A spell that transfers life: what level?

Remember that at level 7 Wizards get limited wish, which can do all this and more.

6th should be an absolute cap. IMHO, 5th is just fine, too.

-- N
 

log in or register to remove this ad

Keep in mind that that there's a save involved, and if you keep the material component, then this spell becomes much weaker than raise dead, and so is appropriate as a 5th level arcane spell.
 

You dont lose the metarial cost when the spell fails.. if you look at my suggestion
u have to have a helpless target, and a Ruby of a certain quality to store the soul..

If you fail, you'll still ahve the poor guy tied to a chair, and still the same Ruby waiting for its use. Btw Limited wish cant cast 2 spells can it?
Can it cast a Killing spell, + a Rerive spell i n1 cast? No, thats why it gotta be a level 7 spell (at least) especially since its for wizards (which normally dont have acces to life spells)
 

[Soul for Soul]
Wizard/Sorc level 5, [Evil, Death]
Necromancy
Components: V, S, M
Casting time: 1 Hour
Range: 15 ft.
Target: One dead creature and one creature with -1 or fewer hit points (see text)
Save: Fortitude negates
Description: With an elaborate, hour-long ritual that requires at least 5000 gp worth of rare incense and diamond dust as components, you can transfer the waning life-energy of a single living creature with -1 or fewer hit points into a corpse within range. The target creature must be present (within range) for the entire ritual, so it must be willing or somehow restrained. The target creature is allowed a Fortitude save at the end of the ritual to resist the spell. If it succeeds on the save, the spell fails and all material components are wasted. If the target creature fails the Fortitude save, the dead creature may be restored to life, as if a raise dead spell were cast upon it. All restrictions and limitations of the raise dead spell still apply.
Material components: Rare incense and diamond dust worth at least 5000 gp.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The -1 hp takes care of the Death Spell part -- the creature must be dying anyways, although you would likely have stabilized it to prevent it from dying during the ritual. The material components might be wasted (if the victim makes the save), so it is a bit worse than the clerical version of raise dead. The ritual takes one hour (incidently, exactly the duration between random encounter rolls) so if you perform it in a dungeon there is always the chance of disruption.

Just my two cents. Any and all comments welcome and sought for.
 

The Will save isn't a balancing factor -- an unconscious critter counts as "willing". (See the FAQ, under teleport).

The material component -- that's the balancing factor.

-- N
 

The body transfer variants are interesting, but not what Altamont Revanard is asking for. He's just asking for a level and whether it would be suited as an arcane raise dead.

That being said, I think AR should drop the provision for the victim making a save to negate the spell. As Nifft notes, if the victim is unconscious they are automatically willing. Since the victim is helpless, they can easily be made unconscious. So why bother allowing them a save?

People have been suggesting an xp or a gp requirement to balance it with Raise Dead. Another possibility is to say that the victim, in addition to being of the same race, has to have at least 1/2 the hit dice of whoever is being raised. This should be at least as hard to come by as 5000 gp.

I agree that it should be an [evil] spell, and it should count as a serious alignment infraction if a good character chooses to come back in this fashion. Which raises another interesting possibility; maybe a character has to succeed in a will save to avoid being the beneficiary of the spell? If they succeed in the save they are dead, but the victim's life force is still expended.

I'd say 6th level (for the will save or be raised, 1/2 hd victim variant), necromancy, evil, and available to arcane casters.
 



Thanks for the replies,

Just to be clear, my intent was to make a spell identical to raise dead, but that necessitates a sacrifice. No swapping of bodies involved.

AR
 

The killing aspect shouldn't be regarded as an effect of the spell. It should, IMO, be regarded as part of the spellcasting ritual (chant, wave arms, invoke Mystic Power or whatever, chant some more, wave hands, draw ceremonial dagger, CDG the squirming victim on the altar).

And your dead BBEG is restored to life!

Edit: With this flavor text in mind, I'd suggest making the saving throw be a Fort save (e.g. resisting the CDG).
 

Remove ads

Top