This spell is found in the Manual of the Planes and is meant to prevent interplaner "intrusion" within the area of effect (which is very large and lasts 10 minutes per level). Last session, we came up with a disagreement about how to interpret the text of this spell. I'm sorry that I don't have it handy to type in for reference, but I was hoping maybe someone else had run into this issue and found an official resolution.
If someone is inside a Zone of Respite, can they teleport out?
One reading of the spell is that it prevents all planar travel within the area of effect. This means that you cannot Plane Shift, Dimension Door, Teleport, etc. anywhere into, out of, or through, that area.
An alternate reading would be to take "intrusion" to mean that it blocks incoming travel only. In other words, it prevents someone from manifesting (moving from the astral to the material) within the area of effect, but it does not prevent planar travel out of (or through) the area.
If the first reading is correct, then this spell is probably more powerful than Dismissal (which is higher level). But Zone of Respite does have a 2 round casting time, and it is in an expansion book. If the second reading is correct, then the spell seems rather weak. The area of effect is large, but non-mobile; and the duration is not long enough to protect your camp through the night.
If someone is inside a Zone of Respite, can they teleport out?
One reading of the spell is that it prevents all planar travel within the area of effect. This means that you cannot Plane Shift, Dimension Door, Teleport, etc. anywhere into, out of, or through, that area.
An alternate reading would be to take "intrusion" to mean that it blocks incoming travel only. In other words, it prevents someone from manifesting (moving from the astral to the material) within the area of effect, but it does not prevent planar travel out of (or through) the area.
If the first reading is correct, then this spell is probably more powerful than Dismissal (which is higher level). But Zone of Respite does have a 2 round casting time, and it is in an expansion book. If the second reading is correct, then the spell seems rather weak. The area of effect is large, but non-mobile; and the duration is not long enough to protect your camp through the night.
