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Planar Adventures / Building a Planar Campaign / Why the Planes?

Rescue

Source Planar Adventures pg. 82
Two facts bear repeating: the planes are dangerous, and souls are valuable. Unpredictable and titanic weather events can shatter even the mightiest magical vehicles or scatter travelers. Plane-hopping magic can fail and send someone to a random destination, while the death of a spellcasting ally might mean the loss of a group’s only ticket home. Even something so mundane as a cave-in can leave otherwise able explorers stranded on another world. Rescuing allies or loved ones from such a fate may be the only way to save their lives—or failing that, might become the only way to allow their souls to reach the intended afterlife. Some of the most abrupt disappearances are those dealt by the Donjon card found in a deck of many things.

Any number of fiends and villains are all too happy to capture living prey to consume, experiment on, sacrifice, or torture. Among the most infamous abductors are the Ethereal Plane’s xills and the far-ranging devourers that prey upon live hosts and mortals’ souls, respectively. Night hags are practiced soul trappers who might trade a hero’s soul away or consume it, preventing resurrection unless intercepted. Devils’ use of infernal contracts can let them abscond with a PCs’ friend or ally under the wrong circumstances (or insidiously small print).

Archives of Nethys

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Rescue