Remote casting

[Eaglejarl]

I'm trying to work out how to cast arbitrary spells from an arbitrary distance -- eg, Teleport in, drop something, Teleport out, rain down fire and BFC on enemy while standing 1000 miles away.

As I understand the rules on scrolls, they are activated simply by reading them. You don't have to be holding them, which means they can be placed somewhere remotely and then activated using a telescope or an appropriately placed Arcane Eye. Since the sensing range on AE is 'unlimited' you could teleport somewhere, drop off a bunch of scrolls, teleport away, and then read them through the AE.

Unfortunately, ranges are measured from the caster, so I don't think this actually works unless the scrolls are Explosive Runes, Sepia Snake Sigil or something like that.

A cabinet with a few dozen drawers (real life Chinese medicine chests are like this) could have a (Greater) Glyph of Warding with an appropriate spell in each drawer. If you left behind a chest and a homunculus it could open drawers to cast spells, but a Glyph can only store "harmful" spells -- what's the definition of "harmful"? So, it doesn't allow arbitrary spell use. Also, I don't like this approach as the Homunculus is a point of failure and it doesn't allow for remote control by the mage, only preprogrammed instructions.

Is there any way to work around this that will let me cast an arbitrary spellfrost far, far away?

[Eaglejarl]

Huh. Why did this end up buried three quarters of the way down the page the moment I posted it?

[HalfQuart]

I've seen a lot of questions like this over the years -- usually about Explosive Runes, but also about scrolls. They always seem to involve sort of cheesy interpretations of rules... but the real problem for me is it doesn't generally pass the criteria "If the DM used the same tactic against you, would you be pissed off?"

[Nettlekid]

It's not *quite* what you want, but it might do in a pinch. The spell Awaken From Afar (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/wn/20011205a) (look at the bottom) allows you to activate spell trigger items like wands and staves from a distance. With a Medium range, you have 100+10/CL feet from which to activate your items, which activate as though you were right there. So you could Teleport Object a few staves to about 200 feet away and start blasting with them, perhaps using Alaunghaer's Triptych (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/wn/20030226a) to activate more than one more quickly. You could use spells like Project Image to extend the range even further, by casting Project Image and then having that image be the one to use Awaken From Afar.

[NEO|Phyte]

It's psionics, not magic, but a suitably-advanced psicrystal can be used as the origin point of manifested powers at a distance of up to a mile (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/psion.htm#channelPower).

[Solophoenix]

There's always Ring Gates (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#ringGates).