[3.5] Mechanical Ramifications of Removing the Outer and Inner Planes

[GreatDane]

I was originally going to drop this over in World-Building, but I realized that what I really needed was to figure out what this meant in terms of character abilities and the like.

So, in my next campaign world, there will be no Inner or Outer Planes. Of the standard D&D planes, we'll be working with only the Material, Ethereal, Shadow, and Astral Planes. What does this mean for the PCs? What abilities will they be missing? I've got a starting list here, but I want to catch as much as possible so I can address it before the campaign starts.

Here's what I've got so far:


Summon Monster I-IX is pretty much out.
Angels, demons, formians, slaadi, aasimars, elementals, and all those other wacky outsiders are absent from the campaign: they cannot be contacted, gated summoned, called, or be descended from.
The single god of this campaign exists in one of the four remaining Planes.
Warlocks and some sorcerers and maybe a few other classes (hexblades?) need somewhere else to get their powers.


Anything else? Any further suggestions that might enrich a campaign setting like this?

[inuyasha]

One thing that comes to mind are that healing and inflict spells are now gone because their respective planes are, this also affects many other spells like enervation.

[Draconium]

One thing that comes to mind are that healing and inflict spells are now gone because their respective planes are, this also affects many other spells like enervation.

This also affects touch attacks that use positive or negative energy, like that of a Dread Necromancer. Also, classes like the Planar Shepard would be noticeably weaker, to to the fewer options. Also, spells like Genesis that create demiplanes probably wouldn't exist, unless you aren't actually removing demiplanes, just the main planes.

[GreatDane]

I guess we are indeed keeping demiplanes. Handy haversacks are nice.

As far as healing and the like, I was worried about that too. Fortunately:

Despite their fundamental nature, they aren't required in your cosmology. The lack of an Elemental Plane of Air does not remove air from your Material Plane; the characters can still breathe. Nor does excising the Plane of Negative Energy get rid of energy drain or the undead.

[Psyren]

You don't have to throw summons out. Have them come from the Plane of Dreams instead, or have them be assembled on this plane (similar to Astral Constructs) from magical energy and the alignments/soulstuff/etc of mortals, or whatever else.

What's more, there is a major SM choice that comes from the inner planes that you can definitely leave in, namely elementals.

[Eox]

This (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/occult-adventures/occult-rules/esoteric-planes) nice little page from Occult Adventures is a good argument for keeping the Positive and Negatives, in my opinion. If you cut the outer/inner planes out, you have a nice prewritten bit about how the planes function for your players (Or parcel the information out when they make knowledge checks)

edit: I'm aware this is pathfinder content, but it's pure fluff either way

edit 2: For original content, I personally love me some elementals. Never 100% liked that they're outsiders though, they seem like they'd be a better fit as nature spirits who only really get loose when specifically summoned or the natural order goes terribly awry.

[nedz]

Whatever you want really.

Fluff is mutable, so you can refluff any spell to depend, or not, on these planes.

Even Elementals — they just can't come from their normal home.