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: 97 Then in 1993, TSR wanted to do a series of books about the Outer Planes which Zeb Cook said led to the creation of the Planescape campaign setting released in 1994. : 97 However, campaign settings such as Dark Sun and Ravenloft were inaccessible in this cosmology. : 93Ĭarbonell also highlighted that the 1989 Spelljammer campaign setting added cosmology that "allowed travel between the different settings" such as Dragonlance, Greyhawk, and the Forgotten Realms. Grubb's approach demonstrated a need to codify, while still remaining flexible, that has remained as a primary aim of the latest edition". This basic structure is still used in 5e, with some changes that provide minor rearrangements and clarifications. Carbonell wrote that project leader and designer Jeff Grubb detailed "the schematization of the planes' requisite five area: the Prime Material, the Ethereal, the Astral, the Inner, and the Outer planes.
#ASTRAL SEA MANUAL#
Carbonell, in his book the Dread Trident: Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Modern Fantastic, highlighted that information on the planes and the shared cosmology was codified in the Manual of the Planes (1987) and Tales of the Outer Planes (1988). Plane sizes can vary from the Attoplane (one-third of an inch across), through the Standard Plane (.085 light-years across), to the Terraplane (851 billion light years across), with stars and planets varying in size accordingly. The Astral Plane permeates and connects the rest of the Multiverse. The D&D multiverse was expanded with the D&D Immortals Rules (1986) set. Shannon Appelcline, the author of Designers & Dragons, highlighted that throughout the early 1980s Dragon magazine would continue to detail "some of the planes in more depth", however, "there was no overarching plan for the planes of D&D other than a few increasingly old drawings". The appendix of the Player's Handbook included an abstract diagram of the planes, and mentioned the same 16 Outer Planes. The planes were further "refined in the Players Handbook (1978) and Deities & Demigods (1980)". The "Basic edition" of D&D had a separate, though similar, cosmology from that of its contemporary AD&D game, which is more open and less regulated than that of its counterpart. In the article "Planes: The Concepts of Spatial, Temporal and Physical Relationships in D&D", Gary Gygax mentions that there are 16 Outer Planes.
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The cosmology of the planes was presented for the first time, as part of the Great Wheel of Planes, in Volume 1, Number 8 of The Dragon, released July 1977. : 95 For example, the Eberron setting has only thirteen planes, all of which are unique to Eberron. In addition, some Dungeons & Dragons settings have cosmologies that are very different from the "standard" ones discussed here. The 5th Edition brought back a new version of the Great Wheel cosmology which includes aspects of World Axis model. : 86 The 4th Edition of the game shifted to the World Axis cosmology. This later evolved into what became known as the Great Wheel cosmology.
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The concept of the Inner, Ethereal, Prime Material, Astral, and Outer Planes was introduced in the earliest versions of Dungeons & Dragons at the time there were only four Inner Planes and no set number of Outer Planes. There have been various official cosmologies over the course of the different editions of the game these cosmologies describe the structure of the standard Dungeons & Dragons multiverse. Each plane is a universe with its own rules with regard to gravity, geography, magic and morality. The planes of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game constitute the multiverse in which the game takes place.