The Neo Greater Material Plane (5e Environment)
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The Neo Greater Material Plane
This plane is where Greater Deities dwell. At a extradimensional glance it might look remarkably similar to a normal Material Plane world, but from basically anyone else's perspective the place is an absolute deathtrap. Everything in the Plane is many times larger than anything in the normal Material Plane, making travel to anywhere of note within this plane impractical at best and virtually impossible at worst for any mortal. For the sake of context to the scale of this difference, keep in mind that grass reaches the height of mortal humanoids, trees tend to be so tall such people can't see the canopy, etc. In the standard wheel concept of how the planes are arranged, this plane would surround the entire wheel, being past even the Far Realm, but not past the other Homebrew Realms: The Matter and The Void, which I haven't refined yet so it isn't published on here. (This article is incomplete until those Planes pages are complete).
A Rule By Scale
Normal species are the size of insects in this world, which of course means that normal insects of this world are dangerous creatures for visitors to the plane that aren't deities. Consider using Giant Insects as common enemies, but also consider the Neo Giant Insect variation enemies I'll make for this Plane in the near future (This article is incomplete until those creature pages are complete).
Lesser deities are the size of average residents of the plane or smaller while in this world, while greater deities are the size of huge creatures or better compared to a Material Plane world. For context, a lesser deity might have the size of a human, scaled up of course, while a greater deity might have the size of a dragon, also meeting this scale. This makes for a fair lore-based explanation for why Greater Deities don't dwell in the smaller planes, as not only would they be an utter hazard for the normal residents of said planes, murdering millions to take a Sunday stroll just because your steps cause Earthquakes is a good way to get literally every other deity to turn on you. This means regardless of alignment, all Greater Deities are kept in check by this philosophy, stopping them from ever entering other planes unless the DM is crazy enough to figure out all that would be required to account for this themselves, because gods know I won't.
For a player scale, comparably, any medium size creature would be about the size of a blade of grass, with 5 feet on other planes roughly measuring up to 2 inches on this plane, meaning 30 feet would be a single foot by this scale. Battling for control over a single 5 foot space (The space of a single tile in the normal rules when on the Material Plane) even for a short time could be a great way to present an epic encounter if done correctly.
Note that Lesser Deities can easily manipulate the size of their form to be smaller than normal, though not larger. Greater Deities have been within this Plane for so long that this is no longer possible for them. See the Mechanics and Dangers part of this page for greater detail.
Deity Civilization
The ruling party of this plane and world is a comparably normal hierarchy as well as a civilization comparable to humanity and other normal races playable in 5e. In other words, they have stone and wooden buildings that form fantasy cities and have a ruling class and a capital, as well as smaller towns. It's worth noting that the only deities explicitly aware of the other planes are the people of the kingdom's Capital city: The City of Fire, though other deities wouldn't be shocked by this knowledge or particularly interested in it by not knowing of it alone. There are 3 other major cities of this kingdom, called Starfall, Crown, and Brandish, as well as 2 other major towns that have important landmarks which make them stand out. These are The Lightning Tower and The Endless Garden, both of which will also be explained. However, keep in mind that even a basic excursion into this Plane may tax the most powerful normal characters, making this part of the Lore not usually required as a huge dungeon can be made with something as simple as an anthill, well, a big anthill anyway. See those pages by the same names for further detail.
Most "deities" (I.E., people) of the world are creatures that have been given a place in the world by the deities that rule The City of Fire. See the Teachings section for more information. Note that creatures (Including most inhabitants) born on the world are still mortal and not divine creatures on their own right. Such creatures are immune to the Divine Plague and the Invasive Magic that follows it (See Mechanics and Dangers for more information), and can't travel to other planes even with the help of deities, assuming they are a species from the world and not with ancestry in other (Smaller) planes.
Finally, note that currency is still the normal in-game currency, but scaled up appropriately. This means that a single gold coin might be worth MUCH more to the tiny creatures that live on other planes. An ant next to a quarter, so to speak.
Mechanics and Dangers
Optional Rules: All of the following rules are optional and at the DM's control when using this plane. Some creatures are protected from the Divine Plague and Invasive Magic by deities, while others are outright immune through an unexplained phenomenon. This means a modicum of control over the plane's hostility and player potential exists as it should be.
Avoiding the Detriment: While on this plane, a deity can prevent the Invasive Magic and Oppressive Divinity mechanics, and will as long as they are on the character's side. This prevents them from happening at all, but usually shelters direct followers of a deity or the allies of such people, making it much less common with people that don't have such faiths, or follow darker deities who may care less than others depending on the deity and circumstance.
Invasive Magic: While in this plane, creatures with a Challenge Rating or Level (Depending on if they are a Player, NPC that uses levels, or CR based NPC, as appropriate) less than 20 must make a DC 20 Constitution, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw (Their choice). On a success, they lose a point of Exhaustion and don't have to make this save for 24 hours. On a fail, they gain 1 level of Exhaustion. A creature that must roll these saves doesn't simply die when they reach Exhaustion level 6. Instead, they begin to disappear, fading out of existence in 1 minute after reaching this. What is actually happening is that the Plane is absorbing their form, overwhelmed by the massive amount of magical energy that permeates the plane. It basically ate them. A creature that dies in this way cannot be revived by any means short of rescue by a deity, who can tell whenever this occurs as long as they are within a mile of the incident (A mile on THEIR scale, not the scale normal characters are at). Invasive Magic's detrimental effects do not occur for any creatures born on this plane.
Oppressive Divinity: While on this plane, creatures with a challenge rating or level at 20 or higher gain 1 point of Divine Plague after each long rest they take. Such creatures gain the following benefits and detriments at reaching certain amounts of Divine Plague:
Points | Effect |
---|---|
1 | Creatures with less than 10 Intelligence and/or Wisdom now have 10 Intelligence or Wisdom. This effect is permanent and carries over to other planes. Creatures with this effect have a 1% chance every day of being inadvertently pulled back into the plane. A deity on this plane or the one inhabited by the creature can prevent this forced return from happening. |
2 | Creatures can now spellcast any of the Sorcerer Class Cantrips (Using their existing spellcasting ability), and feel more awake from this change, though a creature that can't already spellcast wouldn't be able to discern the power of this change. This effect lasts until they leave the Plane. |
3 | Creatures can no longer leave the Plane unless casting the spell to do so with their own abilities, or a deity uses any spell that allows them to leave. Items that require attunement may be used for this, but items that don't require attunement cannot be used for this either. |
4 | Creatures become 1 size category larger. Their size doubles in all dimensions and their weight is multiplied by 8. For the sake of clarification, their clothes and armor change size with them, but anything they are not wearing, such as weapons, does not increase in size unless they are attuned to it. |
5 | Creatures can no longer fall asleep and don't need to sleep, and don't require food or water. |
6 | Creatures gain the Boon of Fortitude. They can gain it a second time from this if they already have it. This effect lasts until they leave the plane. |
7 | Creatures become 1 size category larger. Their size doubles in all dimensions and their weight is multiplied by 8. |
8 | Creatures gain the Boon of High Magic. They can gain it a second time from this if they already have it. This effect lasts until they leave the plane. |
9 | Creatures gain the Boon of Skill Proficiency. This doubles their proficiency bonus for any skill they are already proficient in, but it will never raise the proficiency bonus further than twice, meaning skills that already benefit from double the normal proficiency bonus are not raised. This effect lasts until they leave the plane. |
10 | Creatures become 1 size category larger. Their size doubles in all dimensions and their weight is multiplied by 8. |
11 | Creatures gain the Boon of Dimensional Travel. They can gain it a second time from this if they already have it, meaning they can use it twice, but afterwards cannot use it again until they finish a short rest. Both uses of it recharge when this occurs. This effect lasts until they leave the plane. |
12 | Creatures can no longer leave the Plane unless casting the Wish spell to do so with their own abilities, or a deity uses any spell that allows them to leave. Items that require attunement may be used for this, but items that don't require attunement cannot be used for this either. |
13 | Creatures become 1 size category larger. Their size doubles in all dimensions and their weight is multiplied by 8. |
14 | Creatures cannot leave the plane without the aid of a deity, unless if they are taught how by them. |
15 | Creatures no longer age or can be effected by aging effects. |
16 and Onward | Creatures must roll a DC 20 Constitution, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw when acquiring the point. On a fail, Creatures become 1 size category larger. Their size doubles in all dimensions and their weight is multiplied by 8. On a success, they don't gain a point. Eventually, the character will be within the normal scale of a medium sized creature on the world, and stop growing larger (And making saves) if that is the case, unless if they are an Aberration, Dragon, Lycanthrope, Celestial, Devil or Demon, which have this effect continue until they reach a Gargantuan size by the world's scale or are taught by deities how to end the effect. See Teachings below for more information. |
Targets: Those mortals that try to ascend to godhood through this plane are often met with a swift end, being a shining target to nonsentient creatures of this plane looking for a meal, like beasts and insects. Any creature that is within a mile of a creature with any points of Divine Plague knows where that creature is if they were born on the plane or are a deity. Any nonsentient creatures that have this sense are hostile towards creatures with any points of Divine Plague if they are hungry. This effect does not occur if the creature with Divine Plague reaches Medium size or larger.
Teachings: Deities might invite a character that has shown immense skill, honor, bravery or loyalty to rise to deity status, or find such individuals that have survived for a long enough time with Divine Plague that they are basically on their level and might teach them how to better control the power they now wield, presumably with something to gain from it like a new ally. Such characters that are a Medium size or lower on the scale of this plane can learn within usually a week how to control their size, allowing them to revert their form but losing all of the powers their Divine Plague Points give them as long as they are doing so. When they learn this, they will now retain their Divine Plague points while outside the plane, though only benefit from its effects while on the plane. A character that succeeds in this training over the month it takes on average to finish gain the Boon of Immortality (Permanently, even while on other planes. They don't require food, water, sleep or air if they get this either) if they don't already have it, and return to this plane in peak physical condition with all of their gear (That isn't destroyed before this can occur) whenever they die in any other plane. They choose where they appear when they are brought to this plane in this manner with the accuracy and dangers of a Plane Shift spell, though they will never be brought to another plane by a mishap caused by this effect. Creatures of a Large size or larger by this plane's scale cannot revert their form even if taught how to control this power. Deities and characters with such massive forms cannot enter other planes in their true form, which would now be their larger form. When any creature reaches a small category size on this plane's scale, they gain +10 to their Armor Class against creatures not of that size or larger, but don't have this benefit while they revert their form.
DM Note: It should be considered extremely unlikely for any character to be invited to the world to ascend to deity status, and considered taboo by other deities that don't agree with the decision.
Locations And Landmarks
There are several important locations and landmarks that exist within the plane, as noted earlier. For lesser players that aren't ready to take on the plane at large, note that entire mortal cities exist on locations of the plane, including in houses, under trees, if you've ever seen a movie about a tiny person civilization then you have a good starting point. However, for the sake of brevity I will only talk about one of these, and will focus on the locations important to deities and the civilization of the plane.
DM Note: It's possible to use these locations without using the entire plane, maybe they are locations on the mortal world, or found scattered to the planes. Either way, if this is the case, it may be a good idea to avoid making the presence of deities common in them. Maybe someone else, someone mortal, rules instead, but is under their deity's influence like everyone else. How you handle this is up to you.
The City Of Fire
"This is the place where dreams come from, or so they say." "Who says?" "Heh. Just the gods, that's all." -Conversation in a Tavern in The City of Fire
The City of Fire is not as warm as it seems, but it is a place where stalwart good and whimsical evil can meet peacefully. Fighting is illegal for any deities of the city, though nothing stops them from taking it outside if necessary. A city of beautiful gold and marble where shadows don't exist, cast away by the all-piercing light of The Silver Flame, a bonfire of millions of heroic souls that burns at the center of the circular, walled city. White and light gray are common in the stonework, due to the marble, but the fabric and decorations of the city keep it looking lively and colorful. The Silver Flame is also the reason the city can exist, as without shadows it's much more difficult to hide anywhere. No home needs lighting, and the flame seems able to control that light level at all hours, making it capable of plunging the entire city into darkness. Should anyone make this flame upset, it has been known to reach around the entire city if need be, and is seemingly capable of engulfing any inch of it at a moment's notice. It's a Lawful Good deity originally from Pathfinder, so it may be worth checking what you know on the deity if using Pathfinder deities. The city is ruled by Good deities, though since most have their own domains and outside homes the city is usually a meeting place or vacation spot rather than a permanent residence for most of them. The city's no fighting policy makes it a good place for anyone looking to avoid conflict, and those that do live there are often known for having a sense of peace.
There is a Marble Palace in the northern-most section of the city, which overlooks a shear cliff of 300 feet by the plane's scale (Making it seemingly bottomless for tiny mortals). The palace is a home to Bahamut, The Platinum Dragon, though many good-aligned deities often call the place home, due to his constant wandering. Still, you can't really take away a dragon's nest for long, and since he built it, Bahamut returns fairly often from his outings to make sure everyone remembers that he owns the place. The largest building in the city, it can be seen from almost anywhere within the area assuming a wall or building isn't in the way. With 3 balconies (2 of which overlook that cliff, while the 3rd overlooks the city), 2 kitchens and dining halls, a ground floor, uppermost floor, and basement war room, and a couple dozen bedrooms (Among everything else the DM shoves into the place), it is massive even by comparison with the scale of the plane, and stretches about just as high as the cliff hangs below. Myths claim that somewhere in here is the LEGENDARY dragon horde to end all dragon hordes, but not even the deities have found it if it does exist, and if anyone has, they're NOT telling.
DM Notes: One of two possibilities exist here: That The horde is incredibly well hidden, or exists somewhere else and isn't actually here. It may very well be a bit of both if you wish, with a small piece of Bahamut's horde being hidden here to ward off looters only for the real one to be even more awesome and in a completely different location of your choice. Also, note that Bahamut doesn't necessarily rule the city. He may, but also may simply own the land he built the palace on, doing so because Dragon God Can Do What Dragon God Wants. It would also make sense for it to not be his alone, maybe Ioun or another friendly deity gave him advice or helped him build it. The creation lore of how the Palace came about is up to you.
A large marketplace spans the outer ring of the city, inviting everyone, large and, well, very small, to have a taste of the wares from across the multiverse. Doors to Sigil, The City of Doors, are common due to it being where much of the trade happens for those of such small stature, though ways to basically any other plane exist here as well. However, trade dies VERY quickly when a meeting of the deities is announced, which usually takes place in the Palace or with The Silver Flame in the town square. Between this market and the center of town are homes, gardens, a park with a lake in the eastern side of the city, and a few stores, restaurants, and other recreational activities spread throughout.
The city celebrates 3 festivals that other areas don't.
The Festival of Fertility: A celebration of the aforementioned park and gardens of the city, and a day on which life in general is marveled at. If a evil-aligned creature is here on such a day, it's basically a red flag that something bad will happen, as they tend not to care otherwise.
The Rite of Time: A spectacle that occurs one day every 4 years, on which the city's structures and wildlife all age to a point of rotting and crumbling, though this is effectively reversed the dawn after. It is a more serious, somber day than the others, as anyone that doesn't fall asleep during that night seemingly disappears. No one, not even the deities, have solved this mystery, but anyone that does disappear this way is not dead, but actually transported to a distant future the deities are unaware of, in which the city has been in ruin, and so has the world. Anyone, including deities, put here lose their magic, making it effectively impossible to return by normal means. However, any changes they make to the city, including leaving notes, etc., appear on the day of the festival, allowing them to potentially be rescued by a deity that can open portals through time.
Dagger Day: A day determined by the rulers of the city to basically be a massive deathmatch, however, it's competitive, the deities normally don't compete, and there is often a prize. The deities that run the event make sure no one can be permanently killed by participating, and in the 900 years the event has existed for, none have been able to do so in spite of this. Those who die are revived outside of town on top of the wall that encompasses it, and through magic can still observe the action even if such a view wouldn't show it to them. The festival lasts up to a week, and creatures big and small that aren't deities can play for keeps, though a separate prize pool is usually kept for both. Bahamut usually shows up to watch the spectacle, or even participate as a hazard, and The Silver Flame can use its magic (And fire, obviously) to keep things interesting. Because of these factors, the action is usually near constant until its end, and most of the time it doesn't last more than a day, hence the name.
If anyone creates locations within the City, or fleshes out some existing areas, they may certainly edit this to improve the lore. Same goes for all locations, really.
Starfall
"The largest, emptiest continent on the plane. A massive desert cut across by howling mountain ranges and cut deep by many unexplained craters and natural canyons. Trillions of lost mortal souls wander the wastes, except for in one huge section they avoid for no known reason. And through it all, somewhere near the center of the area is the largest crater on the plane, the massive city of Starfall." -Whispered to you by a barkeep in the City of Fire.
The continent and the city share the same name for a reason, that reason being the massive emptiness of the wastes there makes the city basically the only place where things happen in that land. And happen they do, for unlike The City of Fire, Starfall seems to be where Law goes to die. No one is safe, no one is a friend, and this may be the only place in the Multiverse where you'll disappear faster than in the City of Doors if you make the wrong creature angry... or any creature angry for that matter.
The city is a mess of wooden docks and buildings awkwardly placed together, clearly not built on any sort of city plan. However, the city does surround an enormous hole in its center (1 mile wide), which becomes an intricate cave system that runs 300 miles vertically straight down, with many openings from the walls of this central chamber that lead into caves. The first 10 miles down is filled with more city, buildings and pathways are made of stone and sometimes marble or other material at this level. There are the occasional outposts and single homes deeper down, but they are already clearly different from the city as a whole.
The Abyss of Starfall
Much of the economy of Starfall is built around exploring the cave system below the city, by far the most dangerous profession in existence. It's hard to imagine any characters staying here for any amount of time below level 20, as many of the native creatures here are at least CR 20 or higher. The danger grows exponentially the further you go, and to make matters worse, there's an unexplained effect that makes ascending the caves FAR more dangerous than descending.
Dark Oppression: Any creature that isn't native to the cave system must make a DC 25 Con saving throw for every mile they ascend (They NEVER have to make a save for this while descending) through the caves, which is lowered to DC 22 if short rests are taken during the process and lowered to DC 20 if long rests are taken during the process. However, regardless of the DC, the penalty for failing the saving throw is always the same. On every failure, the creature gains a point of exhaustion that can't be removed until they exit the caves entirely. In addition, the further down the creature is within the caves (Relative to the giant hole exit and no other exits, if there are any) the worse the penalty. If the creature fails the check while 50-99 miles down, they lose 1 point of their Constitution score which remains until they recover and can happen multiple times. If the creature fails the check while 100-149 miles down, they become afflicted with Cackle Fever, the symptoms of which manifest immediately. The disease can be recovered from normally. If the creature fails the check while 150-199 miles down, they become afflicted with 1D4 Long-Term Madness effects. These Long-Term Madness effects can be recovered from normally. If the creature fails the check while 200-249 miles down, they drop to 0 hit points, are dying, and cannot recover hit points until they exit the caves entirely. They CAN be stabilized, though they will not recover hit points if they are stabilized by any means. If the creature fails the check while 250-299 miles down, they die, and their flesh beneath their skin withers away. Spells that restore the body to life, and don't make a new one, fail to restore the creature unless cast by a deity. If the creature is successfully brought back to life, they gain a flaw from the Indefinite Madness table or one of the DM's creation. Secretly, at the very bottom of this massive hole is a Gate that leads to the Abyss. The Gate here is permanent, and creatures that enter the Abyss in this manner are bathed in a distinct energy that the Gate has, which all Fiends can notice. They gain the Boon of Abyss Mastery (5e Epic Boon) for accomplishing this. The Gate is one way, and there is no feasible way to return from this point. There are certain places called havens which are cut off from the natural hostility of the rest of the caves where the afflicted creatures can recover from all attributes, but these are extremely rare and virtually undiscovered so only the DM can decide where they might be. These areas are magical in nature, and typically act as two way portals to miniature planes, though some may be portals to full planes, like the Material Plane or Feywild. Additionally, a Wish spell can be used to protect up to 8 creatures and the caster of the spell from the effects for 8 hours, and a Wish spell may also allow 1 creature to recover from 1 affliction caused by this hazard. (To be clear, effects that are multiplicative, like losing multiple Constitution points or being afflicted by multiple Long-Term madness effects at once, count as a single affliction to be cured. A creature will regain all lost Constitution points and recover from all Long-Term Madness effects at once, but not both). Finally, the last mile of the descent never afflicts anyone, though no mortal has ever made it even close to this area. It also acts as a sanctuary, and creatures afflicted by the effects of Dark Oppression are instantly cured of their aliments when they reach this point, unless if they are dead.
Crown
"You want to get to Starfall you have two options, face an ocean of horrible death and terrifying storms, or head north to the one land bridge connecting the continents and head through Crown. Buy a boat." -Whispered to you by a barkeep in the City of Fire.
The City of Fire is a well known landmark of beauty and order. Starfall is a well-feared landmark of danger and subtle evil. But Crown is something else entirely. The city was founded on the one way to get to Starfall by land, a land bridge far to the North. Half of the city extends into the unforgiving desert, while the other half is protected by a mountain North of town and intertwined with thick forest. This split often hits people hard as they make the transition, but that is why the city is there, as the last place a party can prepare to enter the wastes beyond. That's not all the town is known for though. For one, it is larger than any other city on the Plane, and has architecture from many different locations and even clear influence by the other planes. It is heavily entangled with the politics of everywhere else in the Multiverse, even if everyone in the city would die before admitting it, and it is the only place on the Plane that still outlaws the existence of creatures from other planes. That's right, creatures from the Material Plane (Or any other for that matter) are not allow in this city, and any that are caught they are in serious danger, for the penalty is usually death.
The King of Crown (Because of course there is one) lives in his palace at the foot of the mountain, where his manor can overlook the massive mine entrance kept near it. The mine runs fairly deep, but is much safer than any normal cavern system, with no underdark monsters and villains to contend with that didn't come from the surface. Being near this cave system makes the manor feel like an oppressive watchtower more than a palace, which might have some weight behind it. Stories of the King have always had mixed feelings about him; some portray him as a man desperately trying to hold together a city that thrives on abusing its travelers, while others claim he's the reason behind the city's dangers, being at the core of it's hostility. What IS known is that only those invited to the palace have a chance to enter, and most who are invited chose to leave the city as soon as possible, for few that enter the place, EVEN ON AN INVINTATION, are rarely seen afterwards. Because of this closed doors attitude, not much is known about the King's personal life. He never hosts events in the city, though he doesn't stop them either, and none have seen him for over 200 years, maybe longer. In reality, though no one knows this (Including the guards that guard the city and palace entryways), there is no ONE king. The place is secretly ruled by The Dark Six, Deities that can be found in the Player's Handbook, and while The Traveler brought this city to life, not a day goes by that the other 5 don't try to put their mark where it doesn't belong, which has put him in a few bad moods since the start of the civilization. Because of this, the one class of creatures that aren't ever bothered in this city are shapeshifters. Whether natural or otherwise, those who embrace change are under the protection of The Traveler, after all, he IS the "deity of chaos and change." These also tend to be the only people that come out of the aptly named Palace of Crown alive, a trend which has not gone unnoticed by the smarter creatures of the area.
One thing's certain about this sketchy locale, never come unprepared. Even though it's supposed to be the last resting place before traveling to Starfall, it's unlikely a normal person will stay at peace in this city for very long.
The Alternative
DM Note: Crossing the ocean instead of heading to Crown is possible, towns across the eastern shore of the continent sometimes send ships to make that trek (The design of these towns would have to be custom made by the DM) across the ocean between the massive desert surrounding Starfall and the calmer climate that holds the City of Fire. However, the trek can take a year on the fastest ships, and many ships run into trouble in the form of massive portals to the Elemental Plane of Water, placed as traps by Krakens that cannot enter the plane. Running into multiple Krakens is fairly dangerous for any party, but it's almost bound to happen at least once on the trip. It's also not the only type of encounter the DM can cause, since anything in the Elemental Plane of Water can be used to make the trip more difficult to navigate through successfully. Some suggestions include but are not limited to an armada of Aboleths, a portal beaching the ship on an island, or a portal putting the ship underwater. While it takes months of many dangers to cross the landbridge through Crown and get to Starfall on foot, it can be just as dangerous if not more to go over the ocean. Either path can make an entire campaign.
Brandish
Brandish is a sprawling metropolis that is arguably the largest city in the Multiverse, which is saying something. In reality, entering the location is extremely hazardous, as it can be nearly impossible to leave the city. The cityscape itself is modern, with skyscrapers and suburbs and fast food and more. However, once entered, the city appears to be endless in every direction, including that which the character entered from. The city actually isn't endless, though many will claim it is. It spans one mile in the world, but it's surrounded by a spherical, hollow, invisible Gate made by an unknown and forgotten deity, which places characters randomly in the pocket plane that contains the maze-like structures. Creatures that can travel through planes (Or have items that let them do so) often reside here, as opening portals to other planes or areas is usually the easiest way out of the city, with one exception mentioned later (See Hope Hospital for more information).
A Path of Nonsense: Heading in one direction while in this pocket plane will get a character nowhere fast, probably. To leave, the character must take a very specific path that can include going into buildings and certain rooms, taking elevators to certain floors, dumpster diving, and much more nonsense that characters shouldn't expect to work, often with multiple steps to actually escape. Characters might open a door and then close it only to turn around and be on a different street. However, a creature such as a Minotaur with it's Labyrinthine Recall ability, or a character under pathfinding magic such as Find The Path (Targeting a location outside the pocket plane, which is possible if targeting a location on The Neo Greater Material Plane for this one instance, going against the normal use of the spell) can use these abilities to perfectly know how to leave, even with paths they've never traveled, as if they have traveled these paths before. It's worth noting that the paths that must be taken to leave are COMPLETELY different from each other for every step taken before starting to leave, meaning a path that worked previously won't work the same way if gone through by a different starting point. For example, opening a door that leads to a street might just lead to the room beyond the door for anyone else other than the one character that started on the path. To an outside observer, the creature might simply fade away as they cross the threshold of the door.
The Center: From outside the city, creatures can observe a small modern city about a mile large. However, getting to that actual part of the city is very difficult. DMs should know (Shoo, players, shoo) that the massive maze of a city besides this center area is meant as a test to determine the worth of a creature that wants to enter. Any creature that has previously been to the center area can choose to enter the portal surrounding it or to skip it entirely. Just as there is always a convoluted way out of the city, there's an equally convoluted way to the center area, but getting there always has the same set of steps at the end, with more random other steps coming before these to get to the proper starting point of this path. The first of these is to get to the roof of the Cloudtop Casino, a skyscraper-sized building that is the tallest structure in the pocket plane. The second is to jump off the side that the building's shadow is on (The sky is always cloudless daylight with the sun appearing at a slant (But not quite setting or rising, like 3 p.m. on a cloudless day). The third and final event is to land in the dumpsters (Not on top of it, so it must be opened prior to doing this) that hold the trash and food thrown out of the building. If done properly, the creature(s) that do this will fall through the trash and be flung upward about 5 feet from the opening on the other side, which is the dumpsters of Hope Hospital, a building in the center area of the city. Regardless of if THOSE dumpsters are open, the force would be enough to push through to the other side. If (and only if)done correctly, the creature(s) will take no fall damage from the height of the drop, except for maybe a 5 foot fall to hard ground on the other side (creatures are flung anywhere within 10 feet of the dumpsters on the center area side) should they fail a Dexterity saving throw with a DC determined by the DM.
Hope Hospital
There are only a few rumors about Brandish that make it worth a visit. The highest by far among these (These rumors often are classes of legendary items and treasure, the obvious stuff) is a hospital capable of curing any disease. This, is Hope Hospital. The place is literally where gods go when they have the sniffles (In the incredible uncertainty that one gets the sniffles.), and it shows. Every alignment of extremely powerful creature can be found waiting for aid in its halls, however, none of either side of the spectrum dare cause trouble here, for fear of everyone else reacting violently and banning the creature from the best healthcare in existence. The cure for any disease and aliment can be found within, and all that make it there are welcome, regardless of capability. No one knows how the immortal staff can find a cure for anything, but everyone wants to find out. (DM Note: The actual answer to that question could be an epic quest, but I'm leaving it up to you to decide. Make sure to have a good reasoning for what this hidden truth is before introducing the area to the campaign for best results should the players become curious) The cures they have go beyond conventional illness as well. While they can easily cure simple illness, the more often occurrence due to how difficult the place can be to reach is that extreme disease, curses, and birth defects are the most likely reasons someone is there. The only policy the hospital has besides no violence however, is that no cure can be taken outside its walls. This often surprises people trying to get a cure for something that the creature which is actually sick couldn't hope to retrieve themselves, and that caused uproars in the past. To remedy this, a system was put in place by the staff that allowed them to find and retrieve patients across the multiverse through various well controlled magic portals such as Gates if they are alerted by someone else of the problem. On rare occasion, these portals may even be used by staff to cure an entire outbreak on a planet, if the plague is severe enough, and while this was extremely rare, news of it has caused more and more requests for such aid.
(DM Note: This could be one way for players to discover the existence of this building if part of your campaign. Maybe someone who's been to other worlds has witnessed their aid before, or even been part of it. Just a suggestion, however, for any way that smoothly inserts the thought of going there into the players' minds should be adequate. It doesn't have to be the players' only option for stopping a plague.)
The Endless Garden
The long trek from The City of Fire to Crown starts with a huge set of plains, leads to a forest, then to a small hike over a mountain pass. This wouldn't be too long, if that forest didn't exist. The Endless Garden is a wooded area that on any map appears fairly small and tame, but through the strange and poorly understood magics within, can hold a mortal their entire life. The forest is actually inherently connected to another Plane, called the same name as the forest because it's impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. The trek through this can be as long as a stroll across a planet, and every plant in existence might be found during the journey. Animals that live here are all completely sentient, and some extremely advanced magical minds believe this is where the "Spirit World" philosophy came from, as every animal here has an Intelligence score of at least 6, making them sentient to the lowest level of humans at worst and of above-average intellects at best. In spite of this, many of them are content with living here as animals normally do, until someone from the outside universe enters their turf. Those who show no ill will and maintain respect for the wilds of the garden are let pass peacefully, with some spirits of the area even being kind enough to guide them closer to the exit, though they tend to only make themselves known if the intruder isn't so peaceful, and tend to be far more dangerous than normal animals when provoked.
The appearance of a creature from this plane is affected by their alignment. A Good aligned creature appears normal, a Lawful Good aligned creature appears normal but glows dim light to a 5 ft. radius. An Evil aligned creature appears like a blackened shadow, with some red coloration if they are Lawful Evil, gray coloration if they are Neutral Evil, and violet coloration if they are Chaotic Evil. A creature's appearance if they are from The Endless Garden can also change temporarily depending on their emotions, a good creature feeling bored or saddened might lose their color and appear gray, but a saddened creature can also feel and look blue. The extent of this is up to the DM, but note that an angry good creature can be indistinguishable from one that is actually evil in appearance.
Any creature that has the Beast or Monstrosity creature type that is from The Endless Garden is the Celestial creature type instead, and has the following abilities and statistic changes in addition to their normal abilities and stats:
1 | Their CR is 3 higher than their normal counterparts. |
2 | Telepathy 60 ft. They also know 1 language of the DM's choice by default, and have the capacity to learn multiple languages as normal sentient NPCs do. |
3 | 20 more Hit Points than their normal counterparts. |
4 | An Int. score of at least 6, with an average of 10 and the same natural range of personalities and mental capabilities as humanoids. |
5 | A 75% chance to be Good alignment (Any type) and a 25% chance to be Evil alignment (Any type). The appearance of a creature from this plane is affected by their alignment, as seen above. |
6 | Spirit Sight to 120 ft. Spirit Sight is defined here as the ability to see the location of a soul. They can tell the difference between every soul, so they know if a soul belongs to a creature they haven't met, or who it does belong to if they have met before. They can see with Spirit Sight even if they are Blinded, but as they only see souls, they wouldn't know the exact appearance or nature of anything else. They get a vague outline of the creature any soul belongs to that is within 120 ft. of them, regardless of if they are looking or not, if they know the creature it belongs to well (The extent of this is decided upon by the DM). |
7 | Damage Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. Damage Immunities to cold, necrotic, and poison damage. |
8 | Condition Immunities to charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, and restrained. |
9 | Incorporeal Movement. The creature can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain while outside of the Endless Garden. It can move through creatures and objects from outside of The Endless Garden while within it. It takes 5 (1D10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. |
10 | Possession (Recharge 6). One humanoid, beast, or monstrosity that the creature can see within 5 feet of it must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be possessed by the creature; the creature then disappears. The creature now controls the body but doesn't deprive the target of awareness unless if they failed the save by 5 or more (In which case the target falls unconscious until the Possession ends). The creature can't be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect (Except those built to target Celestials), and it retains its alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being charmed and frightened. It otherwise uses the possessed target's statistics, but doesn't gain access to the target's knowledge, class features, or proficiencies. The possession lasts until the body drops to 0 hit points, the creature ends it as a bonus action, or the creature is forced out or defeated by an effect like the dispel evil and good spell. When the possession ends, the creature reappears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the body. The target is immune to this creature's Possession for 24 hours after succeeding on the saving throw or the possession ends. |
11 | Superior Invisibility. The creature magically turns invisible until its concentration ends (As if concentrating on a spell using Charisma). Any equipment the creature wears or carries is invisible with it. It does this as an action. |
12 | Proficiency in Stealth. |
As for the forest itself, the landscape covers the whole range of forests, swamps, and jungles that exist in the multiverse. There's a whole section where it never stops storming, but never floods the plane either. There are several places where the more bitter and evil creatures of the plane come together, and so are much more often seen than those good hearted of the plane. There are mountain ranges, covered even to their peaks in the engulfing trees. The exact landscape of this area as well as where it's entrance and exit to The Greater Material Plane are up to the DM's imagination. Have fun with that.
The Lightning Tower
The mountain at Crown is known for its resources, its stellar view, and a Tower the rests near its top, on the side facing away from the town. This magnificent structure of bronze and stone is quite the marvel of magic and technology, and is thought to be the vacation home of the same deity that is responsible for the plane of Mechanus. I speak of course, of Primus. The entire tower is a maze of clockwork and mad scientist levels of intrigue, all with a strange sense of order and belonging that makes it seem like it was always meant to be here. Creatures that are not of size to explore this tower normally will have extreme difficulty and danger trying to avoid being crushed by the constantly turning gears and shafts, and even travelers that can explore normally will have trouble since every room of the tower can shift at a moments notice, allowing the entire configuration of the tower to be altered, as often occurs when these unsuspecting travelers trip magic alarms without realizing it. Additionally, Modrons by the hundreds maintain the structure for their master, which can be an overwhelming force when called upon to defend it. People have begun to wonder what is hidden up there, with such an elaborate security system (The outer areas of the tower can't be reached because of a powerful magic force field that prevents flight), but none of any kind have been able to navigate the area successfully, and no deity that might be able to accomplish it cares to try. The mystery actually has a bitter end to it, as the tower hides nothing of interest except a cozy house hidden inside, with nothing really worth taking from it. Those that reach this home however, unknowingly will trip a last alarm, a personal one that alerts Primus himself, who would likely be surprised and possibly pleased at the effort and intellect of the would-be thieves or invaders. He might confront them about it, or simply note their presence and watch to see if they mess up his house. It's possible, depending on his (The DM's) disposition, that he might reward the intruder for being so clever, either in person or by sending the prize their way.
Regardless, the tower should be dangerous, but also quite the puzzle to get through. Because of this, only DMs capable of creating an elaborate and dynamic system of puzzles (Possibly including a puzzle that ties the others together) should consider using this in their campaign. It's possible that the tower disappears on occasion, and when it does, it does so for many months at a time, making access completely impossible instead of mostly.
Finished Business
WOW that was quite the project. The document could probably still use some tweaking and balancing (And keep in mind that it covers 2 continents, leaving much room for expansion if desired), but I am SO done with it. Feel free to change and add and whatnot if you wish to improve the article, I have this version saved onto my computer as a backup to this, but like all things I post onto the wiki I'm open to the second opinion of the internet, which I assume is kinda the point, isn't it? Have fun, and thanks for all the fish.
Actually, there's one more thing that I have to do, so keep an eye out if you care to for a list of supplementary pages based on creatures and sample questlines that I'll make in the future as tools DMs can use to enhance their campaign, with and without this plane.
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