Prohibited planar layers

[Cicciograna]

For the upcoming campaign I'd like to send my players to the Planes. I'm planning to let them roam the Planes via a custom magic item allowing them to basically pick any destination as they see fit among any layer of the Planes...with a few exceptions.

I know that the only way to work one's way among the Nine Hells of Baator is to reach Avernus and then find gates for the lower layers: I intend to respect this condition, so the only destination the custom item will allow for what concerns Hells will be the First Layer.

Same situation with the Abyss: my players'll only be able to reach Pazunia and then they'll have to find other ways to reach the lower layers of the Abyss, if they wish.

Are there other restricted layers that I can't presently remember? I'm actually away from my manuals, so I cannot check them. Please remind me.

[AntiTrust]

Players with that item might ask that they reach the "infinite staircase" talked about in Fiendish Codex 1 which actually touches the Abyss in several locations. I'd probably make a ruling if that's possible or not.

[Eldan]

I'd suspect that different D&D sources will contradict each other on that front. Let' see. As far as I remember, Planeshift can only take you to the first layer of any plane. Gate can take you wherever something with divine ranks isn't keeping you out. Sigil's portals go wherever they want, up to and including Asmodeus' throne room (whether it's a smart idea to take them is an entirely different matter).

Chronias, the seventh heaven. You can't gate there, even, and no one who went ever came back, with the exception of the seventh archon of the Hebdomad (someone remind me of his name, please?).

[Morph Bark]

Chronias, the seventh heaven. You can't gate there, even, and no one who went ever came back, with the exception of the seventh archon of the Hebdomad (someone remind me of his name, please?).

Zadkiel, iirc.

Also, even if you'd include other layers of the Abyss, people haven't ventured farther than the 666th layer.

[navar100]

It's probably safest and well enough to just have the item transport to the First Layer of any Plane. It's an Item of Plane Shift. Don't worry about whatever restrictions some published book mentions that you've never read or can't remember. It's your campaign. Who cares what an author wrote?

[Alleran]

Zadkiel, iirc.
Zaphkiel. He's also the only member of the Hebdomad who has never been slain even once, and thus has never been replaced. IIRC, there was some insinuation somewhere that he is Asmodeus' opposite number in Celestia, but I don't know where it came from. He's also noted to have unknowable goals, although he does have some interest in advancing less-perfect beings. Only gods and the Hebdomad have ever actually seen him. All other beings who encounter or perceive him either perish or achieve such a state of goodness that their essence joins with Celestia itself.

(Also, any undead with 25 HD or less that is within 10 feet of him is automatically affected as if he had turned it. If it has 15 HD or less, it is instantly destroyed. No save.)

[Psyren]

IIRC, there was some insinuation somewhere that he is Asmodeus' opposite number in Celestia, but I don't know where it came from.

It came from his stats; compare his block to Asmo's from BoVD. There are some differences but things like CR, HD, caster level etc. are pretty similar.

[navar100]

The joke is Zaphkiel and Asmodeous are the same being. It's not a plot of Asmodeous'. Zaphkiel is truly Lawful Good. He's a being who doesn't know he has two personalities.

[Eldan]

Well, if we go by the Ahriman theory, then Jazirian would have to end up somewhere. Of course, no one can go to Chronias to check out if there's a giant half-dead snake anywhere.

[Yora]

Doesn't Carceri have special rules about leaving the plane?

[ShadowFireLance]

Where are these Stats?

[Eldan]

Doesn't Carceri have special rules about leaving the plane?

Specifically, you can only get out by killing whatever sent you there.

[Talderas]

Chronias, the seventh heaven. You can't gate there, even, and no one who went ever came back, with the exception of the seventh archon of the Hebdomad (someone remind me of his name, please?).

I thought that with Celestia you can only planeshift/gate to the 1st level and that the only way around that was to have a god on the plane pull you there and even they can't overwrite the 7th level's restriction.

Regardless, Manual of the Planes is probably the best book to grab info from.

[Cicciograna]

Thank you for your answers! Now, to specifically reply to someone of you...


Players with that item might ask that they reach the "infinite staircase" talked about in Fiendish Codex 1 which actually touches the Abyss in several locations. I'd probably make a ruling if that's possible or not.
The Infinite Stairway is cool, but my player won't be able to reach it: when thinking about this custom magic item, I planned it to only give access to the Prime Material, the Astral, the six Elemental and Energy Planes and the Outer Planes: no extravagant destinations such as the Far Realm, the Plane of Mirrors, the Infinite Staircase or the like :smallcool:
Besides, probabily my players don't even know about its existance, so no problem here.


Chronias, the seventh heaven. You can't gate there, even, and no one who went ever came back, with the exception of the seventh archon of the Hebdomad (someone remind me of his name, please?).
Good, so no 7th layer of Celestia. Given that Mount Celestia should represent some sort of spiritual ascension, do you suggest me to forbid the access to the other layers too, apart from the first?


It's probably safest and well enough to just have the item transport to the First Layer of any Plane. It's an Item of Plane Shift. Don't worry about whatever restrictions some published book mentions that you've never read or can't remember. It's your campaign. Who cares what an author wrote?
Nice suggestion here. However, the item is not just simply a custom item of Plane Shift, I was thinking about something more elaborate, giving a modicum of control on the final position on the plane after the planar shift. However, I prefer the possible destinations to be only those reachable by Plane Shift, thus my question on forbidden layers.


Specifically, you can only get out by killing whatever sent you there.
Isn't there any sort of caveat, in the order the layers can be accessed? I seem to recall that the last one should host the domain of Nerull, if I remember correctly: is the layer open (i.e. a viable destination for Plane Shift)

[Morph Bark]

The joke is Zaphkiel and Asmodeous are the same being. It's not a plot of Asmodeous'. Zaphkiel is truly Lawful Good. He's a being who doesn't know he has two personalities.

DnD planar Epileptic Trees (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EpilepticTrees) make planar adventures all the more fun. Just ask Pelor. :smallamused:

[Eldan]

Again, under the rules I'm using in my games, only hte first layer of any plane is accessible at all. Beyond that, I'm not aware of many specific restrictions on entering, barring the normal "gods can keep you out" rule. There are quite a few restrictions on leaving aroun,d though, like Elysium euphoria, Hades depression and Carceri's imprisonment.

[Clistenes]

If you planeshift to Mount Celestia, you appear in the Holy Sea of the lowest layer, Lunia. You have to climb the Mount without magic to reach the higher layers.

If you planeshift to Mount Celestia again later, you can choose to appear at Lunia or at the highest point you reached during your previous visit.

You can try a Will Save to teleport/planeshift to a different place on the Mount:

Variant Rule: Mount Celestia Travel Restrictions
Planeshift, teleport and gate spells targeting locations on this layer of the plane are restricted. A Spellcraft check, DC 35 + spell level, is required in order to avoid the spell being redirected to either the base of the Mountian (the first layer), or the last location the caster was on his choosen path (see below). The Mount is rife with portals though, and given enough time and jink, a party should be able to research a portal to wherever they want to go on Mount Celestia. That's the easy way, and for the sake of a DM it will speed up play if the players are not interested in following the established paths.
Travel on this plane is directly tied to personal growth and development of the traveler as they learn the lessons of the Mount – so in order to travel upwards, to the next layer, one must choose the lessons to learn, and of course, going down is nowhere near as hard as going up. The paths are not so much physical roads to travel (though some may reflect that outwardly), as they are a sequence of actions that will allow a follower to find the way to the next layer, or simply transfer him to it directly.
For those entering Mount Celestia at some point and wanting to travel upwards to other layers, they must choose one of the following paths, which are both spiritual and physical. Keep in mind that only one person must actively pursue a path; fellow travelers reap the benefits of travel by virtue of accompanying the path pursuer. Some paths are an adventure in and of themselves, while others are simply a few random encounters to help the passage of time. A DM might want to have more involved paths developed ahead of time.