Manual of the Planes

APPENDIX:VARIANT PLANES& COSMOLOGIES208that provides shelter and foundation for the rest ofthe plane.The Elemental Plane of Wood functions best in a cosmologywhere the Inner Planes are separate and unconnected.If you are using a cosmology where the InnerPlanes have borders, the Elemental Plane of Wood connectswith all the other Elemental Planes, taking on thetraits of those planes closer to the borders. It connectswith the other four Elemental Planes in much the sameway that the Outlands on the Great Wheel joins the otherOuter Planes.ELEMENTAL PLANE OF WOOD TRAITSThe Elemental Plane of Wood has the following traits.• Objective Directional Gravity: Down is toward thenearest part of the great tree. It is possible to walk alongthe underside of branches, and up the side of the greattrunks, much as ants do.• Normal Time.• Infinite Size.• Alterable Morphic.• No Elemental or Energy Traits: The ElementalPlane of Wood represents a balance of fire (throughlight), air (through breezes), earth (through nutrients),and water (through rain), all of which combine toform the Great Tree.• Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities thatuse or create water (including those of the Plantdomain) are both extended and maximized. An entanglespell cast on this plane lasts 2 minutes per casterlevel as opposed to 1 minute per caster level on theMaterial Plane. Spells and spell-like abilities that arealready extended or maximized are unaffected bythis trait.WOOD INHABITANTSThe Great Tree of the Elemental Plane of Wood is avibrant, living community. There are no known wood elementals,but wood element creatures exist that areanalogs for many Material Plane creatures. Such creaturesact as guardians on the Elemental Plane of Wood.The Elemental Plane of Wood is also home to a numberof plant creatures, including treants, shambling mounds,assassin vines, tendriculoses, and various forms of fungi(including phantom fungi). Oozes also live on the plane,especially ochre jellies, which do not affect wood.All vegetable life on the plane shares an empathic link,so wanton destruction alerts other denizens of the plane.Such communication is limited to basic emotions andhas a range of 200 feet. If the plants need to communicatewith fleshy beings, they use Common or Treant.FEATURES OF THE ELEMENTAL PLANE OFWOODThe Elemental Plane of Wood isn’t directly hostile,though its inhabitants often are. As long as travelers don’tdestroy native plant life, the wood element creaturesleave them alone. However, cutting down trees, harvestinggrain or fruit, or attacking the Great Tree bringslegions of guardians down on the interlopers. Despite theplenty, travelers may wish to bring their own food, or toscavenge dropped seeds and nuts.Characters who remain on the Elemental Plane ofWood should keep moving. Vines starts to grow over acharacter who stays in one spot for more than an hour.After 4 hours, the character is trapped in the equivalentof an entangle spell.While the plane is made primarily of plant life, it is alush, living landscape that does not burn easily. Plantcreatures that are particularly vulnerable to fire do nothave this weakness on the Elemental Plane of Wood.Vision, including darkvision and low-light vision, isunaffected on the Elemental Plane of Wood. Like otherelemental planes, the very atmosphere seems to have itsown luminescence. However, it waxes and wanes fromthe brightness of a sunny day to a full moon’s light. Nightand day match that of the Material Plane.TEMPORAL ENERGY PLANEThe Temporal Energy Plane is, as befits time, continuallyin motion. It is a gray windstorm with neither abase nor a top that buffets and overturns travelers whoventure within. Everything that enters the plane istossed and ground against itself until all that remainsis more dust—the sands of time carried by the winds toerode new items.The Temporal Energy Plane, also called the Plane ofTime, is a vast expanse similar to the Elemental Plane of Air.However, the Temporal Energy Plane is in constant motion,storming and churning like a sirocco.The stormy nature of the Temporal Energy Plane posesa physical problem, but the greater danger is in the natureof time itself. Those within the sandstorm can be carriedmonths or years into the future, effectively exiling themfrom their native plane. Several Material Plane civilizationssaw this plane as a convenient prison for unpopularmalefactors. But some cultures survived long enough toregret it when their exiles returned centuries after theirdeparture—and had aged only a few days.TEMPORAL TRAITSThe Temporal Energy Plane has the following traits.• Subjective Directional Gravity: Travelers choosetheir own down just as they would on the ElementalPlane of Air, although this does little good whencaught in a sandstorm.• Erratic Time and Timeless: The Temporal EnergyPlane is timeless with regard to such mundane matterssuch as hunger, thirst, and sleep. It has the erratic timetrait compared to the Material Plane, however. Whencharacters leave the Plane of Time, check how muchtime has passed in the Material Plane during theirsojourn using the following table.