Trap the Soul and other interesting thoughts.

[Nibbens]

So, I was coming up with ways to be insidiously crafty with my players and I happened upon this gem (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/spells/trapTheSoul.html) (no pun intended).

Long story short, the portion of the spell I'm interested in is thus:

Trap the soul forces a creature's life force (and its material body) into a gem. The gem holds the trapped entity indefinitely or until the gem is broken and the life force is released, which allows the material body to reform. If the trapped creature is a powerful creature from another plane, it can be required to perform a service immediately upon being freed. Otherwise, the creature can go free once the gem imprisoning it is broken.

***emphasis mine for clarity***

It specifically states two things I'm unclear about.
1) "Powerful creature" - how powerful are we talking here, 2 CR above the PCs APL? 5CR? or does the creature have to hit some benchmark (must be at least CR10, Cr15 or 20? etc etc."

2) "From another plane" - what if the creature being trapped has that Planar Acclimation ability that always allows it to be considered on its home plane? Would that negate the whole effect of the spell? I assume it would, but just double checking. lol.

Finally, my real concern is this - is there any rulings within this spell to stop a high level demon from hell (while in hell) attempt to cast TtS on a high level PC to force some service out of him? Or am I reading this all wrong?

[Segev]

Because of the terms which have no mechanical definition - e.g. "high level" or "powerful" - it falls into "GM call" territory. Which means it works off of colloquial and natural language meanings. So it probably means "outsiders and elementals and genies and such" which are, from the GM's perspective, "powerful."

By the RAW, the "from another plane" rule could mean anything which, on the plane it's one when released, has the [extraplanar] subtype.

But that still doesn't answer what, precisely, is "high level" or "powerful."

[icefractal]

Personally speaking, I'd just drop the "powerful" requirement - if the PCs want to use an 8th level spell to make an Imp work for them, then sure, why not. For "from another plane", I'd go with "has [Extraplanar]".

However, that still leaves the bigger problem - what does "required to perform a service" mean, exactly? Is this "something you could have negotiated via Planar Binding" or is it "literally anything, including betraying all your allies and then jumping into a Sphere of Annihilation"? And what's the enforcement mechanism? Mind control?

I guess I'd go with "works just like Geas". It's pretty nasty, but at the point someone's soul is trapped they're pretty screwed anyway.

[Segev]

However, that still leaves the bigger problem - what does "required to perform a service" mean, exactly? Is this "something you could have negotiated via Planar Binding" or is it "literally anything, including betraying all your allies and then jumping into a Sphere of Annihilation"? And what's the enforcement mechanism? Mind control?

I guess I'd go with "works just like Geas". It's pretty nasty, but at the point someone's soul is trapped they're pretty screwed anyway.

I agree, using what geas can force somebody to do as a guideline is probably the best move.

[GreyBlack]

So, I was coming up with ways to be insidiously crafty with my players and I happened upon this gem (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/spells/trapTheSoul.html) (no pun intended).

Long story short, the portion of the spell I'm interested in is thus:

Trap the soul forces a creature's life force (and its material body) into a gem. The gem holds the trapped entity indefinitely or until the gem is broken and the life force is released, which allows the material body to reform. If the trapped creature is a powerful creature from another plane, it can be required to perform a service immediately upon being freed. Otherwise, the creature can go free once the gem imprisoning it is broken.

***emphasis mine for clarity***

It specifically states two things I'm unclear about.
1) "Powerful creature" - how powerful are we talking here, 2 CR above the PCs APL? 5CR? or does the creature have to hit some benchmark (must be at least CR10, Cr15 or 20? etc etc."

2) "From another plane" - what if the creature being trapped has that Planar Acclimation ability that always allows it to be considered on its home plane? Would that negate the whole effect of the spell? I assume it would, but just double checking. lol.

Finally, my real concern is this - is there any rulings within this spell to stop a high level demon from hell (while in hell) attempt to cast TtS on a high level PC to force some service out of him? Or am I reading this all wrong?

The only part I'm really interested in answering is your last portion, and your real concern. Yes, this is possible, and yes, it happened. To me. The DM put me against a balor at high levels and put me in a gem. The only way out was to pledge fealty to the demon and help him construct a portal for the legions of the Abyss to pour through and assault the Material Plane. I can safely say that's the only time I lost at DnD.

Edit to add: And, really, the enforcement mechanism is only a guideline given to DM interpretation. For my DM, it involved a role playing encounter where we debated and threatened and cajoled each other until the demon made his ultimatum: either help in the construction or have my soul used to power it. I chose the latter, reasoning that I could subvert and destroy when the deed was done.

And don't give me that look! I was playing a fighter!