I thought it would be cool to share my homebrew project I've been working on recently. We all know the standard wheel, where the Outer Planes are placed around the circle according to their alignment as though on a Cartesian plane (x-y graph)... So the thought occurred to me: we live in a 3D world, so do we create in the world of D&D, but why is the cosmology represented in a 2D plane? What is BEYOND it? Something a bit obscure in lore is the Positive and Negative energy planes, but why should they be so starkly divided? Where do they reside? Do they create and affect other realms around them? I figured an update in D&D Cosmology was in order, if only for my own campaigns---
Essentially, this model proposes that just as there is a gradient between Law and Good or Chaos and Evil, there are planes in the gradient from the standard wheel to the ultimate positive and negative energy planes respectively (the two that ARE in official lore). This is represented by an additional 16 planes that are placed against each side of the wheel, altogether forming a more spherical shape.
Inside this sphere is the typical Material & Elemental planes, Ethereal, Astral, Feywild & Shadowfell, and the Rift (the realm where all demiplanes and pocket dimensions are actually created in, a place for lost things, a world that can be ever-expanded and manipulated by prospective magic users). Surrounding the outside of the cosmological sphere is the Far Realm. The in-between of forgotten and alien magics, a non-Euclidean space where the constraints of matter and life do not follow the same rules as the great sphere. But the Far Realm certainly isn't infinite. For if you go far enough, past the forgotten edges of the Far Realm, you reach Oblivion... an infinite space devoid of magic and scarce of life. The end of all things. The place where gods banish the world-ending threats and monsters such as Typhon (Son of Gaia and Tartarus, representation of volcanic power, Greek mythology), The Forgotten god (was once the god of the Far Realm, who sought to spread its twisted power over every other plane, before he was dethroned and exiled by every other god), and Oblivion's Maw (the dark dragon, the monster of final judgement, who is prophesied to return and bring about the destruction of the Material Plane). Curiously, Oblivion seems to warp reality and the "laws of physics", and everything that spends time there long enough becomes resistant to magic... carrying Oblivion's anti-magic properties with them wherever they go.
As for the Positive and Negative energy planes, it is said that the planes of good, evil, law, and chaos were formed from the collision between these two main planes of energy, but it also caused the creation of two split worlds for every known alignment. The Positive Planes are all life-giving, and are associated with heat and light. The Negative Planes are characterized by death-fueling energies, and are associated with darkness and the cold. Misconceptions surround the two--- that the Positive Planes are good, and Negative Planes are evil--- but in reality that idea has very little foundation. For much evil can form out of the living, and good can come from the hardships of death. Unfortunately I have not written out all 16 planes XD, as that is a LOT of world building (or just more than usual?), but I do have a few designed:
Alboral, the beckoning light of; (+LG)
Here stands an enormous metropolis merged with wide open cliffs and symbiotic vegetation. It has a "glorious order" that runs everyday life, and it is the favorite plane of Lawful Good Celestials, should they be able to reach it. Sunlight beams as a power source for both incredible feats of technology and magic, an ever-shining source of positive energy. Lawlessness has been strained from every creature that resides here, higher celestials here believing chaos to be a catalyst for evil. Life grows abundantly, but in planned spurts each day, with greenery and life being born at noon each day. While the darkest the land gets is a flaming-bright "sunrest" (they name the point where the sun sits near the horizon only to rise right back the way it came, morning and evening, contact with the light will regenerate any wounds adventurers have.
Kur (name of the Sumerian underworld), the scorching wastes of; (+CE)
Kur is a foul waste of dry sand and secrets. The positive sun only serves to heat the land with no shelter, and feed the festering life that leeches off of the weak. Life is abundant. Monsters roam in the soft sand and malleable stone, even while dark magics bind creatures to their will or to wander, lost for ages. Violent sandstorms rage across the plane's surface, and sinkholes form suddenly with earthquakes--- but the positive sun won't let creatures die, healing their wounds. Ancient demons and monsters live in buried temples and pyramids, their very presence cursing the healing energy of the sun with exhaustion and pain. If one ventures here, they surely seek to pursue the evil that pervades everything, though their presence may just awaken their greatest fears.
Baqa {Arabic for 'survival' or 'permanence'}, the balanced scales of; (--LG)
A world that is of the fittest, designed and optimized for the greatest people that have lived or will. The celestial inhabitants here don't believe in "murder," only the thinning and optimization of the herd, the elite, the deserving. The plane is characterized by a dystopian regime that ACTUALLY has everyone's best interests in mind (crazy, right?) that weighs the value and deeds of every life to see if they belong. You don't want to be either an intruder who disrupts the optimized, great life of its residents, nor be the one on the "released" side of things. Despite the very predictable weather patterns, the 5 star service, and the feeling that everything here is prepared JUST for you, Baqa represents a more utilitarian--- judge, jury, executioner and good upholder of the law style-plane. No work is ever required of those citizens who live in the great rest here. It's a system for its guests. Eat, play, converse, sleep, repeat. The negative energy of the plane tries to make you sleep, permanently. But the residents here have devised ways to prevent that. A sprawling suburbia? Limited to no wildlife and a beneficially practical lifestyle. This plane spends its killing to take out the lawlessness and evil that plagues many creature's lives.
Oneiros {Greek for 'dream'}, the sleeping folds of; (--CN)
A plane of dreams with very few dreamers. Only semblances of humanoids live here, but they only seek to thrive in chaos... however, nearly all living newcomers introduce order with just a thinking mind. If adventurers seek to think up new realities here, as is possible, the chaos of this world, the subconscious, will fight back with its negative energy. The landscape is always changing, filled with daydreams and nightmares from those who utilize negative energy, and defying any known physics. The plane essentially tries to make the living leave, and will use anything dreampt up, no matter how real it may seem, to accomplish this goal. It will push for death. (and yes, before you ask, this plane was heavily inspired by Inception)
That's what I have so far... If anyone wants to contribute plane ideas (or edit mine) feel free. What do you think? {also did my images come through?}
Interesting. For myself, I've created a third axis of conflict/harmony. I got the idea simply by looking at nature and the balance of the two... or rather conflict (darwinian competition) and harmony (symbiotic relationships) create a balanced ecosystem. Many of the (now 27) alignments are somewhat straightforward, but there are some that a bit hard to parse. In any case I break it down like this:
Good/Evil - How one's desires are related to self
Order/Chaos - How one's desires are related to large-scale structures like society
Harmony/Conflict - How one's desires are related to others on an individual level
Interesting. For myself, I've created a third axis of conflict/harmony. I got the idea simply by looking at nature and the balance of the two... or rather conflict (darwinian competition) and harmony (symbiotic relationships) create a balanced ecosystem. Many of the (now 27) alignments are somewhat straightforward, but there are some that a bit hard to parse. In any case I break it down like this:
Good/Evil - How one's desires are related to self
Order/Chaos - How one's desires are related to large-scale structures like society
Harmony/Conflict - How one's desires are related to others on an individual level
That would be interesting to see in execution. In any case it feels like it would fit better within the Forgotten Realm's alignment-based cosmology smoother than mine.
This is reminiscent of the Inner Planes from older editions. These used to form a ball with the two Energy Planes at its poles and the four Elemental Planes at its equator. Also, much like the para-elemental planes are combinations of two elements (e.g. earth and fire make magma), there were quasi-elemental planes each mixing an energy with an element (e.g. positive air is lightning).
5e moved the Energy Planes so that they now sandwich everything else in the Wheel. In theory, this would still allow for the quasi-elemental planes to exist, only now there could also be (quasi-spiritual?) planes like yours. There could even be positive and negative echoes of the Material Plane (which I am convinced is exactly what they Feywild and the Shadowfell are).
This is reminiscent of the Inner Planes from older editions. These used to form a ball with the two Energy Planes at its poles and the four Elemental Planes at its equator. Also, much like the para-elemental planes are combinations of two elements (e.g. earth and fire make magma), there were quasi-elemental planes each mixing an energy with an element (e.g. positive air is lightning).
5e moved the Energy Planes so that they now sandwich everything else in the Wheel. In theory, this would still allow for the quasi-elemental planes to exist, only now there could also be (quasi-spiritual?) planes like yours. There could even be positive and negative echoes of the Material Plane (which I am convinced is exactly what they Feywild and the Shadowfell are).
Side note: that's genius!! I definitely hadn't considered the Feywild and Shadowfell are the Positive and Negative Energy reflections of the Material Plane... that actually gives me a better foundation for what other planar reflections could look like.
Side note: that's genius!! I definitely hadn't considered the Feywild and Shadowfell are the Positive and Negative Energy reflections of the Material Plane... that actually gives me a better foundation for what other planar reflections could look like.
Thanks. Now, from that angle, I think the biggest challenges will be +/-CG and +/-NE. How do you make Arborea any more similar to the Feywild than it already is? How do you make Hades any more similar to the Shadowfell than it already is? How do you make a necrotized Arborea different from a revitalized Hades? I have no idea.
On the other hand, I can clearly see +/-LN. A more futuristic version of Mechanus, full of lightning and glowing gems, contrasted by a kingdom of rust.
Thanks. Now, from that angle, I think the biggest challenges will be +/-CG and +/-NE. How do you make Arborea any more similar to the Feywild than it already is? How do you make Hades any more similar to the Shadowfell than it already is? How do you make a necrotized Arborea different from a revitalized Hades? I have no idea.
On the other hand, I can clearly see +/-LN. A more futuristic version of Mechanus, full of lightning and glowing gems, contrasted by a kingdom of rust.
Okay, now this feels more cohesive than before, I think I'll mostly scrap my previous plane ideas, although maybe I'll keep Oneiros and maybe Baqa around lol.
I agree, those particular reflections will be the hardest for sure. I was thinking the -NE plane could be a land of perpetual decay, where the souls of the dead slowly unravel into featureless shadows over time. While Hades is usually bleak and fairly passive, I think the addition of negative energy would be more active alongside its evil effects. Ashen fog, filled with forgotten names even as the plane devours memory itself. Someone could forget what they were doing seconds ago, or wake up thinking they have always lived here. Not only will death be unkind to you here, but you will never leave, until even your soul becomes nothing. Only problem is... is that too similar to the way the Shadowfell drains vitality? Yeah this is hard.
Regarding +CG, maybe it could be a plane of rapid growth and expansion, flowing rivers of positive energy that revitalize whatever they touch. Structures and civilization are always overtaken unless you move with it. Perhaps its a more nomadic-jungle-type feel. Saplings become trees in minutes, stuff like that. That's what I had down so far at least.
I have a campaign centered on Mechanus I've been thinking up. I definitely feel like it has underappreciated lore and potential--- it would indeed be interesting to expand on those reflections. Perhaps its negative counterpart focuses on lifeless automation, rust, and constantly repairing itself, while its life version behaves more like a hive mind.
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I thought it would be cool to share my homebrew project I've been working on recently. We all know the standard wheel, where the Outer Planes are placed around the circle according to their alignment as though on a Cartesian plane (x-y graph)... So the thought occurred to me: we live in a 3D world, so do we create in the world of D&D, but why is the cosmology represented in a 2D plane? What is BEYOND it? Something a bit obscure in lore is the Positive and Negative energy planes, but why should they be so starkly divided? Where do they reside? Do they create and affect other realms around them? I figured an update in D&D Cosmology was in order, if only for my own campaigns---
Essentially, this model proposes that just as there is a gradient between Law and Good or Chaos and Evil, there are planes in the gradient from the standard wheel to the ultimate positive and negative energy planes respectively (the two that ARE in official lore). This is represented by an additional 16 planes that are placed against each side of the wheel, altogether forming a more spherical shape.
Inside this sphere is the typical Material & Elemental planes, Ethereal, Astral, Feywild & Shadowfell, and the Rift (the realm where all demiplanes and pocket dimensions are actually created in, a place for lost things, a world that can be ever-expanded and manipulated by prospective magic users). Surrounding the outside of the cosmological sphere is the Far Realm. The in-between of forgotten and alien magics, a non-Euclidean space where the constraints of matter and life do not follow the same rules as the great sphere. But the Far Realm certainly isn't infinite. For if you go far enough, past the forgotten edges of the Far Realm, you reach Oblivion... an infinite space devoid of magic and scarce of life. The end of all things. The place where gods banish the world-ending threats and monsters such as Typhon (Son of Gaia and Tartarus, representation of volcanic power, Greek mythology), The Forgotten god (was once the god of the Far Realm, who sought to spread its twisted power over every other plane, before he was dethroned and exiled by every other god), and Oblivion's Maw (the dark dragon, the monster of final judgement, who is prophesied to return and bring about the destruction of the Material Plane). Curiously, Oblivion seems to warp reality and the "laws of physics", and everything that spends time there long enough becomes resistant to magic... carrying Oblivion's anti-magic properties with them wherever they go.
As for the Positive and Negative energy planes, it is said that the planes of good, evil, law, and chaos were formed from the collision between these two main planes of energy, but it also caused the creation of two split worlds for every known alignment. The Positive Planes are all life-giving, and are associated with heat and light. The Negative Planes are characterized by death-fueling energies, and are associated with darkness and the cold. Misconceptions surround the two--- that the Positive Planes are good, and Negative Planes are evil--- but in reality that idea has very little foundation. For much evil can form out of the living, and good can come from the hardships of death. Unfortunately I have not written out all 16 planes XD, as that is a LOT of world building (or just more than usual?), but I do have a few designed:
Alboral, the beckoning light of; (+LG)
Here stands an enormous metropolis merged with wide open cliffs and symbiotic vegetation. It has a "glorious order" that runs everyday life, and it is the favorite plane of Lawful Good Celestials, should they be able to reach it. Sunlight beams as a power source for both incredible feats of technology and magic, an ever-shining source of positive energy. Lawlessness has been strained from every creature that resides here, higher celestials here believing chaos to be a catalyst for evil. Life grows abundantly, but in planned spurts each day, with greenery and life being born at noon each day. While the darkest the land gets is a flaming-bright "sunrest" (they name the point where the sun sits near the horizon only to rise right back the way it came, morning and evening, contact with the light will regenerate any wounds adventurers have.
Kur (name of the Sumerian underworld), the scorching wastes of; (+CE)
Kur is a foul waste of dry sand and secrets. The positive sun only serves to heat the land with no shelter, and feed the festering life that leeches off of the weak. Life is abundant. Monsters roam in the soft sand and malleable stone, even while dark magics bind creatures to their will or to wander, lost for ages. Violent sandstorms rage across the plane's surface, and sinkholes form suddenly with earthquakes--- but the positive sun won't let creatures die, healing their wounds. Ancient demons and monsters live in buried temples and pyramids, their very presence cursing the healing energy of the sun with exhaustion and pain. If one ventures here, they surely seek to pursue the evil that pervades everything, though their presence may just awaken their greatest fears.
Baqa {Arabic for 'survival' or 'permanence'}, the balanced scales of; (--LG)
A world that is of the fittest, designed and optimized for the greatest people that have lived or will. The celestial inhabitants here don't believe in "murder," only the thinning and optimization of the herd, the elite, the deserving. The plane is characterized by a dystopian regime that ACTUALLY has everyone's best interests in mind (crazy, right?) that weighs the value and deeds of every life to see if they belong. You don't want to be either an intruder who disrupts the optimized, great life of its residents, nor be the one on the "released" side of things. Despite the very predictable weather patterns, the 5 star service, and the feeling that everything here is prepared JUST for you, Baqa represents a more utilitarian--- judge, jury, executioner and good upholder of the law style-plane. No work is ever required of those citizens who live in the great rest here. It's a system for its guests. Eat, play, converse, sleep, repeat. The negative energy of the plane tries to make you sleep, permanently. But the residents here have devised ways to prevent that. A sprawling suburbia? Limited to no wildlife and a beneficially practical lifestyle. This plane spends its killing to take out the lawlessness and evil that plagues many creature's lives.
Oneiros {Greek for 'dream'}, the sleeping folds of; (--CN)
A plane of dreams with very few dreamers. Only semblances of humanoids live here, but they only seek to thrive in chaos... however, nearly all living newcomers introduce order with just a thinking mind. If adventurers seek to think up new realities here, as is possible, the chaos of this world, the subconscious, will fight back with its negative energy. The landscape is always changing, filled with daydreams and nightmares from those who utilize negative energy, and defying any known physics. The plane essentially tries to make the living leave, and will use anything dreampt up, no matter how real it may seem, to accomplish this goal. It will push for death. (and yes, before you ask, this plane was heavily inspired by Inception)
That's what I have so far... If anyone wants to contribute plane ideas (or edit mine) feel free. What do you think?
{also did my images come through?}
Interesting. For myself, I've created a third axis of conflict/harmony. I got the idea simply by looking at nature and the balance of the two... or rather conflict (darwinian competition) and harmony (symbiotic relationships) create a balanced ecosystem. Many of the (now 27) alignments are somewhat straightforward, but there are some that a bit hard to parse. In any case I break it down like this:
Good/Evil - How one's desires are related to self
Order/Chaos - How one's desires are related to large-scale structures like society
Harmony/Conflict - How one's desires are related to others on an individual level
That would be interesting to see in execution. In any case it feels like it would fit better within the Forgotten Realm's alignment-based cosmology smoother than mine.
This is reminiscent of the Inner Planes from older editions. These used to form a ball with the two Energy Planes at its poles and the four Elemental Planes at its equator. Also, much like the para-elemental planes are combinations of two elements (e.g. earth and fire make magma), there were quasi-elemental planes each mixing an energy with an element (e.g. positive air is lightning).
5e moved the Energy Planes so that they now sandwich everything else in the Wheel. In theory, this would still allow for the quasi-elemental planes to exist, only now there could also be (quasi-spiritual?) planes like yours. There could even be positive and negative echoes of the Material Plane (which I am convinced is exactly what they Feywild and the Shadowfell are).
Expanded 5e Spelljammer Cosmology
That's cool, I should research further into that.
Side note: that's genius!! I definitely hadn't considered the Feywild and Shadowfell are the Positive and Negative Energy reflections of the Material Plane... that actually gives me a better foundation for what other planar reflections could look like.
Thanks. Now, from that angle, I think the biggest challenges will be +/-CG and +/-NE. How do you make Arborea any more similar to the Feywild than it already is? How do you make Hades any more similar to the Shadowfell than it already is? How do you make a necrotized Arborea different from a revitalized Hades? I have no idea.
On the other hand, I can clearly see +/-LN. A more futuristic version of Mechanus, full of lightning and glowing gems, contrasted by a kingdom of rust.
Expanded 5e Spelljammer Cosmology
Okay, now this feels more cohesive than before, I think I'll mostly scrap my previous plane ideas, although maybe I'll keep Oneiros and maybe Baqa around lol.
I agree, those particular reflections will be the hardest for sure. I was thinking the -NE plane could be a land of perpetual decay, where the souls of the dead slowly unravel into featureless shadows over time. While Hades is usually bleak and fairly passive, I think the addition of negative energy would be more active alongside its evil effects. Ashen fog, filled with forgotten names even as the plane devours memory itself. Someone could forget what they were doing seconds ago, or wake up thinking they have always lived here. Not only will death be unkind to you here, but you will never leave, until even your soul becomes nothing. Only problem is... is that too similar to the way the Shadowfell drains vitality? Yeah this is hard.
Regarding +CG, maybe it could be a plane of rapid growth and expansion, flowing rivers of positive energy that revitalize whatever they touch. Structures and civilization are always overtaken unless you move with it. Perhaps its a more nomadic-jungle-type feel. Saplings become trees in minutes, stuff like that. That's what I had down so far at least.
I have a campaign centered on Mechanus I've been thinking up. I definitely feel like it has underappreciated lore and potential--- it would indeed be interesting to expand on those reflections. Perhaps its negative counterpart focuses on lifeless automation, rust, and constantly repairing itself, while its life version behaves more like a hive mind.