Urban Planescape, My Take On

My personal views on how Urban Planescape should look and feel.
You'll notice that I took some creative liberties, such as destroying the Forgotten Realms in a sidenote (it felt good :twisted: ), but generally did my best to keep the text as broadly defined as possible.
Feedback appreciated.

---------------------

NOT SHADOW

The Urban Arcana Campaign Setting rulebook states that the world has changed, that "magic has suddenly become very real, and creatures that before were only found in fairy tales and nightmares now walk the streets". Humans in the know explain that the "walls between reality have become thinner". This is true enough, though the term they use to describe the fantastic creatures coming from elsewhere is a misnomer. These new beings should not be collectively referred to as "Shadowkind", even though some few of them may indeed hail from the Plane of Shadow. They are simply planars, come to this world through trans-planar portals.

EARTH FORGETS

See, this Prime Material Plane, known to most as Earth, was once connected to many other planes - Outer, Inner, Transitive, and even alternate Primes. However, the magic of Earth has long since diminished, due to complex cosmological circumstances, and the planar connections were severed. The elves, ogres, demons, and the rest were locked out - not that many of them took any notice. Earth has forgotten, as both the fantastic creatures and the magic became myth... Nevertheless, the magic eventually came back, and the planars followed.

EARTH REMEMBERS

Within the past few years, certain organizations have noticed a steady growth of magic potential in the world. Some of them have used the short time they had to prepare for the opening of the ancient cross-planar portals that soon followed. Gradually the portals reactivated, and humans of Earth stepped back onto the planes for the first time in hundreds of years. Soon enough, the first few planars passed in the opposite direction, bringing their varied influences into the mix.
Now, the Prime Material Planes, including Earth, are generally not considered an interesting destination for planewalkers - the popular belief is that there is little to see and less to do on the Prime. Still, many planars recognized an opportunity in exploiting the plight of a world that, until recently, was almost entirely devoid of magic. Traders, belief-hunters, and various opportunists have slowly been passing over the planar boundaries and onto Earth, all looking for their piece of the cake.
The assumption in Urban Arcana is that the majority of Earth's human population had somehow managed to subconsciously ignore the presence of the planars (the "shadowkind"), but this is plainly wrong. It is clear to all but the truly clueless that the mythical beings are no longer mythical, and that magic is real again. While different regions of Earth choose to deal with these facts in different ways, shutting our eyes is no longer an option. For better or worse, Earth is once again a part of the multiversal society.

MEANWHILE, ON THE PLANES...

So, what has been happening out on the Planes while we were out of the loop? Where to begin...

- Sigil: Let's start at the hub. The Cage has changed, but not beyond recognition. It's still torus-shaped, the Lady is still in charge, the dabus still speak in pretty pictures, the Powers still can't come in, and various factions are still trying to prove that their belief systems are superior to everyone else's. Other than that, well...
The air is somewhat less breathable, although it never was much to begin with. The Ditch is still greenish-brown, the Hive is still a dung heap...
The architecture is still blade- and spike-oriented, although usually glass and metal are used in place of stone and wood.
Communications have improved, the messenger guilds replaced by a network system utilizing both magic and advanced technology. Apparently, the Lady now mazes even those that oppose her will on the web, so consider yourself warned, b3rkz.
Small gas-powered vehicles have put the sedan chairs out of business long ago, but relatively recently the subway lines were finally activated, and the traffic on the surface has become bearable again.
The denizens still come in all shapes and sizes, Some claim that the City has been slowly growing in radius throughout the past few centuries, as more and more primes, planars, and proxies keep drifting in (and, eventually, out).
The Kriegstanz is still on, and it is still a tricky game of bluffs, backstabbing, and base betrayals, but a new key factor has appeared - the media. The several information networks are closely involved in the faction game, and their importance is recognized by all parties. The influence of major networks extends far beyond the Cage, usually across the Outlands and even into the first few layers of some Outer planes, though it is somewhat diminished on the Inner and Prime planes.

- Outer Planes: Even though some gate towns and layers have been slipping across the borders and back, all the thirteen planes of the Great Ring (including the Outlands) are still in their place. All have changed to some degree over the centuries, particularly the regions populated by mortals. The divine realms and exemplar domains are also evolving, albeit more slowly. Despite the technological discoveries that have made transport faster, lives easier, and weapons deadlier, belief is still the name of the game in the Outer Planes: the Chaos is still chaotic, the Law is still lawful (more so, if anything), the Blood War is still raging, kept in motion by the kindly celestials, and the rilmani are still tiresome meddlers.

- Inner Planes: These realms have not changed much. Energy and Element care little for the fleeting achievements of blood, bone, and sinew. What little change there is can be found mostly in foreign settlements: the dao and dwarf mines of Earth are modernized and more efficient than ever; the City of Brass has imported many of the wondrous technological novelties from the Outer and Prime planes; the ancient four Citadels of Entropy are now a single multi-planar military complex, working at full capacity. Speaking of which, within the past century or so, some Inner Planes have seen a dramatic increase in independent refugee settlements; many Primes are seeking shelter on Air or Water after their worlds have been destroyed or rendered inhabitable at Critical Point (see "Alternate Prime Planes" below).

- Transitive Planes: The Astral, Ethereal, and Shadow have seen little change since the days of sword and sorcery. Unconfirmed rumors mention "informational demiplanes" forming spontaneously in the Silver Void, possibly as a byproduct of heavy traffic on the widespread communication networks. In the Deep Ethereal, most khen-zai domains have fallen, their mass genocide project failed. The Shadow is better explored, although still sparsely populated.

- Alternate Primes: There are too many Prime Material planes in existence to address individually, and little can be said in general about their historical progress.
One thing worth mentioning is that certain Arcadian historians have concluded that most Prime planes currently seem to be near what they referred to as Critical Progress Point (CPP). CPP represents a relatively short period in the development of a mortal civilization during which it obtains enough power (supernatural, mundane, or both) to destroy itself, but not the required degree of sophistication to harness that power effectively. Typically, Prime civilizations that survive their CPP become stable and prospective, while those that don't usually send their Prime Material plane into a long slump, after which a longer recovery may or may not follow. Examples include the Prime worlds of Athas and Abeir-Toril, the former still slowly recovering, the latter just starting its post-apocalyptic downward spiral.
Earth's chances of survival are still unclear, and one could argue that much depends on the degree of success in the current process of reintegration into the Planes.

MODERN BELIEF

Divine Powers still roost on the Outer Planes, as distant as ever, feeding on mortal faith and demanding respect. It is difficult to estimate how much the recent "urbanization" of the planes has affected them. On one hand, they still maintain their little realms in much the same way they've been doing for countless centuries, and petitioners are still regularly created to populate those realms. On the other hand, many Prime worlds (Earth among them) went through an era of rationalization, where deities have been more-or-less discarded as outdated concepts... On the third hand, a number of Prime worlds (not to mention the Planes) still have a visible presence of interventionist deities, and engage in traditional worship. On the fourth hand, who can really say when it comes to the Powers?
One more thing: In the previous century, a new trend of divine worship quickly became fairly popular on the planes. Powers with similar portfolios but from different pantheons are being lumped together into single entities with varying avatars. Thor is Zeus is Indra, or some such. An offshoot of the old Athar faction calling itself "Unifying Chorus" is promoting this viewpoint, and whether they are wrong, right, or still-wrong-but-becoming-right (what with the belief-shaped reality and all) remains to be seen.

MODERN MAGIC

As said before, magic exists. Due to obscure planar alignment, some Prime Material Planes have experienced a temporary decrease in magical potential, similar in effect to the nullifying trait of the Spire. Earth's "downtime" is over, and the magic potential is there again, waiting to be rediscovered. On the Planes, magic was present all this time (and still is), but is no longer omnipresent - in time, the planars learned ways to shape the world according to their needs without (much) magic, through (mostly) mundane means. The rise of technology on the Planes was not as meteoric as it was on Earth, since it was easier (and still is) to achieve some things by simple magic than by complex mundane science. Still, spell-slingers are not found at every corner, planar travel can be achieved with little or no magic, and mundane means of mass destruction have the advantage of being much cheaper and more easily obtained than their arcane counterparts.
Even though general education is readily available, magic theory and practice is rarely, if ever, taught at public schools, while the basics of modern science usually are. As far as magical education is concerned, an institutional course, as opposed to individual apprenticeship, is the norm these days for those gifted and fortunate enough. In spell-slinger guilds and other magical societies, the trend is standardization and collective progress, and strictly individual pursuits are discouraged. The result - fewer powerful mages and priests, and more powerful organizations. Still, some spell-slingers see this reduced and less versatile competition as an opportunity for the ambitious.
The above mainly applies to learned, mortal magic and psionics. Native magic- and psionic-users, such as the exemplars, dragons, illithid, and others, did not change much; it is still easier to use your inborn powers than to adapt to mundane means, however tempting the technological wonders may be.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY

A human planewalker from Earth will probably not be particularly awed by the technological achievements of the planars. Almost any mundane equipment that can be found in the Cage or on the Planes exists on Earth in one form or another (and vice versa). The design of planar tech may seem unusual to an earthling, sometimes even bizarre, but the basic effects are fairly well known in most cases. Exceptions exist, but on those rare occasions when the planewalker encounters flying cars or disruptor ray guns, the items are usually made by combining magic and technology.
In fact, it is well known that complex technology and complex magic do not mix well, nor easily, so magic items are never mass-produced in factories. Some will say such difficulties are to be expected when combining methods based on fundamentally different principles, but some will say just about anything. As said before, examples of magically empowered tech and mechanically infused arcana have been recorded by reliable witnesses, and some of them didn't even explode, either.

MODERN PLANEWALKING

Right then. So, after answering the where, how, and what with, only the why remains. Why does an Earthborn turn to planewalking? What's in it for him? A number of things, actually:

- Motive One: See the Worlds
They are infinite in both size and number, the Planes, and each one very much, but not quite entirely, unlike Earth. The curious and the adventurous might want to explore these brave new worlds simply because they are there. Those who visit M. Estevan of the Planar Trade Consortium can easily get a job escorting shipments of lesser importance - the PTC is always on the lookout for clueless primes, you know.

- Motive Two: Protect Your World
Many see the new frontier as a threat, whether potential or active. Earth-based organizations with an interest in the supernatural - Department 7, Shizuka Ni Ugoku, and many others - are looking for capable and open-minded agents, primarily for scouting missions.

- Motive Three: Live Your Belief
Your mind shapes reality, albeit on a miniature scale. If you join others who share your beliefs, anything is possible. The Kriegstanz is still active throughout the Planes, even on this backwater Prime world: emissaries of various factions and sects (by now, the difference is purely academic) are recruiting. Find one that suits you, and he should set you up with a task to prove yourself dedicated to the cause.

- Motive Four: Gain Personal Power
There is more to life than this. The horizons of humanity are being broadened, and rapidly. Those who ride the wave will be the movers and shakers of the new age. Those who don't will be forgotten. The ambitious will seize the day, jump the portal, tumble to the chant, survive, grow, and prosper. Where there is will to power, there is a way.