D&D General Which material planes do you like in your cosmology?

delericho

Legend
It depends. If I'm doing a Spelljammer campaign, then there's a whole bunch of worlds out there, including Krynn, Toril, Eberron, Athas, and about a dozen homebrew settings I've worked on over the years (most of which, if I'm being honest, are pretty much identical, and many of the rest are dross...)

But if I'm doing an Eberron/Dark Sun/Realms/whatever campaign (where travel between settings isn't a core part of the campaign), then that is probably the only material plane out there - or at least the only one that matters.
 

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Vaalingrade

Legend
Eberron is the only non-Spelljammer official setting I care about.

I've done Sliders/Stargate alternate worlds though; but the 'for want of a nail alts, and also worlds where people were transplanted.

The core world of my Ere setting is actually a 'Stargate' world where the gods have brought refugees from dying planes.
 


cbwjm

Seb-wejem
I'd probably throw in everything, in some cases splitting things off into alternate material planes or making similar to someone's idea for how the original DnD worlds and the MtG worlds interacted (I can't recall who posted it, but I liked the explanation as a reason why it was difficult to get from the MtG worlds and the DnD worlds).

For me, I'd probably set up spheres of worlds which divides them so that you end up with something like:
  • MtG worlds (Ravnica, Theros, Dominaria, and the rest of them)
  • DnD worlds (Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Birthright, Eberron)
  • DnD alternate worlds (Mystara, due to how different a lot of it is in regard to the planes and immortals, though maybe I'd just throw it in with the rest)
  • DnD distant worlds (Dark Sun, due to it being cut off from the rest of the planes. Gith managed to get there somehow so maybe a spelljammer can reach it)
A campaign set in something like this could be quite fun, though due to how large it is it might miss some of what makes each setting unique and fun.

Some changes to the way things work in each setting could cause issues for some characters. I'm sure wizards from the forgotten realms would be a bit put out by their lack of power in birthright, not having a bloodline would mean that they are limited to divination and illusion magic and, I think, 1st level or lower spells of the other schools. If they made it to Dark Sun, they might not be able to cast magic at all until they learnt how to draw it from the life energy of the plants around them, and in dragonlance, they might be hunted down as renegades and made to join an order of high sorcery.
 

Voadam

Legend
Some fun worlds that come to mind.

From D&D;
Greyhawk's Oerth.
Forgotten Realms Faerun.
Dragonlance's Krynn.
Conan's Hyboria.
Lankhmar's Nehwon.
BECMI's Mystara.
Eberron.
Dark Sun.
2e Jakandor.
Ravenloft 2e/3e core or 4e/5e pocket domain versions .
Rokugan.
The various Magic the Gathering ones.
Kenzer's Kalamar.

OGL:
Ptolus.
Pathfinder's Golarion.
Elric's Stormbringer world.
World of Warcraft.
Middle Earth.
Scarred Lands.
DragonMech.
Broncosaurus Rex.
Oathbound.
Freeport.
Frog God's Lost Lands.
Kobold's Midgard.
Runequest/13th Age Glorantha.
Iron Kingdoms.
Accordlands.
Deadlands d20.
Primeval Thule.
7th Sea.
Earthdawn.

From non-D&D RPGs
Warhammer FRP.
Warhammer 40K.
Exalted.
Mage the Sorcerer's Crusade.
Ars Magica.
Shadowrun.
World of Darkness, particularly Mage the Ascension or Werewolf the Apocalypse.
Chronicles of Darkness, particularly Changeling the Lost.
 

aco175

Legend
I cannot remember ever having one world be able to connect to another. Maybe back in middle school one PC from my game could go to my friends game, but generally we made new PCs. I guess the concept is rather strange to me. Each world has their own cosmology or a homebrew world can take one of the others, but the individual worlds never come together.
 

Three layers.

The lowest layer: farthest from the outer planes of belief. There is for practical purposes no magic in this world. This is our layer.
The Middle Layer. Low magic, of a subtle kind, often thought of as psionics. Faster than light travel is possible. This is the plane where space opera happens.
The top layer. This is the D&D layer. Magic works, gods can manifest directly. Crystal Spheres, etc.
 

Rogerd1

Adventurer
I'd probably throw in everything, in some cases splitting things off into alternate material planes or making similar to someone's idea for how the original DnD worlds and the MtG worlds interacted (I can't recall who posted it, but I liked the explanation as a reason why it was difficult to get from the MtG worlds and the DnD worlds).

For me, I'd probably set up spheres of worlds which divides them so that you end up with something like:
  • MtG worlds (Ravnica, Theros, Dominaria, and the rest of them)
  • DnD worlds (Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Birthright, Eberron)
  • DnD alternate worlds (Mystara, due to how different a lot of it is in regard to the planes and immortals, though maybe I'd just throw it in with the rest)
  • DnD distant worlds (Dark Sun, due to it being cut off from the rest of the planes. Gith managed to get there somehow so maybe a spelljammer can reach it)
A campaign set in something like this could be quite fun, though due to how large it is it might miss some of what makes each setting unique and fun.

Some changes to the way things work in each setting could cause issues for some characters. I'm sure wizards from the forgotten realms would be a bit put out by their lack of power in birthright, not having a bloodline would mean that they are limited to divination and illusion magic and, I think, 1st level or lower spells of the other schools. If they made it to Dark Sun, they might not be able to cast magic at all until they learnt how to draw it from the life energy of the plants around them, and in dragonlance, they might be hunted down as renegades and made to join an order of high sorcery.
Like you I would throw them all in as separate planes with their own gods and afterlives. Some may be solar system sized, others galactic clusters, e.g. Esper Genesis.

Though to be honest, I brainstormed how to do gods and incorporeal beings for a combined setting. And essentially came to putting stuff into categories.

Aeons: They are incorporeal beings with vast magical powers. While in spirit form they are an intangible ball of light. As such many take on avatars when assuming physical form such that they resemble known gods from various mythologies.
  • Mystical Entities (DnD: Gods & Goddesses + Redux)
  • Mystara Immortals
  • Star Trek Organians
  • Stargate Ascended
Archons (Empyrean - think Olympians from Clash of the Titans): They are mortals who have been elevated to a form of godhood in some way. The usual method is either by consuming the Apples of Immortality, or Ambrosia, such that they possess golden ichor for blood. Once transformed, they become god-like and take on properties of their divine domain. All are powerful beings that possessed immense amounts of magic. Each dwells in a separate planes (El World – demi-planes, think Immortal Nicolas Flamel novels), many of which are connected. In a way, they embody the metaphysical principles manifested in their divine domains.

It was just made things a lot easier at this point.
This then allows me to have some kind of higher beings, kind of like Moorcocks / DC Lords of Order & Chaos.
 

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