Thwarting Astral Projection

[0-hr]

What can be done to (permantently) defeat bad guys that are using Astral Projection to harass us from their own private little pocket plane (created via Genesis)?

I notice that it says, under Astral Projection,

the character's
astral body is connected at all times to the character's material
body by a silvery cord. If the cord is broken, the character is
killed, astrally and materially. Luckily, very few things can
destroy a silver cord.

What are these "few things"?

In this particular case, we have cleric spells up to 8th level available to us, but are lacking in arcane magic. All of the WoTC books, FR, and R&R are available.

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[gfunk]

IIRC, the following can destroy a silver cord:

1) A "special" silver sword of Githyanki make (These are + 5 vorpal greatswords or the like). If you manage to acquire one, the Githyanki will send increasingly powerful raiding parties to recover the item.

2) Astral Cyclone (these are randomly encountered AFAIK)

3) Astral Dreadnought (I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe these beasties can sever the cord)

 

[Narzul]

gfunk, you are right about Astral Dreadnought, they can severe the silver cord.

 

[Someone]

No need to sever the cord. Just plane shift to the demiplane and kill them while they´re projected.

 

[0-hr]

In order to Plane Shift, you need "a small, forked metal rod" keyed to the destination. There aren't going to be any of those lying around for this psionically created, temporary, pocket plane.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

A githyanki silver sword is a +3 weapon. Greater silver swords are +5 vorpal.

They can attack the cord (AC as owner, hardness 10, 20 hp) but draw an AoO to do so. Any time the cord is struck, but not broken, the owner must make a Fort save (DC 13) or instantly return to their own body.

Mind Blank makes your cord immune.

The silver property is a +3 special quality (I think that's a bit expensive), and you can only use a silver sword with the appropriate Exotic Weapon feat (eg EWP silver greatsword).

This info from the Psionics Book.

The astral winds at their strongest can cut astral cords.

 

[0-hr]

Thanks for the information all. I'm surprised that there isn't any feasible way to deal with someone astraly projecting and attacking us. Bit of an oversight in the rules I guess.

 

[Arravis]

We house ruled that the Make Manifest spell from the Manual of the Planes works on those that are using this method. Otherwise it's a way to gain near-invincibility.

For those that don't know, the way this works is that bad guy A is in his own mini-plane, he astrally projects into the Astral Plane then finds a color pool going into the Prime Material. When he goes through the pool, a duplicate of his body, his items, etc, appears (he's also able to cast spells). If someone takes the items from this "proxy" the items dissapear after 24 hours (as I recall), but if the proxy takes items, then they are really with the original, once he finishes astrally projecting.

Anyway, this is pretty damn tough to beat by the rules, as far as I know.

 

[Mr.Binx]

Your DM could allow you to make a Knowledge (Planes) check to find out what type of metal and configuration the key needs to be for a Plane Shift spell (DC 20 for a plane you have visited, DC 25 for a plane you have personally viewed or scryed, or DC 30 for a plane you have second-hand knowledge of). You could also use divination magics to discover the same information. The hard part is when the metal required is extremely rare or only obtainable on the target plane. Once you obtain the materials required, you can higher a craftsman to work the key for you.
You could also just pay a high-level individual to cast gate for you (which does not require a key at all, average price is 1,530gp per casting from a 17th level character).
In the meantime I would protect your location with protective wards and spells which prevent planar travel and hedge out outsiders/summoned creatures. Hiding your location against scry attempts may also prove useful.

 

[AuraSeer]

If you can find or hire an arcane caster, my immediate idea is Trap The Soul. It allows a Will save, but it's an 8th level spell, so the DC is pretty high. And if you know the target's name, SR is ignored and the DC goes up by 2.

Relying only on your party's abilities, the only thing that comes to mind is Forbiddance. It's 6th level, well within your cleric's abilities, and has Permanent duration. The affected area is limited, but at least you can use it on your stronghold to prevent the baddies from warping in and killing you in your sleep.