Astral Plane Woes

[Markn]

Help! I have a group that is abusing the Astral Plane. Since time does not pass in the Astral Plane they have taken to plane shifting to the Astral Plane on a whims notice. If combat goes poorly they go, if they find a magic item that requires time spent (such as tomes) they go, if they go low on spells and need to replenish they go. Since time does not pass on the Astral plane the group can return at they same time (or at least close to it) they left. They use Teleport to get back to exact location and this is creating several issues with the adventure. The adventure is time constrained and this effectively gets around it. I don't mind the occaisonal jaunt but they plane shift almost daily and are able to avoid a lot of stuff with this tactic. Short of rewriting a lot of the adventure, planning an encounter during every travel to Astral Plan (which I think is unrealistic) there isn't much I can do. I am thinking of having the occaisonal encounter but there is nothing to stop them from Plane shifting somewhere else (execept dimensional anchor I guess but not everyone has that spell). Any ideas?

 

[Cheiromancer]

I think that you are misinterpreting the "timeless" quality of the astral plane. It means that you don't age, breathe, or get hungry or thirsty there.

But if you spend a week reading a book there and return to the prime, a week has passed.

 

[the Jester]

I think that you are misinterpreting the "timeless" quality of the astral plane. It means that you don't age, breathe, or get hungry or thirsty there.

But if you spend a week reading a book there and return to the prime, a week has passed.

What he said.

Now, your players can pull their trick- if, instead of the Astral plane, they go to the Far Realms. And then you have every excuse you need to pull out all the stops.

 

[Markn]

Is that correct?

The impression from Dungeon modules is that time spent on the Astral plane does not have time pass in the Prime. Is there anything definitive one way or the other? If we have been doing it wrong then that would be the simplest fix!

 

[Jack Simth]

The impression from Dungeon modules is that time spent on the Astral plane does not have time pass in the Prime. Is there anything definitive one way or the other? If we have been doing it wrong then that would be the simplest fix!

The Astral Plane is Timeless, not flowing:

Timeless: On planes with this trait, time still passes, but the effects of time are diminished. How the timeless trait can affect certain activities or conditions such as hunger, thirst, aging, the effects of poison, and healing varies from plane to plane.

The danger of a timeless plane is that once one leaves such a plane for one where time flows normally, conditions such as hunger and aging do occur retroactively.

(Emphasis and Emphasis added) You can really hurt them with that bold section....


Likewise:

Flowing Time: On some planes, time can flow faster or slower. One may travel to another plane, spend a year there, then return to the Material Plane to find that only six seconds have elapsed. Everything on the plane returned to is only a few seconds older. But for that traveler and the items, spells, and effects working on him, that year away was entirely real.

and it defaults to normal:

Normal Time: This trait describes the way time passes on the Material Plane. One hour on a plane with normal time equals one hour on the Material Plane. Unless otherwise noted in a description, every plane has the normal time trait.

(emphasis added)

 

[Arkhandus]

Besides, if your PCs go to the Astral Plane frequently to get out of trouble or whatever, just have a Githyanki astral carrack drifting by that part of the Astral Plane at the time......oooh, look, loot! Just have to get it off the corpses of those humans first..... Or throw an Astral Dreadnaught their way....... Or a lich or demon or whatnot who's travelling through that part of the Astral Plane at the time..... Or they could emerge onto a Time Loop in part of the Astral Plane, or a Psychic Storm could flare up around them while they're on the Astral....

But yeah, time spent on the Astral Plane still counts normally towards the relative passage of time elsewhere; spend a day in the Astral, and a day passes in the Prime Material Plane too. Spend a month in the Astral, and unless you've been eating and drinking at a normal rate there, you'll suffer a month's worth of starvation and dehydration as soon as you enter a normal-time plane like the Prime Material. Which of course would kill ya.....

 

[Cheiromancer]

The danger of a timeless plane is that once one leaves such a plane for one where time flows normally, conditions such as hunger and aging do occur retroactively.

Although this is the rules forum, I must say this is something I would houserule in an instant.

It is eminently unplayable.

What is a person supposed to do if they somehow spend a year on the Astral Plane? Eat and drink a year's worth of supplies before returning to the prime? If their metabolic processes have stopped, how are they supposed to digest it? And if they can't digest it, how are they supposed to keep it all down?

 

[Jack Simth]

Pick up a ring of Sustenence.

 

[Markn]

The Astral Plane is Timeless, not flowing:
(Emphasis and Emphasis added) You can really hurt them with that bold section....


Likewise:

and it defaults to normal:
(emphasis added)

Thanks for the answers guys, particularly Jack Smith.

 

[NexH]

There is no need to drink or eat on the astral plane. And even if you spend a year there returning to the Material plane won't kill you, you will only be very hungry.
For more information on the subject, check the Manual of the Planes.