The Great Beyond—A Guide to the Multiverse

Jack99

Adventurer
The Great Beyond—A Guide to the Multiverse

Ever since I heard Shemeska was writing this one, I have been planning to buy it. But now, I am getting doubts. Should I buy the hardcover book, or should I simply snag the PDF in a couple of weeks.

So, I was wondering how good it is? Has anyone here bought it? Any opinions? Don't hold yourself back ;)

Cheers
 

log in or register to remove this ad

Hey! If you're referring to the new Paizo book on the planes, it's a 64-page perfect bound book. The short of it is this. If you're already using the classic Great Wheel, and everything is working A-OK, there's no compelling reason to own this book.

If however you are playing in Pathfinder's world of Golarion, or if you're tiring of the Great Wheel and want to punch it in the arm, or if you're a Planescape fan in general, a lot of this book is not only a good, entertaining read, but chock full of good info for running the planes in the Pathfinder setting.

I like it myself, and pretty much because of the writing and that my world of choice is Golarion. I picture this book being like an overlay, placed on top of the classic great wheel. Heaven morphs into the Pathfinder version, Hell, morphs into the Pathfinder version, etc.

Does that help?

-DM Jeff
 
Last edited:


I'm 99% sure those are different books.

I don't think Shemmy's book is out yet. I am interested in seeing it, and if it is good, I'll likely buy it just for the read.
 

I'm 99% sure those are different books.

I don't think Shemmy's book is out yet. I am interested in seeing it, and if it is good, I'll likely buy it just for the read.

The Great Beyond - A Guide to the Multiverse it's one book. :) The pdf is out to Pathfinder subscribers, and the physical copy has shipped to them. I think the physical book is for sale to anyone through Paizo, and the pdf is around a month out (same thing for Amazon selling the physical book - looking at June).

I'm seriously flattered and absolutely tickled pink if folks enjoy the book. I had a blast writing it, and I think it's probably the best material I've done to this point. And even if you don't run a campaign in Golarion, or use the cosmology of the Great Beyond, the design is such that you can easily plunder it for material for use in the Great Wheel, the 4e World Axis, the 3e FR Great Tree, etc. The primary CN outsider race, the Proteans, I actually address using them in different cosmologies in an article set for one of the next two issues of Kobold Quarterly. I'm not averse to anyone cherrypicking from my material certainly. If I can inspire anyone for a planar campaign, I'm thrilled. :)

I'll write a longer reply later since I'm currently at work.
 


Hey! If you're referring to the new Paizo book on the planes, it's a 64-page perfect bound book. The short of it is this. If you're already using the classic Great Wheel, and everything is working A-OK, there's no compelling reason to own this book.

If however you are playing in Pathfinder's world of Golarion, or if you're tiring of the Great Wheel and want to punch it in the arm, or if you're a Planescape fan in general, a lot of this book is not only a good, entertaining read, but chock full of good info for running the planes in the Pathfinder setting.

I like it myself, and pretty much because of the writing and that my world of choice is Golarion. I picture this book being like an overlay, placed on top of the classic great wheel. Heaven morphs into the Pathfinder version, Hell, morphs into the Pathfinder version, etc.

Does that help?

-DM Jeff

Definitely. Thanks.

Still interested in hearing more, before I commit to a dead-tree version.
 

The Great Beyond - A Guide to the Multiverse it's one book. :) The pdf is out to Pathfinder subscribers, and the physical copy has shipped to them. I think the physical book is for sale to anyone through Paizo, and the pdf is around a month out (same thing for Amazon selling the physical book - looking at June).

I'm seriously flattered and absolutely tickled pink if folks enjoy the book. I had a blast writing it, and I think it's probably the best material I've done to this point. And even if you don't run a campaign in Golarion, or use the cosmology of the Great Beyond, the design is such that you can easily plunder it for material for use in the Great Wheel, the 4e World Axis, the 3e FR Great Tree, etc. The primary CN outsider race, the Proteans, I actually address using them in different cosmologies in an article set for one of the next two issues of Kobold Quarterly. I'm not averse to anyone cherrypicking from my material certainly. If I can inspire anyone for a planar campaign, I'm thrilled. :)

I'll write a longer reply later since I'm currently at work.

Do you know when it will be available for purchase in game stores?
 


Definitely. Thanks.

Still interested in hearing more, before I commit to a dead-tree version.

Jack, here's some more info on the book like you wanted. :)

Brief overview of the content:

There's an opening chapter giving a brief overview of the planes, the overall structure of Golarion's cosmology, a discussion of the history of the planes, the role and nature of the gods (very different from Planescape on that one, and very open ended by intent to let GMs answer some of the specifics), a section on the lifecycle of the mortal soul (with mortal life being effectively the mid-point in a grander progression), and finally a section on travel to the planes.

Next the planes of the inner sphere are covered:
Positive Energy
Negative Energy
Material Plane (tied to Positive)
Shadow (tied to Negative, effectively a warped attempt at a second creation by the natives of the void)
Ethereal (the misty border between the Material and Shadow, where the influence of Pos and Neg interact)

Elemental Planes in sequence (Air / Water / Earth / Fire), and discussion of border mixing and inclusions between normally non-interacting layers.

Then the Astral and the River of Souls. Time is spent discussing the poaching of souls by the astradaemons of Abbadon, and how ensuring the arrival of souls at their proper destination makes for strange bedfellows at times between races of outsiders normally at one anothers' throats.

Then the planes of the outer sphere. Essentially planes of the cardinal alignments drifting within a truly infinite Maelstrom, like islands of stability within a sea of potential. The cosmology intentionally lacks any of the rigidity that the Great Wheel sometimes gets accused of, and there are always room for additional planes to be added, given the nature of the chaotic sea it all exists within.

There's no monolithic Blood War. Things are much more dynamic, and much more evenly spread around. The CN Maelstrom wants to subsume everything back into itself, seeing the various lawful planes as a tyrannical infection of sorts, but at the same time, the Maelstrom's fury is almost equally reserved for the Abyss, which it views as a corruption of its own nature. The Abyss wars with itself and everyone else. The LG, LN, and LE planes engage in truly awesome campaigns into the Maelstrom and the Abyss, and Heaven's archons and the devils of the 9 Hells will at times go after one another just as fiercely. The Hells have also warred with the CG Azata, and the daemons of Abbadon while loathed universally by every other planar race, focus their attentions not on the politics of the outer planes, but on the eventual destruction of mortal life.

Finally there's a chapter on demiplanes (with a much more open definition than Planescape) and other planes that don't fit within the normal model of the cosmos. Any of these planes can be used outside of Golarion's cosmology, and I had a blast with them. For instance, there's Beselfyst the domain of the Barghest demigods of the goblinoid pantheon who - chaffing under Asmodeus's yoke- sold their loyalty to Lamashtu the Mother of Monsters, and saw their domain ripped from the Hells and drawn into the Abyss. There's the Dead Vault, a demiplanar prison to seal away Rovagug, created by the combined might of Asmodeus and the NG Saranrae. There's the First World of the fey (also the origin of Golarion's gnomes), a Dream Plane, a Plane of Time, etc. Then there's a smaller section of lots of minor demiplanes, including: the Crypt of the Dying Sun, the Fleshwarren, Freehold of the Rogue Angel, the Lost, the Machine Armory, the Mnemovore, and the Prison of the Laughing Fiend.

And then for the last section, the bestiary contains stats and flavor text/ecology information on the CN keketar proteans, NE astradaemons (inspired by the astraloths from my first Storyhour), LN axiomites (beings of living mathematics with the outward appearance of idealized humanoids, inspired by Planescape's moignos, and to a lesser extent the human-form replicators from Stargate), NG vulpinals (who also first appeared in my first Storyhour), and the fey Lurker in the Light.

The cover artwork by Wayne Reynolds
The keketar protean will make you not miss the slaadi
An axiomite, partially dissociated into a cloud of symbols and equations
The astradaemon in all its energy-draining, tentacled awesomeness
 

Remove ads

Top