Help wanted; Plane crafting (Lower + Shadow)

[Xuldarinar]

Im looking to create a cohesive plane for use in a campaign. Granted, while such a topic may be appropriate in world-building, I am not looking to necessarily flesh the world out in this discussion and here it stands a better chance of getting notice and therefore help. If anyone wants to help in any way, even if it is just to pitch ideas, I more than welcome it.



I want to create a plane that combines in my setting the following Pathfinder planes (Im simplifying the cosmology for the purpose of magic and eventually perhaps planar travel, sue me);

Abaddon
The Abyss
Hell
Shadow Plane

Additionally; One fluff element is the lawful denizens were not native but placed there. Although corrupted with time by the plane itself, they were and in some ways remain as wardens for the chaotic denizens deeper in. Don't worry about deities if you throw ideas, there are none here.




On a side note; The rest of the planes relevant consist of the following;
The material plane (by a different name, but the same deal)
The elemental planes (By a slightly different naming trope. Additionally, the etherial plane being made into a 5th elemental plane; The Elemental Realm of Aether)
The first world (different name, same deal, if I include it at all).

[nikkoli]

Are you trying to figure out what Planar traits said conglomerate plane would have and how to adapt outsiders to survive on this respahed plane?

[Xuldarinar]

Are you trying to figure out what Planar traits said conglomerate plane would have and how to adapt outsiders to survive on this respahed plane?

That and any flavor points people want to offer up. Broad structure, for instance. The abyss holds its many layers, hell holds its few, shadow is this twisted reflection to start, and abaddon is... abaddon.


Evil-Aligned is a given, but the rest.. Im not so sure. I want to pick the communities brains on what else would be thrown in with such a blend.

[nikkoli]

You said the Lawful denizens were like wardens.
Most of these planes have layers of some semblance.
So maybe the lawful "wardens" essence has bled out into the outer most layers, and they have pushed the chaotic things into its core and their essence has condensed into a vile ball of evil and chaos.
On top of this (i am not well versed on the shape of abbadon, but i am versed in the shape of hell and the abyss) you could have the dark shadowy parts piercing the different layers making a sort of network of ephemeral corridors that allow the two sides to bleed into areas torn with strife as the two apposing forces war on a planar level.
Hopefully that makes sense, and sounds cool.

[khadgar567]

Just for mind screw you can make lawfull good plane a giant red light district( If i remember corectly in past some nuns of churches consider sex as holly mission and ......... Let not go rest of the topic for sanity sake)

Edit i take all the responsibity of this post for disiplinaey actions

[inuyasha]

I very well may come and give you a bunch of fluff later today, is there any other important fluff that should be taken into consideration?

EDIT: Also, is there a name for this place? And are you restricting yourself to common tropes of the example planes (for example, having 9 specific layers resemble hell)?

[Xuldarinar]

I very well may come and give you a bunch of fluff later today, is there any other important fluff that should be taken into consideration?

EDIT: Also, is there a name for this place? And are you restricting yourself to common tropes of the example planes (for example, having 9 specific layers resemble hell)?

Theres no distinct name, though i've tossed some around.

Realm of the Reflection or Realm of the Echo have crossed my mind, but that emphasizes the shadow aspect and its similarities to the material far more than its lower-plane qualities.

[Aergoth]

If the lawful creatures are the wardens so to speak then it could simply adopt the layered structure of hell to start with.

In that case, treat each layer a little like this, mechanically. (This does mean they're seperate planes, in technicality, but this is how the abyss winds up working as well I think)

All Layers of Echo possess the following traits, unless otherwise noted.

Alterable Morphic
Finite Shape
Normal Gravity
Impeded Magic: Spells of the teleportation subschool are impeded within the Echo
Strongly Evil-aligned
A given layer of Echo is considered coexistant with the layers above and below it.
Layers may also be coterminous with deeper layers.


In addition to these traits, the higher the layer, the more lawfully aligned the given layer becomes.
The lower the layer, the more chaotically aligned it becomes, and the more mutable.
The highest layer of the Echo are coterminous with the material plane, and are strongly lawfully aligned. I would suggest for the sake of structuring this as a prison that this is the only place where you can plane shift to. Getting lower neccessiates things like gates or whatnot.
The lowest layer of the echo is essentially a formless seething mass of (possibly sentient) unfinished creation that has tendrils reaching up through the middle of this collection of layers, forming the coterminous points and allowing travel between layers that aren't close.