There are a ton of classes to pick for a player character in Dungeon & Dragons with 12 in the base game alone. While all of these classes cover most of the character archetypes seen in fantasy, they tend to be as broad as possible to allow for player customization. There are, however, exceptions as supplemental D&D books have added classes designed for a specific role or purpose. The Planewalker class is a notable example of this type of player class.
The Planewalker class refers to magic-users with the ability to transport themselves between different dimensions or realms. This article will inform readers about ten things worth knowing about this obscure Fifth Edition class.
10 Designed For Campaigns Based On Magic: The Gathering
Unlike most other classes in D & D class, The Planeswalker class is meant to be used for campaigns taking place in the multiverse of Magic: The Gathering. This makes sense as Planeswalker is the thematic term that the game used for players in the game. The class was also introduced in the Plane Shift series of supplements, that were designed to allow creatures and characters from various realms seen in Magic: The Gathering to be used in D&D.
While the supplement does not give clear rules on applying the class beyond a Magic inspired campaign, it would be difficult. This is due to cross-plane travel requiring just using a spell in most other D&D settings, rending the Planewalker superfluous in most other D&D settings.
9 Not Designed Like Other Classes
Another unique aspect of the Planeswalker class is that it is not designed like most other D&D classes. The Planeswalker class rule does not feature a clear list of ability and parameters for it like most other D&D classes. Instead, the class is presented more of a modification for any other class in the setting.
While any pre-existing D&D class can be modified to be a Planewalker, it is suggested to be used only with a magic-using class. The reason for this suggestion is that all Planeswalkers in Magic: The Gathering are presented as powerful magic users.
8 Meant For Higher Level Characters
Speaking of rule suggesting to make the Planeswalker class feel like a Planewalker in Magic: The Gathering. Another suggestion made in the rules is that the Planeswalkers class should be used in campaigns that start the player at a higher level. The reason being that Planeswalkers are usually depicted in Magic: The Gathering as being involved with an event that decides the fate of whole planes.
Another reason is that it might feel like a waste sending player to another plane to clear out a nest of giant rats or any other low-level adventure. Planeswalkers are also depicted as being able to control massive creatures, which requires spells that are only available to higher-level magic-users.
7 Cannot Transport Certain Items With Them
While Planeswalkers can travel between Planes quite easily, there are some restrictions to this ability. The main one is that a Planewalker can't take certain things with them. A Planewalker can always bring their apparel and weapons with them, but can't bring any food with them.
There are also restrictions on Planeswalking when it comes to living things. While a Planewalker can bring their familiars with them to another plane, they can't bring most other living things along with them. This restriction leads to some obvious problems if there is only one Planewalker in a campaign's party.
6 Works Best With A Party Composed Of Them
This issue of a Planewalker being unable to bring non-Planewalkers with them leads to a ton of problem in running a campaign with a party composed of Planeswalkers and non-Planeswalkers. Mainly that Planeswalker can't travel to other planes, as other players can come with them. This leads to the supplement recommending to make a party entirely composed of Planeswalkers.
While in most cases having a party composed entirely of a single class would become boring, the Planeswalker is an exception. This is due to the class being created by modifying any other class, meaning that the Planeswalker can be built to fulfill any sort of role the player wants.
5 The Class Is Awakened Not Trained
Unlike most D&D classes, a character is born a Planeswalker rather than them deciding to become one. A Planeswalkers is a sentient being born with something called the Planeswalker's Spark that gives them the ability to travel between planes. This spark is rare, only appearing in about one in a million sentient beings.
Having the spark, however, does not guarantee that a person becomes a Planeswalker. They only become a Planeswalker when the spark ignites. The spark ignites when the sparkholder has to go through some sort of stressful event, usually a near-death experience.
4 Not As Powerful As They Used To Be
While Planeswalkers are powerful magic-users able to fight grand battles for the fate of the plane, they used to be more powerful. Before an event called the Mending rewrote the rules of the multiverse, Planeswalkers were closer to gods than mortal. Pre-Mending Planeswalkers were immortal beings, whose physical forms were projections created by their consciousness.
Post-Mending Planeswalkers in comparison are simply powerful mages that travel across dimensions. Their physical forms are the physical bodies they had before igniting. Along with having an actual physical body, the new Planeswalkers are also all mortal at first. Given that the Plane Shift series of supplements are based on current Magic lore, members of the Planeswalker class are of this new breed.
3 Do Not Travel Between Planes The Same Way
The main reason that the Planeswalkers class does not have as structured rules as another class is because Planeswalking works differently between each Planeswalker. These differences vary from the speed in which planeswalking occurs to what items that a Planeswalker can take with them.
These differences are the result of the nature of a planeswalker soul, their personality, or even the school of magic that they practices. While this allows each Planeswalker to have their unique skill-set, it also makes it near impossible to make a single class that covers every single possible ability that a Planeswalker can have.
2 Angels And Demons Cannot Become Ones
While it states that any member of a sentient race can become a Planeswalkers, there are some exceptions. Those exceptions are angels and demons. The reason being that in the Magic multiverse, angels and demons are manifestations of mana thus they do not have the proper type of soul to have a spark.
Due to angels and demons being portrayed rather differently in the base setting of D&D. It's not clear if a character who is an angel or demon from the Planes seen in D&D lore can become a Planeswalker or not.
1 More Powerful Planewalkers Are On The Level Of Gods.
As mentioned before, pre-Mending Planeswalkers were immortal beings that could wield a great amount of power. Given there nature, some of the older Planeswalkers are depicted as being on the levels of Gods. For example, the Planeswalker Serra is shown to have created herself a plane and has a religion that worships her.
While post-Mending Planeswalker do not start on the same level as their predecessor, they have the same potential as their predecessors. Planeswalkers can theoretically increase their magical powers through various means to reach a god-like level power. However with their recent emergence, this type of Planeswalker has not been around long enough for one to have obtained this level of power.