Personal to Touch spell?

[Pangolin]

Hi! I'm working on a bad guy, and I came across the spell Death Throes (CLd8 damage in 30 ft. radius at death)…which seems like a terrible spell to cast on yourself, but a really good one to cast on disposable minions. Is there a way to change a spell (via metamagic, etc.) from personal to touch range (maybe just for willing targets)? I know about the Spellguard of Silverymoon prestige class, but I think it would be quite a stretch to make that work for this application.

(Since I'm the DM, I know I can just make up a similar spell, but I wanted to see if I can do it without fiat. I don't intend to use this all the time, as I feel that would get annoying, but as part of a villainous plot. Given that, is there another spell or item that would accomplish this?)

[Janthkin]

Hmm. For your purposes, maybe just Magic Jar, possess the minion, cast the spell, then go back (or get the minion killed while you're possessing him)?

[ben-zayb]

Shalantha's Delicate Disk from Lost Empires of Faerun might, but while it can change how "Target: You" works, there's no mention of "Range: Personal" being affected. If the trick works by ignoring the personal range, you can toss, and thus break, the disk that contains Death Throes to your target.

EDIT: You may also use Shapechange or Polymorph (and similar spells) with Assume Supernatural Ability, and change into any of Fiend Folio's symbionts to get the "Share Spells" supernatural ability, which has this line: "Likewise, a symbiont can choose to have any spell or spell-like ability it uses on itself also affect the host creature, and may cast a spell with a target of “You” on its host instead of on itself."

[Saintheart]

Runes of Death Throes, using the Inscribe Rune feat from Forgotten Realms. Any divine spell currently prepared by the caster can instead be cast as a rune. No restrictions on personal/touch/range, etc. Whoever touches the rune becomes the target of the spell placed in it, by explicit RAW. No UMD required. Cost of a single-charge rune is 50 x spell level x caster level which would make it expensive, but it's a pretty simple way to do it. Make the rune, touch your minion with it, presto, personal range spell is now a touch range spell.

[Extra Anchovies]

Looks like it's time for my favorite piece of stinky cheese again.

Ocular Spell (Lords of Madness, p. 181) lets you store a spell in your eyes and release it as a ray sometime within the next 8 hours. It includes the restriction "Only ray spells and spells with a target other than personal can be cast as ocular spells." So, the allowed spells are:
1. Rays
2. Spells that do not have "Personal" as the target.

The thing is, there are zero spells with a target of personal. Lots of spells have a range of personal, but all of them have a target of "You". So any ray spell, or any spell with a target, is a valid choice for Ocular Spell. This includes Death Throes.

This is also the basis for my favorite anti-caster trick: Ocular Tenser's Transformation. It's a no-save, no-descriptor ranged-touch spell that removes the target's ability to cast spells for 1 round/level. Win initiative, land the spell, and it's game over for your enemy.

As an aside, it's kind of odd that the Wrath domain (Spell Compendium) gives Tenser's Transformation instead of the far, far superior Divine Power.

[ben-zayb]

2. Spells that do not have "Personal" as the target.Wow, I've never noticed that before! Definitely one of the purest RAW-humping abuse I've seen.:smallbiggrin:

[Saintheart]

As an aside, it's kind of odd that the Wrath domain (Spell Compendium) gives Tenser's Transformation instead of the far, far superior Divine Power.

No it's not. Wrath is about anger. Totally appropriate to have a spell called Tenser's Transformation :smallbiggrin:

[Monarch Dodora]

The Fatal Flame Spell, of Complete Scoundrel, achieves a similar thing: Sor/Wiz 2, close range, 1 min/level, and if the target dies in the timeslot they deal either 2x their HD or 2x your caster level to adjacent creatures. Considerably less spectacular, but cheap, and the target doesn't have to be willing, either.

[Gabrosin]

Key a greater Glyph Seal (MIC) with the spell and attach it to a container, then have your minion open the container in battle. The Glyph Seal costs 4k, but it's reusable if you can retrieve it. There appears to be no limit on how long it can hold the spell, so you can set up as many of them as you want in advance.

Bonus points if you put it on a vial of fast-acting poison.

[Chronos]

There's also the Ring of Spell Storing. Cast into the ring, make the minion put the ring on, make the minion cast it out of the ring. I'm not sure what level Death Throes is, though, and high-level RoSS get expensive.

[Pangolin]

Awesome! Lots of good solutions here. She's backed by a wealthy state, so money is pretty free-flowing; I'll just figure out which works best. Thank you!