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Planar Adventures / Building a Planar Campaign / Alternate Cosmologies

Dualistic Cosmology

Source Planar Adventures pg. 87
Not every belief system contains a multitude of gods. Some involve only a pair of diametrically opposed divine rivals, both competing for worshipers’ souls to either reward or punish. In this model, a dualistic cosmology would consist of only two Outer Planes, one for each divine force. The precise nature of those planes would rely entirely upon the nature of the gods in question.

In one example, there is only a Heaven and Hell, with the mortals who lived a good life ascending to Heaven among the archons and the wicked descending to Hell to receive punishment at the hands of devils. The role of law and chaos is less relevant than that of good and evil in this setting, and any pair of the good and evil planes could stand in for Heaven and Hell. With one deity ruling each plane, the role of demigod becomes one of servitude, each demigod being an extension of the deity’s will. A third, intriguing category could exist in the form of demigods who adhere to neither side of this eternal conflict, introducing such a category could erode the draw of a dualistic cosmology.

Rather than good and evil, a dualistic system based on law and chaos might have a single plane of law and a single plane of chaos complete with a variety of lawful and chaotic outsiders. Depending on their actions and beliefs while alive, adherents of a deity of law might ascend to a lawful plane at the moment of their death, only to be punished for transgressions. By contrast, adherents of chaos might find themselves hurled into a realm that combines the whimsies of proteans alongside the destructive horrors of demons and the freedom-loving passions of the azatas. This dichotomy need not adhere to the concept of alignment at all; instead, its deities could embody other dualistic concepts. For example, a deity of day could vie against a deity of night, with both having positive and negative areas of concern in their portfolios. This system might have one divine power enthroned within the First World and its rival dwelling in the Shadow Plane. Life and death. Love and hate. Fire and water. The possibilities are boundless.