Fun with Magic - Magic Jar and 20 life forces from 1-20 HD

[Thanee]

Ok, here's the deal...

You cast magic jar and now in your field of perception you find 20 different life forces, each with different hit dice, ranging from 1 to 20.

Can you precisely discern, which life force is which?

Ok, it's obvious, that you cannot say, that life force A has 1 HD (it could be 21 and the range from 21-40).

But can you make a series from A to T, numbering the life forces in the same way as they are from 1-20?

The basic, underlying question is... can you label a life force, like calling it life force A, and then always know that that life force is life force A, unless it leaves your field of perception, of course?

Because if you can do that, you can also do the above, by comparing the ones that you can differentiate in terms of strength, which will lead to only one possibility.

If you can... what happens, if a new life force enters your field of perception. Will you know, which is the new one, or do you have to start over?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Stalker0]

This is the main drawback of magic jar, while you can differenitate differences in power, you can't get specific.

Okay this guy is weaker than that guy, but you can't tell if its a new guy or the guy who walked by an hour ago.

 

[shilsen]

Your head explodes

Or more seriously, what Stalker0 said. I can't see anything in the spell description that indicates one can get specific enough to work out what you suggested.

 

[Thanee]

Ok, so when you have tried to assault one life force, but failed.

How do you know you have tried that one already?

Can you simply 'draw' that one again, when determining your next target?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Gizzard]

On the topic of "invalid targets": Would a target who had cast the relevant protective spell (such as "Protection from Evil") show up on the targetting radar or not? Or do you have a chance of selecting that body during random selection and *then* finding out you can't Jar it?

 

[shilsen]

Ok, so when you have tried to assault one life force, but failed.

How do you know you have tried that one already?

Can you simply 'draw' that one again, when determining your next target?

Bye
Thanee

I'd say there's no way to know you've tried to possess it before. If there were, you would never try to possess the same one again (since you would know that you'll fail automatically) and the clause about "if you attempt to possess its body again" would be a little irrelevant.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, that makes some sense, altho it really just states, that you cannot attempt it twice with any chance of success, basically.

Bye
Thanee

 

[shilsen]

On the topic of "invalid targets": Would a target who had cast the relevant protective spell (such as "Protection from Evil") show up on the targetting radar or not? Or do you have a chance of selecting that body during random selection and *then* finding out you can't Jar it?

Yes, it would show up. And yes you have a chance of selecting it. The attempt to possess is blocked by the protective spell, but nothing in the description of Magic Jar indicates that the protected recipient appears as an invalid target.

 

[Gizzard]

Yes, it would show up. And yes you have a chance of selecting it. The attempt to possess is blocked by the protective spell, but nothing in the description of Magic Jar indicates that the protected recipient appears as an invalid target.

What if the protective spell were "Non Detection"? (The warded creature or object becomes difficult to detect by divination spells such as clairaudience/clairvoyance, locate object, and detect spells.) Can Magic Jar detect things protected from scrying/divination? ;-)

 

[Thanee]

Last time I checked, magic jar was not a divination...

But don't forget, that you actually need line of effect, so it's something like a weird visual sense.

Bye
Thanee