A boatload of questions about Lesser Planar Binding

[Stalker0]

Alright, I got to use lesser planar binding for the first time last night. It went alright, but it brought up a lot of questions about the spell I want to clear up.

1) Can you cast spells or attack the creature through the trap? Does mindcontrol work through the trap (magic circle after all)

2) How specific does the contract need to be. Can I ask it to guard me and my party until we are able to get through a particular dungeon?

3) Does the creature take orders from me while in service, or is it as long as it completes its task it can do whatever. Example, I summon an imp to escort me through a dangerous stretch of land. Can I also order it, not to harm certain people, or can it basically go on a killing spree as it likes?

4) If I can not get the creature to agreed to my demands, can I just send it back (using the same mechanic as when it completes its task) or must I send it back through other means.

5) The calling diagram allows me to maintain the magic circl and dimensional anchor for a day/level. Can I renew those spells while the creature is trappeD?

6) Once the creature has agreed, how is it bound to its agreement? Do I chalk it up to "its magic" and it simply cannot disobey, or should I use some kind of geas mechanic?

 

[Lord Pendragon]

1) Can you cast spells or attack the creature through the trap? Does mindcontrol work through the trap (magic circle after all)

Yes and yes. When you are the subject of a Magic Circle Against Evil, it doesn't prevent you from using such spells through the Circle, so there's no reason why it should here.

2) How specific does the contract need to be. Can I ask it to guard me and my party until we are able to get through a particular dungeon?

As specific as you like. The more difficult or unpleasant the task for the creature, the greater its bonus to resist making the deal. You could certainly ask it to guard you through a particular dungeon. The spell would then have a duration of 1 day/level (as with the "guarding a specific location" use,) but the fee it would ask for would be commensurately larger than, say, asking it to help out in a single battle. Also, it'd get an immediate chance to break free (just as with the "guarding a specific location" use.)

3) Does the creature take orders from me while in service, or is it as long as it completes its task it can do whatever. Example, I summon an imp to escort me through a dangerous stretch of land. Can I also order it, not to harm certain people, or can it basically go on a killing spree as it likes?

You can give it orders, so long as giving it orders is part of the original contract. Of course, commanding the creature in such a way drives up the price of the bargain.

4) If I can not get the creature to agreed to my demands, can I just send it back (using the same mechanic as when it completes its task) or must I send it back through other means.

Yes, you can dismiss it back to where it came from without making a deal, so long as you are still in control of it (that is, so long as it hasn't already broken free from the spell altogether.)

5) The calling diagram allows me to maintain the magic circl and dimensional anchor for a day/level. Can I renew those spells while the creature is trappeD?

No. It's not a matter of just recasting the spells. The diagram would need to be re-drawn for the 1day/level effect to once again take place. You could cast Magic Circle and Dimensional Anchor again, but the'd have their normal durations.

6) Once the creature has agreed, how is it bound to its agreement? Do I chalk it up to "its magic" and it simply cannot disobey, or should I use some kind of geas mechanic?

The Lesser Planer Ally spell itself is the mechanic involved. It gets a save when the agreement is first offered, with a circumstance penalty depending on how advantageous it is to accept. After it fails that save, it's bound by the agreement until it's fulfilled.

 

[mo]

You might find this thread useful. A very intelligent discussion of the binding spells over in the house rules forum.

 

[Tzarevitch]

Alright, I got to use lesser planar binding for the first time last night. It went alright, but it brought up a lot of questions about the spell I want to clear up.

1) Can you cast spells or attack the creature through the trap? Does mindcontrol work through the trap (magic circle after all)

2) How specific does the contract need to be. Can I ask it to guard me and my party until we are able to get through a particular dungeon?

3) Does the creature take orders from me while in service, or is it as long as it completes its task it can do whatever. Example, I summon an imp to escort me through a dangerous stretch of land. Can I also order it, not to harm certain people, or can it basically go on a killing spree as it likes?

4) If I can not get the creature to agreed to my demands, can I just send it back (using the same mechanic as when it completes its task) or must I send it back through other means.

5) The calling diagram allows me to maintain the magic circl and dimensional anchor for a day/level. Can I renew those spells while the creature is trappeD?

6) Once the creature has agreed, how is it bound to its agreement? Do I chalk it up to "its magic" and it simply cannot disobey, or should I use some kind of geas mechanic?

1) The trap is a binding circle it is not a circle of protection. Circles of protection hedge things out. If you called something into a circle of proteciton you are forcing it against the creature you called and you break the circle.

Traditionally, binding circles prevent what it inside from coming out, anything from the outside that breaks the plane and interrupts the barrier freeing the creature contained within.

2) The contract can be as specific or general as you choose. The looser your wording, the more latitude you give to the creature to carry out it's end of the agreement. Note that there is no such thing as an air-tight agreement. (See answer #3)

3) No. It is only really required to comply with the letter of what you requested and no more. It is not obliged to follow your orders, only carry out the terms of the deal. If you order a creature to kill someone it can happliy wipe out an entire town of bystanders in the process as long as it kills the person it was contracted to.

4)I think it leaves after it carries out the terms. I don't remember anything clear about how it gets back though. I think the magic of the binding proces sends it back where it came from but it is possible that it has to leave under its own power.

5) I'd say you have to redo the entire process from the start, you can't just renew the effect to gain the benefits of the process. You have to redo the whole process as specified from the beginning to get its benefit. I see no reason why you can't call it back into the same binding circle but that would breach the first circle so you'd better hope it works.

6) I believe the magic of the binding ritual forces it to carry out the terms of the agreement. There is nothing for it to "disobey". You aren't issuing commands to it. You have a deal and it is obliged by the ritual to follow it. It is not obliged to obey you unless that is what was agreed to.

Basically, the binding ritual is a contract. The sorcerer captures the outsider then offers it freedom in return for a service. Once the oral contract is agreed upon, the creature is freed satisfying the summoner's part of the deal, the binding magic then requires the creature to carry out its part.

Tzarevitch