Below is an example of what I'm looking for.
The Endless Sewers of Erebus
Note: If you wish to use this plane in the Great Ring cosmology, it is designed to replace Acheron.
It is the realm of infinite sludge-filled tunnels and rusty pipelines.
It is where all things discarded eventually end up.
It is the ultimate destination of the river Styx.
Erebus is, by far, a sanitation worker’s worst nightmare. Old rusty pipes and labyrinth-like concrete tunnels stretch into mind bogglingly complex configurations only to disappear in the impenetrable blackness that surrounds all light sources. The first thing most people notice when entering Erebus is the complete lack of natural light. Without a flashlight or a flare, you will find yourself walking blind and just might end up lost forever in tunnels waist deep in vile, brackish sewer water....if you’re lucky. There are things swimming in the water. Things that have been living just fine without strange foreigners clumsily stomping through the water and waving around harsh, blinding light sources. Without being cautious, most newcomers will be pulled under the water by unspeakable horrors, never to be heard from again.
Erebus Traits
Erebus has the following traits.
Objective Directional Gravity: The strength of gravity is the same as on the Material Plane. But gravity is oriented toward wherever your feet are pointing. Thus, there is no normal concept of floor, wall or ceiling. Any surface can be a floor if you treat it like a floor.
Normal Time.
Infinite Size: While there are some closed off tunnels, the pipes of Erebus stretch off into the darkness with no apparent source or destination.
Alterable Morphic: For some strange, unexplained reason, this outer plane cannot be shaped by divine will. Naturally, this makes it very unpopular as a home for deities. Not that all but the most unhygienic gods would even want to call this place home anyway.
Elemental or Energy Traits.
Mildly Law-Aligned: Chaotic characters on the plane of Erebus suffer a -2 penalty on all Charisma-based checks.
Normal Magic.
Erebus Links
Permanent portals exist between various planes and Erebus. By far the easiest way to get to Erebus is to hop on a boat in the river Styx and just keep sailing downstream. You'll get there if you wait long enough. Oddly enough, anything flushed down a toilet has a 1% chance of ending up in the endless sewer, regardless of whether your indoor plumbing is connected to a public sewer or septic tank.
Erebus Inhabitants
Despite the first impression that Erebus is a quiet plane full of still, smelly water, the place is actually teaming with life. The natives of the endless sewers mostly fall into two categories; the creatures that live in the water (which can included monsters like Aboleths, Chuul, Krakens, Tojanida, Dire Crocodiles, etc.) and the creatures that live their lives hanging, climbing and swinging from the endless rusty pipes (Chokers, Araneas, Phase Spiders, Monstrous Spiders, Gricks, etc). Few, if any, humanoids can be found in Erebus without some serious searching. They are there, though. Most of them tend to congregate in the pseudo-city known as The Sanitation Plant (Will be explained later).
Erebus Petitioners
Petitioners are a rare sight outside of the Sanitation Plant since most are quickly pulled under the vile water and eaten within moments of arriving on Erebus. The few that survive look much like they did in life, with one major difference. They lack eyes or any other visual organ. This doesn't seem to bother them at all. They can even discern colors and read. Petitioners, when found, are always carrying out some predesignated task. It can be anything, but it usually involves replacing pipeline, treating sewage, operating the machinery in the The Sanitation Plant or something else that is important in maintaining the continued operation of the Endless Sewers. Erebus Petitioners have the following special traits:
Additional Immunities: Cold, Poison
Resistances: Acid 20, Electricity 20
Other Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, Blindsight 40 feet (as the Grimlock ability).
Erebus Encounters
Use Table 6-4: Aquatic encounters or Table 7-7: Hellish encounters (alternate between them) for random encounters on Erebus.
Erebus Features to be added later....
- Mechanus would be even more complex than it is now, with gears coupled to generators and joined together by huge cables.
- Sigil would be even more polluted and cough-worthy. Still a sprawling metropolis, but with power plants and factories!
- Limbo would be about the same as in core Planescape, at least as far as landscape is concerned.
-A hamatula is flying over the grey landscape of Hades in a devilish F-16 and firing missiles at Tanar'ri Bogeys. One hits the cockpit of nearest demon bomber, the Tanar'ri doesn't even get the chance to eject as the missile blows him to pieces. The hamatula smiles to himself in the knowledge that he will be adding another Quasit stamp to the side of his jet.
-I don't even want to know what kind of tanks the Tanar'ri would design.
-The yugoloths would find the idea of biological warfare to be an ideal passtime.
and finally the most fightening idea in my mind
-The Baatezu get The Bomb.
Originally posted by Ornum
I had my own thoughts about what Mechanus would be in such a setting. I think that the gear aspect would be gone. Instead, it would be a plane of capacitors and circuit boards (and such).
Alternatively, the Industrial Revolution could have gone very badly in Mechanus, where change is generally frowned upon. After all, the most forward-looking of gods, like Tvashtri and Gond, live in the Outlands. Maybe the Clockwork Universe only started upgrading to steam power when all the other planes had internal combustion engines, and they did it wrong, leaving the gears covered with rust and incapable of turning - the whole plane at a standstill while modrons frantically try to repair things even as the formians and inevitables build more and more ill-advised "improvements."
By the 21st century in the Common Era of Earth, the Nirvana of Mechanus is a desolate wasteland of broken gears and twisted metal, occasional sparks serving only to make the place more hazardous. The mediators have not been seen in centuries. Primus is dead and the secundi have all gone rogue, leaving only a few tertians to try and hold their race together, unable to repair the Infinity Web enough to promote anyone. The gear spirits are also dead or trapped in rust; the inevitables, sensing the wrongness of the situation, have resorted to roaming the plane killing all they come across. The formians have mostly fled to Acheron and Baator, or Erebus and Baator.
The multiversal force of Law is not weaker, but it is damaged and this reflects itself in the way the platonics of law manifest themselves. What Mechanus needs more than anything is a surge of true chaos to break apart the rut it's in that makes the plane worse and worse. And somewhere, a rogue secondus modron is recruiting a legion of chaos to do just that under these twin maxims:
The cancer must be destroyed.
From destruction will come creation.
"Welcome to the Law Offices of Bel, Levistus, and Mephistopheles."
I thought that in a more modern Planescape, the Modrons could have an underground war with the Inevitables.
How would the Lady keep order in Sigil when any berk could walk in with a compressed canister of nerve gas?
I want a car chase through the Guildhall Ward shooting AK's and lightning bolts from the backs of jeeps.
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
How would the Lady keep order in Sigil when any berk could walk in with a compressed canister of nerve gas?
Same way she always has. With the mazing and the flaying and the +20 to Awesome.
Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted it.
I'll redo it sometime tomorrow. Trust me, it's worth it.
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
How would the Lady keep order in Sigil when any berk could walk in with a compressed canister of nerve gas?
The lady isn't all that concerned about Sigil casualties. She would probably wait until the offender was finished using the gas, then Maze his sorry ass.
The Home Offices of Baator, Inc.
It is Hell, where sympathy is against policy and malice mandated.
It is the home of devils.
It is the plane where industry and order reveal the soulless heart of evil.
The Home Offices of Baator, Inc., sometimes simply called Baator or the Home Office, is where few seek to go but many end up anyway. It is the ultimate plane of law and evil, the epitome of senseless order and soul-crushing conformity. The devils march to a single drum and meet in polite board rooms, but all that means is that they shake hands with a dagger behind their backs. Intricate schemes of double-and-triple crossing fill corporate boardrooms and occupy water cooler gossip, with everyone seeking to climb up the hierarchy while obeying the letter of the rules, if not the spirit.
The Home Office consists of 9 layers, each higher up than the next, like floors in some monstrous office building. Office overlooks at each higher floor give a traveler a better view of the building as a whole and how the layers are not mere floors, but fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. It is an evil enticement to climb the next layer and see a little bit more.
The plane is ruled by the nine Senior Partners, immensely powerful devils who are like unto lesser deities in power. Each one controls one department (layer), and is in mutual rivalry with the others. Asmodeus, the Chairman of the Board, keeps the status quo, turning one against the other with the skill of a grandmaster. Beneath them are the Chiefs of Security, eight powerful pit fiends who are in charge of keeping the Home Office secure and marshalling their troops to hunt down and destroy the demons. Deities of law and evil also have their offices here, with their own private, independently contracted departments.
Home Office Traits:
Normal Gravity
Dialated Time: Time does not pass normally in the Home Office. Although not timeless, time does flow more slowly here, or at least one's perception of time slows. A second in the Home Office is like a minute, a minute an hour, and a full day can seem like a month. Time is actually flowing at the normal speed, it is only one's perception of time that is being affected.
Infinite Size: Each layer of the Home Office is a vast industrial/bureaucratic dystopia that extends on to eternity in all directions but up. Each layer has a limited height, varying depending on area from as little as 10 feet to several miles.
Mildly Law and Mildly Evil Aligned: Characters with an allegiance to Chaos take a -2 penalty on all Charisma-based checks, as do characters with an allegiance to Good. Characters with an allegiance to both take a -4 penalty.
Home Office Links:
The River Styx flows through the plane, with leaking, rusty pipes rerouting it in places and in other places flowing freely as decorative waterfalls and fountains. The sludge is far from aesthetic, even to devils, although many are willing to take a drink of the polluted water just to forget their troubles. The bottom layer (The Basement) is in constant danger of being flooded by the Styx.
Links to other plains are provided by red-marked doorways, although most of them require security clearance to open. A landing of the Infinite Staircase opens up on the third layer of the Home Office, the Processing Center, on one of the great catwalks suspended over a vat of deadly acid.
Inhabitants:
The devils make up the ruling elite of the Home Office. They hold most of the positions of authority and are always willing to cut a deal with a mortal trying to navigate the Home Office. They invariably regret it, for devils are always seeking ways to garner a promotion by gaining mortal souls.
The largest population is actually the petitioners. The petitioners are the souls of those who trampled others in their climb to the top or were blindly obedient to harmful rules and laws. These petitioners fill all the menial labor positions, from pushers of mail carts to fillers of databases to people who endlessly sign their name on stacks and stacks of forms and paperwork. These souls, fit for little more than repetitive tasks, are often referred to as Drones. All seek to eventually get promoted to a managerial position by becoming devils.
Movement and Combat:
Movement in the Home Office is much like movement in the Material Plane. Moving between layers is also fairly straightforward, merely a matter of taking the right elevator, staircase, ladder, or escalator. These conveyances will invariably seem to take hours, which is a good measure of whether you are moving between layers or merely moving between floors.
Movement is somewhat disorienting for new visitors due to the alteration in time and space. Characters take a -5 penalty to all Survival rolls to find your direction until they succeed at a DC 15 wisdom check (one per day).
Features of the Home Office:
There are nine layers of the Home Office, each one ruled by one of the Senior Partners. Each of the Senior Partners answers to the Chairman, Asmodeus. Each layer has it's own inhospitable environment, seemingly designed to destroy either body or soul. Visitors had better have proof of ID, a visitor's pass, and a quick exit route, lest they run afoul of the security force and be pressed into service in the Blood War.
The Basement of Avernus
The first layer of the Home Office is the one with the lowest ceiling, a claustrophobic knot of basements and sub-basements shot with rusty pipes, electrical conduits, and boiler rooms. Tiny incandescent bulbs swing back and forth on their cords, providing dim light at best. Here petitioners labor endlessly to keep the workings of the Home Office running smoothly for the other layers, repairing pipes, tripping circuit breakers, and stoking the coal in the boilers. These systems are constantly breaking down, and travellers not taking proper precautions are likely to be hit at some point by a malfunction. A traveler is 10% likely each day they travel to be ground zero for a blast of energy, treated as a lightning bolt cast by a 6th level Mage, but with a random elemental effect (1d10: 1-2 fire, 3-4 ice, 5-6 electricity, 7-8 acid, 9-10 sonic).
Some of the larger conduits also carry the river Styx as it makes it's final descent. These pipes constantly drip Styx water, and other areas are so leaky as to be constantly flooded with 6 inches or more of putrid, unholy water. Petitioners sent to fix these pipes often forget what they were supposed to do and end up wandering the Basement for eternity.
Security Center: The Security Center of Baator is the only thing state-of-the-art and working in the Basement. A massive, city-sized command center, this is where Zariel, Chief of Security and Special Operations, rules the layer from. Her elite devil security force is the first line of defense in the case of a demon terrorist attack, and they know it. The other Senior Partners don't give her much credit, but she commands great respect from the Chiefs of Security. Her troops constantly patrol the Basement, knowing that it is easily their weakest point and most vulnerable to attack. During downtime in between incursions, they tend to take out their boredom on petitioners, beating them to get them to work faster and rupturing conduits on them just to watch them dissipate and reform seconds later.
The Security Center itself is a massive bank of monitors, environmental controls, network hubs, and other vital data-gathering devices. The rest of the plane is seeded with her security cameras, and she sees virtually all except the inner sanctums of each of the other Senior Partners. It is a massive amount of information, monitoring an infinite plane, and thousands of devils constantly scan the security devices in watch for intruders or slackers to punish. However, this is just to monitor the other layers, Zariel herself is aware of all major intrusions on her layer.
The secret to her ability to process this information comes quite literally from the previous ruler of this layer, Bel. Kept in suspended animation in a paralytic vat, all information directly regarding the Basement is directed through him. His hatred automatically sorts the relevant information out from the rest because it's things that could be immediately harmful to Zariel.
The Mail Room: Here is the hub of all paper correspondence between devils. Every note, memo, document, and paper is routed through the Mail Room. Here, endless rows of mail slots are used to sort, catalog, and file every letter that reaches here. Drones do most of the work, filling bulging mail carts to deliver to the other layers.
Once delivered, official policy requires that every document requires at least N+1 signatures, where N is the number of signatures currently on it. So the letter is repackaged, stamped, addressed, and delivered instantly by pneumatic tube back to the mail room to be sorted and filed for a new recipient. As a result, the amount of mail is ever increasing, covering the floor of the Mail Room with piles of unsorted mail, in places reaching waist deep and with still more coming down every minute. It is endless drudgery and completely pointless with the advent of E-mail correspondence, but it’s a formality that is in place to keep as many drones as possible as busy as possible. This is a favorite haunt of Security Squads, because there’s no doubt that there will be at least one drone slower than the others.
Tiamat: There is another creature other than Zariel that lays claim to this layer. Tiamat, the self-proclaimed (yet unchallenged) Queen of Dragons also claims for herself the title of Ninth Senior Partner. She rules from deep within the boiler room, although she also stalks the mail room and terrorizes the petitioners there. Zariel and her have clashed many times in the past, but at the moment Tiamat is keeping the finicky Boiler running (when five different elements work in a single machine, you’d better bet on it being finicky) as part of a temporary truce. Her consorts (one male dragon of each type) also scour the uncharted reaches of the Basement for demonic incursions, a useful if not entirely welcome aid. The personal wealth she has amassed over the eons is incalculable, and likely to rival all the wealth of several worlds.
Typical petitioners for this layer: Taskmasters, Bullies
Ruler: Zariel officially, disputed by Tiamat
The Office Block of Dis
The second layer of Baator, Inc is The Office Block of Dis. Eternally heated by the flames of the Boiler only one floor below, Dis is formed of row after row of offices and cubicle farms, many of which are bigger than entire nations. The offices of particularly important devils are here, always marked with the devil’s personal sigil on the door instead of the name, so you had better know who you are looking for. In the cubicles, row after row of drones sit at infernal keyboards and crunch numbers, write mission statements and memos, prepare presentations for meetings on projects that will never be completed, and attend team-building meetings that only serve to further drive wedges between everyone present. Which doesn’t matter, because aside from the intermittent meetings, the only thing the average Drone ever sees is the inside of his iron cubicle.
Due to the infernal heat radiating from below, almost everything here is made of either iron or very hard stone. This effect causes the entire layer to glow red-hot, causing 1d6 fire damage per round someone is in contact with any surface. The native Drones along with all devils are immune to this effect, but the cruel devils in charge of labor in this layer know how to use it to their advantage. Mortals and Drones alike who step out of line for whatever reason are locked in tiny side offices where they are strapped to specially enchanted and superheated iron chairs, doing 8d6 fire damage per round but also healing 8d6 HP per round. Then, these unfortunates’ eyes are taped open and they are forced to watch indoctrination and proper conduct videos for a few years until they learn how to properly behave in an office setting.
The Black Mirror: Far above the floor of the Office Block of Dis, wrapping all the way around the ceiling from one side to the other, is a small overhang covered at the front by black mirrored glass. No normal senses can see through it, and it is immune to the infernal heat of the layer. On the other side, in his impossibly huge office, sits Dispater, the lord of this layer.
He watches from there, never without an elaborately engraved (and undoubtedly magic) pen that is the symbol of his station. Rarely does he emerge from his office, preferring to scheme in its relative safety, but when he does he appears as a being of imposing charisma in an impeccably tailored suit. From an office balcony he will give inspiring speeches to his employees, tell them how well things are going, and always promise them that the Blood War will be over soon, and then the workload should decrease. Shortly thereafter, he will close the window and withdraw once more. Only meetings with Asmodeus can draw him forth from his office.
Typical Petitioner: Dirty accountants, liars, wicked demagogues, those who use knowledge for evil.
Ruler:Dispater
On that note, Erebus features will be added either tonight or tomarrow, as well as little backstory on the subject of the Endless Sewers replacing Acheron.
Originally posted by Ornum
Nice, Fan, I like. Quick question, though. Did you base this off of my above post, or did you already have this written (before it was initially deleted) and you and I just had similar ideas about what Baator would be?
Yeah, I first started thinking about this when I read Baal's entry in the Menace Manual. I pictured him as an archdevil in a new, corporate Hell, and began thinking about the other planes. I didn't have anything written out yet, though.
So that's a modern version of Acheron and Baator done, with a couple of varying ideas on Mechanus. Only 14 more to try and detail in some way.
Also, we must not forget the possibility of a technological pantheon that might exist in the "modern" outer planes. I think that one of the comic book companies had a version of these gods, but I never read the issue(s) involved and have only heard through other people about the existance of such a publication.
Originally posted by Ornum
Also, we must not forget the possibility of a technological pantheon that might exist in the "modern" outer planes. I think that one of the comic book companies had a version of these gods, but I never read the issue(s) involved and have only heard through other people about the existance of such a publication.
Could you be talking about American Gods, a novel by Neil Gaiman?
Even in the current Planescape timeline, Mechanus is going downhill. The March started too early, the creation of rogue modrons is on the rise and the hierarchy recently spawned a new breed of drone that has no place in the order of Regulus, the Negadrones. Regulus is headed to disaster, it's only a matter of time.
Anyway, I'm designing Erebus' storyline with connection to ripvanwormer's Mechanus.
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
and finally the most fightening idea in my mind
-The Baatezu get The Bomb.
IMO the Tanar'ri would be much more frightening with the bomb than the Baatezu.
The devils wouldn't use it often, since they want to conquer and dominate. And it's kind of boring to rule a nuclear waste land.
The demon on the other hand just want to destroy and would bomb absolutely everything, regardless how valuable it is.
I don't know about you, but that would drive me crazy. And it would, oddly enough, give the devils more power in my opinion than if the demons just started blowing thing up.
It's not the size of your bomb, its how you use it.
Or perhaps a bar with an eternal happy hour? :D
Something like that?
Arborea probably hosts Woodstock.
Erebus Features
When Erebus mysteriously took Acheron's place in the Great Wheel, it started out as a relatively small plane. It consisted of only one layer with wet, concrete tunnels underground and a sky full of old rusty pipes with varying sizes and shapes pumping Styx water to places unknown. However, over the past few centuries, the Endless Sewers became more "comfortable" with its position in the outer planes and grew in size. As time went by, the underground tunnels and the pipeline sky grew farther and farther apart. Eventually, Erebus divided into two layers. The long and complex stone tunnels of Cesspool and the infinite space of old rusty pipes known as The Iron Jungle. Both layers have no natural light.
The Iron Jungle
There is no up. There is no down. In this layer of Erebus, direction has no meaning. All that's here are pipes. Copper pipes, iron pipes, aluminum pipes, steel pipes as far as the eye can see. Each one stretching on forever into the darkness. No two pipes are the same size, they can range from a diameter of several miles to no thicker than a strand of hair. Primate-like fiends have been seen swinging from pipe to pipe not unlike a jungle creature would swing from branches and vines, hence the name for this layer.
The Broken Clockwork: Sometimes if your lucky and the flowing water in the pipes are quiet enough, you can hear a faint ticking in the distance. Follow this ticking long enough and you will eventually come to an enormous Mechanus cog. The cog is almost twenty miles across and seems to be lodged in several city-sized pipes. On the nearer face of the cog is a circular pattern of lights. This miles wide pattern of lights is actually the Modron city of Broken Clockwork. It is generally believed that Broken Clockwork was not always in the Endless Sewer, but it was once a city on Mechanus that "slid" into Erebus(Much like parts of Arcadia slid into Mechanus in the days of yore) when the secundus ruler of the city's quadrant when rogue and started to develop an evil streak. While the move from Mechanus must have be catastrophic, the inhabitance seemed to have adjusted just fine. Now, the city is a fairly successful trade route between Iron Jungle and what is left of Regulus.
Cesspool
It’s easy to see how Cesspool gets its name. This layer literally looks like a giant collection of sewer tunnels that never end. In this layer, pitch-black stone tunnels weave in and out of themselves. Merging or dividing. Widening or narrowing. If it wasn’t for the lack of deafening wind, one could almost mistake this layer for one of the wetter tunnels of Pandemonium. When entering this realm, you will always find yourself waist-deep in the vilest, stinking water that you have ever had the displeasure of contacting. One should also note that this is the most dangerous layer as well. Vast arrays of aquatic creatures call this stinking filth-hole home, many of which are carnivores that have developed a taste for exotic meats (read: YOU!)
The Sanitation Plant: This is the final destination of the river Styx. The Sanitation Plant is an enormous industrial complex the size of a large city. Millions of gallons of Styx water are pumped into the Plant everyday for some enigmatic process called, “Refinement”. The smell of smoke and the screaming of loud machinery are always present as the petitioner workers work themselves nonstop to make sure that the complex continues to run smoothly in its operation. They don’t eat. They don’t sleep. They just work. When asked why they do this, most petitioners answer with something along the lines of, “I work because it my job. Now, go away! I’m behind schedule!” On-job accidents are common as the workers are prone to falling off of catwalks or getting caught in the machinery and ground into a fine paste. Yet, work never ceases. If one worker is killed, another one will always take his place in 1d4 minutes and continue his predecessor’s job as if nothing had happened. If a worker is forcefully removed from his post, he will do everything in his power to return. If return is not possible, the petitioner becomes suicidal.
Tomarrow, I will add stats for the Pipe-Monkeys and the description of a new Minor Artifact. :D
Originally posted by The_Fan
Arcadia, the realm of good-leaning law and order, would be like an idealized 1950s suburbia.
Arborea probably hosts Woodstock.
Hmmm, kind of like the movie Pleasantville. Intriguing.
Has anyone ever seen the movie What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams? It kind of reminded me of Planescape, in a modern kind of way. I think that the version of hell in that movie might make a decent version of the Grey Wastes.
Mechanus the Fallen
In long forgotten days it was said that Mechanus was an infinite void of precise and perfect spinning gear works. The machinery of the plane was protected and watched by the beings called modrons, no chaos was allowed into the system. Chaos was not to be tolerated, and for eons this was the way of things. And then chaos began entering the system.
The coming of Nemausus, the slide of the third layer of Arcadia at first seemed to be a boon for the Lawful plane. With the shift of an entire philosophical layer, Order had become stronger than ever. But the layer carried with it a ticking time bomb. The peaceful formians of Arcadia slid onto Mechanus along with the layer and were warped by the plane's energies becoming militaristic and war-like. The formians immediately began a campaign of colonization that put them directly at odds with the modrons that maintained the Clockwork Nirvana. Their relatively small size caused the modrons to ignore the blossoming threat of the centaur-ants.
Then catastrophe struck. Primus, the Lord and Master of all modrons was slain by Tenebruous the Chaotic and Evil reincarnation of Orcus the Demon Prince. Tenebruous took the mantle of Primus for himself and immersed himself into the energy pool of Mechanus. The energy pool began influencing the evil undead deity and he eventually fled, fearing its lawful taint. But he left a legacy behind. The chaos that he caused in the modron heirarchy had a ripple effect, creating more and more "chaotic" or "rogue" modrons. His tainted energy began to contaminate the pool, causing, among other things, the creation of the impossible and wrong negadrones. The new Primus and his aides attempted to intercede but the damage that had been done had created a sore weak spot in the uncontaminated Law of the modrons.
So the rebuilding began and Primus and his minions were confident that the rebuilding could be completed in no time. Law was the only constant of the universe, that which fueled all else, after all. But then the Formian hordes struck.
Battle raged all throughout Regulus as the ant-beasts finally unleashed their master assault against the modron race. For months the battling continued, a battle that threatened to wrend the clockworks in twain. The modrons where unexhaustible, but the formians had sheer military prowess that the boxes lacked. The war seemed as if it would rage on for cycles and the faces of the gears began to become battle-scarred and pitted by war. It was said that some of the gears had stopped functioning due to neglect or damage or both, and talk of the war spreading to Acheron and Arcadia began to leak throughout the planes.
The final blow came, not from the formians or the modrons, but from the parai. A race of entities so alien that their hive-like collective valued only sheer perfection, the parai used the massive distraction caused by the war to infiltrate Regulus. At the height of its concentration, its consciousness spread throughout every warrior drone in the army, Primus was caught unaware as the entities pentrated its inner sanctum. The Parai, using their ability to engulf and absorb other beings into their collective, leapt upon the modron power and fused its essence into their own. Primus, every modron and rogue modron throughout the planes, and all the parai of the collective let out a horrid wail as the alien energies infected the modron energy pool. The ephemeral collective conscious of the Parai was extinguished in that act, shattered by direct connection to the infinite energy of the plane itself. Primus itself was destroyed in the blast and all modrons were suddenly alone and without a higher purpose. The very gear of Regulus lurched to a complete and soul wrenchign stop. For a moment the battle wavered, the modrons froze in place with a look of abject horror painted on every exemplar's face. The formians, confused by the sudden halt in their opponent's defense, held their attacks momentarily. The silence persisted, the deafening sound of not a single creature moving, and then the rumbling began. Turning in unison the modrons and formians all watched as a wall of water large enough to engulf most prime world's roared towards them. The sludgy reddish water of the Styx had never been known to wash through Mechanus, but with a thunderous roar it made its coming known. Both forces were washed off of the gears instantly, smashed into so much exoskeleton and clockwork by the tsunami.
When the Styx water receded and Regulus was once again dry all that was left of the warring forces was a wasteland of destruction. In the Tower of Primus a pair of figures staggered out of the energy pool, their eyes wide as no modron's eyes had ever been before. The two Secundus' looked upon each other and knew that they were alone. The pool had been tainted and drained, Primus was no more. Gazing out from the tower the Two saw the wheels begin to spin anew, their spins slow and erratic. Reaching into the pool the Secunduses began anew the task of creating their race. Their numbers had dwindled. Where once there were nine there were three. Where once there were twenty five only five remained. And where once there was One there was nothing.
Originally posted by Ornum
Hmmm, kind of like the movie Pleasantville. Intriguing.
Even more so if you add in martial law and more military bases than you can shake a stick at. The Baatezu have the Bomb, you say? Welcome to the Arcadian Cold War, 1950s sitcom-style.
Maybe it's merely a demi-plane that uses some material from Acheron to function. Or maybe it is a new layer of Acheron that was recently discovered after one of the armies on the Eternal Battlefield got it in their head to fire dozens of magic-enhanced H-Bombs at the Ice Sheet barrier on Ocanthus. The resulting heat (Hotter than the Earth's sun) forced the Ice Barrier to melt and break apart. This disaster could be what created the tidal wave that washed over Mechanus.
When people finally dared to return to the layer, they found that the ice sheet had broken into several floating continent-sized icebergs. What was more shocking, however, was what they found underneath the ice.
The first man to explore the chasm under the ice was never seen again, but his last radio transmission before he disappeared summed it up very nicely:
"B-B-By the Gods! It's full of pipes!"
Originally posted by nick012000
It becomes known the the Christian God lives in the Seventh layer of Mount Celestia. Everybody who has accepted Jesus as their savior goes there when they die, and anyone who hasn't and tries to get there by climbing dies when they try to go there, becoming Lantern Archons (because they did manage to climb to the Sixth Layer, and exemplify the ideals Mount Celestia embodies). This is why noone has ever returned from there.
I'm not sure about that.
The Judo-Christian God doesn't strike me as a being that would live in the planar embodiment of Lawful Good. He reminds me more of a neutral over-diety that lives outside of the multiverse, staying away from "lesser" god-politics. Kind of like Ao of Forgotten Realms fame.
Back to the topic at hand. Hey, Fan, when are you going to post the rest of your modern Baator?
With that Blood War going on, I can imagine Arcadia in a constant "Cuban-Missile-Crisis" state. The Harmonium would be constantly marching through the suburban streets teaching the young (future Harmonium members in their eyes) the importance of learning to Duck & Cover if any bad non-Harmoniums cast a Fireball spell on you and to report your parents to the authorities if they show any dangerous (non-Harmonium) behaviors.
The_Fan
I can see Mommon as a weaselly Yes-man. :D
Think Shadowrun's Matrix, the movie Tron, the tv show Reboot, and the Virtual World from William Gibson's novels.
Everything in order, everything perfect, in a nice electronic sheen.
Originally posted by Arilou_skiff
The Beastlands would simply remain pretty much as-is I think... Unspoiled wilderness is stilll there, it's just shrinking...
Think New Age-y.
Think of Sedona, Arizona. Herbalists, tea houses, yoga classes, art galleries. Crystals are a hot commodity. So are self-help books. And strange get-ups that look like a cross between a sari and toga. Animals abound, all with the disposition of the critters in Bambi.
Along the fringe, where the other planes are attempting to encroach on the wildy goodness, tribes of monkeywrenchers battle to keep their world pristine under their battle cry of "Beastlands First!"
i think the ideas about the modern versions of the outer planes are great, especially with all the references to different types of equipment and such. my focus, as it has always been, has laid with the devils of baator. i agree with the way baator should be interpreted in the modern scheme in almost all of the ways. my only real quirk is that i don't believe the whole of the layers would be one section of the inverted skyscrapper. more just the main metropolis and huge suburbs that surround them. what really brought this out was with the second layer of dis. the great iron tower stretches some 999 miles into the air, as described in the planescape module "Fires of Dis." if the whole of the layer is but a section of the skyscrapper, then the relavance of the iron tower is lost. imagine a group of pcs who approach the metropolis of dis and see this unimaginably tall skyscrapper stretching from what appears to be the center of this unimaginably huge city. just my 2 cents tho.
I almost was about to say i could see Limbo and Mechanus merging because of a new ideology, spawned by chaos theory (hur hur, Jurassic Park strikes again) and statistics, but then i remembered Limbo is unbridled chaos and creation and destruction, not patterns of xyz results. However, i could see both have fractal aspects to them.
What about a modern Bytopia? Or Elysium? How much, if at all, does anyone think those would change? And if anyone else has read Imajica, where do you think some of that could be fit into all this?
We could do something like planewalker.com and update the entire Planescape setting for use in a Modern game, including some metaplot history and ideas on how to incorporate it into Urban Arcana games.
Anyone else like this idea? I'm no good at web design, but this would rock.
Originally posted by The_Fan
Still working on the other seven layers, should be finished tonight, but I had an idea: Why don't we make a website for this?
We could do something like planewalker.com and update the entire Planescape setting for use in a Modern game, including some metaplot history and ideas on how to incorporate it into Urban Arcana games.
Anyone else like this idea? I'm no good at web design, but this would rock.
I haven't done a website in some years now, but I do think this is a good idea. I want to do a d20M website for Call of Cthulhu games, and since travel between dimensions is a possibility in CoC, and I have a Manual of the Planes, I'd love to help.
Anduin
true. i was just speaking out of personal experience with WoTC (luv you guys! hehe).
Originally posted by Joni-san
Perhaps Ysgard is a eternal martial arts tournament or an eternal Olympics chalenge?
Or perhaps a bar with an eternal happy hour? :D
Something like that?
The Den of Olidammara should definitely have expanded, centered around Oli's Palace Hotel and Casino, to encompass the whole earthberg, glittering with neon, escalators and moving walkways whisking visitors and petitioners alike between eclectic bars, dancefloors, and theaters of various sizes and types. Fueled by cheap drinks (and assorted other substances at times), crowds gather to get down, hook up, and generally lose themselves to the rhythms of everything from ancient elven pipes and mandolins, to crooners, hard rock, and even gangsta rap.
At the Grand Board one can place bets on the fights over at Valiant Stadium, where Kord's private box is always the best seat, and crowds cheer as Andre the Giant takes on a real giant.
Across other earthbergs, battles still wage; some of the classic axe-to-sword variety, others with biplanes strafing pistolereiters, and high above, Mustangs and Messerschmidts dogfight, never needing to refuel, and seeing the ground only when gunned down and rising from the very asphalt the next day.
A giant set of plains, with periodic minor ranges of hills and forests. Akin to the midwestern US. Crisscrossed by a massive network of superhighways, like the interstates, linking planar gate towns, realms and portals.
Superhighways that loop infinitely, offramps leading into small villages where petitioners serve food and fuel to planar travellers. Every so often you pass a sign giving the name of some unknown or obscure locality you are passing through.
The Outlands are patrolled by Petitioners, Rilmani and occasionally Harmonium, in patrol cars of various styles and makes. They are strangely various in their enforcement of the laws for them, each enforcing a slightly different code of laws with slightly overlapping jurisdictions and widely varying degrees of strictness.
(I got the idea while driving to Gen Con
)With hover cars?
Minauros Chemical Processing
Imagine a vast toxic flood plain a mile deep and stretching from horizon to horizon. Now imagine countless metal islands, each one with a different chemical processing plant, and each one spewing even more toxic sludge as it sinks deeper into the mire. Now picture an infinite network of catwalks, ladders, and platforms connecting the island-factories suspended high above this mire, constantly covered in slime and corrosion from the toxic fumes below. Welcome to Minauros, home of Baator, Inc.’s chemical processing facilities, where food, weapons, luxury goods, and other items are manufactured. Their toxic byproducts flood the plane to an unknown depth. The ceiling in this layer is five miles high, giving plenty of room for the catwalks and chain bridges that make up the only solid ground outside the actual city of Minauros and the various manufacturing facilities. Yet, every year, the thick muck rises slightly and more facilities are pulled forever beneath the mire. Few are worried about the entire plane flooding, and those that dare speak out are quickly silenced by a dip in the toxic swamp.
The Mire: The mire itself is mildly acidic, highly toxic, and almost impossible to escape once you get in it. Contact with the toxic gunk deals 1d4 acid damage per minute of exposure. The fumes are overpowering, and while less than ten feet above the mire you have to make a fortitude save DC 15 every round to avoid being nauseated. It also has a powerful downward pull much like quicksand, only much stronger. To tread water each round requires a DC 15 swim check each round. To move 5 feet in any direction requires a DC 20 Swim check. If a trapped character fails this check by 5 or more, he sinks below the surface and begins to drown. Anyone stuck below the surface can pull themselves up with a successful Swim check (DC 20, +1 per round spent under the surface).
A character stuck in the mire can be saved if a rescuer gives him a rope, branch, or other object and succeeds at a DC 20 strength check, while the victim must make a DC 15 strength check to hold on to the item. Success on either pulls the victim 5 feet closer to safety (or out if pulling from above), failure on the victim’s part means the item slips out of his hands and he must make a DC 20 swim check to stay above the surface. If one’s head ever slips below the surface, they learn just how deadly the mire is. Aside from the unusual and terrible force that it seemingly exerts to keep whatever it drags under, it is an ingested poison that requires a Fortitude save DC 15, with initial and secondary damage of 1d3 str, dex, and con. Someone who goes underneath for more than a single round will in their gasping for air swallow enough to equal one dose.
New Minauros: One of the few buildings that is not dedicated to manufacturing, New Minauros is the palace of this layer’s lord and master, Baal, one of the newest archdevils. When the old master of the layer, Mammon, finally failed to keep his palace from sinking and seemingly went down with the ship, Asmodeus promoted Baal, a lieutenant at the time of Mammon’s at the time, to the title of Director of Material Consumption. Despite much scoffing, he has proven to be a very capable and ambitious (yet not TOO ambitious) member of the Senior Partners. Usurping the city of Jangling Hiter from the Kytons, he used its chains to moor his new citadel to the ceiling instead of letting it float on the ever-rising sludge. The many Drones that were once used to merely keep the old palace afloat are now put to more productive work in the chemical processing facilities, which have expanded tenfold since his rise to power.
It is every bit as magnificent as the old Minauros, only more tasteful and less ostentatious. Instead of gold and jewels, it is built of the finest iron on the outside, with splendid mahogany interiors with plush carpets and a vast collection of art from across the planes. Baal regularly throws lavish parties and invites the other Senior Partners, although few ever attend. Instead, he garners favor with the various lesser devils through his lavish gifts, occasionally even bringing favored mortals to his palace of luxury. He is also the only one of the Senior Partners with followers in the mortal world even comparable to Asmodeus, with many not even knowing him to be a fiend in his guise as James Ball.
Typical Petitioner: Those who squandered resources and devastated the environment
Ruler: Baal
Phlegethos Lounge
When modern people think of Hell, this is often what they think of. Molten lava, brimstone, devils cavorting madly in a lake of fire…this is truly Hell. However, ever since Hell was incorporated as Baator, Inc, and restructured as the Home Office, even the layer deemed most inhospitable now serves a purpose. This is the only layer with an elemental-dominant trait, and it is fire-dominant. This means that all wood and cloth immediately catches fire upon entering the plane, and that all creatures and items take 3d10 points of fire damage per round they remain. Nothing can survive here for very long unless it is immune to fire damage.
This level has become something of a resort for the hardy Baatzu. Since mortals and other devils can rarely survive on this layer, it has become an exclusive club for those who can stand it. Fountains and waterfalls of molten lava spew into pools where the elite Baatzu bask in luxury, waited on by drone serving staff. Drones still feel the pain, but are immune to the actual fire. However, they have learned that it is far better to not complain, because the pain of an angry devil’s claw is worse than the pain of the flames.
Dante‘s Fairway: Upon entering the largest room on this floor, people are often understandably a bit confused. Here devils less inclined towards the sensual pleasures of Abriymoch or who merely wish to discuss business over a fine game go to play the greatest of mortal sports: Golf. Using special balls crafted from petitioners they golf on a range covered in grass specially bred with fire elementals for this purpose (don’t ask how, you don’t want to know). Petitioners lashed together make the eternally burning trees, and the water hazards are molten lava. You don’t want to go in the sand traps, trust me.
Abriymoch: A pleasure palace among pleasure palaces, Abriymoch is the home of the lord of this layer, Fierna. She has ruled this layer for eons, so long that only few remember the previous ruler and her father Belial, and even fewer remember the unfortunate accident he met with. Still, Fierna still regularly speaks of her father in glowing terms, and publicly compares her rule to his unfavorably despite how obviously superior it is. Her palace itself is a house of debauchery and lust, where every possible sin can be found readily by those who can make it here through the heat. This is the only place in the entire layer that is not fire-dominant, although those who are here still take 1d4 fire damage per round from the ambient heat, which is easily alleviated by simple charms available to all inflammable guests. Such guests are fairly common, as Fierna’s lust is as legendary as her humility to her deceased father, though when she tires of them she invariably removes their protection. Here is also where the army of this level resides, a force of five thousand Hamatula whose commander, Gazra, answers to Fierna. They are kept in reserve in case demons ever breach this far, and regularly patrol to make sure that the layer is kept safe from intruders.
Typical Petitioner: The lustful and those who seek pleasure above all else
Ruler: Fierna
Planescape: PS-1
The US Government has discovered a techno-magical portal that allows transportation among the planes, the only problem is, it's a one-way trip until you find the return portal, which could be anywhere from a few doors down (maybe three?) in Sigil, or a few layers up (in the Abyss or Baator, Inc.). The US Government has decided to explore, hoping to find powerful allies, as well as powerful tech or magic, to help in their war against... well, they're not sure yet, but whomever it is, they sure as hell know how to crash a party.
In the modern planes, would Yggdrasil be dead or dying due to the lack of worship of the Norse gods? Would raganork have happened for the Norse pantheon?
What about the Greek gods? Would Mt. Olympus lost its status as a planar pathway because of lack of the gods influence?
What new planar pathways would have emerged due to beliefs in the modern world?
Originally posted by Ornum
In the modern planes, would Yggdrasil be dead or dying due to the lack of worship of the Norse gods? Would raganork have happened for the Norse pantheon?
What about the Greek gods? Would Mt. Olympus lost its status as a planar pathway because of lack of the gods influence?
What new planar pathways would have emerged due to beliefs in the modern world?
You're forgetting: the D&D gods don't rely on worship to exist. They aren't creations of belief, will, imagination, or whatever. This isn't Mage. They simply exist because they exist, or because some greater uber-god wills them to exist.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UrbanPlanars
That being said, my questions still remain.
Originally posted by Ornum
Actually, the concept of gods needing belief to stay alive wasn't a Planescape creation at all. One example is in the Monster Mythology, release two years before the original Planescape setting was ever published. Gorellik, the god of gnollls was at least a lesser god, but is now a demigod. He was a god in decline because his worshippers turned to giantist gods, and then later to the abyssal lord Yeenoghu. Lack of worshippers caused his drop in power and the subsequent rise in power to Yeenoghu. Also, in Forgotten Realms, belief and worship has always determined the power levels of gods.
That being said, my questions still remain.
Well, I stand conditionally corrected. If that's the take on it in your game, sure, Ragnarok has come. It actually makes sense, in a way. The world WAS swallowed by Fenris the wolf.
Christianity pushed out the Norse gods. Christianity was spread by Rome. The she-wolf is the classic symbol of Rome.
Interesting how that works out, isn't it? :D
Originally posted by nobodez
[b]I really like this. I think I'd use the plains in Modern (even though the UACS says there are none), just because of the cool stuff. Heck, I could think of a fun campaign.
That's the Urban Arcana Campaign Setting for you though. The concept of other planes of existence certainly has a place in a Modern game.
The Astral and Ethereal planes are very much real world metaphysical concepts, dating back millenia. They might not have been exactly like the traditional D&D versions of those planes, but they certainly belong in some form. The four elemental planes are actually a real-world concept too. Heaven and Hell can obviously be seen as planes of existence in a modern game (not going too far into real-world religion here, but PS/MotP does have planes pretty obviously based on traditional western views of the afterlife).
That's at least 7 planes, two outer, one material (ours), two transitive and four inner planes to use in a modern game without going far afield of historic western beliefs. If you are willing to include the afterlives and otherworlds (Ysgard, Olympus, Tartarus, ect.) of other belief systems and historic mythologies, you could easily populate an entire cosmology.
It's amazing the kind of stuff you can learn in college History classes. A few years ago I got to take a 500 level class in medieval cosmology, an entire class on the historic ideas of alternate planes of existence.
Oh, and as for whether Norse powers would still exist from belief: I know there are still at least a few people who worship old pantheons. I've met and known people who have spent many years in devotion to the Celtic, Norse, and Olympian pantheons. In a D&D/Planescape sense they might have declined to mostly demipowers and quasi-deities (Rank 0 by MotP 3e), but I could still see them also gaining some minor amount of power from their place in popular culture and mythology. Does Thor or Zeus gain a trickle of power from all the imagery of them in the popular culture? They are not worshipped as gods, but recognized in the modern day as mythic figures and embodiment of ideals for a large portion of an entire world. In a Planescape sense, this is probably enough to keep them at least alive.
Secondly, Acheron's going to be stunned as the rust fields start having Abrams tanks and such showing up.
Love the Fall of Mechanus concept.
Ysgard...full of the honored dead. Heroes, soldiers and those who have died for their cause and country, and would do it again.
Hell as a gigantic office building is good, but consider the concept of the ecology, the self-contained world in a building. Each floor going on into infinite widths is good, I suggest reading Marvel's Ghost Rider 2099 for a good span of ideas.
Limbo's Limbo. Period. How can you change constant change?
Hades, that's the one I'm trying to get a handle on. One of my favorite Outer Planes, this one has personality enough for supporting a whole concept. Need to pin this down.
The Outlands as the endlessly stretching corn fields and superhighways kicks arse. Go with that!
As for Hades and its entrapping feature, here is one humorous suggestion: people who go there are constantly plagued by infernal salesmen that keep trying to round them into timeshare deals. If they fail their Will save then they go to a meeting and are never seen from again. These salesmen are also incorporeal and unkillable, so they are really hard to get rid of.
And the Abyss will be... well the Abyss but with a bit more industrialization to manufacture modern weapons. I expect Baator to also start sending in a sacrificial army first when going against the demons, as the demons are likely to start trowing nukes about at the first opportunity and then quickly deplete their available supply, along with most likely taking friendly fire casualties, and then the main force of devils will come.
As for Acheron... eh, I feel that Pandemonium makes a better site for the waste processing plant of the river Styx. In fact, perhaps the river Styx starts at the processing plant, which is why it is so filthy, for waste is added instead of removed. However, perhaps the explanation of the destruction of Acheron as we know it is that once modern warfare came to the upper cubes the fighting became so intense and dangerous that explosions began to rip the cubes to shreds, creating more and more small cubes, which thus increases the probability of a collision, which thus causes more cubes to be destroyed. A catastrophic chain reaction ensues and over a period of a few hundred years Acheron is simply ripped to shreds.
The Endless Sewers of Erebus
Note: If you wish to use this plane in the Great Ring cosmology, it is designed to replace Pandemonium.
It is the realm of infinite sludge-filled tunnels and rusty pipelines.
It is where all things discarded eventually end up.
It is the ultimate destination of the river Styx.
Erebus is, by far, a sanitation worker’s worst nightmare. Old rusty pipes and labyrinth-like concrete tunnels stretch into mind bogglingly complex configurations only to disappear in the impenetrable blackness that surrounds all light sources. The first thing most people notice when entering Erebus is the complete lack of natural light. Without a flashlight or a flare, you will find yourself walking blind and just might end up lost forever in tunnels waist deep in vile, brackish sewer water....if you’re lucky. There are things swimming in the water. Things that have been living just fine without strange foreigners clumsily stomping through the water and waving around harsh, blinding light sources. Without being cautious, most newcomers will be pulled under the water by unspeakable horrors, never to be heard from again.
Erebus Traits
Erebus has the following traits.
Objective Directional Gravity: The strength of gravity is the same as on the Material Plane. But gravity is oriented toward wherever your feet are pointing. Thus, there is no normal concept of floor, wall or ceiling. Any surface can be a floor if you treat it like a floor.
Normal Time.
Infinite Size: While there are some closed off tunnels, the pipes of Erebus stretch off into the darkness with no apparent source or destination.
Alterable Morphic: For some strange, unexplained reason, this outer plane cannot be shaped by divine will. Naturally, this makes it very unpopular as a home for deities. Not that all but the most unhygienic gods would even want to call this place home anyway.
Elemental or Energy Traits.
Mildly Chaos-Aligned: Lawful characters on the plane of Erebus suffer a -2 penalty on all Charisma-based checks.
Normal Magic.
Erebus Links
Permanent portals exist between various planes and Erebus. By far the easiest way to get to Erebus is to hop on a boat in the river Styx and just keep sailing downstream. You'll get there if you wait long enough. Oddly enough, anything flushed down a toilet has a 1% chance of ending up in the endless sewer, regardless of whether your indoor plumbing is connected to a public sewer or septic tank.
Erebus Inhabitants
Despite the first impression that Erebus is a quiet plane full of still, smelly water, the place is actually teaming with life. The natives of the endless sewers mostly fall into two categories; the creatures that live in the water (which can included monsters like Aboleths, Chuul, Krakens, Tojanida, Dire Crocodiles, etc.) and the creatures that live their lives hanging, climbing and swinging from the endless rusty pipes (Chokers, Araneas, Phase Spiders, Monstrous Spiders, Gricks, etc). Few, if any, humanoids can be found in Erebus without some serious searching. They are there, though. Most of them tend to congregate in the pseudo-city known as The Sanitation Plant (Will be explained later).
Erebus Petitioners
Petitioners are a rare sight outside of the Sanitation Plant since most are quickly pulled under the vile water and eaten within moments of arriving on Erebus. The few that survive look much like they did in life, with one major difference. They lack eyes or any other visual organ. This doesn't seem to bother them at all. They can even discern colors and read. Petitioners, when found, are always carrying out some predestinated task. It can be anything, but it usually involves replacing pipeline, treating sewage, operating the machinery in the Sanitation Plant or something else that is important in maintaining the continued operation of the Endless Sewers. Erebus Petitioners have the following special traits:
Additional Immunities: Cold, Poison
Resistances: Acid 20, Electricity 20
Other Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, Blindsight 40 feet (as the Grimlock ability).
Erebus Features
When Erebus mysteriously took Pandemonium's place in the Great Wheel, it started out as a relatively small plane. It consisted of only one layer with wet, concrete tunnels underground and a sky full of old rusty pipes with varying sizes and shapes pumping Styx water to places unknown. However, over the past few centuries, the Endless Sewers became more "comfortable" with its position in the outer planes and grew in size. As time went by, the underground tunnels and the pipeline sky grew farther and farther apart. Eventually, Erebus divided into two layers. The long and complex stone tunnels of Cesspool and the infinite space of old rusty pipes known as The Iron Jungle. Both layers have no natural light.
The Iron Jungle
There is no up. There is no down. In this layer of Erebus, direction has no meaning. All that's here are pipes. Copper pipes, iron pipes, aluminum pipes, steel pipes as far as the eye can see. Each one stretching on forever into the darkness. No two pipes are the same size, they can range from a diameter of several miles to no thicker than a strand of hair. Primate-like fiends have been seen swinging from pipe to pipe not unlike a jungle creature would swing from branches and vines, hence the name for this layer.
Cesspool
It’s easy to see how Cesspool gets its name. This layer literally looks like a giant collection of sewer tunnels that never end. In this layer, pitch-black stone tunnels weave in and out of themselves. Merging or dividing. Widening or narrowing. If it wasn’t for the lack of deafening wind, one could almost mistake this layer for one of the wetter tunnels of Pandemonium. When entering this realm, you will always find yourself waist-deep in the vilest, stinking water that you have ever had the displeasure of contacting. One should also note that this is the most dangerous layer as well. Vast arrays of aquatic creatures call this stinking filth-hole home, many of which are carnivores that have developed a taste for exotic meats (read: YOU!)
The Sanitation Plant: This is the final destination of the river Styx. The Sanitation Plant is an enormous industrial complex the size of a large city. Millions of gallons of Styx water are pumped into the Plant everyday for some enigmatic process called, “Refinement”. The smell of smoke and the screaming of loud machinery are always present as the petitioner workers work themselves nonstop to make sure that the complex continues to run smoothly in its operation. They don’t eat. They don’t sleep. They just work. When asked why they do this, most petitioners answer with something along the lines of, “I work because it my job. Now, go away! I’m behind schedule!” On-job accidents are common as the workers are prone to falling off of catwalks or getting caught in the machinery and ground into a fine paste. Yet, work never ceases. If one worker is killed, another one will always take his place in 1d4 minutes and continue his predecessor’s job as if nothing had happened. If a worker is forcefully removed from his post, he will do everything in his power to return. If return is not possible, the petitioner becomes suicidal.
Erebus Encounters
Use Table 6-4: Aquatic encounters or Table 7-7: Hellish encounters (alternate between them) for random encounters on Erebus.
It is Hell, where you will work at a job you hate for eternity.
It is the home to every machiavellian boss, shyster lawyer and decietful marketer ever to die.
It is the place where profit and regulations dominate over the soul.
Hell has the following traits:
Normal Gravity
Normal Time (although, for no game rule effect, there is a propensity toward boredom and things seeming to take forever)
Infinite Size: Each office building, parking garage, and warehouse is connected to others by a network of skywalks and bridges.
Divinely Morphic
No Elemental or Energy Traits
Mildly Law and Evil Aligned
Normal Magic
Portals to Hell:
Permanent Portals are very rare, but temporary portals ("strategic partnerships") are sometimes created by a deal between a mortal and a Hellish envoy.
The river styx runs through the infernal office park, and at loading docks on the lower floors (8th and 7th floors, see below) it is possible to enter Hell proper. Proper invoices and permits are advised, but very difficult to gain, but bribes are known to work.
Inhabitants of Hell:
The population of Hell is made up of various devils, however few look like the stereotypical horned, scaled, red or winged devils you may be familiar with. Too much negative connotations, very bad for PR. The modern devil wears a shirt and tie, business suit, or other attire apprpriate to his or her occupation. The devils can still assume their old forms if they must, but this is mostly done by Security when they have a problem with a visitor.
In the wastelands between the office towers, hell hounds and cats, nightmares and other lawful-evil creatures wander.
Petitioners of Hell:
Petitioners in Hell tend to be bureaucrats who let people die because of regulations, executives who let the weak and poor suffer to make a few more dollars, lawyers who knowingly helped the guilty escape justice through loopholes in the law, or petty workers who literally sold their soul to their employers.
Anyone who placed profit and "success" over happiness and their soul though may end up in Hell. Petitioners in Hell look much like they did in life, but they are always dressed for their endless 24/7 jobs, with facial expressions that reflect their bleak outlook. After long years, decades, or centuries of dutiful service, backstabbing, politicking and manipulation a few petitioners get promoted to "management" and become full-fledged devils.
Movement and Combat:
Movement in Hell is much like any other plane. Moving between layers is disturbingly easy.
Hell's 9 layers are connected as layers of the office buildings. Any elevator in hell (there are no staircases, but everyone can give you bad directions to one. If you do find a door to a staircase, it is locked with an unpickable lock with no key. If the door is bashed down, the door leads into a broken elevator.)
Every elevator leads to all 9 floors. The top floor is the first floor, going all the way down to the 9th floor below the "ground", taking 2d6 for every layer they fall through. Receptionists at the 9th level elevators though do discourage casual visitors.
Features of Hell:
Hell is an infinite office park of every kind of bureaucracy imaginable. Each floor of each building is ruled by a powerful fiend, and each overall building (from the 1st to 8th floors) is ruled by one executive devil. Each building has it's own dress code, employee code of conduct and rules that it insists are unique to that building, but they tend to be pretty standard throughout Hell.
Travellers in Hell who stay too long run the risk of being found by Security and either being killed, or hauled off to "Inhuman Resources" to be put to work in Hell for the rest of their mortal lives, and probably their afterlives if they can trick or force them into signing a work contract.
Hell is typically marked also by takeovers (often hostile) as various executive devils vie for control of each other's wing, floor or building. On the 9th Level though, the CEO, Mr. Asmodeus, rules supreme and nobody tries to take him on.
1st Floor: The top floor of Hell is not reserved for productive work, but for the utter wastes of time and needless excess of the corporate world. Employee lounges with lazy petitioners and devils trying to evade their bosses abound, with unfinished areas of construction, empty offices and empty cubicles with equipment that is desperately needed on other levels but cannot be moved for bureaucratic reasons also lie around. There are also periodic big vista windows of Hell, where one can see the infinite spread of buildings, with the brimstone and sulfur wasteland beneath them. The entire sky is choked with large patches of black clouds that sometimes release hot, acid rain.
2nd Floor: Inhuman Resources. Every petitioner and Devil starts out here, in long lines to find out they need to to another line. Petitioners who go to Hell spend months in processing here before ever getting to work. Long, difficult, demeaning tests follow invasive and nosy application forms and intimidating interviews. Most are promised a good job with good hours, promises that are never kept. Promotions and transfers go through here typically, which never go through until the proper bribes have been made. Travellers are warned to be careful, or they could be mistaken for an applicant.
3rd Floor: The 3rd floor of Hell is the Legal and Accounting Departments. A maze of offices, courtrooms, endless file rooms, and a lot of paperwork, even for hell. Careful travellers know not to sign anything on this floor, as contacts written in invisible ink or with print so fine it's almost invisible to the mortal eye are common tricks.
The Office of Wish Fulfillment is responsible for coming up with appropiratlely accurate but twisted interpretations of wishes made to Lawful Evil deities or within LE territory.
4th Floor: The 2nd floor of Hell is Governmental Hell. Hearing and conference rooms are filled with self-important bureaucrats with seemingly important titles argue and posture for power. They claim to serve "the public" and that their laws rule everyone "even Mr. Asmodeus has to answer to the law.", which makes them the only people in Hell to question Mr. Asmodeus, which he contemptuously ignores. In reality, their laws have no authority outside their floor and the 3rd floor, except when they can be cited against others. Visitors may find themselves fined for breaches of impossible-to-obey laws, or arrested for seemingly harmless things. A popular sign on the 4th floor is "Unlawful to read this sign: $500 Fine", where anyone who reads the sign must make a Will Save (DC 20) or instantly make a DC 15 Wealth Check. Failure on that check summons a Security Devil to try and arrest the violator.
5th Floor: The 5th floor of Hell is Retail and Food Service Hell. Each building has cafe's and cafeteria's here for it's workers, populated by demoralized and unsanitary workers serving unhealthy food. Dining on the food here may be one of the quicker ways to find one's self in the Inhuman Resources office. Corporate gift shops are also here, selling cheaply made, poorly built merchandise for excessive costs. Anything bought here is at +2 purchase DC, has a -1 to any bonuses it might grant, and any DC's to use it are at +2. Defective computer operating systems with many security flaws and a bloated size are a popular thing for the salesmen to try and force upon visitors.
6th Floor: The 6th floor of Hell is the infinite Cubicle Farm. Endless boiler rooms of telemarketers call other buildings, planes, and even the material world trying to sell fraudulent and overpriced products with high-pressure sales tactics. A disturbing amount of all the spam out there comes from computer cubicles on this level. Demoralized petitioners work on endless piles of assignments that get larger, no matter how fast or hard they work. Slick negotiators will try and buy everything travellers have off of them, and may even offer to get them to "mortgage" their soul, free money and you get your soul back before you die (if you live to be 2000, and avoid the collection agents who will try to kill you before then, but that's very fine print).
7th Floor: Sweatshop Hell. The 7th Floor is unlike the mazes of white-collar work on most other floors, this floor is dominated by large, open workrooms that are even hotter than the normally uncomfortably warm floors of Hell. Migrant workers who signed contracts hoping for a better life in a foriegn land find themselves shuffled off to here, working 25 hours a day in a 24 hour day for a paycheck so small that after taxes and fees, they owe their employers every money with every check. A corrupt union represents the workers in theory, but it really exists to placate the drones while taking yet more money from them as "union dues" and giving it back to the company. Some major corporations on Earth are secretly considering moving some production here for the very cheap labor and freedom from inconvenient environmental laws.
8th Floor: The 8th floor is the freight docks of hell. Most of the few permanent portals to Hell lead into recieving docks, and there are loading piers onto the river styx here. This level also includes the surface of hell, a stereotypical sulfurous wasteland, but the petitioners and devils refuse to acknowledge it's horrible, saying that reports about the bad environment are faulty observations or unproven.
9th Floor: There are not separate buildings for the 9th floor. Every elevator to the 9th floor leads to one large lobby (you can't use this to shortcut between floors, mortals find that any elevator they take leads them back to the building they left). The walls are lined in elevators, and the room is black marble with very hot brass trim. An extremely attractive receptionist, dressed in red with very small and subtle horns sits at a large desk and welcomes people, but lets them know that Mr. Asmodeus is very busy and it's very hard to get an appointment with him. Mr. Asmodeus's office is accessed by a large pentagram teleportation circle, roped off with velvet rope, behind the receptionists desk. Mr. Asmodeus's office is a seeming contradiction, it's part of the lowest, 9th floor, but it is on the very top of a building and has a panoramic view of all of Hell. Mr. Asmodeus calls Petitioners and Devils in to give them major promotions, or to demote or even fire them. When Mr. Asmodeus says "You're Fired", he releases a maximized, heightened Disintegrate at Caster Level 30, Spell Level 10 and Divine Rank 0, although Disintegrated, victims appear to burn to fine ash in a matter of seconds.
Originally posted by wingsandsword
I like the idea of Hell as a corporate nightmare.
So do I, which is why I was working on it...
Got that finished much faster than I could have. I decided against making things purely based on floors because then it wouldn't seem quite infinite enough, plus it was hard to get them to jive with the old planes (I want a clear sense of continuity in each layer). Still, though, nice job, but I'll keep writing my version.
Not meaning to attack, just offering an honest critique. "Inhuman Resources"? "Freight docks of hell"? "Mr. Asmodeus"? I'm not sure, but it just seems a little too cute for a portrayal of the Nine Hells. Certainly this idea embodies some of what your average wageslave in a Western country (Sweatshop level notwithstanding) would consider to be a reasonable facsimile of Hell. But I've been following this thread with a great deal of interest (the idea of a Planescape d20 Modern conversion really catches me) and I have to say that I really can't picture having my players try to arrange an "appointment" to see "Mr. Asmodeus" with a hottie diabolic secretary and really convince them that they're in the deepest pit of the Nine Hells.
The idea is solid, but I'm just getting the sense that the atmosphere behind it is wrong. Sorry.
Originally posted by Ravil
My main problem with the "Hell as an office tower" as presented just above is that it seems a little too literal for my tastes. I mean, yeah, office life is its own unique kind of hell. I've seen it from inside and out. And it's certainly lawful evil in D&D terms. But does that mean that the entirety of the Nine Hells, the epitome of all that is seductive and evil, will eventually become a very, very literal office complex? Suspension of disbelief, sure, but that seems to be pushing it just a little.
Not meaning to attack, just offering an honest critique. "Inhuman Resources"? "Freight docks of hell"? "Mr. Asmodeus"? I'm not sure, but it just seems a little too cute for a portrayal of the Nine Hells. Certainly this idea embodies some of what your average wageslave in a Western country (Sweatshop level notwithstanding) would consider to be a reasonable facsimile of Hell. But I've been following this thread with a great deal of interest (the idea of a Planescape d20 Modern conversion really catches me) and I have to say that I really can't picture having my players try to arrange an "appointment" to see "Mr. Asmodeus" with a hottie diabolic secretary and really convince them that they're in the deepest pit of the Nine Hells.
The idea is solid, but I'm just getting the sense that the atmosphere behind it is wrong. Sorry.
I know I'm not finished yet, but what do you think of my interpretation of it?
Originally posted by The_Fan
I know I'm not finished yet, but what do you think of my interpretation of it?
It was actually wingsandsword's version that I was commenting on. There's nothing wrong with the interpretation of Hell as a corporate abyss in principle, it's just that the idea as was written failed to grab me as a compelling vision of eternal damnation. Perhaps it's just that we can all relate to it to the degree where there's no sense of fear or dread. Sure, it'd suck to have to spend all eternity there (and personally I wouldn't be at all surprised if a/the real Hell turned out to be something along these lines), but if you get to that point you're not playing D&D anyway. For adventurers who are going there, it just isn't all that scary, and perhaps I've just been spoiled from playing too many horror games (is "White Wolf" considered a dirty phrase around here?), but if I send my players' characters into the depths of hell, I want them to be scared every second that they're down there. And I (personally) don't think that the rather straightforward corporate metroplex wingsandsword wrote up is going to instill fear, dread, or anything but a sense of "woah...so Hell is like my old desk job?"
I think that a "corporate" version of the Nine Hells that jives more with the way they used to be (as I think is your intention) could be very successful.
Ravil's Suggestions: I do think that it would also be advisable to expand beyond the corporate model, though, for at least some of the layers. Not all the evil (or even lawful evil) that humanity has seen in the modern age is the result of corporations. The Holocaust, anyone? Unpopular subject matter, sure, but the closest mankind has ever come to creating a Hell of its very own. And if everything dark and evil on the Material Plane is but a reflection of the Nine Hells, what would such camps be like there? Industrial warfare is another great example of something you might find in the Nine Hells. Factories slaving away to feed the machine of war...faceless, regimented armies marching off into the Abyss to lay siege to some demon prince...trench warfare and the endless, irresistible grind of blood and steel? That's what the Nine Hells says to me, personally.
Originally posted by Ornum
Ravil, just to clarify, are you suggesting that the corporate aspect just be one of the nine layers, with the other eight each representing different "evils" of the modern world, such as maybe Dispater and the second layer? Maybe labor camps represented in Triel's layer, and things like that?
Yeah, sorry if I've been rambling in getting to the point. *grin* I think that the literal corporate aspect could certainly play a role in a modern interpretation of the Nine Hells, but to place it as the be-all and end-all would be to seriously neglect some other possibilities. Perhaps have the literal office building(s) be the dominant feature on one layer rather than embodying all of them.
Another thought is that perhaps the corporate mentality is all-pervasive in the thinking behind the Nine Hells, even if every layer isn't literally some aspect of what we in the Western world identify as the everyday corporate grindstone. If you think about it, it requires a degree of corporate efficiency to orchestrate mass, planned genocide or conduct industrial world war, and I have no doubt that the baatezu would embrace that corporate ethic whole-heartedly. But that corporate, regimented, hierarchical mindset does not necessarily translate directly into Hell being a literal office tower.
Originally posted by Ornum
Actually, with what The Fan is writing up, he's trying to incorporate a corporate mentallity to Baator, but trying to shy away from each layer just being the floor in a building.
More power to him, then. *grin* My critique was aimed at what wingsandsword had posted, actually, and I would really encourage him (and The Fan, and anyone else, for that matter) to work with this idea and try to perfect it, because I think it has a lot of potential.
The Rise of Humanity and the Fall of Magic as recounted by Adramelech, Chancellor to the Throne
While it remains widely unknown when exactly this ‘change’ occurred, what IS known is that it occurred somewhat abruptly. In the eyes of an immortal anyway. From the beginning of time, magic was the solid force that kept the order in all things. It flowed through everything, a primal force that could be harnessed if one was willing and patient. Some say that elves were the first, others that there were races among the mortal planes that are far older. Whichever is correct is irrelevant. I have forgotten more than any upon the earth could ever know. As we baatezu started exploring the planes long before any human walked the soil of the Prime, we started tempting mortals... trying to induce them to fall. While some races were far too easy to manipulate, other’s proved nearly impossible. When the first humans appeared, the fiendish community went array. These new creatures learned so much more quickly and adapted to almost any given situation with little or no means. These were our new trophies, and none saw that more than our own Lord.
Thousands of years later, humanity and the wide use of magic were at its peak. More and more mortals were exploring the planes, even defeating long standing lords amongst the lesser planes. It seemed that humanity with its mastery of the Prime and of many of its energies were going to spell the end for a great many of us. But the King of Hell had different ideas. Through the diligent efforts of many, we started planting ideas into the heads of men. We encouraged individuality and inspiration in humanity. Slowly turning them away from magics and divinity, for we finally understood something that the Dark Lord had known all along: with the presence of deities gone from the Prime, we could change it to fit OUR wills. Slowly we nurtured their industrialism and humanity began to revel in its own power. Magics were seen as a primitive aspect of their image and they quickly moved to make a stronger, more permanent mark upon the world. Humanity as a whole was easy to manipulate and mold into an image that would bring tears to even my eyes. Humanity hated all things that were not of their own making. It is in the very nature of humanity to covet that which he does not have and to abhor that which he does not understand. They drove the elves and fey-kin from the woods in order to further their own civilizations. They tore down the mountains of the dwarves in order to fuel the machines of industry and war, which humanity had quickly become very proficient at using.
Generation after generation, humanity forgot the things and places its ancestors had seen and done. They reveled only it their current might and constantly dreamed of how much more powerful they could become. War, it seems, was humanity’s greatest calling. So much so that fiends adopted and manipulated many of humanity’s new scientific discoveries. Rapid firing weaponry, mobile fortresses, so many wonderful inventions that did not involved the use of magic to create. Echoes of laughter were heard throughout Malsheem for about a century. Humanity had placed itself above all things and we were their new gods. They just didn’t know it. The bureaucracy that we so perfected was the calling card of the governments and corporations of the world. Laws underlining laws, subcontracts and variable clauses; we are now completely in control. Even behind the veil of a benevolent government agency trying to bring and end to the tyranny of another, the actions of Nessus are loud and clear. In humanity the King of Hell found that which he had always envisioned; a world without deities, a world filled with man-made gods, and a world with no power to resist the Will of Nessus.
Originally posted by TheArchfiend
The Rise of Humanity and the Fall of Magic as recounted by Adramelech, Chancellor to the Throne
Very interesting. I very much like the idea that the baatezu think that mankind, in endlessly pursuing "progress," has unwittingly become their thralls. No gods, no magic, just progress, industry, modernity, and war. They don't exercise overt control, obviously, but the fierce dedication of man to these ideals has granted the fiends all sorts of power by proxy. That's the corporate ethic for you.
Of course, in direct contrast to this I'll be extremely interested to see what people can come up with for the Abyss. Perhaps I'll do some work on it myself!
Addendum: The Nine Hells that we seem to be thinking up definitely have a distinctly modernist slant to them. I think that in designing a modern Abyss there needs to be some postmodernism being spouted! It'd work perfectly! What better to embody the forces of chaos than a movement that fundamentally rejects an ordered society? *grin*
the Abyss is a whirlwind... i'd be interested in what comes up with it.
http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html
Modernity is fundamentally about order: about rationality and rationalization, creating order out of chaos. The assumption is that creating more rationality is conducive to creating more order, and that the more ordered a society is, the better it will function (the more rationally it will function). Because modernity is about the pursuit of ever-increasing levels of order, modern societies constantly are on guard against anything and everything labeled as "disorder," which might disrupt order. Thus modern societies rely on continually establishing a binary opposition between "order" and "disorder," so that they can assert the superiority of "order." But to do this, they have to have things that represent "disorder"--modern societies thus continually have to create/construct "disorder." In western culture, this disorder becomes "the other"--defined in relation to other binary oppositions. Thus anything non-white, non-male, non-heterosexual, non-hygienic, non-rational, (etc.) becomes part of "disorder," and has to be eliminated from the ordered, rational modern society.
And from the Fact Index:
http://www.fact-index.com/p/po/postmodernism.html
Postmodernists claim that modernity was characterised by a monolithic mindset impossible to maintain in the culturally diverse and fragmented world (which is sometimes referred to as postmodernity) that we live in today. Postmodernism, instead, embraces fluid and multiple perspectives, typically refusing to privilege any one 'truth claim' over another. Ideals of universally applicable truths give way to provisional, decentered, local petit recits which, rather than referencing some underlying universal reality, point only to other ideas and cultural artefacts, themselves subject to interpretation and re-interpretation. The role of individuals (and especially the individual body) and action is emphasised over standardized or canonical forms of knowledge. Knowledge is interpreted according to our own "local" experiences, not measured against all encompassing universal structures.
I don't know what everyone else may think, but for me that's far too wicked an opportunity to pass up. I mean, not only do you/we have the chance to create something fun and useful, but we have the chance to add some actual intellectual depth to it as well!
Woah.
So, anyone else think this is a decent idea?
Originally posted by Ornum
If you can find a way to both interpret what a postmodernist is for those unable to fully grasp the concept (admittedly, the wording of your post was a little difficult at first for me) and use the postmodernist movement to somehow encompass the Abyss, then go for it It would make sense, considering that along the lines of evil, the Abyss is the antithesis of Baator. I see a difficulty with incorporating such a concept on a plane with infinite layers, but I would like to see what you come up with.
The true glory of it is that the infinite nature of the Abyss already embodies a very postmodernist concept: an infinite multitude of layers all based on a thorough relativity that refuses to yield to any one overarching "truth" or "order," except (perhaps) that they're all, you know, evil. But even that isn't an absolute. And the important thing is, as you pointed out, that the Abyss is the antithesis of Baator, and if we're searching for an antithesis to the through-and-through modernist interpretation of a present-day Nine Hells, postmodernism is the prime candidate.
Nessus, the Abode of Oppression
The vast and gloomy ninth is the deepest realm in the Hells. Nessus is a plain mainly consisting of shattered rifts deeper than the deepest ocean trench. Steam constantly pours out of these ravines. Many of the ravines and canyons here reach anywhere from a few hundred feet to thousands of miles into dead stone. Most of them seem natural, others appear as if they were blasted into the land. Nessus is the endpoint of Asmodeus’s fall. While the other layers are his domain, Nessus is his keep. Knowledge of the geography of Nessus is incomplete and possibly inaccurate; none who have come here uninvited have left alive.
Pit fiends, larger than those seen anywhere in all of Hell, patrol the various storehouses and have constant surveillance of a particular, dried up offshoot of the River Styx. In a time long ago, the great river flowed deep into Baator. But when the yugoloths bent their wills to piping the fell river, the offshoot into Nessus was cut off. Few knew of it to begin with.
Cocytus: The lake of Cocytus, also known as the Lake of Fear among the baatezu, lies far from the palace of the Archfiend, high upon a bowl of rock that is surrounded by crags. It is frozen, glassy-smooth surface. Within the ice is trapped the bodies of all those have ever walked across it. The very ice will rise up and, like a pair of jaws, engulf who so ever walks upon it.
Dread Wood: On the slopes between the crags that surround the Lake of Fear stands a huge wood of trees whose leaves are always burning, but are not consumed by the flames. A blazing branch taken from one of these trees will continually burn, giving off light as per the light spell. Water, cold, winds, lack of air, etc., will not douse it's flames. Nothing short of a limited wish (not available in D20M) will douse it's flames while in the Nine Hells. Outside of Baator, a dispel magic spell or entry into an area protected by a protection from evil spell will extinguish it forever.
Firewind Ravines: The centermost area of Nessus contains the ravines surrounding the Citadel of Hell. Within this area are the firewinds: a permanent, triple strength wall of fire, typically a quarter mile in length, that sweeps over the ground in front of a howling wind (hurricane strength winds). The firewinds blow at random, and may join or break apart in due to the topography of Nessus.
Malsheem: Sitting at the bottom of the deepest trench and rising countless miles above the plain, rests the citadel of Malsheem. Roads do not lead here. Impossibly huge gates cut off the city from the rest of the layer. Fiendish spires, like some mountain that glow with infernal heat, and archaic towers can be seen for miles in every direction. In appearance, the Citadel of Hell is completely symmetric: what appears on one side is duplicated on the other in exacting proficiency. The sky is blackened by the hundreds of thousands of pit fiends that fly above the metropolis.
Malsheem is the largest citadel in the Outer Planes. Below the endless towers is another world. Like some horrid iceberg, Malsheem stretches out from below the plain into endless halls. Some reflect an archaic, alien style: complete rooms and vast hallways that seem to be made of bone and sinew grafted together with flesh and blood. Others reflect the current cosmetics: hallways made of steel that burn with infernal heat stretch on in what seems to be an infinite path. Elaborate fiendish meeting rooms are decorated with vile images and symbols inscribed into the walls as well as fiendish furniture that seems to form from the very floor itself. As one enters from one architectural style to the other it bends and morphs, taking on biomechanical properties: veins slowly change into tubing and fleshy walls change into cold steel. At the center of this massive complex, Asmodeus holds his court. Even among the cosmetic changes, he is still the King of Hell and is to be treated as such. The courtroom of the Dark Lord is serenaded by a ghostly choir comprised of some hundreds of voices, who never cease in their praises. Asmodeus has gathered here all things he considers beautiful, including the most lavish of decorations, from tapestries worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, to the most unique styling of art and furniture fill his courtroom.
Serpent’s Coil: Due to the overwhelming number of trenches in Nessus, the Serpent’s Coil is not immediately obvious. Upon closer inspection, a rift that spirals inward on itself over the course of hundreds of miles is revealed. Upon this rift there are no factories built. Unbeknownst to the inhabitants of the multiverse, the Serpent’s Coil was formed by the plummeting body of Asmodeus at the end of his fall. The rift is about one mile wide in any location and descends roughly five thousand miles to the very bottom of the Pit. His titanic, miles-long true form still rests at the bottom of the rift, still healing from his wounds.
It's an infinity of anarchy.
It's home to the demons.
It's where the strong enslave the weak
It's where's no order beyond one's arm length
The abbys is look like the worst slums and ghettos of modern cities, consisting of an infinite number of blocks.
Each block is ruled by a powerfull demon crime prince and his gang of ruthless bullies and dealers.
Abyssal Traits
The Lawless Slums of the Abyss have the following traits.
- Normal Gravity: The first block of the Abyss, the Infinite Subway Station has the normal gravity trait, but other blocks of the Abyss can contain wildly different gravity traits that run the gamut of possibilities.
- Normal Time: Time flows at the same rate in the Slums of the Abyss as on the Material Plane. However, rumors persist of a block where time flows backward with regard to aching. The reverse flow is erratic, however
- Infinite Size: The Slums of the Abyss go on forever in the form of an infinite number of blocks, although the well known blocks are bounded.
- Divinely Morphic: See MotP
- Mixed Elemental and Energy Traits: See MotP
- Midly Evil-Aligned and Midly Chaotic-Aligned: See MotP
- Normal Magic.
Abyssal Links
The two most well-known access points to the Slums of the Abyss are a subway connection to the town of Plague-Mort, and the River Styx. Both links provide access to the first block of the Abyss, the Infinite Subway Station, although small tributaries flow through the sewers of many blocks of the Slums of the Abyss.
Abyssal Inhabitants
Called Demonholme by some, the Slums harbor demons and are likely their ultimate source. Gangs of Demons ruthlessy rule most blocks of the Slums of the Abyss. Other evil creatures reside in the cheap derelict buildings as well, including bebeliths, bodaks, retrievers, undead of every sort, renegade devils, twisted mortals and worse.
A gang of demons called tanar'ri are the unchallenged masters of the Slums, although the nigh-infinite variety of the plane means that some blocks exist beyond their reach.
Abyssal Petitioners
Any ideas? The standard manes don't seem to really fit here anymore.
Movement and Combat
In general the Slums of the Abyss function like the Material Plane with regard to movement and combat. On blocks where the enviroment is radically strange, different rules apply. Individual blocks of the Abyss could be ever burning from riots and have the fire dominant trait, for example, or have the subjective directional gravity with demonic bikers driving up and down the walls of decayed apartments build in impossible angles. Unless stated otherwise, those traits function the same in the Slums of the Abyss as they do everywhere else.
Features of the Abyss
The Slums of the Abyss have more blocks than anyone knows, mortal or deity. A few of the most well known blocks are described below.
Vision in the Slums is usually normal, except on some blocks who are cloaked into thick layers of smock or eternal night. Unless noted otherwise hellish suns or street lights and neon signs provide illumination in all block.
Unless a particular block is somehow very noisy, hearing is also normal in the Slums.
The Infinite Subway Station
This is the first block of the Slums of the Abyss. The whole block consists of a giant underground subway station with trains constandly leaving to every other block of the Slums. The station is dirty and refuse and drunk homeless inhabitants everywhere on the ground. While there are security offices everywhere, the security officers do nothing against the thievery and violence everywhere on this block. In fact, they only function as rally points for gangs to be send to fight in the eternal Blood War against the devils. The only time that the security forces act is when trains arrive from Hell, filled with invading devils.
The brothels of Azzagrat
The brothels of Azzagrat are the territory claimed by Grazzt the Pimp and his gangs. Azzagrat consist of three blocks of the Slums of the Abyss and Grazzt's hookers and brothels are everywhere. The blocks are cloaked in eternal night and neon signs and street laterns are everywhere.
Rubbish Cap
The 222nd block of the Abyss is territory shared by the garbage lord Juiblex and Zuggtmoy, the Lady of Mildew. A popular saying in the Slums is Whatever is thrown away in the blocks eventually ends in the 222nd Rubbish Cap. This block is arguably in the worst condition of all. Mounts of garbage fill the entire block and have even burried entire buildings.
The Seepin Streets
The 422nd block of the Slums of the Abyss is ruled by the biker lord Yeenoghu and his pack of demonic bikers. They roam the streets of the block like Hyenas on the hunt and every weaker petitioner cowers in fear behind closed doors and windows while they pass by.
It an endless plain of evil.
It is the spring of eternal apathy and despair.
It is the result of the Blood War.
Hades sits at the nadir of the Lower Planes, in the centre of the Blood War. The eternal battling of the Blood War has turned its grey plains white with atomic fire mainy times. Streams of blood from the great battles between demons and devils run across its plains, through massive craters and destroyed terrain. Hades is the defining nature of true evil.
In the Atomic Wastelands, the pure evil of the plane acts as a powerful force, dragging creatures down to the glassy soil. Even the everburning rage of the Abyss and the terrible plots of Baator are secondary to the eternal hopelessness of the glassy, radioactive plains. The despair of Hades slowly kills the soul inside of a visitor, just as its radioactive wastes slowly kill their bodies. If they survive the radioactivity and the eternal battles, a visitor will simply give up on its life, forgetting everything and becoming a hopeless petioner.
HADES TRAITS
-Normal Gravity
-Normal Time
-Infinite Size: The glassy wastelands of Hades extend forever, though its well-known realms are finitely bordered.
-Divinely Morphic
-Radioactive: The endless battles of the Blood War have left their mark. Any living creature in Hades without some kind of protection takes 2d6 points of Constitution damage every day (Fort saving throw against DC 24 halves the damage)
-Strongly Evil-Aligned: See MoTP
-Entrapping: See MoTP
HADES LINKS
The radioactive, sludge-filled River Styz flows through the uppermost layer of Hades, and a few shrunken tributaries reach deeper into the plane. Not many of the ferrymen of old still ply its length, but there are a few willing to ferry travelers... for a price.
Portals to other planes are mainly found on the first layer, Uranos. Portals usually appear as glowing, gunmental bullets. Portals can be found leading to Carcieri, Gehenna, the Outlands, or the Astral Plane.
HADES INHABITANTS
Permenant, non-petioner inhabitants are uncommon on Hades, as its original yugoloth inhabitants are long gone, most to Gehenna. However, demons, devils, slaai, formians and even the occasional deva or celestial can be found battling others on the planes(or in the skies above), or deserting from their units.
Hades Petioners
Petioners in Hades are those who were apathic to the suffering of others, doing things without caring.
Petioner Immunities: Radioactivity, cold
Petioner Resistances: Fire 20, acid 20, electricity 20.
HADES FEATURES
The three layers of the Atomic Wastlands are bleak, glassy plains, occasionally illuminated by an atomic explosion or the battles of the various creatures across the plains. There is nothing but dry, grey clouds and fiendish planes in the skies above.
The featureless wastes cause visitors to lose all happiness, laughter being swallowed up by the endless despair.
I can post the other parts later, including Khin-Oin Biological Warfare Laboratories, and the survivalist bunker of Death of Innocence, if people like my interpretation of Hades.
d20 Modern does have standard rules for Radiation Poisoning and radiation exposure.
It's in the d20 Modern Web Enhancement (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20modern/article/20021103a), it's also reprinted in the Urban Arcana Campaign Setting in the monster entry for Nuclear Toxyderm, and it's even now in the Modern SRD, in the Nuclear Toxyderm entry of the Arcana Creatures file: (http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/msrd/ArcanaCreatures.rtf)
The level and difficulty of the save you are suggesting makes it seem like it would be a "Severely Irradiated" area.
Good writeup of a modern Hades though,
The Multiverse
It is the physical universe as we know it, with the addition of the Astral Plane.
The Planes
Distant clusters of solar systems, inhabited by various alien and not-so-alien creatures (see below). They can be reached either by near-speed-of-light travel or by stepping through portals.
Portals
"Wormholes" connecting distant points in space by touching the Astral plane. They can be artificially built, but the process is extremely difficult and costly. Alternatively, high-level psionics can be used to create temporary or permanent portals (plane shift power or Craft Portal feat).
Planars
A vast multitude of species inhabits the Planes (the known universe). The few that are known to the humans of Earth are listed below.
- Fiends: No one knows how exactly had these creatures evolved... nor, for that matter, where. Through their ancient tradition of performing semi-controlled mutations of flesh and mind, they have achieved near immortality. Today they are heavily altered from the original race in both body and soul, and most widely spread of all spacefarers. The ruthless tyrants that they are, fiends consider themselves superior to all other intelligent life and routinely subjugate lesser species into slavery. They are, however, split into two fractions/clans/families, perpetually engaged in a vast conflict known as the Blood War; the reason - ideological differences.
- Celestials: Enigmatic benevolent beings, usually appearing as globes of light, but sometimes adopting the approximate shape of the creatures they are communicating with. They control several flourishing systems and command great respect in the galactic community.
- Slaadi: A wild, unruly species of giant frog-like creatures. The rest of the universe generally labels them insane, but their high-ups occasionally turn out some extremely valuable secrets. Slaadi prefer high-gravity environments, and maintain a society that appears primitive to the uninformed observer. Communicating with slaadi is not easy; this is partly due to the fact that they are very easily distracted, and partly due to their infamous hunger. It's about equal percentage chance that a slaadi will provide coherent info, that it will wander of, or that it will devour the questioner.
- Modrons: Artificially created species of cyborgs. Part silicon and part organic, the modrons come in various shapes and sizes. They share little interests with other species, and travel the universe to obtain detailed information on just about anything. This information is channeled back to the mythical "Primus", an AI of deific proportions.
- Formians: Insectoid hive-dwellers, obedient to psionic queens, split into a strict cast system. Minds are difficult to comprehend, to say the least. Formians are notorious expansionists.
- Illithid: A parasitic life-form, psionically enslaves creatures, preferably humanoid ones. Humans have the illithid to thank (blame?) for the spread of their species throughout the known space. The illithid had ruled a huge empire for millennia, and used to drag around large contingents of slaves - some of them drawn from Earth - wherever they went. When the empire was brought down by a slave rebellion, freed humans were left to build their own civilizations on several worlds, in most cases forgetting their homeworld entirely.
Other illithid slave species includ(ed) the gith, grimlocks, and umberhulks.
- Gith: Humans and other slave species were often heavily altered by the Illithid to serve their purposes better; one of the results was a breed of gaunt humanoids with an inborn psionic talent. These slaves eventually rebelled, brought down the empire, and adopted the name of their leader, Gith. Today their are divided into two fractions, the militaristic 'yanki and the philosophically bent 'zerai; the former live on the Astral plane and still hunt the illithid, and the later prefer to live in zero-G environments, building colonies around inhospitable suns.
- Humans: This category includes both earthling humans, and descendants of those who were taken off-world centuries ago. The Earth is our world of tomorrow, and the earthlings are you and me. The planar humans (off-worlders) are generally the same, but often altered in body and mind by foreign environments and/or alien races [enter the dwarves, elves, tieflings, and other quasi-humans]. Most of them have developed complex societies of their own, but some still hold the Homeworld as an example. Just a few selected humans of Earth have been introduced to the galactic community, and only recently. Some planar humans however, have been part of it for a long time now.
- Other known species: Aboleth, Braxat, Dragon, Ethergaunt, Neogi (Tso), Rilmani, Tri-Kreen.
Sigil, a.k.a. the Cage, a.k.a. The World of Doors
An artificially constructed world, a huge ring orbiting an unknown star in an unknown sector of the universe. The only way to reach Sigil is by stepping through a portal. Details of construction and maintenance are generally unknown, since Sigil's ruler is an enigmatic being that communicates only in pain and punishment.
- Society of Sigil: The surface of the Cage is several thousand times the equal of that of a standard Earth-class planet. This vast area is interconnected by various modes of transport (including psionic teleportation), and inhabited by a myriad of creatures, at least a few from just about every species that travels through space. Multi-cultural in every sense of the world, the Sigilian society is organized into several large factions which concern themselves with their own goals, leaving the "racial" interests behind. Factions disguise their true interests as philosophic attitudes, views of the Truth, but most have more down-to-ring goals. For example, the Doomguard says that they see the principle of entropy as sublime, and that therein lies the fate of existence; less abstractly put, they paddle weapons to any and all,. making a huge profit. Most, if not all factions, function in the same way.
- Residents and Rules: The undisputed ruler of Sigil is the creature known as "Lady of Pain"; some 10 ft. tall, a roughly humanoid-shaped appearance, blades all over, floating, never speaks. Those who break her rules vanish, one way or another. Her servants are the dabus, smaller creatures, floating a few inches off the ground, communicate by projecting visual riddles, concern themselves with keeping the Cage in a working condition. The Lady of Pain requires the following from all inhabitants of Sigil: 1) Don't harm the dabus; 2) Don't worship the Lady; 4) Don't rock the boat - no major wars, conquests, or some such; 3) Don't make portals or build spaceships. Those who break the rules feel her wrath: she can destroy them telekinetically (flay), shunt them into permanent stasis on a demi-plane in the Astral (maze), or simply arrange for something nasty to happen for them as they step through a portal - she has absolute control over every portal in Sigil, and that's a lot of portals.
Notes on FX and Technology:
- Magic as seen in D&D and similar games doesn't exist. Period.
- Psionic talents are fairly rare among most species. Major psions, however, are virtually non-existent, and are almost always agents of the Powers (i.e. species-class governments).
- Technology exists in all degrees - somewhere. Virtually any "supernatural" effect can be achieved through scientific means, if you have the right data. Therefore, information pushing is still the most profitable profession on the Planes.
Originally posted by TheArchfiend
without wanting to step on fan's toes i wanted to give an interpretation (of which i have many) of Nessus, the Ninth Layer of Hell. alot of it may seem dndish, and by all rights it is, but to be honest, what else would the Ninth Hell really be like? would Asmodeus really change the way his palace looked based on the cosmetic beliefs of mortals? look at the Doom games and Quake, the further one got into hell, the more archaic and simply evil it looked.
Well, I see it not so much a change based on the beliefs of mortals as a fundamental shift in the nature of evil.
Despots used to be the most powerful lawful evil people in the world. Therefore, the majority of Hell was based on the idea of a world of nothing but tyrants and bullies. Nowadays, corrupt politicians and corporate bigwigs are some of the most powerful Lawful Evil people. Therefore, I think Hell should shift to represent them more.
Further, one side effect of this greater organization in Hell I'm thinking is that the demons have been pushed further back. I'd even be willing to take it so far that some of hte upper layers of the Abyss were occupied by the devils at one point, but they found it impossible to hold. Now the demons rarely face the devils in outright war, instead resorting to terrorist tactics to strike at infrastructure instead of open conflict.
also, I'm toying with the idea of making Mephisto the new king of hell, having finally made good on the threats he'd been making since the dawn of time to topple Asmodeus. It wouldn't be too much trouble to make Mephisto the king (just go back and edit a few things), and it would fit with the other major shakeups I'm working on.
After all, I realized that so far in four layers only one ruler is still in power:
1) Zariel turned the tables on Bel
2) Dispater is still rotting in his tower
3) Mammon went down with the ship and is replaced by Baal
4) Fierna offed her worthless father and made it look like an accident
So, why not shake up the other layers?
At any rate, I think this raises a problem. We need to delegate who will work on what layers. After the sleepless nights I've sacrificed for it, I feel like Baator's my baby, so I'll focus on that. I think some of the others have been claimed as well, so lemme try making a list (listed by the old plane's name):
Mechanus: Primus?
Acheron: formerly EvilSandwich, currently open
Baator: TheFan
Gehenna:
Hades: Roast Slinky
Carceri:
Abyss: Mirtek
Pandemonium: EvilSandwich
Limbo:
Ysgard:
Arborea:
Elysium:
Mt. Celestia:
Arcadia:
Outlands:
If you want one of the ones that is open, post and I'll put you in my sig, along with the link to the group.
Also, I think in a modern setting Baator would have a great advantage over the Abyss simply because modern mechanized warfare tends to favor the disciplined troops. Not only that, but Baator has a huge advantage:
Enlistment and training.
Think about it, the modern military training model is to systematically break down a person's thought patterns and then rebuild them from the ground up to suit the desired mentality. That sounds exactly like what is done in the Nine Hells to the petitioners. Also, with mechanization much of the work done by slaves can be done other ways, allowing for more soul shells to be turned into lemure's, and thus into more soldiers. There will still be busy work and pointless inefficiency to help break the petitioners, but I can see fewer petitioners in Baator simply being absorbed into the plane.
Also, Baator would have a definite advantage in the nuclear explosion department, simply because some of the damage is heat damage. However, I would rule that anything within a certain range of the detonation is simply obliterated, and as it goes out there is a lessening amount of fire and sonic/concussion damage. For the most part anyone caught in the explosion is killed. Oh, and the obliteration if too close should apply to regenerating creatures too. Say that they died of massive radiation dosages if anyone complains.
Originally posted by Ornum
Since you converted Erebus to take the place of Pandemonium, you could also add the insanity effect. Instead of the wind speeding through the tunnels of Pandemonium, it could now be the water rushing through the pipes that causes it.
Actually, I was thinking. What if it wasn't the sound the rushing water that causes the insanity effect on the people of this plane, but the horrible fumes rising from the vile water. It would make more sense, seeing as how the water is mostly still and stagnent in the layer of Cesspool, anyway.
As for the Yahoo Group, what we need the most (besides ideas) is some good artists and/or web designers. In my opinion, if we are ever going to get this idea off the ground, we need a good way of presenting the world to others. I don't know about you guys, but I love concept art. :D
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=179228
Just be sure that the chibi-lady picture never ends up in Sigil. I don't want to be mazed before we finish this....
as far as the notion of mephistopheles toppling asmodeus... never happen. he's an over deity and father of the baatezu race. it is thru him that the lords of the other eight layers maintain power. they are as to his proxies. what he gives he can take away.
later all
Still, he is one tricky bastich. I'm gonna put Mephisto in his place at the top, but Asmodeus has met his apparent demise several times before...who's to say this isn't just yet another intricate plot?
Originally posted by The_Fan
Still, he is one tricky bastich. I'm gonna put Mephisto in his place at the top, but Asmodeus has met his apparent demise several times before...who's to say this isn't just yet another intricate plot?
He may not have been an over-deity, but in his full power, Asmodeus would be able to give even the Lady of Pain a run for her money. So, I'll agree with Mephisto taking over, but I doubt that it'll last long.
Maybe Mephisto has gone completely paranoid because he's thinking the same thing I am. What if Asmodeus isn't really dead? What if he's only biding his time? What if this is just another ruse, like the Reckoning was?
Hehe. Squirm Mephisto! Squirm!
Atomic Wastelands of Hades (continued)
HADES FEATURES
Uranos
The first layer of Hades is the most irradiated of the three. Eternal conflict betwen the many factions of the planes has turned the rivers red and the plains glassy. Thousands of tanks clash against massive artillery, terrible aircraft and the horrible fiendish infantry. The ground itself is terribly scarred, with glassy soil or massive craters dominating the landscape. The sounds of explosions and of thousands of guns can be heard across the entire plain.
Khin-Oin Biological Warfare Laboratories: The tower once known as the Wasting Tower is now a massive modern biowarfare laboratory, boasting of hardware any Material Plane terrorist would drool over. From the outside, it looks like a glittering spinal column, every so often erupting in sparks or sludge as some disease or weapon is "tested". It is filled with thousands of yugoloth researchers, and there various thralls and slaves, all answering to the oinoloth on the Siege Malicious. Any disease found on any plane, magical or artificial, as well as many crafted by the researchers in the tower, can be found in its many stockpiles or vats.
The current oinoloth, the an ultraloth prince called Lirandacius, defeated the previous oinoloth, the prince Mydinarchlarus, only 50 years previously, and many of the slaves in the tower once were yugoloths who opposed his rise to power. The current oinoloth is especially interested in the Ebola virus, and is continually fascinated by its powerful effects on most creatures. His test chambers are filled with the dying moans of celestials, fiends and mortals alike, each of them affected by some strange variant of Ebola.
Hadetto: A massive slum-type city, Hadweto is filled with those who ignored the evils of aparteid or segregation in life. Those within its walls are used as slaves for yugoloth war factories, churning out the machines used to devast the Lower Planes. The petioners of Hadetto are more solid than those outside its grey, concrete barriers, and are always accompanied by a yugoloth slavedriver. Any conceivable weapon, magical or not, modern or not, may be found within the arms markets of Hadetto, for a price.
I don't know what everyone else may think, but for me that's far too wicked an opportunity to pass up. I mean, not only do you/we have the chance to create something fun and useful, but we have the chance to add some actual intellectual depth to it as well!
Woah.
So, anyone else think this is a decent idea?
Speaking as an ex Cultural Studies student, yes postmodernism is the embodiment of chaotic evil :D
Slightly more seriously though, the http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html quote is pure fantasy. This guy/girl has no idea what modernism is, and has substituted a paranoid false dichotomy for anything resembling a definition of modernism.
In the http://www.fact-index.com/p/po/postmodernism.html quote, cute relativism is praised as the central pillar of postmodernism when in fact, this ought to be what condemns it. This isn't abnormal for what's tought in English these days though, which is why I switched to another degree :D
My idea of horrific torment is being eternally subjected to clueless French postmodern philosophers
Originally posted by TheArchfiend
hell, as a great by and by, expends most of it resources on the Blood War, that's a fact.
Actualyl: No
While the Dark Eight and maybe Bel care very much about the Blood War and are responsible for getting the Lords to bring armies to fight there, the Lords of the Nine don't care much about the Blood War and would rather keep all their ressources to increase their personal power. If not for the demands to the Dark Eight there wouldn't be much armies the Lords would voluntary send to the Blood War.
Hell does expend many ressources on the Blood War, but not the majority of it's ressources.
Originally posted by TheArchfiend
he's an over deity and father of the baatezu race. it is thru him that the lords of the other eight layers maintain power. they are as to his proxies. what he gives he can take away.
He isn't an overdeity, but a greater deity (if you follow 2e canon) or just an archfiend (if you follow 3e canon). Anyway, he is not the father of the baatezu race. Yes his blood does spawn max HD pit fiends (if you follow 2e canon), but the baatezu were already around in the Nine Hells before Asmodeus did arrive.
Baatezu and Tanar'Ri were created by the Yugoloths as they found some of their larvae corrupted by law and chaos and drove them to the Nine Hells and to the Abyss to watch them evolve into the first Tanar'Ri and Baatezu
See Hellbound: The Blood War, a 2e Planescape supplement
SPRAWLING LAYERS OF THE ABYSS
It is an endless well of suffering and madness.
It is the spawning pit of demons and tanar’ri.
It is the black hole into which morality and order crawl to die.
The Abyss is an endless parade of hatred and evil, a postmodernist nightmare given tangible form. Its infinite layers and diversity are a testament to its nature: the Abyss bows to nobody, be they demon, mortal or god. No authority is recognised save what one can achieve by force of will and arms, and all such conquests in the Abyss are maddeningly temporary. It is a place of infinite terror and variety, where death can be dealt in a billion different ways, none of which are pleasant and few of which are quick.
Each layer of the Abyss has its own unique, horrific environment, all of which are cast in dim reflections upon the Material Plane. Most are wildly harsh and inhospitable, ranging from polluted industrial wastes to waterless, expanding deserts to endless urban ghettos. There is no unifying theme. There is no unifying leader, force, inspiration or language. The Abyss means something different to every single soul that has the misfortune of residing there. The only base commonality is constant, pervasive evil.
The Abyss is home to demons, the most powerful of which (sometimes) are the tanar’ri. These creatures in turn are ruled by demon princes and deities, most of which exert direct control over only those parts of the Abyss that are within their immediate line of sight (although, to be fair, they generally rule with a thorough tyranny within said areas). Even the most powerful rulers closely resemble petty warlords squabbling over territory, slaves, money, or power. These squabbles, however, have had a tendency to leave entire layers of the Abyss scoured of all life, and demand to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
The Abyss theoretically has layers beyond count, although orthodox wisdom will claim 666 distinct layers. As many of them tend to bleed messily onto one another, though, particularly following Blood War battles and civil wars, it is entirely possible that they will never be fully and accurately catalogued. In fact, the very nature of the ever-changing Abyss would seem to defy those who try.
ABYSSAL TRAITS
The Abyss has all the same Planar Traits as it does in the Manual of the Planes...which is to say that it can vary radically from layer to layer, but is generally mildly chaos-aligned and mildly evil-aligned.
ABYSSAL LINKS
The two most well-known access points to the Abyss are a gate in the Outlands from the bartering city of Plague-Mort, and the River Styx. Both of these links provide access to the top layer of the Abyss, the Mad Junction.
ABYSSAL INHABITANTS
Still called “Demonholme” by a few ancient tanar’ri warlords who enjoy the memory of better days more than they do the harsh realities of the modern world, the Abyss is the epicenter of the infinitely large demon “race.” The tanar’ri do not rule unchallenged any longer; the modern nights have seen their tenuous grasp over the Abyss implode, and unseemly hordes of spider-demons, undead abominations, and baatezu now criss-cross the Sprawling Layers. Nonetheless, the Abyss is still the unquestioned place of power for many tanar’ri and their lords.
FEATURES OF THE ABYSS
Despite its layers beyond counting, the Abyss has a number of especially well documented realms that tend to draw the most outside attention – and visitors. A few of these well-known layers are detailed below.
Vision in the Abyss is normal except on layers where environmental conditions or suffocating pollution inhibits it. Unless noted otherwise, hellish suns, radioactive landscapes, or similarly unpleasant sources of light illuminate all layers of the Abyss.
[u]The Mad Junction[/u]
The topmost of the infinite, sprawling layers of the Abyss, the Mad Junction is an insane jumble of transportation networks, ranging from magical portals to subways to miles upon miles of frayed iron railroad tracks to the ever-flowing River Styx. This barren crisscrossed environment, baking constantly under a blood-red sun, is a monument to the futility, frustration, and horrid planning that mark much of the modern world. Although it is said that transportation can be found here to any and all layers of the Abyss (for a price, of course) finding a path anywhere in the Mad Junction is equal parts guesswork and knowledge. Trains never run on time (assuming the concept of “on time” meant something here, which it doesn’t), massive fatal accidents are barbarously commonplace, and the endless expanse of train tracks, bridges, and subway tunnels are roamed by marauding Rail-Gangs trying to eke a living out of crumbling iron.
The many overlapping tracks, tunnels, pathways and portals lead to deeper layers of the Abyss, although the transition is rarely straight downwards. They are also rarely pleasant. The entire layer is caked in filth, excrement, and pollution. The stains of war are obvious, as demon warlords rally their guerrillas here and the devils regularly attack up the River Styx: there exist jumbled, uncharted acres of land on this layer totally destroyed by the Blood War that have never been rebuilt or even thought twice of.
There exist many fortresses – most of them constructed out of lifted railway tracks and concrete – that house the rulers of this layer. Numerous demon lords vie for power over the transportation system, waging low-level warfare and constant sabotage against one another (although with the sheer number of accidents that occur, they need hardly bother). No power can hold sway over the Mad Junction for long, however, and its only successful dominators are those who barricade themselves in their fortresses.
Outside these theoretical power centers, the Rail-Gangs and the urban rangers who make a living guiding the less knowledgeable through the corrupt maze of blood and iron wield true power. These guides are expensive, coarse, and often brutal in their mannerisms, but they are the only ones who truly know the Mad Junction and where most (if not all) of its transportation nodes lead to. They are also not to be trusted.
[i]Fifth Horseman:[/i] Of all the many trains that make their rounds throughout the Mad Junction, the most feared is the legendary Fifth Horseman. A monstrosity of iron, flesh, and the souls of petitioners, this train plows the rail lines and subway tunnels of the Mad Junction freely; while there has never been a credible report of someone who actually witnessed the Fifth Horseman switch tracks, it apparently does so regularly and deliberately. It holds the awesome power of flexibility, and can switch tracks to travel to any of the Abyssal layers. The metal beast clearly has a mind of its own, and takes delight in destroying onrushing rail cars with little visible damage to itself. Occasionally it has allowed its services to be purchased, speaking through a trio of beautiful succubi that serve as its choral “mouth,” although such instances are exceedingly rare. Often it has an ulterior motive in doing so, however, and because of that there is quiet speculation that this machine is the durance for the soul of a fallen tanar’ri lord.
[u]The Demonweb Pits[/u]
The 66th layer of the Abyss is home to Lolth, the Spider Queen of the drow, and it comes dangerously close to being well ordered. The layer folds in on itself to resemble a great web, at the center of which is a dizzying metropolis build entirely out of webs. The highrise buildings, spun in an infinite variety of complex patterns and designs, serve as nests for monstrous spiders and bebiliths, a sick parody of the corporate webs of the Material Plane.
[u]Paradise[/u]
The 48th layer of the Abyss is a tropical jungle...or, more accurately, a nightmare of a tropical jungle. Countless swarms of insects spread fresh demonic diseases, malaria and yellow fever run rampant, and more plants are poisonous than not. Fierce, thick-skinned predators lurk in the shadows of twisted trees from which hang the bodies of the dead and dying. The water is filthy and whatever fruit can be scavenged is best left uneaten. Ancient ruins dot the landscape, many of them featuring pictograms that would make even the most depraved areas of the Abyss look tame by comparison, hinting at some truly dark origin.
Even more frightening are the sentient inhabitants. Paradise is ruled by a cult of guerrilla warriors who worship Erythnul, Lord of Slaughter, and openly practice cannibalism. Their current leader, Ranslas the Cambion, conducts a brutal guerrilla campaign against the demon lords of other layers, though his skilled, flesh-hungry warriors are often sought as skirmishers for the Blood War. They are exceptionally skilled at jungle warfare, and have been taught the fine art of guerrilla fighting against a superior foe. Consequently, the warriors of Paradise have inflicted grievous losses upon both opposing demons and on the baatezu. Their fortress is deep in the jungles, well beyond the reach of all but the most crazed opponents.
**********
It's incomplete, obviously. I'm getting tired and don't feel like making up any more pits of torment for tonight. If anyone else wants to contribute, then by all means.
Also, a note to goatboi: Thank you for pointing out any fallacies in the definitions for modernity and postmodernism that I posted up earlier. I was just trying to get some general, relatively clear definitions out there for the sake of developing something around them, and wasn't trying to go for the academic jugular as far as accuracy was concerned. *grin*
These are great ideas. Work it out between yourselves in PM, then post it on the groups whatever you decide.
Just a couple of things:
- A strong alignment trait means that creatures of opposed alignment suffer -2 to Int, Wis, and Cha checks, right?
- How do elemental dominance traits work?
Ysgard I can see being populated by Gibson-esque street samuri, dueling for honor with vibrokatanas and gun-fu. Lots of elements from action cinema, video games, and anime: freakishly big explosions, wounds that don't really hurt, rapid respawn time for the slain, low gravity (lets you jump really far, and take less damage from falls if you land in a cool pose), and of course, bullet time.
Eco-tourism arrives in the Beastlands from the upper planes, with settlements intruding for the first time, apparently accepted by the petitioners as a preferable alternative to Outlands expansion/resource gathering/invasion. The animals have continued to evolve: some species have developed hunter-gatherer civilizations of their own, while predators grow ever more deadly and fierce in the face of extraplanar intrusion.
Looks like people already have a pretty well developed Abyss going, but just to add my two cents, at least regarding a few layers. The Abyss seems the perfect spot for a post-apocalyptic wasteland, perhaps not to the irridated extreme of the new Hades but with massive cities crumbling into ruins, burning heaps of trash and twisted metal, roving demon gangs preying on the weak, and anarchy as the general rule.
Bytopia is... home of the gnomes. Weee. It's an endless suburb without the city to commute to, a small town spread over endless rolling hills, a good place to raise the kids. Hey, it was boring in D&D too.
Even suburbia doesn't work, because the ideal 1950s suburbia is definately more lawful than good. Sure, there's a general neighborliness and idealism, but a major part of it is "fitting in." In old sitcoms there was that one family on the block who was clearly meant to be the "bad family," and it was mostly because they didn't follow the rules. Far more Arcadian than Bytopian.
Whoever decides to fix Bytopia has their work cut out for them.
It is more than fire.
It is sought for, and feared, by all.
It is forever driven, and the only driving force.
It happened gradually; even the efreeti can't quite tell you when the red glow began to fade. Oh, no one's saying the fire is gone; you can hardly miss it. Except... well sometimes it glows without heat, and sometimes it burns without light. The ash isn't always grey anymore; in some places, it seems to give off more light than it obscures.
Maybe it's the cement towers that have been popping up; maybe it's something all those dwarves have been building on the portals to the Plane of Water. Maybe it's even those "experiments" the devils have been getting special permits for - gods know they make enough noise!
Normal Gravity: You can generally stand wherever you want, but most wouldn't recommend doing it for very long.
Normal Time
Infinite Size
Alterable Morphic
Fire-Dominant; Electrical-Dominant; Radiation-Dominant
Inhabitants
The elementals have been faring... interestingly. Being one with your environment isn't always easy. The ones living near the networks of towers and cables that have sprung up (which seem to be metal immune to melting, though they do get dangerously hot) take on nature rather like will-o-wisps, except with a lot more crackling. In other places, especially the ones favored by devil "Research Labs", they range from invisible to flourescent blue, green, or white. Some, seeking refuge deeper in the flame-earth, find themselves no longer feeding on pure flame, but more akin to eternally-burning lumps of black tar. These speak Ignan with a noticeable drawl, and while no less powerful, seem to be frowned on by "pure" elementals.
The creatures less in tune with the fading flames, such as salamanders, have found themselves needing to migrate often, and retreating into ever-denser communities in the lands of ancient flame-stuff.
Brass Disc City
The grand sultan rules forever! Or so says the Parliament of the Emirate, anyway. No one has admitted to seeing him for decades, perhaps centuries. However, the hemisphere of the City of Brass has, slowly but surely, flattened into a near-perfect disc about 90 miles across. While officially this has been done to ease modern construction and make room in the city for the many efreeti who have moved from other planes to their ancestral home, there are some that claim this is because the grand sultan's will no longer holds the hemisphere together.
Brass Disc City is a bustling metropolis, with the Burning Palace still towering over the government buildings (and the Baator embassy) of City Center, but dwarfed by the residential and office towers on the popular Rim-burbs.
Maybe someone else would be a better choice to do it...
:D
It is where the heroes all time gather.
It is where order is maintained not by law, but by strength and valor of the individual.
It is where the honorable train for all eternity in mortal combat.
Ysgard is a plane that has seen great change, and yet little change with the advance of the modern age. It is still a larger than life land of epic battles and heroic deeds, but there have been some stylistic changes. Still, in the rare place where there is nowhere to be found, it would be hard to tell that the modern world has intruded into Ysgard, for no glittering towers or highways mar the floating continents. This is primarily because most large structures are immediately targetted for artillery bombardment. With the coming of firearms and mechanized warfare, new types of battles were waged. Now the heroic battles range from traditional sword and shield all-out-brawls to amphibious assaults by tens of thousands of men to spectacular air battles waged in everything from Spifires to F-22s. There are also now areas of Ysgard that have been altered slightly to give different kinds of fights, from heavy gravity gladitorial arenas and light gravity sparring zones where combatants practically fly at one another, to darkened zones where battles are done through sheer willpower and stealth.
Ysgard Traits-
Normal Gravity: There are certain areas where the gravity has been altered to give a different feel to combat, but unless noted otherwise the gravity is the same as on the Prime Material Plane.
Normal Time.
Infinite Size.
Divinely Morphic.
No Elemental Traits: No one element dominates Ysgard, although parts of Muspelheim are fire-dominant.
Minor Positive-Dominant: Not only do all creatures receive fast healing 2 as an extraordinary ability, but each day true resurrection is cast on anyone who died the previous day. In some places this process has been accelerated to make battles faster paced and more chaotic by keeping the number of combantants constant.
Mildly Chaos-Aligned.
Normal Magic.
Ysgard Inhabitants-
Ysgard is inhabited by the slain heroes from the ages, from all sides of the conflicts. In recent years Olidammara's tourism department has also caused a great draw for thrill seeking mortals, much to the amusement of the petitioners (axe weilding barbarian vs. yuppie who came because it sounded like fun: think about it). The second layer is also home to fire giants and the third layer is where the dwarves make their homes. A number of celestials also roam here to make sure that any fiendish creatures that make it this far are promptly kicked out.
Ysgard Petitioners:
The petitioners of Ysgard are mostly former soldiers, warriors, and athletes whose indominatable and competitive spirits would never die. They have the following special qualities:
Additional Immunities: Fire, acid
Resistances: Electricity 20, sonic 20
Other Special Qualities: Equipment proficiency. Because of the huge number of weapons available to the petitioners of Ysgard, they have been granted the ability to automatically understand how to operate any form of equipment related to war and battle, from swords to guns to tanks to Apache helicopters, without nonproficiency penalties.
Ysgard: The First Layer of Ysgard
The first layer of Ysgard is the most well known and thus most visited part of Ysgard. The only major structures here are either errected by the gods, are left alone to act as pieces of a scenario, or are places for the petitioners to party in after a hard days fighting. The terrain is rugged and hard, but like the petitioners it regenerates its wounds from the fighting, filling in impact craters and sweeping away destroyed war machines every night.
Kord's Realm: Kord is a more traditional deity of strength, and anyone who thinks that entering the Hall of the Valiant will be trip to the gym is saddly mistaken. First of all, Kord has applied the heavy gravity trait to the areas surrounding his Hall, forcing people to work harder and build greater strength. Second of all, not a moment goes by where there is not some form of fight, be it a sparring match with live blades out on the lawn, or an unarmed struggle between martial arts masters in the center ring of the Hall. Those that impress Kord are welcomed to the feast tables, where Kord's dieting philosophy is "Work it off!". Many a modern plane travelling fitness guru has left wondering why they ever thought power bars were a good idea.
Plain of Ida: This great field near Kord's Realm is where many of the more traditional battles take place and the warriors of old still get to test their mettle and show off to travellers and show up the newer warriors who typically do not fight with swords and axes.
Western Front: This continent was taken over by the petitioners coming in from the modern mechanized wars as they felt displaced amongst the barbarians of old. Sometimes it is peaceful here, with only the occasional shot ringing across the air, but there is an atmosphere of anticipation, like the deadly clam before the storm. Most of the time it is a chaotic frenzy of tanks, machine guns, artillery fire, advancing soldiers, and planes from all eras wheeling and diving overhead. Many petitioners here wear Victoria Crosses and Congressional Medals of Honor on their uniforms.
Den of Olidammara: It is said that when Olidammara first travelled to Las Vegas he cried out, "It's my house with neon lights! Neon lights! I wish I'd thought of that!" Since then he's made his mansion bigger, badder, and he's added in more gambling. Other than that, it's pretty much the same as before.
I can't think of what to do for the other two layers to make them modern though. Any suggestions?
Oh, and Bytopia is pretty easy. One side is a futuristic utopia with glittering silver cities, flying cars, and gnomes everywhere, and the other side is a wilderness retreat like it always was.
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
I can't think of what to do for the other two layers to make them modern though. Any suggestions?
Muspelheim doesn't change much. Fire giants are stubborn folk. Yeah, they've heard of gunpowder, but aren't stupid enough to keep it around in any serious amounts in the land of fire. Modern masonry and construction techniques have improved the quality and scope of the various defensive structures, and with quite a few clans forming allied nation-states, huge construction projects, on the scale of the Great Wall of the material plane's China, have been taken up.
In Nidavellir, the dwarves have quite possibly perfected geothermal power, and the gnomes... well, they have their own version (*cough*bulettes in hamster wheels*cough*). Huge caverns are given over to smelters putting out pure iron, gold, lead, tin, aluminum, and copper. Town-sized foundries blend the highest-grade alloys for durability, flexibily, corrosion-resistance, or sheer beauty. Smaller, micro-metalurgists, blend, temper, and anodize these into any color of the rainbow and can refine them to the finest tolerances. The metals feed everything from blacksmiths' hand-pumped bellows furnaces, to miles-long assembly lines of robots and fabricator presses. Near anything that can be made, can be had here, from a brooch with filigree that can't be seen with the naked eye, to small-building sized power armor, from the most perfectly-balanced aluminum/titanium bat, to a Wenkel-engined chainsaw ergonomically sized to a stone giant.
You know, I think I'll take Bytopia. I have a few ideas to make it more interesting. With the coming of the modern ideas of Earth, the gnomes of Bytopia have grabbed the new magicless concepts and went to town with them.
Dothion is now a layer of technology-gone-mad. Where scientists of all shapes and fields are contantly coming up with newer and more improved inventions to increase the standard of living for everyone, whether or not the inventions are needed (or wanted). Matter transportors, interdementional gateways, flying cars, genetic and/or cybernetic enhancements and sentient computers are commonplace. Magic is all but shunned on this layer.
Shurrock is no longer the savage wilderness that it once was. The few gnomes that refused to abandon their arcane heritage were exiled here and have now made many of the mill and quarry settlements into bustling magical cities. These cities now contain some of the best trained planar spellcasters and the highest quality magical items to ever be found on the Upper Planes (and most of the Lower Planes as well).
Bytopia is now no longer dual plane of civilization and wilderness. Now, the dual plane represents the silent conflict between magic and technology. The rivalry is mostly friendly, but sometimes there's someone that can take it too far...
You guys like?
Also, a note to goatboi: Thank you for pointing out any fallacies in the definitions for modernity and postmodernism that I posted up earlier. I was just trying to get some general, relatively clear definitions out there for the sake of developing something around them, and wasn't trying to go for the academic jugular as far as accuracy was concerned. *grin* [/b]
NP
I think any English dept would have similar definitions....which doesn't necessarily make them right:D This thread has given me the idea that Foucault, Baudrillard, Lacan and Derrida may each rule over a layer of the abyss
It is the central hub of the Outer Planes.
It is a network of highways that stretch to everywhere.
It is the place between all places.
The Outlands is a plane from which one can reach every other Outer Plane. Among the Outer Planes, it is the only one which is truly neutral. It is a vast plain, crisscrossed by countless highways, all leading to and from the gate-towns and, some say, everywhere. Though it is the perfect plane of travel, it is also the perfect physical and geographical nightmare. Distance does not seem to be constant here, and at some points neither does time. In the centre of the Outlands rises an impossibly tall spire of rock – some say it is infinite in height. Despite the previous claim, Sigil, the city of doors, floats at the top of the spire. Near this spire, magic ceases to function. As one leaves the presence of the spire, magic slowly restores functionality. Somewhere between one and two thousand miles (no one seems to be able to get an accurate measurement) lie the gate-towns. Inside each gate-town is a stable, open portal to one of the Outer Planes. It is these gate-towns that make the Outlands a traveller’s paradise, and it is mostly to these gate-towns that the highways lead.
Outlands Traits
Normal Gravity.
Mutable Time: Sometimes, time flows differently than on the material plane. No one knows what causes this to occur.
Infinite Size: Though the Outlands appears infinite in size, distance breaks down completely beyond the gate-towns.
Divinely Morphic: This trait disappears near the spire.
No Elemental or Energy Traits.
Mildly Neutral-Aligned.
Normal Magic, Impeded Magic, and Limited Magic: Magic begins to fade out, and eventually completely disappear, as one approaches the spire. See the Manual of the Planes for details.
The Hidden Wood of Obad-Hai: This place and its druids have become even more xenophobic since the modern intrusions into the planes. Obad-Hai has, using powerful illusions, disguised the wood from all who are without it, and those who discover it by accident are quickly slain by the fanatical druids within. They are completely devoted to keeping this wood ‘pure’ and refuse to allow entry.
The Library of Lore: Boccob’s domain remains much the same as it has, though few are interested in reading the books anymore. Now visitors wish only to peruse the massive computer databases, which are said to contain all the information in the multiverse. One can only enter the Library with Boccob’s permission, and no physical copies of the information may be taken out – one may only keep what one can remember. Though they are rarely used, the great tomes are still maintained and kept in perfect condition by the librarians – petitioners of Boccob.
The Spire: This purportedly infinite pillar of stone rises in the centre of the Outlands. No roads lead here, and distance and time conspire to prevent a traveller from reaching the spire. It is said that the Rilmani prevent such access, though most people believe the Rilmani to be an ancient planar legend, like the Baernoloths, as they haven’t been seen by anyone alive.
Gate-Towns: These towns each possess a permanent gate to a particular Outer Plane. They function as in the Manual of the Planes, with the notable exception that the town of Bedlam began calling itself Sluice when Erebus took its place on the great wheel. In addition, the portal to Mechanus in Automata closed itself, and the town is only present still in an attempt to reopen it.
The portal to Mechanus I included mainly because I'm under the impression we're working under the 'fallen Mechanus' idea, although if someone were to not go with that, either the portal can stay open or it's just closed for some completely unknown reason.
Still, it's Primus's baby, not mine. If primus wants Mechanus to be a ruin, then it's his perogative.
Originally posted by Bob the Efreet
The portal to Mechanus I included mainly because I'm under the impression we're working under the 'fallen Mechanus' idea, although if someone were to not go with that, either the portal can stay open or it's just closed for some completely unknown reason.
The impression that I get the "Fallen Mechanus" idea is that Mechanus is still around but it's in the middle of a MASSIVE recession right now. It will eventually repair itself in a few millenia, but, until then, the portal in Automata is notoriously unreliable and is prone to malfunctioning.
That's my spin on it anyway.
What board, btw? I wonder if anything else has been posted there.
The thread doesn't contain much other than opinions on the fall of Mechanus and a link back to the original modern planes thread here, but the rest of the Pits have some really good ideas that yo might want to check out. If you so feel inclined to take a look, the thread in question is called The Fall of Mechanus, and it's on the Planescape board there.
@Bob - Excellent write up of the Outlands. Eventually all of the planes will be thus defined for Modern play.
I've only read as far as the middle of page 4, so please forgive me if anything I say below is redundant or obsolete:
So far the discussion has centered on an Earth-based setting, but this sort of thing would be just as suitable (more so, even) for something like Greyhawk 2000.
EvilSandwich: Great stuff, but the gravity descriptor for Erebus is a bit ambiguous. Is gravity oriented towards "whatever is the closest surface", or "whichever direction you think is down"? If it's the latter, that's subjective directional.
Primus: The "Mechanus the Fallen" idea makes a great metaplot, but IMO it doesn't have any connection with the idea of modernizing the planes. I also don't care for the idea that Lawful = resistant to change. I think it would be more appropriate to have a computerized Mechanus, with Primus as the Master Control Program.
Arilou_skiff: I agree, a WWI vibe is totally perfect for Acheron. The second layer should be full of rusted tanks, fighters and bombers, U-boats, etc..
Mike: Personally, I think the whole tea-house, New Age, health-food deal is a better fit for Elysium than the Beastlands.
Mirtek: Love what you did with the different Abyssal lords!
The_Fan: Urban Planars is an awesome name!
For Bytopia, DemonWolfZero's idea sparks some inspiration. It might have a "retro future" feel (think The Jetsons), with the first layer being suburban and the second layer being more like a lunar mining colony, only with air.
Wyvern
Originally posted by Wyvern76
EvilSandwich: Great stuff, but the gravity descriptor for Erebus is a bit ambiguous. Is gravity oriented towards "whatever is the closest surface", or "whichever direction you think is down"? If it's the latter, that's subjective directional.
The gravity fits neither description. Gravity is literally oriented in the direction that your feet are facing. Therefore, hand-stands are NOT recommended. :D
Originally posted by Wyvern76
The_Fan: Urban Planars is an awesome name!
Actually, the name "Urban Planars" was my brainchild. It's named after the Yahoo Group I started on this thread. The group can be found here.
Originally posted by The_Fan
We could do something like planewalker.com and update the entire Planescape setting for use in a Modern game, including some metaplot history and ideas on how to incorporate it into Urban Arcana games.
Well, there's no planar travel in Urban Arcana, so that would mean some fundamental changes to the setting (although it does mean you could go back to using the Ethereal-Plane based Ghosts).
Originally posted by Bob the Efreet
The portal to Mechanus I included mainly because I'm under the impression we're working under the 'fallen Mechanus' idea, although if someone were to not go with that, either the portal can stay open or it's just closed for some completely unknown reason.
I've heard from Primus that he's going to go with a modern Mechanus, rather than leaving it fallen. As such, the portal in Automata can't be closed for my original reason. However, what do you guys think of it being closed anyway? Maybe it never reopened after the fall (assuming that did happen, and then Mechanus 'rebooted'), or maybe nobody knows why it's closed, and people on both sides of the gate are trying to get it back open. Of course, if the general consensus is that the 'closed portal' idea is a bad one, it can go away.
Originally posted by Bob the Efreet
I've heard from Primus that he's going to go with a modern Mechanus, rather than leaving it fallen. As such, the portal in Automata can't be closed for my original reason. However, what do you guys think of it being closed anyway? Maybe it never reopened after the fall (assuming that did happen, and then Mechanus 'rebooted'), or maybe nobody knows why it's closed, and people on both sides of the gate are trying to get it back open. Of course, if the general consensus is that the 'closed portal' idea is a bad one, it can go away.
That's between you and Primus. Myself, I like the idea that the "reboot" of Mechanus is a fairly recent event. So, maybe the new exemplars of Mechanus (Upgraded modrons or an entirely new race) are very selective about who can use the gate-town's portal, out of fear that too much chaos might get into the system again. I'd treat the portal less like "You cannot enter" and more like "You are not disciplined enough to enter". Kind of like a very dull Studio 54. :D
Just my 2¢, don't mean to intrude on Primus's turf.
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
That's between you and Primus. Myself, I like the idea that the "reboot" of Mechanus is a fairly recent event. So, maybe the new exemplars of Mechanus (Upgraded modrons or an entirely new race) are very selective about who can use the gate-town's portal, out of fear that too much chaos might get into the system again. I'd treat the portal less like "You cannot enter" and more like "You are not disciplined enough to enter". Kind of like a very dull Studio 54. :D
I kind of like the idea that it's not so much closed in the traditional "there's no pool of color where once there was one" sense, as much as it's still there, but there's an elaborate electromechanical structure built around it to cover and reveal it. Perhaps akin to a gigantic CD-ROM drive. Getting this to operate isn't the traditional casting of a portal, but more a skill.
Computers, creations of logic and absolute rules. To the modern day what gears were to centuries before us. Absolute timing, repeatable patterns, unyielding order.
A Mechanus (Digitaus?). A look of something between the old CG cartoon Reboot and the Matrix (especially the training construct). Everything is a mimicry of an infinite metropolis, everything is neat and clean, but subtly unreal. Streets are along a perfect grid, the layout of the city is totally logical. Instead of gears there are now districts or regions of the city. Each distict has a different function and role, that all harmoniously function to support the city.
The streets flow in perfect harmony, with no traffic jams, no apparent need for police. "People" walk in utter harmony from place to place in an exact schedule.
Primus is now a sleek supercomputer, and modrons are humanoids with features that become more detailed (higher resolution). Monodrones are poorly rendered, with very visible polygons and a limited color palette. All the way up to Secundi, which look like modern CGI people from movies like Final Fantasy, very human but subtly not-quite-real. Their speech increases from cold, obviously mechanical synthesized speech that sounds like a stereotypical robot, all the way up to sounding disturbingly like HAL 2000.
The Moderators take whatever form is appropriate, but the cold, intimidating, emotionless "Man In Black" is a common form. They also appear as Error Messages that just appear in mid-air ("Mechanus has detected an error in 'John Smith', the error will be disconnected from the plane", and then Mr. Smith finds himself ejected from the plane), or the very dreaded Blue Death, a mobile wall of blue that is the incarnation of a serious defect in Mechanus.
Also, if Mechanus goes digital, what would replace the falling between the gears hazard?
Mabey some kind of inevitable or other patrolls Mechanus, stamping out formians wherever they're found.
Hmm, anit-virus based inevitables isn't a bad idea. Perhaps they were created after the fall by the Modrons or one of the gods of Mechanus, and their tireless efforts helped "reboot" the plane.
(I may also be able to do some artwork for it, later)
EDIT: Just remembered something. Estevan the Ogre-Mage merchant NPC from Planescape popped up in the sample campaign in Urban Arcana, and I think that one of the iconic UA heroes was another Planescape character, the tiefling tout Kylie. Are you assuming most of the stock planar characters are gone, or is there going to be some usage of the old Planescape NPCs where appropriate?
Edit: D'oh, The Fan beat me to it!
Additional thoughts/ideas? What do y'all think?
It's space, but not as you know it.
It blows, but not necessarily in a bad way.
It brings new meaning to "A long way down".
Elemental Plane of Air Traits
Subjective Directional Gravity: Everything and everyone WILL fall, accelerating to (Material-standard) terminal velocity, (and potentially burning up from the air friction like an asteroid) unless something gets in the way. Which way you fall, well that's all up to you.
Normal Time
Infinite Size
Alterable Morphic
Air-Dominant
Air Inhabitants
Elementals in all shapes and sizes abound here; you might well be inside one without knowing it. Most of them are pretty straightforward, but steam, ice, mist, dust, and even chlorine, ammonia, or sulfide vapor paraelementals all have their homes here. Myths and rumors abound of something called a "vacuum elemental", but it's always someone's cousin's roommate's veterinarian's godmother that saw it.
Djinns are quite comfortable in the plane, whether building their palaces or just out for a flight. Even djinns that make their homes elsewhere like to "pop in" for a long weekend, and a number of the local djinn do a brisk business in hotel accomodations.
Flying creatures, both sentient and not, from most any plane can be found here, if someone looks long enough. Oddly enough, in recent years aquatic mammals, mostly small dolphins and porpoises, have been spotted in the thicker mist clouds, moving rather gracefully at that.
Features of the Elemental Plane of Air
Waddayawant, you never seen air? :D
Chunks
Yes, that's what elementals and others not dependent on solid matter have taken to calling the assorted structures built by immigrants (and no, it's not more complimentary in Auran). Be they ancient castles (most often held together by judicious use of rebar these days), idyllic condo-spheres, or fortified airbases, this is where visitors will probably feel most comfortable. Many have gravity artificially enforced (see Stronghold Builder's Guide for appropriate spells), most take the more expeditious route of large "This way down" signs.
Oh yes, the plane's more hospitable zones have no shortage of pleasant, semi-economical housing, usually portalled fully constructed and populated from more matter-rich planes. While some are tenament-like petitioner housing, many more are just mortals looking for a change of pace, regardless of commute.
Of course hospitable zones aren't always easy to maintain, and that's where the airbases come in. The older ones resemble naval aircraft carriers or simply runways laid across a convenient mass of rock, while the more modern take advantage of subjective gravity as hollowed spheres or multi-runway cubes much like those of Acheron. Most of these are found bounding particularly stormy or clouded regions that spawn hostile elementals.
Originally housing conventional Material-based aircraft, the designs have changed little, sacrificing lifting surfaces for more engines or weapons, but little else. The Pilot skill is fully usable here. One particularly wicked innovation, pioneered by the fire-resistant devils, is terminal-velocity drop troops. Resembling conventional paratroopers, these elite soldiers sight their target through optics from miles away, then orient themselves by force of will and drop, so quickly they ignite in the process, towards it. For smaller targets, this is often enough to destroy it, but for the more substantial, the drop trooper can deploy a parachute partway through and land with guns blazing.
The Djinni Confederation
While many djinn are still content to live in their small, isolated strongholds, the might of the Djinni Confederation is unquestionable. While internally very traditional and swearing eternal fealty to its sundry caliphs, to the outside world it presents a force, of numbers, magic, vessels, and weapons, that is best understood as "you survive as long as you don't interfere".
It is where laws are made for the common good
It is the first line of defense against the corperate legions of Hell, Inc.
Arcadia thrives with streets of identical and perfectly lined houses, laser-straight streams, orderly parks, and perfectly laid out cities. Every mountain and skyscraper is unblemished by erosion and acid rain, and are placed just-so. Everything in Arcadia works towards the common good. Part of the common good, though, is to be ever vigilent against the lower planes. Of all the powers in the multiverse, only the Norse gods are considered more ready to fight an apocalyptic war.
The once seperate kingdoms that composed Arcadia have recently (the last 200 years) been unified under a republican government. To the surprise of many, the legislative body that governs Arcadia's two (soon to be three, see next installment) layers has done a better job a determining the common good then the previous kingdoms. They have also avoided the traps of self-rightiousness that led to the loss of Menausus in past ages. The Arcadians see nothing surprising in this, because there is no better way of obtaining the common good than to create the perfect government.
Nevertheless, the pursuit of the common good is has been disturbed by thoughts of impending war. It is no longer as certain that the Blood War will continue on indefinitely. Not only must Arcadia be ready to withstand the first wave of a fiendish invasion, but be capable of launching a pre-emptive attack if it is at all necessary. The Harmonium and local einheriar are ever watchful for spies and enemy combatants (read: terrorists). Fighter jets remain on patrol continuously. And the nuclear shadow casts a pale over the search for perfect harmony.
Arcadia Traits
-Normal Gravity: In Bruxeos, there are a few spots with a light gravity trait to boost IPBMs (Inter-Planar Balistic Missiles) to their targets, but these are the exception.
-Normal Time
-Infinate Size: Each layer of Arcadia stretches over an infinite, well-ordered landscape.
-Divinely Morphic
-No Elemental or Energy Damage
-Mildly Aligned Law: Chaotic characters on Arcadia suffer a -2 penalty on charisma-based checks
-Normal Magic: It should be noted that in many places in Arcadia, harmful spells (especially from the evocation or necromancy school) are illegal to cast without a permit.
Arcadia Links
Portals to other planes are few on Arcadia, but they are permanent, clearly identified structures. Concrete arches with signs identifying the destination (as well as an approximate distance to the nearest location of interest) mark each gateway to another plane. Portals also connect far-flung locales in Arcadia, as well as the two layers. A number of these portals are big enough for two cars to pass under, and these often have highway turnpikes lead up to them. All of the portals connecting Arcadia to other planes are guarded by border checkpoints, who will be very interested in your business inside Arcadia. As long as you have nothing to hide, of course, the border police will give you no more trouble than necessary.
Arcadia Inhabitants
Many mortals from the prime material plane, looking for a safe, clean neigborhood with good schools to raise their families, come to Arcadia and live among such creatures as archons, aasimar, devas, and the ever-present Einheriar Armed Forces (EAF).
Arcadia is home to many peacable creatures. Many of them can be taken as pets very easily (+4 planar bonus to Handle Animal checks).
Formians have several hive cities in Arcadia. While most live above-ground with the rest of the Republic's citizens, a small number maintain the vast underground cities beneath Arcadia, in the hopefully unlikely event that the plane's population must take refuge in them.
Arcadia Petitioners
The petitioners of Arcadia are called einheriar. They appear much as they did in their previous lives, though they are markedly healthier and more robust. They are all fanatically devoted to making sure the common good is maintained.
Most einheriar are either members of the EAF or local police forces. Their treatment of those that don't conform to the views of the plane has changed little. Still, einheriar police are now required to take sensitivity orientation courses, so that they are not quite so rude to deviants (they still attack evil creatures on sight, however).
The Einheriar have the following special petitioner traits:
-Additional Immunities: sonic, poison, disease
-Resistances: cold 20, electricity 20
-Other Special Qualities: detect chaos, detect evil
I'll finish up with the features of Arcadia in the next installment
Originally posted by Ornum
Question. Would the 'loth construction, the Tower of Incarnate Pain (described in Faces of Evil) be completed yet? Or is it still being built?
That's for the Carceri writer to decide. Heck, the 'loths may have decided to abandon the project for the time being (planning to get back to it eventually, hopefully in a position to stop it from being delayed again).
Speaking of loth's, the crawling city should have robot legs
As for Carceri, has it been reduced to a single layer? Or are there still distinguishing features of each layer (each has its own prison ship). And what about the deities that live in Carceri. Of particular interest are the Titan Lords, as I love including them as the great boogey-men of the greek pantheon, always trying to escape...heck, mabye they escaped in the ensuing destruction, and moved to planes more of their liking.
I know Somewhere I'm going to include two quotes from well-known computer games though :D One from Fallout and the other from Alpha Centauri, which ones do you think I mean? :D
Got into Planescape pretty late... what's this Tower of Incarnate Pain?
"It is a place were War never changes
It is the front where all is quiet,
Each step in technology has brought new ways and new places to die, such as this one."
The Eternal Battlefields has gone through tremendous change, no one knows how or why but in the past a massive nuclear weapon struck the sheet of ice on Ocanthus, the lowest layer of the plane, in moments the frozen sheet of the river Styx evaporated, leaving behind a wasteland beneath it, the ice evaporated, turning into clouds of memory-draining rain, showering the lowest layer in shower's turning the plains into muddy hells, where identical men die identical purposeless deaths in identical purposeless wars.
Planar Traits:
Objective Directional Gravity: On the upper layers "down" is wherever the face of the cube is, on Ocanthus, the lowest layer "down" faces the ground itself.
Divinely Morphic: The deites of Acheron can change the plane as they chose, mortals require magic to do the same however.
Mildly Law Aligned:
Layers:
Avalas: Avalas is as it always has been, a multitude of cubes floating through the air, carrying armies to do battle with each other, however, the cubes here are now mostly silent, their surfaces torn and rent by more and more advances weapons, the armeis that once populated it's cubes are mostly gone, having migrated to the lower layers, only the dying and the dead dwell here, outcasts from the machinery of war, rumours about of cybernetic horrors stalking the cubes, adding the dying and dead to their numbers, their exact strength and origin remains a mystery, but all attempts at resistance has thus far proven futile.
Thuldanin: Of all the layers of Acheron, Thuldanin is the least changed, it's strange hoards of weapon and terrifying petrifying energies are still in existence, it is said that any weapon that has ever been or will ever be thought of exists somewhere here, the Baatezu of Hell Inc. often sub-contract one of the renegade armies of Ocanthus to send expiditions, hoping for weapons to bolster their forces.
Tintibulus: Unlike Avalas, which is mostly silent, and Thuldanin, which is unchanged, Tintibulus has been all-but destroyed, nothing remains of this layer save a few uninhabited polyhedrons, however, the rainclouds that were created from the Ocanthian ice floated up here, and as such the entire plane is covered in mist and fog, created from ice born of the River Styx these clouds drain the memories of anyone who spends time her for long, and are thus best avoided.
Ocanthus: This is where the action is, a muddy landscape of endless trenches and craters, filled with the sound of artillery fire, the smattering of machine guns and the sound of air raid-sirens, it is an endless expanse of trenches, minefields, mud, rain, mud, the dead and the dying. It is here the legions of Acheron make war upon each other, millions of identical men in gray uniforms dying identical deaths in identical wars, there is war but rarely is there any rhyme or reason to it, communications are usually disrupted, information is scarce and the enemy always numerous.
Clangor & Nishrak: This fallen cube crashed into Nishrak just after the Melting of the Ice, the two cubes are now crushed together, two gigantic twisted metal cities burnt and scorched by each other, here the Orc and Goblin deities wage their unceasing war, and at the same time try to live a (for orc and goblins) normal life, snipers perch on every rooftop and every street is a battlefield.
Scourgehold: Here is the parading ground of Hextor, the Tyrant, here his Dark Armies march forth beneath the ever-watching gaze of their six-armed master.
Acheron Petitioners:
Petitioners of Acheron are soldiers without a cause, those who killed and died for no purpose, or simply because they were told.
Additional Immunities: Electricity, Sonic
Resistances: Cold 20, Fire 20
Other Special Qualities: Petitioners of Acheron are so dulled and weary that they no longer feel fear, but gladly charge at the mouth of a machine-gun should they be ordered to, on the other hand they are not affected by spells or effects that invoke joy , pleasure, happiness or similar emotions.
A burning werewolf (there wolf) at the speed of sound. (or more accurately, how much damage does a flaming werewolf the speed of sound do when it impacts?)
Of course, that's just wrong.
Also, if it's subjective gravity, why even have wings or landing strips? Take a cue from SF, and make them space-esque fighters, like the B5 ships, and instead of engines, the pilot just chooses to "fall" forwards. Never run out of gas, and if all else fails, fall.
Originally posted by nobodez
Also, if it's subjective gravity, why even have wings or landing strips? Take a cue from SF, and make them space-esque fighters, like the B5 ships, and instead of engines, the pilot just chooses to "fall" forwards. Never run out of gas, and if all else fails, fall.
Well, you need engines to accelerate faster than gravity, if I understand subjective gravity correctly. Sure, if you go far enough in a streamlined hull you'll get up to speed, but it'll happen a lot more quickly with a few thousand pounds of thrust behind you. Plus, you can use pilots with a little less mental discipline (and let's face it, you've got to be just a little insane to fly out there).
Wings are more control surfaces than anything else, plus outrigger engine supports for larger craft. Yes, you can steer with maneuvering thrusters, but flaps save you a lot of fuel. Plus, they're just traditional, and we know how the military is about tradition.
Originally posted by Eye of the Beholder
Got into Planescape pretty late... what's this Tower of Incarnate Pain?
The Tower of Incarnate Pain is the third great Yugoloth tower (along with Khin-Oin and the Tower of the Arcanoloths), located on Carceri...or at least it would be if the 'loths ever managed to complete it. Work is constantly being interrupted and set back by Greheleths, and because the loths are trying to keep the project under wraps until it is finished, they can't simply place several legions around the Tower while it is completed. The Tower is built into the ground, but it is also mobile (don't ask how...it just is). And like everything else on the Planes, it's massive.
If the spheres of Carceri have been obliterated, then the Tower of Incarnate Pain is likely to have undergone major design changes.
We also need to keep in mind that this isn't "Planar America". All of the stereotypes that we know about what hell should look like in the "Modern World" only fit our particular cultural outlook. We have to keep our ideas modernized while remaining generic.
Originally posted by Primus, the One and Prime
Alot of te ideas have started to be very Futuristic as opposed to Modern. We may need to step back a bit and look at what we've got. Can we build giant space stations? In a "Modern" level setting should there be a massive space station on every plane? Now, a few isn't unheard of, but if this is truly going to be a modern setting and not a futuristic one we want to keep the tech level consistent.
Well, space stations are pretty much the only physical structures that Material folk can relate to in the Plane of Air (as floating castles were before), which is why I focused on them. And seeing as how the plane itself is infinite, and other planes from which material for construction is derived are also infinite, the only real issue is manpower. And when you don't need to train people to use EVA suits, it's pretty much unskilled labor.
Originally posted by Arilou_skiff
So... No comments on my Acheron write-up?
What of Wee Jas? Somehow I doubt a nuke is going to completely destroy the Witch Goddess. Perhaps it even empowered her, in strange and even more disturbing ways?
Originally posted by Ulden Throatbane
I think he was refering to the Carceri idea, as well as the ideas proposed for Bytopia (which I might tackle once I get through with Arcadia, if no one else takes it up).
Right now, I'm working on Bytopia.
My ideas reguarding Dothion weren't meant to be "futuristic" per se, but the symbolic representation of technology taken to its absolute and total extreme. If Bytopia's bizarre philosophy on working hard and tirelessly was suddenly shifted away from manual labor to producing and improving 21st century technology, their products would quickly outperform anything mere mortals could ever produce (not unlike Modern Japan outperforming the American market after the country's attention was shifted away from global conquest).
Plus, being gnomes, they will NEVER be satisfied with the status quo and will be constantly finding new and better ways to do things, ignoring logic and taboos along the way. Shurrock has the same philosophy, they just use magic as their medium instead of technology.
You should also note that, even in the current "medevil" canon, the planes are already far more advanced than almost all of the prime worlds combined. I feel that this advancement can be also reflected in the "modern" planes.
Remember the Outer Planes are, first and foremost, realms of belief and philosophy taken to their extremes.
And while I agree humanity wouldn't really have the capacity to build such structures, these aren't really human constructs. The higher castes of outsiders, fiend and celestial alike, are all of genius-level intelligence; once they bend their minds to technological advancement the rate of improvement is going to be pretty exponential.
There's the magic factor, too. Just think what human civilization could build with infinite resources (summoning) and power (the elemental planes). Given, this also works against technology by making progress unnecessary, but if we assume the outsiders are, at the least, as high-tech as the modern world, I'd say the sky is pretty much the limit.
I guess it really comes down to what we're looking for thematically, the type of setting we want this to be. So what do people think?
Originally posted by Eye of the Beholder
I guess it really comes down to what we're looking for thematically, the type of setting we want this to be. So what do people think?
Good point.
I still think that this should be a Modern theme and not a Futuristic theme. Maybe for Carceri, we should downplay the space-elements. For one thing, I'm pretty sure there is air between the spheres (Correct me if I'm wrong).
As an idea, I was thinking that maybe the internet could have been based on this network (whether the human designers knew about it or not). Maybe this was intentional, or maybe it took on a life all its own against the original intentions of the 'loths. Maybe the dominance of the internet is one of the factors that allowed Mechanus to be reborn. I find the idea of the 'loths partially failing and their original idea adopted by the Mechanus and the modrons to be an interesting subject, if treated properly. What does everyone else feel about this?
The negabomb takes the level of depravity inherient in nuclear weapons and kicks it up a couple dozen notches. First developed by a group of planar liches and vampiric mages allied with Prime scientists seeking immortality, the negabomb diverts some of its explosive force into punching a hole straight to the Negative Energy Plane. This diverstion of power causes less efficient use of the nuclear material, which has the bonus of spreading about more radioactive matter, which the undead don't really care about anyway. While the yield of the actual nuclear explosion is decreased 10%, in influx of energy more than compensates for the loss, boosting the actual explosive potential to 120% of what a nuclear warhead of the same design would do. However, it is the aftereffects that are truly frightening, for those killed by a negabomb are raised as undead are raised as undead. The variety is determined by the relative distance from the blast.
Point Blank- Everything within this distance is simply obliterated. Intelligent living creatures are raised within 1 hour as either wraiths or they have the wraith template added.
Very Close- All organisms are vaporized by either the explosion or the massive outpouring of negative energy. Intelligent living creatures are raised within 1 hour as shadows or have the umbral template applied.
Close- Heat and negative energy wither and destroy life, but do not obliterate it. Intelligent living creatures are raised within 2 hours as wights or have the wight template added.
Medium- There is a possibility of survivors but as the negative energy tends to permeate the area, most commoners who would normally survive as they are sheltered are still killed. Creatures rise as zombies within 12 hours.
Far- More and more people survive, although injuries and from the shockwaves are still extensive. Negative energy effects are losing their potency. Creatures rise as skeletons within 24 hours.
Additionally, undead within the close and medium ranges receive the effects of a inflict critical wounds spell after detonation. Any closer and the initial nuclear blast is simply too strong and they are obliterated, despite the greater healing potential.
Finally, the hole to the Negative Energy Plane does not seal all that quickly. Within the point blank range the area gains the major negative energy dominant trait for 1d6 hours times the number of kT of the base nuclear explosion. Within the point blank range to the medium range the minor negative energy trait is applied for a number of days equal to the kT of the base nuclear explosion. (Example: A 200kT negabomb is dropped. A 3 is rolled, therefore at point blank range the area is strongly negative for 600 hours, or 25 days. Those areas from point blank range to medium are minor negative for 200 days, or about 28 and half weeks.) This can kill almost as many people as the initial explosion.
I can imagine other such magical warheads, like the Astral bomb, the lawful bomb, the evil bomb, the chaos bomb, etc. but I would like to know what you think of this idea first.
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
the chaos bomb, etc. [/b]
Oh god, why does that make me think of the Funky Bomb from Scorched Earth? :bounce:
Vision is normal in Arcadia. The ancient Orb of Night and Day is now divided into three segments ever since the Parliament of Arcadia passed the 8-hour day. One third radiats day-light, another third is dark, and a final third gives of dusky light. The transition between each three stages remains distinct.
Abellio
The first layer of Arcadia is mostly flat, with mountains and hills arranged to maximize the common good (any not native to Arcadia has no clue how this would be decided). Abellio has been carefully zoned, with cities, suburbs, parks, streams, and forest reserves placed for the good of all. Despite the urbanization of the layer, Arcadia's environment is not in the least bit polluted; even chemical reactions on Arcadia are dedicated to the common good.
When visitors come to Arcadia, they usually keep to Abellio. This is partly because the EAF is peery of anyone trying to enter Buxenus without permission from the government. Also, inhabitants of Abellio are more tolerant of non-natives.
Checkpoints After crossing a portal entering Arcadia, the first thing a planewalker is going to run into is a checkpoint guarded by the Harmonium Border Patrol. The size of each checkpoint depends on the usage of the portal they are guarding. Some checkpoints are little more than metal detectors watched over by a half-dozen hardhead. Others look like gargantuan toll-booths that are a hundred lanes wide or more. Each checkpoint is wide enough to allow a thourogh inspection of anyone entering Arcadia without slowing up traffic. The Harmonium Border Patrol are commisioned to check over anyone entering Arcadia. In practice, they tend to hold up certain visitors depending on their initial impression of them. Still, if they can't find anything illegal being brought in (and the visitor in question isn't evil), they'll eventually let them them through. Be warned, though: trying to bribe the border police is a sure-way to land yourself in jail.
Most planewalkers see these checkpoints as merely a nuisance. Closer inspection, however, reveals that they are actually heavily fortified. Even the smaller checkpoints has a bunker or two with a sniper ready to put a hole in the head of anyone trying to force their way in. Moreover, each checkpoint is in close proximity to at least one EAF army base. Anyone who looks up will also notice that fighter jets patrol this area more frequently than in other parts of the layer.
Researchers of Planar Evolution predict that creating a markedly different environment from the rest of the layer around each of the portals will lead to the creation of a new layer that sits between Abellio and the Astral Plane. Of course, this is exactly what the Arcadian government is trying to accomplish. By creating a buffer between the Great Highway and their major urban centers in Abellio, the Republic hopes to minimize potential civilian casualties if Arcadia is attacked.
The Silver Bridge: The most-used portal into Arcadia is in fact a part of the Great Highway. The Silver Bridge connects Abellio with Lunia, the first layer of Celestia. The bridge is several miles long, with one half in Arcadia, the other in Celestia. A bank of mist represents the division between the two planes. The hardheads at this checkpoint are not quite as strict because they recognize that most of the folks coming from Celestia are quite agreable enough to warrent only a quick check. Thus, traffic on the bridge is usually clear.
Civilopolis: Civilopolis is the political center of Arcadia. Here, the laws of the state are written and the angencies that implement them make important decisions for the common good of the Republic. Every building in this city (which is larger than most small states) is either dedicated to the purpose of government or provides for the needs of government officials. A clean and efficient mass transit system ensures that politicians and bureaucrats can get wherever they need to go.
The buildings in Civilopolis are a perfect blend of neo-classicism and modern achitecture. Larger agencies are housed in huge buildings that look like a crossing of a modern skyscraper with a deity's main residence. Colossal public monuments such as Columns, Arches, and Obelisks can reach miles into the sky. These monuments and office buildings are always placed so that they never have the effect of crowding the inhabitants. In fact, most buildings don't have more than one level (although many have extensive basements to compensate).
Anyone expecting to find a Kafkaesque bureaucracy is in for a shock the first time they enter one of Civilopolis' administrative buildings. A large staff of astral devas is on hand to assist anyone who needs to deal with the Arcadian bureaucracy. No matter how complicated the request is, the devas can always find the agencies and forms needed to carry out the request, as long as it is legal and for the good of the community.
The Temple of Sovereignty is the meeting place for the Parliament of Arcadia. It is a surprisingly modest building, located in the center of a park-like forum. Inside, Parliament decides the laws of the Republic. The members of the Parliament of Arcadia are usually petitioners who were either uncorrupted politicians or philosophers seeking out how to best achieve the common good in their past lives. While they are unified in the desire to uphold perfection and harmony, they have nonetheless divided into two parties on how the common good should be reached. These parties are the Reformers and the Crusaders. Debate between these two parties is always civil and respectful, but nevertheless heated.
In addition to passing laws, Parliament also appoints all of the government ministers, including the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is ultimately responsible for enacting the laws passed by Parliament. He is also responsible for Arcadia's military, and is commonly viewed as the leader of the Plane.
The Court of St Cuthbert: About an hour's drive from the Temple of Sovereignty is St. Cuthbert's ancient mile-high basilica (though the surrounding walls are no longer present). In addition to watching over his own followers, St. Cuthbert has taken responsability for Arcadia's judiciary. He has created tens of thousands of local courts, civil courts, and appeals courts. St. Cuthbert himself serves as Arcadia's Chief Justice and final arbiter on all cases. Most court cases are never brought before him, however, and so Chief Justice Cuthbert can keep his energies focused towards his faithful.
Mount Clangeddin: A perfectly conical mountain, standing apart from any range, rises at least thirty thousand feet above the suburbs below. This ancient abode of the dwarf god Clangeddin Silverbeard has gone under massive renovations, both inside and out. The seemingly smooth flanks of the mountain are now covered with great titanium portals that hide powerful cannons and missiles. The mountain's peak has been adorned with antennae, radar domes, and anti-air defences.
Inside the mountain is all that is needed to create and run a modern dwarf war-machine. A great dwarven metropolis in the heart of the mountain is home to the best weapons manufacturers in the multiverse. Clangeddin guns, tanks and artillary pieces are sought everywhere. The gathering clouds of war has only increased the production levels in Mount Clangeddin. As a result, the mountain accounts for 15% of Arcadia's GDP.
The dwarves of Mount Clangeddin make up Arcadia's most elite fighting force, and are usually the first ones to be sent to intervene in matters important to the Republic. The presence of Clangeddin's legions are often enough to quell any hostilities.
Feedback is of course more than welcome.
–––
The Bleak Rocks of Carceri
It is the cold, dark emptiness of space.
It is the jailhouse of the multiverse.
It is the birthplace of revolution and the cradle of revenge.
Legend holds that Carceri was once an infinite string of tiny worlds, one wrapped around the next like nesting dolls, stretching across the dark gulfs of space. Little remains of this original order, however: much of Carceri has in more recent centuries been shattered, forming a vast asteroid field, a cosmic sargasso of blasted rock and planetary debris.
The breaking of the orb-worlds began with the technological progress of the Blood War. Many of Carceri’s worlds had been scarred by conflict since antiquity, but the addition of nuclear weapons to the battlefield proved more than the tiny planetoids could bear. Carceri’s petitioners (and their newfound love of crafted explosives) no doubt played a role as well. At least one world, and most likely several, were torn apart by prisoners desperate to overthrow the system of oppression, even if it meant blowing themselves up along with their captors.
But neither forces can account for the full extent of the destruction. It was The Rot that finally succeeded in shattering the plane. This magical disease appeared unexpectedly on several of the small orbs and spread rapidly, despite the extreme isolation of the planar residents. Not only did The Rot liquefy its victims from within, it turned them into blasphemous undead... often the reanimation began before the sufferer had properly died, and corpses would be found strangled by their own hands, or boneless, skeletons having fled the confines of the skin. Worst of all for the fiendish natives of the plane, no creature was immune.
Wherever the disease came from–– theories ranged from Nerull to the yugoloths to Orcus to the Carcerians themselves–– it was the demons who finally found a ‘cure’. A planar rip was torn open to the positive energy plane, followed by another to the negative plane at its mouth. The resulting cataclysmic explosion as diametrically opposed energies flooded into each other tore the remaining orbs apart.
Somehow, there were survivors, small pockets of refugees clinging to the bits of rock. (There were fears for a time that even the demons’ draconian purge had been insufficient, that The Rot would return, but to date no further outbreaks have surfaced. If anyone knows why, they aren’t talking.) Some of the Carcerians tried to rebuild. Many, as they always had, tried to flee, and some found they actually could. Apparently the chaos of the plane’s sundering had tipped portions of Carceri towards the Abyss, and freestanding portals to the infinite pits began sprouting up everywhere, usable by planar and petitioner alike. The Abyss, of course, could hardly be called an improvement, but many on the plane of confinement took an ‘anywhere but here’ attitude, and the survivors fled in vast numbers.
It was at this point that an ancient faction resurfaced: the Mercykillers. Originally operating out of Sigil, the group of merciless enforcers of justice had split many centuries earlier with the Lady’s Edict, becoming the Sons of Mercy and Sodkillers. But the scouring of Carceri and the escape of its exiles brought about a Red Death revival, who believed it was a clear indicator of the dangers of escaping justice and the growing threat of anarchy throughout the planes. Allying with the surviving demodands, the Mercykillers recolonized the shattered fragments and turned back traffic from the abyssal portals, rounding up as many petitioners as they could find and constructing a vast series of cell blocks to hold them for their ‘just punishment.’ While vast sections of the plane were (and are) still outside their control, the influx of law was enough to push the plane back towards neutrality from total chaos, and Carceri once again became an isolated plane of treachery and resentment.
Though broken, Carceri is thus little different now from as it has always been. The downtrodden still fight to overthrow their tormentors, real and imagined, the Mercykillers little more than a convenient excuse for their hatred. Vast expanses of the plane still live in near-total anarchy, the cruelty of the residents barely hidden behind a rhetoric of oppression, paranoia, and contempt. Titans still rage against their shackles, and beneath it all, Nerull still waits with his restless dead.
Carceri Traits:
Objective Directional Gravity: Gravity is always towards the center of the closest asteroid, and is equal in strength to that of Earth, despite the rocks’ comparative small size. Many of the penal colonies have had their gravity regulated by magic to twice (or more) the Earth norm, making every movement a labor. The gulf between the rocks has no gravity: those getting off their tiny worlds find themselves drifting helplessly in the boundless void.
Timeless: Carceri is timeless with respect to natural healing, starvation and dehydration (those going without food or water still suffer all the pains, but will never die from lack of sustenance), and aging. Upon leaving the plane all years spent on Carceri immediately catch up with the traveler, so immortality comes at a price.
Infinite Size: The void of Carceri is infinite, as is the asteroid field, although each rock is of course of limited size.
Divinely Morphic: Mortals may still alter the plane with a normal application of energy, but as in most outer planes, the deities are given special power.
No Elemental or Energy Traits.
Mildly Evil-Aligned: Good characters on Carceri suffer a -2 penalty on all Charisma-based checks.
Normal Magic.
Carceri Links:
The River Styx flows through the lower depths of many prison complexes, at times submerging entire cell blocks. (How a river flows through entirely manufactured facilities in the depths of space is anyone’s guess, but the Styx was never exactly a natural stream anyway).
A few portals to Hades, the Abyss, and the Outlands border town of Curst may be found, if one looks hard enough. Some are small, deep in the crevices of the asteroids, and appear as nothing more than darkened pits or chasms (of course, there are also a great number of pits and chasms in the rock leading only to a splattery death). Others–– a recent addition to the plane–– resemble great blue vortexes in space, which planar travelers with a penchant for science (or science fiction) have dubbed ‘wormholes’. These portals function irregularly and open and close without warning; more than one traveler has flown a craft towards one hoping for a quick exit only to have the gate vanish at the last minute, often resulting in a fiery collision with the previously concealed asteroid beyond.
Carceri Petitioners and Inhabitants
Petitioners on Carceri are schemers, plotters, and traitors, seeking not so much to climb to the top as to drag everyone else down to their level. Very few live there willingly. They’re treacherous in the extreme, betraying any for the slightest gain and lying through predatory grins. Most still plot their eventual escape (to be followed closely by bloody revenge), as those succumbing completely to despair usually wind up in Hades.
Other inhabitants include the demodands, the fiendish jailers of the plane, as well as a few demons, devils, yugoloths, and other evil outsiders hoping to somehow use Carceri to their benefit in the Blood War. Allied with the demodands are the Mercykillers, a group of mostly human and fiendish planars bent on teaching the petitioners a proper respect for authority, even–– some say especially–– if it kills them.
In ages past, Carceri was divided into six layers, each the home of a specific class of miscreant. With the shattering of the orb-planets, however, the layers have blended together, becoming a homogenous mass of rock serving all types of sinners. Like still bonds with like, however, and one can still tell what layer a rock was originally from based in its condition and inhabitants. Terrorists, turncoats, backstabbers, addicts, madmen, gluttons, corrupt leaders, and all manner of liars, be they crafty, miserly, wanton or brutish, call this plane home.
Carceri petitioners gain the following traits:
Additional Immunities: Acid, Cold
Resistances: Electricity 10, Sonic 10
Other Special Qualities: Petitioners of Carceri gain a +10 bonus to all Bluff checks. They may use the Bluff skill to feint in combat as a free action once per round.
Movement and Combat:
Movement and combat on the asteroid colonies, mines, and prisons, though the increased gravity of some stations may complicate matters. In the void between the asteroids gravity does not exist, and so movement continues in a straight line at constant speed. The demodands have developed primitive space cars and shuttles to transport prisoners and paying visitors from rock to rock, but others must rely on more crude means to traverse the inky void (makeshift catapults, giant slingshots, and handcrafted explosives and rockets being the perennial favorites).
Features of Carceri:
The Red Cell:
So named for its Red Death overseers, this vast penitentiary is far from the only jailhouse on Carceri, but it is the largest. Built over the frame of a demodand warren, originally on Colothys, that somehow survived the shattering mostly intact, the Red Cell is now a honeycomb of claustrophobic dungeons and labyrinthine passageways. A great foundry exists at the heart of the structure where iron is smelted for the construction of even more prisons, and the heat from its furnaces channeled through countless miles of ducts and vents keeps the entire complex feverishly hot. While the Mercykillers insist they are merely enforcing the natural order by confining the Carcerian prisoners to a just confinement, the screams emanating from the Red Cell’s depths would indicate the use of torture, as well. (Such actions seem more worthy of the Nine Hells than Carceri. It remains to be seen how long the Mercykillers can maintain control in a plane filled with violent anarchists, even with demodand support, and what effects their actions on Carceri will have in the long run.)
The demodands brag that the structure was actually seized from the yugoloths, that it was in actually the half-completed Tower of Incarnate Pain (see below). Rumors abound of rooms deep within the Red Cell never fully under demodand control: of monstrous abominations prowling the darkened tunnels, of yugoloth experiments abandoned by their creators that may not have entirely failed, that The Rot may still infest some wards now lost to all but the undead... even that the ‘loths might not have left.
Inmate legend tells of a prisoner brought to Carceri entirely by accident, a true innocent born from the most unlikely of circumstances. The tales continue that this one will one day overthrow the system, free the chained forever, and in doing so unwittingly spark a jihad of apocalyptic scale, a Night of Long Knives when the weak will drive down the mighty and scour the multiverse of life. Such talk might be pure delusion, of course, or even a fabrication from forces on high to keep a flicker of hope alive, if only to make the darkness all the more bleak when its flame is finally extinguished.
The Flickerstar:
The asteroid field of Carceri forms a vast ring of broken rocks, ranging in size from several miles to tiny pebbles and clouds of dust. At the center of the ring, the tears in the planar fabric still stand, the remnants of Abyssal desperation to stop the spread of The Rot. These two ragged holes still burn with positive and negative energy, rotating around each other in endless rapid loops, lighting the surrounding space with strobing brilliance and shadow. The Carcerians have named this dual system the Flickerstar.
Occasionally one of the more forlorn prisoners of the plane will lose not just hope for himself, but hope for hurting others, and thus attempt the nigh-suicidal escape plan of flying through one of the tears. There have been absolutely no reports of anyone surviving the journey, but for the truly desperate, it is a possibility.
Those venturing near the Flickerstar but not diving in have returned to report a bizarre sight: a giant humanoid, muscular beyond imagining, somehow grappling one of the gates in each hand, holding them apart and thus preventing another cataclysmic reaction. The figure’s description is remarkably like that of Atlas, the Greek titan allegedly banished to Carceri millennia ago, when the plane was still known as Tarterus. He had at that time been condemned to hold up the world for all eternity. Apparently he’s been given a new punishment, if the myths were ever true from the start.
I also think that the theme should be sticking to the modern world... no giant Mecha Devils or Celestial X-wings.
Anyway, the next layers of Hades have been completed.
Stiflheim
The second layer of Hades is a misty, dead forest. It is far less war-torn and irradiated than the first, mainly because of the poisonous mists rising from the ground. Anyone in Stiflheim must make a Fort save (DC 20) every hour or take 1d6 points of Con, partially from the mild radioactivity and partially from the banks of poisonous gas. Visible-spectrum vision on this plane is limited to 60ft, and other forms are limited to 100ft, due to the ever swellling mists.
The main inhabitants of this layer are fiendish mutated creatures, immune to the deadly gases. Anyone with reason to stay on this layer for any length of time must be careful of the deadly wildlife and plants.
Ft. Innocence Lost: The largest concentration of non-petioners living on the layer is the survivalist bunker of Ft. Innocence Lost. Visible from the surface only by a small hut and the ruins of an ancient town, the bunker is inhabited by approximately 5,000 mortals who have abandoned what they see as the 'hopeless' Prime Material Plane. The bunker is about 200 meters below the ground, and the rooms are cramped. However, due to the efforts of their wizards and engineers, the radiation, gases and entrapping dangers of the plane above are negated inside the Fort. Those within the bunker are always quiet, unless they are stirred, in which case they are angry, loud and deadly. Planewalkers with reason to enter the bunker generally complete their business quickly and leave, to avoid insulting their hosts.
The mortals within the town do sometimes have to replenish their supplies, and leave to find food, fuel and supplies on the surface of Stiflheim. They may be recognized by their dark green survival suits and their logo, a red crosshairs on a blue backround.
Testing Station 117: Testing Station 117 is a special punishment reserved for those scientists and weapon-makers who, in life, developed new weapons, especially the chemical kind, and then didn't care how they were used or who used them. The petioners are eternally subjected to "tests" of various fiendish poisons, delightfully administered by the yugoloths who mantain the station, who are always pursuing the 'perfect poison'.
The Roots of Yggdrasil: The Roots of Yddgrasil touch down into the realm of Hel, the Norse of god of dishonorable death. They are twisted and bent by the poisons that fill the plane. Hel lives in her massive, terrible palace, where thousands of petitioners and mortal servants continually work to stock up her arsenals and prepare for the battles of Ragnorak. The center of her palace is a massive nuclear silo, filled with thousands of nuclear weapons, as well as a few Negabombs and terronuclear bombs.
Pluton
The final layer of Hades is an eternal park of dying trees, shrivelled flowers and grey-brown grasses. It has not changed much in generations, for the layer is simply apathy's physical form. The Blood War rarely reaches to these depths, though a few elite squads of fiends may travel down to retreive a particulary important soul from the depths of the Underworld.
The Underworld: Contained within massive marble walls, the Underworld is the final resting place of all petioners of Hades, as well as many other souls somehow snatched up by the darkness of the Underworld. It's only entry is a massive, tarnished bronze gate, guarded by Canarianas, a gargantuan three-headed dog, welded together from the bodies of petioners. Within the gates, the Underworld is similar to Pluton outside, except for the writhing partioners, slowly being sucked dry of emotion and consumed by the darkness. If a wrongfully-taken soul is rescued, it may be returned to the plane that it should have traveled to in the first place. Many travellers to Hades come here to free a trapped loved one from the Underworld. Also, fiends of all sorts roam the Underworld, looking for suitable souls for one diabolic purpose or another.
The Base of Olympus: The foot of the great mountain still reaches down into Hades, with the magnificent palaces of Hades the god covering its lower slopes. Many petitioners here are stolen from the Underworld, eternally drifting through the massive black halls, devoid of caring and emotion. Hades himself often wanders the corridors in contemplation, appearing as a tall, handsome, dark man. The palace itself has changed little in its three thousand years of existence, though instead of tridents and spears, any warriors within the walls carry AK-47s and wear night-vision goggles.
(edit: added Olympus and Yggdrasil... anything else?)
...Ooh! I know! The Yugoloths are letting the Mercykillers and demodands complete the Tower for them. Once it is completed to the 'loths satisfaction, they'll retake the Tower and once and for all establish their dominion over evil! Buahahaha!
Edit: Roast, what about the Nidhogg and the roots of Yggdrasil, are they still around?
I'm new to the planes... I only started playing DnD in 2000, and I love the idea of the planescape setting... but the books are hard to find, especially in Australia. All I have is Manual of The Planes and the tidbits of info I've found on the net.
I know about Yggdrasil from Norse myth, but what exactly does it have to do with Hades? Tell me, and I'll work it into the Atomic Wastelands.
My installment on Buxemus will go up tomorrow, completing Cold War Arcadia,
By the way, are we going to use the Quasi/Semi elemental planes or not? I think Radiance is better for the Elemental Plane of Power than Fire... but whatever you want.
The Cabal of the Macabre: The realm of Wee Jas is a strange thing amidst the chaos and battle of Ocanthus, alone of all structures here it remains as it mostly is, jet-black ice amidst which's twisted forms can be seen the skeletons of all creatures of the multiverse.
Death is still, and has always been, and (if you believe the Witch-Godess) will always be, the Godess still make mortals try her sadistic tests and entering her Realm is still unwise.
Just some notes:
When I was writing Acheron I had different thoughts in mind, the Clangor/Nishruk cube was obviously inspired by various sites of urban warfare, think Sarajevo or Stalingrad, burnt-out houses, snipers everywhere... You get the point.
Scourgehold I didn't really detail much but I got the impression of one of those nazi parades or soviet marches thingies.
Originally posted by Princeoflowlight
Airbases on the Plane of Air? Giant (GIANT) airships out of the minds of the craziest 19th century sci-fi writers would be a lil more appropriate and practical, mayhaps?
Sure, why not? I kind of like the airbases though, a more true-modern feel.
But no reason you can't have huge mobile airships (gnomish perhaps?) as well. They wouldn't need a balloon of course, so could be all sorts of funky shapes with propellors, and even impellers (oars?), protruding from all kinds of places. Steam powered ones you could see coming from hundreds of miles away, or perhaps some hitched to gigantic flying creatures of some sort (Flintstones-style). Badly converted seacraft a la Spelljammer?
But these should be more novelties, remnants, or eccentrics. It's just a little too steampunk. Though what are PCs other than eccentric magnets? :D
The second layer of Arcadia has not experienced the same urbanization that is easilly visable in Abellio. To be sure, the modern world has left its mark on the layer in the form of great concrete highways and modern military installations. However, aside from Heliopolis, there are no towering skyscrapers or massive urban centers. Instead, most of the layer looks just as it has for millenia: forests of perfectly lined trees, circular lakes, and lawn-like grasslands. There are a number of small towns dotting the layers, which serve as way stops between places of interest. Each town is symmetrical and identical in layout. Each town is policed by a small posee of Harmonium State Troopers, but the townspeople themselves are ready to maintain order as well. In fact, the locals are usually more suspisious of non-natives than even the hardheads, and would rather such folk move on as quickly as possible.
Military Bases: Exiting the highways around any of the small towns leads a traveler to a road that eventually takes them to a large concrete moat and barbed wire fence that can only be entered at a single well-guarded checkpoint. Signs around the enclosement warn the curious that unauthorized entry will be met with lethal force. Anyone foolish to test this warning will find themselves the target of a Solar's .50 cal sniper rifle of slaying. Within these confines, the bulk of Arcadia's military might is kept, ready to be called on if the Plane ever goes to war.
There are three types of bases in Buxemus. The first and largest are army forts. Here, the EAF trains new recruits and sets up mustering grounds for its reserves. Tanks, artilary, helicopters, army transports, weapons, and munitions are stored in deep underground bunkers that can withstand a nuclear assault.
The second type of base is the strategic air force fields. Thousands of astral bombers sit ready in hangers so they can be called on in a moments notice. A number of them are always in the air at all times. Some patrol all the way out to the astral plane, and can quickly reach their targets in the lower planes should they need to attack.
Finally, there are the missile silos. No one knows how many IPBMs Arcadia possesses, but the number is easily in the tens of thousands. It is also unkown how far Arcadia's IPBMs can reach, although the Republic has hinted that their missiles can hit targets as deep as Nessus. The devils are very interested in confirming the validity of this claim.
The Minerva Test Range: Far from any of the major highways is a arid, rocky desert fenced off from the rest of the layer. The EAF uses the desert to test its nuclear weapons. Surprisingly, the desert seems to have altered itself to accomodate this use, drawing much of the radiation from test detonations deep into its soil, where it can't reach the outside world.
In the past, the EAF tested their weapons above ground. Perfect hemispheres thousands of feat wide carved into the ground mark the blast sites of these tests. Today, however, all tests are carried out underground. Tremors are usually the only indications that a test is going on.
The Strait Road Cafe: Not a single cafe, but a franchise formed by a group of entrepreneurs that seem to be otherwise unknown in this layer. Strait Road Cafes are the perfect place to stop for those who would rather not deal with the annoying harmony esposed by most of the natives.
The Republic of Arcadia quickly put an end to the Harmonium's efforts to "retrain" chaotic beings when it was realized how much harm such practices might cause to the layer. Most of the former inmates fled for less rigid areas. A few decided to remain, however, and opened a cafe for visitors in search of a stop where hospitality was still appreciated. The cafe quickly turned into a small chain of cafes lining the highways.
The government has put severe restrictions on how large the cafe chain can be, but they recognize the value of having something to counter-balance the organized militarism on Buxemus. Since they aren't breaking any laws, the natives are tolerant of these way-stops and even use them in their travels.
Heliopolis: The home of the pharaonic pantheon is the layer's sole major urban center. Heliopolis is located on the banks of a great river in the middle of a vast desert. This ancient city joins together the past with the present. At one end of the realm, ancient stone-cut temples, sun-dry houses, and magnificent stone pyramids line the cobbled and mud-dried streets. Moving through the city is like moving through time, until one finds himself in downtown Heliopolis. While cars have replaced chariots and concrete has replaced stone and brick, the downtown district still clearly reflects the tastes of the pharaonic pantheon, the clearest example being the massive steel-glass pyramid that is the home of the sun god Ra.
In fact, Ra is rarely to be found in the Solar Pyramid. Instead, he spends most of his time commanding the Armada of the Sun, a massive fleet that guides the sun through the skies of Heliopolis (which replaces the 3-sided orb as the primary source of light in Heliopolis). The Solar Pyramid is instead occupied by Horus, the god of kings and vengence. Horus is the ruler of Heliopolis and head of the pharaonic pantheon, although he shares power with his parents, Osiris and Isis.
Although the old city remains intact, it is hardly used by most of the petitioners living in Heliopolis. Instead, the houses and shops have been converted into tombs for the ever-expanding city. Thus, the oldest sections of the city have fallen under the perview of Osiris, king of the dead. Petitioners who worshiped Osiris have been transformed into good-aligned mummies (immune to turning), who are now responsible for keeping the old city in pristine condition. Osiris is also served by more typical divine agents that deal with anyone who gets the wrong idea when they see undead walking the streets.
A highly sophisticated irrigation system brings water to the desert regions surrounding Heliopolis, which allows the nearby suburbs to keep gardens that used to be unimaginable this far in the desert. These suburbs are of a markedly different style than the ones common in Abellio. This reflects the specific tastes of communities that worship the pharaonic pantheon. While shrines to Isis, goddess of magic, marraige, and technology, can be found through out the Heliopolis area, the largest temples are located in the suburbs. Isis also keeps her main residence in the suburbs-an expansive but unimposing suburban flat that would be difficult to distinguish from other large residences were it not for the soothing presence of her divine aura. Surprisingly personable for a deity, Isis is an active participant in her local community, though she avoids using her divine power to upstage others who desire to serve the community as well. Spectacular time-management (in both a normal and divine sense) allows Isis to juggle her responsibilities as a god and her participation in the community without sacrificing either.
Unknown to most visitors, the river flowing through Heliopolis is in fact a planar pathway. Taking the river upstream eventually leads to the river mouth which empties into the Silver Sea of Celestia. From here, a traveler can access the River Oceanus via a massive canal that runs through Bytopia. The Republic of Arcadia leaves it to the pharaonic pantheon (which has in fact been granted semi-autonomy over Heliopolis) to regulate traffic on the river, and the River Police can be just as discriminating as the hardheads at the borders. Still, the River is perhaps the best ways of getting into Buxemus, as long as a traveller knows where to look.
Also, don't forget to post your writeups to the Yahoo group as well.
Originally posted by Arilou_skiff
So... No comments on my Acheron write-up?
It's not bad, but needs some editing. You overused commas and many of your paragraphs are a single runon sentance. You also might want to add a little more depth and write up some locations on each layer instead of leaving it blank.
It's okay for now as a general idea, but it'd be great if you could fix it up a bit for the Yahoo group.
Originally posted by Primus, the One and Prime
Alot of te ideas have started to be very Futuristic as opposed to Modern. We may need to step back a bit and look at what we've got. Can we build giant space stations? In a "Modern" level setting should there be a massive space station on every plane? Now, a few isn't unheard of, but if this is truly going to be a modern setting and not a futuristic one we want to keep the tech level consistent.
We also need to keep in mind that this isn't "Planar America". All of the stereotypes that we know about what hell should look like in the "Modern World" only fit our particular cultural outlook. We have to keep our ideas modernized while remaining generic.
Good point. I was writing up Route 66 as a planar pathway, but then I realize that's a little too American. I decided to keep it since it's so iconic, but I need a major non-American planer pathway to balance it, perhaps the Orient Express or the Silk Road.
I'm also trying to steer clear of scifi. A lot of stuff in Baator is seriously high-tech, but nothing overly science fiction except in a dystopian, 1984/Brazil/Brave New World way. Large banks of monitors, the eternal mail filing, etc.
Originally posted by Ulden Throatbane
It is the quintissential gated community
It is where laws are made for the common good
It is the first line of defense against the corperate legions of Hell, Inc.
Good job! I like this one a lot. It's pretty much exactly what a very law-oriented, but slightly altruistic place would be like in the modern world, and diverse enough to cover a variety of views of good-leaning law.
However, I agree with what other people said. It'd be great if you could also incorporate aspects of an ideal socialist state somewhere in here. I think we should do a revision once we get everything at least written down, so it's great for now.
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
Heroic Domains of Ysgard
It is where the heroes all time gather.
It is where order is maintained not by law, but by strength and valor of the individual.
It is where the honorable train for all eternity in mortal combat.
Pretty good here. The western front is particularly interesting, since to some people it may seem hellish, while to others it'd be the ultimate in glorious warfare. I have this mental image of biplanes fighting it out with F-16s and the Light Brigade charging a WWI trench.
I also love Olidimarra's Palace Casino. Funny thing is, in my game I actually HAVE a casino called Olidimarra's Palace.
Random thought for what else could be done with the plane: The Wild West. I know this is Modern, but that is so iconic and so fitting with the plane, I think it deserves a mention. I can just see an entire city of gunslingers that regularly depopulates itself in a massive gunfight each day.
Originally posted by Bob the Efreet
Traveller’s Haven of the Outlands
It is the central hub of the Outer Planes.
It is a network of highways that stretch to everywhere.
It is the place between all places.
Overall pretty good. I'm not as up on the Outlands, always just saw it as a place to be while going somewhere else. But looks good.
Random thought: Route 66?
Originally posted by Not a monkey
The Elemental Plane of Air
It's space, but not as you know it.
It blows, but not necessarily in a bad way.
It brings new meaning to "A long way down".
Nice ideas here, but I think there's a couple changes you can make:
1) It's a bit too silly in places. There's a lot of jokes and side comments, which I think brings down the level of seriousness a bit. This isn't meant to be a joke or parody, so might want to tone it down a bit.
2) I actually understand where you're coming from with the space stations and starships. It really is the best way to get around on a plane like this, and provided they're not powered by quantum drives or anything, I could see it just as really funky airplanes made to fit with the physics of the plane. Try thinking about it along those lines.
Good luck working on Baator.
To the rest of the people participating: try to include the historically based deities, especially if they still have modern relevence (the Hindu gods come to mind). For those unfamiliar with where these gods are located in the Planescape Multiverse, here's a list of where major pantheon centers are:
Greeks: Arborea, first layer (which was called Olympus, rather than Arvandor, in Planescape), with Hecate on Baator's third layer, the Titans in Carceri, and Hades in, um, Hades.
Norse: Ysgard, first layer. Loki was eventually banished to Pandemonium, and Hel and Nidhogg resided in Niflehimm.
Celtic: Outlands, with a few scattered in Elysium, Gehenna, and Hades, I believe
Egyptian: Arcadia. Set lives in Baator's 5th layer, and Nephystus lives in the third layer of Arborea
Hindu, or Vedic: scattered about. Vishnu lived on Celestia, Siva was in the Negative Energy Plane, the war gods lived in Limbo, I believe, and there were a bunch of others as well.
Chinese: Can't remember there names. I know The cheif deity lived in Mechanus, and there was a god living in the Outlands, Acheron, Gehenna, and a few others.
Japanese: Can't remember. Amaterasu lived on Celestia. If you wanted to include the Rokugani mythology, though, the plane of Tengoku probably fits with Celestia the best, and Jingoku would be one of the Abyss' many layers.
Sumerian/Babylonian: The majority are congregated in Mechanus. Ishtar lives in Elysium. Another lives on Dis.
Originally posted by Arilou_skiff
Since someone wanted more Acheronian info:
The Cabal of the Macabre: The realm of Wee Jas is a strange thing amidst the chaos and battle of Ocanthus, alone of all structures here it remains as it mostly is, jet-black ice amidst which's twisted forms can be seen the skeletons of all creatures of the multiverse.
Nice, but if I might interject a little...
Macabre Consultants, LLC: Among the desolate cubes of Avalas, one shines with an eternal sickly greenish light. Accessible by any number of frosted glass double doors adorned with the distinctive "boneputer" logo, a visitor always finds himself in the same vast lobby, completely done in shades of grey and smelling of indeterminate smoke.
Dr. Jas (as any wishing to exist an extra moment call her) has adapted well to her odd situation. The few witnesses to survive from then recall seeing the Cabal, bouyed up by a burst of raw magic on a scale never seen before, rising above the mushroom cloud of Ocanthus, and impacting one of the largest cubes with a sickening crush that echoed on many worlds. Drawing on the memories released from the Styxian ice, she carved herself a model of magical efficiency and obscenity.
While it is widely known that none ever pass the Witch Goddess' magic trials, that is not technically true. Over the millenia, a few truly ruthless individuals, mostly liches and other magical undead, have garnered her favor. These now form the core of the Consultants, with combined power exceeding that of most fiends, and rivalling that of minor deities. Their services are highly sought after by mortals and outsiders alike, and it takes an army of technomages to manage the waiting list alone. Wielding world-changing magic and commanding forces both mundane and arcane (mostly mortals bound by contracts a devil would envy), there is little that can't be made to happen - for the right price.
Wee Jas herself actually takes no interest in most of this, and, deprived of the steady, orderly source of frozen memories, has taken a more "direct" approach to acquiring them. Drawing on stray petitioners (and the occasional unlucky visitor), she has fielded across Avalas (but never on Macabre's cube) abominations, equal parts flesh, magic, and technology, that suck the very minds from whomever they encounter. These they store in SoulFlash cards (a creation that earned the newest Consultant, Zero-zero, his place) for easy retrieval.
Originally posted by The_Fan
Good point. I was writing up Route 66 as a planar pathway, but then I realize that's a little too American. I decided to keep it since it's so iconic, but I need a major non-American planer pathway to balance it, perhaps the Orient Express or the Silk Road.
I'm thinking the Autobahn would be a good choice. A creation originally of Hitler, where without any speed limit imposed, cars run in a remarkably safe and orderly fashion... it sets a good counterpoint to the freewheeling, mom-and-pop friendly Route 66.
Originally posted by Not a monkey
Nice, but if I might interject a little...
Macabre Consultants, LLC: Among the desolate cubes of Avalas, one shines with an eternal sickly greenish light. Accessible by any number of frosted glass double doors adorned with the distinctive "boneputer" logo, a visitor always finds himself in the same vast lobby, completely done in shades of grey and smelling of indeterminate smoke.
Dr. Jas (as any wishing to exist an extra moment call her) has adapted well to her odd situation. The few witnesses to survive from then recall seeing the Cabal, bouyed up by a burst of raw magic on a scale never seen before, rising above the mushroom cloud of Ocanthus, and impacting one of the largest cubes with a sickening crush that echoed on many worlds. Drawing on the memories released from the Styxian ice, she carved herself a model of magical efficiency and obscenity.
While it is widely known that none ever pass the Witch Goddess' magic trials, that is not technically true. Over the millenia, a few truly ruthless individuals, mostly liches and other magical undead, have garnered her favor. These now form the core of the Consultants, with combined power exceeding that of most fiends, and rivalling that of minor deities. Their services are highly sought after by mortals and outsiders alike, and it takes an army of technomages to manage the waiting list alone. Wielding world-changing magic and commanding forces both mundane and arcane (mostly mortals bound by contracts a devil would envy), there is little that can't be made to happen - for the right price.
Wee Jas herself actually takes no interest in most of this, and, deprived of the steady, orderly source of frozen memories, has taken a more "direct" approach to acquiring them. Drawing on stray petitioners (and the occasional unlucky visitor), she has fielded across Avalas (but never on Macabre's cube) abominations, equal parts flesh, magic, and technology, that suck the very minds from whomever they encounter. These they store in SoulFlash cards (a creation that earned the newest Consultant, Zero-zero, his place) for easy retrieval.
Not bad, although it seems to imply that planar knowledge is common in that mortals regularly contact them, something I'd prefer we steer clear of. Plane-travelling should be rare.
Also, how does she relate to the Beloved (urban arcana campaign setting)? Might want to discuss this with Arilou_skiff as well.
Originally posted by The_Fan
Nice ideas here, but I think there's a couple changes you can make:
1) It's a bit too silly in places. There's a lot of jokes and side comments, which I think brings down the level of seriousness a bit. This isn't meant to be a joke or parody, so might want to tone it down a bit.
Actually, that was partly intentional. I've noticed Modern doesn't take itself as formally as D&D, and the color text is flavored by slang and opinion often enough. But hey, please, feel free to edit. I'm no writer, and don't feel at all proprietary about anything I put on the boards.
Originally posted by The_Fan
2) I actually understand where you're coming from with the space stations and starships. It really is the best way to get around on a plane like this, and provided they're not powered by quantum drives or anything, I could see it just as really funky airplanes made to fit with the physics of the plane. Try thinking about it along those lines.
I never mentioned power sources, really. But hey, getting fuel for your aircraft could always be a good adventure hook. And I KNOW I never used the word "starships".
Originally posted by The_Fan
Not bad, although it seems to imply that planar knowledge is common in that mortals regularly contact them, something I'd prefer we steer clear of. Plane-travelling should be rare.
Also, how does she relate to the Beloved (urban arcana campaign setting)? Might want to discuss this with Arilou_skiff as well.
Meh. So cut the mortals out. They can be the best hired-guns of fiends.
Although, when I was referring to mortals, I didn't mean them popping into the office, but rather "contacting" them, perhaps through technomagic of some sort. www.macabre.pln ? :D
;)
Originally posted by Ulden Throatbane
The link is broken
;)
Only for you... :88E:
It is a place of the greatest riches.
It is a barrier against all foes.
It is a haven for the greedy.
-Heavy Gravity
-Normal Time
-Infinite Size
-Alterable Morphic
-Earth-Dominant
-Enhanced Magic: Spells and Spell-like abilities that use, manipulate, or create earth or stone (including those of the earth domain) are both empowered and extended (as if the empower spell and extend spell feats had been used on them, but the spells dont require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already empowered or extended are unaffected by this benefit.
-Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create air (including the summoning of air elementals or creatures with the air subtype) are impeded. This includes spells of the Air domain. These spells and spell-like abilities can still be used, but a successful spell craft check (DC 15+spell level) must be made to do so.
The elemental plane of earth is so vast, infinite, in fact, that any attempt to meaningfully change it is bound to end in failure. Ove the millenia, little apparent change has come to the plane as a whole, but the inhabitants have changed a great deal. As the worlds of the prime material have consumed the resources of their worlds, they have turned to the elemental plane of earth in ever-increasing numbers to keep their industry supplied with raw materials. Mining colonies are spotted throughout the plane, mining metals base and precious alike. These colonies are fraught with failure, as the plane has a tendency to close all rents in its structure. The rock slowly "grows" to fill in any artificial holes that sentients create, and the perils of the more powerful elementals, such as the Mercury and Uranium elementals.
The Dao have set up a huge trading empire on the plane, and keep a monopoly on the sale of crude oil. Those in the scientific know realize that oil is only created from what was originally organic material, and wonder how many settlements were entombed by Dao sorcery millions of years ago to ensure their control over this substance in the present.
The Great Dismal Delve
Cosmopolitan, bustling, and rich, the Delve is the place to be on the plane of earth. Thousands of deals are closed her every day between the Dao and other planar groups, or occasionally prime material governments. The nightlife here is famous throughout the planes, and along with the heady Dao alcohol attracts tourists by the portal load. The fabulously rich Dao also run a series of casinos here to supplement their already outrageous wealth. Every building is positively encrusted with gems and gold, creating a city that seems to be one giant piece of jewelry.
Of course, the Dao are also famously egotistical and evil, and the glitz and glamor conceals a seedy, murderous underworld. Any non-Dao who gets too rich can expect to end up dead sooner or later if he remains in the city.
Dao Defense Contracting
In a cavern kept deadly secret, without any tunnel connection to the Great Dismal Delve, is the weapons construction facility of the Dao. Nuclear weapons are commonly sold here, as are more esoteric weapons such as Petrification Bombs. Governments can contract armies of earth elementals, as well as more powerful variants such as Francium Elementals. The deals are fantastically expensive, and the Dao are quick to exact a harsh price if their clients cannot pay on time. Entire prime nations have been enslaved for their government's inability to pay a loan.
Here's what I've come up with so far, I'll finish it up sometime this weekend, and then post it to the group.
So what do people think?
–––––
Features of Carceri (cont.)
The Dens of Vendetta:
All of Carceri’s rocks are, in theory, capable of supporting life. Some asteroids, however, are better suited to the task than others. Those sustaining (or capable of sustaining) an ecology of plants and animals amidst the boulder fields, those with sizable quantities of accessible water, are naturally preferred by Carcerians and visitors alike.
Thus the Dens of Vendetta, the name given to those most hospitable bergs still open to settlement, not controlled by the demodands, Mercykillers, or other greater power centers. These rocks are, naturally, the most crowded. Hastily constructed settlements, from shantytowns to trailer parks to urban ghettos, have sprung up around every lichen farm and natural spring. Once a rock is discovered suitable residents flood in until the resources have been taxed to their limit, however, so droughts and famines are still a fairly regular occurrence.
Whatever order manages to survive in the Dens comes from the numerous small gangs that call them home (though even the best are at times more menacing than protective). Gang wars are frequent and brutal, serving more as an outlet for the pent-up frustrations and resentment of their members than any sort of genuine strategic maneuvering.
Overthrow:
In the midst of a boulder-strewn wasteland, barren even by the current standards of the plane, lies the city of Overthrow, a modern (if desolate) urban center laid out like a military compound, complete with barracks, bunkers, airstrips, and tall, video-monitored, barbed-wire gates.
The residents of Overthrow are all members of militia, mercenary, and paramilitary groups, endlessly preparing for some great interplanar battle against the tyranny of... well, ask any two of them and you’ll get five different answers. But they’re all certain of one thing: the day of reckoning is coming soon, and when it does, they’re going to be ready. The Revolutionary League has its headquarters here in a squat, blocky compound largely buried in the rubble, plotting a return to Sigil and revenge on the other factions, guilds, and even the Lady herself far beyond the reach of her flaying shadow.
Overthrow is also the home of Black Bart, a creature of dubious planar heritage who runs a sort of one-stop trading post and resource center for anarchists. From black box security decryptors to neurotoxins to nitroglycerine recipes to fake IDs, Black Bart can either sell it to you (his machine shops for custom-built weaponry is small, but very high-tech) or at least put you in touch with someone else who can. Need to find a surgeon to alter your retinal patterns and fingerprints? How about an assassin to take out a high-ranking military official? Or just a few good, reliable witnesses to vouch for your location on the night of the crime? Whatever your needs, Black Bart knows just the right person to call.
Out beyond the city limits, amidst the jagged stone and blowing dust, political exiles and cult leaders barricade themselves in bleak caves, radio antennas alone poking above the sands. From here they broadcast their pirate signals across the multiverse, heavily encrypted messages to their faithful supporters spouting an endless rhetoric of victimization and self-righteous war.
The Cages of Ivory:
On several of Carceri’s rocks, those formally part of the layer Orthrys, tall office buildings and monolithic skyscrapers rise from a ground of festering muck. These ‘ivory cages’–– towers of elitism no longer–– are home to those corrupt politicians and businessmen who sold out their own companies or nations for personal gain, who pursued influence or the bottom line at the cost of human dignity.
Something in air around each of these asteroids rusts metal and dissolves plastic with alarming rapidity. Any device not made entirely of natural materials is thus rendered utterly inoperable within a day of arrival. Without the ability to communicate with the rest of the multiverse to curry favors, or effectively use any of their vast former resources, the prisoners of the Ivory Cages become impotent beyond the power of their own frequently neglected bodies. Images of roving bands of pudgy, suit-clad managers beating each other in the mud-slick streets over bundles of now useless paper currency are being touted by the Mercykillers as an example of just punishment at its finest, and the videotapes of the skirmishes are reportedly selling quite well.
Some of the Ivory Cages are actually ruled by greater titans, colossal powers bound to the plane when their pantheon was overthrown countless years ago ago. The titans never reduce themselves to involvement in the affairs of the lesser inhabitants, though many seek them out to call upon their millennia of knowledge. Their towers are built of marble and bronze, reflecting a very classical approach to architecture, and the air within lacks the corrosive effect that dominates the rest of the cities. Their database libraries are second to none, and rumors abound of holograph technology advanced to the point of art form, but few survive the titanic tempers intruders frequently evoke. The titans like their privacy, plain and simple.
Just after the explosion that ripped the plane apart, portals to the Abyss became commonplace, a reflection of planar alignment thrown abruptly out of sync. During the turmoil, at least one of the greater titans, called Chronus, escaped. How he actually managed to do this is unknown, as is his current location. His tower still stands, though the rusting effect taken over, ruining the treasures and technology inside, and everything else was looted by senator gangs years ago.
Cathrys Jungle:
The bulk of this single planetoid still bears the overabundant tropical forest that once dominated the entire Cathrys layer. In a few places, however, the jungle of wood has given way to a jungle of concrete, forming what is now the largest free city in Carceri (The Red Cell is far larger, but hardly qualifies). The city was never really finished, and many buildings are little more than I-beam support structures and leaky roofs (a real sticking point for non-natives, given the acid rain), but the Jungle still draws visitors from around Carceri and beyond.
The Jungle serves a meeting place for those who don’t really belong in Carceri, but must do business there anyway. The bars are seedy, to be sure, but at least you won’t enslaved by demodands or cut down by submachine gun fire in the latest Overthrow jihad. Well, on most days. Like Black Bart’s, the Jungle is also a place to buy things you can’t even ask about, much less buy openly, in more reputable parts of the multiverse. The slave trade lives on in the dark, refuse-choked alleys, and the ‘service industry’ (which can mean anything from private investigators to prostitutes, depending on who you ask) thrives.
Beyond the city limits Cathrys exists as it always has: a festering black jungle constantly trying to eat you alive. The Apothecary of Sin still rises high in the treetops, concealed by smothering fog, where Sinmaker and Son (actually just the son now; demons don’t like sharing, even with their own blood) will still sell you everything from cyanide to mustard gas. Under the new management, the Apothecary now also sells custom narcotics of truly fiendish addictiveness and potency. Visitors to the Jungle noting the shuffling masses of drug-addled living zombies observe the work of the Son of Sin, acting through countless pushers to sicken the foundations of planar society as surely as any of his father’s poisons.
Agathys:
The single, frigid orb of Nerull’s realm was entirely unaffected by the demonic explosion, the divine aura of the layer’s chief resident protecting his realm from harm. Some of the ice on the layer’s surface thawed briefly, revealing the frozen petitioners trapped within, but these unfortunate souls have been returned to the even colder and more permanent captivity of cryogenic suspension chambers.
Nerull has not emerged from his frozen citadel, the Necromanteon, for centuries at least, though his undead and fiendish agents come and go frequently. The dungeons beneath his citadel have been turned into a fully modern research laboratory, albeit with a rather baroque and gothic feel. There his mad minions work to perfect both the creation of unlife and instruments of death, most notably the negabomb, mechanized zombie, and a way to bind a tortured spirit to a manufactured construct (the infamous ‘ghost train’). Reports tell of undead massing on the Astral Plane, apparently seeking a way to move a god-statue through a planar gate. So far they’ve failed spectacularly, but the undead, naturally, have all the time in the world.
The Tower of Incarnate Pain:
Wizened planar experts tell how the yugoloths once planned to build a tower in Carceri to match Khin-Oin on Hades and the Tower of the Arcanoloths in Gehenna. This tower–– the Tower of Incarnate Pain–– was supposed to ‘network’ somehow with the existing two and dramatically boost yugoloth power and influence.
The demodands brag that this tower was captured before completion, that it now exists as the foundation of the Red Cell.
And yet there are those who wonder. How the demodands managed to discover the project despite the yugoloths’ mastery of secrecy and manipulation. How the demons were able to so quickly devise a weapon to nearly destroy an entire plane... and why they never used it again. Why The Rot was so quick to vanish after the great explosion, despite the number of survivors. And why the yugoloths would build a massive tower carved into the earth, when their plans reportedly required the structure to be mobile.
Occasionally a planewalker will be found drifting in space, completely barmy, raving about a miles-long ship out beyond the asteroid field, a tower of jagged barbs and bleeding flesh drifting silently through the void. If allowed to continue his babbling, he may tell how the ship could appear suddenly in full view, then in another heartbeat fade away.
A few pathologically paranoid scholars note that these reports began at roughly the same time as the proliferation of the internet in the early nineties. Such scholars frequently live as hermits, many have joined the Amish, and none will go anywhere near a personal computer.
"In eons past eons, whent he baern walked openly upon the Planes of Darkness and their children the yugoloths were finding their legs one(three?) of the baern set out to prove its(there?) abilities.
In a dark ritual it (they?) crafted a tripartate race of beings, the gehreleths (also called the demodands). This same fell ritual transmuted it (them?) into the horrible entity Apomps the Three-Faced. The baern, learning of this... abomination, banished it from their courts. Apomps and his children fled to Carceri where they took up residence. The Three-Faced and his children settled the dark cold orbs and began nurturing their hatred of the Yugoloths and the Baern who banished them. The 'loths hate the gehreleths and the gehreleths feel the same way about the 'loths. In his icy corner of Agathy the mad being grew in power, the worship of the entirety of the gehreleth race ascended him to Power status. Now he plots against the 'loths though his people lack the numbers necessary to do anything particularly damaging to them. There are only 9,999 Gehreleths (10,000 if you count ol' Apomps) and they can double that number instantly if war sets in on them; compare this to the near infinitude of Yugoloths and see why they are never going to win their war against the yugoloths. (The 'loths also have a disadvantage a they lack the backing of a true Power)
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=183950
Note the two-way radio on the leftmost's officer's shoulder and the military-style fatigues.
Btw, I think I'll be going with Elysium once I make some additions about the Formian Cities and the current state of the lost layer of Menausus.
Also, should we include the FR deities as well?
Originally posted by WizO_Sith
Well, there's no planar travel in Urban Arcana, so that would mean some fundamental changes to the setting (although it does mean you could go back to using the Ethereal-Plane based Ghosts).
Even if it's from a few pages back, Sith has a good point. the most apparent option to correct this i can think of is have an actual Planescape 2d0 modern Campaign Setting. Obviously if it's set up as another setting then different Cosmological rules apply. There could be open travel, even from the Prime Material Plane.
Or, if it's decided to use the UACS . . . Anyone have any idea's in regards to why planar travel (at least to and from the Material Plane) has been shut down?
Or you can just have the Urban Arcana setting be one of the Prime worlds... either way, it works.
P.S: If we're using all the other deities, we might as well go with the FR deities too.
Amoria: As I already mentioned, I think a New Age/health-club feel would work well for this layer.
Eronia: Backpackers' paradise.
Belierin: This could either be something like a Louisiana bayou, or a favorite hangout for good-aligned goths. Maybe a bit of both.
Thalasia: Think Hawaii; sun, surf and sand!
Thoughts regarding other planes...
I agree with Ulden's assessment of Carceri. I don't have anything against it being like an asteroid field per se, but at the very least it ought to have air. (Which seems to be the case now.)
Regarding Bytopia, I've decided my Jetsons analogy wasn't a very good one, because there aren't any suburbs as we think of them in that show (at least I don't remember any; then again, I haven't seen it in years). I'm thinking a better example (as far as the "look and feel" is concerned) would be Bicentennial Man.
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
By the way, are we going to use the Quasi/Semi elemental planes or not? I think Radiance is better for the Elemental Plane of Power than Fire... but whatever you want.
As far as that goes, the Plane of Lightning would be an even closer match. However, I don't think the Inner Planes should be altered like that (although I can see an argument for making the Plane of Radiance into the Plane of Radiation). The inhabitants and the structures they build may become modernized (I *love* the idea of airships), but the fundamental nature of the elements should stay the same. In contrast to the mutable nature of the Outer Planes, the Inner Planes represent the unchanging forces of the elements.
Originally posted by Terraneaux
Of course, the Dao are also famously egotistical and evil, and the glitz and glamor conceals a seedy, murderous underworld. Any non-Dao who gets too rich can expect to end up dead sooner or later if he remains in the city.
Dao Mafia!
I like!RoastSlinky: FYI, Hel was a female deity. She was depicted as having the body of a beautiful woman on one side, and a rotting corpse on the other (kind of like Two-Face).
Wyvern
Originally posted by The_Fan
Also, how does she relate to the Beloved (urban arcana campaign setting)?
"commanding forces both mundane and arcane"... covers them pretty well, doesn't it? :D
The Mandible Commune: The formian hive-city of Mandible (now grown to the size of a continent) has always been peaceful and open to visitors. Recently, however, a number of nonformians have come to Mandible seeking to live there as a full member of the community. The formians are amiable to these requests (although at first they weren't exactly sure how to respond, as no one had ever before willing wished to join the hive), and give the newcomer a place to stay and a job to do. Such members are expected to work towards the good of the hive just as they were formians themselves. Some find the formian way of life to be more than they expected, and move back to more humanoid communities (the formians never stop anyone from moving out; if things aren't working out, its best to get a more reliable worker to do the job anyways). A few nonformian residents, however, stay and even try to raise families. Much to their surprise (and delight), their children somehow bonded to the Mandible hive-mind at birth. As a result of this bonding, it seems that Mandible now has a permanent population of nonformians. While biologically unchanged, these nonformian residents have the same mindset as Formians, and it would be very difficult to distinguish a formian and nonformian mandiblan if you were only listening to their voice.
The Lost Layer of Menausus
Only the most dedicated researcher of planer history knows that Arcadia once had a third layer: Menausus. Ages ago, this layer apparently slided into Mechanus for reason that are now obscure. These researchers have hypothesized that many of the military bases on Buxemus are in fact built over the portals to the lost layer.
For the most part, though, there is little trace of Menausus, both on Arcadia and Mechanus. Public records in Civilopolis carry no mention of it. If the military bases in Buxemus are hiding portals to Mechanus, no one is saying. A search on "Menausus" turns up precious few references on the databases kept in the Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment. And without further information on why Menausus joined Mechanus, searching for the layer itself would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack while blindfolded. Many have dismissed Menausus as a fable the Arcadians tell to their young about the need to not forget goodness in their pursuit of order.
Recently, however, a section of Acheron (on the layer of Ocanthus) apparently blinked out of existence after a battalion of Harmonium special forces was seen entering the area carrying what looked like lots of medical equipment. Soon afterward, Harmonium elite strike teams have been spotted moving up and down the River Styx. The hardheads strike quickly and decisively before slipping back into the murky river. No one knows how they managed to navigate the treacherous Styx, but it is clear that the hardheads have somehow managed to gain easy access to the river, and many believe that they are using the missing section of Ocanthus for this end.
Here are some of my initial ideas:
-The 'loths nuke Armoria, but this only makes the layer better in the long run (all the survivors acquire beneficial mutations instead of cancer, phoenix were spontaneously generated in the blast, life is actually promoted by the radioactive fallout, hideously powerful but good-aligned monsters rise out of the epicenters of the blast, etc.)
-The great evil trapped within Belierin is freed, only to be destroyed by a group of heroes (I think we've all been here before ;) ). Belierin becomes a much nicer place to live.
-Apparently, ships have souls of their own, and one of them (USS Yorktown) has been given a final resting place in Thalasia.
I can see the red baron in ysgard, flying around fighting other aeronauts; the coporationso of Baator, the pipes of Pandemonium...just great.
I can't think of any helpful suggestions right now, but I wonder if being an anarch could get easier or be done with machines...
what would the plane of shadow be like?
Is anybody doing Gehenna? It seems important, what with all the stuff about the yugoloths going on, to know what's happened to their main plane.
Originally posted by The_Fan
Not bad, although it seems to imply that planar knowledge is common in that mortals regularly contact them, something I'd prefer we steer clear of. Plane-travelling should be rare.
Also, how does she relate to the Beloved (urban arcana campaign setting)? Might want to discuss this with Arilou_skiff as well.
I'm going to go into more detail of the different layers later on, but I considered leaving Wee Jas' realm mostly as is, she is a godess of Death and Death is the only thing that remains constant evne in the Modern western world, most westerners no longer fear hunger, cold or disease to the same degree, but Old Age and Death are still as active as ever (and of course we've gained a whole bunch of NEW fears)
I like the writeup of Acheron, though I would have liked to see inter-cube air warfare. Top notch stuff there.
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
I just remembered something- d20 Modern has no alignments, so what do the alignment traits mean? Will we put alignment into it, or forget about alignment?
We aren't so much using the Outer Planes in Urbana Arcana as we are using Urbana Arcana in the Outer Planes. The alignment system still plays an important role in Planescape. Though, in the end, its up to the DM really.
Are you playing Planescape or d20 Modern?
Primes from modern-day Earth don't believe in the "Four Elements of the Old World". However, when they start to inhabit the planes, they will see that not only is the theory the four elements true, but the inner planes embody these concepts.
Or do they?
Many of the younger Earth-Prime sages have theorized that the inner planes don't embody the four elements at all. They instead embody the four states of matter! So, a new minority has sprung up in the planes, people who don't refer the to the inner planes as Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. To those few, they are known as the planes of Solids, Liquids, Gases and Plasma. Needless to say, this has sparked some serious controversy amongst the Gensai community.
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
Someone was generous enough to draw us Modern Harmonium officers:
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=183950
Note the two-way radio on the leftmost's officer's shoulder and the military-style fatigues.
I'm currently fixing that uniform (gah, that picture looks terrible) - I should literally have it pretty much done in the next couple hours maybe. I found all my art supplies, finally. Moving is, well, it makes you lose things.
Where's the Yahoo! group now?
Originally posted by hiryuu
I'm currently fixing that uniform (gah, that picture looks terrible) - I should literally have it pretty much done in the next couple hours maybe. I found all my art supplies, finally. Moving is, well, it makes you lose things.
Where's the Yahoo! group now?
The group can be found here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UrbanPlanars
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
I just remembered something- d20 Modern has no alignments, so what do the alignment traits mean? Will we put alignment into it, or forget about alignment?
I like the writeup of Acheron, though I would have liked to see inter-cube air warfare. Top notch stuff there.
d20 Modern doesn't have "Alignment", it has an alternate system called "Allegiance". For Planescape players who don't know d20 Modern too well: a character can have up to three "Allegiances", which can be Law or Chaos, Good or Evil, or they can be toward an organization, faction, religion, family, group, or code of honor.
This system means a faction, religion or ideology can be more important to how a PC acts than their "alignment" on the Good/Evil & Law/Chaos axis, which seems like it would go really well for Planescape. The Allegiances are in order of priority, so the first one listed is the one most important to them, and so on. So, for Planar Alignment traits, PC's in d20 Modern can still have those traits for the planes to affect.
Examples:
Typical Harmonium Member: Harmonium, Law, Good
Typical Xaositech: Chaos, Xaositecs
Typical Cleric of Zeus: Zeus, Chaos, Good
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
The group can be found here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UrbanPlanars
Thank you.
Oh, by the way.....
http://www.nazro.net/psmodern/harmonium.jpg
Remember that neutrality has an effect in Planology, though, too. Free energy science is affected by the Plane of Concordant Opposition, remember.
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
Many of the younger Earth-Prime sages have theorized that the inner planes don't embody the four elements at all. They instead embody the four states of matter! So, a new minority has sprung up in the planes, people who don't refer the to the inner planes as Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. To those few, they are known as the planes of Solids, Liquids, Gases and Plasma. Needless to say, this has sparked some serious controversy amongst the Gensai community.
That's an excellent idea, since it allows us to rationalize the compatability of the inner planes with modern atomic theory.
What it would evolve into, though, is where I'm getting stuck. On one hand, it should emphasize the things that are important to moral (ie good-aligned) beings, but on the otherhand, it should not neglect the changes the modern world has brought about. A description of modern Elysium would, in the words of Kefka, sound like "pages out of a self-help book."
Originally posted by Ulden Throatbane
That's an excellent idea, since it allows us to rationalize the compatability of the inner planes with modern atomic theory.
You know the Guvners would love any idea that helps to explain the new influx earth-based physical theories that seemingly contradict the tried and true planar axioms.
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
You know the Guvners would love any idea that helps to explain the new influx earth-based physical theories that seemingly contradict the tried and true planar axioms.
Well, I'm not too sure how they're going to feel about Quantum Mechanics, though. They're either going to hate it or love it ("Finally! A theory for chaos!")
Originally posted by hiryuu
Remember that neutrality has an effect in Planology, though, too. Free energy science is affected by the Plane of Concordant Opposition, remember.
How do you mean?
Awesome picture by the way. I never thought that a Harmonium Officier would be so.... hot.
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
Many of the younger Earth-Prime sages have theorized that the inner planes don't embody the four elements at all. They instead embody the four states of matter! So, a new minority has sprung up in the planes, people who don't refer the to the inner planes as Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. To those few, they are known as the planes of Solids, Liquids, Gases and Plasma. Needless to say, this has sparked some serious controversy amongst the Gensai community.
Okay, this is just too good to pass up. It works, and in many ways. Heck, it even makes sense with some of the quasi-elementals (steam?, why, that's just super-heated water vapor, part liquid, part gas), as well as a good way to explain spells in a modern context. (That fireball, nothing but a ball of plasma!)
Originally posted by nobodez
Okay, this is just too good to pass up. It works, and in many ways. Heck, it even makes sense with some of the quasi-elementals (steam?, why, that's just super-heated water vapor, part liquid, part gas), as well as a good way to explain spells in a modern context. (That fireball, nothing but a ball of plasma!)
I like it, but what does it do to the Positive and Negative planes?
Superdense black hole matter, and anti-matter perhaps? Just doesn't feel right... any better ideas?
Originally posted by Not a monkey
I like it, but what does it do to the Positive and Negative planes?
I was thinking that the Positive and Negative planes would remain largely unchanged from their current Creation/Entropy states. They really don't contradict any earth-physical laws like the other four do.
Also, as I was writing this, I thought about Carceri's gate town. What if a new gate town emerged (or the old one was changed) and the new nature of the town resembles the prison-like atmosphere that is usually associated with the plane in conjuction with the ties that the new version of the plane has with the Abyss. The town itself could be a randomly shifting maze that is very difficult to both navigate and escape (think the movie Cube). Perhaps difficult clues for escape are available if the person trying to get out is smart enough to figure them out.
Just a few ideas that were floating around in my head, so I thought that I would share.
Originally posted by Ornum
Bob, are you going to eventually write up each gate town?
Hmm, I hadn't planned on it, but it could be a good idea. It hadn't occurred to me that the gate-towns would be fundamentally different from normal modern towns. I may look into writing them up, now that you mention it, but if I don't get to it first anyone else can feel free to write up a gate town.
The githyanki sealed the Astral Plane off.
I'm not sure if it fits, but what if the githyanki (and more specifically the Lich Queen) decided that they were sick of all the foreigners zipping around their home plane and then figured out some way to bar planar travel to and through the Astral, barring a few powerful portals. Not only would such an plane shaking event allow for many of the shake-ups present here (such as the rise of Erebus and the collapse of Mechanus), but with proper timing it helps with why there is has been no magic in the world. Without the Astral Plane as a connection, the gods could no longer access their worshippers and grant them spells. Most ancient magic has more of a divine flavor than an arcane, and the loss of the arcane can be explained by the collapse of civilization as the ancient people knew it when the Roman Empire fell. In the fighting over the past millenia and half most magical items were destroyed or reduced to family heirlooms so for the most part magic was lost, and with the Age of Reason the last remnants were killed off.
However, with much of the magic of the world drained away but superstitions still present, a sort of dark mystique developed and the Plane of Shadow began to grow, sending out tendrils, creating new portals to the Outer Planes, which allowed a few select powerful and resourceful individuals to sneak through and keep contact, which helped to sustain the ideas of magic and monsters and allowed Heaven and Hell to keep tabs on Earth.
As the modern world grew and urban mystique gained power, the Plane of Shadow grew once again and allowed more beings to come and go from Earth, and to eventually even bring back things created here, such as examples of firearms and artillery pieces.
No one knows who first figured out how to break through the githyanki barriers, or whether it was Heaven or Hell that fired the first shot, but a few decades ago someone reopened the Astral Plane in what eventually grew into an all against the githyanki war with angels and devils using tanks and machine guns against medieval githyanki armies. The githyanki were of course slaughtered and the Lich Queen disappeared to avoid the wrath of the various gods that had for the most part been seperated from their followers for a long time. Now the githyanki sit in a few tiny bases that did not fall before a settlement was reached, licking their wounds. For them, the greatest indignity of all is that more nongithyanki than githyanki have silver swords after the wholesale slaughters of their armies. Their fierce pride and militaristic attitude has made them resemble many of Earth's third world military dictatorship states, with all concerns for the consequences thrown to the wayside as they play catch-up with the rest of the planes, and even with the Prime in many ways.
So what do you think? Is it too much? Does it not fit the setting? Or do you think it could work?
Also, there's a 2nd Edition AD&D product of some type (at least I think that it was during the days of 2e) that states that the Lich-Queen is dead. Can't remember which, but it is out there.
edit: the Astral Plane idea is not bad, but remember that it was only Earth that was cut off. (at least according to the intro on the Yahoo page).
But this brings up an interesting issue: how much does Earth know about the Outer Planes? Is it general knowledge? Is this information limited to elites? How much affect have the Planes had on Earth? Perhaps God (as in the Biblical God) is severely restricting the access of outsiders and planewalkers into Earth, or something like that? Mabye there is simply a mutual agreement amongst the planes and gods not to interfere with Earth (and thus slow technological advancement).
Originally posted by Ulden Throatbane
edit: the Astral Plane idea is not bad, but remember that it was only Earth that was cut off. (at least according to the intro on the Yahoo page).
Perhaps, the Githyanki tried to cut off the Astral Plane from the rest of the multiverse in ancient times, but it was either unsuccessful or someone stopped them before they could complete the task. As a result only a few prime worlds were cut off from the planes (Earth being one of them).
Originally posted by Ulden Throatbane
But this brings up an interesting issue: how much does Earth know about the Outer Planes? Is it general knowledge? Is this information limited to elites? How much affect have the Planes had on Earth?
I would imagine that not a lot of people on Earth are fully aware of the planes, some are though. The ratio of normal people and people "in the know" would be about the same as most other prime worlds (Toril, Oerth, Athas, etc.) Only a chosen few know the full story.
Originally posted by Ulden Throatbane
Perhaps God (as in the Biblical God) is severely restricting the access of outsiders and planewalkers into Earth, or something like that?
If I were you, I would avoid that idea like the plague, I wouldn't want to step on any toes with RL theologies. One of the reasons that Urban Arcana never touched on the subject.
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
Perhaps, the Githyanki tried to cut off the Astral Plane from the rest of the multiverse in ancient times, but it was either unsuccessful or someone stopped them before they could complete the task. As a result only a few prime worlds were cut off from the planes (Earth being one of them).
But this still raises another question, just what caused the barriers between Earth and the planes to be reestablished?
Did the spell simply wear down with time? Was it some natural disaster? Did history forget about it, then someone opened it accidently? Was it forced open by a god to farther their agenda? Or did it simply just open one day and no one (not even the gods) truely knows why?
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
Hmmm.... the Plane of Shadow is where all those urban legends should end up... giant shadowy crocodiles in the subway, deserted towns filled with ghosts, or other wierd and freaky horror elements.
Great stuff!
Is anybody doing Gehenna? It seems important, what with all the stuff about the yugoloths going on, to know what's happened to their main plane.
It seems to me that, after Limbo, Gehenna would change the least of all the Outer Planes. It's kind of hard to build anything lasting on the slopes of an active volcano, after all. Of course, now someone is going to come up with a brilliant idea and prove me wrong.
Wyvern
Originally posted by Wyvern76
It seems to me that, after Limbo, Gehenna would change the least of all the Outer Planes. It's kind of hard to build anything lasting on the slopes of an active volcano, after all.
And of course, we do need to remember, that the more things change, the more they say the same. This is especially true in the planes. Outsiders are stubborn like that.
1) The astral plane is a enormous place (even by plane standards). While the Githyanki would undoubtedly try to pull a stunt like that, the task would be astronomical. Not only does the plane have a lot of connections to sever, but the plane also sees a lot of traffic since most planar travel touches the astral. Someone is going to notice when Plane Shift spells start to get harder and harder to do. As a result, there's a good chance that the Gith will get mass-attacked before they even finish.
2) I've noticed that many people are assuming that one big event happened that changed the planes forever. Keep in mind; though, that A LOT of time has past since the Faction War (a least several hundred years). Much can happen in that time frame. For example, the Fall of Mechanus was caused by a multitude of factors (the formians moving in from Arcadia, Orcus infecting the modron energy pool with chaos, the parai trying to assimulate Primus and the melting of Ocanthus) that were collecting long before the Faction War. The planes are big and several hundred years is a long time. A lot can happen.
3) Remember the multiverse is big, when the Githyanki were forced to abandon their plan, there's a good chance that the powers that be could have let the fact that some worlds were still cut off slip their notice. Earth would simply have been lost in the paperwork. I mean, who's going to notice that a couple of prime worlds are missing, anyway.
The reason that the planes have modernized is that, when they looked for the sealed off worlds, they discovered that without the magic that the planes provide, technology took preference (as opposed to the hundreds of years of pseudo-medieval technology like in the core campaigns), and it just so happened that with the planes (or at least some of them) playing catch-up with the tech (bombs are good, as are the convenient 10d6 fireballs that are 4-packs of C4) level of Earth at the same time that the connection with Earth was re-connected.
This would allow for access to low-tech (those core worlds), medium-tech (Earth), and high-tech (Dragonstar, Star Wars, etc.) worlds, as well as a low to medium-tech planescape.
Inside there's a cutthroat corporate heirarchy of sorts where individual will vaults some fiends over others, strength and the will to wield it is all that matters. All others are faceless and anonymous, gears in the machine created by their betters who rule over them by virtue of the triumph of the self over the many.
Massive laboratories for the creation of the vices of mortals, weapons of war to fuel the battles of the other fiends eternally, chemical and biological weapons tailored down to a specific species or even individual.
The furnaces have become incinerators, reactors and powerplants run off the soulstuff of mortals, and the Styx has become dammed, controlled and used to churn the wheels of yet more generators, then piped and shunted through networks of controlled sewers before being released again in more a state of pollution than when it entered.
[And then the guardinals invade because Gehenna has WMD. "Lets roll!" - Talisid Jr]
I think we've decided against including anything sci-fi (like Star Wars and such), because modern tech mixed with magic is already ridiculously powerful.
Which brings up a question. What has happened to any other Prime Worlds where magic never died out? Think about it, what would happen when barbazu using squad tactic and carrying AK-47s loaded with cold iron bullets start marching across the Sword Coast? Or if a wizard in Greyhawk gates in a balor carrying a +1 vorpal flaming burst minigun (as to the vorpal part, just think of the bullets hitting the neck)?
Also, as for the githyanki sealing the Astral, I think that I may have it. They built/discovered/whatever some artifact that allows for a sort of force field/antimagic barrier to be erected that not only cuts off Astral travel but it also forces a huge expenditure of energy to crack the field on the Astral Plane itself. Thus the githyanki blockade huge chunks of the Astral, so while in the infinite plane most people could still get around, but whole worlds were cut off and many portals that used to travel through the blockaded area were also severed. Everyone tried to punch through when it was initially erected, but lack of coordination and Blood War/Sin War fighting meant that everytime a small breach was made the githyanki could slaughter the small stream of intruders and then wait for the hole to repair itself.
The reason that I wanted the githyanki to blockade for some time was because a technomagic army vs. a magical medieval one would be a one sided slaughter. This would mean that many of the silver swords would end up in the hands of nongithyanki, and after the fighting the githyanki would be too battered and weakened to make any real attempts to retrieve the tens of thousands of stolen swords. Can you imagine how bitter they would be? I sort of wanted to add in the modern "rogue state" idea by using the githyanki as they would have immense pride and a massive desire to catch up, and the ruthlessness to use any means possible to get ahead.
Also, Gehenna wouldn't be invaded for having suspected WMDs. Everyone would know that they would have WMDs and accept it as fact just as we accept that America, Russia, Britain, India, Pakistan, China, etc. all have nuclear weapons. However, minor places, such as a post war githyanki faction might be occasionally beat on by either the Upper or Lower Planes to make sure that they don't try and build or buy some nuclear weapons.
It's also likely that several worlds simply used the technology irresposibly and blew themselves up.
Of course, if modern technology is brought to other prime worlds by summond outsiders, the natives just might assume that the technology is simply a new form of magic.
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
Which brings up a question. What has happened to any other Prime Worlds where magic never died out? Think about it, what would happen when barbazu using squad tactic and carrying AK-47s loaded with cold iron bullets start marching across the Sword Coast? Or if a wizard in Greyhawk gates in a balor carrying a +1 vorpal flaming burst minigun (as to the vorpal part, just think of the bullets hitting the neck)?
I think the Balor would use a +1 vorpal flaming burst chainsaw. More personal :D
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
However, with much of the magic of the world drained away but superstitions still present, a sort of dark mystique developed and the Plane of Shadow began to grow, sending out tendrils, creating new portals to the Outer Planes, which allowed a few select powerful and resourceful individuals to sneak through and keep contact, which helped to sustain the ideas of magic and monsters and allowed Heaven and Hell to keep tabs on Earth.
I like this idea... great way to tie in the d20 Modern concept of "the Shadow". It might also explain why most spellcasters in d20 Modern can only cast up to 5th-level spells. Either the shadow plane is not as effective a conduit for magical energies as the astral, or they just haven't rediscovered the secrets of casting higher-level spells.
I don't care so much for the idea that the githyanki are responsible for sealing the astral plane though. In the first place, that would make the Lich Queen more powerful than any deity. Secondly, I don't think the githyanki would want to seal themselves off from the rest of the multiverse like that. Besides their expansionist nature, you also have to consider the consequences of being stuck on a timeless plane; i.e. no natural healing, and no reproduction. Btw, the line being taken by the people at Planewalker.com is that the Lich Queen is dead following the events of the "Incursion" campaign.
I can think of several alternative possibilities. Perhaps the closing of the astral plane was a natural, unexplained phenomenon. Or perhaps, as others have suggested, it was only Earth that was isolated -- either by the githyanki, for reasons of their own, or by some deity, or by an epic-level spell cast by an Earth native to prevent some kind of planar invasion.
Other things to consider are, if the astral is sealed, how does this affect travel between the Outer Planes? between the Outer and Inner Planes? and travel to and from Sigil?
Wyvern
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
I just had a wickly awesome idea!
Primes from modern-day Earth don't believe in the "Four Elements of the Old World". However, when they start to inhabit the planes, they will see that not only is the theory the four elements true, but the inner planes embody these concepts.
Or do they?
Many of the younger Earth-Prime sages have theorized that the inner planes don't embody the four elements at all. They instead embody the four states of matter! So, a new minority has sprung up in the planes, people who don't refer the to the inner planes as Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. To those few, they are known as the planes of Solids, Liquids, Gases and Plasma. Needless to say, this has sparked some serious controversy amongst the Gensai community.
The Negative energy plane is probably the Bose-Einstein Condensate, the closest acheivable thing to absolute zero. Positive has them stumped, but it might have something to do with the Cosmological Constant, the energy that's present even in the void.
However, I had an intriguing idea. Probably one of Earth's biggest strength and weakness is the lack of magic, as while so much can be done with magic, it can also hold civilizations back as they tend to ignore technology and the search for a physical answer rather than a spiritual or arcane one. Many warriors trained on Earth would probably have no respect for a wizard or sorcerer, until the fireballs start hitting of course. However, if someone were to make them immune to magic, then they would be truly lethal soldiers, for they have never developed a reliance on magic.
Enter the Magekillers, not named because they specifically slay mages but because they are immune to magic. Each member was originally a mercenary/special forces operative on Earth and was trained by someone, some even say that their employers are the long disappeared Rilmani, in the intricacies of life on the Planes. They carry technological gear only and only two magical items: a brooch of antimagic field and a ring of contingency gating. The brooch creates a continuous antimagic field effect, and the ring makes sure that if anything bad happens to an operative that they are immediately returned home. The brooch is set to deactivate if lifesigns hit critical levels (-1 or less), which then allows the ring to gate the fallen operative to safety. If caught in heavy fire the operatives can manually deactivate their brooches to activate rings. Special keywords are be used to for both manual activations so that if captured the operative need not have access to their hands to escape. Rightfully feared across the Planes as some of the best assassins and strike teams available, they are totally ruthless in their pursuit of that which they have been assigned to accomplish. Whoever their employers are, they are incredibly powerful and have access to tremendous resources.
It is the source of the Blessed River
It is a place of unconquerable goodness
It is a land where the anxieties of modern life are washed away.
Elysium is the most strongly good aligned plane on the Great Wheel, a place of good untrammeled by issues of chaos or law. On this plane, doing well by others is more valued than any other ideal. The coming of modern technology has done little to alter this basic nature of Elysium.
The first layer of the plane is a riot of color. Visitors marvel at brilliant green meadows dotted with starburst flowers, pools as deep blue as a jay's plumage, and silver clouds drifting across a perfect sky. Buildings are of a dazzlying (though never obnoxiously flamboyant) colors, and modern aircraft look like daytime stars as they cross the plane. Elysium itself seems to vibrate with its own sense of life and intensity. It is usually a peaceful place, and tranquility seems to seep into the bones and souls of those that cross it. Legend has it that the plane used to trap travelers by making them so content and peaceful that they never wanted to leave. Recent tests show this is no longer the case, and long-term visits to Elysium have increased markedly.
Elysium consissts of four layers strung together by the myriad of courss of the River Oceanus. The first layer is most like the Material Plane, with sweet-smelling pines and flowering trees along its banks giving way to open meadows and rolling fields. Urban life is more common on this plane than in the past, but it remains fairly low key, and it is still very possible to traverse through this layer (going from Bytopia into the Beastlands) without seeing a trace of the modern world (its also possible to see nothing but the modern world on such a trip). The second layer is rougher and more mountainous, and rapids and falls are common along the channels of the river. Railroads and small airports are usually the only reliable means of keeping communities in contact with each other, and bringing any vehicle to this layer that doesn't have offroad capabilities is a waste of time. The third layer is a great wetlands teeming with life, with a great metropolis at its center. The deepest layer is the sea itself and the headwaters of the great river, dotted with islands where veteran heroes of good relax for eternity.
The size of the River Oceanus varies from a braid of smaller side channels to a mighty flow that tops its banks and floods the surrounding area. Along the river are islands, low gravel bars, and rocky promontories, which are often the homes of petitioners and other more powerful denizens. Docks and warfs of all sizes line the river's shores, servicing the massive number of ships that use the river to travel the upper planes.
Elysium Traits
-Normal Gravity
-Normal Time
-Infinite Size
-Divinely Morphic
-No Elemental Traits
-Minor Positive-Dominant: Characters on Elysium gain fast healing 2
-Strongly Good Aligned: Nongood characters suffer a -2 penalty on all Wisdom-, ntelligence-, and Charisma-based checks. As a result, neutral and evil creatures shun Elysium except in dire emergencies.
-Cleansing: This is a trait unique to modern Elysium, replacing the entrapping trait of the past. A character on Elysium experiences increasing joy and satisfaction, cleaning their physche of any strain and healing their emotional wounds. Characters who stay in Elysium for more than a month are slowly cured of any insanity (including permanent insanity), eventually being restored to full sanity. Also, staying in Elysium reduces a character's taint score by one each week (of course, these rules are only relevant in campaigns that include Sanity and Taint. If yours doesn't, replace it with slowly curing ability damage and drain).
-Restricted Magic: Dominate spells do not function on Elysium, and any characters under the effects of such spells are no longer effected by them and are allowed a new saving throw (at a +4 planar bonus) to throw off the enchantment permanently. A being's consious is held inviolate within the Sanctified Realms.
Initial impressions welcome. I'll get into the details of the plane and its layers.
Eyes, seems like you put a lot of thought into the Astral Plane. Do you think you can detail the rest of it?
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
Also, as for the githyanki sealing the Astral, I think that I may have it. They built/discovered/whatever some artifact that allows for a sort of force field/antimagic barrier to be erected that not only cuts off Astral travel but it also forces a huge expenditure of energy to crack the field on the Astral Plane itself. Thus the githyanki blockade huge chunks of the Astral, so while in the infinite plane most people could still get around, but whole worlds were cut off and many portals that used to travel through the blockaded area were also severed. Everyone tried to punch through when it was initially erected, but lack of coordination and Blood War/Sin War fighting meant that everytime a small breach was made the githyanki could slaughter the small stream of intruders and then wait for the hole to repair itself.
I like your new idea better. Good work!
It would also explain why the rest of the planes took little or no notice of the problem for thousands of years. The blockaded parts of the astral just weren't important enough to warrent the expenditure of forces that could otherwise have been used in the Blood War or other more immedient things. The Githyanki only managed to sever the connections of a few prime worlds and two or three insignificent Concordent Outer Planes. Who really cares about that, anyway?
______________________
However, the Plane of Shadow managed to reestablish a connection with one of the isolated prime worlds. The shadow connections made sure that, while the people of Earth abandoned magic in their mainstream society and culture, they never truely lost sight of the fantastic world beyond science and religious dogma. While the other isolated prime worlds slowly forgot about "ancient concepts" like art, storytelling, sports and imagination (and as a result, their civilizations died out with a whimper), Earth was able to advance in magicless crafts without losing the spirit of creativity and magic that lives in every human heart.
As the connections of the Shadow became stronger and stronger, the people of Earth were finally able to leave the soul-crushing single-mindedness of the Dark Ages behind them and enter the Renaissance, a long awaited period of intellectual revival. Many knowledges that were lost after the destruction of the Libary of Alexandria were rediscovered in addition to many other brand new discoveries about the universe.
A few people (such as the Catholic Church or Noble society), who benefited from a cowed and ignorant populace, tried to fight it. However, no force could stop the turrent of enlightenment flooding into the world and its people. Since then, the advancement of mankind has seen some slumps, but overall it has been an upward journey. Then, one day, the shadow connections became strong enough to let magic flow back into Earth. And thus started the first steps to a second Renaissance.
Living for millenia without magic allowed the people of Earth to see it with fresh eyes. They were able to learn things about the nature of magic that no one else had ever touched on. As they slowly intergrated magic into their daily lives, the inevitable happened.
Earth learned about Planar Travel....
_____________________
For thousands of years, the ageless Githyanki jealously and violently guarded the astral barriers from outside forces. In their, arrogance, they never thought to look for an even more dangerous force coming from the other way.
It wasn't a battle, it was a slaughter. Emerging victorious, the humans of Earth tore down the barriers that had for so long isolated us from the rest of the multiverse and set out into the great beyond to make our mark on the cosmos.
Thus, it all comes full circle.
Thoughts?
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
Enter the Magekillers, not named because they specifically slay mages but because they are immune to magic. Each member was originally a mercenary/special forces operative on Earth and was trained by someone, some even say that their employers are the long disappeared Rilmani, in the intricacies of life on the Planes. They carry technological gear only and only two magical items: a brooch of antimagic field and a ring of contingency gating. The brooch creates a continuous antimagic field effect, and the ring makes sure that if anything bad happens to an operative that they are immediately returned home. The brooch is set to deactivate if lifesigns hit critical levels (-1 or less), which then allows the ring to gate the fallen operative to safety. If caught in heavy fire the operatives can manually deactivate their brooches to activate rings. Special keywords are be used to for both manual activations so that if captured the operative need not have access to their hands to escape. Rightfully feared across the Planes as some of the best assassins and strike teams available, they are totally ruthless in their pursuit of that which they have been assigned to accomplish. Whoever their employers are, they are incredibly powerful and have access to tremendous resources.
Excellent! To tie in with my previous post, they could have been a major part the Earth force that attacked the Githyanki and forced open the barrier to the planes. It'd definately be something that the Gith wouldn't expect.
Originally posted by Ulden Throatbane
Just thought of something: if Pandemonium has been replaced by Erebus, then what about all the nasty things locked in Agathion?
Hmm, adventure idea?
Earth's concept of magic is likely to be very much influenced by the fact that it was drawn from the Plane of Shadow. What if current scientific inquiries onto the nature of dark matter turn out to be a rediscovering of magic (dark matter => Plane of Shadow)?
Alternatively, magic just simply begins manifesting itself. The first type of spellcasters to re-appear would probably be sorcerers. Once it was realized that the spells they cast couldn't be written off as hat-tricks (which might take some time to do convincingly), religious clergy will begin to realize that there may be more to the 'little miracles' God performs than they first thought. Finally, scietists do a thurough analysis of magical phenomenon and discover that it's possible to learn how to use magic (and so become wizards).
If we do go with this idea, there is a good chance that the Githyanki would develop a hatred of Earth-Primes that would almost be equal in caliber to their hate for the Githzerai and Illithids.
If you think this is Ameri-centric, check out some Somalian military equipment some time: the rocket pod from a Soviet helicopter gunship bolted in the bed of a Ford pickup, right off the streets of Ysgard.
Or, for that matter, the "heavily modified" Ford pickup that was seen carrying Cuban refugees to Florida, looking like it floated out of Erebus.
As for stats, think of a "larval form" of the Demonic Auto. That's where they come from; Ford petitioners that migrated through the Infinite Sewers or the Outlands to the Abyss and became powerful and malicious.
Of course, there aren't very many petitioners in Limbo proper, so most of the Fords are spread out through the nearby Chaotic planes: Self-healing weapons platforms in Ysgard, rafts in Erebus, and in the Outlands, the most common form of transport available.
Odin and Thor and all the rest are still around on Ysgard, but they are no longer seen all that often. When they lost track of Loki, they took a look around at what was happening with the other Planes, and they knew that Ragnarok was coming soon. The baatzeu had finally started to gain an upper hand in the Blood War, and it looked like the yugoloths were going to start supporting the devils more than the demons. With a ruthlessly efficient war machine fueled by modern technology and corporate thinking, not even the demons' infinite time infinite resources could compete. The Blood War was entering the end game, and within the next few millenia, perhaps even the next few centuries, it would all come to and end and the forces of Hell would be ready to take on the Upper Planes. Like Arcadia, Ysgard would have to prepare for war on a scale never before seen. Unlike Arcadia though, Ysgard had already been doing this for a very long time, and any war here would be a comical meat grinder with neither side ever capable of gaining the upper hand in battle. However, if the other Planes were to fall then the devils could take their time in systematically capturing the people of Ysgard and destroying them so that they would never come back.
As such, when the time came, the only thing to do was to be ready for a preemptive strike. As such, the Norse gods made an agreement with Kord and Olidammara. Odin and his kingdom would hide and develop the largest armory ever, while Kord and Olidammara would covertly send extraplanar resources to them. As such Valhala (I don't know for sure but I'm assuming that is the name of the palace/kindgom for the Norse gods on Ysgard) vanished along with one of the earthbergs the size of a large continent. They pop up now and again to check in, but mostly they occupy their time stocking up the Armory.
The Armory is the largest store of weapons on the Planes, even bigger than Malesheem, although almost no one knows that this is so. Through covert deals and various other means, the Armory has been stocked with at least one of every kind of weapon ever developed, and those who ask get a response of, "We have about twenty million magically enhanced nuclear weapons currently in stock, give or take a few million." This hiding and being subtle severelly aggravates some of the more flashy Norse gods, but they accept Odin's wisdom and will wait until the time is right, at which point they will strike and strike hard, reducing most of the Lower Planes to radioactive dust in a few heartbeats and then they will lead a charge against Hell.
Anyway, on with Elysium:
Elysium Links
Elysium borders the neighboring outer planes of Bytopia and the Beastlands. Natural portals exist between these locations, and the shifting borders between Elysium and its neighbors means that travelers may find themselves on another good-aligned plane without realizing it. Portals from Elysium to other planes often take the form of natural caverns or artificial tunnels with roads (or train tracks) leading through.
Elysium has four layers, each with a radically different type of terrain. Inhabitants move between layers through a portal or, more commonly, by following the River Oceanus. The easiest (though most expensive) method of moving from layer to layer is by taking a planar jet. Airports can be found on every layer, although airports on the second and forth layer are usually restricted in their size.
The River Oceanus originates in the deepest layer of Elysium and flows through all four layers, emptying from the first layer, Amoria, into the Beastlands. There are rapids at the border where the river crosses the boundary between layers, but no serious waterfalls or other perils. Some crossings even have river locks to allow larger ships to avoid the rapids in passing into the next layer. Most of the activity on Eysium takes place along the borders of the great river.
Elysium Inhabitants
All types of good-aligned outsiders can be found on Elysium, including those of lawful or chaotic disposition and even natives of the Elemental Planes such as djinn. While all types of celestials can be found here, the dominant type is the guardinal, who are widely regarded by many as the indigenous inhabitants of the plane (the archeological record gives no evidence either in support or against this belief).
The plane is also aswarm with celestial creatures and half-celstials. Celestial creatures have golden skin and silvery eyes, and they seem to shine with power and nobility. Unlike the creatures of the neighboring Beastlands, clestial creatures have the same Intelligence scores as their counterparts on the Material Plane, although they seem more empathic and understanding.
Elysium is also the home of deities devoted to the cause of good. Pelor, the sun deity of Oerth, and Lathandar, Faerun's god of dawn, are among the most powerful deities residing in Elysium. Finally, there are the Celestiar, a group of unique, good-aligned creatures that wander the plane. These incredibly power creatures, born in the aftermath of a nuclear attack by the Yugoloths, are believed to be manifestations of the plane itself, and are fully capable of laying waste to armies of fiends.
Elysium Petitioners
The petitioners of Elysium either venerate a particular deity of that plane, or are merely souls that naturally gravitated to the plane of ultimate goodness and peace. Petitioners appear as they did in life (goodness cares little for outward appearances), but most have a nobler and calmer demeanor as petitioners.
Only when evil actions besmirch the plane do the petitioners of Elysium take up arms, and then they are more dangerous than most other petioners. Unlike other petitioners, those who call Elysium home retain some knowledge of their past, which usually manifests as wistful nostalgia. Sometimes their memories are more practical: Petitioners who had character levels befoer they became petitioners retain up to four character levels (multiclass characters can choose levels from any classes they held in life).
Petitioners of Elysium have the followint special petitioner qualities:
-Additional Immunities: Electricity, cold
-Resistances: Cold 20, fire 20
-Other Special Qualities: Retain up to four character levels acquired prior to becoming a petitioner.
Planar travelers are common on the shores of the River Oceanus, and cargo freighters move goods up and down the river between towns inhabitied by petitioners and half-celestials.
Evil and morally neutral creatures tend to become lost along the riverbanks, unable to cope with the goodness that infuses the landscape. This makes such interlopers prime targets for avoral scouts. If the scouts face determined evil foes, they'll call on stronger guardinals or (in rare cases) one of the Celestiar to join the battle; evil creatures are slain on Elysium. Morally neutral visitors are often questioned closely by the avorals, who determine their intentions and then either aid or expel them. Aid or expulsion is accompanied by a gentle (but long) lecture.
Movement and Combat
The Great River Oceanus and its side channels dominate much of the plane, so boat traffic is common. The Oceanus current is normally 3 miles per hour and flows from the deepest layer, Thalasia, through Belierin and Eronia to Amoria.
Modern ships of all types and sizes can be found travelling the River Oceanus. In places, the Oceanus widens to a great, calm lake or fen with no appreciable current, while in others, the river splits and tumbles through sharp-rocked rapids, particularly on the mountainous second layer. In many places, the side channels have been dammed to provide hydroelectric power, although the main River has been left unimpeded.
Elysium Combat
Elysium does not present any inherent benefit or penalty to combat. There is very little tolerance for evil, and most of the celestial natives have the ability to smite evil. Fights tend to last longer and be less often fatal due to the positive energy that infuses the entire plane (although modern firearms have diminished this effect to a degree).
Next: Features of Elysium.
-One of the Archdevils/Senior Partners in corporate attire, giving instructions to a Pit Fiend executive manager (the Pit Fiend is also in a suit, or should at least be wearing a tie.
-A Solar, perched on top of a building in Sigil, taking aim with his enchanted sniper rifle into the window of a particularly evil-looking building.
-A group of planewalkers crossing modern Mechanus.
-A balor, armed with a flaming chainsaw, attacking a band of adventurers.
-A marilith loaded with modern weapons (I'm thinking a minigun, a flame-thrower, and a grenade launcher). Her upper body is covered in cameoflage paint.
-The Lady of Pain crossing one of Sigil's streets, with several cars in wrecks as they came to a screeching halt when the Lady appeared.
-An ultroloth general watching over a battlefield that had just been hit with several nuclear weapons.
-The Autoban, with a sign giving distances to Acheron, Hell, and Gehenna.
-An alley shootout between the Harmonium and a Tiefling gang
-One of the Githyanki's flying fortresses trying in vain to defend itself from F-22 fighter jets and Air Force Bombers.
-Liquid blade-welding Gith warriors being gunned down where they stand as more and more soldiers Plane Shift on to the city-sized dead god that the Githyanki used as the barrier-guard outpost.
-A group of soldiers raising the United Nations flag on top of the rubble that used to be the Gith outpost (sort of reminiscent of the famous Iwo Jima photograph from the end of World War II).
Keep in mind that this battle took place before the planes "modernized". As a result, the Gith are pretty much going to look like traditional Githyanki.
In fact, its a good idea to get an idea of how Planescape Earth is organized, as its role in modernizing the planes has probably raised it above the status of "just another prime world." I'd imagine that the main players would be China, the EU, Russia, and the US, who still operate as independent nations but use the UN to present a united front to the rest of the multiverse, as well as to make sure the smaller countries don't do something stupid like summon a Balor (or, barring that, put the Balor down along with the party that summoned them). The "big 4" would most likely maintain embassies in Sigil.
Also, someone with the Urban Arcana book should write up the Plane of Shadow... if it is the Urban Arcana world that we are using. Otherwise, I'd be happy to do it.
We should write a few pieces of introductory fiction for the setting... I'm working on one for the Blood War and Hades. Somebody could write something about the Astral War.
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
We should write a few pieces of introductory fiction for the setting... I'm working on one for the Blood War and Hades. Somebody could write something about the Astral War.
Hmm...I'd be willing to do something for the Astral War (or Gith War). It would sound something like standard fantasy literature mixed with Soldier of Fortune.
Also, here's how I imagine the Astral War starting: As the people of Earth begin to relearn magic with their greater affinity to the Plane of Shadow, they figure out how to open up old places of power that hold portals but no one uses them anymore. Obviously, only a few work, these being the ones that lead directly to the Astral Plane and are not cut off by the blockade. The first few teams through are not prepared for combat situations or the ruthlessness of the githyanki, and are promptly slaughtered. Sensing that one of their many blockaded Prime worlds has figured out how to reach them, the githyanki send an expeditionary force with the intent of destroying the cities of Earth and enslaving the survivors.
At first international politics and misunderstanding gives the githyanki the upper edge as they wade through densely populated cities killing and looting and raping and generally causing havoc. However, the world quickly realizes that these must be the demons of myth that plagued man (they were wrong, but the idea came out the same in the end) and were irredeemable. That's when the kid gloves came off. Once the githyanki stopped encountering panicked civilians and overwhelmed police forces and started meeting modern military forces, it was the githyanki's turn to learn the true meaning of slaughter. One of many events where the githyanki were severelly embarassed was when they later discovered that the warriors who massacred an entire army group were not wearing crests featuring bloody spear points (read: they were smacked down by a relatively pacifist country). Faced with a threat to everyone, the entire world set aside their differences and began an interplanar war against a foe that did not acknowledge the Geneva Convention. This actually helped to settle many of the military problems on Earth as countries embroiled in civil war lost their mercenary armies to better paying and safer missions on the Astral, and the fundamentalist terrorists decided that they should save their bombs for the real demons and then go after the Western powers. Meanwhile, on the Astral, the githyanki were coming to truly regret ever blockading this one little world. Earth scientists quickly figured out ways of magically combining radar systems and night vision goggles, giving every soldier the ability to see through the Astral haze. Many githyanki soldiers who were ordered to charge an enemy position through the fog were gunned down by people they couldn't see, and snipers took a hellish toll on the githyanki command structure. The worst came when the githyanki finally started learning that only their mages had any real chance of defeating the enemy. All the remaining forces holed up in their cities and started erecting force walls around them, but they still refused to admit defeat and continued to lob fireballs and lightning bolts out at the soldiers.
Finally it came down to a vote in the UN whether or not it was acceptable to use an means to end this war and the threat to Earth. Eventually the decision was reached to use one tactical nuclear warhead on one of the larger githyanki cities and then to take an ultimatuum to every other fortified area. When the EArth forces began to retreat from the targetted city, the proud githyanki warriors lowered their shields and sent squads out to try and figure out if this was merely a ruse or if the humans had finally given in. The nuclear weapon flew right through the hole and detonated in the center of town. It was said that everyone on the Astral Plane could see that horrific burst of light, and many thought that it was the work of some angry god that had finally reached the githyanki.
Then the war ended and the githyanki were forced to surrender all weapons and magicl items and to submit to military occupation. One of the items recovered was the artifact that had blockaded Earth, and it was shut off once it was removed from the Astral Plane. Today it rests in a UN bunker and is used to control access to Earth, lest another invading force attack from another plane.
To say the least, the beings of the Great Wheel were shocked to discover that a relatively insignificant Prime world had obliterated the military might of the githyanki and were capable of making a Blood War battle look like a minor skirmish. Meanwhile, the people of Earth were also becoming the people of Mars as spells such as teleportation were used for incredible new purposes. Using potent combinations of magic and technology, the people of Earth were a force to be reckoned with.
Edit: I'll probably post my fiction piece on the Yahoo site, as it's going to involve a lot of, um, well, military language...;)
As far as the Shadow Prime idea is concerned, maybe we should consider giving Earth-Prime magic-users a small bonus to casting spells with the Shadow Descripter. But how would we balance that out?
Originally posted by Ulden Throatbane
Edit: I'll probably post my fiction piece on the Yahoo site, as it's going to involve a lot of, um, well, military language...;)
So, I'm guessing it's going to read like a story written by the bastard love child of R.A. Salvadore and Tom Clancy? :D
Also, if we're using d20 Modern rules we can just make a new Advanced Class instead of a PrC. There are some "conventional" mages on Earth, but most magic-users would be Technomancers or Shadow Mages.
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
I sort of lost touch with this thread for a while, but I see you guys have really run with it. Anyone up for the challenge of filling me in on where the project stands? I'd like to help if you could use any.
Right now, we're working on the historical background of Modern Planescape. We're also chipping away at a descriptor of each of the planes. All of the lower planes except Gehenna have been developed or are in the middle of development. Of the Upper Planes, only Arcadia, Bytopia, Elysium, and Ysgard are in development.
We're also fishing for anyone with artistic talent. We got one picture of a modern Harmonium officer so far.
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
I sort of lost touch with this thread for a while, but I see you guys have really run with it. Anyone up for the challenge of filling me in on where the project stands? I'd like to help if you could use any.
I'll give it a try. So far we have been asking for volenteers to write up revised-versions of the planes. Here is the list of people work on the planes now:
Elemental Plane of Air: Not a monkey (finished)
Elemental Plane of Earth: Terraneaux (finished)
Bytopia: Me. (planning stage)
Arcadia: Ulden Throatbane (finished)
Mechanus: Primus (planning stage)
Acheron: Arilou_skiff (finished)
Baator: TheFan (In progress)
Hades: Roast Slinky (finished)
Carceri: Eye of the Beholder (finished)
Abyss: Mirtek, Ravil (In progress)
Pandemonium: Me. (Finished)
Ysgard: Eyes in the Darkness (In progress)
Outlands: Bob the Efreet (In progress)
Elysium: Ulden Throatbane (In progress)
The following are the planes that have not been claimed by volenteers:
Open planes: Inner planes, Gehenna, Limbo, Mt. Celestia, Beastlands, Arboria, Other Inner Planes, Transitive Planes, Planar Pathways, Sigil
Eyes in the Darkness, Ulden and myself have been working on the storyline that explained the presense of Earth-Primes on the planes. We're almost done too. In a nutshell, the Githyanki blocked off parts of the astral from outside powers and in the process severed the planar ties to many prime worlds (including Earth).
Here is our collected thoughts on that subject:
Eyes in the Darkness:
Also, as for the githyanki sealing the Astral, I think that I may have it. They built/discovered/whatever some artifact that allows for a sort of force field/antimagic barrier to be erected that not only cuts off Astral travel but it also forces a huge expenditure of energy to crack the field on the Astral Plane itself. Thus the githyanki blockade huge chunks of the Astral, so while in the infinite plane most people could still get around, but whole worlds were cut off and many portals that used to travel through the blockaded area were also severed. Everyone tried to punch through when it was initially erected, but lack of coordination and Blood War/Sin War fighting meant that everytime a small breach was made the githyanki could slaughter the small stream of intruders and then wait for the hole to repair itself.
The reason that I wanted the githyanki to blockade for some time was because a technomagic army vs. a magical medieval one would be a one sided slaughter. This would mean that many of the silver swords would end up in the hands of nongithyanki, and after the fighting the githyanki would be too battered and weakened to make any real attempts to retrieve the tens of thousands of stolen swords. Can you imagine how bitter they would be? I sort of wanted to add in the modern "rogue state" idea by using the githyanki as they would have immense pride and a massive desire to catch up, and the ruthlessness to use any means possible to get ahead.
Also, Gehenna wouldn't be invaded for having suspected WMDs. Everyone would know that they would have WMDs and accept it as fact just as we accept that America, Russia, Britain, India, Pakistan, China, etc. all have nuclear weapons. However, minor places, such as a post war githyanki faction might be occasionally beat on by either the Upper or Lower Planes to make sure that they don't try and build or buy some nuclear weapons.
EvilSandwich:
It would explain why the rest of the planes took little or no notice of the problem for thousands of years. The blockaded parts of the astral just weren't important enough to warrent the expenditure of forces that could otherwise have been used in the Blood War or other more immedient things. The Githyanki only managed to sever the connections of a few prime worlds and two or three insignificent Concordent Outer Planes. Who really cares about that, anyway?
______________________
However, the Plane of Shadow managed to reestablish a connection with one of the isolated prime worlds. The shadow connections made sure that, while the people of Earth abandoned magic in their mainstream society and culture, they never truely lost sight of the fantastic world beyond science and religious dogma. While the other isolated prime worlds slowly forgot about "ancient concepts" like art, storytelling, sports and imagination (and as a result, their civilizations died out with a whimper), Earth was able to advance in magicless crafts without losing the spirit of creativity and magic that lives in every human heart.
As the connections of the Shadow became stronger and stronger, the people of Earth were finally able to leave the soul-crushing single-mindedness of the Dark Ages behind them and enter the Renaissance, a long awaited period of intellectual revival. Many knowledges that were lost after the destruction of the Libary of Alexandria were rediscovered in addition to many other brand new discoveries about the universe.
A few people (such as the Catholic Church or Noble society), who benefited from a cowed and ignorant populace, tried to fight it. However, no force could stop the turrent of enlightenment flooding into the world and its people. Since then, the advancement of mankind has seen some slumps, but overall it has been an upward journey. Then, one day, the shadow connections became strong enough to let magic flow back into Earth. And thus started the first steps to a second Renaissance.
Living for millenia without magic allowed the people of Earth to see it with fresh eyes. They were able to learn things about the nature of magic that no one else had ever touched on. As they slowly intergrated magic into their daily lives, the inevitable happened.
Earth learned about Planar Travel....
_____________________
For thousands of years, the ageless Githyanki jealously and violently guarded the astral barriers from outside forces. In their, arrogance, they never thought to look for an even more dangerous force coming from the other way.
It wasn't a battle, it was a slaughter. Emerging victorious, the humans of Earth tore down the barriers that had for so long isolated us from the rest of the multiverse and set out into the great beyond to make our mark on the cosmos.
Ulden:
Pretty good. Some things we should consider if, in fact, this is to be our background:
Earth's concept of magic is likely to be very much influenced by the fact that it was drawn from the Plane of Shadow. What if current scientific inquiries onto the nature of dark matter turn out to be a rediscovering of magic (dark matter => Plane of Shadow)?
Alternatively, magic just simply begins manifesting itself. The first type of spellcasters to re-appear would probably be sorcerers. Once it was realized that the spells they cast couldn't be written off as hat-tricks (which might take some time to do convincingly), religious clergy will begin to realize that there may be more to the 'little miracles' God performs than they first thought. Finally, scietists do a thurough analysis of magical phenomenon and discover that it's possible to learn how to use magic (and so become wizards).
Actually, I picture the "Victory Scene" [of the Astral War] resembling the meeting of US and Soviet forces in Germany in the final months of WW 2. A good picture would be an American, Chinese, French (or another EU nation) and Russian soldier toasting beer cans on the ruins of a Githyanki fortress.
In fact, its a good idea to get an idea of how Planescape Earth is organized, as its role in modernizing the planes has probably raised it above the status of "just another prime world." I'd imagine that the main players would be China, the EU, Russia, and the US, who still operate as independent nations but use the UN to present a united front to the rest of the multiverse, as well as to make sure the smaller countries don't do something stupid like summon a Balor (or, barring that, put the Balor down along with the party that summoned them). The "big 4" would most likely maintain embassies in Sigil.
Most people on Earth I'm guessing are going to know about the Astral Plane from the Gith War. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Joe Earthling would probably be hard pressed to tell you the difference between a demon and a devil, for example.
Eyes in the Darkness:
Hmm... first off, I have a suggestion for what the inhabitants of the Planes might call the inhabitants of Earth, considering the fact that our world and our magicks seem to be closely tied to the Plane of Shadow. What do all of you think of Shadow Primes (or S' for short)?
Also, here's how I imagine the Astral War starting: As the people of Earth begin to relearn magic with their greater affinity to the Plane of Shadow, they figure out how to open up old places of power that hold portals but no one uses them anymore. Obviously, only a few work, these being the ones that lead directly to the Astral Plane and are not cut off by the blockade. The first few teams through are not prepared for combat situations or the ruthlessness of the githyanki, and are promptly slaughtered. Sensing that one of their many blockaded Prime worlds has figured out how to reach them, the githyanki send an expeditionary force with the intent of destroying the cities of Earth and enslaving the survivors.
At first international politics and misunderstanding gives the githyanki the upper edge as they wade through densely populated cities killing and looting and raping and generally causing havoc. However, the world quickly realizes that these must be the demons of myth that plagued man (they were wrong, but the idea came out the same in the end) and were irredeemable. That's when the kid gloves came off. Once the githyanki stopped encountering panicked civilians and overwhelmed police forces and started meeting modern military forces, it was the githyanki's turn to learn the true meaning of slaughter. One of many events where the githyanki were severelly embarassed was when they later discovered that the warriors who massacred an entire army group were not wearing crests featuring bloody spear points (read: they were smacked down by a relatively pacifist country). Faced with a threat to everyone, the entire world set aside their differences and began an interplanar war against a foe that did not acknowledge the Geneva Convention. This actually helped to settle many of the military problems on Earth as countries embroiled in civil war lost their mercenary armies to better paying and safer missions on the Astral, and the fundamentalist terrorists decided that they should save their bombs for the real demons and then go after the Western powers. Meanwhile, on the Astral, the githyanki were coming to truly regret ever blockading this one little world. Earth scientists quickly figured out ways of magically combining radar systems and night vision goggles, giving every soldier the ability to see through the Astral haze. Many githyanki soldiers who were ordered to charge an enemy position through the fog were gunned down by people they couldn't see, and snipers took a hellish toll on the githyanki command structure. The worst came when the githyanki finally started learning that only their mages had any real chance of defeating the enemy. All the remaining forces holed up in their cities and started erecting force walls around them, but they still refused to admit defeat and continued to lob fireballs and lightning bolts out at the soldiers.
Finally it came down to a vote in the UN whether or not it was acceptable to use an means to end this war and the threat to Earth. Eventually the decision was reached to use one tactical nuclear warhead on one of the larger githyanki cities and then to take an ultimatuum to every other fortified area. When the EArth forces began to retreat from the targetted city, the proud githyanki warriors lowered their shields and sent squads out to try and figure out if this was merely a ruse or if the humans had finally given in. The nuclear weapon flew right through the hole and detonated in the center of town. It was said that everyone on the Astral Plane could see that horrific burst of light, and many thought that it was the work of some angry god that had finally reached the githyanki.
Then the war ended and the githyanki were forced to surrender all weapons and magicl items and to submit to military occupation. One of the items recovered was the artifact that had blockaded Earth, and it was shut off once it was removed from the Astral Plane. Today it rests in a UN bunker and is used to control access to Earth, lest another invading force attack from another plane.
To say the least, the beings of the Great Wheel were shocked to discover that a relatively insignificant Prime world had obliterated the military might of the githyanki and were capable of making a Blood War battle look like a minor skirmish. Meanwhile, the people of Earth were also becoming the people of Mars as spells such as teleportation were used for incredible new purposes. Using potent combinations of magic and technology, the people of Earth were a force to be reckoned with.
We also suggested a few ways to make the inner planes more combatible with modern earth science. He are my thoughts on the subject:
EvilSandwich:
Primes from modern-day Earth don't believe in the "Four Elements of the Old World". However, when they start to inhabit the planes, they will see that not only is the theory the four elements true, but the inner planes embody these concepts.
Or do they?
Many of the younger Earth-Prime sages have theorized that the inner planes don't embody the four elements at all. They instead embody the four states of matter! So, a new minority has sprung up in the planes, people who don't refer the to the inner planes as Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. To those few, they are known as the planes of Solids, Liquids, Gases and Plasma. Needless to say, this has sparked some serious controversy amongst the Gensai community.
We even got a talented artist to draw us some concept art:
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=183950
Neat, huh? :D
That's all I have so far. If I were you, I'd find a way to read the entire thread. There is WAY too much good material to sum up in one post.
I hope this helps.
*breathes deeply and collaspes*
In the meantime, I'll try and draw something for the project.
Originally posted by Primus, the One and Prime
I bow out from doing Mechanus. I would like for someone else to give it a try.
In the meantime, I'll try and draw something for the project.
Fair enough. Mechanus is now up for grabs.
I'll be looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
The top layer of Elysium is Amoria; it is more like the Material Plane than the other levels. Upstream on the Oceanus, the land becomes rougher and more mountainous until the traveler reaches the cascades of Eronia, the second layer. Here, steep valleys flank the river, which surges through narrow passages.
Eventually the mountains diminish and the river sperads into a great wetland teeming with insects, reptiles, and waterfowl. This is Belierin, with the great city of Soulguard occupying most of the dry land on the layer. Finally the bottom of the wetlands deepens and the traveler passes into the fourth layer of the plane, Thalasia, the headwaters of the Oceanus among the Isles of the Blessed.
While the Oceanus flows between the layers of the plane, it is not a straight journey. The great river splits into myriad smaller flwos, recombines, and splits again. Occasionally an offshoot of the river curls around and reentrs the layer it just left. Fortunately, the main course of the river is well enough traveled that the chances of getting lost have been greatly diminished.
Vision on Elysium is just as on the Material Plane at that particular time of day. Elysium shares a day and night cycle with the Material Plane and has similar (if gentler) weather. The days are warm and calm, the nights cool and comfortable.
The nights are also alive with small lights. Not only is there a river of stars overhead in imitation of the River Oceanus, but fireflies dance among the trees and fields, and luminous jellyfish swim beneath the surface of the Oceanus. Surprisingly, light pollution from city lights is almost non-existent, even though the city lights are seemingly more luminous. The effect has to be seen to be appreciated.
Amoria
Amoria is the topmost layer of Elysium and one of the most hospitable places on the Outer Planes, despite the recent nuclear attack by the Yugoloths on the layer. Urban centers ranging from small towns to metropolis cover a good percentage of the banks of the River Oceanus, and islands of rolling hills rise from the river itself. Boat traverl is common, and the bulk of the popluation of Elysium lives on this layer (although many are beginning to move to Belierin with the growth of Soulguard).
Amoria is a relatively peaceful place, but it is also a place where those who live have ample opportunities to aid others and demonstrate goodness. There is still misfortune on Elysium-car accidents, fires, lost wallets, etc.-but it seems to exist only to show the collective power of goodness. Calamities here test and identify those who are from other planes. Travelers to Armoria are besieged by small errands and tasks (which is usually the one thing that keeps most planewalkers from taking long vacations to the layer), but if they complete them, they find powerful allies at their side.
The fallout from the nuclear attacks still lingers in Amoria, but it only seems to benefit the layer. Petitioners, along with any good-aligned traveler who remains for a year in Amoria, recieves a permanent +2 radiation bonus to a randomly determined ability score. Combined with the awsomely powerful Celestiars, and its clear why many say that the loths secretly wish they had never dropped the Bomb on Amoria.
Amoria has seasons, though they are so timid that visitors from the Material Plane hardly notice them. It is never too hot in summer nor too cold in winter, and it rarely rains without a rainbow appearing immediately afterward. Even heavy rainstorms seem to be pleasent in an odd way.
The rulers of the guardinals also live on Amoria. These supremely powerful guardinals are as powerful as the Senior Partners of Baator, Inc. or the demon princes of the Abyss. First among their number is Prince Talisid, the wisest and most powerful of leonals. Talisid's lieutenants are known as the Six Companions: the lupinal Duke Serradus, the ursinal Matriarch Bharrai, the avoral Duchess Sathia, the equinal Duchess Vhara, the cervidal Lord Manath, and the musteval Lady Techine. Together they organize the efforts of the guardinals, sending them on missions against evil and even striking into the lower plans to recover those captured by the forces of evil. Recently, however, Talisid and the Six Companions led a successful retaliatory attack against the Yugoloths for nuking their plane, resulting in the partial destruction of the Tower of the Arcanoloths (the tower is being rebuilt).
The Planar Canal: The section of the great canal on Elysium is a massive set of locks capable of servicing ships of any size. The locks are located about midway between the border to Eronia and the Beastlands. Going down the canal takes you into Dothion, on Bytopia. the canal runs through the entire layer, eventually taking a traveler to the Silver Sea at the base of Celestia. The Planar Canal is almost as wide as Oceanus at its largest.
The Phoenix Meadows: The Phoenix Meadows are 12 lightly forested fields along the River Oceanus that were once bustling Metropolis before they were wiped out in the nuclear attack by the Yugoloths. They are also the birth sites of the Celestiar. Scholars are unsure as to why the Celestiar were born. Some believed that the spirits of the petitioners who died in the blast fused together to create a single being of incredible power. Others think that the Celestiar are in fact avatars of the Plane form in reaction to the wound inflicted on it.
Little trace remains of the city or the blast that destroyed it. At the epicenter of each meadow is a memorial commemorating those who died in the explosion. No one knows who made these statues. Each memorial is different, but they all emenate a sadness that is uncharacteristic of Elysium. Those who visit these memorials appear to act with a renewed sense of purpose in their lives.
Talisid's Dive: Although Talisid doesn't normally like keeping a permanent residence, he has seen the need for keeping a modern base of operations. He thus opened a small, open-roof dive on an island in the middle of the River Oceanus (complete with a small dock). A small but beautiful lighthouse stands at the Island's center. Beneath the dive, a group of dedicated guardinals and other celestials secretly track and analyze information throughout the Outer Planes. How they collect their data is one of Talisid's best kept secrets.
Above ground, drinks are served to patrons at only small charge. This makes it a popular place, although the geography keeps traffic down to a minimum. There is very little else on the Island aside from a nice beach. The bartenders can tell with only a glance if patrons are underage or had too much to drink. If they had to much to drink, the bartenders let them sleep it off in one of the cots kept around the island. They never allow a patron to leave while intoxicated and unaccompanied.
Talisid's Dive is perhaps the best place to find Talisid or one of his Companions. That's not to say that they come here often, but that they tend to come to the Dive more often than any particular spot on the plane. Talisid and the Companions have never actually been seen drinking at the dive (or anywhere, for that matter). Occasionally, Talisid can even be seen meeting with the leaders of the other upper planes. Only celestials from Arborea and Ysgard have been seen drinking at this bar.
In the back of the dive is the closest thing Talisid has to an official seat of power: a small office with a single desk and a couple chairs. Lining the walls are pictures (both paintings and photos) of former Companions who fought beside him throughout the ages. There is a small television set in the room, which Talisid can use to moniter any place on Elysium. Usually, though, its turned to college football (a sport Talisid takes a strange liking to, although no one knows which team he roots for).
Next: Eronia and Belieren.
"Thaumic generators at 100% output."
"Scope shows arrival zone is clear."
"3 kilometas of power; ready when you are, chief."
Adrian Wynn, director of UNEEA, United Nations Extraplanar Exploration Agency, took a deep breath to steady himself. His team had gone through hell to bring this project to completion, and now it was zero hour. He keyed the intercom in the console overlooking the Shift Bay.
"Cosmonauts, I want a final suit readout." Funny, that word. For the Russians it had meant astronaut, but from this day forth it would have a greater name. They were not mere explorers of space; they were explorers of the multiverse.
First was General Alex Tsilvolsky, team leader. He gave a thumbs-up to the control theater, looking like some sort of ogre in his bulky blue space suit.
"Ready to make history, director. All systems green." he ground out in his thickly accented english. He brandished the rolled-up U.N. flag like a war standard.
Major Gene Reagan keyed in next.
"All systems green. Tell Sandy I love her." She would be watching on the tr-d feed, of course, but unfortunately she couldn't be here in Antarctica for the shift; security was too tight for anyone but essential personnel. Far away, watching tri-d with her daughter in Los Angeles, she waved at the screen and hugged her child tightly.
Dr. Maria Sanchez responded.
"After you replaced the oxygen tanks, the suit worked fine. All systems green."
Earl Wong keyed in last.
"All systems green. We are ready."
As one, they closed the tinted faceplates. They were indistinguisable now, except for the flags of their respective nations on their shoulders. All faces turned expectantly to Adrian.
"Start initial sequence. Have a good trip."
The thaumic generators arced harmless lightning around the shift room. The magical lightning given off by most thaumic reactions produced mostly this and some extra heat, but nothing drastic.
The Cray Arcane supercomputer ran the incantations necessary through millions of parallel processors, providing the insane amount of kilometas necessary to punch through the barrier that seperated the Earth from the Astral Plane.
In a blue flash, the astronauts disappeared.
***
Gene couldn't see a thing. Everything seemed to be black, and he felt cold even through his suit. Something must be wrong.
Then, suddenly, there was a brief feeling of turbulence as he passed through the Astral Barrier, and a dim light grew up around him. He saw his companions wink in to existence around him, this time in a flash of orange light. They seemed to be floating in a huge cloud of mist. This was expected, however; the unmanned probes sent before the actual astronauts had brought back pictures of the same, and chunks of rock occasionally floating in the nothingness.
"Sense anything, Wong?" came Tsilvolsky's voice.
"No, it's strange... Shadow doesn't seem to touch here. About the only thing i could pull off here would be a read magic, and there's not much point in that."
"Guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way, then." Radar readouts popped up on the heads-ups of the explorers.
"We're looking at a fairly large landmass thataway." said Gene. "Okay, just for reference, this direction is 'north.'" An arrow labelled by an N appeared on the displays. "We gonna plant the flag there?"
"Sure, at least its solid groud. Engage thrusters everyone."
The four cosmonauts turned on their wrist controllers. Sensors in the right hand conveyed messages to the pressurized gas containers on the backs of their suits.
Maria piped up.
"I still can't get over this. They said that it would look like mist; and it does. But it's just Thaumic interference."
"Yeah, when you get large amounts of thaumic particles, say more than a meta per centimeter per tick, you're looking at some of that energy being converted to light, heat, or kinetic energy. Just like that lightning when we shifted in; it was just light given off along the trail of thaumas arcing to us. In this case the thaumic energy doesn't go anywhere, it just gives off light as it sits. Its just white light, and low density, so it looks like mist." Earl rattled it off like without thinking about, like it was it was one of his lectures at the university in Beijing.
"It feels like you should get cancer from it or something."
"Actually, the radiation levels here are lower than on Earth. It's because there are no major sources of radiation on this plane, unlike on Earth where we are near the sun."
"ETA towards landmass, about 400 tics. Thats 2 hours and 35 minutes for you, Gene."
Chi'Nath fell to one knee and bowed her head before commander Neisha.
inquired the commander, not turning around to acknowledge the sorceress, continuing to drink his tea.
Neisha stood up turned the chair around, and sat down again, all in one fluid motion. He sat there for a dew seconds, staring at Chi'Nath in her silence. She raised her head and met her commander's unwavering gaze.
***
The rock loomed into view ahead. There was no other way to describe it. It seemed to be volcanic in nature, pockmarked and grooved. But the most noticeable thing about it was the castle-like structure atop it.
"It's... inhabited?"
"We got lucky!" said Tsilvolsky
They had been decelerating for exactly half of their journey, and they moved at a slower and slower pace.
"Remember, these things have their own gravity. We lost one of our probes to that. The gravity's about Earth norm; must be a thaumic thing" said Earl.
The architecture was strange, and flowing. It looked like someone had melted an egyptian building partway, then encrusted it with gold. When they got within ten feet of the rock, they each fell to the ground with a thump. The cosmonauts helped each other to their feet, struggling in their bulky suits.
Gene caught himself. Without even being noticed, the aliens had surrounded them. They looked angry.
Superficially, at least, they looked human. Their skin, however, was yellow and mottled, and their hair was a bright orange, done either in dreadlocks or some sort of topknot. They were taller and thinner than humans, about the size of the cosmonauts in their suits. Their clothes seemed to be made of some kind of soft leather and a silverish metal. They weren't wearing suits; Gene noticed that they had nostrils and were breathing. Did they breathe magic? How did they survive outside suits?
"Nish meel na Githyanki! Grish ni na mesch!"
The aliens were armed to the teeth. With swords and knives and axes. The leader gestured at them with a long sword that had the texture of quicksilver.
Tsilvolsky raised his hands towards the alien, palms facing forward.
"Whoa, we come in peace. I am General Alex Tsilvolsky, and..." Alex knew that they couldn't understand them, and he knew when he signed up for this mission what the risks were. He was just going through the motions. Besides, at any time he could hit the recall button in his suit and send the team back to earth.
"Na? Na?" the leader inquired in his language.
Tsilvolsky extended his hand, to shake, knowing that any words he said weren't going to be recognized.
The alien seemed to consider the offer for a moment. Then, almost too fast for the eye to see, it swung its sword in a sweeping movement and decapitated Tsilvolsky, the blade glowing with the sickly green of necromantic magic as it did so.
Tsilvolsky's helmet fell to the ground, and his head rolled out of the opaque helmet, dripping blood. The aliens let out gasps of surprise and amazement, then looked at the remaining three explorers, anger and hatred becoming evident in their faces. Too shocked to resist, the were forced to come along with their captors.
An idea I had about the isolation of Earth, which may be hard to reconcile with the Astral War scenario, is something akin to Magic: the Gathering's Shard connected with the sinking of Atlantis.
Originally posted by Primus, the One and Prime
Someone needs to make that T-shirt in Cafe Press. It shouldn't be too hard, just take the Lady of Pain symbol that can be found on just about EVERY planescape product and add some text underneath. And don't forget the little "®" at the end. ;)
I like the ideas on the Elysium Fields, great idea, great execution.
Primus, sorry you couldn't do Mechanus, though I can understand the pressure of trying to figure out what to do with it.
Sorry guys, but; college first, fun later.
PS-
Wow, 300 posts. I never thought that my thread would get past 20. Go figure.
Also, I've been thinking about how to help differentiate magic from Earth and magic from the rest of the Planes and I think I have the biggest one: incantations. Only people from Earth should be allowed to cast incantations as they have a sort of Shadowy mystique to them (even if you use row after row of computers to aid you, you still need one guy at the center chanting the arcane invocations and lighting candles and such). Also, Technomages and Shadowjacks should only come from Earth, making them desirable resources across the Planes.
This however leads me to how the classes should work. Personally I think that people born and educated on Earth should use the base classes and advanced classes for the most part, while everyone else should use the DnD classes, with everything tweaked a little for balance. This will represent the differences in education styles: on Earth everyone gets a basic education and then they can start to specialize, while in a more medieval/Renaissance world the tradition master/journeyman/apprentice system would still be used, with more hands on training and many people knowing what they will be doing for the rest of their lives. I would say that anyone who recieved a standard education on Earth should have to take at least three levels in the base classes before they can start taking any core DnD classes as multiclass (for many people it will be something of a toss up: increase to Reputation and Defense and some special powers and lots of feats, or learning how to work like someone born out on the Planes). This of course brings up a real sour issue: what kind of monetary system will we be using? GP or the Wealth system? As with the classes, I sort of see a sort of hybrid system working, with Wealth being used on the modern places with the intracies of credit and banking and then people "buying" GP when they travel to a less fiancially convoluted place. Oh, and what do you think of this Prime World classification system?
A' (Astral Prime)- Was never cut off from the Astral Plane
D' (Dead Prime)- The loss of magic devastated the world and few sentients are left
S' (Shadow Prime)- So far Earth is the only known S' world. Uses shadow magic more than regular magic and has a greater association with the Plane of Shadow.
I can see money exchange businesses becoming mildly successful in planar cities that see a lot of prime visiters. Cities like Sigil, Brass City, Glass City, the Gatetowns, Foothold (An astral city founded by Shadow Primes after the Gith War), etc.
I know this is off topic, but why not just bring in fiends and play it like Urban Arcana and Shadow Chasers. Shadow Chasers has all the dimension-travelling fiends and you could use Baal like a evil lawyer ala Angel. That way you wouldn't have to go plane-hopping.
Plus Urban Arcana brings in the old D&D gods like Wee-Jas and Pelor, granting magic to newcomer Shadow creatures and Eartlings. You could one-up Urban Arcana and actually bring in weakened avatars of the D&D gods.
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
I would imagine that the planes would stick with the tried and true GP system for many reasons. For one, credit cards, cheques and paper money would mean very little outside of Earth.
I can see money exchange businesses becoming mildly successful in planar cities that see a lot of prime visiters. Cities like Sigil, Brass City, Glass City, the Gatetowns, Foothold (An astral city founded by Shadow Primes after the Gith War), etc.
Well, the lower planes traditionally use souls/petitioners as currency, and the upper planes... well, they're just beyond such needs.
Hmm... purchase DC of a soul... ?
Originally posted by Hoodooman7s
I know this is off topic, but why not just bring in fiends and play it like Urban Arcana and Shadow Chasers. Shadow Chasers has all the dimension-travelling fiends and you could use Baal like a evil lawyer ala Angel. That way you wouldn't have to go plane-hopping.
I shall now act like a little girl.
"But I like Plane-Hopping, Daddy!!!"
Seriously though. This thread was originally meant for the Manual of the Planes board but was moved to the d20 Modern board by a WizO. The intent of this thread wasn't so much adding Planescape to Urban Arcana as it was adding Urban Arcana to Planescape. The_Fan did read the Baal entry in the Menace Manual and he loved it.
Baal is now the new Lord of the Third in Baator.
But, like you said, if we wanted to bring the feel of the planes to earth, it would be easy due to the flexible system of d20 (I sooo love the base class system).
People who submitted an updated plane should convert it to a .doc or .html file and upload it to the Yahoo! Group in the Files section. It would make my life a LOT easier.
I'll see if I can get an episode of that story posted once a sunday. That's about the only day I have the time to write something like that.
Anyway, so you're saying that the First Contact story will be a kind of serial thing?
AWwsommme!!
Originally posted by Primus, the One and Prime
See there's a problem with that. Ysgard is a plane of honorable combat. The "vikings' and "norse" folk who fight on its plains do so for honor and for the glory of combat. A plane like you propose is more like a New Age Acheron. War isn't honorable anymore, battling side by side your blades flying, cleaving your enemies in two, its not honor that drives most fighters today. Its either duty (which means that such a plane would be a sort of hell for them) or some sick craving to hurt others (which also does not sound representative of Ysgard).
So...how about a Ysgard with pistol duels? And how about Arcadia as a vast gated community?
I like the computerized Mechanus idea (and the idea of renaming it "Digitus"), by the way. But the "broken Mechanus" idea also has merit.
-Qit
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
The Judo-Christian God [...]
YHVH's a martial artist? Since when?
-Qit
Originally posted by Qit el-Remel
So...how about a Ysgard with pistol duels? And how about Arcadia as a vast gated community?
Methinks the SCA would have a grand old time on Ysgard (and maybe Arborea, for the less martially-inclined members). Civil war re-enactors would love it too.
Originally posted by Qit el-Remel
I like the computerized Mechanus idea (and the idea of renaming it "Digitus"), by the way. But the "broken Mechanus" idea also has merit.
Well, from what I have gathered, we're using both Mechanuses (Mechani? Mechanus's?) in the storyline. It's just that Digital Mechanus is the final result of a planes-wide "reboot" of Broken Mechanus.
Originally posted by Qit el-Remel
YHVH's a martial artist? Since when?
How else do you think Jesus was able to fight off the Romans as long as he did? It was his mad-ninja skills, yo! Hai-ya!!
On a different topic, I had a great idea for a planar pathway (possibly replacing the Infinite Staircase?). I give you: The Infinite Subway. Each "station" is a different plane. The portal keys are subway tokens, the tunnels are infested with cranium rats, and the grafitti is in Abyssal. I was inspired partly by the thought that perhaps one layer of Erebus ought to be subway tunnels instead of sewers, and partly by a short story I read (a cookie to the person that can identify it).
Wyvern
Originally posted by Wyvern76
The planar invasion storyline is interesting, but I think it ought to be an option, not the default. Some people might want to use the modern planes with Urban Arcana or similar campaign setup where magic is secret. Others might not want to use Earth at all, preferring a setting along the lines of Greyhawk 2000, or maybe Dragonstar. It would be nice to come up with alternate histories for those kinds of campaigns.
Keep in mind that the Invasion storyline pretty much only takes place on Earth and the Githyanki occupied areas of the Astral Plane. After the war, only a few humans went any farther into the multiverse than the astral city of Foothold. And, if you want, with only some minor tweaking, the war with the Gith could be a secret war that only top-clearence personnel on Earth actually know about (like the war with the Goa'uld from Stargate TV Show).
As for the planes, most primes and planars can't really tell you much about the Astral War. Mostly, they'll just say that there was an unexplained explosion in the Astral, the Githyanki are no longer a real problem for Astral travelers and that some new kind of primes are wandering around. Few have actually attributated the "modernization" of the planes with the arrival of the Shadow Primes. Why should they care about "some spat" between the Gith and group of primes, when the Blood War just went nuclear....
On a different topic, I had a great idea for a planar pathway (possibly replacing the Infinite Staircase?). I give you: The Infinite Subway. Each "station" is a different plane. The portal keys are subway tokens, the tunnels are infested with cranium rats, and the grafitti is in Abyssal.
I like the idea of a subway being a planar pathway, but I don't necessarily agree with the Abyssal grafitti. It seems to me that only the chaotic and neutral lower planes would have abyssal grafitti, while the lawful planes would either have Infernal, or none at all. And it wouldn't make any sense for the upper planes to have ANY Abyssal grafitti.
What could work, though, is if portals existed in subways. Imagine commuting in to work, when suddenly the landscape outside becomes pitted and grey. A dead rat is in one of the back cars, and it happens to be the portal key. Of course, everything farther up from where the portal opens continues without them, and the train is effectively cut in half, but the people in the back are now stranded in the Waste without even an engine.
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
I don't know if The Infinite Subway is a good idea. I don't know why, because people have greater technology, the multiverse would suddenly sprout a new planar pathway. It has already been established that this is not due to any long-term acquisition of technology, but rather the sudden merge of Earth and the multiverse. I think that what is already magical should be changed minimally by technology and vice-versa.
Now that I think about it, I'm starting to agree with Rhys. I don't see why we can't just stick with the Infinate Staircase.
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
What could work, though, is if portals existed in subways. Imagine commuting in to work, when suddenly the landscape outside becomes pitted and grey. A dead rat is in one of the back cars, and it happens to be the portal key. Of course, everything farther up from where the portal opens continues without them, and the train is effectively cut in half, but the people in the back are now stranded in the Waste without even an engine.
Hmm, that's a good point. Now that the barrier around Earth is down, many of the portals leading to Earth would be reactivated. And many people would have already built over them without realizing it.
*Is imagining his toliet leading to Erebus after flushing the portal key*
Edit: It would also make an excellent intro adventure for a group of low-level characters. The people on the train wouldn't know jack about where they were either.
Most earthlings would only know about the Shadow and Astral planes.
As for mechanus, has anyone considered adding layers? The overall effect would be something like a computer system - huge gears, leads, cables and circuit boards make a good hardware layer, upon which you can build all else - an OS layer, an application layer.
My question, though, is this: What, if anything, happened to the Lady's edict?
EDIT: How about some misguided attempt at building a subway in Undersigil? "Now arriving, the antipeak express to
Armoury, Gatehouse and all stops to Dabus Warrens"
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
My question, though, is this: What, if anything, happened to the Lady's edict?
You mean the "Okay, Factions! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out" one?
Good question.
Edit: As far as the fate of the factions are concerned, I only know about two for sure:
1) The Harmonium has calmed down its ultra-lawful outlook slightly and has shifted more towards mantaining the common good in Arcadia. Right now, they have noticed that the Blood war has gone nuclear and are on Arcadia preparing for the worst.
2) The Sodkillers have taken residence in the new Red Cell in Carceri. They have started calling themselves Mercykillers again. The Sons of Mercy are collectively rolling their eyes at the notion.
Also, I don't think that Earth would be the only planet affected by the blockade. Earth might have been the force that ended it, but I just don't see one prime world affecting the entire planes in such an extreme fashion (that might have already been stated in one of the descriptions above, but after 11 pages and 300+ posts, it's like finding a needle in a haystack for me right now).
One last thing, if such technology to the planes is, in fact, a relatively new event, then I'm pretty sure that Earth (and some of the other prime worlds) would have established corporations for the purpose of selling such goods in some places on the planes and I would imagine that most would be located in Sigil. Imagine the wealth that these corporations could amass in a place that uses gold coins. On a side note, how would such a increase in the availability of gold affect the economy of Earth? Would it affect the price of gold in such a way that a new standard would have to be found to keep paper currency at a reasonable value? I can almost envision some countries getting involved with fiends, causing their national currency to be using souls as its standard (inadvertently or purposefully), and the general populous would be unaware that they are truly spending souls when they use said currency.
Originally posted by Ornum
If the technology of the planes is a rather new occurance, some sort of loose timeline needs to be established to reflect this. Things such as what Earth year did the Astral War occur, and what the current year is, and anything in between that might be of importance. A general storyline of events needs to be established, and also some editing of the planar descriptions may be in order. We don't want to say that Earthlings in the planes is a relavtively new event, and then have one of the planar descriptions contradict that (I'm not sure if any of the descriptions actually do this, but it might be something that needs to be looked at).
I intentionally made sure to make the dates of the timeline ambiguous, so as not to paint myself into a corner later on in the brainstorming process. I was hoping that we could figure out exact dates after we got all the storylines straightened out.
As of right now though, it has been agreed that about 400-500 years have passed since the end of the Faction War and that the Astral War ended about 50 or 60 years ago.
). I was thinking that the Astral War would be more along the lines of 20-30 years ago... still in people's memory. Plus, that lets you use spacesuits, like in Terraneaux's story.Also, one thing I don't quite understand- did the planes have modern tech before the astral war, or did Earth bring it into the planes?
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
Also, one thing I don't quite understand- did the planes have modern tech before the astral war, or did Earth bring it into the planes?
I get the impression that Earth was at least indirectly responseable for much of the plane's technological progress. Remember though, it was never actually said that this was Planescape 2004. It could very well be 2010 or 2020. A few people mentioned that the Gith Attack on earth was fairly public, so I would imagine that the Astral War hasn't happened yet in real life. I don't know. It'll happen in the near future, maybe?
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
Also, one thing I don't quite understand- did the planes have modern tech before the astral war, or did Earth bring it into the planes?
Well, there was probably the occasional "leak", say an Edsel falling into Bytopia or something, but the planes probably would develop a little technology on their own, maybe about to the Ravenloft level, gaslights and such.
Then when the planes "reconnect", technology starts flowing, not just from Earth, but from all the other techno-Primes as well, that have developed without magic.
Originally posted by Not a monkey
Then when the planes "reconnect", technology starts flowing, not just from Earth, but from all the other techno-Primes as well, that have developed without magic.
If there are other techno-primes besides earthlings, they haven't made themselves known yet. Maybe, unlike Earth, they were quiet about entering the planes and are secretly pulling the strings in many shady ventures, posing as Earth-Primes. :D
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
No! Other technoprimes are cool! Athas with Tanks! Norse Bezerker Marines! Elven Snipers! Save the technoprimes from secrecy! :D
Wow! That was a loud reaction.
*Checks for a broken eardrum.*
Seriously, though. I think that the secrecy would help keep Planescape connected to it's traditional theme of political intrigue and devilish plots. Let's not go TOO far over the top lest we lose sight of what Planescape is.
Also... if we set it in 2020, the technology we're using will be changed alot... unless someone or something has prevented technological progress somehow...
wow, what a lot of '...'
And besides, Athas never lost it's magic...
EDIT: Anyway, "..."s are fun to type and cool to look at. lol
Yeah... so it did exist in 1984... but ask any average person what it was and you'd get blank looks.
Perhaps they would have guns that used shadow energy as the ammunition or something. I don't know.
So as far as years go, something like 2020-1050 would be okay. I also think that it would be cool to still have some of the veterans of the Astral War still around, though they'd probably be in their 50's now. So say 30 years after the Astral War, and 40 years for shadow magic to be discovered and become part of society. So around 2070 or so.
Originally posted by Terraneaux
I imagined a near-future kind of setting. Remember, there was time to discover shadow magic. Earth is somewhat familiar with it, but I don't know how this would have a real application. I'm out of ideas; how would earth have utilized shadow magic in an industrial/technological capacity. In my story Earl is a shadow magic instructor, so it would have a somewhat entrenched place in society, but of course that, like everything that I will write, is open to change by the group.
I'm guessing that magic is well known, but few people actually fully understand it or use it. Earl could be the magical version of a Nuclear Physics professor. And those magic supercomputers could be DAMN expensive to build.
I just want to reiterate what I said before about magic-vs-technology. I don't think that there should be anything like the Infinite Elevator or the Elemental Plane of Transistors or . I know I made the last two up. But I just don't think that the way that the multiverse works should be affected by technology. What do the planes care if the factions are philosophers with Glocks instead of clubs? Take it from someone who spends a lot of time talking to the planes, they don't. Things should work like they have before. Maybe the justiciars will cuff you instead of use an expensive hold person, but maybe they'll just shoot you instead. Maybe the Grey Waste is a nuclear wasteland from countless bombings. But the fundamental properties and cosmology of the planes should remain the same.
Another thought on magic-vs-technology. I think that the two should not meet up. That is to say, I don't like the idea of +4 Assault Rifles of Disruption, supercomputer CPU's that are magically hasted, or Hezrou piloting F-22's in the Blood War. I think that technology should be mostly reserved for mortals, and that the exemplar races should mostly stick to magic and archaic technology. It just seems silly for a baatezu army to use rifles instead of their traditional weaponry. I know that it would be more effective, but somehow I would rather see them stick to their guns... err... stick to their lack of guns. Anyone else agree? Maybe magic should be naturally opposed to technology, or maybe the exemplar simply generally hold too much comtempt for a mortal crutch or see it as weakness to use a device invented wholly by human slime.
On a random note, I think everyone should agree that physics doesn't have to work on the Planes. Especially the Outer Planes, in which reality is defined by belief, by default. For example. The Spire is infinitely high. That means that Sigil is infinitely far from anywhere. Yet it is still visible. Newton would be spinning in his grave if it ever came to that. Not only should it be too far away to make out, but light coming from Sigil should be eternally in transit and never reach your eyes. But people believe that it's close enough to see. And they also believe that it's infinitely far. So it is, Newton be damned.
Originally posted by Terraneaux
Sure, but you learn the basics of nuclear theory in a High School chemistry classroom. Being a wizard could have as much clout as being, say, a doctor.
Hmm, good point.
I'm guessing that, at the time of First Contact, magic is used only in a select few applications. It would be a relatively new science and therefore would be a little taboo among the people who don't fully understand it. Not unlike today's Christian fundamentalist's blind (and in my opinion, stupid) fear of genetic research. As a result, you would mostly on find magic only used in theoretical and/or military applications (Such as plane shifting).
Of course, after the Gith attack, that opinion will change very fast. THEN, we'll start to see magic officially used in military weaponry, medical science, engineering, etc.
Also, I can't help but think that a campaign set in the chaotic first days of the Astral War would be incredibly cool. The PCs banding together to protect their homes from a ruthless force of invaders from beyond the stars and all the good stuff involved with that. To continue the campaign they could be explorers immediately after the Astral War, mapping the uncharted realms and acting as ambassadors for Earth.
I'm also of the opinion that since the intention of this was to create a "modern" Planescape, 2070 isn't quite the right date to set this in. You start getting into "future" Planescape, with which all new technological advances would have to be created (yes, in amount of time, there would be a few major advances), which leads to a whole new set of problems. I would stick with either a truly modern (2004), or slightly future modern (up to 2010). I definetly wouldn't go past 2020, but I still think that even that date may be a little high. I understand about wanting there to be enough time for shadow magic to develop, but perhaps Earth mages are simply low level and use planar travel to learn more about it. Whatever is decided, shadow magic shouldn't be known at all to common folk. Maybe only those that find an inate abilty towards some mystical force that they know nothing about, as well as high ranking government officials, should have even the slightest clues to the true nature of shadow magic.
Also, as Rhys said, physics and the planes don't always mesh. That's just a fact in the planes.
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
Another thought on magic-vs-technology. I think that the two should not meet up. That is to say, I don't like the idea of +4 Assault Rifles of Disruption, supercomputer CPU's that are magically hasted, or Hezrou piloting F-22's in the Blood War. I think that technology should be mostly reserved for mortals, and that the exemplar races should mostly stick to magic and archaic technology. It just seems silly for a baatezu army to use rifles instead of their traditional weaponry. I know that it would be more effective, but somehow I would rather see them stick to their guns... err... stick to their lack of guns. Anyone else agree? Maybe magic should be naturally opposed to technology, or maybe the exemplar simply generally hold too much comtempt for a mortal crutch or see it as weakness to use a device invented wholly by human slime.
While I do see and respect your reasoning behind this, I'm forced to disagree.
I feel that the moderniztion of the planes themselves is an important theme to this setting. As I have said many times, this is not Urban Arcana with the Planes thrown in. This is the planes having new ideas, philosophies and entirely new ways of manipulating the universe that no one ever considered before given to them. Its seeing just how much the multiverse can change while fundimentally always staying the same.
Its about the snide Outer Planes, who normally look down on primes, seeing a prime world with incomprehencable power. They are then forced to look at themselves and say, "Wait a minute, we aren't as important as we thought we were...."
This isn't the story of us. We're just another prime world. Toril is mentioned in planescape constantly, but no one cares about it. You want a story centered around Toril, play Forgotten Realms. Planescape is about the Planes. It's about the planar side of the story. If we take away the modern qualities of the new planes, we lose what makes this setting unique and we'll just have Planescape with 21st century humans wandering around...
That's my two cents....
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
Digitus should be a new realm in Mechanus, opposing Regulus. Either that or a new layer. I don't like the idea of adding a new plane. It's not really different in character, I wouldn't think.
I think the idea was to rename Mechanus "Digitus." But the new layer idea is a good one...
-Qit
Originally posted by Ornum
I like the idea of a subway being a planar pathway, but I don't necessarily agree with the Abyssal grafitti. It seems to me that only the chaotic and neutral lower planes would have abyssal grafitti, while the lawful planes would either have Infernal, or none at all. And it wouldn't make any sense for the upper planes to have ANY Abyssal grafitti.
The idea is that the Infinite Subway travels to *all* the planes, and all kinds of planar denizens ride it. Demons are the planar denizens most likely to engage in vandalism, ergo, the graffiti is in Abyssal. Capiche?
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
I don't know if The Infinite Subway is a good idea. I don't know why, because people have greater technology, the multiverse would suddenly sprout a new planar pathway. It has already been established that this is not due to any long-term acquisition of technology, but rather the sudden merge of Earth and the multiverse. I think that what is already magical should be changed minimally by technology and vice-versa.
Well, people have been talking about using Route 66 and the Autobahn as planar pathways; how is this any different?
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
Digitus should be a new realm in Mechanus, opposing Regulus. Either that or a new layer. I don't like the idea of adding a new plane. It's not really different in character, I wouldn't think.
Ummm, I kind of thought the whole purpose of this thread was to redesign the planes for a modern campaign. I mean, look at what they've done with Pandemonium. Digitus wouldn't be a "new" plane, it would be an "upgraded" version of Mechanus.
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
Keep in mind that the Invasion storyline pretty much only takes place on Earth and the Githyanki occupied areas of the Astral Plane.
How is that supposed to allay my concerns?
And, if you want, with only some minor tweaking, the war with the Gith could be a secret war that only top-clearence personnel on Earth actually know about (like the war with the Goa'uld from Stargate TV Show).
That's what I'm talking about, but I think someone should give more attention to this possibility. From what's been tossed around so far, I've gotten the impression that everyone on Earth is now aware of magic, like in Shadowrun. I don't like that assumption. If you want to include it as an option, no prob, but please don't ignore other possibilities. If nothing else, it makes it hard to reconcile the Urban Planars setting with the Urban Arcana setting.
Wyvern
"For Sale: Lady's Ward, 3BR, Low smog, Nice views, Convenient location."
[/randomness]
Using a subway as a pathway is pretty ridiculous, with or without abyssal graffiti. No difference exists - it's not any more sensible to use a road than to use a subway...
Which neatly brings me to a new point. Driving in the City of Doors (taken from Yahoo! group)? Why would you bother?! If walking's a problem, then I can't see it going further than a monorail. On the subject of the City, any breath of upgrading, altering or updating the Lady will bring unpleasant results.
Next and final point of ranting, "Digitus" doesn't seem like the best name for realm or layer in Mechanus. The latin word "digitus" translates as "finger".
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
On the subject of the City, any breath of upgrading, altering or updating the Lady will bring unpleasant results.
Like a oneway ticket to flays-ville.
Hey, where did that shadow come from? AHHHHH.....
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
Driving in the City of Doors (taken from Yahoo! group)? Why would you bother?! If walking's a problem, then I can't see it going further than a monorail.
Or...keep the pony carts, and put in cable cars and bicycles.
On the subject of the City, any breath of upgrading, altering or updating the Lady will bring unpleasant results.
Heh heh heh heh...
Next and final point of ranting, "Digitus" doesn't seem like the best name for realm or layer in Mechanus. The latin word "digitus" translates as "finger".
Point being...?
-Qit
On a side note, the reason that the Outer Planes changed to a modern setting once Earth came in contact with the multiverse is that beliefs started to change. For example, people who knew of the modern corporate system and the abuses available there could percieve a 9-5 job for all eternity as being the epitome of organized torture. Also, the size of the Spire could change from infinite to simply incredibly huge as people from Earth look at it and say, "I wonder how big it is?"
"Oh, its infinite." Says a helpful Outlands or Sigil native.
"That's impossible. Sure you can alter reality a little through magic, but basic laws of physics still need to be obeyed. Here, let me explain trigonometry and the fact that light moves at a finite speed." The person from Earth says. With modern science and mathematics we all have stronger "beliefs" in the way the universe works. For us, the universe can't simply be, it has to have reason and a mechanism behind it.
Which is really ironic because of chaos theory and quantum physics. Chaos theory states most things that happen are really very ordered its just that there are so many variables that it is impossible to predict anything to an nth degree of precision because we don't have all the measurements. Quantum theory basically says that everything you know about how the world works at the Newtonian level is thrown out the window when you get down to very small and seemingly simple levels.
Thus chaos is really complicated order and order we have only very vague ideas about. I wonder what the slaadi have to say about that?
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
I think that we all agree that the Lady won't change unless she wants to change, and I think that we all very much doubt that she particularly cares whether or not her blades have been styled according to the latest fashion.
No, but the inverse might well be true.
Just imagine the punker chick that catches a glimpse of the Lady and thinks "
, that's cool! I can do that!"Originally posted by Not a monkey
Just imagine the punker chick that catches a glimpse of the Lady and thinks "
What was it that EvilSandwich said?
"...one-way ticket to Flays-Ville..."
-Qit
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
Next and final point of ranting, 'Digitus' doesn't seem like the best name for a realm or layer in Mechanus. The Latin word 'digitus' translates as 'finger'.
'Techanus'?
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
Using a subway as a pathway is pretty ridiculous, with or without abyssal graffiti. No difference exists - it's not any more sensible to use a road than to use a subway...
Whoa now! How is a road or subway less "sensible" than a river, or a tree, or a staircase?
Originally posted by WilliamPall
I'd say a better name would be Digitalus . . . Di-gi-tal-us
Digitalis is the Latin name for foxglove. (Yes, I know the spelling's different, you don't need to point it out.)
Wyvern, biology geek
"Step right up, and put 25c in the binoculars to see the other side of the Cage!" The grinning salesman turns and looks up, then turns back to his prospective custom. "Or, at least, get a good view of the smog," says his faltering voice as he continues.
[/randomness]
Rivers, trees and staircases have all been around for a goodly long time. Modern roads, subways or other transit systems would only be viable if the point of contact and start of cross-culturalisation were, say, the Industrial Revolution (... or shortly prior. More on this to follow), otherwise there's no real way or reason for the Multiverse to adopt them.
Speaking of which...
The modernisation of the planes would, in my opinion, work better if contact were to occur prior to, or during, the Industrial Revolution. Where does that mean all that 19th century English slang came from? Sigil, of course. This would, as far as I can see, neatly account for changes in the Planes, and help have fun with Earth.
That said, some secrets can be kept well - very well, at that. So, as some people oddly vanish, we can quietly conclude that their circumstances take them to the Outer Planes - the crew of the Mary Celeste, for example, unknowingly carrying a portal key. The Philadelphia Experiment, the Mary Celeste and so forth could be examples of this. Encounters with the extraterrestrial could, in fact, be encounters with the extraplanar. This need not override contact with those sodding Githyanki (and mayhap even strengthens it), for those following that tangent... perhaps that little incident in 1950s Nevada underlies the conflict?
Even then, those things that work perfectly well via magical means can stay exactly the same - why "upgrade" when the magical means works just as well, and is faster and easier? The tradeoff should be no more than an atempt to maximise outcomes. The Blood War shouldn't be fought with modern technology - who has the time to equip huge forces in the Lower Planes?
On another (and, for that matter, completely unrelated) point, try convincing an Outlands petitioner that their Spire is finite.
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
Rivers, trees and staircases have all been around for a goodly long time. Modern roads, subways or other transit systems would only be viable if the point of contact and start of cross-culturalisation were, say, the Industrial Revolution (... or shortly prior. More on this to follow), otherwise there's no real way or reason for the Multiverse to adopt them.
I think you're kind of missing the point of what we're doing here. This isn't just about cultural diffusion -- the planes are shaped by belief. If Pandemonium can turn into a sewer system and Mechanus can turn into a computer, surely it's not that hard to imagine a staircase turning into a subway. There doesn't have to be a rational explanation for the change.
The modernisation of the planes would, in my opinion, work better if contact were to occur prior to, or during, the Industrial Revolution. Where does that mean all that 19th century English slang came from? Sigil, of course. This would, as far as I can see, neatly account for changes in the Planes, and help have fun with Earth.
I like this idea. You could tie it into Victorian secret societies. You could even postulate a link between Urban Arcana and Masque of the Red Death, if you were so inlcined.
Wyvern
Posted by Wyvern76
You could even postulate a link between Urban Arcana and Masque of the Red Death, if you were so inlcined.
Which neatly brings me to point number 3: The system.
Making it a campaign setting for d20 Modern wouldn't quite render the planes properly; there's just a materially different flavour, that wouldn't blend properly; at best, it'd seem odd. At worst, outright jarring.
To save the pain of reconciling the game to anyone's preconceived notions of d20 Modern - or, for that matter, PlaneScape, then I'm going to suggest designing the Urban Planes as a new d20 game. There's scope to incorporate D&D and Modern elements, and wrap it up in a crunchy coating of planar goodness.
Originally posted by Primus, the One and Prime
It doesn't give enough time for a Sigil of skyscrapers, a Baator of an office building, the mighty sewers of Erebus. Few things in the planes change over night, remember the planes have existed for eons.
They MAY not change overnight, but they certainly CAN. I believe that's what "Divinely Mutable" means. Also, remember that time need not proceed in all planes at the Prime rate.
Originally posted by Primus, the One and Prime
But she has a point. If the belief of humanity has been held back for so long, the planes are not going to all of a sudden in a short decades long span suddenly change their tech levels. The gap has to have existed for a while. As much as I like the Gith War storyline it does not give enough time for the vast sweeping changes that we are seeing here. It doesn't give enough time for a Sigil of skyscrapers, a Baator of an office building, the mighty sewers of Erebus. Few things in the planes change over night, remember the planes have existed for eons. One prime is not going to suddenly and irrevocabley change the very fabric of the multiverse itself in less than a century. Not unless they have some serious divine backing.
This is EXACTLY why I wanted the year on earth to remain unmentioned until later on. So, we wouldn't run into storyline snags like this.
Baator- Devil pride and the need to be the best could get them working around the clock to modernize their section of the multiverse. Also, one of the biggest things about the Gith War is that it forces major powers such as the baatezu to rethink military strategy and their weapons systems. After all, if the githyanki managed to hold off the entire multiverse and then got slaughtered simply because their troops couldn't reach the machine guns before being mown down, that's going to make you stop and think.
Ysgard- The way its written up now (I know, I know, I need to finish up the last two layers, but I'm currently also playing Torment and attending classes so my time is a little short lately) really hasn't changed much. Sure, there are a electric lights and in some places the petitioners fight with modern weaponry, but there really has been little change to the landscape or the flavor.
Acheron- Machine guns and nukes, and that's about all the difference there is. Hmmm... ditto for Hades, although the radiation there is horrific.
Arcadia- They would have gone through a restructuring for "the common good" so that their people have the same standard of living as the Western world on Earth. I see little protest on Arcadia over upgrading housing and roads and plumbing and all the nice things that go along with modern living, so reconstruction would probably go fairly smoothly.
Mechanus and Erebus- These were major planar disasters, and it seems like Mechanus was already going towards a major collapse before Earth arrived. Hmmm... perhaps Mechanus could have collapsed well before Earth showed up on the scene and it is the arrival of Earth technology that is accelerating the "reboot" of Mechanus. We haven't really explained Erebus yet, but maybe a big chunk of Limbo got hurled into Pandemonium and started to randomly rearrange things, and with a trickle of ideas from Earth coming in, maybe when the plane settled into a new form it "choose" a massive sewer system that drives people crazy with the constant "drip... drip... drip..." of water instead of the rush of wind.
Also, to those who say that the people of the planes would consider technology to be a crutch, well the way Planescape is set up magic is equally a crutch as technology. Why do you think I thought up the Magekillers? Yes, for the higher level creatures magic is probably more powerful (although I do have this one rather sick idea featuring a pit fiend and a modified M1A2 Abrams main cannon), but for most low level creatures and PCs technology is hugely effective and far cheaper than magic, and firearms have the advantage of range and damage over most melee weapons. Would you rather have a phalanx of barbazu or half, or even a third of that number of soldiers equipped with modern armor and weaponry?
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
Erebus- These were major planar disasters, and it seems like Mechanus was already going towards a major collapse before Earth arrived. Hmmm... perhaps Mechanus could have collapsed well before Earth showed up on the scene and it is the arrival of Earth technology that is accelerating the "reboot" of Mechanus. We haven't really explained Erebus yet, but maybe a big chunk of Limbo got hurled into Pandemonium and started to randomly rearrange things, and with a trickle of ideas from Earth coming in, maybe when the plane settled into a new form it "choose" a massive sewer system that drives people crazy with the constant "drip... drip... drip..." of water instead of the rush of wind.
I have a storyline to explain why Erebus replaced Pandemonium, I just never got around to posting it. I can tell you right now, though, Erebus' arrival had nothing to do with Earth's return to the planes. In addition, it had already been around for a century or two when the Astral War began.
Wyvern76 :: 'I think you're kind of missing the point of what we're doing here. This isn't just about cultural diffusion -- the planes are shaped by belief... There doesn't have to be a rational explanation for the change.'
Not a Monkey :: 'They MAY not change overnight, but they certainly CAN. I believe that's what "Divinely Mutable" means. Also, remember that time need not proceed in all planes at the Prime rate.'
Eyes in the Darkness :: 'On a side note, the reason that the Outer Planes changed to a modern setting once Earth came in contact with the multiverse is that beliefs started to change... With modern science and mathematics we all have stronger "beliefs" in the way the universe works. For us, the universe can't simply be, it has to have reason and a mechanism behind it.'
EvilSandwich :: 'Its about the snide Outer Planes, who normally look down on primes, seeing a prime world with incomprehencable power. They are then forced to look at themselves and say, "Wait a minute, we aren't as important as we thought we were...."'
Earth takes about 15 centuries to progress from the start of the Dark Ages to now, but the planes don't change a bit?
Even accepting this, the 'snide' outer planes always looked down on the Primes thinking they were the all-important ones; that their little world was everything; that their ways were superior. A 21st C human pops up in Sigil, and starts talking about how it's all impossible. They start their spiel about trigonometry, then some Indep shows them how one - and therefore both - the axioms underpinning all maths are wrong.
And that's just the start. Belief in the Outer Planes is strong, and springy enough to send the planes snapping back to almost where they were before. To us, things exist based on evidence and proof... mostly. To the planes, even without their own centuries of advances, the proof is that things exist or happen the way they do. A Cipher knows they believe the truth, because they can feel inner harmony. A Guvner knows they believe the truth, because the numbers added up the same twice. The Sinkers know they believe the truth, because things decay.
Earth, with its paltry 6 bilion bodies, just doesn't have the weight of unified belief to pull off a stunt like that. The planes can change themselves, and this makes a far more plausible explanation than Earth really could.
Using a storyline to replace details is a poor substitute to building one on top of details. The planes are built on basic details, then story is built from there; why not work with it that way?
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
Even accepting this, the 'snide' outer planes always looked down on the Primes thinking they were the all-important ones; that their little world was everything; that their ways were superior. A 21st C human pops up in Sigil, and starts talking about how it's all impossible. They start their spiel about trigonometry, then some Indep shows them how one - and therefore both - the axioms underpinning all maths are wrong.
Normally, I'd agree with you, but you took what I said out of context.
It wasn't our words that forced the planes to stop and think, it was our actions. We have risen to a level of power that few, if any, other prime worlds can boast. And we did it all without lifting a single magic wand. Most importantly, we can back up our claims.
And earth never, ever said that the tried and true (and proven) laws of the planes were impossible. (After all, if they were impossible, they wouldn't be happening now would they. :D ) The shadow primes merely tried to fit the planar axioms into how we see the universe.
A good example would be what I said earlier about how some people were claiming that the inner planes really represented the four states of matter instead of the four elements. A shadow-prime scientist wouldn't normally (I say "normally' because sometimes you get a jerk) say, "The idea that reality is shaped by the four elements is a silly and out-dated notion." Rather he should say, "I understand where you would get the misconception, but if you look at the evidence our theory does make more sense and it fits in with our laws as well as your laws."
Scientist have their pet theories, but they first and for most know that if they're seeing it with their own two eyes, there must be SOME truth behind it.
I'm trying to figure out what I would find to be the most exciting to play. I think it would be frankly awesome to go planewalking with modern equipment, but it might turn the setting into a sci-fi.
As for a setting, I think that maybe making changes to the planes would make it seem more like a campaign setting- things have to be different enough in this to make it a different game. Still, I think Baator as an office complex and Pandemonium as a sewer system is weird. Who wants to go adventuring in the Plane of Evil Corporate Executives or the Plane of Corrupt Attourneys or the Plane of Sewers? No plane, as the multiverse currently is, is so specific. The planes are supposed to be representative of the abstract concepts of that alignment, given physical form. Unless we lived in a multiverse in which the only form of Lawful Evil was in the form of corrupt lawyers, Baator would not grow into a giant office building. Plus, I know it might seem like office floors go on forever when you walk through cubicle mazes, but it would get so monotonous to tread through an infinite layer of offices, times nine. I don't even think that the baatezu should take on that sort of role. I think they could still come up with a better way to spend their time than pushing papers. It all just seems like too much of a punchline. The fiends would look so pathetic if reduced to a charade like dressing up in suits and commuting through Avernus traffic to get to the office on time. As for the Angel inspiration, I don't even like the show. It gets absurd to the point of stupidity, and I don't want Planescape to go in that direction.
The point of the quoted paragraph is probably closer to your own statement, that "we're just another prime world."
Oh, and to solve the problem of the Planes developing along with Earth, here are two options:
1) Earth was one of the first Prime worlds to be cut off from the multiverse and it took a while for everyone to notice, so things like the Faction War were occurring say around the time of the Enlightenment if I got by math right.
2) The cutting off of Earth from the Planes caused a temporal anomaly with time on Earth flowing faster than on the Planes. One could associate this discontinuity in time flows to be caused possibly by Earth's greater connection with the Plane of Shadow. If this option were used then I would have this distortion ended once Earth reconnected with the Planes.
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
Earth takes about 15 centuries to progress from the start of the Dark Ages to now, but the planes don't change a bit?
First of all, the vast majority of technological progress since the Dark Ages occurred in the last 100-150 years. Secondly, my argument wasn't about the timing (as I said, I like your idea that Earth re-established contact with the planes during the Victorian era), but about your implicit assumption that changes occur by the same processes on the Outer Planes as on the prime. Your latest comments are more relevant. However, I don't think that the natives of the Outer Planes have to undergo a radical paradigmal shift in order to take advantage of modern technology. And if they do start using technology, it's not too much of a stretch IMO to imagine that the planes might alter in reaction to the change. It's not a foregone conclusion by any means, but neither is it beyond the realm of plausibility.
Wyvern
I would like to help.
Here are some random ideas:
-Neo-nazis have recently 'found' the petitioner of Hitler. They are bargaining with the baatezu for the restoration of his memories.
-Recently, an Earthling vampire named Jaquowine David (male human vampire Charismatic Hero 3/ Arcane Arranger 10) has been making plays for power in Sigil. He is known for being able to aquire most any item- for a price. He also runs a modest business selling information, a business he is planning on expanding. Shemeska the Marauder is not pleased with this intrusion onto her 'turf', such as it is.
Also, as I tried to state a few posts ago, when you think about it many of the changes to the planes are not all that big, and those that are have a good reason behind them.
1) Those that believe that the planes were changed by the enterance of Earth into the cosmology.
2) Those that argue that the planes wouldn't change so easily.
and
3) Those that are looking at the former two and rolling their collective eyes at their silly conflict.
I'm starting think that Bob has a point. Maybe at this point, we should forget about the why and concentrate what we wanted to do.
Our orginial goal was to modernize the planes. All ideas on this subject should focus on achieving this. Little things like the Astral War, the Broken Mechanus and the cause for the disappearence of Pandemonium should be minor topics. Before we finish them, we should continue to turn back to the beginning.
Update the planes. All explainations will come later...
Edit: I should also point out. Erebus is not Pandemonium! Erebus merely took it's place in the great wheel. Therefore the planar effects would be different than Pandemonium's.
Eronia
Eronia is a rising land of steep hills, sharp-toothed mountains, and white granite valleys, which divert the river again and gain. Rugged foothills coil at the bases of these mountains, high bluffs, plateus, and mesas. Communities tend to congregate on the plateaus or in small towns hunched between the mountains and the River Oceanus.
The weather is fierce on Eronia; great windstorms and snowfalls with lightning are common. The summers are hotter and the winters more bitter than on the Material Plane. Eronia is for the good souls who still want to be challenged in their afterlife.
While Eronia is arguably the most dangerous layer on Elysium (most inhabitants here will tell you its perfectly safe as long as you use common sense), it has also seen more changes with the coming of technology than any other layer. Roadways and railroad tracks cut through the mountains, while concrete bridges span over the steep river valleys. Modern mining equipment has allowed the locals to access the previously untapped riches of the layer. On many of the Oceanus' side paths, dams that are miles wide and thousands of feet high now provide hydroelectric power to most of the plane. Almost every town is equipped with a heliport, and those with enough open space have also built small airports. Every town has a satellite dish for connecting with the rest of the Planes (see the Blimp Satellite below).
Despite the achievements of modern technology on Eronia, those who live here do so at the whim of the mountains themselves. Often parts of great hills slide away, blocking the river as well as nearby roads and rails. In the winter, snowplows fight a fierce battle to keep the roads open. Eronia is a place of rugged peace, its mountains lost in luminous clouds above and a challenge to any climber. Many who live here are natural loners looking to live apart from the press of the cities. Small cabins dot the mountain pass, providing welcome refuge to those trying to travel the layer by foot or road. Here the wind whips around mightily, causing several helicopters and planes to crash against the mountain sides every year, especially if the pilot is not expecting the wind's ferocity. Statistitians have noted, though, that these crashes have a greater chance of there being survivors than what would be normal on the Prime Material Plane, and the response to these disasters from local communities is swift. All creatures with a fly speed have their maneuverability reduced to the next lower category (perfect to good, good to average, average to poor, poor to clumsy). Clumsy fliers remain clumsy.
Bharrai Research Center: Overlooking a small lake nestled between four mountains, the Bharrai Research Center is considered to be the most important center of learning among the ursinals. Originally a lodge that served as a part-time school of wizardry, the ursinal matriarch Bharrai has done much to renovate the lodge into a modern research facility, studying everything from planar ecology to quantum physics. On the outside, the lodge looks little different, although the addition of a helipad and satilite dishes make an interesting contrast to the elogant wooden exterior of the lodge. The old dock on the lake has been greatly renovated to accomdate those interested in studying marine biology.
Inside, the lodge has undergone huge changes, although it stays true to its original use. The lodge would be familiar to anyone who has visited a modern hunting lodge, although they would wonder where all the trophies are kept (Bharrai only hunts for food, and never keeps trophies). The lodge is also equipped with several boardrooms and lecture halls, where classes on enivormental studies are held. Bharrai also uses these rooms when meeting with the inhabitants of the layer, who usually come to her for advice before they begin any major construction project (such as making a clearing for a helipad, establishing a new town). Bharrai has had a large influence on the shaping of Eronia in modern times, but has consequently spent less of her time travelling with Talisid and her fellow Companions. Many believe that she will retire as one of Talisid's Companions in the near future.
Many of the research center's newest facilities are in fact located under the mountains boardering the lake. A large tunnel circles the lake, holding one of the largest particle accelerators on the Planes. It is certainly the largest that allows other researchers access to it for their experiments. Time to use the accelerator is sought by many scientists that are on the cutting edge of science.
The Blimp Satelite: One of the curious effects of Eronia is that not communication signals interfered with by the high mountains, whether they are technological or magical in nature. This makes communication by radio or sending a precarious business, and ever cross-planar communication appears to be interfered with by the mountains. Meanwhile, Eronia's hazardous weather makes using wire connections impractical in the long run.
To overcome this communication barrier, Bharrai has bought several custom-made blimps from Bytopia. These blimps, hovering miles over the rugged terrain, carry equipment normally found on communication satelites that orbit the primes. Each town in Eronia is equipped with satelites which can link up with one of the blimps without having to worry about interference. The blimps then send the signals where-ever they need to go.
The blimp satelites are watched over and maintained by an old silver dragon named Rennusiantus. He is helped by several astral devas who live on the layer. The sky-duchess Santhia also keeps an eye on these blimps from time to time.
As for the subject of debate, it really is something that we shouldn't be concerning ourselves with until we have a complete picture of the planes (the upper planes are woefully undeveloped, Baator is incomplete, Mechanus/Digitalus is in a state of limbo (no pun intended, honestly :D ), the Abyss has only a few layers developed, Only two of the elemental planes have been developed, and almost nothing has been said of modern Sigil).
Earlier we were discussing the timeframe; if it is so important that the Earth be exposed to the planes so early (by 2020 or whatever), then it would take some obvious re-writing of history. You couldn't append the setting to real-life events; we have to set it into an alternate universe of sorts. This does give us some freedom and latitude that we would not have, either, and I think that that's a good thing. We don't want the Vietnam War to have happened? It doesn't have to. In addition, we can use names with impunity. We can give the name of the United States president or the Secretary General of the UN and not be "wrong."
In addition, the planes have to be changed in some way to make them more modern; otherwise, I don't see much point to this thread. Anyone can take PS and stick UA or the "real" world in there with no rewriting at all; it take this thread to change the planes so that they really fit in to a modern world.
On the other hand, the Chinese can fit the roll of the Soviet Union fairly well.
But Russian sounds cooler than Chinese:D
It's a shade messy at the moment, but could do with heavy doses of planar goodness; urban planar goodness at that.
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
13 page threads are fun, but I'll draw your attention to http://www.forums4free.net/urbanps/
It's a shade messy at the moment, but could do with heavy doses of planar goodness; urban planar goodness at that.
I registered and I'm in the middle of moving the revised planes into there now...
What I know about Planescape is mostly gleaned from computer game and hours of reading I got off any website I could find (suggestions are always appreciated) so if there are any important gaps I left out (for example, I have no idea what the Inevitables are or how what the modron hierarchy functions at the top) feel free to fill them in for me.
The Limitless Arrays of Logos
It is the computer of the multiverse
It is the final repository of all electronic knowledge
It is the spiritual root of the Internet
The re-emergence of the Shadow-Primes has has affected Logos(formerly Mechanus) the most dramtically. The massive cog realms of the past have given way to circuitboard metropolis'. Now all one sees in Logos is an infinite array of circuitboards and parallel processors linked up in some highly complex (but no doubt very efficient) configuration. The only ambient light in Logos comes from the blinking LED's and displays that appear throughout the array. In some of the less well lit areas of Logos, this gives the impression of a sky full of brilliantly multi-colored 'stars' that would make its counterparts in the upper-planes jealous.
Getting crushed between the gears is no longer a danger when traveling Logos though adventurers still need to be wary as this has been replaced by risk of severe electric shock from any number of ways on a circuitboard. Those old-fashioned types who still insist on lugging around large metal weapons and wearing heavy armor to this plane have often met their demise as another blob of solder in Logos.
The computerization of the plane has also given rise to a second co-existent layer called Binary that acts as a virtual mirror to the physical counterpart. (see below)
Logos Traits
Objective Directional Gravity- Gravity is in the direction of the nearest circuitboard so prepare for a sudden switch when travelling between or to the other side of a board. Strength is normal
Normal Time
Infinite Size The array of boards extends forever.
Divinely Morphic- Powers may alter the boards however they want though altering it in such a way that it becomes incompatible with the rest of the array requires constant maintanence as the planar denizens will try to reintegrate it into the system e.g. gear spirits. In the earlier days of Logos, particularly incompatible alterations caused whole boards to shift into the Outlands. The current gatetown to Logos- Mainframe- is one such board. Resident powers have since learned to avoid this.
Mixed Elemental and Energy Traits - Minor lightning dominant. Damage from lightning can range from a harmless buzz of ambient static or getting getting totally fried if you are foolish enough to say strike a major capacitor. Apart from lightning protection or suitable insulation, characters proficient in electronics may be able to recognize avoid these dangers while travelling.
Binary Traits
Binary is a layer of pure abstract law. There is a "default" set of traits for the layer, but anyone with a suitable knowledge of the plane may be able to manipulate these laws to their advantage.
Subjective Directional Gravity- For the majority of beings entering Binary, gravity is normal as they would expect. Characters may attempt to alter their gravitational constant, or even fly, by making a successful intelligence check.
Flowing Time Time in Binary flows much faster than normal [I'll leave it to DM discretion how fast they want it]. Hours may be spent in Binary with the adventurers leaving it only to notice seconds have passed in the physical plane. As Logos continues to upgrade itself time in binary continues to flow faster. It is continously debated among scientists what will happen in Binary once Primes manage to develop the quantum computer.
Infinite Size same as Logos
Highly Morphic Like in Limbo (thus leading further credence to proponents of Chaos theory!) Characters may attempt to alter the environment from default if they make a successful intelligence check. It should be noted that natives, particularly the modrons, frown upon this and may either react by either attacking or attempt to reestablish the default setting of the area changed. Also some individuals have the innate ability to percieve the complex patterns of Binary and shape it to their will. Treat these chracters like the lawful version of Limbo's anarchs.
Powers that already have a realm in Logos usually also maintain the mirror realm in Binary. More creative powers may have realms in binary totally different than the physical counterpart and more closely refelcting the ideals of said deity. Binary realms linked to boards that shifted out of Logos will cease to exist unless maintained through some other means
No Elemental or Energy Traits
Logos Links
Portals in Logos remain much the same as they were back in the days of Mechanus. Most of them appear now inside monitors or LCD displays which means they can be deliberately turned off or manipulated like any other piece of electronic equipment. This happens rarely however as most portals are heavily guarded by the locals not to mention switching it off often requires breaking a very complicated set of encryption keys based on prime numbers thousands of digits long.
The electrical nature of Logos has also greatly increased the number of portals to the quasi-elemental plane of lightning. All the major lightning portals are maintained and regulated by the natives as power sources for the boards and are housed in huge power plants that resemble enormous batteries. It should be noted that the power form the portals is used to maintain the incumbent civilisation around them. Logos itself appears to be powered by some unknown source in the plane.....
Natives of Logos have developed the ability move between the layers at will. As long as they are in physical contact with one of the boards they can 'download' themselves into the system as per a specilized form of the astral spell. For this reason conduits leading to Binary- that appear as virtual reality headsets- are mostly ignored and are used freely by visitors. The thought based nature of Binary means that it is peppered with astral pools and ethereal curtains. The real significance of this layer however is that it is linked to every computer in the multiverse. Like the astral, a sufficiently intelligent being can try to navigate to any computer system like a shadow-prime hacker would do on the internet. This has lead to rumours going around that the modrons are currently trying to find a way to exit these systems into the adjoining planes and thus establish a planar pathway that would rival Yggdrasil or the Infinite Staircase. With the growing computerization of the outer planes, this would give the Modrons a potent weapon indeed!
Logos Inhabitant
[someone else fill this in, I don't think I know enough about the history of modrons, formians and inevitables to give it any justice]
Logos petitioners
Petitioners are typically some of the Primes' most extreme jingoists who supported their nations regardless of what it did or represent; beuracrats who favored efficiency above all else; dispassionate workers in legal world more interested in the word than the spirit of the law; technicians who knew how to perform their jobs flawlessly but had no idea why it worked; and the most obsessed theoretical scientists and mathmaticians who's theories were never proven in their lifetime (by no coincidence are the majority of the scientists physicists;) )
Petitioners may exist in either layer of Logos with more practical petiotioners in Logos proper and the the more abstract ones in Binary. Practical petitoners typically take the form of some transistors in one of the CPU's of a motherboard. They are usually unaware of those around them and if one can manage to get one to talk they only will answer using boolean terms e.g. yes/no, true/false, ./_. Petitioners in Binary consist of humanoid shaped sprites (the graphic not the fairy) with features which may or may not be recognizable depending on their resolution (determined by stats and level in life). If examined closely they appear to consist entirely of a single layer of ones and zeroes and so are essentially incorporeal. They are usually found working on some impossible to solve mathematical problem such as finding the exact value of pi or a simple proof of fermat's last theorem and any attempts to distract them from it will be completely ignored.
[I don't know what traits they would have someone else can fill this in]
Logos Features
The evolution of Mecahnus into Logos was a gradual process. Change was first noticed as the increasingly erractic movement of the gears and their eventual stop. The gear spirits also vanished though more keen eyed observers saw that they in fact had transformed into nanobots and were in thr process of transforming the plane into Logos. The natives took note at the infusion of technology and started to do the same. Currently Logos exists in different stages of development. The civilised centers exist in the most high-tech forms of electronics which regressively become lower-tech as you move away from them with transistors giving way to vacunm tubes, LED's becoming lightbulbs and lightning portals becoming steam portals. The most remote areas of Logos that only the nanobots work on resemble large eroding gears criss-crossed with circuitry. Some suspect that the relatively slow change to the remote gears is part of the change-resistant nature of law and is a sign that these parts of Logos might eventually shift into Arcadia or Acheron to form a new layer as these planes are more tolerable to the obsoleteness of the gears.
[Alternatively, I think the Mechanus reboot idea would make for a pretty cool adventure if people prefer events to be alittle more dramatic. What a wrote obviously trys to accomadate how mechanus might react to a gradual change by being exposed to the growing flow of technology and modern scientific thought that spread from Earth]
I also think a good template for Sigil would look something like the technomagic world in Final Fantasy 6; a kind of dirty, smoke-filled looking cross between high-tech and industrial concepts.
The Elemental Plane of Water
Subjective Directional Gravity: Similar to the elemental plane of Air, down is dependent on the perspective of the traveler. Sinking and rising, however, is slower and much less dangerous.
Normal Time
Infinite Size
Alterable Morphic
Water-Dominant
Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create water are both extended and enlarged. Spells that are already extended or enlarged are unaffected.
Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor or of the Fire domain are impeded.
The Elemental Plane of Water is an endless sea with no floor or surface, lit with a diffuse glow. Much of the glow can be attributed to the rich quantities of bioluminescent plankton that inhabit the plane, and support the entire plane’s food chain with their biomass. The glow of the plankton is generally a bright, electric blue, diffused out through the water, but different species of plankton can provide different colors from neon yellow to aqua green. The rest of the glow comes from energy from the plane of Radiance, which diffuses like oxygen from the plane of Air through the endless waters.
Every kind of water can be found here, spilling through the sea in vast currents of freshwater and saltwater, laden with icebergs or heated to boiling. Water elementals, merfolk, tritons, kuo-toa, ixitxachitl, nereids, water weirds, locathah, aboleth, tojanida, sahuagin, sea elves, krakens, and fish of all kinds and sizes live here. Any visitors must be able to breathe water, or simply not care about breathing, or they will drown – unless they find a random pocket of air in time.
One thing to remember about Water is that everything moves, carried by currents or washed by tides. Everything moves, but the inhabitants of Water understand the patterns of the world around them; like the other inner planes, Water is innately neutral.
Floating in the vast sea are chunks of other planar matter. Air pockets allow air-breathers and amphibious creatures some respite, while chunks of elemental earth provide room to build upon. In addition, sometimes portals lead from various Prime worlds to the plane of Water, and everything from spare tires to dead ships and wrecked planes is sucked in. The flotsam and jetsam of hundreds of worlds ends up in the plane of Water.
One of the best ways to travel the Elemental Plane of Water is by submarine: temperature controlled, air-controlled, and protected from water pressure and hostile creatures. Luxury submarines run by the marid, but employing members of other races, can take passengers from any known city in the plane to any other recognized city – in style.
Other types of modern air or watercraft are also usable here, but not being designed as submersibles requires that they be sealed magically or piloted by waterbreathers.
Portal: Bermuda Triangle
A floating portal links the waters of Earth Prime and the Elemental Plane of Water. On Earth, the points of the triangle are understood as the Bermuda Islands, Miami, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The portal moves between these points with the currents and tides: in the area surrounding the portal, compasses are thrown off balance and point to true north rather than magnetic north. This makes navigation especially tricky in this area, and experienced navigators and pilots often find themselves unable to figure out where they are, and off course by several miles. Sometimes they find themselves lost in the plane of Water.
The crews of the ships and planes dragged into the plane of Water usually die within minutes, as the craft fills with water. Submarines, though, may make it to an air pocket – with even better luck, an air pocket dominated by merfolk rather than sahuagin.
On the other side of the portal, the Bermuda Triangle portal travels with a warm-water current that flows roughly in a triangle (Rule of Three, don’t you know), but covers a much larger area. The dead craft are left to float and drift with the current, and may end up leagues and leagues from the portal they first came through.
A similar but smaller portal with identical effects floats in the sea between Japan and the Philippine Islands.
Oh, and... no direct portals exist between Outer and Inner planes. Your electricity would have to hop through the Ethereal, Prime and Astral on the way. The gears could possibly stay, to generate power for the immense computer system.
Oh, and, sign up for the other forum. It'll make a lot more sense than trying to read this thread.
Originally posted by Ornum
I know that we decided to first detail the planes, then worry about the other stuff later, but here's a thought that I had. What if some of Earth's technology had been leaking into the planes throughout the years? Say, from a permanent one way portal to the outer planes that exists on Earth. Now, what I was thinking was, what if all those ships and planes that have been disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle were actually being transported to somewhere in the Outer Planes because the somewhere in the Triangle, there exists such a one way portal?
That's an excellent idea. It has already been discussed that Earth has a much stronger tie to the Inner Planes than any other plane on the Great Wheel. So, portals to the Inner Planes (via the Etherial Plane) would be easier to access than anything connected to the Astral. Even during the blockade.
From the Keyboard of Ornum :: Now, what I was thinking was, what if all those ships and planes that have been disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle were actually being transported to somewhere in the Outer Planes because the somewhere in the Triangle, there exists such a one way portal?
Similar phenomena could account for SHC, the Mary Celeste, (other strange disappearances), and suchlike. Perhaps the Philadelphia Experiment was an attempt to exploit the planes...
In addition, anybody have any suggestions about the current status of the factions? An idea that I had was, now that the factions are no longer officially aloud in Sigil, they are no longer bound by the "Only 15 Factions" rule. At least a few new factions must have risen in the several hundred years between the Faction Wars and Present Day.
I'm already working on one called The League of Archivers. Their basic philosophy is that knowledge should not be horded by the few privileged people. It should be shared with anyone who will listen. Naturally, the faction is VERY unpopular with those who wish to keep their secrets.
The Logos thing is interesting as it stands. Perhaps it'd be worthwhile to add another layer representing the plane's OS or a shell - something like the Matrix in Shadowrun - above the binary data (layers then equating to Hardware (bits you can kick), Digital logic (ones and zeros), OS/Shell (the bit people 'talk' to)).
Oh, and... no direct portals exist between Outer and Inner planes. Your electricity would have to hop through the Ethereal, Prime and Astral on the way. The gears could possibly stay, to generate power for the immense computer system.
I left out an OS/shell because I thought it more a human invention of convenience than anything actually having to do with the nature of law. I mean a computer does not need an OS to actually function but it does need hardware and a machine code to work within. If you think about it, any sufficiently hardcore/insane programmer could do all their work in binary:D
I'm not too concerned about the portal thing since I already decided Logos' actual power source to remain a mystery (an entire outer plane being dependant on another plane to function is probably a bad idea anyway). I'll leave what other power sources are available for the inhabitants up to everyones imagination if they insist it needs to follow planar physics.
In addition, anybody have any suggestions about the current status of the factions? An idea that I had was, now that the factions are no longer officially aloud in Sigil, they are no longer bound by the "Only 15 Factions" rule. At least a few new factions must have risen in the several hundred years between the Faction Wars and Present Day.
I'm already working on one called The League of Archivers. Their basic philosophy is that knowledge should not be horded by the few privileged people. It should be shared with anyone who will listen. Naturally, the faction is VERY unpopular with those who wish to keep their secrets.
Well technially speaking there could always have been more than 15 factions. It was just that after the Great Upheavel only 15 were allowed to stay in Sigil which was more than enough for all of us to speculate about without getting bothered over the others that got kicked out. That said your new faction sounds pretty interesting though I think it should be called something else other than archivers since it makes them sound more concerend with keeping records than actually uncovering secrets. Faction names tend to be catchy and a little self-effacing like "The Revealing Light." Otherwise just be careful not to make sound too much like the Fraternity of Order.
Another intersting idea I thought for the setting would be the powers trying to find ways to insinuate their influence into Earth by introducing proxies in the form of superheroes/villians. For example, Wonder Women is an obvious proxy for the Olympian Pantheon while Lex Luthor is an Baatorian agent. I'll leave it up to everyone to figure out who Superman, Green Lantern and the X-men work for.
As for the hardcore programmer... the Outer Planes are abstract representations of belief, and belief thrives on some kind of understanding. An OS makes it convenient to generalise (and standardise) a number of basic resources and functions, helping to protect the other layers and keep it running nicely. Good quality memory management would, in my opinion, contribute more to the nature of law in Mechanus.
Just so long as the OS isn't Windows. I've and got Chaosmen feeling by that programmed was it a Sinkers.
Of course, I was thinking differently about the Powers (that said, I was also thinking about designing a d20 game as an intermediary between D&D and Modern; this'll be posted on the forums as it's built) insofar as there's plenty of [insert clergy] following [insert list of rituals] from [insert faith]. Imagine their shock when their rituals actually start working, despite the deities not being the ones they thought - and imagine how this explains the existence of religion in the first place.
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
There's not a lot of point to new Factions springing up, since the Lady's Edict. Now that they can't hold power in Sigil, the factions aren't the place to be - there'd be a resurgence in the sects before new factions would form.
Correction.
The sects are the place to be in Sigil and their respective planes. However, after the Lady's Edict, the factions have gone planeswide, baby! As a result, much of their influence on people's beliefs is the strongest that they've ever been. The subject has been discussed here.
I was thinking of putting the planes in kinda a post-apocalyptic type setting, relying on the old planescape cosmology. Here is my idea.
d20 modern is "in the future" compared to the Planescape campaign setting. So the players arrive in Mechanius, and it is all almost destroyed like previously suggested (they didn't deal with the industrial revolution so well)
The timeline goes something like this:
The downfall of mechanus was a great step for Baator, and they tried to annex that plane and use it's resources for their own. Obviously, they failed. You can't annex a plane.
They did however, gain some information on how to make an assembly line, as well as a few other tricks. With this info, they were able to gain the upperhand in the blood war, for a while.
With the forces of the abyss depleated, they devised a plan (chaotic evil can devise plans too guys.) They snuck in and destroyed most of the processing plants in Mechanus, crippling Baator, who had become dependent on those refineries.
With both the forces of the hells downed, the celectial forces banded togeather to take down the demons. The demons, of course, banded togeather and a huge good-vs.-evil war was faught. The demons were weakend, but only a fraction of the celectials fought, sighting that they thought it was folly.
The battles raged over most of the planes, and now the planes are starting to recover, after both sides have settled down into an uneasy piece. Most of the planes are destroyed, including a fair chunk of Sigil (yes, the lady of pain allows the blood wars in sigil. I don't know why, but she does.) The heroes arrive (via a conduit) into mechanis searching for something, with most of the planes destroyed.
Questions? Comments? I would love to hear opinions or suggestions.
Ladies and gentlemen:
The Element Express
Gliding with a smooth but far from silent rhythm down its endless track, the engine of the Element Express seems impossibly strong for its load, which ranges, depending where you see it, from fifty to several hundred shining metal-and-wood cars. It appears to be a 19th century Prime steam engine, with its constantly roiling low cloud, but never takes on fuel nor water.
The cars range from simple slat benches, to plush sleepers, and even the occasional sealed private car (though how one acquires one of those, is anyone's guess). While there are extremely secure baggage cars for the upper-class passengers, no one has ever seen a cargo or tanker car of any type. At the end, there is always one, and only one, mail car. The few attempts that have been made to attack this have ended quickly and mysteriously, making any mailbag picked up by this train quite possibly the most secure communication in the Inner Planes.
The Express travels in only one direction, through all four Elemental Planes, lending credence to the spheric or cubic model of the Inner Planes. There are rumors of branch lines into the Positive and Negative, but none have actually found these and returned to tell of them.
In the Plane of Earth it rides tracks through narrow tunnels that hug the contours of the cars, making anyone venturing to the roof or even extending an arm a dangerous proposition. However, these tunnels never seem to close up, no matter how much seismic activity occurs. Or if they do, new ones, complete with track, seem to open before anyone notices. While it winds and weaves, there is no interruption, save when the Express stops in a larger cavern, often near an outcropping that is the perfect natural platform.
The Express crosses the Plane of Fire quickly, stopping at only a couple of points near major djinn settlements. Rails glow white-hot before and after the Express, but never melt nor warp. While the temperature inside remains just on the warm side of comfortable for mortals, it is still quite a pulse-quickening ride. The rails follow the contours of many a volcanic crater, and eruptions of magma have been known to shoot up even between the cars.
The Plane of Air is probably the straightest length of the route, and the fastest speeds are reached (though riders can rarely tell, with the lack of landmarks). The Express rides a metal-frame tressle that seems (and quite possibly is) infinite. Not just in length, but also, oddly in this Plane, in height. The bridge's legs just seem to go down (and yes, the Express extablishes a common down) to the very end of anyone's vision, vanishing in the mists. Some small communities have even sprung up, clinging to the framework. While there are many platforms, also hanging from the tressle, it's not uncommon for riders near their destination to merely leap from a door and direct themselves as soon as they're free from the Express' gravity.
Compared to the rest of the track, the stretch though the Plane of Water is incongrously futuristic (albeit in a kitsch-art deco kind of way). The sleek metal rails are encased, like in the Plane of Earth, in tunnels. But these tunnels are of an amazingly clear, strong glass, framed with shining metal and comprising a cylinder nearly twice the diameter of the train and filled with breathable air. Travellers report this as a very peaceful ride, scenic and near silent, with only the rumbling of the wheels as accompaniment. Platforms here tend to open out into large airlocks, and occasional submarine pens.
But, seriously. If 15 factions have people believing them more than ever, and their support is increasing, this makes it harder for new factions to spring up...
Well... almost. The Mind's Eye should break apart again - your archivists could instead be the Godsmen reborn, claiming that collating, cross-referencing and compiling information on anything and everything brings everyone that little bit closer to divinity. The Powers know quite a bit, after all.
That running squabble amid the Sinkers could see them split in half as well, leaving an ideological skirmish across the negative quasielementals.
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
But, seriously. If 15 factions have people believing them more than ever, and their support is increasing, this makes it harder for new factions to spring up...
Well... almost. The Mind's Eye should break apart again - your archivists could instead be the Godsmen reborn, claiming that collating, cross-referencing and compiling information on anything and everything brings everyone that little bit closer to divinity. The Powers know quite a bit, after all.
Good point. Though, I would imagine that The Revealing Light (I like that name) would be closer to the Sensates in philosophy than the Mind's Eye. The Sensates want to experience everything in the multiverse, the archivists want to learn about everything in the multiverse. Maybe the Sensates didn't break apart, the Revealing Light just splintered off of the faction.
As for the hardcore programmer... the Outer Planes are abstract representations of belief, and belief thrives on some kind of understanding. An OS makes it convenient to generalise (and standardise) a number of basic resources and functions, helping to protect the other layers and keep it running nicely. Good quality memory management would, in my opinion, contribute more to the nature of law in Mechanus.
Just so long as the OS isn't Windows. I've and got Chaosmen feeling by that programmed was it a Sinkers.
Well like I said I don't think making things convenient to use (as opposed to efficient) is in the nature of law. For someone/something that understands law perfectly- a modron for example- they would function just fine with or without one to work with. How we interact with the data is mostly up to the user which is why I prefer to keep the OS as mostly a personal construct than an objective reality imposed by the whole plane.
Either way I wouldn't worry about it being Windows since it would be incredibly unbalancing if anyone has knowledge of the source code. (kind of gives a new meaning to call Microsoft an evil empire). Instead we can have a bunch of open source civilisations fighting for dominance like all the versions of Linux do now- it would certainly be consistent with the current battle between the Modrons and the Formians.
That said an OS would probably be something that the powers use to shape their realms (obviously they would want to keep the cource code to themselves). But I think applying a universal OS is too restrictive and is just screaming to be broken by some munchkin character who is going to spend half the session arguing about computer science anyway to try and convince you they should be able get perfect rolls on their die every time because random number generators aren't truly random
Of course I'm probably kidding myself if I think a lawful plane based on computers will be anything but a mucnhkin heaven or DM hell
Originally posted by WilliamPall
I'd say a better name would be Digitalus . . . Di-gi-tal-us
So maybe "Digitus" means "finger." "Digitalus," now...gotta agree with Wyvern76. Change one letter, and that means either a foxglove plant, or a rather dangerous heart drug derived from it.
That's better than "Digitus" how?
-Qit
Jacob had spent the past few hours perched on the roof of some cager’s house with his sketch pad in one hand and a pair of binoculars in the other. The surface of the roof was rough with many rusty nails jutting out of the sparse shingles. “Why am I doing this?” he muttered to himself. It was a silly question, of course. He knew exactly why he was doing this. His fellow Shiners had entrusted him with the task of keeping an eye on a certain vrock that the Revealing Light had labeled “Worth Learning About”. He shifted his position when he realized that he lost all feeling in his rump.
After days of searching, he pin-pointed the Tanar’ri’s location to the warehouse across the street. It was apparently in a meeting with a group of tieflings. What the purpose of the meeting was, Jake could only guess about. He was no lip-reader after all. When he knew that he learned everything that he could by staring through binoculars from twenty feet away, he leaped off the roof... and fell into a pile of boxes with a loud clatter. After a minute of pushing away debris and stumbling, Jacob stood up and dusted himself off.
“YOU AGAIN!?”
Jake slowly turned around to find the demon of his study towering over him and snarling. The Archivist chuckled nervously, “Hello, sir. Would you mind filling out this questionnaire? No? Bye, then!” Jake threw a smoke bomb to the ground, shrouding the entire area in blackness. When the vrock’s vision returned, all that remained of Jacob was a crumpled sheet of note paper.
“A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.” “There are some things mortals were not meant to know.” “It’s none of your business.” Such words are blasphemous to a Shiner. Knowledge is meant to be learned, understood and shared. By keeping secrets to yourself, you are benefiting no one and holding back the progress of society. You could be the most knowledgeable and intelligent person in the multiverse, but what would be the point if you refuse to share that knowledge. If you don’t teach others what you know, all that information will disappear when you die, never to be regained. And that is a sad thing indeed…
Philosophy: Knowledge is not to be horded. It’s meant to be shared.
Nicknames: Shiners, Archivists, the Curious, Those Nosy Berks
Headquarters: The Bharrai Research Center, Elysium
Major Races: Aasimar, Chaond, Githzerai, Gnomes, Humans, Tieflings, Zenythri.
Favored Classes: Bards, Clerics (with Knowledge Domain), Monks, Rogues, Wizards
Factol: Professor Edward Davis (CN male shadow-prime human Smart10/Charismatic6)
Prominent Members: Bumpliforn (N male gnome Expert12/Rogue2), River-of-Ash (LG neuter Tiefling Wizard11/Loremaster4)
Alignment: Any, except Lawful Evil
Symbol: An open book surrounded by a halo of white light.
Philosophy, History and Goal will be added later...
What do you guys think about it so far?
And why can't they be Lawful Evil?
Originally posted by Boko
And why can't they be Lawful Evil?
It seems that they don't approve of people being treated like mushrooms (i.e. kept in the dark and fed manure). I think that a LE society would be likely to treat people like mushrooms as a matter of course—think "ministry of information." (Or "ministry of disinformation," as the case so often is.) These guys are the free press—and the ministry probably wants them squelched.
That's my best guess, anyhoo...
-Qit
Originally posted by Boko
Why would there headquarters be in Elysium? Shouldn't their main concerns be more about making public other being's secrets rather than trying to make new discoveries through research. I would think they would want to situate themselves near one of the planar libraries like Thoth's in the Outlands or, at the risk of promoting myself, in Binary where they are always trying to access other computers in the planes.
And why can't they be Lawful Evil?
The Shiners hate the Thoth's in the Outlands with a passion. They see Thoth's and the Arcane Tower in Gehenna and places like it as a representive of everything that is wrong with the multiverse. Large fortress-like buildings that take knowledge and guard it greedly for themselves not sharing it with anyone. They also consider making new discoveries through research to be just as important as uncovering secrets. I mean, aren't discoveries kind of like uncovering the multiverse's secrets?
The alignment requirements are more of a guideline than anything else. The faction's philosophy usually doesn't jive with the Lawful Evil mindset, but if you can write a good backstory for why a lawful evil character would join the Revealing Light, use it.
I'm starting to look into options to make a kind of intermediary system to sit between the D&D and Modern aspects, useful for berks starting in the modern planes.
So, where parts of the system conflict, which do you feel wopuld be better to use? (Class models, AC vs Defence, etc)
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
I'm starting to look into options to make a kind of intermediary system to sit between the D&D and Modern aspects, useful for berks starting in the modern planes.
You might want to look into the DarkLore Campaign Primer from Malladin's Gate. It's a free preview of a campaign setting which includes six generic fantasy classes. I'm sure you could get lots of ideas from there.
Wyvern
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
Does the express go through the paraelemental planes, too?
Sure; makes sense doesn't it!
Not the quasielemental planes though, unless someone goes exploring for the Positive/Negative spurs.
Philosophy
“Look at the wizard, I say! Locked in his tower with hundreds of books, scrolls, manuscripts and tablets. Everyday, he pours over his library, slowly unlocking the secrets of the multiverse. ‘If only they knew’, the mage chuckles to himself as he guards his knowledge greedily. Over the years, as he learns more and more, he becomes paranoid. ‘Those lower peasants must never know about these tomes,’ he mutters to no one. He continues to build stronger defenses around his library. Thicker walls and more powerful warding spells. He smiled to himself, knowing that no one will get in to steal his knowledge. Then one day, nature catches up with the old mage and he dies. His tower falls into disrepair and crumbles into broken mortar. Years later, two men walk by the ruins of the wizard’s tower. ‘I wonder if anyone used to live there?’ says one man. His companion pulls him away and replies, ‘It doesn’t matter. Whatever’s in there has long since decayed to dust. Let’s leave!’ The two men walk away from the wrecked stronghold and disappear into the distance. Soon, all that remains is the sad little ruins. A grim reminder that, no matter what the mage discovered, no matter how powerful he was, his life ultimately amounted to nothing…”
This is the fable that Factor Bumpliforn tells new recruits the first day that they join the faction’s cause. While many of the younger factioneers roll there eyes when the crazy old gnome tells this story, it really does illustrate what The Revealing Light wishes to prevent. The Shiners believe that, keeping secrets benefits no one and will, in the end, cause more harm to your goals than good . Share everything you know. For the things you don’t know, do everything in your power to learn about the subject and THEN share it. By adhering to this way of life, in the mere eighty years since the faction was founded, the Archivists have compiled a database, so massive, that it almost rivals Demigorgon’s library in the Abyss or the Arcane Tower in Gehenna. The database is growing larger everyday and, to add insult to injury, it’s entirely open to the public. The Curious are very proud of the fact that anyone can just walk in to their library or log on to their many terminals in Logos and Dothion to learn about a multitude of subjects, ranging from the mating habits of a Lim-Lim to what Mephestio had for breakfast yesterday.
Of course, there are many people in the multiverse that loathe giving up their secrets. The Revealing Light wishes that it didn’t need to come to this, but the faction remedies this by sending out people known as “Agents” across the face of the multiverse. Their purpose is to collect data and uncover secrets that many forces wish to remain hidden. At first, many of the movers and shakers of the planes found the attempt laughable. That is until a Shiner agent managed to infiltrate the Arcane Tower and made off with a number of manuscripts detailing some of the Yugoloth’s plans regarding the recent turns in the Blood War. Now, most people are wondering just how far the faction will go before things turn ugly.
Next: Brief History....
That said, heres an idea for how the planes could have modernized so quickly:
After the Astral War was compleate, the Shadow Primers began to examine the planes and to learn how the multiverse works (a task they still haven't come close to finishing). Very early on they discovered the lower planes, and more specifically, they found a particularly large and long lasting blood war battle (note: I view a large Bloodwar battle as consisting of several billion 'loths/'zu/'ri, and I see them lasting for years on end.) The Shadow-primes, being the clueless that they are, figured this must be the main force of evil, and that by attacking it they could deal a severe blow to the lower planes, and evil in general. Several strongly religous nations agreed to intervien.
Dozens of nukes were launched through planar portholes, and the Wastes of Hades got their first real taste of radiation. The armies were decimated. However, the surviving 'loths, 'zu and 'ri all imidiatly began to trace the source of this incredible attack, each intent on claiming whatever artifact could unleash such devastation.
In short order, they discovered and infiltrated Earth.
It is said that the first 'loth to understand the concept of Radiation sickness, a disease so insideous that it can take years to manifest, and which can taint the offspring of those who suffer from it, fainted of sheer elation.
It is said that when the Tanar'ri that realized that the explosions it had witnessed could be duplicated en mass obliterated the layer of the Abyss on which it dwelled before the other demons could wrench the secret from it.
It is said that the Baatezu who was able to bring back the methodes and procedures nessisary to industrialize Hell, along with the ruthless corparate design was instantly promoted to Archdevil status.
The fiends, seeing the sheer usefullness of the sciences to be found on Earth, burst into a massive arms race, learning whatever technologies they could from the clueless of the Shadow Prime. The Lower Planes were utterly revolutionized in a matter of months.
The Upper and Neutral Planes could not be ignorant of this massive change in the status of evil. A frantic search for the source of this newfound power in the fiendish planes led the rest of the Exemplar races to Foothold, from which the first nukes had been launched. The Exemplars wasted no time in modernizing themselves to keep up with the lower Planes.
Mechnus, which had been in decline since the fall of the Primus, was the most profoundly affected, springing back from its state of disrepair in a matter of days. The other outer planes modernized at a less rapid, yet still stunning, rate, achiving hundreds of years of developement in but a few short years.
With these changes in technology, it is no suprise that peoples belifes in the natures of good and evil, law and chaos would also change. In the span of a short decade, the outer planes had evolved into the shape they now hold.
______
So, wadaya think?
Would everyone please kindly migrate to the forum, before the thread - and with it the project - collapses under its own weight? 15 pages is about enough to discourage almost any berk.
Originally posted by Ob_Deamon
I am aware that the "why" of the planar urbanization, or whatever you want to call it, has been put on hold while the "what" is worked on.
That said, heres an idea for how the planes could have modernized so quickly:
After the Astral War was compleate, the Shadow Primers began to examine the planes and to learn how the multiverse works (a task they still haven't come close to finishing). Very early on they discovered the lower planes, and more specifically, they found a particularly large and long lasting blood war battle (note: I view a large Bloodwar battle as consisting of several billion 'loths/'zu/'ri, and I see them lasting for years on end.) The Shadow-primes, being the clueless that they are, figured this must be the main force of evil, and that by attacking it they could deal a severe blow to the lower planes, and evil in general. Several strongly religous nations agreed to intervien.
Dozens of nukes were launched through planar portholes, and the Wastes of Hades got their first real taste of radiation. The armies were decimated. However, the surviving 'loths, 'zu and 'ri all imidiatly began to trace the source of this incredible attack, each intent on claiming whatever artifact could unleash such devastation.
In short order, they discovered and infiltrated Earth.
It is said that the first 'loth to understand the concept of Radiation sickness, a disease so insideous that it can take years to manifest, and which can taint the offspring of those who suffer from it, fainted of sheer elation.
It is said that when the Tanar'ri that realized that the explosions it had witnessed could be duplicated en mass obliterated the layer of the Abyss on which it dwelled before the other demons could wrench the secret from it.
It is said that the Baatezu who was able to bring back the methodes and procedures nessisary to industrialize Hell, along with the ruthless corparate design was instantly promoted to Archdevil status.
The fiends, seeing the sheer usefullness of the sciences to be found on Earth, burst into a massive arms race, learning whatever technologies they could from the clueless of the Shadow Prime. The Lower Planes were utterly revolutionized in a matter of months.
The Upper and Neutral Planes could not be ignorant of this massive change in the status of evil. A frantic search for the source of this newfound power in the fiendish planes led the rest of the Exemplar races to Foothold, from which the first nukes had been launched. The Exemplars wasted no time in modernizing themselves to keep up with the lower Planes.
Mechnus, which had been in decline since the fall of the Primus, was the most profoundly affected, springing back from its state of disrepair in a matter of days. The other outer planes modernized at a less rapid, yet still stunning, rate, achiving hundreds of years of developement in but a few short years.
With these changes in technology, it is no suprise that peoples belifes in the natures of good and evil, law and chaos would also change. In the span of a short decade, the outer planes had evolved into the shape they now hold.
I like it.
Ahh! Nothing spells progress more than a good ol' fashioned arms race.
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
15 pages. 426 posts. ((to date!))
Would everyone please kindly migrate to the forum, before the thread - and with it the project - collapses under its own weight? 15 pages is about enough to discourage almost any berk.
Working on it.
So far, all I can do is transfer all the relavent stuff to the other board. IMO, the discussion is too specific to warrent an entire board, though I do see that changing pretty soon.
Myself? I'm just curious to see how big this thread will get before we need to completely migrate. Until then, this thread will make an excellect reference to the new boards as well as a place where people can toss in their two cents. All the while, I'll continue to add stuff to your board.
EDIT: I do suggest that the people here please put a link to the new board in their sigs. It'll help us out.
http://www.forums4free.net/urbanps/
Since this is a high-traffic area, it might be useful to have a moderator lock this thread and then have the original thread starter reboot it, and use the forum as an archive for significant ideas, for now.
I don't think that we should lock the thread yet. We still need input. By the way, how does someone go about saving an entire multipage thread for reference?
I mean as omnipotent as the Lady is, you would only need to sneak in a couple of nukes (perhaps by some Anarchists or Doomguard) to totally obliterate the relatively small area of the city or only one if you just wanted to permanently irradiate it. I can't imagine how Sigil could stay safe in any modern campaign when there are so many methods possible of completely annihilating it short of sealing all the portals again.
Thoughts?
Originally posted by Boko
This talk about nukes and WMD's got me thinking:has anyone thought of the ramifications these weapons might have on Sigil?
I mean as omnipotent as the Lady is, you would only need to sneak in a couple of nukes (perhaps by some Anarchists or Doomguard) to totally obliterate the relatively small area of the city or only one if you just wanted to permanently irradiate it. I can't imagine how Sigil could stay safe in any modern campaign when there are so many methods possible of completely annihilating it short of sealing all the portals again.
Thoughts?
Another Lady's Edict maybe?
"Hear ye! Hear ye! By order of The Lady of Pain, anybody attempting to enter Sigil with a Weapon of Mass Destruction will be killed. No exceptions!"
It would be easy to enforce since the Lady controls everything that comes and goes through her portals.
Let's say there was a diety or other greater power with radiation as its portfolio. That this entity, exiled to a prison in a far corner of the plane of shadow by other dieties in aeons past, had been forgotten by the multiverse, but was able to work its influence on Earth to inspire the invention of nuclear weapons. That radioactive elements are those which have received the god's 'blessing', explained by our science but in truth a manifestation of divine power.
It solves the problem of how Sigil has survived the planes going nuclear: The Lady's power keeps out all divine effects, and so any uranium or plutonium entering the city becomes nothing more than really heavy rock. It gives a 'face' to the evils of nuclear devastation, someone for modernized doomsday cults to worship. And it explains how li'l old Earth was able to come up with something so plane-shattering on its own.
Of course, whereever the fallout spreads, so too goes the diety's influence. It makes pacts with all sides of the blood war, and of course all of its 'blessings' are weapons-grade.
Originally posted by Eye of the Beholder
Let's say there was a diety or other greater power with radiation as its portfolio. That this entity, exiled to a prison in a far corner of the plane of shadow by other dieties in aeons past, had been forgotten by the multiverse, but was able to work its influence on Earth to inspire the invention of nuclear weapons. That radioactive elements are those which have received the god's 'blessing', explained by our science but in truth a manifestation of divine power.
Perhaps there wasn't originally a diety with nuclear power as a portfolio, WMD were purely a human invention. But after seeing the sheer apocolyptic power of these weapons, many of the denizens of the multiverse started to believe that these attacks were the acts of some angry god. After a while, people started to pray to this imaginary "god" out of fear that, if they didn't, his wrath would irradiate their lands too. When the prayers became an actual faith, the toxic waste and fallout gases in the plane of Hades coalesced into a godlike intelligence.
Anybody want to make Divine stats for this creature?
EDIT:
BTW, love the Farscape reference in your sig. :D
Giving Uranium and plutonium a divine aspect to stop it from getting in would work but how do you keep out a hydrogen bomb? (yes I know a H-bomb is activated by a uranium explosion but thats more a technical than practical detail:P ) In fact even if you couldn't activate any nuke at all there are still plenty of other kinds of WMDs out there. Earth's advanced knowledge of biology and chemistry coupled with some arcane power from the planes would probably be able to develop a biological or chemical weapon equally devastating to Sigil's inhabitants if not Sigil itself.
And all this is just in a modern campaign setting who knows what else will be possible in a couple decades or less (anti-matter and black holes of annihalation anyone?).
I'm not even going to bother specifically commenting on why your plan wouldn't work because, for the last time,
The Lady cannot be defeated.
The Lady cannot be tricked. The Lady cannot be circumvented. The Lady cannot even be defined, so it's fundamentally impossible to guess at what might work.
On a side note, uranium and plutonium can't be made divine. They just are.
Originally posted by Boko
Well I don't see how the Lady can keep out EVERY WMD if some group was really intent on destroying Sigil since all someone has to do is get to the other side of the portal while carrying a suitcase nuke (or similarly compact device) and set it off immediately. Short of the Lady waiting at every incoming portal that seems unlikely.
The Lady of Pain controls EVERY portal into and out of Sigil. Completely. Her control is so absolute, that she might as well be standing by every single portal. The events of the Faction War have proven this.
Oh, and I don't want to get into any controversy or get this thread locked, but there is a very important question of what would happen to religion on Earth after the reintroduction of Earth to the multiverse and all the gods there. Please do not take this the right way, but I think that there will be three distinct groups:
1)Those who adopt the various Planescape dieties as their god of choice.
2)Those who continue to believe in their old religions, because they a) have their gods waiting for them in the Planes (most likely the Hindus and anyone who worships the "old" gods), or b) they believe that all the other gods are just false gods and that the true god cannot be found anywhere in the Planes because their God exists outside the Planes (this would be the official responses of the monotheistic religions I would guess)
3)Athiestic response- it doesn't really matter, as the gods are just ascended mortals or beings that were born out of sheer belief. Thus, there is no correct god to follow and therefore no god needs to be followed.
Once again, I do not want to offend anyone's beliefs, it is just that religion is a powerful force, even here on Earth (which explains why threads that get into religious arguments are locked), and even more so on the Planes. Already someone has mentioned that the original nuclear bombardment of Hades was partially inspired by religious reasons on Earth, so I just thought that it might be a good idea to help establish what has happen on Earth, which I think we can all assume is a fairly reasonable response by people.
Originally posted by Eye of the Beholder
Let's say there was a diety or other greater power with radiation as its portfolio. That this entity, exiled to a prison in a far corner of the plane of shadow by other dieties in aeons past, had been forgotten by the multiverse, but was able to work its influence on Earth to inspire the invention of nuclear weapons. That radioactive elements are those which have received the god's 'blessing', explained by our science but in truth a manifestation of divine power.
It solves the problem of how Sigil has survived the planes going nuclear: The Lady's power keeps out all divine effects, and so any uranium or plutonium entering the city becomes nothing more than really heavy rock. It gives a 'face' to the evils of nuclear devastation, someone for modernized doomsday cults to worship. And it explains how li'l old Earth was able to come up with something so plane-shattering on its own.
Of course, whereever the fallout spreads, so too goes the diety's influence. It makes pacts with all sides of the blood war, and of course all of its 'blessings' are weapons-grade.
Oooh! Nifty!
Originally posted by Boko
Earth's advanced knowledge of biology and chemistry coupled with some arcane power from the planes would probably be able to develop a biological or chemical weapon equally devastating to Sigil's inhabitants if not Sigil itself.
Methinks the yugoloths would have the market cornered on illegal nuclear weapons. They might even create a counterpart to the oinoloth who deals in the stuff and creates radioactive mutants.
Did we ever discuss whether fiends have radiation resistance?
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
Please do not take this the right way,
What, you want us to take it the wrong way? :P
Wyvern
Originally posted by Boko
Well I don't see how the Lady can keep out EVERY WMD if some group was really intent on destroying Sigil since all someone has to do is get to the other side of the portal while carrying a suitcase nuke (or similarly compact device) and set it off immediately. Short of the Lady waiting at every incoming portal that seems unlikely.
She chews up greater deities and spits 'em out. Now, can you imagine what she'd do to some petty little mortal terrorist? Getting flayed would be the least of the schmuck's worries!
-Qit
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
Oh, and I don't want to get into any controversy or get this thread locked, but there is a very important question of what would happen to religion on Earth after the reintroduction of Earth to the multiverse and all the gods there. Please do not take this the right way, but I think that there will be three distinct groups:
1)Those who adopt the various Planescape dieties as their god of choice.
2)Those who continue to believe in their old religions, because they a) have their gods waiting for them in the Planes (most likely the Hindus and anyone who worships the "old" gods), or b) they believe that all the other gods are just false gods and that the true god cannot be found anywhere in the Planes because their God exists outside the Planes (this would be the official responses of the monotheistic religions I would guess)
3)Athiestic response- it doesn't really matter, as the gods are just ascended mortals or beings that were born out of sheer belief. Thus, there is no correct god to follow and therefore no god needs to be followed.
Once again, I do not want to offend anyone's beliefs, it is just that religion is a powerful force, even here on Earth (which explains why threads that get into religious arguments are locked), and even more so on the Planes. Already someone has mentioned that the original nuclear bombardment of Hades was partially inspired by religious reasons on Earth, so I just thought that it might be a good idea to help establish what has happen on Earth, which I think we can all assume is a fairly reasonable response by people.
Actually, in the Urban Arcana setting, they explicitly state that divine forces are not at work (divine magic is powered by faith alone, regardless of deity). In my humble opinion, this is a copout. It's as much of a copout as the existence of deities in a D&D world. It's because the designers have an interest in not upsetting modern religionists by presenting any actual religion or deity in a game context. This is valid, since there are modern religious opponents to D&D and they are under a good degree of scrutiny.
The down side of this is that they are blocking us from some very interesting roleplaying opportunities. What does the existence of Pelor (if he did exist, which he doesn't, even in the Urban Arcana setting) say about the existence of God? Is there one true faith? Are there many? How are we to know? Why do some of the faithful get divine magic and some don't?
In a planar campaign (at least in the traditional D&D sense of the term), gods are much more real than they are in a Prime Material campaign, so answering these questions (and more) are necessary before you proceed.
One thing thing that is very important is respecting the feeling of your players. If you have a firm believer who can deal with fantasy gods in a fantasy world, but cringes when you propose that other divinities may exist in the real world, tread very carefully. If your players can handle a variety of active gods in the modern world, jump in with both feet.
For those of you willing to explore this terrain, I applaud you. You are taking D&D and d20 into uncharted and dangerous territory. Even if your thread gets locked, I salute your courage in creating it.
- Since the vast majority of folks in a normal D&D setting have no contact with the planes, it is reasonable to assume that the majority of Earth's populace has no contact with the planes.
- All those age-old divine rituals start to work, achieving whatever result they were originally intended to. This is powered by some divinity or divinities unknown to the practitioner.
- Monotheists would be a rich source of recruits for the reborn Believers of the Source faction. Atheists and sceptics could pad out the ranks of the Athar. ((Variant :: As a result of this, the kriegstanz spills into Earth...))
((Aside :: Longest thread on these boards is nearly 28000 posts))
Alternatively we can just keep religion on earth mostly the way it is. Religious people will simply say that the planes are not the true heaven/hell and that the powers are not true God(s) since they involve idol worship. Also being a bunch of clueless, we can simply believe that our dead have a different fate than resting inthe outer planes. After all when the shadow prime was cut off from the Astral where do all our dead go? Will anyone be able to find petitioners from earth?
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
Speaking of Sigil, every thought I have for a convincing Sigil that maintains the feel of the original is more 'Planepunk' than Modern. Perhaps something later would work better - more latitude to play, and a better capacity to adapt technologies to the Planes.
Well this is Sigil, planepunk would work just fine.
I've been reading this for a while, but I suddenly I got really inspired while thinking about the quasielemental plane of radiance. With all the new light-creating devices developed recently - fluorescent lights, electric lights, LEDs - this plane could have changed beyond recognition! So I did a big description of it - I hope it's okay.
Quasielemental Plane of Radiance
Light given form, an endless expanse of brightness it was. But even this has changed with the passage of time. Where once there was an airy void of flickering lights, now there are endless clouds of glowing neon, and of mercury vapour inside a phosphorous shell. Huge chunks of glowing rocks sit in the void, while through it all winds an endless tangle of Edisonia, a plant formed of infinite, incandescent tungsten filaments.
Welcome to Radiance.
Traits:
- Subjective directional gravity: Inhabitants of the plane determine their own ‘down’ direction. Objects not under the motive force of others do not move.
- Normal Time
- Infinite Size
- Alterable Morphic
- Air-Dominant. Note that despite the gaseous nature of the Plane of Radiance, the atmosphere is not breathable. While it is not (usually) poisonous, it consists mainly of noble gases. Without some way of breathing on the plane, treat characters on the plane as if they are drowning.
- Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities that use, manipulate, or create air and/or fire (including those of the Air and Fire domains) and/or light (including all spells with the light descriptor, all Prismatic spells, and all spells of the Sun domain) are enhanced on this plane – air spells are both empowered and enlarged (as if both the Empower Spell and Enlarge Spell feats had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots), fire spells are both maximized and enlarged (as if both the Maximize Spell and Enlarge Spell feats had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots), and light spells are treated as if they had been Extended and Enlarged (as if both the Extend Spell and Enlarge Spell feats had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots).
While on a glowing chunk (see below), spells and spell-like abilities that use, manipulate, or create earth (including those of the Earth domain) are both Empowered and Extended (as if both the Extend Spell and Empower Spell feats had been used on them, but the spells don’t require higher-level slots)
Spells and spell-like abilities that are already affected by one of these metamagic feats are not affected by this trait. - Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create water (including the summoning of water elementals or creatures with the water subtype) or darkness are impeded. This includes spells of the Water domain. These spells and spell-like abilities can still be used, but a successful Spellcraft check (DC 15 + level of the spell) must be made to do so.
Inhabitants of Radiance: Radiance is not particularly populous, even for an inner plane, but there are creatures who call this place home. These include radiance mephitis, radiance elementals, neon children, and LEDmentals, as well as the ubiquitous Edisonia.
Edisonia: Edisonia is a plant-like substance that criss-crosses the whole of the plane of radiance. It appeared a little over 100 years ago, and spread like a plague. Although this spread has slowed in recent years, it still continues to grow at a rate almost unparalleled in the multiverse. It is a barbed, coiled, and intercrossing network of tungsten wire that glows so brightly that it is painful to look at it (each round someone looks at Edisonia without some form of eye protection, they must make a Fort save at DC 20 or be dazzled). Making physical contact with it causes 4d6 electricity damage a round (Ref save (DC 20) for half damage). It is difficult to kill: the only known way to destroy a section of Edisonia is to separate it from the rest of the growth at both ends; severing Edisonia requires dealing 20 damage to a point (Edisonia has hardness 15). However, as Edisonia courses with electricity, striking it with a metal weapon results in the wielder of the weapon taking 2d6 electricity damage. However, killing short sections of this plant is almost pointless – an exposed end will grow at a rate of 50 metres a day, quickly filling more volume than the original growth did! There is a final twist in the tale for this dangerous growth – casting an air spell in the vicinity of Edisonia can cause it to explode! If a spell creates air next to a strand of Edisonia, there is a 50% chance that it blows up, causing 4d6 damage to everyone within 10 feet of any part of the Edisonia touched by the air. However, despite these dangers, Edisonia has its uses; free lighting! Sample of Edisonia (kept alive by charging it with lightning spells) can be moved to other planes, ‘rooted’ in a block of metal, and used to provide light. Luckily, Edisonia excretes its own layer of noble gases to stop it from exploding; only air spells cause it to explode. However, Edisonia will not grow outside the quasielemental plane of radiance.
LEDmentals: These strange creatures are spawned from the ‘glowing chunks’ that have appeared in the plane very recently. Formed from the stuff of LEDs (usually inorganic semiconductors), they first appeared in red, but more recently, yellow, green, and even blue varieties have appeared. They glow brightly with their particular colour, even more brightly than the chunks that they cause home. LEDmentals have the statistics of earth elementals, except they can cast Colour Spray 3 times per day, and Daylight at will (in their colour only, of course
), and their CR is raised by one. Greater LEDmentals (and more powerful LEDmentals) can cast Colour Spray 5 times per day, and Hypnotic Pattern once per day (their CR is also raised by one). Elder LEDmentals can cast Colour Spray at will, Hypnotic Pattern three times per day, and Prismatic Spray once per day (their CR is also raised by one).Other monsters will be done later.
Features:
Edisonia: – see above. Every 1 km you travel, you have a 50% chance of encountering a strand of Edisonia.
Neon clouds: These clouds are vast clouds. Although they are called neon clouds, there are many varieties, consisting of different noble gases, which glow different colours (neon is red, krypton is green, etc.). They have an unearthly appeal, yet are still somehow so…tacky. Regardless, they can be very dangerous. They are charged with electricity, and for each round spent in a neon cloud, a character takes 2d6 electricity damage. This makes them relatively safe compared with other areas of the plane, but they are obviously not free of dangers – the strange elemental like creatures known as neon children swarm the clouds, and although not malicious, they are insanely curious, and have no understanding of right and wrong, or even of consequences, making them incredibly dangerous.
Mercury banks: These appeared around 1960, and are relatively common, and widely feared. These strange structures look like solid clouds, and glow white. Although they look safe, they aren’t. The outside of the clouds feels solid, yet it gives at a slight push, and is made out of a phosphor-like substance. Pushing hard on the cloud (Str check, DC 15) causes you to be sucked in (Ref save at DC 20 to avoid being sucked in). The inside is filled with electrically charged, low-pressure mercury vapour, which not only causes shocks (2d6 lightning damage a round), but is also poisonous (DC 25; d4 Con, d4 Dex, d2 Wis, onset time 1 min, secondary damage d4 Con, d2 Wis, and 1 permanent Wis drain – must make a save in any round you breathe). You can escape by breaking through the phosphor bank (20 damage; any whole closes up in 5 rounds), and by pulling your way out (Str check, DC 20) or by being pulled out by someone outside (Str check, DC 15, as long as they aren’t sucked in).
Phosphor chunks: These strange blocks glow with various different coloured lights, but are feared by all inhabitants of the plane. After 10 rounds spent within 50 ft of one of these structures, and every 10 rounds afterwards, causes you to be stricken with a radiation disease! After all, these are the phosphors used in TVs, and being bombarded with high-energy electrons is not good for you (I’m guessing; they’re not exactly high mass, so I’m guessing they act like free radicals). (Phosphor disease; DC 25, 1d2 Con damage per day, must succeed at 3 successive checks to be cured, cannot be cured by Cure Disease).
Glowing Chunks: With the creation of LEDs, these strange lumps appeared floating in Radiance. The first were red, but more recently they have been green, yellow, and even blue! However, red glowing chunks are still the most common. The chunks are made out of solid, glowing crystals, but like virtually everything else on this plain, it is electrically charged. For every two rounds spent in contact with a chunk, a character takes 1d6 electricity damage (rubber-soled shoes are very popular for this reason). These chunks are relatively safe – indeed, many planars have built towns on these chunks – with the floors and pavements coated with rubber, naturally ;). However, these settlements are usually either short-lived or very well guarded – LEDmentals are often very aggressive towards people who dare to build on their homes (and they have the physical might, and special abilities, to back themselves up)! They are typically less hostile towards visitors, but this is often not saying much.
That said, I personally think the inner planes shouldn't be shaped as much on thoughts and new concepts of the modern world as the outer planes. The style other people have written with the inner planes so far has been more focused on changes the natives have made to civilisations and features within the plane but leaving the plane itself fundamentally unchanged. A few changes will be expected but nothing that should drastically alter the landscape. For example, settlements in radiance will probably be covered in solar arrays to generate power the same way everyone gets around in Air using airplanes and every non-native in Water uses submarines.
Foothold consists of five god-isles (also known as Sectors) magicly and physically chained together in a diamond pattern. Each of the isles are about the size of New York City. Four sectors are each owned by different nations with the center isle of Balder acting as a neutral sector. It is here where representatives from the other four sectors can meet to discuss important matters (kind of like a second U.N.).
Each sector is managed by the following countries:
Tiananmen - China
Samton - United States
Tsilvolgrad - Russia
Umir - Europian Union
A rough layout of Foothold can be found here:
http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=8202973&selected=811257
Any comments or suggestions would help me out a lot.
Planepunk :: It could work. D&D and d20 Modern mixed, a bit more technology added (or being added now), and fun all 'round. Opinions?
The Inner Planes :: Changes to the inner planes must be the work of inhabitants. The inner planes are those of substance rather than belief; their form is timeless and universal. The Inner Planes aren't shaped by belief - they simply are. There's no real difference between fire or a rock a thousand years ago and fire or a rock now.
Foothold :: Looks alright... just don't build on Aoskar.
Also If we assume earth to be relatively weak in magic (I think someone cut earth's magic off at 5th level to keep things balanced) would they be able to muster enough skill to support fortress that massive on the astral plane?
And as a Chinese person I respectfully suggest you change the Chinese sector to a name like Tiananmen. If you ignored the political connotations it translates to something like "Gate to Heaven" (Which some might link to a certain comet worshipping cult but you can't win them all:P)
Originally posted by Boko
If planar travel is something the majority of the inhabitants of earth are unaware or unable to do, wouldn't it be rather unlikely for Foothold to grow to the size of a major city much less 5 major cities? If they are solely meant to be military installations then they would have to house a ridiculously huge number of personel to justify the size let alone defend against from any sizable attack force (the combined military forces of the Earth today would comfortably fit into one sector with room to spare)
Also If we assume earth to be relatively weak in magic (I think someone cut earth's magic off at 5th level to keep things balanced) would they be able to muster enough skill to support fortress that massive on the astral plane?
Actually, it has been decided that slightly before and after the Astral War, magic and the existence of the Astral and Shadow planes are common knowledge on Earth.
Foothold was originally just a small military base named Fort Powell on the dead god later identified as Balder (from the Asgard Patheon). After the Astral War was finished, civilian companies came up with the idea of building a massive multinational metropolis as a kind of Public Relations stunt. Many countries (and several very rich tycoons) liked the idea and hyped the hell out of the project ("New opportunities await you in the Astral Plane! Move to Foothold, where dreams comes true... Literally!) While Foothold is still under construction, it is almost completed and many people have been living there for years already.
Originally posted by Boko
And as a Chinese person I respectfully suggest you change the Chinese sector to a name like Tiananmen. If you ignored the political connotations it translates to something like "Gate to Heaven" (Which some might link to a certain comet worshipping cult but you can't win them all:P)
Love the idea!
Done and Done.
Originally posted by Boko
And as a Chinese person I respectfully suggest you change the Chinese sector to a name like Tiananmen.
Out of curiosity, what was it named before? (That's the problem with editing posts in response to feedback; it can make it hard for other people to understand what you're talking about.)
And where did you get the names for the Russian and EU sectors?
Wyvern
I'm also curious as to what the origins of the other three names are. Half the fun of these settings is knowing or finding out where the writers get such obscure names after all.
I'm probably nitpicking this point but even if it is common knowledge it seems unlikely travel to the astral plane would be easy and/or cheap. Unless someone found a REALLY cheap way to open up and maintain a portal, (not to mention place them at specific locations on both ends) plane-jumping would be akin to travelling by air or taking a shuttle to outer space, and thus exclude a sizable chunk of the population from immigrating there. Remember even in a prime plane where everyone and their mother knows magic it is still a very small and select group of people who can do such things. An over-hyped five isle metropolis would be very empty for a long time and if built be more than likely have large sections overrun with anything in the multiverse with an interest in earth. I think one god-isle split into different national sectors would have more than enough room to hold even the most adventurous population for a while.
How about every sector be eventually inhabited by delegations/embassies from different forces in the multiverse? For example one sector hold upper plane beings, another for lower planes, one for beings from the inner planes, one for people from other primes, and earth gets their own sector. Having Foothold as more a multiversal stewing pot like Sigil has a better feel than keeping it as a place focused on national rivalries.
It depends.
Portals, by default, tend to hit specific locations. They're the kinds of things you can use to get from one place to another with a good degree of reliability. If you catch a portal to Regulus, there's a good chance you'll pop up in Regulus.
The problem with making planewalking expensive is the same as the problem of making it cheap. If a portal is in an an accessible location, or has a readily available key, then planar travel is cheap and easy. If the portal is inaccessible or the key is rare/expensive, then it's not particularly cheap or easy.
Making Foothold like Sigil is a bad idea. It cheapens both, and ultimately the roleplay experience.
Originally posted by Wyvern76
And where did you get the names for the Russian and EU sectors?
The russian sector was named in honor of General Alex Tsilvolsky (from Terraneaux's 'First Contact" story). He is widely regarded as an international hero and the first casualty of the Astral War. In the center of the Russian sector is a life-sized statue of the man clad in full military dress. His right arm is stretched out in a gesture of greeting. Underneath the statue, the following is written on the pedistal (in russian):
"This sector is dedicated to General Alex Tsilvolsky, the first casualty in the war against the Githyanki. His final act, before he was cut down by the enemy's treacherous blades, was to hold out his hand in good faith and offer peace. His sacrifice will not be forgotten."
The EU sector was named Umir because that was the name of the dead god that their sector was built on. Umir was apparently the evil god-giant that was slain by Odin and his brothers. Norse legend says that they later used Umir's corpse to construct the world. Whether that is true or not, is up for debate.
With two norse gods within such close proximity (Umir and Balder), many people theorize that the other three god-isles are also the remains of gods from the Asgard Pantheon. However, they have yet to be identified.
Any suggestions would be very helpful.
Mayhap a splinter of the Sensates, with refugee Godsmen? That'd make sense to me.
[EDIT]
Original text available in the Revealing Light thread on the Urban Planars boards.
[/EDIT]
I'm working on the bios for some of the faction higher-ups, I might be done on Sunday. In the mean time, any ideas for Faction-based feats? It would be most approprate if the feat covered things like; seeking out the truth, tricking or forcing the truth out of others, escaping from people that you angered in the process, being knowledgable, stealth, etc. Here is what I have so far (the first two were taken from the SRD, the other one is from the PS3E Book on planewalker.com ):
INVESTIGATOR [GENERAL]
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all Gather Information checks and Search checks.
STEALTHY [GENERAL]
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all Hide checks and Move Silently checks.
Know Deception [General]
You can find the truth from beneath even the thickest veil of lies.
Faction: Sons of Mercy, Revealing Light.
Prerequisite: Wis 15+.
Benefit: You gain discern lies once a day as a cleric of your caster level and Sense Motive becomes a class skill for you. The spell DC is Wisdom-based.
Hide in Plain Sight [GENERAL]
Shiners are notoriously difficult to chase. You can disappear from sight even if you are being observed.
Faction: Revealing Light
Prerequisite: Dex 16+, Dodge, Mobility, Stealthy, Move Silently 8 ranks, Hide 10 ranks
Benefit: As long as you are within 10 feet of something that can provide at least 75% cover, you can make a Hide check to conceal yourself even when you are being directly observed.
Normal: You cannot attempt a Hide check while being watched.
I feel so wanted.
1986: Beginning of the Rise of Shadow
mid-Nineties: The public slowly becomes aware of magic and of the Shadow
1998: United Nations Commitee for the Research And Regulation of Thaumatogical Phenomena is established.
2000: UNCRARTP researchers discover the existance of Astral Plane
2001-2005: Astral War and other subplots
2005-2020: Terrestial Upheavel, reboot of Mechanus, modernization of the planes
2025: Now...
This is quite a lot of time for technological advancement -- possibly even too much, given the amount of technology developed within the last forty years and its exponential increase in use.
Ironicly, its pretty hard to change the plane of constant change.
*gets headache from the thought*
There is no money or government. Instead of anything material, people value recognition of skill. If you want a good or sevice, just inform someone who provides it, and it will be gladly given. Anyone competent in a field is followed regarding that field.
People assume that over all, debts even out. For instance, a house painter working on the home of a bartender and a plumber said that he gets thirsty and might need his pipes worked on.
Those rare people who insist on making trouble usually get shot.
Still, on the flip side to the post just above -- Arborea (CG) should be a perfect libertarian paradise, where everyone does exactly as they wish without bothering anyone else. The strongest impulses in Arborea are for independence, individualism, and personal happiness; if Arboreans are a little self-absorbed and hedonistic, they feel they have the right to be, and they'd never get in the way of anyone else's right to be so, no matter what the other person's personal tastes run to.
Arboreans are open-minded sensualists. They value money and status gained through creativity and hard work; they like to luxuriate in material goods of fine quality rather than quantity. The secret that runs Arborea is a high self-motivation -- the drive to achieve one's personal best, coupled with a feeling that one should be at least as worthy as, if not better than everyone else. The gods help those who help themselves, that's how it goes.
Nothing in Arborea is free, unless you meet some of the cutters around there who get their jollies helping people, and even then, they get something out of it. There's enough of these folk around, though, a little bit here and a little bit there, for any berk down on his luck to pick himself up by the bootstraps and get back into the game.
It might not cost money, but that doesn't mean it's free. Sometimes it's only the promise of helping out someone else in the future, when you've got extras and they don't. Sometimes those debts get remembered. The prevalent feeling is thus -- why should I spend my time and work making something for someone else's benefit, when I could be benefitting myself or my close relations (whom I expect will support me with the same interest) with that same energy? Still, if you've got more than you need, why not give some of it away to people who aren't as lucky?
There is a lot of competition in Arborea, though not as much as in Ysgard. The free market really is free and infinite, keeping the invisible hand that regulates costs and demand working to prevent monopolies without any need for official regulation or bureaucracy.
Arboreans sometimes drop out of the loose society that they maintain, going off on quests to find themselves and reevaluate their identities. This happens quite a bit, since they find it hard to rail against a culture with no authoritarian figures and rebel against a society with laws weighted towards individual freedom. In the absence of regulation, they find themselves regulating themselves. Arboreans might not know exactly where they fit into society, but they know who they are. Even, ironically, if that changes a lot from time to time.
Originally posted by Terraneaux
So as far as years go, something like 2020-1050 would be okay. I also think that it would be cool to still have some of the veterans of the Astral War still around, though they'd probably be in their 50's now. So say 30 years after the Astral War, and 40 years for shadow magic to be discovered and become part of society. So around 2070 or so.
Planescape Shadowrun.
Combining the two best ideas known to man.
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Too many connections? I didn't know our little project was so popular! :D
On magic, it'd be sodding barmy if bashers from Earth couldn't use high-level spells in the magic-soaked planes.
Slinky, it seems like users on other forums affect ours too. Oh well - what do you expect for nothing?
[EDIT: They're upgrading; time will tell if this helps us.]
Originally posted by nick012000
Out of curiosity, did 9/11 happen in the Urban Planes setting?
Hmm, that is an interesting question. Since we are setting this in the near future rather than an alternate Earth, I would assume that most, if not all, of our history would be included in the setting. It would be interesting to see a revival of the whole "homeland secerity" idea for a short period after the Astral War.
Definitively saying that 9/11 is or is not canon Urban Planes is going to offend some people, regardless of what solution is adopted. For that matter, even not taking a stance is bound to upset the strongest proponents of both views.
As such, I'm not going to contribute an opinion one way or the other, simply because it's a fallacy that personal opinion is tolerated in modern society.
Even offering ways around the issue would invite mass criticism. So much as suggesting it's irrelevent to planar adventuring invites complaints of anti-Americanism or of disrespect to the dead.
However individual GMs, players and gaming groups decide to deal with it is their decision. They are free to make it in any way they see fit - and, if they're happy with their decision, then so much the better.
I, and I suspect most people, would rather not see an interesting RPG experiment occluded and overshadowed by sociopolitical argument or by individuals deciding that their right to an opinion supplants that of others.
Originally posted by nick012000
Out of curiosity, did 9/11 happen in the Urban Planes setting?
Best to consider this as a game, so if this is post-cold war (actually IMO that would be a pretty good idea for another campiag, but that's for later) then you have to decide it in the espionage front- espionage post 9/11 is more obviously more focused on terrorism- and the atmosphere- there is more fear, and freedom of speech, etc is taking second place to security (please no one start a debate on that cos that's not what we're here for). Ignoring it is not really an option since it- or at least the new political climate, the importance of the actual attack should not be an issue here.
So pick how you want the world to act then decide from that whether these events happened.
Originally posted by Eyes in the Darkness
I can imagine other such magical warheads, like the Astral bomb, the lawful bomb, the evil bomb, the chaos bomb, etc. but I would like to know what you think of this idea first.
Holy hand grenades (you get a +5 cookie of turn undead if you can tell me where that's from!)
Originally posted by Persephone Imytholin
That said, some secrets can be kept well - very well, at that. So, as some people oddly vanish, we can quietly conclude that their circumstances take them to the Outer Planes - the crew of the Mary Celeste, for example, unknowingly carrying a portal key. The Philadelphia Experiment, the Mary Celeste and so forth could be examples of this. Encounters with the extraterrestrial could, in fact, be encounters with the extraplanar. This need not override contact with those sodding Githyanki (and mayhap even strengthens it), for those following that tangent... perhaps that little incident in 1950s Nevada underlies the conflict?
The aliens at roswell were described as looking generally like humans, but being slightly shorter. One of the people at the incident said that he could tell that they "were'nt from around here."
When the military was called to the crash sight, one of the aliens was standing outside the wrecked craft. He tried to run away, and was promptly shot.
Who says some of the people in existence now couldn't be Roswell aliens?
We're using a board which can be found at http://www.forums4free.net/urbanps/ (there's a link to it in my sig). Sign up, conrtibute, have fun.
Sorry for the inconvenence.
Economics of Astral Real Estate
$4000- 2br/2ba Astral apt., 900 sq. ft. glassteel wind., great views, marble surfaces, prest. living, convenient portal, all utils, secure.
Are you ready to start Living at Genesis Towers?
One 20th level wizard/psion/cleric with Genesis could make a sphere 200 ft. in radius, 400 ft. in diameter. (For ease of calculation, let’s make use of only the interior cube.)
Diameter of circle with 200 ft. radius = 400 ft.
Area of circle with 200 ft. radius = 125,600 sq. ft.
Length of side of inscribed square = 400 x 0.7071 = 283 ft.
Area of inscribed square = 80,089 ft.
Height of inscribed cube = 283 ft.
80 apts. per floor w/10 ft. ceilings x 28 floors = 2240 apts.
This would be 2240 apartments -- no small number, but the true genius of this idea isn't seen until we get into economies of supply and demand.
An average 2br/2ba apt. in Tucson, AZ (pop. 500,000) runs about $750 a month, selling for $100K.
An average 2br/2ba apt. in Manhattan, NYC (pop. 1,500,000) runs about $3,000 dollars a month, selling for at least 500K straight off.
If these apartments are sold at current NYC prices, each Genesis Constructions, Inc. apartment building sells for a total of 1.12 billion dollars. If rented, they can pull in an average $6.72 million a month, $80.64 million a year, and still undercut the market.
These figures are not adjusted for inflation in 2040 CE, nor do they take into account logarithmic increases in world human population.
Three major factors influence the cost of the apartments even further upwards: the design and construction of the towers, which is entirely up to the creator; the relative newness, rarity and trendiness of living in a demiplane in the Astral; and as for location, the site containing the entrance portal can be placed in a very useful and high-status place. If portals are placed inside the towers in a common area, linking the towers to London, Tokyo, New York, and Los Angeles, the tower construction agency can essentially name their price for each apartment.
Price for Construction according to the DMG? 1800 gp, assuming you can find a 20th-level caster willing to spend at least a week on a 9th-level spell. Split the profits. Any Taker would say that you’re minting money.
Suspended in a sphere filled with salt water and brightly colored reef fish sits an elaborate cube made of glassteel and coral. The windows are one-way: inside each apartment, you can see out, but from the outside, the cubes are opaque. Each apartment touches seven others, forming a smaller cube, which leaves at least three sides of the apartment with a waterfront view. Glassteel tubes form clear hallways and connect each apartment back to the elevators and nexus points. Common areas at the top and bottom include a gym and circular swimming pool with a glassteel bottom for an atmosphere of total immersion.
Genesis Towers - Beryl
Seven crystal towers (emerald green, aquamarine blue, heliodor green-yellow, morganite pink, goshenite crystal, yellow beryl, and red beryl) glittering with light float in the Astral. (Inside the towers functions under the rules of the Genesis demiplane, not the Astral.) The design of these towers is similar to the Acqua towers, but each crystal tower is a six-sided hexagon. Interior apartments are not cubes, but trapezoids, and each apartment is larger than the Acqua cubes. Each tower is made of a different-colored crystal, though the only wall that shows the exterior crystal is the large wall on the outside of each apartment (which, unlike the Acqua apartments, is transparent on both sides). Inside each apartment, the design is modern and highly reliant on glass and brushed steel.
An elevator runs through the center of each tower. At the midpoint of each crystal, a walkway connects to the nexus point located at the center of the clear goshenite tower, which is surrounded by each of the colored towers. The astral mists prevent most onlookers from viewing other people’s apartments through the windows, but curtains are still recommended.
Genesis Towers - Corkscrew
This tower is recommended as a starter for those ready for more astral geometry, but unwilling to buy into the Moebius towers yet. Imagine a corkscrew squashed to fit inside a sphere: wide in the middle, but narrowing into smaller spirals at the top and bottom. Imagine that the corkscrew is hollow, and that it is the primary connector between the nexus points of entry. And finally, imagine that rooms extend from the corkscrew on all sides. The rules of this demiplane include subjective directional gravity. In a look at retro Seventies design, all available surfaces are carpeted. Most of the furniture is nailed to one of the surfaces.
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
Is anyone actually running or playing a modern planescape game yet? I'm not yet... I've just got Arcana Unearthed and am going to run a campaign of that for a while, but probably run a modern planescape game after that.
I wouldn't think that they started yet. Persephone is still ironing out the wrinkles in the class system after all.
Once we have one, clear direction in which to go with it the classes can be made, and all will be good.
All sarcasm aside, it would be perfectly possible to run a d20 modern game if you bumped plane shift down a few spell levels and added a few races.
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
You don't need rules to start playing, do you?
All sarcasm aside, it would be perfectly possible to run a d20 modern game if you bumped plane shift down a few spell levels and added a few races.
Plane Shift is a level 5 spell. It simply doesn't work in UA, though, due to the lack of connection to the Astral.
Any suggestions?
First off, I think that having a seperation between core ideas, and optional inserts would be a good way to present things. Like If you want everyone on earth to know about majic, or not. Set up a basic core idea, and have side columns on how to mix it up if you like.
The Gith war is one thing that can be optional, though Id like it core. Perhaps the extent of awarness people are of teh war, is it secret or open, would be the optional part. But id like to adress the isolation of some prime worlds. Perhaps it should be multiple devices that each close off one world. This makes it more likely that noone notices, or cares enough to intervene if they do notice. This also opens the door for many still closed off worlds, and some that may have made it out before earth. Though that would possibly alert the gith to watch other worlds closer, so bad idea mabye.
Also, what happens to the souls of the dead during earths "unfortunate incarceration"(guess where thats from)? What if the souls are not trapped? Perhaps they go to their respective planes to become petitioners? And perhaps some memories go with them. This could be a way for the ring to gain knowledge about inventions and things that have come about on earth without direct contact, if one wants to avoid such a dramatic change on the planes in a short time, and wants to avoid open the portals to early, thereby making the Gith War easier for the gith to win. Just a thought.
I like the elemental planes staying constant, since they are the building blocks of the cosmose, and having its inhabitants change. I also have always loved the various blendings of the elemental planes into various offshoots and would love to detail some.
As an option the prime is either, infinite layers, like the abyss, as seen on sliders, infinite coexisting worlds, or it is as per spelljammer and each prime is in its own crystal sphere. This option makes it easier for the gith to close off a prime, thay make the crystal sphere solid cutting it off from everyone?
As for the Gith, they manage to cut off the conection betreen a prime and the astral. What about the ethereal?
I like the way the ring is evolving so i cant say much about it.
Ive run out of steam, but Id love to hear what everyone thinks.
Join the UP Boards! We could use someone with your ideas.
So Foothold could looked as the gate to the "New West".
I can imagine a massive rich/poor divide on Foothold. With the rich gleefully lording it over the working class people who came to Foothold looking for new oppertunities. Not unlike the "49ers" during the California gold rush in the 1800's. Millions of poor people go off-world to find a better life only to have their dreams shattered and thrown into equally unsatisfing jobs. Only with new employers.
This would also encourage many people to become planewalkers, if only to get the adventure that was promised to them from those flashy real-estate ads. ("I can't take it anymore! There has to be more to the planes than THIS hellhole.").
Originally posted by EvilSandwich
"I can't take it anymore! There has to be more to the planes than THIS hellhole."
And on that fine note . . . i'm sure at least some who leave in search of a better palce are met by certain real estate agents who would just love to get them into a nice time share in Baator.
Originally posted by RoastSlinky
In response to SirAnon- I don't think that we should make the Astral War an option. They don't make the War of Souls an option in Dragonlance, do they? This is a setting, not Unearthed Arcana.
I beg to differ. The original question posed was "What if I wanted to use the Great Ring in a modern campaign?" Already it's morphed from a modern setting into a near-future quasi-cyberpunk setting in the vein of Shadowrun. While there's nothing wrong with that, it's not my cup of tea, so the more the discussion centers on this storyline, the less interest I have in it. If you tie the setting too closely to a specific metaplot, you limit its usefulness. What if someone wants to use the planes in their Urban Arcana campaign? Are you going to tell them they can't?
Wyvern
All of this stuff should be modular, so a piece here and a piece there can be taken out and used.
I don't particularly care about the classes we use, or any of the crunch stuff. There are still several planes left to detail.
Can we get another tally of what's done and what's still left to do?
Originally posted by Serpentine
Can we get another tally of what's done and what's still left to do?
Done.
Elemental Plane of Air: (finished)
Elemental Plane of Earth: (finished)
Elemental Plane of Water: (in progress)
Mechanus: (finished)
Arcadia: (finished)
Acheron: (finished)
Baator: (In progress)
Hades: (finished)
Carceri: (finished)
Abyss: (In progress)
Pandemonium: (Finished)
Ysgard: (In progress)
Outlands: (In progress)
Elysium: (In progress)
The following are the planes that have not been claimed by volenteers:
Open planes: Inner planes, Gehenna, Limbo, Mt. Celestia, Beastlands, Arboria, Other Inner Planes, Transitive Planes, Planar Pathways, Sigil
I had a disturbing idea that needs to be addressed in order to make the Astral War successful on our part. If its been addressed already then ignore me totally, and maybe explain how it was solved.
I remember reading an explanation about missile weapons on the ethereal/astral planes. It boiled down to bows are useless because all travel is done by force of will, an arrow would quickly slow and then stop only a few feet from the archer. My feelings are that this would be the same with guns, and that bullets would stop within 10 feet or so of the shooter. Now this may have changed from 2nd to 3rd edition, and I may have been mistaken about the plane it happens on, but I thought Id bring it up.
Also, I had a nasty idea about the effectiveness of the conflict on earth, there is a 2nd lvl arcane spell called “protection from arrows”. Now it is called protection from arrows, but it’s a replacement I believe for the old “protection from normal missiles”. Anyway, the description states that it negates damage from ranged weapons. I take this to mean all ranged weapons; arrows, slings, crossbow bolts, thrown hammers, axes, etc. This brings up the issue that guns are ranged weapons and therefore subject to this spell. This leads to the thought that a mages have to worry about ranged attacks a great deal anyway, so this seems like a very useful spell, especially for a war like race like the githyanki. So the mages have a 2nd lvl spell that lasts 1h/lvl and protects from 10hp/lvl damage total. And the thought of a greater protection from arrows that protects from 20hp/lvl comes up. And a magic item that permanently protects from a certain amount of damage from normal ranged weapons. Say the first 10hp of damage per round, so in a way granting damage resistance to normal ranged weapons, DR 10/Melee or Magical Ranged Weapons. This kind of item would offer the githyanki more resistance to our attacks and would make the war allot more drawn out and possibly make it a more horrific and bloody battle.
But it is entirely possible I have misinterpreted these things, I just wanted to bring them up to get others thought on the matter.
Originally posted by SirAnon
Plus, i just remembered a spell called "iron guard" i believe. that lets normal metals pass right through doing no harm, and only the magical bonuses if any count toward damage. THis makes guns useless. Mabye someone can explain away my fears?
Why should you fear it?
It would be a cool thing to throw at Shadow Prime players that consider themselves superior to those "primitive-screwball" planars.
Some people need to be humbled every now and then.
Originally posted by SirAnon
I am curious to read the entire Astral War tale. Can anyone send me a copy, or possibly direct me to where it is?
I had a disturbing idea that needs to be addressed in order to make the Astral War successful on our part. If its been addressed already then ignore me totally, and maybe explain how it was solved.
I remember reading an explanation about missile weapons on the ethereal/astral planes. It boiled down to bows are useless because all travel is done by force of will, an arrow would quickly slow and then stop only a few feet from the archer. My feelings are that this would be the same with guns, and that bullets would stop within 10 feet or so of the shooter. Now this may have changed from 2nd to 3rd edition, and I may have been mistaken about the plane it happens on, but I thought Id bring it up.
Also, I had a nasty idea about the effectiveness of the conflict on earth, there is a 2nd lvl arcane spell called “protection from arrows”. Now it is called protection from arrows, but it’s a replacement I believe for the old “protection from normal missiles”. Anyway, the description states that it negates damage from ranged weapons. I take this to mean all ranged weapons; arrows, slings, crossbow bolts, thrown hammers, axes, etc. This brings up the issue that guns are ranged weapons and therefore subject to this spell. This leads to the thought that a mages have to worry about ranged attacks a great deal anyway, so this seems like a very useful spell, especially for a war like race like the githyanki. So the mages have a 2nd lvl spell that lasts 1h/lvl and protects from 10hp/lvl damage total. And the thought of a greater protection from arrows that protects from 20hp/lvl comes up. And a magic item that permanently protects from a certain amount of damage from normal ranged weapons. Say the first 10hp of damage per round, so in a way granting damage resistance to normal ranged weapons, DR 10/Melee or Magical Ranged Weapons. This kind of item would offer the githyanki more resistance to our attacks and would make the war allot more drawn out and possibly make it a more horrific and bloody battle.
But it is entirely possible I have misinterpreted these things, I just wanted to bring them up to get others thought on the matter.
Here is some of the collected discussion on the Astral War. There's a hell of a lot more but I'm almost due for class. I'll post more later:
In a nutshell, the Githyanki blocked off parts of the astral from outside powers and in the process severed the planar ties to many prime worlds (including Earth).
Here is our collected thoughts on that subject:
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Eyes in the Darkness:
Also, as for the githyanki sealing the Astral, I think that I may have it. They built/discovered/whatever some artifact that allows for a sort of force field/antimagic barrier to be erected that not only cuts off Astral travel but it also forces a huge expenditure of energy to crack the field on the Astral Plane itself. Thus the githyanki blockade huge chunks of the Astral, so while in the infinite plane most people could still get around, but whole worlds were cut off and many portals that used to travel through the blockaded area were also severed. Everyone tried to punch through when it was initially erected, but lack of coordination and Blood War/Sin War fighting meant that everytime a small breach was made the githyanki could slaughter the small stream of intruders and then wait for the hole to repair itself.
The reason that I wanted the githyanki to blockade for some time was because a technomagic army vs. a magical medieval one would be a one sided slaughter. This would mean that many of the silver swords would end up in the hands of nongithyanki, and after the fighting the githyanki would be too battered and weakened to make any real attempts to retrieve the tens of thousands of stolen swords. Can you imagine how bitter they would be? I sort of wanted to add in the modern "rogue state" idea by using the githyanki as they would have immense pride and a massive desire to catch up, and the ruthlessness to use any means possible to get ahead.
Also, Gehenna wouldn't be invaded for having suspected WMDs. Everyone would know that they would have WMDs and accept it as fact just as we accept that America, Russia, Britain, India, Pakistan, China, etc. all have nuclear weapons. However, minor places, such as a post war githyanki faction might be occasionally beat on by either the Upper or Lower Planes to make sure that they don't try and build or buy some nuclear weapons.
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EvilSandwich:
It would explain why the rest of the planes took little or no notice of the problem for thousands of years. The blockaded parts of the astral just weren't important enough to warrent the expenditure of forces that could otherwise have been used in the Blood War or other more immedient things. The Githyanki only managed to sever the connections of a few prime worlds and two or three insignificent Concordent Outer Planes. Who really cares about that, anyway?
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However, the Plane of Shadow managed to reestablish a connection with one of the isolated prime worlds. The shadow connections made sure that, while the people of Earth abandoned magic in their mainstream society and culture, they never truely lost sight of the fantastic world beyond science and religious dogma. While the other isolated prime worlds slowly forgot about "ancient concepts" like art, storytelling, sports and imagination (and as a result, their civilizations died out with a whimper), Earth was able to advance in magicless crafts without losing the spirit of creativity and magic that lives in every human heart.
As the connections of the Shadow became stronger and stronger, the people of Earth were finally able to leave the soul-crushing single-mindedness of the Dark Ages behind them and enter the Renaissance, a long awaited period of intellectual revival. Many knowledges that were lost after the destruction of the Libary of Alexandria were rediscovered in addition to many other brand new discoveries about the universe.
A few people (such as the Catholic Church or Noble society), who benefited from a cowed and ignorant populace, tried to fight it. However, no force could stop the turrent of enlightenment flooding into the world and its people. Since then, the advancement of mankind has seen some slumps, but overall it has been an upward journey. Then, one day, the shadow connections became strong enough to let magic flow back into Earth. And thus started the first steps to a second Renaissance.
Living for millenia without magic allowed the people of Earth to see it with fresh eyes. They were able to learn things about the nature of magic that no one else had ever touched on. As they slowly intergrated magic into their daily lives, the inevitable happened.
Earth learned about Planar Travel....
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For thousands of years, the ageless Githyanki jealously and violently guarded the astral barriers from outside forces. In their, arrogance, they never thought to look for an even more dangerous force coming from the other way.
It wasn't a battle, it was a slaughter. Emerging victorious, the humans of Earth tore down the barriers that had for so long isolated us from the rest of the multiverse and set out into the great beyond to make our mark on the cosmos.
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Ulden:
Pretty good. Some things we should consider if, in fact, this is to be our background:
Earth's concept of magic is likely to be very much influenced by the fact that it was drawn from the Plane of Shadow. What if current scientific inquiries onto the nature of dark matter turn out to be a rediscovering of magic (dark matter => Plane of Shadow)?
Alternatively, magic just simply begins manifesting itself. The first type of spellcasters to re-appear would probably be sorcerers. Once it was realized that the spells they cast couldn't be written off as hat-tricks (which might take some time to do convincingly), religious clergy will begin to realize that there may be more to the 'little miracles' God performs than they first thought. Finally, scietists do a thurough analysis of magical phenomenon and discover that it's possible to learn how to use magic (and so become wizards).
Actually, I picture the "Victory Scene" [of the Astral War] resembling the meeting of US and Soviet forces in Germany in the final months of WW 2. A good picture would be an American, Chinese, French (or another EU nation) and Russian soldier toasting beer cans on the ruins of a Githyanki fortress.
In fact, its a good idea to get an idea of how Planescape Earth is organized, as its role in modernizing the planes has probably raised it above the status of "just another prime world." I'd imagine that the main players would be China, the EU, Russia, and the US, who still operate as independent nations but use the UN to present a united front to the rest of the multiverse, as well as to make sure the smaller countries don't do something stupid like summon a Balor (or, barring that, put the Balor down along with the party that summoned them). The "big 4" would most likely maintain embassies in Sigil.
Most people on Earth I'm guessing are going to know about the Astral Plane from the Gith War. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Joe Earthling would probably be hard pressed to tell you the difference between a demon and a devil, for example.
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Eyes in the Darkness:
Hmm... first off, I have a suggestion for what the inhabitants of the Planes might call the inhabitants of Earth, considering the fact that our world and our magicks seem to be closely tied to the Plane of Shadow. What do all of you think of Shadow Primes (or S' for short)?
Also, here's how I imagine the Astral War starting: As the people of Earth begin to relearn magic with their greater affinity to the Plane of Shadow, they figure out how to open up old places of power that hold portals but no one uses them anymore. Obviously, only a few work, these being the ones that lead directly to the Astral Plane and are not cut off by the blockade. The first few teams through are not prepared for combat situations or the ruthlessness of the githyanki, and are promptly slaughtered. Sensing that one of their many blockaded Prime worlds has figured out how to reach them, the githyanki send an expeditionary force with the intent of destroying the cities of Earth and enslaving the survivors.
At first international politics and misunderstanding gives the githyanki the upper edge as they wade through densely populated cities killing and looting and raping and generally causing havoc. However, the world quickly realizes that these must be the demons of myth that plagued man (they were wrong, but the idea came out the same in the end) and were irredeemable. That's when the kid gloves came off. Once the githyanki stopped encountering panicked civilians and overwhelmed police forces and started meeting modern military forces, it was the githyanki's turn to learn the true meaning of slaughter. One of many events where the githyanki were severelly embarassed was when they later discovered that the warriors who massacred an entire army group were not wearing crests featuring bloody spear points (read: they were smacked down by a relatively pacifist country). Faced with a threat to everyone, the entire world set aside their differences and began an interplanar war against a foe that did not acknowledge the Geneva Convention. This actually helped to settle many of the military problems on Earth as countries embroiled in civil war lost their mercenary armies to better paying and safer missions on the Astral, and the fundamentalist terrorists decided that they should save their bombs for the real demons and then go after the Western powers. Meanwhile, on the Astral, the githyanki were coming to truly regret ever blockading this one little world. Earth scientists quickly figured out ways of magically combining radar systems and night vision goggles, giving every soldier the ability to see through the Astral haze. Many githyanki soldiers who were ordered to charge an enemy position through the fog were gunned down by people they couldn't see, and snipers took a hellish toll on the githyanki command structure. The worst came when the githyanki finally started learning that only their mages had any real chance of defeating the enemy. All the remaining forces holed up in their cities and started erecting force walls around them, but they still refused to admit defeat and continued to lob fireballs and lightning bolts out at the soldiers.
Finally it came down to a vote in the UN whether or not it was acceptable to use an means to end this war and the threat to Earth. Eventually the decision was reached to use one tactical nuclear warhead on one of the larger githyanki cities and then to take an ultimatuum to every other fortified area. When the EArth forces began to retreat from the targetted city, the proud githyanki warriors lowered their shields and sent squads out to try and figure out if this was merely a ruse or if the humans had finally given in. The nuclear weapon flew right through the hole and detonated in the center of town. It was said that everyone on the Astral Plane could see that horrific burst of light, and many thought that it was the work of some angry god that had finally reached the githyanki.
Then the war ended and the githyanki were forced to surrender all weapons and magicl items and to submit to military occupation. One of the items recovered was the artifact that had blockaded Earth, and it was shut off once it was removed from the Astral Plane. Today it rests in a UN bunker and is used to control access to Earth, lest another invading force attack from another plane.
To say the least, the beings of the Great Wheel were shocked to discover that a relatively insignificant Prime world had obliterated the military might of the githyanki and were capable of making a Blood War battle look like a minor skirmish. Meanwhile, the people of Earth were also becoming the people of Mars as spells such as teleportation were used for incredible new purposes. Using potent combinations of magic and technology, the people of Earth were a force to be reckoned with.
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We also suggested a few ways to make the inner planes more combatible with modern earth science. He are my thoughts on the subject:
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EvilSandwich:
Primes from modern-day Earth don't believe in the "Four Elements of the Old World". However, when they start to inhabit the planes, they will see that not only is the theory the four elements true, but the inner planes embody these concepts.
Or do they?
Many of the younger Earth-Prime sages have theorized that the inner planes don't embody the four elements at all. They instead embody the four states of matter! So, a new minority has sprung up in the planes, people who don't refer the to the inner planes as Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. To those few, they are known as the planes of Solids, Liquids, Gases and Plasma. Needless to say, this has sparked some serious controversy amongst the Gensai community.
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Here's some fiction detailing a "first contact" with the Githyanki. Before anyone says anything; yes, I know that you can breathe on the Astral even though there is no air, but the scientists don't necessarily know that.
"Thaumic generators at 100% output."
"Scope shows arrival zone is clear."
"3 kilometas of power; ready when you are, chief."
Adrian Wynn, director of UNEEA, United Nations Extraplanar Exploration Agency, took a deep breath to steady himself. His team had gone through hell to bring this project to completion, and now it was zero hour. He keyed the intercom in the console overlooking the Shift Bay.
"Cosmonauts, I want a final suit readout." Funny, that word. For the Russians it had meant astronaut, but from this day forth it would have a greater name. They were not mere explorers of space; they were explorers of the multiverse.
First was General Alex Tsilvolsky, team leader. He gave a thumbs-up to the control theater, looking like some sort of ogre in his bulky blue space suit.
"Ready to make history, director. All systems green." he ground out in his thickly accented english. He brandished the rolled-up U.N. flag like a war standard.
Major Gene Reagan keyed in next.
"All systems green. Tell Sandy I love her." She would be watching on the tr-d feed, of course, but unfortunately she couldn't be here in Antarctica for the shift; security was too tight for anyone but essential personnel. Far away, watching tri-d with her daughter in Los Angeles, she waved at the screen and hugged her child tightly.
Dr. Maria Sanchez responded.
"After you replaced the oxygen tanks, the suit worked fine. All systems green."
Earl Wong keyed in last.
"All systems green. We are ready."
As one, they closed the tinted faceplates. They were indistinguisable now, except for the flags of their respective nations on their shoulders. All faces turned expectantly to Adrian.
"Start initial sequence. Have a good trip."
The thaumic generators arced harmless lightning around the shift room. The magical lightning given off by most thaumic reactions produced mostly this and some extra heat, but nothing drastic.
The Cray Arcane supercomputer ran the incantations necessary through millions of parallel processors, providing the insane amount of kilometas necessary to punch through the barrier that seperated the Earth from the Astral Plane.
In a blue flash, the astronauts disappeared.
***
Gene couldn't see a thing. Everything seemed to be black, and he felt cold even through his suit. Something must be wrong.
Then, suddenly, there was a brief feeling of turbulence as he passed through the Astral Barrier, and a dim light grew up around him. He saw his companions wink in to existence around him, this time in a flash of orange light. They seemed to be floating in a huge cloud of mist. This was expected, however; the unmanned probes sent before the actual astronauts had brought back pictures of the same, and chunks of rock occasionally floating in the nothingness.
"Sense anything, Wong?" came Tsilvolsky's voice.
"No, it's strange... Shadow doesn't seem to touch here. About the only thing i could pull off here would be a read magic, and there's not much point in that."
"Guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way, then." Radar readouts popped up on the heads-ups of the explorers.
"We're looking at a fairly large landmass thataway." said Gene. "Okay, just for reference, this direction is 'north.'" An arrow labelled by an N appeared on the displays. "We gonna plant the flag there?"
"Sure, at least its solid groud. Engage thrusters everyone."
The four cosmonauts turned on their wrist controllers. Sensors in the right hand conveyed messages to the pressurized gas containers on the backs of their suits.
Maria piped up.
"I still can't get over this. They said that it would look like mist; and it does. But it's just Thaumic interference."
"Yeah, when you get large amounts of thaumic particles, say more than a meta per centimeter per tick, you're looking at some of that energy being converted to light, heat, or kinetic energy. Just like that lightning when we shifted in; it was just light given off along the trail of thaumas arcing to us. In this case the thaumic energy doesn't go anywhere, it just gives off light as it sits. Its just white light, and low density, so it looks like mist." Earl rattled it off like without thinking about, like it was it was one of his lectures at the university in Beijing.
"It feels like you should get cancer from it or something."
"Actually, the radiation levels here are lower than on Earth. It's because there are no major sources of radiation on this plane, unlike on Earth where we are near the sun."
"ETA towards landmass, about 400 tics. Thats 2 hours and 35 minutes for you, Gene."
***
Chi'Nath fell to one knee and bowed her head before commander Neisha.
inquired the commander, not turning around to acknowledge the sorceress, continuing to drink his tea.
Neisha stood up turned the chair around, and sat down again, all in one fluid motion. He sat there for a dew seconds, staring at Chi'Nath in her silence. She raised her head and met her commander's unwavering gaze.
***
The rock loomed into view ahead. There was no other way to describe it. It seemed to be volcanic in nature, pockmarked and grooved. But the most noticeable thing about it was the castle-like structure atop it.
"It's... inhabited?"
"We got lucky!" said Tsilvolsky
They had been decelerating for exactly half of their journey, and they moved at a slower and slower pace.
"Remember, these things have their own gravity. We lost one of our probes to that. The gravity's about Earth norm; must be a thaumic thing" said Earl.
The architecture was strange, and flowing. It looked like someone had melted an egyptian building partway, then encrusted it with gold. When they got within ten feet of the rock, they each fell to the ground with a thump. The cosmonauts helped each other to their feet, struggling in their bulky suits.
Gene caught himself. Without even being noticed, the aliens had surrounded them. They looked angry.
Superficially, at least, they looked human. Their skin, however, was yellow and mottled, and their hair was a bright orange, done either in dreadlocks or some sort of topknot. They were taller and thinner than humans, about the size of the cosmonauts in their suits. Their clothes seemed to be made of some kind of soft leather and a silverish metal. They weren't wearing suits; Gene noticed that they had nostrils and were breathing. Did they breathe magic? How did they survive outside suits?
"Nish meel na Githyanki! Grish ni na mesch!"
The aliens were armed to the teeth. With swords and knives and axes. The leader gestured at them with a long sword that had the texture of quicksilver.
Tsilvolsky raised his hands towards the alien, palms facing forward.
"Whoa, we come in peace. I am General Alex Tsilvolsky, and..." Alex knew that they couldn't understand them, and he knew when he signed up for this mission what the risks were. He was just going through the motions. Besides, at any time he could hit the recall button in his suit and send the team back to earth.
"Na? Na?" the leader inquired in his language.
Tsilvolsky extended his hand, to shake, knowing that any words he said weren't going to be recognized.
The alien seemed to consider the offer for a moment. Then, almost too fast for the eye to see, it swung its sword in a sweeping movement and decapitated Tsilvolsky, the blade glowing with the sickly green of necromantic magic as it did so.
Tsilvolsky's helmet fell to the ground, and his head rolled out of the opaque helmet, dripping blood. The aliens let out gasps of surprise and amazement, then looked at the remaining three explorers, anger and hatred becoming evident in their faces. Too shocked to resist, the were forced to come along with their captors.
To be continued...
Just that.
Basic plotline of what has happened in Planes.
Mechanus, after several Prime worlds developed hightened technology (like robots and laser guns) was forced to upgrade it's systems from gear-and-cog based to electronics based. Of course, it was a compleatle failure, owing to the fact that a) Mechanus didn't understand the technology well enough, and b) Change breeds chaos.
While Mechanus was weak, Baatorian demons decided to annex most of Mechanus, because of it's ample technology (what was left of it) and use it as a weapons foundry. However, their gamble didn't pay off too well, as they stretched themselves too thin (over two whole planes, as well as all the skirmishes of the blood war) and a HUGE batallion of Abyss fiends attacked Mechanus. Of course, Baatorians, being briliant tacticians, had fortified their foundries rather well, but they were simply unprepared for the sheer number of abyssal fiends that struck.
It was a slaughter, with both sides taking HEAVY losses. In the end, the Baatorians won, though with so few men, and most damaged equipment, they were forced to abandon Mechanus.
Both sides of the blood war subsided for a while, to recoup. The celestials, fearfull that this lull could bring the demons to an uneasy truce, pressed the attack aginst both Baator AND the Abyss. They were driven off, but not before both the hells suffered even more casualties.
At this point, the Ysgaurd and Mt. Celista Celestials started arguing over what to do. The Lawfull ones wanted to stop, regroup, and come up with a new plan of attack to keep the demons busy. The chaotic ones wanted to attack again immidiatly, citing that any recoup time would let the demons recoup as well.
No one is sure who fired the first shot, but the celestials started fighting amongst themselves, as both the Abyssals and the Baatorians licked their wounds. Now there are two wars going on, one holy, the other unholy. Most of the people on the planes have become even more cynical and depressed, losing faith in almost everything except that there is nothing but entropy.
And that belief is having a negative effect on the more belief-based planes.
What does this storyline have to do with the players?
How would this effect their daily lives?
How can I get them involved?
How do I make it worth their while?
The Blood War is enormous. Gigantic. Titanic. This war spans entire realities. This conflict makes both World Wars look like two nancy boys having a slapfight over the colour of their sofa cushions.
Unless you can get them to be somehow effected by the wars, the background should stay just like that. A background. But if you play your cards right, you can turn this war storyline into spring pad for a campaign that will keep the players very busy from 1st level all the way to freakin' EPIC BABY!!!
You got a gold mine on your hands, but be careful to play it good and play it right.
Originally posted by EvilPettingZoo
One concern I had was what to do with the Prime in general. Official Planescape includes Spelljammer, which is contradicted by modern astronomy.
The only real evidence that we have that there is anything beyond the Ort Cloud at the fringes of our solar system are pictures from orbitial telescopes and people's assuptions about the mathmatial positions of the stars. Nobody has actually been there. Not to mention that NASA has lost contact with all of the probes that we send beyond the cluster.
Scientists are assuming that the stars are actually where they appear to be even when we have seen evidence (Nay! Down right proof) that light can be distorted by intense gravitial forces. Hell, half the stars in the sky could be under the effects of gravitial lenses for all we know. In additon any scientist will tell you that gravity is the weakest of the four universal forces. So, the other three forces can be effecting the light on it's way to our eyeballs.
And we are also forgetting about fractal patterns. Geometic object of infinite complexity, where no matter how far you zoom in, there is always something new to see. The stars, clusters, nebula, etc that we claim to be seeing could very well be just pretty fractal patterns painted on the side of our sphere.
Of course, I'm sure that some astronomy major can throw a bunch of math in my direction and prove me wrong. So, I say to them, It's called "suspention of disbelief"! I mean, the World of Darkness made Earth the center of the universe with little or no fuss. Jeez!
Originally posted by EvilPettingZoo
One concern I had was what to do with the Prime in general. Official Planescape includes Spelljammer, which is contradicted by modern astronomy.
I actually have an answer for this. The universe as we know it is in point of fact one truly monster (so large it might as well be infinite) crystal sphere. In fact its an ever expanding crystal sphere, that integrates other spheres as it goes. The problem is that by itself its alot like Athas, no planar travel and no Spelljamming, but when it integrates up other sphere a little bit of their magic/ planar connection is absorbed. Thus the whole universe is slowly getting that planar connection established.
This means that all habitable planets in the universe are being affected by the Veil of Shadow and shadowkind are flowing through. Thus we could in theory use this for a D20 Future thing where we find shadow races all over the known universe.
origonall posted by SirAnon
I remember reading an explanation about missile weapons on the ethereal/astral planes. It boiled down to bows are useless because all travel is done by force of will, an arrow would quickly slow and then stop only a few feet from the archer. My feelings are that this would be the same with guns, and that bullets would stop within 10 feet or so of the shooter. Now this may have changed from 2nd to 3rd edition, and I may have been mistaken about the plane it happens on, but I thought Id bring it up.
Also, I had a nasty idea about the effectiveness of the conflict on earth, there is a 2nd lvl arcane spell called “protection from arrows”. Now it is called protection from arrows, but it’s a replacement I believe for the old “protection from normal missiles”. Anyway, the description states that it negates damage from ranged weapons. I take this to mean all ranged weapons; arrows, slings, crossbow bolts, thrown hammers, axes, etc. This brings up the issue that guns are ranged weapons and therefore subject to this spell. This leads to the thought that a mages have to worry about ranged attacks a great deal anyway, so this seems like a very useful spell, especially for a war like race like the githyanki. So the mages have a 2nd lvl spell that lasts 1h/lvl and protects from 10hp/lvl damage total. And the thought of a greater protection from arrows that protects from 20hp/lvl comes up. And a magic item that permanently protects from a certain amount of damage from normal ranged weapons. Say the first 10hp of damage per round, so in a way granting damage resistance to normal ranged weapons, DR 10/Melee or Magical Ranged Weapons. This kind of item would offer the githyanki more resistance to our attacks and would make the war allot more drawn out and possibly make it a more horrific and bloody battle.
The point about the Astral and ranged combat was probably 2e. In 3e, ranged combat on the Astral is in fact enhanced, halving the range penalties to hit because there is no gravity to affect the flight path of the arrow.
As for protection from Arrows, it would be useful, and probably used. However, although I lack the d20 Modern Handbook, I belive that firearms tend to do more than 10 damage per shot. Also, after a maximum of 100 damage is dealt, the spell disipates (when the spell is cast by a 10th+ level caster). Although d20 uses a wound point system, so a direct conversion to damage would be difficult, I think a machine gun could quickly deplete the protection of a Protection From Arrows spell. If cast by a 3rd level caster (the lowest level possible to cast 2nd level spells that I know of), the spell would be depleted in 3-4 shots.
As for the Iron Gaurd spell you mention, I could not find it in the 3.5 player hand book, or any of the other 3.0/3.5 books I have.
Originally posted by Ob_Deamon
As for protection from Arrows, it would be useful, and probably used. However, although I lack the d20 Modern Handbook, I belive that firearms tend to do more than 10 damage per shot. Also, after a maximum of 100 damage is dealt, the spell disipates (when the spell is cast by a 10th+ level caster). Although d20 uses a wound point system, so a direct conversion to damage would be difficult, I think a machine gun could quickly deplete the protection of a Protection From Arrows spell. If cast by a 3rd level caster (the lowest level possible to cast 2nd level spells that I know of), the spell would be depleted in 3-4 shots.
Many firearms have the capability to do more than 10 damage/shot. However, there are two considerations here:
1. The most common guns are doing either 2d6 or 2d8 damage, and still have quite the capability for doing less than ten points.
2. Cutting off ten points of damage from each shot makes it almost impossible for a gunshot wound to exceed your massive damage threshold.
And D20 Modern doesn't use the wound/vitality system. I think that's mostly just Star Wars.
Another note: Githyanki lack epic charecters, with the exeption of the Lich Queen, so no chance of someone with the exeptional deflection/infinit deflection/return shot feat combo, which would pretty much decimate a firearm weilding army in the blink of an eye.
Originally posted by Xx_Plague_Star_xX
hey thanks for beein kool about it i just have a question.... how am i supposed to post my drawings ?
Such questions are for the Art Gallery forum or if the question is meant for me specificly, PM me. I don't mind and the WizOs would be grateful.
I'll explain how to post pics tomarrow, it's late where I am and I'm tired.
imagine a scarred wasteland of fire and craters, massive iron baatezu tanks clawing their way across the battlefield. tanar'ri guerrillas run in with guns blazing only to be gunned down by cornugon commandos with antitank rifles...
sweet.
shadow “deeping”
Astral blocaded obilsk in shadow prime can get trough
ethereal “shalowing”
prime standered D&D
shadow prime your modern prime absorbing other primes
super solid slitly above absolute 0
super fluide very cold
solid/earth new name
liquid/water new name
gas/air new name
plasma/fire new name
negative moving below prime
positive moving above prime
mecanus mix of cogs and chips
Limbo more elements
Outer shadow NEW PLAIN, DEEPEST IN MECAUS AND SIGLE
Others same as yours
You're forgetting: the D&D gods don't rely on worship to exist. They aren't creations of belief, will, imagination, or whatever. This isn't Mage. They simply exist because they exist, or because some greater uber-god wills them to exist.
No, I beg to differ. D&D gods do depend on worshipers to exist. That is one of the reasons why there are dead gods drifting through the astral plane - all their worshipers were killed or left! The absence of worshipers would drastically change the dieties that exist in the outer planes. You have to take into account that these dieties are worshipped on more worlds than Earth, however. Even if no one on Earth even remembers the name of say, Dischord, Arie's daughter, that doesn't mean the people of the planet Rock in the Metallica system isn't covered in Dischord worshipers. Their worship would keep her in existence.
I would mention that Eris/Discord is worshipped to this day on Earth
Seconded. Discordians definitely still exist.
-ing the nice ThreadCheck it out:http://www.planewalker.com/urban/index.php?PHPSESSID=03ab7c7f15e91f4f0770d232c262b9a9
Two changes that I would make to cannon - Sigil's shape has changed and is frankly unknown but the interior of a large sphere is suspected. - Its geography is determined by naritive, and it never seems to be a sunny day. (think film noir with spiky buildings.) The lady of pain has not been seen in years but order has been kept (relatively). This is either due to her hidden influnece or every one now likes having a neutral ground to communicate and deal on.
Yes even the Tenarri.
Also Akin has opened a chain store calle AkinMart. Filled with the lowest prices everyday for all your needs magical and mundane. Complete with blue vested imortal greeters, (remember kids - imortal does not mean unageing - read your benefit plans completely.)
BoSH
Most of you may not know this, but the offical Planescape fansite Planewalker.com has created a new catagory called "Urban Planescape". It's basically based on the ideas from this fourm.
Check it out:http://www.planewalker.com/urban/index.php?PHPSESSID=03ab7c7f15e91f4f0770d232c262b9a9
Wow! This place is great! Thanks!
I have a different idea.
In my campaign that I run, there are numerous races that have superior and advanced technology, including the United States of America (who happen to have a presence in Sigil and a contract with Baator). The catch, and the real reason why technology hasn't spread throughout the planes is that planar travel completely obliterates it. Batteries lose all their charge, digital media is wiped clean...it's a nightmare!! Sure, some technology is unaffected, but these are typically things like pocket watches that you wind up...PDA's and Laptops and GPS systems and all that jazz are utterly useless after you go through a portal or use a Plane Shift spell. In fact, I've actually devised a spell that creates a short of "Planar Tremor" that shorts out technology without making it go across planar barriers. This is especially lethal on people with pacemakers, cyborgs, and all the like. This allows for the inclusion of all sorts of different types of civilizations advanced and otherwise.
Most Advanced Technology is on the Prime plane, but there are planes on the Great Ring that have Advanced Technology, even being based and composed of it. Examples would be Cyberspace, which has all sorts of things. But because planar travel is lethal to the Advanced Technology, everything that exists and is native to these AT planes are pretty much confined to their respective planes because planar travel will kill them.
Just as a side note about Cyberspace. In my campaign, Cyberspace is the domain of the Goddess Media. This is based on the concept based off of Neil Gaimon's American Gods, where people sacrifice a lot of time on the alter of their Television sets and Personal Computers, effectively worshipping the Media. Media is the personification of all things Television, Video Games, Movies, and the Internet. The natives of the plane thus reflect popular media icons, with cities based off of websites and the like. Let me know if you like this idea.
I know this is probably not exactly what you were asking for, but I thought it would be a decent idea for you to consider. Cheers.
Imagine a group of DnD adventurers stumbling across the modern section of the blood war.
Or a modern adventuring party stumbling away from the war torn streets and mutated mech/organo tank hybrids find themself in an area where the buildings appear to be ancient and the warriors have bows and swords and are wielding mysterious powerful spells (7th-9th level):D1) The PCs, after going through a story arch of several sessions, recovered an incantation (those powerfull chanted spells from Urban Archana) that acted as a "Plane Shift" spell. (well, similar to actually. It transported anything within a 2 Meter semisphere into another plane.) Now, they actually had no way of returning (because they couldn't perform the incantation themselves) but the PCs went anyway to stop the big bad.
2) They were transported to a section of Mechanus that had been devistated by the blood war. No modrons around, no nothing. Well, there was a stragler Blood War Demon who attacked them right off the bat, but that's not big.
3)To be fair, I gave them a merchant almost immediatly afterwords, who sold them some magic items (in exchange for C4, which he had never seen and was very keen on.) He sold them a pair of eyeglasses that allowed the party to see portals, and a magic ring that could, once per day, reveal the key to a portal.
4)They managed to set up camp in Sigil until they got the information they needed to head to an abandoned Demiplane of a Wizard (which was a giant library). There they got enough info to find out they needed to go to Carceri, where they found what they needed. Big fight with big bad, they left, and went back to Sigil where they worked and stole and scrounged togeather enough cash to find a guide to get them home.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
1)Keep it weird. Don't contridict the source material (Unless you have re-written it) but make everything seem strange and very out-of-place. This is litterally unlike anything that your backwater prime PCs have ever experienced.
2) Don't Kill off your PCs, but make it dangerous. This is a place where ACTUAL demons walk into bars and start bragging about filleting babies. And they have the muscle to back it all up, so, y'know bring out that part.
3)Your PCs will probably be primes, and clueless at that, so make sure you know that. Most NPCs won't give them the time of day, even if your resident scholar DOES happen to know about the planes. So keep that in mind.