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Gate town portals

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Wed, 2008-01-02 01:09
#1
Pale Night
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Gate town portals

Hi all, it's my first post soa bit of an introduction as well as a question.

I used to play a lot of AD&D in the early 90's, mostly forgotten realms. I stopped playing for about 10 years and just recently started getting back into the game and have become a total Planescape convert - I just can't get enough of it!. I've gone and bought pretty much all the books I didn't have from the old days and have been reading non-stop.
I found my way here after stumbling upon Shemeska's incredible story times at enworld. I do want to say thanks to Shemmie, you have provided heaps of inspiration for my new campaign and I have stolen quite a few of your ideas - they are just too good not to share with my players.
I play 2nd Ed exclusively since I have $1,000s of worth of books from when I used to play, and all the Planescape stuff is 2E as well, but I don't have to ask questions about rules so I figure I can get away with that here Eye-wink

So, on to my question. I think it's easy to answer but I can't find a good answer anywhere:
Where do the portals in the gate towns exit? Is it to a random place on the relevent plane? To a specific place? Always the same place? My gut says random place but that seems a bit, well, arbitrary...
Are there stable portals from the planes to their gate towns? Are these portals well known and well guarded? Are there shifting portals to the gate towns from their plane?
Normally I'm not such a stickler and would just make a decision but this is one of those things I'd like to know.

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Wed, 2008-01-02 05:37
#2
Zeniel
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Gate town portals

Well first of all the portal will always take you to the first layer of that plane. But as to where it spits you out on that plane hmmmm....

Well considering how travel works on the planes and working with the centre of all rule. I would guess it would place you a distance between you and your destination on the first layer, spaced apart by your disposition toward that planes alignment. Example.

A N/PC who is lawful good entering the abyss looking for a portal to their desired layer of said abyss, could find themselves in for a long trek their, whilst the plane takes its time trying to twist and consume said N/PC.

But by all means someone correct me if this is incorrect or complete barmy talk.

Wed, 2008-01-02 19:10
(Reply to #2) #3
Azure
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Gate town portals

'Pale Night' wrote:
So, on to my question. I think it's easy to answer but I can't find a good answer anywhere: Where do the portals in the gate towns exit? Is it to a random place on the relevent plane? To a specific place? Always the same place? My gut says random place but that seems a bit, well, arbitrary... Are there stable portals from the planes to their gate towns? Are these portals well known and well guarded? Are there shifting portals to the gate towns from their plane? .

First of all, welcome!

As to an answer for your question, I would say "It Depends".

Several Gatetowns Gates are known to bring a traveler to a specific place on the other side. Plague-Mort leads to Broken Reach, for example. However, I've noticed that some seem to imply at least that the destination changes. For example, the 'Gate' to Bitopia in the Gatetown of Tradegate is the Master Trader himself, and a traveler must make a deal with (him/her) to pass through. Now, it's never said that the destination of the gate changes, but it would make a lot more sense that way.

The way I handle it in my own campaign is that some Gatetown are connected to a specific place, and others are not. Carceri, for example, is hard to escape in part because the gate to Curst shifts randomly (though the Gereleth seem to know where it is at all times, somehow).

Though I like Zeniel's method too. :mrgreen:

Thu, 2008-01-03 07:20
(Reply to #3) #4
Zeniel
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Gate town portals

Thanks Azure! Smiling

Thu, 2008-01-03 09:10
(Reply to #4) #5
ripvanwormer
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Gate town portals

I actually made a list of these a while back:

Ecstasy - You emerge from a dark cavern on the shore of the River Oceanus, a day's travel from the guardinal city Release From Care.
Sylvania - Thrassos (there's a portal in the square, and also a mention of vineyards near Sylvania sliding to Thrassos)
Glorium - Himinborg. You have to cross the sea to reach it, but this is the first city anyone sees in Asgard, since it exists to watch over the only gate through Asgard's wall. Since the main portal is a maelstrom in the middle of Glorium's fjord and you end up in the sea in Ysgard, there aren't going to be former Gloriums right near where you are unless they're underwater.
Plague-Mort - Broken Reach
Torch - Void's Edge (I made this one up). In canon (based on A Player's Primer and the 1st edition MotP), it would simply be a subterranean cave within Gehenna's first furnace, above a black chasm in the cavern floor that leads to the scarlet orb in Torch's sky (which is why it's best to be able to fly if you want to use Torch's gate).
Ribcage - Darkspine
Excelsior - Heart's Faith (on the shore)
Rigus - The Battle Cube. There's no town nearby, though there are orc and goblin cities on the other faces. See Lord of the Iron Fortress.
Automata - The 1st edition Manual of the Planes says the Outlands gate to Mechanus leads to Regulus, on the smooth underside of Primus's gear. The Player's Primer to the Outlands says where they come out depends on the time of day, the position of the gears, and many other arcane factors, so The portal shifts to many other parts of Mechanus as well. Haven is another confirmed possible destination (Planes of Law).
Fortitude - The woods between the Citadel of the Lightning and Wind Kings, according to Planes of Law. Note that after the events of Fires of Dis, the former town of Fortitude should be here.
Faunel - Signpost? Wrath can send you pretty much anywhere in the plane, but Signpost would be a good first stop.
Tradegate - Yeoman is the most likely place, though the Master Trader can send you anywhere in Bytopia if the price is right.
Bedlam - The Madhouse. There are actually a half-dozen gates to Pandemonium, and it's likely they lead to at least that many different places.
Xaos - According to The Great Modron March, the portal on the other side of Xaos is in a region even more chaotic than the rest of the plane. It's detailed in that book.
Curst - Bastion of Last Hope. Not canon, but this is the most neutral of Othrys's cities, and therefore the closest to the Outlands.
Hopeless - Day's march from the Field of Nettles (I'm not certain this is canon, but it sounds good to me).

Thu, 2008-01-03 16:56
(Reply to #5) #6
Pale Night
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Gate town portals

fantastic! Thanks for the replies.

I do like the idea of your proximity to your desired destination on the plane being some sort of distance factor determined by the difference in degrees of your alignment vs. the planes alignment, I'll definitely be using that for shifting portals.

Thanks for that list rip, most of it makes a fair bit of sense. I find it does beg the question (especially the portal from Hopeless); if the portal puts you in a known, non-random spot (so close to the field of nettles!) then surely the exit would be guarded? It would seem prudent for the Baatezu and Tanar'ri to be constantly fighting over such a location (I guess the same sort of thinking would go for Torch and Rigus among others).
I also very much like the idea you presented with the gate from Curst - that's the sort of logic that makes the game world seem so much less arbitrary.

Thu, 2008-01-03 21:01
(Reply to #6) #7
ripvanwormer
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Gate town portals

'Pale Night' wrote:
if the portal puts you in a known, non-random spot (so close to the field of nettles!) then surely the exit would be guarded? It would seem prudent for the Baatezu and Tanar'ri to be constantly fighting over such a location

No doubt they would; they fight over the Field of Nettles, after all, and that would give another reason why they do so - in order to secure the portal to the Outlands (which resembles a giant silver spinning coin, according to Planes of Conflict and the 1e Manual of the Planes). Planes of Conflict says such portals in the Gray Waste (copper leads to Gehenna, silver to the Outlands, and gold to Carceri) often have iron fortresses built around them.

There might well be more than one, but all portals to the Outlands probably lead to Hopeless.

Thu, 2008-01-03 21:09
(Reply to #7) #8
ripvanwormer
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Gate town portals

here's a list of gate-town portals here, though it misses some of the above. It doesn't show the portal from Plague-mort ending up beneath Broken Reach, for example - and maybe it doesn't. It's perfectly possible that both are one-way portals, though I'd rather think of them as a single two-way portal.

Here are the descriptions of what the portals of the Great Road look like on the various Outer Planes, as recounted in the 1st edition Manual of the Planes.

Acheron: Portals take the form of spheres that hum when they're activated; Acheron's cubes slowly orbit around them. Discordant spheres lead to Baator, harmonious ones lead to Mechanus, and silent spheres lead to the Outlands. Planes of Law says there are also portals on the surface of the cubes, so you don't always have to get there by flying or falling; the portal from Rigus is one of those, on the surface of the Battle Cube, looking very much like the Lion's Eye gate does in Rigus itself.

Mechanus: Light-green circles lead to Arcadia, deep-red circles lead to Acheron. The portal to Automata is on the featureless underside of Primus's gear.

Arcadia: Portals are arched trellises of white ivory or black steel, with a color pool open within them 10% of the time. If the portal within is black it leads to the Outlands, if it's white it leads to Mount Celestia, and silvery pools lead to Mechanus.

Mount Celestia: Portals resemble large blocks of finished stones. Black granite shot with gold leads to Arcadia, white granite shot with silver leads to Bytopia, and red blocks spattered with blue flecks lead to the Outlands. The portal to Excelsior looks like a bobbing light hovering over the ocean, according to Planes of Law; you have to chase it down.

Bytopia: Portals appear as caverns with patterns shining within. Concentric circle patterns lead to Mount Celestia, radiating lines lead to Elysium, and spiderweb patterns lead to the Outlands.

Elysium: Portals are dark caverns with no clues to which plane they lead. Those that swallow the River Oceanus always lead to the Beastlands, however.

Beastlands: Portals are large openings in hollow trees. These can be any kind of tree, but the same tree always leads to the same plane.

Arborea: Portals are crimson disks, usually surrounded by stone walls or iron gates.

Ysgard: Portals are wells. They are often marked, but tend to be unreliable.

Limbo: Portals may be wells, doors, pools, bottomless openings in chaos, archways, etc - they are usually more stable than the surrounding plane.

Pandemonium: Portals are flat squares on the sides of caverns. Yellow ones usually lead to Limbo, red to the Abyss, and black to the Outlands, with a 1 in 5 chance of error.

Abyss: Portals look like huge holes in the ground, just like the portals to lower layers.

Carceri: Portals are obelisks. Those taller than they are wide lead to the Gray Waste. Those wider than they are tall lead to the Abyss. Those with equal heights and widths lead to the Outlands.

Gray Waste: Portals to Gehenna are great spinning coins of copper, silver to the Outlands, or gold to Carceri. They're visible for miles, and often have iron fortresses built around them.

Gehenna: Portals are deep beneath the surface of the plane, appearing as black chasms in the floor.

Baator: Portals are huge hoops of reddish light, guarded by abishai and amnizu.

Some of the portals on the Great Road are known, by the way. Besides the Outlandish gate-towns, the following are canonical:

Nemmiron (gate-town to Arcadia from Mount Celestia)

Heart's Faith (gate-town to the Outlands from Mount Celestia)

Soul's Desire (gate-town to Bytopia from Mount Celestia)

Pashrita (gate-town in Mercuria, the second layer of Celestia, which leads to the realm of Savitri in Bytopia)

Portal a day's journey from Release-From-Care (Elysium to the Outlands)

River Oceanus (leads from Elysium to the Beastlands)

The Roaring Gate (portal from the Beastlands to Arborea - TGMM, 51)

River Oceanus (leads from the Beastlands to Arborea)

Thrassos (gate-town from Arborea to the Outlands)

The Ingmar Brook in Arvandor leads to Alfheim in Ysgard, presumedly moving through Syranita's realm of Whisteedge. The Gnarl, in Erevan Ilesere's realm, contains a root of Yggdrasil that can also be used to get to Ysgard (or elsewhere).

The River Oceanus (once a month it touches the Gates of the Moon in Ysgard)

Yggdrasil (most often used to travel from Ysgard to Limbo)

The Immeasurable (gate from Limbo to the Outlands - TGMM, 67)

The River Styx (touches the first layers of all the Lower Planes)

The Stones of Draedilus (in Othrys, in Carceri, this is a ring of stones that contain portals to Sigil, Gehenna, and the Material Plane - see Hellbound: The Blood War, The Dark of the War, page 57)

Undermountain (on Toril, has a series of portals leading to the Lower Planes - during the most recent March, the modron's used this dungeon to travel from Carceri to the Gray Waste)

Resounding Thunder (in Acheron, contains Nihao, the gate-town to Mechanus, and Eight-Devils-Laughing, the gate-town to Baator; this realm is also occasionally the end-point of the gate to Rigus)

The Blue Cube and the Battlecube are also occasionally destinations of Rigus' Lion's Gate portal.

Grashmog, in Clangor (the goblin pantheon's realm), includes a portal to Forgegloom in Hammergrim (the duergar pantheon's realm in Thuldanin)

The town of Hopeglimmer in Hammergrim has a portal that leads to the Mines of Marsellin, which also contains a portal to Mechanus.

Regulus (in Mechanus, contains portals to Celestia, Arcadia, Acheron, Automata, Baator, and Sigil)

Fri, 2008-01-04 01:13
(Reply to #8) #9
Pale Night
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Gate town portals

mate, can't thank you enough for posting all that info - it'll come in very handy over the course of the campaign I'd reckon.

The page you linked was quite good as well. I like their take on the portal from Hopeless - 1 days march from a Blood War battle. Would it be feasible for those using the gate to choose the battle field (assuming it has a name)? That is, for a gate user to concentrate on their destination and appear 1 days journey from it (assuming it's a Blood War battle field of course)? Or would it just be completely random all the time?
This approach sits a bit better with me since, if the gate destination was always the same, and that destination was contested by the fiends, then who in their right mind would ever use the gate? Eye-wink A portal exiting to (somewhat) neutral territory seems to me a pre-requisite for a gate town if that portals destination doesn't shift since, presumably, there is an expectation that the portal of a gate town is the most obvious and useful gate to the plane.

I do have a 1E MoP, I think it's time I went back and had a read of it.

Also your link of Void's Edge above is a great source of ideas as well. I already spend too much time online as it is... Laughing out loud

Fri, 2008-01-04 21:14
(Reply to #9) #10
ripvanwormer
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Gate town portals

'Pale Night' wrote:
Would it be feasible for those using the gate to choose the battle field (assuming it has a name)?

Possibly, but remember the rules for traveling in the Gray Waste (from Planes of Conflict) - you get where you intend to go faster if you give up all hope of ever getting there or not. People who don't care if they reach their destinations get their quicker. I imagine Hopeless's gate would work similarly.

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