The Underlying Themes of the Planes of D&D

[LumenPlacidum]

I have been planning a campaign that involves the outer planes, and there is likely to be a part of the campaign where the party is going to have to enter an outer plane into one that's relatively conveniently accessible to them (maybe Gehenna or Hell) in order to make their way over to Acheron in pursuit of the villain. Then, I got to thinking of the character of the outer planes. I'm aware of the alignment connections of them, but it seems clear to me that each of the planes also has something of a unifying theme that seems tied to people of those alignments. But, I can't figure them all out...

The Gray Wastes of Hades seems to be based on the theme of the inevitability of bleak despair. The plane actually drains non-fiend inhabitants of emotions other than hopelessness, and are generally empty wastelands where the best thing that can happen to you is nothing.

The Nine Hells represent the evils of overwhelming bureaucracy and ruthless hierarchy. The only way to get ahead is through zero-sum games (or negative-sum games) that must necessarily bring others down.

Acheron has the very strong theme that war unceasing erodes any noble purpose of conflict. The inhabitants seem to be always at war and the plane is there for all the people who lose their sense of identity in unending wars of attrition that grind down their sense of self.

The Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus has the simple theme that there are predictable, consistent rules that govern everything that is. The universe is just a giant, beautiful mechanism that is working its way through its inevitable procedure without emotion or drama.

Arcadia seems to be about the theme that sometimes, control really does lead to the benefit of the greater good, rather than just being the tool of the tyrant.

The Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia have the theme that successive iterations of personal success and growth can lead to transcendence. All one needs to accomplish these things is determination and consistent progress of trying to be better than you were before.

Elysium just seems to represent the theme that living your life for others brings joy? I'm less clear on this one.

Arborea carries some themes that seem to connect ideas. I think of Arborea as representing beauty is equivalent to goodness. Here are the beneficent courts of the lords of the fey, and the elves, and the landscape is dramatic and powerful. But, not everything here is good; but the things that aren't good are in stark contrast to the beauty around them and are hunted.

Ysgard has the very strong theme that personal glory is inherently noble, whether in battle or in achievement. It's in stark contrast to Acheron, where unending conflict erodes the sense of nobility of conflict. In Ysgard, fighting all the time is for everyone's glory and fun--even the losers!

Limbo is awfully weird, but it should be. It seems that this is the fundamental chaos where that which is not yet known could be anything. In fact, the things that are known could revert to chaos anyway!

The Abyss honestly seems to just represent the idea that wickedness is infinite in scope and variety. It goes on forever, and is constantly spewing forth new, different horrors.

Finally, Tarterus/Carceri is the supermax prison of the planes. I get that as a unifying concept, but I'm not sure what philosophical maxim is really central to the plane.


Anyway...

I really have no concept whatsoever for some of the planes. I just don't understand the point of Gehenna, Bytopia, the Beastlands, or Pandemonium (creeping madness?). And, my concept of Tarterus is pretty weak.

Does anyone have any headcanon to share with me that might help to embellish some of these themes?

[PhoenixPhyre]

To me, the Great Wheel planes aren't thematic in origin, they're checkbox filling exercises from the alignment grid with themes stapled on post hoc. So yeah. Finding themes that resonate is hard because they're not originally designed for that.

[KorvinStarmast]

I have been planning a campaign that involves the outer planes, and there is likely to be a part of the campaign where the party is going to have to enter an outer plane into one that's relatively conveniently accessible to them (maybe Gehenna or Hell) in order to make their way over to Acheron in pursuit of the villain. Then, I got to thinking of the character of the outer planes. I'm aware of the alignment connections of them, but it seems clear to me that each of the planes also has something of a unifying theme that seems tied to people of those alignments. But, I can't figure them all out...

The Gray Wastes of Hades seems to be based on the theme of the inevitability of bleak despair. The plane actually drains non-fiend inhabitants of emotions other than hopelessness, and are generally empty wastelands where the best thing that can happen to you is nothing.

The Nine Hells represent the evils of overwhelming bureaucracy and ruthless hierarchy. The only way to get ahead is through zero-sum games (or negative-sum games) that must necessarily bring others down.

Acheron has the very strong theme that war unceasing erodes any noble purpose of conflict. The inhabitants seem to be always at war and the plane is there for all the people who lose their sense of identity in unending wars of attrition that grind down their sense of self.

The Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus has the simple theme that there are predictable, consistent rules that govern everything that is. The universe is just a giant, beautiful mechanism that is working its way through its inevitable procedure without emotion or drama.

Arcadia seems to be about the theme that sometimes, control really does lead to the benefit of the greater good, rather than just being the tool of the tyrant.

The Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia have the theme that successive iterations of personal success and growth can lead to transcendence. All one needs to accomplish these things is determination and consistent progress of trying to be better than you were before.

Elysium just seems to represent the theme that living your life for others brings joy? I'm less clear on this one.

Arborea carries some themes that seem to connect ideas. I think of Arborea as representing beauty is equivalent to goodness. Here are the beneficent courts of the lords of the fey, and the elves, and the landscape is dramatic and powerful. But, not everything here is good; but the things that aren't good are in stark contrast to the beauty around them and are hunted.

Ysgard has the very strong theme that personal glory is inherently noble, whether in battle or in achievement. It's in stark contrast to Acheron, where unending conflict erodes the sense of nobility of conflict. In Ysgard, fighting all the time is for everyone's glory and fun--even the losers!

Limbo is awfully weird, but it should be. It seems that this is the fundamental chaos where that which is not yet known could be anything. In fact, the things that are known could revert to chaos anyway!

The Abyss honestly seems to just represent the idea that wickedness is infinite in scope and variety. It goes on forever, and is constantly spewing forth new, different horrors.

Finally, Tarterus/Carceri is the supermax prison of the planes. I get that as a unifying concept, but I'm not sure what philosophical maxim is really central to the plane.


Anyway...

I really have no concept whatsoever for some of the planes. I just don't understand the point of Gehenna, Bytopia, the Beastlands, or Pandemonium (creeping madness?). And, my concept of Tarterus is pretty weak.

Does anyone have any headcanon to share with me that might help to embellish some of these themes? You are the DM. They are whatever you say that they are. Relax, and create.

[Verte]

This sounds like a cool thought exercise to make each of the planes more memorable. Do you have the sort of players who will get wound up if the planes are depicted differently from how they're described in the edition you're using?

Here are my thoughts on the four planes you mentioned:

Gehenna
Gehenna is a plane that will literally burn and scrape away your empathy and regard for other beings. The most obvious way to progress is to endure the lava and fire and push anyone else down the volcano. Essentially, the principle of this plane may be "look out for number one".


Pandemonium
The winds of Pandemonium will swallow your voice, while the cavernous mazes will thwart your mind and your memories. If you venture here, your very sense of self will subsumed by the plane. The principle of this plane may be that one's own self-conception and identity is meaningless when confronted with the void.

Bytopia
Bytopia is essentially a land where creating or working towards something - a bountiful harvest or beautiful crafts, for example - is of the highest order. The principle of this plane may be that the process of creation is just as virtuous as the result.

The Beastlands
I honestly have a hard time identifying a specific principle that this plane could exemplify. I think it could represent potentially represent the cycle of life and death, with no particular morality ascribed to either. I.e. the principle of this plane could be a particular lack of conscious principles.

[LumenPlacidum]

Hmm, the twisted caverns of Pandemonium represent the twisted thoughts of the mad? What holds you back from power is restraint. Why are you even trying to navigate the impossible corridors of thought? Abandon such petty rationality and claim the power inherent in freedom. Freedom to do what you want rather than what makes sense.


I feel like Bytopia has to have some connection to the fact that the plane has two layers where each is "up" from the other. But, I really like the idea that Bytopia might be the ultimate place to express the idea that labor itself is virtuous regardless of the outcome. Honestly, that sounds like the goodest good to me :P


Gehenna abrading away compunction and pushing its inhabitants to greater levels of selfishness, abandoning any kind of group-benefit feels pretty good, especially for the alignment of the plane. It's a little more evil than it is lawful, and the more lawful stuff deals more with group dynamics. Here, you sacrifice the group for yourself. Sounds perfect. I can make the plane more about the way that absolute rationality can be used to justify solely benefitting yourself.

[Psyren]

Quite honestly, I think the Giant nailed it in this comic (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1138.html) (see the big panel on the second page) so I'd probably start there.

[Eldan]

The concept of Carceri/Tartarus is that evil perpetuates itself. Carceri is a prison without guards. The inmates could escape it at any time, if they just trusted each other long enough. But it is the plane of traitors and exiles, so they all keep each other in check, because no one can trust anyone, and they all abuse each other.

Honestly, for the Beastlands, I have nothing.

Ysgard also has a theme of discovery and adventure. Going out and finding new things. While there's eternal battle and glory on the surface, the deeper layers are all about mystery. Endless caves filled with endless wonder and harsh natural beauty. Secretive dwarven smiths crafting unsurpassed artefacts. Ancient lost treasures and secrets. Mysterious, but wise creatures.

[Unoriginal]

Something I love about D&D Planes, or at least the 5e versions of them, is that it's not a question of reward or punishment for your acts during mortal life.

You just end up in the plane that is the most like yourself.


Meaning, the souls ending up in the evil Planes are suffering only because everyone there is just like them, while the souls in the good Planes have a great time because everyone there is like them.




Also, the Planes are not as much about a concept that they *are* the concept, only incarnated as a place. Gehenna is greed itself, Acheron is the horrors of war, Mechanius is order without morality, etc.

[Mastikator]

The themes of the great wheel and world axis are lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, neutral, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, chaotic evil.

The planes in the world tree cosmology are a bit less aligned and more themed.
Arvanador: wild natural beauty.
Brightwater: revelry in small villages and forests.
Dwarfhome: living in a mountain, craftsmanship and artistry.
Etc.

You can plug in World Tree cosmology to most settings, though it is the default in spelljammer or planescape if I'm not mistaken. (what is even the difference between these two? Both take place in the astral plane and in one you have a boat? They seem like you can just mash them together and there wouldn't even be any seams, but I'm getting away from topic)

I agree with PhoenixPyre that GW and WA are not actually themed, but rather that themes can be extrapolated from the details of the planes. I tend to view the lower planes in GW/WA as giant prisons and the upper planes as giant theme parks. The middle planes seem almost like placeholder planes to me to be honest.

[Eldan]

No, Planescape is entirely based on the wheel.

Spelljammer 2E didn't take place in the astral plane, but in space between the different Prime Material Worlds. They only put it in the Astral Plane in the 5th edition book, as part of simplifying and unifying the cosmology.

Planescape also doesn't take place on the Astral Plane very often. The Astral Plane is described as the Non-Space beyond and behind the planes, a kind "backstage area" which fuels magic. Low-key Lovecraftian, too, where time and space stop working and thoughts come alive. The planar travel in Planescape is mainly through Sigil, the City of Portals, by walking through the outlands, or by taking mythical, but quite physical planar highways, like sailing magical rivers or climbing world trees.

[Millstone85]

Quite honestly, I think the Giant nailed it in this comic (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1138.html) (see the big panel on the second page) so I'd probably start there.Seconding this. I also love how the page portrays the Astral Plane.


The themes of the great wheel and world axis are lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, neutral, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, chaotic evil.

The planes in the world tree cosmology are a bit less aligned and more themed.I would say the World Axis is the least "aligned" of the three cosmologies. First, it is part of an edition where the only alignments are LG, NG, TN, NE and CE, which is plain odd. And then that's not really the axis it is named after anyway. The Astral Sea could be said to be somewhat law-themed, especially in contrast to the Elemental Chaos, but that doesn't stop the existence of multiple CE astral dominions.

Meanwhile, the World Tree cosmology seems to ignore law and chaos to put emphasis on good versus evil. The World Tree itself only connects the Celestial Planes, while its counterpart the River of Blood cascades through the Fiendish Planes. There is also the Neutral Planes, floating between the tree and the river.

[Millstone85]

I think that, to an extent, each outer plane shares a theme with its opposite across the diameter of the wheel, or easily could.

Mechanus & Limbo
The Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus has the simple theme that there are predictable, consistent rules that govern everything that is. The universe is just a giant, beautiful mechanism that is working its way through its inevitable procedure without emotion or drama.
Limbo is awfully weird, but it should be. It seems that this is the fundamental chaos where that which is not yet known could be anything. In fact, the things that are known could revert to chaos anyway!Limbo also calls to the idea of a primordial chaos that existed before the universe became bound by predictable mechanisms. In 5e this puts Limbo in thematic competition with the Elemental Chaos, which isn't surprising since 4e introduced the EC as a reimagined version of Limbo complete with slaadi and githzerai.

Arcadia & Pandemonium

Arcadia seems to be about the theme that sometimes, control really does lead to the benefit of the greater good, rather than just being the tool of the tyrant.
Pandemonium (creeping madness?)Pandemonium could be about evil born of a harsh confusing environment, void of the security and guidance promised by a place like Arcadia.

Mount Celestia & the Abyss

The Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia have the theme that successive iterations of personal success and growth can lead to transcendence. All one needs to accomplish these things is determination and consistent progress of trying to be better than you were before.
The Abyss honestly seems to just represent the idea that wickedness is infinite in scope and variety. It goes on forever, and is constantly spewing forth new, different horrors.The Abyss is an ever-downward spiral, just getting worse and worse as you fall, most unlike the ascension of Mount Celestia.

Bytopia & Carceri

I just don't understand the point of Bytopia
And, my concept of Tarterus is pretty weak.I see these two as being about communities, whether they feel like a family in which everyone contributes or a crab basket that none will let any other escape.

Elysium & Hades

Elysium just seems to represent the theme that living your life for others brings joy? I'm less clear on this one.
The Gray Wastes of Hades seems to be based on the theme of the inevitability of bleak despair. The plane actually drains non-fiend inhabitants of emotions other than hopelessness, and are generally empty wastelands where the best thing that can happen to you is nothing.Both planes, I think, invite total abandon to an emotion, be it joy or despair. If so, that potentially makes Elysium just as disquieting as Hades, at least until the former makes you forget whatever worried you before.

The Beastlands & Gehenna

I just don't understand the point of Gehenna or the BeastlandsBest I can do there is the bounty of nature versus civilization's greed.

Arborea & Baator

Arborea carries some themes that seem to connect ideas. I think of Arborea as representing beauty is equivalent to goodness. Here are the beneficent courts of the lords of the fey, and the elves, and the landscape is dramatic and powerful. But, not everything here is good; but the things that aren't good are in stark contrast to the beauty around them and are hunted.
The Nine Hells represent the evils of overwhelming bureaucracy and ruthless hierarchy. The only way to get ahead is through zero-sum games (or negative-sum games) that must necessarily bring others down.These planes both invite court intrigue, with focus on either beauty or status.

Ysgard & Acheron

Ysgard has the very strong theme that personal glory is inherently noble, whether in battle or in achievement. It's in stark contrast to Acheron, where unending conflict erodes the sense of nobility of conflict. In Ysgard, fighting all the time is for everyone's glory and fun--even the losers!Just like you said.

I actually have this idea for "Looper Planes" that would wrap around from each outer plane to its opposite. They are on one of the planar maps in my signature, which I should really get to properly present in the homebrew section. Still, in short:

Chaosmos, a primordial forge where the raw potential of Limbo is given persistent shapes.
Panacea, a place of healing where evil is treated as an ailment to be cured with method and reason.
Eschaton, where the highest transcendence meets the deepest perdition. Also opens on the Far Realm.
Purgatory, where joining a community is about getting a second chance at being a good person.
Asphodel, a place where you get to become entirely detached from everything. No joy, no sadness, just peace.
The Edgelands, a place of constant strife between urbanization and wilderness, full of overgrown ruins.
The Wildhunt, where every encounter is unbalanced. A court is on your tracks and you better run.
Fólkvangr, where legendary heroes test their mettle against the most ruthless of armies.

[Tiktakkat]

I try and contrast the nature of the planes with those opposite them on the Great Wheel, both directly and in arcs. So all the partial planes - Arcadia, Bytopia, Beastlands, Ysgard, Pandemonium, Carceri, Gehenna, and Acheron reflect elements of the others.
I wrote the following summaries for my campaign, which are based on the Planescape descriptions with a few tweaks for my campaign.


At a certain point the group must give way to the individual for true happiness to be realized, and that point is Bytopia, where Good is more important than Law. The perfection of Celestia is just not perfect if it means so much loss of individuality. That makes Bytopia a bit harsher than Celestia, but that bit of challenge merely excites the petitioners.

As Chaos yields to Good, life becomes paramount. The Beastlands is the expression of that life. Life, life, and more life, in all sizes, shapes and forms. Well, mostly animal forms, though some plants as well. In many ways the Beastlands are what the name says – a realm of beasts, with humans and other life mere afterthoughts, if that much.
The planars and petitioners of the Beastlands are all about life. Their life anyway. They are part of and understand the nature of the plane, something that too often leaves visitors confused at best, dinner at worst.

As Evil overtakes Law, Baator gives way to the four-fold furnaces of Gehenna. While domination of others drives them, it is often subordinated to more base urges of violence and callous cruelty.
In this Gehenna is similar to Acheron in a loss of purpose. Cruelty, both of the inhabitants and the plane itself, is the means and the end, with actual control being almost incidental, an afterthought to enable greater opportunities for cruelty, but serving no real function otherwise.

Where Chaos fades and Evil rises, there are the prisons of Carceri. Selfish evil, too often completely unnecessary but still perpetrated, until it becomes an abomination even to other evil. That is Carceri, and why it is a prison.
Planars and petitioners alike have been consigned here for betrayals of one sort of other. While petitioners merit such by mere mortal venality, the violations of cosmic law that merit imprisoning a Power here are truly impressive. The actual native races that the plane has vomited out often seem mere minor reflections of the foulness of the inmates.

As Evil fades and Chaos takes over, the indulgence of the Abyss gives way to madness. There is certainly much cruelty still available in the caverns of Pandemonium, but always it fades before the madness. And the endless howling winds.
The petitioners and planars alike try to stay off the madness with their revels. But reflecting the forgotten causes of Acheron they only manage to find more madness within those revels. Everything is to excess but the excess never achieves anything.

If you want the others I can add them.

[Yanagi]

I have been planning a campaign that involves the outer planes, and there is likely to be a part of the campaign where the party is going to have to enter an outer plane into one that's relatively conveniently accessible to them (maybe Gehenna or Hell) in order to make their way over to Acheron in pursuit of the villain. Then, I got to thinking of the character of the outer planes. I'm aware of the alignment connections of them, but it seems clear to me that each of the planes also has something of a unifying theme that seems tied to people of those alignments. But, I can't figure them all out...

The Gray Wastes of Hades seems to be based on the theme of the inevitability of bleak despair. The plane actually drains non-fiend inhabitants of emotions other than hopelessness, and are generally empty wastelands where the best thing that can happen to you is nothing.

The Nine Hells represent the evils of overwhelming bureaucracy and ruthless hierarchy. The only way to get ahead is through zero-sum games (or negative-sum games) that must necessarily bring others down.

Acheron has the very strong theme that war unceasing erodes any noble purpose of conflict. The inhabitants seem to be always at war and the plane is there for all the people who lose their sense of identity in unending wars of attrition that grind down their sense of self.

The Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus has the simple theme that there are predictable, consistent rules that govern everything that is. The universe is just a giant, beautiful mechanism that is working its way through its inevitable procedure without emotion or drama.

Arcadia seems to be about the theme that sometimes, control really does lead to the benefit of the greater good, rather than just being the tool of the tyrant.

The Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia have the theme that successive iterations of personal success and growth can lead to transcendence. All one needs to accomplish these things is determination and consistent progress of trying to be better than you were before.

Elysium just seems to represent the theme that living your life for others brings joy? I'm less clear on this one.

Arborea carries some themes that seem to connect ideas. I think of Arborea as representing beauty is equivalent to goodness. Here are the beneficent courts of the lords of the fey, and the elves, and the landscape is dramatic and powerful. But, not everything here is good; but the things that aren't good are in stark contrast to the beauty around them and are hunted.

Ysgard has the very strong theme that personal glory is inherently noble, whether in battle or in achievement. It's in stark contrast to Acheron, where unending conflict erodes the sense of nobility of conflict. In Ysgard, fighting all the time is for everyone's glory and fun--even the losers!

Limbo is awfully weird, but it should be. It seems that this is the fundamental chaos where that which is not yet known could be anything. In fact, the things that are known could revert to chaos anyway!

The Abyss honestly seems to just represent the idea that wickedness is infinite in scope and variety. It goes on forever, and is constantly spewing forth new, different horrors.

Finally, Tarterus/Carceri is the supermax prison of the planes. I get that as a unifying concept, but I'm not sure what philosophical maxim is really central to the plane.


Anyway...

I really have no concept whatsoever for some of the planes. I just don't understand the point of Gehenna, Bytopia, the Beastlands, or Pandemonium (creeping madness?). And, my concept of Tarterus is pretty weak.

Does anyone have any headcanon to share with me that might help to embellish some of these themes?

I don't think you can really go wrong; most planes can be read as having multiple themes, and I'd argue that most materials I've read actively support expansive free interpretation of what you want a plane to be, and the presence of things like layers subject that many planes are not rigidly One Thing. My headcanon is extensive, basically an alternate setting at this point, based on my interpretations and additions to 2e Planescape material. Here's my interpretation of some:


Carceri is a spiritual prison first and a physical prison second. Every individual is set against every other in a way that creates total alienation--no stable community, no personal connections, not even the ability to relate to the self (and thus change for feel empathy). All its occupants--the petitioners, the various extraplanar occupants, and the native gehreleth (2e name, past that I think it's demondand)--have in common the kind of Machiavellian brainworms that makes most of their ambitions self-defeating, because everyone accepts the premise that it is all against all. The plane serves as a prison because it's occupants are never happier than when given the opportunity to assert total control over another person, and are willing to act as guards even as they are prisoners themselves. The gehreleth physically embody the traits of the plane--they literally grow from the substrate of Carceri's corpses, they are many and one but derive little benefit from this connectivity because their wants--to dominate, to wield cruelty without limitation--are self-destructive.

Hades is despair to outsiders, but to it's occupants it's their feeding grounds, where they experience the predator-triumph of meeting their desires at that expense of others: they reap opportunity from what's stripped from everyone else. At it's bottom, evil is selfishness, and in Hades that is entirely naked: souls become larva that are the currency of the Blood War; yugoloths sell their violence collectively while accepting that their internal order will always be zero-sum competition; the baernoloth have lost themselves in their wants, whether that's millenia-long plots or the fleeting sadistic pleasure.


Gehenna is an endless loop of chevauchee and pillage in which each and every combatant is acting out of a calculation of what they will gain personally, but the common appetites of all actors create hierarchies and alliances because order emerges from the chaos of self-interest. The land itself accepts the premise that is only a field of sacrifice, and rejects ownership with poison and fire. It is the home realm of the yugoloth because it's nature matches the contradictions of their nature: the lower orders as naked self-serving as an real-world mercenary, the higher orders perfuming their empty accumulation of power with grandiose tales of secret motives and plans that elevate the yugoloth above their observable, grasping actions. Like Carceri, it is a place of selfish folly.

Bytopia is a place where individuals are allowed to merely exist within community, with all parties understanding the power of common uplift and the importance of the daily labor of being kind and helpful. There are no secret powers governing Bytopia, its defenders are not its leaders. It is a boring plane compared to those directly involved in the great conflicts of the Wheel, but that's precisely it's point: the agents of The Good may not agree on everything, but they are willing protect a space in which people are allowed to find their own connections and social functions, trusting that all parties intuitively understand the power of small kindnesses and daily effort. The smallness and closeness of the stakes in Bytopia make it a place of healing for those that spend their existing fighting for high abstractions.

The Beastlands is difficult to understand even for other planar beings, but it's a place where the implicit connection between the self and nature can be explored: if Bytopia is about the goodness of the self within the context of other people, the Beastlands is about the goodness of understanding that the self is connected to all other things living and nonliving. In a Wheel that's otherwise defined by clearly-defined factions and hierarchical structures, where most things can be analogous to polytheistic and monotheistic cladograms of powerful beings that dictate the norms of their context, the Beastlands is animistic, shamanic. Each person experiences the wordless, intuitive goodness of simply being a part of the world.

(Beastlands is the plane I've altered the most in my home campaign to emphasize these themes.)

Pandemonium is similarly hostile to inhabitants, but there is nothing to be grasped there: the plane inflicts total isolation upon each individual. It shreds the senses the connect people to the world around them, bars communication, leaving only an eroding inner world into which the self collapses entirely or simply winks out. The caves systems embody the terrible aloneness, the killing solitude, inherent to individuality. It is a place for those lost inside themselves, but it offers not solace but further dissolution, further isolation, until they no longer exist...and this would be tragic, but the kind of entity that is draw to Pandemonium has an appetite for solipsism, is uninterested in other people or connection, even the glancing connectivity of conflict. The rare and terrible creature that is willing to dwell inside itself, to be utterly without connection or context, exists in those caves, but for the most part the plane is hostile to being and thought.

[Bohandas]

Finally, Tarterus/Carceri is the supermax prison of the planes. I get that as a unifying concept, but I'm not sure what philosophical maxim is really central to the plane.

I've seen people describe Tartarus as a crab bucket mentality and/or a hell-is-other-people sort of thing, where the inmates are also effectively the jailors as they knock each other down. I don't know enough of carceri's specific lore to know whether this fits with canon or not


I really have no concept whatsoever for some of the planes. I just don't understand the point of Gehenna, Bytopia, the Beastlands, or Pandemonium (creeping madness?). And, my concept of Tarterus is pretty weak.

Does anyone have any headcanon to share with me that might help to embellish some of these themes?

I think the Beastlands might be the embodiment of the naturalistic fallacy. The idea that natural=good and good=natural. Thus the intelligent animal spirits there hunt and kill each other but since they are in the form of animals they are still good.

Gehenna I feel there is some significance to it being the main powerbase of the yugoloths despite the yugoloths being native to hades. But I do not know what that significance is. There may be some further significance to the demodands, creations of an enemy of the yugoloths' creators, living on the opposite side of hades, but I'm not sure what the significance of this is either


The Gray Wastes of Hades seems to be based on the theme of the inevitability of bleak despair. The plane actually drains non-fiend inhabitants of emotions other than hopelessness, and are generally empty wastelands where the best thing that can happen to you is nothing.

...

Elysium just seems to represent the theme that living your life for others brings joy? I'm less clear on this one.

I think Elysium and Hades are poles of pure happiness and pure unhappiness. The other planes have material forces that make the inhabitants joyous or miserable, but Elysium and Hades eliminate the middleman and directly elevate or depress an occupant's mood.


The concept of Carceri/Tartarus is that evil perpetuates itself. Carceri is a prison without guards. The inmates could escape it at any time, if they just trusted each other long enough. But it is the plane of traitors and exiles, so they all keep each other in check, because no one can trust anyone, and they all abuse each other.

Now, the problem with this is twofold. Firstly the damned here suffer planar commitment, so only the mortal prisoners can leave. Second is that petitioners in most other planes suffer the same restraint so this technicality doesn't even boost Carceri's rep as a prison, and were it removed it would make Carceri less of a prison than most puter planes


I actually have this idea for "Looper Planes" that would wrap around from each outer plane to its opposite. They are on one of the planar maps in my signature, which I should really get to properly present in the homebrew section. Still, in short:

Chaosmos, a primordial forge where the raw potential of Limbo is given persistent shapes.
Panacea, a place of healing where evil is treated as an ailment to be cured with method and reason.
Eschaton, where the highest transcendence meets the deepest perdition. Also opens on the Far Realm.
Purgatory, where joining a community is about getting a second chance at being a good person.
Asphodel, a place where you get to become entirely detached from everything. No joy, no sadness, just peace.
The Edgelands, a place of constant strife between urbanization and wilderness, full of overgrown ruins.
The Wildhunt, where every encounter is unbalanced. A court is on your tracks and you better run.
Fólkvangr, where legendary heroes test their mettle against the most ruthless of armies.


Adding to this a plane of my own from the Adding to the Lower Planes (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?651095-Adding-to-the-Lower-Planes) thread. The Bottomless Pit theoretically connects the Grand Abyss to Nessus but is unreachable by non-magical means as both these places extend infinitely deep


The Nine Hells represent the evils of overwhelming bureaucracy and ruthless hierarchy. The only way to get ahead is through zero-sum games (or negative-sum games) that must necessarily bring others down.

...

The Abyss honestly seems to just represent the idea that wickedness is infinite in scope and variety. It goes on forever, and is constantly spewing forth new, different horrors.

Adding to this, my personal headcanon for them is that Baator is evil as a job, and the Abyss is Evil as fun. And that in particular to Hell the Blood War is waged as some pompous self-important crusade, whereas in the Abyss the Blood War is played as a frivilous and violent bloodsport.

And speaking of the Blood War, Baator and the Abyss each represent evil as a salvation from the other plane's brand of evil. Hell is the use of harsh punishment and ironfisted rule to bring a sort of harmony where there was once lawlessness and murder. The Abyss is a promise that the evil empire DOES indeed have a breaking point, and if you hit it hard enough it will topple over into ruin and if enough people rebel or desert it will crumble to dust

EDIT:
As a side note, I tend to imagine the Abyss slightly differently than it is presented in much of the official material. In particular I imagine it as having no chattel slavery and no normal organized armies. Not because of a belief in rights or in peace, but because chattel slavery necessarily entails having someone other than yourself who cares if your slave escapes (slavery would still exist and be common but it would be exclusively of the random abductees chained up in the basement variety; the locks and chains are what keep them imprisoned not some formal system that's going to hunt them down). Similarly, an organized army entails having some means to prevent desertion but again, nobody cares; and nobody trusts you to make good on paying them either. An army in the abyss is going to be an unorganized mass driven either by the promise of looting - in which case it will be unstable as the demons will scatter once they get their loot - or by a common desire to kill a specific person or group - either out of anger or for fun - or by the charisma of a leader who is more of a guru or celebrity than a boss and bends them into wanting the same things he wants. In general, nobody is going to abide by any sort of heirarchy beyond its direct sphere of influence. Any order given that doesn't align with what the demon wants to do anyway will be discarded either as soon as the person giving the order is out of sight if the demon fears whoever is giving the order, or else ignored entirely if they don't fear them.