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Is there a list or reference somewhere showing what meals and / or beverages each outer plane in the Great Wheel Cosmology is best known for?

I am putting together a campaign idea for my PCs, a variant on Smokey and the Bandit. In that movie, there’s a bet that Bandit and Snowman can drive to Texarkana and bring back to Georgia 400 cases of Coors beer within 28 hours.

My idea is that to win a bet the PCs would travel to the four corner Outer planes in the Great Wheel Cosmology, and pick up a signature meal or beverage at each of those four planes, in a time limit, maybe 8 hours. I’m willing to Make Up Stuff, like “Angel Food Cake” from Celestia and “Extremely Hot Salsa made with Peppers from the Abyss”. However, if precedent exists, I’d like to follow it.

If you ask someone on the street which country is better known for Poutine and which for Pasta, chances are they’ll associate Pasta with Italy and Poutine with Canada. That level of association is what I’m going for.

I care more about the Great Wheel Cosmology than I do about game systems. I run a Pathfinder 1e game (which I know does not support the Great Wheel) and will bend whatever I find into Pathfinder 1e. That’s why I have not added a dnd-5e nor Pathfinder 1e tag here.

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    \$\begingroup\$ This seems... oddly specific. I'm not sure there are "travel guides to the planes" that would cover such specific information... \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Apr 18, 2020 at 5:07

2 Answers 2

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Since you mentioned the four corner planes, I assume you mean Celestia, Arborea, Baator, and the Abyss (Lawful Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil, and Chaotic Evil).

One issue with this sort of question is that the residents of these planes tend to be of the outsider type. In Pathfinder: "Outsiders breathe, but do not need to eat or sleep (although they can do so if they wish). Native outsiders breathe, eat, and sleep." I think the whole notion of the typical food of each of these planes runs into the fact that their residents typically simply do not eat (unless "souls" counts as the local cuisine). That said, since some of these planes have mortal residents, and because food can be found in some despite the fact that the local inhabitants don't need it, we have a few examples.

  • Apparently the mead of Arvandor, one of the layers of Arborea, is fairly well-known in the Faerun setting. It seems to be prepared by the elven residents, rather than any kind of outsider. Apparently their rations are also famous. From the video game Planescape: Torment, we also know that there are Arborean fireseeds. It is unclear whether these are eaten in Arborea, or whether they simply come from that plane. It seems that In the Cage indicates that these seeds are brewed into a kind of wine, firewine. There also is a fruit called "Thane's pear" that grows in Arborea.

  • No one will be surprised that ambrosia is consumed in Celestia, at least according to the Book of Exalted Deeds.

    A mysterious substance made from distilled joy, ambrosia is celestial food, the heavenly sustenance of Celestia.

    Of course, the good-aligned outsiders that live on that plane do not need sustenance, exactly, but perhaps they simply enjoy the flavor.

  • There are a number of foods that come from the Abyss. Stonesulder wine comes from plants native to the Abyss (although it is unclear whether demons drink it). Moonhoney also comes from the Abyss, although it is again doubtful whether demons consume it. Finally, Quelaerel was made from boiled Abyssal grubs.

  • In Baator, according to Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells, there are various substances that devils use to intoxicate themselves:

    The sweet, ropy liquid called gughalaki (produced in Maladomini from the scent glands of fiendish centipedes) serves this purpose well, delivering a potent, nearly hallucinogenic punch. Infernal wine, distilled from the fire grapes of Phlegethos, packs a somewhat subtler jolt. Screecher, a concoction recently discovered in the refurbished layer of Malbolge, provides a dulling, acrid tipple for the lowliest of devils.

    These could be considered food.

With all of these planes having at least one beverage, it should be fairly easy to stick with the flavor of the movie. Grab some ambrosia from the archons, buy some firewine from the elves of Arvandor, bargain with the devils for infernal wine, and dodge the demons while trying to find stonesulder wine.

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    \$\begingroup\$ So... food is rare in the outlands (or not maybe just not interesting), but booze is all over the <s>place</s> planes. \$\endgroup\$
    – Roflo
    Apr 18, 2020 at 23:35
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  • Chaotic Good: Homemade Marijuana Brownies
  • Lawful Good: Fair Trade Organic Kale
  • Lawful Evil: Factory-made Nachos, made with child labour and extra hot peppers.
  • Chaotic Evil: Free Range Organic Soylent Green.
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