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Occult Aventures has Create Mindscape and Greater Create Mindscape spells. Both basically create a mental only demiplane hosted on the Astral Plane that is inhabited by the minds of the spell caster and those targeted. Both can be made permanent through Permanency. Related, the spell Mindscape Door allows one to enter a Mindscape by casting it on a target already in the mindscape.
So can anyone actually think of a reason why you'd make these permanent? I originally thought you set it up as your private mental clubhouse, allowing cross continental (and planar) communication, but I don't see a way to reenter the Mindscape after you leave without casting Mindscape door on someone currently still in it. You could theoretically do shifts where people with Mindscape Door keep trading off so someone is always there and leaving a targetable entry point, but that's neither feasible nor useful.
Proposed FAQ: Should Mindscape Door also allow someone who was previously in a permanent Mindsacpe to reenter it by targeting himself?
If the answer is no, it seems like making a permanent Mindscape would leave an expensive, useless, and completely inaccessible Mindscape sitting on the Astral Plane after the last person leaves so they can eat or otherwise lead their normal life. Or maybe this option is only for someone with a ring of sustenance who wants to inhabit their own private virtual reality for the rest of their life, the ultimate nerd fantasy.
Create Mindscape says:
You and other creatures aware of a permanent mindscape can come and go using the mindscape door spell.
So you can already target yourself with mindscape door to get into a permanent one.
But that conflicts with the mindscape door targeting rules. My assumption without clarification is that you have to be aware of it AND target a valid target.
But I do want it to work that way, it allows anyone with a Mindscape door at any place at all to go there and meet. Perfect for spies to file reports and if you make it harmless as a neutral meeting ground for hostile parties.
If that language does overrule the targeting requirements of Mindscape Door, it leaves open the question of what "aware" of a permanent mindscape means. It should mean they've been there before, but this leaves open the possibility that someone with a good description could party crash it.
If that language does overrule the targeting requirements of Mindscape Door, it leaves open the question of what "aware" of a permanent mindscape means. It should mean they've been there before, but this leaves open the possibility that someone with a good description could party crash it.
Aware is rather vague language.
But you can't stay there forever, so unless you can fully vacate and return later by ignoring the standard Mindscape Door targeting requirements, there no reason to make a permanent version. For your applications you would just recast the spell every time you need it.
But that conflicts with the mindscape door targeting rules. My assumption without clarification is that you have to be aware of it AND target a valid target.
But I do want it to work that way, it allows anyone with a Mindscape door at any place at all to go there and meet. Perfect for spies to file reports and if you make it harmless as a neutral meeting ground for hostile parties.
Specific trumps general.
Create Mindscape is higher level so refer to that.
I guess I buy that.
I just realized Greater Create Mindscape is a fantastic assassination tool. It's long range, and you DO NOT need line of sight or line of effect to your targets. So pull your target(s) in to any favorable terrain you can imagine (maybe the real one with some hidden feature/room you can exploit), place them wherever you want, place yourself and your allies wherever you want for an easy ambush in favorable terrain, and kill them.
Example: psychic with three melee allies (or summons) casts GCM on a wizard (fails will save) and your melee allies to put them all flanking the wizard in a harmful, dead magic trait mindscape. The wizard has to make another will save to know he's in a Mindscape and the location of the exit, then he has to have Mindscape Door prepared, cast it, and beat your will save in order to escape. If he can't do that none of his other spells function, and he's going to have to win at melee or wait until he gets beat down below 0 hp to escape, bleeding to death.
Not sure how official this is but, I sent a couple questions to the designer for that section and this was my responses.
"When a Mindscape has been made permanent and no one is in it, who would be the target for Mindscape Door?
Could an Intelligent magic item enter a Mindscape?"
Logan Bonner
"If a mindscape is permanent, you only have to be aware of its existence to use a mindscape door to get in. In other words, your personal knowledge/awareness of the mindscape takes the place of the creature as a conduit.
A magic item's consciousness can enter the mindscape, but might manifest in a different form from the item itself. The item itself would remain in the real world."
