Leaving Limbo in Limbo: Alternate Planes of Chaos

Leaving Limbo in Limbo: Alternate Planes of Chaos

Whereas I've always liked the traditional D&D cosmology, I've also always liked coming up with different planar locations on my own. Here are a few alternate planes that reimagine chaos a little bit. If  you want to keep the old planes, use these as demiplanes or simply as locations within other planes. Or do whatever feels right at the moment- it's not like chaos has to be incredibly consistent!

The Field of Feelings: Not so much a physical realm as a field of energy so unstable physical matter cannot enter it and survive.  This is a realm of pure mental, emotional energy that fluctuates between different emotional states with little rhyme or reason.  Those who enter experience a sort of incorporeal existence akin to being a ghost or existing on the astral plane, but they are subject to random "psychic storms" of errant emotions and whimsy. 

The Gibbering Realm: Whereas most people view chaos as always an individualistic entity, the Gibbering Realm proves otherwise. This is a realm where endless voices sing a continual cacophony in harmony, conducted by the random whims of gibbering mouther maestros. Fashion trends may mutate by the hour; a particularly slow dilettante might find himself donning clothing that is “so 15 minutes ago.” There are no true lawmen, militias, or armies just as there is no true justice.  Instead, the random whims of mob justice hold sway here. The life of a planar creature native to this realm does not have the consistency to allow it to develop any true sense of self- all of its time is following the random fluctuations of the collective mass it belongs to.  To compare the life of a denizen of this realm to the life of a gibberling would be not be an inaccurate comparison.  Known inhabitants of the Gibbering Realm include chaos beasts (that shapeshift synchronously with each other), gibbering mouthers, gibbering orbs, gibberlings, entropic doppelgangers, entropic lemmings, and rogue modrons. The latter is not native but instead a curious twist of fate.  Rogue modrons are often instinctively drawn here to study the ways of chaos and how it relates to group action.  They are an irony- as creatures of law, they are the only true nonconformists in a realm of chaos.

The Plane of Signs: This plane is a place of laws.  Not Law, but laws.  An endless number of competing and contradictory laws, each of which shrieks loudly to make its presence known.  Newcomers to this realm find they are inundated by a confusing flood of signs, each with its own discrete rule. This realm is a contract devil’s worst dream. The monolithic bureaucracy moves at a glacial place to make a ruling on anything.  Any judicial or policy decision requires sifting through thousands of laws, each of which may change at the drop of a hat. Yet as slow as the bureaucracy is, the realms laws enforcement are very quick to punish offending lawbreakers.  Many so called “Laws Enforcers” are quick to punish ANY infraction they can find, but a few are more selective- enforcing only the laws that benefit them.

The Wild Hunt: This place is a realm where the faerie folk come to host their great games and competitions that are governed only by their chaotic whims and traditions. The name is a bit of a misnomer, named after the greatest game the realm has to offer- a grand hunt that may involve chasing down whatever the hunting party comes across.  Frequently the Wild Hunt even bleeds over into the material plane. Although hunts are one of the most common games of sport held in this realm, not all the games are hunts. The features of the realm are very morphic- sensitive to the psychic demands of the fey-lords who rule them.  Some form of competition is always going on.  This competition is conducted in anything but an orderly manner- disputing referee calls and rulings is just as much a part of the sport as is the actual sport itself.