I understand that not every person can just whip out a planeshift at will, but most Planescape sources I've read don't even seem to acknowledge the possibility.
Perhaps my ignorance of 2e is showing through. I believe that Teleport without Error used to grant passage between planes, albeit with a fairly high risk of mishap, aye? What about other spells? Astral Projection (or its 2e equivalent), Planeshift (did it exist) or Gate (did it allow transport, or just calling?).
I see the potential usefulness of not having to waste a spell slot or 3 on interplanar travel, but is the option even open, or am I missing something?
I've asked this in one form or another on other occasions, but I'm still rather Clueless: Why is it assumed that the only way to enter a plane is through use of a portal?
Most Planescape adventures were geared toward low to mid-level parties, who didn't have other forms of planar travel available.
There's an extensive study of all the plane-shifting magical items in the Planewalker's Handbook, however. The amulet of the planes, cubic gate, oil of etherealness, plate mail of etherealness, the bag of holding inside a portable hole trick, the rod of passage, Trinia's Catalogue of Outer Planar Artifacts, and the well of many worlds all allowed planar travel.
Spells available in 2nd edition included Astral spell, Plane Shift, Banishment, Shadow walk, Etherealness, Gate, Astral window, Wish, Teleport Without Error, Join With Astral Traveler, and Maze.
These were all spells PCs could eventually get, if the campaign went on that long, but a lot of Planescape adventures were for lower level characters, so they needed portals, conduits, vortices, and planar paths to travel from place to place.
Also remember that planar travel magic isn't possible within the City of Doors - you need a portal to get out of Sigil no matter what level you are.
Perhaps my ignorance of 2e is showing through. I believe that Teleport without Error used to grant passage between planes, albeit with a fairly high risk of mishap, aye?
You could TPwithoutE at the normal miss chance for regular ol' level 5 teleport. However, the 2e miss chance was high/low rather than 3e's near/far. Shooting low meant you were worm food. If you were very familiar with where you were going there was only a 1% chance, but that is still a 1% chance of no save death. At lower levels of familiarity there were higher chances of mishap, and that is one reason given on why fiends didn't just BAMF! around to do surprise Blood War assaults.
Also remember that planar travel magic isn't possible within the City of Doors - you need a portal to get out of Sigil no matter what level you are.
Actually, you can get out of sigil if you have a natural plane shifting ability (like githzerai)
Actually, you can get out of sigil if you have a natural plane shifting ability (like githzerai)
You totally can't. Not even if you're a githzerai. Planar mancatchers are only useful in Sigil for stopping teleportation and dimension door-type effects.
Beyond Countless Doorways has a planar feature called convergence. Planes shift around slightly and move in and out of convergence. Planes under severance are inaccessible to each other, so that you can't plane shift from one to the other. The great thing is that there's no rules governing which are in and out of convergence, so the DM has full power to dictate in which order the characters have to island-hop to get back home.
Wasn't it in 2nd edition that spells that worked through Astral travel (like plane shift) only allowed access to the first layer of a plane?
Yes, and IMC this is still the case if you're shifting to a plane for the first time. Also, you simply can't target a layer which you haven't previously visited (or at least got some extensive knowledge on).
One thing that noone here mentioned (I think) was the fact that in Planescape, "adjacent" planes often have some sort of a natural border area, which you can usually walk through. I had always assumed that this works for top layers only, but I could never confirm that (IIRC).
Wasn't it in 2nd edition that spells that worked through Astral travel (like plane shift) only allowed access to the first layer of a plane? Lots of small technicalities like that get ignored a lot, even in 2nd edition. And they've been overwritten most of the time in 3rd edition.
I know that in 3e, Astral Projection only reaches the first layer, but for Plane Shift, I don't believe you have any control over where you arrive on the plane, which I'd think'd be rather scary. On Celestia, too, I think it is only possible to arrive on the first layer, no matter which method you use, but I may be wrong.
You totally can't. Not even if you're a githzerai. Planar mancatchers are only useful in Sigil for stopping teleportation and dimension door-type effects.
"It was made to catch githyanki, githzerai, and other creatures that can plane shift, teleport, or otherwise give 'em the laugh at will. While spell- or item-based plane shifting doesn’t work in the Cage, creatures with innate natural shifting ability are still 'slippery' there."
You almost had me there for a second :D
One thing that noone here mentioned (I think) was the fact that in Planescape, "adjacent" planes often have some sort of a natural border area, which you can usually walk through. I had always assumed that this works for top layers only, but I could never confirm that (IIRC).
They're infinite, so they don't have actual borders, but there are often paths or the river or something
"It was made to catch githyanki, githzerai, and other creatures that can plane shift, teleport, or otherwise give 'em the laugh at will. While spell- or item-based plane shifting doesn’t work in the Cage, creatures with innate natural shifting ability are still 'slippery' there."
What are you quoting, there? That line's not in Well of Worlds or the Planewalker's Handbook. The idea that only portals will get you in and out of Sigil is pretty much Rule One of the setting. That's why it's called the Cage, berk.
"Pure fact is that there's only one way in and out of Sigil, and that's through the portals that link it to everywhere." - Sigil and Beyond, page 54.
"The only way in or out of Sigil is through the portals that show up in the doorways, archways, windows, manholes, fireplaces, and other openings found throughout the city. Nothing else - spells, magical items, innate powers, or anything else - gets a body into or out of the Cage. That's the way the Lady wants it." - Planewalker's Handbook, page 9.
The idea that spells don't work but spell-like abilities do is terribly arbitrary, flying in the face of all rules that govern such matters.
One thing that noone here mentioned (I think) was the fact that in Planescape, "adjacent" planes often have some sort of a natural border area, which you can usually walk through.
No, there are natural portals that connect "adjacent" planes, and the various planar rivers, but no border areas like the Inner Planes have. The region around a natural portal - like a gate town - is "tainted" by the proximity of the neighboring plane, which makes it border-like in feel, but you need to actually find the portal and the key (if any) to get through, or wait for the entire area to slide across. See "The Great Road" in A DM Guide to the Planes.
The Manual of the Planes did speak vaguely of borders, however.
What are you quoting, there? That line's not in Well of Worlds or the Planewalker's Handbook. The idea that only portals will get you in and out of Sigil is pretty much Rule One of the setting. That's why it's called the Cage, berk.
Ah! I found the quote - it's in In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil.
It says on the next line "a critter can simply shift to a more hospitable part of Sigil (not to another plane, just to a different part of the Cage)." So, no. Not even in In the Cage do they allow creatures to planeshift out of Sigil.
Sorry about the "berk," earlier; understand that it was a brief attack of in-characterness.
If you can't find the right portal, he might be able to, provided he doesn't incinerate you for wearing an arbitrarily improper color.
Ironically a Mirror of Mental Prowess was used to enter and leave the City in the Dungeon Adventure Nemesis by Christopher Perkins. But then again the Mirror createsa Portal and is a Bounded space and can only be moved from one side...
No, there are natural portals that connect "adjacent" planes, and the various planar rivers, but no border areas like the Inner Planes have.
Huh? I don't mean to contradict the ultimate expert here, but I'm 95% certain that there was some 2E mention of the Outer Planes "thinning out at the edges", occasionally allowing spontaneous passage to the neighbouring plane. Sort of like the planar breaches that the Planar Handbook describes (and needlessly defines).
Are we on the same track on the meaning of the word "adjacent" here?
What are you quoting, there? That line's not in Well of Worlds or the Planewalker's Handbook.
In the cage - a guide to sigil :embarrass
Githyanki or Githzerai could use their Planeshift abilities... however it could only be used to move within the city. No Planeshifting creature could leave the City at all.
Sounds usable
Huh? I don't mean to contradict the ultimate expert here, but I'm 95% certain that there was some 2E mention of the Outer Planes "thinning out at the edges", occasionally allowing spontaneous passage to the neighbouring plane. Sort of like the planar breaches that the Planar Handbook describes (and needlessly defines).
If you include the fact that there's no edges of the outer planes, this can be true. Oceanus and styx are just like pathways that go through one plane and lead you to another and I don't think that always means using portals
Oceanus and styx are just like pathways that go through one plane and lead you to another and I don't think that always means using portals
No, I don't think so either. See the Mimir's Planar Pathway FAQ, which I advocate for obvious reasons.