The Share Memories Spell .... how would you creatively use it?

[Miss Disaster]

I was looking at the 2nd level Share Memories (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/share-memory) spell from the Ultimate Magic book.

It's a rather nifty Divination spell for storyline and fluff reasons. But I'm trying to figure out how to best use it as a Sorceror, Wizard, Bard or Witch. You know ... game-mechanics-wise. How viable/legal do you think these benefits might be?


1. Using it on a target to acquire improved knowledge (up to "Very Familiar", possibly) of a given location [known by the target] for use in combo with the Teleport spell. Automatically giving you a chance for a 76% to 97% chance of success to arrive On-Target ... even for a place you've never seen before.

2. Using it on a target to gain stronger familiarity with a creature you are about to scry (that they have either met or that they know). This should improve a Scrying spell DC status (for a given creature you'll be scrying) from a "None" or "Secondhand" status to a "Firsthand" or "Familiar" status. That's anywhere from a +5 to a +15 save DC bonus.

***

Anything else?

[Jack_Simth]

You only get to see one minute's worth of memories - might qualify you for "viewed once", but beyond that? Not so much. Better for passing messages, I think, as there's no ready way for an outsider to tell what is passed. Likewise, useful for interrogating someone you can just look at the memory. Also useful for convincing someone of an event, of course... if they can recognize the spell to know it ONLY passes memories, not imaginings.

[Red Fel]

Repeated treatments of that spell, coupled with some trauma and generic brainwashing, can create a sort of Jason Bourne situation, where you convince a guy that he's someone else and set him loose.

Alternatively, it's a great way to communicate something urgent with someone with whom you don't share a language, or to disrupt a guy's concentration or otherwise dispirit or demoralize an enemy. For example, you're fighting the deceived lieutenant of the BBEG, who doesn't realize just how bad his boss is. Sneak in close, slap him with the spell, and let him witness the BBEG executing innocents. That will probably make him pause long enough to either (1) reconsider his employment options, or (2) receive a free knife to the kidney.

[Miss Disaster]

Thanks Jack & Red. Interesting responses. It's certainly has a lot of nuanced DM Judgement possibilities built into it. And it probably has a lot of potential for serious social-interaction / court-intrigue / espionage campaigns.

Also, from an in-combat or long-distance-stealth perspective, you could cast it with the Reach Metamagic feat (+1 to +3 range variability) to basically seize a critical memory from an opponent and avoid the Range: Touch issue entirely.

It's also odd that this spell does not have the Mind-Affecting descriptor tag attached to it. That's quite an oversight. Because as it stands, you can currently cast this bad boy on an ooze. Lol.

[Red Fel]

It's also odd that this spell does not have the Mind-Affecting descriptor tag attached to it. That's quite an oversight. Because as it stands, you can currently cast this bad boy on an ooze. Lol.

Pity you can't trick someone into casting it on an ooze, then. Because I can only imagine that every thought of an ooze concerns eating, which means that its only memories would be of doing that. And something tells me that reading an ooze's memories of its digestive functions would be mildly traumatic...

[Miss Disaster]

Indeed. The same goes for other Mind-Affecting immune creatures such as undead and constructs.

Another problematic issue with the spell is the descriptive text that says "view one of the target’s memories."

Now how in the hell do you go about searching, sorting or riffling through a target's memory like cards in a Rolodex? There's really no game mechanic for that. Unless the GM gives you a randomly-assigned memory ... or a memory that sorta fits the criteria of what the caster is kinda looking for.

[Jack_Simth]

Now how in the hell do you go about searching, sorting or riffling through a target's memory like cards in a Rolodex? There's really no game mechanic for that. Unless the GM gives you a randomly-assigned memory ... or a memory that sorta fits the criteria of what the caster is kinda looking for.
Well, it'll be fairly rare for a caster to not have an intended memory. The spell will usually come after a question isn't answered (or to verify after it is), so it's usually going to be reasonable for the subject of interest to be at the top of the target's mind.

[Alent]

I'd take Brew Potion, max out sleight of hand, and hire on somewhere as a bartender.

"You think you've had a bad day? Dude, I know someone who's had a worse minute than you've had day. Here's your drink."

edit: This doesn't even have to be trolling. I can think of no more covert way to get your job details in the middle of a bar than having a drink that delivers them directly to you.

[Renen]

Go to nearby brothel, request a minute of the most lewd and perverse secure acts to be done in front of you.
Then show it to baddies in combat, your DM will likely count it as a number of debilitating effects, from sickened, to dazed.

[Arbane]

Go to nearby brothel, request a minute of the most lewd and perverse secure acts to be done in front of you.
Then show it to baddies in combat, your DM will likely count it as a number of debilitating effects, from sickened, to dazed.

Pfft. Give them memories of _childbirth_. The men will be traumatized, and the women will be laughing at the men.