D&D: Nature of the Planes

I've often wondered about how a plane can be infinite and size and yet bounded such that it is coterminus with another plane. I prefer to think of a plane as just that - a surface. Wrap that surface on a sphere and voila, seemingly infinite in size but having defined beginning and end. Move one way long enough and you arrive back where you were. The same could be said for the inside of a sphere.

I've pondered how I would like to see a planar structure in B/X D&D and I believe I finally have a solution - BUBBLES!

Imagine a large bubble of some thickness - this is the Prime Material Plane. The bubble is so large that it seems infinite. The interior of this bubble is filled with Ether which separates the Prime plane from the other Inner Planes. The Ether also permeates the Prime Plane and all the Inner Planes. At the core of the Ether is a large bubble split into six chambers - like bubbles blown into a single bubble. The upper bubble is Positive Energy, the lower bubble is Negative Energy, and the middle ring comprises the Elemental Planes of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. The Positive and Negative Energy planes have vortexes that erupt out from their central surfaces, piercing the Ether and Prime Material Planes and continuing beyond. Like a giant electromagnet, the Positive Energy plane spews forth energy into the multiverse and the Negative Energy plane sucks in the energy (again, think of the magnetic lines of force around a planet with the Energy planes functioning as poles of the magnet) They function as the Planar Axis (Axis Mundi?) and all rotates slowly around this axis.

Outside the Prime Plane Bubble is a vast expanse of nothingness filled with stars and a staggeringly large variety of planets and asteroids. This is the Astral Plane. Nothing can exist physically within the Astral Plane - there is no air to breathe, no gravity, no pressure, and nothing to draw sustenance from. From the Astral Plane, the Inner Planes can be seen through the Prime Material Membrane as a swirling galaxy of various colors with a brilliantly glowing top and dark, shadowy bottom.

The Astral Plane contains bits of matter left over from the creation of the Prime Material, or portions of the Prime Material Plane that have been lost to the void of the Astral Plane over the millennia. These form planets (more spherical "planes") of various sizes and qualities. Those that are vibrant spheres filled with positive energy and conducive to life are considered to be Planes of Law; those that are filled with negative energy or cannot support life are considered to be Planes of Chaos. Others might be Neutral Planes with a mix of both energies.

Planes in AD&D are said to be made up of layers. These layers could be planets in a single star system. So the Seven Heavens could be represented by seven planets, each with its own unique environments and perhaps all joined together by a network of gates. The Abyss in AD&D is said to be made up of 666 layers. This could be presented by an asteroid field, the remains of a planet of demons which they destroyed in a great war but still inhabited by them. The River Styx could be a wormhole vortex joining all the negative energy Outer Planes, and only Charon knows how to navigate it safely - all others who fall into the vortex are lost and may end up sucked back to the Negative Energy Plane.

Travel through the Astral Plane is done as a disembodied spirit or soul. Mental energy thus determines the speed of travel here. Most travelers only move through the Astral Plane to get to another destination on the Outer Planes. Some few decide to remain in the Astral Plane and explore the place. The Gith reside in the Astral as disembodied psychic images, and may decide to attack those who invade their realms. Many outer planar creatures can move through the Astral Plane as well, and may be encountered here in non-corporeal forms. A new body is created by the soul or spirit when they arrive on an outer plane out of the native materials. This body resembles the one the soul or spirit had on the Prime Material Plane, but may have some strange alterations based on the plane they travel to (like glowing eyes, mineralized flesh, or what have you). When the body is destroyed, the soul/spirit is sent back to its home plane where it may die from the shock (saving throw or Constitution check, not sure which should apply). A silver cord connects a traveler to its home plane so long as it is still alive. A dead traveler without a cord is lost unless it worshipped some Immortal in an outer plane. Such a traveler is then reeled in to the outer plane where that Immortal dwells. Thus, a living being has not only a silver cord but also a connection to whatever faith they follow in the Afterlife. Such souls/spirits are used by the Outer Planar Immortals in some way to empower them.

The Astral Plane is nearly infinite in size, but may be just another bubble. The Astral space is the void within the bubble between its furthest boundary and the Prime Material Plane, sparsely filled with Outer Planes. Each "multiverse" could thus be a system of these nested bubbles. Related planes are all connected by a network of gates. A Manual of the Planes could list all the gates, how they are activated, and where they lead - a most potent artifact if found! The Ether Cyclone and Psychic Wind defined in the AD&D rules could be places where the Ethereal plane touches the Astral Void via vortexes through the Prime Material Plane. Within the Prime these are invisible and have no effect, but they are openings through the bubble membrane that resemble violent tornadoes in reverse within the Ether and violent blowing nebulae in the Astral - in essence these are locations where Inner Plane materials are being fed into the Astral Void to help populate it with matter and energy. Obviously, these vortexes meander over the surface of the Prime Plane Bubble and their position might be detectable to those with the proper spells. Such an alignment of a vortex through a homeworld on the Prime could portend dire times for that world, but can only be seen by those with the proper sight (some magical detection, ability to see into the ethereal or astral planes, etc.).

When Outer Planar creatures are slain on the Prime Material Plane, they are returned to their home plane, more or less intact (but they may lose the ability to travel astrally for a while, thus trapping them on their home plane). Inner Planar creatures are essentially disembodied spirits that have no Outer Planar connections. They are immortal for all intents and purposes. They cannot freely enter the Prime Material Plane without a gate or magical summons. When they are destroyed on the Prime Material, they reform in their native Inner Plane. This explains why magic-users need such large volumes of pure elements to summon forth an elemental creature - they need it to form their bodies!

I'm sure there are some nuances that I'm forgetting, but that structure should be enough to provide challenges for planar adventures for some time to come. I need to determine the nature of Immortals and better define which creatures should be considered immortal. I see demons as evil spirits existing in the Outer Planes - they have no material forms of their own but instead form bodies from their environment when necessary. This explains their varied appearances since they can alter what form they take based on their power.

What exists beyond the Astral Plane? Perhaps a Dimension of Madness where the Old Ones dwell, constantly trying to invade the multiverse and infest it with their powers. Or perhaps demons are natives of that place and have begun an invasion into this reality. Every campaign has an ultimate evil that all the mortals and immortals should fear and be wary of....

Managing Mileage in D&D and AD&D

I'm a huge fan of game maps, especially those made to resemble actual terrain in the real world. But everyone has their own interpretations on how movement is carried out on outdoor maps and the scales used to represent these wilderness areas. In Greyhawk, the overland movement rate for a 12" base move is 30 mile per day and, conveniently enough, the scale on the map is 10 leagues (30 miles) per hex. Therefore, along normal flat terrain, a normal person with no great load can move 1 hex/day of travel. Movement rates in BECMI D&D are calculated at move rate divided by 5 in miles per day. This means a base 120' movement rate per turn translates to 24 miles/day. Lo and behold, the large scale map hexes are suggested to be 24 miles across! The Dungeon Master's Guide has about the same scale/movement as the Greyhawk rules on movement, but this is much more generalized (using hexes of between 20 and 40 miles in width for large scale movement).

Normally, this wouldn't bother me much. I would just use whatever scale is more advantageous in each system. But I've been looking over all the maps for my Thuin/Sturmgard conversion and realized that I used some weird scale based on what "looked best" on the hex map, without consideration for daily movement. This was more or less because all the movement rates I was using at the time were for overland movement through a forest in winter (very slow, especially on foot). All my maps are drawn with the large scale hexes at 16 miles/hex, and all the small hexes at 2 miles/hex. I was only mapping a portion of a continent so I only needed a reduced scale. However, neither of these numbers jive well with the movement rates for AD&D or D&D (and no wonder since the map was drawn in the period between 1st and 2nd edition AD&D).

So now I want to convert my original map into a more manageable scale to keep with the mapping conventions of BECMI D&D - Large scale hexes = 24 miles, small scale hexes = 8 miles. This will drastically alter the feel of the map but is well within reason. I was toying with the idea of using 1st edition for the larger map scale - after all, the campaign was originally written using 1st edition rules - but I find I enjoy the simpler versions of D&D more and more with age. I'm not terribly concerned with the scales and mileage, but I have to redraw the maps.... and that's a pain in the ass!

I find it interesting that neither system clearly defines the length of a "day of travel." I always assumed that it would be 8 hours, but that may not be true. Given the movement rate of a normal human being as 3 mph, and scaling that to a 12 hour period with 2 hour-long breaks total for the day, and you get the 30 miles/day movement rate of 1st edition. The same could be said for D&D but using a roughly 2½ mph movement rate. Either way, it seems that roughly 10 hours equates to the total movement time allotted for a "day." Forced marches would increase this number as usual.

Terrain such as mountains, hills, forest, swamp, and jungle slow movement, sometimes drastically. It all depends on the rules being used; Greyhawk, DMG, or BECMI. Again, the method of map drawing really means a lot here. Some forests are flat expanses of trees, well-spaced to allow movement through at little reduction of speed. Other forests are twisted tangles of thick vegetation with lots of exposed roots, and muddy paths lined with thorn bushes or ferns. Some are thick jungles that have to be hacked through in order to move. I knew that I wanted the Sturmgard to be mountainous forest with lots of elevation changes but blanketed with old-growth trees of varying types - pines, spruce, fir, oak, birch, sycamore, beech, etc. - similar to Carpathia or southern Germany. Obviously, the line between deciduous and coniferous woodlands happens in the boundaries of my map, very close to the base town in fact. Also the higher elevations have more conifers naturally. The heart of the forest is deciduous, with some willows and cedars in the moisture rich river valleys. My concern is that a large scale map will be unable to show all the small lakes, streams, elevation changes, and other interesting aspects that could occur in an 8-mile hex.

My current map (at 2-mile hexes scale) has quite a number of interesting areas that all occur in about the same 24 mile hex, and at least 2-3 major features that would all fit within an 8 mile hex. Perhaps I can make a third scale map that represents a scale of 1 mile hexes for fine detail of specific regions. After gaming in the same world for about 10 years, we added a lot of details to the map simply by adventuring, something that is lost on the large scale maps. Well, I needed to update the world in any case, so I guess now would be the time to do that! Now I also need to come up with a scale to map communities - and I'm favoring the "Hommlet" style of planning communities.