I have this itch to start a campaign in the Astral Sea (of D&D cosmology fame). I want it to be epic, vast, and weird. And full of interesting things to fill the vast emptiness that stretches in every conceivable direction. I am mostly interested in the “deep Astral”, where people can live similarly to islanders. Outcasts and tribes inhabiting wreckagecore settlements and setting out in small astral skiffs to forage and explore. But that’s just my current stick.
There is so much more to explore regarding Astral campaigns. The environment with its debilitating, soul-rending Astral Winds. Modes of travel with purpose-built vessels. How movement even works in this endless expanse. But since we have not started any game there yet I want to take it slow and see what develops. Unless I manage to finish this article quickly and get the itch to write again.
Spoilers: it has been months since I wrote most of this, so that last bit is probably off the table.
A few notes on how to use this
This is not a campaign setting! It is meant to work in any generic astral region to provide fuel for most games taking place around there. I mainly want this list to inspire. Which is why I chose to forego the random table aspect. You can of course roll on every aspect of this, applying numbers as appropriate. But the main idea is for you to pick what suits best for your campaign, adventure, or session.
Initially, I had sorted this list by “severity” – sightseeing, adventure hook, campaign arc, and world ender. I quickly realized that these categories are much more of a limitation than a boon. Something that has the potential to end the world might just pass by the players without interaction. And a pretty rock drifting past might just cover the approach of the big bad.
Cosmic Curiosities
This category is in my mind the most colorful and more useful. The common denominator is that it was mortals who created or caused all of these. Which makes them more easily accessible without the need of divine intervention. You can adapt them to your needs and your setting, and tie them to factions old and new. Treasure hunts are always fun, especially since it is rather hard to find specific things in the Astral.
The Lost Ark – Drifting through the Astral sea for untold centuries, this object resembles a large box that looks like it has been through a lot. It is adorned with decorations both worked into the base material as well as tacked onto it, depicting scenes related to its origins. This ark contains something that its creators deemed important enough to set adrift in the cosmos to ensure its survival. Who knowa what opening such a device might do.
Astral Wreckage – Ships that are capable of sailing the Astral winds are a common thing these days. At least for those who can afford the required runic enchantments. But even those can fail, especially if you try to save a few coins – or get attacked by someone who knows what to aim for. Either through accident or cruelty, these vessels bereft of their crew by the merciless Astral wind can drift for centuries. Thus, they can hold riches, secrets, dangers, or all of the above.
Chucked Evil Artifact – An all too common way to dispose of unwanted magical items is to dump them in the Astral sea, either through a portal or by sacrificing a bag of holding. But what seems lost can still be found. And the really evil ones, those with something akin to a consciousness, can call to potential finders across long distances.
The Seedpod – Imagine something crashing down onto your cozy plane or domain. You check it out only to find that something has literally taken root, growing at a rapid pace while overpowering the local wildlife. While it is possible to fight and stop the growth, it is very hard to root it out completely. Eventually, it will create new pods and eject them into the Astral. There are a few of these, and their origins are all shrouded in mistery. Maybe if one were to grow undisturbed for long enough, someone could just walk up to it and ask.
The Darkened Gate – Over time, many things have been locked away by powerful beings or strong magic practitioners using bubbles of existence. These constructs, not quite full domains, are tied to a gate, latched to some kind of debris in the Astral sea. These gates usually drift undisturbed for eons, and most people know better than to mess with them. But rumors that some of them safeguard treasure instead of unspeakable horrors just refuse to die.
Abandoned Weapons Factory – War is good for business, and so are new ways to inflict it upon your enemies. Research facilities are a common occurrance in times when everyone wants to have the better spells or magically enhances weaponry. Some of these laboratories end up drifting in the Astral realm, either by design – to get rid of all the volatile substances that pose a huge risk. Or by accident, when those substances turn out to be more volatile than expected.
Ancient Battlefield – While most battles take place on more or less solid ground, there have been more than a few conflicts in the Astral sea. The remains of huge armadas, made up of heavily armed astral ships, enchanted rocks imbued with power, or weaponized shards of frozen energy, can be found in remote locations, idly drifting but never seeming to dissolve. There is plenty of plunder to be had, from weapons still functional to personal effects and histories. But stories of ancient shadows drawn to such sites keep all but the most desparate adventurers away.
Abandoned Automaton Swarm – The depths of the Astral make it easy to hide things from prying eyes. This includes this collection of heavily armed arcane automatons ready for conquest. That is, they were ready eons ago, but got abandoned for some reason. Nobody came to activate them. Their systems have long since degraded to the point of turning them from savage into salvage. Unless someone would repair them and take command.
Stars and Astral Bodies
Just what it says on the tin. Although it would have to be a very large, very strong tin to contain one of these things roaming the cosmos. In my mind, most stars are just that – burning balls of gas. They are exciting and probably not too much fun up close, and they do not “do” or “want” anything.
But there are also those others. Ancient being of unknown and possibly varrying origin. They resemble stars, but with an agenda and, most of the time, a vengeance. I fell in love with the concept of “stars as (eldritch) characters”, ever since the article “Wish Upon a Star” in Dungeon Magazine #366 (when that was a thing) about Warlock Star Pacts. Thus, there could be a number of additional entries. I rarely get feedback, so if you are interested in this section, too, hit me up via Discord and I will add more!
The Glare of Night – This cold entity burns with a bright blue color that unnaturally overshadows the surrounding stars to any sentient observer. Thus, when it approaches, it appears to blot out the surrounding sky. What it actually does is pull in the light given off by the stars behind it. After eons of aimless wandering, this creature realized that the only thing more nurishing than other stars’ light was the faint taste of fear emanating from domains it approached.
The Burning Devotion – In the past, this star sought to nurture with its light. It approached astral settlements and even domains to bathe them in its warmth. But as one of the brightest and hottest objects in the cosmos, this usually turned sour when it came too close. After being sent away or outrightly repelled one too many times, it was driven mad by its desire to brighten the cosmos. And the realisation that more often than not, it would only leave charred remains behind. But things have to go its way eventually.
The Forsaken Guardian – Once the protector of a large people living on floating islands around it, this star has since been stripped from its charge by a cataclism that they brought upon themselves when trying to utilize their star’s energy. Despite its immense power and intellect, their guardian was unable to save even a single one of them. It is now resigned to wander the Cosmos, afraid to take on a new charge. But it desperately hopes to find a new calling eventually, to make up for its perceived sins.
The Pinprick – From afar, this entity is indistinguishable from a normal star. Approaching, though, it becomes clear that it is far smaller, and not a star at all. It is a living tear in the cosmos, through which whatever lies beyond shines way too brightly. This phenomenon is known to move on its own accord. It likes to place itself where it can trick travellers into colliding with it. When they realize the light is not far away but almost upon them, it is uslally too late to evade.
The Shroud – This black cloud is drifting through the cosmos, blotting out parts of the sky. Considered a veil at first, anything it engulfs vanishes into the solid blackness, never to be seen again. At least without the help of intrepid adventurers. If they can find the core of this entity that is rumored to exist across multiple dimensions, they can prompt or force it to regurgitate what the Shroud last consumed.
The Leeching Tendrils – This nebula is spread far and wide through the Astral sea, reduced to lines of gas thinner than a human wrist in most places. Whenever a living being makes contact with these tendrils, they lose just a tiny bit of life force. Any vessel will temporarily dispers the gas, but energy is still taken, in exactly the spot where the tendril was. And it will reform within hours. Theories suggest that the gas is merely the footprint of something larger, something clinging to the outside of the Cosmos.
The Eternal Wave – This phenomenon has been observed for centuries, and there is no discernable pattern to its movement. This is made tricky because the Wave cannot be seen, only felt, by ships or settlements in the Astral Sea. The result is akin to a ship cresting a wave in water. To make matters more interesting, the heave of the Wave differs from observer to observer. There are theories that this has to do with a person’s moral standing, or their past deeds. There are also some who think the wave is something huge stirring underneath the surface of creation. May it never break through.
Plane(t)s and Domains
In my mind, most planes resemble planets in one way or another. With the nature of make-belief, this may or may not be obvious from the inside. Even an infinte flat plane may look like a spherical planet from the Astral sea. Whether it is possible to “land” on it is another matter. Alternatively, planes could generate small portals in close proximity that would allow ingress.
Domains on the other hand are the realms of powerful beings, wrestled into existence by sheer force of will (or forbidden magic). They would still appear spherical, akin to moons, but be less likely to follow any common rules that apply to planes.
I will not go into a list of planes here. There is enough material out there, and the cosmology in my games usually rests heavily on the “standard” arrangement of planes from D&D through its most recent itterations. Instead, here are some cosmic curiosities that I think fall into this category.
A Planar Fragment – A piece of a plane getting torn off happens a lot more than most people think, either by accident (think arcane laboratory) or on purpose (one way to dispose of waste). Either way, a piece of a plane removed from its origin behaves like piece of astral flotsam, drifting around on the astral winds. Depending on its size, it might still retain some semblance of gravity and atmosphere and could be used as a resting spot, a hideout, or a secret base.
A Domain Fragment – Something must have gone very wrong for a piece of domain to splinter off. Since a domain is held together by some entity’s force of will, this usually requires some kind of cataclysm befalling that entity. On the other hand, they cannot be destroyed, since then the domain would die and wither away. Whereas a piece of Plane just continues on being what it was, a piece of Domain has a life of its own, chancing frequently either to be found, to hide, or to follow some other subconscious agenda.
A Burned Out Plane – Not to be confused with a plane “of fire”, a plane can burn out if all its energy is consumed. Fire alone can never be strong enough for that, so it is usually forbidden magic that results in a plane dieing this way, leaving behind a husk full of ash and bones, not just of people but of the very land itself. There are rumors that such a plane could be reignited using will and arcane rituals, turning it into something between a plane and a domain.
The Barren One – In the long forgotten past, something happened to this large plane, larger than the Material itself, to set it adrift in the Cosmos. What’s more, the cataclysm rendered the world an infectious wasteland. Everything that comes in contact with it ages and withers at an accellerated pace, even after leaving. Yet, rumors of structures still intact despite the decay that permeates this plane refuse to go away, and every now and then, someone claims they have found not only the right magic to protect themselves from the ill effects, but also untold riches and long forgotten technologies buried underneath the sand.
The Hidden Domain – If planes and domains resemble planets, what would it take to create what we call a black hole? There are deities that influence matters in the cosmos based on their personal preferences. Some of them can be considered evil by mortal standards. But it takes a god truly evil for evil’s sake to create a domain that not even light can escape. Praying to them is literally void. The only way to make contact, for whatever reason, would be to willingly fall into their domain. Whether there even is a way out is ub for debate.
Fabric of the Cosmos
Since there is something beyond the Cosmos (called the Far Realms in D&D, whatever that may be), it stands to reason that the Cosmos is made up of something and has an outside.
Portals and Gateways – These do not really fit here, since they are a commonplace occurrance on planes and in the Astral in general. Places that connect to other places. But they may just be a small patch of reality wearing thin where those two places meet, allowing things to seep through. Or reality to be torn open.
Wormholes – These special kind of gateways, where the Astral loops in upon itself, are the geothermal vents of the Astral sea. Teeming with life that has evolved to survive in the soul-rending astral winds in close proximity to what lies beyond, they offer interesting bounty to anyone brave enough to risk getting sucked in.
The Unravelling – If the cosmos was made of some kind of fabric, it stands to reason that it can unravel. Whether this is something that can happen in ordinary gateways or less common wormholes, or that a being with sufficient malicious intent can cause through a sufficiently depraved ritual, is not a matter of public knowledge. But that does not mean it could not happen. The process would probably be slow, spreading weirdness in its wake. But just like nobody really knows whether it is even possible, it would be quite the challence to stitch up the fabric of reality should such a tear occur. And even if it was manages, the affected area would probably never be the same.
Astral Conclusion
I hope this list inspired you to add one or two things to your cosmic buffet. Beyond that, I hope that it influences you to make your Astral Sea equivalent more full of depth and wonders. If you want more, you can read my inspiring ramblings here. I would appreciate your feedback, but I am aware that most people just prefer to be inspired in silence, and if that is you, more power to you.
Thanks for stopping by, and remember to be Inspired!
