Exploring the Shadow Plane
Header Art: Planar Adventures by Paizo Inc.
Lost Omens: Ancestry Guide, 2021 Paizo Inc.
This post’s aim is to provide a deeper look at traveling the shadow plane and encounters during a journey. Much of the information provided here is based on my own world’s lore and imagination of what could be found in a plane devoted to the gloom; death, negative energy, and loss. If you are interested in a post about specific locations and people of the Shadowfell, read - The Planes: Shadowfell which is based on resources and books by Wizards of the Coast.
Exploration
Planar Adventures, 2018 Paizo Inc.
Known as the Gloom, a name used by its inhabitants to describe the oppressive nature of this plane, it is no easy task to travel through this plane of misery and despair. Not only do the shadows choke out even magical light, but any warmth is quickly drawn away from even the largest of fires and magical heat. This plane is not so bad as to be called a hell, like that of Hades, but it has an air of dread and decay that permeates the plane due to its close connection to the negative energy plane. This plane is a shadow of the material plane, meaning that those who travel through this plane will see familiar sights, though, through the lens of distortion and entropy.
Where cities might stand, nothing but ruins remain or a ‘shadow’ of the city stands here, with similar buildings and streets, but twisted and decaying. Mountains may appear in the same area, geographically, with landmarks, but due to the distortions of shadow they might appear double their normal size, or simply a series of hills. It is like seeing an uncanny mockery of the material world, reflected through funhouse mirrors of a maddening circus attraction.
Not only are the proportions odd and twisted, but the landscape also morphs like shadows that expand and contract as the sun rises and sets. While it doesn’t change while you are gazing at it, when you first visit a forest, it may only be a few pitiful trees around a sludge pond, but upon returning to this location, it is a massive forest of dead wood with a lake a hundred miles across. Despite these drastic changes, how long it takes to travel somewhere rarely changes, for if the forest shrank, than the mountain range would expand into its territories. It is like there are specific areas in the Gloom that cannot change their absolute position within the plane, but everything between these points is free to expand and contract as it will. So a journey from one settlement to the next typically takes the same amount of time, give or take a few days, due to what configuration the plane will set itself in.
Despair Pools
Throughout the plane are pools of despair and misery; physical representations of grief and loss. They appear like the rest of the plane, blackened and twisted, blending into the landscape like how quicksand blends into its environment. They are only found when people fall into them, falling to the bottom of the pit, where all of their grief attempts to weigh them down and hold them in the pools. For those who watch a companion fall in, it is like watching someone become swallowed by the shadows and they can see the definitive edges of a pit. They are free to throw down ropes or attempt to cast their magic to aid the fallen, but many times their attempts are in vain as these pools of grief cause any to fall into them to give up.
Within these pools, a creature must fight against the suffering within themselves. The more one dwells on their regrets and despair, the deeper they sink within the pool. A creature starts out 10 feet below the surface and must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw with a DC equal to the number of feet they have fallen. They either rise or lower deeper into the pit based on the difference between the DC and the result of their check, so if they roll a 12 against a DC 10, they would rise 2 feet closer to the surface of the pool (with a new DC of 8), or if they rolled a 5, they would sink 5 feet deeper into the pit (with a new DC of 15). Ropes, magic, and kind words can be offered to the fallen creature, granting them advantage on their check. If someone else jumps down to assist, they are overcome with their own despair and are unable to help. A few spells might be able to help, with many claiming that daylight has an increased effect against the pools.
Many believe that there is no bottom to these pools; instead, one continues to sink ever lower and lower until they reach the bottom of the plane, or potentially cross over into the negative energy plane. Few can claim they had risen out of deep despair, a depth of 20 to 30 feet; though none can claim they had sunk any lower and made it out.
Manual of the Planes, 2008 WotC
Shorter Distances
While the shadow plane is morphic and is in constant flux, it is also faster to journey from landmark to landmark than on the material plane it reflects. Many wizards, planar travelers, and more will journey into the Gloom and travel to their destination location in the shadow plane, and then journey back into the material plane. This type of plane hopping typically saves them several days, weeks, or months in some circumstances. Of course, there aren’t many who are able to journey into the Gloom as freely as they want, and fewer willing to do so.
There are some merchants who utilize these pathways, though they must be careful, as the plane has an odd effect on organic material, often causing it to begin rotting faster than it normally would from repeat visits.
If you wish to randomly determine how much shorter it is to travel from one location to the next by using the shadow plane as a shortcut, you can use the chart below.
Length of Trip
Material Plane | Shadow Travel
1 Week | Reduce travel by 1d4-1 days
2-3 Weeks | Reduce travel by 1d6 days
1 Month | Reduce travel by 1d8 days
2-3 Months | Reduce travel by 1d12 days
4-6 Months | Reduce travel by 3d10 days
1 Year | Reduce travel by 3d20 days
Life in the Plane
Planar Adventures, 2018 Paizo Inc.
While no one can claim that this plane is bursting with life, it does have a wide variety of plants, animals, and more that all call this plane home. There are cities throughout the plane, though typically only as shadowy reflections of major sites on the material world. Plants are especially prevalent within this plane, twisting and growing in grotesque ways after spending untold eons being exposed to a diet partially supplemented by wayward souls and necrotic energies. This plane also has a variety of animals, though just like the plants, they are dark reflections of what they are on the material plane.
Dark Ones
Alone on the Gloom, the dark ones are said to have been one of the first travelers to the shadows - and were the first to succumb to the gloomy despair. They are secretive creatures who are often compared to the fey, but only as their shadows. Where the fey are unrestrained in their emotions, the dark ones are composed and, perhaps, even devoid of emotions. Where the fey are free to frolic, the dark ones are tied down to the shadows where they hide in fear from outsiders.
Volo’s Guide to Monsters, 2016 WotC
As the first outside occupants of the gloom, the dark ones are said to pass down stories of what once the Gloom appeared as. That the entire plane was only made of shadow-gloom, a smoky substance that clings to life like spiderwebs. Eventually, the dark ones would gain mastery over it, morphing and changing it into structures and terrain; it may have been a great dark one who was ultimately responsible for the shape of the Gloom. They would have had to have been almost god-like in power to create such a masterpiece of this plane.
As more outsiders came to the plane, it became harder to control the shadow-gloom as it refused to bind together. Instead, it would stick to those living creatures, draining them of their positive emotions like a mosquito drains them of blood. Once the shadows were finished with a creature, all they had left in them was gluttonous despair that drains the emotions of others, called gloomsick. For whatever reason, a dark one is immune to this process, though it could be that they have no emotions to be drained. Few can ever claim they feel anything, which causes them to cling to those rare few who can give them the facsimile of emotions. Even something weak and artificial is wonderful to someone who has never experienced it before.
The Dead
It’s no secret that the dead have a very strong grasp on this plane, with spirits, skeletons, zombies, ghouls, and more wandering this plane looking for living flesh to squeeze and wring out. The dead are treated much like dangerous, wild animals by the populace; they have trappers, hunters, and more who go out into the wilderness to destroy the undead, paid by the local communities that the undead threaten.
Planar Adventures, 2018 Paizo Inc.
Psychons
Known as the guides of souls or as lesser psychopomps, the psychons are diligent servants of the true psychopomps like Azrael, the Raven Queen, and others. Psychons are responsible for gathering souls, but unlike true psychopomps, who oversee the entire domain and ensure that souls are taken to where they belong, the psychons are the ones tasked with the actual labors of it. The most powerful of souls are greeted by a true psychopomp upon death, while psychons help everyone, no matter how unimportant they were.
They frequently come and go from this plane, with some guiding souls to their afterlife, while others corral and bring resisting spirits to this plane to be judged by Azrael. Not every soul is willing to be cajoled or guided to their destiny; instead, they purposefully flee and then become lost within the Gloom, to rise as a haunting and cruel specter.
Player's Option: Heroes of Shadow, 2011 Wizards of the Coast
Shadows
Thought to be the original inhabitants of the Gloom, they rarely speak to outsiders, and if they do, it is often done in whispers. Shadow people, when observed in light, appear vaguely humanoid, with whisps of dark shadows coming off of them like a light fog. These creatures survive solely by draining the life of other creatures, but they rarely do so to kill. Instead, they visit homes where people are fast asleep and siphon a portion of their energy away before sneakily making their way out. They act as passive observers of the world, slinking through shadows, and refusing to interact with others.
Shadow people are often mistaken for the undead shadows, due to similarities in appearance. The main difference is that the undead shadows look to kill while a shadow person haunts rooms where people sleep where they can siphon energy away and escape without notice. Those who wake up exhausted from sleep may have been visited by a shadow person.
Gloomsick
Gloomsick isn't quite a sickness but rather a physical characteristic that leaves its mark on a victim for the rest of their life. If one is born within this plane, they are less affected by the despair that threatens to wash over weak-willed visitors. Perhaps because they have a bit of necrotic energy within them, they typically have a gaunt or sickly appearance, known as gloomsick, though that is a term used by outsiders. The people who reside here don’t see it as a sickness or that anything is wrong with them, and find the term to be a good enough reason to refuse service or trade with outsiders.
Visitors can also contract this look, though, with more devastating effects. When they travel here, they become lost, giving in to the grief that builds within their hearts until they simply sit down and refuse to leave. The gloomstricken, one of the many names given to those who can’t handle this plane and simply fall apart, leave little behind when they stop their journeys, merging almost into the shadows themselves, willing themselves to be ignored by others. They become residents of a sort to this plane, though they can eventually be roused if powerful enough magic is used to revitalize them, though they’ll always carry the gaunt look of the gloomsick.
Every week that a visitor spends on this plane, they must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw, or else they contract gloomsick. While they are sick, they are unable to move or resist their grief, and sit in a single place without moving as the shadows grow darker around them. The DC for this effect begins at DC 1 and increases by a cumulative 1 at the end of every week. In addition, a creature who has suffered a great tragedy has disadvantage on this saving throw.
If a creature is suffering from gloomsick, they can repeat the saving throw at the end of the week. This DC for this check is the same as the one that they failed, but is increased by 5, but it does not increase as time passes. A creature that suffers from gloomsick, and then recovers, is immune to gloomsick for the rest of their life, though they always have a gaunt and despaired look to them.
Magic
Planar Adventures, 2018 Paizo Inc.
With such a connection to the negative energy plane and to death itself, this plane has an odd relationship with magic. Spells and magical effects that call upon death are enhanced while within this plane, while those that heal suffer along with those that conjure light. Most creatures born to this plane have the innate ability to summon forth necrotic energies, whether this is through spells or simply that their very touch rots and decays. Necromancers flock to this plane as their magic grows in power when they cast it here, granting them stronger effects.
Light
When a spell produces light, the radius of light is halved. This means that a simple light cantrip would ordinarily create 20 feet of bright light with an additional 20 feet of dim light, but on this plane, it is only 10 feet of bright light and 10 feet of dim light. If a spell or magical effect deals damage to only creatures within an aura of light, the area is still halved and so the area of effect for the spell is reduced.
Healing
When a creature attempts to regain hit points from a magical spell, the plane attempts to drain much of its power from the spell. A spellcaster that casts a spell, like cure wounds, must succeed on an ability check using their spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a success, the creature regains the normal amount of hit points, while on a fail, the creature only regains half as many hit points.
Necromancy
When a caster casts a spell that deals necrotic damage, it is increased in power by this plane. Whenever a spell deals necrotic damage, it is treated as if it were cast at one level higher, up to 9th-level. For example, an inflict wounds spell normally deals 3d10 necrotic damage as a 1st-level spell, but when cast on this plane, it is treated as if the spellcaster cast it at 2nd-level (but only expending a 1st-level spell slot) and so does 4d10 necrotic damage. This typically has no effect on other necromancy spells, though the GM may rule that spells that summon undead, like animate dead, are treated as if they are cast at a higher level spell slot.
Planar Adventures, 2018 Paizo Inc.
If you would like a printer-friendly PDF of this article, or any of our tools and other homebrew, consider supporting us on Patreon!
Like what we are doing here?
Support us on Patreon!
You’ll get early access to deep dives, our Homebrew Hoard, monster stat blocks and more!
Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on everything we talk about!
