The Planar Vagabond's Guide to the Multiverse

Astral Adventuring

Currents

Invisible flows of psychic energy that permeate and swirl around the astral plane.

• Creatures move up to 10x faster when moving with the current (or faster).
• Vessels designed to ride on these currents are called astral cruisers.
  • They can use the currents to move at travel speed.

Distance and Measurement

• Ranges are measured in yards, rather than feet (3x increase).
• Areas of spell effects, blasts, etc. are still measured in feet.
• Movement rates:
  • For creatures - measured in feet.
  • For vessels - measured in yards.

Missile Weapons

• Gain an additional attack range option, Distant:
  • -4 to attack rolls.
  • Range is 1 mile.

Fragments

Pieces of other planes (usually floating) in the astral plane. The shape is typically determined by the plane of origin:

• Fire: Fragments from the elemental plane of fire are usually globes of elemental fire (used in Dwarven fire engines and some Drahki weapons).
• Water: Fragments from the elemental plane of water are usually globes of water.
• Earth: Fragments from the elemental plane of earth are usually irregularly-shaped chunks of rock and dirt.
  • Large fragments of earth are called islands, and often used to support a stronghold or outpost in the astral void.
• Air: Fragments from the elemental plane of air are usually globes of air (used to supply some ships traveling to airless planes)
• Chaos: Fragments from the elemental plane of chaos are usually jet black globes, and tend to function as spheres of annihilation.
• Law: Fragments from the elemental plane of law are usually globes of crackling, radiant energy.
  • It’s believed that these arise spontaneously when a fragment from the plane of chaos appears, and are equal in size to the chaos ones.
  • When a fragment of law and chaos are combined, the resulting release of energy looks like white and black lightning, and can be seen for thousands of miles around.

Gravity

• Subjective, with capable creatures (INT 5 or greater) able to change “down” with a thought (CHA check if under duress).
  • Falling speed is INT x 30’ / combat round, specific maneuvers require a CHA check.
• Objects float in space unless able to move on their own (as above) or acted upon by an external force.
• Unintelligent creatures fall “down” at 100’ / round.

Languages

• Alignment languages are the same throughout the multiverse.
• The same version of Common is spoken throughout the multiverse, with only the perceived accent of a speaker changing (along with certain slang).
• Each racial language spoken and written on a given plane is a dialect of that same language on other planes.

Outposts

A stronghold, shop, or town in the astral plane, usually established on a large island.

• Those interested in trade will have one (or more) docks for passing ships.
• Outposts with permanent portals to other planes are called ports.

Portals

Usually manifest as flat, shimmering discs of various colors that appear to float in place.

• Can be used by passing through to arrive on the destination plane.
• May lead to any other plane (Inner, Outer, or Material).
• Each different destination has its own color, and a portal leading to a character’s home plane will always look silver to them.
• Most portals (99%) are temporary, lasting 1d20 hours.
• Most portals (99%) are one-way, and only visible (when open) from the entry side, but become two-way for 1d4 rounds after being passed through.
• An open portal may be be closed or made translucent (allowing characters to see the other end for one turn) with a successful CHA check within 60’ of the portal.
• Temporary portals which lead from the astral to other planes are called pools.
• Permanent portals which lead from the astral to other planes are called ports, and are usually established on a island and attached to an outpost.

Temperature

The ambient temperature in the astral plane tends towards the tepid side for most humans and demihumans, being roughly equivalent to a warm spring day in a temperate climate.

Time

• Time is quickened: 3 rounds pass in the astral plane for each round that passes in a material plane.
• Spells cast in the Astral plane appear to last 3 times as long as listed
• The effects of time don’t happen while on the astral plane. This means that characters in the astral plane:
  • do not age,
  • do not need to breathe,
  • do not need to eat or drink (which also means that they can’t expend a ration to heal), and
  • only need to sleep for 30 phase-minutes each phase, although they still need to rest for an entire shift (8 phase-hours), and only gain 1 HP back after resting and sleeping.