How does Plane Shift and Interplanetary Teleport affect Starfinder?

[Umbral Reaver]

We already had FTL via these spells.

Have these magics ceased to function with the introduction of hyperspace? Or is hyperspace merely a low-level convenience for those without access to such magic?

[Dexion1619]

Well, Besides being locked behind 9th level magic (which is itself a monstrous limitation), Interplanetary Teleport is useless for exploration. Also, it's not super useful for trade.

[IonutRO]

"You may be able to teleport between planets once per day, old man, but my people can build ten Class A Starships every six months."

[Brew Bird]

Most average Joes are no higher than 5th level, and are lucky to have anything better than NPC class levels. The tiny fraction of people who are actually capable of that sort of magic could hardly support an entire industry of interplanetary travel.

Starships go where you tell them to when you punch in the coordinates on the computer. Wizards are prone to mischief, and like to send you on impossible quests before they even think of helping you.

[Gorbacz]

So, you can either pay the 17th level Wizard to teleport you for her usual fee, or buy the 100 credits ticket on Desna's Star which will be there by 4 PM. Your pick!

[Sauce987654321]

Really, Greater Teleport can allow you travel to other planets if you have some idea of where you are going. Interplanetary Teleport just does that much better.

[Torbyne]

I mention the idea in another thread but per what we know of the setting in the Pathfinder era, technology based FTL doesnt work. The Androffan's tried and failed at it and no other tech based societies have made it to Golarion. There are a few magical ways to FTL travel, gates, portals, dimensional travel and teleporting being the main ones. The assumption i am making until we know more is that the Gapping of Golarion and creation of Hyperspace has rendered inter-dimensional magics difficult or untrustworthy thus pushing more and more dependance towards the (cheaper and easier to access anyways) Hyperspace travel.

[UnArcaneElection]

Torbyne wrote:

I mention the idea in another thread but per what we know of the setting in the Pathfinder era, technology based FTL doesnt work. The Androffan's tried and failed at it and no other tech based societies have made it to Golarion. {. . .}

I thought part of the premise of Iron Gods was that the Androffan's FTL travel DID work, although apparently with less than ideal reliability.

[Tacticslion]

The Title wrote:

How does Plane Shift and Interplanetary Teleport affect Starfinder?

Very pleasantly! :D

Also, considering the time-gap, I'm guessing there are even fewer creatures around that are "capable" of helping out/doing that sort of thing, at present.

[Torbyne]

UnArcaneElection wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

I mention the idea in another thread but per what we know of the setting in the Pathfinder era, technology based FTL doesnt work. The Androffan's tried and failed at it and no other tech based societies have made it to Golarion. {. . .}

I thought part of the premise of Iron Gods was that the Androffan's FTL travel DID work, although apparently with less than ideal reliability.

I may be missing some of the finer points but wasn't their use of wormhole drives what lead to them crashing into a planet? Thats why i count it as a fail.

[David knott 242]

In Pathfinder, there were no known locations in other solar systems on the same plane.

Starfinder will probably need some sort of statement about the feasability or lack thereof of trying to use Interplanetary Teleport at interstellar distances.

[Rysky]

David knott 242 wrote:

In Pathfinder, there were no known locations in other solar systems on the same plane.

Starfinder will probably need some sort of statement about the feasability or lack thereof of trying to use Interplanetary Teleport at interstellar distances.

Since you have to have a basic idea of the planet you're going to it'll be more for planet hopping rather than outright interstellar travel as it stands.

[Plausible Pseudonym]

Torbyne wrote:

UnArcaneElection wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

I mention the idea in another thread but per what we know of the setting in the Pathfinder era, technology based FTL doesnt work. The Androffan's tried and failed at it and no other tech based societies have made it to Golarion. {. . .}

I thought part of the premise of Iron Gods was that the Androffan's FTL travel DID work, although apparently with less than ideal reliability.

I may be missing some of the finer points but wasn't their use of wormhole drives what lead to them crashing into a planet? Thats why i count it as a fail.

It worked fine under normal conditions. It worked less well when performing an emergency jump without time for proper astrogation and with AIs infected by Dominion of the Black weapons.

[IonutRO]

David knott 242 wrote:

In Pathfinder, there were no known locations in other solar systems on the same plane.

Starfinder will probably need some sort of statement about the feasability or lack thereof of trying to use Interplanetary Teleport at interstellar distances.

Well, if something (like Baba Yaga's hut) allowed a caster to visit a world outside of Golarion's solar system and the wizard then learned the name of the planet or the name of its star and how far away from it it was (5th planet from Alpha Banana, for example) then that caster could use Interplanetary Teleport to get there.

[Luthorne]

Yeah, part of it is probably level-based, part of it is probably mass. Plane shift, in addition to being somewhat inaccurate (though not much on a grand scale), can take a grand total of eight people, while interplanetary teleport can handle you and one additional Medium-sized creature for every three caster levels. That's fine for a small adventuring party, but it's not going to bring over fifty tons of food or tools or weapons or a few thousand colonists without a lot of casting. Or ten thousand. Or a hundred thousand. Not to mention armies. A teleportation circle or a gate might be possible, depending on your interpretation of the existence of interplanetary teleport, ie, if it implies a very high but not infinite range that interplanetary teleport does possess but greater teleport does not, a teleportation circle doesn't work and you need artifacts.

Plus, they've already said that magic has faded a bit with the advent of technology just because you don't need 17th-18th level casters to pull this sort of thing off, and they've also said they intend to rework economics a bit, so it may well be that the usual availability of magic for population centers will take a distinct hit...presuming dedicated 9th-level casters haven't become all but unknown as more people focus on mixtures of magic and combat, magic and technology, magic and skills, and so on and so forth.

Edit: Leaving aside, of course, the fact that these spells will generally only let you go to places that you know of, while it's been said that only recently have the races of Starfinder been moving out of their nearby neighborhood thanks to the very advent of faster-than-light spaceships. Magic may allow - to some extent - an infrastructure, though the restraints of how much can be transported remains troubling...but you'd need other methods to find the location in the first place. I mean, space is big. Really really reaaaaaaally big.

[David knott 242]

IonutRO wrote:

David knott 242 wrote:

In Pathfinder, there were no known locations in other solar systems on the same plane.

Starfinder will probably need some sort of statement about the feasability or lack thereof of trying to use Interplanetary Teleport at interstellar distances.

Well, if something (like Baba Yaga's hut) allowed a caster to visit a world outside of Golarion's solar system and the wizard then learned the name of the planet or the name of its star and how far away from it it was (5th planet from Alpha Banana, for example) then that caster could use Interplanetary Teleport to get there.

Until the Interplanetary Teleport spell was introduced, the rules would have suggested that the Greater Teleport spell would have been sufficient for that purpose. Since Starfinder has to deal explicitly with interstellar travel, it can make up its own rules as to any range limits for Interplanetary Teleport. And since Baba Yaga's Hut is an artifact, it could well be capable of doing things beyond the limits of standard spells.

In any case, would you locate a planet in another solar system by a name or by a location? A name used by local inhabitants probably is not unique. A location is of limited use since solar systems and the planets within them move at a very rapid pace relative to the planet you are starting out on. Good luck trying to teleport to a solar system whose primary star you cannot even see from your starting point.

[Tiny Coffee Golem]

Sauce987654321 wrote:

Really, Greater Teleport can allow you travel to other planets if you have some idea of where you are going. Interplanetary Teleport just does that much better.

I thought greater teleport was limited to a planetary scale.

[Umbral Reaver]

1. Worship Desna.
2. Contact Other Plane: 'What is the name of the nearest human-habitable planet not yet visited by a member of the Starfinders?'
3. Explore!

[Luthorne]

Umbral Reaver wrote:

1. Worship Desna.

2. Contact Other Plane: 'What is the name of the nearest human-habitable planet not yet visited by a member of the Starfinders?'
3. Explore!

Since it has to be a one-word response, wouldn't that limit it to already inhabited planets that had one-word names given by the inhabitants? Or would you presume deities name all the planets before they're even inhabited?

[Nigel, Imperialist Deity]

Luthorne wrote:

Umbral Reaver wrote:

1. Worship Desna.

2. Contact Other Plane: 'What is the name of the nearest human-habitable planet not yet visited by a member of the Starfinders?'
3. Explore!

Since it has to be a one-word response, wouldn't that limit it to already inhabited planets that had one-word names given by the inhabitants? Or would you presume deities name all the planets before they're even inhabited?

This chap gets it, wot wot?

[Torbyne]

What about true names? Everything's got one, even unknown planets. Or maybe Deana names them in response to the prayer and then it becomes so. Tons of ways for it to work. Or at least two ways.

[Luthorne]

Torbyne wrote:

What about true names? Everything's got one, even unknown planets. Or maybe Deana names them in response to the prayer and then it becomes so. Tons of ways for it to work. Or at least two ways.

Out of curiosity, where's it said that planets have true names? I only recall it being said that outsiders have true names (via Ultimate Magic). Also, contact other plane isn't exactly a prayer, is it? Though, looking at contact other plane, can you even specify which power you get a response from on the chosen plane...? Hmm, I guess I'd expect table variation. It is an arcane spell, not a divine spell, after all.

Though, the point here is not so much to get these options to work, since the original poster was questioning why hyperspace-based faster-than-light travel would be utilized when there are magical versions available. So while you can attempt to handwave away problems with the magical versions via methods one should expect table variation on, if the point is to make the technological versions more appealing, it seems to rather miss the point? Of course, it may well be that they do exist, but the high levels, chances of going insane/taking mental ability damage, and other such are discouragers enough.

[Tengu-HalflingAlliedCommerceOrg]

A mage that can cast the spells needed for interplanetary transit: the lives of countless sentient and nonsentient lifeforms, thousands of Gold Pieces worth of training equipment, and some means of guaranteeing that said phenomenally powerful wizard remains loyal enough to be of service.

A vehicle capable of interplanetary travel: a small sum of money paid to THACO for one of their fast, reliable, affordable FTL-drive equipped spacecraft.

Using THACO for all your material needs: Priceless.

[gustavo iglesias]

Torbyne wrote:

UnArcaneElection wrote:

Torbyne wrote:

I mention the idea in another thread but per what we know of the setting in the Pathfinder era, technology based FTL doesnt work. The Androffan's tried and failed at it and no other tech based societies have made it to Golarion. {. . .}

I thought part of the premise of Iron Gods was that the Androffan's FTL travel DID work, although apparently with less than ideal reliability.

I may be missing some of the finer points but wasn't their use of wormhole drives what lead to them crashing into a planet? Thats why i count it as a fail.

It worked well enough for them to explore the galaxy, abduct some kasaatha and lashunta, and a few rhubchaliks among other stuff.

Them crqp hit the fan and everhthing went south and they crqshed