D&D General Was plane shift ever restricted to reaching the first layer of a plane?

[Sword of Spirit]

I really thought I remembered that being a thing in at least one edition, but I started scouring my materials and couldn't find it. The closest I got was that portals usually open to the top layer of Outer Planes and astral conduits always go to the first layer (though there are similar conduits connecting the layers).

Does anyone else remember plane shift being limited to reaching the first layer?

 

[andargor]

You are probably remembering this:

A single fork of the correct material and pitch will take the caster of the plane shift (and other items) to the top-most layer of any Outer Plane. The major chord will take the traveler to the second layer (if) any). the minor chord of that note will take the traveler to the third layer (if any).
Other chords may take the traveler to deeper layers, fail entirely, or take the traveler to another area (see Experimenting, below).

Source: Jeff Grubb (April 1987). “Plane Speaking: Tuning in to the Outer Planes”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #120 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 42–43.

FWIW, in our Savage Tide 5e campaign the DM would allow us to find forks for different Abyss layers.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Apparently it was in the 3.5e DMG where it was replicating some of the information from the 3.0 Manual of the Planes--but it wasn't in the Manual of the Planes or the 3.0e DMG.

I think what I'm going to do with it is say that the standard tuning forks always go to the first layer, but there are rarer more specific tuning forks (that most Material Plane casters don't know about--gotta get to Sigil or elsewhere out on the planes) that are keyed to specific layers instead. And the special abilities of some creatures to plane shift can take them to wherever makes sense (so an angel can return to the layer it dwells on, rather than having to take the long route).

 

[Voadam]

3.0 Manual of the Planes Page 11. "Access to a layered plane from elsewhere usually happens on a specific layer: the first layer of the plane, which can be either the top layer or the bottom layer, depending on the specific plane. Most fixed access points (such as portals and natural vortices) reach this layer, which makes it the gateway for other layers of the plane. The plane shift spell also deposits the spellcaster on the first layer of the plane."

 

[Sword of Spirit]

3.0 Manual of the Planes Page 11. "Access to a layered plane from elsewhere usually happens on a specific layer: the first layer of the plane, which can be either the top layer or the bottom layer, depending on the specific plane. Most fixed access points (such as portals and natural vortices) reach this layer, which makes it the gateway for other layers of the plane. The plane shift spell also deposits the spellcaster on the first layer of the plane."

Thanks! I missed the sidebar, and the similar info on page 86 doesn't include that line.

I had thought it had a little more to it than a line in DMG 3.5.

 

[Alzrius]

Second Edition is the earliest reference I can find to this. Under the "Getting Around the Outer Planes" section in the "DM's Guide to the Planes" book, from the Planescape Campaign Setting (affiliate link), it says the following:

First, a cutter can always use the Astral Plane in pretty much the same way a prime uses it to reach the Outer Planes. Through spells or magical items, a blood can step into the Astral and then will himself to his destination. It takes power and practice, but it can be done. The astral method's not perfect, though. The Astral only touches the uppermost layer of each plane on the Great Ring. If a fellow wants to go to Mount Celestia, for instance, he can only get to the first layer this way. He's got to find another way to reach the seventh layer (or the second, for that matter).

EDIT: Interestingly, this is touched upon in the AD&D 1E Manual of the Planes (affiliate link) as well, reinforcing the idea that you can go deeper than just the first layer. Page 73 seems to suggest you can only go to the top one...

The outer planes lack an ethereal cloud and relatively easy access to the raw energies of the inner planes. Beyond the first layer of each plane, there is no ready access to the Astral plane, though most planes have a number of fixed portals attached to conduits leading to other planes.

...but then we come to page 74:

The clerical spell, plane shift, transports the caster and his companions to any known plane. The destination plane is determined by the material component of the spell, a tuning fork of a particular material. A single note brings the caster to the top layer of the outer plane attuned to the tuning fork. Deeper regions are said to be reached by a combination of chords, so that a group of random chords may take the player to a random layer of the Abyss.