I can imagine a druid circle starting here amongst people who betrayed nature. Druids who seek to expand Carceri because they believe it exemplifies what nature should be. Lich-druids and other nastiness.
My favorite story of Carceri was that of the Ship of the Dead One Hundred. Appropriately there's a ship trapped in the fifth layer of Carceri that's bone white, creepy and silent, disappearing from one orb and reappearing on another. The ship is usually not empty, but is seemingly crewed by force of will alone, but it is often inhabited by the souls of the damned and demons often hitch a ride on it but every now and then it pulls into some random port in the prison plane. Deep within the bowels of the ship however there is EXACTLY 100 coffins, ranging from tiny to massive, but there is EXACTLY 100 of them. Woe betide to anyone who tries to open them however, as whenever it is done so, some calamity spreads throughout the ship eradicating any inhabitant aboard and whenever they do so the ship always turns up in it's next port empty, no trace of any denizens aboard the ship, not even a drop of blood. Not surprisingly the ship's ad hoc inhabitants usually take a grim view of anyone dumb enough to try and open any of the coffins. Some say that the ship is waiting till the end of the blood war between demons and devils to truly deliver it's content but until then it's doomed to the prison plane awaiting at last the end of it's gruesome task.
Fascinating. I can picture a mage clawing his way up from the innermost 5th level to the outer level, and making a bid to escape by making a Gate that leads beyond the farthest globe of the first level, only to wind up gating himself back to the 5th level. "This way to the egress" indeed.
That moment when the mage stares blankly around, the dawning realisation of how badly they miscalculated and the dwindling supply of arcane resources they have left... and then there is a chorus of sneering, nasty, taunting laughter as the inhabitants watching this misfortune, relish the chance to mock the mage, tell the mage it is hopeless.. unless.. the mage does something for them, which of course does nothing to help the mage and everything to help them, because it is all a lie. Welcome to Carceri.
Thank god I found this. I couldn't understand the layers or the orbs at all but you totally cleared that up for me. Our characters....accidentally....teleported themselves in with a scatter portal spell. Now we're stuck. C8
My idea of the difference between Carceri and Agatheon (Pandemonium) is that Carceri is a place for horrible people & things, that at least need to be remembered, for the harm they did, or to keep tabs on them, to make sure they don't try anything. While Agatheon is for things that are so dangerous & confusing, that it is best for them to be forgotten--even by the gods themselves. Carceri is a high-profile political prison, while Agatheon is a nuclear waste dump.
When I first read about Carceri being a prison plane on the chaos side of the wheel, I was thinking it would be more like Super Jail, or Nan Baka. Even still, this video has been very helpful for me thinking about what to throw at my players when they reach this plane on their tour of the outer planes campaign. But I think I'll still home-brew some sort of Celestial built prison for them to start in. Give them a more traditional prison escape experience before throwing this nightmare at them.
Hey, I just wanna say thank you. I'm a new dm and your videos have been absolutely invaluable to making this work. Thank you so much. Without you, I would have been forced to watch channels like dawnforge cast and shit like that. Thank you.
In the first manuel of the planes, the orbs are further and further apart the deeper in the planar layers you go. The furthest one you can't even see the other orbs in the chain. Otherwise, very close to this presentation.
I feel that carceri needs some interesting stuff so here is my go at that: Firstly the river styx flows thought the first layer and so all creature try to get there, so much so that they spend so much time destroying others that they slow themselves to a crawl, Secondly the plane drains the power of its inhabitants (expect natives) to power the force field that blocks escape, which is my the natives seek more prisoners
I can’t believe you skipped one of Porphatys’ more interesting features: The Ship of One Hundred, sometimes known as The White Caravel. It’s one way to get around there, though it has no crew and no discernible heading. There are one hundred sarcophagi on board and if any of these is opened, everyone onboard dies. All manner of beings ride the ship of one hundred including yugoloths, petitioners and demons.
Don't split your fanbase. Just start doing those videos on this channel. Also, I have hunch that exploring the other settings that have been lost to time... The forgotten realms of d&d you might say, may be something a large number of people are looking for and hasn't been provided very well. Just a thought. Love the videos, keep up the good work.
I'm so glad I finally found this, I'm planning to run a game soon where the party STARTS in Carceri and they have to get their way out back the prime. I'd like to spend a good few sessions in this hell hole (pun intended) making them explore, hunt, and deal with the issues of getting out, thanks AJ :)
For some reason this reminds me of that new video game where their is an endless cycle of planets and endless exploration with no end in sight at first its great but then you start to see patterns repeat themselves and it becomes one of the most horrible games to play because their is no true ending and its just random numbers recreating the same creatures with the same behaviour just looks different but they all have the same stats after a while and you recognize each type by their behaviour or what they eat.
When you do decide to make the forgotten realms videos, instead of making a new cannel couldn't you just make a separate playlist from your monster videos? I like how all your stuff is in one place that way it's easier to find everything.
Interesting to find out about Carceri’s adjacent spheres, when that’s how I’ve been running Celestia, Elysium, Ysgard, etc. (IMO higher planes are able to achieve “infinite” status by carefully stacking, defending, and enchanting every parallel world that makes up those planes)
Not as such, though I do mention conflicts between different monsters now and then in their ecology vids.. for the most part, a conflict between major powers like Asmodeus and Demogorgon would never be resolved with some sort of toe to toe fight between them, since they exist on multiple planes of existence simultaneously and also spread out as networks of conciousness manifesting across both time and space as avatars and possessions, the actual warfare they wage against each other is far too complex and all encompassing a subject to cover.. suffice to say, that destroying one or the other would alter reality from an outsider's perspective, though the inhabitants of the D&D cosmos would be affected as well, and not notice how everything was suddenly different.
do it you should totally make a channel about the forgotten realms. locations history races artifacts etc. And once you feel like you've covered that move on to ebberon and so on.
I realized I was the 666th like on the video right as the intro started playing.... twas ordained! Gonna preemptive strike and say great job on the video as always! Always a pleasure to see your stuff on my recommended
Nice. The entire prison plane in every bit of its nature is akin to life as a prisoner. Not nice about the plane, but nice on how you painted it so clearly. I owe my players a bit of an apology in recovering one of their own... not on the difficulty but of the imagery. I had it more as a scene the chain devils did and more like a real-world prison break with AD&D reality. My version of the plane of imprisonment was kind of lame in comparison. It was just as diverse but the gatekeepers were what I described.
Nice! I don't know if you're aware of this, but the 4e Tomb of Horrors adventure includes a section in the 4e version of Pluton and/or Necromanteon (I think it was Pluton).
Wait, so if Carceri is in between the nine hells and the abyss, how is this plane not a big halt to the Blood War? And also, if the River Styx flows through the plane, why don’t those imprisoned hop on it to get out? And also, which of the orbs does it flow on? Just one? Several? This plane leaves a lot of unanswered questions.
I remember thinking about doing one on them back when I was doing the Giant series, along with Ettins and other non-true giants.. yes, Titans need a mention because they have a lot of historical significance.
So these titans in their palaces and temples are prisoners as well? Does that mean in building these homes for themselves they are just making the most of a bad situation or are these beings so powerful that they actually enjoy themselves, impervious to it's torments?
I totally thought as they were going through the Greek Titans when we got to the final layer that would be Cronos prison, since he’s imprisoned in carceri for his war against the gods. But I guess maybe they never specify which level he’s on?
Could you also do a Cliff's Notes version of other settings as well. It would be a great excuse to familiarize yourself with Eberon, as well as a bunch of 2nd edition settings like Ravenloft & Dark Sun.
Here's what an "optional" (probably canon) rule from The Dungeon Master's Guide says: "No one can leave Carceri easily. Magical efforts to leave the plane by any spell other than a Wish simply fail. Portals and gates that open onto the plane become one-way only. Secret ways out of the plane exist, but they are hidden and well guarded by traps and deadly monsters."
Did you really pronounce Hades as "Haids" instead of "Hay-dees"? I'm also thinking Carceri may be pronounced "Kar-Keri" but I may be wrong on that one.
Depends. I'd say in most cases, no, because the powers inside Carceri don't have much influence outside of Carceri. But, never say never, there are exceptions to every rule.
Would this be a plane some one hides an artifact that shouldn’t be found? Like a doomsday devise or something, hidden in a way that the denizens either don’t know it’s there or protect it by mistake or misinformation. Then the party must find a way to it and a way out with it.
I disagree with your example of a person who could help others with their wealth but dont. It sounds more like a why "it's easier to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven" kind of a situation. I guess it's up to the gods to decide how many gold coins in your bag of holding should have gone to the poor when you die. Though since its neutral evil souls going their, I wouldn't be surprised if that's how they got their wealth on the first place.
Barely any videos made by anyone on this can.you make a more detailed vid on this why would a party ever venture here unless they were sent there against their will
Isn't Hades pronounced, "Hay-deez" instead of, "Haydz?" I ask in all seriousness, being ignorant in these things, as well as appreciative of proper pronunciation.
It sure is silly to refer to planes and layers of existence. When the cosmogony uses the idiotic copernican heliocentric planet model. Drop this notion, refer to existence as realms, some more thinly veiled than others, the furthest extents of which is not clearly defined. Far better continuity !
"this is basically the plane of the hotel california" lmao
h-AID-s
That's what you get in The Hotel Carceri.
I can imagine a druid circle starting here amongst people who betrayed nature. Druids who seek to expand Carceri because they believe it exemplifies what nature should be. Lich-druids and other nastiness.
Carceri - the Australia of the planes. Everything is poisons and/or wants to eat you.
even the inhabitants?
especially the inhabitants.
Fair enough
and then turned the whole place into the prison for the worst of the worst
My favorite story of Carceri was that of the Ship of the Dead One Hundred. Appropriately there's a ship trapped in the fifth layer of Carceri that's bone white, creepy and silent, disappearing from one orb and reappearing on another. The ship is usually not empty, but is seemingly crewed by force of will alone, but it is often inhabited by the souls of the damned and demons often hitch a ride on it but every now and then it pulls into some random port in the prison plane. Deep within the bowels of the ship however there is EXACTLY 100 coffins, ranging from tiny to massive, but there is EXACTLY 100 of them. Woe betide to anyone who tries to open them however, as whenever it is done so, some calamity spreads throughout the ship eradicating any inhabitant aboard and whenever they do so the ship always turns up in it's next port empty, no trace of any denizens aboard the ship, not even a drop of blood. Not surprisingly the ship's ad hoc inhabitants usually take a grim view of anyone dumb enough to try and open any of the coffins. Some say that the ship is waiting till the end of the blood war between demons and devils to truly deliver it's content but until then it's doomed to the prison plane awaiting at last the end of it's gruesome task.
Fascinating.
I can picture a mage clawing his way up from the innermost 5th level to the outer level, and making a bid to escape by making a Gate that leads beyond the farthest globe of the first level, only to wind up gating himself back to the 5th level.
"This way to the egress" indeed.
That moment when the mage stares blankly around, the dawning realisation of how badly they miscalculated and the dwindling supply of arcane resources they have left... and then there is a chorus of sneering, nasty, taunting laughter as the inhabitants watching this misfortune, relish the chance to mock the mage, tell the mage it is hopeless.. unless.. the mage does something for them, which of course does nothing to help the mage and everything to help them, because it is all a lie.
Welcome to Carceri.
Some weary old lich turns his head to look at the mage: first time?
Thank god I found this. I couldn't understand the layers or the orbs at all but you totally cleared that up for me. Our characters....accidentally....teleported themselves in with a scatter portal spell. Now we're stuck. C8
Did they manage to escape?
I've DM'd a lot of campaigns & never explored that plane.
Its been a year. Tell us what happened already.
@@johnsnow9210 he is still there...lol
did you escape? 2 years and counting...
3 years. Guess he's still stuck there.
My idea of the difference between Carceri and Agatheon (Pandemonium) is that Carceri is a place for horrible people & things, that at least need to be remembered, for the harm they did, or to keep tabs on them, to make sure they don't try anything. While Agatheon is for things that are so dangerous & confusing, that it is best for them to be forgotten--even by the gods themselves. Carceri is a high-profile political prison, while Agatheon is a nuclear waste dump.
No one in the history of ever has pronounced hades as “Heyds” lol. Keep up the great videos. Lore lore lore
The funnier thing is watching people freeze and process when you tell them Greek doesn't have an H.
@scorncatalyst There's no explicit h but an a with a certain accent sounds like one. "Ha". Like that.
It's known but underrated how much the artwork does for the imagination of these things
If your doing videos on locations in D&D, I would love to see a video on the City of Brass.
When I first read about Carceri being a prison plane on the chaos side of the wheel, I was thinking it would be more like Super Jail, or Nan Baka. Even still, this video has been very helpful for me thinking about what to throw at my players when they reach this plane on their tour of the outer planes campaign.
But I think I'll still home-brew some sort of Celestial built prison for them to start in. Give them a more traditional prison escape experience before throwing this nightmare at them.
Hey, I just wanna say thank you. I'm a new dm and your videos have been absolutely invaluable to making this work. Thank you so much. Without you, I would have been forced to watch channels like dawnforge cast and shit like that. Thank you.
Thanks a bunch for making this video! I'm planning a campaign set in Carceri, and a lot of this information is very helpful and inspiring.
I love this. Been wanting to toss my party into Carceri ever since I heard of it and videos like yours just make that vision even clearer, thank you!
In the first manuel of the planes, the orbs are further and further apart the deeper in the planar layers you go. The furthest one you can't even see the other orbs in the chain. Otherwise, very close to this presentation.
Ah, good to know! Thanks.
I feel that carceri needs some interesting stuff so here is my go at that:
Firstly the river styx flows thought the first layer and so all creature try to get there, so much so that they spend so much time destroying others that they slow themselves to a crawl,
Secondly the plane drains the power of its inhabitants (expect natives) to power the force field that blocks escape, which is my the natives seek more prisoners
I can’t believe you skipped one of Porphatys’ more interesting features: The Ship of One Hundred, sometimes known as The White Caravel. It’s one way to get around there, though it has no crew and no discernible heading. There are one hundred sarcophagi on board and if any of these is opened, everyone onboard dies. All manner of beings ride the ship of one hundred including yugoloths, petitioners and demons.
Thanks!
That’s from a later edition. It’s not in 2e planescape, that’s why it’s not there.
Always cone back to your old videos.
Great introduction
Loved this one! Great work, AJ.
Great stuff
Cant beleive this isnt a top 5 star vacation destination
I'm sure it would be, but it is just so hard getting the pamphlets out!
@@AJPickett That, and even though you can check out any time you like, you can never leave.
Living it up on the plane of Carceri - such a lovely place...such a lovely place...
Don't split your fanbase. Just start doing those videos on this channel. Also, I have hunch that exploring the other settings that have been lost to time... The forgotten realms of d&d you might say, may be something a large number of people are looking for and hasn't been provided very well. Just a thought. Love the videos, keep up the good work.
I'm so glad I finally found this, I'm planning to run a game soon where the party STARTS in Carceri and they have to get their way out back the prime. I'd like to spend a good few sessions in this hell hole (pun intended) making them explore, hunt, and deal with the issues of getting out, thanks AJ :)
I recall reading that the only real way to escape from Carceri is to grow stronger than whatever sent you there.
For some reason this reminds me of that new video game where their is an endless cycle of planets and endless exploration with no end in sight at first its great but then you start to see patterns repeat themselves and it becomes one of the most horrible games to play because their is no true ending and its just random numbers recreating the same creatures with the same behaviour just looks different but they all have the same stats after a while and you recognize each type by their behaviour or what they eat.
Yes! Do more with your explorer series!
When you do decide to make the forgotten realms videos, instead of making a new cannel couldn't you just make a separate playlist from your monster videos? I like how all your stuff is in one place that way it's easier to find everything.
Blue Toad I could do with some sorting of the current play list, put the various series in their own lists.
Interesting to find out about Carceri’s adjacent spheres, when that’s how I’ve been running Celestia, Elysium, Ysgard, etc. (IMO higher planes are able to achieve “infinite” status by carefully stacking, defending, and enchanting every parallel world that makes up those planes)
You've sure come a long way.
Hi AJ, I have a question if I may; which area of Carceri is the titan Cronus imprisoned on?
I'm not sure sorry, somewhere very secret, deep in the plane, in the heart of one of thousands of identical seeming worlds
I just love this channel! ever consider doing any versus series? asmodeous versus demoggoran, be great fun
Not as such, though I do mention conflicts between different monsters now and then in their ecology vids.. for the most part, a conflict between major powers like Asmodeus and Demogorgon would never be resolved with some sort of toe to toe fight between them, since they exist on multiple planes of existence simultaneously and also spread out as networks of conciousness manifesting across both time and space as avatars and possessions, the actual warfare they wage against each other is far too complex and all encompassing a subject to cover.. suffice to say, that destroying one or the other would alter reality from an outsider's perspective, though the inhabitants of the D&D cosmos would be affected as well, and not notice how everything was suddenly different.
"Mutated shaggy demon characters"
Me: Zoinks!
Or as it's referred to by the peoples of the Kingdom of Klungus "The Multiversal Mindfuck of Carceri"
earned a new subscriber =)
"The planes are like onions"
Thanks again ;)
ever think of doing a video specifically on yugoloths (also inhabitors of carceri and the blood rift) ?
Yes! I have been itching to cover Yugoloths for about a whole year, but have so many topics to get through :)
Carceri: home of the Taterian Dragon (which are generally described as both Wardens and Prisioners in the realm).
so the yugoloth and fiends that are on carceri are also trapped there? or can they leave if they want?
Locations and well known characters would be great.
do it you should totally make a channel about the forgotten realms.
locations
history
races
artifacts
etc.
And once you feel like you've covered that move on to ebberon and so on.
shrieking terror video not found? still planning on that at some point?
Dorrmamu, I've come to bargain!
Top notch stuff! Thanks :)
btw what's the name of the song at the beginning?
Thank you! check out ruclips.net/video/1qKS51qh4OY/видео.html for the mix where this intro was sampled originally.
I realized I was the 666th like on the video right as the intro started playing.... twas ordained! Gonna preemptive strike and say great job on the video as always! Always a pleasure to see your stuff on my recommended
Nice. The entire prison plane in every bit of its nature is akin to life as a prisoner. Not nice about the plane, but nice on how you painted it so clearly. I owe my players a bit of an apology in recovering one of their own... not on the difficulty but of the imagery. I had it more as a scene the chain devils did and more like a real-world prison break with AD&D reality. My version of the plane of imprisonment was kind of lame in comparison. It was just as diverse but the gatekeepers were what I described.
Sounds like a living nightmare
cool, found you since mrrhex hasnt done a video on this before for some reason lol
Nice! I don't know if you're aware of this, but the 4e Tomb of Horrors adventure includes a section in the 4e version of Pluton and/or Necromanteon (I think it was Pluton).
I was not aware of that! Thanks JestaKilla
You got Necromanteion but not The Ship of One Hundred?
More please.
With Forgotten Realms, might be a better start to begin with the various subsettings tied into it...Mazteka, Kara-Tur, and others of the type...
AzraelThanatos good idea
Oh yeah do The Realms!!
Tarteri landscape reminds me of picture of the Planet Titan and Venus.
I love Car Siri
Carceri, from the description of the video, sounds like the oubliette of the Cosmos.
Caladonius the Inquisitive kind of, yeah.
Are you gonna talk about plane called Gahanna yugoloths live?
Wait, so if Carceri is in between the nine hells and the abyss, how is this plane not a big halt to the Blood War? And also, if the River Styx flows through the plane, why don’t those imprisoned hop on it to get out? And also, which of the orbs does it flow on? Just one? Several? This plane leaves a lot of unanswered questions.
Directly in between is the gray wastes of hades. All of them, I think. From Greek mythology I don’t think going into Styx is a good idea.
Hey I know you have a full list but I think it would be cool to do a vid on titans (you don't have to but I wanted to give you an idea).
I remember thinking about doing one on them back when I was doing the Giant series, along with Ettins and other non-true giants.. yes, Titans need a mention because they have a lot of historical significance.
So these titans in their palaces and temples are prisoners as well? Does that mean in building these homes for themselves they are just making the most of a bad situation or are these beings so powerful that they actually enjoy themselves, impervious to it's torments?
Making the best of it. If you are going to spend eternity there you might as well make your home as opulent and decadent as possible.
Prison gangs.
I totally thought as they were going through the Greek Titans when we got to the final layer that would be Cronos prison, since he’s imprisoned in carceri for his war against the gods. But I guess maybe they never specify which level he’s on?
I'll be sure to planeshift my DM's BBEG here next opportunity
Could you also do a Cliff's Notes version of other settings as well. It would be a great excuse to familiarize yourself with Eberon, as well as a bunch of 2nd edition settings like Ravenloft & Dark Sun.
Yeah I think I should, as I often mention them in my vids. Good call.
So does a Plane Shift spell not work here? Would think that would be an easy way out.
Here's what an "optional" (probably canon) rule from The Dungeon Master's Guide says: "No one can leave Carceri easily. Magical efforts to leave the plane by any spell other than a Wish simply fail. Portals and gates that open onto the plane become one-way only. Secret ways out of the plane exist, but they are hidden and well guarded by traps and deadly monsters."
Did you make that second channel and I just haven't found it yet or did you decide not to I just don't want to miss out on the lore
Decided not to
Ok I didn't want to miss out thanks for the info
I'm catching up :)
So what causes a soul to be trapped in Carceri rather than the nine hells? I'm having a some trouble getting my brain around this.
Lawful evil goes to 9 hells, neutral evil goes to carceri, I think.
I thought you'd be taller.
Coming in 6 years later and hearing that you were awkward with scripts makes me laugh. ❤😊
Mah heritage
It's a good thing politicians have their own layer, because otherwise we'd have to choose between several good options
Sounds like a 5th dimensional hyper sphere. Groovy.
Thanks for video. Also First.
Sounds like an interesting place to visit, if only it was practical to.
Did you really pronounce Hades as "Haids" instead of "Hay-dees"? I'm also thinking Carceri may be pronounced "Kar-Keri" but I may be wrong on that one.
A year later to get your answer!
The realm takes its name from "Incarceration" cause, y'know, prison.
I want that certificate so bad...
What's the point of punishing somoene for their mortal sins if they never even remember being mortal by the time they arrive?
it's still punishment and they're still evil
Amazing video but I feel the violent urge to smash my computer every time you pronounce hades lmao
Hay-dezz
a video on Athas/Dark Sun?
So, basically, it's Hell, lol.
One of the many, yeah
I like how everything is infinite but there is a finite number of infinities. Us clueless berks just can't get it.
I can see where Mortal Kombat got their ideas for Outworld from
Dang near copy pasted lol
If someone was to escape Carceri would the equivalent of a devilish/demonic police force come after you?
Depends. I'd say in most cases, no, because the powers inside Carceri don't have much influence outside of Carceri. But, never say never, there are exceptions to every rule.
@@AJPickett Thanks for the reply AJ much appreciated
is kinda ironic that a god of death who looks like a skeleton of sorts can even die XD
it's a demon realm
Would this be a plane some one hides an artifact that shouldn’t be found? Like a doomsday devise or something, hidden in a way that the denizens either don’t know it’s there or protect it by mistake or misinformation. Then the party must find a way to it and a way out with it.
Could serve as one, yes.
Agatheon in Pandemonium would be a smarter place to hide something. It’s really hard to get there, there’s no air and basically no one lives there.
"Hades?" Like... multiple Hade? Hmm. Hades is a very common word, I am surprised you mispronounce it.
Hay-deez you mean? Yeah, fair call, I mangle that word.
That's the one. :-D
Hay-deez
nuts.
11th!
lol, not you to!
I disagree with your example of a person who could help others with their wealth but dont. It sounds more like a why "it's easier to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven" kind of a situation. I guess it's up to the gods to decide how many gold coins in your bag of holding should have gone to the poor when you die. Though since its neutral evil souls going their, I wouldn't be surprised if that's how they got their wealth on the first place.
Barely any videos made by anyone on this can.you make a more detailed vid on this why would a party ever venture here unless they were sent there against their will
Car sir eye
Hay deez
Tech nee cal En Sie Clo Pee Dee ah... see, I can also speak greek.
@@AJPickett 😊
Isn't Hades pronounced, "Hay-deez" instead of, "Haydz?" I ask in all seriousness, being ignorant in these things, as well as appreciative of proper pronunciation.
It sure is silly to refer to planes and layers of existence.
When the cosmogony uses the idiotic copernican heliocentric planet model.
Drop this notion, refer to existence as realms, some more thinly veiled than others, the furthest extents of which is not clearly defined. Far better continuity !
I do what I want.