by Roger Moore
Introduction by E. Gary Gygax
The Kindly Editor of this publication
allowed me to read the following article
prior to its printing. I have taken the
liberty
of making one or two minor insertions
and adding several notes where necessary.
Without these, the Learned Author
had compiled a work of notable clarity
and excellent definition for the AD&D™
game system. (Kindly Editor’s note: Significant
insertions and alterations from
Mr. Gygax are printed in [italic type
inside
brackets]. Both yours truly and Mr.
Gygax have also made minor changes in
the author’s prose — changes which do
not alter the meaning of what was written
and are, for that reason, not indicated
within the text.)
Although Mr. Moore calls the attention
of the Gentle Reader to the “unofficial”
nature of his offering, I must add that
it is
about as “official” as is possible at
this
time. A considerable amount of material
is currently in development. Steve Marsh,
Eric Shook, Skip Williams, and this
Humble Writer are developing modules
and/or rule materials pertaining to the
various planes. Similarly, the sub-classes
of mystic and savant, inveterate planar
travelers all, have not been fully developed
as of this writing. Only these circumstances
prevent me from being able
to place the “official” aegis over Mr.
Moore’s superb effort. This in no way
diminishes it, for the Worthy Author has
devised much from little. Better still,
he
has done so in a manner befitting the
game and the spirit of the rules. What
more needs be said? Read, enjoy, and
then employ!
The Astral Plane is a superdimensional
space that permeates every point of
the three-dimensional Prime Material
Plane, which inhabitants of AD&D™
worlds know as the physical universe
(containing planets, worlds, stars, galaxies,
etc.) From the Prime Material, the
Astral Plane extends out to each of the
first (or upper) layers of the various
Outer Planes, but does not touch any
other layers besides these. [The Astral
Plane also touches (or contains) certain
Partial Planes, Demi- Planes, and Semi-
Planes.] Astral space is filled with great
currents of energy and matter that flow
between the various Prime Material and
Outer Planes; aside from these currents,
or vortices, the Astral Plane is literally
filled with nothing. The contents of a
vortex
may travel to and from an Outer
Plane’s first layer and one or more Prime
Material universes; nothing may enter
the “nothingness” outside the vortex.
At various times for unknown reasons,
the energy flow within a vortex may
change its direction or its rate of flow;
such an event is called the Psychic Wind,
and is much feared by travelers in the
Astral Plane unless they are of godlike
level and talent. The Psychic Wind may
cause a vortex to disconnect from one
plane and reconnect with another, stirring
up the contents of the vortex so that
they are randomly distributed or lost.
Severe manifestations of the Psychic
Wind may even cause silver cords (see
below) to break, unless the traveler to
whom the cord is attached can resist the
magical stresses.
It becomes obvious that beings may
use the Astral Plane for moving about
within their own universe or to parallel
Prime Material Planes, as well as visiting
the homes of the gods on the Outer
Planes. The most commonly used
methods of traveling the Astral Plane
include
the use of spells (Astral Spell,
Plane Shift, or a spell like Gate or Wish),
psionic disciplines (astral projection
or
probability travel), and magical devices
or artifacts. Some beings and monsters
are innately capable of astral travel,
such
as certain demons, shedu, etc. The method
of travel being used by an encountered
being or beings may well determine
the group’s size, composition, possessions,
and so on as detailed in the
section on encounters below.
The Astral Plane has no alignment as
such. Creatures of any alignment may be
met traveling along the plane going to
or
from the Prime Material. If there could
be
said to be a particular philosophy or
ethic associated with the Astral Plane,
it
might be the spirit of travel, the seeking
of knowledge, and the use of gateways
to new worlds. Several deities concerned
with travel, knowledge, and gates are
known to live on the Astral Plane.
There is no solid material in the Astral
Plane aside from the wayfarers within
it,
some random bits of debris, and [a few
small “islands,” some with] built structures.
To those passing through it, the
Astral Plane appears to be a blurred
silvery color all around, as if the travelers
were suspended weightless within a great
silver atmosphere. Mists may be seen at
times, and sometimes star-like objects
are seen in the distance. Other strange
phenomena have been reported as well.
Objects in astral space are weightless
but still have mass and can cause damage.
It is conceivable that there may be
dwellings on the Astral Plane built by
great wizards, clerics, or godlings; in
a
weightless environment these buildings
could be of any shape, and might wander
randomly from Outer Plane to Outer
Plane, or across the various Prime Material
universes.
Very few creatures are known to be
native to the Astral Plane; as stated
before,
nearly everyone there is just “passing
through.” Because of the great number
of creatures that could be encountered
there, and because some DM’s
might like to create and use their own
monsters from the Outer Planes, an alternative
to the Astral
Encounter Table
in the Dungeon Masters Guide is
suggested
below. Each encounter type
should have its own subtable of specific
creatures, set up by each DM.
Table One: Astral Encounters
| d% roll | Encounter type |
| 01-60 | Outer Planes creature (in transit) |
| 61-75 | Miscellaneous creature (in transit) |
| 76-90 | Prime Material creature (on Prime Material Plane) |
| 91-95 | Character encounter |
| 96-99 | Deity encounter |
| 00 | Non-living relic |
Explanation of results:
Outer Planes creature — This category
includes all beings originating on an
Outer Plane, who happen to be in astral
space going to or from the Prime Material
Plane. Common examples of such
beings include demons, devils, daemons,
ki-rin, lammasu, titans, and shedu. Dungeon
Masters could include other
creatures,
such as those which have been
featured in various issues of DRAGON™
Magazine, as well as a smattering
of randomly
generated
beasts from the lower
planes
using tables in the later editions
of the DMG, and some creatures
developed
by the DM personally, to fill out an
encounter subtable for this category.
Any beings from an Outer Plane are likely
to be on a mission for their deity, or
on
personal missions as determined by the
DM, related to the alignment(s) of the
being(s). Deities (including the two singular
dragon types, demon princes, archdevils,
and so forth) should not be on this
subtable.
Miscellaneous creature — This category
is for assorted astral wanderers like
intellect devourers, rakshasa, aerial
servants,
invisible stalkers, liches using
psionics or spells to go astral, and all
those other creatures not easily characterized.
Berbalangs
and astral searchers
(from the FIEND FOLIO™ Tome), for
example,
could be listed in this subtable.
Other races besides those used as player
characters in the AD&D game
could be
included, if some individuals of those
races
had magical or psionic abilities permitting
astral journeying — mind flayers,
for instance. Reasons that miscellaneous
beings have for astral travel would
vary widely from race to race or individual
to individual.
Prime Material creature — Some Prime
Material Plane creatures have a sensory
awareness of beings passing “close by”
in the Astral Plane, and have the power
to harm such beings as well. Common
examples of such creatures include the
basilisk, catoblepas, cockatrice, gorgon,
and medusa; enterprising DM’s could
undoubtedly create more monsters of
this sort. Creatures like these that can
project their influence into the Astral
Plane can likewise be attacked by beings
on the Astral Plane, though no other
Prime Material creatures or objects could
be affected by anything in astral space.
Only astral travelers who are “adjacent”
to another plane (a term to be explained
more fully later in this article) will
have a
chance of meeting these creatures. All
other times, the encounter must be rerolled
for astral travelers if this particular
category is indicated.
Character encounter — The vast majority
of characters met on the Astral
Plane are likely to be human, but some
demi-humans or part-humans may be
encountered as well. A special encounter
subtable (Table Two) is needed to
determine the method of astral traveling
employed by a character group, which
may determine the group’s size and some
other characteristics.
Table Two: Method of astral travel
| d% roll | Character group traveled via: |
| 01-70 | Spell (cleric, [mystic,] magicuser, [savant,] or illusionist) |
| 71-95 | Device (miscellaneous magic item or artifact) |
| 96-99 | Psionics |
| 00 | Special |
Spell — Encounters with beings traveling
by magical spells are 85% likely to be
with persons who directly cast such a
spell and 15% likely to be with those
who
used a scroll to cast the spell. The distinction
is important because scroll-users
will probably be less powerful than casters.
If a spell-user is indicated, determine
the class and level of the caster
according to these guidelines:
Half (50%) of all encounters with
astral spell-users will be with clerics
[mystics], of a level determined randomly:
11-20 for actual spell casters
or 9-12 for scroll-users. Of the actual
spell casters, clerics of levels 11-15
will have used a Plane Shift spell and
those of higher level will be using an
Astral Spell. Of the clerical scroll users,
75% will have used a scroll of
Plane Shift, and the other 25% will
have employed an Astral Spell scroll.
Slightly less than half (45%) of all
encounters with astral spell-users will
be with magic-users. Those directly
casting an Astral Spell will be of levels
18-23; those using an Astral Spell
scroll will be of levels 11-18.
Once in 20 times (5%), the encountered
spell-user will be an illusionist
[savant]. The illusionist will be of level
14-19 if directly casting an Astral
Spell, and of level 10-15 if using an
Astral Spell scroll.
Spellcasters are not likely to go into
any plane without assistance. Clerics
using
Plane Shift to reach the Astral Plane
are 95% likely to have 2-7 companions
with them, two of which will be henchmen
and the rest being allied characters.
Henchmen will be of a level determined
as per the DMG; allied characters will
be
of a level equal to the cleric’s level
minus
three, plus 1d4 (thus, a 15th-level cleric
would have allies of levels 13-16). All
other particulars of the spell casters,
henchmen, and allies should be determined
from the Character
Subtable, Appendix
C (Random
Monster Encounters)
of the DMG. All spell casters using
Astral
Spell will be 90% likely to have 2-5 companions,
2 of which will be henchmen of
the spell caster; all particulars of the
group are determined as above.
Device — Any class, race, or level of
character could be encountered while
using a magical device that permits travel
to or through the Astral Plane; it is
very
unlikely, though, that lower-level characters
will be met because of the dangers
of astral travel. Some typical devices
that
could be used to reach the Astral Plane
are the Amulet of the Planes, the Cubic
Gate, the Well of Many Worlds, or some
like device invented by the game referee.
DM’s should develop subtables listing
the different sorts of devices being employed,
since there is such a wide variety
of them available. Device-using characters
encountered will be between 7th
and 18th level (d12 + 6) with classes
determined
as per the Character Subtable
in the DMG. Note that some devices
permit use by one person only; these
brave souls would be of a generally
higher level than usual (15th-18th) and
could, at the DM’s option, have more
magical items or special characteristics
than normal.
The category of devices also includes
the use of artifacts; DM’s may set a 1%
chance of any device-using group actually
possessing and using a plane-shifting
artifact. An item of this sort could be
the Codex of The Infinite Planes, or a
wandering ship or tower as described in
the Elric sagas by Michael Moorcock.
Party size in an artifact-using group
could vary widely, and these groups
should be made up prior to play as special
encounters.
Psionics — Of all psionics-users encountered
astrally, [90%] will be human,
with [elves having a 5% chance of being
met,] dwarves and halflings each having
a 2% chance of being encountered, and
the remaining 1% being random other
races. Class and level should be determined
as per the guidelines for deviceusing
travelers. Some 50% of all psionics-
users in the Astral Plane will be using
astral projection and be traveling alone.
The rest will have probability travel;
the
level of the psionics-user will determine
how many persons can be brought into
the Astral Plane with this power. One
or
two persons with the psionics-user will
be henchmen, the rest will be allies;
details
are worked out as per the section on
spell casters. The psionics-user should
have at least 40 psionic strength points
in order to permit astral travel as well
as
psionic attack and defense, and will also
have other major and minor disciplines.
Special — This is a catch-all category
for those living persons who have become
lost or trapped in the Astral Plane
by any one of a number of means. They
may have been caught in a Portable
Hole-Bag of Holding explosion, cursed
by a deity or magic-user, hit with an
enemy’s Plane Shift, attacked while
under a Duo-Dimension spell, caught in
a Sphere of Annihilation-Gate cataclysm,
cast out of the Ethereal Plane by an Ether
Cyclone, stoned while astral by a medusa
or similar beast, flung there by a malfunctioning
artifact, inside a Portable
Hole that failed a saving throw and was
destroyed, and so forth. Each case is
special and may be created and arbitrated
by the referee as desired. Because
people do not age or starve in astral
space, such lost souls could have been
lost for a very long time before they
are
rescued. They might express their gratitude
for being helped by rewarding the
player characters, working for them, or
putting knives in their backs (depending
on alignment and other considerations).
[Insanity could come into play.] All
“special” encounters will not be able
to
leave the Astral Plane without help from
outsiders.
It becomes obvious that all charactertype
encounters should be carefully
worked out ahead of time by the DM because
of their complexity. Character
roles (as always) should be played forcefully
by the DM, as if the NPC’s were the
DM’s own characters.
Back to the Table One explanations:
Deity encounter — A deity of any sort
is probably the worst (as in most dangerous)
thing one could hope to meet
anywhere. Referees should make up their
own lists of possible encounters of this
sort, including the various arch-devils,
demon princes, and unique dragon-types
from the Monster Manual. On the Astral
Plane it may be possible to meet almost
any deity, though lesser deities may be
more common than greater ones and
demigods more common than either of
the others. Referees should use common
sense and caution in having the
group meet a deity; some deities would
have no possible business being on the
Astral Plane, and should be excluded
from encounter lists.
As with character encounters, the reactions
of deities should not be checked
randomly, and should be role-played
fully. Gods will not often go out of their
way to do anything when encountering a
group of adventurers, unless provoked,
bored, or of a similar or opposite alignment.
Demogorgon might try to kill everyone
he meets; Asmodeus might try
enslaving everyone; Bahamut might assist
(if good-aligned characters are present),
and so forth.
Deities should, whenever possible,
have a retinue of lesser creatures with
them who will follow their ruler’s every
whim; these followers may be sent ahead
to check out any groups they meet, to
do
the fighting or talking. The nature of
such associates is left up to the imagination
and discretion of the referee.
Relic — Finally, various items may be
found while traveling the Astral Plane.
This category of random relics could include
lost treasures, bodies [The timelessness/
all-time nature of the Astral
Plane allows revivification at a ratio
of
1,000 years to 1 day, assuming no extenuating
circumstances.] of monsters or
characters slain astrally, constructed
dwellings for wizards, priests, or godlings,
and so forth. Referees may make
up lists of things like these to confuse,
amuse, or abuse player characters finding
them. Any treasures found should be
of generally low worth, with occasional
high-value or cursed/trapped items appearing.
[Matter “islands” range from a
few cubic rods to several miles in extent.]
Constructed dwellings [whether
on “islands” or alone] should be extremely
rare at best!
The reactions of any living creatures
on the Astral Plane will always be tainted
with caution and watchfulness. Referees
may want to compile notes on each encounter,
describing the reasons for such
beings to be in the Astral Plane in the
first place (traveling on a quest, going
to
visit associates or friends, planning
to
rob or kill other astral travelers, searching
for something or someone, etc.) and
use this material when role-playing the
NPC encounters.
Obviously, much of this material has
been very general; however, it is the
intention
of this article to give referees a
chance to work out their own ideas of
what Astral Plane encounters should be
like. Every campaign will have different
deities, monsters, and other particulars.
Referees should use common
sense and caution
in having the group meet
a deity; some deities
would have no business on
the Astral Plane
and should be excluded from
encounter lists.
Astral space is strange and dreamlike.
Adventurers from other planes find that
they do not get tired, sleepy, or hungry,
and everyone is generally alert. There
are no day/night cycles astrally, so time’s
passage is difficult to measure. A char
acter or creature can feel a sense of
movement whenever he/she/it concentrates
on moving (travel through astral
space is a function of thought), but one
usually has little idea of how far one
is
going. No one ages [except at the
1:365,000 rate, as noted] in astral space.
for any reason, even by magical means.
The various means of astral travel are:
Astral projection (psionic)
or Astral Spell
Characters using either of these means
to go astral should find secure places
on
the Prime Material Plane to house their
bodies and their possessions that will
be
left behind when their spirits make the
voyage. The physical bodies on their
home plane will go into suspended animation
and require little care while the
spirits are gone. Travelers using Astral
Spell should hold hands in a circle with
their spellcaster, who then goes through
all the rituals and causes the group’s
members to enter astral space in spirit
form together. The bodies are all linked
through a single silvery cord to their
material bodies; the cord is capable of
stretching infinitely from the Prime Material
to an Outer Plane. Once in the Astral
Plane, the group members may pull
apart, move around, engage in combat,
and so forth as they please. However,
no
one may enter another plane from the
Astral Plane unless he/she is touching
the spellcaster or touching someone
else touching the spell caster (the group
should join hands before entering another
plane). Anyone not so linked to the
spellcaster when he or she enters a new
plane will be stranded astrally; the stranded
character can return to the home
plane only if slain, in which case the
material body reawakens (see the section
on Movement and Combat). Astral
Few spells may be cast across
plane boundaries,
either to or from the Astral
Plane or any other,
and only certain rare magical
devices can affect
creatures on other planes.
projection is similar to Astral Spell in
all
respects, except that only one person
at
a time may travel by means of this power.
When using either of these forms of
astral projection, characters will find
that all non-magical items on their persons
will be left behind on the home
plane; only magical items may be brought
along, and many of these will have altered
capabilities as decribed in the last
section of this article. Because this
may
mean that spell components, armor, and
weapons, not to mention mundane things
like decent clothing, will not be had,
spellcasters may use or develop a simple
spell like Nystul’s Magic Aura, which
makes an item magical without giving it
any special powers. Such a dweomer will
allow items to pass through astral space
to an Outer Plane so long as the spell’s
duration is not exceeded [prior to going
to the plane]. Things that become nonmagical
in astral space or on an Outer
Plane, should this spell wear off, will
not
be carried into another plane until the
spell is renewed.
The spellcaster will receive an instinctual
warning when he or she has arrived
at the point where astral space connects
with the Outer Plane or Prime Material
Plane desired. At this point, when all
travelers
are joined together again, the
spellcaster can will the group to move
“adjacent” to the new plane; at this point
the group will still be in astral space,
but
will now be able to view clearly the environment
of the new plane. If it is another
Prime Material Plane, this point is as
far
as the group can go; they can look about,
but not enter the plane. If an Outer Plane
has been reached, the group may then
(while still linked together) cause their
spirits to form material bodies on the
new plane, and will bring all magical
items with them. Note that those items
which (for some reason, as detailed in
a
later section) became fully non-magical
when entering the Astral Plane will not
go into an Outer Plane, but may be taken
back to the Prime Material. When a
group is “adjacent” to another plane,
their
presence may only be detected by
highly
intelligent or powerful creatures
(as per the DMG), or by the use
of such
things as a Detect Invisibility spell
or
Dust of Appearance. Few spells may be
cast across plane boundaries, either to
or from the Astral Plane or any other,
and
only certain rare magical devices can
affect
creatures on other planes. It is conceivable
that a deity may cause certain
sections of an Outer Plane to be “opaque”
so that no one may spy on that area from
the Astral Plane, and no one (except the
deity and minions) may enter that area
from astral space.
Astrally projecting characters will travel
for some 7-12 hours before reaching
another plane, either an Outer or a Prime
Material one. The spellcaster or psionic
character may purposely try to lengthen
the voyage before reaching the other
plane; each such attempt lengthens the
trip by 3-6 hours, and may result in
another encounter check being made
(see below). The return trip from another
plane will take another 7-12 hours.
Probability travel (psionic),
Plane Shift (spell), or device
These methods of travel are similar in
several ways. If a group of persons is
able to travel together using one of these
modes, they must join hands before the
power, spell, or device goes into effect.
Group members will be transferred at
once, along with all of their equipment
(magical or non-magical), to another
plane; if going to an Outer Plane, the
group will not pass through astral space.
However, these travel modes may simply
take a group to astral space if this is
desired. Once the desired plane has
been reached, the power, spell, or device
transporting the group ceases to work,
and the group may split up and move
about as desired. Leaving the plane is
done in the same manner used to arrive
at the plane.
It is obviously possible for someone to
strand characters on other planes using
any of these travel modes. Stranded
characters will not be able to leave the
plane they are left on unless given assistance,
or unless they possess spells,
powers, or devices to help them leave.
No silver cords are formed using any of
these travel modes; instead, the characters’
bodies have been brought along.
Encounter checks and the Psychic Wind
When using either form of astral projection
(astral projection or Astral Spell),
three encounter checks are rolled during
the journey. One is made immediately at
the start of the voyage, to see if any
be-
ings are “adjacent” to the Prime Material
Plane at this locale; it may be possible
to
encounter certain Prime Material monsters
(like catoblepas) which can project
magical attacks into the Astral Plane,
if
any are nearby. Another encounter check
is made near the midpoint of the voyage,
deep into the Astral Plane (no Prime
Material monsters like the medusa or catoblepas
will be encountered around
here), and the last check is made when
the group comes “adjacent” to another
plane. If this plane happens to be another
Prime Material Plane, then obviously
medusae and the like may be met, if any
exist on that plane.
Characters using any other form of
planar travel will undergo one encounter
check upon arriving at the Astral Plane,
An encounter check is made using a
and another check every four hours or
so
thereafter until they leave the plane.
20-sided die. A roll of 1 on the die indicates
that an encounter will occur, and
the specific type of encounter should
then be rolled.
If a spellcaster or psionic using astral
projection wills the voyage to be slowed
down, an additional encounter check is
made for every four hours the journey
is
lengthened (see the section on astral
projection/Astral Spell, above, for normal
and modified travel times).
The Psychic Wind may lengthen an
astral voyage and produce more encounters.
There is a 5% chance (non-cumulative)
of encountering the Psychic Wind
per plane crossed, including alternate
Prime Material Planes, or solar system
traveled to. To determine the effect of
a
Psychic Wind, roll a 20-sided die and
apply the appropriate result from the
following
list:
1-12: Travel slowed by 3-6 hours;
one additional encounter check rolled.
13-16: Blown off course; party lost
for 2-20 days (one encounter check
every 4 hours, but no Prime Material
creatures can be met) and then must
return to their physical bodies and try
again.
17-19: Blown off course, but with no
extension of travel time; a random
plane bordering the Astral Plane is
arrived at.
20: Psychic Wind storm; travelers
The Psychic Wind is not a
‘wind’ as such: when it
occurs; the . . . characters
will be in virtual darkness
all around, but will feel
no actual wind blowing.
who are using astral projection or Astral
Spell must make a saving throw
vs. magic (for the spell caster or psionit),
or the silver cord snaps and all
are slain irrevocably. If the save is
made, the group or person will be lost
for 4-40 days (make one encounter
check every 4 hours during this time)
and must return to the starting point
where their physical bodies are. Those
who are not astrally projecting will be
lost for 4-40 days and will only thereafter
be able to use a spell, power, or
device to leave the plane; before then,
the turbulence in the plane prevents
such travel.
The Psychic Wind is not a “wind” as
such; when it occurs, the silvery atmosphere
of astral space darkens considerably.
During a Psychic Wind storm, the
characters will be in virtual darkness
all
around, but will feel no actual wind blowing.
Light spells will function normally
during this time, however.
Movement through the Astral Plane is
accomplished by concentrated thought.
For every point of intelligence a being
has, a maximum of 10” (yards) per minute
(melee round) may be moved; thus, a
character with a 12 intelligence can move
as fast as 360 feet per minute, or 6 feet
per second. It does not make sense to
try
to measure the distance from one place
to another, as the plane itself is moving
(the way wind blows around a flying
bird) and such distances cannot be expressed
in conventional terms. Movement
rates are useful in working out melees
or explorations in astral space.
Sighting distances are much greater
than normal in this plane. Surprise rolls
are made as usual; unsurprised characters
may see larger-than-man-sized beings
at a range of 50-500 yards, and mansized
or smaller beings at 30-300 yards.
A surprised party has only one-tenth the
normal sighting range to their opponents.
Evasion may be attempted after sighting
an opponent, and is automatically successful
if the least intelligent member of
the evading party is smarter (more intelligent)
than the most intelligent member
of the pursuing party. It is possible,
of
course, for a party to split up so that
only
its slower members will be caught by
pursuers; however, if some beings are
joined together by holding hands or other
means, their speed will not exceed
that of the least intelligent being. Sudden
stops and turns are possible astrally,
and travelers will not be subject to any
form of motion sickness no matter what
they do.
Encumbrance affects a character’s
movement rate: for every 100 g.p. (10
lbs.) weight a character is carrying,
the
movement rate for that character is
slowed by 10 feet per round. Strength
(or
lack thereof) does not affect astral encumbrance
at all; intelligence is the limiting
factor. An unconscious person or
one who is not concentrating on movement
may be carried by another person if
so desired, at the carrying person’s
movement rate (with a deduction for the
encumbrance of the burden being carried).
Magical items have no effective
weight for astral encumbrance purposes,
but only if they are still magical in
astral
space.
Combat in the Astral Plane is peculiar,
since it takes place in a weightless,
three-dimensional space. A detailed
simulation of this would probably best
use a hexagonal or square-gridded playing
surface (without terrain features).
Paper counters could be used to show
how far above or below the playing surface
someone or something is located,
to simulate a third dimension. Counters
could also be used for each character
involved in the melee. This system is
similar
to the one used in many outer-space
combat games; the difficulty comes in
having to calculate trigonometric distances
between two points in threedimensional
space. The scale that might
work best for such games might be to
have hexes or squares 30 feet across (in
game scale) with each move taking one
minute. If this proves too complex, then
a simpler two-dimensional system may
be used, ignoring the height/depth factor
on the playing surface.
Though the Astral Plane has no sources
of gravity, combatants are not thrown
off balance by swinging swords, casting
spells, and so forth, because all movement
and orientation are governed by
mental effort; characters fight, move,
and act as if each were moving along a
stable surface. Obviously, no two characters
need appear to be moving along
the same “surface,” and one could move
along just as well upside-down relative
to everyone else in the party.
The only problem that will occur in
combat is in using missile weapons or
thrown items. Because everyone is used
to adjusting missiles or thrown weapons
to take into account the effects of gravity,
persons who fire or throw missiles will
find their aim poorer at first. Missile
fire
will initially be made at a -6 penalty
“to
hit”; each subsequent missile fired by
the same character will gain a +1 modifier
“to hit,” cumulatively, until this penalty
is removed. However, once a person
leaves the Astral Plane, this adjustment
is forgotten and must be “re-learned”
upon re-entering the plane at any future
date. Long ranges are extended on the
Astral Plane for missiles of any sort,
because
of the lack of gravity; short and
medium ranges remain the same. The
maximum range of any missile weapon
is doubled, so a longbow (for instance)
would have a long range of 14”-42”.
Smart players may find it interesting
and helpful to develop special tactics
for
astral combat, such as surrounding slower
opponents and setting up defensive
shields against the faster ones. Grappling
and pummeling are possible astrally,
but not overbearing.
Astral characters take damage as usual
in AD&D melee combat. Those
who
entered the plane by Gate, Plane Shift,
device, or any other method in which the
physical bodies of the characters are
brought along can be wounded and slain
in combat; their bodies and equipment
can be recovered afterward, and attempts
may be made to raise them from the dead
as usual [See previous note on the 1,000-
year-to-1-day ratio.]. Any character who
enters the Astral Plane by a form of astral
projection, psionic or magical, and takes
sufficient damage in combat to be slain,
will be immediately returned in spirit
form to his or her home plane. The earthly
bodies of these “slain” characters will
not be immediately awakened, however;
the psychic trauma of being slain sends
the body into a coma lasting 2-5 days,
from which the character cannot be reawakened
without use of a wish. A system
shock roll must be made during this
time, and if the roll fails, the character
dies when the coma ends, The character
cannot then be revived by any means
short of a wish. If the system shock roll
succeeds, the character will regain consciousness,
possessing but 1 hit point
upon awakening, and healing progresses
normally. Until such time as the character
regains more than half of his or her
lost hit points (by normal healing, potions,
ointments, etc.), no spell casting is
possible, movement is reduced by half,
and attacks are made at, a -4 penalty
“to
hit” because of weakness.
The magical items possessed by an
astrally projecting character who is slain
on the Astral Plane will be returned to
the
Prime Material with the character’s spirit
Though the Astral Plane has
no sources of gravity,
combatants are not thrown
off balance by swinging
swords, casting spells,
and so forth, because movement
and orientation are governed
by mental effort.
if they: 1) still retain some magical properties
on the Astral Plane; 2) were physically
worn or carried by the character at
the time of “death”; and 3) make a saving
throw vs. magic. All other items of a
nonmagical
nature will be left behind on the
Astral Plane, but may be recovered by
other characters.
If the earthly body of an astrally projecting
character is slain while the character
is in astral space, [the silver cord is
sundered and] the character’s spirit vanishes
at once, leaving all material possessions
behind. The character is irrevocably
dead. If the material body is
slain after the character has formed a
new body on an Outer Plane, the character
(with whatever possessions he or she
has at that time with the new body) will
live on in the new form but will, of course,
be unable to leave the plane without
help. It is impossible, by the way, for
a
character to assume a physical shape
different from his or her normal, earthly
body when entering an Outer Plane.
There are very few creatures able to
cut a silver cord. As mentioned in the
DEITIES
& DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia and
the Dungeon
Masters Guide, the Psychic
Wind may tear the cord loose, but
this is a rare happening. The most dangerous
opponents astrally are deities; a
demigod or god may elect to cut the
silver cord of a group, and can do so
by
moving adjacent to the cord trailing behind
the group, making a “to hit” roll
against AC 0, and successfully rolling
the deity’s magic-resistance rating. This
will automatically sever the cord and
permanently slay the group members,
unless the spell caster or psionic initiating
the travel can make a saving throw
vs. magic. If the deity’s magic-resistance
roll fails on the first severing attempt,
subsequent rolls may be made without
requiring another successful “to hit”
roll
against the silver cord.
Any character wounded while on the
Astral Plane will not normally recover
any lost hit points, no matter how long
a
time is spent there. [Obviously, however,
after 365,000 days of relative rest a
normal
character would regain 1 hit point.]
Only the use of magical devices or spells,
or the psionic discipline of cell adjustment,
will allow the recovery of lost hit
points astrally. Once a wounded character
leaves the Astral Plane, wounds may
be naturally recovered from at the normal
day-to-day rates.
As has already been mentioned, many
spells will not have their normal effects
when cast upon the Astral Plane. Some
of these spells for various reasons will
have no effect at all, while others will
work only partially or in an unexpected
manner. A few spells will not work astrally
but will not be forgotten when cast;
these spells may be re-cast at a later
time
(after the caster returns to the Prime
Material Plane, or perhaps travels to
a
different plane) when they will take normal
effect. Spells cannot be cast in any
case from the Astral Plane to any other
plane, and vice versa; they cannot be
cast through Gates and similar devices
or spells (as noted in TSR™ module Q1),
since the true distance between the
planes exceeds the spell’s range.
Unless a spell caster has taken special
precautions, any traveling done by Astral
Spell will result in leaving behind all
material components for spells, reducing
the spell caster to using only those
spells with verbal and/or somatic components
alone.
Once a character enters the Astral
Plane, spell recovery (regardless of the
amount of time spent astrally) becomes
more difficult. Clerics and druids may
not recover any spells except first and
second level ones — unless the deity
they worship normally resides on the Astral
Plane, in which case they may recover
any spell levels. Any spell casters will
find they have but one opportunity to
pray or study for new spells after casting
spells on the Astral Plane, and that subsequent
attempts to recover spells will
fail because of the magical properties
of
the plane. Clerics will find that certain
spells — Commune, Divination and Spiritual
Hammer — will not work on the
Astral Plane unless the cleric’s deity
lives
on that plane.
Unless otherwise stated, a spell caster
must remain stationary on the Astral
Plane when casting a spell; he or she
cannot think about moving around and
perform magic at the same time. Spell
casting, as in all other cases, cannot
be
hurried up in any manner, and if a spell
is
interrupted, it is lost. Spells may be
cast
from devices and scrolls in a normal
manner, as detailed later in this article.
Those spells that normally affect a flat,
planar area (such as Bless and Haste)
will, when cast astrally, affect a spherical
area with a diameter equal to the normal
spell’s smallest dimension in area of
effect.
Thus, Bless affects all within a 5”
diameter sphere, Haste and Slow affect
all within a 4” diameter sphere, Tongues
affects all within a 6” diameter sphere,
and so forth. This does not apply to
spells such as Hold Portal, Knock, and
Wizard Lock, which were designed to affect
flat surfaces.
The Astral Plane is a poor conductor
of heat or cold, making some spells like
Infravision, which relies upon detection
of heat sources, useless. A Fireball could
go off next to a character, and if the
character was just outside the area of
effect he or she would not feel the heat
from the attack.
Fire-based spells that are cast at bodies
of water on the Astral Plane will have
no effect; they will be smothered immediately.
Any fire spell that strikes a body
of ice will usually have no other effect
than to melt the ice down into water,
immediately
extinguishing the spell. Because
all objects on the plane are effectively
weightless, flame sources will
appear circular; even though one would
expect an open flame to be extinguished
by its own waste gases if held immobile,
this does not occur in astral space.
Astral travelers, though they will soon
discover that they apparently do not
need to breathe in astral space, are still
susceptible to attacks of poisonous gas,
drowning, and so forth; the poisonous
or
foreign material will find its way into
the
respiratory tract and do physical damage.
These attacks will affect even astrally
projecting characters, though as noted
before this will not actually kill the
affected characters, but will cause their
spirits to return to their home plane.
Following are listed those spells that
yield unusual results when cast on the
Astral Plane. When possible, reasons are
given for why a spell malfunctions. If
new spells are encountered or created
by characters, the DM should arbitrate
the effects on the Astral Plane, noting
whenever possible the effects of any similar
spells listed here.
Aerial Servant: No effect; normally opens
gate to elemental plane (Air),
Animate Object: Any object animated
will have no ability to travel on its
own
unless it is thrown or pushed, since all
animated objects have an effective intelligence
of 0; it could, however, wrap
around or strike beings it was next to.
Astral Spell: No effect; must be cast
on
Prime Material Plane.
Commune:
No effect; requires contact
with deity.
Conjure Animals: No effect; no natural
environment exists astrally.
Control Weather: see Conjure Animals.
Create
Water: Unless the spell is cast
into a container, a large sphere of water
will be formed (hovering in the virtual
weightlessness of the plane). To calculate
the size of such a sphere, note that
the volume of a sphere is 4/3 r³,
that one <special character>
gallon of water is about .1337 ft3, and
<superscript: cubed>
have a calculator handy. Pi ( ) is about
<special character>
3.1416. A sphere of water will do nothing
else in astral space except float. If
struck
by a sharp-edged weapon, it will be undamaged
(the blade passes through it)
for the most part; strikes, with broad,
blunt weapons will split the sphere into
2-5 smaller spheres of roughly equal
size. Though water spheres are interesting
to look at, they are hazardous as well;
anything touching a water sphere for
longer than one second will find the water
adhering to it and flowing over its
surface until the water completely covers
the touching object. Living beings must
make a saving throw vs. breath weapon
or choke on water in their respiratory
systems; failure to save means unconsciousness
one round later and death in
2-5 more rounds thereafter unless the
water is removed somehow (such as by
Destroy Water). Those who make their
saving throws may leave the water sphere
on the following round by moving out of
it at full (mental) speed. The possibilities
of using water spheres as weapons are
obvious (with Telekinesis, especially;
the
Telekinesis-user would have to roll “to
hit” with the water sphere as if using
a
missile weapon, with medium and long
ranges determined by dividing the maximum
range of the Telekinesis spell into
thirds), as are the disadvantages.
Detect Evil/Good: Functions normally,
though the plane itself radiates no
alignment.
Detect Magic: The entire plane radiates
magic, making this spell useless to all
except those who know the proper
changes to exclude the “background radiation”
from detection. Such changes
may be discovered on a 5% cumulative
chance after each unsuccessful casting
of this spell.
Dispel Evil/Good: This spell will affect
any creatures encountered on the Astral
Plane of the appropriate alignments, including
those from other planes. However,
when used against aerial servants
and invisible stalkers (and neutrally
aligned creatures summoned from other
planes) there is a chance (1 or 2 on d6)
that this spell will not work, because
the
neutral creatures were not in the act
of
performing a good or evil deed. Though
all good or evil creatures and characters
from other planes will be affected by
this
spell (no matter the method used to
bring them to the Astral Plane), no neutrally
aligned (lawful neutral, true neutral,
or chaotic neutral) characters will
be affected unless they are on a mission
that would directly benefit the forces
of
good or evil. (Assume that this spell
will
affect neutral characters only if the
majority
of their associated party is good or
evil in alignment.)
Dispel Magic: This spell will not affect
the inherent magical nature of the Astral
Plane, but will affect spells cast by
characters.
If this spell is cast at a spell caster
Astral travelers, though
they. . . do not need to breathe
in astral space, are still
susceptible to poisonous gas,
drowning, and so forth;
the foreign material will find its
way into the respiratory
tract and do physical damage.
or associated person traveling via an Astral
Spell, it will (if successful) hurl the
affected persons to their own plane. It
will not do this to persons who arrived
on
the Astral Plane by any other means,
psionic or magical. Casting Dispel Magic
on a silver cord (of an astrally projecting
traveler) has no effect.
Divination: see Commune.
Earthquake: No effect unless cast upon
a solid, non-living object of earth, clay,
or stone.
Find The Path: If cast immediately after
an entrance into the Astral Plane, this
spell will enable astrally projecting
characters
to go quickly to their desired
plane. There is a 50% chance that only
one encounter check (the usual initial
one) will be required before reaching
the
other plane; in any event, only one “extra”
check will be required at the worst,
and the entire voyage is shortened by
four hours as well. This spell, of course,
would have to be cast upon the leading
spell caster of an Astral Spell- using
group to be effective for them.
Flame Strike: This spell will create a
1”
diameter sphere of flames, much like a
Fireball, centered on the desired location
within the spell range; it will do normal
damage.
Gate: No deities will appear through
the Gate unless the Astral Plane is their
home. Any other creatures gated in will
know immediately where they are, and
will leave if required to fight a creature
or
party whose experience-point total is
two or more times greater than the gated
creature’s own value. No gated creature
will hang around to fight a deity of any
sort. Theoretically, one or more persons
could pass hurriedly through a gate
created by a spell and go directly to
any
other plane of existence, but the person(
s) would also be directly in the presence
of a deity-class being, and this
could prove not to be advantageous.
Holy/Unholy Word: This spell will affect
all creatures within its area of effect,
including the spell caster’s party. Since
nearly all beings except some deities
are
not normally from the Astral Plane, this
should work against virtually any being
encountered, and will cast its victims
back to their home plane without further
injury (regardless of how the creature
got to the plane).
Insect Plague: see Conjure Animals.
Locate/Obscure Object: This spell will
not help or hinder characters in hurrying
or delaying their journey to other planes
through astral space, since the distance
to other planes is beyond the spell’s
range.
Lose The Path: This spell will work to
slow an astrally projecting party’s progress
through the Astral Plane by four
hours, resulting in one extra encounter
check while in astral space, but not necessarily
during the spell’s duration.
Lower Water: This spell will cause all
free-floating water within its area of
effect
to move away from the spell caster at
a rate of speed equal to the caster’s
normal
astral movement allowance. The reverse
of this spell, Raise Water, has the
opposite effect in drawing water directly
toward the caster at the above speed.
These spells could be used to save a
drowning character (see Create
Water).
Part
Water: This spell will cause a water
sphere (see Create Water) to separate
into two equal-sized spheres (smaller
than the original) separated by 1”/level
of the caster. This spell may be used
to
save a drowning character (see Create
Water).
Raise Dead: If used astrally, there is
a
15% chance that an astral
searcher (see
the FIEND FOLIO™ Tome) will possess
the raised body. Alignment and personality
of the character are randomly
changed; the referee may elect to have
the player use the character as effectively
a “new” character, or may run the
character as an NPC. If the creature is
exorcised, then another attempt may be
made to raise the body and true spirit.
Resurrection: There is a 5% chance
that an astral searcher will possess the
body of the raised character. See Raise
Dead for further details.
Speak With Animals: This spell will
work only with normal, non-fantastic
animals brought with a person or party
into astral space. No animals naturally
occur on the Astral Plane.
Spiritual Hammer: see Commune.
True Seeing: There is a base 100%
chance, less 10% per level of the viewer,
that the awesome reality of astral space
as seen via this spell will overwhelm
the
viewer and cause him or her to remain
inactive for the duration of the spell.
Otherwise it will function normally.
Wind Walk: Aside from causing the
spell caster and associated persons to
become misty and transparent, this spell
will not affect a character’s normal
movement rate in astral space as determined
by intelligence. However, persons
carried with the spell caster will move
at
the caster’s astral movement rate, not
at
their normal speed. This spell makes it
difficult to see the affected persons
against the background of astral space,
and sighting distances to such characters
are reduced to 10% of normal.
Word of Recall: No effect; cannot teleport
across planes.
A great many druid spells will not work
in astral space because the items that
they function with and affect (plants
and
animals) do not naturally exist on the
Astral Plane. There is no such thing as
weather (as we know it) either, making
spells related to that realm also unusable.
If a plant or animal is brought with a
creature or character into astral, space,
then spells may be cast upon the plant(s)
or animal(s) and will function normally.
For example, if a group in astral space
has a dog along, for whatever reason,
a
druid could cast Invisibility To Animals,
Speak With Animals, etc., successfully.
For the most part, however, such spells
will be wasted. Spells summoning animals
will not work, since no creatures
able to be affected by the spell occur
naturally on the Astral Plane. Spells
which fall into one of these categories,
and are useless for that reason, are the
following:
Animal Friendship, Animal Growth*,
Animal Summoning (I,II,III), Anti-Animal
Shell*, Anti-Plant Shell*, Call Lightning,
Call Woodland Beings, Commune With
Nature, Control Temperature, Control
Weather, Control Winds;
Creeping Doom†, Entangle, Hold Animal*,
Hold Plant*, Insect Plague†, Invisibility
To Animals*, Locate Animals*,
Locate Plants*, Pass Plant, Plant Door,
Plant Growth*, Predict Weather, Repel
lnsects†, Speak With Animals*, Speak
With Plants*, Summon lnsects†, Transport
Via Plants, Wall of Thorns, Weather
Summoning.
* — These spells will work only on
plants or animals that have somehow
been transported into astral space.
Otherwise they are useless.
† — It might be supposed that a
druid who was determined (or crazy)
enough could make effective use of
these spells if he/she brought several
beehives into astral space, but this is
extremely unlikely.
Animal Friendship will not work, even
on animals in astral space, because the
success of the spell depends in part
upon the affected animal having an appetite
— which does not occur on the
Astral Plane. Call Woodland Beings
would conceivably work if there were
such beings in the spell’s area of effect,
but this is so remote a possibility as
to
make the spell useless. Other alterations
to the effects of druid spells are as
follows:
Animate Rock: No effect; the rock has
no intelligence and thus cannot move in
astral space (see Animate Object above).
Animate Rock does not make rocks wrap
around creatures, change shapes, etc.
Chariot of Sustarre: The chariot will
appear, and will carry the druid and up
to
eight others, but will move only as fast
astrally as the druid normally could (according
to his or her intelligence).
Conjure Earth Elemental and Conjure
Fire Elemental: No effect; normally opens
gate to elemental plane (Earth/Fire).
Create Water: See cleric spell Create
Water for relevant comments.
Detect Magic: See cleric spell Detect
Magic for relevant comments.
Dispel Magic: See cleric spell Dispel
Magic for relevant comments.
Feeblemind: A feebleminded victim
has an effective intelligence of 1, and
that character’s movement through the
Astral Plane will be likewise reduced
seriously
(30’/round).
Fire Storm: In astral space, this spell
creates a sphere of flame similar to a
Fireball of the appropriate volume. All
other details are as per normal.
Fire Seeds: See commentary on throwing
missiles in astral space, in the section
on Movement and Combat.
Hallucinatory Terrain: This spell will
work as far as creating the illusion of
a
large forest, but who will believe it?
Only
those creatures of low intelligence or
less (7 or below) will even, consider
this
as possibly real; all others will know
better.
Obscurement: This spell will form a
sphere, not a cube, with a diameter equal
to the length of a side of the cube normally
formed. Other effects are as normal,
except that (as with Wind Walk), the
sighting distance to the druid using this
spell is cut to 10% of normal when
viewed against the astral background.
Pass Without Trace: There is nothing
to pass over, no tracks to cover, so this
spell is useless in astral space.
Produce Fire: This spell works only if
cast upon a solid, non-living object in
astral space; the resulting flames will
affect
anything within 5 feet outside the
area of effect, even if the surface of
the
solid object used is curved or irregular.
For example, Produce Fire couId be cast
upon a large rock accidentally discovered
in astral space; if the rock had a
surface area of 144 sq. ft. (equal to
the
spell’s usual area of effect), then everything
within a 5-foot radius of that rock
would be affected by the flames it would
give off. The formula for calculating
the
surface area of a sphere is 4 r2. <special
character>
Produce Flame: See Fire Seeds, if the
druid attempts to cast a produced flame
at an opponent.
Transmute
Rock To Mud: No effect unless
cast upon a solid mass of rock; when
it turns to mud, the rocky object will
assume
an almost perfect spherical shape
in one turn if entirely transmuted by
this
spell. Anything coming in contact with
such a “mudball” for one turn or longer
will find themselves facing a problem
similar to that caused when one touches
a water sphere (see the cleric spell
Create Water).
Obviously, conscious
persons will be able to easily avoid
drowning or suffocating in a mudball,
unless they are unconscious or otherwise
incapacitated. Mudballs will not dry
out in astral space. This brings to mind
some interesting uses of a mudball as
a
weapon or a form of execution; perhaps
some adventurers, encountering a wandering
mudball on the Astral Plane, may
find something at its center. . . .
Tree: This spell will successfully turn
the druid into a tree, but anyone who
sees it will undoubtedly think it odd
that
a tree should be floating around in astral
space, and will automatically be very
suspicious of it — unless the creature
seeing it has an intelligence of 7 or
lower,
in which case the viewing creature might
possibly be fooled.
Trip: Since there is no gravity to make
this spell work, and since movement
doesn’t depend upon feet, this spell will
not work on the Astral Plane.
Wall of Fire: In astral space, this spell
creates a hollow sphere of flames around
the druid with a radius equal to ½”
per
level of the spell-caster. The hollow
sphere moves with the druid. Damage is
as per the normal use of the spell, as
are
all other aspects.
Water Breathing: One might believe
this spell useless, but imagine a druid
who creates a huge globe of water, casts
Water Breathing on himself/herself, and
then enters the water sphere when confronted
by astral opponents. The druid is
now virtually immune to all fire-related
spells, and any creatures who grapple
the druid (or try to) will find themselves
covered in water (see Create
Water in the
cleric spell section) and possibly drowning.
. . . Interesting, no?
Astral Spell: See the comments for the
cleric spell of the same name.
Airy Water: A magic-user with this
spell will be immune to having water
spheres adhere to him or her, and will
be
able to pass in and out of one with ease.
See the druid spell Water Breathing for
further comments.
Animal Growth: Not generally usable; see
the commentary at the start of the
section on druid spells.
spell caste? himself or herself is not from
Anti-Magic Shell: No effect, since the
astral space — technically making the
magic-user a “summoned monster?’
Audible Glamer: Magic-users should
carefully consider their environment in
order to make the best use of this spell
astrally; illusions should be as believable
as possible to be effective (see the comments
regarding visual illusions under
the druid spell Hallucinatory Terrain).
Bigby’s Hand spells: The Interposing
Hand will stop all opponents who have
an intelligence equal to or less than
the
spell caster, and slow the forward movement
of all others by 50%.
The Forceful Hand will either push
away, stall, or slow opponents, depending
on the difference between the caster’s
intelligence and that of the opponent.
If the opponent is less intelligent
than the magic-user, the Forceful Hand
pushes the opponent away at a rate of
speed equal to the difference in their
intelligence
scores. Opponents equally as
intelligent as the magic-user cannot get
closer but won’t be pushed away. Those
smarter than the magic-user may advance
at a rate equal to the difference
between the opponent’s and the M-U’s
intelligence. For example, a magic-user
with 16 intelligence casts a Forceful
Hand at a berserk aerial servant (intelligence
4); the servant is repelled at a rate
of 12” (120 yards, or 360 feet) per round.
The Grasping Hand can hold motionless
any creature with intelligence equal
to or lower than the magic-user’s. It
will
repel creatures (if desired) at twice
the
rate of speed of a Forceful Hand, and
slows the more intelligent opponents by
50% of the rate allowed by the forceful
Hand; thus, the aerial servant mentioned
above could be held motionless, or
pushed away at 24” per round.
Opponents stunned by a Clenched
Fist cannot move astrally during that
time; this spell will not necessarily
slow
or stop opponents otherwise. A Clenched
Fist will hold, repel, or slow opponents
at
the same time as it crushes them, as the
magic-user desires.
The Crushing Hand acts just as a
Grasping Hand, except that it is designed
to grasp any opponent, regardless of intelligence,
and will crush an opponent
for the stated amounts of damage. No
Hand spell will leave its maximum range,
but it will hover at the boundary of that
range if being employed to repel an opponent.
As mentioned in the spell descriptions
in the AD&D books, any Hand
spell is dispelled once it takes damage
equal to the hit points of the magic-user
who conjured it; a Hand has the same
armor class as the magic-user casting
it
had on the round the spell was begun.
Cacodemon: Because of the problems
involved in casting this spell on an effectively
weightless plane, it is useless in
summoning a captive demon. Rather, it
will attract the attention of one or more
powerful demons in the Abyss, who will
doubtless find it amusing to seek out
the
summoner and eat him or her as soon as
possible. Referees should send 1-4 demons
of either Type IV, V, or VI, each
with 8 hp/die, arriving within 1-4 rounds
after the spell is cast.
Charm Plants: This spell will work only
if a plant or plant-related creature is
encountered
in astral space; this is unlikely
in the extreme.
Clone: Clones will not grow in astral
space; this spell is useless.
Cloudkill: This spell will form a 2” diameter
sphere of poisonous gases that
will move in a straight line away from
the
spell caster at a rate of speed equal
to the
caster’s intelligence times ten, in feet
per
round. Since there are no natural winds
in astral space, the cloud will remain
unbroken
unless it strikes a very large object
(Wall of Force, for example) that has
a diameter of 1” or more, in which case
it
will break up on the following round.
In
three-dimensional space, the cloud is
not too difficult to evade.
Cone of Cold: If this spell strikes a
water sphere (see cleric spell Create
Water),
it will freeze the outer surface into
solid ice, to a depth of one inch per
level
of the magic-user casting the spell. A
water sphere frozen solid will not melt
on
the Astral Plane; if any unfrozen water
remains at the center of the sphere, the
ice sphere will melt from the inside out
at
a rate of one inch of thickness per turn.
A
Cone of Cold striking a mudball (see
druid spell Transmute Rock To Mud) will
cause the outer surface to harden to
rock-like consistency; as with an ice
sphere, a frozen mudball could either
stay frozen or return to a muddy state,
depending on whether any unfrozen mud
remains at the center. A crust of only
one-quarter inch thickness per level of
the magic-user casting the Cone of Cold
will form on a mudball, making it very
likely that large mudballs will always
defrost
themselves eventually.
Conjure Elemental: No effect; normally
opens gate to elemental planes.
Contact Other Plane: No powers on
the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane,
the
Positive and Negative Material Planes,
or
any Elemental Plane can be reached.
Powers on the Prime Material count as
one plane removed.
Control Weather: See comments under
the druid spell of the same name.
Death Spell: This spell is ineffective
against undead and beings from the Astral
or Outer Planes. Travelers from Prime
Material Planes may be affected.
Detect Evil/Good: See the comments
for the cleric spell of the same name.
Detect Invisibility: No ethereal or outof-
phase things will be seen, but the
spell functions otherwise as written.
Once a new plane has been reached, before
astrally projecting characters have
formed new bodies and are just “looking
around,” this spell may be used to see
any nearby invisible, hidden, ethereal,
or
out-of-phase beings or objects.
Detect Magic: See the comments for
the cleric spell of the same name.
If Dig is cast on an object,
the object will slowly
disintegrate into a huge
cloud of dust particles. . . .
Needless to say, anyone
within the radius of the cloud
is going to be in dire need
of a bath.
Dig: This spell will be effective only
against solid, large objects of earth,
clay,
or mud; the only such objects likely to
be
astrally encountered are [rare “islands”
and] mudballs (see druidic spell Transmute
Rock to
Mud). If Dig is cast on an
object, the object will slowly disintegrate
into a huge cloud of dust particles that
spread out in a hemispherical shape
from the digging point. Every cubic foot
of dug material will expand to fill a
volume
of 1,000 cubic feet around the digging
point. Within this area, all living
creatures must make a saving throw vs.
wands every round or be blinded for the
entire round; victims must also save vs.
breath weapon or choke on the small
particles for the full round, and be unable
to move, attack, defend, or take any
other action. Both saving throws are
rolled at the start of each round following
the round in which the Dig spell was
cast, continuing through the round after
the spell duration expires. Visibility
within
the dust cloud is reduced to 30’.
Beyond the cloud radius, the dust is thin
enough so as not to affect anyone. The
cloud dissipates on the round following
expiration of the spell duration. Needless
to say, anyone within the radius of
the cloud is going to be in dire need
of a
bath. Note that the spell’s range (3”,
or
90 feet) puts most magic-users who
might cast the spell well within its area
of
effect; this would probably lead to abrupt
termination of the spell unless the magicuser
is otherwise protected. The volume
of a hemisphere is 2/3 r3 the cloud’s
radius can be calculated from this formula,
since the volume of the hemisphere is
already known.
Dispel Magic: See the comments for
the cleric spell of the same name.
Distance Distortion: No effect; not only
is there no terrain to be affected, one
cannot get an earth elemental, either.
Drawmij’s Instant Summons: Note the
changes that must be made with regard
to the distances between other planes
and the Astral Plane. Items can be summoned
from the Elemental, Positive Material,
and Negative Material Planes, but
would have to go through the Ethereal
and Prime Material Planes to reach the
Astral Plane.
Duo-Dimension: No effect; must be
cast on an Outer or Prime Material Plane.
Enchant An Item and Enchanted Weapon:
No effect; the magical properties of
the Astral Plane effectively “rub out”
all
spell effects.
Feather Fall: If cast upon a missile in
astral space, the missile will not slow
down but will do no damage if it strikes,
and will bounce off targets as if made
of
paper. If cast upon other non-living objects,
it will reduce their total mass (as
per the spell description) and make them
easier to push or carry astrally (see
the
previous section on encumbrance). If
cast upon a living being in the astral
realm, that person will be able to carry
(without penalty) an additional mass of
material equal to the person’s normal
body weight, for the duration of the spell.
Feeblemind: See the comments for the
druid spell of the same name.
Find Familiar: The creature summoned
by this spell will be a minor Outer Planes
creature similar in power to an imp or
a
quasit. The creature will be of the same
alignment as the spell caster. Because
of
the variety of creatures that could be
encountered,
the specific effects of this
spell will vary from case to case and
plane to plane.
Fly: No effect; the movement system of
the Astral Plane makes it useless. If
cast,
the spell will not be forgotten and may
be
re-cast later.
Fumble: If the victim of this spell makes
a saving throw, he or she is slowed in
all
respects except movement (which depends
upon intelligence, which is not
slowed). Those who fail to save will be
unable to make any attacks (because
they are dropping weapons, missing
grappling attempts, etc.) but can defend
themselves. Further, any actions undertaken
that involve manual coordination
will be completely muffed for the spell’s
duration.
Gate: See comments for the cleric
spell of the same name.
Gust Of Wind: This spell will not affect
the movement of any intelligent, living
creatures on the Astral Plane, but may
push [relatively] small, non-living objects
[such as spheres of fire, ice, mud,
dust, or water]. Since objects are weightless
in astral space, things pushed away
by this spell will continue to move away
from the caster even after the spell’s
duration
ends. They will move at a speed of
1” (10 yards) per round per level of the
caster who used the spell.
Hallucinatory Terrain: No effect; no
terrain in astral space exists that could
be so affected. This spell is not like
the
druid version.
Haste: This spell will not increase a
character’s movement through the Astral
Plane, since movement depends on
intelligence, which the spell cannot
“hasten.” It will affect other abilities
and
actions as usual, most notably the number
of attacks per round in a combat situation.
(See the comments below for the
Slow spell.) Interestingly,
when Haste is
cast upon the Astral Plane, the recipient
of the spell will not age one year as a
result due to the plane’s “neutralizing”
effect on metabolism.
Hold Portal: Generally a useless spell;
there are few “portals” in astral space.
Ice Storm: If cast in the first form (hailstorm),
this spell will cause a large number
of hailstones (some 60-600) to appear
within a 4” diameter sphere. The
hailstones will average about one pound
apiece in weight (mass), and will not
be
moving when they appear. Any character
or creature caught within the area of
effect will be unharmed by the appearance
of the hailstones, but will not be
able to move faster than 2” (60 feet)
per
round within the area of effect because
of the effort involved in trying to avoid
colliding with the hailstones as they
appear
throughout the spell duration in various
places. Spell casting within the area
of effect is possible, since no hailstones
will strike a stationary person. The hailstones
will not disappear after the spell
duration expires, and may be used as
missiles hurled by physical force or by
a
spell (see the section on astral combat
with regard to hurled or launched missiles).
A physically hurled hailstone will
do 1-4 points damage to anyone it strikes,
plus the caster’s strength bonus to damage
(“to hit” bonuses for strength and
dexterity are also factored in). Note
that
very weak persons might possibly do no
damage when hurling a hailstone, even
if
it strikes a target. If a spell like Telekinesis
is used to move the hailstones about
as missiles, the hailstones will do 1
point
of damage for every 1”/second (10
yards/second) of velocity they have;
thus, a hailstone moving at the maximum
velocity of 1024”/round (30720 ft./round,
or about 170 yards/second) will do 17
points of damage to an opponent it
strikes. As mentioned elsewhere, ice
does not melt in astral space (unless
exposed
to a heat source, of course).
If cast in its second form (sleet), an
Ice
Storm spell will cause an 8” diameter
sphere of slushy droplets to form. [This
could conceivably be compacted into a
slush/waterglobe.] Any creatures caught
inside the area of effect will be effectively
blinded for the entire round, and all
attacks
by them will be made at -4 “to hit.”
Movement through or out of the “sleet
sphere” is possible as usual. Any firetype
spell cast within the area of effect of
a “sleet sphere” will do only one point
of
damage per for each die of damage the
spell normally causes, and will create
a
heavy mist (zero sighting distance) of
a
diameter equal to 10 feet for each die
of
damage the spell normally causes. This
misty cloud will dissipate in 2-5 rounds.
Imprisonment: Any creature struck
with this spell is immediately teleported
to a random location within the endless
reaches of the Astral Plane, and rendered
unable to move of its own volition.
Thus, the creature is effectively lost
forever upon the plane, but a Freedom
spell will return the creature to the
spot
where that spell is cast (when performed
upon the Astral Plane). Any being struck
by Imprisonment will not die during the
time spent lost upon the plane, and will
not have aged no matter how long he,
she, or it is lost. There is a chance,
however,
that a Freedom spell will fail to
work. [Why? This seems too final a penalty
overall] This chance starts at 1%
and increases at a cumulative rate of
1%
per year until a maximum failure rate
of
99% is reached after 98 years of Imprisonment.
A wish used in conjunction with
a Freedom spell increases the chances
of a successful casting by 20%, though
there will always be a 1% chance of failure
no matter what.
Incendiary Cloud: This spell will form
a spherical cloud of 100 times the volume
of the available flame source, with a
minimum size of 20 feet in diameter. All
other spell effects are as per normal.
Infravision: Because the Astral Plane
does not transmit heat or cold, this spell
will be useless. The Astral Plane is well
lit
by a diffuse light anyway, so the spell
would not be needed at any rate.
Invisible Stalker: No effect; normally
opens gate to elemental plane (Air).
Jump: This spell will not work astrally,
for the same reason the Fly spell won’t
work, but it will not be lost and may
be
re-cast at a later time.
Knock: See the notes on the magicuser
spell Hold Portal for relevant comment.
This spell could prove useful for
opening locks, untying knots, and similar
tasks, however.
Leomund’s Secret Chest: No effect;
must be used on Prime Material Plane,
and contact with Ethereal Plane required.
Leomund’s Tiny Hut: Useless; there is
no need to regulate temperature or gain
protection from weather astrally, and
the
opaque field is highly visible against
the
astral background (possibly attracting
wandering monsters).
Levitate: Though this spell will not affect
movement through astral space, it
will allow the user to carry an additional
amount of mass without being encumbered,
up to 1,000 g.p. (100 pounds) per
level of the spell caster.
Locate Object: See the comments for
the cleric spell of the same name.
Lower Water: See the comments for
the cleric spell of the same name.
Magic Jar: There is a 10% chance per
turn that an astral searcher will possess
the spell caster’s body while it is vacant.
The magic-user cannot force the creature
from the body alone, and exorcism
is required.
Because the Astral Plane
does not transmit heat
or cold, an Infravision
spell will be useless. The
Astral Plane is well lit
by a diffuse light anyway,
so the spell would not be
needed at any rate.
Magic Missile: Ignore the penalties
applied to hurling or launching missiles
astrally; magic missiles do not miss.
Massmorph: This spell will work, but
see the druid spells Hallucinatory Terrain
and Tree for relevant comments,
Maze: This spell will entrap the victim
inside a 5-foot-diameter cube of force
walls, appearing around the character
where he or she is on the Astral Plane
when the spell is uttered. The spell’s
duration
depends on the character’s intelligence,
as per the spell description. The
character cannot move about astrally
until he or she is free of the miniature
maze; the character is also incidentally
protected for the duration of the spell
from all attack forms that a Wall of Force
will resist. A Disintegrate spell will
immediately
remove the maze without
harming the victim inside.
Monster Summoning: Unless the DM
has created or discovered a monster that
fits within the parameters of each Monster
Summoning spell (I-VII), only those
summoning spells that have a chance of
bringing a creature from an Outer Plane
will work. Examples of this include Monster
Summoning I (which will bring only
manes), Monster Summoning I (bringing
lemures), and Monster Summoning
VI (bringing erinyes). Regardless of who
casts the spell, only creatures from the
lower (evil) Outer Planes will be summoned
by this spell on the Astral Plane.,
Mordenkainen’s Faithful Hound: The
hound will circle within a 3” radius about
the magic-user who cast the spell, looking
for anyone who enters the area of
effect (anyone larger than a house cat).
The hound will attack anyone who comes
in range (except the caster) from behind
or from one side; it will warn away intruders
beforehand with loud barking
when they get within 30 feet of the boundary
of the area of effect. All other characteristics
of the hound are as per the
normal spell.
Mordenkainen’s Sword: This weapon
can be used to attack opponents on other
planes when wielded upon the Astral
Plane; it can reach into either a Prime
Material Plane or to the first layer of
any
Outer Plane only. The sword-user is not
made subject to attacks in return, unless
the opponent is capable of bringing this
about.
Move Earth: This spell will affect masses
of soil, dirt, clay, or mud (see the
druid spell Transmute Rock To Mud) in
the same manner that the cleric spells
Lower Water and Raise Water affect
masses of water astrally; all soil, dirt,
and
mud within a 4” diameter sphere will
either be drawn toward or pushed away
from the magic-user at the same rate of
speed as the magic-user normally moves
in astral space. Small rocks (under 1
lb.
in mass) can be moved with this spell,
but larger ones will resist it. The magicuser
can move the material in other directions
(left, right, up, down) as desired.
Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere: In a manner
similar to that described under Cone of
Cold, this spell can freeze water spheres
or mudballs in astral space. Any form
of
the spell striking water will freeze a
total
mass of 50 cubic feet per level of the
spell
caster; this ice will not necessarily
melt
unless in contact with a heat source or
unfrozen water.
Part Water: See the comments for the
cleric spell
of the same name.
Passwall: Useful only on a large solid
object, generally useless astrally.
Phantasmal Force: See relevant commentary
under Audible Glamer.
Phase Door: See commentary for Passwall.
Both spells might be helpful in getting
someone or something out of a
mudball (see the druid spell Transmute
Rock To
Mud).
Plant Growth: Generally useless; see
the text at the start of the section on
druid spells.
Power Word Blind: Affects a 3” diameter
sphere.
Power Word Kill: Affects a 2” diameter
sphere.
Power Word Stun: Any creature so
stunned will be unable to move until recovered,
and cannot attack or defend.
Repulsion: This spell will function
much like Bigby’s Forceful Hand, in that
it will repel opponents depending on the
difference between the opponent’s and
magic-user’s intelligence scores. The
area of effect is a 1” wide cylinder as
long
as the spell range; obviously, opponents
could concentrate on moving sideways
out of the spell’s area of effect, making
it
of limited use in a three-dimensional
fight. Creatures of low intelligence (7
or
less) will not immediately think of using
such a tactic to counter this spell, and
so
may be pushed away easily on the first
try; they will learn to go sideways after
the next 1-7 tries. [Based on intelligence,
i.e., 7=1, 6=2, etc.]
Rope Trick: No effect; the extradimensional
space is outside the Astral Plane.
Sleep: Sleeping beings will cease
movement for the duration of the spell.
Slow:
This spell will not slow down a
victim’s movement, since that depends
on intelligence (which isn’t affected
by
this spell). Other manual activities will
be
affected, including attacks.
Spider Climb: Useless, since objects
on the plane are weightless to begin
with.
Spiritwrack: While this spell would be
effective against a named demon encountered
at random astrally (though
the chance of meeting any particular
demon named in such a spell by accident
is extremely low), there is a good
chance the demon might be on an outing
with some friends— they will not be affected
by the spell, and might express
their displeasure with the spell caster
in
various ways.
Stinking Cloud: This forms a 2” diameter
cloud, which cannot be moved [by
the spell caster]. Creatures may move
out of the cloud, but if they fail the
saving
throw cannot do anything else but move
while in the cloud or on the round after
leaving the cloud.
Symbol: Unlike the cleric spell of the
same name, this spell must be cast upon
a solid surface. Clerical symbols can
be
inscribed in the “air” of astral space.
Telekinesis: See the comments for the
cleric spell Create Water and the magicuser
spell Ice Storm for some interesting
possible uses of this spell. One gallon
of
water weighs 3.45 lbs. This spell works
in
all ways as described; if employed against
a living, conscious opponent, the opponent
will be slowed until the movement
rate of the spell exceeds the opponent’s
movement rate, at which time the opponent
is at the caster’s mercy. As the opponent
can continue to resist (mentally)
the spell’s effects, subtract the foe’s
normal movement rate from the spell’s
movement rate to get the effective speed.
Teleport: No effect; a solid surface to
land on is required. This spell will not
be
forgotten, and may be re-cast later.
Tenser’s Floating Disk: The disk will
follow the caster about, regardless of
the
caster’s rate of movement, within a 2”
radius sphere. When the spell duration
ends, anything the disk was carrying will
be left behind, suspended and motionless.
Inanimate or non-intelligent “cargo”
cannot move independently.
Transmute Rock To Mud: See the
druid spell of the same name.
If Trap the Soul is used
against an astrally projecting
person, the material body
will die on the Prime
Material Plane, but the
character’s soul will still
live within its prison.
Trap The Soul: Note some of the conditions
applicable to persons captured
by this spell when not on the Prime Material
Plane. If used against an astrally projecting
person, the material body will die
on the Prime Material Plane, but the
character’s soul will still live within
its
prison. Imprisoned characters cannot
cause their gem-prison to move, or otherwise
affect their environment. If released
upon any plane other than the
Astral Plane, the soul will form a new
body (having no possessions) with all
of
the former body’s characteristics; if
released
upon the Astral Plane, the soul
will perish at once.
Vanish: No effect; contact with the
Ethereal Plane is required.
Ventriloquism: See the comments for
the magic-user spell Audible Glamer.
Wall of Fire: This works very much like
the druid spell Wall of Fire, except that
the hollow sphere of flames has a radius
of 1” + ¼” per level of the spell
caster.
Wall of Force: The surface area of a
sphere (the best defensive shape in threedimensional
space) is 4 r2.
Wall of Ice / Wall of Iron / Wall of
Stone: Any such walls created will appear
in astral space and be immobile,
doing no harm to anyone. A Wall of Ice
will not melt in astral space unless put
in
contact with a fire spell or other heat
source, at which time it will form a water
sphere (see the cleric spell Create Water).
A Wall of Stone may be struck with
Transmute Rock To Mud, at which time it
will form a large mudball (see the druid
spell Transmute Rock to Mud), though it
may be that part of the wall will not be
affected and will drift to the center
of the
mud ball.
Web: This spell requires anchoring
points in order to form a true web-like
structure; at best in astral space, it
may
be directed at a single opponent, who
will become entangled in the mess of
webbing and be unable to attack or pull
free. If a saving throw is made, the opponent
has escaped all contact with the
webs. Suffocation is possible, as per
the
regular spell.
Wish: No Wish spell will ever affect the
ruler of the plane that the caster is on;
wishes directed against any deity in
general are sure tickets to disaster if
the
intent of the wish is hostile. Referees
should arbitrate this spell very carefully
in any event.
Wizard Lock: This spell is more useful
than Hold Portal, as it may be cast upon
chests or containers.
Write: No effect; ink will not flow
through a pen in a weightless environment.
[If a special, forced-ink pen is devised
by the experienced planar traveler,
the spell can be used.]
Any illusions and phantasms cast upon
the Astral Plane should be carefully considered
in order to be effective. If an illusion
depicts something that a viewer or
opponent would not normally expect to
see upon the plane, then the saving
throws for opponents will be considered
automatically made, and a bonus of up
to +4 may be given to any other (nonhostile)
viewers.
Some illusionist spells are essentially
the same in intent and effect as other
spells previously described. These spells
(and the section in which each is elaborated
on) are:
Astral Spell (cleric); Conjure Animals
(cleric); Detect Magic (cleric); First-level
magic-user spells (magic-user); Maze
(magic-user); Rope Trick (magic-user);
Hallucinatory Terrain (druid).
Other illusionist spells with altered
effects
on the Astral Plane are:
Alter Reality: See comments for the
magic-user spell Wish.
Color Spray: Stunned or unconscious
characters cannot move until recovered.
Paralyzation: Because the intelligence
of the victim of the spell is unaffected,
the character can still physically move
through astral space. However, the arms,
hands, feet, mouth, etc., cannot be
moved, and attacking or defending by
physical means is not possible.
Summon Shadow: No effect; normally
opens a gateway to Negative Material
Plane.
True Sight: See comments for the cleric
spell True Seeing.
Vision: No contact may be made with
deities or powers on the Elemental
Planes, Positive or Negative Material
Planes, or the Ethereal Plane.
Potions: Those potions that duplicate
spell effects (such as Climbing, Flying,
or Speed) will have the same result when
used in astral space as the spell itself.
Some potions will obviously become
useless until taken to another plane
where their powers may take effect (e.g.,
Oil of Etherealness). Gaseous Form will
make the imbiber hard to see, as per the
cleric spell Wind Walk. Potions of Longevity
and Speed will not affect the age
of the imbiber, due to the “neutralizing”
effect the Astral Plane has on living
metabolisms.
Scrolls: Scroll spells work the same as
normally cast spells on the Astral Plane.
If someone using an Astral Spell contacts
or is caught within the area of effect
of a Protection from Magic scroll, the
person (including the scroll reader, if
he
or she is also using Astral Spell) is
immediately
cast back to the home plane
and the protection spell is cancelled.
Rings: As for potions, those rings that
duplicate spell effects will have the
same
effect astrally as the spell does. Djinni
Summoning rings do not work, being
unable to open the gate to the Elemental
Plane of Air. Shooting Stars rings do
not
work at all, being dependent upon a dark
environment (night) on the Prime Material
Plane. If a resonating field is created
between two Rings of Spell Turning,
read all rolls of 98-00 for subsequent
effects
as rolls of 81-97. Protection rings
are modified in effect as described in
the
following section on Weapons, Armor,
and Protective Devices.
Rods, Staves, and Wands: Any such
devices duplicating spell effects have
the same effect astrally as the spell
does.
A Rod of Rulership has no effect on any
deities or minions who normally reside
on the Astral Plane, just as it cannot
affect
any deities or their minions when
used on their home Outer Plane.
A Rod of Absorption could
easily absorb (and cancel
out) an Astral Spell; if
used against the magic-user
who cast the spell, all
persons in the astral party
are hurled back to their
home plane.
A Rod
of Absorption could easily absorb (and
cancel out) an Astral Spell; if it is
used
against the magic-user who cast the
spell, all persons in the astral party
are
hurled back to their home plane. Rods
of
Lordly Might lose their third (directionfinding)
mundane ability on the Astral
Plane; this rod, along with the Rod of
Smiting, has altered abilities when used
as a weapon, as further detailed in the
following subsection on Weapons, Armor,
and Protective Devices. A Staff of
Withering will not age astral beings who
are struck with it.
Miscellaneous Magic Items: Some
general statements may be made on the
effects of using miscellaneous magic
items on the Astral Plane. First (and
most
obviously), if such a device duplicates
the effect of a spell mentioned in this
article, then refer to the text for appropriate
comments. Any device that summons
creatures from the Elemental, Positive
or Negative Material, or Ethereal
Planes will not work at all. Artifacts
and
relics are completely unaffected in any
operation by being in astral space. Certain
devices will obviously be useless
(e.g., Apparatus of Kwalish).
An Amulet of the Planes will transport
the user to any of the first layers of
the
Outer Planes or back to the Prime Material
Plane, but not to the Ethereal, Positive
or Negative Material, or Elemental
Planes from the Astral Plane. A Book of
Infinite Spells won’t work if the user
left it
on another plane.
Cubic Gates may open gates to any
plane from astral space, even those not
normally (by other means) reachable.
Devices requiring contact with or assistance
from deities (Candle of Invocation,
Incense of Meditation, Necklace of Prayer
Beads) will not work unless the user’s
deity normally resides on the Astral
Plane. Iron Flasks will capture player
characters or other creatures not originally
from the Astral Plane, but will not
affect beings native to the Astral Plane.
When in astral space, certain devices
that use extra-dimensional spaces to
store items in will either expand abruptly
so that the exterior of the container
conforms
to match its interior capacity (Bag
of Holding, Portable Hole), or will cease
functioning (Mirror of Life Trapping).
A
Phylactery of Long Years cannot slow
aging, since [normal] aging doesn’t take
place. A Well of Many Worlds will open
a
passageway to any plane, just as a Cubic
Gate does.
A Talisman of Pure Good (or Talisman
of Ultimate Evil) will cause its victims
to
be lost permanently (Wishes notwithstanding)
in astral space. A Chime of
Hunger will stun all nearby for 1 round
only, with no other effects.
Weapons, Armor, and Protective Devices:
When such items are brought into
the Astral Plane, the enchantments upon
them are lessened, since their enchantments
are so closely connected to the
Prime Material Plane. One “plus” is subtracted
from such items’ bonuses, on “to
hit,” damage, or protection scores. Thus,
for example, a +2 sword becomes a +1
sword, a +3 ring of protection becomes
+2, etc.
If an item has only a +1 bonus, it becomes
non-magical and loses all its special
powers on the Astral Plane (so luck
blades have no usable wishes). Items
with multiple enchantments lose one
“plus” from each type of enchantment;
a
flame tongue sword would be non-magical
for most purposes, with a +1 vs. regenerating
creatures, a +2 vs. cold-using
creatures, etc.
Obviously, any items that normally allow
the user to go ethereal or use any
other similar powers will still have their
protective enchantments (reduced one
step), but those powers will not be usable.
Cursed items with negative enchantments
(-1 shield, missile attractor) also
have their enchantments moved one step
toward zero (making the -1 shield nonmagical
in all respects); if a cursed item
is made non-magical, the curse is lifted
so long as the item is not brought back
into the Prime Material Plane. Protective
rings, cloaks, and so forth have their
powers reduced by one “plus,” but Bracers
of Defense and similar items will remain
unaffected. All other spell-like
powers of such items will be affected
as
described in the section of this article
on
alterations of magical spells. [Savants
have ways and means to overcome or
alter such magical losses, but that will
have to await publication of the AD&D™
game expansion. . . .]