Games - Manual of the Planes

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	Games - Manual of the Planes

The Manual of the Planes is a manual for the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. This text addresses the planar cosmology of the game universe, including its various planes such as "Baator", the "Abyss", "The Happy Hunting Grounds", "The Concordant Opposition" and the "Prime Material Plane." It can be considered a considerable expansion to the manual Deities & Demigods
, which also had a section devoted to the subject.

Manual of the Planes explains how each of the planes is related to each of the character alignments. For example, "The Seven Heavens" is the final resting place for characters of Lawful Good alignment.

The current Manual of the Planes was published in 2002 by Wizards of the Coast, while the original book was published in 1987 by TSR, Inc..

Book Overview

After the typical introduction found in almost all guides of D&D 3rd. Edition, Manual of the Planes presents, in its first chapter, an overview of planes in general: what they are, what their nature is, and what is its function on gameplay. Info about how to shift between planes is also available on this chapter.

Second chapter presents hints on how to design your own cosmology of planes, based on D&D official cosmology, called "The Great Wheel". Generating a personalized cosmology involves several options, as an example, consider how magic works if basic planes that feeds magic (such as Ethereal or Astral plane) are disposed.

Next chapters in the Manual are dedicated to detail the Great Wheel and the 27 planes that constitutes it.

The Planes

Prime Material Plane: The center of the cosmology. It is an earth-like universe where the same laws of physics from the real world are applied (except in the case that magic really exists). In the official D&D cosmology, Oerth, the planet described in the campaing material of Greyhawk, is the default.

Astral Plane: The plane of free movement. It is an empty space between planes, usually making the role of a "transport plane", in wich planar travelers move from one plane to another. A few creatures inhabit this no-gravity place, however, as the mysterious outsiders called Githyanki and the terrifying beast known as Planar Dreadnought.

Ethereal Plane: The place where ghosts and spirits dwell. It is coexistent with the Material Plane and looks like a misty version of it, with gray and nebulous landscapes. Spirits of restless dead inhabit this place, which makes it a bit more dangerous to pass trough than the Astral.

Plane of Shadows: The place where darkness is born. As the Astral and the Ethereal, it is a plane used for travel, once it connects one place in the Material with another through a concealment of shadows. But is a dangerous place, even more than Astral and Ethereal, because it is not empty. Here, an entire sunless ecosystem dwells in the eternal darkness, as shadow creatures that mortals have nightmares with move their tentacles, hoping to catch an uncautious prey. If one is brave enough to descend deeper in the Plane of Shadows, he will be able to find portals to alternative Material Planes, landscapes out of the Great Wheel itself.

Elemental Plane of Air: The endless sky. It is one of the four elemental planes. An air-dominant place, this plane consists in an endless sky without a floor or orbit. Here the gravity is subjective, wich means that creatures can fly choosing the direction they want to "fall". It is home to air-elemental creatures and djinni.

Elemental Plane of Water: The bottomless ocean. It is one of the four elemental planes. A water-dominant place, this plane consists in an ocean with no bottom or surface. As in its air-dominant brother, this plane has a subjective gravity trait, where creatures choose the direction they want to "sink". Movement here is make through swimming. It´s a hospitable plane, despite the fact that air-breathing beings might find it difficult to deal with. It is home to water-elemental creatures and marid.

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