The Astral Plane: Spacejammer

Unlike other planes of existence, the Astral Plane has no native terrain or consistent geography. Instead, the environment appears as a featureless, silvery haze that stretches into infinity. Islands of solid matter, called astral dominions or debris , occasionally drift through this vast expanse. These islands are fragments of destroyed worlds or errant pieces of other planes that somehow found their way into the Astral.

It is a place where the soul and mind are unrestrained, allowing one to project themselves across vast distances or connect with other planes. Those who enter the Astral Plane might find themselves capable of extraordinary mental feats, their willpower creating ripples that influence their surroundings. Powerful travelers, known as astral voyagers , learn to harness this power, gliding through the silvery mist and navigating the swirling currents of this endless expanse.

The Astral Plane is also home to many strange and ancient beings. Githyanki pirates navigate the Astral Sea aboard their void ships, preying on travelers. Massive creatures, such as astral dreadnoughts, drift through the void, consuming unwary voyagers. Other denizens include disembodied spirits of those whose mortal bodies have perished, forever wandering the Astral in search of a purpose or a way out.

Every world of the Material Plane is situated in Wildspace, or more precisely, in its own Wildspace system. Wildspace systems are airless oceans teeming with space-dwelling life forms, including spores, space plankton, and larger creatures that resemble fish and aquatic mammals. The ones that need air to survive either generate their own air envelopes or live in the air envelopes of other creatures.

Wildspace is where the Astral Plane overlaps with the Material Plane. Creatures and objects in Wildspace age normally and exist on both planes simultaneously. This overlap enables creatures to use spells such as teleport and teleportation circle to travel from Wildspace to a nearby world, or vice versa.

Diagram 2.2 illustrates how the Astral Sea surrounds all the Wildspace systems, as well as the astral dominions of gods and the floating remains of dead gods. Many Wildspace systems have names; for example, Realmspace is a Wildspace system that contains, among other things, the planet Toril—home of the Forgotten Realms setting.

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 spiritual states of being as they are physical places, this allows a character to manifest in an Outer Plane as if they 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 their helpless physical body on the Material Plane) can result in true death. Thus, high-level characters sometimes travel to the Outer Planes by way of astral projection rather than seek 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 this ability. A character who travels bodily to the Astral Plane (by means of the plane shift spell or one of the rare portals that leads directly there) has no silver cord.

Gateways leading from the Astral Plane to other planes appear as two-dimensional pools of rippling colors, 1d6 × 10 feet in diameter. Traveling to another plane requires locating a color pool that leads to the desired plane. These gateways to other planes can be identified by color, as shown on the Astral Color Pools table. Finding the right color pool is a matter of chance: locating the correct one takes 1d4 × 10 hours of travel.

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 also 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.

Location Effects

Mental Effects

The Astral Plane is home to a variety of strange and dangerous creatures. Some of these denizens are native to the plane, while others are travelers or lost souls who have found themselves stuck in the endless silvery void.

The Astral Plane is a strange and foreign place, with rules of physics that are quite different from those on the Material Plane. Characters and creatures here experience several notable differences:

• Timelessness: Time does not flow in the Astral Plane as it does elsewhere. Creatures do not age, hunger, or need sleep while they are in the Astral Plane, though they can still choose to rest and recover spells or physical strength.
• Movement by Thought: In the Astral Plane, creatures move by the force of thought alone. With concentration, travelers can will themselves forward at incredible speeds, covering hundreds of miles in a day without physical exertion.
• Psychic Winds: As mentioned previously, the psychic winds of the Astral Plane pose one of the few threats to travelers, capable of displacing them across vast distances or wreaking mental havoc.
• Silver Cords: A traveler’s silver cord connects their astral form to their physical body back in the Material Plane. The silver cord is incredibly tough and resistant to damage, save for a few special conditions like an astral dreadnought's bite or a githyanki's silver sword.
• Color Pools: These serve as gateways to other planes, shimmering pools that range in colors representing various destinations. These color pools can be used as navigational tools, albeit with caution, as entering the wrong pool can lead to unintended, often dangerous destinations.

A typical Wildspace system has a sun plus a number of planets and moons orbiting it. Two examples of Wildspace systems, Doomspace and Xaryxispace, are described in the accompanying adventure, Light of Xaryxis. Use them as models when creating your own Wildspace system.

Local time varies from world to world and from one Wildspace system to the next. A standard day is 24 hours, a week is seven days, and a month is four weeks (28 days). In the Astral Plane, years have no real meaning since travelers avoid using them as a measurement of time.

One doesn’t need a map to navigate the Astral Sea. Here, creatures are blessed with directional awareness. They can think of their destination and become aware of the most direct route, though it doesn’t reveal how safe the journey might be.

The ambient temperature in the Astral Plane is about the same as a moderate summer day. This temperature remains constant without seasons, although some Wildspace systems have significantly higher or lower temperatures.