A DM’s Directory of Demiplanes
From: Philip Reed and Michael Hammes/Ronin Arts
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
A DM’s Directory of Demiplanes is a new d20 Fantasy e-Source Book from Philip Reed and Michael Hammes.
A DM’s Directory of Demiplanes is a book that examines eight demiplanes to expand your planar adventures and campaigns within the d20 fantasy system. One of the things that did interest me in fantasy games was planar travel and plot lines related to that. Based on the title and the dark and brooding cover art, I was intrigued by the PDF. Both authors are well accredited in the industry, so this encouraged me further.
From page #6 :
“… a demiplane might be as small as a single room or as large as thousands of miles across.”
The eight demiplanes presented are the Ageless Chamber, the Astral Ship, the Blackguard’s Tomb, the Bone Field, the Burning River, the Chiming Clocks, the Clockwork-Driven Lighthouse, and the Great Corpse. I’ll go into each below. Each plane is given a Knowledge (The Planes) DC, representing how well-known and how easy it is to find out about this particular demiplane.
The Ageless Chamber – “Floating somewhere within the Astral Plane is a small cubic room created partly from that plane’s essence.” The Ageless Chamber is a place where the pass of time has no effect on anyone within the chamber. However, once the occupant leaves the chamber, the ravages of time immediately take effect. The chamber itself is a room with a single door and three windows. It morphs and adapts to the occupant’s comfort. Also, no magic will work in the chamber.
The Astral Ship forever sails the Astral Plane, never anchored long in one place. Once a vessel for celestials using it to travel between planes, it is now home to a band of demon-pirates. Magic is enhanced on the ship and gravity is controlled by the individual. Most notable is how the ship sails – the Room of Souls. Basically its engine room, the Room of Souls contains captured ethereal creatures that magically power the ship. It is up to the DM to populate the ship with demons of his choice.
The Blackguard’s Tomb is buried deep within the void of the Negative Energy Plane. This small demiplane was created when the favored blackguard of an evil deity fell in battle against the good.It is the secret tomb of this blackguard’s body, whose soul was stolen by celestial beings to prevent his resurrection. The Tomb itself has a certain draining effect to any visitor. Negative-energy spells are enhanced while positive-energy spells are hindered. The only major feature of the demiplane is Aura of Restriction which protects the remains of the blackguard.
The Bone Field is another demiplane related to the Negative Energy Plane. It is a flat plane of pure evil composed of countless bones. It acts as an endless resource of bone warriors to some necromancers. It too has a draining effect on any visitors. The most notable feature is the Mausoleum – a 20-foot tall building, rectangular-shaped, 300 feet on its long axis and 100 feet on its short axis, completely constructed of bone. It also has many inhabitance, most of which are bone warriors. One creature that inhabits this demiplane is called the necrophidius, which is completely stat’ed out.
From page #32:
“It was well that we had one of the lava children along to guide us, for although the Burning River is not particularly large, the ever changing borders of the dragons’ and devils’ domains made travel most treacherous.”
The Burning River is a giant ring-shaped demiplane made of rocks and lava thrown forth from a great volcano near the center of the Elemental Plane of Fire that erupted many millennia ago.It is populated by fire elementals, lava weirds, and other fire-aligned creatures. The environment of this demiplane is extremely hostile to Material Plane creatures and those without resistance or immunity to fire are swiftly immolated. Some notable features of this demiplane are Flaming Well (a well of burning lava) and the Spiral Staircase (huge stone spiral staircase in the middle of a lava flow) – two great places to hide something.
Originally constructed by the time flayers, the Chiming Clocks is slowly collapsing, falling to pieces as the larger Elemental Plane of Air that envelops it crushes and absorbs it. This small demiplane was made for the purpose of unmaking entire worlds.Celestials wiped out the time flayers but left the Chiming Clocks intact. For millennia, they left an old red dragon to guard it until he fell in battle against demons intent on taking the power of the Clocks. Now, no less than four celestial warriors watch over it. Spells with an air affinity or relationship are enhanced, while spells that are earth related are impeded. Noted features are the the Planar Chronometer (an hour-glass like device that measures time within the plane relative to another plane) and the Gong of Alert (the device the celestials use to call for reinforcements if the Clocks are in danger). Statistics for the Time flayers are also given.
T he Clockwork-Driven Lighthouse is a circular structure of steel and granite that travels in the space between the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane. On certain nights on the Material Plane, it sometimes can be seen. Recently built by the forces of Lawful Good, it serves two purposes. First, it acts as a beacon for the forces and faithful of Lawful Good in the night sky of the Material Plane, and second, it serves as a weapon against opposing alignments. The weapon side is VERY nasty for non-Lawful Good Aligned characters if it so happens to focus on them. It is maintained by the Keepers (creatures that are stat’ed out later in the section). Interestingly, it can be converted to another alignment if taken over by members of that alignment.
The Great Corpse – “Make thou the journey to the lifeless god, for only there will you find your answers. -Vision received by Leonid Minsky. “ When a god dies, sometimes the corpse remains after the manna is long gone, occasionally resting on some plane, at other times floating among the planar aether, pushed along by the cosmic winds. The Great Corpse is such a case, floating in the swirling light of the Positive Energy Plane.It is now home to many planar denizens who inhabit the community called God’s Rest.This reminds me of a Farscape episode – anyone remember the Budong? Magic is wild on this demiplane and it has a slight dominance of positive energies. One particular notable feature is God Touch – when on this demiplane, clerics may speak directly with their deity.
From page #67:
“For planar travelers without access to powerful spells, planar gates are the key to crossing the infinite realms of existence.”
Also included is the Appendix: A Dozen Unusual Gates, which contains 12 gates including The Bridge to Damnation, The Changing Room of Dreams, The Living Construct, The River to Other Realms, The Subterranean Keyhole, and The Wardrobe of Cities. All are great ways to get the above demiplanes and good ideas for quest adventures for your campaign.
In conclusion , I liked this supplement reasonable well. Although I do not delve into planar travel much (let alone fantasy), this sort-of made me want to. It gave me ideas for some of my current gaming, even though it is Star Wars. There were some planes that I did not quite get. I did not understand why a DM would send his players there. However, overall, I found the e-book reasonably inspiring and well-written. I am not sure it is worth $9.95 however.
For more details on Philip Reed and Michael Hammes and their new d20 Fantasy e-Source Book “ A DM’s Directory of Demiplanes” check them out at their website http://www.roninarts.com/.
A DM’s Directory of Demiplanes
From: Philip Reed and Michael Hammes/Ronin Arts
Type of Game: d20 Fantasy e-Source Book
Written by: Philip Reed and Michael Hammes
Game Design by: WotC (D&D 3.5)
Developed by: Philip Reed and Michael Hammes
Color Artwork:Ted Wing
B&W Artwork: Paul Daly
Number of Pages: 75
Game Components Included: One PDF Sourcebook
Game Components Not Included: Core d20 Fantasy Rulebooks
Retail Price: $ 9.95 (US)
Website: http://www.roninarts.com/
Reviewed by: Ron McClung