Magic Jar says it leaves your body lifeless, but it also says that it is "as near as anyone can tell, dead", implying it's not really dead. The spell also says you can't return your body if it's been "destroyed", as opposed to "killed", implying that it really is dead.
The following are all pretty much the same question. While Magic Jar is in effect:
1. is your body alive or dead?
2. does your body age?
3. does it need air to breath and can it drown?
4. does it need to make poison saves, or are they delayed?
5. can hit point damage be healed?
6. can str/dex/con ability loss be restored?
7. is it a valid target for "animate dead" (never mind whether you can return to it later)?
FWIW, I'm asking because I have a narcissistic human female sorcerer in Kingmaker, who would rather be reincarted as a young bugbear than become "all gross and wrinkly". Magic Jar just might let her delay that decision, if the body doesn't age during the spell's duration.
The duration is only 10 minutes per level, if I'm not mistaken. So even if she's high level what will require her to recast the spell every 2-3 hours (which is quite expensive given the material component.)
Edit to correct my previous misstatements. The body is left lifeless per the spell description, though I think as a GM I would rule it closer to deeply comatose given that it doesn't start to decay and there is still some sort of tie between the soul and the body, which is why the bodies destruction results in character death.
Also, to correct myself on duration, it is actually 1 hr per level. So at 20th level, she would still be casting it more than once per day. Sort of a waste of a powerful magic user, isn't it?
MorganS wrote: FWIW, I'm asking because I have a narcissistic human female sorcerer in Kingmaker, who would rather be reincarted as a young bugbear than become "all gross and wrinkly". Magic Jar just might let her delay that decision, if the body doesn't age during the spell's duration. She's actually going to have to reach outside the ruleset. (which is why the world is full of old and wrinkl wizards)
Probably the easiest thing for her to do would be to use a permanent glamour effect i.e. disguise self.
Bruce Snow wrote: The duration is only 10 minutes per level, if I'm not mistaken. So even if she's high level what will require her to recast the spell every 2-3 hours (which is quite expensive given the material component.)
As a GM, I would rule that the body is quite clearly still alive throughout the spell and is simply comatose. Note in the spell description what happens if your body dies during the spell that alone means the caster's body doesn't die. Which means the body does need to breath, however slightly, and thus could definitely drown and the body does age over the duration of the spell.
Again, though, we're only taking a few hours duration even for a 20th level caster.
Sorry, I don't know whether your conclusion is correct, but your recollection of the spell is not correct. The duration is 1 hour/level, there is no expensive material component (just a 100gp focus), and there is nothing in the description about youy body dying - to the contrary, it uses the word "destroyed" not "killed", which implies that lifeless = dead.
Save for the fact that there's nobody home in the cortex, your body continues to function as normal while the magic jar spell is in effect. It breathes and it does not go into "suspended animation"
So in other words, standard magic jar spells will not work the way you want them to.
In order the answers are
1. alive
2. yes
3. yes and yes It can also starve to death
4. yes and no
5. yes
6. yes
7. No. It may be an open target for posesion though, in which case you have a problem if the spell expires before you get access to your body back.
MorganS wrote: Sorry, I don't know whether your conclusion is correct, but your recollection of the spell is not correct. The duration is 1 hour/level, there is no expensive material component (just a 100gp focus), and there is nothing in the description about youy body dying - to the contrary, it uses the word "destroyed" not "killed", which implies that lifeless = dead. Heh. I was editing my own post after I had to chance to look up the spell again and you ninja'd in before I finished.
Lifeless does seem to indicate dead, though I still think the soul is bound to the body in some way even while temporarily ousted by the spell, thus I lean more towards deep coma for verisimilitude.
So, to cover most of your questions based on spell as written: The caster's body doesn't need air, can't drown, poison has no effect unless it remains potent in the body after the spell ends at which point the poison effect occurs, no healing allowed, and dead bodies have no abilities, so they can't be restored.
But, if the body was hit with an animate dead, I would rule that spell effectively destroys the body so the magic jar effect would end. To substantiate that ruling, I posit that you cannot cast raise dead on an animated skeleton to restore the original body to life.
I haven't actually used the spell since 2nd edition, which may be why I was a bit confused in my first post.
Thanks... she's not too bright, so magical hand cream (disguise self) will suffice until someone sees through it and calls her "granny" (she just hit 40).
Bruce Snow wrote:
....
I haven't actually used the spell since 2nd edition, which may be why I was a bit confused in my first post.
Though your info was off, LazarX agrees with your original conclusion, as do I. It does read as though lifeless "means" dead, but that would introduce a lot of bizarre possibilities. Imagine casting a shrink item in your body, then walking around as a monster with a "sorcerer handkerchief".
If immortality was as simple as using ordinary spells, no wizard would ever die of old age.
If you are willing to indulge your sorceress then I you could let her make (or find) a magic item that lets her looks never deteriorate. A hat of disguise essentially does that for you but this would be a bit more effective.
The key here is that it only affects looks. All age related penalties and benefits still apply.
karkon wrote: If you are willing to indulge your sorceress then I you could let her make (or find) a magic item that lets her looks never deteriorate. A hat of disguise essentially does that for you but this would be a bit more effective.
The key here is that it only affects looks. All age related penalties and benefits still apply.
Or let her find a Dorian Gray - style portrait.
Isn't the traditional trick casting "Binding - Minimus Containment" on yourself first? "Magic Jar" doesn't require a line of effect, so you can keep your now non-aging, one inch high body safely in a bottle.
The only real drawback is that you're immortal with your body on one jar, and a soul in another - a Jar-Jar Lich...
MorganS wrote: FWIW, I'm asking because I have a narcissistic human female sorcerer in Kingmaker, who would rather be reincarted as a young bugbear than become "all gross and wrinkly". Magic Jar just might let her delay that decision, if the body doesn't age during the spell's duration. If that's your concern, Astral Projection would probably give the effect you want. The write up says that the body remains in suspended animation until you decide to come back to it or the astral body is killed. So, no aging unless you come back into your body again and no more battle scars either. Still, that leaves the body vulnerable while you are a long way away. A scroll with the Genesis spell and having the ability to Planeshift would largely solve that.
Thane36425 wrote: MorganS wrote: FWIW, I'm asking because I have a narcissistic human female sorcerer in Kingmaker, who would rather be reincarted as a young bugbear than become "all gross and wrinkly". Magic Jar just might let her delay that decision, if the body doesn't age during the spell's duration. If that's your concern, Astral Projection would probably give the effect you want. The write up says that the body remains in suspended animation until you decide to come back to it or the astral body is killed. So, no aging unless you come back into your body again and no more battle scars either. Still, that leaves the body vulnerable while you are a long way away. A scroll with the Genesis spell and having the ability to Planeshift would largely solve that. Doesn't exactly help the Prime Material social life though. And there's that vulnerability to posession thing.
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