Planar Travel And You (or, why friends don't let fiends use plane shift)

[Ebiris]

There are various interpretations of just what happens to outsiders when they die, depending on where they are. For clarity, I'll summarise here.

If an outsider is slain on their home plane, they are dead and gone, only able to return via powerful magic such as the True Resurrection spell.

When an outsider dies on a different plane, different things can happen depending on how you got to that plane.

If you arrived on the other plane by means of a Conjuration (Summoning) effect (such as a Summon Monster spell), death means very little. You respawn back on your home plane within 24 hours in the exact same condition you were before you were summoned, along with any belongings you had on you when you were summoned, regardless of what may have happened to them during your excursion. There are no penalties, changes in status, or ongoing conditions associated with this.

If you arrived on the other plane via a Conjuration (Calling) effect (such as a Planar Binding spell), then death carries some weight. You respawn back on your home plane within 24 hours with 1 hit point and no items. There are fairly good odds that you will be forced into a new form of outsider after this - often a weaker one as punishment for your failure in allowing yourself to die, but sometimes you will adopt a form more suited to dealing with whatever killed you. It depends on your home plane - devils without fail are demoted to lemures or nupperibos at least for a little while, while celestials often suffer no demotions, and may even be promoted for sacrificing themselves in a suitably impressive manner. More relevant to you, the chaotic demons of the Abyss are truly random and unpredictable in just what changes can occur. Regardless of whether form changes or not, however, the respawned outsider suffers no additional penalties.

If you arrived on the other plane through a Conjuration (Teleportation) effect (such as a planar portal or a Gate spell), then all the ramifications described in the Conjuration (Calling) effect apply, with the additional penalty that you cannot under any circumstances return to the plane on which you died for a period of 99 years.

This is why Malcanthet had her cultists perform a ritual to summon you instead of just using her immense power to plane shift you over, boys and girls.