After reading through the DMG I noticed that there is currently not true neutral plane in 5 editions great wheel cosmology, but that said the infinite staircase is... well... infinite so I know the answers are out their. I was wondering if anyone knows about any cool True Neutral planes or aberrations which are cool thematically from older additions.
Wow this place is pretty cool but I'm just a clueless berk. I've seen about the various Planar entities which enter and go back and forth, but are their any aberrations which are native to the plane?
I believe the True Neutral planes are the Elemental Planes which are in the middle of the great wheel of cosmology with the inner planes (Material plane, Shadowfell and Feywild). Most aberrations comes from the Far Realm, a plane of madness which is....well, far from the known planes. Indeed, the position of the Far realm respect to the great wheel is not known.
The true neutral plane was once known as the "Concordant Opposition" before getting renamed the "Outlands" in the Planescape setting. Sigil sits atop the infinity spire at the centre of the plane (which is infinite too) which really suggests it's metaphorically infinite, kinda like my son's hunger for sushi. The plane was a big melting pot influenced by the planar gates that accessed the top most layer of the Wheel. As for a true neutral aberration, that's a bit of an oxymoron. An aberration by inference is "abhorant" to normal sensibilities, which suggests some level of twisted form and sensibilities. The only critter that comes to mind from the early editions of the game would be the tirapheg, but maybe it was neutral with evil tendencies. I'll have to flip through the old books and see if anything else qualifies.
I would argue that True Neutrality in itself is its own extreme. Human beings just aren't capable of possessing no opinion what so ever to any subject. If the concept hasn't been explored yet it very much should be.
As alignment structure has it's roots in the Eternal Champion mythology of Michael Moorcock (Law vs. Chaos) neutrality is the manifestation of the Cosmic Balance. Thus, some folks treat Neutrality as an alignment of Equilibrium, trying to return the world to a condition where Law/Chaos/Good/Evil are all balanced to each other. Some folks assume that since Druids who once upon a time all had to be True Neutral, the alignment was about the natural world and the ways that Nature balances itself along the x/y/z axis of calories/shelter/reproduction. Bringing this back to the original question of whether there are any True Neutral aberrations, it depends on your preference of interpretation of the alignment: Cosmic Balance camp, sure, there should be aberrations that fight Chaos or Law given the circumstances of Balance; No Opinion camp, an aberration that is part of the natural ecosystem would be a Beast or Magical Beast to use the old metagame, not an aberrant of nature. An aberrant creatures suggests manipulation of the natural laws to exist and thus would not be True Neutral. *shrugs* Oozes/Jellies/Slimes/Molds are about as close to a "neutral" aberration. Perhaps the darkmantle/cloaker/trapper evolution since all they want to do is eat, sleep, and send their genes into the future.
The true neutral plane was once known as the "Concordant Opposition" before getting renamed the "Outlands" in the Planescape setting. Sigil sits atop the infinity spire at the centre of the plane (which is infinite too) which really suggests it's metaphorically infinite, kinda like my son's hunger for sushi. The plane was a big melting pot influenced by the planar gates that accessed the top most layer of the Wheel. As for a true neutral aberration, that's a bit of an oxymoron. An aberration by inference is "abhorant" to normal sensibilities, which suggests some level of twisted form and sensibilities. The only critter that comes to mind from the early editions of the game would be the tirapheg, but maybe it was neutral with evil tendencies. I'll have to flip through the old books and see if anything else qualifies.
Per 5e DMG "The Outlands" are really it. Gods like Semuanya are there ANF the gatetowns all balance it out. Sigil is at the top of the spire as a planar trade hub where fiends and celestial can trade. Since the Outer Planes are "Planes of belief" this fits
The inner planes aren't really aligned. Elemental are generally amoral, with interesting exceptions like genies and elemental princes.
And this is only true for the great wheel. Eberron is a different setup.
Yes, as others have said, the Outlands is the True Neutral outer plane. In the Great Wheel cosmology, it is the center that all of the other outer planes encircle. (I wrote up an introduction to the Great Wheel Cosmology through the editions at my "Intro to Planescape" blog I ran for a bit if anyone is interested. Working on getting it back up and running next month!) True Neutral throughout D&D has tended to be officially portrayed as focused on cosmic balance. Neither law, chaos, good, nor evil can ever become too powerful and must all be held in check - which is one of the reasons the Outlands was originally called the Plane of Concordant Opposition (which is a bit of a mouthful, so I can understand why they ditched it).
One aspect of this that was downplayed in later editions, is that originally in the Outlands, magic was limited. Near the edge 9th level spells weren't possible. Then a little closer, 8th level spells didn't work, etc. As you got near the center, even the power of gods was limited, starting with demigods and then on up to intermediate and greater gods the closer to the center. Until you get to the Spire itself where magic no longer worked - not even the gods had any special abilities here. Everyone was equal - which is why sometimes very high level negotiations would take place a ways into the Outlands towards (but maybe not all the way to) the Spire, and especially those who really need to flee a powerful enemy would try to get to the base of the Spire. Even gods couldn't find them there unless they literally walked there on foot. :)
Also, the True Neutral main race for the Outlands (like the Demons of the Abyss, Modrons of Mechanus, Slaadi of Limbo, etc.) are the Rilmani. I'm not sure if they have appeared since 3rd edition, but they are focused on maintaining balance - at all costs. They were introduced in Planescape and were interesting in that they could just as easily be allies or enemies depending upon the situation. (Also, I believe that had ways around the magic limitations mentioned above, but don't have time to double check. Either way, on the Outlands, the Rilmani were not to be trifled with.)
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After reading through the DMG I noticed that there is currently not true neutral plane in 5 editions great wheel cosmology, but that said the infinite staircase is... well... infinite so I know the answers are out their. I was wondering if anyone knows about any cool True Neutral planes or aberrations which are cool thematically from older additions.
You should check out Sigil.
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Wow this place is pretty cool but I'm just a clueless berk. I've seen about the various Planar entities which enter and go back and forth, but are their any aberrations which are native to the plane?
I believe the True Neutral planes are the Elemental Planes which are in the middle of the great wheel of cosmology with the inner planes (Material plane, Shadowfell and Feywild). Most aberrations comes from the Far Realm, a plane of madness which is....well, far from the known planes. Indeed, the position of the Far realm respect to the great wheel is not known.
The true neutral plane was once known as the "Concordant Opposition" before getting renamed the "Outlands" in the Planescape setting. Sigil sits atop the infinity spire at the centre of the plane (which is infinite too) which really suggests it's metaphorically infinite, kinda like my son's hunger for sushi. The plane was a big melting pot influenced by the planar gates that accessed the top most layer of the Wheel. As for a true neutral aberration, that's a bit of an oxymoron. An aberration by inference is "abhorant" to normal sensibilities, which suggests some level of twisted form and sensibilities. The only critter that comes to mind from the early editions of the game would be the tirapheg, but maybe it was neutral with evil tendencies. I'll have to flip through the old books and see if anything else qualifies.
We all leave footprints in the sands of time.
I would argue that True Neutrality in itself is its own extreme. Human beings just aren't capable of possessing no opinion what so ever to any subject. If the concept hasn't been explored yet it very much should be.
True Neutrality is not equal to "non having an opinion", imho. It is more like having an opinion based upon the situation and not upon preconcepts.
As alignment structure has it's roots in the Eternal Champion mythology of Michael Moorcock (Law vs. Chaos) neutrality is the manifestation of the Cosmic Balance. Thus, some folks treat Neutrality as an alignment of Equilibrium, trying to return the world to a condition where Law/Chaos/Good/Evil are all balanced to each other. Some folks assume that since Druids who once upon a time all had to be True Neutral, the alignment was about the natural world and the ways that Nature balances itself along the x/y/z axis of calories/shelter/reproduction. Bringing this back to the original question of whether there are any True Neutral aberrations, it depends on your preference of interpretation of the alignment: Cosmic Balance camp, sure, there should be aberrations that fight Chaos or Law given the circumstances of Balance; No Opinion camp, an aberration that is part of the natural ecosystem would be a Beast or Magical Beast to use the old metagame, not an aberrant of nature. An aberrant creatures suggests manipulation of the natural laws to exist and thus would not be True Neutral. *shrugs* Oozes/Jellies/Slimes/Molds are about as close to a "neutral" aberration. Perhaps the darkmantle/cloaker/trapper evolution since all they want to do is eat, sleep, and send their genes into the future.
We all leave footprints in the sands of time.
Sigil is the only one I have heard of.
Per 5e DMG "The Outlands" are really it. Gods like Semuanya are there ANF the gatetowns all balance it out. Sigil is at the top of the spire as a planar trade hub where fiends and celestial can trade. Since the Outer Planes are "Planes of belief" this fits
The inner planes aren't really aligned. Elemental are generally amoral, with interesting exceptions like genies and elemental princes.
And this is only true for the great wheel. Eberron is a different setup.
Yes, as others have said, the Outlands is the True Neutral outer plane. In the Great Wheel cosmology, it is the center that all of the other outer planes encircle. (I wrote up an introduction to the Great Wheel Cosmology through the editions at my "Intro to Planescape" blog I ran for a bit if anyone is interested. Working on getting it back up and running next month!) True Neutral throughout D&D has tended to be officially portrayed as focused on cosmic balance. Neither law, chaos, good, nor evil can ever become too powerful and must all be held in check - which is one of the reasons the Outlands was originally called the Plane of Concordant Opposition (which is a bit of a mouthful, so I can understand why they ditched it).
One aspect of this that was downplayed in later editions, is that originally in the Outlands, magic was limited. Near the edge 9th level spells weren't possible. Then a little closer, 8th level spells didn't work, etc. As you got near the center, even the power of gods was limited, starting with demigods and then on up to intermediate and greater gods the closer to the center. Until you get to the Spire itself where magic no longer worked - not even the gods had any special abilities here. Everyone was equal - which is why sometimes very high level negotiations would take place a ways into the Outlands towards (but maybe not all the way to) the Spire, and especially those who really need to flee a powerful enemy would try to get to the base of the Spire. Even gods couldn't find them there unless they literally walked there on foot. :)
Also, the True Neutral main race for the Outlands (like the Demons of the Abyss, Modrons of Mechanus, Slaadi of Limbo, etc.) are the Rilmani. I'm not sure if they have appeared since 3rd edition, but they are focused on maintaining balance - at all costs. They were introduced in Planescape and were interesting in that they could just as easily be allies or enemies depending upon the situation. (Also, I believe that had ways around the magic limitations mentioned above, but don't have time to double check. Either way, on the Outlands, the Rilmani were not to be trifled with.)