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OdinsGirl
2016-01-12, 12:47 PM
I was wondering if I could get some help with a spell I am creating for my 3.5e game.

The basic description is as follows:
It must be Demonic in origin. It needs to be a short chant that siphons the victim's energy from the victim (who must be evil, demonic, or outsider, Tanar'ri type).

It works under the premise that a soul is a type of currency or power battery that can be used by the owner on the Planes of the Abyss. This soul can be drained, imprisoned, empowered, or destroyed, so long as it not native to the Material Plane. This is designed to increase the power of a Demon Lord by providing him or her with additional souls.

A portion of the soul’s power transfers to another demon (Extraplanar, outsider, evil, Obyrith ) or demon lord and the soul of the victim is returned to the Abyss.

It has these requirements:
Easy to use.*
* a chant
* requires use of a glyph or sigil
* can only be cast on the Material Plane
* caster can be of any alignment

This is my rough draft:

Spell Name ?

Abjuration?, Necromancy?

Level: Clr (? ), Sor/ Wiz (? )
Components: V, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25ft+ 5ft./2 lvls)
Target: one creature (evil, demonic, outsider, Tanar'ri, Obyrith) subtype
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will; See text
Spell Resistance: ?

Saving throw: a Will ST failure means that the creature’s HD (1 HD+ 1HD per caster lvl) is transferred to the recipient and the soul is sent to their home layer of the Abyss. A Successful ST reduces this by half (minimum 1) from the creature and they are sent to Layer 1 of the Abyss.

If the creature’s “true name” is known and inscribed with the casting Glyph, the creature’s loses the entirely of it’s HD and the soul is transferred to the possession of the recipient.

My questions are as follows:

Are there any spells that I could use as a benchmark for the spell I am creating to determine level?

I looked at “trap the soul”, “Soulbind”, “Vampiric Touch”, and “Banishment”. Can anyone suggest others?

Would this count as an "evil" spell? If so, what changes can I make to make it "not Evil" in terms of alignment restrictions, to allow any alignment to cast this without consequences?

Debihuman
2016-01-13, 08:35 AM
I was wondering if I could get some help with a spell I am creating for my 3.5e game.

Reminds me of magic jar (with a touch of power word: kill ) but instead of putting the soul in a gem you'd be killing the evil outsider i.e. the target (since their souls and bodies are the same) and transferring the power (in the form of XP I'd imagine) to the recipient.

Are you sure you are looking for a spell and not an Incantation ( http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm).

You have too many clauses for this spell to make sense. Who is the target, who is the recipient of the XP and who is casting the spell? And why would a good character use a spell that transfers power to a demon lord? Just looking for some clarity.

Debby

OdinsGirl
2016-01-13, 10:06 AM
I had not thought about an incantations. That is not a bad idea.

I added the clauses in an attempt to lower spell level. My initial thoughts were that it would be too high to be useful to offer to my 12th lvl group without some limitations.

As to why a good ccharacter would cast it, its part of the plot. A long time ago a young explorer freed Pazuzu from a trap made by another demon lord. In return, Pazuzu gave the human wealth and power. He convinced the human that the rival demon lord was an imminent threat to the plane and taught him a "spell" to kill that demon's agents on the material plane. The human didn't know that the spell would send power to Pazuzu.

Debihuman
2016-01-13, 11:00 AM
How in the heck the did the human manage to stay Good after accepting power and wealth from Pazuzu?! That's the first problem. Which plane was in danger? Because it's not likely Pazuzu would protect just any plane (he's a freaking Demon Lord of the Abyss). You'd need a really good sob story to pull that off or was it that the human was coerced or threatened into taking the offer. I can't imagine any Good deity approving of Pazuzu using those tactics on a worthy and/or loyal supplicant nor can I figure out how any Good character would willingly accept such an offer -- as that means willingly consorting with a Demon Lord. How does anyone do that without needing an atonement spell at the very least?

Okay one way to limit this spell/incantation is to limit the target it can hit. For example, you could say that the target must be an Outsider with 13 or fewer HD. Also, since the power goes to Pazuzu, the party gets no XP for killing said target. That's sorta unfair to unleash on the PCs since they are usually vested in levelling up. Maybe half XP then. I assume this needs to be cast multiple times.

Debby

OdinsGirl
2016-01-13, 11:36 PM
I just lost my whole long post. Now I get to rewrite it. Fun times.

OdinsGirl
2016-01-13, 11:45 PM
How in the heck the did the human manage to stay Good after accepting power and wealth from Pazuzu?!
Short answer: He didn’t.
The ancient adventurer did not know he was dealing with a demon lord and there have been consequences to his entire bloodline down through the ages because of his choices.

Two things of importance here: Pazuzu hid his true nature from the adventurer, and the ancient adventurer was… not the sharpest crayon in the oven. He was really Charismatic, though. ;D
I chose Pazuzu because he is both Obryith and Tanar’ri and that dual distinction is part of the story arc. I chose him because he is a corruptor. It is his schtick to corrupt the best and brightest.


That's the first problem. Which plane was in danger? Because it's not likely Pazuzu would protect just any plane (he's a freaking Demon Lord of the Abyss).
He told the human that the material plane was in danger from a demon lord. It is the best kind of lie, because this is always true at any given point; he embellished it with a really good story (which was also conveniently the truth) that the demon lord in question (Abaddon) is trying to bring destruction to the Material Plane.


You'd need a really good sob story to pull that off or was it that the human was coerced or threatened into taking the offer.

Which was how Pazuzu sold this ancient adventurer the spell. It would slow the rival demon lord down if all of his material plane agents kept dying. “It would give the adventurer time to stop him…” etc.


I can't imagine any Good deity approving of Pazuzu using those tactics on a worthy and/or loyal supplicant...


Okay one way to limit this spell/incantation is to limit the target it can hit. For example, you could say that the target must be an Outsider with 13 or fewer HD. Also, since the power goes to Pazuzu, the party gets no XP for killing said target. That's sorta unfair to unleash on the PCs since they are usually vested in levelling up. Maybe half XP then. I assume this needs to be cast multiple times.

Debby

You have raised several good points here. I will think on this.
I like the use of XP as an empirical way to explain the results of the spell. and I think halving them is a good idea.

The more I think on it, the more I like the use of an Incantation. However, I have no experience with them as a gamer or DM.
Suggestions or stories about what happens when I release them into my “world”?
… cause you know I have a player that will run with them once I do. :smallwink: