Disjoin soul, Final version?

[Ferret]

[Edit: Updated below.

I created this spell a while back, and it went though some major changes untill it was coherrent. I've now made further changes. My main concerns is that it might be too powerful, or too complicated to use. It is 9th level which is allowed to do plenty of crazy things, but I don't know if I'm overstepping the line here.

Anyway, here is the spell:

Disjoin soul
Conjuration (Teleportation)
Level: Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, S, M
Casting time: Standard action
Range: Close (25ft. + 5ft. / 2 levels)
Effect: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (special see text)
Spell resistance: Yes

On a failed will save the spell disjoins the soul by separating it from the body and flinging it into the plane of shadows. For all intents and purposes, the body dies, becoming little more then a husk, whilst the soul itself is trapped on a random, hostile part of the Plane of Shadow. The plane of shadows has a negative effect on the soul, causing it’s essence to drain away.

For the duration of the spell the target is unable to act and due to the lack of physical body they cannot be harmed, healed or affected in any other bodily sense, any persistent damaging affects removed. They do however take one point of constitution damage for being in the Plane of Shadow and one more for every round that they spend there. This effect takes place immediately even though they lack a body. If the subjects Con is reduced to 0 by this spell they die and can only be raised by a resurrection spell, in which case they lose 2 levels, or if this would reduce them below 1 level they lose 2 points of Constitution. Otherwise they must make a Fort save after every five rounds to return to the prime material plane, once there the character has a 30% chance to rejoin with the body, and even so the creature permanently loses the lost point to constitution. Every fail Fortitude save, the DC for the next check is raised by 5, and the probability is lowered by 10.

A successful dispel targeted at the victims last known space, ends the spell realising the characters soul, they have a 5% to return to the body, even if they fail they may be brought back by any life returning spell (Raise dead, Reincarnation etc) which also forces them to lose additional levels and Con points.

A Limited wish is able to rejoin the body to the soul but not return it to life. A Full Wish spell rejoins the body to the soul as well as returning the creature to life. A Disjunction spell cast in the area wipes the soul from existence, meaning the creature may only be recreated by the act of a God.

Creatures without souls are not affected. Incorporeal creatures are still affected even though they do not have a corporeal body they still have a dual nature, a ‘body’ and a soul.

Material Component: Obsidian dust clenched in the casters fist, worth at least 7,000gp


Changes: 'Added' the will save at the start, clarified some words (lose instead of loose), changed the chances they get to return to the body (Now it's every five rounds with a chance (probability) to return alive)

 

[dedicated]

that would be a low epic level spell, and ? what's the special will save?

 

[Ferret]

Doh, I intended to have the round by round saves be wills but decided against it.

I thought it could be a bit too powerful, I don't know, they have lots of saves they can make.

I didn't think it would be that powerful, at least not epic level, how can I tone it down?.

 

[dedicated]

Well, have an initial will save, cause right now it automatically does at least one point of Con damage no save.

But if you have an initial will save you can drop the round by round and just apply the ressurection modifiers

 

[Ferret]

I had meant to have a will save at the start....how odd.

Do you mean the round by round saves? Hmm, I don't wan't it to be a save or die. Although I could extend it to one save every five rounds. Would it be ok to make it one save to rejoin with the body (and become alive), one save to return (be able to be raised) but not rejoin with the body, or two saves to return to the body and become alive. Perhaps a fort and proabability to return?

 

[Ferret]

I have made these changes: 'Added' the will save at the start to give a better chance to resist.

Re-giggled some words to make it make more sense (loose to lose etc)

Altered the mechanic for round by round saves (Now it's every five rounds with a chance (d%) to return to life)

 

[Cheiromancer]

The mechanics of this are kind of weird, and not in a nice way. If you don't have a body, it shouldn't be possible for you to lose Con. Maybe Wisdom instead? You also should not have to make Fortitude saves if you didn't have a body; Will saves would be better. Alternatively use the mechanic for escaping from a maze spell; a high DC intellgience check made every round. I would eliminate references to percentage chances in the spell description. An ability check would be preferable, or (better yet) make rejoining automatic. I also would not mess with the mechanics of Resurrection and True Resurrection. If you do, it had better be an epic spell. It's bad enough that you have a save or die spell that is resisted by a will save and bypasses death ward. Don't add too many other features.

The flavor of the spell would be that the soul of the target is sent through a fracture in reality to a realm of madness and horror. The soul has a chance to find its way back (it still has a faint link to its body), but the way is extremely perilous. Furthermore the tenuous connection between soul and body could break at any moment, resulting in the character's death.

If I had to make a concrete recommendation about the mechanics of the spell, I'd say a failed will save transports the character's soul to a hostile dimension where he suffers 1d6 points of wisdom and charisma drain every round. Each round (after taking ability drain) a DC 20 Intelligence check can be attempted to get back. If any stats drop to 0 the soul is trapped on the far side, and a wish or miracle is needed to recover it. Until then, resurrection spells won't work.

When the character's soul departs the body must make a DC 15 fortitude save or die on the spot. Even if it succeeds the body suffers a massive heart attack and drops to -8 hit points. Magical healing will stabilize the body, but can't raise its hit points above -8 until the soul returns. The DC 15 fortitude save is repeated each round until the soul returns or the body dies. (These mechanics are mostly lifted from elsewhere; I think the -8 hit points is from the stop heart spell in the BoVD. The DC 15 fortitude save is the same as the save vs massive damage, and should work for a traumatic effect like this one.)

This is more or less a save or die spell, and is one that has a good chance to require a wish before a resurrection can even be attempted. Fighters or sorcerers could be in real trouble if they fail the save.

 

[Ferret]

Your right. The Constitution damage and the fortitude saves don't make alot of sense. In hindsight I want the Con damage to representthe strain on the connection.

I think I will definatly follow your advice it makes alot of sense for wht I want the spell to do, flavourwise.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Oh, and obsidian is, I think, just volcanic glass. 7,000 gp worth of the stuff would probably weigh several hundred pounds. If you keep the expensive material component, you had best change the material to something more intrinsically valuable.

I would recommend that you have a final version of the mechanics before you decide on the exact value of the material components. If the mechanics turn out to make the spell an average 9th level spell, you don't need much; a pound of powdered obsidian worth 50 gp would be fine. If the spell turns out a little on the strong side, a 5000 gp gem might be just enough to balance it. I don't know if this is your reason, but you shouldn't give it an expensive material component just so it remains an NPC spell; that wouldn't be fair to the players.

 

[Ferret]

Here we go, I am happy with this. I do not know if damaging the wisdom and requiring it to return the soul is a good idea..... Finger of death kills the target instantly though.... :\


Disjoin soul
Conjuration (Teleportation)
Level: Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, S, M
Casting time: Standard action
Range: Close (25ft. + 5ft. / 2 levels)
Effect: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (special see text)
Spell resistance: Yes

The cast of this spell disjoins the targets soul, separating it from the body and casting it into the negative energy plane. On a failed save the body is killed by the strain, otherwise it still suffers from the trauma and is reduced to -8 hit points. The soul must find its own way back to the body by making a wisdom check against a DC of 20 every round until they succeed, as the path back is based more on intuition then direction. However after every round the soul looses part of itself, represented in 1d6 points of charisma drain, and 1d6 points of wisdom damage due to the hostile environments warping ability. If either stat is reduced to 0 the souls is trapped on the other side and requires a Wish or Miracle to return the body.

A successful dispel targeted at the victims last known space, ends the spell realising the characters soul, if they make a successful fortitude save they return to the body, due to the unusual method of the souls release only a true resurrection can return the character to life.

A Limited wish is able to rejoin the body to the soul but not return it to life, however due to the spells power any of the resurrection spells can return the character to life. A Full Wish spell (or miracle) rejoins the body to the soul as well as returning the creature to life. A Disjunction spell cast in the area wipes the soul from existence, meaning the creature may only be recreated by the act of a God.

Creatures without souls are not affected. Incorporeal creatures are still affected even though they do not have a corporeal body they still have a dual nature, a ‘body’ and a soul.

Material Component: Obsidian dust clenched in the casters fist, worth at least 7,000gp

What do you guys think? And thanks for the feedback so far.