Ethereal Plane

“What is the purpose of the Ethereal Plane? The question has plagued scholars for countless generations, but the question helps to frame the discussion around the Ethereal Plane. Its comparison to a great waveless sea is not without merit, with the shallow or border sections touching the Material and Inner Planes while the Deep Ethereal holds undreamt of mysteries and dangers, and in this comparison we find a potential answer. Is the Ethereal Plane the breeding ground of existence itself? Certainly demiplanes spawn in the Deep Ethereal, giving us glimpses to the raw potential contained in those gray depths. Was the Material Plane once a demiplane like the others, adrift in the waveless sea? We may never know for sure, but the Ethereal Plane holds wonders and mysteries like none other.” Lillandri the Moon Mage


The Ethereal Plane is a realm out of phase with the rest of the multiverse. In this way, it is similar in minor ways to the echo planes, but the Ethereal Plane is more than a mirror of the Material Plane. Where it touches the Material Plane and the rest of the multiverse, in a region known as the Border Ethereal, the gray vapors and swirling mists obscure the natural features of the Material Plane but do not offer substantial differences.

Savvy planar travelers view the Ethereal Plane as simply a means to an end, a plane to visit when you want to get somewhere else. In this way, it shares several traits with the Astral Plane, and these two are known as the transitive planes for this exact reason. But the Ethereal Plane holds more than just a mode of planar travel.

The Border Ethereal can offer sanctuary to travelers seeking a quick escape from the Material Plane, but other creatures have adapted to use this tactic as well. The most common are ghosts, who exist in both the Border Ethereal and the Material Plane and can “manifest” in one or the other as a means of defense and attack.

Beyond the region of the Border Ethereal, the plane becomes deeper, and here is where it earns its nickname as the “waveless sea.” The Deep Ethereal is a fathomless, endless region of dark gray misty tendrils, and it’s there that the demiplanes of the multiverse reside. What creates them? Who creates them? Powerful wizards and clerics are known to create small demiplanes, but the bigger ones have more mysterious origins.

The main inhabitants of the Ethereal Plane, Border, Deep, or otherwise, are souls of the dead, merrenoloths, and the minions of Arasta, up to and including Arasta herself. When a person dies on Thylea, their soul is sucked into the Ethereal, where it awaits transport by a merrenoloth. This boat ride starts here, and makes its way through the Nether Sea before ending in Hades or, gods forbid, Tartarus. Portals and gates exist scattered about the Material Plane and Inner Planes that lead into the Ethereal Plane. Some of these portals require specific actions or items to open, while others act as cracks between the planes that allow some of the ethereal to bleed out. Such areas usually have a gray pallor to them, choked with strange thick mists, and are often found at the site of horrendous magical accidents involving transmutation magic.

Geography

LAY OF THE LAND

In the larger view of the multiverse, the Ethereal Plane surrounds the Material Plane and Inner Planes and provides a link between them all. Some planar scholars theorize that the only reason the Material Plane exists at all is because of the Ethereal Plane, which transfers the raw elemental building blocks of the Inner Planes to the worlds that make up the Material Plane. In fact, it is thought that the demiplanes in the Deep Ethereal could one day become fully fledged Material Planes, they just need some sort of “push” to get them out of the deep region.
The region of the Ethereal Plane that overlaps with the Material and Inner Planes is known as the Border Ethereal, and this is the “shallow” end of the waveless sea. The Border Ethereal is like looking at the world through a smoky crystal – everything is distorted and gray but most of the features can be made out. Swirling gray vapors fill the Border Ethereal, limiting vision. Weather events on the Material Plane or Inner Plane can be viewed from the Border Ethereal but do not affect creatures or travelers fully in the Ethereal Plane.
Distance is very relative in the Ethereal Plane, but beyond the Border Ethereal the vapors grow thicker and the Deep Ethereal starts. The Border and Deep Ethereal planes are separated by a strange colorful force known as an ethereal curtain. A traveler moving from the Border Ethereal into the Deep Ethereal passes through one of these curtains without realizing it, but the return trip requires locating the specific ethereal curtain that leads back to where they came from. The curtains are colored based on the plane that it leads to.
Entering the Deep Ethereal, a traveler comes to the part of the plane without end, with globs of protomatter floating casually around. Vision is even more limited here due to the dark gray tendrils of thick fog that envelop everyone and everything. The Deep Ethereal is where the demiplanes are born, either by deliberate magic, accidental power, or through some other unknown force. Each one is unique, though many carry the aspects of one or more Inner Planes. Life often forms in a demiplane, usually nothing more intelligent than an elemental, but exceptions have occurred.
Each demiplane in the Deep Ethereal appears as a great mass of swirling protomatter, changing color wildly, but they are all unique. A traveler can study the patterns on a demiplane to help determine what elements may be more dominant, which function as ethereal curtains for all intents and purposes. Passing through one typically requires only the will to do so, and in doing so the traveler feels as though they are walking through thick slime for a moment before they emerge on the other side into the demiplane itself. Demi-planes have defined borders, unlike normal planes, but the size outside is not necessarily indicative of the size inside.

Ecosystem

Highlights & Impressions

The below listings include notes on highlighting the nature of the Ethereal Plane as characters explore and travel through it. These are suggestions of elements that can be used in descriptions of the landscape and denizens with the goal of actualizing the “outside” nature of the multiverse beyond the Material Plane. Use them to incorporate into encounters and adventures on the Ethereal Plane.
Echoes of Life. Most visitors interact with the Ethereal Plane in its “shallow” end, the Border Ethereal, and here the plane reflects a shadowy, indistinct echo of the adjacent plane. Everything is washed out in shades of gray before dissipating into nothingness at a short distance, but the actions and movements of creatures on the adjacent plane can be viewed while on the Border Ethereal. They appear as wispy, shadowy versions of their original forms, but this strange effect – a stronger echo than the echo planes like the Plane of Shadow – is very disconcerting for travelers at first.
Protomatter. Beyond the Border Ethereal, the Deep Ethereal is a vast gray realm of possibility. Elemental chunks float in globular chunks known as protomatter, and these eventually combine with other chunks and germinate into demiplanes. Protomatter is a strange substance comprised of all the elements at once – It’s solid, liquid, gas, and flame all at once, constantly morphing and re-morphing as it drifts through the endless gray sea.
Slow Weightlessness. Physical form has no direct impact on the Ethereal Plane, and the best way visitors have to describe this sensation is a feeling of weightlessness. Creatures on the plane can move up, down, left, and right through otherwise solid echoes on the adjacent plane, though moving up or down is somewhat more taxing due to the unusual nature of the Ethereal Plane. Gravity extends to the Border Ethereal, however, so unattended objects fall though at a slower rate. Everything moves at a slightly slower pace, as if moving through thick mud.

Ecosystem Cycles

CYCLE OF TIME

Time in the Border Ethereal passes the same as it does for the adjoining plane, which is normal for the most part. Creatures feel hunger and thirst at the normal rate while in the Border Ethereal, and rest provides the normal benefits. Similarly, in the Deep Ethereal, creatures age and grow hungry at the normal rate, though there is no mechanism on the plane to mark the passage of time.

Localized Phenomena

HAZARDS & PHENOMENA

Some planar travelers claim the Ethereal Plane is a barren wasteland, devoid of real hazards, but these travelers are simply wrong. From ether cyclones to elemental gashes, the realms of the Ethereal Plane are filled with strange phenomena and hazards capable of challenging any who would sail its waveless sea.
Deadwave The Positive and Negative Energy Planes stand adjacent to the Ethereal like the rest of the Inner Planes, but their connection is unique and not fully understood. Ghosts and other spiritual beings are both a part of the Ethereal Plane and have strong ties to the Negative Energy Plane, but other undead creatures do not share this trait. And occasionally, deadwaves rock out from the Deep Ethereal, which are powerful currents of necrotic energy that originate from some rippling of the border between the Negative Energy and Ethereal Planes.
A deadwave appears as a black ribbon of crackling energy, almost like lightning, that washes over creatures and objects with two effects. The first is a forceful push as strong as a hurricane. Parties traveling through the Border Ethereal are pushed back by the deadwave 1d6 x 500 feet, and in the Deep Ethereal the deadwave adds 1d6 hours to any travel time. The second effect is deadlier. Living creatures must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw, suffering 22 (4d10) necrotic damage on a failure, or half as much on a success.
The deadwave has no effect on the adjoining planes, though creatures with connections to death may feel a wave of cold wash over them.
Demiplane The Deep Ethereal is a primordial sea of protomatter which can form budding new realms of existence known as demiplanes. Demiplanes can form naturally or deliberately through powerful magic, though in theory they follow the same basic principles. Demiplanes are distinct regions of semi-stable protomatter within the Deep Ethereal that exhibit unique traits. No two demiplanes are exactly alike as the forces that create them are unique as well, so even with two formed primarily of elemental fire differences arise in the exact nature. Accessing a demiplane from the Deep Ethereal requires passing through a multicolored ethereal curtain with no easily discernible marks, though canny planar travelers have learned to pick up some of the elemental traits by observing the flow of the curtain for a period of time.
Beyond the curtain, the demiplane reveals itself. Some, like the Web of Worlds, are filled with strange terrain that makes moving around difficult or impossible. The Engulfing Hunger is a unique demiplane that is possessed of a supernatural intelligence craving living material, but its natural geography looks like an idyllic Material Plane region. The Nightwalker Pit is a bleak demiplane of howling darkness reminiscent of the Underworld or Tartarus.
Demiplanes can be randomly generated using the below tables for inspiration. To randomly generate a demiplane, start with the planes of influence. You can roll on this table one or more times to help give the demiplane a basic outline. Once you’ve settled on the influential planes, roll 1d4+1 times on the demiplane characteristics table to guide the core idea of the demiplane. Many demiplanes are inhabited by creatures, which you can roll for in the demiplane inhabitants table. Generally only a single roll is required on that table. The final table determines the rough size of the demiplane, from 10 feet in diameter to 50 or more miles.
1d20 Plane of Influence 1-2 Plane of Air 3-4 Plane of Earth 5-6 Plane of Fire 7-8 Plane of Water 9-10 Positive Energy Plane 11-12 Negative Energy Plane 13-14 Elysium 15-16 Hades 17-18 Tizerus 19-20 No influential plane 1d20 Demiplane Characteristics 1 Dead magic – Magic spells and effects don't function 2 Gelatinous 3 Swampy 4 Mountains 5 Forested 6 Storm-wracked 7 Oceanic 8 Jungle 9 No landmass 10 Poisonous 11 Ordered 12 No gravity 13 Sentient 14 Dry 15 Metallic 16 Wild magic – All spells cause wild magic surges 17 Frozen 18 Misty 19 Fast – All creatures act as if affected by the haste spell 20 Slow – All creatures act as if affected by the slow spell Chapter 6: Ethereal Plane 1d20 Demiplane Inhabitants 1 None 2 Mundane Material Plane creatures 3 Mundane Inner Plane creatures 4 Yugoloths 5 Satyrs 6 Nymphs 7 Centaurs 8 Medusae 9 Humans 10 Minotaurs 11 Gygans 12 Cyclopes 13 Sphinxes 14 Undead 15 Ichthys 16 Lizardfolk 17 Sirens 18 Celestial beasts 19 Myrmekes 20 Powerful adventurers 1d20 Demiplane Size 1 10 feet diameter 2 100 feet diameter 3-4 1,000 feet diameter 5-6 2,000 feet diameter 7-8 1 mile diameter 9-11 2 miles diameter 12-13 3 miles diameter 14-15 6 miles diameter 16-17 12 miles diameter 18 25 miles diameter 19 50 miles diameter 20 50 miles + roll again and sum the results Elemental Gash Sometimes, catastrophic events in the Ethereal Plane or Inner Plane can cause fissures to open up, bleeding raw power from the neighboring plane into the ethereal. These elemental gashes can be dangerous when they occur, though the natural properties of the plane heal such planar wounds within an hour. Roll 1d4 to determine the nature of the elemental gash, which spews forth elemental damage in a 500-foot diameter cloud. Creatures in the cloud must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, suffering 21 (6d6) damage of a type determined by the gash origin on a failure, or half as much on a success.
1d4 Element Damage Type 1 Air Lightning 2 Earth Acid 3 Fire Fire 4 Water Cold Ether Cyclone Despite its nickname as the waveless sea, the mists of the Ethereal Plane hold an energy in their twisting and moving that can surge suddenly and without warning. The result is an ether cyclone, birthed under unknown circumstances in the Deep Ethereal, that moves through the realm as a serpentine column of powerful force and energy. An ether cyclone can be detected 1d4 rounds before it appears with a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check, marked by a low hum in the surrounding ethereal mists. Unless a creature can move out of the Ethereal Plane in that short window they are struck by the ether cyclone. Roll on the below table to determine the effect.
1d20 Ether Cyclone Effect Description 1-12 Extended journey Make a group DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a success, travel is extended by 1d10 hours, while failure doubles travel time 13-19 Pushed into curtain The party is pushed into a nearby ethereal curtain (roll randomly to determine which one) 20 Astral rift The party is flung into the Astral Plane Being blow off course by the ether cyclone is the most common occurrence, but it is not rare to be hurled into a nearby ethereal curtain and pushed into the Border Ethereal of a strange region. Rarely the fabric of the multiverse is ripped and a rift into the Astral Plane is created, but it has been known to occur.
Ethereal Curtain The Border Ethereal regions of the various overlapping planes are separated from the Deep Ethereal by great barriers known as ethereal curtains. Ethereal curtains are colored based on their origin and are seen only by creatures in the Deep Ethereal; passing from the Border Ethereal deeper into the plane passes no clear markers, only a spectral darkening of the surrounding mists. From the Deep, however, the ethereal curtains are known as the Wall of Color and they ebb and flow like the tidal waters of a massive ocean. However, owing to the vision limiting nature of the Deep Ethereal, creatures only see a small portion of the curtain at a time.
The known colors of the ethereal curtain are listed below in a random table.
1d20 Plane Curtain Color 1-2 Material Plane Bright turquoise 3-4 Nether Sea Dusky gray 5-6 Elysium Opalescent white 7-8 Hades Deep sapphire 9-10 Plane of Air Pale blue 11-12 Plane of Earth Reddish-brown 13-14 Plane of Fire Orange 15-16 Plane of Water Green 17 Elemental Chaos Swirling mix of blue, brown, orange, and green 18 Positive Energy Plane Radiant yellow 19 Negative Energy Plane Reflective purple 20 Demiplane Maelstrom of all colors Passing through an ethereal curtain is like moving through breathable gelatinous material for a few rounds, the material resistance of the planar boundary pushing against the traveler for a moment before ultimately yielding.
Light Fall Deadwaves are the result of the Negative Energy Plane affecting the Ethereal Plane while light fall is the result of the Positive Energy Plane’s influence. A light fall is a harmless event where drops of luminous white and yellow drops of pure light streak down in a cloud roughly 1d4 miles in diameter. The light fall lights up the Ethereal Plane and increases vision to 120 feet in both the Border and Deep regions. Light falls last for 1d4 hours before fading away.
Protomatter The raw building blocks of demiplanes are the hunks of protomatter drifting through the Deep Ethereal. They appear as multicolored globules of jelly-like substance with little mass and almost no weight, and they range in size from fist-sized to as large as a continent. Sometimes, when a chunk of protomatter drifts too close to an ethereal curtain leading to one of the Inner Planes, it stabilizes and forms a solid landmass, and it’s upon this that some structures can be built or anchored to. To date no one has successfully transported protomatter out of the Deep Ethereal – the small samples that have been taken out simply collapse into liquid form as soon as they enter another plane of existence.
Random Encounter Tables The below table can be used by the Dungeon Master as a source of inspiration when a party of characters is traveling around the Ethereal Plane. The table provided covers the Border Ethereal and the Deep Ethereal.
1d100 Ethereal Plane Encounter 01-05 A rakkix 06-10 A pair of hunger ghosts seeking a meal 11-15 A lonely ghost wandering 16-20 A merrenoloth ferrying a soul 21-25 A nest of phase spiders 26-30 A vengeful ghost looking for action 31-35 A plasm 36-40 A spectral lurker waiting in ambush 41-45 An ancient ghost with servants 46-50 A bebelith on a mission for Arasta 51-55 A host of splinter slaves appearing to be lost 56-60 Great hunks of protomatter 61-65 A tiny pocket demiplane holding the remains of a wizard 66-70 Demiplane 71-75 Elemental gash 76-80 The cache of an ethereal traveler long dead 81-85 A small band of ethereal travelers looking for someone 86-90 Deadwave 91-95 Light fall 96-00 Ether cyclone

Tourism

GETTING THERE

The most straightforward way to travel to the Ethereal Plane is through the casting of the etherealness spell, which transports the spellcaster (and others, if the spell is cast at a higher level) directly into the Border Ethereal. Magical items also exist that allow users to transport themselves into the Border Ethereal, and some characters – such as the spectral warden ranger and the ghostwalker sorcerer – can view and interact with creatures in the Border Ethereal.

SURVIVING

Perhaps owing to its nature as the primordial soup of the planes, creatures that breathe air have no difficulty breathing in the vapors of the Ethereal Plane. Creatures that breathe water have no difficulty breathing either.

TRAVELING AROUND

Movement in the Ethereal Plane, both Border and Deep, is unrestricted by gravity or physical objects and creatures on the mirroring plane. Creatures can move up or down, though doing so costs 2 feet of movement for every 1 foot moved. Flying or swimming speeds have no special affect on the Ethereal Plane, though a creature can use its fastest movement speed regardless of the mode while traveling.
In the Border Ethereal, the mists are thick and swirling, limiting vision to 60 feet. Traveling within the Border Ethereal is otherwise unrestricted by the physical objects or terrain of the adjoining plane, though notable exceptions exist. Spells or effects that create or manipulate force magic, such as the wall of force spell, can affect creatures in the Border Ethereal. The wealthiest and most paranoid of residents in the Material and Inner Planes have paid alchemists large sums of gold to mix gorgon’s blood into traditional mortar and built rooms or even whole castles using the mixture, which also stops ethereal travel.
Gravity does exist in the Border Ethereal, so nonanimate objects fall at regular rates and seem affected by physical objects and barriers as if they were on the adjoining plane. Planar scholars agree that the presence of life in the Ethereal Plane is what supersedes the object permanence of the adjoining plane, though exactly how or why is still a hotly debated topic.
In the Deep Ethereal, the thicker gray mists limit vision to just 30 feet. Distance becomes very relative in the Deep Ethereal, and traveling to a specific location requires concentration in the form of a group Wisdom (Insight) check and 1d10 x 10 hours of travel. The DC is based on how well known the location is among the group using the following chart as a guide.
Location Familiarity Insight DC Frequently visited 10 Visited once 13 Second-hand account 16 Visually described 19 Vaguely outlined 22 Failing the group check has a 10% chance of stumbling upon a similar but different location, as determined by the Dungeon Master. Otherwise, the time is simply spent and the characters are no closer to arriving at their intended destination.

Type

Dimensional plane

Location under

Transitive Planes