Talk:Cosmology of Creation

'cosmic roadmap'

From the prime material,

cast ethereal Jaunt or etherealness to reach the ethereal plane

Shadow Walk to reach the plane of shadow, or, move large distances on material by 'skirting the edge'.

plane shift or gate to reach any other material plane: inner planes (elemental, energy) outer planes (wards, lateral materials)

astral projection to create astral self to reach the astral plane, and from there, you can reach anywhere else (making an avatar body as detailed in the spell) only way to reach the outer madness? kinda makes sense...

actually entering the astral 'for reals' requires very high-level goodies (spelljammers? Aether Flyers?)

casting all the above except ethereal jaunt requires a ritual (8 hours)

dim door, dimensional bounce, shadow step, litany of escape, damnation stride, kings castle, getaway, teleport object, walk through space, teleportation circle, transport via plants, and word of recall are travel spells within any material plane, cannot ever pierce dimensions, standard action to cast.

teleport/greater teleport are rituals to travel long distances within any material plane, cannot ever pierce dimensions

note that this means teleport/great tele, dim door, shadow walk, ethereal jaunt, and etherealness are useless in the astral

Fun With Infinities

In the context of infinite time, given an infinite number of Material Planes, one might assume that, eventually, every Material Plane would spend at least some time as the Prime Material Plane. This is an incorrect assumption. Mathematically, within an infinite space, all non-infinite possibilities can exist. The key in that is only non-infinite possibilities can exist. For example, one single Material Plane could occupy the Prime for infinite time, or there would only be one Material Plane (since all Material Planes exist purely because they possess the possibility of becoming the Prime). Conversely, there are an infinite number of Material Planes that will never occupy the Prime. Thus, within the infinite Material Planes, there is a finite number that can be Prime, even within the context of infinite time (and the theory that time might be infinite is hotly contested and largely unproveable; of course, so is the theory that time is finite!).

Given all this, we can presume that many millions, and perhaps billions, of Material Planes have slid across the Prime for some variable length of time. Some have undoubtedly held the Prime for mere moments, while others have lingered for uncomfortably long epochs of time.

Much attention is given to what properties a Material Plane gains when it ascends to the Prime, and even some discourse has occurred regarding just how a Material Plane might come to occupy the Prime, but very little is said about those millions of Material Planes which have surrendered their vaunted position in the cosmological hierarchy, and slid off of the Prime. These planes suffer upheavals of all kinds as their worlds shuffle into mediocrity — continents tremble and slide beneath the ocean waves; once celebrated civilizations of fairness and grandeur become corrupted and violent, lashing out at their neighbors and collapsing from within; strange and unique weather phenomenon appear for the first time, causing destruction and mayhem; and perhaps most devastatingly, the plane becomes vulnerable to extraplanar infiltration. This can present in the form of demonic hordes, devilish insinuation, or even a calamitous co-phasing into one or even several other Material Planes (though never the new Prime). (Editor's Note: Many theorize that this is one of the reasons there is so much interaction with the First World and our Material Plane, though that implies that our plane must also not occupy the Prime. I can only hope that brighter minds will find some other explanation.)