Manual of the Planes

try to lure adventurers away from each other, thenambush them individually.FEATURES OF THE ETHEREAL PLANEThere is no direct danger to general survival on the EtherealPlane. The Ethereal Plane has a normal atmosphere,and inhabitants breathe normally. Inhaled poisons andspells such as cloudkill work on the Ethereal Plane.However, there is no food or water other than whattravelers bring with them. Someone trapped on the EtherealPlane without a way out risks eventual starvation ordehydration (see Starvation and Thirst Dangers in Chapter3 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide).Unlike most planes, the Ethereal Plane allows visionacross the planar border to the plane it’s coexistentwith: the Material Plane. No matter where you are onthe Ethereal Plane, you can see the corresponding partof the Material Plane. Vision is limited, however, to 60feet both on the Ethereal Plane and onto the MaterialPlane. Furthermore, the Material Plane appears as ifwrapped in fog, so ethereal observers can’t discern precisedetails such as normal writing. It’s easy to discernfaces and landmarks, however. Seeing and hearing isotherwise normal, so gaze attacks and sonic attacks andabilities launched from the Material Plane affect etherealcreatures.The reverse isn’t true. An ethereal traveler is normallyinvisible and inaudible to an individual on the MaterialPlane. Spells and abilities such as see invisible reveal anethereal object or creature.Creatures on the Ethereal Plane cannot talk to thoseon the Material Plane, even if they want to be heard.Ethereal listeners only hear Material Plane sounds thatoriginate up to 60 feet away, but their hearing is otherwiseunaffected. Touch, smell, and taste do not reachbetween the planes.The Ethereal Plane emits its own diffuse light, soethereal observers do not need torches to see onto theCHAPTER 5:THE TRANSITIVEPLANESpqqqqrsOPTION: THE DEEP ETHEREALNormally, travelers use the Ethereal Plane to cross the plane itis coexistent with. As an option, the Ethereal Plane might havea separate region away from the Material Plane it is bonded to.This area is the Deep Ethereal.The best way to describe the Deep Ethereal is the analogy ofan ocean and a seashore. The shallow water near the shore isthe Ethereal Plane where it is coexistent with the MaterialPlane. As one moves out to sea (and away from the MaterialPlane), the sea deepens until finally one loses sight of landentirely. The deep ocean is the Deep Ethereal.Travelers on their way to the Deep Ethereal see the MaterialPlane becoming even foggier. Sight dims from the usual 60-footradius, losing 10 feet each minute until finally the traveler onlycan see within a 10-foot radius. At that point, the traveler has leftthe Material Plane behind. To an observer who remains behind,the traveler grows foggier and foggier, then vanishes entirely.With no landmarks, travel in the Deep Ethereal works muchlike movement on the Astral Plane, where only time matters,not direction or distance. Depending on the destination, a tripin the Deep Ethereal takes minutes or hours.GoalReturning to the Material PlaneFinding a specific color curtainFinding a specific object on theEthereal PlaneTime Needed1d10 minutes1d10×10 hours1d10×100 hoursWhen returning to the Material Plane, the individual reappearsin a random location, instead of returning to where heor she started. The traveler’s return point is 1d10 miles awayfrom the original starting point for each minute the travelerhas been trying to return. Determine the direction of the newexit point randomly.For example, a wizard hunts for a color pool in the DeepEthereal, taking 30 hours to do so. She then attempts to returnto the Material Plane, taking 3 minutes (rolled randomly) to doso. She arrives 3d10 miles away from her starting point in arandom direction.The D&D cosmology has no Deep Ethereal, but you can addone to your cosmology as a method of reaching other planesor a place where particularly nasty creatures (such as a kingdomof ghosts or a realm of dreams) live.OPTION: WITHOUT THE ETHEREALThe Ethereal Plane is tightly tied to its coexistent plane. However,you can create planes without Ethereal Planes attached to them.This affects a number of spells, magic items, and creatures.• The following spells directly use the Ethereal Plane and do notfunction if the plane cannot be accessed: chamber, etherealjaunt, etherealness, ether blast, and Leomund’s secret chest. Inaddition, magic items that duplicate these spells, such as oil ofetherealness, do not function in the absence of this plane.• The following spells have elements that do not functionbecause there is no Ethereal Plane to affect: dimensionalanchor, invisibility purge, make manifest, mass manifest, see invisibility,true seeing, vanish, zone of respite, zone of revelation, andspells with the force descriptor such as magic missile and wallof force. Other elements of these spells function as normal.• The blink spell still works, but you have to determine exactlyhow it functions (if at all) without an Ethereal Plane.• Creatures that use the Ethereal Plane extensively, such as theblink dog, ethereal marauder, ethereal filcher, and phase spiderare at a distinct disadvantage without access to the EtherealPlane. Accordingly, they avoid areas that don’t provide etherealaccess. Ghosts do not exist in areas without the Ethereal Plane.In the D&D cosmology, only the Material Plane has a coexistentEthereal Plane. None of the Inner or Outer Planes connectto the Ethereal Plane, so the above rules apply on any InnerPlane or Outer Plane.pqqqqrs55