Birthright and the Planes

[Lee]

This was one of the elements that drew me to BR in the first place, I do not like the weirder `worlds` of D&D. Having the closed system of only Aebrynis and Shadow World really appealed to me.

Lee.


In a message dated 8/24/2007 5:08:02 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, brnetboard@BIRTHRIGHT.NET writes:

BR has a unique cosmology, it`s pretty much bipolar.

There`s the material plane, and the shadow world, that`s pretty much it. For the most part, the shadow world is a copy of the material world that`s been twisted (to what degree in a given area depends on a lot of things) the other `planes` as they would be referred to in other settings, are in BR more like pocket dimensions within the shadow world, like our favorite bags of holding/portable holes/assorted magical shelters/etc are in the prime material. you can literally go from being in the shadow world to being in what other campaigns refer to as an outer plane in a single step.

[bbeau22]

You could always have it as the gods simply discourage travelling the planes or even perhaps block it. That doesn't mean the occasional angel or devil couldn't show up but certainly stops people from visiting the heavens.

That might be why a simple Monster Summoning might work. You are pulling from the heavens and hell but the creature didn't really make the trip (and can't really die.)

What does that mean to spells like Planar Ally and Gate? What I think would be interesting is to have very specific creations by different Birthright gods that could answer the call. Perhaps a lesser, normal and greater versions for each god to match the spell.

-BB

[kgauck]

The gods must dwell somewhere, and I don't think they are squatters on some vacant lot in the Shadow World, so I rather think they dwell in the old home areas of the old gods, which function as extra planes, if you like, but since there is no multi-verse, they are only planes in the sense that you can't just wander on over and that different rules may apply.

The descriptions of what planes the gods dwell on from BoP are handy in that you can use materials for those planes for the gods if you like, without the rest of the multi-verse stuff.

The multi-verse stuff was optional to begin with. But every setting has its own planar situation. We have a daylight realm, a shadow world, and some divine realms. As far as spells are concerned, I just apply them to the Birthright setting. Planes, as a term, I reckon is the wizard's phaseology for what the cleric might call World so that what the Priest of Haelyn or Ruornil calls the Shadow World, the wizard might call the plane of shadow or the ethereal plane. Etheral Jaunt, fine, its a brief journey through the Shadow World.

[MatanThunder]

For my game the setting is just another part of the same planar and spelljamming cosmos. The region is tougher to reach or leave in some cases, but I have already posted on this site how close the Shadow World and Shadow Planes are described. It is the same place, and now you add that the gods of Birthright have their home planes detailed in the Book of Priestcraft, and you can easilly see that the Birthright campaign setting is connected to all the rest.

Part of the difficulty in reaching/exiting the setting is part of the nature of magic that some have pointed out for magic use there. Most creatures are just not capable of breaching the exit points. Also when the magic user/cleric in question is a "Regent' why would they want to leave.

It comes back to the analogy of being a big fish in a small bowl vs a small fish in a much bigger bowl. You can be the top dog regent of a provence in the birthright setting or you can be a mage/cleric among many others breaching the planes and travelling willy nilly about them.

Each to their own, but for me Birthright is just another campaign setting linked to the other planes (and spell jamming space) the same as all the rest.

Later

[Riggswolfe]

For my game the setting is just another part of the same planar and spelljamming cosmos. The region is tougher to reach or leave in some cases, but I have already posted on this site how close the Shadow World and Shadow Planes are described. It is the same place, and now you add that the gods of Birthright have their home planes detailed in the Book of Priestcraft, and you can easilly see that the Birthright campaign setting is connected to all the rest.

This is pretty close to how I consider it. I've always viewed the Birthright world as being in a sphere with a tough shell. It can be pierced, but it is difficult. So, while the other planes still exist, Birth right is largely cut off from them unless someone knows very specifically how to get to it.

[cccpxepoj]

i played one adventure when we were outsiders from other planes in birthright and trust me it was one of the worst adventures in my life. The feeling was just not right.

[niekell]

Years late... but no-one else seems to have offered this take on it so here I go...

I'm with Riggswolfe on the "tough shell" concept, except I tend to consider the shell to be the Shadow World itself. I consider it an interceding layer that exists as a filter around the sunlit world of Aebrynis. This has a number of effects which bring about the "tough shell" condition. I'm working off the premise that the Shadow World sheared off as explained in the official Shadow World history, and that since Diesmar the essence of Azrai in the form of the Darkling has been corrupting as much as it can get its hands on. The Sidhe and other fae folk resist this, but their pockets are limited by the extent of their will and tend not to be as solid or permanent due to their generally chaotic and fickle nature. Still, the Sidhe and fae folk are intimately tied to Aebrynis as one cannot exist without the other, so they do not leave their Shadow World havens for long, if at all.
Throw into this mix both naturally occurring portals and people magically creating portals, and if it comes from or goes to Aebrynis it MUST go through the Shadow World to get there. This means the Darkling knows about it, and as the pre-eminent power of the Shadow World (okay perhaps sharing that role with the Seelie and Unseelie rulers, but they aren't interested in interfering in the same way being more of isolationists in nature) it can choose to close, shift, trap, ward, or send guardians to each portal in the blink of an eye. So natural portals are something the Darkling has minions watching, ready to recruit evil-doers or ambush the goody-two-shoes who come through. Spellcast portals are just as dangerous as they force their way through the Shadow World TWICE, once to get in then again to get out to another plane! Since the Darkling should be able to detect major variations in the strength of the "veil" between Aebrynis and the Shadow World so it can use them to send through horrors to wreak terrible vengeance upon the sunlit world when possible, such a forced break should send enough of ripple through the shadows that it can detect it and react. (This is why it is much safer to slip through a naturally "thin" section of the "veil" rather that force ones way in with magic. This places importance on the location of existing known, or suspected, Shadow Doors. Having the Darkling sense the "veil" and not what crosses it means that smart adventurers can slip in and out on whatever business they need to without drawing the immediate attention of a hostile powerful entity.)
I use the general rule than anything summoned could be subverted by the transit through the Shadow World, this extends to teleportation like spells as they use the Shadow World's mutable distance and terrain to achieve the spell effect. So if a wizard tried to summon an Elemental or a Celestial creature, there is a chance based upon the strength of the ripple caused by the breach, that the summoning goes awry and instead they get a hostile creature of the same type but with a "Shadow" template rather than a Elemental or Celestial template. Ie. Try to summon a Celestial Hawk and you may end up with a Shadow Bloodhawk, or a Carrion Crow, both of which are hostile to the caster.
If a caster attempted a Dimension Door, there is a chance that they just don't come back, just as there is a chance that they pick up a hitchhiker sent by the Darkling that exits with them from the other end of the conduit. Teleport is even worse as you could unwittingly end up in the middle of a ambush set up for just such occasions by the Darkling. (I wrap the existing percentage chances for the teleport in the same again chance of Shadow Mishap.) Teleport without error I consider safe in so much as nothing will stop you or change your destination, if its still on Aebrynis, but the ripple that goes through the Shadow World is substantially larger and will be noticed by the Darkling, who may take other steps to prevent further transgression through 'its' realm.
Tainting both transportation magic and making summoning spells VERY dangerous keeps Aebrynis effectively separate from the rest of the Multiverse and still allows for it to be IN the Multiverse. Determined or powerful creatures can get in, as can those just caught up in some weird happenstance, but unless they're really lucky or powerful they may not survive the Shadow World to even see Aebrynis' sunlit shores. I think this preserves the idiosyncrasies of the Birthright setting sufficiently and discourages outside influence. It has worked perfectly as intended in any and all Birthright games I have run.

Just my 2c... with interest.