One of my future campaigns will be a heavily reworked version of Descent into Avernus that features more travel across the Outer Planes (essentially the players need to gather support and power from the Outer Planes to prevent the demon hordes from taking over Avernus). For this purpose, I have introduced a new skill for players to be proficient in: Knowledge of the Planes (Int).
Knowledge of the Planes is used in place of a Religion or Arcana check when players want to identify or remember information about the Outer Planes and their denizens. Honestly, part of the reason I did this is because I've always felt that Arcana and Religion are interchangeable when it comes to learning about Outer Planes, so I wanted something more specific. To clarify the difference, a religion check is used in knowledge directly concerning a god (such as their portfolio, holy symbols, or divine realms) and the ways in which mortals worship them, whereas a Knowledge of the Planes check can be used to identify a kind Outsider, know how many layers there are in a given plane and who rules those layers, and know the alignment of an Outer Plane. An Arcana check could be used to identify a type of magic spell, remember the schools of magic's applications, or identify a magical beast or construct that originates or inhabits the Prime Material, but if the magic is actually energy from an Outer Plane, the player will have to use Knowledge of the Planes instead.
Knowledge of the Planes is an Intelligence skill, but, since the Outer Planes aren't exactly common knowledge, only characters proficient in the skill can actually use it (you may change this in your games, depending on how common knowledge the cosmology of the multiverse is). Players who have proficiency in Religion or Arcana can chose Knowledge of the Planes instead. Characters proficient in both automatically gain proficiency in Knowledge of the Planes.
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One of my future campaigns will be a heavily reworked version of Descent into Avernus that features more travel across the Outer Planes (essentially the players need to gather support and power from the Outer Planes to prevent the demon hordes from taking over Avernus). For this purpose, I have introduced a new skill for players to be proficient in: Knowledge of the Planes (Int).
Knowledge of the Planes is used in place of a Religion or Arcana check when players want to identify or remember information about the Outer Planes and their denizens. Honestly, part of the reason I did this is because I've always felt that Arcana and Religion are interchangeable when it comes to learning about Outer Planes, so I wanted something more specific. To clarify the difference, a religion check is used in knowledge directly concerning a god (such as their portfolio, holy symbols, or divine realms) and the ways in which mortals worship them, whereas a Knowledge of the Planes check can be used to identify a kind Outsider, know how many layers there are in a given plane and who rules those layers, and know the alignment of an Outer Plane. An Arcana check could be used to identify a type of magic spell, remember the schools of magic's applications, or identify a magical beast or construct that originates or inhabits the Prime Material, but if the magic is actually energy from an Outer Plane, the player will have to use Knowledge of the Planes instead.
Knowledge of the Planes is an Intelligence skill, but, since the Outer Planes aren't exactly common knowledge, only characters proficient in the skill can actually use it (you may change this in your games, depending on how common knowledge the cosmology of the multiverse is). Players who have proficiency in Religion or Arcana can chose Knowledge of the Planes instead. Characters proficient in both automatically gain proficiency in Knowledge of the Planes.