New Feat: So Long As I Live

[Quip]

There are a number of fantasy stories, where a villain cast a curse or other spell that can only be removed in the event of the casters demise. There's currently no mechanic to allow this in D&D, so I thought would make one.

Let me know what you think.



So Long As I Live [General]

You may tie the effects of your spells to your life force, they can only be destroyed by your death.

Prereqs: Caster Level 15th

Effect: Any spell with a duration of "permanent" can be made to last as long as the casters life. The spell cannot be removed by any means for as long as the caster is alive. When the spell is successfully cast, the caster may spend an amount of XP equal to 1000 per spell level (or 500 for a cantrip). All dispel checks on the effect automatically fail, as does antimagic and disjunction. If at any time the caster is no longer alive, all spells effected in this manner are automatically dispelled.

Note: Undead creatures are unable to use this feat.

Note: Should the caster come back to life, the spell is not restored, if he wishes to renistate the spell effect it must be cast and XP sacrificed again.

Note: This feat can be combined with the permanency spell, all XP costs stack.

Note: Divinations such as Commune and Contact Other Plane are capable of exposing the identity of the caster of such a spell, and a Legend Lore or Vision spell automatically exposes the casters identiy.

 

[Dakkareth]

Maybe a dispelling attempt that would normall work should have negative effects on the caster? Like damage or con damage? Of course the damage would depend on the level of the permanent spell.

Also in this case the caster should be able to sever the tie to his life force, so that dispelling attempts work normally again. This of course is irreversible.

Another issue is balance ... spells that can't be dispelled and work even in an AMF give the caster a huge advantage and would negate the balancing disadvantage of permanent spells being dispellable.

 

[Technik4]

I had the exact same idea, check out this thread for what we ended up with (I think Seasong is using this spell in his game - I don't blame him after all the work he put into the spell list it has!).

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37667

Technik

 

[Technik4]

Additionally, this is the version Seasong is using:

[Seasong]
Lasting Spell:Spell level +2. Choose any spell with Duration: Permanent or Duration: Instantaneous that creates or transforms something permanently – that spell's effect now can not be negated or suppressed by anything except the caster being reduced to –1 hit points. If the caster dies or chooses to end the effect, the spell's effect automatically ends, even for odd situations (wall of iron will simply disappear, for example). This costs 50 XP per spell level of the original spell. This metamagic creates a permanent thread of magic (similar to an astral thread) between the spell effect and that character, which can be traced via magical means (detect magic, scrying). A list of spell that may be used with this feat follow:
Affected spells include: Animate Dead, Arcane Lock (also resists Knock), Arcane Mark (does not fade from living beings), Awaken, Bestow Curse, Binding Prison (Hedged Prison, Metamorphosis and Minimus Containment versions), Bless Water, Blindness/Deafness, Clone, Contagion (disease disappears from everyone it has spread to when he dies), Continual Flame, Create Greater Undead, Create Undead, Create Water, Curse Water, Energy Drain (only for permanent levels lost), Fabricate, Feeblemind, Flesh to Stone, Forbiddance, Hallow, Illusory Wall, Imprisonment, Insanity, Leomund's Trap, Mark of Justice, Mending, Modify Memory, Permanent Image, Plant Growth, Polymorph Any Object (if permanent duration), Polymorph Other, Power Word Blind (if permanent), Secret Page, Simalcrum, Soften Earth & Stone, Soul Bind, Stone to Flesh, Temporal Stasis, Transmute Metal to Wood, Transmute Mud to Rock, Transmute Rock to Mud, Trap The Soul, Unhallow, Wall of Iron, Wall of Stone. Also, any spell combined with Permanency can be affected by this, but experience costs for the Permanency spell are doubled.
[/Seasong]

Technik

 

[Quip]

I wasn't too sure about what to do for the dispelling rules, I thought I would just keep it simple. How about these changes?

-Antimagic effects it normally

-A disjunction only has a 1% chance per caster level of working, if it works the spell is destroyed and the caster takes 1d6 points of subdual damage per level of the spell.

-The original caster may terminate the bond at any time, if he wishes.



That other feat is pretty good too, though its a considerably different approach. Spell level adjustment instead of a large XP cost for one thing, it works just as well balance-wise I think. And the spell list is impressive, I'm far too lazy to write that kind of thing up.

 

[Olive]

Additionally, this is the version Seasong is using:

[Seasong]
Lasting Spell:Spell level +2. Choose any spell with Duration: Permanent or Duration: Instantaneous that creates or transforms something permanently – that spell's effect now can not be negated or suppressed by anything except the caster being reduced to –1 hit points.

Is this supposed to counter dispel magic etc.? Cos then the instantaneous bit is redundant.

 

[Technik4]

Not counter, just express which spells can be made "lasting". The list follows including spells that are either instantaneous or permanent duration.

Dispel Magic et al still can't get rid of the spell, you have to hunt down the necromancer and deal with him or knock him out or kill him.

Technik