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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."

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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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    \$\begingroup\$ I guess I'm even asking what "kinds" could they be? Are they talking big-small? What plane it's attached to? (Demiplanes attach, right?) Which two planes the demiplane spans? (Do they still do that?) \$\endgroup\$
    – nitsua60 ♦
    Dec 8, 2015 at 4:09
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    \$\begingroup\$ @nitsua60 My take-away is basically that they need you to be able to describe the demiplane in some fashion. As with many things in 5e, they really don’t give details and force the DM to make it up. Also demiplanes don’t span pairs of planes (you are likely thinking of the para-elemental and quasi-elemental planes found between the elemental planes, and between those and the planes of energy). Demiplanes were instead embedded in the Ethereal Plane (usually) or the Astral Plane (less commonly; notably a feature of psionic demiplanes in 3.5e at least). No idea if 5e changed these things, though. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Dec 8, 2015 at 4:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ I am curious whether the Demiplane spell produces a 30ft space that is dark (unlit). There is no mention of illumination level, nor of any ability to select one. Likewise, there is no mention of suffocation, so one might presume finite air is not a concern? In previous editions, were these environmental conditions selectable when casting? What are our best clues to the intent, of the 5e spell's effects, vis-a-vis the air & lighting inside? \$\endgroup\$
    – ProphetZarquon
    Jul 19, 2022 at 17:43
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    \$\begingroup\$ @ProphetZarquon Prior to 5e, the latest version is from the “v.3.5 revised edition,” where we have the genesis psionic power, available to 17th-level shaper psions. It’s very similar to the 3rd-edition genesis spell, available to 17th-level sorcerers, wizards, and creation-domain clerics, but it has a little more detail. Technically, the genesis power would replace the genesis spell under the v.3.5 revision rules, but most people just played with both. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Jul 19, 2022 at 17:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ @ProphetZarquon Yes, “the nature and contents” seem somewhat cognate to the “factors” of the 3.5e version, but I would hesitate to stretch that too far: demiplane is a rather different spell, since it doesn’t let you control the “nature and content” (beyond wood vs. stone, presumably) directly with the spell, and also offers return-trip functionality which genesis does not (returning to a demiplane created with genesis requires a separate plane shift or similar). So the comparison is a bit apples and oranges. As for druid’s grove, “constructed,” yes, but “building”? Less clear. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Jul 19, 2022 at 18:23

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