[RPG] the “nature” of a demiplane

dnd-5eplanesspells

The 8th-level spell Demiplane lets one create a demiplane; further castings can re-connect to the same demiplane or to a new one. Additionally,

if you know the nature and contents of a demiplane created by a casting of this spell by another creature, you can… connect to its demiplane instead. (PHB p. 231)

So, what's the nature of a demiplane? What does one need to know to locate another's demiplane? Is "nature" a game term? The DMG's description of demiplanes (p.68) doesn't clarify it at all. Perhaps earlier Manuals of the Planes offer food for thought?

I.e. what's to stop a high-level wizard from just spamming the planes with Demiplane-requests? "Aahhh, I want to connect to that pocket someone created to store lots of gold pieces. Yeah… that one." [points randomly] "Oh, well, try again after nap."

Best Answer

Wiktionary: nature

  1. The innate characteristics of a thing. What something will tend by its own constitution, to be or do. Distinct from what might be expected or intended.
  1. Kind, sort; character; quality.

They’re using the word in one of these kinds of senses; no special game jargon. They’re just saying that if you’re familiar with what kind of plane the demiplane is, you can connect to it.

Connecting at random appears to be legit; one would presume that wizards storing valuables in their own private demiplane will be protecting that treasure in some fashion, not just relying on the demiplane’s limited privacy. That’d be security through obscurity, and wizards are too smart for that.

And yes, this is consistent with prior editions, which had more detail on demiplanes. Particularly in AD&D, where Planescape was a major setting, demiplanes got quite a bit of detail – and people snuck into demiplanes quite often.

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