Plane Shift

[Graybeard]

What would happen if someone cast Plane Shift while in a rope trick? Our group was stuck on a demi-plane with no way out. It was not connected to any other plane. One of the players suggested we cast rope trick, have the party go into it, then have the party cleric cast Plane Shift. Our DM did not allow it because he could not find anything in the rules that would explain the consequences. Any ideas?

Thanks,

 

[AuraSeer]

Casting plane shift by itself should be sufficient. The spell doesn't require any planar connections to work, just that you have the focus for your destination plane.

That said, there are apparently no special consequences for combining plane shift with rope trick. The latter spell description states, "the window is present on the Material plane," but that's clearly working from the assumption that you were on the Material plane yourself when you cast it. AFAICT, if you're totally stuck on a particular plane, no manner of finagling with rope trick will let you escape.

However, if you have a portable hole and a bag of holding, there's your way out. Gather your party within 10' of the bag, drop the hole inside, and hold on as you are sucked through a gate into the Astral. The two items are destroyed in the process, but now you can get to any plane you want just by finding the right color pool. (Be sure you put the hole inside the bag, not the other way around, as that would cause the items to vanish without taking you along.)

 

[reanjr]

What would happen if someone cast Plane Shift while in a rope trick? Our group was stuck on a demi-plane with no way out. It was not connected to any other plane. One of the players suggested we cast rope trick, have the party go into it, then have the party cleric cast Plane Shift. Our DM did not allow it because he could not find anything in the rules that would explain the consequences. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Well, if you really are saying that the demiplane just doesn't have connections, then it doesn't matter. Planeshift works without planar connections. If you instead mean that the demiplane is explicitly cut off from other planes, it would mean one of two things:

1. Rope Trick doesn't work in the first place as it is prohibited as well.
2. The Rope Trick opens up into an extradimensional space that follows the same rules as the demiplane. Planar travel wouldn't work.

Either way, Rope Trick shouldn't get beyond a limitation like that. It wasn't designed to do so and would be potentially adventure-ruining. Think of traditional Ravenloft. The spell-combo would not have worked there (in case you didn't know Ravenloft was a demiplane totally imprisoned from the rest of the multivers; you could go in, but not out)

 

[andargor]

What would happen if someone cast Plane Shift while in a rope trick? Our group was stuck on a demi-plane with no way out. It was not connected to any other plane. One of the players suggested we cast rope trick, have the party go into it, then have the party cleric cast Plane Shift. Our DM did not allow it because he could not find anything in the rules that would explain the consequences. Any ideas?

Thanks,

I concur with the others. A straight Plane Shift should get you out, even if it is not coterminous or coexistent. If that doesn't, something else is at work and in all probability extradimensional travel would be blocked as well.

Andargor

 

[Li Shenron]

What would happen if someone cast Plane Shift while in a rope trick? Our group was stuck on a demi-plane with no way out. It was not connected to any other plane. One of the players suggested we cast rope trick, have the party go into it, then have the party cleric cast Plane Shift. Our DM did not allow it because he could not find anything in the rules that would explain the consequences. Any ideas?

Incidentally, are you sure this is the reason why the DM ruled it out? Sounds to me that if he let you get stuck in a place with no way out, there might be an adventure ahead just where you are

 

[Psimancer]

Actually, I would have to agree with your DM. If you are in an isolated demi-plane, then no, planeshift would not work.

Rope trick would work in that it would put you in a nice little pocket, but planeshifting from within it would make no difference.

The old 'bag of holding / portable hole' trick would work in so far as it would rip a hole in the fabric of reality and take you astral, but you may find that the astral plane was isolated from the 'main' astral...

I've run a couple of planar campaigns in my time, and isolated planes can generally only be left via specific portals or means...

 

[Graybeard]

Thanks for all you input. Our party had already discovered that dimension door and teleport would not work. I just wanted to see if our DM was just forcing us to find another way out or if it was legitimate. The party travelled across the demi-plane for several days and found a creature that could help us get out. After some negotiating and diplomacy, we convinced it to help us. It did and we got back to the material plane. Now the problem is that we are about 12 to 14 years in the future of when we left. Now we have to wait a couple of weeks before we can play again.

Thanks,

 

[andargor]

Gotta love those Time planar traits.

Andargor

 

[Felix]

Greybeard,

Dimension Door and Teleport don't ever allow you to change planes... They just move you around the plane that you're currently on at the moment. Same with Rope Trick, it creates an extra-dimensional space, but the only way in or out is the window.

Co-terminality and co-existance mean nothing to Plane Shift, by the way... at least by the rules as written. After all, most planes are not coterminous and coexistant with the Prime Material, but you can still Plane Shift to them.

Either the spell was read improperly, or the DM wants you to do something on that plane and won't let you leave until you have done it. Meh. Not very nice to overrule party abilities like that with no warning, but there you have it.

Luck.

 

[andargor]

Either the spell was read improperly, or the DM wants you to do something on that plane and won't let you leave until you have done it. Meh. Not very nice to overrule party abilities like that with no warning, but there you have it.

Luck.

Other than the fact that the DM can do anything he wants, the fact that extradimensional travel can be banned from a plane or a demiplane is perfectly within the RAW:

Limited Magic: Planes with this trait permit only the use of spells and spell-like abilities that meet particular qualifications.

Magic can be limited to effects from certain schools or subschools, to effects with certain descriptors, or to effects of a certain level (or any combination of these qualities). Spells and spell-like abilities that don't meet the qualifications simply don't work.

So, a Limited Magic plane which disallows teleportation or other forms of extradimensional travel is perfectly legal.

Andargor