Planar Magic

Planar Spellcasting Table
Situation	Modifier
Conjuration (Summoning) – Outsider	+5
Conjuration (Calling)	+10
Each level of Abjuration spells cast to protect the area	-1
Sorceror spell	-5
Sorceror class	-5
Divine spellcaster	-5
Druidic spell	-2
Druidic class	-2
Per EL of creature(s) summoned	+2

Planar Magic in Feyworld is a tricky thing. The gods established the barriers between worlds for a reason and when those barriers are breached without their consent, it can sometimes unravel, often with devastating effects. Whenever a non-Divine caster attempts to use a Conjuration (Summoning) or (Calling) spell, the caster must succeed in a Spellcraft (Planar Magic) roll. If this roll succeeds, the fabric of reality opens normally (for him) and no ill effects result (outside the parameters of the spell in question). If a catastophic failure is rolled, the spellcaster loses control over the rift. Usually, this results in the appearance of an undesired Outsider (who is not in control of the caster), but it could result in a permanent planar rift, wherein creatures of another plane could walk into the Prime Material without difficulty. Planar Rifts are strange and often chaotic things and sometimes occur naturally, such as a rift to the Elemental Plane of Fire in the heart of a particularly violent volcano or a rift into Hell at a place where an especially horrific event took place.

The DC for this roll is a base 10 + the spell level, modified by the table below. If the roll fails by 10 points, it is a catastrophic failure.

For example, a Sorceror casts the sorcery spell Summon Monster IV, attempting to call a Hell Hound. This is a fourth-level spell, so the base DC is 14. Summon Monster IV is a Conjuration (Summoning) spell and the Sorceror is attempting to summon an Outsider, so the difficulty rises to 19. A single Hell Hound has a EL of 3, so the difficulty rises to 25. Because he is a Sorceror, the DC drops by –5 to 20.

Because he is using a Sorcery spell, the DC drops by –5 again to 15. If he were also a divine spellcaster (multiclassed Sorceror/Cleric), the DC would drop to 10. If he were also a Druid, the DC would drop to 8. If he wasn’t a sorceror at all, but a single-classed Wizard, the DC would have stayed at 25!

A wizard casting Gate (a ninth-level Conjuration [Calling] spell) to summon a Balor (an 18 EL creature) must succeed in a Spellcraft (Planar Magic) check with a DC of 55! Without a number of Abjuration spells operating in the area, even a 25th level mage will most likely fail catastrophically. Divine spellcasters are not subject to this rule. They have at least tacit permission from their deity or their deity’s servants to manipulate planar magic. There is no need for a Planar Magic check when a non-outsider is summoned with a Conjuration (Summoning) spell, as the planar barriers have not been breached.

If the caster fails his Planar Magic roll by more than 10 points, a catastrophic failure occurs. The effects of a catastrophic failure are up to the whim of the DM. If the summoner succeeds by more than 10 points, the summoned Outsider(s) remain for as long as the caster wishes, though any control the caster has over the Outsider ends with the duration of the spell.