Outlands (Dungeons & Dragons)
Encyclopedia
In the Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy
role-playing game
cosmology
, the Concordant Domain of the Outlands, also known as the Concordant Opposition, is the Outer Plane
where the soul
s of people of Neutral alignment are sent after death. It is popular as a meeting place for treaties between the powers. The Outlands are also home to the gate-towns. At the center of the Outlands is the Spire, atop which Sigil
can be seen. The Outlands are the home plane of the neutral-minded rilmani
.
on the Great Wheel. Gate-towns are important strategically because they provide a (relatively) stable way to enter a desired Outer Plane. The gate-towns reflect the plane that they lead to, for example, Xaos (or aXos, soaX, etc.) is a town where everything changes from one moment to the next. Even the location of the portal to Limbo changes every day – not that there's any regularity to daybreak and nightfall in Xaos. The character of Xaos mirrors what the plane of Limbo is like.
There are 16 such gate towns, each connected to their own Outer Plane
Notice Rilmani
seem unaffected by such limitation, except maybe in the first ring.
Three dwarven gods, (Vergadain
, Dugmaren Brightmantle
, and Dumathoin
) share the realm of The Dwarven Mountain on the plane of the Outlands.
The Celtic gods (Daghdha, Diancecht, Goibhniu, Lugh, Manannan mac Lir, Oghma, and Silvanus) share the realm of Tír na nÓg
on the Outlands.
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
cosmology
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
, the Concordant Domain of the Outlands, also known as the Concordant Opposition, is the Outer Plane
Outer Plane
In the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, an Outer Plane is one of a number of general types of planes of existence. They can also be referred to as godly planes, spiritual planes or divine planes. The Outer Planes are home to beings such as deities and otherworldly creatures such as...
where the soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
s of people of Neutral alignment are sent after death. It is popular as a meeting place for treaties between the powers. The Outlands are also home to the gate-towns. At the center of the Outlands is the Spire, atop which Sigil
Sigil (city)
Sigil is a fictional city and the center of the Planescape campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Development:...
can be seen. The Outlands are the home plane of the neutral-minded rilmani
Rilmani
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game game, rilmani are the exemplar race of the Concordant Domain of the Outlands.-Publication history:...
.
First Edition and Pre-Planescape 2nd Edition
In first edition and second edition AD&D before Planescape, this plane is also at the center of the Outer Planes and known by its original name Concordant Opposition. The First Edition Manual Of Planes states that the center of the plane takes various forms at different times (a mountain, a huge tree, etc.) and godly powers are lost as one moves toward the center, as well as spells, beginning with the highest levels of spells at the farthest out and then gradually losing the lower ones step by step the further one moves inward. Within 100 miles (160.9 km) of the center, not even chemical reactions take place, and neither man nor deity can get closer than 100 miles (160.9 km). In Second Edition Outer Planes Monstrous Compendium, under the description of the Mediators of Nirvana (Mechanus), it states that this plane was originally intended for Neutral Powers (deities) and created by the Powers (deities) of creation, but each Neutral Deity asserted their individual influence causing it to become unbalanced, then were cast out by the powers of creation. It also states that three lights of balance exist at the center of this plane, one for each Mediator in Nirvana. (Mechanus) There is also no mention whatsoever of Sigil before Planescape being at the Center of this Plane.Gate-towns
Gate-towns are settlements which are built around a permanent portal to a certain Outer PlaneOuter Plane
In the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, an Outer Plane is one of a number of general types of planes of existence. They can also be referred to as godly planes, spiritual planes or divine planes. The Outer Planes are home to beings such as deities and otherworldly creatures such as...
on the Great Wheel. Gate-towns are important strategically because they provide a (relatively) stable way to enter a desired Outer Plane. The gate-towns reflect the plane that they lead to, for example, Xaos (or aXos, soaX, etc.) is a town where everything changes from one moment to the next. Even the location of the portal to Limbo changes every day – not that there's any regularity to daybreak and nightfall in Xaos. The character of Xaos mirrors what the plane of Limbo is like.
There are 16 such gate towns, each connected to their own Outer Plane
- Glorium (Ysgard)
- Xaos (Limbo)
- Bedlam (Pandemonium)
- Plague-Mort (Abyss) A diseased realm of squalor and verminous fecundity, choked with razorvine and bizarre alien parasites. People here are so desperate that they have taken to the worship of the Lady of Pain en masse, constructing their makeshift mud hovels with blades atop them in the hopes of placating her. They pass their days agonizingly trying to numb their pain beneath layers of hard vices, slowly mutating into forms less and less recognizable. Elsewhere in the city, in massive cruel fortresses, the rich and powerful parade inhuman wealth and power before the suffering masses.
- Curst (Carceri) City of Traitors and Betrayers. The inhabitants constantly plot against one another, attempting to send others to the vast prison below the city before others arrange to have them sent there. It is arranged in concentric circles, the innermost housing the rich and powerful. The city gate to Carceri is a pair of crossed arches covered in moaning skulls of the betrayed, and is activated by a chain link.
- Hopeless (Hades) A bleak, gray city where colors are forbidden, built like a maelstrom that spirals to a central murky tarpit—a sinkhole to its patron realm. Ruled by a once human wizard garbed in chains and an iron wolf mask who is in turn served by a cadre of beholders. Its gate is a massive blood red screaming face.
- Torch (Gehenna) An ever-changing furnace of cracked lava rock descending into steaming runlets of lava covered with hundreds of iron towers, hot as frying pans, that stretch up to a roiling sky choked with black smoke. The creatures that live there, mostly fire elementals, yugoloths, barghests as well as a subrace of nomadic humans called Desh, do so in order to savor the endless pain and suffering that comes from living there.
- Ribcage (Baator)
- Rigus (Acheron) A massive fortress-city enclosing a military camp endlessly engaged in preparations for war. Blacksmiths bang away at hot metal in the streets while corner venders sell military provisions and war animals. The city is built on a hill and is surrounded by a series of seven circular walls, each rising higher than the last. At the center, in a section of the city known as the Crown, a winding stair penetrates deep underground to a grey-green nimbus of twisting light like a great cat's eye: the portal to the city's patron plane.
- Automata (Mechanus)
- Fortitude (Arcadia)
- Excelsior (Celestia)
- Tradegate (Bytopia)
- Ecstasy (Elysium)
- Faunel (Beastlands)
- Sylvania (Arborea)
Magic
The closer to the Spire, the harder it is to use magic-related powers. However, most of the towns, portals, realms, etc. are located far enough not to suffer from these impediments. At 500 miles (804.7 km) from the Spire, illusions no longer work. At the very base of the Spire, absolutely all magic is neutralized.Notice Rilmani
Rilmani
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game game, rilmani are the exemplar race of the Concordant Domain of the Outlands.-Publication history:...
seem unaffected by such limitation, except maybe in the first ring.
| Outlands effects on spells and abilities | |||
| Distance from Spire | Impeded Spells | Limited Spells | Other Effects |
| 1200 miles | None | None | None |
| 1100 miles | 9th | None | None |
| 1000 miles | 8th-9th | None | None |
| 900 miles | 7th-9th | 9th | All creatures gain immunity to poison |
| 800 miles | 6th-9th | 8th-9th | Psionic abilities don't function |
| 700 miles | 5th-9th | 7th-9th | Positive and negative energy can't be channeled |
| 600 miles | 4th-9th | 6th-9th | Supernatural abilities don't function |
| 500 miles | 3rd-9th | 5th-9th | Access to the astral plane prohibited |
| 400 miles | 2nd-9th | 4th-9th | Divine powers of demi-deity rank and lower annulled |
| 300 miles | All | 3rd-9th | Divine powers of lesser and lower annulled |
| 200 miles | All | 2nd-9th | Divine powers of intermediate rank and lower annulled |
| 100 miles | All | All | All divine powers annulled |
Realms
The Outlands is the location of a number of godly realms, including the following:- The Caverns of Thought, realm of the illithidIllithidIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, illithids are monstrous humanoid aberrations with psionic powers. In a typical Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, they live in the moist caverns and cities of the enormous Underdark...
deity IlsensineIlsensineIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Ilsensine is the patron deity of illithids . While not the creator of illithids, Ilsensine sees mind flayers as the entities most worthy of dominating the universe... - The Court of Light, realm of the nagaNaga (Dungeons & Dragons)In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, nagas comprise a variety of similar species of intelligent aberrations with widely differing abilities and alignments. Nagas appear as large snake like creatures with humanoid heads. They often range widely in coloring and scale patterns, but are all...
deity ShekinesterShekinesterIn many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Shekinester is the threefold deity of the nagas. She can appear as the aspect of spirit nagas, water nagas, and guardian nagas... - The Flowering Hill, the realm of the halflingHalflingHalfling is another name for J. R. R. Tolkien's Hobbit which can be a fictional race sometimes found in fantasy novels and games. In many settings, they are similar to humans except about half the size. Dungeons & Dragons began using the name halfling as an alternative to hobbit for legal reasons...
goddess Sheela PeryroylSheela PeryroylIn many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Sheela Peryroyl is the halfling deity of Nature, Agriculture, and Weather. Her symbol is the daisy... - GzemnidGzemnidGzemnid is a fictional deity in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It is a beholder deity. Gzemnid is the beholder deity of gases, fogs, obscurement, and deception.-Publication history:...
's Realm, home of the beholderBeholderThe beholder is a fictional monster in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It resembles a floating orb of flesh with a large mouth, single central eye, and lots of smaller eyestalks on top with deadly magical powers....
deity of gases and vapors - The Hidden Realm, home of the chief giant deity AnnamAnnam (Dungeons & Dragons)In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Annam is the giant deity of Magic, Knowledge, Fertility, and Philosophy. Also known as the All-Father, is the creator god of the giant pantheon...
- The Hidden Vale, realm of the Dragonlance god Gilean
- The Hidden Wood, realm of the nature god Obad-HaiObad-HaiIn the World of Greyhawk campaign setting and the default pantheon of deities for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Obad-Hai is the god of Nature, Woodlands, Hunting, and Beasts, one of the most ancient known. He is often called the Shalm....
- The Library of Lore, realm of the god BoccobBoccobIn the World of Greyhawk campaign setting and the default pantheon for the third edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Boccob is the god of magic, arcane knowledge, balance, and foresight. He is known as the Uncaring, the Lord of All Magic, and the Archmage of the Deities...
- The Mausoleum of Chronepsis, realm of the dragonDragon (Dungeons & Dragons)In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game , dragons are an iconic type of monstrous creature used as adversaries or, less commonly, allies of player characters...
deity ChronepsisChronepsisIn the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Chronepsis is the dragon deity of Fate, Death, and Judgment. His symbol is an unblinking draconic eye.... - The Marketplace Eternal, realm of the god ZilchusZilchusIn the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Zilchus is the Oeridian god of Power, Prestige, Money, Business, and Influence...
- The Palace of Judgement, Yen-Wang-Yeh's realm
- The Scales of Wealth, the realm of Shinare
- Semuanya's Bog, realm of the lizardfolkLizardfolkLizardfolk are a fictional humanoid species in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Publication history:...
deity SemuanyaSemuanyaIn the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Semuanya is the deity worshipped by the lizardfolk race in many campaign settings. The symbol of Semuanya is a single reptile egg. Its sacred animal is the alligator.-Publication history:James M... - The Steel Hills, realm of the goddess UlaaUlaaIn the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Ulaa is the goddess of Hills, Mountains, and Gemstones...
- Thoth's Estate, the realm of ThothThothThoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat...
- Tvashtri's Laboratory, realm of the Indian god of artifice
- The Web of Fate, realm of the goddess IstusIstusIn the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Istus is the goddess of Fate, Destiny, Divination, the Future, and Honesty. She is known as the Lady of Our Fate and the Colorless and All-Colored...
- The Well of Urd, realm of the NornsNornsThe Norns in Norse mythology are female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men, a kind of dísir comparable to the Fates in classical mythology....
- Wonderhome, realm of Gond
Three dwarven gods, (Vergadain
Vergadain
In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Vergadain is the dwarf deity of Wealth and Luck. Vergadain's titles "the Trickster" and "the Laughing Dwarf" are not used by his worshippers. His holy symbol is a circular gold coin. These coins must be acquired in payment for...
, Dugmaren Brightmantle
Dugmaren Brightmantle
In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Dugmaren Brightmantle is the dwarf deity of scholarship, discovery, and invention...
, and Dumathoin
Dumathoin
In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Dumathoin is the patron of mountain dwarves, and the dwarf deity of mining and underground exploration. He is also the protector of the dwarven dead. His holy symbol is a cut, faceted gem inside of a mountain.-Publication...
) share the realm of The Dwarven Mountain on the plane of the Outlands.
The Celtic gods (Daghdha, Diancecht, Goibhniu, Lugh, Manannan mac Lir, Oghma, and Silvanus) share the realm of Tír na nÓg
Tír na nÓg
Tír na nÓg is the most popular of the Otherworlds in Irish mythology. It is perhaps best known from the story of Oisín, one of the few mortals who lived there, who was said to have been brought there by Niamh of the Golden Hair. It was where the Tuatha Dé Danann settled when they left Ireland's...
on the Outlands.