The Planar Expert

Durathan frowned. He touched the loose soil in the center of the clearing, bringing it to his nose and sniffing. He crumbled it between his fingers, his frown deepening. He tilted his head sideways, looking at the grass. He took a compass off his belt, looked at it, then turned his head and spat.

"Well?" Melthane asked. "Where are they, oh renowned hunter of men?"

"They've leaped to the shadow realm," Durathan said as he stood. "The stink of their blood is still in the dirt, and it's crumbling and gray here instead of black and rich everywhere else. Judging from the angles of the shadows in the grass, it was sometime last night. Probably held the crossing beneath the new moon. That's when the boundary is weakest."

The blood drained from Melthane's face as the elf eyed her companions. Gardener had his hand on his hilt, his thumb rubbing the pommel like a worry stone. Thaeron stood still, his arms folded and his face impassive. Smoke idly trickled from his nostrils, as occasionally happened when the sorcerer was on-edge.

"So what do we do?" Thaeron asked.

Durathan squinted up at the sky, and then measured the shadow at the base of a stone with his fingertip. He reached into a pouch on his belt and took out several beetle shells, crunching them up in his gloved hand before sprinkling them in a circle that overlaid the gray soil.

"We follow," he said. "A noon gate won't be as wide, and we'll have to go in one at a time. But it should be the safest way across the boundary. Nothing native to that realm will come near bright light, and it should give us time to get our bearings."

A Traveler of Many Realms

The material plane is a place full of dangers, but there are also weak places in the world that may lead one to other planes entirely. An ancient golgatha might contain a hidden door built from sacrifice that leads to one of the nine hells. A mountaintop that holds a ruined monastery might be the gateway to a celestial realm if one speaks the proper key on the right day. A powder made from night bug shells and fetchling blood when poured in a perfect circle during proper alignment of the sun and moon could open a door to the plane of shadow just long enough for one to slip through.

These, and many others, are the secrets known to the Planar Expert.

The core of the Planar Expert, as a character, is that they have experience traveling to one or more planes other than the material realm, and they are learned in how to survive there. This could be as simple as a heavenborn aasimar who grew up in the heavens, but who also knows their way around the material world. It could also be as dark as a conjurer who was dragged to hell when they made a bad deal with a devil, and they had to learn the secrets of one of the worst hells known in order to escape from that place. These experts might be scholars who have studied the languages, creatures, and hazards of other planes of existence, or they might have first-hand knowledge of them by traveling across the boundaries and adventuring in these places... though it's usually some combination of the two.

What Ingredients Go Into This Character Concept?

The Planar Expert can take many forms, and come with a variety of skills. However, the most important aspect of the character is that they need to have the appropriate knowledge of other planes of existence. While most other aspects can be changed to suit one's story, that aspect is critical as it means they are an expert in the places they (and perhaps the party) will be going.

Beyond that important knowledge, though, you have a lot of options to pick from.

There are rangers, for example, who might go into other planes as part of their duties. From the worlds of the fae, to the astral plane, to the shadow realm, these hunters may be keyed to these realms in the way others of their trade understand environments within the material realm. Wizards, particularly conjurers, may know more tricks when it comes to calling parts of other realms to them, as well as transporting themselves and their companions across the barriers between planes. Clerics, and especially clerics dedicated to gods of travel, may find themselves traversing many realms in the course of their duties and adventures. Even sorcerers may find themselves with a blood connection to a particular realm, and this may grant them a unique insight on how to travel to it, through it, and home once more.

This is not to say that other classes can't take up the role of the Planar Expert as well. From monks who focus on study of the philosophies and lessons brought from other planes, to rogues who know their way around the seams of reality, to paladins who've been called on to travel beyond the bounds of the world they knew, or barbarians who have sought other worlds to test their strength against, there are many potential paths one might go down.

Once you know your character's strengths, which plane(s) they're familiar with, and where they've been, the last thing you need to add is a touch of lore about travel between the planes to really bring it home. Things like:

- Named Rituals: If you come across a sentient creature sacrificed by beheading with one eye put out, the head facing north, and a blood door drawn on an oak tree, that's the Gate of Ba'al Thun, and it leads straight to the Brass City.

- Superstitions: Do not step into a circle of toadstools in the forest, particularly one that's out-of-season. While it doesn't always lead one to the fey realms, it very well could if one isn't careful.

- Signs to Watch For: Disrupted shadows is a sign that either a gateway to the shadow plane was open here, or a given area is closer to that plane than it might otherwise be. Holy sights where a martyr's bloodstain refuses to be removed are often thin places between the mortal and celestial realms. Etc.

Lastly, and this is very important to keep in mind, the Planar Expert is a character concept that may not be applicable to every campaign. So make sure you talk to your Game Master, and ensure that someone with knowledge of extraplanar matters is going to be needed in this game. Because if you need to rescue someone from an infernal prison, or navigate fae courts, you'll be very useful... but if you're just dealing with bandits, dragons, and goblin threats, you may feel like you brought the wrong tool to this particular campaign.

Additional Reading

For those who are interested in some alternative thoughts on multiplanar characters, you might want to check out how I did this in my Sundara setting. Gods of Sundara talks about the Prim (explained in the video above), and talks more about what I'm doing differently with this idea. The splat book is available both for Pathfinder Classic as well as for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

In addition to those books, though, you may find some of the following splats by yours truly useful in coming up with inspiration for a Planar Expert:

- 13 Fiends: A Baker's Dozen of Devils: A unique compendium of fiends with lore and rituals, this may be quite useful for any infernalist or hell walker worth their salt.

- 100 Superstitions For a Fantasy Setting: While not specifically geared toward moving between realms, the superstitions in this splat can get your mind turning regarding the signs and beliefs about the realms that a Planar Expert may come across.

- 100 Gateways Into (And Out Of) The Hedge: All right, so this one is for Changeling: The Lost and is specifically geared toward the fae. However, if you're looking for examples of doors and portals that can lead into the First World, and the keys to open them, this might still be quite useful for you!

Looking For Even More Content?

That's all for this installment of my Unusual Character Concepts series! Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

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