Codex of the Infinite Planes

From 1d4chan

The Codex of the Infinite Planes is a Dungeons &

Dragons artifact hailing from the White Box Supplements.
It then went on to appear in the AD&D 1e DMG, AD&D 2e
Book of Artifacts, D&D 3e's Epic Level Handbook, and
D&D 4e's Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium. It also
appears in Pathfinder's Artifacts and Legends.

Throughout its appearances, the Codex remains firmly

defined; this massive book of inscrutable origins holds
many powerful secrets relating to planar magic, secrets so
powerful that even opening the book can be potentially
deadly to a would-be user. Whilst its powers have The covers are made of obsidian, the pages are made
fluctuated over the editions, the most common themes of lead, and it's so big you need two people to lift it.
revolve around the ability to teleport users throughout the
planes, enhancing their magical abilities, and access to
various conjuration spells - though always at a steep and probably deadly price.

Contents
1 3e
2 4e
3 Pathfinder
4 Links

3e
Appearing in the Epic Level Handbook (and therefore in the OGL), in this edition the Codex is a nasty piece of
work. Opening it up for the first time will hit you with Destruction (DC 30 for 10d6 damage: if you fail you turn
to dust). If you manage to survive this you get to study its infinite pages for great knowledge and power... at a
risk. After a day of study you can roll a DC 50 Spellcraft check to see if you learned something new: if you
don't make the roll you get +1 to your next one. You can learn quite the list of powers, who once known you can
use at will: astral projection, banishment, elemental swarm, gate, greater planar ally, greater planar binding,
plane shift, and soul bind. Powers are learned at random. But the risk is always there: every day also requires a
DC 30 Will save or you go insane (as per Insanity).

Actually using a power is risky as well: you need both a Concentration and a Spellcraft check with a DC 40 +
double the spell's level (making it 50 at its lowest and 58 at its highest). If you fail, you roll a percentile dice to
decide your fate: get hit by an Earthquake and Storm of Vengeance spell, summon 1d3+1 Balors, Pit Fiends or
similarly powerful evil Outsiders to mess you up, have your soul put in a gem (as per Trap the Soul) and your
body entomed somewhere (as per Imprisonment) both in a random place on the current plane, or utter a Wail of
the Banshee and get hit by Destruction every turn for 10 turns.
All in all, if you find the Codex of the Infinite Planes it would be best not to use it.

4e
Oddly enough, in 4e the Codex is almost meager. MME has a bunch of big-name artifacts, including the Book
of Infinite Spells, the Hammer of Thunderbolts, and the Shadowstaff. Thing is, only a few have a full artifact
writeup, with Concordance levels and their bonuses/penalties. None of those three have one, and neither does
the Codex.

The Codex is an Epic artifact, a wonderous item rather then a tome implement, with two daily powers. One
banishes a target from another plane, but on a miss damages the user and target, and causes the user to be
stunned for a turn. The other takes you and your friends to anywhere on the planes that you name, or even
provide a vague category or description for, like an archdevil's treasure room or a safe place with friendly
people. You then have to pass an Arcana check, or suffer a disaster of the DM's choosing.

Pathfinder
Because it appears in the SRD, Paizo decided to use it as well. It works more or less like it's 3e equivalent,
except the "you done fucked up" chart is expanded to two dozen results of a varying number of DO NOT
WANT, from having 444 Shinigami show up and try to murder people to being hit by Energy Drain or
Reincarnate every day, grow to 65 feet in size and gain 5 feet every day, having everyone around you turn
alignment, get hit by a series of Meteor Swarms, a zombie apocalypse starts and others.

And since the Codex is a book, this means that it's a legal target for a Tome Eater archetype Occultist to devour.
The text is a bit murky as to if eating a book constitutes tearing out its pages, but if given the opportunity to do
so you should totally do this if only to see your DM's face when you tell him you want to eat the Codex of the
Infintie Planes.

Links
http://thecampaign20xx.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/dungeons-dragons-guide-to-codex-of.html
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Codex_of_Infinite_Planes
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/artifacts/major-artifacts/codex-of-the-infinite-planes/
http://dnd4.wikia.com/wiki/Codex_of_Infinite_Planes

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