D&D 5E Planar Travel and Dream of the Blue Veil

[TwoSix]

Dream of the Blue Veil fills a particular niche; it allows the party to travel somewhere without knowing what that other place actually is. Plane Shift doesn't really matter if you don't know that Eberron or Toril actually exist. Dream of the Blue Veil lets the DM seed a magic item or an NPC into the game to explore other planes while still maintaining a sense of mystery. It's a plot device, just like putting a "magic portal" into your game, but comes with the shiny imprimatur of officialness for those who care about it.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Dream of the Blue Veil fills a particular niche; it allows the party to travel somewhere without knowing what that other place actually is. Plane Shift doesn't really matter if you don't know that Eberron or Toril actually exist. Dream of the Blue Veil lets the DM seed a magic item or an NPC into the game to explore other planes while still maintaining a sense of mystery. It's a plot device, just like putting a "magic portal" into your game, but comes with the shiny imprimatur of officialness for those who care about it.

Yeah, that seems to be its function. Which is fine if it's something a wizard discovers in a spellbook along with the item. But it's a trap option for casters who know a limited number of spells and waste a known spell on something they'll probably use twice. Sure, they can swap it out when they level up, but it seems unsatisfying to me to swap in a temporary spell like that in the first place.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

This spell is primarily intended as something you find a spell scroll for when your characters are switching campaign settings. Players should not be actually taking this or planeshift as a spell without DM prompting or consultation unless they think their DM somehow just has the whole multiverse prepped for adventure, which would be quite the sandbox campaign.

And gosh, for a plot device to explain how the characters who just wrapped up whatever published campaign in the forgotten realms got to the setting the DM has desinged a new campaign in, it's pretty great. It even has a means for some characters to not make it for the players in the group who decide they want to roll new characters for the new campaign.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

But it's a trap option for casters who know a limited number of spells .

For something to be a trap, it would have to be hidden. This is too obvious to be a trap.

 

[Flamestrike]

Krynn, Oerth, Toril etc are on different material planes aren't they?

 

[Sword of Spirit]

For something to be a trap, it would have to be hidden. This is too obvious to be a trap.

Depends on player experience I think. I meant it was a trap for new players. Though really in the Information age most traps nowadays only apply to new players.

Krynn, Oerth, Toril etc are on different material planes aren't they?

Not in 5e. That was a 3e exclusive take on it. They’ve been in the same Material Plane before and since.

(I don’t know how 4e did it, but it didn’t even have Krynn and Oerth to my knowledge.)

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Krynn, Oerth, Toril etc are on different material planes aren't they?

My take has been that D&D's Prime Material Plane is a level one multiverse, defined by crystal spheres rather than Hubble volumes.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Depends on player experience I think. I meant it was a trap for new players.

Anyone experienced enough to be playing a 13th level sorcerer is experienced enough to know not to pick this spell unless the DM drops hints that you are going to need it.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

dream of the blue vale is an excellent counterspell to plane shift used offensively on you... you can always ger back to your home plane of existance by using yourself as a focus.
It is also nice to get to the enemy´s lait by using plane shift first and an item that was crafted by the enemy...

 

[Paul Farquhar]

dream of the blue vale is an excellent counterspell to plane shift used offensively on you... you can always ger back to your home plane of existance by using yourself as a focus.

Actually, this probably won't work. DotBV can only transport you between worlds on the prime material plane.

But you could use it to take the One Ring to Mount Doom, assuming you have some way to leave Middle Earth before casting it.