1. Locations

Material Plane

Plane

Eberron is the heart of the material plane. It is surrounded by the Ring of Siberys, a band of golden dragonshards. Beyond this, twelve moons orbit the world. To date, no creature from Eberron has ever explored the moons. None can say whether they are lifeless rocks or thriving worlds in their own right. Some sages believe that the moons are actually connected to the planes, or that they might even be physical extensions of the planes, but this remains a mystery.

To date, no other planets have been discovered within Eberron’s material plane. However, the underworld of Khyber contains a host of demiplanes: tiny pockets of reality that exist within the underworld. As such, venturing below the surface of Eberron can lead you to a network right passage, it can take you to fantastic and and other children of Khyber.

ExE Planar Connections

Though travel to the planes is usually quite challenging and dangerous, even adventures on the world of Eberron can be profoundly impacted by the planes that lie beyond. This section discusses some unique aspects of the Material Plane and its place in the wider cosmology of Eberron.

Planar Manifestations

Even without planar travel, there are many ways the planes can manifest in an adventure. This chapter examines these potential impacts for each plane using three general categories.

Manifest Zones. These are places where the influence of a plane can be directly felt in the Material Plane. Each manifest zone is tied to a particular physical location on the Material Plane; this is true not only for the Eberron side of the zone, but for the region of the other plane it connects to. So if you live near a manifest zone to Thelanis, it always connects to a specific location in that plane; it’s not simply a manifest zone to Thelanis, it’s a manifest zone to a particular region of the Endless Weald (or any other layer of the plane).

Manifest zones often exhibit one or more of the universal properties of a plane; in a weak manifest zone, their effect might be diminished, and in a strong one, multiple effects might be present. Chapter 4 of Eberron: Rising from the Last War suggests more possible features of manifest zones beyond those presented in this chapter.

Some manifest zones can serve as direct portals between Eberron and another plane (though travel is blocked to Dal Quor and Xoriat). Most portals only open under certain circumstances—often when the planes are coterminous, when the moon associated with that plane is full, or both. These gateways can allow adventurers to travel to another plane— but can also be the source of unexpected, and sometimes hostile, creatures from other planes.

Coterminous and Remote. The planes of Eberron are often depicted as orbiting the Material Plane, reflecting the fact that they move into and out of alignment with it. When a plane is coterminous, it’s aligned; the plane’s influence grows over the entire world, and it amplifies the effects of existing manifest zones. On the other hand, when a plane is remote, its power fades; since the planes are always influencing the Material in subtle ways, their absence impacts the world as strongly as their presence does. Multiple planes can be coterminous at the same time; these planar conjunctions are often related to the interactions of the moons, and characters proficient in Arcana can usually work out upcoming conjunctions.

These planar cycles are intended as plot devices, so DMs don’t need to run them on strict calendar cycles. Instead, use them to suit the story. They can add an interesting mechanical twist to an adventure: because Mabar is coterminous, all undead are stronger! They can drive a villain’s plot: Lady Illmarrow must be stopped from activating the device in three days’ time, when both Mabar and Dolurrh are coterminous— a conjunction that won’t happen again for another century!

It’s ultimately up to the DM to decide when planes are coterminous or remote. If it suits the story for Dolurrh to be remote for the next three days, make it so—just be sure to inform the arcane scholars among the adventurers, who’d likely know such a thing in advance. Other DMs might prefer to have concretely established cycles, which can add their own interesting flavor to an adventure. For example, Mabar is always coterminous on the nights of the new moon closest to the winter solstice, a time known as Long Shadows. On these nights, friends and family gather together and keep lights burning through the night. With this in mind, this chapter does discuss the traditional cycle of each plane, when it’s reliably coterminous or remote—just remember the cycles are there to enhance your story, not limit it!

Artifacts. The planes can be an excellent source of unusual materials, legendary magic items, and relics. Each section discusses a few kinds of items that could come from each plane and its associated manifest zones.

Manifest Zones

Exploring Eberron

Manifest zones are areas where the influence of the other planes bleeds through into the Material Plane. Eberron: Rising from the Last War presents some possible manifest zone effects, and chapter 5 of this book explores these in more depth. Some manifest zones are dangerous, and such regions are shunned. However, other manifest zones have effects that can be quite useful for commerce or industry, and like any natural resource, these tend to be harnessed over time. The towers of Sharn are made possible by the manifest zone to Syrania, and any other city with a similar zone could support skycoaches and high towers. Lamannian manifest zones often promote fertility and growth, and many of the greatest farms and vineyards in Khorvaire are in such zones. Ultimately, this is one more factor in the wide magic of Khorvaire: it’s not simply what spells can be cast, it’s that there are places in the world itself that are inherently magical.

Rising from the Last War

At certain places in the Material Plane, the barriers between worlds are thin, and some characteristics of another plane can bleed through into the material world. These places are called manifest zones, and the nature of each one is strongly shaped by the plane it connects to. The city of Sharn is located in a manifest zone linked to Syrania that keeps its towers reaching toward the sky and aids flight. Ghosts might linger in a manifest zone associated with Dolurrh, while a manifest zone tied to Lamannia might have wild vegetation and enhance druidic magic. A manifest zone might include a portal that allows free passage from either plane to the other. The descriptions of other planes in this section offer some other possible effects. Most manifest zones have reliable, persistent effects. Some have only weak connections to their planes, and their properties influence the world only when the plane is coterminous.