Page 301 - Dungeons and Dragons - Players Handbook

ApPENDIX c: THE PLANES OF EXISTENCE

NCREDlBLYVAST lS THE COSMOS OF THE The best-known worlds in lhe multiverse are lhe
DUNGEONS& DRAGONSgame, which teems ones lha! have been published as official campaign
with a multitude of worlds as weJl as myriad settings for the 0&0 game over the years-Greyhawk,
r alternate dimensions of reality, calIed the planes Blackmoor, Dragonlance, the Forgotten Realms,
of existence. lt encompasses every world Mystara, Birthright, Dark Sun, and Eberron, among
where Dungeon Masters run their adventures, others. Each of these worlds boasts its own cast of
alI within the relatively mundane realm of the heroic adventurers and scheming villains, its own
Material Plane. Beyond lhat plane are domains ancient ruins and forgotten artifacts, its own dungeons
of raw elemental matter and energy, realms of pure and its own dragons. But if your campaign takes place
thought and ethos, the homes of demons and angels, on one of these worlds, it belongs to your DM-you
and the dominions of the gods. mighl imagine it as one of thousands of paralIel versions
Many spelIs and magic items can draw energy of the world, which might diverge wildly from the
from these planes, summon the creatures that dwelI published version.
there, communicate with their denizens, and alIow
advenlurers to travei there. As your character achieves MATERIAL ECHOES
greater power and higher leveIs, you might undertake The Material Plane is a richly magical place, and its
a quest to rescue a friend fram the horrific depths of magical nalure is reflected in the two planes that share
the Abyss, or find yourself hoisting a tankard with lhe its central place in the multiverse. The Feywild and the
friendly giants of Ysgard. Vou might walk on streets ShadowfelI are paralIel dimensions occupying the same
made of solid fire or lest your mettle on a battlefield cosmological space, so they are often calIed echo planes
where lhe falIen are resurrected with each dawn. or mirrar planes to the Material Plane. The worlds and
landscapes of these planes mirror lhe natural world
THE MATERIAL PLANE of the Material Plane but reflect those fealures into

The Material Plane is the nexus where the philosophical different forms-more marvelous and magical in the
and elemental forces tha! define the other planes colIide Feywild, distorted and colorless in the Shadowfell.
in lhe jumbled existence of mortal life and mundane Where a volcano stands in the Malerial Plane, a
matter. AlI the worlds of 0&0 exist within the Material mountain topped with skyscraper-sized crystals that
Plane, making it the starting point for most campaigns glow with internai fire towers in lhe Feywild, and a
and adventures. The rest of the multiverse is defined in jagged rock outcrapping resembling a skuJl marks the
relation to the Material Plane. spot on the Shadowfell.
The worlds of the Material Plane are infinitely diverse, The Feywild, also calIed the Plane of Faerie, is a land
for lhey reflect the creative imagination of the DMs of soft lights and wonder, a country of little people with
who set their games there, as weJl as the players whose great desires, a place of music and death. lt is a realm
heroes adventure there. They include magic-wasled of eternal twilight, with slow lanterns bobbing in the
desert planets and island-dotted waler worlds, worlds gentle breeze and huge fireflies buzzing through graves
where magic combines with advanced technology and and fields. The sky is alight with the faded colors of
others trapped in an endless Stone Age, worlds where lhe setting, or perhaps rising, sun. But, in fact, the sun
the gods walk and places they have abandoned. neve r truly sets or rises; it remains stationary, dusky
and low in the sky. Away fram the settled areas ruled by
the Seelie Court, lhe land is a tangle of sharp-toothed
brambles and syrupy fens-perfect territory for the
Unseelie to hunt their prey. Fey creatures, such as those
brought to the world by conjure woad/and beings and
similar spelIs, dwelI in the Feywild.
POSITIVE PLANE The Shadowfell, also calIed the Plane af Shadaw, is
a darkly lighted dimension, a world af black and white
where colar has been leached fram everything. lt is a
place af taxic darkness that hates the light, where the
sky is a black vault with neither sun nor stars.
OUTER PLANES
••• ••
POSITIVE ANO NEGATIVE PLANES
Like a dome above the other planes, the Positive Plane is the
source of radianl energy and lhe raw life force lhal suffuses
allliving beings, from lhe puny lo lhe sublime, Ils dark
refleclion is lhe Negative Plane, lhe source of necrolic energy
....•-----------------------..
lhal deslroys lhe Iiving and animales lhe undead .

APPENDIX C I THE PLANES OF EXISTENCE
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