Planar Revision Project: Ethereal Plane done, PROJECT IS COMPLETE!

[Libertad]

I'm done!  Woo-hoo!

I just realized that Bytopia is more individualist, yet closer to Law on the Great Wheel, while the Beastlands are more collectivist, yet closer to Chaos.  They're both technically Neutral Good, though, so it's not a big problem (unless you group in Law with collectivism and Chaos with individualism).

Some loose ends:

The Pantheon Exemption Clause

An astute reader of divine pantheons may notice that the ones located on the Celestial planes have members of Neutral or even Evil alignment.  This is particularly strange, considering the fact that evil creatures are usually attacked on sight in most Upper Planes.  So why the exception?

It has to do with the natures of the deities.  The Gods and Goddesses of the pantheons have self-governing territories in many planes.  The divinely morphic nature of the planes gives most deities easy access to land and resources to carve out a splendid domain for their followers.  It's commonly assumed that the deities of a pantheon police the affairs of their fellows, and the pantheon needs a common meeting ground to discuss matters relating their created people.  In most cases, the deities of Good alignment outnumber the Evil ones, and an Upper Plane is chosen as the headquarters through majority rule.  In the case of a Good head deity, the decision may be entirely up to the leader of the pantheon.

The phrase "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" is the primary incentive for this arrangement.  People located on the same plane have an easier time of scrying upon and communicating with each other through magical means.  Sure, having the Dwarven God of Greed in Celestia may put the Archons and other Gods on edge, but they can easily find out what he's up to than if he were located in the Nine Hells.  This also grants the advantage by cutting off Lower Planes contact with the Evil deities and forcing them to rely on less convenient means of communication or cooperation with the rest of the pantheon.  Some of the Evil deities find this a satisfactory arrangement (less competition in the Upper Planes, a less dangerous region, higher standard of living for worshipers, etc).  Sometimes an evil deity may defy this arrangement and cut off all ties with the pantheon and relocate (such as in the case of Urdlen).

[Endarire]

Thanks for the inspiration.  I have plans for putting the group on trial in Celestia (or a similar plane) due to mass-produced magic items stealing energy from the plane, thereby shrinking it.

[Prime32]

Hm, how much info is there on the River Oceanus and its properties?

[Libertad]

Hm, how much info is there on the River Oceanus and its properties?

Nothing really in the Manual.  It appears harmless, unlike its Lower Planes counterpart the Styx.  It could be fair to assume that it's holy water, like the ocean surrounding the first layer of Celestia.

[Prime32]

IIRC it becomes deity-level powerful close to the source?

What about using it for travel though? Does anything live in or patrol it? Dolphin guardinals maybe?

[Libertad]

IIRC it becomes deity-level powerful close to the source?

What about using it for travel though? Does anything live in or patrol it? Dolphin guardinals maybe?

The River Oceanus

There's plenty of underwater civilizations in Oceanus, from Merfolk kingdoms in Elysium to Bronze Dragon coves in Arcadia and Celestia.  Planar tradesmen use the River to ply trade, and it's less dangerous than Styx.  However, certain planar layers are "cut off" from the river via artificial dams.  A good example is Elysium's third layer of Belierin.

The river on Arcadia is oddly artificial, flowing in straight lines and curving at right angles.  Harbor towns have regular patrols of inevitables and archons, and inter-planar tariffs on trade discourage all but the most affluent merchants.

The river in Celestia empties out into an ocean surrounding the mountain.  The water takes on holy properties, making the plane a prime location for people seeking this valuable water.  Celestia allows the water to be taken freely by all, due to its high supply.  Many people make a living journeying to Celestia, taking holy water, then selling it at a premium elsewhere.  Many celestials disapprove of this practice, and rely upon their free supply and trustworthy nature to encourage people to seek them out instead.

The river in Bytopia goes through the layer of Dothion.  The rivers on Shurrock are rapid mountain streams and thus seldom used.  The enterprising petitioners often claim ownership of land the river passes through, often charging rates for others to "use" their property.  Passage through Bytopia often becomes a puzzling course of avoiding cutthroat tollkeepers and plotting out the cheapest routes.

Oceanus pours through all four layers of Elysium before exiting into the oceans of Thalasia.  Trade thrives on the fourth layer, and many devout pilgrims of Pelor travel en masse on ships to visit the Citadel of the Sun.  Many people sail between the islands of Thalasia on longboats and sea-going vessels; more than a few ships are capable of submerging beneath the waves with unique magic.

The rivers of the Beastlands appears one of the least-traveled byways of Oceanus, second beneath Ysgard.  The place is scarcely traveled, with almost no docks or harbor towns.  The fact that the river turns into rapids upon transition to a nearby planar portal does make it a frequent passage for riverboats.  In reality, the rivers are highly congested, as many aquatic petitioners use Oceanus as their primary means of maneuvering the plane.

Due to numerous floating islands in Ysgard, the river is more of a massive series of waterfalls.  Tradesmen use floating airships as the most common means of travels.  The more settled islands often have massive gates at the head of the waterfalls to catch any wayward ships, but most towns cannot afford these structures.

[Libertad]

The Beastlands: Strength in Numbers

   The Beastlands is unique among the Upper Planes is that it has more petitioners than all the others combined.  They’re literally everywhere; every flower in the field, every ant in the colony has its own soul.  The Beastlands contains the souls of every non-sapient animal, plant, and vermin that has ever lived on the Material Plane.

   To get a sense of scale, imagine a number of the total number of life forms on your own world.  Now imagine the number of humans living today: around six billion.  In regards to species of animals, there are over 10 million different kinds still alive (and we didn’t even get to the plants).  Now stretch that number you have in your head over hundreds of thousands of years of evolution.  And imagine that amount all living in one plane, all of them with the Celestial template and a bare minimum Intelligence score of 3.

   This is why the laws of consumption exist in the Beastlands: valuable space is saved by having multiple souls share a single body in a kind of hive-mind state.  It’s also why Elysium has not made any inroads over assimilating its neighbors: any significant form of aggression would be met with endless waves of animal petitioners crashing over the Guardinals like a stormy sea.  Add some Eladrin reinforcements, unicorns, magical beasts, and druids, and you’ve literally got an unconquerable plane.

   The management of such a vast number of souls is incredibly taxing, even for the nature deities.  This is where the Animal Lords come in.  A Lord is responsible for the task of managing the affairs of petitioners of his species.  The Lords have geographic boundaries and common residences, although this can vary in the case of animals known to migrate.  The style and system of governance is as varied as the forms of government in the Material Plane, ranging from autocratic rulers to “do your own thing” societal minimalism.  There are Plant Lords, and even Ooze Lords, but the name “Animal Lord” is most common because they’re the leaders most visitors meet.

   Political maneuvering between the Lords is fierce, as the leaders barter, trick, threaten, and ally with each other over territory, food, and power.  Lords of more violent species often have to prove their “Alpha” status by fighting off challengers and not appearing weak to their subordinates.  Many Lords have much in the ways of magic items and nature magic, and enterprising adventurers can benefit from this by doing quests and tasks on behalf of the Lord’s species.

I'm going to take a break from the Upper Planes for now and try my hand at spicing up the roiling Chaos of Limbo.  Check back later.

[Libertad]

Limbo

Image designed by MystikAngel of Deviantart.

   No aspect of Dungeons & Dragons is more prone to argument than the alignment system, especially the Law-Chaos axis.  Many people have explained it and debated it more than I have, but the personality traits associated with one particular alignment can also be applied to another: Lawful Good characters “speak out against social injustice,” yet Chaotic Good characters “hate it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do.”  A Chaotic Neutral character can “be free from a society’s restrictions,” while a Lawful Neutral character can be directed by a “personal code” defined by one’s self.  Basically the common personality traits of opposing Law-Chaos alignments are not mutually exclusive, meaning that behavior by an individual can be logically argued to be either lawful or chaotic.
If one were to look over the decades of D&D history, Chaotic alignment has been associated with unpredictability, randomness, anarchism, mental instability, social progressivism, and individualism.  Since a lot of these things don’t go well together, I’m going to keep the terrain of Limbo mostly the same, yet have the petitioners and Slaadi be Chaotic in the sense of self-autonomy.

Colonization

   Despite the highly morphic and volatile nature of the Plane, a large amount of people are drawn to Limbo to create their own societies.  The average person can alter the area’s elemental nature to his own personal whims.  Stronger-willed individuals, or those with Planar Replicators, can accomplish greater feats of change.  Many enterprising souls rightly view this as an amazing planar trait, full of potential for the creation of worlds.  All sorts of people come to Limbo to escape from the flawed societies of other planes to start anew in an isolated environment.  Just about any kind of community can be found on Limbo, from sheltered cultist compounds surrounded by a shield of boiling water, to a floating ball of earth inhabited by an order of druids.  The Githzerai hold the longest record of continuously inhabited visitors to the plane, and their settlements are both the largest and most prominent.  Githzerai cities differ from the isolated monasteries of their more contemplative peers in that they’re highly militarized and ruled by a single authority figure or a council of martial spellcasters known as Gish.

   Travel between the habitats is usually accomplished by travel in spherical objects known as “Globes.”  Globes are powered by small Planar Replicators and typically made of transparent solid or liquid material.  All globes contain all four elements: the typical Globe made for humanoid habitation looks like a circular rock with windows at the piloting seat.  It uses air for locomotion and breathing space, fire for heating and self-defense, earth for a solid framework, and water for sanitation and sustenance.  Combat between enemy globes is usually accomplished by using the Replicator as a weapon, throwing elemental energy at the enemy Globe to cancel out its elements and disable the vehicle.  Pirates and raiders hunker down in remote outposts between major settlements and attack passing vessels this way.

Planar Replicators

   Traditional stabilization and world-building is too slow, dangerous, and limited for all but the smallest of micro-environments.  The secret to successful creation on a large scale involves the use of Planar Replicators.  Made of rare materials and Raw Chaos found only on Limbo, a Planar Replicator draws upon the elemental traits of multiple nearby sections of Limbo and stores them as energy.  The energy can then be altered to another elemental trait or used in the process of matter creation.

   Planar Replicators take the shape of small metal rods suspending a glowing ball of multi-colored energy above itself.  Neither solid, liquid, or gas, the energy has a unique state of matter analogous to plasma.  The Replicator can store only a finite amount of elemental energy, although this limit is dependent upon the caster level of the creator and the amount of resources used to create the item.  The possibility of an overload is unlikely except in cases of negligence or abandonment.  The Replicator can be altered to only store energy instead of collecting it, and most communities use the continuing energy supply to create and sustain magical auras, food, water, and raw materials.  The average Planar Replicator can create enough land and resources for a self-sustaining community of 100 humans, while the largest and most powerful Replicators can provide for nearly a million people.

   Since a person can use a Replicator to essentially produce materials with minimum loss in profit, the items are never sold for raw gold pieces or non-magical trade materials in legitimate markets.  The black market and Lower Plane bazaars sell them, but only the lower-powered ones and only to travelers who appear totally unprepared to handle Limbo (most of these dealers get rid of used and broken Replicators this way for a quick profit).  They’re specially attuned to the energies of Limbo and cannot work on other planes (they can work in a dimensional breach, although their power is significantly reduced).

The Slaadi

   The Slaadi are the oldest known inhabitants of Limbo and the “face” of Chaos.  Tales of their societies, capabilities, and behavior are numerous, yet most are full of misconceptions and few people truly understand them.  Almost all Slaadi are individualists in the sense of placing the self higher than that of the group, but even this is a broad generalization.  Many Slaadi have competing ideas of “freedom” and “individualism,” often resulting in more confusion to outsiders.

   Chaotic Neutral Slaadi often live solitary lives.  When they deign to be among others of their kind, they gather in groups that are organized in a non-hierarchal, voluntary association.  Every Slaad is considered to have autonomy over its own body and soul, and forced coercion of others is viewed as the domain of oppression and Law.  It is considered acceptable to use force in the case of self-defense, although the line between “self-defense” and “violating another’s freedom” is quite blurry and arbitrary even to the Slaadi.  Additionally, the individual power of a Slaadi is not seen as a privilege; a green Slaad may be capable of out-thinking and out-fighting a red Slaad, but this does not give it the “right” to enslave and oppress weaker Slaadi.  Such Slaadi are also opposed to the use of imposing mind-affecting magic on the unwilling; to them it’s one of the worst violations of individual autonomy.

   Chaotic Evil Slaadi follow a mindset closest to that of Egoist Anarchism.  Basically, such a Slaad believes that it has the right to live out its own existence as it wishes, with no regard to the rights or dignity of others, Slaadi and non-Slaadi alike.  They care only for their own freedoms and nobody else’s.  These Slaadi are far more likely to be solitary and the more powerful among their kind; weaker Slaadi of this mentality usually get destroyed by more powerful ones or live a life of banditry, attacking those too weak to defend themselves.

   Chaotic Good Slaadi share much in common with their Neutral counterparts, except that they are more proactive in extraplanar affairs and take a “threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” mentality.  They spend the most time off-plane, railing against the soul trade of Lower Planes fiends and the forced assimilation policies of Elysium.  These Slaadi believe that no law, organization, or individual has the right to deprive others of freedom, the pursuit of happiness, or dignity.  To them, the “right” to own and abuse slaves or bully others into obedience is no right at all.  They also continuously engage in battle against the Chaotic Evil Slaadi as both groups’ ideologies are at extreme ends.

Ssendam and Ygorl

   The term “Slaad Lord” is a misnomer in that the Slaadi do not have a proper societal hierarchy and are not beholden to any member of their species beyond “hey, let’s work together for a short while.”  Since most visitors associate power with authority, and Ssendam and Ygorl are the two most powerful known Slaadi, they became known on the other Planes as the “Lords of Slaadi.”

   Ssendam doesn’t really much care for the affairs of his people beyond how it personally affects him, but Ygorl’s a bully who views all other Slaadi as pawns to be used for his own leisure.  This has led Ygorl to have a more prominent presence on other planes and in the affairs of others, even coming into conflict with other Slaadi.  He was the one who altered the Spawning Stone and put limits on the mutability of his own race.  He hoped that no Slaadi can eclipse his power through accident of birth so that he remains among the strongest.

   This action earned Ygorl a lot of enemies who want to see him dead or stripped of all influence.  Many Slaadi have even accused him of being a Slaad in name only, an agent of Law sent to bring destruction to Limbo.  But Ygorl didn’t get to where he was by being stupid; he’s got a lot of favors and magical protection, and his citadel’s full of traps, planar bound entities, controlled undead, and contingency spells for all manner of doomsday scenarios.  Adventurers who go against him can expect to contend with Slaadi promised power by Ygorl, minions of a demonic prince who owes him favors, and sympathetic Xaositects (Chaotic Planescape faction).

Adventure Hooks in Limbo:
•   A monk, spellcaster, or martial adept character has to undergo a trial on the plane of Limbo in order to attain a higher state of being/master a magical discipline/progress among the Sublime Way.  They must seek out the Monastery of Zerth’Ad’Iun and enter into a strict training regimen under the head Sensei.  They will be exposed to the elements of the plane, tasked with creating life out of controlling the planar essence, and through ritualized combat against superior opponents.  Is your PC ready for the Training Regimen from Hell?
•   The PCs need to deliver a new Planar Replicator to a settlement before the ball of earth collapses under an elemental onslaught.  A raiding party of evil Slaadi assault the habitat, intent on destroying both Replicators.  The PCs must drive them off or kill the Slaadi, otherwise they’ll be stranded on a crumbling rock and exposed to the churning chaos of the plane.
•   Ygorl has gone too far; his latest necromantic experiment involved the imprisonment of an entire community of Slaadi souls, and he’s building a portal to the Negative Energy Plane to overflow Limbo!  If he’s not stopped, countless more Slaadi, petitioners, and colonists will turn into undead creations under his control.  The PCs must break into his citadel and destroy the portal before it’s too late!

[veekie]

Additionally, the individual power of a Slaadi is not seen as a privilege; a green salad may be capable of out-thinking and out-fighting a red salad, but this does not give it the “right” to enslave and oppress weaker salad.

Delicious frog salad?

[Libertad]

Additionally, the individual power of a Slaadi is not seen as a privilege; a green salad may be capable of out-thinking and out-fighting a red salad, but this does not give it the “right” to enslave and oppress weaker salad.

Delicious frog salad?

Corrected!

I'm doing all this stuff in Microsoft Word, which has an automatic spell-checker.  Looks like I'm adding a new word to the dictionary!

I may also try to create game stats for the Planar Replicators and Globes in the future, but homebrew magic item and vehicle creation isn't my strong suit.

[Libertad]

Hey guys!  Once again I'm calling upon your help.

I plan on doing Mechanus next.

Basically the three main players are the Formians, the Modrons, and the Inevitables.  All three groups are highly collectivist, regimented, and unquestioningly take orders from their superiors.  This aspect puts them nicely at odds against my homebrewed Slaadi, who are all about self-determination.

Since conflict is the spice of life, I want to make the three dominant power groups have widely differing interpretations of Law to provide distinctiveness (otherwise why are they separate?).  Unfortunately I do not have access to 2nd Edition Planescape material.  I'd like to know if there's a setting canon explanation for the goals of Primus, the Formian deity-queen, and whoever first created the Inevitables.

From what I've got regarding 3rd Edition material, the Formians want to expand their influence to Arcadia (and possibly the entire Multiverse); the Modrons are more isolationist but are all receiving orders from Primus; the Inevitables seem to be all about enforcing created laws instead of any natural "Law" and are sort of a status quo task force.  Powerful Inevitables exist to fight spellcasters who cheat death too many times, want to ascend to godhood, and punish people who mess with the space-time continuum.

So far, I can see the Formians and Inevitables in conflict.  The Formians of Mechanus already colonized and absorbed one of Arcadia's layers, while the Regulator-style Inevitables would try to prevent the ensuing inter-planetary fracas from erupting.  I really don't know what to make of the Modrons because I don't know what Primus wants.

Suggestions?

[Libertad]

Sorry for the delay.  Here's what I got on Mechanus so far:

Mechanus

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

~Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

“I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmmm? You know... You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan". But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!”

~The Joker, The Dark Knight

   Mechanus is the exemplar plane of Law in Dungeons & Dragons.  As I discussed in my write-up of Limbo, people have differing accounts as to what behavior constitutes for Lawful alignment.  Over the decades of D&D history, Lawful alignments have been associated with social conservatism, collectivism, authoritarianism, civilization over nature, sanity, and repetition.  For the purposes of this section, I’ve decided to use these distinctions for Mechanus:

Extreme collectivism: collectivism in regards to societal organization is the idea that multiple groups of people are at their best when working in coordination with each other.  Personal flaws and inexperience matters less when a worthier candidate can supplement for the weakness of another individual.  Collectivist societies on Mechanus encourage unwavering devotion to the group (be it a species, organization, or religion).  A group working in perfect unison is the ideal, accomplishing great feats of ingenuity that no individual can do alone.

Even so, a non-hierarchal "everybody's equal" society also has a place on Mechanus.  Delon-Estin Oti is a walled commune on Mechanus where everybody is equal and there are no leaders.  The streets are orderly, people perform repetitive tasks every day, and there are no visible levels of intra-societal strife.  Even without a clear designation of mayor or administrator, the city is still strongly collectivist and encourages the welfare of the many over the few.  However, most societies on Mechanus are hierarchal in nature, as a top-down level of administration by a qualified individual has a better chance of coordinating people towards a common pursuit of Law.

The Conflict of Law: Modrons, Inevitables, and Formians

   Just because the societies of Mechanus run with sublime precision doesn’t mean that it’s a squeaky-clean Utopia.  The plane’s three noteworthy inhabitants all have very different ideas of the maintenance and influence of Law in the Multiverse.

Modrons: What the Modrons want really boils down to what Primus wants.  With the exceptions of “rogue units,” they’re little better than computer programs executing commands.  They can act without direct oversight and alter tactics based on circumstance, but they need Primus’ input to pursue new tasks and do things not in their “programming.”
   Primus differs from the Formians and the Inevitables is that it’s not as belligerent: it does send Modrons all over the Multiverse every 17 years, but mostly for the purposes of gathering information.  Its current plans are more defensive-minded: after Tenebrous nearly killed it with the Last Word and took its identity to control all Modrons, Primus bides its time, rebuilding its numbers and destroying “rogue Modrons” and those tainted by demonic influence.

Inevitables: The Inevitables were created long ago as a sort of interplanetary regulation force.  The fate of their maker is unknown, but now the Inevitables can produce more of their own in giant crèche-forges scattered across the cogs of Mechanus.  The Inevitables are sapient and capable of learning, although the code of conduct and personal duties are so hard-wired into their mind-set that conflicting actions of thoughts of self-doubt are immediately expunged.
   What can be gleaned from the primary goals of the Inevitables is that their specialization is keeping others from exceeding the boundaries and limits of magic.  With magic, one can transcend mortal limits, create and destroy life, alter the space-time continuum, and even become a deity.  Without restraint, and individual can recursively use magic to alter himself and his surrounding environment until the entire Multiverse is reshaped in his image.  How else does one explain the majority of Inevitables?  Only two kinds are modified to chase down fugitives and oath breakers, while the rest have various forms of anti-magic specializations.  Magic is power, and the Inevitables are the chains which bind it.
   The Inevitables are not “mage-hunters” in the traditional sense of the word, attacking every spellcasting creature on sight and ridding the land of magic.  They want magic to be regulated so that it can progress at reasonable levels for easy observation.  They’re theoretically neutral in the affairs of deities, although conflicts with the gods of Magic and certain ideals of Freedom occur regularly.
   Inevitables are in conflict with the Formians due to the influence of their expansionist Queens.  The Scion Queen Mother already has the effective powers of an Intermediate Deity.  The spread of Mechanus Formians across the Multiverse, combined with the Hive-Mind nature, can lead to a near-instantaneous spread of magical knowledge on a multi-planar scale.  If the Formians got tainted from some dark magic, like what happened with Primus, such a doomsday scenario may be too much for even the Inevitables to contain.  They’re in conflict with Primus due to its inscrutable nature and possible fears of lingering demonic taint.

Formians: The Formians are a lot like the Inevitables in that they live to serve their leader.  The Scion Queen Mother of Mechanus is the greatest of all Formians, with enough combined power to rival minor gods.  The Scions sends out orders and inspiration to Queens elsewhere, much like a deity in contact with someone via magic.  Barring a lack of contact or willful defiance (rare except on Arcadia), all Formian Queens are instructed to spread their people across the Multiverse and take over as much territory as possible.
   The ideal society to the Formians is one where all of their members work in unison for the welfare of the community.  There is no room for non-Formians in this system, who must either be forcefully assimilated or destroyed.  The Inevitables and Formians are dissident elements which stand in the way of their ideal society (the former due to their opposition to the Scions’ reach, the latter due to their unswerving loyalty to Primus).

   The three major factions regularly go to war with other, declare ceasefires, join with another against the third, and claim and give up territorial cogs.  Currently no faction has the upper hand, although a victory by any one group has far-reaching consequences for the Multiverse.  Without the Inevitables or the Modrons, the Formians will expand rapidly to nearby planes.  Without the Modrons or Formians, the Inevitables would have more soldiers to enforce their laws on other planes and extend their reach.  Without the Formians or Inevitables, Primus would send out more Modrons across the planes and amass a huge knowledge base of the other planes’ weaknesses for future invasion.
   Many outside groups use agents to keep the balance of power relatively equal on Mechanus, and adventurers of a more mercenary bent can make a lot of money through sabotage.

Rogue Modrons

   Every so often, a Modron is affected by external sources and loses its connection to Primus.  Whether it’s via a lingering demonic taint or powerful magic, these “rogue Modrons” quickly develop a sense of self-identity and have no desire to return to their brethren.  The regular Modrons do everything in their power to hunt down and destroy the rogues before they can influence others.
   A sizable number of rogue Modrons still live on Mechanus, hidden in underground cities on the giant cogs and on floating habitats out in the void.  A lot of them have no desire except survival, but a lot of them still pledge loyalty to the demon lord Tenebrous and scheme against the inhabitants of Mechanus.  The fact that these rogue Modrons are a frequent source of raids and violence in nearby cities gives Primus all the evidence he needs against self-determination; the Inevitables and Formians often confuse these rogue agents with ones acting under the will of Primus, thus prolonging the three-sided war.

World-Cogs

   Many visitors to Mechanus often comment upon how the giant landmasses are shaped like the interior gears of a clock.  In reality, the first clockmakers took inspiration from the worlds of Mechanus to design their machines.  The landmasses have just about every conceivable biome from the Material Plane, from blazing-hot desert cogs to tropical archipelagos surrounded by water which spills off the side.  Interestingly, most cogs’ biomes can reach around to the other side, resulting in a “mirrored effect” to the outside observer.  Sufficiently large cogs can even have opposing biomes on each side.
   Lots of colonists from other planes travel to Mechanus, using the abundant natural resources of the cogs to create settlements, profit off of natural resources, and even setting up their own nation-states.  The vast majority of colonies are home to mortal petitioners and Lawful outsiders.  Unlike Limbo, habitats suitable for living on are already formed; the only thing necessary is for the conventional creation of settlements.  Cogs already claimed by the Inevitables, Modrons, or Formians are less welcoming and do not tolerate visitors until they’ve proven that they’re worthy to be residents of Mechanus.
   Off-planar settlements contain the largest amount of non-lawful people, trying the patients of natives.  Many settlers are too impatient to wait for permission and set up towns in Mechanus anyway.  This usually doesn’t end well, as the towns eventually get quarantined or overrun by one of the three factions.

Adventure Hooks for Mechanus:
•   The PCs are staying in a colonized world-cog when a Formian army surrounds the settlement.  The messenger announces that the Scion Queen Mother has claimed the territory for the Formians, and that all residents must submit to the new authority or be crushed.
•   The PCs gain a letter of marquee from a powerful nation/extraplanar organization to settle several world-cogs on Mechanus.  Vast riches and unexplored lands await, as well as hostile competing factions, expansionist Formians, and Inevitables suspicious of the colonies.
•   A rogue modron under demonic influence plans on opening a portal to the Abyss in a sparsely defended settlement on a lush world-cog.  The rogue modrons enacts a dimensional anchor shield around the colony, preventing reinforcements from arriving (he’ll drop it upon completion of the portal).  The PCs are the only ones who can stop him!

[Libertad]

I'm gonna pitch some ideas at you guys now.

All we have left are the Outlands and the Lower Planes.  I think that the Outlands has plenty of adventuring potential.  Sigil alone has enough for an entire planar-hopping campaign, while the numerous portal cities alone have plenty of conflict (if one has access to the Planescape boxed sets).

As for the Lower Planes, the Abyss, Baator, and Acheron both have plenty of adventuring potential.  I haven't checked out Gehenna and Carceri yet, although Hades is in need of work.

Thoughts?

[veekie]

I think a focus on non-Sigil parts of the Outlands might be good. Sigil does have a ton of highly detailed material for it already, much like the Abyss and Baator.

[Libertad]

The Outlands

Center of the Multiverse, by IBuro of Deviantart

   The Outlands is the center of the Multiverse, haven of cross-planar travel and trade.  It’s the home of Sigil, the fabled City of Doors.  It is home to the Spire, a place so powerful that it can rob even the deities of their powers.  No trait or faction on the Outlands is dominant, not even Neutrality; it is all the Planes, and none of them.

Gatetowns

   Arranged in a rough circle 1,000 miles away from the Spire are 17 towns of varying sizes.  Each of them has a portal to an Outer Plane, with limited dimensional influence.  Xaos, the gatetown to Limbo, has a highly morphic nature, while the Elysium gatetown of Ecstasy has a limited Entrapment trait.

   If a gatetown becomes too “close” to its connecting Plane, or a dimensional breach occurs, the settlement runs the risk of being “absorbed” into the Plane and taken out of the Outlands.  The inhabitants are aware of this, and power struggles between community leaders occur between those who want to move to the new Plane and others who prefer the setting of the Outlands.  Planes with more expansionist power groups (such as Mechanus and Elysium) are poised to overtake the gatetowns and everyone within them.

A Storehouse of Knowledge

   The Outlands is home to a disproportionately high amount of libraries, mausoleums, museums, and other places containing the ancient memories of the past.  Deities representing concepts of knowledge reside on the plane, making the Outlands a safe haven for people with forbidden texts, censored works, and various pieces of information others might want to restrict or destroy.

   One might assume that this would make the Outlands an easy target for would-be tomb raiders and thieves, but this is hardly the case.  A rare spellbook may be under the guard of divine minions, treacherous traps, and secluded among the shelves of tens of thousands of other books of a similar nature.  A person might know that the Book of Vile Darkness was last seen in Boccob’s Library of Lore, but that doesn’t mean that anybody can just waltz in and find it easily.

   Boccob’s Library of Lore is a giant building full of scholarly texts, almost an entire city in and of itself.  Most areas are well-patrolled and home to sages and wizards of all stripes, but the Restricted Areas are home to the more dangerous tomes.  Full of malevolently sapient books, ethereal living magical symbols of death and worse, these sections of the Library are rarely traveled and given over to decay and ruin.  Boccob’s more fiendish and eccentric petitioners live here, jealously guarding their hidden knowledge from “the unworthy.”

   The Cavern of Thought is home to Illsensine, deity of the Illithids.  It is said that the God knows of primordial, forgotten secrets and of cataclysmic disasters yet to come.  His lair is an underground cavern, its walls, ceilings, and floors fleshy and pulsating to the rhythm of a heartbeat.  Illsensine and his petitioners tolerate no visitors, but anybody who manages to make it to the largest chamber can come into contact with the god himself.  Illsensine can bestow knowledge upon the person strong enough to make it here, yet in exchange they must give him one of their own memories.  Such a memory must be of value to Illsensine and hard to obtain, otherwise he’ll slay the intruder for wasting his time.

Khaasta and Rilmani

   The Rilmani are Outland natives committed to the balance of powers between the Outer Planes.  They believe that the Multiverse is ideal as it is and reject any attempts of expansion by any of the forces of Good, Evil, Law, or Chaos.  Rilmani believe that their home plane’s diversity is the ideal, and the Multiversal dominance of any one group of planes on the Great Wheel will result in the destruction of a large swath of their homeland.  Many Rilmani seek Neutrality for the sake of Balance, but many more seek it out of fear of destruction.

   Since they frequently intervene in the affairs of many powerful planar factions, the Rilmani’s policies earn them a lot of ill-will throughout the Planes.  Were it not for their bases near the Spire, it is probable that multiple forces would have destroyed their people long ago.  Rilmani also have a presence beyond the Spire and adamantly champion the right of gatetowns to stay on the Outlands; they argue that planar absorption, even of a voluntary nature, is an invasion of their land.

   Adventurers in the Outlands (and possibly the rest of the Great Wheel) inevitably get entangled in the Rilmani’s affairs.  They might be hired to prevent an incursion of Formian expansionists into the gatetown of Automata, or might need to protect an Archon, Eladrin, or other Outsider from a Rilmani assassin.

   The Khaasta are the other well-known natives of the Outlands.  They mostly live in the region closest to the chaotic-aligned gatetowns, roaming the land as tribes.  Khaasta are violent and hostile to others outside their tribe and survive by plundering and attacking other settlements.  They have a well-deserved reputation as bandits, slavers, and thieves.  Most inhabitants view them as a scourge upon the land.

Sigil, the City of Doors

   Sigil is the crown jewel of the Outer Planes, a multicultural haven of inhabitants from all over the Multiverse.  Constructed along the inside band of a giant floating ring, the city has no true sky, and its architecture adheres to grim, foreboding towers and citadels.  Sigil is home to the largest amount of portals per square inch of all planar metropolises.  The portals are usually subtle: a portal to Pandemonium might take the form of an echoing sewer hole in the slums, while a portal to the Abyss might take the form or a dark alleyway covered with demonic graffiti.

   Some of the most powerful people and organizations gather in Sigil, and the city’s factions plan events on an interplanar scale.  Whether it’s searching for a portal to a wondrous location or sabotaging the plot of a faction conspiracy, there’s more than enough quests for adventurers in the City of Doors!

Adventure Hooks in the Outlands:
•   The PCs are caught in an unconventional dilemma.  The Elysium gatetown of Ecstasy just got absorbed into the Upper Plane.  It won’t be long before the town’s petitioners and inhabitants get assimilated by the Plane.  A village of Rilmani living close to Ecstasy is enraged, and demands the return of their family, friends, and fellow citizens.  The Guardinals understand their plight, but argue that the inhabitants will be happy and provided for once they’re assimilated.  Whether it’s due to influence or experience, the PCs are called in to provide some sort of solution.  Even Good-aligned PCs might feel uncomfortable with Elysium’s policies, and Clerics of like-minded deities and Paladins who choose to side with the Rilmani might even be threatened by the Guardinals “for siding against Good.”
•   A group of archeologists is planning an expedition to a long-abandoned ruin in the Outlands.  Once the site of a deity of knowledge, the scholars believe that the ruins might contain hints of ancient secrets of long-dead civilizations.  The PCs are hired to provide safety and security to the team of archeologists.  Unfortunately, it turns out that the ruins once belonged to Vecna, Evil deity of secrets and magic!  The PCs and archeologists are now marked for death by the Whispered One’s servants, and they’ll need to fight their way out if they hope to survive!
•   While performing research at Boccob’s Library of Lore, the PCs come upon a tome of powerful illusion magic.  The book’s spell activates unexpectedly, and the PCs find themselves in an imaginary world full of ancient myths and legends!  The spell will end once the PCs finish the saga.  Feel free to borrow inspiration from real-world epics and myths, but with a D&D twist!

[Libertad]

Lower Planes in Need of Work

So all we've got left are the Lower Planes.  Some of them need more work than others.  Let's take a look:

The Abyss and Baator: Don't really need to do any work for them.  In addition to the Manual of the Planes, numerous adventures, and the 2 Fiendish Codexes, the environs of these Planes are already well-detailed and full of numerous adventure possibilities.

Acheron: I don't think Acheron is in need of much work due to being on a constant military footing.  The PCs can engage in siege warfare, taking over and defending fortresses, fight orcs and goblins in underground warrens, and fight in the great coliseums of walled cities.

Hades: Definitely in need of work!  The Plane's Entrapment trap means that most PCs give it a wide birth.  It's a major battlefield site of the Blood War and home of the Yugoloths.  Lots of interesting stuff should be going on here.

Gehenna: The place has a kind of "civilized" feel in comparison to the other Lower Planes.  Multiple Yugoloth factions plot and scheme against each other, entering into contracts with mortals and planar travelers and playing both sides of the Blood War.  We've got a great bazaar at the Teardrop Palace, a city of undead called Hopelorn, a creepy hive-mind city of Nimicri, and a big tower of Wizardry holding the unfortunate captives of Yugoloth contracts-gone-bad.  Doesn't need much work.

Carceri: This layer feels like its in need of much work.  Its' got some interesting locations, but nothing that makes it unique among the Lower Planes or makes players say "Wow!  What an interesting place to have an adventure!"

Pandemonium: Pandemonium's like the Underdark, but an entire plane.  It's got a huge metropolis (Madhouse) for city-based adventures, communities of desperate mortals eking out a meager existence (the Banished) in the wilds, and a fourth layer full of long-forgotten prisons of monsters, deities, and artifacts of great power.  Has lots of potential and ideas.

Looks like Hades and Carceri are the ones I should focus on next.

[midnight_v]

Is this meant as like "tome Material"?

Edit: Disregard I see whats up. nice work, very inspiraitional stuff.

[Pencil]

You mentioned that Inevitables were neutral in the affair of the gods:

I think one their (fiend folio) kind are "bodyguards" of the gods so I wonder if that would still work.
Furthermore how much of your explanation about the Inevitables is homebrew and how much is by the books?
I liked your ideas pretty much but because I just had a campaign where Invetable were a major factor(because some acted according to their nature they almost destroyed the material plane)and I couldnt find anything about their origin I had to come up with my own origin of the Inevitable.Maybe you might be interested in my thoughts, if not skip it

I handled it like they were a natural phenomenon of the multiverse.Not like some angel to fight the evil but as way to keep the world withing its boundaries and keep it existing, fighting versus things that would destroy it eventually.(pretty vague, I agree)
For example:Gods are important and without them everything would go into chaos(as seen several times) so it is necessary for them to exist.So they should be protected.
I also am not certain about whether they have a chain of command or not.I interpreted them in a way that (please correct me if I am wrong) they are only bound to act by their nature and nothing else.(Here nature defined as their mission when they are brought to life).This is further explained in Dragon #341
I also agree with you that they don`t kill mages willingly but accidentally.

[Libertad]

You mentioned that Inevitables were neutral in the affair of the gods:

I think one their (fiend folio) kind are "bodyguards" of the gods so I wonder if that would still work.
Furthermore how much of your explanation about the Inevitables is homebrew and how much is by the books?
I liked your ideas pretty much but because I just had a campaign where Invetable were a major factor(because some acted according to their nature they almost destroyed the material plane)and I couldnt find anything about their origin I had to come up with my own origin of the Inevitable.Maybe you might be interested in my thoughts, if not skip it

I handled it like they were a natural phenomenon of the multiverse.Not like some angel to fight the evil but as way to keep the world withing its boundaries and keep it existing, fighting versus things that would destroy it eventually.(pretty vague, I agree)
For example:Gods are important and without them everything would go into chaos(as seen several times) so it is necessary for them to exist.So they should be protected.
I also am not certain about whether they have a chain of command or not.I interpreted them in a way that (please correct me if I am wrong) they are only bound to act by their nature and nothing else.(Here nature defined as their mission when they are brought to life).This is further explained in Dragon #341
I also agree with you that they don`t kill mages willingly but accidentally.

A lot of my interpretations on Outsiders try to hew closely to the existing sourcebooks, although I do change things to be more in line with my Project or when I don't have the books on hand (like the re-invisioning of the Slaadi, who seemed too entrenched in the OD&D "Chaos is the bad guy alignment" mindset").

As for the Inevitables I made, their original purpose is homebrew.  The Manual of the Planes mentions them as upholding Universal Laws, although two of them are dedicated to pursuing fugitives and punishing oath-breakers.  The more powerful Inevitables are responsible for the higher-powered magical threats.

They're supposed to be even-handed in the affairs of the Gods, but but that's more of an ideal to live up to.  The Inevitables only act against the minions of a deity when they run afoul of their laws.  As such, the Inevitables statistically come into conflict more with Chaotic-aligned deities and ones who promote the rapid expansion of magical power.

I may need to retcon the Mechanus Invasion section of Arcadia.  The Inevitables and Modrons have no reason to interfere in the Formians' expansion.  If anything the Inevitables may fight on Arcadia's side to prevent the Scion Queen Mother from extending her multi-planar hive-mind.

[Libertad]

Carceri

“With all our boasted reforms, our great social changes, and our far-reaching discoveries, human beings continue to be sent to the worst of hells, wherein they are outraged, degraded, and tortured, that society may be "protected" from the phantoms of its own making.”

“Prison, a social protection?  What monstrous mind ever conceived such an idea?  Just as well say that health can be promoted by a widespread contagion.”
~Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays

   The Multiverse is full of extradimensional pocket realms cut off from planar travel, magically-warded buildings containing fell monsters, and gems of great necromantic power brimming with hordes of mortal souls.  That an entire plane is dedicated to the imprisonment of evil souls should be no surprise to those learned in the history of the Great Wheel.

   Carceri is the kind of place that most people don’t choose to live in.  The higher-ranking Demodands and Nerull’s favored minions get rewarded with power, privilege, and creature comforts, but the vast majority of inhabitants and petitioners live a terrible existence: the average settlement is a walled frontier town surrounded by inhospitable terrain, where a loaf of bread is seen as a luxury and one meal a day is fine dining.  Even the Demodands don’t get much beyond a glorified “prison guard” status: the lower-ranking ones don’t get much in the way of equipment, and betrayal and treachery from one’s peers is a huge problem.  Despite this wretched existence, there is not much desire for most petitioners to willingly leave the plane.  Upon entry into Carceri, prisoners (both petitioners and people given over to the Demodands) have memories of their life erased and altered.  They believe that the entire Multiverse is a hellish, desolate landscape full of famine, war, and crime, while the propaganda tells them that other Planes are much worse.  Without knowledge of the outside world, less people are inclined to leave if they believe that Carceri is the king of the crap pile.

And when the propaganda fails and prisoners strive for better treatment, they’re encouraged to become part of the system and work with the Demodands for choice privileges.  When you’re starving, naked, and isolated from human contact, becoming a prison snitch doesn’t seem so bad if you get to live in a posh cell.

The Dark Shield Project

   One simply doesn’t Plane Shift into Carceri, or pass through it via the Styx.  Despite its position and alignment on the Great Wheel, travel is strictly regulated and monitored.  The Demodands can’t have spellcasters, fiendish soldiers in the Blood War, and saboteurs entering and exiting the plane at their leisure.  Such permissiveness would throw the entire security of Carceri into ruin and compromise its reputation as a planar prison.  Enter the Dark Shield Project.

   The Dark Shield Project is an amazing endeavor of magical power and knowledge on a Planes-wide scale.  It’s capable of detecting all but the most dedicated of intruders, and can neutralize their planar travel abilities once they get in.  The Project requires a massive amount of resources to maintain, although it has more than enough due to unanimous support from the council of Demodand leaders and the deity Nerull.  Carceri’s movers and shakers are aware that many people are as interested as breaking into their plane as they are of breaking out of it.
 
The Effects: Anybody who attempts to enter or leave Carceri without the proper authorization from a high-ranking Demodand is blocked.  Casting a spell of planar travel must succeed on a Caster Level check (DC 30) in order to work, while unauthorized passengers on the River Styx are redirected to a random tributary on their current plane.  Even if an unauthorized person gains access to Carceri or is on the verge of leaving, several Contingency spells go off: first the person is hit with a Dimensional Lock spell, then a Greater Scrying Spell is cast upon them (the scryer is a crystal ball construct located in a Demodand watchtower).  All magical effects function at Caster Level 20.  If the scrying is successful, the attendant Demodands at the watchtower will be able to discern the intruder’s location in regards to region and layer, possible magical effects active on their person, and their plane of origin from which they went into Carceri in 1d4 rounds.  2d6 rounds after that, a strike force of Demodand will converge on the area to capture or kill the intruders or escapees.

The Revolutionary League

   One might find it odd that an anarchist faction has a major presence in Carceri (and an unofficial headquarters, even!).  It actually makes perfect sense if you’re an anarchist.  Basically, the system of Carceri is an oppressive and corrupt form of hierarchal government.  Whether the anarchist is Good, Evil, or Neutral, Carceri represents the logical extremes of tyranny run amok, taking away one’s right to self-determination and liberty.  “What happens in the Lower Planes can one day happen to all of us,” is a favorite cautionary saying of the League.

   The faction’s efforts in Carceri relate to freeing unjustly held prisoners, encouraging petitioners and vindictive Demodands to turn on their superiors, and finding a permanent solution to dismantling the Dark Shield Project.  The League doesn’t want to just destroy the system: they want to thoroughly ravage it so that no other powerful group can reclaim it for themselves.

   PCs interested in traveling to Carceri are encouraged to contact the Revolutionary League.  They know of several backdoors which bypass the Dark Shield Project, but such opportunities are temporary as the Demodands maneuver to close up any gaps in their security.  The journey itself is still fraught with risk, as groups loyal to Carceri’s leaders infiltrate the League and pose as members to set traps for people trying to break into their plane.

   The Revolutionary League’s cells in Carceri are spread out among the frontier towns and markets, working to earn the reputation and support of communities to help the upcoming insurrection.  They also have sympathetic allies among the Upper Planes Celestials and the Slaadi, all of whom have their own reasons for subverting the existing power structure of Carceri.

Injustice in the System: The Innocents of Carceri

   A lot of times somebody needs someone to disappear from the face of the Great Wheel, or be put somewhere where almost nobody can reach them.  Sometimes an anti-magic prison cell located in an extradimensional space is not enough.  Sometimes a person needs a staff of highly-trained, unscrupulous guards and a jail so dire and feared that none of his opponents will move against him once the offending party is made an example of.  The Demodands don’t care much for guilt and justice, and accept princely sums of money in exchange for adding extra souls to the plane.  Carceri may be well-known and notorious, but the place is so big that actually trying to find specific prisoners is incredibly difficult.  The trafficking of souls is a major source of income for the Demodands and their Dark Shield Project, making Carceri a for-profit prison in every sense of the word.

This is the primary reason so many people try to break into Carceri.  Lots of these “vanished” people were important figures on their home planes, or where at the verge of completing some important task before they got captured.  It’s also one of the most common adventure hooks for PCs.  Carceri isn’t ordered like a typical cell block with a top-down administration.  It’s got several territories and layers, each ruled over by different council members of the Demodands and a legion of sadistic wardens.  The Sand Tombs of Payratheon are used for “preserving” prisoners in a corpse-like near-death state.  The citadel of Nerull has rows of alters carved out of onyx gems, each holding thousands of souls.  Frontier towns on the layer of Colothys may serve as prisons in among themselves, located on top of mesas with all airborne travel controlled by winged throngs of Demodands.  Whenever you plan adventures in Carceri, keep in mind that the entire land is a prison and get creative in designing inhospitable terrain!

Adventure Hooks in Carceri:
•   The PCs all wake up in tombs.  They’re being held in the dank depths of a ship.  They still have their equipment and possessions, but the locals are hostile and believe them to be harbingers of the apocalypse.  Once they reach the ship’s surface, they’ll find themselves in a large ocean.  The water is acidic and contains the memory-stealing properties of Styx, while an army of Demodand by the shore has orders to destroy anybody who tries to escape the ship.  The PCs find extraplanar travel nearly impossible.  If they hope to escape, a fellow prisoner on the ship tells them that they must find a hidden cache of magical items believed to be planted by a Revolutionary League member.  The PCs must act quickly, for the ship is moving of its own accord to land and certain doom.
•    A powerful planar faction has pulled some strings and called in favors for the release of a Titan in Carceri for their own use.  The PCs are entrusted with the task of traveling to the plane to oversee the prisoner exchange.  Unfortunately, the Demodands are aware of the power of the Titan and have no plans on releasing him (or allowing the PCs to leave).  The PCs can fight their way out, but they’ll be wanted men as the warden promises a month off of hard labor to any prisoner that catches or kills them.
•   Nerull promised to create a legion of undead minions for a major villain in your campaign.  The PCs must sneak into his lair on the innermost layer of Carceri and sabotage the production of undead.  In addition to their own destructive capabilities, the PCs receive several scrolls of disintegrate to use on the black onyx towers containing the most powerful undead souls.  Through creative use of metamagic and positive energy, the scrolls will utterly destroy the structural integrity of the towers and the undead beings inside.  This is the perfect excuse to introduce the Load-Bearing Boss or Collapsing Lair tropes to your action-packed adventure of mayhem and destruction!