There have been a variety of milestones in my appreciation of D&D, and one of many massive ones was after I first began studying the Superior Dungeons & Dragons Handbook of the Planes. Regardless of how huge and fascinating the mortal realm of a fantasy setting is perhaps, different worlds and different planes of existence the place the traditional guidelines don’t apply fascinated me.
It introduced collectively my love of cosmologies, concerning the variations between Asgard, Jotunheim, and Niffelheim. It integrated ideas just like the River Styx operating by way of the underworld, letting mortals obtain a glimpse of the afterlife. It even made me take into consideration the best way to combine the scale I examine in comics, just like the Unfavorable Zone or Nightmare’s dream realm.
Totally different fantasy worlds have launched cosmologies with various ranges of element, some extra stylized and restrained, and others extra open-ended. Each time I see a brand new fantasy world, I’m very invested to find out the context of actuality because it pertains to the planes of existence. That brings me to the Information to the Labyrinth, a complement from Kobold Press, detailing the cosmology of the Tales of the Valiant RPG.
Disclaimer
My copy of the Information to the Labyrinth got here from backing the Tales of the Valiant crowdfunding marketing campaign. Because it particulars some broad setting data, a few of it has already leaked into the planar touring points of the Midgard marketing campaign that I run.
Information to the Labyrinth
Designer: Wolfgang Baur
Editors: Michele Carter, Meagan Maricle, Kenny Webb
Cowl Artist: Krzysztof Porchowski Jr.
Inside Artists: George Johnstone, Viktoria Kanellopoulou, William O’Brien, Ian Perks, Roberto Pitturru, Kiki Moch Rizki, Florian Stitz, Bryan Syme, Egil Thompson
Cartographer: Damien Mammolini
Graphic Designer: Marc Radle
Format: Kennedy Williams
Backer World Designers: Willy Alers, Alice Avoy, Boleslav, Patrick Boyer, Jonah Buck, Bob C., Brad Castles, Ressu Crebalt, Curtis, T.D. Daigle, Fish Davidson, Rob Dearsley, Stephen Diamond, Jason Dincauze, Stephen Michael DiPesa, Benjamin L. Eastman and Matthew Dunn, Echidna Design and Comply with the Idiot, Emirranth, Delusion Epicweaver, Robert Fairbanks, Mycelia Fearne, Cameron Feiler, Scout Fenton, Lola Fortney, Mark G., gaelQuest, David Garrison, Marbles M Goblin, Richard Inexperienced, Ian “Grendel Todd” Gray, Austin H., Hbossssobh and Baldesion, Gabriel L. Helman, Jessica Henry, Levi Indvik, IrRyo, Darryl T. “Splattered Ink” Jones, Sawyer Judkins, Marc “DM Mythall” Ok., Phillip Larwood, Jeff Lee, John Leonas, Christopher Lockey, Nick “Jack1Spade” Lucas, Grant Martin, Phil Mason, David Mathews, Ryan McLaughlin, Paul McNeil and Edward Rollins, Nick Milton, R Moorhead, Isaac Morley, Vish Naidoo, Sean Nester, Zachery Newbill, Evan Noone, Invoice Olander, Biometal Omega, Daniel Paoliello, Justin C E Penner, Jeff Fast, Thomas M. Reid, Richter, Sebastian Rombach, Eric Sage and Gates Perrault, J Santana, Dreamfyre Shadowcaster, DC Shepard, Montana Sparks, Chelsea “Dot” Steverson, Will Struck, Brian Suskind and Jon Enge, Talador, Jonah Tappan and Katie Truelove, The Manhattan Kobolds, Jorge A. Torres, Jenn Tsai, Valin, Phil Welch, Mike Welham, Elliot Wenzel, William West, Wyrmworks Publishing
A Map of the Planes
The Information to the Labyrinth is a 74-page PDF. The pages are allotted like this:
- Credit score Pages–2 pages
- Desk of Contents–1 web page
- Artwork Preview–2 pages
- Tales of the Valiant advert–1 web page
Along with the setting data included within the guide, there are about 21 pages of the PDF devoted to backer submitted worlds. There are a number of artwork items within the guide, many who come from earlier Kobold Press merchandise or from Tales of the Valiant initiatives.
My favourite piece within the guide is the cosmological map that seems within the PDF, exhibiting numerous clusters of worlds and planes in relation to at least one one other.
The Twists and Turns of the Labyrinth
The Information to the Labyrinth touches on a number of subjects. This features a historical past of the Labyrinth, the Labyrinth’s construction, and the those that reside in numerous areas of the planar assemble. The modes of journey for traversing the Labyrinth are mentioned, together with underlying tunnels connecting worlds, branches of Yggdrasil, the River Styx, and the Astral Aircraft.
The guide additionally consists of a number of factions which might be lively throughout a wide range of planes. The factions detailed embody:
- Harmony of Stars–brokers of assorted celestials
- Keeper of the Keys–arcanists and planar vacationers increasing connections between worlds
- The Outdated Ring–a company devoted to planting seeds of Yggdrasil to develop new worlds
- Servants of the Dreaming God–followers of Dreaming God, touring the planes to find revelations
Every of those factions comprises an outline, targets, the commonest adherents and brokers of the faction, and three instance NPCs from every faction. There’s additionally a desk of journey hooks for every of the most important factions. Along with the most important factions outlined, there are 4 different smaller factions given just a few paragraphs of description.
There’s a Pantheon of the Labyrinth offered as properly. This isn’t a pantheon within the sense of being a associated group of gods, a lot as essentially the most generally worshiped gods within the main areas of the Labyrinth. The gods detailed embody:
- Cartokk, The Dreaming God–god of desires and divine revelations
- Herak-Mavros–god of conflict and thunder
- Nakresh–god of thieves and tomb robbers
- Rava–goddess of destiny and mechanisms
- Sabateus–god of magic, the moon, and the evening
- Solana–goddess of the solar and the forge
As a result of Tales of the Valiant doesn’t import alignment from the 5e SRD, the gods are offered when it comes to what they signify and what targets they current to their followers. That signifies that some followers have a extra malevolent bent to their type of worship. For instance, some followers of Cartokk are laid again, hedonistic dreamers, and others are extra obsessive about the entire worlds falling into Cartokk’s dream. Harak-Mavros is commonly seen as a god of heroes, but in addition has the portfolio of strife. Nakresh will be offered as a devious, harmful, grasping deity able to something for private achieve, however Nakresh may also be seen because the god who conjures up his followers to carry down the rich and highly effective.
Along with the “heroic factions,” or the factions PCs usually tend to be a part of, work with, or at the least negotiate with frequently, there are additionally Void Factions. Whereas not all of those are allied to at least one one other, all of them usually have nihilistic tendencies. The Nice Chantry is extra involved with amassing and translating works impressed by publicity to the Void. The Final Cathedral is a cult dominated by undead brothers, elevating armies to recruit the residing to undead standing, and opposing the forces of Solana. The Followers of the Pure Void are a bunch of mystics and cultists that search to hasten Ragnarök and different Apocalyptic prophecies throughout the Labyrinth.
What’s Contained in the Labyrinth?
The guide particulars a number of worlds and planes. Not like lots of D&D’s worlds, a variety of the websites within the Labyrinth are particularly outlined as worlds, relatively than planes, however each exist, and there is a crucial distinction.
Worlds are completely different areas associated to the Prime Materials aircraft. Whereas a few of these worlds have been modified to adapt the traits of various planes of existence, these worlds didn’t begin out as “conceptual” realities, just like the outer planes. These are worlds with their very own guidelines that conform to mortal assumptions, till they’re basically modified by forces that undertake these worlds as house.
The planes, as extra historically outlined in video games like D&D, embody the Astral Sea, the Elemental Spheres, and the Ethereal Aircraft. There are additionally the weather that run by way of the planes and worlds, resembling Yggdrasil, the River Styx, and the Void. The Labyrinth itself is a mysterious assemble that creates tunnels and passages between all these planes and worlds.
As described, the Labyrinth downplays the Outer Planes, as one would think about them from D&D. These planes are extra “unknowable,” however numerous worlds throughout the Labyrinth have been transformed to make use of by creatures from these planes. There are worlds that function the staging grounds for celestial armies, and worlds that function the dominion of archdevils.
The Labyrinth has clusters of worlds with comparable traits. The Outdated Ring are worlds seeded straight from Yggdrasil and favor pure components as their main traits. The Celestial Worlds are worlds organized below the purview of celestial armies, staged to oppose the forces of the decrease planes and the Void. The Void worlds are clustered collectively conceptually, and so they signify worlds which have been contaminated by the entropy of the Void. These are worlds which might be dying, usually populated with creatures of the Void and numerous demons. There are about fifty pattern worlds included on this part, every of that are detailed with a paragraph of textual content.
Different Instruments
There are a number of tables that pull collectively what creatures are more likely to be discovered within the Labyrinth, creatures which might be fitted to planar touring and world hopping campaigns, organized into completely different problem scores. There’s additionally a cult identify generator, for rolling up a prefix, core, and suffix for the cult’s identify.
The Outer Worlds
One of many clusters of worlds within the Labyrinth proven on the cosmological map on this product, the Outer Worlds are all worlds that had been contributed to the mission as a part of the crowdfunding mission, which allowed backers to pitch worlds to be included, with 70 of these pitches being chosen for inclusion.
These worlds get a bit of bit extra element than the fifty instance worlds given within the earlier part of the guide. They every function a excessive idea abstract sentence for the setting, the names of the creators, and a barely longer paragraph description hitting all of the excessive factors of the world.
As a result of these worlds had been pitched by backers and never developed alongside the ideas guiding the remainder of the Information, there are just a few worlds whose assumptions really feel a bit of at odds with the “realities” of the Labyrinth. A few of them indicate a higher cosmology of their very own. A lot of them are extra science fiction/area opera oriented, which isn’t closely supported by the at present accessible Tales of the Valiant guidelines. There are a number of worlds which might be allegorical commentaries on fashionable points.
Many of those are enjoyable to learn and introduce fascinating thought workout routines. There are positively some worlds that work as a spot to namedrop when your planar vacationers want to elucidate the place they’ve been earlier than, or as a spot for a fast go to for an journey or two. Many others require a bit extra thought and energy if they’re launched, particularly since lots of them describe “twists” that aren’t properly supported by Tales of the Valiant (protagonists as bugs residing inside an enormous tree, tiny protagonists residing in a human scientist’s yard, and so forth.).
A Heaven for Each Soul
I like the thought of creating the Outer Planes/Afterlife/Divine Domains extra distant, with numerous thematic worlds all being worlds outdoors of the realms of the gods which have been formed and populated by numerous planar vacationers. Not solely does it deepen the thriller of what the afterlife is actually like, or what the true nature of the gods is perhaps, it additionally offers you a variety of flexibility for creating a novel realm to your Archdevil or Demon Lord with out becoming them right into a extra all-inclusive planar framework.
I additionally just like the theme of the Void cultists spreading by way of completely different worlds, and portraying the variability that exists inside comparable nihilistic organizations. I’ve been having fun with the large, aircraft spanning organizations which have appeared in WotC releases like Glory of the Giants and The Guide of Many Issues, and I recognize extra of them, taking the Tales of the Valiant sensibilities, showing right here.
No Approach Out
Right here is the place I get to be a bit of conflicted, as a result of whereas I like a few of the thriller and customization this planar setup permits, I additionally actually benefit from the massive, unusual conceptual planes for D&D’s outer planes. They aren’t unattainable to reconcile, however additionally they aren’t a spotlight of this setting. Whereas I just like the factions offered, I really feel like we’re lacking some archetypes, particularly on the villain’s facet, with the antagonist factions being Void associated.
Very similar to factions, the pantheon presents good data, however feels a bit of skinny and missing in wider archetypes. A lot of the gods we now have will be benevolent or malevolent, and that’s cool, I’d like to have just a few extra unambiguous gods and some much less broad ideas for the deities’ portfolios. I do know, you would possibly say “ambiguous gods with a broad assortment of ideas that won’t at all times match up” is completely the way in which precise real-world religions usually work. I’m not in opposition to a few of these gods, however D&D-like settings aren’t at all times served finest by solely together with components that match an idea of historic accuracy over fantasy archetypes. The Midgard setting has equally ambiguous deities, but in addition consists of “Darkish Gods,” that are extra generally understood to be harmful and antagonistic.
This last remark isn’t totally honest, however with each WotC and now Kobold Press transferring towards “the setting is the broader cosmology,” it does make me want we had a extra conventional marketing campaign setting product on the horizon.
Tenuous Suggestion–The product has optimistic points, however consumers might wish to make sure that the optimistic points align with their tastes earlier than transferring this up their listing of what to buy subsequent.
I actually like the pliability of the Labyrinth and the concept that worlds, relatively than planes, is perhaps the thematic areas that PCs can discover. I actually just like the idea of the Labyrinth, tunnels beneath actuality that run throughout the multiverse, as a fantasy idea. I believe this product offers us a superb glimpse into what we’re going to see when the Tales of the Valiant universe is expanded, and it supplies some concepts which might be instantly usable in sport. I’ve already integrated a few of the ideas into the aircraft hopping section of my present marketing campaign.
My essential hesitation when extra broadly recommending this product is that later this 12 months (as of this writing in 2024) there will probably be a crowdfunding marketing campaign for the Labyrinth Worldbook, a marketing campaign setting guide that gives extra particulars about touring between worlds, factions, and risks lurking within the tunnels that crisscross actuality. If you wish to choose this as much as see the form of issues to return and get some inspiration proper now, I don’t assume you’ll be disillusioned, however it additionally is probably not too tough to attend for extra in-depth setting data.
If you want to see what I’m speaking about for myself, or wish to see a few of the different takes on the cosmology during which the world of Midgard exists, I hereby current these affiliate hyperlinks, which is able to collect unto me a tiny little bit of what you would possibly spend while you use them. I recognize you stopping by!
