Plane of Life (3.5e Sourcebook)/The Plane

The plane of positive energy is a strange place, with constantly shifting energy flows.

Planar Energy
The energy level of the plane varies from area to area, and over time. Divide the plane into a 2 dimensional grid, with square cells 3 miles by 3 miles in size. The dimension being left out is the one defined as up-down. Each cell has either the minor positive-dominant trait or the major positive-dominant trait. I will call cells with the minor positive-dominant trait minor cells, and cells with the major positive-dominant trait are called major cells.

To define the starting layout of the energy, you need a lot of dice rolls. For each cell, flip a coin. If the result is heads, that cell is a minor cell. Tails means that cell is a major cell (DM tip: don't flip for every cell on the whole plane, only the ones the players can see or hear about).

Every two hours after that, reevaluate the power levels of the cells. A cells neighbours all all cells next to it, including diagonally. To reevaluate the power levels, apply these 4 rules:


 * Any minor cell with fewer than two minor neighbours becomes major.
 * Any minor cell with two or three minor neighbours stays minor.
 * Any minor cell with more than three minor neighbours becomes major.
 * Any major cell with exactly three minor neighbours becomes a minor cell.

(DM tip: these rules match those for Conway's game of life, with live cells being minor. You can use a Conway's game of life simulator to reevaluate for you. You may want to reevaluate a few times before beginning play.)

Major cells are brighter than minor cells. As a result, the current positive-dominant trait level of a cell can be seen from all adjacent cells.

Lumière takes up a square of 7 cells by 7 cells.

The center of each cell contains a 10 foot cube of white stone. These cubes can not be moved or damaged.

Planar Phenomenon
Despite its mostly empty nature, the plane does have some interesting things that occur. Every hour on the plane, roll a d20 on the following chart.

Positive Surge: All creatures within two randomly chosen cells gain 10 temporary hit points. These hit points last for 1 hour. A bright flash of white indicates the appearance of this effect.

Energy Storm: A storm of energy leaking from other inner planes causes some damage. All creatures and objects within a randomly chosen cell take 1d6 damage of each of the following energy types: fire, cold, acid and sonic. Bright flashes of red, blue, grey and brown indicate the appearance of this effect. Locations sheltered by planar anchors suppress this effect, but not the colors.

Sustaining Flood: All creatures within two randomly chosen cells are filled with a sustaining energy. If creatures so effected need to eat, they don't need to for the next 24 hours.

Crystal Spark: A large auracrystal deposit appears in a randomly chosen cell. The deposit contains 5d20 pounds of auracrystal. The deposit fades away in 1d4 hours, if not collected before this time is up.

Energy Change: A randomly chosen cell changes energy level, becoming minor if it is major and vice versa.

Mote Swarm: 1d10+5 motes appear in each of two randomly chosen cells.

(DM tip: when picking a random cell, choose a cell near the players. The 8-20 result represents nothing happening where the players can see it.)

Random Encounters
While exploring the plane of positive energy, you may cross paths with others out there. Once every 100 cells traveled, roll on the following chart:

Roll 1d10 if the average ECL of the party is 10 or less. Roll 1d20 otherwise.