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I'm not sure if this belongs in Lore or Homebrew, so dear moderator feel free to move this to wherever it's most appropriate.
So one thing that has always kind of bothered me about the Pathfinder Cosmology is how the Maelstrom exists on the same level as Heaven, Hell, the Boneyard, etc. given how Mortal life exists to sort of the potentiality that pours out of the Positive Energy Plane in order to reinforce the outer planes against the Maelstrom's corrosive nature to reduce everything into undifferentiated potentiality. Given how "prolonging this universe" is Pharasma's whole agenda, it doesn't really make sense that she'd want to reinforce the Maelstrom even with souls that are extremely Chaotic and Neutral.
But since we're no longer limited to 9 outer planes corresponding to the 3x3 alignment grid, I think there's a chance to address this. My basic idea is to recontextualize the Maelstrom as a "singularity of Ultimate Entropy" which reduces everything it touches to undifferentiated potentiality whose event horizon laps against the Chaotic planes like a somewhat hostile tide. I would want to counterbalance this with a similar singularity of Ultimate Order which is visible on the horizon of the more Lawful planes as a destination where change would no longer be possible if you were to reach it.
In doing this I would want to create a new "CN" plane that represents essentially "constructive chaos" which lies in opposition to the "destructive chaos" at the heart of the maelstrom. That feels like the place Pharasma would want to send Chaotic and Neutral souls, and would have a sort of "Found Art" vibe about making use of things that were created without intention, happenstance, and circumstance. The boundary between this plane and the Maelstrom's wake could maintain the whole "sailing on the seas of chaos" aesthetic currently associated with the Maelstrom (this gives Besmara something to do still).
What I'm not sure about is "what to name any of these things" (I am very bad at this), what the other borders of planes that are near a pole are like (I imagine that the part of the Abyss the Maelstrom laps at is where Qlippoths are from), and whether we want to have any other "singularities that represent too much of something." Since we're not tied to a 3x3 alignment grid anymore, these could be anything (as the outer planes *should* have weird geometry).
Are there any new outer planes you're interested in creating and exploring in your own games now? I feel like a number of the demiplanes could now be made into full planes on the same standing as Heaven or Hell too since sure "Dreams" are something that should probably lie near in the inner planes since mortals have dreams, but "Time" is more fundamental as a thing that predates this whole system. There could also be a "Destination for Truly Neutral souls" that is not "literally Pharasma's office."
I don't know, I kind of feel like if sending souls to the Maelstrom is too much for Pharasma, sending souls to the nightmare terror dimension encroaching into this reality from beyond the Maelstrom would be right out, and if she's not sending souls to the Abyss, that creates other problems.
I tend to think of the Maelstrom as a necessary part of the multivariate, not just a hostile force trying to destroy it. The analogy isn't perfect but your stomach is eating away at your body but plays a vital role in maintaining it at the same time. The Maelstrom recycles quintessence back to the positive energy plane. Aside from which, the Maelstrom really comes in two flavors already--perhaps this new chaos realm of yours can fit into the Borderlands, leaving the Cerulean Void as the primary pure chaos plane. After all, if Galisemni can exist in the Maelstrom, I feel like it's not too far of a cry to imagine the Maelstrom is not purely a destructive chaos.
But I'm not here to shoot down interesting ideas. If it makes you happy, run with it.
As for changes I would make if the outer sphere were redsigned without alignment? I don't know yet, but as much as I like Elysium, I don't really know what it's doing. In my head Heaven and Hell are directly on opposite sides of the Sphere, but Nirvana and Abaddon are at some random hazy place, and since the Abyss is the outer shell, there's no real thematic opposite position for Elysium.
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They already said they're not changing the Great Beyond.
Also the removal of alignment is about 1) the OGL fiasco 2) alignment not being a central mechanic for most classes, but a perennial cause of controversy.
I though the 3x3 axis chart was fine, but if I were designing an RPG or setting of my own I wouldn't use it.
Oh yes pf course not. Aside from the two extra elemental planes which were already planned from a while ago.
I take this as a, "How would you change the planes if there were no alignment considerations" thread.