why cant you plane shift someone dead back to the material realm?

[newguydude1]

nwn spoiler.

like in nwn. aribeth died, became a ghost in hell, and the male protagonist brought her back to the material plane and lived together forever and when he died she teleported to him in the afterlife so they can spend the rest of eternity together.

so why cant you do that here so you dont have to worry about aging and immortality and stuff like that.

[Remuko]

nwn spoiler.

like in nwn. aribeth died, became a ghost in hell, and the male protagonist brought her back to the material plane and lived together forever and when he died she teleported to him in the afterlife so they can spend the rest of eternity together.

so why cant you do that here so you dont have to worry about aging and immortality and stuff like that.

huh I didnt know that was an option. Tho I was playing a female protag so maybe thats why? My Druid took over the 8th instead of going home after "winning". Legend has it she's still there to this day :3

[Unavenger]

Because Aribeth should have turned into a petitioner when she died, and NWN doesn't use the standard D&D rules exactly.

[Necroticplague]

Because Petitioner have the following ability:


Planar Commitment
Petitioners cannot leave the plane they inhabit. They are teleported one hundred miles in a random direction if an attempt is made to force them to leave.

[ShurikVch]

Because Aribeth should have turned into a petitioner when she died, and NWN doesn't use the standard D&D rules exactly.
She could be Exceptional Petitioner (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineMinions.htm#exceptionalPetitioners)


Because Petitioner have the following ability:

Planar Commitment
Petitioners cannot leave the plane they inhabit. They are teleported one hundred miles in a random direction if an attempt is made to force them to leave.
Note: certain types of Petitioners are have No Planar Commitment SQ - namely, of Abyss, Barrens of Doom and Despair, Blood Rift, Celestia, Hades (one of two types), and House of the Triad

[Bronk]

Because Petitioner have the following ability:

Yes, and so do exceptional petitioners although that could be why Arabeth retains her class and skills.

In NWN though, the Reaper turns her into a ghost at the player’s request.

[King of Nowhere]

regardless of specifics, if it was that easy to bring a dead back to the prime material, nobody would use resurrection spells. why waste diamonds and levels when you could do it for free? obviously you cannot do it for free

or, atr least, you are not supposed to

[Elves]

Presumably a departed spirit isn't the same thing as a living being, and pulling their naked soul into the Material, if it even worked, wouldn't end well.

[icefractal]

This is one of the things where I think "the outer planes are basically material places obeying laws of physics, like the prime material" gets kinda dumb.

I've seen a take I really liked, which is that the outer planes are purely a mental/soul space, the inner planes are purely physical, and the prime material is where the two mix.

So when you go to the outer planes, you go in an astral body - you can't physically go to the Abyss, because there isn't a physical space to occupy there. And doing things like summoning demons involves creating a temporary physical body for them to puppet, like a reverse astral projection.

So you can visit the afterlife, but you can't move there or vice-versa. This does imply you could temporarily summon dead people in the same way as other outsiders, barring active gatekeeping.

[Clementx]

So you can visit the afterlife, but you can't move there or vice-versa. This does imply you could temporarily summon dead people in the same way as other outsiders, barring active gatekeeping.
Sounds like a great way to stuff a soul into its own corpse, a la Grissom from Vagrant Story. Or more generally, to make a true vampire/homunculus from scratch. You know, something someone tries once, then dies horribly.

OP should let it happen. Should be fun for everyone else lol.

[Batcathat]

I've seen a take I really liked, which is that the outer planes are purely a mental/soul space, the inner planes are purely physical, and the prime material is where the two mix.

So when you go to the outer planes, you go in an astral body - you can't physically go to the Abyss, because there isn't a physical space to occupy there. And doing things like summoning demons involves creating a temporary physical body for them to puppet, like a reverse astral projection.

I like this interpretation but I'm curious about what that means for the inner planes. I suppose summoning something from there could involve giving them an actual mind but how would travelling there work? Your body goes there but without your soul?

[Septimus]

Pathfinder has introduced a nice spell in case you want to bring back a petitioner: Judgment Undone (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/j/judgment-undone/)

[Silly Name]

My first instinct would be "because you'd be transporting a disembodied soul". Not even a ghost, just a soul. Can it even exist on the Prime in this state? Could it interact with the Material Plane, be seen or heard?

My answer would be no at least to the second question - at which point the only use for this scenario would be to free a soul from eternal damnation in the Lower Planes, and I expect demons and devils to not easily let go of their rightfully earned souls.

But hey, could make for a cool plot: the servants of a villain trying to unshackle the soul of their master so that he can inhabit a new body crafted just for this occasion, and the heroes have to stop this plan by travelling to the Nine Hells and racing those servants, having to decide whether they want to enlist the aid of Devils, or see if they can convince them to help in the first place!

[TheCount]

It's obviously up to DM, but I'm curious if you could cheap out resurrection by sneaking out your buddy's soul from other planes with a Thinaun weapon (spec material, traps soul of anything touching it at death), from Compete Warrior)....
My main concern with that though.... Do you need to kill them (maybe again) to do so?

[ShurikVch]

Note: Lemures (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/devil.htm#lemure) are, in fact, petitioners of Baator, and able to appear on Material Plane just fine
And about the "why it isn't done more often" - there are the possible reasons:
Not every Petitioner have No Planar Commitment SQ (and without it - can't be moved outside of their Plane)
Not every Petitioner is Exceptional Petitioner (thus, calling them in without any memories is kinda pointless)
Not every soul become Petitioner

[Doctor Despair]

And about the "why it isn't done more often" - there are the possible reasons:
Not every Petitioner have No Planar Commitment SQ (and without it - can't be moved outside of their Plane)
Not every Petitioner is Exceptional Petitioner (thus, calling them in without any memories is kinda pointless)
Not every soul become Petitioner

4. Not every Petitioner is willing to leave. Plane Shift does offer a will save.