The Dungeons and Dragons universe is wide reaching, allowing the players of the game to enter a world of fantasy where they can fight side-by-side with all forms of people, from warriors or mages to thieves. These people can be any number of species as well, whether human, elf, dwarf, or many more.
With such a rich environment to escape into, it is no wonder that Dungeons and Dragons is the world's most popular role-playing game. One thing that most people do not realize, though, is that the world of Dungeons and Dragons is far more expansive than many people ever dreamed. It is not limited to simply one land with a variety of areas for players to explore. Rather, the Dungeons and Dragons universe has many realms, planes of existence, or alternate dimensions.
These planes of energy can be divided into five different major categories. The Inner Planes are places of raw energy and materials. It is considered to be comprised of the building blocks of the Dungeons and Dragons multi-verse as every other realm is composed of elements from the Inner Planes. These Inner Planes are generally comprised of plains of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. These can all intersect in many different ways, producing smaller elements. Additionally, the Inner Plains host both the Negative Energy Plane and the Positive Energy Plane, which generally relate to death and life, respectively.
The Material Plane is the central form of existence in the Dungeons and Dragons universe. It greatly resembles Earth with a number of fantasy elements added in. Most of the campaigns in Dungeons and Dragons are primarily, if not entirely, based in the Material Plane as it is the most common denominator for physical existence between everything that exists in the universe. Depending on the edition of Dungeons and Dragons being used, the Material Plane is depicted in one of two ways. Either there is only one Material Plane, in which many worlds exist, or each world is its own separate Material Plane. Either way, this is the plane of existence which is most commonly used with the game.
The Outer Planes are considered to be the godly or divine planes, the places where the many different gods of the Dungeons and Dragons universe exist. Deities exist here, along with celestial beings and demons. This plane of existence is comprised most of ideas, beliefs, and philosophies, which makes this plane stand in direct contrast to the Inner Planes, which are composed only of raw, physical materials. The spaces which are depicted in the Outer Planes are all supposed to be limitless, considering that they are comprised of ideas. For the purposes of the game, however, they have set boundaries in which the characters can interact.
Finally, the Transitive Planes are the spaces which connect the three main planes to each other. There is often little to no material or even life existing here. The Demi-planes are artificial planes created within the confines of the game, and usually express qualities of all four of the other forms.
