D&D General How do you handle Astral travel?
- Thread starter SkidAce
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aco175
Legend
Seems kind of like making players word a wish right of you get to mess with them.
Not even a roll to think of the right place, sort of like Ghostbusters and Staypuff Marshmallow Man.
I do not use the planes that much, so it might never come up in my games, but I do not think I like it like this. Or, maybe it just cuts down on the exploration part of the game and jumps to the next thing.
Not even a roll to think of the right place, sort of like Ghostbusters and Staypuff Marshmallow Man.
I do not use the planes that much, so it might never come up in my games, but I do not think I like it like this. Or, maybe it just cuts down on the exploration part of the game and jumps to the next thing.
You would/could assume they are beyond "mere" travelling by this high of level, but I dont think I like it either.
Of course, as the Beyond quote says above, I still get to decide how safe and how "far" away it is.
I made a chart a while back, with familiarity like teleport and DCs. So if you made the DC you prob made it to your destination with only random encounters (astral wind, anubis, etc.), but if you failed the DC, you still made it to the destination with a complication (Staypuff Marshmellow man type thing).
Lets see if I can find it....ah ...
Scott Christian
Hero
I have not run astral travel in D&D 5e. Back in 2nd edition we ran it, and we had built a time graphic/chart that all of us agreed to beforehand. It had time in other places go by at different rates, and sometimes, we aged at different rates too. It is why my human fighter had to retire - he was suddenly 75 years old after so much astral travel! 
I will never forget it. I was actually heartbroken at the time, but we had all agreed to the in-house rule.
As far as being a player in 5e, the two DMs that used it made it more fantastical and unique. It was an opportunity to explore. And yes, we did have a few encounters, but for the most part it was contemplative role playing and fantasy exploration.
I will never forget it. I was actually heartbroken at the time, but we had all agreed to the in-house rule.As far as being a player in 5e, the two DMs that used it made it more fantastical and unique. It was an opportunity to explore. And yes, we did have a few encounters, but for the most part it was contemplative role playing and fantasy exploration.
Yeah, I'm starting to lean that way.
If i want a "obscure" place to be more difficult to get to, I will have areas like the astral wind surrounding it or something to skill challenge through, like a dangerous barrier like star trek and the great barrier at the center of the cosmos.
TheHand
Hero
My main group has been using Planescape as the setting for a while. Characters can actually get to the Astral Plane at fairly low level if they know of a gate, but once there they have to really be mentally certain about where they are goin. Unprepared characters can easily get lost in the infinite void, and there are many dangers and predators that can sense and prey upon hapless souls. Usually they will try to seek a guide or hire on an Astral ship (I migrated Spelljammer to the Astral a while back before the official 5e release). Moving without a guide or ship will usually be a long journey requiring Int rolls or Arcana to stay on course.
We’ve made a home made Astral map that abstractly places various hot spots and landmarks that we can use to gauge such journeys, even though the distances are not real in a physical sense.
We’ve made a home made Astral map that abstractly places various hot spots and landmarks that we can use to gauge such journeys, even though the distances are not real in a physical sense.
M_Natas
Hero
So, I think the Astral Sea is a regression in comparison to the Phlogistan of 2E ... but I'm running 5e Spelljammer as a DM, so I made some rules for the Astral Sea:
Travel through the Astral Sea and Wildspace
Travel through the Astral Sea occurs through thought alone. One need only think of the place one wishes to fly to, and already one knows the direction in which to travel—or do they?These optional rules make travel through the Astral Sea and Wildspace a bit more interesting.
Navigation in the Astral Sea
Navigating the Astral Sea requires focused thought in order to reach a specific location. On average, a journey through the Astral Sea from one location to another takes 3 days.Places such as Wildspace systems, astral domains, or settlements on dead gods are easier or harder to reach within the Astral Sea. As the DM, you decide how easy or difficult a region is to reach and assign an appropriate Difficulty Class (DC).
Difficulty Class Examples
| DC | Examples |
|---|---|
| 5 | A god who wants you to fly to them |
| 10 | Realmspace and other well-known major systems |
| 15 | Standard difficulty |
| 20 | Remote, rarely visited worlds and systems |
| 25 | The domain of a god of secrecy who does not wish to be found; a hidden system of gods or other powerful beings |
Based on the table below, you can see what happens if you exceed or fail the DC:
Result of the Navigation Check
| DC Missed/Exceeded By | What Happens |
|---|---|
| –10 | You reach a system that bears some resemblance to the one you actually wanted to visit, within 10 days, and the first random encounter you have is hostile. |
| –5 | You reach a neighboring system in 7 days. |
| DC failed | You reach the destination in 5 days. |
| DC succeeded | You reach the destination in exactly 3 days. |
| +5 | You reach the destination in 2 days. |
| +10 | You reach the destination in 1 day. |
On a roll of 1–9, nothing happens.
On a roll of 10+, roll on the Astral Sea Encounters table on page 6 of Boo’s Astral Menagerie to generate a random encounter.
Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
It seems the directional awareness still allows for travel, you aren't instantly there. But you aren't searching for it, you know the direct route. So it can't be hidden, but maybe the most direct route really sucks and you want an indirect route where you don't need to go by the Tarrasque-Nado or the Exploding Sun?
So it might very well still be about the journey. Maybe quite literally, if the DM can decide how far away the destination is and how perilous the trek will be, maybe it doesn't follow any nice, stable and reliable cartesian coordinate system, unless that's what the DM has setup for today?
The Astral Plane is the Worst Plane.
I treat it like space, except you can breath. You need a ship, or a dreadnaut to ride. I really dislike the whole psychadelic Dr. Strange astral plane thing and lean much more toward the Astral Sea and you navigate it like using spelljammers.
I treat it like space, except you can breath. You need a ship, or a dreadnaut to ride. I really dislike the whole psychadelic Dr. Strange astral plane thing and lean much more toward the Astral Sea and you navigate it like using spelljammers.
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