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Brave New Planes: World Serpent Inn: A Variant Transitive Plane
Brave New Planes: World Serpent Inn: A Variant Transitive Plane
Brave New Planes: World Serpent Inn: A Variant Transitive Plane
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occur mostly in the back rooms and corridors. Such
Random Portal Appearance Table portals usually lead to the wild, desolate reaches of
Main Entrance, World Serpent Inn Deep Shadow.
d% Connected Plane
1–50 Material Plane (if previously on the World Serpent Inn Inhabitants
Material Plane, then a new location there)
An ever-changing cast of characters, including
51–60 Alternate Material Plane
61–62 The Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia githyanki, illithids, outsiders, planetouched, half-ele-
63–64 The Twin Paradises of Bytopia mentals, humans, and humanoids, can be encountered
65–66 The Blessed Fields of Elysium in the World Serpent Inn. At any given time, between
67–68 The Wilderness of the Beastlands one and two dozen travelers are lounging in the
69–70 The Olympian Glades of Arborea
common room. Some have lived in the Inn for years
71–72 The Heroic Domains of Ysgard
73–74 The Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo and remember no other life. Others are waiting for por-
75–76 The Windswept Depths of Pandemonium tals to open to particular locations so that they can find
77–78 The Infinite Layers of the Abyss loved ones, complete quests, or just return home.
79–80 The Tarterian Depths of Carceri The minor positive energy and damage reduction
81–82 The Gray Waste of Hades
traits reduce the incidence of death in the common
83–84 The Bleak Eternity of Gehenna
85–86 The Nine Hells of Baator room, though they by no means eliminate it. Brawls
87–88 The Infernal Battlefield of Acheron are frequent there, particularly between sworn ene-
89–90 The Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus mies (such as celestials and devils, or githyanki and
91–92 The Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia illithids).
93–94 The Concordant Domain of the Outlands
The one permanent inhabitant of the World Serpent
95 Plane of Elemental Fire
96 Plane of Elemental Earth Inn is the barkeep, Mitchifer. He always appears as a
97 Plane of Elemental Air large, bearded, human male, but his abilities (and even
98 Plane of Elemental Water his character class) seem to change depending upon
99 Positive or Negative Energy Plane the situation. Regardless of his specific abilities, he is
(roll d% again; a result of 1–50 indicates
always 20th level or higher, and he most often seems to
the positive energy plane, and 51–00
indicates the negative energy plane) be a fighter. Speculation runs rife that Mitchifer is a
00 Demiplane (DM’s Choice) refugee of one cosmic faction or another, or perhaps
even a god or former deity in his own right. There have
tail. The door, if there is one, is never locked, and it been reports of his death over the years, but he has
opens into the World Serpent Inn’s common room. always returned.
This main entrance is a two-way portal, though as Mitchifer provides newcomers with basic informa-
noted above, its destination changes frequently. The tion about the Inn. (“Food’s on the house. Leave when
Inn also has hundreds of other exits, which are accessi- you’re ready. Management is not responsible for loss of
ble from a maze of passages leading out of the common property or life in the back rooms.”) Beyond that, he
room in all directions. Most of these other exits are swears ignorance, though he often hooks up like-
one-way portals, and they are usually (though not minded individuals in the common room or recom-
always) clearly marked. Some always lead to the same mends a source for particular information that some-
plane, but others have variable destinations. one seeks. Mitchifer employs an ever-changing crew of
The World Serpent Inn has its own Ethereal Plane, waitstaff and cooks, some of whom are former travelers
which does not connect to the Ethereal Plane coexis- who have chosen to remain and serve. Should he not be
tent with the Material Plane. Like its counterpart, this present, one of these employees or another traveler
Ethereal Plane is home to creatures such as ethereal greets new arrivals and acquaints them with the law of
filchers and ghosts. The Inn’s Ethereal Plane coexists the land.
primarily with its back rooms and corridors, but the Mitchifer may or may not be a god or godlike power,
presence of a powerful ghost may cause a tendril of it to but his superior (known only as “The Owner”) proba-
reach into the common room from time to time. bly is a deity—perhaps even of Uber-God status. The
Because of the Inn’s visibility trait, ethereal creatures nature and identity of the Owner is a common topic of
are visible to those within the Inn. conversation around the fireplace. Most travelers
The World Serpent Inn is also coterminous with the assume that this being can determine where the
Plane of Shadow, but again the points of connection common room’s portal next opens, and Mitchifer lends
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credence to this theory by occasionally taking requests Storage Room: These rooms are little more than clos-
for destinations. Sometimes, such requests are fulfilled, ets filled with supplies, unused furnishings, and food
though there seems to be no pattern as to which are ful- or treasure stashed here by travelers who never found
filled and how soon. their way back. Roll d% to determine the exact contents
of the room. A result of 1–40 indicates food, 41–80 indi-
World Serpent Inn Features cates linen, 81–95 indicates old furniture, and 95–00
Beyond the common room, the World Serpent Inn is a indicates treasure. Any treasure in a storage room is
mass of twisting hallways and passages, broken by appropriate for a 6th-level encounter and has an 80%
numerous doors and staircases to other levels. Some of chance of being trapped in some way.
the doors are portals to other planes, while others lead Demiplane: This two-way portal is the sole access to a
to libraries, studies, storage chambers, and rooms for random demiplane. Effectively, this is a chunk of some
the various inhabitants. other reality that has hung onto the World Serpent Inn
Use the following table to determine the features during its planar perambulations.
encountered by anyone moving randomly about the Portal: The door opens onto another plane. Roll ran-
back rooms. domly for its destination on the Random Portal Appear-
ance Table for the main entrance. This is a one-way
Nature of the World Serpent Inn’s portal that disappears when the main entrance changes
its destination.
Back Rooms and Hallways
d% Type of Feature
Mapping the back rooms and passages is possible, but
1–10 Stairs
such maps are valid only as long as the Inn’s main
11–30 Additional corridor
entrance remains coterminous with a particular plane.
31–60 Door to bedroom/living quarters
When it changes connecting planes, the back rooms
61–70 Door to library/study
and hallways shuffle as well, forcing those within to
71–80 Door to storage room
map their surroundings again.
81–90 Portal to demiplane
Sometimes the movement of walls caused by such a
91–00 Portal to another location or plane
shift cuts off a few back rooms and passages entirely
from the rest of the World Serpent Inn. If these areas
Stairs: The stairs access another floor of the Inn that
are uninhabited, they tend to disappear. If they are
has additional passages. Roll d% to determine the direc-
inhabited, those within may break through the wooden
tion of the stairs. On a result of 1–50 they lead up;
walls to reconnect with the Inn. (Alternatively, at the
otherwise they lead down.
DM’s option, breaking through a wall can cause that
Additional Corridor: Any such corridor has 1d4 doors
portion of the World Serpent Inn to shear off and
in it, as placed by the DM. These may include secret
dump those within it unceremoniously into a random
doors as well as normal ones.
plane.) Characters can use spells such as find the path
B e d r o o m / L i v i n g Q u a r t e r s : These rooms are domi-
to locate particular spots within the World Serpent
nated by large furniture—beds, armoires, sofas, large
Inn—such as the closet where they stashed a vorpal
chairs, and the like. Each such room has a 50% chance
sword before the main entrance changed connections.
of having a second door. Any living quarters or study
Getting truly lost in the back rooms is difficult. A trav-
may (50% chance) be inhabited by one or more beings
eler wishing to return to the common room merely has
of a challenge level equal to that of the visitors. An
to make that his or her goal. After that, every new door
inhabited room has only a 10% chance of treasure.
has a 10% chance of leading back to a familiar area
Library/Study: Libraries and studies usually contain
(such as one of the hallways leading to the common
desks, chairs, cabinets, bookshelves, and the like. Any
room, the balcony, or the warehouses near the kitchen).
such room may (25% chance) be inhabited by one or
Though killing an opponent is difficult given the
more beings of a challenge level to equal to that of the
plane’s fast healing trait, subdual works normally. As a
visitors, and there is a 20% chance of treasure in this
result, there are stories of kidnappers roaming the back
case. The selection of books in a study or library often
halls—in particular, a gang of vampires that capture
includes rare and fantastic volumes, the contents of
and keep travelers for their blood.
which may or may not be valid for the current cotermi-
A few of the hallways and rooms have windows. These
nous plane. There is a 25% chance that such a room has
are always one-way portals that look out over other
a second door.
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planes. A traveler seeking to escape the World Serpent the original FORGOTTEN REALMS® campaign setting.
Inn can sometimes find a likely-looking plane, open Among his many credits include the original Manual
the casement, and simply leap out. of the Planes back in the eighties, so he thinks of going
back to Outer Planes like going to a high school
ABOUT THE AUTHOR reunion. (Hey, have you noticed Orcus has really put
on weight?) He is currently on the loose in the Star
Jeff Grubb is a gifted veteran of game design, with
Wars universe. The Empire has been alerted.
almost 20 years of experience behind him. He was one
of the cofounders of DRAGONLANCE® and cocreator of