Celebrim
Legend
Trap the Soul's text is slightly ambigious. It reads in part, "To use this method, both the creature’s name and the trigger word must be inscribed on the trigger object when the gem is enspelled."
The assumption I have reading that is that the creature's name must be known, and when I read that a name must be known I understand it to mean that its true name must be known. I would think that a euphamism or psuedonym or even a taken name is not good enough. The thing is of course that true names are relatively vague things in D&D. Generally speaking, you would say that the name written on a character's character sheet is it's name, but you wouldn't necessarily say that it is the character's true name. Likewise, a certain famous fiend is known by the name Orcus, but you wouldn't say that that was Orcus's true name.
So, here's the question, whatever is good for the PC ought to be good for the NPC and vica versa. If a spellcaster obtains a 50,000 gp gem, and ensorcels it, and writes the spell completion trigger and Orcus on the stone, does he know have a (pathetically obvious but potentially effective) Orcus trap? How about the same thing with 100,000 gp stone and Zeus? (Ignoring for the moment that Zeus's divine rank makes him specifically immune to this spell.)
Does 'name' here refer to any name by which the being is commonly known, including given names of any sort, or does it only refer to the name given to it by a being with the right to confer names (say a parent), or does it refer to the beings mystical (and presumably secret) true name? And to what class does a name like Orcus or Zeus fall?
The assumption I have reading that is that the creature's name must be known, and when I read that a name must be known I understand it to mean that its true name must be known. I would think that a euphamism or psuedonym or even a taken name is not good enough. The thing is of course that true names are relatively vague things in D&D. Generally speaking, you would say that the name written on a character's character sheet is it's name, but you wouldn't necessarily say that it is the character's true name. Likewise, a certain famous fiend is known by the name Orcus, but you wouldn't say that that was Orcus's true name.
So, here's the question, whatever is good for the PC ought to be good for the NPC and vica versa. If a spellcaster obtains a 50,000 gp gem, and ensorcels it, and writes the spell completion trigger and Orcus on the stone, does he know have a (pathetically obvious but potentially effective) Orcus trap? How about the same thing with 100,000 gp stone and Zeus? (Ignoring for the moment that Zeus's divine rank makes him specifically immune to this spell.)
Does 'name' here refer to any name by which the being is commonly known, including given names of any sort, or does it only refer to the name given to it by a being with the right to confer names (say a parent), or does it refer to the beings mystical (and presumably secret) true name? And to what class does a name like Orcus or Zeus fall?
