Astral Projection: A Plane in my Astral

Spell Level: 9

School: Necromancy

Casting Time: 1 hour

Range: 10 feet

Duration: Special

Components: V, S, M (for each creature you affect with this spell, you must provide one jacinth worth at least 1,000 gp and one ornately carved bar of silver worth at least 100gp, all of which the spell consumes)

You and up to eight willing creatures within range project your astral bodies into the Astral Plane (the spell fails and the casting is wasted if you are already on that plane). The material body you leave behind is unconscious and in a state of suspended animation; it doesn’t need food or air and doesn’t age.

Your astral body resembles your mortal form in almost every way, replicating your game statistics and possessions. The principal difference is the addition of a silvery cord that extends from between your shoulder blades and trails behind you, fading to invisibility after 1 foot. This cord is your tether to your material body. As long as the tether remains intact, you can find your way home. If the cord is cut—something that can happen only when an effect specifically states that it does—your soul and body are separated, killing you instantly.

Your astral form can freely travel through the Astral Plane and can pass through portals there leading to any other plane. If you enter a new plane or return to the plane you were on when casting this spell, your body and possessions are transported along the silver cord, allowing you to re-enter your body as you enter the new plane. Your astral form is a separate incarnation. Any damage or other effects that apply to it have no effect on your physical body, nor do they persist when you return to it.

The spell ends for you and your companions when you use your action to dismiss it. When the spell ends, the affected creature returns to its physical body, and it awakens. The spell might also end early for you or one of your companions. A successful Dispel Magic spell used against an astral or physical body ends the spell for that creature. If a creature’s original body or its astral form drops to 0 hit points, the spell ends for that creature. If the spell ends and the silver cord is intact, the cord pulls the creature’s astral form back to its body, ending its state of suspended animation.

If you are returned to your body prematurely, your companions remain in their astral forms and must find their own way back to their bodies, usually by dropping to 0 hit points.

Review by Sam West, Twitter @CrierKobold

Astral Projection is a spell at the highest tier for when you want to say “I’m done playing this campaign; let’s go do literally anything else.” It fundamentally changes the nature of epic tier gaming, and like Plane Shift, is one of few spells that require the DM create a multiverse dedicated to extraplanar shenanigans regardless of their intended setting.

This isn’t usually to the game or story's benefit. By 17th level, most games are in their final moments. Conflicts and tensions are rising with forces of ultimate evil; players prevent the apocalypse, heroes face down literal deities, and rangers get to add their wisdom modifier to their damage rolls (crazy!).

To take and cast Astral Projection requires you either having a goal based on exploring the Astral plane or an urge to take a multiversal vacation away from the current game’s problems. My biggest beef with the spell is it promises an amazing fantasy that just isn't for every table and setting.

Newer DMs and players can easily find themselves butting heads because the player wants to experience the promised plane travelling exploration adventure whereas the DM just wants to finish out their year long epic they’ve been working on with the players.

More than most other spells, Astral Projection can create this tension and rip players out of a game that is just about to reach its conclusion. If you’re the player getting access to Astral Projection and you think you’d love to take it, talk with your DM about it first.

This creates a massive burden of worldbuilding for the DM to manage, and even if they decide to use the established multiversal planes, they have to do tremendous amounts of reading and research to get the fundamentals of the expansive locations down to deliver on the fantasy the spell promises.

Alternatively, if you’re a DM who loves the idea of a plane travelling game, consider offering a means of using this form of magic as early as you’d like.

The spell isn’t offering huge wells of power to the players; it requires safety, time, and offers a complex means of travelling through incredibly diverse realms that present truly mind bending worlds and concepts.

Just be warned that that kind of game can be a monumental world building undertaking, and isn’t something to pick up lightly.

5e Spells

Astral Projection: A Plane in my Astral