The Metaplanes

Lore & Background

In the Shadowrun setting, the Metaplanes are not distant, unreachable realms. They are layered directly over the Physical Plane, accessible to any sufficiently trained adept or mage. The Astral Plane is the most commonly traversed: it is the plane where magical energy manifests, where spirits can be summoned or encountered, and where astral combat takes place. When a runner jacks into astral form, the world around them shifts—the grey concrete of a Seattle warehouse becomes a field of radiating color, the air thickens with visible currents of elemental force, and the spirits that have always been there finally become visible, translucent and luminous.

The Elemental Plane is the wellspring of the four classical elements—earth, air, fire, and water. Elemental spirits are drawn from this plane, and a mage's elemental spells tap into its raw energy. The Spirit Plane is deeper still, the origin point from which spirits are born and to which they return. It is less frequently accessed in gameplay but looms large in the mythology of the setting, a place of primordial will where the boundaries between self and spirit grow thin.

The Metaplanes are not static. In the Shadowrun timeline, the return of magic to the world after the Fall—when the planes collapsed and magic vanished—reshaped the relationship between the Physical and the Metaplanes. The planes are now permeable, and the constant bleed of astral energy into the physical world is what allows mages to cast, adepts to project, and spirits to manifest in the streets of the sprawl. This permeability is also a vulnerability: astral intrusions, spirit incursions, and elemental surges can tear through the physical world, making the Metaplanes as much a threat as a resource.

In Their Own Story

The warehouse had been quiet for three days. Kira could feel it in the way the astral currents pooled in the corners, thick and slow, like honey in a jar. She closed her eyes, let her consciousness slip past the membrane, and the world *bloomed*.

The concrete floor was gone. In its place stretched a plain of deep indigo, shot through with veins of molten gold where the fire element bled upward. The crates of corporate hardware she'd been guarding were now rough-hewn pillars of compressed earth, their edges still warm. And there, coiled between two of them, was the thing that had been making the static on her comms for two days.

A spirit. Not a summoned one—something old, something that had been waiting in the Elemental Plane for a crack in the world wide enough to slip through. Its eyes were two slow-burning coals, and when it turned them toward her, the air tasted of ozone and iron.

Kira did not draw a weapon. She had no weapon. In the astral, you didn't need one. You needed *will*, and she had a hell of a lot of that.

Reader's Guide

The Metaplanes function as a recurring setting and mechanic across the Shadowrun video game titles rather than a single standalone campaign. In Shadowrun: Hong Kong – Extended Edition, for example, missions shift into astral form mid-combat, transforming the urban environment into a color-saturated metaphysical space where spirits are visible and elemental forces act as hazards or tools. The player's approach changes: instead of managing ammo and cover, they rely on magical resonance, spirit alliances, and elemental manipulation.

The Astral Plane is the most frequently accessed layer. It is where astral combat occurs, where summoned spirits manifest, and where the physical world is rendered in a distinct visual language—saturated hues, visible energy currents, and translucent spirit forms. The Elemental Plane underpins the elemental magic system, providing the source for fire, ice, earth, and air effects seen in both tabletop and video game play. The Spirit Plane, while less directly playable, informs the origin of the spirits encountered throughout the games and the deeper magical lore.

Narratively, the Metaplanes tie into the broader Shadowrun premise: magic has returned to a cyberpunk world, and the planes are now permeable. Corporate factions, street samurai, and independent mages all contend for control over astral access and spirit resources. In the tabletop RPG, dedicated adventures and sourcebooks expand on Metaplane exploration, astral travel, and the politics of the spirit world, giving GMs and players a structured framework for campaigns that move beyond the physical sprawl. In the video games, these same themes are distilled into mission design: enter the astral, face the spirit, survive the elemental surge, and return to the physical world with the contract fulfilled.

Did You Know?

• In the Shadowrun setting, the Metaplanes are layered directly over the Physical Plane rather than existing as separate, distant realms—meaning astral space occupies the same coordinates as the street you just walked down
• Astral combat in the Shadowrun games changes the visual palette of the environment entirely, rendering the physical world in saturated, non-naturalistic colors to signal the shift in plane.
• The return of magic to the Shadowrun world after the historical 'Fall' is what made the Metaplanes permeable again, allowing spirits and elemental forces to bleed into the physical streets.
• Elemental spirits in Shadowrun are drawn from the Elemental Plane, and a mage's elemental spells are understood as drawing on that plane's raw energy rather than generating it from nothing.