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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wofano Wotanto" data-source="post: 9683392" data-attributes="member: 7044704">That's one possible use.  Surrounds 1 human-sized target (who get a save if they're resisting) plus 1 per 3 caster levels in spongy magical wood, which puts them in suspended animation till the spell ends, makes them immune from harm (with protection good enough to survive atmospheric entry) and lasts indefinitely until the cocoon enters a new atmosphere envelope of fresh air and stays there for at least 30 minutes, after which it dissolves and the occupant is good to go.  The spell description specifically mentions its utility for imprisoning foes that you don't want to kill, as well as for getting rid of unwanted passengers without technically harming them. You can cast the spell inside a volume of fresh air, but if you don't chuck it overboard (tricky on a planet, obviously) after 30 minutes it dissolves as normal.  Still plenty of time to win a fight or run away, and if you happen to have a handy room (or mineshaft) full of poisoned air you could store your cocoons there indefinitely - so of some use planetside as well as for abandoning ship.  Similarly, a ship that's succumbing to poisoned air might be home to many softwood cocoons if the crew decided to stay aboard and together awaiting rescue rather than taking their chances going overboard.  Seeing a cocoon aboard a ship is a sure sign there's something wrong with the air, anyway.One major complication with using softwood cocoons as drop pods is that there's no guarantee they'll come down anywhere near one another, or even someplace habitable.  Many worlds are mostly covered in seas, not temperate land.  Others are covered in much worse things.  Unless you've got access to some serious magic this a great way to split the party (possibly for years) and kill some of them at the same time.  Maybe you can find a way to tether a cluster of cocoons (sovereign glue springs to mind) but whatever you use needs to be able to survive the re-entry heat.  Even as a cluster, unless someone's really good at calculating what passes for orbital mechanics in D&D your landing point is still up to random chance.Also note that having a random softwood cocoon (or several of them, perhaps tethered) fall onto your ship is a random encounter that narrative tropes almost demand to have happen now and then.  Assuming you notice them right away you've got half an hour to think about whether to let it/them hatch, throw it/them back overboard, or rig a towline and drag it/them along with you just beyond your atmosphere envelope.The spell description doesn't mention if you can "trade up" several potential human-sized cocoons to fit larger creatures, so depending on your GM maybe playing that giff wasn't such a good idea after all.  Of course, being strict would also eliminate the amusing possibility of finding a really massive softwood cocoon and playing guessing games on what's inside it.On-topic, I'd need a lot more info about the in-game events of this mutiny as well as the table's lines and veils and expectations to have an opinion on things here.  It's easy to point out that historically mutiny (successful or not) led to some serious brutality toward the losing side, but this is a fantasy game, not the grim reality from which none of us may find surcease.</blockquote>

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