Is there a paradise(s) in DnD?

[GolemsVoice]

I always wondered. There is a hell, which fullfills everything you need to be a hell, and every demon is proud of it. There's fire, demons, devils, the tortured souls of the damned, red rocks, a hellish landscape in thousand ways. And they have Carceri, the plane of entrapment for the wicked.
But are the heavens paradise? They are good and all that stuff, but where are the paradises? Every god has a plane for himself, more or less, but they all don't sound beautiful enough to make you want to go there.
And if I say heavens, it's the upper planes, and hell is The Nine Hells +The Abyss.
So, where do brave, good and faithfull servants go after their deads?

[Galathir]

There are the seven mountains of Celestia which is where ultimate goodness is idealized and is defined as law and good, understanding and mercy. At least in the Manual of the Planes, it is the paradise of good and faithful servants and is ruled by Bahamut, Heironeous, Moradin, and Yondalla. Of course, there are also the Twin Paradises of Bytopia and the Blessed Fields of Elysium.

[Fax Celestis]

Ever wonder what a Lantern Archon is? It's a dead paladin.

[Amotis]

The Misty Isles? The Hunter of the Misty Isles has to be looking for something good else he wouldn't have taken the sub-par prc class.

[pestilenceawaits]

The planar handbook details the good and bad planes where people go to after they move on.

[Ramza00]

We've found a kind of paradise
In a flowers bloom.
We've seen the end of a mystic land
So close it meets the parting sun.
We've shared the thoughts that two could share,
We feel the truth, magic that we send...

Searching for something new
Isle of Gold in flowers' bloom...

We've heard a kind of paradise
Beyond the desert's dunes.
We've walked the earth in solitude,
So cold we need the warmth of sun.
We've lived the life that we could live,
We see the truth, magic that begins...

Searching for something new
Isle of Gold in flowers' bloom...

We've found a kind of paradise,
Below a sky so new.
We've weaved a web of mystery so wide,
We need the light of day.
We've worn the cloak of secret lives,
We've seen the truth, magic that we send...

Searching for something new
Isle of Gold in flowers' bloom.....

So when will it end?
So when, when will we meet, my friend?

[the_tick_rules]

yeah the upper planes are the good paradises.

[clericwithnogod]

Anyplace there's a bunch of dead paladins, you have a paradise. So, any campaign world can be a paradise with the proper application of sword and spell.

[Drascin]

Depending on your outlook and the gods you revered, you are sent to one of the upper planes, which I imagine would be the one that resembles most closely what you'd call paradise. That, or the celestials are a bunch of bastards (also likely) and we all go to that boring Celestia thingy. Your call.

[kamikasei]

Anyplace there's a bunch of dead paladins, you have a paradise. So, any campaign world can be a paradise with the proper application of sword and spell.

I am reminded of the book Quicksilver:

"Anyway, lay off with the bible-talk! Soon enough I'll be in a place where they read the bible all the time."
"Heaven?"
"Does it sound like heaven?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

EDIT: I think I misunderstood didn't read the question, but let's say this is here for reference.

In the traditional Great Wheel setting (Greyhawk's outer planes, nowadays, although in older additions they applied to pretty much any setting), where the Nine Hells and Carceri exist, there is a balance of planes: just as many Lawful as Chaotic, just as many Evil as Good. Specifically, the outer planes that Good souls are meant to go to in the afterlife are:

The Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia (borderline between LN and LG)
The Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia (Lawful Good)
The Twin Paradises of Bytopia (Borderline between LG and NG)
The Blessed Fields of Elysium (Neutral Good)
The Wilderness of the Beastlands (Borderline between NG and CG)
The Olympian Glades of Arborea (Chaotic Good)
The Heroic Domains of Ysgard (Borderline between CG and CN)

These provide both an afterlife for souls of the appropriate alignment and attitude, and a source for various types of celestials and other Outsiders.

Source: Manual of the Planes and a half-recollection of the old Planescape setting.

Other settings like Faerun have their own specific cosmologies and their own specific paradises (or oblivions, or hells, as appropriate). A notable exception is Eberron, where all (or at least, most) departed souls wind up on the same Gehenna-esque (that is, Gehenna of Greek myth, not the D&D cosmology) plane of dull, gradual oblivion. Eberron's religions all have their own unique ways of addressing this afterlife.

[oriong]

One of the big differences to keep in mind in the heavens/hells thing is that they don't serve the same purpose they do in a normal religious philosophy.

The hells aren't just places for bad people to go to be punished, nor are the heavens unending bliss for good souls, they're just the most appropraite 'moral ecosystem' for the souls to end up. The hells suck pretty bad simply because there are a lot of evil jerks there already, but they aren't just there to make the bad people suffer, in some ways they're just as much a 'reward' to loyal followers of evil as the heavens are.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

If all else fails, you can always create a plane or similar place to fit that description if you don't thing anything that already exists fits what you're looking for.

[Indon]

Well, this thread has got me wondering what deity/force a character has to worship to end up in Mechanus and get assimilated... or whatever would happen to a mortal soul on the plane.

[Piedmon_Sama]

As far as Mechanus goes, I know that there at least used to be a Demigod called Primus, the One who was directly served by the Modrons.... I think they might have written him out of 3.x with his polygonal henchmen, though. =(

[OzymandiasVolt]

Golemsvoice? Demons and Devils live in two totally different planes. And they fight in a third one, if I'm not mistaken.

[Closet_Skeleton]

As far as Mechanus goes, I know that there at least used to be a Demigod called Primus, the One who was directly served by the Modrons.... I think they might have written him out of 3.x with his polygonal henchmen, though. =(

In 2nd edition certain gods like Mystra lived on Mechanus but they changed it.

[Thomas]

Golemsvoice? Demons and Devils live in two totally different planes. And they fight in a third one, if I'm not mistaken.

They fight in all the Lower Planes, pretty much. Abyss, Baator, Gehenna, Carceri, the Grey Waste, Pandemonium...


And considering that most of the Upper Planes are modelled directly after various paradises (Olympia, Valhalla, etc.), I should think they count as paradises. The D&D books don't give a lot of detail, but the old AD&D Planescape books certainly painted them as relative paradises (although Arcadia, I think, was being ruined by the Harmonium).

[Dervag]

I've always wondered what plane Fiddler's Green would be on...

What was the Harmonium?

[Thomas]

A Lawful Good group that policed Sigil and the Planes. Their motto was pretty much "You'll either be good, or you'll cry and be good." Forcing everyone else to be Lawful and Good. The group obviously contained a lot of Lawful Neutral members.

I loved 'em. Lawful Good makes some of the best oppressive, totalitarian authorities...

Anyway, their methods and attitudes eventually started to erode the plane they were on, causing one layer to shift into another plane, I think (one that "resonated" better with the Harmonium's actual methods).

I'd have to dig out my Planes of Law to figure out. (Incidentally, I also loved how Planescape made the Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic axis much more important and prominent than the Good-Neutral-Evil axis.)

[starwoof]

As far as Mechanus goes, I know that there at least used to be a Demigod called Primus, the One who was directly served by the Modrons.... I think they might have written him out of 3.x with his polygonal henchmen, though. =(

Dragon magazine had an article about him rigth before Tome of Magic came out. He became a binder-thingy after Orcus killed him.

But the modrons are still gone.

[Thomas]

Lies, filthy lies!

[Jack Mann]

Modrons continue to live on in the faces of clocks and unnaturally orderly children.

[Bears With Lasers]

Yeah, there is: Evergold.

The place where Sune, Sharess, and Hanali Celanil all hang out.

Sign me up, baby.

[bosssmiley]

As far as Mechanus goes, I know that there at least used to be a Demigod called Primus, the One who was directly served by the Modrons.... I think they might have written him out of 3.x with his polygonal henchmen, though. =(

The Modrons are still around; they're just...undergoing a period of cultural introversion right now (caused by the ideological and cosmological ramifications of chaos mathematics). There was a WOTC web enhancement written about them, they get a few mentions in the Mechanus section of MotP and in the Planar Handbook.

I look forward to the triumphant return of the Great March when WOTC finally realises that no-one is actually cares about the sheer tedium that is the Formians (giant kettle of boiling water over their hives = problem solved).

DISTANT SOUND OF MARCHING FEET

Duodrone Sergeant: "1010001"
Monodrone Squad: "101001"
Duodrone Sergeant: "1010011"
Monodrone Squad: "1010111"
(continued ad infinitum)

[GolemsVoice]

Hmm, so there's no pearly gates and singing angels when a paladin dies?
He just knocks at the door, generic archon #6673 opens. "Ah, you must be the new one. Welcome to heaven and all. Sorry you died. (You don't need to have died a as a martyr, but it helps!!! (ha ha)). Here's your uniform, flaming sword and all. Get dressed, there's some battle with the hells in one hour."
And I know that devils and demons are seperate things, they are just hellish enough to represent our imagination of hell.

[Thomas]

Yeah, there is: Evergold.

The place where Sune, Sharess, and Hanali Celanil all hang out.

Sign me up, baby.

Now that's a nice idea: a Faerûnian travel agency that sends people to Evergold for a week. Build a spa there, maybe.

Duodrone Sergeant: "1010001"
Monodrone Squad: "101001"
Duodrone Sergeant: "1010011"
Monodrone Squad: "1010111"
(continued ad infinitum)

81, 41, 83, 88... ?

Shouldn't it be 1, 1, 1, 10, 11, 100?

Hmm, so there's no pearly gates and singing angels when a paladin dies?

Are you trying to make me dig up my Planes of Law?

One of the layers is the Pearly Heavens, I think, and I guess they might have gates. There's some paths of enlightenment you're supposed to follow in Celestia, too - something about becoming one with the seven heavenly virtues and so on.

[Iron_Mouse]

A Lawful Good group that policed Sigil and the Planes. Their motto was pretty much "You'll either be good, or you'll cry and be good." Forcing everyone else to be Lawful and Good. The group obviously contained a lot of Lawful Neutral members.

I loved 'em. Lawful Good makes some of the best oppressive, totalitarian authorities...

Anyway, their methods and attitudes eventually started to erode the plane they were on, causing one layer to shift into another plane, I think (one that "resonated" better with the Harmonium's actual methods).

I'd have to dig out my Planes of Law to figure out. (Incidentally, I also loved how Planescape made the Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic axis much more important and prominent than the Good-Neutral-Evil axis.)

IIRC, the Harmonium wasn't exactly LG, they were lawful. To join you had to be of lawful alignment. Just like the other factions, the Harmonium didn't really care if you were good or evil.

Their basic idea was probably good, since they wanted to bring peace to the whole multiverse. However, their methods were often a little questionable, since they thought they could realize that peace only if they brought everyone to the same view. After all, if they all agree with each other, they don't fight anymore.
Of course, only the way of the Harmonium was the right way, and those who didn't agreed to that had to be smashed it into their heads.

This lead to the moving of one layer of Arcadia (where the Harmonium was on) to Mechanus.

[bosssmiley]

81, 41, 83, 88... ?

Shouldn't it be 1, 1, 1, 10, 11, 100?

Finnish literalism.

Read the numbers in the cadance of the USMC marching song from "Full Metal Jacket" (#I don't know what I've been told/Eskimo cats(?) are mighty cold/...(etc.)#). It *should* be read in context of the simplistic, dualistic manner in which base Modrons communicate and interact with the world.

Binary; perfect for marching tunes.

[Mewtarthio]

DISTANT SOUND OF MARCHING FEET

Duodrone Sergeant: "1010001"
Monodrone Squad: "101001"
Duodrone Sergeant: "1010011"
Monodrone Squad: "1010111"
(continued ad infinitum)

That is disturbingly catchy.