Pretty much the title. I watched someone play Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and saw the Switch Hook in action, and it was like a light went on.
The Switch Hook, for the uninitiated, is a variant on the old Hookshot. While the hookshot is a powered grappling hook, the Switch Hook adds the effect that it does not pull you to what you have hit, but instead instantly swaps you and what you have hit (in the context of the video game, it only works on a small set of items).
Thinking back onto a few of the problems people have with the Teleport spell, I wonder if it couldn't be made more palatable if you had to swap with an object or another person.
Instead of scrying and then teleporting, what if the Rogue or Ranger had to smuggle in a specially-made doll or carefully-inscribed crystal for the rest of the party to transpose with? Perhaps a bit of Trojan Horseplay with the party face convincing someone to accept an expensive porcelain elephant statue (which the wizard has prepared to act as a teleport device).
It could even make some other classes appear much better than they used to. If Wizards, sorcerers, witches and clerics can only manage to swap with something else, Monks being able to teleport (via Abundant Step) becomes amazing. Shadowdancers and Druids using darkness and plants as gateways to travel instead of needing something in place to trade with gives them a relatively large latitude of freedom compared to others.
For mechanics, what level of spell would it be acceptable to:
Swap with an item prepared ahead of time, at least your size?
Swap with an item prepared ahead of time, between half your size to football-sized?
Swap with an item prepared ahead of time, about the size of a coin?
Versions of the above, with the item well-known to you but no preparation needed, or the preparations can be hidden?
Swap with a willing person (version with prep time required, and another with no prep time needed)?
Also, what kind of caveats are needed? A "no switching with lit bombs" sort of thing, and Constructs and Undead don't count as objects you can swap with are obvious ones. Object ought to be on a flat surface, as Conjuration states. I'm thinking that the preparations on the item need to be magically and physically obvious, and that obfuscating the magical aura left on the object ruins its ability to "swap." Maybe low-level "swap" spells don't allow their items to be carried in Bags of Holding, while higher level ones don't care. The length of time the object can be "swapped" with ought to be linked to caster level somehow, and ought to be within a certain range per spell level.
There are a couple of spells in the 3.5 Spell Compendium that sound like what you are looking for. Don't have my copy here, so I am working off memory (and it has been a few years since I last looked in it), but here we go!
1. Benign Transposition (1st or 2nd level, I think)--caster and willing target swap places.
2. Baleful Transposition (1 level higher than Benign Transposition)--pick 2 targets in range (caster can be one), both get Will saves to resist, if both fail (or choose not to save) they swap places.
3. Gemjump (5th or 6th level, I think)--spell is cast on a gem (worth at least 500gp, I think), so long as are on same plane as gem can speak command word as standard action. Caster and additional people (same limitation as teleport) as instantly teleported to nearest open space to the gem that is large enough to fit them all.Sound like what you want?
Only vaguely. More like Gemjump, except rather than a gem, you would have an object that would get increasingly small as the spell level went up.
Early versions would have a range limited by miles and large targets to swap with, while later versions may do away with range limitation and use items that could more easily make their way into places rather than be left behind. Smaller objects also means that the items could also be delivered by, say, carrier pigeon to distant kingdoms, and fulfill the role of "high level transportation" just fine still.
I'm mainly curious how low of a spell level might seem reasonable with this new limitation.
Sounds like Castling!
I'd just call it a Teleport or Dimension Door spell with a kicker effect. I don't see any spell level savings.
==Aelryinth
3.5 spell gem jump did just that. When acitated you teleport to the gem.