So I haven't paid any attention to the lore in forever, and I no nothing of how the Spark got changed other than making planeswalkers weak enough to be made into cards to make money, so I have a couple of questions.
1. Do planeswalkers get better at walking or is it more related to if you know the plane you are walking to.
2. Can they still carry people with them? I know Old walkers were able to carry people from place to place with them.
On the first question, I would assume that like any skill, practice improves ability, so you would get better at planeswalking over time. I don't know that we have any confirmation of that within the lore though. Notably we DO know that planeswalking is harder/takes longer for some planeswalkers than others. Elspeth notably always had difficulty with it. On the flip side The Wanderer has a quirk where she has to actively focus in order to NOT randomly planeswalk away.
As for question 2. The answer WAS "No. A neowalker cannot take another living being with them through the Blind Eternities." Then we got some nonsense handwavey explanation to let Kaya carry a person with her by essentially using her ghost-phasing power to occupy the same space as them (or possess them? I'm not too clear on this) and carry them with her. So seemingly Kaya is the only neowalker with the ability to take anyone else with her, and only in a very specific manner.
Wrenn is a dryad who is physically bonded to Six, essentially merging them into a single organism and enabling them to planeswalk together.
Jiang Yanggu is able to bring Mowu with him, because it's implied or stated (I believe in the War of the Spark novel) that Mowu is actually made of stone, not a real dog.
Sweet thanks. While I don't like the story of current magic overall, I do like the lore of almost every plane so I plan on running an mtg tabletop game. I thought about using the planar chaos die to decide if they successfully walk where they wanna go, but I might make it a skill so the players have some say so on how good they are.
The second question is a bummer, but gives me a little wiggle room to handwave what I need...even though none of my players know the lore so it wouldn't matter anyway.
Truthfully, even the Oldwalkers had more difficulty moving companions from plane to plane than some people seem to remember. In Planeswalker, we learn that many planeswalkers Urza knew had traveling companions to keep them sane (much like Xantcha), but many of the crazier ones were those who spent their immortality alone. Meanwhile, to planeswalk with Xantcha he had to come up with a solution based on artifice. And it was only because as a Phyrexian, Xantcha was more comfortable than most with the idea of having her body modified that to make it work. In the very next book, because of Xantcha's death Urza is forced to come up with different solutions altogether. His first idea-- petrify people so they can survive the Blind Eternities then restore them-- actually got some people killed because even stone can get cracked by the Aether. It takes him the entire book to figure out more safe methods, culminating in his ultimate creation, the Weatherlight.
Meanwhile other planeswalkers from Dominaria seem to prefer the companionship of other planeswalkers to keep them sane, or to just settle down somewhere like Freyalise and Bolas. So most of them don't have Urza's particular skill for planeshifting non-planeswalkers around. Teferi may or may not have the knowledge due to being tutored by Urza himself, but by the time he was a full fledged planeswalker, Jhoira was already captaining Weatherlight. Venser in the newer lore had some ideas of how to recreate Weatherlight's planeshifting engine, but Koth forced him to fight on New Phyrexia where he gave up his life for Karn's. I haven't read the Ice Age books, but I get the impression that Jaya never learned the skill either, if only because she was never the scholarly type of mage (more a mercenary, really). And Lilliana definitely never learned how to do it, since she looks down on non-planeswalkers. Karn, if he knows how to do it, probably has a similar attitude to Koth about the technology. He's seen two too many inter-planar wars in his long existence. So that means that at the moment, all of the Oldwalkers that know or have joined the Gatewatch lack the skill even when they were at the height of their power, and Kaya finding a BS way of shifting people through the Eternities is actually not unprecedented in the lore. In fact I would say it actually makes more sense than Urza's final non-artifice method described in Timeshifted: turn the person two dimensional while in the Eternities. And I only just now realized that's a meta joke about the game...
I admit I was perhaps a bit harsh on Kaya being able to take people with her. It just felt like it came out of nowhere with no foreshadowing of any kind. Little more than her going "Oh, yeah, I can totally do that."
It just felt like it came out of nowhere with no foreshadowing of any kind. Little more than her going "Oh, yeah, I can totally do that."
I'm more laid back when it comes to lore choices but I agree with this. Kaya's "ghost power" never seems to be really "ghost powers" (like Danny Phantom or even like an occultist ) but her being able to go incorporeal and seemly only being able to interact with ghosts since she was able to be on the same "plane". There is also no real limit or cost to this ability either, it seems like she can do this whenever and with whomever. Wrenn and Yanggu (and the Kenrith twins to a degree) all break this rule a lot better as it works within the baseline rules of walking, feels like a natural part of their skills and has limits to who they can take with them.
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In fact I would say it actually makes more sense than Urza's final non-artifice method described in Timeshifted: turn the person two dimensional while in the Eternities. And I only just now realized that's a meta joke about the game...
Whoa, A Link Between Worlds was about Planeswalking the whole time.
Tezzeret can do this stuff too, right? With his Planar Bridge?
In fact I would say it actually makes more sense than Urza's final non-artifice method described in Timeshifted: turn the person two dimensional while in the Eternities. And I only just now realized that's a meta joke about the game...
Whoa, A Link Between Worlds was about Planeswalking the whole time.
Tezzeret can do this stuff too, right? With his Planar Bridge?
Unless they change it (which is always a possibility I suppose), the planar bridge can't transport organic material across planes... unless that material is a zombie covered in lazotep... for some reason.
So Tezzeret can't bring people* to other planes, only things.
*Other than other planeswalkers, who have their own sparks to shield them against the Blind Eterities.
Unless they change it (which is always a possibility I suppose), the planar bridge can't transport organic material across planes... unless that material is a zombie covered in lazotep... for some reason.
Was the Lazotep an important reason for why he could port the zombies, or can he just port anything that's not alive? Or like, things that don't have souls? Ghosts and vampires probably not, but zombies are basically just artifacts made from organic material, right?
Unless they change it (which is always a possibility I suppose), the planar bridge can't transport organic material across planes... unless that material is a zombie covered in lazotep... for some reason.
So Tezzeret can't bring people* to other planes, only things.
*Other than other planeswalkers, who have their own sparks to shield them against the Blind Eterities.
Unless they change it (which is always a possibility I suppose), the planar bridge can't transport organic material across planes... unless that material is a zombie covered in lazotep... for some reason.
Was the Lazotep an important reason for why he could port the zombies, or can he just port anything that's not alive? Or like, things that don't have souls? Ghosts and vampires probably not, but zombies are basically just artifacts made from organic material, right?
The key is organic material can't survive unless it has a spark. Two example the lore gave was Rashmi testing by sending a flower pot thru and the vase survived the travel but not the flower and Huatli trying to bring food with her from Ixalan and it not making in her pack. The eternals where coated in Lazotep to keep them protected. Not sure if its Lazotep itself (as its magical and used to make cartouches which where used for a lot of magical things) or if any kind metal could protect someone if coated/covered in it.
Creative said the loose rule set is walkers have a small field of protection form the spark that keeps things close to the walker (so clothing and such) safe and some walkers are able to carry things better than other in similar way some are able to walk better.
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
The “rules” For planewalkers abilities are similar to the Pirates Code...just “guidelines” and are the default for a generic planeswalker. Each character however has a unique “power suite” that allows for WOTC to give each walker something different in ability.
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1. Do planeswalkers get better at walking or is it more related to if you know the plane you are walking to.
2. Can they still carry people with them? I know Old walkers were able to carry people from place to place with them.
As for question 2. The answer WAS "No. A neowalker cannot take another living being with them through the Blind Eternities." Then we got some nonsense handwavey explanation to let Kaya carry a person with her by essentially using her ghost-phasing power to occupy the same space as them (or possess them? I'm not too clear on this) and carry them with her. So seemingly Kaya is the only neowalker with the ability to take anyone else with her, and only in a very specific manner.
EDIT: Oh, right, there's also Wrenn and Six, and to a lesser extent Jiang Yanggu and his dog Mowu.
Wrenn is a dryad who is physically bonded to Six, essentially merging them into a single organism and enabling them to planeswalk together.
Jiang Yanggu is able to bring Mowu with him, because it's implied or stated (I believe in the War of the Spark novel) that Mowu is actually made of stone, not a real dog.
The second question is a bummer, but gives me a little wiggle room to handwave what I need...even though none of my players know the lore so it wouldn't matter anyway.
Meanwhile other planeswalkers from Dominaria seem to prefer the companionship of other planeswalkers to keep them sane, or to just settle down somewhere like Freyalise and Bolas. So most of them don't have Urza's particular skill for planeshifting non-planeswalkers around. Teferi may or may not have the knowledge due to being tutored by Urza himself, but by the time he was a full fledged planeswalker, Jhoira was already captaining Weatherlight. Venser in the newer lore had some ideas of how to recreate Weatherlight's planeshifting engine, but Koth forced him to fight on New Phyrexia where he gave up his life for Karn's. I haven't read the Ice Age books, but I get the impression that Jaya never learned the skill either, if only because she was never the scholarly type of mage (more a mercenary, really). And Lilliana definitely never learned how to do it, since she looks down on non-planeswalkers. Karn, if he knows how to do it, probably has a similar attitude to Koth about the technology. He's seen two too many inter-planar wars in his long existence. So that means that at the moment, all of the Oldwalkers that know or have joined the Gatewatch lack the skill even when they were at the height of their power, and Kaya finding a BS way of shifting people through the Eternities is actually not unprecedented in the lore. In fact I would say it actually makes more sense than Urza's final non-artifice method described in Timeshifted: turn the person two dimensional while in the Eternities. And I only just now realized that's a meta joke about the game...
I'm more laid back when it comes to lore choices but I agree with this. Kaya's "ghost power" never seems to be really "ghost powers" (like Danny Phantom or even like an occultist ) but her being able to go incorporeal and seemly only being able to interact with ghosts since she was able to be on the same "plane". There is also no real limit or cost to this ability either, it seems like she can do this whenever and with whomever. Wrenn and Yanggu (and the Kenrith twins to a degree) all break this rule a lot better as it works within the baseline rules of walking, feels like a natural part of their skills and has limits to who they can take with them.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Whoa, A Link Between Worlds was about Planeswalking the whole time.
Tezzeret can do this stuff too, right? With his Planar Bridge?
Unless they change it (which is always a possibility I suppose), the planar bridge can't transport organic material across planes... unless that material is a zombie covered in lazotep... for some reason.
So Tezzeret can't bring people* to other planes, only things.
*Other than other planeswalkers, who have their own sparks to shield them against the Blind Eterities.
Was the Lazotep an important reason for why he could port the zombies, or can he just port anything that's not alive? Or like, things that don't have souls? Ghosts and vampires probably not, but zombies are basically just artifacts made from organic material, right?
The key is organic material can't survive unless it has a spark. Two example the lore gave was Rashmi testing by sending a flower pot thru and the vase survived the travel but not the flower and Huatli trying to bring food with her from Ixalan and it not making in her pack. The eternals where coated in Lazotep to keep them protected. Not sure if its Lazotep itself (as its magical and used to make cartouches which where used for a lot of magical things) or if any kind metal could protect someone if coated/covered in it.
Creative said the loose rule set is walkers have a small field of protection form the spark that keeps things close to the walker (so clothing and such) safe and some walkers are able to carry things better than other in similar way some are able to walk better.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"