Transport via Plants for interplanetary travel?

[Tinalles]

The spell Transport Via Plants has no distance limits and doesn't require familiarity with the target area. Could it be used to travel to another planet?

I'm guessing it hinges on the phrase "plant of the same kind". If that's a generic like "tree", well, you can go to any planet that has a reasonable tree equivalent. If it's a specific as a species, like "Elm", then you'd be stuck on your own planet unless somebody has gone to the trouble of importing a grove of alien trees.

[Drahliana Moonrunner]

I would say no.

Reasonable tree equivalent is not enough. The spell requires SAME SPECIES. If you can't teleport from an elm tree to an oak tree, you certaintly can't teleport to something that's not even a tree. And keep in mind that when the spell was written, space travel was not a thing.

[mardaddy]

I would say....... Get someone to take a few trees (or seeds) with them when they go to another planet. If it can grow and survive - yes.

So while it would not be possible initially, it would be a great way to, "seed," easy travel after the first time (providing the trees survive.)

[Scrapper]

I'd rule the roots must share the same soil/earth, be it 12ft away or 20,000 miles. Still, I'd expect some one to try transplanting a tree on a far off world with enough soil to qualify...

[Jeraa]

Greater Teleport has an unlimited range and doesn't require familiarity, but apparently isn't good enough to teleport to another planet. That is why they made interplanetary teleport.

[Tinalles]

That makes sense. My druid's player shall have to find another way off the moon.

[CorvusMask]

I'd say it would work if you would plant your own plants on soil in another planet and if those plants don't die on alien soil. Without that? No way it would work, even if some ancient druid had planted oak trees on multiple worlds, by current time they would have evolved into different species of oak trees.

[Gauss]

Distant Worlds p53 wrote:

Many wizards believe that spells like greater teleport and scrying have no range limitations, but those who have tried to use them to reach the stars know better. Some attribute the resulting difficulties to the mortal mind’s inability to truly envision the distances involved, others to the speed with which celestial bodies move through the blackness, and still others to the lack of any sort of ether for the magic to travel through. Whatever the case, the truth is that it’s easier for most spellcasters to shift between planes than to observe or travel to other planets. (For a discussion on why shifting between planes doesn’t aid planetary travel, see page 3.)

For those spellcasters determined to reach Golarion’s sister worlds, the spell interplanetary teleport in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide makes it possible, as do spells such as wish and miracle, though individual GMs may decide that even these may not be enough without specific items or creatures to focus the energies on. The latter spells also make scrying possible, though greater scrying can sometimes be used to observe creatures on another world, albeit with the same DC penalties associated with viewing a creature on another plane. In many cases, the magics required may necessitate the possession (or construction) of great artifacts, some of which can still be found abandoned by their creators on planets like Golarion.

So no, Transport via Plants will not work. You must use either Interplanetary Teleport, Wish, Miracle, or other means (such as Portals or Vessels).

[Angel Hunter D]

Interplanetary stuff deals with relativity, that's why we need a different spell.