If you were the DM and...

[Greenfield]

Premise 1: My character is about to get the Awaken Sand spell.
Premise 2: You're the DM.

Scenario 1: PC travels to Celestia (we have Plane Shift available) and Awakens some sand from the beach there, which is heavenly in nature, and has been awash in holy water since time began?

Question A) What, if any, would be the reaction from the local "Powers that Be"?
Question B) What difference would you have it make in the resultant creature?

Scenario 2: PC travels to the banks of the River Styx, or someplace similarly associated with death, and Awakens some of the sand from the banks.

Question A) What, if any, would be the reaction from the local "Powers that Be"?
Question B) What difference would you have it make in the resultant creature?

Scenario 3: PC travels to Hell and Awakens some of the sand from that place?

Question A) What, if any, would be the reaction from the local "Powers that Be"?
Question B) What difference would you have it make in the resultant creature?

Scenario 4: PC collects sand from several such sources and uses it to sculpt a form from wet sand, taking care about the placement of the sand, in terms of using Holy for the head and heart but Unholy for the limbs or extremeties, then Awakens the resultant form.

Question A) What difference would you have it make in the resultant creature?

Note that I'm not planning any such thing, I'm just inviting a bit of mental exercise.

 

[Halivar]

Cool scenario. As a DM, I'd have the creature be under the immediate thrall of the ruling power of the domain. The sand belongs in a very real and metaphysical sense. It was also have whatever templates are appropriate to the ruling deity.

 

[Greenfield]

Hmm. So a Celestial or Half Celestial Construct?

Or perhaps a Half Undead Construct?

Fiendish? Half Fiendish?

The Undead/Half Undead wouldn't be anything special. The others, however...

Not concerned with the power effects. Most of them don't mean anything to an Awakend Object, but to be in the thrall of either a deity or a fiend would imply some guidance, perhaps even communication. It would be more than simply an alignment issue.

Taking that to its logical conclusion, the admixture creation would end up being insane, being fought over on a foundational level by two diametrically opposed masters.

 

[Greenfield]

Okay, new tangent...

Premise 1) You're the DM.
Premise 2) The party Wizard has had a Fire spell, say Fireball, granted to them by the sun god (call it Pelor, Ra, Apollo, Helios, whoever), and the deity himself inscribed the spell in the book with holy fire.

What change, if any, would you make to the way that particular spell worked for that particular wizard?

Again, mental exercise only. The first hypothetical hasn't happened, and probably won't unless something extreme happens. This second hypothetical has already happened, and impact has already been decided.

 

[Sekhmet]

If I were to grant a Wizard a spell (any spell) by fluffing it as SUN GOD SCRIBES HOLY FIRE INTO YOUR SPELLBOOK, it would probably not be a level 3 spell. To the point, I'd probably give it a special allowance that it takes one less spell level to metamagic it.

I understand how broken that is.

 

[Greenfield]

If I were to grant a Wizard a spell (any spell) by fluffing it as SUN GOD SCRIBES HOLY FIRE INTO YOUR SPELLBOOK, it would probably not be a level 3 spell. To the point, I'd probably give it a special allowance that it takes one less spell level to metamagic it.

I understand how broken that is.

Okay.

The scenario as it played out was that the PCs had completed a service for the deity, and he offered his thanks. Specifically, he offered knowledge, since actual divine intervention was a problem.

The PC asked for that spell, since she didn't have it (and in fact couldn't cast it quite yet.) Since knowledge of a spell she was likely to acquire in the near future anyway fell into the category of "knowledge", it was granted.

Other PCs asked for clues about the long term quest. One asked for confirmation that he was fathered by Jupiter/Zeus. Apollo hesitated on that one, finally answering "It's complicated." The lack of a clear "no" has been keeping that PC running for a while now.

The effect has been that, when used against certain creatures, such as undead, it's taken on the "Half divine" property of Flame Strike.

But yeah, as divine favors go, one 3rd level spell added to a book is kind of weak.

 

[Greenfield]

Okay, new hypothetical:

Premise 1) You're the DM.
Premise 2) A player in your game tries one of these ploys in a relatively transparent attempt to get something extra, above and beyond anything actually justified by the spell or situation? (Yes, it's an invitation to add plot hooks, but it's also an attempted power grab.)

Question 1) How do you deal with that player?

 

[Crust]

It seems that the invitation to add a plot hook would be a means not an end. The true end is a power grab, and if it's transparent, a look from the DM should be all that's required to indicate the absurdity of the proposition.

Given the situation, if one of my players honestly tried to argue that a Styx sand construct would threaten amnesia, would gain an additional template, etc., I would open Sandstorm to page 111 and ask the player to show me the quote that indicates such capabilities. Aside from the RAW, I can't imagine any "power" caring about a region of sand awakening into a huge construct. A colossal construct might draw more attention, but given the size and dimensions of the planes, one casting of awaken sand seems insignificant. I can, however, imagine any number of monsters being disturbed by the spell.

 

[scott2978]

First, I would rule that awakened sand is awakened sand no matter where it came from. Without knowing the specifics of the spell (it might specify that only "normal" or nonmagical sand can be awakened or something) I'd rule that the awakened sand from the Celestial realms has the oersonality and mindset of a celestial, but that's it. Same for the other "planar sand".

Second, if it's a power grab for no good reason, the awakened sand (probably... again don't know the spell) doesn't have to stay friendly. If you intend to command the awakened sand to do something obviously harmful to itself, or against it's personality or alignment (assuming awakened sand has an alignment), it seems perfectly reasonable that it would turn on you or (if smart enough) seek to deceive you.

 

[bloodtide]

In my Game, the Outer Planes are not real physical places. Things on an outer plane look like trees, water or sand, but they are not. Every bit of an outer plane is an idea that has taken on a physical-like form.

So,

1)Awakened Holy sand would be quite good and holy.
2)Awakened death sand would be quite deadly.
3)Awakened Evil sand would be quite evil.
4)You'd get a nice gestalt.

I'd make it even more fun as, for example, all the 'sand' from one location will have a similar thought/memory/idea. So you might go to the beach that had tons of 'charity' sand or 'murder' sand. And then the awakened sand would know mostly everything about the events around that thought/memory/idea. The gestalt will have lots of conflict.

In general, the 'Powers' won't care much...other then to laugh.
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I'd often use the 'god fire' plot to give a player an unique spell. It will have a nice, bonus effect or two and it will always fit perfectly with the gods ethos. Adding an alignment effect is some what of a given. The spell won't break level/game limits, but it will be interesting.

And as gods are known to do, the spell might not be 100% safe. It might have a cost to cast, or even better have a somewhat negative effect on everyone.
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Extras. In general, you can't get 'extra' from something like a spell, as spells are quite set on what they give. But otherwise, I do love giving a player enough rope to hang themselves. So I might even let them a bit of power, but at a huge cost.