Which planes would be easy to survive for PCs of low levels?

Question

Assuming a party of PCs(Level 1) would be banished to a plane other than the Material Plane, which planes listed in the DMG would be the easy to survive on for those players?

Assuming, of course, 'survivable' means the plane(or planes) provide breathable air, food, water, and shelter(for 8 or more hours). This requirement(not Survivable requirement) also includes natural wildlife, such as [edible] creatures, [edible] plants, and monsters. These creatures, plants or monsters may or may not have hazards. The land may also have optional hazards.

The possible planes listed in the DMG are the Astral Plane('Starry Plane'), Ethereal Plane('Interlapping Plane'), Feywild('Fairy Plane'), Shadowfell('Shadow Plane'), Elemental Planes('Planes of the Elements'), Material Plane('Plane of the World'), Outer Planes('Planes of the Gods/ Demons'), the Outlands('Plane of Gates'), Sigil('Plane of Doors'), Demiplanes('Plane of Extradimensionality'), and the Far Realm('The "Unknown" Plane).

Answer 1

Feywild

It seems that the Feywild has everything necessary to live there because it has

fireflies buzzing through groves and fields

and

The landscape of the Feywild mirrors the natural world...

and

is inhabited by Sylvan creatures, such as elves

which also indicates that someone could live there. There are definitely dangers as well. It is also called a place of death and is cited as potentially causing memory loss.

Parts of the Inner Planes

The parts of the elemental planes closest to the Material Plane are similar to that plane while the parts farther away become more and more hostile. The better parts of those planes seem reasonably easily survivable. There are earth motes on the Plane of Air, many of which have lush Vegetation. There's also mention of breathable air and even water in some parts of the Plane of Fire. While the information is incomplete with regards to the things needed for survival, the information that is there definitely implies that the regions close to the Material Plane are reasonably hospitable.

Some of the Outer Planes

Information concerning the outer planes is sparse in the DMG but for some of them we can assume that they are hospitable.

• Mount Celestia where travelers can let down their guard. It also has an optional rule very beneficial to the players.

• Bytopia, also called Twin Paradises, one of which is a pastoral landscape.

• Elysium which is a welcome refuge for planar travelers. The optional rule however makes characters unwilling to leave which may be a problem.

• The Beastlands is wild nature. There's definitely food but it's not without danger, the optional rule may turn characters into beasts.

The other Outer Planes are much less hospitable.

Alternative: Demiplanes

Demiplanes have

their own physical laws

and can be pretty much anything. You could therefore have a demiplane that fits your plans for the adventure.

Answer 2

During the 2e, there was an entire campaign setting named Planescape (and it will soon be revitalized for the 5th edition). Planescape took place outside the prime material plane and for most planes of existence (as they were present at the time, a couple of others were added later), it offered some means for a DM to hold games in those planes. For example, even in the elemental plane of fire, you could place the players in the City of Brass and they could survive without bringing special equipment by themselves. So the first answer to your question is that any plane is survivable as long as the DM sees fit. Just read the descriptions in the Dungeon Master's Guide and feel free to concoct your own means for player survival.

Yet amongst all these planes, one was considered especially fit as a base of operations for the player characters: Sigil, the City of Doors. The Planescape campaign setting had "Sigil and Beyond", a gazetteer that introduced Sigil as a starting point for adventures. Sigil has all the amenities of a metropolis, and players can easily survive as long as they can adapt to the city life. Sigil has portals to pretty much every corner of the multiverse, as long as you can find and/or pay for those portals. Sigil was designed as the entry point to planar adventures.

If Sigil is not to your liking because it would need a good amount of preparation, then one other option would be a player-friendly domain of Feywild. As an example of that, you can have a look at the Wild Beyond the Witchlight adventure book.