Planar Handbook

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Planar Handbook
Planarbook.jpg
Abbreviation: N/A
Author: Bruce R. Cordell, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Item Code: 179200000
Release Date: July 2004
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 192
ISBN-10: 0-7869-3429-8
Price: $29.95 ; C$44.95
Product Blurb:
Explore Never-Ending Realms of Adventure

Only the most exceptional characters dare tread the infinite paths of the planes. From Sigil, the City of Doors, to the Blinding Tower at the heart of the Plane of Shadow, to the Elemental Plane of Fire’s storied City of Brass, countless perilous locations in the multiverse await bold heroes armed with remarkable talents and abilities, more than a little courage, and above all, knowledge.

This supplement for the D&D game provides everything you need to create and play characters prepared for the odyssey of planar travel, including new planar races, feats, equipment, spells, and magic items. The Planar Handbook also introduces the power of planar touchstones, along with details and advice for visiting dozens of planar sites.

This text is quoted from promotion material. Text and images are copyrighted by the original publisher.

Races[edit]

Name Page Description
Aasimars 6 Carrying the blood of a celestial, an aasimar is usually good-aligned and fi ghts against evil in the world. Some aasimars have a minor physical trait suggesting their heritage, such as silver hair, golden eyes, or an unnaturally intense stare.
Bariaurs 7 Native to the rolling hills and woods of Ysgard, the centaurlike bariaurs wander the lands in search of evil. When a vile foe is located, the bariaurs charge into glorious battle.
Buommans 8 There might have been a time when the buommans were merely human visitors to the Astral Plane. But now, perhaps hundreds of millennia later, the buommans are neither merely visitors, nor merely human. Known to some astral denizens as the “moaning monks,” buommans dwell in temples and shrines formed by astral debris, which they believe to be the mortal forms of sleeping deities, long forgotten. Whether the buommans inhabit these structures in the hope of awakening these deities, or in an effort to ensure that they stay asleep, is known only to the buommans.
Mephlings 10 Scholarly lore contains two different origin stories for the mephlings. In one, mephlings are planetouched offshoots of long-ago unions between mephits and an indeterminate race of humanoids. The other is a darker tale of a megalomaniacal mage seeking to imprint his essence on another race. What is true is that a mephling will occasionally be born to mephit parents. Weaker than their mephit ancestors, mephlings are put out of mephit communities as undesirable runts. They’re left to the mercies of the inhospitable planes. Mephit parents revolted by their humanoid child will leave the babe on a hostile plane. Kindly parents will place the child on a habitable plane where it will easily be found by other creatures. Sometimes other creatures adopt the abandoned baby and it grows to reach adulthood.
Neraphim 12 Neraphim are a nomadic people who hunt through the maelstrom of Limbo, tracking their elusive and ever-moving prey. Neraphim have developed special hunting tools and techniques, giving them exceptional skill in bringing down the game they seek above all else: the chaos beast, one of which provides a neraph tribe with a week’s worth of nutrition and raw materials for clothing. They are proficient leapers, able to jump from mote to mote of stable earth in the otherwise ever-changing environment of Limbo.
Shadowswyfts 13 Shadowswyfts are plane-touched beings with ancestry from the Plane of Shadow.
Spikers 14 Spikers are of the same general ancestry as bladelings (see Monster Manual II). Both races hail from Acheron, but scholarly speculation places their origins on the Nine Hells of Baator, the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna, or even some unknown metal-based plane.
Tieflings 15 Carrying the taint of evil in their forms—and perhaps their very souls—tieflings are often persecuted and feared throughout the planes. The distant descendants of humans and evil outsiders, tieflings are regarded as twisted, devious, and untrustworthy. More often than not, this opinion is accurate.
Wildren 16 Over time, the petitioners (spirits of the departed) who arrive in the Wilderness of the Beastlands acquire animal traits, eventually becoming celestial beasts or animals. Some instead mingle with the beasts they will one day become, creating new races that are perpetually half-animal, half-humanoid. Prominent among these are the wildren, beings descended from the union of partially transformed dwarf petitioners and celestial badgers. Prowling the darkest forests of Karasuthra, the Beastlands’ lowest layer, wildren build elaborate underground burrows, which they defend, out of a commingled racial memory, to the death. Often short-tempered and vengeful, wildren generally live solitary lives, emerging only occasionally from their burrows to hunt and seek mates.

Prestige Classes[edit]

Name Page Description
The Athar 43 The Athar are sometimes called “defiers” or “the lost” because their beliefs bring them into direct philosophical (and occasionally physical) conflict with just about every religion ever established in the multiverse. They believe that TRUE gods would have limitless power, and that the deities (as the mortals of the D&D realms know them) are very much limited in what they can do. The Athar's strength of belief in their philosophy gives them unique defenses against divine spells and servants of the gods.
The Doomguard 46 Members of the Doomguard believe that the multiverse is slowly falling apart, and they delight in its inevitable destruction. They are often nicknamed “sinkers.” The ultimate leaders are the doomlords, who gain great powers of entropy and destruction.
The Fated 49 The multiverse belongs to those who can hold it. Everyone makes his own fate; you’re a victim only if you allow it. A person is meant to succeed only if he pursues success with never-ending vigor. According to “takers” (as members of the Fated are called), anyone can be great, but greatness is not guaranteed. Hard work must come first, and follow after.
The Mind’s Eye 52 Throughout the planes, many groups search for enlightenment. One such organization is the Mind’s Eye, headquartered in the Outlands. Members of the organization call themselves seekers, and their elite members are known as visionary seekers. They focus on the ultimate journey of self-discovery by seeking out challenges throughout the cosmos.
The Society of Sensation 54 The multiverse offers a multitude of different sensations to be experienced and savored. The Society of Sensation is based on Arborea. In Sigil, it runs the Civic Festhall and has a large membership base in the planar city. Many folk dabble as novice members of the Society of Sensation and see it merely as an excuse to wine, dine, and romance. Their selective attitude limits both their desire to advance in the Society and their ability to do so. True sensates seek out different experiences—many pleasurable, many not—on a quest of personal fulfillment.
The Transcendent Order 58 The multiverse is really one tremendous organic entity moving with some greater end that is beyond mortal minds to comprehend. Each one of us is an infinitesimal part of the whole, playing out some role whose ultimate purpose we could never guess. Since the multiverse would not work against its own interests, we all are born with perfect knowledge of what it is we are supposed to do. However, most people bury their instincts under fear, self-doubt, meaningless trivia that some call “education,” and worst of all, ego.
The Xaositects 60 The multiverse is chaos. Neither order nor pattern can be recognized. But chaos has a beauty and wonder all its own. By immersing oneself in anarchy, one learns to appreciate randomness. By studying the quandaries of nature, one learns that the sublime intricacies of disorder are the very foundations of existence.
Astral Dancer 63 The Astral Plane is a place of no gravity; moving through it is more like flying with perfect maneuverability, like walking on air. Travelers quickly learn to change directions by mentally visualizing solid footing and pivoting on it. To longtime inhabitants of the Astral Plane, ignoring the lack of gravity eventually becomes second nature. But a few skilled combatants learn to take advantage of that situation.
Elemental Warrior 65 The elemental warrior sees that great strength comes from focusing on the most basic aspects of reality. The sages say that the worlds are formed through combinations of fire, water, earth, and air, and that any problem can be overcome with the correct application of these forces. The elemental warrior becomes attuned to one of these building blocks of reality, channeling its power to great effect.

Spells[edit]

Page Class Level Name Description
89 Bard 1st Beastland Ferocity Subject fights without penalty while disabled or dying.
89 Bard 1st Locate Touchstone Find nearest planar touchstone on the plane you currently inhabit.
89 Bard 2nd Cloak Pool Hide a color pool on the Astral Plane from view.
89 Bard 2nd Discolor Pool Change the color of a color pool on the Astral Plane.
89 Bard 2nd Summon Elysian Thrush Summon an Elysian thrush, which accelerates natural healing.
89 Bard 3rd Analyze Portal Find a nearby portal and discover its properties.
89 Bard 3rd Analyze Touchstone Find a nearby planar touchstone and discover its properties.
89 Bard 4th Lay of the Land You gain an overview of the geography around you.
89 Blackguard 3rd Mantle of Evil You gain SR 12 + caster level against spells with the good descriptor.
89 Blackguard 4th Unholy Storm Evil-aligned rain falls in 20-ft. radius.
89 Cleric 1st Anarchic Water Makes chaotic-aligned anarchic water.
89 Cleric 1st Axiomatic Water Makes lawful-aligned anarchic water.
89 Cleric 1st Light of Lunia You radiate silvery light, which you can expend as 2 bolts that deal 1d6 damage.
89 Cleric 1st Resist Planar Alignment Subject can resist penalties for being of an opposed alignment on an aligned Outer Plane.
89 Cleric 2nd Avoid Planar Effects Provides temporary protection against overtly damaging planar traits.
89 Cleric 2nd Light of Mercuria You radiate golden light, which you can expend as 2 bolts that deal 1d6 damage, 2d6 against undead and evil outsiders.
89 Cleric 2nd Locate Touchstone Find nearest planar touchstone on the plane you currently inhabit.
89 Cleric 2nd Summon Elysian Thrush Summon an Elysian thrush, which accelerates natural healing.
89 Cleric 3rd Anarchic Storm Chaotic-aligned rain falls in 20-ft. radius.
89 Cleric 3rd Analyze Touchstone Find a nearby planar touchstone and discover its properties.
89 Cleric 3rd Attune Form Grant target creature temporary protection against overtly damaging planar traits.
89 Cleric 3rd Axiomatic Storm Lawful-aligned rain falls in 20-ft. radius.
89 Cleric 3rd Devil Blight Damage and confuse baatezu; damage other lawful and evil creatures.
89 Cleric 3rd Hamatula Barbs Subjects grow barbs, which damage foes that attack subject in melee.
89 Cleric 3rd Holy Storm Good-aligned rain falls in 20-ft. radius.
90 Cleric 3rd Light of Venya You radiate silvery light, which you can expend as 2 bolts that either deal 3d6 against evil outsiders and undead or heal 3d6 points of damage.
90 Cleric 3rd Mantle of Chaos/Evil/Good/Law You gain SR 12 + caster level against spells with opposite alignment descriptor.
90 Cleric 3rd Protection from Negative Energy Ignore 10 points of negative energy damage per attack.
90 Cleric 3rd Protection from Positive Energy Ignore 10 points of positive energy damage per attack.
90 Cleric 3rd Unholy Storm Evil-aligned rain falls in 20-ft. radius.
90 Cleric 4th Astral Hospice While on the Astral Plane, open a portal to a demiplane so natural healing can occur.
90 Cleric 4th Balor Nimbus Subject’s flaming body damages foes in grapple.
90 Cleric 4th Demon Dirge Demons are stunned and take 3d6 damage/ round for 1d4 rounds.
90 Cleric 4th Evil Glare Paralyze creature with your glare.
90 Cleric 4th Focus Touchstone Energy Convert unused touchstone abilities into temporary hit points.
90 Cleric 4th Infernal Wound Weapon inflicts persistent, bleeding wounds.
90 Cleric 4th Negative Energy Aura 10-ft. radius surrounding you deals 2 points of damage/round.
90 Cleric 4th Planar Exchange, Lesser Trade places with one of four lesser planar creatures (your choice).
90 Cleric 4th Planar Tolerance Provides long-term protection against overtly damaging planar traits.
90 Cleric 4th Positive Energy Aura 10-ft. radius surrounding you heals 2 points of damage/round.
90 Cleric 4th Spell Vulnerability Reduce target creature’s spell resistance by 1 per caster level (max reduction 15).
90 Cleric 4th Summon Bearded Devil Summon a bearded devil to follow your commands.
90 Cleric 4th Summon Hound Archon Summon a hound archon to follow your commands.
90 Cleric 5th Call Zelekhut A zelekhut aids you in hunting a fugitive.
90 Cleric 5th Death Throes Your body explodes when you die.
90 Cleric 5th Opalescent Glare Kill evil creatures with a look, or make them very afraid.
90 Cleric 5th Summon Bralani Eladrin Summon a bralani eladrin to follow your commands.
90 Cleric 5th Unholy Storm Evil-aligned rain falls in 20-ft. radius.
90 Cleric 6th Barghest’s Feast Destroy target corpse, potentially preventing its return to life.
90 Cleric 6th Planar Exchange Trade places with one of three planar creatures (your choice).
90 Cleric 6th Summon Babau Demon Summon a babau demon to follow your commands.
90 Cleric 7th Call Kolyarut A kolyarut aids you in punishing an oathbreaker.
90 Cleric 7th Planar Bubble Create bubble around target creature that emulates target’s native planar environment.
90 Cleric 7th Plane Shift, Greater ’’ Plane shift’’ accurately to your desired destination.
90 Cleric 8th Bodak’s Glare You slay a creature, which turns into a bodak 24 hours later.
90 Cleric 8th Fierce Pride of the Beastlands Summon celestial lions and celestial dire lions to follow your commands.
90 Cleric 8th Planar Exchange, Greater Trade places with one of three greater planar creatures (your choice).
90 Cleric 9th Abyssal Army Summons demons to fight for you.
90 Cleric 9th Call Marut A marut aids you in pursuing one seeking to cheat time.
90 Cleric 9th Heavenly Host Summons archons to fight for you.
90 Cleric 9th Hellish Horde Summons devils to fight for you.
90 Cleric 9th Hunters of Hades Summons a pair of pack fiends to follow your commands.
90 Druid 1st Beastland Ferocity Subject fi ghts without penalty while disabled or dying.
90 Druid 1st Locate Touchstone Find nearest planar touchstone on the plane you currently inhabit.
90 Druid 1st Resist Planar Alignment Subject can resist penalties for being of an opposed alignment on an aligned Outer Plane.
90 Druid 2nd Avoid Planar Effects Provides temporary protection against overtly damaging planar traits.
90 Druid 3rd Attune Form Grant target creature temporary protection against overtly damaging planar traits.
90 Druid 3rd Babau Slime Secrete a body-covering acid that damages foes’ weapons.
90 Druid 4th Lay of the Land You gain an overview of the geography around you.
90 Druid 4th Perinarch Gain greater control over Limbo’s morphic essence.
90 Druid 4th Planar Tolerance Provides long-term protection against overtly damaging planar traits.
90 Druid 4th Summon Elementite Swarm Summon an elementite swarm to follow your commands.
91 Druid 4th Touchstone Lightning Use your Planar Touchstone granted higher-order abilities to fuel damaging rays.
91 Druid 5th Astral Hospice While on the Astral Plane, open a portal to a demiplane so natural healing can occur.
91 Druid 5th Focus Touchstone Energy Convert unused touchstone abilities into temporary hit points.
91 Druid 6th Miasma of Entropy Rot all natural materials in 30-ft. cone-shaped burst.
91 Druid 6th Summon Greater Elemental Summon a greater elemental to follow your commands.
91 Druid 9th Perinarch, Planar Gain control over a small area of any divinely morphic plane.
91 Paladin 1st Axiomatic Water Makes lawful-aligned anarchic water.
91 Paladin 1st Resist Planar Alignment Subject can resist penalties for being of an opposed alignment on an aligned Outer Plane.
91 Paladin 3rd Holy Storm Good-aligned rain falls in 20-ft. radius.
91 Paladin 3rd Mantle of Good/Law You gain SR 12 + caster level against spells with opposite alignment descriptor.
91 Paladin 4th Axiomatic Storm Lawful-aligned rain falls in 20-ft. radius.
91 Ranger 1st Lay of the Land You gain an overview of the geography around you.
91 Ranger 1st Resist Planar Alignment Subject can resist penalties for being of an opposed alignment on an aligned Outer Plane.
91 Ranger 4th Planar Tolerance Provides long-term protection against overtly damaging planar traits.

Sorceror/Wizard Spells[edit]

Page Class Level School Name Description
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 1st Abjur Resist Planar Alignment Subject can resist penalties for being of an opposed alignment on an aligned Outer Plane.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 1st Div Locate Touchstone Find nearest planar touchstone on the plane you currently inhabit.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 1st Evoc Light of Lunia You radiate silvery light, which you can expend as 2 bolts that deal 1d6 damage.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 2nd Ench Mechanus Mind Reformat subject’s mind to be coldly calculating.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 2nd Evoc Light of Mercuria You radiate golden light, which you can expend as 2 bolts that deal 1d6 damage, 2d6 against undead and evil outsiders.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 2nd Illus Cloak Pool Hide a color pool on the Astral Plane from view.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 2nd Illus Discolor Pool Change the color of a color pool on the Astral Plane.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 2nd Trans Belker Claws One touch/level deals 3d4 damage and lingers +1 round/3 levels.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 3rd Abjur Avoid Planar Effects Provides temporary protection against overtly damaging planar traits.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 3rd Div Analyze Portal Find a nearby portal and discover its properties.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 3rd Div Analyze Touchstone Find a nearby planar touchstone and discover its properties.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 3rd Evoc Light of Venya You radiate silvery light, which you can expend as 2 bolts that either deal 3d6 against evil outsiders and undead or heal 3d6 points of damage.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 3rd Trans Babau Slime Secrete a body-covering acid that damages foes’ weapons.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 3rd Trans Devil Blight Damage and confuse baatezu; damage other lawful and evil creatures.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 3rd Trans Hamatula Barbs Subjects grow barbs, which damage foes that attack subject in melee.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 3rd Trans Spell Vulnerability Target takes penalty on spell resistance equal to caster level.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 4th Necro Evil Glare Paralyze creature with your glare.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 4th Trans Balor Nimbus Your fl aming body damages foes in grapple.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 4th Trans Corporeal Instability Transform a target creature into an amorphous mass.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 4th Trans Demon Dirge Demons are stunned and take 3d6 damage/round for 1d4 rounds.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 4th Trans False Gravity Travel on a solid surface as if that surface had its own gravity.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 4th Trans Infernal Wound Weapon inflicts persistent, bleeding wounds.
91 Sorcerer/Wizard 4th Trans Perinarch Gain greater control over Limbo’s morphic essence.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 4th Trans Touchstone Lightning Use your planar touchstone- granted higher-order abilities to fuel damaging rays.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 5th Abjur Planar Tolerance Provides long-term protection against overtly damaging planar traits.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 5th Conj Call Zelekhut A zelekhut aids you in hunting a fugitive.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 5th Conj Precipitate Breach You can force planar boundaries to rip, creating a planar breach.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 5th Necro Death Throes Your body explodes when you die.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 5th Necro Opalescent Glare Kill evil creatures with a look, or make them very afraid.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 6th Abjur Seal Portal Seal an interplanar portal or ‘’gate’’.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 6th Conj Wall of Gears Creates wall of moving gears that deals 1d6 damage/2 levels to creatures within 10 ft.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 6th Div Rary’s Interplanar Telepathic Bond Link lets allies communicate across planes.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 7th Abjur Planar Bubble Create bubble around target creature that emulates target’s native planar environment.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 7th Conj Call Kolyarut A kolyarut aids you in punishing an oath-breaker.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 7th Necro Barghest’s Feast Destroy target corpse, potentially preventing its return to life.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 7th Necro Miasma of Entropy Rot all natural materials in 30-ft. cone-shaped burst.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 8th Conj Fierce Pride of the Beastlands Summon celestial lions and celestial dire lions to follow your commands.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 8th Conj Plane Shift, Greater ‘’Plane shift’’ accurately to your desired destination.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 9th Conj Abyssal Army Summons demons to fight for you.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 9th Conj Call Marut A marut aids you in pursuing one seeking to cheat time.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 9th Conj Heavenly Host Summons archons to fight for you.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 9th Conj Hellish Horde Summons devils to fight for you.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 9th Conj Precipitate Complete Breach You rip wide the boundary between two planes.
92 Sorcerer/Wizard 9th Trans Perinarch, Planar Gain control over a small area of any divinely morphic plane.

Feats[edit]

Name Page Description
Acheron Flurry 37 You master the secret technique developed by Acheron-native special forces of limiting a foe's options in hand-to-hand combat.
Air Heritage 37 You are descended from creatures native to the Elemental Plane of Air.
Anarchic Heritage 38 You are descended from creatures native to the planes of chaos.
Axiomatic Heritage 38 You are descended from creatures native to the planes of law.
Celestial Heritage 38 You are descended from creatures native to the Upper Planes
Celestial Summoning Specialist 38 You can select from a larger number of options when summoning good creatures.
Earth Heritage 38 You are descended from creatures native to the Elemental Plane of Earth.
Elemental Spellcasting 39 Choose an element. You cast spells with that descriptor more effectively than normal.
Fiendish Heritage 39 You are descended from creatures native to the Lower Planes.
Fiendish Summoning Specialist 39 You can select from a larger number of options when summoning evil creatures.
Fire Heritage 39 You are descended from creatures native to the Elemental Plane of Fire.
Improved Elemental Heritage 40 You have manifested an even stronger tie to your elemental ancestor, resulting in a minor resistance to elemental effects.
Improved Outer Planar Heritage 40 Your ancestral tie to the Outer Planes manifests as an ability to deal damage with your natural attacks as if they matched the alignment of your ancestors.
Natural Heavyweight 40 You are descended from creatures native to a plane of heavy gravity.
Neraph Charge 40 You master the Limbo-native neraph martial art of motion camouflage when you charge your foe.
Neraph Throw 40 You master the Limbo-native neraph martial art of motion camouflage for your thrown weapons.
Nonverbal Spell 40 You can cast spells that have verbal components without actually verbalizing the words.
Personal Touchstone 41 You draw more power form one of the planar touchstone locations to which you have forged a link.
Planar Familiar 41 When you are ready and able to acquire a new familiar, you may choose one of several nonstandard familiars.
Planar Touchstone 41 Forge a link between you and power-rich planar locations, referred to as planar touchstones.
Shadow Heritage 42 You are descended from creatures native to the Plane of Shadow.
Stalwart Planar Ally 42 The allies you summon from a specific plane are tougher than normal.
Water Heritage 42 You are descended from creatures native to the Plane of Water.



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