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2013-02-01, 08:33 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Who says it wasn't at some point? Hell, who says that Acheron isn't what all chessboards aspire to be? Can you imagine a massive three-dimensional grid of 512 cubes, each hosting an army with specific abilities to move and combat other armies on other cubes? That would make for one awesome game.
Most of the Outer Planes, even if seemingly random at first glance, have fairly obvious mythological roots (Gehenna, Tartarus, the Happy Hunting Ground, the original greek conception of Xaos), but this one just seems like they pulled it out of a hat. Does it have a source I'm unaware of, or is it just random weirdness?
To make the whole question more general, did any of the original designers ever discuss how they came up with the ideas for the cosmology?
The Dao actually have an immense mine called the Great Dismal Delve. I'm surprised Afro didn't mention it
2) Because it's a city and labyrinth much more than it is a mine. It is a realm with mines adjoining. A much better example would be the Valley of Light, a massive rift of diamonds owned by the jann, but I wasn't really interested in bringing that up again.
Another question, more answerable this time, though not technically about the Planes at all, I'm just hoping Afro's impressive body of largely-Planes-related lore happens to contain this information as well. The Elans, present as they are in the (Expanded and possibly regular) Psionics Handbook, and given important additional backstory in the Psionic supplement to Tome of Magic. Were they originally created specifically for Third Ed's version of Psionics?
And, as the capstone to these lead-in questions, why are they a RACE instead of a template??? They're supposed to retain the memory of their previous lives, yet all of their game stats are set to those of a first-level character when they're given "the treatment" (I forget what the fluff calls it officially), and thus they have no Knowledge skills.
Elans retain the memory of who they were, but their bodies have been transformed; muscle memory, cerebral links, proprioception are all wiped clean. Part of choosing to become an elan is for the chance to become a blank slate, an opportunity to reinvent oneself.Need a place to hang? Like Discord? Don't mind dealing with a capricious demon lord? Then you're welcome to join our LGBTQ+ friendly, often silly, very geeky server to discuss food, music, video games, tabletop, and much more.
Manual of the Planes 5th Edition: for all the things the official 5E Planescape didn't cover. Check it out.
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2013-02-01, 11:04 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2011
Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Hey afroakuma, this might interest you. It's nowhere near done (almost as far away as it could possibly be), but it's definitely begun.
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2013-02-01, 12:44 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Okay, that's a good possible answer for any given campaign.
Hell, who says that Acheron isn't what all chessboards aspire to be? Can you imagine a massive three-dimensional grid of 512 cubes, each hosting an army with specific abilities to move and combat other armies on other cubes? That would make for one awesome game.
Acheron is order without harmony, structure lacking unity. Cubes are very rigid and ordered, but their interplay is calamitous and violent, as brutal as the plane itself.
On lower layers, other regular solids express themselves as structure migrates still further from unity, until at the lowest level there is nothing but the bladestorm and the eternal ice wall.
Often, but not on this question.
1) Because
2) Because
There's no point in "elan" being a template, because all elans are former humans.
Further, elans actually subtract a few important qualities from humans, specifically the bonus feat and skill points.
You could easily convert it into an (obnoxious) applicable template, but it's just as easy to do the whole race swap-out.
proprioception
Part of choosing to become an elan is for the chance to become a blank slate, an opportunity to reinvent oneself.
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2013-02-01, 01:12 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2007
Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Wobbles on every prime numbered day/hour/minute/second starting from a certain point in history. Then the count restarts everytime someones cube changes ownership or position.
Perhaps it operates off of a Riemann mathematical function or something. Looks random, but it isn't.
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2013-02-01, 02:44 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2012
Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
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2013-02-01, 07:01 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Ruling Mordor
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Has their ever been a Fallen/Evil Couatl?
I had a 2nd question, but i just remebered that you don't do Eberron...
(Question, If you might actually know, Can you tell us more about the Shulassakar?)
{Besides http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20040920a }Last edited by ShadowFireLance; 2013-02-01 at 07:04 PM.
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2013-02-01, 07:21 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2007
Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Okay, so I have a question on Acheron that will involve zero percent whining about the answer you give:
How are permanent structures protected from the clashing of the cubes on Acheron? Obviously several groups have divine realms, barracks, and other assorted places where they live/work/sleep/hide from adventurers/build moar dakka, but it seems like the landscape would end up crushing them eventually. How do they stop that from happening?
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2013-02-01, 07:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2008
Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Oh, probably, but I can't think of a specific example off the cuff.
Well, first of all, some simply aren't. They're built where it's hoped they won't get smashed, whether from research or just desperate necessity. Cubes are somewhat predictable if you know where to look, though some forces mess with the equation (see below).
Of those that are, most are dug into the cubes, whether in internal hollows or artificial trenches. Collision damage might still be catastrophic, but it would be more on the order of a powerful earthquake than getting crushed to death. This is, of course, not an easy thing to do.
Lastly, gods tend to use their powers to prevent the collision of cubes or to push together cubes. This throws off the strict predictability, but it's an ironclad way to ensure that you're not in a collision zone.Need a place to hang? Like Discord? Don't mind dealing with a capricious demon lord? Then you're welcome to join our LGBTQ+ friendly, often silly, very geeky server to discuss food, music, video games, tabletop, and much more.
Manual of the Planes 5th Edition: for all the things the official 5E Planescape didn't cover. Check it out.
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2013-02-01, 09:59 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2007
Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
To what extent to chronomancers influence planar politics? What sorts of foes do they face on a regular basis?
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2013-02-01, 10:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Do any of the outer planes specifically erode free will by causing visitors to conform to the ethos of the plane over a period of time by the nature of the plane itself directly (aside from Elysium/The Grey Waste straight-up "eating" even non-petitioners)? As opposed to indirectly, like visiting Ysgard at the wrong time of day and having to do something about the drunk yahoos trying to decapitate you.
When Acheron gets brought up, it seems like visitors end up getting twisted into going native if they don't leave quickly, and I couldn't tell if that was canon or fanon or a misinterpretation on my part.
What are the majority of armies on the Cubes in Acheron comprised of anyway? I recall that portions of the Blood War are fought there, but my impression is that those aren't even close to a drop in the bucket, nor are the various factions that exist there purely because of various Powers giving afterlives of Total War to their petitioner followers. Is it a hodgepodge of the detritus of the planes and prime worlds, with various factions made up of petitioners, planar refugees, traders who stayed an hour too long negotiating a contract? Is it that petitioners make up the majority of the armies rather than becoming any kind of proper outsider or fiend?
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2013-02-01, 11:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
They don't. Chronomancers messing with Big Things get told off in a Big Hurry.
Chronomancers most often have to deal with one another, with the dangers of the time periods they enter, and with the denizens of Temporal Prime, such as temporal hounds, time dimensionals and a few other unpleasant predators. There are also strands, more of an occupational hazard than a foe, which aggregate on a chronomancer as he or she travels and attempt to yank him or her "downstream." They can be extremely annoying.
Not particularly. Mechanus will annoy you, Limbo will confuse you, but in general being on an Outer Plane would have no impact on you different from, say, living in a Material Plane community of a certain character over a span of time.
When Acheron gets brought up, it seems like visitors end up getting twisted into going native if they don't leave quickly, and I couldn't tell if that was canon or fanon or a misinterpretation on my part.
What are the majority of armies on the Cubes in Acheron comprised of anyway? I recall that portions of the Blood War are fought there, but my impression is that those aren't even close to a drop in the bucket, nor are the various factions that exist there purely because of various Powers giving afterlives of Total War to their petitioner followers. Is it a hodgepodge of the detritus of the planes and prime worlds, with various factions made up of petitioners, planar refugees, traders who stayed an hour too long negotiating a contract? Is it that petitioners make up the majority of the armies rather than becoming any kind of proper outsider or fiend?Need a place to hang? Like Discord? Don't mind dealing with a capricious demon lord? Then you're welcome to join our LGBTQ+ friendly, often silly, very geeky server to discuss food, music, video games, tabletop, and much more.
Manual of the Planes 5th Edition: for all the things the official 5E Planescape didn't cover. Check it out.
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2013-02-02, 04:11 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
has "Aha!" moment Perhaps it is the only such factor, and perhaps Acheron's architects are displeased with the deities for messing up their carefully-choreographed 4-dimensional geography. Perhaps it was originally even part of Mechanus before being corrupted by people who insisted on fighting their wars there? scribble scribble
This would probably just be a factor of needing to adapt or die; if you get thrown into a war zone, there are few safe alternatives to becoming a soldier.Last edited by willpell; 2013-02-02 at 04:15 AM.
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2013-02-02, 08:42 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
What can you tell us about the prime material world of Ortho?
Metal Perfection - a template for creatures born on Mirrodin.
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2013-02-02, 10:00 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Could you describe Temporal Hounds and Temporal Dimensionals in more detail (or, if that would take up a lot of your time, could you list the sources they appeared in)?
Also, what other creatures besides Time Dragons live in the Temporal Plane?Extended Homebrew Signature
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2013-02-02, 10:51 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Very little, I'm afraid. It's a distant Prime world; not on any of the usual Flow routes. When I say distant, I mean really distant - it's not on the orders of magnitude of some truly alien races, but... well, let's see.
Ortho is off the Arcane Outer Flow, itself a rather distant flow river. It's not as far off as some truly segregated worlds, but it will still take 13d10 days of navigation to get there from the AOF. To get an idea of what sort of distance is involved, if you departed from Realmspace (Toril), you'd be looking at a solid year of travel on some large flow rivers to get to the point where you'd launch off of normal routes to get to Ortho.
It is, of course, the Material Plane world that gave rise to the Harmonium, which is why you're asking in the first place. Unfortunately, it is largely undocumented beyond its placement on the star charts and its mention in that role. It is suggested that it's a world dominated by lawful neutral individuals and governments, with lawful good and lawful evil both represented in numbers and chaotic individuals few and far between and quite displeased with the world on which they find themselves.Need a place to hang? Like Discord? Don't mind dealing with a capricious demon lord? Then you're welcome to join our LGBTQ+ friendly, often silly, very geeky server to discuss food, music, video games, tabletop, and much more.
Manual of the Planes 5th Edition: for all the things the official 5E Planescape didn't cover. Check it out.
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2013-02-02, 11:08 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Hmmmm, interesting. A pity it was never properly fleshed out, however. But your answer raised a question for me: where in the flow is Athas? I know it has the Grey impeding entrance into the Crystal Sphere, but is it out of regular routes in the Phlogiston, like Ortho?
Last edited by Larkas; 2013-02-02 at 11:08 AM.
Metal Perfection - a template for creatures born on Mirrodin.
True Ferocity - a simple fix for Orcs and Half-Orcs.
Monastic Magus - a spiritual successor to the Unarmed Swordsage.
Pathfinder-ish Synthesist - a simple fix making Synthesist Summoners follow polymorph rules.
Sword & Sorcery for Sneaky Scoundrels - rogue archetypes/fixes that aim to turn the rogue into a warrior/caster.
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2013-02-02, 11:23 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
I hope I didn't just miss the answer to this, but can you elaborate on the Harmonium? I tried googling it and got nowhere.
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2013-02-02, 11:27 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2008
Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Fans call it the Crimson Sphere, due to the light shed by its dark sun (title drop!) and possibly also to the many lives lost trying to get in and out (it is doable, but nobody would recommend it. The Crimson Sphere is situated off of an unnamed flow river with one end in touching Heartspace, itself on the Radiant Flow (the main river linking Greyspace [Oerth], Krynnspace [Krynn] and Realmspace [Toril]). It's about 7d10 days out from the nearest river, and very close to a known sphere. It would take about 138 days to get to that sector of space from Realmspace; you could shave a few days off using some less known routes around the Radiant Triangle.
Perhaps this will help you out.
Also, Larkas, you may appreciate this.Last edited by afroakuma; 2013-02-02 at 11:51 AM.
Need a place to hang? Like Discord? Don't mind dealing with a capricious demon lord? Then you're welcome to join our LGBTQ+ friendly, often silly, very geeky server to discuss food, music, video games, tabletop, and much more.
Manual of the Planes 5th Edition: for all the things the official 5E Planescape didn't cover. Check it out.
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2013-02-02, 04:36 PM (ISO 8601)
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2013-02-02, 04:40 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
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2013-02-02, 06:18 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Temporal hounds are relatives of blink dogs native to Temporal Prime. They have time-based powers (they can haste themselves, for one) and are generally rather friendly. Sometimes they slip into reality to hunt food, though it weakens them greatly.
Time dimensionals are the "elementals" of Temporal Prime, creatures composed of the essence of time itself. Immensely powerful, even the most common and lowly can cause temporal shockwaves, pull temporal echoes of themselves in to join an attack, and absorb chronomantic spells while resisting most other magic entirely. Higher-level time dimensionals wield tremendous powers over time and are to be avoided at all costs.
Also, what other creatures besides Time Dragons live in the Temporal Plane?
Extensive. They're putting a lot of work into it, which is very cool. Fanmade stuff for outdated settings tends to put a great deal of care into it (the star chart I consult on distances has included even third-party worlds such as Golarion based on context when there's no canon available).Need a place to hang? Like Discord? Don't mind dealing with a capricious demon lord? Then you're welcome to join our LGBTQ+ friendly, often silly, very geeky server to discuss food, music, video games, tabletop, and much more.
Manual of the Planes 5th Edition: for all the things the official 5E Planescape didn't cover. Check it out.
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2013-02-02, 08:05 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Acheron has no architects. None of the Outer Planes do. Look, if you don't like canon, then you don't like canon (Asmodeus only knows that I hate quite a bit of it) but stop acting like just because the canon you're learning here is something you dislike it must be wrong and non-canon.
Yes, Acheron looks a little Chaotic on the outside. You know what, from the outside Carceri looks a little lawful. But Acheron isn't chaotic. Acheron is battle without resolution, law without harmony, order without structure, misery without hope, death without glory, unity without individuality. Acheron is not a plane that hates you; indeed, it is Acheron's utter indifference to you that eventually kills you. Acheron is the grinding monotony of hopelessness, and it is the weary horror of cynicism so great that it consumes morality. The sergeant who grows weary of fighting corruption and embraces bribery goes to Acheron; the office drone who takes out his misery on others by providing them barriers to actual help goes to Acheron. It is the punishment for which there was no crime, the penalty without a violation, the monolithic crushing indifference of Law with no moral compass, of conflict without belief, of tyranny without vanity.
Acheron doesn't hate you.
It wants you to die anyway.Last edited by Lord_Gareth; 2013-02-02 at 08:07 PM.
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2013-02-02, 11:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Well spoken, sir.
Need a place to hang? Like Discord? Don't mind dealing with a capricious demon lord? Then you're welcome to join our LGBTQ+ friendly, often silly, very geeky server to discuss food, music, video games, tabletop, and much more.
Manual of the Planes 5th Edition: for all the things the official 5E Planescape didn't cover. Check it out.
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2013-02-02, 11:36 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
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2013-02-02, 11:44 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
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2013-02-03, 12:30 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Here here. That was a mighty good description.
Would anyone happen to have a similar one for Carceri / Tarterus (whichever you want to all it).Roll for it 5e Houserules and Homebrew
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2013-02-03, 12:50 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Carceri, the Red Prison, is a plane of injustice. Carceri is a mockery of law and lawful thinking, seen through a lens of powerful and self-defeating malevolence. Carceri is full of vain struggle, wretched anguish, trapped rage, and a heady mix of hope and despair that drives its inhabitants mad. From the outside, Carceri looks lawful - it is a prison, after all - but the thing that separates Carceri from ordinary prisons is that no one is in charge, and despite delusions to the contrary no one can ever be in charge. Though the denizens of Carceri make some effort to separate 'prisoners' from people who 'just live there' (that is, who are not locked up in a specific prison complex, prison structure, or torment) the truth is that all being in Carceri are prisoners, trapped there by their own fear, hate, mistrust, paranoia, vices, greed, desires, and malice.
And, really, that's the thrust of Carceri. The Red Prison mocks you with hope, offering escape and giving only frustration and despair. Even if you leave, it drags you right back, proving that any escape is merely temporary. Its "wardens" cannot leave, and they cannot impose order on their prisoners any further than the reach of their weapons. Riots and murder abound, a seething mass of hate and frustration that shakes the bars and rattles the cages, echoing through the plane and mixing with the shrieks of pain and pleasure. Really, it's not the plane keeping you there, it's you.
It was always you. It's Carceri's greatest and cruelest irony. In the end, the reason you will never leave is that even if you were fit for society once, you never will be again. You can leave Carceri, but Carceri, it never leaves you.
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2013-02-03, 01:32 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Ooh, so deinitely not a holiday location then.
Thanks for that Gareth! Helps my BBEG development a ton.Roll for it 5e Houserules and Homebrew
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2013-02-03, 10:53 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
*watches thread function on cruise control*
Need a place to hang? Like Discord? Don't mind dealing with a capricious demon lord? Then you're welcome to join our LGBTQ+ friendly, often silly, very geeky server to discuss food, music, video games, tabletop, and much more.
Manual of the Planes 5th Edition: for all the things the official 5E Planescape didn't cover. Check it out.
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2013-02-03, 10:55 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: afroakuma's Planar Questions Thread! (You ask, I'll answer)
Acheron and Carceri have now jumped way closer to the top of my list of most interesting planes. I really like how they're corrupted versions of the opposites of their ethical components; that's just so incredibly fitting.
Last edited by Answerer; 2013-02-03 at 10:55 AM.