Combat (TIP)

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The varying nature of the Inner Planes makes combat a little (or a lot) different in each one. While in the Elemental Plane of Water, for example, a body's subject to the normal restrictions that apply to any aquatic environment. Still, a few rules extend throughout the Inner Planes.
==Elemental Immunities==
Almost by definition, the natives of an Inner Plane are immune to the element, energy, paraelement, or quasielement of that plane. This should tell a body two things. First, using that same element as any sort of attack is the move of a complete leatherhead. Second, and more importantly, a basher should expect an elemental creature in its home plane to use a different sort of attack.
For example, a fire elemental doesn't really burn anything in the plane of Fire (it does, but not much more than the environment itself). Instead, it alters its attack to a physical, forceful strike, inflicting about the same amount of damage, though it can do this only while in its own plane. Thus, complete immunity to flames won't always protect a planewalker from Fire's inhabitants. What's more, other creatures in the plane that have elemental attacks are canny enough not to use them in battle. For example, winter wolves engaged in combat in the paraplane of Ice won't rely on their breath weapon.
The DM might rule that certain elemental creatures' attacks or very special magic actually supercedes the planar environment, which means that protection against the environment isn't enough to protect against the attack. To use the example of the plane of Fire again, chant is there're things in the plane that're so hot that they actually scorch fire elementals themselves. Fire so hot that it burns firethat's just one of those concepts that takes a bit of getting used to. Naturally, these sorts of attacks should be incredibly rare, since each Inner Plane's environment represents the ultimate, purest form of its element. Something smokier than the paraplane of Smoke or drier than the quasiplane of Dust should be the stuff of legends (though, truth is, most primes feel that way about the Inner Planes in general).
==No Gravity==
In planes without gravity, like the Elemental Plane of Air or the Quasielemental Plane of Vacuum, it's possible for a sod to be attacked from many directions at once. To simplify combat of this type, the DM can use the following guidelines.
A body who's attacked from above loses the benefits of a shield-at least, he does under normal circumstances. If he holds his shield over his head, he regains the protective bonus. Of course, in so doing he loses the advantage of a shield against straight-on attacks.
Attacks from below are assumed to be identical to those from behind. This applies to all aspects of combat, even the ability of thieves to backstab. However, since a basher can change his orientation very quickly, someone who attacks from behind or below in one round may find himself face to face with his enemy in the next.
A large number of opponents can attack a body who's floating in the air. The following table indicates how many foes of a particular size can attack an enemy of a given size in any round. The DM can adjust these numbers to reflect blocked facings and the like.
Target Size	Maximum Number of Attackers	Maximum Number of Attackers	Maximum Number of Attackers	Maximum Number of Attackers	Maximum Number of Attackers	Maximum Number of Attackers
Target Size	T 	S 	M 	L 	H 	G
Tiny 	8 	6 	3 	2 	1 	1
Small 	12 	8 	6 	3 	2 	1
Man-sized 	18 	12 	8 	6 	3 	2
Large 	27 	18 	12 	8 	6 	3
Huge 	44 	27 	18 	12 	8 	6
Gargantuan 	66 	44 	27 	18 	12 	8
Thus, a man-sized creature can be attacked by as many as eighteen tiny creatures at once. In such a fray, the attackers're normally assumed to be more or less evenly divided around the target. A gargantuan creature (such as a dragon) would be vulnerable to attacks by as many as sixty-six such creatures. 'Course, a dragon could probably take it-but that's a topic for another day.