My Saturday group is about to head (again) into Limbo. There, they will come across all manner of chaos.

So I’m not rewriting the entirety of the 2nd Edition Planes of Chaos supplement, I’ve included the major notes on how the plane works. For more details on how Limbo works, its inhabitants and major locations, be sure to find a copy of Planes of Chaos from 2nd Edition which digs a little deeper into this wild realm’s lore.

What is Limbo?

From the Fifth Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide:

Limbo is a plane of pure chaos, a roiling soup of impermanent matter and energy. Stone melts into water that freezes into metal, then turns into diamond that burns up into smoke that becomes snow, and on and on in an endless, unpredictable process of change. Fragments of more ordinary landscapes–bits of forest, meadow, ruined castles, and even burbling streams-drift through the disorder. The whole plane is a nightmarish riot.

Limbo has no gravity, so creatures visiting the plane float in space. A creature can move up to its walking speed in any direction by merely thinking of the desired direction of travel.

Limbo conforms to the will of the creatures inhabiting it. Very disciplined and powerful minds can create whole islands of their own invention within the plane, sometimes maintaining those places for years. A simpleminded creature such as a fish, though, might have less than a minute before the pocket of water surrounding it freezes, vanishes, or turns to glass. The slaadi live her amid this chaos, creating nothing, whereas githzerai monks build entire monasteries with their minds.

Power of the Mind

As an action, a creature on Limbo can make an Intelligence check to mentally move an object on the plane that it can see within 30 feet of it. The DC depends on the object’s size as shown on the Power of the Mind table. On a success, the creature changes the object into another nonliving form of the same size, such as turning a boulder into a ball of fire.

Power of the Mind

Object Size	DC
Tiny	5
Small	10
Medium	15
Large	20
Huge or larger	25

Finally, a creature can use an action to make an Intelligence check to stabilize a spherical area centered on the creature. The DC depends on the radius of the sphere. The base DC is 5 for a 10-foot radius sphere; each additional 10 feet added to the radius increases the DC by 5. On a successful check, the creature prevents the area from being altered by the plane for 24 hours, or until the creature uses this ability again.

Getting to Limbo

Portals, vortices, and conduits into Limbo tend to open out in no particular place since arches can form randomly at any moment in the ever-changing chaos. The one exception is the gate between Limbo and the Outlands in the town of Xaos; it’s always there, and it always works. However, the Limbo-side of the gate is one of the most turbulent spots in the plane.

Physical Conditions

Limbo is elemental chaos: fire, water, earth, and air constantly evolve and form and dissolve and reshape on the plane. These “chunks” come in all sizes, from tiny as a grain of sand to huge as a continent. Some chunks are pure, others boil with chaos. They may last for mere seconds or months–but they always dissipate eventually.

Limbo’s “roiling chaos” actually covers a lot of terrain. Whenever characters are dumped unexpectedly into an uncontrolled hostile environment in Limbo, characters should immediately make an Intelligence check to protect themselves as described in the Powers of the Mind section above. If more than one succeeds in the same round, control goes to the one with the highest Intelligence score. In case of a tie, compare Wisdom scores to break it, with the highest winning.)

Characters are subject to any damaging effects of the environment until they gain control of it. Of course, the DM is free to choose any of the following backgrounds for Limbo (in case the characters having too much trouble). The DM may also roll on the Random Limbo Terrain table to determine where a character lands.

Random Limbo Terrain

d100	Limbo Terrain
01-45	Primal Soup
46-50	Air Pocket
51-55	Solid Earth
56-60	Fire Pocket
61-65	Water Pocket
66-85	Mixed Elements
86-89	Domain, Githzerai City
90-91	Domain, Non-Githzerai City
92-98	Domain, Other
99-00	Domain, Realm of Power

Primal Soup

Landing in the midst of the “primal soup” of unformed chaos is dangerous in a couple of different ways.

• Creatures can’t breathe in the primal soup unless they are using magic intended for underwater breathing.
• If a creature starts its turn in the primal soup, it takes 1d6 lightning damage. If a creature’s hit points are reduced to 0 from this damage, it dies and becomes part of the primal soup.

Air Pocket

Perhaps the “safest” of all the pockets, an air pocket is just that–a pocket of air. There is air to breathe (though the quality varies) and temperature may vary but it’s unlikely to be inhospitable.

Solid Earth

A creature may find itself buried in solid earth. A creature stuck in the earth this way is blinded, restrained, and suffocating.

Fire Pocket

The creature finds itself in a pocket of burning fire, completely surrounded by flame. If a creature starts its turn in a fire pocket, it takes 21 (6d6) fire damage at the start of each of its turns. Since fire is all around, no save is allowed. In addition, there is no breathable air, so the creature is suffocating.

Water Pocket

When a creature finds itself in a water pocket, it must hold its breath or begin to suffocate. Temperatures in water pockets vary wildly. Roll a d6. On a roll of 1-2, the water is near-freezing and the creature takes 1d6 cold damage at the start of each of their turns they remain in the water. On a roll of 5-6, the water is boiling hot and the creature instead takes 1d6 fire damage a tthe start of each of their turns they remain in the water. A roll of 3-4 puts the creature in temperate water.

Mixed Elements

In mixed elemental environments, anything can–and will–happen. The DM chooses the nature of the mixed elements. Or, the DM can roll 1d4 with the result being the number of mixed elements (a 4 being primal soup). Then, the DM rolls another 1d4 for each present element: 1–air, 2–earth, 3–fire, and 4–water. If the DM rolls the same element more than once, that is the ratio the element is present compared to the other results.

Domains

Occasionally, a creature sets down in an area that some intelligent being has imposed its will on and made stable. Usually, these domains are cities of the githzerai. Or it could be some other city, or in the realm of a power.

The Random Chaos

With the exception of domains, there is a 5% non-cumulative chance every minute that the pocket that the characters in dissolves into another non-domain type of terrain.

 

Travel in Limbo

There are a few ways to travel in Limbo. Unfortunately, most are unreliable.

Portals

Portals from Sigil lead to Limbo. However, the Limbo-side portal is almost always unstable. Only portals permanently fixed by powerful beings have any use in Limbo.

Conduits

Limbo has more conduits than any other plane and new ones are constantly appearing. Like portals, however, conduits could lead anywhere in the multiverse. For that reason, they are very dangerous.

Paths

Limbo is too changeable to have any true path, however, whirlpools exist that can lead deeper into the plane. Slaadi use them regularly to shorten the distance from one spot to another. However, it is still difficult to determine where they lead.

Astral Travel

The Astral Plane connects to Limbo. Of course, it’s just as unreliable as the other methods. However, there is a 20% chance that an astral traveler can reach the destination they intend when accessing Limbo through the Astral. All other times, the destination they wish seems unavailable.

Spells

The best means of travel through Limbo is through the teleport spell. However, Limbo’s environment makes all results other than “On Target” dangerous. Refer to the conditions below to determine what happens.

Off Target. The caster ends up at some completely difficult location (DM’s choice).

Similar Area. The caster arrives at the nearest hazardous locale. That could be anything from the center of a skirmish between slaadi and githzerai, to an erupting volcano.

Mishap. The same effects as detailed in the Player’s Handbook Occur, plus the caster experiences a Wild Magic Surge as detailed under the Sorcerer Class Description in the Player’s Handbook.

Overland

When all else fails, characters can set out across Limbo’s “countryside” towards their goal. The terrain travel is generated by the character’s imagination using the Powers of the Mind rule.

However, Limbo is infinite in its size, so this sort of travel can be time-consuming. In addition, Limbo is crawling with slaadi and other creatures. See Random Encounters in Limbo for details.

Guidons

Guidons are magic obelisks that resonate to the locate object spell regardless of range, each with its own particular magical vibration. Therefore, locate object can be used to jaunt through the Astral Plane. Locate object can be cast before leaping into a conduit to make sure the conduit leads there. Or, they can cast it and launch out cross-country through the plane.

Trinkets with locate object cast permanently cast upon them serve as compasses. However, they are prone to malfunction (5% chance per day, not cumulative).

 

Anarchs

Anarchs have an innate ability to hold chaos matter in a useful form without concentrating on it. Random characters may appear to have powers to reshape chaos matter.

An anarch’s raw talent shows up as the ability to breathe and swim in unshaped chaos matter.

Characters who discover that they have the raw talent may then further develop that ability by picking up the chaos-shaping proficiency. The chaos-shaping proficiency is available to all character classes and races, but it can only be learned from someone else who already has it. This means learning from a githzerai, and githzerai are hesitant about teaching outsiders. Despite this, Limbo does have the rare halfling, elf, dwarf, or other race that knows how to shape chaos and they may be willing to teach a burgeoning anarch.

Chaos-Shaping

The following are rules options for becoming a chaos-shaper.

Training

A character can spend time learning the chaos-shaping proficiency much in the same way he or she can learn a new language or train with a set of tools.

Unless the character is a githzerai who has spent a considerable amount of time in Limbo, the character must find an instructor willing to teach it and cannot learn it through class features, feats, or other methods.

The training lasts for 250 days and costs 100 gp per day. After the character spends the requisite amount of time and money, he or she learns how to shape chaos.

A character cannot take Expertise or double their proficiency in the trait unless they are accepted into the Anarch’s Guild (see below) and trained by a Master Anarch.

Chaos-Shaping Proficiency

When a character makes an Intelligence check to shape and stabilize chaos, they can add their chaos-shaping proficiency.

Also, once a creature shapes the chaos using their Intelligence, they can subconsciously maintain the shape of the chaos using his or her passive Chaos-shaping score. A creature’s passive Chaos-shaping score is 10 + its proficiency bonus + its Wisdom modifier.

The range and complexity of the terrain that the creature can maintain depend on the creature’s passive Chaos-shaping score as shown in the Terrain Maintenance Table.

Terrain Maintenance

passive Chaos-shaping score	Radius of Terrain	Type of Terrain
0-12	none	none
13-15	50 feet (flat meadow)	simple
16-20	300 feet (hills, trees, streams)	complex
21-28	1 mile (buildings, streets)	artificial
29+	20 miles (complex buildings)	includes native animals

A character that lacks the chaos-shaping trait can still shape the terrain but must retain concentration (as if concentrating on a spell) in order to hold the terrain together. If a creature’s concentration is broken, the terrain around it dissolves at the end of its turn and becomes primal soup.

What is the difference between stabilization and maintenance?

Stabilizing and shaping the chaos requires an active check using Intelligence and chaos-shaping proficiency. Maintenance uses the subconscious, and use a passive Chaos-shaping check.

Master Anarchs

Master anarchs are rare beings that can add twice their proficiency bonus to their passive Chaos-shaping score. This allows them to create incredibly complex creations including lifeforms.

To become a master anarch, a creature must be accepted in the githzerai Anarch’s Guild. It is rare that the Anarch’s Guild accepts non-githzerai into their ranks, but it does happen. If a creature proves its worth by performing some wonderful service for them, they may be “adopted” by the githzerai and later accepted.

Miniflux

Even the greatest anarchs have trouble keeping track of every little detail of their domains, allowing parts to dissolve and fall into the chaos, or to change to something else entirely; this phenomenon is known as miniflux. Therefore, creatures are responsible for their own possessions even when in the domain of a powerful anarch.

Normal items such as swords, spellbooks, and clothing do not suffer this problem as they are an extension of the character. However, extraneous items such as extra rope or a random trinket may be affected.

Each time a character decides to use an item that hasn’t been used for some time, the DM may choose to have the character make a DC 15 Intelligence check against miniflux. On a failed check, use the Miniflux table to determine what happens.

Miniflux

d4	Miniflux Effect
1	The object dissolves.
2	The object gains sentience and attacks (as if under the effects of the animate object spell).
3	The object explodes. Each creature within 10 feet of the object must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d6 lightning damage on a failed saving throw or half as much on a successful one.
4	The object becomes magical. The DM decides what properties it takes on.

New Feats

The following feats are available to anarch characters.

Chaos Step

Prerequisite: Chaos-shaping proficiency, Intelligence and Wisdom 13 or higher, 5th character level

While in your sphere of influence in Limbo, you can cast the misty step spell requiring no components when you cast it this way. You can use this benefit a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses a the end of a short or long rest.

Chaotic Gravity

Prerequisite: Chaos-shaping proficiency, Intelligence and Wisdom 13 or higher, 13th character level

You can affect gravity in nature. While in your sphere of influence in Limbo, you can innately cast the reverse gravity spell requiring no components when you cast it this way. It has the normal effect, except that you can orient the area in any direction and creatures and objects fall toward the end of that area. Once you use this benefit, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Combat Chaos-Shaping

Prerequisite: Chaos-shaping proficiency, Intelligence and Wisdom 13 or higher, 5th character level

Your mastery over Limbo’s nature allows you to pull from the primal soup to help you defend yourself. While in your sphere of influence on Limbo, you gain the following benefits:

• You can create a bolt of energy pulled from the very substance of the primal soup which manifests from you as a 60-foot line that is 5-feet wide. The type of energy can be cold, fire, psychic, radiant or lightning. Each creature in the energy’s area must succeed on a Dexterity check versus your passive Chaos-shaping score. On a failed saving throw, a target takes 4d6 damage of the chosen energy type, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• When you are targeted by an attack, as a reaction, you can create a temporary barrier of elemental protection. Until the start of your next turn, you gain a +5 bonus to your AC against the triggering attack.

 

Magic in Limbo

Limbo is not exactly friendly towards magic. All magic is affected by the Randomness. In order to cast a spell anywhere within the plane of Limbo, the spellcaster makes an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC equal to 10 + the spell’s level (10 for cantrips). If the check fails, the spell slot is lost and the spell fails. And if the caster rolls a natural 1 on the check, a Wild Magic Surge occurs.

Other special conditions vary by the school as follows.

Conjuration

Summoning spells rarely work while in Limbo. Creatures cannot be summoned into Limbo. However, creatures that are already in Limbo can be summoned to the creatures.

Divination

Limbo heavily interferes with the results of divination spells while in Limbo. In addition to the Intelligence (Arcana) check needed to cast the spell, a spellcaster casting a divination spell must make an Intelligence saving throw. On a successful saving throw, the spell works as normal but may have a chaotic lean to it. On a failed saving throw, the caster takes 1d6 psychic damage per level of spell cast.

Elemental

Because of Limbo’s elemental nature, spells that use the elements (such as evocation spells) are much more powerful in Limbo. Any spell that deals with elements–such as fireball for fire, earthquake for earth, gust of wind for air, and control water for water–doubles its duration and area of effect. If the spell is normally instantaneous, it lasts for 1-6 rounds. If its area of effect is normally one target or self, it affects an area 1-10 feet in radius.

Illusion

The trouble with illusion spells in Limbo is that there is always a chance of something that isn’t real becoming real. Each time a spellcaster casts from the school of Illusion, there is a 10% chance of the effect becoming fully, permanently real. Well, at least as permanent as anything can be on Limbo.

Transmutation

The final product of a transmutation spell may be far from what the caster intended. Whenever a creature in Limbo attempts a spell that calls matter into being or changes its shape or form, if the spell goes off successfully (the Arcana check is passed), roll percentile dice and consult the Transmutations in Limbo table to determine the result. Add the spell’s level to the roll, but subtract the spellcaster’s casting ability modifier.

Transmutations in Limbo

d10	Effect
2 or less	No special effect
3-4	Slightly modified appearance
5-6	Slightly modified appearance and properties
7-8	Moderately modified appearance and properties
9 or higher	Highly modified appearance and properties

The exact result in each case is left to the DM’s invention, but let the spellcaster’s intention be a guide to the final result.

Wild Magic

Wild magic sorcerers have a particularly difficult time while in Limbo. When a sorcerer must roll on the Wild Magic Surge table to create a magical effect–either through their own wild nature or a poor Intelligence (Arcana) check–they must roll twice on the Wild Magic table and keep both results. In Limbo, a Wild Magic Sorcerer’s Controlled Chaos trait allows it to roll once, neutralizing this effect.

In addition, a Wild Magic Sorcerer that casts within the primal soup always sparks a wild surge, regardless of whether or not they passed an Intelligence (Arcana) test.

 

Limbo’s Inhabitants

There are two primary races dwelling on Limbo, the slaadi and the githzerai. In addition, to these major races, Limbo is fairly populated.

The Powers

The following powers have chosen Limbo as their home plane: Agni, Vayu, and Indra of the Indian pantheon; Shina-Tsu-Hiko and Susanoo of Japan; Fenmarel Mestarine of the Seldarine; and Tempus of Toril. There are also two slaadi deities, Ssendam and Ygorl. None of the powers of Limbo keep proxies.

Petitioners

Limbo’s petitioners are as chaotic as they come. They don’t have any one particular natural form; rather, they’re each a living, thinking, clump of primal chaos matter. They almost always manifest themselves as something specific–a pillar of flame, a misty whirl of air, a dashing wave of water, a column of rock, or some mix. However, they don’t remain in any one form for long. Like their chaotic nature implies, Limbo petitioners are so frivolous they’re likely to get distracted by something else without a moment’s notice, making them poor allies.

The Slaadi

Slaadi are like barbarian nomads in Limbo. They have loyalty to nothing but their own kind and no respect for any other cultures. They can’t be reasoned with or bargained with.

All slaadi are innate anarchs, and all of them can breathe and swim through the chaos matter. However, none have the mental fortitude or training to maintain the terrain around them.

This lack of control has led slaadi to develop as creatures that have no real need for possessions and that respect only individual strength. Slaadi live by the rules of survival of the fittest.

The Githzerai

While not native to Limbo, they’ve lived there long enough that they’ve become just about the next best thing. Unlike their githyanki relatives, githzerai are not evil. However, they are hardly friendly to outsiders. They are fanatically faithful in their rightness, personified in their immortal leader, the self-styled god-king or Great Githzerai, Zaerith Menyar-Ag-Gith. Their devotion is acted out in raid against the githyanki which they view as a matter of survival.

Xaositects

The chaos-loving outer planes faction, the Xaositects are thick in Limbo. However, they don’t really do anything on the plane. They don’t maintain a citadel, don’t get involved in politics, and don’t seem to work toward any particular end.

Other Encounters

All humanoids from the prime material can be encountered at some point or another in Limbo. Some even have strongholds and settlements on the plane. Many of these cities are cosmopolitan in their demographic makeup, while others may limited and clannish much in the same way the githzerai’s cities are.

Not all settlements have anarchs maintaining the terrain. In some places, all that keeps the terrain stable is the fact that someone is always assigned to concentrate on doing so. Without this persistence, these settlements would fade into the chaos.

Animals

Animals in Limbo fall into two categories: natives and transplants. Natives are able to survive in the primal soup. They include such things as chaos beasts, krackadoons, maugways, and zhistos, and they infest soup and stable terrain alike.

Non-natives always exist in inhabited terrain, and never in the free-floating spontaneous portions of the plane. Despite Limbo’s chaos, it cannot manifest animals. And with the exception of beings of Intelligence 19 or above, no one on Limbo is capable of willing animals into existence. However, most regions that are maintained by anarchs have been seeded with animals carefully gathered from off the plane.

Because of the rarity of off-plane animals, dwellers are very careful in how they are handled. Poachers are often punished with ferocity.

 

Limbo’s Layers

Limbo is pure chaos. Therefore, it does not organize itself into layers in the traditional sense (no matter how much scholars protest). While barriers may occasionally arise, giving the illusion of separate layers, Limbo is still one vast infinite layer.

Fennimar (Realm)

Fennimar is the realm of Fenmarel Mestarine, the elven god of innocent scapegoats and outcasts. It is a wide stretch of lonely forest, dotted with quiet glades, hidden valleys, and clear streams. And it is home to all sorts of forest creatures. It serves as a training ground for elven rangers.

Shra’kt’lor (City)

Primarily a military stronghold, shra’kt’lor is the githzerai’s largest city with a population of over 2 million persons. The god-king, Zaerith Menyar-Ag-Gith, the Great Githzerai holds his seat of military power here.

Shra’kt’lor is an austere place with seven rings of high, thick, granite walls and massive iron gatehouses.

The Floating City (City)

If Shra’kt’lor is the military center for the githzerai, the Floating City is its religious center. It is where Zaerith Menyar-Ag-Gith holds his religious seat of power over all githzerai. The Floating City is a place of tall spires connected by bare stone walkways, the whole covered by a sorcerous glow.

Barnstable (Town)

Barnstable was once a sleepy prime halfling village before a rogue wild magic surge sucked the entire village into Limbo. Luckily, some of the halflings caught the trick of imagining solid terrain before they all drowned. Unable to return to the Prime and determined to carry on with their lives, they’ve made themselves as comfortable as they can.

The town is composed of a few dozen subterranean homes, each nestled among the roots of a huge oak tree, with cobbled lanes winding their way from door to door.

The Spawning Stone (Site)

The Spawning Stone is the primordial home of the slaadi race and the realm of their greatest dominion. Each race of slaadi goes to the Spawning Stone in a sequence during the mating season.

One death slaad guards the Spawning Stone at all times, and this creature can use the powers of the Spawning Stone as if it were an anarch with complete mastery of chaos-stuff.

 

Encounters in Limbo

Limbo provides endless opportunities for unusual (and memorable) adventure. This section supplies you with a variety of (appropriately enough) random tables, perfect for detailing the challenges awaiting your characters in the primal soup of Limbo.

Random Encounters

For every eight hours the characters travel through Limbo, roll a d20. On an 18-20, the characters have a random encounter. The tables assume high-level characters, 15+. The table also allows for encounters with mysterious portals, conduits, and whirlpools and the discovery of mysterious domains. Additional tables for further detailing such encounters are included later in the appendix.

Limbo Encounters

d100	Encounter
01-03	1 ancient chaos beast
04-07	3d6 chaos beasts
08-11	limbo petitioner (see below)
12-25	Slaadi group (1 death slaad leading 2d6 red slaads, 1d4 blue slaads, and 1d2 green slaads)
26-28	Githyanki raiders (use the tables from Chapter 5 of Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes)
29-32	A portal (generated at random)
33-39	A conduit (generated at random)
40-43	A whirlpool (generated at random)
44-45	2d12 air elementals
46-48	2d12 earth elementals
49-50	2d12 fire elementals
51-53	2d12 water elementals
54-57	A party of explorers (1 champion², 1 archmage, 1 assassin, and 1 war priest²)
58-60	1 elder elemental¹ (roll 1d4 for type: 1-air, 2-earth, 3-fire, 4-water)
61-63	1d6 lillends (see below)
64	1 ancient chaos dragon (see below)
65-75	Githzerai group (use the tables from Chapter 5 of Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes)
76-00	Domain (generated at random)

¹ Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes; ² Volo’s Guide to Monsters

Conduit

When the characters come upon a conduit, there is an equal chance that the conduit leads deeper into Limbo or elsewhere in the multiverse. If the conduit leads elsewhere, use the Astral Color Pools table from Chapter 2 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide to determine where it goes. A result of Limbo puts the characters in a random location somewhere else in Limbo.

Portal

When a random arch forms in the chaos (or a domain has a permanent one put into place), a portal may form within the arch. To determine the location of the portal, roll on the Astral Color Pools table from Chapter 2 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. A result of Limbo puts the characters in a random location somewhere else in Limbo.

Whirlpool

A chaos whirlpool measures 220 (40d10) ft. in diameter. When a creature moves into a chaos whirlpool or starts its turn there, it must make a DC 25 Strength check. On a success, the creature can move normally. On a failure, the creature is immediately moved 45 ft towards the vortex’s center, and the creature is restrained by the whirlpool until the start of its next turn. If the creature reaches the whirlpool’s center, the creature is pulled under the surface and appears at a random location in Limbo (roll on the Random Limbo Terrain table to determine where it ends up).

Domains

Domains built by powerful anarchs dot much of Limbo. The following rules can be used to generate any domain the characters might encounter.

Domain Creator

Much of the domain’s features depend on the creature that willed it into existence. Choose a creator or roll on the Domain Creator table. Once you have a creator, consult its section after the table to determine related details and story hooks.

Domain Creator

d8	Creator
1	Alien
2	Ancient Dragon
3-5	Githzerai
6	Lich
7	Non-Anarchs
8	Priest
9	Wizard

Alien

Sometimes, nonhumanoid creatures build domains in Limbo. Often, these domains are beyond most beings’ comprehensions. Everything about the domain, from architecture to its denizens, is unfamiliar and unsettling to outsiders. Most alien domains are between 100 – 300 feet in radius, depending on the creator’s proficiency bonus and its Wisdom score.

Alien Creator Type

d4	Creator
1	Aboleth
2	Beholder
3	Kraken
4	Star Spawn Seer

Dragon

Powerful ancient dragons sometimes find themselves in Limbo. Often, the domain reflects the favored terrain of the dragon that created the locale. Dragon domains are usually 300 – 500 feet in radius.

Dragon Type

d20	Ancient Dragon Type	Terrain
1-4	Black	Dismal swamp
5-6	Blue	Field of crystals
7-8	Brass	Labyrinthine canyon
9	Bronze	Tropical island
10-11	Copper	Scenic hilltop
12	Gold	Ancient ruins
13	Green	Primordial forest
14-16	Red	Erupting volcano
17	Silver	Snowy mountain
18-20	White	Frozen tundra

Githzerai

Githzerai domains are the most common type of domain in Limbo. Thanks to their experience with controlling the chaos of Limbo, Githzerai domains come in various sizes–some as large as a major, material metropolis. The domain’s creator is almost always a githzerai anarch of great power. If you’d like to randomly determine what’s happening in the githzerai city, first roll on the Ruler’s Status, Notable Traits, and Current Calamities tables in the Settlements section of Chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. 

Githzerai Domain Size and Population

d4	Size	Population
1	Monastery/Fortress (100-foot radius)	1 – 14,999
2	Small City (1-mile radius)	15,000 – 99,999
3	Large City (5-mile radius)	100,000 – 999,999
4	Metropolis (20-mile radius)	1,000,000+

Lich

A powerful lich has built its lair in Limbo. The lich’s domain measures 500 feet in all directions and is loaded with traps–both magical and mundane–and many vile defenders. The lich has complete control over its domain and will destroy all who dare trespass.

Lich’s Domain Purpose

d6	Purpose
1	Building a secret weapon
2	Magical prison or zoo
3	Offensive staging ground
4	Phylactery storage
5	Thinking chamber
6	Trap

Non-Anarchs

A group of humanoids has set up a domain in Limbo. Unfortunately, none of them are innate anarchs. This means they have to actively maintain concentration on the domain to keep it from dissolving. Non-anarch domain are rarely much larger than 100 feet in any direction, although multiple non-anarchs may combine their intellectual might to create a larger domain.

Non-Anarch Domain Purpose. Every domain has a reason for existence, which can be rolled or chosen on the Domain Purpose table. Each purpose is described in the table. Then, roll on the Attitude and Race tables to determine what sort of creatures the adventurers are dealing with.

Non-Anarch Domain Purpose

d4	Purpose
1	Lost Explorers. A group of 1d6 + 1 explorers (mix of random NPCs of CR 3 – 8) traveling through Limbo could not find their way back. They’ve created the domain as a temporary solution until they can find a way to return home.
2	Military Outpost. 4d10 guards lead by a veteran are using the domain as a staging ground for attacks on other creatures in Limbo.
3	Researcher Outpost. 1d6 + 1 mages lead by an archmage are studying the nature of chaos in Limbo.
4	Marooned. An entire village was pulled into Limbo through magical means. There are 3d20 commoners, 3d6 nobles, and 2d10 guards lead by a veteran. They wish to continue building their livelihood in Limbo.

Attitude and Race

d6	Attitude
1-2	Friendly
3-4	Neutral
5-6	Hostile

Friendly Domain

d100	Race
01-05	Dragonborn
06-10	Dwarves
11-30	Elves
31-40	Gnomes
41-50	Tieflings
51-60	Halflings
61-00	Humans

Neutral Domain

d100	Race
01-05	Dragonborn
06-10	Dwarves
11-30	Lizardfolk
31-40	Hobgoblins
41-50	Orcs
51-60	Halfings
61-00	Humans

Hostile Domain

d100	Race
01-05	Frost giants
06-10	Kobolds
11-30	Orcs
31-40	Hobgoblins
41-50	Undead
51-60	Gnolls
61-00	Humans

Non-Anarch Domain Disposition. Non-Anarch domains have a disposition that determines events happening in the domain when the characters encounter it. Choose or roll for a domain’s disposition on the Domain Disposition table. Each disposition is described on the table. If you roll no special disposition, the domain is under no unusual stress and reacts based on its attitude.

Domain Disposition

d10	Disposition
1	Under Attack. Roll on the encounter table to determine the type of creatures attacking the domain. Reroll any non-creature results.
2	Dissolving. The domain is slowly falling apart and its inhabitants can’t keep it together.
3	Help with Purpose. Domain denizens looking for help with their purpose asking for direct aid in the task. For instance, lost explorers may be looking for a specific portal back to their home.
4	Mutiny. The denizens of the domain are unhappy with the leadership and plan to overthrow them. The leaders approach the characters, asking for or demanding help with the uprising, or the crew approaches, requesting aid in the uprising.
5	Trading. The domain needs supplies and is hoping to exchange any goods and services they have. Food is rare in Limbo, so they may especially be interested in food if the characters have enough to trade.
6-10	No special disposition.

Priest

A high-level priest built the domain. There is a 50% chance that the priest is evil, and building the domain for an evil god, and a 50% chance that the priest hopes to bring order to the realm.

Wizard

An archmage built a location in limbo as a place to study, research, and hide away from the rigors and annoyances of whatever plane they left. There is a 50% chance that the wizard is evil and is crafting a nefarious plot and a 50% chance the wizard is merely interested in his or her own affairs.

New Monsters of Limbo

Limbo is home to all manner of strange and horrible things. Here are three new creatures that adventurers may encounter while traveling in Limbo.

 

Lillend

Lillends are mysterious celestials that reside in Limbo, specifically Fennimar. Many are skilled in one or more forms of artistic expression, a skill that comes in handy in the ever-changing chaos.

A lillend looks like a human or an elf female (rarely a male) with the lower torso of a multicolored serpent and huge, strikingly patterned wings like a bird’s. The typical lillend’s coils are 20 feet long.

Lillends are lovers of music and art. Gold, even food, means little to them, while a song, story or piece of artwork holds great value. The destruction of art and ill-treatment of artists enrages them. Their grudges are infamous, and they are often encountered seeking violent retribution against enemies of their favorite arts.

Lillends also have a great love of unspoiled wilderness. The wilds remind them of the natural beauty of Fennimar, and they occasionally visit and enjoy similar regions. A lillend is as protective of its chosen wilderness as it is of the arts. These beings sometimes form temporary alliances with rangers, druids, and bards to defend their favorite retreats against the encroachment of civilization. Sometimes, a covey of lillends adopts a tract of wilderness, using any means necessary to drive off despoilers.

[su_note note_color=”#ececec”]

Lillend

Large celestial, chaotic good

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Armor Class 17 (natural armor)

Hit Points 75 (10d10 + 20)

Speed 20 ft., fly 80 ft.

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Abilities Str 20 (+5), Dex 17 (+3), Con 15 (+2), Int 14 (+2), Wis 16 (+3), Cha 18 (+4)

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Saving Throws Con +5, Wis +6, Cha +5

Skills Arcana +5, Nature +8, Performance +5

Damage Resistances fire, radiant

Damage Immunities poison, psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Condition Immunities poisoned

Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages all, telepathy 120 ft.

Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

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Innate Spellcasting. The lillend’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring only verbal components:

• 3/day: darkness, hallucinatory terrain, knock, light
• 1/day: charm person, speak with animals, speak with plants

Spellcasting. The lillend’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). It has the following bard spells prepared:

• Cantrips (at will): dancing lights, minor illusion, prestidigitation
• 1st Level (4 slots): animal friendship, faerie fire, heroism, silent image
• 2nd Level (3 slots): animal messenger, enhance ability, locate object
• 3rd Level (3 slots): hypnotic pattern, major image

Magic Weapons. The lillends weapon attacks are magical.

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Actions

Multiattack. The lillend makes three attacks: two with its sword and one with its constrict.

Long Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage, or 15 (2d10 + 5) slashing damage when wielded with two hands.

Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one Large or smaller creature. Hit: 19 (4d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage , and the target is grappled (escape DC 18). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the lillend can’t constrict another target.

[/su_note]

 

Limbo Petitioner

Limbo’s petitioners are as chaotic as they come. They don’t have any one particular natural form; rather, they’re each a living, thinking, clump of primal chaos matter. They almost always manifest themselves as something specific–a pillar of flame, a misty whirl of air, a dashing wave of water, a column of rock, or some mix. However, they don’t remain in any one form for long. Like their chaotic nature implies, Limbo petitioners are so frivolous they’re likely to get distracted by something else without a moment’s notice, making them poor allies.

[su_note note_color=”#ececec”]

Limbo Petitioner

Medium elemental, chaotic neutral

---

Armor Class 13 in air and fire form, 15 in water form, 17 in earth form

Hit Points 30 (4d8 + 12)

Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (in air form only)

---

Abilities Str 12 (+1), Dex 16 (+3), Con 16 (+3), Int 10 (+0), Wis 6 (-2), Cha 10 (+0)

---

Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, unconscious

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 8

Languages Primordial

Challenge 1 (200 XP)

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Chaotic Form. The petitioner can take on various elemental forms. When first encountered and at the start of each of its turns, roll 1d4 to randomly determine the petitioner’s form.

• 1 – Air Form. The petitioner gains a flying speed of 60 feet.
• 2 – Earth Form. The petitioner’s AC is 17.
• 3 – Fire Form. The petitioner is living fire.
• 4 – Water Form. The petitioner is living water.

Immutable Form. The petitioner is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.

Amorphous (Air, Fire, and Water Form Only). The petitioner can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. It can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.

Flammable (Fire Form Only). A creature that touches the petitioner or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 3 (1d6) fire damage. In addition, the petitioner can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. The first time it enters a creature’s space on a turn, that creature takes 3 (1d6) fire damage and catches fire; until someone takes an action to douse the fire, the creatures 3 (1d6) fire damage at the start of each of its turns.

Illumination (Fire Form Only). The petitioner sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light in an additional 30 feet.

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Actions

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) bludgeoning damage, or 8 (2d6 + 1) if it is in its earth form. If the petitioner is in its fire form, it deals an additional 3 (1d6) fire damage; if the target is a creature or a flammable object, it ignites. Until a creature takes an action to douse the fire, the targets 3 (1d6) fire damage at the start of each of its turns.

[/su_note]

 

Chaos Dragon

Although sharing some broad characteristic, chaos dragons vary immensely in appearance. In general, they all share a muscular body with strong wings, long necks, and irregular tails. However, their scale patterns and colors change from individual to individual. In fact, it was speculated that a single individual’s appearance also changes over time.

Chaos dragons essentially seek to undermine and destabilize society and civilization in general. Good-aligned individuals do so in order to promote positive change, while evil ones wish simply to spread violence and destruction.

A group of githzerai attempted to forge an alliance with chaos dragons in an attempt to replicate the bond between the githyanki and red dragons. The effort was largely a failure due to the chaos dragons’ unpredictability and disloyalty. However, some successful exceptions existed and, in rare cases, collaborations between chaos dragons and githzerai could be found

[su_note note_color=”#ececec”]

Ancient Chaos Dragon

Gargantuan dragon, any chaotic

---

Armor Class 22 (natural armor)

Hit Points 402 (23d20 + 161)

Speed 40 ft., fly 80 ft.

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Abilities Str 27 (+8), Dex 12 (+1), Con 24 (+7), Int 16 (+3), Wis 9 (-1), Cha 19 (+4)

---

Saving Throws Dex +8, Con +14, Wis +6, Cha +11

Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison

Condition Immunities charmed, poisoned

Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 9

Languages Common, Draconic, Primordial

Challenge 23 (50,000 XP)

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Innate Spellcasting (1/Day). The dragon can innately cast mislead (spell save DC 19), requiring only verbal components. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Random Energy Type. Each time the dragon deals damage that calls for a randomly determined energy type, roll a d6 to determine the type of damage it deals: 1 – acid, 2 – cold, 3 – fire, 4 – lightning, 5 – necrotic, 6 – radiant.

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Actions

Multiattack. The dragon can use its Maddening Presence. It then makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 8) piercing damage. In addition, it deals an additional 10 (3d6) damage of a randomly determined energy type.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d6 + 8) slashing damage.

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage.

Maddening Presence. Each creature of the dragon’s choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed saving throw, the creature becomes paralyzed for 1 minute. The effect ends if the character takes any damage or a creature uses its action to shake or slap the character out of it. A creature that succeeds its saving throw or the effect ends for it is immune to the dragon’s Maddening Presence for the next 24 hours.

Breath Weapons (Recharge 5-6). The dragon uses one of the following breath weapons.

• Confusion Breath. The dragon exhales a toxic gas in a 90-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or become confused for 1 minute as if affected by the confusion spell.
• Chaos Breath. The dragon exhales energy in a 90-foot line that is 10 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 24 Dexterity saving throw or take 77 (22d6) damage of a randomly determined energy type.

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Legendary Actions

The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

• Tail Attack. The dragon makes a tail attack.
• Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 15 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 23 (Dexterity saving throw or take 15 (2d6 + 8) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half is flying speed.

[/su_note]

 

Githzerai Monastery

For random encounters in Limbo involving gith, use this map from cartographer Christopher West.

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