Lesser Gate Spell?

[Merion d'Lial]

In my recent adventures I ran, I noticed that - for storytelling purposes - I want some NPCs to be able to open a gate to another place, so that my players can get a glimpse of that place.

Now, the original gate spell does a lot of things that I don't need - the summoning or interplanar stuff. I just want to open a gateway between two places on the material plane. Also I don't want to push a lot of NPCs to level 17 just for that narrative purpose.

Is there a spell that does this, that I missed? And if not, how would you rate a spell that opens a portal between two places on the same plane for a short amount of time (say 1 round per level)? My first guess would be for that spell to be lvl 7.

Thanks for any advice!

[Tinalles]

If you want some NPCs to have access to a high-level spell in a low-level campaign, you could always use an occult ritual. Those are available to any creature capable of making the necessary skill checks.

It has added advantages in that you can lock it down to specifically what you need for your campaign. For example, if you need a gate to the Plane of Ranch Dressing, you could invent a ritual called:

Dipping the Broccoli:

Dipping the Broccoli
School Conjuration (teleportation); Level 5
Casting Time 1 hour
Components V, S, M (a supply of raw broccoli florets), SC (up to 5)
Skill checks Knowledge (Planes) DC 30, 3 successes; Profession (Snack Chef) DC 30, 1 success
Range touch
Duration 1 round per hit die of the primary caster
Saving throw none; SR no
Backlash The primary and secondary casters emit a massive belch
Failure The casters take 1d4 points of Wisdom drain and develop a fixation with queso

Effect

The casters wave their broccoli florets about in the air, crying out and lamenting the lack of ranch dressing in which to dip them. On success, a portal to the Plane of Ranch Dressing opens at a spot chosen by the primary caster, where it proceeds to disgorge 100 gallons of ranch dressing per round. Characters wishing to visit the Plane of Ranch Dressing may swim upstream with a DC 15 Swim check, entering the portal in 1 full round of swimming. Necklaces of Planar Adaptation or similar protective measures are advised, as suffocating in ranch dressing is a messy way to go.

The long casting time and difficult skill checks ensure that using it takes some effort. The specificity ensures that it will never be used to access a plane other than the one you want them to have access to. And you could place further prohibitions on it. For example, maybe the ritual only works when cast while a major sporting event is going on within a hundred miles of the casters. And so forth.

[Elghinn Lightbringer]

Just create a new spell, call it Planar Window. Allows you to open a window into a chosen plane, look around, see what the place is like. Much like scrying, but at a planar level, and in a random point in the plane. No creatures on the plane can see you, unless they detect scrying.

As Lesser Planar Ally is a 4th level spell, and Scrying is a 4th level spell, this Planar Window spell can be 4th level, 5th at the most.

[Tacticslion]

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