Nope, undead are immune to mind-affecting attacks.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Nope, undead are immune to mind-affecting attacks.
Magic jar isn't mind-affecting...
That's an interesting question, and I'm not sure there's any kind of "official" word on it. Personally, I'd say the caster's soul doesn't have the ability to maintain cohesion without a body to inhabit, so targeting a ghost with magic jar would simply not work.
If you wanted to be evil, you could say that the ghost is trapped in the jar and the caster dies, but the spirit of the spell suggests that, without a body, the caster's soul would return to the jar and evict the ghost instantly.
I would avoid allowing the caster to assume a ghostly form, as it would essentially turn magic jar into a very long duration ethereal jaunt, which is a higher level spell.
That'll teach me not to post before coffee.
(Undead creatures are powered by negative energy. Only sentient undead creatures have, or are, souls.)
The part that says "or are souls" makes me think magic jar works just fine on incorporeal creatures such as ghosts.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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(Undead creatures are powered by negative energy. Only sentient undead creatures have, or are, souls.)The part that says "or are souls" makes me think magic jar works just fine on incorporeal creatures such as ghosts.
But the question is, if you magic jar something that doesn't have a body, where does the caster's soul go? As written, it's supposed to inhabit the target's body and control it. If there's no body to control, the caster's soul would return to the jar, evicting the ghost.
There's really only 2 ways I can see that going: Either the spell effectively does nothing (the ghost goes right back to its normal existence after being shuffled in and out of the jar) or it destroys the ghost instantly (the caster's soul returns to the jar and the expelled ghost is destroyed by the spell).
Personally, I'd lean towards option #1.
Out of curiosity, are you asking as a GM or as a player?
well, both.
Depending on the situation, I'd let it work. Make sure the players know that it may or may not work the same every time, being that the spell was designed with corporeal beings in mind. That said, let someone have fun being a ghost for a while. I don't see it as gamebreaking; and if the target ghost is the subject of an "unfinished business" type quest, an unstable magic jar spell opens the door for the DM to do some fun things with the players.
Question: can a ghost be affected by the magic jar spell? Does anything weird happen?
This is gonna come down to the DM ruling of whether Ghosts have bodies or not. Ghosts aren't the only incorporeal creatures, so this ruling will affect whether or not any other incorporeal creatures can be affected.
If you decide that they can be affected keep in mind that the caster will only be able to target a manifested ghost and not be able to use any of the ghost's supernatural abilities. So it means a caster will be able to affect ethereal targets but wont be able to use touch attacks/spells on material plane targets. NO horrific gaze or corrupting touch however.