips" (1973)
Time forks, again and again and again. New universes split off at each instant of decision. Left turn, right turn, honk your horn, jump the traffic light, hit your gas, hit your brake, every action spawns whole galaxies of possibility. We move through a soup of infinities.

There's an infinity of worlds… side by side, worlds in which all possible variations of every possible event take place.

Jack Vance, "Rumfuddle" (1973)
I can tune the machine very finely. I can code accurately for the 'Home' class of worlds, and as closely as necessary approximate a particular world-state. But at each setting, no matter how fine the tuning, we encounter an infinite number of worlds. In practice, inaccuracies in the machine, back-lash, the gross size of electrons, the very difference between one electron and another, make it difficult to tune with absolute precision. So even if we tuned exactly to the 'Home' class, the probability of opening into your particular Home is one in an infinite number: in short, negligible.