Dungeons and Dragons Lore: The Infinite Staircase

A mysterious transdimensional pathway, a nexus of planar portals that rivals the city of Sigil, this strange infinite staircase is governed by unknown powers and protected by the Celestial race called the Lillendi.
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#dnd #infinitestaircase #ajpickett #forgottenrealms #advanceddungeonsanddragons #5e

[@purplehaze2358]

“I have been *climbing....* for THIRTY MINUTES!”

[@MisterTutor2010]

I put a slinky on the the Infinite Staircase :)

[@joedan5366]

Get out that is so funny

[@almitrahopkins1873]

That’s all well and good, until it gets close to one of the portals to the abyss and comes to life…

[@jaykubisanidiot8657]

Everyone loves a slinky!!

[@creepingwillow1579]

Infinite source of energy

[@zoopdterdoobdter5743]

🤔 What happens to your waste when you're walking the staircase? Take a piss... stream disappears after 25'. Asmodeus (as his breakfast is ruined): _"Aww, c'mon!!! Not again!"_

[@AJPickett]

*takes notes*

[@17Scumdog]

This almost made coffee spray out my nose lmao

[@JamesDean-nx2nq]

I would have an encounter with an old traveler just sitting on the steps. When the players approach he wouldn't even acknowledge them unless they interact with him first. yes hes obviously alive and not under any kind of status effect but i would make sure to describe him as wearing dirty tattered clothing that was once of a decent or luxury quality. Maybe they ask him what he's doing or if hes lost. I imagine he is on the stairs directly under his one true desires portal landing. But he Knows once he goes in he will never come back. He would speak in a very ancient language. He would not know what year it is. And is not aggressive in any way. i would use it as an example of the actual significance of this location. A window into the human (or humanoid/intelligent) existence. Maybe hes a the god/former god of a distant plane and hes testing the players in some way maybe hes not but hes unable to leave because he too is unable to decide if he should go back to his followers or to his true desire. This location really gets my mind going.

[@DaveButtons]

Well, this NPC is now named James Dean and will continue in my version of the multiverse because of you. Thank you for your contribution

[@supersmily5811]

You can't find your heart's desire on the staircase if it doesn't exist, such as your plane of infinite chocolate and fps games with actually friendly players.

[@AJPickett]

That's not my heart's desire, that I my editors :)

[@joshuarichardson6529]

Funnily enough, I have an "Elemental Plane of Chocolate" in my game, from when my niece and nephew wanted to play D&D and in the tavern they ordered "hot chocolate". I invented it and the Temple of Elemental Chocolate (where all chocolate comes from) just to justify the existence of hot chocolate in a medieval tavern. Chocomancers naturally run the temple. So yes, if you follow the infinite staircase long enough you will find a plane of infinite chocolate.

[@thecrypticautistic611]

@@joshuarichardson6529 I can't upvote this enough. Well played sir!

[@michaelkelligan7931]

"Dis'em stairs make me angry!"------Vislick Dragonfood,Orcish Shaman

[@joedominguez8064]

The idea of people who pass up their opportunity to their personal heaven wandering the staircase forever is pretty chilling and adds a ton of potential encounters to the location. Obviously it’s protected to a degree but some lone wanderer crazed from years of fruitless searching could be really memorable, especially as they’re were likely a powerful adventurer in their own right

[@johngleeman8347]

As nice as the monster lore is, these fantastic locations vids are a special treat as well. A great reward for players that don't enjoy the grid as much. :3

[@Bokmoh]

Yes

[@AJPickett]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@franciscop631]

Hexagons are the bestagons!

[@chrissegroves9241]

Staircase to infinity? One of my favorite parts of The Phantom Tollbooth.

[@felixrivera895]

5:09 You know. Arcadia has the realm of Osiris, which means there is an afterlife there. As the plane of pleasant productivity, I'm sure that, once a material world produces video games at all, there must be an afterlife where passionate programmers go to spend eternity creating masterpiece games at their own pace without the stress of funding or management. Which means there would be an exponential need for immortalized beta testers. The chocolate would be a bonus of being in a heaven.

[@tatsusama3192]

Oh no. I noticed the picture outside your window changing behind you in the opening graphic. Now I'm wondering what I've missed and will be paying attention from every video onward😅

[@DustMonkey92]

I like this a lot. My setting is essentially closed off from the rest of the planes, and the world’s inhabitants are very much aware of it. Plane shift spells don’t work, and there are nomadic dwarves who are determined to find a way out. As of this video they know about the staircase and want to draw it to the world with their art so they can leave. Thanks again AJ

[@empoleonmaster6709]

DustMonkey92 that sounds like an EPIC campaign setting please tell me more

[@DustMonkey92]

Empoleon Master sure, the world was made as like a trap for chaotic beings and was inhabited by a race created to summon and capture these beings. Once something is brought into the crystal sphere it can’t leave through any means. Well as ancient societies tend to do the race in charge got complacent and died out leaving the planet alone for who knows how long. Eventually, some Empyreans find the derelict sphere, spruce it up a bit and decide, “hey let’s just teleport a bunch of mortals here to worship us.” They do so and eventually after wars, divine edicts, and general house keeping the new inhabitants of the world settle down. The more short lived races forget eventually forget their ties to their old worlds, but the more long lived ones remember. They remember and some want to go back and will pay adventurers to go into dangerous magic scarred landscapes and perilous ruins just for a chance to find a way off the world and back to the home of their forebears.

[@empoleonmaster6709]

@@DustMonkey92 Holy shit that's epic! I LOVE IT!

[@DustMonkey92]

Empoleon Master thank you :) I’ve been working on it for a while.

[@Skin1in]

Just imagine DM saying you to climb up stairs while your pc must climb " infinite Staircase"...twice.

[@seamusfish7009]

Here wuz Seamus! Seamus is beginning to go crazy.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

I'm beginning to question this "pandemic" Seamus!

[@AJPickett]

Even if there was no pandemic (which there definitely is), everyone staying home is having a remarkable effect on the planet, so, there is that. Global climate action, who could have imagined this is what it would look like?

[@michaelkelligan7931]

@@AJPickett Stephen King?

[@jacobfreeman5444]

@@michaelkelligan7931 I do thank you to not compare reality to his, or anyone else's, brand of cosmic horror. Especially in this day and age. The Stand is particularly ominous.

[@DaveButtons]

Not sure why this didn’t upload the first time, but aiming for it again... AJ, thank you for this video. I finally ran a 4 session adventure around the Infinite Staircase and “I returned to now..” to share my notes: ///WARNING: THIS IS FOR DMs ONLY/// PREP WORK/// Get a scratch paper for mapping. For DM USE. Make a Table for Doors/landing and prescribe the landing/surrounding environment near the door. Then make applicable puzzles for the doors attached to make the doorway interesting to interact with. Think about the group your running for’s taste in puzzles Then make 4 separate table for Random Encounters for enemies. Some relative to the door/landing and some straight interesting/strange ones you’ve been dying to use. These are going to be pretty much combat oriented, the next two tables is Role-play/interactive based. The second table should be NPC’s. The idea is that these NPC’s can serve as support/distractions and guides. Offering PC’s answers, warnings or simply more problems. They should not start as combat but can lead there if PC’s are murder-hobos. Third, make a Random Encounters table for obstacles and terrain encounters. I made, for an example a crumbling banister and as the PC’s walked down it, the staircase fractured into pieces, causing the PCs to make an interesting effort to regroup and continue to travel. The last table is strange effects. I had so many interesting ones it needed its own table. Some places make you sleepy, some make you fly. Be creative or check the status effects table for ideas. Do good and bad effects, like an area that gives +X to Intelligence within a range/duration. Keep it fun. RUNNING THE SESSION/// Make a mark in the centre of your scratch sheet of paper. This is where the PC’s start. Define the number of alternative pathways (optional directions) they can take. Have them decide and draw all lines. Make a separate marking and roll on your door/landing table to determine what the new landing is, then mark it. Roll 2d4 for the amount of time it takes to arrive from point A to point B. This can be hours/days/weeks. I used hours, as to not discourage my groups efforts. DO NOT SHARE THIS WITH THE GROUP YET! Now roll on the 1D4 to determine if the encounter is 1. Combat 2. Terrain/Obstacle 3.NPC 4. Strange effect *I personally wanted every opportunity to be interesting. If I felt the group was burned out, I’d determine nothing occurred , rather than risk boring rolls. BE THE DM. Now you roll on the applicable Encounter table to determine what they encounter and begin the scene. I determined every 4hrs the PC’s would make FORT/CON saves (I’m olde-school) or become fatigued. Anyways, have fun. Share your stories on my comments if you use this or have a story to share. I have plenty more info like this if it’s okay to share and Thank you again, to AJ and the community. You have made me a Master of my stories and sessions. Cheers, DavieThePirate

[@glassaboveagirl]

Thanks for this! I’m going to use this for part of a campaign I’m working on now, it will be super fun!

[@Zasek2112]

I love it. being an infinite place makes for some great random encounters. Like a group of mage apprentices who got lost in the mage school library and now can't find their way out, ghosts of people dropped off the side by the Lillendi, parts of the stairwell infested with phase spiders, the list is literally endless. edit: I'm pretty sure there's a time dragon in there somewhere as well if there's time elementals hanging around.

[@aajjeee]

it was my understanding that fighting in the infinite staircase was forbidden

[@Zasek2112]

@@aajjeee how do you get rid of phase spiders without fighting them? it's a problem that forces a group of murder hobo's to think.

[@aajjeee]

yeah but you can also jyst walk through since they wo t attack either, the real thing is illusions and enchantments

[@DaveButtons]

Stoked on this comment!

[@zachmiddleton8256]

This is probably my favorite place in the multiverse that AJ has enlightened me on! Way too cool

[@Beretic805]

A lot of plants have things called aerial roots. Pull water and moisture out of the air.

[@mrl9418]

(and, when no scientist is watching, the occasional hapless passerby)

[@richardofarms]

You should treat us some time with creature combos. Like gold dragons and iron golems. Lich with a creature trapped in its philactory! That kind of stuff logical creature combinations that compliment each other

[@AJPickett]

Great idea!

[@michaelkelligan7931]

"Kurkalumaas,i'm sensing someone further down the stairway just entering my thought range!"....."you were right to have me unlock this devotion. Coupled with Contact the Orc shaman has no idea we're present!" Cloak us with invisibility,and i'll begin probing its mind for clues as to why its here!"-------Heed Huuntar,Supreme Lair Lord and Grand Githyanki of the 63rd generation

[@LittleCrowYT]

This really makes me want to write up a horizon walker ranger who, as a child, their parent somehow managed to take them to the infinite staircase. They walked for days until they came across a dangerous creature and tried to run, then hide, but we're soon found and so the parent pushed their child (this character) off the stairs in a desperate attempt to save them. The child was then shot across the multiverse and ended up in [Insert campaign setting here] where they always had a little bit of that interplanar essence with them, allowing them to do the things a horizon walker can do. Their ultimate goal is to find their parent again.

[@kylestark1800]

Was going to turn in for the day after my shift dodging dangers at the hospital...dash it all AJ.... A coffee and watching the video it is then. Anything for Planescape. Hardly had to twist my arm at all though.

[@Mameoth]

I think a better name for it would be the Plane of Eternal Leg Day

[@alexkregel8915]

Ben on a similar set of stair case with others in a dream. The stare case had a pressure the higher you climed the harder it was to climb. It remided me of astral travle wis checks for speed.

[@thehangryphalangite739]

Imagine walking on the stairway, finding the part of mount Celestia with nothing but the sweetest and most loyal good boys. A horde of noble and kind doggo's and puppers and floofs as far as you can see...and having to turn around. My dog lover PC is about to hate me.~

[@AJPickett]

A massive library with free coffee and a comfortable lounge filled with cats.

[@thehangryphalangite739]

@@AJPickett Just for revealing the ilithid dragons, I'm adding swarms of silverfish to your library.

[@AJPickett]

@@thehangryphalangite739 The silverfish are my friends now, I have trained them to fetch pencils.

[@thehangryphalangite739]

@@AJPickett "NANI? Th..this dire halfling is far to powerful!"

[@mikkbarsparkblast4829]

AJ is the best of the DnD lore, most accurate and in depth, I'd love to see an episode on the Ekolids and Obox Ob I'm doing a series of campaigns with his renewed rise to power as the centerpiece of the campaign and his attempt to launch the second dawn war

[@zacharygadzinski3147]

So a staircase that can lead a character to what they view as paradise. So a level 20 character could go up the staircase and wind up in a location that could give them a divine spark. This staircase could be used for high to epic level campaigns. Yet who knows. There could be uncharted worlds full of creativity that have yet to be explored.

[@alanschaub147]

AJ: The art that you include in your videos is so great! 😍

[@woodrobin]

It's cool to imagine a lillendi getting more nourishment from watching a talented cook whip up a creative meal than they get from eating the meal when it's finished.

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

This is one of the cooler places you've covered. I have a tavern, called The Salty Sea Dog Taphouse, that has a hallway like this in the cellar. Many of the doors in the hallway lead to other (very similar) taverns, but most do not. They lead to all sorts of other places

[@michaelkelligan7931]

The first waves of real fear began to creep into the orcs mind...."Damn yoos for stepping into dat doorway Toothlicker!" Vislick thought, as he took another tentative step up the new and seemingly endless flight of stairs. Was something there?....being a successful veteran of countless campaigns,instinct told him to wait and see what was coming, but because that dung-eating fool Toothlicker got himself enveloped on the last landing,instinct didnt mean a god damned thing at the moment,especially when he was now alone. "DAMN IT ONE-EYE!" "WHY WONT YOU ANSWER MEESUMS PRAYERS?"-----------The final moments of Vislick Dragonfood,Shaman of One eye

[@baconlover7747]

No demon lords? *angrily balls up encounter* Moloch: we'll get em next time buddy

[@SlothinAintEasy]

Ive been on this damn staircase for THIRTY YEARS!!

[@digitor24]

I had a dream about an endless spiral staircase. Well, A nightmare. I found myself walking up it, and as I walked I looked up and I thought I was looking at a mirror above me. then I looked down and thought I was looking at a reflection on water. It was white, dull and not lit well. As I walked I thought I heard something behind me but when turning around I saw nothing. I kept walking for what seemed like 30 mins. and I started to get scared. I started running up It till my legs burned and I couldn't hardly move them. I stopped when I saw someone they were falling on the outside of the stairs. I saw him pass and he wasn't screaming just falling. I felt panic set in. I turned around and started running down. My legs moved to slow for how I was leaning forward, I tripped and slid to the outside edge but I didn't fall. I tried to scream but there was no sound, I tried again and in frustration I remembered what to do just open my eyes. I shut them hard and when I reopened them I woke up. Covered in sweat and my legs aching. It was such a vivid dream I just searched it on KZbin and I typed out what I remembered as fast as I could. I duno what it means but it scared me. Maybe a glimpse of hell or Limbo. No idea, I've never had a dream like that and hope I never do again.

[@AJPickett]

Just a dream, I wouldn't worry about it. I've had some spooky ones in the past, not about staircases though.

[@digitor24]

@@AJPickett Thanks, Nothing bad happened yet so guess you were right.

[@yamatohekatsue9143]

Sounds like you took a trip to the staircase with the dim light something tells me it was a new moon 🌚 but I've always been told the staircase in d&d is inspired from religion I know in Norse Paganism the land of Myst Niflheimr is between Niflhel and Hel. The rivers of Élivágar and the well of Hvergelmir, are in this realm and connect it to Niflheim where the rivers freeze and the connect to Muspelheim the land of fire. Niflheimr translated to modern English would me soming like gloom cloud or dark fog or some combination of those 4 words. It's also a land where the sun chases the night into the north. It was the 2nd realm created and with the still air met the heat of flames from the droplets life formed. It represents a between place like Yggdrasill that connects all the realms but Niflheimr only connects to 6 of the 9 realms. Listening to AJ talk about the staircase most of the descriptors reminded me a lot of Niflheimr

[@derskalde4973]

​@@yamatohekatsue9143 Maybe I'm confusing something, but wasn't that place in between Ginnungagap?

[@GunterThePenguinHatesHugs]

NO STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN! 😮

[@AJPickett]

NO WAY! No Stairway.

[@Martdogg3000]

14:09 this is the most confusing series of words I've ever heard haha

[@jjkj17]

agreed

[@cheeseymann]

I could see myself using this at some point. I've always wanted to run a game that plays like the scooby doo hallway scene where the gang gets chased through a bunch off doorways in a nonsensical order. But the hallway is the prime material plane and the doors are portals to the feywild, shadowfell, infinite staircase... etc. The players would be on this epic multi dimensional adventure but in the back of my mind it's all benny hill theme music and scooby doo chases

[@michaelkelligan7931]

"Where my master?" "Visliiiick? Where you be?"......"Stupid cursed stairs!"-----Toothlicker Haarg,orcish body guard to Vislick Dragonfood To be continued...!

[@KyleJordanGaming]

Plot Twist: SCP-087 (‘The Stairwell’) is actually Earth’s entrance to The Infinite Staircase. SCP-087-1 (‘The Face’) is the mask of a Lelindi pranking the SCP Foundation to stop investigating them, because they don’t need your labels, man. Finally, the four D-Class ‘volunteers’ sent in to explore it all disappeared without a trace because, as they each went in alone, the Staircase led them to their heart’s greatest desire- which undoubtedly involved *not* having to ‘work’ for the SCP Foundation ever again. TheVolgun’s video on SCP-087 for those curious: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bai6k5Z3hbKjkMU

[@algotkristoffersson15]

Well because dead-ends exist that definitely feels like it could be the case (plus could be cool to play a D-Class who was into DND before being “recruited” and who figured this out, after breaking out during a containment breach, and finding the document, and realizing that it would be her only chance to escape broke into the staircase to flee, and ended up on the quasi elemental plane of truth, (aka the only place in the multiverse where the SCP foundation CAN’T go, ever) and then eventually made her way to some campaign setting and, started studying to become a bard, sharing the secrets of the Foundation to make sure nothing like it ever forms in her new world) Also also, one shelf in the wanderers library (where the SCP foundation has managed to go sometimes but only rarely) is totally just a bunch of tall stacks of books, each taller than the last the lowest coming up through a hole in the floor and the tallest going past the ceeling, that is actually part of the staircase, with the floor around it actually being a landing whose doorway just happens to be permanently open and entirely souround it.

[@honkthegoose3543]

*This time on Dr. Who...*

[@JanusHoW]

Considering your previous lore regarding Obox-Ob and thee Queen of Chaos, I think I can link it the idea of finding one's heart's desire on the Infinite Staircase...the ultimate heart's desire is getting out of the D&D multiverse before The Abyss consumes it all. Also, the lillendi and the Shards - would they actually fight to the death or would they just fight until one of them yields? It's always been my impression that celestials, even chaotic ones, don't kill without a good reason to. For example, a bear or other large predator native to Arborea or Ysgard would kill even the most noble visitors if it was hungry enough.

[@EgaoKage]

This seems to fit the description of the trans-dimensional hub which reoccurs throughout the adventures of St. Germain. This character was recently featured in the Netflix original series, Castlevania. And while that series isn't expressly concerned with St. Germain's adventures, it is fairly true to the character found in actual quasi-historical fiction. So many details carry between the subject of this video and the multiversal hub which St. Germain occasionally travels, it would not seem impossible to encounter him somewhere along it.

[@UmbrasMercy]

Real question Are their platforms for mountain dew and cheetos breaks?

[@Lazycandle]

My man is asking the important questions

[@17Scumdog]

Glad the construction was touched upon, I can just imagine the cosmic building codes inspector failing the stairs; no you need a guardrail at 34 inches height from the nosing of each tread, to keep people from falling into random dimensions. Oops this stair is more than 3/8ths of an inch higher rise than all the rest, tear them out and do it again! I love building stairs but this job is one I might pass on, I like to finish my jobs and get paid, something about building an infinite staircase gives me the willys

[@algotkristoffersson15]

17:56 eating familiars isn’t as unreasonable as animal companions, they can, after all, be resumoned, and keep all their memories if so. Although they would likely get angry.

[@AJPickett]

I imagine they would be a little miffed, yes.

[@tombirmingham7033]

Body's a made of the ether. They fluff out of existence like any summoning or conjugation

[@christophermzdenek]

In my Home Brew campaign, This is one of only two possible ways to leave the trapped Crystal Sphere it resides in (My players asked for it to be connected to the greater D&D multiverse). This video is extremely informative on how I might approach that future possibility. Thank you.

[@spriggan9999]

AJ you're the best! Never even heard of this! Awesome! This is classic Monte Cook. He's probably my favorite game designer. Definitely can incorporate this.

[@njburk]

i wholeheartedly agree Jon. As usual AJ does a great job expanding our knowledge of dnd lore.

[@hermionesydneygoldmanphynn498]

The lill* remind me of the night guests from call of Cthulhu, they both serpentine beings with arms and wings oh yeah and you won’t necessarily see their face during encounter. Perhaps there’s a connection between the two.

[@AJPickett]

Sounds like it!

[@koljaleffek7290]

now i finally have some background on the infinite corridor from caslevania 😁

[@Babbleplay]

My biggest suggestion for a non-combat encounter is something WAY out of the party's league by a country mile, but, not looking for trouble, and, in fact, miserably bored, and glad to have the short term company, even if they view the party as more like amusing , trained, dancing monkeys than actual serious conversation partners. It could theoretically crush them, but is in fact, droning on and on about personal mundane trivia out of boredom/not having spoken to anyone in a long time. Biggest nomination is a high-tier modron. Re-enact that bit from Animaniacs where they were stuck listening to Francis 'Pip' Pumphandle, the boring guy, drone on and on telling a meandering story that never seemed to get to the point.

[@user-vk4mm9so7l]

I love the infinite staircase.

[@That80sGuy1972]

Fascinating, awesome AJ. When I was 14 and watched the movie Labyrinth, I created a plane (save for the denizens) almost identical to this. Most of it was like the area where the Goblin King, the kid, and the girl were walking around. Only I made its doorways random with each one having a 10% chance of being where the traveler wanted to go... with the appropriate puzzle. Random ones didn't have a puzzle. I also had the portals within turns (minutes) of each other. It looks like TSR (AD&D) made one of my best teenage creations (a Labyrinth rip-off, so... low bar to beat) look to simple for words. I am happy to my core that something like this exists in canon.

[@satqur]

Picture the following. An ancient evil who was effectively sealed away forever by being pushed down the Infinite Staircase. The players are walking along the Infinite Staircase when they encounter this ancient evil, maybe some sort of ancient demon lord or a lord of the Nine Hells, or some being from the Far Realms, but said ancient evil is tumbling down the stairs like "FUCK IM FALLING DOWN ALL THESE STAIRS," and tumbles into or right past them.

[@fenrirfrenzybeard3162]

Mourn-blade vs storm-bringer? Mourn-blade is cooler. FIGHT ME! 🤜💥🤛

[@Scortch-lo3xy]

i love this intro man

[@JohnA...]

Here is a thought, it would seem to me that this staircase would be unlikely to have entrances on to many of the "higher" planes (and to a degree the lower planes). These specific locations tend to have quite rigid ways of thinking, to the point of forcefully removing a being who doesn't agree with them, or isn't aligned to that plane. There doesn't seem to be a need, or allowed, for creative thoughts, that kind of thinking tends to be one that breaks from the common mindset of a place/culture/society.

[@goolabbolshevish1t651]

It may be very different but the creatures of those planes still likely have art and creativity. Granted you are right where the utmost high and low realms are concerned.

[@JohnA...]

I was really only speaking of the higher and lower planes in the D&D cosmos of Law such as from Mount celestia, Arcadia, Mechanus, Acheron, and Baator that are all "Law" based planes, the rest have aspects of chaos. Drastically enforced law and order doesn't leave much room for creativity, and I should have probably been a little more specific with my own description and ruling out of specific planes.

[@cachos-story-lab]

There is a game called Wizards choice on Android, where at some point you reach the infinite staircase In that game, there is a forced truce between travellers. Even demos must restrain from violence or else risk the anger of all Supreme beings.

[@aajjeee]

its also a main part of denon's choice

[@cachos-story-lab]

@@aajjeee oh man, now I need to resume that one. I took time off when they had just begun that series, I like that writing style a lot.

[@Ghastly_Grinner]

Found a cat on the infinite staircase once...turned out to be Baba yaga's cat ... *grumbles in Dwarf* traitorous little vermin

[@AzraelThanatos]

You know, with this kind of thing, you also ought to cover more on the World Serpent Inn

[@Giganfan2k1]

Holy crap I have been wanting something on this. Thank you.

[@bitterzombie]

Can't help but wonder how doppelgangers feel about the existence of the infinite stairs. As beings that are constantly changing, creativity seems like less of an art and more of a way of life for them. I feel like doppelgangers might actually have quite intimate knowledge of the stairs, and if something like a doppelganger society or settlement were to exist, it seems feasible to me that it would be tucked away in some remote, forgotten pocket dimension that might be impossible to access by normal means. So in theory, the portal that appears to distract adventurers from their adventure could be a gateway for doppelgangers to a place that their kind call "home". On the subject of doppelgangers in the infinite staircase, they seem like they would be an ideal random encounter there honestly. I imagine that a doppelganger that has familiarized themselves with it knows the advantages of disguising themselves as a Lillendi, using the appearance to extort information or even demand fines from any adventuring parties they come upon. How would the Lillendi react to an imposter in their midst, I wonder?

[@mrbaillifman]

Why not just have Doppelgängers be from the Staircase? They came into existence from its changeable nature, and travelers on the staircase are their principle prey. They only go into the Realms when food on the staircase becomes scarce for a time.

[@bitterzombie]

@@mrbaillifman or perhaps they are cast out in their youth to experience the world firsthand, or as a rite of passage in determining their own identity. I suppose it depends on how you'd want to structure a secretive doppelganger society!

[@nvfury13]

I’m imagining something like a tree city strung in the center of a spiral portion of the staircase, completely peopled by Dopplegangers, not that the players would realize that at first, as the inhabitants would be wearing the forms of creatures from many worlds and planes.

[@bitterzombie]

@@nvfury13 that is cool imagery, perhaps they are so accustomed to their roles that any reference to their true nature is considered taboo. Any time they discuss aspects of being a doppelganger, it is done in a coded way, i.e. talking about the "true self" or their "past life", making them all seem like followers of some strange religion or cult. Another thought, maybe wearing elaborate masks and outfits is part of their custom, like a disguise for their disguise. I'm guessing that they might still have lives outside their sanctuary, so perhaps they don't even want to be recognized by other doppelgangers outside of this secret society. In that context, the masks and costumes they wear among one another might actually be considered a more genuine representation of their "identity" than the one they are polymorphed as, which may just be viewed as a sort of occupation or role that they play in more public society

[@nvfury13]

@@bitterzombie With the older ones among them living as “characters” they gained during their lives outside the stair, and it is part of a rite of passage to go out onto the stair to either find a traveler to mimic or find someone in the many worlds it connects to.

[@coreyeaston6823]

The enemy of nerds everywhere; an infinite staircase. Well played sir, well played. And thank you.

[@JanusHoW]

You could actually reach the top! All you need to do is build up speed for 12 hours, then make the Scuttlebug update its home, making sure to keep your QPUs properly aligned. (If you don't get the joke, look up 'Watch For Rolling Rocks in 0.5 A Presses'.)

[@JakalTalk]

Let's go Jock Nerds let's go!

[@Kid_illithid]

I’ve always been fascinated by the infinite stair. I think it’s one of the coolest things in dnd. How do the adventures hold up? Are the books good? I could run them for my group after we finish our current arc

[@AJPickett]

The two books are worth picking up.

[@goolabbolshevish1t651]

And like allot of things from dnd it's taken from mythology, albeit with their own twist on it.

[@rememberwhatthedormousesai6112]

Dude I cant tell you how much I love your music it sets the best mood

[@martyhoward6727]

Oh this is another excellent video. Visiting drivethru rpg for this beauty. Thanks!

[@SeraphimKnight]

Sounds a lot like the Ways in the Wheel of Time series. Neat!

[@AJPickett]

Very much so.

[@etymos6644]

I'll just sprint up and down these stairs for some quick exercise.

[@michaellove2249]

A fellow astral traveler..

[@adamwelch2837]

the bigest expanson to your D&D game!!!

[@bryanbryan2968]

Nicely done. Planes remind me of the stairs and portals in Diablo 2.

[@almitrahopkins1873]

Why does this bring to mind a certain Led Zeppelin song? The Lilendi are the celestial opposite of the marilith. One creates, one destroys. How far down does one have to go before one is replaced by the other? That is a danger of the staircase deeper in the abyss than any living creature has any business being. If marilith guard the lowest reaches of the staircase, that would be why demons are rarely found on it and why armies of demons haven’t ascended it to reach prime material worlds. That would be a kick in the head, wouldn’t it? Imagine a party of adventurers finding an entrance to the stairs to escape the abyss and a marilith immediately attacking the demons in pursuit of the adventurers but only attacking the adventurers if they try to go down the stairs. Or imagine a Lilendi only attacking evil adventurers trying to go up, but not down. That’s an interesting twist, I think.

[@Puddingskin01]

*Infinite staircase of boredom has snakebirb wiafus* But I thought it lead you out with your hearts desire.

[@ThortheGodly]

For a fun spin on the teleportation displacement effect of the staircase I have the thought to try coming up with a roll chart with negatives and positives. Knowing that its a gamble and not a flat waste is always a good lure to get people to try new things.

[@juliogouvea9447]

Gotta always keep up with those good old charts of randomness!

[@OmusKnowsAll]

Love the video! This will fit well in my campaign.

[@AJPickett]

It is an amazingly useful tool for running a plane travel game with lower level player characters.

[@Tiniuc]

The ultimate bard... and yet they can't bed anything. Oh the irony.

[@SolStains]

My god... Your videos are so damned good😍 Thank you for doing this 🙏

[@HighmageDerin]

I wish we had a entrance to the staircase. My hearts desire is to visit these other worlds, all of them. and become a powerful Multi-class with no level cap, Wizard/sorcerer/monk/Druid/Artificer who might one day make the step on the path to godhood............... also I just want to explore Torail, and Ebberon, and Mystria. But mostly I want off this Magic Dead Rock!

[@projectfantasy1385]

What if magic is here as well, but no one has mana? 😄

[@HighmageDerin]

@@projectfantasy1385 that would be even crueler. Becides i think another one of AJ's videos mentions that earth exists in d&d lore and is noted as being magic dead by elemenster himself....

[@almitrahopkins1873]

Just because you don’t see magic, that doesn’t mean it isn’t here. My ex was pissed when she watched me walk right up to a deer on a hiking trail and pet it like a dog. When she started to approach, it ran off. I can’t count the number of times I have walked up to friends and they didn’t see me, even though they were looking right at me. And I have asked the rain to wait and watched it stop, to the amazement of people around me countless times. This is a world of Druid magic and the fair folk. You just have to open your eyes to see it.

[@Reddotzebra]

"What would you do in that situation?" I'd walk through the door and never look back.

[@dennisking4589]

Bought this book along with Planescape setting to begin my Families next campaign....converting to Pathfinder 1e and going Phantom Tollbooth style!

[@Greenscyth22]

I think some sort of invisibility for the whole party would be a must have when transversing the stairs. Never a bad time to just not be seen if something foul is encountered whilst ascending. Also bringing along Planeswalker or Gatecrasher so you have a better chance of retrieving any lost companions.

[@stephenclements6158]

So an infinite spire/staircase guarded by flying serpent people. I wonder if this has any ties to the effort of Jazirian to establish the center of the multi-verse in the planes of Good, in that the staircase might be the center Jazirian sought to establish and the llilendi offspring of that flying serpent.

[@MySerpentine]

17:00 is the doors to Moria, you silly :)

[@ernestlam5632]

I hate pointless violence but I desire to see a fight between a Lillendi and Marilith.

[@AJPickett]

Snake Fight!

[@archer9338]

I too hate pointless violence. That is why I always use a sword.

[@pandoraeeris7860]

I used to have dreams/nightmares about this.

[@mrbaillifman]

Your description of the staircase reminds me of a Dust a book by Phillip Pullman, about life in a massive underground silo where you walked endless sets of stairs everyday.

[@dm_ex_machina3395]

Hey, great series! The truth of what they discover outside the silo and the build up to it was all really great. I have the audio book!

[@ShammyCam]

So good. Thanks for this AJ

[@benstiebel2851]

This may be your best video. Would like it several times if I could.

[@mercaius]

Thanks for warning us about these stairs bro.

[@richmendelson8194]

I hope he sees this, bro

[@clockworkkid99]

I wouldn't be afraid of the stairs, bro. I'd rather retire a character to their own personal heaven than have them killed off

[@jthomas669]

Last 2 vids have been your best yet! Have you ever considered doing a vid on the Mercane city of Union?

[@AJPickett]

adding it to The List™

[@samsamsamsamsamanilla5281]

This has always reminded me of Marvel's Crossroads dimension which served as banishment for the Incredible Hulk issues #300-313

[@BadwickProductions]

Loved this video and I really want to play a campaign around this setting!

[@nicholasschoonbeck6866]

I'm not sure if you just starting naming the artists you find or if I just noticed for the first time, but I'm very glad you do -

[@AJPickett]

I'm working on adopting it into every video I make now.

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@AJPickett That's an excellent practice, AJ.

[@beowulf.reborn]

8:05 "... but for a character hauling all their gear, up and up and up and up, this is quite an exhausting form of travel ..." Bro, why are you walking *_up_* the stairs? They're infinite ... heading *_down_* gets you to just as many landings as heading up does.

[@mjp152]

Try walking down an entire day - your legs will probably be even more sore.

[@charleshollister3612]

@@mjp152 Can confirm from walking the Appalachian Trail. When doing a thru hike it almost seems infinite. 😂 After 2189 miles of up and down your begging for flatness. 😂

[@mjp152]

@@charleshollister3612 Holy f*ck, that must been an amazing trip - my experience was just based on a one day trek through the Samaria Canyon on Crete. It was our last day and when we had to disembark our flight the next day, I almost couldn't get down the stairs 😆

[@charleshollister3612]

@@mjp152 that sounds like a lot of fun. It took me 7 months and was up and down so many mountains from Georgia to Maine that I can't even count. It was flat in some parts don't get me wrong. But that does not compare to the amount of ups and downs you got to go through. That was one Adventure that I intend to repeat only on the PCT this time. Seems like you had a lot of fun that's great I've never been to Crete. But ya Goin Down can be just as crappy as going up even being on a flat surface is crappy after a while the optimal train is just Rolling Hills that aren't super big but aren't just more flat ground either. Happy Trails and good luck on your next adventure. Just remember oz equal pounds and pounds equal pain.

[@KyleJordanGaming]

Fair enough about walking down being just as much of a bih. Still, great idea. Thinking outside of the box. I like it. Well done, OP. 👍

[@dragonballtalk8527]

Reminds me of a issue of doctor strange featuring the hulk

[@error5202]

Intro epic as always.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

Toothlicker blinked furiously,shrugging off the after effects of the unwanted teleportation. This wasnt good,this wasnt good at all. Two things became quite clear to the unfortunate orc. First it was was both warmer and brighter here... where ever HERE was. And secondly the smell told him he was most likely breathing his last. ......the great black and green reptile uncoiled its form and greedily slid foward toward this most unexpected meal....it had been months since the huge snake had last eaten,and at 36ft it was quite hungry-------the last mistake of Toothlicker Haarg,bodyguard to the late Vislick Dragonfood.

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

One of us always tells the truth and the other one always lies I often wondered what if that was said by the one that always lies🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

This statement is a lie

[@That80sGuy1972]

Having the truth-teller/ lie teller speak that logic problem removes the logic capability. That leaves all possibilities up for grabs, no foundation. I found the real logic problem in high school. Before you reach the native that could be from the truth-teller/lie-teller tribe, you know you will be reaching one of them The logic solution is "which way to your village?" They would both tell you the same path. Based upon which one would not kill you, you can decide where to go from that. I loved Labyrinth, but they got that logic problem wrong, it would be a guess no matter what.

[@MySerpentine]

@@That80sGuy1972 The right question is 'what would the other guy tell me I should do?' and then you do the opposite, because the honestly one will honestly tell you the other's lie and the liar will lie about the other's truth

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@MySerpentine True. But it also assumes binary on top of that binary being unintelligent and reactionary. Both would know about each other and would most likely speak the opposite of what they are assumed to say because of that knowledge. Building a decision upon words is easy to exploit, easy to lie, because the fact is fluid. Oppositional disorder fails far more often than being rational, being logical, despite how often the oppositonal ticks work so often. You introduced an answer allowing 2 X-factors, my answer prompted one. Reduce the number of chances one *can* lie, you reduce the lies by default. Never consider other factors that can be questioned later on if the binary can be bypassed in the most simple form. Never complicate anything binary unless the facts are complicated... complicating anything with facts that are simple lead to complicated lies, complicated falsehoods.

[@Scarletraven87]

serpentine lowerbody inhabits staircase /major facepalm

[@arislan79]

Great video again thank you!

[@dinkleberg684]

Interesting how a lot of places in dnd are more metaphorical than literal areas people travel around

[@JamiesonHorton]

I began reading For Duty and Deity this year, and this concept of a transplanar staircase really sets my imagination ablaze. It's so... D&D.

[@archam777]

Komodo Dragons are the essence of, "I dont need no man!!!"