Quote from: Christmas ApeYeah, there was a response to that concern in an ENWorld thread. He meant more like Jupiter's tens of thousands, just worded it badly.

There's also the argument that 3000 miles sounds small when you talk about it being the USA, and much larger when it's 3000 miles of demon-infested hostile planar terrain you travel through on foot.


As with 90% of the tidbits they've released, I'm excited about the new cosmology. In fact, the most excited about it above all other tidbits. And I really don't care what that makes me.

Quote from: MelanHeeeeyyyy, could this be the first thing I will like about 4e? Looks like it! Although the names are typical Cheesy Fantasy nonsense (Feywild? Shadowfell? :confused: ), but they look interesting, and what's better, adventurable. One of my biggest problems with the Great Wheel structure, especially as it was presented in Manual of the Planes, is how it discouraged planar adventuring. The planes were mostly uninteresting and deadly. This stuff looks like normal characters may visit them on 5th level or so, and survive. Nice! :cool:

Quote from: CabTo a great extent I think that adventuring in the planes was uninteresting in 1st ed because MotP was so dry to read through. You could do a lot with it, but I for one didn't feel inspired.

To me it looks like the model for the planes in 4th ed is somewhat more close to classic D&D than to AD&D. More open, more vast.

I'd like to see what they mean to do with elemental planes, thats not entirely clear there.

Quote from: WarthurThe Elemental Chaos

All of the cosmos is not tied to the mortal world as closely as the Feywild or Shadowfell. The natural world was created from the infinite expanse of the Elemental Chaos (or Tempest, or Maelstrom), a place where all fundamental matter and energy seethes. Floating continents of earth, rivers of fire, ice-choked oceans, and vast cyclones of churning clouds and lightning collide in the elemental plane.

Powerful beings tame vast portions of the chaos and shape it to their own desires. Here the efreeti City of Brass stands amid a desert of burning sand illuminated by searing rivers of fire falling through the sky. In other places in the Elemental Chaos, mighty mortal wizards or would-be demigods have erected secret refuges or tamed the living elements to build their domains.

Elemental creatures of all kinds live and move through the Elemental Chaos: ice archons, magma hurlers, thunderbirds, and salamanders. The most dangerous inhabitants are the demons. In the nadir of this realm lies the foul Abyss, the font of evil and corruption from which demonkind springs. The Abyss is unthinkably vast—thousands of miles in extent—and in its maw swirl hundreds of demonic domains, elemental islands, or continents sculpted to suit the tastes of one demon lord or another. Within the Elemental Chaos, heroes might explore:

* The crystalline tower of a long-dead archmage;
* A grim fortress monastery of githzerai adepts;
* The diseased Abyssal continent where Demogorgon rules amid ruined temples and bloodthirsty jungle beasts; or
* A vast polar sea lit only by the cold glitter of icebergs and flickering auroras, in which the frozen stronghold of a frost giant warlock lies hidden.

Quote from: jeff37923IIRC, there are a Hell of a lot spells that use the Etheral Plane in them. I wonder how they will modify the spells after they get rid of the plane.

Quote from: XantherMaybe there is some beneift to banding together, a non-linear effect on the power of the area you control that protects you.  This maybe why the demons are all in one place; purely out of a sense of self preservation even though they hate being crowded and near each other.

Quote from: SettembriniActually it feels not grandiose, but waaaay smaller. Dunno why, just comes of rather smallish in scope.

Quote from: jgantsPersonally, I'm sick to death of the "mirror world" cliche thing.

Quote from: Christmas ApeNo?Seems relatively clear to me. They got all smashed together into a chaotic plane the size of the Astral, with the seething wound of the Abyss smack dab in the middle.

Quote from: CabMaybe, or maybe that means distinct elemental planes with all manner of quasi-elemental planes between... It could be that planar travel is finally a form of dimensional movement, and that the chaos thus viewed exists in that dimension of flow. Dunno. I'd favour distinct elemental planes, to be honest.

QuoteRegiones

Occasionally, within very special supernatural areas, special types of auras arise. These may exist within larger domains or by themselves, and may be of any type of aura. They are called regiones (singular regio, "realm"). Unlike other auras, regiones form self-contained worlds unique to the realm that they are aligned with.

Regiones have aura ratings from 1 to 10, which affect supernatural powers just like other aura ratings. The only concrete mechanical difference is that vis use in regiones other than magical is dangerous--double the botch dice in such environments.

Regiones consist of several levels of aura, layered one on top of another in order of increasing power; the lowest level is connected to the mundane world. To picture this phenomenon, imagine the contour lines of a hill on a map. Each line, from the bottom to the top, is like an aura rating within the regio. The mundane world is like the flat land surrounding the hill. And, just as contour lines encompass smaller areas towards the top, so levels of higher aura rating tend to occupy less space than those beneath.

The aura levels of a regio occupy space, much as contour lines represent height on a map. In reality, a hill occupies three dimensions, but the map compresses it into a flat image. Likewise, each level of a regio is a different supernatural dimension, but all coexist in the same mundane location. The illustration demonstrates this pictorially.

There's nothing to distinguish regiones from other auras, until one realizes that varying levels of reality exist on the same spot. A regio level that is more attuned to its realm has a higher aura rating, and so looks different from the rest. Lower levels appear only slightly changed from the mundane world, while higher levels tend to acquire many of the characteristics of their native realms.

Regiones have inhabitants, just like other areas of supernatural aura. These beings tend to cluster on specific levels, though they can cross level boundaries freely. The higher one travels in the regio, the stranger and more supernaturally aligned its inhabitants become.

Entering and Leaving Regiones

When physically crossing the boundary of a regio, travelers disappear from the ordinary world and enter supernatural realms. There are three methods of entering regiones: being lead, voluntarily entering, and getting lost.

Any being directly connected to the realm associated with a regio can automatically lead up to a dozen mortals or magi into that regio. Faeries can lead mortals into faerie regiones, angels and people with True Faith can lead people into divine regiones, demons and people who have sold their souls can lead people into infernal regiones, and magical beasts can lead mortals into magic regiones.

Voluntarily entering regiones involves seeing the next level of the regio and then entering it. Once a level has been seen it may automatically be entered. Only characters with some sort of special perception may see into regiones. Second Sight and Magic Sensitivity both allow characters to see into magic regiones. Sense Holiness & Unholiness allows characters to see into both divine and infernal regiones. Faerie Sight (a +1 Virtue described in the Faeries supplement) allows characters to see into faerie regiones. To see a level, roll a stress die + Perception + the appropriate talent against an ease factor of 5 + (2 x the difference between the level you are on and the level you are trying to see). For example, the ease factor for trying to see from a level 4 regio into a level 1 (or vice versa) would be 5 + (2 x 3) = 11. Modifiers for local conditions or for specific dates and holidays can change the ease factor by as much as +/- 10. Carrying an object associated with the realm can subtract up to five from the ease factor.

Magi can cast level 20 InVi spells to see into regiones. A different spell must be learned for each of the four types of regiones. Many alchemists and herbalists know how to make salves and potions which allow users to temporarily see into regiones. Anyone who can enter a regio can also take along up to a dozen others with them.

Beings who become lost near a regio boundary may roll to see if they enter (or leave) accidentally, even if they cannot normally see in. The ease factor is the same, but only Perception is added to the stress roll.

Quote from: SettembriniActually it feels not grandiose, but waaaay smaller. Dunno why, just comes of rather smallish in scope.

Quote from: jgantsPersonally, I'm sick to death of the "mirror world" cliche thing.

Quote from: pspahnFor the uninformed (like me) can someone please post a link to where they're getting all this info?  Much appreciated.