afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)

[afroakuma]

How do the Gods view Time Travel and the act of creating Time Paradoxes?

Generally speaking? Very much hate. Chronomancy is vastly frowned upon on the Planes.

Do the Rilmani actually care about anything?

Absolutely. Rilmani care about balance, separation, watchful opposition. They are dedicated to the middle ground, and believe in neutrality as a crucial force for the fate of the cosmos.

[Arcanist]

Generally speaking? Very much hate. Chronomancy is vastly frowned upon on the Planes.

Any known reason why?

[Eldan]

I think the technical term is "time travel wrecks everyone's ****".

[afroakuma]

Any known reason why?

What Eldan said.

[kaielx]

Though I have seen it on 3rd party sights, why is there no mention of yugoloth blooded tieflings,feyri,etc...

[Chilingsworth]

Though I have seen it on 3rd party sights, why is there no mention of yugoloth blooded tieflings,feyri,etc...

Well, the fey'ri are explicitly decended from a specific noble house of sun elves and a specific group of demons. I think that most non generic tieflings have similiarly specific origins. I don't know about any yugoloth-decended generic tieflings.

[willpell]

Also, modrons are "officially" in 3E, since they are mentioned by name as an outsider race inhabiting Mechanus (MotP 129).

Ah. Well okay, Wotco coulda handled that better, but at least they tried. Thanks for pointing this out.

Further, neither formians nor inevitables can be exemplars. Formians are invaders from Arcadia who have occupied vast portions of Mechanus.

I thought it was the other way around. The Formians started in Mechanus (presumably on what is still their home-hive cog), invaded and colonized the third layer of Arcadia, and were successful enough that it shifted to Mechanus.

Inevitables are constructs.

I fail to see how that prohibits them from exemplifying Law. Besides, how are they different from Modrons in the respect of being mechanical in nature? Even if Modrons are Outsiders while Inevitables are Constructs, that seems to be mostly a game-mechanical distinction, and a rather fiddly one at that.

[Kane0]

Just broadly speaking, as I wouldn't want you to waste your time going through it all, is This Thread more or less accurate? No major contradictions? I believe it is a trustworthy source, I just want to make sure that there are no glaring issues before I start taking some of the info for an upcoming game.

Edit: Most of it is homebrew to some extent, I just want to know if Libertad has an accurate spin on the planes and the general feel of each.

[willpell]

I thought it was the other way around. The Formians started in Mechanus (presumably on what is still their home-hive cog), invaded and colonized the third layer of Arcadia, and were successful enough that it shifted to Mechanus.

Alright, I checked my book and it doesn't explicitly say one way or another. The hive-city of Mandlible on Arcadia is referred to as a "colony", but that's the strongest indication I have of what I thought the book said about the formians originating in Mechanus, so I stand corrected.

[afroakuma]

Though I have seen it on 3rd party sights, why is there no mention of yugoloth blooded tieflings,feyri,etc...

They do exist, there just aren't specific versions of them in print. Fey'ri, draegloths, durzagons and the like are the exception, not the rule.

[afroakuma]

I fail to see how that prohibits them from exemplifying Law.

That's because you're conflating "exemplar," the classification, with "exemplification," which anything can do. Kytons are an exemplification of lawful evil, but they are not exemplars.

Besides, how are they different from Modrons in the respect of being mechanical in nature? Even if Modrons are Outsiders while Inevitables are Constructs, that seems to be mostly a game-mechanical distinction, and a rather fiddly one at that.

Well, no, it's a rather salient distinction, as it means modrons are living creatures formed from souls (which is explicitly what all exemplars are) whereas inevitables are programmed magic robots with a job on the Prime.

[afroakuma]

Just broadly speaking, as I wouldn't want you to waste your time going through it all, is This Thread more or less accurate? No major contradictions? I believe it is a trustworthy source, I just want to make sure that there are no glaring issues before I start taking some of the info for an upcoming game.

Edit: Most of it is homebrew to some extent, I just want to know if Libertad has an accurate spin on the planes and the general feel of each.

Libertad is Good People; I think I can spare some time on his thread.

Quibbles on the Beastlands a bit, but overall as the broad strokes go, it's a good thread.

[killem2]

Are there evil creatures on the positive plane?

If so, how can I explain this to my DM who with out doubt complain about me summoning fiendish vivacious creatures with summon monster.

[afroakuma]

Are there evil creatures on the positive plane?

It's not a common thing by any means. Almost all inhabitants of the Positive Energy Plane are neutral - and there aren't many inhabitants of the Positive Energy Plane to begin with.

If so, how can I explain this to my DM who with out doubt complain about me summoning fiendish vivacious creatures with summon monster.

Well, you technically can't do that. Fiendish creatures come from the Lower Planes (Acheron, Baator, Gehenna, Hades, Carceri, the Abyss, Pandemonium) while vivacious creatures only originate on the Positive Energy Plane. An evil vivacious creature wouldn't be fiendish, because fiendish isn't about alignment, but rather origin. Also, you shouldn't be double-templating summons regardless; summoning creatures with a template from the Planar Handbook should be done by trading out a summon slot you already have access to (Planar Handbook 134).

[killem2]

It's not a common thing by any means. Almost all inhabitants of the Positive Energy Plane are neutral - and there aren't many inhabitants of the Positive Energy Plane to begin with.



Well, you technically can't do that. Fiendish creatures come from the Lower Planes (Acheron, Baator, Gehenna, Hades, Carceri, the Abyss, Pandemonium) while vivacious creatures only originate on the Positive Energy Plane. An evil vivacious creature wouldn't be fiendish, because fiendish isn't about alignment, but rather origin. Also, you shouldn't be double-templating summons regardless; summoning creatures with a template from the Planar Handbook should be done by trading out a summon slot you already have access to (Planar Handbook 134).

Oh I see, so if I choose to summon a vivacious creature it instead isn't a fiendish creature anymore, it becomes vivacious?

[afroakuma]

Oh I see, so if I choose to summon a vivacious creature it instead isn't a fiendish creature anymore, it becomes vivacious?

Aye. You can give up any summon you could normally use at a given level (so no giving up a celestial summon if you're evil) to get a vivacious creature of that level -1. Vivacious creatures take the Summon Monster spell above that of their celestial or fiendish counterparts. Axiomatic and anarchic creatures can be traded on a 1:1 basis.

[Answerer]

so no giving up a celestial summon if you're evil

That's true for Clerics, but not Sorcerers or Wizards, who can summon anything they like regardless of their own alignments.

[afroakuma]

That's true for Clerics, but not Sorcerers or Wizards, who can summon anything they like regardless of their own alignments.

Ah, good point. Thanks for the reminder.

[killem2]

Awesome thread. Planes are crazy!

When you use rope trick, do you go to another plane? I was under the impression any thing like this was the astral plane or otherwise a "catch all" for misc tricks!

[ScionoftheVoid]

Awesome thread. Planes are crazy!

When you use rope trick, do you go to another plane? I was under the impression any thing like this was the astral plane or otherwise a "catch all" for misc tricks!

Rope Trick is an extradimensional space, and is explicitly outside of all planes.

A Bag of Holding and Portable Hole work similarly, though I can't remember which of the pair is extradimensional and which is non-dimensional.

[killem2]

Rope Trick is an extradimensional space, and is explicitly outside of all planes.

A Bag of Holding and Portable Hole work similarly, though I can't remember which of the pair is extradimensional and which is non-dimensional.

I see, I don't know why I thought so, but I thought I heard, read, seen, something about the Astral plane being this place where magic come from or something.

/shrug,

"Son, once you get into this cosmic **** like this, you gotta throw away the manual!"

[afroakuma]

Awesome thread. Planes are crazy!

When you use rope trick, do you go to another plane? I was under the impression any thing like this was the astral plane or otherwise a "catch all" for misc tricks!

It's extradimensional; that is to say, it is "of" the plane it originates from, but in space you didn't know exists. Bags of holding and portable holes are extradimensional. Letting extradimensional spaces come in contact with one another is a very bad idea.

"Nondimensional" is equivalent in meaning to "extradimensional."

[Lord_Gareth]

We discussed on the IRC how killing any given Archduke of Hell (with a few small exceptions) won't do too much damage to Hell or, really, too much concrete Good for the multiverse. Is the same true of a Demon Prince - that if you kill one, something just as bad or worse will replace it - or are Demon Princes a high-priority target for the removing long-term evil from the Multiverse?

[afroakuma]

We discussed on the IRC how killing any given Archduke of Hell (with a few small exceptions) won't do too much damage to Hell or, really, too much concrete Good for the multiverse. Is the same true of a Demon Prince - that if you kill one, something just as bad or worse will replace it - or are Demon Princes a high-priority target for the removing long-term evil from the Multiverse?

Same rule applies. There are a few that would be a bigger loss for Evil than others, but you won't leave a permanent wound.

[Chilingsworth]

Same rule applies. There are a few that would be a bigger loss for Evil than others, but you won't leave a permanent wound.

Is the same true of their celestial, axiomatic, and anarchic equivilants?

[afroakuma]

Is the same true of their celestial, axiomatic, and anarchic equivilants?

Pretty much. The Hebdomad would really feel it if Zaphkiel bit the dust, but they would endure. Talisid & co. are by definition expendable, being an adventuring party . Morwel's already lost a consort, but she herself would be a nasty loss for the eladrins. Still, they've got a lot of tulani and a naturally chaotic bent; they'd do fine in the long-term. Good's probably got the worst of it out of the four, though.

Primus is instantly replaceable. A secundus comes in, wires itself up and poof, Primus. The current Primus is the most powerful and dangerous yet, a legacy of the previous "Primus."

Slaad lords monkey biscuit face terrapin luge octagon gerbil sophistication laser turbine water slide banana cannon pink lemonade.

[Chilingsworth]

Slaad lords monkey biscuit face terrapin luge octagon gerbil sophistication laser turbine water slide banana cannon pink lemonade.

I figured you might say that.

Though I thought the current slaad lords had altered their sourcestone, making it unlikely that they would be replaced. Or would that alteration fade with their destruction?

(drippings holistically disendow blabber bloodworm gymnasia horrors)
eh, I don't think I'm any good at it.

On another note, how equivilant are the varrious exemplar lords, or the exemplar races, in terms of power?

[Arcanist]

If I were to write someone a letter while in the Far Realm and sent it to Ravenloft what would the text look like? (assuming the Dark Powers don't just flat out say "No" or modify the text in anyway).

[Chilingsworth]

If I were to write someone a letter while in the Far Realm and sent it to Ravenloft what would the text look like? (assuming the Dark Powers don't just flat out say "No" or modify the text in anyway).

Your brain boils before you can lift the pen.

I'm guessing.

[Lord_Gareth]

If I were to write someone a letter while in the Far Realm and sent it to Ravenloft what would the text look like? (assuming the Dark Powers don't just flat out say "No" or modify the text in anyway).

Well, sending a letter into Ravenloft itself is as "simple" as kicking it into the Mists. It getting where it's going is another matter entirely. Contacting the Dark Powers? Well...that's a riskier proposition. One could always pray, of course, but then you run the risk that they actually answer. Why do you even ask?