False Idol [Level 9 Spell] (PEACH)

[Lysander]

A spell for the power hungry wizard that wants to be a god but can't quite pull it off. What do you think?f

False Idol
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, S, M, F, XP
Casting Time: 24 Hours
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Permanent

The caster transforms into a god-like being, ideal for tricking mortals into believing the caster divine. An imitation of a rank 1 divine aura surrounds the caster, which is fully effective and controllable but can be spotted as fake by anyone passing a DC25 Knowledge Religion check (unless they are a devoted follower of the False Idol).

Divine spellcasters who truly believe in the False Idol's divinity can channel divine spells that they believe are granted by them. In fact the divine magician is merely channeling natural energy through the force of their belief. The false idol is able to select two domains that their clerics can access by designing the doctrine and holy symbols of the church.

The False Idol also gains the power to pluck prepared spells from the mind of divine magicians that worship them. A False Idol can automatically sense all of their loyal divine spellcasting minions within 100ft and which spells they have prepared. As a standard action they can take any of those divine spells they want and cast it themselves, with the normal casting time and costs. This spends their follower's spell and the spell is cast with their follower's caster level.

The False Idol spell allows the caster to amass followers as with Leadership even if they do not have the feat. Followers and Cohorts gained this way may become violently angry at the caster should the deception be revealed. At this point their faith is shaky enough that any strong proof plus a DC25 Diplomacy check can lay a seed of doubt. If the caster has the Leadership feat their followers are too loyal and brainwashed to ever disbelieve their divinity regardless of how much proof is provided, and a cohort remains loyal whether informed of the deception or not.

A False Idol's aura is not affected by an anti-magic field, but it can suppress their other abilities. The spell can dispelled or disjuncted.

Cost
Diamonds worth 1,000gp
5,000xp

Focus
A silver divine symbol of your invented religion, worth at least 25gp.

[Zovc]

I think you should either be able to convince people that you are a part of the pantheon, thus becoming immune to that character's Knowledge (Religion) checks.

How does this spell interact with you actually becoming a god? Can you use this do disguise a greater divine aura, or would you have two? Can you pretend to be a different god?

[Lapak]

Divine spellcasters who truly believe in the False Idol's divinity can channel divine spells that they believe are granted by them. In fact the divine magician is merely channeling natural energy through the force of their belief. The false idol is able to select two domains that their clerics can access by designing the doctrine and holy symbols of the church.

The False Idol also gains the power to pluck prepared spells from the mind of divine magicians that worship them. A False Idol can automatically sense all of their loyal divine spellcasting minions within 100ft and which spells they have prepared. As a standard action they can take any of those divine spells they want and cast it themselves, with the normal casting time and costs. This spends their follower's spell.This section would appear to unbalance the spell a bit. You've priced it similarly to Wish, which (among other things) lets you replicate any given divine spell of 6th level or lower once; this spell requires a bit more lead-up time but eventually can give a whole slew of clerical spells right on up through 9th level, and the lead-up time is balanced by the fact that this spell can be cast days or weeks or even years in advance of when you need those effects.

Some kind of cap, either on what the False Idol can steal or on what the followers can attain in the first place, would probably be a good idea. Not being able to grant spells above 4th level or something, for example, would be a gap in the 'divinity' of the caster that could be pointed out and exploited while also giving this spell much-needed limits. As it stands, it's pretty close to being Genuine Actual Idol rather than False Idol from the worshipper's perspective.

Also, the 100% loyalty guarantee for having Leadership seems a bit ironclad even for a 9th-level spell. Nothing EVER could convince them otherwise?

[Zovc]

Some kind of cap, either on what the False Idol can steal or on what the followers can attain in the first place, would probably be a good idea. Not being able to grant spells above 4th level or something, for example, would be a gap in the 'divinity' of the caster that could be pointed out and exploited while also giving this spell much-needed limits. As it stands, it's pretty close to being Genuine Actual Idol rather than False Idol from the worshipper's perspective.

I think you could probably (although the spell's wording would become a monstrous block of text) force the Wizard to choose two domains upon casting the spell, and have them make a list of spells their cleric can cast based on their own list of spells. That, or clerics of your false godhood can only cast cleric spells you know as Sor/Wiz spells.

[Lysander]

I think you should either be able to convince people that you are a part of the pantheon, thus becoming immune to that character's Knowledge (Religion) checks.

How does this spell interact with you actually becoming a god? Can you use this do disguise a greater divine aura, or would you have two? Can you pretend to be a different god?

You might be able to fake being someone else's god if they rolled low enough on their Sense Motive check to be fooled by your Disguise check, and don't roll high enough on Knowledge Religion to identify your aura as false. Plus you'd probably need to roll a good enough Knowledge Religion check to make a disguise. A fooled cleric would probably be informed by their ticked off god the next time they pray for spells.

This doesn't help you become a god, it just tricks a bunch of followers into worshipping you and giving you their divine spells.


This section would appear to unbalance the spell a bit. You've priced it similarly to Wish, which (among other things) lets you replicate any given divine spell of 6th level or lower once; this spell requires a bit more lead-up time but eventually can give a whole slew of clerical spells right on up through 9th level, and the lead-up time is balanced by the fact that this spell can be cast days or weeks or even years in advance of when you need those effects.

Some kind of cap, either on what the False Idol can steal or on what the followers can attain in the first place, would probably be a good idea. Not being able to grant spells above 4th level or something, for example, would be a gap in the 'divinity' of the caster that could be pointed out and exploited while also giving this spell much-needed limits. As it stands, it's pretty close to being Genuine Actual Idol rather than False Idol from the worshipper's perspective.

Also, the 100% loyalty guarantee for having Leadership seems a bit ironclad even for a 9th-level spell. Nothing EVER could convince them otherwise?

What keeps it balanced, I think, is that the cleric must be loyal to you and must be within 100ft. So all this lets you do is cast the spell yourself instead of just ordering one of your followers to do so. And it occupies your turn. As for your minions, you only get what the Leadership feat could provide. So most divine spellcasters that follow you will be 1st level Adepts. Sure you get your cleric cohort, and maybe a few low level cleric npcs, but you mostly get to steal 1st level adept spells that you just order them to cast themselves.

As for the 100% loyalty thing, don't underestimate a religious zealot. It's the equivalent of convincing someone completely opposed to teaching evolution that Darwin was right. Not impossible but darn close to it. That's only for followers fairly gained with the Leadership feat however, and those would normally be loyal to you anyway since they're more character ability than independent NPC.

[The Neoclassic]

Nitpick: The spell has an xp cost, so at the top, components should include XP.

Very cool concept though. It'd be interesting to see how this could be used in a high-level campaign.