And if I'm going to get comfortable with being a high-magic DM, it's time to get serious about what exists outside of the mundane world. That's why this guide explores the different planes of existence in my homebrew setting. Some of these will be adaptations of what already exists in much of the writing about D&D, and some will be more or less fresh ideas. But having had my players visit the Fae realm in the final session on the campaign helped me realize how badly I needed to think about all this, so here is a guide to all of the planes of existence in my homebrew setting.
The Mundane Realm
This is the world where average humanoids live and where Evanoch is located. The laws of physics that govern our everyday lives function predictable here; living things behave in a way consistent with living things' behavior, and inanimate objects generally do not move. The geography can be varied but generally consists of some kind of earth or body of water dominating the landscape. The beings that inhabit this realm vary in form and in alignment in a highly differentiated way.
Life on the mundane realm is influenced directly by all other realms, whereas other realms are only affected by some others. As a result, the mundane realm has long been a battleground for enterprising beings from the other realms. Beings on the mundane realm can be inspired by powerful beings in other realms who align with them, leading to there being more or less puppets from outside realms in constant effect here.
Life in the mundane realm is characterized by struggle for comfort and security; further goals like happiness entice the people here. The average person in the mundane realm lives a life that is roughly an average of all realms' lives, with some difficulty and some blessings.
The Gods' Realm
This is the world where the deities of Evanoch live. It is effectively infinite in dimensions and includes all things in the mundane realm as well as many supernatural things unique to the gods' realm. It resembles Evanoch, or rather, Evanoch resembles it, in terms of rough geography and the location of the racial gods' domains. Each god has a domain within the gods' realm with a nested effectively infinite space.
Within the individual gods' domains, they have complete and utter control over matter, energy, and magic. As a result, most gods only ever dare to enter the domains of gods who they completely trust with their lives. Gods often try to influence those on the mundane realm by way of choosing champions who they empower to further the god's agenda.
Life in the gods' realm is characterized by comfort and abundance; despite this, scheming is common, and the gods regularly plot against each other within the gods' realm and in the mundane realm through proxies.
The Astral Plane
This plane is existence is ethereal; beings cannot remain in it for more than a few hours, and the grasp that most beings have of themselves in the astral plane is incomplete. Dreams, thoughts, and disembodied souls pass through here on their way to unknown destinies. No one has ever been able to provide an account of the astral plane that has matched any other.
The Righteous Plane
This is the realm of lawful good creatures, a place of perfect symmetry and harmony. Beings there live in peace and community in identical homes of luxury and taste with their identical roles in society. Inhabitants of the righteous plane are known to mobilize in particular to what they perceive as threats, often considering themselves the protectors of all existence against less moral and lawful beings.
The geography of the righteous plane is structured and symmetrical, a perfect circle marked by gridded lines dividing the natural splendor into created beauty. People and animals live in a strict hierarchy which is marked by peace through dominance.
Life in the righteous plane is characterized by ease and luxury; it also tends to be weighted slightly by a sense of fear of evil and a sense of duty to fight it. The average person in the righteous plane lives a radically more comfortable and happy life than the average person in the mundane realm.
The Plane of Discipline
This is the realm of lawful creatures, a place of perfect order. All objects of a given type are identical, including tools, clothes, and homes. The people of the plane of discipline are entirely committed to their discipline and spend all of their time committed to acts that uphold order and the society around them.
The geography of the plane of discipline is a massive, flat square of land which was filled from the center outward. Inhabitants of the plane enjoy the utmost in convenience, as all necessities and comforts are an optimized distance away.
Life in the plane of discipline is plentiful, though many here find that their sense of community is relatively lacking. The average person in the plane of discipline lives a more comfortable live than the average person in the mundane realm.
The Foul Plane
This is the realm of lawful evil creatures, a place of perfect misery. Almost all inhabitants live in identical pits of fire and acid, constantly suffering burns, except for those who are forced to watch the rest suffer and prevent them from leaving. This excepts the warrior class of those who live in the foul plane, who assist in the pits by attacking prisoners and who lead attacks on other planes.
The geography of the foul plane is a great diamond with rounded edges that produce very sharp corners. It is rocky, excessively hot, humid, and underground. Volcanic sand is scattered throughout the realm.
Life in the foul plane is uncomfortable even for those in charge, but especially painful for those in the pits, most of whom are taken prisoner during raids on other realms. The average person in the foul plane lives a far more fearful and painful life than an average person in the mundane realm.
The Beneficent Plane
This is the realm of good creatures, a place of cooperation and harmony. Everything glows a soft golden light, and the air is cool and crisp to breathe. The inhabitants here feel an easy peace in their everyday lives, and society is accepting and positive in its effects on people.
The geography of the beneficent plane is a series of interconnected "islands" of large area joined by "roads" of narrow areas between. A light fog, an effect of the constant chill here, always lies along the ground, giving it the appearance of walking on clouds.
Life in the beneficent plane characterized by peace and grace; people want for very little, and times of need (such as when a great evil threatens) are relatively rare for the people here. Life for the average person in the beneficent plane is much better than life for an average person in the mundane realm.
The Sinister Plane
This is the realm of evil creatures, a place of mental pain and torment. It appears to be exactly the same as the beneficent plane, but with some things corrupted: the crisp air in the beneficent plane is a chill here; the fog is genuinely eerie; the towns are charming but ghostly. Inhabitants go about their everyday lives being tortured by their own personal demons but believing themselves to be in a blessed afterlife. It is unknown who controls the sinister plane is or what their aims are.
The geography of the sinister plane is identical to the beneficent plane's--interconnected islands--though everything is about 10% smaller to give a claustrophic feel. Some who have escaped the sinister plane say that whenever they doubted being in a heavenly place, they felt watched.
Life in the sinister plane is characterized by mental anguish; the inhabitants there want to enjoy blessings but constantly find themselves disappointed, frustrated, and hurt. Life for the average person in the sinister plane, while not as outright physically painful as those in the foul and brutal planes, still lives a far more painful life than an average person in the mundane realm.
The Fae Realm
This is the realm of chaotic good creatures, a place of freedom and cooperation, and it is most notably populated by the Fae. Plant growth is thick everywhere, especially with species that only exist in the Fae realm. People here help one another and enjoy the freedom to do as they choose, particularly in matters of self-expression.
The geography of the Fae realm is nearly impossible to discern without a universal perspective, but it exists along a fractal through tens of thousands of other dimensions; in order to move through the Fae realm, one must progress through these other dimensions. When traveling like this, space around a person becomes distorted so that the space between dimensions is possible to perceive, making it a trying experience for many non-natives to the Fae realm.
Life in the Fae realm is characterized by freedom and peace; people generally have what they need and have access to what they want. The greatest concern of an inhabitant of the Fae realm is generally the designs of the lawful creatures in other planes. Life for the average person in the Fae realm is far more harmonious and independent than an average person in the mundane realm.
The Plane of Freedom
This is the realm of chaotic creatures, a place without restriction or regulation. People live according to their own agendas and interests with no order dictating responsibilities. Some live alone and others in communities, but all live by their own hands and wits. The only thing that would get all inhabitants of the plane of freedom to mobilize together would be an assault on their freedom.
The geography of the plane of freedom is a radiating spiral that stretches out infinitely in both directions from a central point. The physical makeup of the land itself changes at random (grass-covered dirt, sand, a massive oak tree, volcanic rock, and bog land in the space of ten feet, for instance), and inhabitants and wild animals alike are known to pick up random effects from living in the plane of freedom.
Life in the plane of freedom is characterized by a lack of order, meaning less efficiency as a society but also more freedom as individuals; inhabitants have most of what they need and the freedom to get what they want. Life for the average person in the plane of freedom is less restricted than the average person in the mundane realm.
The Brutal Plane
This is the realm of chaotic evil creatures, a place of discord and strife. Inhabitants of the realm can die and will be reborn, and murder is perhaps the commonest social interaction here, so "life" in the brutal plane mostly consists of being repeatedly killed while repeatedly killing people. There is one massive brawl in the brutal plane that has been continuously going for over two hundred years.
The geography of the brutal plane is a massive black rock with highly irregular shapes forming its bulk and a great many plunging holes in its face. Killed inhabitants are reborn falling from about twelve feet off the surface of the center of the largest landmass.
Life in the brutal plane is horrifying, and most inhabitants go completely mad relatively quickly, perpetuating the violence that gives the plane its name. The average person in the brutal plane lives a considerably worse life that an average person from the mundane realm.
There you have it--a guide to the planes in my homebrew setting. I went into this one with the idea based on a suggestion from my wife, but I didn't know much of anything about the planes aside from a friend's take on the Faewyld. So when I sat down to do research on what's official and found it to be generally lacking, I decided to expand.
I remember reading as a teenager that there were "outsiders" from all different places, usually defined by their alignments. A "lawful good outsider," so to speak, or a "chaotic neutral outsider" would come up in game manuals, and I just assumed that there was some place that all of these different outsiders came from. That was my initial understanding of the planes.
For this, I used a lot of different inspiration. I made my Fae realm somewhat like my friend's with a bunch of changes to make it my own. The foul and beneficent planes are pretty straightforwardly inspired by Christian conceptions of heaven and hell. The brutal plane is an adaptation of a tabletop game idea I discarded years ago. I even used tv show The Good Place with a darker twist here. The point with worldbuilding should always be variation, and I tried to vary things as much as possible.
But in the end, I'm really pleased with how these came out. I can always go back and add more--in fact, I deliberately only designed what I believe is the base necessities should planar travel come up. So as a starting point, this is a good spot to be at. I hope it can offer you that foundation too.
That's all for now. Coming soon: a pirate D&D one-shot, how to achieve a classic fantasy feeling, and imagining the future of tabletop games. Until next time, happy gaming!
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