Planescape Lore Question: Playing a petitioner

[Theeloquentape]

I'm interested in running a campaign in which the party have all died, but due to shenanigans, they didn't end up in their proper planar destinations and now need to figure out what happened.

Under the standard rules for petitioners, would that be doable? Do they keep their appearance, or would they have been transformed? Can they normally explore the planes?

Say that, for whatever reason, their journey to the Fuge Plane was interrupted and were instead brought to Sigil. Would that make sense?

[Fero]

I believe most petitioners lose all sense of identity and ate forever bound to their plane. However, I also believe there aew numerous exceptions. As such, I think what you propose is unlikely but within the realm of the Lore. If you want a more in depth I recommend you ask in Afroakuma's Planar oddity post as several Planar Lore experts frequent that post.

[daremetoidareyo]

With the exceptions of manes and lemures no petitioner can leave their respective plane. However, the dragon god Bahamut may have just the solution: dragonborning away that limitation

[NontheistCleric]

With the exceptions of manes and lemures no petitioner can leave their respective plane. However, the dragon god Bahamut may have just the solution: dragonborning away that limitation

Lantern archons (Celestia), larvae (Hades) and Outlands petitioners can also travel between planes, according to Manual of the Planes.

Lemures might not make very interesting characters with no Intelligence, but a party of a mane, Outlander, larva and lantern archon would be something to see.

[Theeloquentape]

Outlands petitioners can also travel between planes


Interesting, what are Outland petitioners like?

[NontheistCleric]

Interesting, what are Outland petitioners like?

Pretty much just normal people. It's the Neutral plane, so they're not really going to bother forcing any drastic changes.

[ShurikVch]

Lantern archons (Celestia), larvae (Hades) and Outlands petitioners can also travel between planes, according to Manual of the Planes.
Outlands? On which page it says so?


Lemures might not make very interesting characters with no Intelligence
Question: how mindlessness of Lemures may interact with Exceptional Petitioners (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineMinions.htm#exceptionalPetitioners) variant?

Also, one more possible creature: Vhaerath (https://web.archive.org/web/20161101150327/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mb/20040818a)

A vhaerath is a planar servant of Vhaeraun, created from the soul of one of his petitioners.

[NontheistCleric]

Outlands? On which page it says so?

Manual of the Planes, page 148:


In addition, petitioners that seem more native to other Outer Planes sometimes walk the Outlands— valiant warriors that should be among Ysgard’s glorious dead, and half-melted lemures that belong in Hell are lost or were misdirected to the Outlands. Or maybe these petitioners were not quite good or evil enough to truly merit their inclusion on an aligned plane. Whether they’re seeking or avoiding their just reward, they are exceptions to the rule that petitioners can’t move between planes.
Okay, so I was skimming a bit before. The special Outlanders who can move between planes actually might look a bit non-normal.


Question: how mindlessness of Lemures may interact with Exceptional Petitioners (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineMinions.htm#exceptionalPetitioners) variant?
Technically, the only exceptions given here are that the lemures retain their feats and skills, not their intelligence.

[Feantar]

I have a vague recollection that pettitioners can't advance in level... Does anyone remember that?

[Tzardok]

If you want to be really accurate to Planescape: in the official sources (which are 2e) petitioners aren't bound to their plane and can leave at will. They don't like to do so, because if a petitioner dies on their homeplane/divine realm, their essence is absorbed by their plane/deity, but if they die anywhere else, their essence is completely destroyed.

A few other differences between petitioners in 2e Planescape and those in the MotP: all souls in the afterlife are petitioners; petitioners of a deity will likely differ from petitioners of the deity's homeplane; larvae-type petitioners arise on all the Lower Planes, but aren't the only type of petitioner these planes produce; and manes, lemures and lantern archons aren't petitioners. They are instead made from petitioners.