D&D 5E Using the Ethereal Plane to travel around the Material Plane

[Pickaxe]

Can creatures that have the ability to enter the Ethereal Plane re-enter the Material Plane at another point, perhaps using the Ethereal to travel faster?

The Etherealness spell specifically says you come back at the point that you left, but what about something like a succubus that simply can move between the planes at will? Could she use her Ethereal ability to move unnoticed from one point on the Material Plane to another?

 

[neogod22]

Can creatures that have the ability to enter the Ethereal Plane re-enter the Material Plane at another point, perhaps using the Ethereal to travel faster?

The Etherealness spell specifically says you come back at the point that you left, but what about something like a succubus that simply can move between the planes at will? Could she use her Ethereal ability to move unnoticed from one point on the Material Plane to another?

Yes. Think of ghosts, how they can walk through walls. They are using ethereal travel to get around obstacles in the prime material plane.

 

[Eltab]

Being able to use the Ethereal Plane as a way to move around on the Material Plane is going to make the price of Gorgon's Blood* rise dramatically. There may be other unanticipated side-effects.
I get the same feeling about doing this as I did when I first realized that the Underdark permanently out-flanks every surface kingdom.

If you are familiar with the very-late-3e-era hardcover module where you must enter the Plane of Shadow to defeat a plot of Shar, (title something-something Cormyr), I can see using something like that:
You can pop in and out of the Ethereal within a defined zone. That zone may be very large or more limited; it may be centered on your point of entry; it may be possible to build two permanent portals and move through either plane between them to 'get around' obstacles in the other plane.

* When mixed into mortar used to bind bricks / stones into walls, prevents teleporting through the wall or planar travel from one side to the other.

 

[SkidAce]

Can creatures that have the ability to enter the Ethereal Plane re-enter the Material Plane at another point, perhaps using the Ethereal to travel faster?

The Etherealness spell specifically says you come back at the point that you left, but what about something like a succubus that simply can move between the planes at will? Could she use her Ethereal ability to move unnoticed from one point on the Material Plane to another?

I dont read that the same way. You dont come back at the same place you left, you come back where you traveled to, and "currently" are. Emphasis mine.

...When the spell ends, you immediately return to the plane you originated from in the spot you currently occupy....

Edit: So to answer, yes you can travel through the ethereal to spots on the material.

 

[jaelis]

Ok, the “border ethereal” basically overlaps the material plane, so moving in it is essentially equivalent to moving in the material. The deep ethereal is separate, and getting there requires something like a portal or plane shift spell. Those are related to your material location in various ways, just like any other planar travel.

 

[Pickaxe]

Thanks for these responses and clarifications. What got me on this was considering the benefits of etherealness for perpetrating crimes without detection, and moving rapidly between locations. Sounds like it’s great for the former, but for the latter it is only marginally better (since you move at your own speed but without any impediments).

I remember the mortar with gorgon’s blood, but I think the 1e Manual of the Planes also said something about ethereal (and maybe astral) creatures not being able to move through living things on the Material Plane. I imagined druids covering their lairs with vines to prevent extraplanar creatures entering.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

The living things block Ethereal movement rule still exists in the 5e DMG. What doesn’t exist (strangely) is the rule that you can enter the Deep Ethereal from the Border Ethereal. I still use it though, since it’s one of my favorite things.

It is impractical to use the Border Ethereal to spy on the Material, because it takes either a 7th level spell to get there at your current location for a limited duration, or another 7th level spell to get there with no duration, but no control over where on the plane you arrive.

 

[Dausuul]

Thanks for these responses and clarifications. What got me on this was considering the benefits of etherealness for perpetrating crimes without detection, and moving rapidly between locations. Sounds like it’s great for the former, but for the latter it is only marginally better (since you move at your own speed but without any impediments).

Agreed on the first. On the second, it's a lot more than marginal. Traveling in the wilderness ain't like walking on a road. Being able to ignore mountains, rivers, gorges, cliffs, swamps, and just plain old difficult ground is likely to cut your travel time in half or even more.

Of course, the succubus has wings, which means all that stuff doesn't matter nearly as much. But for a regular traveler, etherealness would be a godsend.

 

[Harzel]

The information about traveling in the Ethereal Plane seems pretty minimal, so, with the few caveats that have already been mentioned, you can probably run it anyway you please.

For my part, to me anything that comes with large benefits and no drawbacks is boring and not very believable. So either
1) Travel in the Ethereal Plane, particularly extended travel, comes with its own set of substantial complications, obstacles, and dangers; or
2) If travel in the Ethereal Plane is easy, the inhabitants of the world will have adapted. Intelligent creatures in particular will take precautions and will have invented detection and investigation mechanisms appropriate to the threat. Ethereal travel would be the subject of a lot more than a couple of spells and attributes of a few creatures.

Or some balanced combination of the two.

 

[neogod22]

I imagine traveling through the ethereal is like this for creatures that can only exist in 1 plane at a time (PCs). Wherever you enter would be the border ethereal (the building you're in, or room, or any other nearby structure). You have awareness of the area and everything looks greyed out. Any farther becomes deep ethereal. Everything looks like a fog, and the characters have no way to navigate through it. The only ways to properly navigate through it, is with a guide who can exist in multiple planes at once, or a creature that can at least see in both the the Ethereal and prime at the same time. Also, while traveling through the deep, they may encounter creatures that are native to the plane, or creatures passing through it. Because the Ethereal plane is what connects the inner planes, distance and direction are real. When you want to leave, you step back into the border ethereal and then back into the prime.The danger of traveling the Etheral blindly (besides the creatures) is that not only can you not end up in your untended location, but you can also land on another world or plane.