A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE COSMOS

PART FOUR: MULTIVERSES

As mentioned earlier in this Guide, there are several Prime Material Planes, all sharing the same Ethereal and Elemental Planes, although each Prime Plane has its own Outer Planes. A Prime Material Plane and its Outer Planes (plus the common planes of Ethereal and Elemental) is known as one Multiverse. Thus, there are several Multiverses, all sharing the Ethereal, Elemental and Energy Planes.

There is only a way to pass from one Multiverse to another: through the Prime Planes, or, more exactly, entering the Ethereal from a Prime Plane. Thence, one has to travel far until it reaches the Deep Ethereal. Deep Ethereals are the four-dimensional areas where the boundaries between the Prime Planes are not present, so one can pass through it and reach another Prime Plane. The problem is that only True Gods or immensely powerful Immortals or Athanatoi are able to know exactly where to go to reach the desired Plane; mortals and immortals alike risk to lose their way in the trip through the Deep Ethereal, or to die due to the dangers present there.

Only the True Gods, however, know that there are several Prime Planes, all other creatures believe that there is only one Prime Plane and that the others are Demiplanes. This feeling is enhanced by the presence of gates, in the Ethereal, that sometimes allow any creature to pass from one Prime to the other. Most of these gates are temporary. Lastly, there ARE also Pocket Dimensions (or Demiplanes), exactly like Prime Planes but without any Outer Plane. The only way to enter and exit a Pocket Dimension (or Demiplane) is through the Ethereal's Gates - there is no way to reach them from the Deep Ethereal. Most of these Pocket Planes/Demiplanes are known by powerful planars and godlike beings, further enhancing the confusion and preventing all of them from knowing the real situation of the Cosmos.


A SUMMARY OF MULTIVERSES

We have long discussed the Nature of the Normal Tetraspace and described the Prime Planes, the Multiverses and the Outer Planes and their peculiar features. Here is a Summary of some of the Multiverses; their description is presented in the next articles.


(Name of Multiverse)

Prime Plane: indicates RPG or literary campaign worlds appropriated as planets for the Prime Plane of this Multiverse.

Immortal Structure: details briefly the structure of the godlike hierarchy. "Free Godhood" is the standard AD&D type of godhood, with mortals able to become gods, gods slain and so on. "Spheres of Power" means that there is an Immortal Hierarchy of some sort, similar to that of the D&D Mystara campaign, or some other very hierarchical and rigid good vs evil or chaos vs law. "No Gods known" is a situation like Ravenloft or Dark Sun where there are no recognised gods or pantheons, because gods are too distant or simply not present. "Forbidden Ascension" means that there is no way to ascend to godhood in that Multiverse, as godlike beings forbid and prevents that situation from happening.

Outer Planes: gives a small description of the Outer Planes of this Multiverse.

Connected Primes: these Prime Planes may be reached through gates in the Ethereal from the mentioned Multiverse.

Level of Outer Being Influence: It is what it seems, just a description of how much the Outer Beings are able to influence the Multiverse through their vile scheming and telepathic abilities.

Multiverses Summary:

MYSTARASPACE
Prime Plane: D&D Mystara Campaign
Immortal Structure: Spheres of Power
Outer Planes: Many
Connected Primes: Planespace
Level of Outer Being Influence: More than Average

PLANESPACE
Prime Plane: comprehends Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance campaign settings
Immortal Structure: Free Godhood
Outer Planes: Rigid 17 Alignment Planes (AD&D Planescape campaign supplement)
Connected Primes: Mystaraspace
Level of Outer Being Influence: Near Zero

ATHARSPACE
Prime Plane: comprehends the Dark Sun campaign setting
Immortal Structure: No Gods
Outer Planes: ?
Connected Primes: ?
Level of Outer Being Influence: None

MYTHSPACE (aka Dimension of Myth, see TSR supplement "Wrath of the Immortals")
Prime Plane: Laterre/Fantastic Earth. Suggested products to use for the setting: Conan RPG (for Hyborean age Earth); Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf the Apocalypse for vampires and lycanthropes; Call of Cthulhu for Outer Being influences; Ars Magica RPG for middle-age wizards and witches; Clark Ashton Smith's novels for Averoigne (middle age French province).
Immortal Structure: Extremely Confusing Outer Planes: ?
Level of Outer Being Influence: More than Average

WARSPACE Prime Plane: Warhammer (fantasy & 40'000) campaign world
Immortal Structure: No Gods
Outer Planes: ?
Level of Outer Being Influence: Extremely High

OTHER MULTIVERSES
There isn't a fixed number of Multiverses, so this file is open to modifications and improvements. There may be a way to fill in the gaps, too...

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