When yourDungeons & Dragonscharacters reach higher levels, challenging them in the material plane becomes complicated. You either have to introducecataclysmic threats to the world for them to face, or send them on an adventure to other planes of existence.
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Numerous planes in D&D cosmology can suit your adventure and your party, but finding the best for your needs can be overwhelming. By knowing about some of the more popular destinations for inter-planar adventure, you may design a memorable and challenging journey for your high-level players.
10Feywild
While at the surface the Feywild seems like a wondrous fairyland, it is more dangerous than most adventurers might expect. Feywild is the overgrown and twisted mirror to the material plane.
Feys are tricky and selfish by nature, and many fey creatures such as hags make for formidable villains in an adventure.
The dangers of Feywild can provide a decent challenge for mid to high-level parties, andyou can design a whimsically dark story full of social and combat encounters for your playersto overcome. While the characters can forget their journey due to the Feywild’s memory-altering magic, your players surely won’t.
9Pandemonium
The Windswept Depths of Pandemonium is a plane of chaos and madness. Deafening howling winds constantly sweep through the endless tunnels, gravity doesn’t have a singular direction and creatures can walk on any surface, and no mortal can stay in the plane without dying or going insane.
Pandemonium is one of the more dangerous destinations for your party, and the characters will need to do a lot of research and preparation to survive on the plane. You get to use the madness mechanics to implement the effects of the plane on your characters, and due to the chaotic nature of Pandemonium, you have a lot of freedom in designing weird and unexpected encounters that still make sense in the plane.
8Shadowfell
In contrast to the Feywild, Shadowfell is the dark and barren mirror of the material plane. Undead and fiendish creatures roam the wastelands of the plane, and manyevil cults and demigods operate in the darknessof the Shadowfell.
While a challenging place for your characters to travel to, the Shadowfell is one of the more manageable worlds in comparison to some outer planes. This makes Shadowfell a perfect option for unwillingly taking your party through kidnapping or magical portals and designing an adventure for them to escape the dark landscape.
7Elemental Planes
The elemental planes of existence are unique and interesting worlds made of one or two core elements. The elementals and denizens of these planes are mostly neutral or unaligned, giving you a lot of freedom in designing the story and encounters that your players might face.
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While each elemental plane has its own unique features, there are a lot of similarities between them, and you can choose which element suits your adventure best. You can even design an adventure that takes your players through all four major elemental planes.
6Beastlands
Most of the good-aligned outer planes are not suitable for long adventures unless you have a truly evil party who wants to bring destruction to the heavens. But Beastlands is unique and mysterious enough for your character to explore and have a memorable journey within.
The dense forests of the Beastlands arefilled with all manners of beasts, but all of them are more intelligent and capable of speechcompared to their counterpart in the material plane. Beastlands is the perfect place for a whimsical and cozy adventure full of unique social encounters with talking animals, and challenging environments and combat encounters to throw at your players.
5Mechanus
The home to clockwork construct creatures, the modrons, Mechanus is the plane of absolute law and order. Under the watchful eye of Primus, the inhabitants of the plane live in perfect harmony, and interference and manipulation of this order is intolerable.
An adventure into the Mechanus can be a unique experience. Your party might travel to the plane to besiege the aid of modrons and Primus against a greater evil, or they might be brought here because of their crimes against the modrons and have to escape the plane.
4The Nine Hells
The Nine Hells are one of the classic destinations for D&D adventures. From official modules to homebrew campaigns, many adventurers have traveled to the devilish plane a faced the horrors of the fiends within.
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The lawful society of the devils provides unique and interesting social encounters, and each of the nine layers offers unique dangers and challenges for your players to overcome. A journey into the hells is not for the faint of heart, and even high-level characters get to test their resolve in the deadly environments.
3The Astral Sea
The vast plane of Astral Sea might seem empty and uninteresting at first glance, but it’s the plane’s direct connection to all outer planes and the material plane that makes it a bridge between worlds and a refuge for creatures who were exiled from their home plane.
The Astral plane is an easy destination to get to compared to some other outer planes, but the adventure itself can prove challenging and deadly. The absence of gravity and land makes exploration unique, and there is no limit on what creature your party might face in a place that connects numerous planes of existence.
2The Abyss
It’s hard to say which is more dangerous; the Nine Hells or the Abyss. Butthe plane of Abyss definitely provides the most miserable experience for unprepared adventurers.
Abyss is the home to demons and demon lords, and as denizens of the abyss would say, if there’s anything you don’t like, you can find it in the Abyss.
The main difference between the Nine Hells and the Abyss is society. The order and lawfulness of devils make a journey into the hells more social, but the chaos of demons brings only destruction.
It won’t be an enjoyable trip for the characters, but hopefully, your players will enjoy the challenge.
1Limbo
Limbo, the plane of supreme chaos, has a bit of everything that every other plane has to offer. From dangerous environments to hospitable pockets and friendly creatures.
Powerful and intelligent creatures could control their surroundings in limbo and manifest their will. Limbo is the ultimate sandbox for Dungeon Masters to design and shape the world with no limitations, and exploring and facing the challenges that you prepare would offer a memorable experience for your players.
Just warn your players about the fifth layer of Limbo, the layer of lost gods. That should be enough to tempt them into a journey through the unknown.
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