Because of the sponsor, I couldn't really change the video description (my bad lol) so here's the poll everyone gets to vote on this one: strawpoll.com/polls/BDyNj49R7yR
I think an interesting thing for a DM to treat something that might be locked away on the dinosaur-guarded plateau is to look to natural disasters: the part of nature that causes the animals themselves to flee in fear. So the power to create earthquakes could reside in the plateau, and the power to create hurricane-grade storms could be a secret inside Stormhold.
@@snekkoheckko4466 Yes, but in Native American Animism, which those Animal Lords were originally based on, Wolf and Dog are not the same. One represents ferocity and the other loyalty.
Animals reincarnate? Now I want to play a long lived character with a beast companion, who finds them again and again. it'll be an epic tale of love an loyalty!
The reason animals reincarnate is because the beastlands was originally called the Happy Hunting Grounds. Native American Animism says that things like dogs never abandon its human after establishing its bond of loyalty. You only have one dog, but it has many bodies over your lifetime.
@@yur0nf1r3 Native American Animism is full of things like that. All of the greater Manitou gave gifts to mankind after Coyote tricked the First into asking the question that split him into two, making him two animals with no greater spirit to guide them.
My headcanon is that the Forbidden Plateau is the resting place for animals who's species have gone extinct over time. Like some kind of divinely created wildlife preservation.
Forever ago, I ran a campaign on this plane, and that's exactly what I did. Made the area far, far larger, and it was all the exinct animals. It even had an ocean, filled to the brim with creatures. I homebrewed that there was an adjacent god to death, the god of extinction, and this was their realm. The irony, is that nothing stayed dead here. The party TPK'd an average of every 2nd session. The goal was to find out why they were there, and how to get back home.
For what world? In that case all animals can be there. If tigers go extinct on a world, would they go there? Some worlds dinosaurs are very common like on Eberron. I think the plateau is much more than that. Either a primordial being off dinosaurs lives there (such as Ubtao) or someone besides him.
@@razzelmire2008 for me, that was the interesting bit. I based it off of the real world. My justification was that there is a crystal sphere for Earth, and stolen humans from here in the Forgotten Realms. Sadly, the campaign collapsed, but at the end, they would have learned they were from Earth, and the divine Providence of the plane made them forget. Each of them had been zookeepers, or park rangers or such. Back in the 90s, it felt like an original idea. Certainly less so nowadays.
@@christophermzdenek Our earth being a crystal sphere is officially canon. In fact, Elminster himself makes regular visits to our world to have conversations with the creators of D&D. It also explains how gods from real world pantheons found themselves transported into the D&D settings. Of course, this also means that it is canonically possible to have an 'isekai' series set in D&D.
I had lost my cat a couple of days ago too, and I think this would be an amazing place for her to know as her place of fun and freedom. Of course, I wonder if it is possible for an owner of a cat would be able to be with their companion in the afterlife as well.
@@sharlharmakhis280 I know that the lore had stated that the animals regress into a more feral state when they enter the plane, but I like to think that even then the connection of a loving owner and their cherished companion should still remain. And if you add that the owner in turn gets to turn into an animal as well, I just see the afterlife for the two to be nothing more than them frolicking and playing in the beautiful forests of the Beastlands. Complete equals. And that just sounds perfect in my eyes, I would love to join my dearest girl in the afterlife as a cat, and just be able to bask in the sunlight alongside of her.
Imagine an Oath of the Ancients Paladin (Forest Paladin) having the heartfelt desire to pet at least one of every creature in the Beastlands. This unfortunately gets him killed a lot as a petitioner, but his God (or multiple gods) just can't help but enjoy watching him so they just keep bringing him back.
it never ceases to amaze me how in-depth and well-thought out the upper planes of planescape continue to be. the beastlands in particular seem like a genuinely fun place to visit or heck even run a monster hunter-like campaign in. the mordhai provide a fantastical interpretation of clouds and the air in general, the forbidden plateau is a mystery left open to interpretation by the DM that can be explored by the players, and Stronmaus gives players a destination for safe haven and an opportunity to meet with a power (something I think is cool for players to do). Thanks for doing this series, Rhexx, and I hope your cat gets better.
5e definitely handles its multiverse and planar settings with less passion and care than 2e did, the most I expect if anything is a Manual of the Planes that goes more in-depth regarding the individual layers of the planes while only going really in-depth with the 'popular' planes. I used to bash 5e in the comments of these plane videos but I decided to stop because I felt it was getting repetitive, but criticisms are definitely warranted.
No, they yiff in Baphomet's layer of the Abyss. This is a heaven for animals and people they vouch for, not for the reason Megan's Law needs to be extended to pet stores.
The beastlands were originally neutral. It was the Happy Hunting Grounds before the scrubbing of real-world deities and pantheons from AD&D. You can tell by Father Bear, who is Grandfather Bear in Native American Animism.
The first layer Krigala sparked a memory for me. I don't know how many people remember the game Warriors of the Eternal Sun, a 2nd edition D&D computer game but basically our peoples castle gets transported to a heavily forested land inhabited greatly by beasts and beastmen where the sun never ever sets. I never heard it confirmed in the lore of that game but now I am thinking it definitely was supposed to be set here. Crazy after so many years to see such a strong connection to such an old game.
5 or so years ago, I bought the PHB for dnd 5e. I saw near the very back, a brief list of extra-planar locations in a great wheel. The Beastlands caught my eye immediately, but I never actually looked up what it was, because it seemed kinda obvious, and it was always a "I'll look it up eventually" section of lore in my head. Thank you so much for making this video, and showing such an incredible place to experience. This is, by far, the most perfect place I've ever heard of in all the realms of fantasy.
@@almitrahopkins1873 I think one of my favorite forgotten realms books was the old 2e Demihuman deities along with alot of the planescape supplements. Lots of good in-depth info.
Me: Knowing how some "lovable" animals behave. "Wow...there's a lot of animals not be going to heaven ", including but not limited to; ducks, dolphins, seals, penguins, otters, and hippos...
I love these breakdowns. Any compliments I get while DMing, I 100% attribute to your breakdowns. You put decades worth of lore and history into a nice neat and entertaining video that I can pick and borrow from. Thank you!
Shameful is what it is. Every other edition has had a version of the Manual of the Planes and 2e straight-up had a whole setting devoted to that stuff. 5e has a short chapter in the DMG. Arborea, for example has 1 paragraph and that's yoinked basically word for word from the introduction of the Arborea section of the Planescape Planes of Chaos guide. In fairness, that plane's main inhabitants were retconned out of existence because Wizards needed a name for their admittedly cool season-based fey.
Brux is my favorite layer for just that reason. I'm doing a 5e Planescape campaign and that's the second place I sent the PC's. They were hunting down an unnatural creature related to one of their backstories. One of them tried to pick a fight with the Cat Lord and almost got them all killed. For the record, the first place I sent them to was the Abyss. I had to show 'em who's boss somehow.
Your videos are already really nice to watch, I really like the way you narrate the lore and the rich lore itself just feels so engaging to me… But this video right here is special for me today. I had the displeasure to find my cat's corpse on our front yard, likely killed by a dog. My day was fine until I had to bury him. I just hope he actually gets to experience heaven…
A PLACE LIKE THIS EXISTS?! one god in my homebrew world called gudbrand (viking and Guils wars 2 norn inspired) who had a bear, wolf, eagle and lynx pet when he was alive his followers follow the spirits of gudbrand's pets more than gudbrand himself. and if you die as a bear spirit follower (cleric or barbarian) you will go to the beastlands as a bear.
The Forbidden Plateau was created by Ubtao, the creator and patron god of Chult. He made the realm for his favorite children, dinosaurs, and on occasion will spend time there as a giant tyrannosaurus rex - twice the size of any mortal dinosaur to exist - in order to escape the pesterings of his mortal petitioners. It's also "home" to the dwarven god Thard Harr, Lord of the Deep Jungle and protector of the wild dwarves. He is Ubtao's only ally, and Ubtao was given exclusive domain over the humans of Chult by the Faerunian pantheon. They made an agreement which tasked him with guarding the Peaks of Flame, where Dendar the Night Serpent was imprisoned, anticipating the day she emerges to destroy Toril - devouring the fears and nightmares of everyone alive and eventually, the sun itself. Much of this is covered in _Powers & Pantheons_ (Eric L. Boyd, 1997; ISBN 978-0786906574).
I do so adore these! They let me remember and reminisce from those glorious days of 2nd edition where so much of my life was spent as a gamer hehehe -- I love my 5E but man, 2nd ED just slammed with its art and lore!
Agreed. I play 5e because I love the gameplay, but I cherry pick everything else I love from other editions. I've converted so many creatures from 2e and 3e and I use almost no 5e lore.
The Beastlands would be the perfect setting for a wholesome "My pet died too early :( and now we risk life and limb to bring him back for cuddles!" type adventure, and now I have all I need to make it a reality. Fantastic work, MrRhexx, as always. Your videos have absolutely legendary commentary.
We had a high level adventure and I chose the Beastlands to be the second home for my Druid of The Moon I'm so glad to hear more about that plane that I fell in love as soon as I heard about
20:31, father bear, i like that name . also that make me think, could this place be some heaven for Druids who doesn't have some gods, but venerate some concept such as nature, wildness, animals, plants, etc, i don't really know how it work in 5 edition, just remembering that in 3.5 druids could choose to not have gods such as obad-Haï and Ehlonna but worship those concept .
31:40 So...any animal companion will bail on you regardless of the situation? They don't retain any sort of loyalty they might have developed? Or is it more of a situation like they're overwhelmed by the wildness of the plane and just sprint off and can't even control themselves? Obviously he mentioned they come back when it's time to leave, so I guess there's something there
Ok ok. What about Animals that got Awakened on the Material? Do they still reincarnate? Do they loose their personhood when they die? Do they come to the plane as petitioners or animals? What if an Awakened animal began worshipping a God, or sold their soul to a Devil? How does that effect their relationship to the beast lands?
These questions really aren't answered. I'd effectively treat them as people at that point. It's worth noting, though that an awakened animal is still an animal, with the same instincts. They're just also intelligent.
Every being lose their memories when they die, so it doesn't really matter if an animal was sentient or not, they go here by default. If they worship a deity or make pact with a devil, than they end up as anyone else who did the same.
I don't know what the actual case is (or if it was ever even explored in any official material) but I would argue that an Awakened animal is for all intents and purposes an intelligent, sapient creature, and is therefore "judged" as a humanoid would be. An Awakened animal is smart enough to understand morality. As for losing their personhood, whether a person keeps their memories and/or personality in the afterlife is kind of ambivalent and dependent on circumstance in D&D.
MrRhexx, with the natural change that planar travelers undergo when traveling to/through the Beastlands, would it have any unique interactions with some races like the Yuan-ti, given their unique nature as human-snake hybrids; or the tabaxi, with how they are felines with a humanoid form? It might not but Its just a thought that came to me when you talked about that. Cool video though, love all the detailed info you give about the varying planes and their inhabitants.
That sort of thing wasn't as common in 2e, so in my DM judgment I'd say their natural animalistic features and instincts would be more pronounced. That plane calls to the wild part of every living thing, I'd say it would be stronger if you were already part animal.
Yeah and demonic stuff like minotaurs. I wonder how they would change in the beastlands. In fact many demonic places in the abyss also seem to be full of life, like the swamp of juiblex and zuggtmoy
I would, as a DM, rule that the Tabaxi would feel a mild compulsion to walk on all fours, and to give into that would cause them to transform gradually into some form of feline the longer they allow that instinct to Rule As for Yuan’ti, their serpentine features would become rapidly more pronounced (esp since Yuan’ti seem to tend toward chaos) until they would progress to an End-Stage Yuan’ti Anathema. Then, they may begin to shrink and diminish in form until they resemble a particularly large serpent This would only be if the players were to give in to their ‘nature’
This makes me feel like I really wish I could go there, more than any other plane so far. If flight is not possible, what about naturally flying creatures like birds, bats and certain insects?
Gods: Okay the Beastlands are going to be in the Good planes because predation is natural. Mind Flayers and Vampires: Okay can we go to the Upper Planes? Gods: No, we hate you.
Well Vampires are undead which is inherently evil, and whilst eating brains might not be inherently evil, although eating of aware creatures is commonly considered evil, they also enslave other species which is evil
@@Gabe600 Yeah, and Mind Flayers are aberrations, literally the most unnatural you can get. They are from the far realm (think Cthulhu and Lovecraft as a plane of existence).
@@bkane573I don't need to hear this cat slander just because you don't get along with animals. Anybody who talks shit about cats shows they are not good at bonding with anything that isn't biologically predisposed to like you even if you treat them badly
I'm so glad you and other youtubers do these videos on the outerplanes! I am always suprised when I watch these because I am like "How is there not a campaign in this place yet??? oh well, now I will make one".
honestly sounds like some irl hunter's wet dream, new stuff to hunt, new things to try, and the universal acceptance that you don't hunt for sport but to survive, even just making sure your shots and hits don't main unintentionally and are always to-kill to avoid suffering.
Talk about timing… I had to say goodbye to my best friend of 12 years on Monday. :( He’s in a far better place now. At peace. Maybe he’ll catch that rabbit he dreamed about.
This is actually perfect because I’m running a campaign where are you play as an animal in the humans are taking over so this is giving me so many ideas
A heaven for animals? Sounds like an interesting concept. I never really thought about what happens to animal souls when they die. I would’ve thought they’d get reincarnated as new animals.
In most cultures (especially Buddhism) that's typically what happens but in others like Judaism/Christianity there was a belief that they could go to Eden, though I think that part has died down.
@@humanity600 that would make sense in the same way that the souls of children go straight to heaven; neither of them have the moral agency to be considered evil.
@@DannyDog27 you're not wrong, however there are people who have considered such a state truly "pure"; that is, to be beyond good and evil, and thus the most eligible to go to heaven. PS: I'm not disagreeing with you, it's just an interesting concept to think about.
So it's a heaven full of the goodest bois? Yup, *YUP!* Fuck Elysium, fuck literally spending every day sitting in the lap of the DnD Godess of Thighs, I am going to animal heaven, becoming a deva, and claiming the Pantheon of 'Headpats', and I'm doing nothing but that forever for every goodboi.
Thank You for this video, I just started looking into the brand new one dnd unearthed arcana about Ardlings', and they have been changed around (lore-wise of course) and now they come from these beast lands. I was ecstatic to find this video to learn all about these lands
I really enjoy when ambiguity is built into the lore with things like the nature of the mortai. Yes, the evidence presented points toward the 3rd answer being the "correct" one, but there's still room left for the players to discover an alternate answer that feeds directly into their game's story. I also feel that there should be some questions that no one knows the answers to in the setting; not even the gods.
Love the video. The Beastlands are one of my favorite places in D&D it's was cool to learn new things I didn't know either. In my world I actually have a person who lives on the plateau with the Dinosaurs and I've tied them to prophecy for players to uncover.
One things I'm curious about, what happen of Wild shape or beast flavored spell Does horn grow when you use bull strengh? Have a chance to turn feral when wild shape or feel the instinct of the animal you can turn to when you're in your "human" form as a druid ? If only being there make you feel more alive, that must be overwelming :O
What about a video about gnomes? I hear they were Fae but rejected their immortality because they tired of it. Afterward each gnome continues to live until they have found no more joy in life. Would love to hear more and have a deeper understanding!
The Outer Planes are effectively infinite. Even though they aren't really described there would pretty much have to be vast oceans somewhere in the Beastlands.
One thing that gets floated around in Planescape is that the Outer Planes have lives and wills of their own. The Beastlands more so than most, as you might guess. That plane doesn't take kindly to the desecration of nature and the mere presence of such beings would do that. On the other hand, the Planes of Conflict guide also described an angel and devil who fell in love and holed up in a cave there posing as dragons, so it can go either way as you like.
Don't forget that D&D has as many evil gods as it does good ones. Deities are not synonymous with goodness in D&D. The Beastlands are still good-aligned, and full of powerful good-aligned beings, so fiends would definitely be in trouble if their presence there was discovered.
OMG Literally the first few minutes of your video gave me a wonderful adventure arc idea! Imagine that all the collective souls of Sylgar, Xanathar's prized and beloved goldfish, have gathered together in The Beastlands. Having been beloved so much by a Beholden changed them somehow, granting them collective abilities, including but not limited to, astral speech projection. In a desperate attempt to reach out to their former master in a desperate attempt to be by his side again, they unknowingly cause a huge amount of stress in the city of Waterdeep. There the Guild of Xanathar would hear of this phenomenon and gather an adventuring team of their guild members to search out and stop the source of this otherworldly threat, before news reachs Xanathar and destroying a long plot to keep the dangerous Crimeboss happy and docile
I am not going to lie, I thought this would be one of the things id be least interested in. But holy... the Beastlands became singlehandedly my favourite plane in DnD by far. Theyre soooo much more interesting than i thought
It bugs me so much that we have sll this important and interesting lore about the outerplanes but we don't have much info about them that is updated for 5E. We need a good outerplane book for dnd5e like a huge ass lore book.
I currently have a magical item turned magical pet, (a staff of the python) and he is my goliath genie warlock's best friend. Been with her since the start of the campaign, and I can see him going here if he does dies. Though his life is literally tied to my character so who knows, they might go to the beastlands
Wow, holy coitus Brux sounds like it would be the perfect heaven for me. I love animals and simple pleasures, the twilight and dawn hours are my favorite times, how could it get any better?
So what about animals that adapted to an urban environment (rats, pigeons, racoon etc.)? Parodoxically their perfect haven would be a city where they have to constantly outsmart huge, clumsy giants to steal their food.
I love these videos about the outer planes I like imagining the interplanar politics like Gaurdinals from Elysium promoting their interests and keeping good faith with the Beast lords knowing that Baphomet demon prince of beasts is planting seeds to grow influence in the beast lands perhaps to get his accursed hands on some powerful magic item or other source of power that lies within these wilds of the upper planes
My back up character for my campaign is an Owlen Druid who is the owl familiar to my current wizard. I think before the where a familiar they may have been a soul reincarnating from The Beastlands
Because of the sponsor, I couldn't really change the video description (my bad lol) so here's the poll everyone gets to vote on this one: strawpoll.com/polls/BDyNj49R7yR
i'm so happy you're finally getting to all the outer planes dude :D been sorely waiting for you to cover all the heavens especially :D
Great videos. Really been enjoying these. I remember when the late 1e, start of 2e Manual of the planes came out. I read it over and over. Love these.
I think an interesting thing for a DM to treat something that might be locked away on the dinosaur-guarded plateau is to look to natural disasters: the part of nature that causes the animals themselves to flee in fear. So the power to create earthquakes could reside in the plateau, and the power to create hurricane-grade storms could be a secret inside Stormhold.
I was gonna buy hello fresh but then you said you had a gf... I laughed then you said it 2 more times... No need to lie brah
I love how the Nine Hells, which is probably the most lore rich plane in the FR alongside the Abyss, is the lowest one in the poll
Everytime you tell a dog they are a "good boi", the Wolf Lord gets stronger.
Wolf and Dog are not one and the same.
@@almitrahopkins1873 Blasphemy! You Filthy Heretic! My corgi is a great wolf and you can't tell her otherwise!
@@almitrahopkins1873 o rlly?
@@almitrahopkins1873 yes, but they are VERY close, like dogs and wolfs can successfully breed dog-wolf hybrids close
@@snekkoheckko4466 Yes, but in Native American Animism, which those Animal Lords were originally based on, Wolf and Dog are not the same. One represents ferocity and the other loyalty.
Animals reincarnate? Now I want to play a long lived character with a beast companion, who finds them again and again. it'll be an epic tale of love an loyalty!
and little green plastic bags
The reason animals reincarnate is because the beastlands was originally called the Happy Hunting Grounds.
Native American Animism says that things like dogs never abandon its human after establishing its bond of loyalty. You only have one dog, but it has many bodies over your lifetime.
@@almitrahopkins1873 that's beautiful, thank you for this idea
@@yur0nf1r3 Native American Animism is full of things like that.
All of the greater Manitou gave gifts to mankind after Coyote tricked the First into asking the question that split him into two, making him two animals with no greater spirit to guide them.
Aww
My headcanon is that the Forbidden Plateau is the resting place for animals who's species have gone extinct over time. Like some kind of divinely created wildlife preservation.
Forever ago, I ran a campaign on this plane, and that's exactly what I did. Made the area far, far larger, and it was all the exinct animals. It even had an ocean, filled to the brim with creatures. I homebrewed that there was an adjacent god to death, the god of extinction, and this was their realm. The irony, is that nothing stayed dead here. The party TPK'd an average of every 2nd session. The goal was to find out why they were there, and how to get back home.
For what world? In that case all animals can be there. If tigers go extinct on a world, would they go there? Some worlds dinosaurs are very common like on Eberron. I think the plateau is much more than that. Either a primordial being off dinosaurs lives there (such as Ubtao) or someone besides him.
@@razzelmire2008 Good question. Didn't consider that point.
@@razzelmire2008 for me, that was the interesting bit. I based it off of the real world. My justification was that there is a crystal sphere for Earth, and stolen humans from here in the Forgotten Realms. Sadly, the campaign collapsed, but at the end, they would have learned they were from Earth, and the divine Providence of the plane made them forget. Each of them had been zookeepers, or park rangers or such. Back in the 90s, it felt like an original idea. Certainly less so nowadays.
@@christophermzdenek Our earth being a crystal sphere is officially canon. In fact, Elminster himself makes regular visits to our world to have conversations with the creators of D&D. It also explains how gods from real world pantheons found themselves transported into the D&D settings. Of course, this also means that it is canonically possible to have an 'isekai' series set in D&D.
Fitting this would come out today. We put our cat down this morning. May she roam the beastlands with wonder.
Awe, I'm sorry about your cat.
🫂
I had lost my cat a couple of days ago too, and I think this would be an amazing place for her to know as her place of fun and freedom. Of course, I wonder if it is possible for an owner of a cat would be able to be with their companion in the afterlife as well.
@@ZahnwehZombie if the afterlife doesn't let us reconnect with our pets I'm not going. 🫂
@@sharlharmakhis280 I know that the lore had stated that the animals regress into a more feral state when they enter the plane, but I like to think that even then the connection of a loving owner and their cherished companion should still remain. And if you add that the owner in turn gets to turn into an animal as well, I just see the afterlife for the two to be nothing more than them frolicking and playing in the beautiful forests of the Beastlands. Complete equals. And that just sounds perfect in my eyes, I would love to join my dearest girl in the afterlife as a cat, and just be able to bask in the sunlight alongside of her.
In my next campaign I’m headed to the Beastlands to retrieve the soul of my pet owl who just died…
Shush, if you have the spell level to go there, you likely can just resurrect the ol'bugger
@@Elmithian yeah, but I also wanna play around in the Beastlands, lol…
@@JRandaII Okay, that I concurr to.
He probably wouldn't want to go with you though. Beastlands is all about running wild and free. He'd still be friendly to you tho.
I would just go there and be uinited with the pet there instead :D Where else will you feel so alive?
Imagine an Oath of the Ancients Paladin (Forest Paladin) having the heartfelt desire to pet at least one of every creature in the Beastlands.
This unfortunately gets him killed a lot as a petitioner, but his God (or multiple gods) just can't help but enjoy watching him so they just keep bringing him back.
"Please don't try to pet the t-rex."
"Oh, I'm gunna!"
**Sigh**
But why?
@@derpknight3023 Gotta.
@@derpknight3023 They deserve to know that they are loved.
it never ceases to amaze me how in-depth and well-thought out the upper planes of planescape continue to be. the beastlands in particular seem like a genuinely fun place to visit or heck even run a monster hunter-like campaign in. the mordhai provide a fantastical interpretation of clouds and the air in general, the forbidden plateau is a mystery left open to interpretation by the DM that can be explored by the players, and Stronmaus gives players a destination for safe haven and an opportunity to meet with a power (something I think is cool for players to do). Thanks for doing this series, Rhexx, and I hope your cat gets better.
Hey just a question I can't fine the poll That Mrrhexx spoke about can you help?
@@Teekayhuey_TK Same, and I followed the instructions
Needs more fleshing out and synergy with other planes and overall lore
Prepare for 5e to butcher the hells out of this setting it if they make a setting book for it.
5e definitely handles its multiverse and planar settings with less passion and care than 2e did, the most I expect if anything is a Manual of the Planes that goes more in-depth regarding the individual layers of the planes while only going really in-depth with the 'popular' planes. I used to bash 5e in the comments of these plane videos but I decided to stop because I felt it was getting repetitive, but criticisms are definitely warranted.
"Humans can also go here after they die" So this is where furries go. This is their heaven.
until they get thrown out
The alignment of furries most often matches that of Carceri... where they belong.
Nobody:
Druid/Bard: Who wants to fluff?
No, they yiff in Baphomet's layer of the Abyss. This is a heaven for animals and people they vouch for, not for the reason Megan's Law needs to be extended to pet stores.
Depends
Half of ‘em the ones who just like humanoid animals can go here
The other half?
We don’t talk about them 🙂
Yes! The plane of Jumanji!
It's so under discussed or used for how interesting it can be. I'm excited for this episode.
Be careful, you're stuck there until you roll a 5 or 8
Until….someone else rolls a 5 or 8.
I like this, may use it as a pure jungle plane with jungle animals but weird
1st thought when I started listening: this sounds like a druid or ranger's paradise
Halfway through this I still think that
The beastlands were originally neutral. It was the Happy Hunting Grounds before the scrubbing of real-world deities and pantheons from AD&D. You can tell by Father Bear, who is Grandfather Bear in Native American Animism.
The first layer Krigala sparked a memory for me.
I don't know how many people remember the game Warriors of the Eternal Sun, a 2nd edition D&D computer game but basically our peoples castle gets transported to a heavily forested land inhabited greatly by beasts and beastmen where the sun never ever sets.
I never heard it confirmed in the lore of that game but now I am thinking it definitely was supposed to be set here.
Crazy after so many years to see such a strong connection to such an old game.
5 or so years ago, I bought the PHB for dnd 5e. I saw near the very back, a brief list of extra-planar locations in a great wheel. The Beastlands caught my eye immediately, but I never actually looked up what it was, because it seemed kinda obvious, and it was always a "I'll look it up eventually" section of lore in my head. Thank you so much for making this video, and showing such an incredible place to experience.
This is, by far, the most perfect place I've ever heard of in all the realms of fantasy.
Taking account of my real life personality and stats I would be reborn as an Amoeba on the Beastlands
3/4 of humanity would turn into rats or leeches in the beastlands.
@@Ian.420 They'd have to be good-aligned for that. They'd go to the Lower Planes as wriggling larvae instead.
@@daviddaugherty2816 no way, humans obliviously get turned into parasites and all kinds of nasty bacteria and virusses
that epic moment where you turn into E. Coli
Ah yes. Aasimar Plasmoid.
My favorite Dwarven deity, Thard Harr, has a realm in the Beastlands and according to the lore, spends his time hanging out with the critters.
The wild elf deity Rillifane Rallathil also lives on the beastlands, even though his “home” is technically in Arvandor.
@@almitrahopkins1873 I think one of my favorite forgotten realms books was the old 2e Demihuman deities along with alot of the planescape supplements. Lots of good in-depth info.
Me: Knowing how some "lovable" animals behave. "Wow...there's a lot of animals not be going to heaven ", including but not limited to; ducks, dolphins, seals, penguins, otters, and hippos...
House cats, Dogs, Orca, Otters again because theirs crimes need repeated, etc
I love these breakdowns. Any compliments I get while DMing, I 100% attribute to your breakdowns. You put decades worth of lore and history into a nice neat and entertaining video that I can pick and borrow from.
Thank you!
So glad you do these videos. There's so little content on the planes in 5e, especially the heavens.
Or almost anything Planescape related beside "those" three planes...
yes i am so happy.. and thankful...
Shameful is what it is. Every other edition has had a version of the Manual of the Planes and 2e straight-up had a whole setting devoted to that stuff.
5e has a short chapter in the DMG. Arborea, for example has 1 paragraph and that's yoinked basically word for word from the introduction of the Arborea section of the Planescape Planes of Chaos guide. In fairness, that plane's main inhabitants were retconned out of existence because Wizards needed a name for their admittedly cool season-based fey.
@@ifjNagyMiklos Three? The Abyss, Nine Hells and...?
@@حَسن-م3ه9ظ Celestia is popular too. Not compared to those two, but sure is way more than Carceri or Arcadia or Acheron...
Absolutely Beautiful. Constant sunsets and sunrises in a single place sounds really cool. 🌇 🌅 🌆 🌄
Brux is my favorite layer for just that reason.
I'm doing a 5e Planescape campaign and that's the second place I sent the PC's. They were hunting down an unnatural creature related to one of their backstories. One of them tried to pick a fight with the Cat Lord and almost got them all killed.
For the record, the first place I sent them to was the Abyss. I had to show 'em who's boss somehow.
That is cool d&d has this, really sweet and nice to think that the four legged family have a place to go.
Best part is ive heard animal companions get their own part of the beastlands.
Your videos are already really nice to watch, I really like the way you narrate the lore and the rich lore itself just feels so engaging to me…
But this video right here is special for me today. I had the displeasure to find my cat's corpse on our front yard, likely killed by a dog. My day was fine until I had to bury him.
I just hope he actually gets to experience heaven…
A PLACE LIKE THIS EXISTS?! one god in my homebrew world called gudbrand (viking and Guils wars 2 norn inspired) who had a bear, wolf, eagle and lynx pet when he was alive his followers follow the spirits of gudbrand's pets more than gudbrand himself. and if you die as a bear spirit follower (cleric or barbarian) you will go to the beastlands as a bear.
Dude I’m just gonna have my character LIVE here with Father Bear, like duck yeah my dude pass the peace pipe please
I’ve been wanting to play a mastiff as a race and this video opened up so many possibilities for background that I would never considered before.
The Forbidden Plateau was created by Ubtao, the creator and patron god of Chult. He made the realm for his favorite children, dinosaurs, and on occasion will spend time there as a giant tyrannosaurus rex - twice the size of any mortal dinosaur to exist - in order to escape the pesterings of his mortal petitioners. It's also "home" to the dwarven god Thard Harr, Lord of the Deep Jungle and protector of the wild dwarves. He is Ubtao's only ally, and Ubtao was given exclusive domain over the humans of Chult by the Faerunian pantheon. They made an agreement which tasked him with guarding the Peaks of Flame, where Dendar the Night Serpent was imprisoned, anticipating the day she emerges to destroy Toril - devouring the fears and nightmares of everyone alive and eventually, the sun itself.
Much of this is covered in _Powers & Pantheons_ (Eric L. Boyd, 1997; ISBN 978-0786906574).
Wow I played a campaign that involved Ubtao and his Chult lands. Yet it never covered this info. Thanks!
I do so adore these! They let me remember and reminisce from those glorious days of 2nd edition where so much of my life was spent as a gamer hehehe -- I love my 5E but man, 2nd ED just slammed with its art and lore!
Agreed. I play 5e because I love the gameplay, but I cherry pick everything else I love from other editions. I've converted so many creatures from 2e and 3e and I use almost no 5e lore.
The Beastlands would be the perfect setting for a wholesome "My pet died too early :( and now we risk life and limb to bring him back for cuddles!" type adventure, and now I have all I need to make it a reality. Fantastic work, MrRhexx, as always. Your videos have absolutely legendary commentary.
We had a high level adventure and I chose the Beastlands to be the second home for my Druid of The Moon
I'm so glad to hear more about that plane that I fell in love as soon as I heard about
Obviously we need a Dinosaur lore episode now.
You _know_ you want to do it Rhexx!
Under rated comment.
...T-Rhexx? :-)
20:31, father bear, i like that name .
also that make me think, could this place be some heaven for Druids who doesn't have some gods, but venerate some concept such as nature, wildness, animals, plants, etc, i don't really know how it work in 5 edition, just remembering that in 3.5 druids could choose to not have gods such as obad-Haï and Ehlonna but worship those concept .
Yep, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what a fair number of the petitioners are.
31:40
So...any animal companion will bail on you regardless of the situation? They don't retain any sort of loyalty they might have developed?
Or is it more of a situation like they're overwhelmed by the wildness of the plane and just sprint off and can't even control themselves?
Obviously he mentioned they come back when it's time to leave, so I guess there's something there
I guess it's like unleashing a dog at a dog park. Sure, they still like you, but this is their chance to run free, and they can't resist frolicking.
MrRhexx out here slipping in an animal crossing fanart piece in thinking no one would notice
Ok ok. What about Animals that got Awakened on the Material? Do they still reincarnate? Do they loose their personhood when they die? Do they come to the plane as petitioners or animals? What if an Awakened animal began worshipping a God, or sold their soul to a Devil? How does that effect their relationship to the beast lands?
These questions really aren't answered.
I'd effectively treat them as people at that point. It's worth noting, though that an awakened animal is still an animal, with the same instincts. They're just also intelligent.
Every being lose their memories when they die, so it doesn't really matter if an animal was sentient or not, they go here by default. If they worship a deity or make pact with a devil, than they end up as anyone else who did the same.
I don't know what the actual case is (or if it was ever even explored in any official material) but I would argue that an Awakened animal is for all intents and purposes an intelligent, sapient creature, and is therefore "judged" as a humanoid would be. An Awakened animal is smart enough to understand morality. As for losing their personhood, whether a person keeps their memories and/or personality in the afterlife is kind of ambivalent and dependent on circumstance in D&D.
I'm a writer of fiction I absolutely love and appreciate your time to flesh out the planes.
MrRhexx, with the natural change that planar travelers undergo when traveling to/through the Beastlands, would it have any unique interactions with some races like the Yuan-ti, given their unique nature as human-snake hybrids; or the tabaxi, with how they are felines with a humanoid form? It might not but Its just a thought that came to me when you talked about that. Cool video though, love all the detailed info you give about the varying planes and their inhabitants.
That sort of thing wasn't as common in 2e, so in my DM judgment I'd say their natural animalistic features and instincts would be more pronounced.
That plane calls to the wild part of every living thing, I'd say it would be stronger if you were already part animal.
Yeah and demonic stuff like minotaurs. I wonder how they would change in the beastlands. In fact many demonic places in the abyss also seem to be full of life, like the swamp of juiblex and zuggtmoy
I would, as a DM, rule that the Tabaxi would feel a mild compulsion to walk on all fours, and to give into that would cause them to transform gradually into some form of feline the longer they allow that instinct to Rule
As for Yuan’ti, their serpentine features would become rapidly more pronounced (esp since Yuan’ti seem to tend toward chaos) until they would progress to an End-Stage Yuan’ti Anathema. Then, they may begin to shrink and diminish in form until they resemble a particularly large serpent
This would only be if the players were to give in to their ‘nature’
This makes me feel like I really wish I could go there, more than any other plane so far. If flight is not possible, what about naturally flying creatures like birds, bats and certain insects?
I think he means magic that manipulates air, and that includes flight
That was good, it's funny how each heaven or plane in D&D has its own distinct appeal.
A Heaven for animals? That’s wonderful!
This!! Thank you!! This was the only outer plane I couldn't find a decent lore video on
Gods: Okay the Beastlands are going to be in the Good planes because predation is natural.
Mind Flayers and Vampires: Okay can we go to the Upper Planes?
Gods: No, we hate you.
Beastlands: We hate Gods too.
Well Vampires are undead which is inherently evil, and whilst eating brains might not be inherently evil, although eating of aware creatures is commonly considered evil, they also enslave other species which is evil
not wanting to ruin the joke but vampires are not natural thet are undead and an affront to the cycle of life
@@Gabe600 Yeah, and Mind Flayers are aberrations, literally the most unnatural you can get. They are from the far realm (think Cthulhu and Lovecraft as a plane of existence).
The Beastlands were originally the Happy Hunting Grounds in 1st edition. It was true neutral, if I recall correctly.
Ah yes. The All dogs go to Heaven episode
And cats.
No, this is heaven.
Cats, being evil, go to hell.
@@bkane573I don't need to hear this cat slander just because you don't get along with animals.
Anybody who talks shit about cats shows they are not good at bonding with anything that isn't biologically predisposed to like you even if you treat them badly
So much FANTASTIC ART. I wish there would be a list showcasing all the artists exposed. Nice topic, congrats!
Words cannot describe how much I love these sorts of videos were we get more information about the many different planes of the D&D cosmos!
I'm so glad you and other youtubers do these videos on the outerplanes! I am always suprised when I watch these because I am like "How is there not a campaign in this place yet??? oh well, now I will make one".
Your cat is adorable and I hope she is feeling better. How appropriate to feature her in this video.
31:20- kinda losing it at the idea that summoning spells are now spells of “there’s a beast here, now”
I wonder if this is where beast people go when they go to heaven. The Harengon, owlkin, and tortles would fit in well here.
As intelligent creatures they also go to the divine realm of their god and/or the plane that most closely matches their alignment.
honestly sounds like some irl hunter's wet dream, new stuff to hunt, new things to try, and the universal acceptance that you don't hunt for sport but to survive, even just making sure your shots and hits don't main unintentionally and are always to-kill to avoid suffering.
I just noticed how much Magic: the gathering art you use and i'm not complaining
Talk about timing…
I had to say goodbye to my best friend of 12 years on Monday. :(
He’s in a far better place now. At peace. Maybe he’ll catch that rabbit he dreamed about.
Ooo ya 33min video love your content. I have your Playlist on repeat all the time
your animal companions when you enter the beastlands:aight imma head out
your animal companions when you are leaving the beastlands:bonjor
This is actually perfect because I’m running a campaign where are you play as an animal in the humans are taking over so this is giving me so many ideas
A heaven for animals? Sounds like an interesting concept. I never really thought about what happens to animal souls when they die. I would’ve thought they’d get reincarnated as new animals.
In most cultures (especially Buddhism) that's typically what happens but in others like Judaism/Christianity there was a belief that they could go to Eden, though I think that part has died down.
@@humanity600 that would make sense in the same way that the souls of children go straight to heaven; neither of them have the moral agency to be considered evil.
@@DannyDog27 you're not wrong, however there are people who have considered such a state truly "pure"; that is, to be beyond good and evil, and thus the most eligible to go to heaven.
PS: I'm not disagreeing with you, it's just an interesting concept to think about.
@@DannyDog27 Or purgatory
@@DannyDog27 unblemished souls.
If the afterlife is out there, send me to the Beastlands. I want to cuddle all the owlbears, lions, and dire wolves. Literal heaven.
With the Winged Elves being there it makes me wonder where Harpies go in heaven. Anyway, good video as always.
I just love your videos. The ones about the planes are really inspiring me to dm a game for the players to campaign through the many different planes.
So it's a heaven full of the goodest bois? Yup, *YUP!* Fuck Elysium, fuck literally spending every day sitting in the lap of the DnD Godess of Thighs, I am going to animal heaven, becoming a deva, and claiming the Pantheon of 'Headpats', and I'm doing nothing but that forever for every goodboi.
Welp, if my party's barbarian dies, I know where she's going. She was raised by bears, lmao.
And they decided for Spelljammer.
More than 20 years since the last usable Manual Of The Planes.
You don’t want 5e touching Planescape. They’ll butcher it like the other settings.
@@razzelmire2008 Couldn't be worse than the one for the 4th edition.
@@razzelmire2008 Agreed. I used to want that until "Spelljammer" was announced. I used to love that setting so much.
Thank You for this video, I just started looking into the brand new one dnd unearthed arcana about Ardlings', and they have been changed around (lore-wise of course) and now they come from these beast lands. I was ecstatic to find this video to learn all about these lands
I really enjoy when ambiguity is built into the lore with things like the nature of the mortai. Yes, the evidence presented points toward the 3rd answer being the "correct" one, but there's still room left for the players to discover an alternate answer that feeds directly into their game's story. I also feel that there should be some questions that no one knows the answers to in the setting; not even the gods.
Love the video. The Beastlands are one of my favorite places in D&D it's was cool to learn new things I didn't know either. In my world I actually have a person who lives on the plateau with the Dinosaurs and I've tied them to prophecy for players to uncover.
One things I'm curious about, what happen of Wild shape or beast flavored spell Does horn grow when you use bull strengh? Have a chance to turn feral when wild shape or feel the instinct of the animal you can turn to when you're in your "human" form as a druid ?
If only being there make you feel more alive, that must be overwelming :O
What about a video about gnomes? I hear they were Fae but rejected their immortality because they tired of it. Afterward each gnome continues to live until they have found no more joy in life. Would love to hear more and have a deeper understanding!
This one , I love it . Thank you for making this it is really , really calming. Completely made my day better.
One of your best videos for sure, I have watched about 10x now. Doing research for a beastlands oneshot for my table. Cheers
I didn't know about the poll, but this was the plane I wanted you to cover next, so... neat.
Every so often I come find this video to help me cope with the loss of my loyal cat. His birthday would be next Friday.
Monster Hunter heaven sounds terrifying for anyone who wasn't like that in life.
Basically the Beastland is the Hipster Heaven that Beastmaster Rangers who think Arborea is too civilized go to when they die and nobody else.
Some of the most amazing lore and depths are found in Planescape. Beastlands sound so cool.
Weird how so much this plane is land when most animal life is found in the oceans
I’m pretty sure the Aquatic life goes to the Plane of Water when they die.
The Outer Planes are effectively infinite. Even though they aren't really described there would pretty much have to be vast oceans somewhere in the Beastlands.
It dawns on me - this plane would also probably be host to life forms from across times and planes. So it could have all sorts of homebrew critters.
The fact that gods become weak in there would make it a good place for evil creatures to hide. Like devils, demons or liches.
One thing that gets floated around in Planescape is that the Outer Planes have lives and wills of their own. The Beastlands more so than most, as you might guess. That plane doesn't take kindly to the desecration of nature and the mere presence of such beings would do that.
On the other hand, the Planes of Conflict guide also described an angel and devil who fell in love and holed up in a cave there posing as dragons, so it can go either way as you like.
Don't forget that D&D has as many evil gods as it does good ones. Deities are not synonymous with goodness in D&D. The Beastlands are still good-aligned, and full of powerful good-aligned beings, so fiends would definitely be in trouble if their presence there was discovered.
I can’t wait for the monster of the multiverse and for you to cover it I love the lore
My man, like, what you said about the Monster Hunter world was kinda my headcanon for a campaign I'm working on. Glad to know I'm not the only one.
OMG Literally the first few minutes of your video gave me a wonderful adventure arc idea! Imagine that all the collective souls of Sylgar, Xanathar's prized and beloved goldfish, have gathered together in The Beastlands. Having been beloved so much by a Beholden changed them somehow, granting them collective abilities, including but not limited to, astral speech projection. In a desperate attempt to reach out to their former master in a desperate attempt to be by his side again, they unknowingly cause a huge amount of stress in the city of Waterdeep. There the Guild of Xanathar would hear of this phenomenon and gather an adventuring team of their guild members to search out and stop the source of this otherworldly threat, before news reachs Xanathar and destroying a long plot to keep the dangerous Crimeboss happy and docile
I am not going to lie, I thought this would be one of the things id be least interested in. But holy... the Beastlands became singlehandedly my favourite plane in DnD by far. Theyre soooo much more interesting than i thought
Now that Gem Dragons are in 5e, you should make videos on them to add to your "What they don't tell you about ______ Dragons" playlist
20:00 these pronunciations are amazing
Really love your videos, man. I'm so glad someone does this and in such detail. Please keep up the great work! Thank you!
It bugs me so much that we have sll this important and interesting lore about the outerplanes but we don't have much info about them that is updated for 5E. We need a good outerplane book for dnd5e like a huge ass lore book.
I currently have a magical item turned magical pet, (a staff of the python) and he is my goliath genie warlock's best friend. Been with her since the start of the campaign, and I can see him going here if he does dies. Though his life is literally tied to my character so who knows, they might go to the beastlands
The Plateau sounds like The Lost World, Awesome!
A plateau full of dinosaurs? I think I read that book
Wow, holy coitus Brux sounds like it would be the perfect heaven for me. I love animals and simple pleasures, the twilight and dawn hours are my favorite times, how could it get any better?
Best dnd channel imo
So what about animals that adapted to an urban environment (rats, pigeons, racoon etc.)? Parodoxically their perfect haven would be a city where they have to constantly outsmart huge, clumsy giants to steal their food.
House Cat in the Beastland: “Well this place fucking sucks.”
The Beastlands brings out the natural instincts in even domesticated animals. Although the image of a fat cat being too lazy to hunt is just perfect.
This would be my heaven. I would be a neutral good werewolf that shifts at will.
Also, the werebear God is totally Beorn from the Hobbit :)
Really enjoyed this. Much more than anticipated.
This place is AMAZING
Father Bear definitely my new god of choice. Chilling with fellow big bois and nomming on salmon? Sign me right up.
Now all notifications are active for this channel.
I love these videos about the outer planes I like imagining the interplanar politics like Gaurdinals from Elysium promoting their interests and keeping good faith with the Beast lords knowing that Baphomet demon prince of beasts is planting seeds to grow influence in the beast lands perhaps to get his accursed hands on some powerful magic item or other source of power that lies within these wilds of the upper planes
Great video. Invaluable summaries and examples. Thank you!
Cat sneezes are so cute, though I hope she feels better :3
Father bear is my kind of God. Chilling in the woods in a hippie circle.
My back up character for my campaign is an Owlen Druid who is the owl familiar to my current wizard. I think before the where a familiar they may have been a soul reincarnating from The Beastlands
Big fan of the videos about different realms
Oh my gods. You just gave me a idea for a all dogs go to heaven game.