Best and safest usage of Magic Jar

[Atalius]

Hello everyone, the Necromancer here, not Necro'ing an old thread this time though, quite the contrary. I'm hoping people who have experience casting this spell can reply with some good ways to cast this spell while keeping my allies also engaged in combat. I have read of a method where someone would throw a gem into a room while the party waited on the other side of a door protecting the casters lifeless body as he would one by one possess everyone in the room. Now this sounds effective yes, but it sounds incredibly boring for the rest of the party standing around watching over a body. Can anyone suggest a different way to use this spell while the caster is protected at the same time his allies are in the same area fighting the other enemies while the caster is focused on possessing the boss.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this thread.

[avr]

Your barbarian is probably strong enough to fight with your witch strapped to his back now, right? Possibly with you inside an armoured barrel or something.

[Atalius]

avr wrote:

Your barbarian is probably strong enough to fight with your witch strapped to his back now, right? Possibly with you inside an armoured barrel or something.

This is awesome! Would I then just have the barbarian or whoever also carry the magic jar? Or what happens to it?

[Asmodeus' Advocate]

Or have it in the armored barrel with you!

[Atalius]

I'm picturing this right now, a decrepid witch all folded up in a barrel cackling away as his minion errr invulnerable rager barbarian carries him around like a mule.

[Atalius]

I had a question, when I am not possessing my enemies but I have cast Magic Jar already can I cast my normal spells and hexes instead of taking over other victims bodies? If so I may as well stay in that jar all day long.

[avr]

No, sorry. I don't think you have the senses required to do so.

[Atalius]

Ahh ok, I guess its just as good just simply taking people over. Is it just me or is this like so much better than Dominate Person?

[Atalius]

avr wrote:

No, sorry. I don't think you have the senses required to do so.

Would I have the senses to swift action invoke patron?

[Atalius]

Asmodeus' Advocate wrote:

Or have it in the armored barrel with you!

The jar needs to have line of effect doesn't it in order for it to work? It wouldn't work in the barrel with me if I was strapped on my ally's back?

[Pizza Lord]

Atalius wrote:

Would I have the senses to swift action invoke patron?

You pretty much have no sense at all of what's going on around you, except maybe for the passing of time. You don't know if your magic jar is under water, or laying on the floor, or being carried by a friend or foe. There's not even any indication of what it looks like, if anything, while you (or someone you've trapped) are in the gem. For instance, if it's a ruby, is it a big red crystalline sarcophagus or is it just blackness (because you have no eyes)? I prefer just nothingness, otherwise it makes it too easy for players around a table to guess what happened when you tell the target (and whether they're good role-players or not, it's just better to have them explore and discover without having to play stupid).

About the only sense you might have beyond sensing life forces is a link to a familiar or a telepathic bond which your companions could use to explain what was happening around them. You couldn't target anyone this way, even if you had the ability to use verbal, somatic, or material components, or had a mouth to cackle or speak, and even if you could, you'd have the same luck differentiating a target as you would trying to magic jar a specific target (which isn't good assuming a target within 4 levels of you party, which means you're randomly picking between all of them).

Quote:

The jar needs to have line of effect doesn't it in order for it to work? It wouldn't work in the barrel with me if I was strapped on my ally's back?

You are correct. You DO need line of effect from the gem to anyone you're attempting to jar, however. So, while being inside a pocket or pouch is probably okay (GM call), inside an armored barrel is definitely not.

You don't need line of sight or effect to go into the gem, as long as it's within range and you know where it is (at least, the person carrying it). So you could be in the barrel already and enter a gem that you know the location of outside.

[Atalius]

Thank you Pizza Lord. You truly are the Lord of Pizza.

[Decimus Drake]

Would the Possession spell be a better option?

[Pizza Lord]

Decimus Drake wrote:

Would the Possession spell be a better option?

Almost always, yes. You would only get the chance to possess the one creature and can't serial jump around, but the ability to target a specific creature you know the location of is a lot better than the life-force roulette game you play with magic jar, where you never even know if you're attacking the same life-force over and over with no chance of success.

[Darigaaz the Igniter]

Ravingdork has a character built around this. Magic Jar on an elephant you bought at the market. Put a hat of dusguise on your new elephant body and turn back into a humanoid shape. Cast shrink object on your unconscious body. Store it in a locket around your elephant-turned-human body's neck.