While some DMs might allow you to go into a store and buy a fork attuned to any plane you desire I think most see it as a plot hook and a bit of protection for themselves (if it wasn't their the party might suddenly decide they are going to petition the clerics god in person and head of the celestia where the DM has nothing prepared).
If the DM is steeringthe party to a particualr plane here can provide them with an attuned fork, if the party are wanting to go in a particular direction they can make getting the fork as easy or as hard as they like. To get to the plane of fire they migth have to attune the fork by dipping into the lava deep in a particular volcano or forge one my folding the metel into the heart of a pheonix. The DM could just make the fork to a particualr plane unavailable if they do not want the party to go there.
I generally work on unattuned forks are readily available for 250gp as are fork attuned to the material plane attuned forks may be provided by an NPC who is sending them to a particular plane or they may have to go on a quest to attune it..
Do any PCs have to actually attune to the fork? Or is it a different kind of attunement?
You do not attune to the fork. The fork is "tuned to a particular plane of existence.
Some DMs may have this be little different than tuning a fork to ring at a specific pitch, but I've heard others say that the fork has to atomically resonnate with a particular plane, and that it has to be composed of metal from that plane. It all comes down to how hard the DM wants planar travel to be.
RAW, a Creation Bard could create the needed tuning fork for Plane Shift through sheer magical will.
Do any PCs have to actually attune to the fork? Or is it a different kind of attunement?
You do not attune to the fork. The fork is "tuned to a particular plane of existence.
Some DMs may have this be little different than tuning a fork to ring at a specific pitch, but I've heard others say that the fork has to atomically resonnate with a particular plane, and that it has to be composed of metal from that plane. It all comes down to how hard the DM wants planar travel to be.
RAW, a Creation Bard could create the needed tuning fork for Plane Shift through sheer magical will.
Eh, might be dancing on the edge of RAW a bit to say College of Creation can make the fork. The feature says you can create a nonmagical item, and as has been noted the exact interpretation of how a fork is tuned to a particular plane is a bit up in the air, perhaps skewing a bit towards "magical". Really, I'd say there's no hard rule that cover this, and instead it's covered by Rule 0.
Do any PCs have to actually attune to the fork? Or is it a different kind of attunement?
You do not attune to the fork. The fork is "tuned to a particular plane of existence.
Some DMs may have this be little different than tuning a fork to ring at a specific pitch, but I've heard others say that the fork has to atomically resonnate with a particular plane, and that it has to be composed of metal from that plane. It all comes down to how hard the DM wants planar travel to be.
RAW, a Creation Bard could create the needed tuning fork for Plane Shift through sheer magical will.
Eh, might be dancing on the edge of RAW a bit to say College of Creation can make the fork. The feature says you can create a nonmagical item, and as has been noted the exact interpretation of how a fork is tuned to a particular plane is a bit up in the air, perhaps skewing a bit towards "magical". Really, I'd say there's no hard rule that cover this, and instead it's covered by Rule 0.
Rules as written, the fork is not a magical item, the same way an arcane, divine, or duidic focus is not a magic item. They're nonmagical tools that casters can channel magic through to produce desired effects. It's similar to how a dragon's breath weapon isn't magical, because it doesn't say it's magical.
Of course, we are in agreement that the DM has the final say.
Really the whole point of the fork is kind of metagame. It only exists if the DM wants it to, so the party can’t just say, this week we decided we want to go to ge city of brass and force the DM to come up with something on the spot. The whole spell is really a plot device, and the tuning fork is just how to unlock it.
Where would you find a 250 gp forked rod, and could you create one yourself? If so, how do you attune it to the different plane of existence?
That is up to the DM.
While some DMs might allow you to go into a store and buy a fork attuned to any plane you desire I think most see it as a plot hook and a bit of protection for themselves (if it wasn't their the party might suddenly decide they are going to petition the clerics god in person and head of the celestia where the DM has nothing prepared).
If the DM is steeringthe party to a particualr plane here can provide them with an attuned fork, if the party are wanting to go in a particular direction they can make getting the fork as easy or as hard as they like. To get to the plane of fire they migth have to attune the fork by dipping into the lava deep in a particular volcano or forge one my folding the metel into the heart of a pheonix. The DM could just make the fork to a particualr plane unavailable if they do not want the party to go there.
I generally work on unattuned forks are readily available for 250gp as are fork attuned to the material plane attuned forks may be provided by an NPC who is sending them to a particular plane or they may have to go on a quest to attune it..
Do any PCs have to actually attune to the fork? Or is it a different kind of attunement?
You do not attune to the fork. The fork is "tuned to a particular plane of existence.
Some DMs may have this be little different than tuning a fork to ring at a specific pitch, but I've heard others say that the fork has to atomically resonnate with a particular plane, and that it has to be composed of metal from that plane. It all comes down to how hard the DM wants planar travel to be.
RAW, a Creation Bard could create the needed tuning fork for Plane Shift through sheer magical will.
Eh, might be dancing on the edge of RAW a bit to say College of Creation can make the fork. The feature says you can create a nonmagical item, and as has been noted the exact interpretation of how a fork is tuned to a particular plane is a bit up in the air, perhaps skewing a bit towards "magical". Really, I'd say there's no hard rule that cover this, and instead it's covered by Rule 0.
Rules as written, the fork is not a magical item, the same way an arcane, divine, or duidic focus is not a magic item. They're nonmagical tools that casters can channel magic through to produce desired effects. It's similar to how a dragon's breath weapon isn't magical, because it doesn't say it's magical.
Of course, we are in agreement that the DM has the final say.
Really the whole point of the fork is kind of metagame. It only exists if the DM wants it to, so the party can’t just say, this week we decided we want to go to ge city of brass and force the DM to come up with something on the spot. The whole spell is really a plot device, and the tuning fork is just how to unlock it.
While it is up to the DM, here are a few ideas that might help to explain why the character has the material component...
A text on the plane in question, plus some weeks of downtime in study could allow the character to learn how to attune to the plane.
Having the spellbook of the character who created a demiplane might allow you to learn how to attune to their demiplane.
Having an object--often but not always the remains of a creature--from that plane might allow you to create an arcane connection.