Possession spell states:
As a standard action, you can shift freely back to your own body regardless of range, so long as it remains on the same plane. If the host's body is killed, you return to your own body and the life force of the host departs (it is dead).
If your host body is killed on a different plane than your own body (say because it's stashed in a demiplane or Mage's Magnificent Mansion), do you still return to your own body?
It seems to me that reading these two sentences together the intent is "no," but an especially blinkered reading of them independently suggest the RAW is "yes." The second sentence simply states you return to your body when the host is killed, notwithstanding the fact that you can't return their willingly when on a different plane.
I think you pretty much have to go with the combined meaning to avoid turning Possession into a poor man's Astral Projection for the purposes of surviving combat, but I wondered what others thought.
It appears unlike Magic Jar, if the host body is slain there is no condition that causes you to automatically die. Even if you are out of range.
The part you bolded only states you can shift back to your body as long as it's on the same plane. But if it's on another plane, you just can't choose to shift back.
Now, I agree with you that it probably should kill you, but unlike Magic Jar it never mentions such a thing happening.
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It's not stated in the specific rules for the spell, but it is in more general rules.
A number of spells and magic items utilize extradimensional spaces, such as rope trick, a bag of holding, a handy haversack, and a portable hole. These spells and magic items create a tiny pocket space that does not exist in any dimension.
Possession does not displace the host soul when the possessor seizes control of a creature’s body. Additionally, the caster does not perish instantly if her body is outside the spell’s range when she is ejected; the range on the possession spell pertains only to the distance the caster can be from her intended target at the time of casting. Once ejected, the caster’s soul snaps back to her body from any distance, so long as it remains on the same plane.
So the answer is yes, you die.
Thanks, that does cover it.
It appears unlike Magic Jar, if the host body is slain there is no condition that causes you to automatically die. Even if you are out of range.
The part you bolded only states you can shift back to your body as long as it's on the same plane. But if it's on another plane, you just can't choose to shift back.
Now, I agree with you that it probably should kill you, but unlike Magic Jar it never mentions such a thing happening.
The spell says you can get back to your body AS LONG AS IT IS ON THE SAME PLANE. If you break that condition, your soul can't get back to your body... which means you are .... dead.
The spell says you can get back to your body AS LONG AS IT IS ON THE SAME PLANE. If you break that condition, your soul can't get back to your body... which means you are .... dead.It appears unlike Magic Jar, if the host body is slain there is no condition that causes you to automatically die. Even if you are out of range.
The part you bolded only states you can shift back to your body as long as it's on the same plane. But if it's on another plane, you just can't choose to shift back.
Now, I agree with you that it probably should kill you, but unlike Magic Jar it never mentions such a thing happening.
Eh...the rules in the spell itself don't make that clear. But the rule Adjoint quoted does.
Besides, my intuition was right that it should kill you.
The spell says you can get back to your body AS LONG AS IT IS ON THE SAME PLANE. If you break that condition, your soul can't get back to your body... which means you are .... dead.It appears unlike Magic Jar, if the host body is slain there is no condition that causes you to automatically die. Even if you are out of range.
The part you bolded only states you can shift back to your body as long as it's on the same plane. But if it's on another plane, you just can't choose to shift back.
Now, I agree with you that it probably should kill you, but unlike Magic Jar it never mentions such a thing happening.
No, it says being on a different plane prevents you from freely shifting back to your body. It then says, without noting any similar restriction, that if your host dies you simply go back to your body. It is a defensible but not necessary step to link these and assume the first limitation also applies to the second. Fortunately the overall possession rules resolve it clearly.