Elemental Plane of Water
The plane of elemental Water is an ocean without a surface, a vast expanse that extends in all directions without reaching air above or solid bottom below. The pressure of the water is uniform in all directions and equivalent to that several feet beneath the surface of a Prime planar ocean. The entire region is illuminated by soft light: glowing blues and greens that seem to radiate from the water itself. Elemental Water is less harsh than the planes of Fire and Earth, though not as accessible as the plane of Air. The plane of Water is the home of elemental creatures such as the water weird, the nereid, the triton, and the realm of the Marid. While not a popular location for deities, the plane of Water is the base for such as Tefnut of the Egyptians, Ahto of the Suomi, and Blibdoolpoolp of the kuo-toans.
The traveler entering the plane of Water feels surrounded by the softly resilient element. Sights are muffled by the surrounding liquid, though sounds carry greater distances. Bubbles of air, floating chunks of rock, and even an occasional free-standing ball of fire survive in this cool plane. Unless the traveler has some method of breathing in this plane, however, these sensations may be the traveler's last.
At its heart, the plane of Water is clear water, brilliantly green and fresh. As the traveler moves away from that center, the nature of the plane changes. Toward the plane of Earth, the amount of debris and sea-borne muck increases until movement is hampered by wading through the muck, and the plane of para-elemental Ooze is reached. In another direction, toward the plane of Air, the water grows chillier and fragments of ice appear and grow until the entire horizon is filled with the wintery white solid mass of the plane of para-elemental ice. Toward the Positive Material plane, the water becomes warmer and more agitated until the cohesiveness between water molecules breaks down and the plane of quasi-elemental Steam is reached. Finally, as the traveler moves toward the Negative Material plane, the water begins to evaporate, leaving a saltier and saltier mixture until the traveler finds himself in the plane of quasi-elemental Salt.
Traveling through the plane of Water is best done with an elemental guide of Water or one of its associated para- or quasiplanes. A traveler seeking to find his way without a guide courts disaster among the changing currents and murky depths of the plane of Water.
Survival in the Plane of Water
Breathing: The greatest hazard this plane presents to the Prime planar traveler is drowning in the elemental liquid. An unprotected character can hold his breath for 1/3 his Constitution score (rounded up) in rounds, with the following modifications:
- The time is halved if the character is performing strenuous activities or is heavily encumbered.
- The time is halved if the character did not get to take a full breath.
For every round beyond the limit for holding breath, the character must roll a Constitution Check each round, with penalty that increases by - 2 for each round after the first. Failure in any check results in death by drowning. Fortunately, there are a number of items and spells that can help the traveler to survive in this plane, including potions of water breathing and spells such as airy water and water breathing. The most useful item of a permanent nature for the traveler in this plane is the ring of water breathing, or a similar device that does not have a time limit to it. Failing this, the ability to polymorph or shape change into a fish or other water-breathing or non-breathing creature is of great aid.
Vision and Senses: The clearest of water reduces sighting distances to 60 feet maximum. Further, the varying temperature of the water inhibits the use of infravision, so that it is no more useful than normal vision in this plane.
Movement in the Plane of Water
Movement in the plane of Water is similar to that in the other elemental planes. The traveler can move normally (walking, flying, etc.) at his usual rate of speed. The character can also choose a down direction and fall (sink, really) in that direction. Sinking is a pretty safe mode of locomotion, as the maximum rate is 200 feet per round. Damage for hitting a solid object while sinking is 1d6 for every 10 feet traveled, to a maximum of 6d6.
Just as it is possible to sink downward, it is also possible to rise by touching an object that is significantly lighter than water (a chunk of elemental ice, or a waxed canvas sack filled with air).
Rising objects move at a maximum rate of 400 feet per round. (Recall that without sentience in the area, chunks of ice simply hang motionless in the elemental ocean.) Once an intelligent or magical aura is near it and that aura determines a downward direction, the ice rises in the opposite direction. Finally, those individuals with swimming movement move at twice their normal rate in the plane of elemental Water.
Encounters in the Plane of Water Travelers in the plane of elemental Water have 1 in 10 chance of an encounter every four hours. The type of encounter is determined from the following table:
1-10 Elemental Phenomena 11-25 Elemental Pocket 26-00 Creature Encounter
Elemental Phenomena Determine type of elemental phenomena from the following table: D12ROII 1-3 4-5 6-8 9 10 11 12 Effect Steam Current Whirlpool Ice Floe Tidal Bore Silt Flow Airy Water Pocket Vortex to a Prime Material Plane
Steam Current: This is a wave of hot, bubbling water coming off the borders with the plane of Steam. It is undetectable and invisible until it is on top of the travelers. The heat of a steam current varies in damage from one to eight six-sided dice (1d8 of d6s). Any individuals with protection from fire or heat are safe from the effects of the steam. Whirlpool: Easily recognized and best avoided, a whirlpool is a free-standing disk of spinning water that often leads to another part of the plane. Those entering a whirlpool must begin their journeys anew, but if they employ an elemental guide, the time is halved. Unfortunately, a good deal of debris from other planes gathers in a whirlpool, so each character must roll a successful Dexterity Check or suffer 1d10 points of damage from being jostled about. Ice Floe: An ice floe is easily spotted and becomes more common as the traveler approaches the plane of Ice (treat steam current encounters as ice floes if the plane of Ice is the destination and the travelers are at least halfway to their goal). An ice floe chills the water so that unprotected individuals suffer 1 d4 points of damage per round. An ice floe can be used as a fast means of transportation in the plane of Water. Tidal Bore: Like a steam current, this is an area of fast-moving water that is invisible and impossible to avoid. A bore lasts for 2d10 turns. Those caught in a bore must roll a successful Dexterity Check or suffer 1 d10 points of damage. Worse still, a tidal bore encounter can cause an elemental guide of average Intelligence or less to become separated and wander off. In any event, the travelers must begin their journey again. Make another encounter roll when the storm diminishes. Silt Flow: This is a easily-noticed muddy current of water, either brine from the borders of the plane of Salt, mud from the edges of the plane of Ooze, or merely elemental dirt and earth that have been long since eroded off a long-gone island. The flow moves slowly and is easily avoided, but it sometimes (40%) masks the presence of a water elemental. Within the flow, sight is reduced to 20 feet. Airy Water Pocket: This rare phenomenon is greatly appreciated by travelers facing death by drowning. It is a naturally occurring sphere of water that has the effects of an airy water spell within its confines. Unlike the spell, however, those within have no control over the movement of the globe. Vortex to a Prime Material plane: This resembles a whirlpool as it is a flattened disk of moving water. At the center of this disk is a darkened sphere, the vortex itself, that leads to a Prime Material plane. The vortex usually emerges as a free-standing maelstrom in the ocean, in a lake deep beneath the earth, or along the deepest trenches of the sea bottom. While a heavily armored traveler suffers no movement problems in the plane of Water, normal restrictions apply in Prime Material water. The DM must also determine whether the vortex leads to the traveler's Prime Material plane or an alternate Prime Material.
Elemental Pockets Most pockets of other elemental material can be found in the plane of Water. Those of hostile elements, such as fire and magma, are very rare. D20 Roll 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 13-14 15-16 17 18 19 20 Type of Pocket Air Pocket Earth Pocket Ice Pocket Ooze pocket Salt Pocket Steam Pocket Vacuum or Lightning Pocket Dust or Mineral Pocket Radiance or Ash Pocket Smoke or Fire or Magma Pocket Air Pocket: A pocket of elemental air resembles silvery bubbles in the plane of Water. There is a 40% chance that it is occupied, but this can not be seen until the traveler is within five feet of the bubble. There is a 40% chance of an air pocket being occupied. The inhabitant is either an air-breathing traveler (20%) or a creature from the plane of Air (80%). Earth Pocket: This is a rough island of elemental rock submerged in the borderless sea of the plane of Water. It is a base for creatures from the plane of Water 80% of the time. Twenty percent of the time, the rock is hollowed and serves as the lair of either air-breathing (30%) creatures or natives of the plane of elemental Earth (70%). Ice Pocket: An ice pocket is the plane of Ice's equivalent of an earth pocket. The inhabitants must be resistant to the cold, since an ice pocket radiates 1d6 points of cold damage per turn to all within 30 yards of the surface. There is a 20% chance that any ice pocket encountered is inhabited, either by natives of the plane of Ice (60%), air-breathing creatures (20%), or by creatures of Water (20%). Ooze Pocket: This can come in a wide range of shapes, from spherical mudballs to irregular-shaped platters of silt. Those who enter a pocket of ooze suffer as if entering that plane. There is a 40% chance that the pocket is occupied by creatures from that para-elemental plane. Salt Pocket: A salt pocket resembles an air pocket, but is filled either with highly acidic brine or stinging salts. In either event, entering this type of bubble delivers 2d12 points of damage per round to creatures of the plane of elemental Water and half that to creatures with water in their systems (including most Prime Material travelers). These pockets are always unoccupied. Steam Pocket: A pocket of super-heated steam resembles a salt pocket or an air pocket. The water surrounding such a pocket is significantly warmer than normal for the plane. Those entering this pocket suffer the effects of entering the plane of quasielemental Steam. Vacuum Pocket: This type of pocket is always unoccupied. It resembles an air pocket, but contains no air. Lightning Pocket: This rare type of pocket is dangerous and the traveler does not need to enter to feel its effects. A silvery sphere 10d 10 yards in circumference, it appears similar to an air pocket. The lightning pocket has a 1 in 6 chance per turn of electrifying the area around it up to twice its radius away. This charge inflicts 1d10 of six-sided dice of damage. Entering the sphere has the same effects as entering the plane of quasi-elemental Lightning. Dust Pocket: Dust in the elemental plane of Water resembles a silt flow (see elemental phenomena). Vision is reduced as listed for that flow. In addition, there is a 40% chance that some creature of the plane of Water (20%) or Earth (80%) is lurking within that pocket of silt-like dust. Mineral Pocket: A pocket of quasi-elemental minerals contains several small, spherical stone balls that are stuck together. Each ball has a 50% chance of retaining some momentum, so that touching it inflicts 1 d6 points of damage. Within each sphere (there are 2d6 of them to a pocket) there can be any of a variety of materials: Material Calcium or other mineral salt (no value) Metal crystals of copper, iron, or gold; worth 100 gp per sphere 1d10 gems worth 100 gp each 1d6 gems worth 1,000 gp each D12 Roll 1-5 6-8 9-11 12 Radiance Pocket: A pocket of radiance in the plane of Water resembles a uniform shape, often a sphere, but sometimes a disk, hemisphere, or cube. Its sides are akin to a wall of force and cannot been seen through. Entering such a pocket affects the intruder as if entering the plane of quasi-elemental Radiance. Stories are told of powerful Marids hiding treasures (and old enemies) in such pockets, but who knows how much truth there may be to these tales. Ash Pocket: This resembles a silt flow (see elemental phenomena), but it inflicts 1d6 points of heat loss damage to living beings that enter the pocket. Creatures do not normally reside in this type of pocket. Smoke Pocket: Though it looks like an air pocket, the material within a smoke pocket is a thick fog that affects the intruder as would the para-elemental plane of Smoke. Only very rarely (5% chance) are creatures of the para-elemental plane of Smoke present. Fire Pocket: This type of pocket is rare in the plane of Water, since it can survive only in an area of airy water (see elemental phenomena). Those beings in the airy water borders are unaffected by the fire, while those that enter the fire pocket suffer the full effects of being placed in the plane of elemental Fire. There is a 40% chance that the pocket is home to fire-dwelling creatures (fire pockets are often used by efreet when they find it absolutely necessary to visit their Marid cousins). Magma Pocket: Like the fire pocket, a magma pocket is a rare occurrence here and can exist only inside areas of airy water. The pocket can appear as a single large sphere, or a conglomeration of head-sized, red-hot globules. Touching or entering these spheres has the effect of entering the plane of para-elemental Magma. If any globules of magma are somehow forced or thrown out of the area of the airy water, the rapid cooling causes them to explode, so that anyone within 6" suffers 3d6 points of damage from the fire attack.
Creature Encounters
Creatures from the plane of Water are usually made of elemental water. As creatures of water, they tend to blend into their surroundings as a robe of blending, though creatures native to the plane can always see other natives. Water elemental creatures have the ability to breathe water and are unaffected in their home plane by spells that affect water (the water weird cannot be slain by a purify water in its home plane). Water creatures are not more susceptible to cold, earth-based, or air-based attacks than Prime Material creatures, but they are vulnerable to fire. All fire attacks on water elemental creatures inflict double damage and the creatures' saving throws suffer a - 4 penalty (remember, however, the limitations on fire in the plane of Water). Water elementals and elemental monsters resemble their Prime Material counterparts, but their forms are indistinct and blurred by the passage of internal currents.
Water Encounter Chart D8 + D12 Roll 3: 4 5 67 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 Number 1 Td8 4d4 3d6 3d4 1d6 1d6 4d3 4d6 4d10 1d8 1d4 + 1 2d6 1d10 1d20 2d6 1d3 1d4 + 1 Creatures Encountered Notes Charonadaemon MMII Giant Elemental Weasels MM * Giant Elemental Leeches MM * Jann MMII Water Weirds MM Ooze Para-Elementals MMII Ice Para-Elementals MMII Water Elementals MM Marlds MMII Tritons MM Elemental Whales MM* Varrdig (Elemental Grue) MMII Nereids MMII Human Party V Elemental Elephants (Asian) MM * Mud-men MMII Elemental Will-o-the-Wisps MM* Elemental Displacer Beasts MM* Ey» of the Deep . MM Notes: MM ' MMII MM* Creatures from the Monster Manual •• Creatures from the Monster Manual II •• Elemental water creatures with same stats and abilities as existing creatures in the Monster Manual V = Visitors—require protection from th plane.
Combat in the Plane of Water
Limitations for combat in the plane of elemental Water are the same as for all inner planes, with the additional limitations placed on underwater combat in the DMG (page 56). Nets entangle but do not drag opponents to the sea floor (as there is no bottom in the endless sea of elemental water). The specially required crossbows function only if they fire magical bolts (otherwise the bolt hangs motionless once it leaves the bow).
Magic in the Plane of Water
Magic functions in the plane of Water under the limitations for all inner planes. Spells are affected in the plane of Water as they are in the seas of the Prime Material plane (see pages 57 of the DMG and 81 of UA), so that a fireball is useless due to the nature of water, rather than the effects of the plane. A fireball works normally in a pocket of air in the plane of Water. A contact other plane spell directed into the plane of Water appears as a large silvery ball, about the size of a ripe cabbage. Each ball contains a question or series of questions from the plane. The effects of touching and breaking such a ball are the same as in the plane of elemental Air. Summoning/conjuration spells appear as shiny spheres, similar in size to elemental pockets, but these radiate golden, greenish, or bluish auras. Elemental creatures are affected as by a charm spell and attracted to the spheres. Marids, as noted, are generally immune to this type of request, though on occasion one pops through looking for deeds of glory. Should an elemental traveler step through such a border, he finds himself on a Prime Material plane (not necessarily his own). He is treated as a summoned creature for purposes of duration of the spell, his actions, and effects of other magic upon him.
Features of the Plane of Water
Elementals: Creatures of the plane of water seem to be made up of currents of watery forces, making them hard to detect in their native element and obvious in shape only when they are placed in a pocket of air or similar medium that confines them to a specific shape. In addition, the appearance of a type of elemental creature (such as the elemental elephant in the preceding table) can vary from one encounter to the next, though it has the same statistics. For help in determining random looks for elemental creatures (as opposed to "you see a watery elephant"), the DM is directed to page 120 (Appendix II).
Most elemental creatures of Water prefer the deep areas of the plane that are unsilted by debris and far from vortices. Elemental creatures are easily drawn into such vortices and cannot easily escape, so they avoid these traps if at all possible. One group of water elementals, the tritons, have made excellent progress in settling large areas of the Prime plane oceans. Water elementals are by temperament an easy-going, apathetic lot, tending to take the easiest course, much like water flowing downhill. Those of low or higher Intelligence can serve as elemental guides, though the traveler should show strength and determination in getting the guide to move forward; otherwise the elemental stops to examine every new current on the way to the final destination. Water elementals have a highly developed sense of taste (which is how they find each other in the limitless sea) and serve well for a rare potion (in particular sweetwater is a favorite) or exotic fluid.
Archomentals: There are a number of powerful elementals who are given ranks such as barons, masters, and grandmasters by those who study such things. In physical stats most are similar to the "Princess of Elemental Evil," Olhydra (described in the FIEND FOLIO" tome), though all archomentals have their own desires and motives.
Olhydra makes her home in the ruins of a great undersea citadel of black coral that was once the capital of a world-spanning empire long ago destroyed by Olhydra. This might be exaggeration laid upon by the passage of years, but the fact remains that the lair of Olhydra is richly lardered. Would-be robbers are warned that a dozen water elementals of maximum hit points and magical abilities serve as her bodyguard in court. Like all archomentals, Olhydra has the powers afforded a Demi-Power.
Istishia: The most powerful and pure of the water elementals has many names in many planes, yet they all sound like the slap of waves on the beach. Istishia is said to be as large a small sea on the Prime Material plane, though to deal with supplicants he may form a smaller, more reasonable form. In that form he sometimes crosses through a vortex into the Prime (whenever floods plague a nation, Istishia is said to walk among them). Istishia has great and powerful mystic powers in addition to those of a Greater Power (see Appendix IV, page 124). All spells involving the elements are known to Istishia, who may use them and their modified forms at will. Istishia sees himself, and elemental water, as the great leveller and equalizer, the element that eventually overwhelms air, erodes stone, and extinguishes fire. The task is long, but Istishia has the patience of millennia behind him. The concerns of insignificant mortals are not his and, unless he is offered a great boon, his attentions are better spent observing the flow of the oceans and the rhythm of the tides.
The Marids: The Marids are said to be born of the ocean, with currents as their muscles and pearls as their teeth. They are the handsomest and most powerful race of geniekind. They are also the most individual and chaotic of the elemental races, and only rarely deign to serve others. Many Prime Material regions consider Marids to be creatures of legend only. Marids live in a loose empire that is ruled by a Padisha, but each Marid lays some claim to royalty and there have often been several "true heirs" to the Padisha's throne simultaneously through the eons. A Marid household numbers 2d10 and is located around loosely grouped elemental pockets containing the basic necessities for Marid life. Larger groups of Marids gather for hunts and jousts, during which individual effort is heavily emphasized. Marids tolerate their geniekind relatives, putting up with the Jannee and djinn like poor cousins, while evincing much hatred of the Efreet and Dao. Their attitude toward the rest of world is somewhat similar: most creatures from other planes are lesser beings, not to be bothered with unless one lands in your feast-hall at an inopportune time. Marids are champion tale-tellers, though most of their tales emphasize their own prowess and belittle others. When communicating with a Marid, one must attempt to keep the conversation going without continual digression for one tale of might or another, while not offending the marid. (Marids consider it a capital offense for a lesser being to offend a Marid.) Marids are not easily forced to perform actions; even if convinced (usually through flattery and bribery) to obey, they often stray off their intended courses to seek some other adventure that promises greater glory, or to instruct lesser creatures on the glories of Maridkind. Most mages skilled in summoning and conjuration consider Marids to be more trouble than they are worth, which accounts for the great lack of Marid-controlling items (as opposed to those affecting Efreet and Djinn).
Other info to potentially incorporate:
Sea-green and soothing, the plane of Water would be heaven if a basher'd just find a way to breathe there. After the infernal violence of Fire, the crushing closeness of Earth, and the endless chasms of Air, this plane gently embraces a body and drifts him safely through all perils. Sure - unless a sod is suddenly washed into a current of bubbling steam, sucked into a whirlpool, shocked by a lightning pocket, captured by tritons, or attacked by water weirds. The endless blue-green, the water's soft embrace - it's all deceptive. Fact is, the plane of Water is no safer for a leatherheaded wanderer than any of the other Elemental Planes. The plane of Water is just that: water as far as the eye can see. There's no surface and no bottom. Occasionally, coral reefs stretch up from the depths, supported by slender branches that extend endlessly into the immeasurable depths. In these immense caverns are the palaces of noble marids. The greatest of these is the Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls, naturally shaped from a gleaming coral reef. It's a place of brilliant fish, flawless pearls, swaying coral fans, and exotic flavors borne here by distant currents. Not far from this is a vortex to the plane of Air, known as the Bubble Net. Elsewhere the plane changes, gradually becoming cold and icy in one direction (Ice), boiling and steaming in another (Steam), thick and slimy in a third (Ooze), and bitter in the last (Salt). Little else is found here, because the denizens of this plane have scant interest in the doings or offerings of outsiders. Special Physical Conditions. This plane is truly without form, for there's no up, down, top, or bottom. A being can drift in any direction, at any angle, without feeling any disorientation. While nothing demands it, the polite custom is that creatures face each other squarely. For example, the halls of the marid court are built with an obvious top and bottom so that no one accidentally embarrasses themselves. Navigation by extraplanars is impossible, and to get anywhere a guide is absolutely necessary. There's more than just water out here, too. There's elemental pockets, though few hold their form long. Chunks of Earth hover in the stream, bubbles of Air drift aimlessly, Ooze worms through the endless ocean, Magma hardens to stone, and bitter brine marks a pocket of Salt. Only pockets of Fire are truly rare, most of them suffocating the instant they appear. To survive here, a cutter's got to breathe. Airy water and water breathing are effective. Marids also can bestow the ability to breathe water for periods of a day or more. Most useful of all is a ring of water breathing, since its power will never expire. Unless a basher's got a ring of free action or something like it, fighting on this plane has all the limitations of fighting underwater. Special Magic Conditions. Conjuration/summoning spells only reach the planes of Water, Ooze, Steam, Ice, and Salt. Water is second only to Fire in the difficulty of using spells, and like Fire many of the problems are related to the nature of the element. These cannot be overcome by keys. A fireball cast here is useless unless it's released inside a bubble. An ice storm will simply drift in the ocean, neither rising nor falling, inflicting no damage. A lightning bolt makes an electrical globe, an underwater fireball as it were, that inflicts damage but grounds out after touching any object. Natives and Hazards. Ice mephit, marid, nereid, triton, varrdig, water elemental, water mephit, and water weird all reside here. There are two greater powers here as well. The first is Istishia, the queen of the water elementals. She is immense, spanning a sea or more, and has no court. The second is Kalbari al- Durrat al-Amwaj ibn Jari (Padishah of the Marids, the Pearl of the Sea, the Mother of Foam, Mistress of the Rivers, Savior of Fish, Patron of Waterspouts, and so on). Nonliving threats include unexpected steam currents (4d6 points of damage) and tidal bores that can suck a swimmer to vastly different regions of the plane. Index
