dead god or other chunks of rock drifting forever in the
s ilvery void. Much more commonplace are color pools-
magical pools of colored light that flicker like radiant,
spinning coins.
Creatures on the Astral Plane don't age or suffer from
hunger or thirst. For this reason, humanoids that live
on the Astral Plane (such as the githyanki) establish
outposts on other planes, often the Material Plane, so
their children can grow to maturity.
A traveler in the Astral Plane can move by simply
thinking about moving, but distance has little meaning.
In combat, though, a creature's walking.speed (in feet) is
equal to 3 x its Intelligence score. The smarter a creature
is, the easier it can control its movement by act of will.ASTRAL PROJECTION
Traveling through the Astral Plane by means of
the astral projection spell involves projecting one's
consciousness there, usually in search of a gateway to an
Outer Plane to visit. Since the Outer Planes are as much
s piritual states of being as they are physical places, this
al lows a character to manifest in an Outer Plane as if he
or she had physically traveled there, but as in a dream.
A character's death-either in the Astral Plane or on
the destination plane-causes no actual harm. Only the
severing of a character's silver cord while on the Astral
Plane (or the death of his or her helpless physical body
on the Material Plane) can result in the character's true
death. Thus, high-level characters sometimes travel to
the Outer Planes by way of astral projection rather than
eek out a portal or use a more direct spell.
Only a few things can sever a traveler's silver cord, the
most common being a psychic wind (described below).
The legendary silver swords of the githyanki also have
th is ability. A character who travels bodily to the Astral
Plane (by means of the plane shift spell or one of the
.-ar e portals that leads directly there) has no silver cord.COLOR POOLS
Gateways leading from the Astral Plane to other
planes appear as two-dimensional pools of rippling
colors, ld6 x 10 feet in diameter. Traveling to another
plane requires locating a color pool that leads to the
des ired plane. These gateways to other planes can be
:dentified by color, as shown on the Astral Color Pools
table. Finding the right color pool is a matter of chance:
.ocating the correct one takes ld4 x 10 hours of travel.AsTRAL CoLoR PooLs
d20 Plane Pool Color
Ysgard Indigo
2 Limbo jet black
3 Pandemonium Magenta
4 The Abyss Amethyst
5 Carceri Olive
6 Hades Rust(^7) Gehenna Russet
8 The Nine Hells Ruby
9 Ache ron Flame red
10 Mechanus Diamond blue
11 Arcadia Saffron
12 Mount Celestia Gold
13 Bytopia Amber
14 Elysium Orange
15 The Beastlands Emerald green
16 Arborea Sapphire blue
17 The Outlands Leather brown
18 Ethereal Plane Spiraling white
19-20 Material Plane Silver
PSYCHIC WIND
A psychic wind isn't a physical wind like that found on
the Material Plane, but a storm of thought that batters
travelers' minds rather than their bodies. A psychic
wind is made up of lost memories, forgotten ideas,
minor musings, and subconscious fears that went
astray in the Astral Plane and conglomerated into this
powerful force.
A psychic wind is first sensed as a rapid darkening of
the silver-gray sky. After a few rounds, the area becomes
as dark as a moonless night. As the sky darkens, the
traveler feels buffeting and shaking, as if the plane itself
was rebelling against the storm. As quickly as it comes,
the psychic wind passes, and the sky returns to normal
in a few rounds.
The psychic wind has two kinds of effects: a
location effect and a mental effect. A group of travelers
journeying together suffers the same location effect.
Each traveler affected by the wind must a lso make a
DC 15 Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, the
traveler suffers the mental effect as well. Roll a d20
twice and consult the Psychic Wind Effects table to
determine the location and mental effects.
CHAPTER 2 I CREATING A MULTTVERSE
4·7