Dungeons and Dragons: The Ethereal Planes

The Border Ethereal, The Color Curtain (plane of dreams) and the Deep Ethereal, an introduction to the structure and origin of the D&D Multiverse.
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aj pickett, the mighty gluestick, dungeons and dragons, roleplaying, tabletop, 5E, 5th edition, faerun, toril, forgotten realms, Eberron, pen and paper, Dungeons and dragons lore, monsters, magic, magic items, monster ecology, greyhawk, mystara, krynn, golarion, spelljammer, planescape, homebrew, live stream, Magic the Gathering, Wizards of the Coast, WotC, Ravnica, Ravenloft, Theros, Strixhaven, Fizban, Mordenkainen, Drizzt, cosmology, planescape, spelljammer, lore, stories, outer planes, elemental, artifact, toril, faerun, ether, ethereal, planes, multiverse, phlogiston, demiplane, border ethereal, deep ethereal, transitive planes, elemental, protomatter

[@TheHornedKing]

Being half not-real sounds like a good way to get some real existential dread.

[@YOOTOOBjase]

Plot twist, you only have existential dread if you're half not-real.

[@nix-cipher]

Almost similar to this existence,we are waves not matter.

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

I guess it makes sense the Ethereal plane doesn't get enough love. The gods are mental - they don't exist if you don't pay attention to them, so they're going to do everything they can to make you focus on them and the Astral Planes instead of the Ethereal, creating entire histories and morality structures to force you to acknowledge them - and ignore what's (Ethe)real.

[@AJPickett]

That is EXACTLY how it is.

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

@@AJPickett It is a cool aspect to gods - whether through love or hate, you're still acknowledging them. So, in some respects, good gods NEED bad gods in order to create a dichotomy that makes both important. Forgotten Realms gets a lot spicier when you lean into the inconsistencies that make you question the current world order.

[@purplehaze2358]

“‘Cause they’re crazy little fish people.” I’m going to use that as my default explanation for any time something doesn’t make sense in D&D lore.

[@adamwelch4336]

😆

[@AeronHale]

It's as fair an explanation as anything else lol!

[@raymondswartz5754]

Oh man the possibilities are endless. There could even be an ethereal gluestick spreading the lore of AJ 😁

[@AJPickett]

True...

[@mikegould6590]

Lots of inspiration here: - being "part phantasm" is a great explanation for Tashas Custom Lineage + Shadow Touched/Fey Touched. - The multiple doors through time and space reminds me of Monsters Inc, and thus finding a "door storage area" as the source for an adventure. Locke + Key addresses this as well, but via magical keys that do multiple things. - The idea of using the Ethereal as a transport medium for specialized craft sounds fascinating. Especially when you consider crossing g Kuo Toa, Ghosts, Succubi and possibly Slaad and Night Hags. Brilliant!

[@That80sGuy1972]

They expanded the Ethereal from its original canon. It used to be impossible to reach any outer plane via the Ethereal without the wormhole having some contact with its prime material plane or an alternative one... with no border ethereal places happening naturally. The most outer plane thing you used to be able to reach from the ethereal plane was your prime's inner planes or an alternative prime material plane... and go to its inner planes from there. Outer planes used to be only available via the Astral plane or some kind of warp, like a wormhole touching a prime or a Gate. Modern versions really blurred some borders. This is why I love your channel. You keep me in touch with what's canon now.

[@AJPickett]

Oh, its not possible to naturally reach any outer plane from the deep ethereal by just crossing over, there is no border ethereal for the outer planes or astral sea, however, there is a loophole thanks to the color curtain (the realm of dreams) which I will talk about next time. Yeah, I admit I got the wording all wrong and jumped ahead of myself... for the vaaaast majority, there is no travel from the Deep Ethereal to any of the astral realms.

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@AJPickett To be fair, my favorite AD&D sage, I also jumped ahead too... this video was an introduction and a prelude of things to come and I assumed much. In post 1st Ed and late 2nd Ed I saw a common glitch that the Astral was everything thought and Ethereal was everything proto-creation and assumed that they would just PB&J it away from the original canon. The Astral, in canon, was the typical way to connect to the Outer Planes and Alternative Prime Material Planes. The Ethereal, in canon, was a typical way to "ghost" and-or connect to that plane's Elemental Planes... or go to an Alternate Prime Material Plane (and do its Ethereal connection). I assume you have the original (1st Ed) Manual of the Planes, a great work of extraplanar things that were not covered in 2nd Ed before it went WTF and died to give birth to the later editions. I mean, even Planescape (2nd Ed born) still used that manual. I so *LOVE* how you covered illusions in the Ethereal realm. Love! Love! Love! It's a rare thing I did as a DM more than once. I even made a MacGuffin based upon that. Also, based upon the NES Black Wizards in Final Fantasy, I created a way for wizards to be more pseudo-matter (akin to Shades, an AD&D monster, "shadow stuff"). Illusions, using shadow matter, are partially real. Shadow matter is... nevermind, you get it. Illusionists can create pseudo-real things in all ways, not just mere phantasms (mind tricks) but real things ("illusions", shadow stuff, sensory things that with enough magic can physically interact with the real).

[@krispalermo8133]

@@That80sGuy1972 Few things about the Ethereal plane, .. a.) Something about back in the Planesscape box set it stated that Demi shadow Monsters had a % chance of taking a life onto their own, and Hallucinatory Terrain will become permanent. AD&D creation of magic items were so time consuming with little pay off in wand/staff charges, but 3.5e rules you could make magic trap items with unlimited charges to just create worlds out within the deep ethereal. 3.5e " Manual of the Planes " carried that effect over. AD&D, why is there a demi plane in the ethereal/astral .. well there just is. Lets just go with the story. 3rdE, here is the game mechanics .. Whitewolf/ World of Darkness: Mage the Awakening .. also got that covered. b.) Ravenloft setting and game theory which came from it, Demi Shadow Monster spell had a chance at the end of its duration of becoming full power Shadows which will then attack the cast after wards. So Demi Shadow Magic/ Monsters creates a conduit into the ethereal and into the inner planes to function as a cheap low level gate way to draw a planar being into another realm, despite Ravenloft used to be located in the deep ethereal and not the Shadow Fell. At the end of Demi Shadow Monster, the wizard in Ravenloft had to make as save at spell caster level or face against one or more Shadows attacking them, maybe when all alone. Did I mention in my pass posts that my last shop DM just loved throwing in Ravenloft and Call of Cthulhu into every mini campaign sooner or later ? Wizard got bored and called up a Demi Shadow Monster L@p-Dance, and well .. we had more than a few Shadow out breaks in multiple villages. c.) The ethereal was noted for being the location where ghost dwelled and there were paths leading to the outer lower plane of Hades. d.) Before the 2000's, it was stated in a few DC Superman/ Wonder Woman comics that there were path ways through the Phantom Zone into Hades, but ghosts were not known to be found on/within the Phantom Zone which Kryptonian gravity drives use as a form of hyper space travel. Then New DC52 came out and made it legal for a few years, currently in limbo to it current state. Any way my first game shop back in the late 1990's & early 2000's did use 3rdE Psionic Hand book twisting the powers of Astral Constructs and Astral Plasma Burns with ethereal proto matter energy instead. Along with using the mental psionic powers mimicking the arcane spell Blink which allows the user to blink/flash in an out of the ethereal for travel and defense dodge bonus. Kryptonains just use the Phantom Zone/ Ethereal plane to hyper space surf across for great speed that looks like Teleportation and draw elemental power from the inner planes for their heat vision and artic breath. e.) After playing with the Psionic hand book, which just used the Star Wars game Force skill checks to active a given Kryptonain power related to D&D wizard spell. f.) Note from Planescape and Manual of the Planes, travel time trough the ethereal/astral is base off of the PC's Int score be it personal travel or a spelljammer. Then argue about a Star Wars ship's droid A.I. hyper drive nav com. g.) Give a player's PC a Ring of Unlimited Limited Wishes and watch them to see if they can pull off Green Lantern, .. Argue that Hallucinatory Terrain can be used to create a spelljammer castle to fly/travel across the ethereal plane. The spell Dimensional Door can have a mess hap and leave you trap out in the astral/ethereal on a fail WiLL save DC25, so why not just have that 4th-level spell be used as a quick gate to said planes instead of the higher level spell Planeshift ?

[@themalcontent100]

A good way to make some awesome monsters. Being able to create good succubi or reproduce angels.

[@tonyromasco1735]

Could Baba Yaga's Hut be a demiplane given a physical form? Like a TARDIS, with legs? Now THAT would get me watching Dr Who again!

[@HighmageDerin]

the only thing that would get mme to return to who is the firing taring and feathering of Chibnal. and bringing back Davis and Moffit to Write a HUGE retcon in which Peter Capuldi comes back to redo his regeneration scene and they bring back the Dream lord, and pass off the last 3 years of.............................(insert as many insults and expletives as you can here).......................... as being a nightmare brought about by 13 trying to stay!

[@AJPickett]

@@HighmageDerin modern audiences have every right to expect more from modern Dr Who, but, I remember old Dr Who... it's come a long way.

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

@@AJPickett doctor who is fantastic, until the last 2 seasons 'happened' what a disgrace......

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

@@HighmageDerin i was a fan all my life, till chipmunk and cosplay doctor took over..... i really want them to undo it, but i fear the worst. Oh man, Missy (ms Gomez) as the mistress, she was absolutely fantastic....

[@Greenscyth22]

When I think of the Ethereal Plane it just gives me the willies. It's the idea of not seeing that which is always around you. Best to craft yourself a pair of goggles of True Seeing because you never know when you'll enter a haunted area, or are being spied upon (or worse). But the real nightmarish image I get is Walking into a large tavern, and casually throwing on those goggles to discover I'm smack dab in the middle of a Phase Spider Nest.

[@AJPickett]

*Chittering stops are they all slowly turn to look at you, looking at them... They have far, far too many eyes.*

[@CPK-iz5dd]

I had a DM that worked 1st,2nd ed. Psionics & Arcane powers with the Ethereal Plan. Creating perfect copies of anything. Copies of gear, demiplanes, anything without Souls.

[@theaceofjase1555]

send a copy? lol working on a campaign with planar travel

[@CPK-iz5dd]

@@theaceofjase1555 I am sorry I don;t have more. The campaign from 30 years ago...

[@beryonderb8218]

You had a rare DM that would allow a psionics

[@UpToSpeedOnJaguar]

@@beryonderb8218 at least in AD&D where I experienced it, it's because 'rules as written' psionics are broken as fuuuuck lol. Anyone could potentially acquire them, and if you had a wizard, you could basically negate their usefulness entirely. We had mushroom people of the underdark stick spores in our noses that let us tap into psionic power lol.

[@sirwilliam4128]

@Aj Pickett FYI: the Core of a TARDIS is a captured dying star that is placed in a time loop or chrono-asymptote (always approaching Supernova but not actually completely going supernova). That’s how they get the power that they need for the TARDIS.

[@sirwilliam4128]

@Aj Pickett S7e10: Journey to the Center of the TARDIS. I wish I could have a TARDIS.

[@AJPickett]

@@sirwilliam4128 me too.

[@Karlettto89]

having a half illusion villain who is trying to become real by bending reality would make an interesting illusionist villain.

[@AJPickett]

It would!

[@Reddotzebra]

Entities who can look at the higher dimensions in Doctor Who seem to view the TARDIS as this Lovecraftian horror with lots of tentacles and mouths, and in the books one of the severly injured War-TARDISes which has been stretched like chewing gum across time is actually mistaken for a Shoggoth. (Which then prompts the Shoggoth display being taken down from the museum of things which has never existed.)

[@LSDireWolf]

Just sat down to dinner. Perfect timing as always AJ!

[@krispalermo8133]

3.5e D&D, .. DMG section on " Creating Magic Trap Items." Basic a wand with limitless charges. But in regards to wands with charges it is all about marketing. Sell the pistol and it's ammo separately. Other than a few paragraphs on mechanics. here is the concept. Create a flying orb that cast unlimited Hallucinatory Terrain enhance as a DemiShadow Magic spell. The orb is preprogramed to create island of a given description.

[@trajanfidelis1532]

The deep Etherial scares me like the deep ocean does. Thanks for the video AJ!

[@AJPickett]

To be fair, you have good reason to fear the deep ocean.

[@Sirfinchyyy]

That phantasm reproducing and being the parent of a player would make such a mindfuck bacstory, i love it.

[@jason7120]

Making an entire race of illusions... Hello holodeck and all the craziness it brings. All you need is a magical version of a mobile emitter and you can D&D the Doctor.

[@alanschaub147]

Misty Visions + Illusory Reality (14th Level Illusionist ability) = At-will manifestation from the Ethereal Plane = Loony Tunes! 🐰 🥕

[@thehillz726]

the imiskari expanding there domains by just making more demi planes made me wonder: is that how the gods see the prime and other realms? or is that how the fey wild, far realm and shadowfell expand?

[@AJPickett]

Pretty much, yeah. The Far Realms are just alternate prime material dimensions where everything is so different it is lethal to be exposed to it, so, when those prime planes came to be, they had radically different laws of physics and such. (there are many far realms)

[@thehillz726]

@@AJPickett are there border planes were the far realm overlaps with the fey wild or shadow fell?

[@Rexxy06]

Thank you for making this, I have been struggling with the differences between the Ethereal and Astral plane, and this video helped a ton.

[@AJPickett]

You're very welcome!

[@lysander9957]

The implications of only being half real are crazy... imagine like you have a 50% chance of treating any illusion as if it was physical reality, in an almost cartoon logic kind of way. Illusory tunnel becomes real, and you walk through it, but your party can't because its still an illusion to them. Maybe illusions that you cast are 50% real, so your illusion of an adult red dragon breathing fire actually does half damage of the real thing.

[@AJPickett]

excellent idea!

[@megatroymega]

Casting permanent illusions on Ethereal sounds like a good way to upset gemstone dragons.

[@flowmingo7522]

Wait, how would a Disguise Self spell work on the Ethereal Plane?

[@AJPickett]

Dangerously.

[@professorsponge1554]

running a 3.5 ravenloft game. it describes Ravenloft as a mobile demi plane that roams the Deeper Ethereal plane, almost like its a predatory thing.

[@Trace_AlChrom]

If I remember right, Ravenloft is a trap/prison plane. It is made to hold Ravenloft himself. If I remember right, gods make these things as punishment.

[@HighmageDerin]

yes, that was where Ravenloft was located before the second sundering and the creation of the demiplane of shadow. now Ravenloft is accessed from there.

[@AJPickett]

Yep, remember that Ravenloft is just one of the many Domains of Dread... like a nature reserve of EVIL.

[@AJPickett]

@@Trace_AlChrom Nobody knows what the powers who manifest the domains of dread actually are.

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

@@AJPickett which makes it better and more scary lol

[@brentdirusso4391]

Is the Ethereal plane like the dark matter of D&D? The scaffolding of everything? What is the connection with the Far realm?

[@AJPickett]

Ah well, the Far Realm is not technically on the official cosmology of D&D, you won't see it listed in any charts and things because really, the Far Realms are many... they are those parallel prime material planes that are very, very different from the "normal" prime in the game. But yes, the Ethereal is the scaffolding, yes, exactly so.

[@CptDrake]

The Ethereal Plane could be thought of the space between spaces. It's the fog that exists between all that exists. In our terms, I'd like it to intergalactic medium, our Prime material as a galaxy, and the other planes of The Great Wheel as different arms of the Galaxy. Each different Prime Material (game world) being it's own galaxy. The Ethereal is all that does and doesn't exist in-between. The far realm(s) are alternate dimensions above/beyond/bellow our own. Alternative universes altogether, foreign to the standard construct of the familiar parallels of our universe. But that's just my own interpretation.

[@HighmageDerin]

@@CptDrake The greatest Irony here. Is that we have been writing fiction about how reality works for over 40 years. and Science is now finding out that some of the fiction might just accually be fact! :)

[@Pyre]

"Time and *Relative Dimension* in Space." Heck of an example. Roll on scifi modules we're hoping for.

[@spoon1710]

The ethereal plane is one of the coolest planes

[@xcyoteex]

I always liked how older D&D settings had some cohesion to the magic that players could explore. Like how you went into the chest spell. Or with Portable Holes and Bags of Holding. It gave a chance for exploration and discovery. And a lot more room for the DM to play. I had some players that had attached a portable home to a Modron. They got a Bottle of Air and lived in there like out was an RV. So, I introduced some Kaorti that literally dug into the back of their portable hole Modron RV. Which made sense given the extra-dimensional nature of the hole and the Kaorti. And made the wizard want to figure out how that was even possible.

[@AJPickett]

Never underestimate how weird the kaorti are.

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

Once made a small demiplane ages ago with a seed spell. In it there are 3 gigantic obsidian columns growing, where rooms and corridors have been cut out. I made it in honour of the Farscape series, where they went to a "shadow repository" where all kinds of 'people' can store their secret riches. Love that spell:)))

[@Reddotzebra]

Or their secret ship-eating parasites.

[@timothyevans5193]

Glad to have you back AJ, Your voice is like honey. Teach on sage!

[@VengefulJarl]

Thank you for calling out how meta the 5e designers are being with certain spells and abilities

[@AJPickett]

Oh you can count on it. I call it like I see it, they are just a publisher, this is OUR game.

[@HighmageDerin]

Its because they think they have to hand hold all the DMs so their players cant have too much free beating up demons. Concentration. limited equipment lists. hand full of backgrounds, handful of feats. crying about flying, the list just goes on........... they act like a good DM cant judge his own table.....................

[@Resolute89]

Designers "nerfing" spells/abilities to make the scope smaller has always annoyed me. Celebrate the diversity of what can be done imo.

[@That80sGuy1972]

That's why I broke from canon-breaking WTF new things halfway through 2nd Ed to keep my homebrew in the 90s. Also, I see now that they really altered what the Ethereal plane was... makes sense relative to how they tweaked the Astral and both their links to the outer and inner planes.

[@AJPickett]

@@That80sGuy1972 I may have led you astray there, there are changes, but not that drastic :)

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@AJPickett Oh? I trust your judgement there. The making the solid division lines more of a polite suggestion would be a drastic one.

[@efferzzreffe4903]

as in depth & concise as a presentation of a subject in the real world & really brings the game to life, you are nothing short of a Professor of D&D! 😁 AWESOME Presentation Mr A J Sir!!! 👏👏👏👏👏

[@TravisSelassieSimbawafedha]

Yeah in my multi-material planes game if you mess around in the Ethereal Plane beyond a surface level ... Leomund you know starts paying more attention to your party. My PC's got smart and cast "tiny chest" in his old house in City Greyhawk on the night of Brewfest ( Halloween basically on Oerth ) .

[@HenriFaust]

4:52 It's like WotC is stuck in the mindset of a video game designer who's worried that any alteration to the rules will create mountains of work for the programming team. Except it's a tabletop game, and it shouldn't be so much trouble to implement things. It makes me wonder what kind of Kafkaesque nightmare working for WotC must be. If you're dead set on discouraging "abuse," just attach a significant cost to traversal through the spell, like hitting them with some force damage and knocking them unconscious for a few minutes or giving them a couple of levels of exhaustion.

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

Actually, I think it's more to stop players from screwing themselves over. They're worried a player will hop inside their own box, get sent to the Ethereal Plane, and be too low a level to make it back and functionally exclude themselves from the game.

[@AJPickett]

@@monsieurdorgat6864 I get that impression, but that's also video game thinking... the DM is there to say "Well lucky for you, this storm comes along and blows you right back into reality, lose one point of constitution and gain one point of wisdom permanently, you are worse the wear for the experience, but it was one hell of a ride!". WotC seems to worry that by leaving too much up to DM agency, they lose the ability to slot a nice "safe" spell into a video game or whatever... never seems to occur to them that video games NEVER exactly emulate a tabletop RPG anyway, so the entire point of using the exact same spells and mechanics is stupid to begin with.

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

@@AJPickett I know that solution seems pretty obvious to an experienced DM, but 5e is hard enough on DMs as is. Sure, you "can" justify anything, but it takes effort to figure out whether/what penalty is appropriate, or how to even justify their return without doing a lore-dive on the spot or breaking the narrative. It may not be hard-coded like a video game, but there aught to be limits on a spell your players will be casting early and often for the sake of the DM and the player's sense of stability. A "safe" spell for players is also just another thing the DM doesn't have to do research on. I know I've had enough of that, even before you get to the spell list. And if you are an experienced DM, such as yourself, then you'll have no problem confidently adjusting the spell to be a little spicier ☺

[@catominor7306]

Getting home from a long day at work and seeing an upload from you is a great feeling. Cheers

[@davidjarkeld2333]

So is the shard of evil sucking in the ethereal mist to create the abyss?

[@AJPickett]

Interesting contradiction it seems... is the abyss in the Elemental chaos? Then why is it depicted as one of the outer planes beyond the astral sea? Hmmmm! Where is the Abyss exactly?!

[@probablythedm1669]

@@AJPickett In the naughty corner, not respecting its time-out? 🤓

[@AJPickett]

@@probablythedm1669 100%

[@CPT115FA]

Really enjoyable content! I will investigate adding an ethereal component to my next campaign.

[@Josh-ye9ol]

I been waiting on this deep dive for a wile thank you sir. Well done.

[@daniell1483]

The Ethereal Plane has always confused me and intrigued me at the same time. Hope to get some enlightenment for its original function or purpose! Edit: So, question. The Inner Planes sort of started off first and the "castoff" from the Inner Planes becomes the mists in the Ethereal Plane and the mist eventually forms the Prime Material. Since Gods and Powers only came into existence with Prime Material beings with sapience, doesn't that imply the Inner Planes are older than the Outer Planes?

[@gustavopaez2444]

Excellent intro. Loved the video

[@SamaelHellscrem]

This "half illusion" thing honestly sounds to me like the origin of changelings or even dopplegangers. If your body is half proto matter bound and changed by your will i can easily see that as the origin for shapeshifters. Also Succubi have the natural ability to to go into the Ethereal plane...and well if succs are known for anything it is making offspring 😅 So much potential!

[@christopherpugnetti5827]

Oooo! Great connection! I may adopt that lore for my changeling character!

[@AJPickett]

Damn good points there.

[@HenriFaust]

Succubi are shapechangers too. Interesting...

[@SamaelHellscrem]

@@HenriFaust True! So can mimics... i wonder if all the shapeshifters (outside of lycanthropes and vampires) are connected in some way

[@Eisenwulf666]

i might be wrong, but in the weirdness that was late 3.5 i think i remember a template for a half-living spell creature, i even remember ethereal elves..

[@AJPickett]

Half golem was the shark-jumping template from 3.5 that made me look forward to the next edition...

[@Eisenwulf666]

@@AJPickett Yeah, it seemed completely unnecessary and very weird..it could make a cool BBEG in an horror game, as a one-of-a-kind abomination, but having the rules for them..

[@scottburns4458]

I love hearing the lore on the planes it is so fascinating to my mind so totally enjoyed this. Thank you

[@afngary]

15:26. Imagine an adventure who would write down everything (to include maps). Wouldn't they figure out someone/thing was doing something with their memory? With that knowledge couldn't they may be able to conquer this issue?

[@AJPickett]

Yep, that effort should be rewarded

[@qwertyuiop42385]

The Grim Hollow handbook has a part-illusion species that is excellent. I made an arcane trickster using it and he's a blast to play.

[@DominicCuda]

Hey, I made a disembodied arcane trickster, too! They're just such a good fit

[@moonringXD]

15:00 weren't there some imaskari that wanted to go back and then founded high imaskar?

[@AJPickett]

yep, it was a faction, a family really, that founded deep Imaskar

[@zzfrute]

I recently homebrewed a race of Alp (germanic root of the engish word "Elf") inextricably linked to the Etherial in much the same waythe Elves are linked to the Fey Wild. Dream beings, unable to sleep, but utterly fascinated with creatures that do. This video has been inspiring and opens tons of possibilities for my little friends.

[@luisvazquez4397]

Great content as usual! I'm throwing a few timestamps for future listenings my friend. Keep up the awesome work 💖. Start: -What is the Ethereal Plane 3:28 -Demiplanes/Pocket dimensions 5:10 -Physics&Spatial properties 7:12 -The Color Curtain 9:00 -Illusion Magic in the Ethereal (fun) 13:00 -Living beings/Denizens 16:13 -Demiplanes in more detail 18:56 -Preview of Part2 Topics

[@guuspot923]

Ah, another hearty snack of my most favorite glue! :)

[@AGrayPhantom]

6:19 This is a question I've always had! The Great Wheel Cosmology only shows the Ethereal Plane overlapping with the Material Plane, so I always wondered how Ethereal Jaunt works in the Outer Planes.

[@zakosist]

I love the idea of the ethereal plane

[@intothekey]

I love the ethereal. Making an Echo fighter who's soul was ripped apart in a ethereal cyclone. Part existing stuck in the ethereal and the other part existing in the material.

[@atlas_of_prescottia]

You've heard of "I'm My Own Grandpa", now get ready for "I'm My Own Illusion"!

[@StargaezrToo]

Probably my favourite video AJ! So many delicious ideas to add to my campaign

[@krispalermo8133]

DC comics, .. Ethereal Plane ratings, .. a.) Border Ethereal .. ghost sight, .. Silent Hill/ Shadowfell. b.) Space Ethereal .. Phantom Zone/ subspace/ hyper space. in the New 52, Krypto the superdog follow Kal'EL space crib to Earth and the Krypton Exiles follow the dog. It only took a few years to catch up the rocket. Pocket demiplanes and realities. c.) Deep Ethereal, original Ravenloft setting, also leads to Hades under world.

[@AJPickett]

Yeah, Ravenloft and the Domains of Dread, just demiplanes within the deep ethereal... could this mean they can potentially become crystal spheres in the Prime? hmmmmm!

[@krispalermo8133]

@@AJPickett Depends on the size of the crystal sphere, the Core surrounding Castle Ravenloft is barely 300mi across. And it is debatable that most crystal spheres are the size of our RL solar system. Besides my last game shop 15 to 17 years ago mixed 3.5e Ravenloft system of corruption and madness/ insanity checks into our Star Wars games. Along with any other game we played.

[@lordk.gaimiz6881]

Hello AJ! I have some questions for ya: 1-what would happen if one where to cast the demiplane spell while inside the ethereal? 2-what could come to be if one was to cast the mirage arcane spell inside the ethereal?(specially if a illusionist wizard does it, and how would malleable illusions make it different) 3-what do you think about creating a more interesting demiplanes than the boring 30ft room as it is writen? 4-what do you think about casting the demiplane spell inside an already existing demiplane so that instead of creating a new door you could expand the existing demiplane by 30ft in every direction? 5-how could one connect a demiplane to the prime without having to cast the demiplane spell every time? Would it involve a gate, demiplane or planeshift spell made permanent?(like the crafting a magic item downtime activity) or even a homebrew spell like the planar link spell from the (in)complete tome of spells? Ps: you are my favorite lore sage and I love the ethereal ^^

[@AJPickett]

1- Functions normally I believe, except in the ethereal, you can see the 30x30ft room. 2- Well if you leave it to the (lots) of dice rolls, there is a percentile chance (slim) that the terrain will be quite real in parts, the spell is designed to be cast on existing terrain, not sure if that would be a problem. I would not use dice rolls as the DM in this instance, I would design a unique and unexpected encounter location within the spells area of effect and spring it on the players, because that is way more fun and seems like that's what the player who cast the spell is looking for anyway. 3- I'm old school when it comes to demiplane construction, the spell for 5th edition is clearly "Create Lesser Demiplane", and we don't have the Greater option... screw that, go grab the spell from Pathfinder and use that instead, provide your player with a lead to go on a quest to rediscover the journals and spellbook of an archmage or some ancient creator race tablets and give them plenty of options... anytime players get interested in setting up some sort of base or fortress or whatever, I fully support it by default, this is exactly the sort of investment in the setting that I aim to foster. 4- I say yes, because that spell is REALLY BORING as it is. 5- All of those options are viable, there are many ruins and examples in the lore of ancient cultures messing with creating portal networks and failing disastrously, so obviously that's the direction I would point the player in... go find some ruins with ancient portal stones! Good questions :)

[@lordk.gaimiz6881]

@@AJPickett thank you! It took me a while to see this as i was doing some exams (also i live on the opposite side of the world hehe) i will have more questions when your next video comes i think, till we meet again AJ have a good one ^^)/

[@bahamutkaiser]

Sounds like a really good ancestry for an echo knight.

[@Talock2000]

Love this subject and I am really looking forward to Learning all about its deep lore

[@darkeather2]

I like to wait for your videos to build up so I can go through several in a marathon. I've also been plagued by the question "what is the difference between the astral and ethereal planes?" because its hard to get good answers. Lo n Behold I come back to not one, but three videos on the matter. Lets gooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[@AJPickett]

I have more Ethereal stuff coming up, now we have covered the ground rules, so to speak, I can start to populate the plane with examples and lore.

[@CatholicDragoon]

I can envision a scenario where a once benign ruler or a cabal of wizards turn full murder hobo, conquering and looting everything they can reach. The reason being they've built a demiplane in the Ethereal and have decided to 'acquire' as much resources as they can grab in their world before finishing the move into the Ethereal and closing the door behind them. Would make for an interesting reason on why the 'evil' empire is acting the way it is, could also be part of a world's backstory or setup for a hunt in the Ethereal.

[@Baraborn]

Thanks for dropping another one. Really needed my fix for the week.

[@danlbug]

Awesome. Looking forward to the rest of this series.

[@digunder14]

my theory is eberron is actually a super complex demiplane of massive size or a crystal sphere that was transplanted into the deep ethereal, is the most logical and reasonable way for both wizards of the coast and baker's canons can work together

[@AJPickett]

Eberron should have just stuck with being completely apart, much like the Magic the Gathering stuff, because as it is, its a 4th edition worthy mess.

[@ashholenyc1312]

Hello AJ great video. In my limited research i found out it might be non cannon but is there anyway you can do a video on the ordial plane. I researched it after i saw it on the map with a question mark next to it in this video

[@AJPickett]

I can look into it 🙂

[@ashholenyc1312]

@@AJPickett your the best

[@brianzmek7272]

@@AJPickett The Ordial plane is such a cool idea im not sure which possibility it is but i think it is hard for material creatures to reach just like most gods have a hard time acting in the ethereal despite how elemental gods act in both the elemental planes and the outer plains.

[@sethierot7067]

This has so much potential, i love it. Thank you for throwing Inspiration my way again and again. I enjoy your Videos and i believe my few Players do so too further down the Chain.

[@villiamkarl-gustavlundberg5422]

The ethereal plane is the plane of existence that surrounds the inside of the bag of holding. Surrounds all the universes. Why the astral plane is preferred inter-planar connecting plane is beyond me.

[@tylerannand3777]

Easier to navigate

[@mattnerdy7236]

Hey AJ, what a surprise! Great video & topic! These multi worlds and planes of existence always confuse me. The illusion copy coming to life was mind blowing and the fact that spells work different on these planes of existence. The Kuo Toa being in two places at once makes perfect sense. This explains why some of them are completely crazy and why the can create Gods out of thin air. Came across the sleep arrow and started making other arrows from spells, their is a Dream spell, I now wonder if this spell pulls energy from the Dream realm. I can see already, going to love these episodes. Thanks AJ you have a wonderful day!

[@AJPickett]

Yep, there is a lot more weirdness to come, including useful, actual plots, adventure ideas and campaign themes for DMs to use.

[@agsilverradio2225]

So that last part is like; the demiplanes are the D&D source meterial in exsiatance, including Unearthed Archana and 3rd party meterial. The Crystal sphere contains the meterial the DM allows the game, and another crystal sphere is another DM's game.

[@123q3rqwe]

Great video man, can't get enough of this stuff!

[@themightymoose5047]

It's been a bit AJ! Excited to enjoy this nugget of nerdiness! :)

[@earthobserver2544]

I'm glad to be able to watch your videos haven't played for years so these are great to listen to daily.

[@fyredust960]

Lovedd this! Thanks for the vid!

[@blakmajk3512]

Excellent work, sir! 👍🏼👍🏼

[@jamesgirden1627]

Great video hope you're well

[@matthewfritz4629]

AJ you never disappoint with a video.

[@hawthornhobbit]

I wonder if 5e will have Spelljammer sail the Ethereal realms and drop Wild space all together.

[@AJPickett]

I think time is running short for that sort of major change.

[@carminegraves]

imagine trying to get child support from an illusion

[@AJPickett]

that made me lol

[@couchcommandoiv5528]

I would argue they only have to pay 50% in real currency, and the rest can be gotcha gold

[@AJPickett]

@@couchcommandoiv5528 50% bitcoin

[@Avigorus]

That Imaskari description has me wondering if they're related to the Ethergaunt...

[@Faranos007]

Damn you AJ. Just as i think i may go to bed. Guess i can dream of astral projection. Much love from USA.

[@blackdragonwhitelion]

Thanks AJ great video, I loved the geometric crystal glass palace picture, maybe a mt celestial or Elysium location. When I play Minecraft I imagine I’m in the ethereal and I channel it into reality. Every time I build it’s a different roll to a new plane so all the info is helpful for adventuring. Thanks again!

[@adrianithhenwood6771]

After a long day, always a treat to watch your videos. Thank you Aj 🖤

[@AJPickett]

You are most welcome :)

[@theHedgex1]

How fun would it be to have a mad character or at least seen my normal people as a mad character because this guy or girl can see into this realm but have no control over it. Some of the actions like stepping aside or random fear could be from monsters passing by that the character doesn't want to step in front of or want to hide from. Maybe even start up conversations or attempted conversation with creatures that's not there in the physical realm. Possibly creatures that he or she sees can see them just as plainly as if they were in the same space. Maybe some of those creatures are malevolent and desire to reach out as it were to the player character.

[@mmardh799]

thank you, AJ!

[@freakyskull516]

so. im playing a wizard that studies hags she got and can use a touchstone... ie unlimited travel to and from the ethereal plane she rolled low on understanding of the ethereal plane

[@saeyabor]

> "unlimited travel to and from" > "low on understanding" Here comes every problem in WH, WH40k, Elder Scrolls, Warcraft, D&D, Soulsborne, and most of Lovecraft. XD

[@saeyabor]

@@remyb6854 But you understand what a back yard is, and that particular one is finite and you own it.

[@freakyskull516]

@@saeyabor lucky for her she understands the border ethereal well enough to use it for scouting and to be careful of ghosts and phase spiders and is a cautious one so we are currently finishing up a plot point before some research on the ethereal plane is done this is useful for 2 reasons 1] this campaign takes place in raurin and weve located an imaskarcana so being able to hopefully contact the surviving imaskari can help (thank the gods she knows their language) 2] she's been trying to establish a trade contact in the city of brass which she may be able to travel to with this

[@saeyabor]

@@freakyskull516 Ok, that's not nearly as bad as I thought at first.

[@camerongunn7906]

The Ethereal Plane is such a cool place in D&D. Great video and can't wait for more.

[@dantegreen9801]

Woooooooo! Yeah baby, that's what I've been waiting for.

[@HowtoRPG]

Thanks AJ.

[@Harrowed2TheMind]

Hey, I just had a thought: I know most spells à la Leomund's Magnificent Mansion (or pretty much any Leomund spell, really) and other temporary demiplane-creating spells with semi-real objects in them are technically Conjuration (you need it to summons, after all) for the most part, but could the matter conjured in such a way be based off of an illusion in the Ethereal Plane? Like creating an illusion in a small pocket of the Ethereal Plane? It would make a lot of sense: for example, how the Mansion's floor plan is whatever you want it to be and the fact that any servant or object from the Mansion, such as food and drink, dissipate into smoke and cease to exist if brought back to the Material Plane, reacting as protomatter, but shaped by your thoughts. Seems like a shortcut a genius such as Leomund would have come up with handily.

[@AJPickett]

It wouldn't be reliable, but yes, in theory, that could work (like, 5% of the time)

[@philurbaniak1811]

I really really enjoyed this 👍

[@samuelsmith5828]

Good on ya. Make them as long as you want. And thank you so much.

[@davidconrad7123]

Would a living illusion be able to exist on material planes if it went back to the plane to recharge like a battery on occasion

[@AJPickett]

Yes

[@couchcommandoiv5528]

Due to the planes bordering the ethereal, is it easier/faster to create permanent gates to the outer planes within a demiplane than in the Prime Material?

[@AJPickett]

Outer planes exist within the astral, border the astral one could say... I don't see why a demiplane couldn't be made that mimics the exact qualities of the Astral plane so that your idea works exactly like that.

[@timothyhanna6304]

thanks for the video. this is a tough topic

[@chriscalvin5083]

Good video AJ

[@stewartglencrose9023]

Got this and mrrhex’s take, good times

[@tylerannand3777]

Technically there are Astral demiplanes as well, usually psionic in nature

[@pauldiamond1583]

Alright SO!... Enter the Ethereal. Use illusion spells to create people that worship you. When you have enough worshipers you immediately become a diety of whatever sphere you are in OR a new Crystal Sphere is created, on the spot, with you as the sole diety EDIT: for bonus flavor, You use your illusion magic to create host bodies for the ghosts the roam the Ethereal and have them worship you as thanks. You become the diety of rebirth

[@NoConsequenc3]

Diety of rebirth? More like warlock patron class

[@adamwelch4336]

Neat! I have a better understanding!