Plane Shift Question

[the Jester]

The text of plane shift reads (in part)...

Pinpoint accuract as to a particular arrival location on the intended plane is nigh impossible. From the Material Plane, you can reach any other plane, though you appear 5 to 500 miles (5d%) from you intended destination."

Emphasis mine.

So if you plane shift home from another plane, how far off-target are you? I assumed it was the same 5d% miles until I read the spell's description closely... is there any official word on this? Is this is the hands of the DM?

 

[Spatzimaus]

Good question.

Personally I've always played it the same in reverse, since the flavor text in the sentence before ("Pinpoint accuracy as to a particular arrival location on the intended plane is nigh impossible") implies the inaccuracy is inherent to the spell.

But, if it's just a question of unfamiliarity, then you can read it as if your home plane should always be precise. In this case, the situation reverses for Outsiders, which makes things a lot more complex.

If it's specific to how the Material Plane works, then it'd be the same for everyone, but I've never liked that sort of "planar superiority complex".

 

[the Jester]

No other opinions?

Seems like an open call for dm fiendishness....

 

[Nifft]

IMC, the Prime Material Plane and the Outer Planes are both expressions of the same 10-dimensional macrosphere. Each sub-atomic particle in our 4-dimensional universe is one end of a wormhole. The other end of each wormhole is a particle in the 6-dimensional "outer plane" universe.

Instant transit from one plane to another is a snap -- you just have to find a wormhole leading to the right place, which is pretty likely, since the number of sub-atomic particles within any given area is fairly large, and the number of known destinations relatively small.

My players will have some "fun" when I interpret the 5-500 miles off course rule to be a SPHERE, and not necessarily on the surface of the planet they're targeting.

-- Nifft

 

[the Jester]

Nice!

I just wonder how legit an interpetation it is to say that shifting back to the Material Plane might leave you even further off-target than the 5d% miles?