Magic Use (TIP)

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Magic's a fickle thing, ain't it? It's a wonder anybody puts any stock in it at all. Still, most spells and such can be used more or less normally in the Inner Planes, although certain alterations and restrictions must be taken into account. A few specific rules for individual planes may be found in later chapters, but this section covers most of the general guidelines a DM should keep in mind.
==General Conditions==
Both wizards and priests must contend with a number of restrictions and special situations when it comes to innerplanar spellcasting.
====Absolute Prohibitions====
Due to their fundamental opposition, certain schools or spheres of spells cannot be cast within some planes. Spell or power keys cannot overcome these limitations; the basic nature of the plane itself supercedes any such attempt. These prohibitions are listed on the first page of each following chapter.
====Elemental Fusion====
Certain spells, like fireball or create water, summon elemental material into being. When a spellslinger casts such magic in the Inner Planes, the substance that's created will mingle with the element that makes up the plane he's in.
As an example, consider a body casting a create water spell while exploring the Elemental Plane of Earth. Instead of the sparkling fluid he hopes to get, the poor sod is likely to end up with something that resembles a mud puddle. The same sort of thing happens to anyone who uses a wall of stone in the undersea kingdom of the Elemental Plane of Water. And fire spells on the plane of Ice product explosions of steam rather than fire.
There's not a whole lot a planewalker can do about this. The careful use of spell keys'II improve matters a bit, but other than that, a cutter just has to take what he gets.
====Planar Natives====
As noted above, creatures on their home planes aren't subject to magical effects that mimic the substance of the plane. There's no sense attacking an ice paraelemental with a cone of cold. Logical, right?
This concept extends a bit farther than that when it comes to magic. Simply put, a creature on its home plane ain't extraplanar. What's that mean for a spellslinger? Well, spells like banishment, binding, dispel evil, holy word, and protection from evil cannot affect creatures in their home. (In the case of protection from evil, only the "extraplanar creature" ward fails to function; the spell's other protective qualities remain in effect.) An efreeti might be as evil as sin, but trying to banish her from her own plane just won't work.
====Spell Variants====
A little snooping on the part of a wizard (or directed prayers from a priest) can tum up some useful spells. Anyone kicking around an important burg like Sigil or one of the gate-towns of the Outlands should be able to find spell variants like breathe radiance or airy ice. These variations can be purchased for a fairly moderate price, considering their limited versatility. Therefore, a cutter planning a trip to the Inner Planes should make sure that his spellbook is fairly full of such magic.
The Planewalker's Handbook (TSR 2620) includes spells such as breathe smoke, dust, or ash (W3); transmute fire to smoke (W4); breathe earth (W5); breathe fire or magma (W5); airy earth (W6); no breath (W6); breath of the elements (P4); elemental breach (P7); sphere of survival (P7); and the incredibly useful elemental protection (P5). A DM without that resource may choose to allow player characters to develop such spells on their own, using the standard water breathing and airy water spells found in the Player's Handbook as reference.
====Summoning Creatures====
Summoning spells call forth only those creatures native either to the caster's current plane or to one that borders it. Thus, a wizard in the plane of Air could call forth a sylph or a lightning quasielemental, but not a lava mephit. The DM should always remember that the Ethereal Plane borders all Inner Planes. Adjoining planes can be determined from the diagram on page 7.
There's another twist, though. A creature native to the caster's current plane might be summoned, but it's not bound by the magic. That means the spellslinger must find some other way to control the subject once it arrives. More than one poor sod's gotten himself lost by forgetting that little detail.
==Wizard Restrictions==
The Ethereal Plane connects the Inner Planes to the Prime Material Plane, and the Astral likewise connects the Prime to the Outer Planes. But there's no direct connection between the Inner Planes and the Astral or Outer Planes, and that fact makes certain kinds of spellcasting difficult.
Wizards must also deal with the fact that their spells are subject to alterations by school. Most such changes can be overcome with the proper spell key, although in some cases the physical nature of the plane simply does not allow the spell 's effects to function correctly.
====Astral Spells====
The nature of the Inner Planes prevents wizard magic that taps into the Astral Plane from functioning. Even spell keys can't overcome this effect-it's woven into the fabric of the multiverse. This prohibition applies to astral spell, duodimension, and find familiar (if attempting to summon a creature through planar pathways).
====Pathway Spells====
Several spells may or may not function, depending on where the spell is cast. For example, if contact other plane was cast on the plane of Steam, it would function normally to contact any other Inner Plane or the Ethereal. Attempting to use such a spell to reach the Outer Planes, however, fails utterly. Such potentially plane-crossing spells include banishment, contact other plane, demand, dismissal, Drawmij's instant summons, ensnarement, Hornung's random dispatcher, magic mirror, reincarnation, sending, succor, and vision.
====School Alterations====
As noted above, conjuration/summoning spells are limited by the planes they can draw upon; otherwise, they function normally. Bear in mind, however, that if a summoned creature cannot endure the general condition of the plane it will swiftly perish.
Invocation/evocation spells are generally unchanged save for the fact that many are elemental in nature, and therefore must abide by the elemental alteration rules as described below. The ever-popular fireball, for example, is both an evocation and an Elemental Fire spell.
The following conditions apply to elemental wizard spells cast in the Inner Planes. All can be overcome to one degree or another with the use of spell keys. In the case of diminished or enhanced spells, if modifying the level of the caster doesn't affect the spell in any way, the DM can reduce or increase (depending on the effect on the spell) the target's saving throw instead. If the spell doesn't require or allow a saving throw, the DM can just reduce or increase the magic's range, duration, or casting time by 25% (or so). These alterations are listed on the first page of each following chapter
NULL SPELLS (∴). Spells of these schools simply don't work on the listed plane without a key.
DIMINISHED SPELLS (<). True to the Law of Opposites, a spell cast in the plane whose element opposes that of the spell is reduced in power. Thus, the spell functions as though cast by a wizard of one level lower than the caster's actual level. In addition, spells higher then 4th level cannot be cast at all except with the aid of a spell key.
ENHANCED SPELLS (+). Again following the Law of Opposites, spells involving the element of the plane function as though cast by a spellslinger of one level higher. The target of such a spell must make his saving throw with a -1 penalty.
ALTERED SPELLS (♦). Spells altered by inner-planar conditions vary widely, requiring adjudication on the part of the DM. Common sense can help determine these elemental alterations. Some examples are provided in the following chapters.
==Priest Restrictions==
Considering all the constraints on their wizardly brothers, a priest's inner-planar restrictions look mild in comparison. They don't have to worry about elemental alterations, except as noted under "Absolute Prohibitions" above; they can even cast spells such as the astral spell despite the lack of a planar connection to the Astral. Such is the power of the gods they serve, but such power has a price.
For every plane between a priest and his deity's home plane, he loses spellcasting levels. The cleric does not lose hit points, weapon, or nonweapon proficiencies, or suffer a reduction in THAC0 or the ability to tum undead; but many priests find the loss of spellcasting power troublesome enough.
The following chart indicates the number of levels a priest loses, depending on the location of his power
Priest's Plane	Power Home Plane 	Level Loss
Inner Plane 	Outer Plane 	-3
Inner Plane 	Astral 	-2
Inner Plane 	Prime 	-1
Inner Plane 	Ethereal 	0
Inner Plane 	adjacent Inner Plane	0
Inner Plane 	other Inner Plane 	varies (-1 to -3)
To determine level loss for priests with powers in the Inner Planes, consult the diagram on page 7. Every plane in between the two in question (by the shortest route) indicates a one-step level loss.
==Magical Items==
Magical items can also suffer a reduction in effect, depending on where they were forged. For every plane removed, they lose one "plus" of magical power. Thus, a +3 sword forged on the Outer Planes loses all bonuses when brought to the Inner Planes.
Where Used 	Where Forged 	Loss
Inner Plane	Outer Plane (or Sigil)	-4
Inner Plane	Astral 	-3
Inner Plane	Prime 	-2
Inner Plane	Ethereal 	-1
Inner Plane	adjacent Inner Plane 	-1
Inner Plane	other Inner Plane 	-2
Again, consult the diagram on page 7 to determine magical item loss for items forged in the Inner Planes. Non-adjacent planes trace a path through the Ethereal Plane and therefore suffer a -2 loss in effect.
Magical items that mimic spell effects are also subject to the spell alteration rules as described above, as the DM adjudicates.