Life Link ((New spell don't know what level it should be for))

[Brom]

Ok, the spell is as follows:

Life Link
Level: Sor/Wiz 6, Clr 6, Ass 3, BlckGrd 3
Descriptor: Evil, Necromancy
Components: Verbal, Somantic, Material, Focus
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Save: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: No
Duration: Permanant

The Caster uses evil necromancy to fuse his soul in a link with one or many other beings. This spell can only be applied to one subject at a time, with a Will Save to negate. However, the caster can have a Soul Link with multiple people, he must simply cast it on them one at a time.

If the subject fails it's will save, the soul of the creature becomes hopelessly bound to the fate of the casters. All damage the caster takes instead damages people Soul Linked to him. If there are multiple people Soul Linked, the caster applies the damage to the most recently linked subject. The number of links the caster can have is not limited in any fashion, and there is no way to destroy the links, unless one destroys the caster. Placing the Caster in anti-magic will interfere with the link and force the caster to take all the damage, but once out of the anti-magic the link remains strong.

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I wanted to use this for an evil character to give the players a morale qualm when about to murder a villain who would be a longtime part in the story. At first, he simply sends minions. Then, he tries to kill them, but help arrives for the PC's and he gets away. Then he engages in a fight with them and retreats. Finally, the PC's go after HIM, and just as they think they see victory on the edge of it, he reveals his secret Necromantic spell...Soul Link. Chained to the wall behind him in the lair the PC's have invaded is a boy. The Necromancer invites them to attack him, and when they do, the Necromancers wounds are healed, and appear in exact duplicate on the boy, who dies. The Necromancer has 20 such small children with 4 hit points linked, and a dozen adventuring typed characters with 20+ health. The PC's face a morale qualm -- do they wreak death on innocents, or do they try to subdue or talk to the maniacal necromancer?

[Umarth]

This would be an epic level spell.

Having it link to an unlimited number of people is what pushes it way way over the edge.

It's also not clear how the damage is distributed amongst the people injured. Is it all damage to one person until they die or is it spread out evenly amongst the Life Linked people?

[vegetalss4]

i have read about something similiar in a book.
here are some advise of how to balance it.
first make it only one life link per person.
second make a rule that the target must be willing (he can be tricked trough)
and lastly if you use it have the one who is dameged a child MUHAHAHAHA
oh and on the last note what is the focus? and thematerial component?

[keyboardboy101]

Good spell, but Umarth is right, it should either be 9th level or epic (unless you limit the number of connections to being 1/lvl or 1/2lvls, which is still slightly overpowered, but could be done for 9th/8th level).

Having the damage go to the most recent is a good idea, but what if there is more damage dealt than hitpoints of the poor soul?

Having the subject being willing to accept this burden? That could balance it and even bring it down to 7th level, but the problem there is whether or not to allow the person to be charmed when they agree to it or under the effects of some other spell. A lot of spells that require a willing subject require that subject to be free of any sort of magical influence.

[Roderick_BR]

I'd say, make it a 8th/9th level spell, and you can link to a total of hit dice equal to your caster level, meaning that a 15th level caster can link himself to 15 commoners, or one powerful 15th level enemy. Effects that increase caster level would apply normally for the maximum HD count.

This reminds me of the Astyanax game for the old 8-bit Nes, where the last henchmen (last battle before the BBeG) uses it on you after you deal the final blow, to make you die with him.

Spoiler

Show

To save the hero, his fairy companion (Navi has nothing on her) uses a minor spell linking her own life force with the wizard, replacing the link he had with the hero, sacrificing herself.