Plane of Life (3.5e Sourcebook)/The Places
The plane of positive energy is infinitely large and for the most part empty. However, there are some locations of interest. Several such points are listed here. There are specially built platforms located at each of these locations to assist would-be-travelers in aiming their falls between these locations. Only trips with a listed distance have these platforms. When falling, it takes 5.5 minutes to travel 1 cell.
If a listed distance between two points is longer than 300 cells, there is a small village about halfway where travelers can stop and rest. These villages have an average population of about 120 people (90% lucerna, 2% half-lucerna, 8% other) and have a gp limit of 5000 gp.
| Trip | Distance |
|---|---|
| Life Nexus-Lumière | 150 |
| Positive Stopper-Lumière | 250 |
| Positive Stopper-Life Nexus | 200 |
| Font of Life-Lumière | 650 |
| Font of Life-Positive Stopper | 660 |
| Portal to Radiance-Life Nexus | 480 |
| Portal to Radiance-Positive Stopper | 520 |
| Mansion of Life-Font of Life | 800 |
| Mansion of Life-Positive Stopper | 1000 |
Contents
Library Vita
Located within the city of Lumière, the Library Vita is the main source of knowledge on the topic of positive energy, healing and life. Almost every book authored on the topic can be found within. By studying within the library, a character can attain a new mastery of positive energy and/or healing. Doing this requires 1 day of study within the library.
Benefits: The benefit gained from studying in the Library Vita varies based on the classes you have levels in. If you qualify for more than one benefit, you must choose one to receive. A given creature may only gain one benefit of the Library Vita.
- Divine spellcaster class: You gain turn undead as a cleric of your hit dice. If you already have turn undead, you gain a second, separate, pool of turn undead uses.
- Arcane spellcaster class: Choose any two spells from the Positive, Life or Healing domains. You may treat these spells as if they were on your classes spell list. If you have a limited spells known list, you may add the chosen spells to that list as bonus spells. If you prepare spells from a spellbook, you can prepare the chosen spells without referring to a spellbook. If you have more than one arcane casting class, the chosen spells are added to the list for all of them. Spells gained in this fashion do not require divine focus components, even if the spell would otherwise.
- Class with 6 or more skill points per level OR Mender: You gain one of the following feats as a bonus feat: Medical Knowledge, Swift Treatment or Critical Care. You must qualify for the chosen feat. Add Heal to your class skill list for all classes (this applies retroactively).
- Class with full BAB: Once per day, you can heal yourself (4*your hit dice) hit points as an immediate action. If you use this ability immediately after you take damage, the healing effectively prevents the damage. For example, if you had just been killed due to falling below -10 HP, this spell can stop you from dying.
- Class with Fast Movement: Twice per day, you can use Haste as a spell-like ability with a caster level of your hit dice. You may only target yourself.
Price: You may write studying at the Library Vita (and the benefit that results) into your backstory. Doing so imposes an 8,500 gold piece penalty on your wealth by level.
Life Nexus
The life nexus is a large swirling well of positive energy on the plane of positive energy.
The life nexus has a wide array of effects on those who enter it. Any creatures that are harmed by positive energy are destroyed if they enter the nexus. Any creatures with a maximum hit points of less than 60 are killed if they enter the nexus. All other creatures must make a DC 15 Will save or be killed. Any surviving creatures permanently gain just a touch of positive energy (see benefits later). All creatures killed in this fashion are reincarnated (see penalties later).
Benefits: Creatures that enter the life nexus and live to tell the tale gain one of the following feats as a bonus feat: Positive Fragment, Positive Hand, Positive Ambush, Positive Strike or Positive Healing. You must qualify for the chosen feat. A given creature may only gain the benefit of the life nexus once.
Penalties: Creatures killed (but not those destroyed) by the nexus are reincarnated as a baby. They are born on their home plane 1d4 days later. They reincarnate as a random race (use the chart from the spell reincarnate), with all memories but no abilities or levels. For all game effects, this reincarnated character is a new creature.
Price: You may write a successful trip to the life nexus (and the bonus feat that results) into your backstory. Doing so imposes a 5,000 gold piece penalty on your wealth by level. You may write a failed trip into your backstory at no cost.
Positive Stopper
The positive stopper stops the positive energy from the plane of positive energy from leaking out on to the material plane. However, it can only do this if it is located in the "drain". The "drain" is a podium in a special crystal room.
The stopper itself is a small white glass orb. The orb can not be damaged or destroyed. If carried, the stopper grants the creature carrying it fast healing 5. However, keeping it is not a good idea. If the stopper is not sitting on the drain, the plane begins leaking onto the material plane. Starting 1 month after the stopper is removed, the sky on the material plane beings fading to a pale white color. 2 months after the stopper is removed, the energy leaks enough to give the material plane the minor positive-dominant trait. 3 months after the stopper is removed, the filling is complete and the material plane gets the major positive-dominant trait. If the campaign has more than one material plane, these effects are applied to all of them.
If the stopper is returned to the drain, these effects reverse themselves. Each effect takes 1 day to go away, and they are removed in reverse order they were applied. Creatures with the positive subtype can detect how far the orb is from them if it is on the same plane.
As a result of its importance, the stopper is under constant protection by guards from Lumière (level 9-13 lucerna warriors and level 9-13 clerics of Vitadea).
Font of Life
As you know, souls end their path in the various afterlives. However, most don't spare a thought as to where that journey begins. Souls are born on the plane of positive energy. To be more specific, they are born at the font of life, a large magic machine that makes new souls out of positive energy and send them where they are needed.
The physical presence of the font takes the form of a large 3-D grid of floating white stone cubes, which the souls flow between. These stones are locked in position. There are always about 75,000 unborn souls present at the font at any given time. As creatures that have souls are born, souls from the font vanish to become the souls of those creatures. As souls vanish, new ones are created. Unborn souls are Fine in size and can not be harmed or touched in any way.
The souls in the font are produced by 5 generator points. Each generator point is capable of producing 25% of the souls needed to maintain the current birth rate. While all 5 are on, each is running below maximum power. If one is off, the other 4 increase to maximum power and everything still works. If more are off, the font starts to run out of souls. If the font runs out of souls, no creatures with souls can be born (those that would be born die instead). Every 12 hours, there is a 5% chance that one of the generator points (chosen at random) will turn off.
Creatures within the font don't age while they are there, even if they otherwise would.
A visitor to the font can do several magic rituals while there. All of these rituals have a material cost and require a skill check. The rituals are listed here:
Create Life:
- Cost: 1,000 gp in white diamonds
- Check: DC 20 Spellcraft check
- Time: 1 hour
- Effect: Successfully performing this ritual grabs one of the souls from the font and creates a body for it on the spot. The body created is a baby, but the appearance and race of the body is the choice of the person performing the ritual. A baby created in this fashion gains the effect of the spell Positive Endurance for 1 hour.
Restore Life:
- Cost: 1,500 gp in white diamonds
- Check: DC 20 Spellcraft check
- Time: 30 minutes
- Effect: Successfully performing this ritual restores a lost soul to a body. This ritual creates the effect of a raise dead spell, except it can affect someone who died as much as 10 years prior.
Falsify Life:
- Cost: 2,500 gp in grey diamonds
- Check: DC 20 Knowledge (the planes) check
- Time: 1 hour
- Effect: Successfully performing this ritual purges the negative energy from an undead, replacing it with positive energy. To perform this ritual requires you to target an undead creature (which may be the creature performing this ritual). The targeted creature gains the reborn template.
Steal Souls:
- Cost: Purple amethyst worth 2,000 gp
- Check: DC 15 Knowledge (the planes) check
- Time: 2 hours
- Effect: Successfully performing this ritual captures the souls in the font, so they can be used for evil ends. Rather than being destroyed, the purple amethyst is used to trap some souls. The gem traps 2d10 souls plus an extra 1d10 souls for every 5 points you beat the check DC. The gem can then be used in the creation of magic items or the casting of spells to reduce the XP costs. Each soul is worth 2 XP. When you use the gem, you use up the entire gem, and any excess souls lost. The market value of the gem is increased by 10 gp for every unborn soul trapped inside, and is a trade good. After being used, the souls are destroyed as is the gem. Making, using, buying or selling these gems full of unborn souls is an evil act.
Deactivate Point:
- Cost: 5,000 gp in black sand
- Check: DC 30 Knowledge (the planes) check
- Time: 1 hour
- Effect: Successfully performing this ritual at a generator point turns that generator point off. If done at any other point, the ritual fails. Those who would use this ritual should keep in mind that Vitadea is aware of the status of the generator points.
Activate Point:
- Cost: 5,000 gp in white sand
- Check: DC 30 Knowledge (the planes) check
- Time: 1 hour
- Effect: Successfully performing this ritual at a generator point turns that generator point on. If done at any other point, the ritual fails.
The Radiance
The Radiance is the border zone of Fire.
All creatures within the Radiance take 1d6 points of fire damage per round. This is in addition to the effects of the positive-dominant trait.
Whenever a random encounter would result in an Anguis in the Radiance, a phoenix is encountered instead.
There is not a lot to be had in the Radiance, but phoenix stones can be found there. If the planar phenomenon (from the section "Planar Phenomenon") of Crystal Spark occurs, 1d2 phoenix stones are created in the chosen cell instead. The stones fade away in 1d4 hours, if not collected before this time is up.
Mansion of Life
All gods need a home. The mansion of life acts as the home to the goddess of life, Vitadea. The mansion is massive in size from the inside, but from the outside it is a single door floating fixed in space.
In addition to Vitadea herself, over 50 lucerna make up Vitadea's staff. About half of these lucerna are menders, while most of the rest are clerics of Vitadea. The few who remain are of various other classes. As a whole, these lucerna range from level 5 to level 18.
Vitadea and her assistants live and work within the mansion. She does, however, allow others to enter and look around, so long as they cause no harm. Those who visit can receive food, beds and healing for free so long as they behave. Those of interest to Vitadea (divine casters drawing spells from her of at least level 9, menders of at least level 11 or good-aligned characters of at least level 13) may be able to gain an audience with her (DC 15 Diplomacy check).
The inside of the mansion is equivalent to Mage’s Magnificent Mansion (caster level 50), except Vitadea can change the layout at will, she can replace the food at will and natural healing within the mansion is tripled.
