Quote Originally Posted by St Fan View Post
True, sepia snake sigil got nerfed a lot by the successive editions.
This was the version from Unearthed Arcana when that book was first released. I don't have the book, but as I recall, the spell could be written as a symbol, or could be cast directly on a creature.

I may be misremembering that it was SSS, but it was definitely some kind of time-stop effect that could be cast on a creature, and the creature could be seen within, albeit with some distortion. SSS is the only thing that I can think of that would fit. It was one of several spells from that source that -- used creatively -- were much too powerful for their supposed levels.