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Paizo / Messageboards / Paizo Publishing / Older Products / Pathfinder RPG Prerelease Discussion / Alpha Playtest Feedback / General Discussion / How are the Planes handled in PfRPG?     Recent Posts Facebook Twitter Email

Note: The Pathfinder RPG Prerelease Discussion forums will be locked on Friday, October 16, 2009. You will not be able to create new posts after this date, but existing discussion will still be available for reading.

How are the Planes handled in PfRPG?
Osirion DMcCoy1693 (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Adventure Path, Pathfinder Chronicles, Pathfinder Fiction Subscriber),

D 1-Cover-Small-Dn S-filter avatar

I know how the Planes are handled in 3.5 but in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, Planes are different Planets. So does PfRPG call them planets or planes? Is there a distinction between how a plane and a planet operates? How about the Plane of Shadows? PoS is mentioned in the Gazetteer. So does the PCCS have both planets and planes? I'm confused.

Lilith (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Planet Stories Subscriber),

Chess-final 2 avatar

They're called spheres...check out last night's chat logs for names of the planes (all 20 of 'em)!

The two planets in the sky (the red and green ones) are Akiton and Castrovel, respectively.

Cheliax Krome,

11550 620 22 avatar

I am not a fan of planes at all thank you.

The companies are copper and silver piecing the customers to death. They chage an extra gold now to check extras weapons. All cause of rising mana prices. You got baby kobolds in the back crying, and I always get the seat next to the ogre (no offense Denise). I get them seat belt extenders but they pinch my beard. The food is fit only for halflings.

And the security lines... I wait in line for an hour for a metal detector. HELLO! I'm a FIGHTER... lots of metal here fella and get your rust monster off me...

but the elven stewardesses ain't all that bad.

Osirion DMcCoy1693 (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Adventure Path, Pathfinder Chronicles, Pathfinder Fiction Subscriber),

D 1-Cover-Small-Dn S-filter avatar

Lilith wrote:
They're called spheres...check out last night's chat logs for names of the planes (all 20 of 'em)!

The two planets in the sky (the red and green ones) are Akiton and Castrovel, respectively.


Thanks Lilith. :D

Cheliax BM,

Some things from last night:

Jacob James wrote:

There's the Inner Sphere and the Outer Sphere. (Those are our words for Inner Planes and Outer Planes.)

The Inner Sphere Includes: Material Plane, Ethereal Plane, Shadow Plane, Positive Energy Plane, Negative Energy Plane, Plane of Air, Plane of Water, Plane of Earth, and Plane of Fire.

The Inner Sphere is connected to the Outer Sphere via the Astral Plane (again, one that's a boilerplate plane).

There are 9 major outer planes. One for each alignment.

LG: Heaven
NG: Nirvana
CG: Elysium
LN: Axis
N: The Boneyard
CN: The Maelstrom
LE: Hell
NE: Abaddon
CE: The Abyss


He also described them as like onions, with each sphere being like a layer of a onion. Or something to that effect.

Osirion DMcCoy1693 (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Adventure Path, Pathfinder Chronicles, Pathfinder Fiction Subscriber),

D 1-Cover-Small-Dn S-filter avatar

BTW, Lilith, I do appreciate you posting the Tuesday night chats. I haven't gone since I started dating my current girlfriend since Tuesdays are our regular date night. I miss hanging out with the gang.

Lilith (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Planet Stories Subscriber),

Chess-final 2 avatar

DMcCoy1693 wrote:
BTW, Lilith, I do appreciate you posting the Tuesday night chats. I haven't gone since I started dating my current girlfriend since Tuesdays are our regular date night. I miss hanging out with the gang.

Dating is important, and we're not going anywhere. :D

Cheliax Krome,

11550 620 22 avatar

Lilith wrote:
DMcCoy1693 wrote:
BTW, Lilith, I do appreciate you posting the Tuesday night chats. I haven't gone since I started dating my current girlfriend since Tuesdays are our regular date night. I miss hanging out with the gang.

Dating is important, and we're not going anywhere. :D

Oh good lord... I'd never date again... not doing the meat grinder scene again. Rather face a demonic-colosal-red-dragon-lich than do that again. :)

Lilith (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Planet Stories Subscriber),

Chess-final 2 avatar

Krome wrote:
Oh good lord... I'd never date again... not doing the meat grinder scene again. Rather face a demonic-colosal-red-dragon-lich than do that again. :)

Oh, I didn't mean the trawling-for-meat kind of dating, I meant the "have a good time with someone you care about, no matter how long or short you've been together" kind of dating. :)

Todd Stewart (Contributor),

Rast avatar

BM wrote:
Some things from last night:

[Charlie Brown]AARRRGGGHHHH[/Charlie Brown] There was chatter about planar stuff and demons, and I wasn't there. *sulk*

And one comment on the chat transcript - Agathions were around in 2e as well as 1e (as a subtype of Aasimon). :)

Disciple of Sakura,

Lamiaqueen avatar

Where does one find these chats? I'm interested in checking them out in the future.

Paizo Employee Ross Byers (Assistant Software Developer),

Kyuss Spawnling avatar

The chatroom is up all the time at chat.dmtools.org. The Paizo folks show up every tuesday at 8pm PST.

Paizo Employee Ross Byers (Assistant Software Developer),

Kyuss Spawnling avatar

DMcCoy1693 wrote:
So does PfRPG call them planets or planes?

Planes and planets are not the same. The Red and Green planets are still in the Material plane.

Dennis da Ogre,

57-Psionics-Maenad avatar

Krome wrote:
You got baby kobolds in the back crying, and I always get the seat next to the ogre (no offense Dennis). I get them seat belt extenders but they pinch my beard. The food is fit only for halflings.

Corrected.

Can you connect to the chat with a regular IRC client or is it web only?

Paizo Employee Ross Byers (Assistant Software Developer),

Kyuss Spawnling avatar

It's web only, as far as I'm aware.

Andoran Mothman (Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber),

B 4 Mothman 2 Final avatar

Lilith wrote:
They're called spheres...check out last night's chat logs for names of the planes (all 20 of 'em)!

The two planets in the sky (the red and green ones) are Akiton and Castrovel, respectively.


Oh noes Lilith! The chat log reveals the super secret plans for operation codename ORBACHSAB!

;-)

Qadira Patrick Curtin (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Chronicles Subscriber),

Foreign-trader 1 avatar

Must know if there will be a Sigil analog on the Neutral Plane. Or will this cleave too close to WotC's IP?

Paizo Employee James Jacobs (Creative Director),

Go L 68 Fiendish Tyrannosauru avatar

Patrick Curtin wrote:
Must know if there will be a Sigil analog on the Neutral Plane. Or will this cleave too close to WotC's IP?

Sigil is WotC IP. We can't have a Sigil.

We CAN have an enormous city, though. And we will; the plane of Axis is a gigantic city. The first city, sort of. And rising out of the city is a big spire atop which is the Boneyard, where Pharasma judges the souls of the dead.

Qadira Patrick Curtin (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Chronicles Subscriber),

Foreign-trader 1 avatar

WOOT!

Dare I say it ....

AXIS, BOLD AS LOVE?

OK I'm going to bed now .. :)

Paizo Employee Ross Byers (Assistant Software Developer),

Kyuss Spawnling avatar

James Jacobs wrote:
Patrick Curtin wrote:
Must know if there will be a Sigil analog on the Neutral Plane. Or will this cleave too close to WotC's IP?

Sigil is WotC IP. We can't have a Sigil.

We CAN have an enormous city, though. And we will; the plane of Axis is a gigantic city. The first city, sort of. And rising out of the city is a big spire atop which is the Boneyard, where Pharasma judges the souls of the dead.


So the Neutral plane is completely surrounded by the Lawful plane?

Paizo Employee James Jacobs (Creative Director),

Go L 68 Fiendish Tyrannosauru avatar

Ross Byers wrote:
So the Neutral plane is completely surrounded by the Lawful plane?

Only if you're looking at the top down, and not even really then. The spire that supports the Boneyard is impossibly long. Nothing lives long enough to climb it; it's longer than the universe is wide. The Boneyard itself is VERY far away from Axis, in other words. Also... to a certain extent, the layout of the outer planes is metaphorical. It is an artistic representation and interpretation in a 2 or 3 dimensional construct, but the relationships between the planes themselves operate on unknowable other dimensions.

That said... I do suspect that the most portals you have to the Boneyard are from Axis.

Paizo Employee Ross Byers (Assistant Software Developer),

Kyuss Spawnling avatar

James Jacobs wrote:
The spire that supports the Boneyard is impossibly long. Nothing lives long enough to climb it; it's longer than the universe is wide.

I love extraplanar non-Euclidian geometry. Excellent. Infinities packed within infinities.

Andoran JoelF847 (RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32),

Pathfinder 1 02 A avatar

Ross Byers wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The spire that supports the Boneyard is impossibly long. Nothing lives long enough to climb it; it's longer than the universe is wide.

I love extraplanar non-Euclidian geometry. Excellent. Infinities packed within infinities.

It would be very cool to have some Escher inspired monks who climbed the infinitely tall spire for all of eternity though!

Qadira Patrick Curtin (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Chronicles Subscriber),

Foreign-trader 1 avatar

JoelF847 wrote:

It would be very cool to have some Escher inspired monks who climbed the infinitely tall spire for all of eternity though!

Perhaps whole communities that live their lives climbing for some obscure religious reason, or perhaps they are souls doing some sort of pennance ...

Qadira yellowdingo,

Armoured Hyena avatar

Patrick Curtin wrote:
JoelF847 wrote:

It would be very cool to have some Escher inspired monks who climbed the infinitely tall spire for all of eternity though!

Perhaps whole communities that live their lives climbing for some obscure religious reason, or perhaps they are souls doing some sort of pennance ...

I would have gone with a Planar group (one world connects to/overlaps another only when people open gates) until then they have a posture that is consistent with group object motion. The idea of which plane is closer is irrelevent, more a case of what gates to where need to be opened to access a given reality...that way if we want to sail to the moon (not the lifeless one but the one with the forest), then you open a gate to the plane of water and sail up out of the whirlpool as the world drowns beneath you until you get to the moon.

Taldor primemover003,

2 Vrock Fightinthe Bailey avatar

So not being able to use Sigil, we still NEED to have some sort of Marketplace in the Middle of Everywhere. The Planar inside me insists on it! I know really detailing anything planar-centric is about as high a priority as updating psionics (which ALSO MUST be done)...

However having such a new Cosmology we can take the time to set the right tone and feel to any planar settings. I like the way the articles on the dieties are written, especially the Planar Allies sections. Much as I am a Planescape nut I think the blase attitude of Cagers should be avoided if a City at the Center is done. This along with the Cant were the top two reasons I saw for most people who disliked PS.

The Planes should be the homes of the Gods and their servants, places that while accessible to mortals should not make complete sense to them. Trips to the Underworld or Afterlife should be pretty special.

Paizo Employee James Jacobs (Creative Director),

Go L 68 Fiendish Tyrannosauru avatar

primemover003 wrote:
So not being able to use Sigil, we still NEED to have some sort of Marketplace in the Middle of Everywhere. The Planar inside me insists on it! I know really detailing anything planar-centric is about as high a priority as updating psionics (which ALSO MUST be done)...

However having such a new Cosmology we can take the time to set the right tone and feel to any planar settings. I like the way the articles on the dieties are written, especially the Planar Allies sections. Much as I am a Planescape nut I think the blase attitude of Cagers should be avoided if a City at the Center is done. This along with the Cant were the top two reasons I saw for most people who disliked PS.

The Planes should be the homes of the Gods and their servants, places that while accessible to mortals should not make complete sense to them. Trips to the Underworld or Afterlife should be pretty special.


The lawful neutral plane of Axis will certainly function as a planar marketplace, never fear! As for priorities... detailing planar stuff is MUCH higher priority than psionics, since the multiverse is an integral part of the workings of the game, after all.

Taldor primemover003,

2 Vrock Fightinthe Bailey avatar

Hmmm... I can see Inevitables patrolling the streets of Axis enforcing Order. I can also see devils setting up shop to barter for souls! Interesting...

Who's the head honco of Axis? Abadar?

Blackdragon,

44 Black Dragon avatar

Patrick Curtin wrote:
Must know if there will be a Sigil analog on the Neutral Plane. Or will this cleave too close to WotC's IP?

Planescape to me was always one of the lamer concepts developed for D&D. I've always thought that planular travel and the exhistance of the ohter planes should be handled like should be handled differently. I've used the Great Wheel, but not as the reality of the cosmology, but as a mortal drawn concept so that mortals can wrap their tiny little minds around the realms. (And don't get me started on the whole crystal spheres thing, that was dumb to the millionth power.)
WHat I use is a little Star Trekish (Next Gen) OF the Idea of infinite dimension and infinite worlds. In my HBW I have two seperate worlds that the PCs travel back and forth to. Each one is on it's own plane of existance, Each one has it's own set of deities (Though deities from either world are worshiped it both.) I spare you a description of my cosmology it's very complicated, with deities being actually a lower creature and another group of creatures from outside of creation being the ones that really run the show. (IT's this tweek that allows me to run very high level games.)

Paizo Employee Ross Byers (Assistant Software Developer),

Kyuss Spawnling avatar

primemover003 wrote:
Who's the head honcho of Axis? Abadar?

I don't think so, though he probably is the Lawyer/Banker/Escrow etc. that keeps the city running, I don't think he's in charge.

Paizo Employee James Jacobs (Creative Director),

Go L 68 Fiendish Tyrannosauru avatar

primemover003 wrote:
Hmmm... I can see Inevitables patrolling the streets of Axis enforcing Order. I can also see devils setting up shop to barter for souls! Interesting...

Who's the head honco of Axis? Abadar?


There's no one true leader of Axis. The city's too huge for one person or god to rule, to be honest. There's many different factions in control of the place, and Abadar is certainly one of the more powerful of them.

Osirion Set,

Anubis avatar

James Jacobs wrote:
the plane of Axis is a gigantic city. The first city, sort of.

Also the last city, sort of.

Osirion Set,

Anubis avatar

JoelF847 wrote:
It would be very cool to have some Escher inspired monks who climbed the infinitely tall spire for all of eternity though!

Al-Qadim had a priestly variant that drew it's religious inspiration from a particular repetitive action or act of creative expression. Dervish priests dancing to 'pray for their spells' was a standard example, but using painting or sculpture or running to 'get in the zone' and enter a spiritually-connected state were also options.

A group that associated the physical act of ascent with spiritual transcendence, as if they could somehow climb so far above worldly matters to leave mortality behind, could be neat, sort of like the alchemists of old who associated 'transmuting lead to gold' as a metaphor for transforming themselves spiritually, from base flesh to pure spirit.

Qadira Patrick Curtin (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Chronicles Subscriber),

Foreign-trader 1 avatar

Blackdragon wrote:
Planescape to me was always one of the lamer concepts developed for D&D...

Ah to each his own I always found the Planescape campaign one of the most original, thought-provoking ones out there. Sigil always worked well for me as the clearinghouse for infinite adventure. The concept of portals leading throughout the planes, and a scalable force structure that can easily play to Epic and beyond was always a win for me. Plus I liked the whole 'philospohers with clubs' idea where thoughts and alignments could have physical results. Oh and the Blood War was a genius concept. I'm hoping one day to have my PbP folks be high enough to make an appearance on the Field of Nettles.

PS: As an aside PrimeMover003: Hello! We are still playing around in the World Serpent Inn if Mitchifer ever wants to come play!

EDIT: What I am really looking forward is my first romp through Axis. An eternal infinite city, a veritable cityscale Gormenghast where anything could exist ... actually MUST exist if it truly infinite. Ruins with yuan-ti, Orc strongholds, demon lairs, neighborhoods spawned from the farthest reaches of the horrors that exist between reality...AGGH!

Runs off in a fit of DM-madness ...

Mikaze,

Flyintiefling avatar

Patrick Curtin wrote:
Blackdragon wrote:
Planescape to me was always one of the lamer concepts developed for D&D...

Ah to each his own I always found the Planescape campaign one of the most original, thought-provoking ones out there.

Planescape is still the D&D planar bible as far as I and my campaigns are concerned.

Golbez57,

29 Order-of-the-Nail avatar

Yeah, Planescape was great stuff!

One thing I absolutely love is that there's seemingly a place for my 3.5 D&D materials in the Pathfinder cosmology, notably a good many planar-specific critters from my complete Monster Manual collection as well as my Fiendish Codices. Not so much with the preview material I've read of 4E.

The planes and the gods are the two things that most bring a campaign setting to life in my imagination. I'm looking forward to learning more.

Taldor primemover003,

2 Vrock Fightinthe Bailey avatar

Patrick Curtin wrote:
PS: As an aside PrimeMover003: Hello! We are still playing around in the World Serpent Inn if Mitchifer ever wants to come play!

Very Cool Patrick... I did kind of disappear for a while there! Glad to see the WSI is still going strong! Your Proprietor should make an appearance once his pet snakes have finished clearing out an infestation of Cranium rats in the backrooms!

Cheliax Tharen the Damned (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Fiction Subscriber),

Belzken Monk Final avatar

Set wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
the plane of Axis is a gigantic city. The first city, sort of.

Also the last city, sort of.


Hm, First and Last and ...always?

Axis, the etrnal City!

Osirion Jonathan_Shade,

Templeofzyphus Final avatar

Lilith wrote:
They're called spheres...check out last night's chat logs for names of the planes (all 20 of 'em)!

The two planets in the sky (the red and green ones) are Akiton and Castrovel, respectively.


Could you give us a hint with timestamps, please? I promise to be a good slave.

Lilith (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Planet Stories Subscriber),

Chess-final 2 avatar

Jonathan_Shade wrote:
Could you give us a hint with timestamps, please? I promise to be a good slave.

I'll be nice and summarize! Here you go:
Inner Sphere

  • Material Plane
  • Ethereal Plane
  • Shadow Plane
  • Positive Energy Plane
  • Negative Energy Plane
  • Plane of Air
  • Plane of Water
  • Plane of Earth
  • Plane of Fire

The Inner Sphere is connected to the Outer Sphere by the Astral Plane.

Outer Sphere


  • Heaven (Lawful Good)
  • Nirvana (Neutral Good)
  • Elysium (Chaotic Good)
  • Axis (Lawful Neutral)
  • The Boneyard (Neutral)
  • The Maelstron (Chaotic Neutral)
  • Hell (Lawful Evil)
  • Abaddon (Neutral Evil)
  • The Abyss (Chaotic Evil)

Timestamp is "01/07/2008 20:30:33" .

Osirion SageSTL (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber),

Bard-Gimble avatar

Lilith wrote:
Jonathan_Shade wrote:
Could you give us a hint with timestamps, please? I promise to be a good slave.

I'll be nice and summarize! Here you go:

Thanks! I loves me some planar goodness...!

apotheon (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber),

Scribbler Hires avatar

Tharen the Damned wrote:
Set wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
the plane of Axis is a gigantic city. The first city, sort of.

Also the last city, sort of.

Hm, First and Last and ...always?

Axis, the etrnal City!


So . . . you're saying that Axis has its own theme album?

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