Odal's Feign Life

[dagecko]

Hey all, another spell here from my lich-wizard character. This one I created to enable him to interact a bit with normal mortals, as even suppressing one's fear aura seems somehow to not be enough to prevent the knowledge of one's lichdom (I suppose the withered husk of a body may be a dead giveaway :P )

Odal's Feign Life
Necromancy
Level: Sor/Wiz: 3, Cleric 3
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 1 Minute
Range: Touch
Target: One Corporeal Undead Creature Touched
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes

Through a short ritual, the caster of this spell causes one undead creature to gain some semblance of life. Undead which are quite obviously corpses such as liches, skeletons, zombies, and mummies gain a pallid flesh, dull eyes, and a slight warmth to the skin, making them appear to be recently deceased or quite ill. Undead which already appear to be in this state (vampires being the obvious example), become indistinguishable from the living, although Feign Life will not hide the fangs or claws of such a creature.
Material Components: A pinch of grave dirt to be burned in a large white candle.
Note: Feign Life does not affect incorporeal undead, nor does it cause obviously inhumanoid undead to appear as humanoids, it merely gives the creatures a semblance of life.

[Renloth]

A Nitpick. Your target line states that it affects In- (or Non) corporeal undead, but the note states that it does not affect in-corporeal undead.

I assume you intended the target line to read: "One Corporeal Undead Creature Touched" at least I think.

[dagecko]

oh yeah... heh heh whoops

[Picasso007]

You might also want to add a line about who the recipient looks like, IE "The recipient appears as though he did while still alive." or something, so that someone doesn't try and use it like a <i>disguise self</i> spell.

[Democratus]

I like it. Especially the part where a vampire can use it to pass as living.

Well done!

[Darkie]

That's odd, this spell is more than passingly familiar. I'd swear I've seen it somewhere else, before... "Feign Life", especially...

[SpiderBrigade]

Hmm, I think this spell needs either a big buff, or needs to be dropped a level or two. Take a look at Alter Self, which is one level lower. Of course by the RaW a lich can't use this to seem like a man (Undead type vs humanoid type) but the spell has a lot of flexibility which yours lacks. It also lasts a heck of a lot longer. There's also Disguise Self, which is only visual, but could definitely hide your frightful undead visage in most circumstances (and is level 1).

I'd suggest starting out by extending the duration to 10 min/level. At that point you can think about either adding features, or dropping the level. One possibility might be that "Feign Life" keeps you from showing up on Detect Undead, as per Nondetection. Of course you'd still be vulnerable to turning and etc. I think the extreme specificity of what the spell does makes combining these two features balanced for a third-level spell.

Edit: @ Jeff: are you thinking perhaps of the old "feign death" spell? I guess this would be it's evil cousin...

[Darkie]

In fact, I'm quite certain I've seen this spell before. Part of the spell description was about letting undead minions spy in towns without giving them away...

[Democratus]

In fact, I'm quite certain I've seen this spell before. Part of the spell description was about letting undead minions spy in towns without giving them away...

For some reason, this gives me the image of zombies wandering all over a town: buying groceries, trimming hedges, window shopping...all the while mumbling "braiiins" to themselves. And everyone else in the town doesn't notice that they are zombies. :)

[SpiderBrigade]

Hmm, there is in fact a "disguise undead" spell in Magic of Faerun.

[dagecko]

as to the level of it, I put it to three because in my character's case it is invaluable. The dm of the campaign is fairly easygoing, but I didn't want to feel too cheap. Perhaps I'll bring up the additional implements mentioned to him, as they wouldn't terribly affect me. Oh, and the duration is actually an hour/level, not a minute.

As to the magic of faerun, I proclaim innocence from plaigarism, as I've never seen that particular book.

[Nerd-o-rama]

For some reason, this gives me the image of zombies wandering all over a town: buying groceries, trimming hedges, window shopping...all the while mumbling "braiiins" to themselves. And everyone else in the town doesn't notice that they are zombies. :)

"And then I thought, 'where would people not notice a town full of robots zombies? Of course! New Jersey.'"

Yes, I referenced something other than an obscure science fiction show, try not to faint.