Alright, so permanency seems to be quite the fickle thing, so I'll need some rulings on this.
According to prismatic sphere, you yourself can pass in and out of the sphere without any worries. As a Summoner, however, I can cast any spells on my eidolon that I could also cast on myself. That being said, if I cast prismatic sphere on my eidolon, would it be able to pass through, when I couldn't? Could both of us pass through in any way? What about when it's being cast on an object, what decides who can go through then? If I cast it on an area in front of myself, could I cast it in a way so that the sphere is centered on an object, but my eidolon could pass through it?
Looking at those things, what about permanency, then? Say I cast prismatic sphere on an object and make it permanent, then pick up said object, would I then have a prismatic sphere around myself? Would the same apply for the eidolon?
It's an immobile spell effect, centered on the point of origin of the square the caster was in when they cast the spell. It's not actually on any object just a point in space so you can't pick it up and move it around. The only real choice you have is which corner of your square you select as the point of origin of the spell.
I'm a much more familiar with 3.5 so unsure about the Eidolon portion of the question but a familiar would share the spell effect and both of you could move in and out freely far as I know. But again it's immobile not something either of you could reposition regardless.
Does that clarify things for you?
Hmm...More or less, yes. The only reason I'm wondering is because of how specific this "achoring" needs to be. According to the spell, you could, for example, cast it on a ship, and it would move with the ship. If you could logically anchor the spell to a moving object as such, why could you not then anchor it to something else? It doesn't exactly give limitations as to -what- you anchor it to. Say I anchor it to a part of a ship, then carve out that part of the ship and move it, would the sphere not then move with that piece of the ship it was anchored to? Is there a specific size it needs to be anchored to?
I guess that is going to depend a bit on whether this is for PFS rules (of which I'm no expert) or home campaign and the individual GM. Scientifically speaking (a dangerous thing considering this is both magic and not even magic of this world, so to speak, but of another plane of existence) everything in the universe is in motion ... planet earth is hurtling about our Sun which in turn is moving etc. etc. so even that 'immobile' point of origin is, if anything resembling earth physics applies, is actually moving as well thru its multiverse. It is going to come down to the individual GM whether you can treat whatever large mobile object you happen to be on as if it is an immobile platform for purposes of a spell and whether you can teleport onto it, cast Clairvoyance that "follows" the ship's cabin, or be the target of a Prismatic Sphere which stays centered around the captains quarters. Generally it seems as if inanimate objects (flying castles or ships and the like) allow such spells to be used while keeping relativistic position with the object. On the otherhand things like targeting a Roc or other large creature often don't allow it but also tend to fall more often into the home rules department. Large island-sized Sea Turtles come to mind, for example, as a likely exception.
Also it isn't really anchored to anything ... by game mechanics its got a point of origin 'fixed' by where the caster is regardless of what they may or may not be standing on, levitating above or flying over (or swimming thru or under) unlike, for instance, Invisibility which can target an object (where it might be more accurately described as anchored). The caster could be flying with no solid object within 200 feet of them and have no issue casting the spell. Heck given the level at which a caster can generally use Prismatic Sphere there's no guarantee there's even air around the caster, they could be suspended in a vacuum in "deep space" or moving thru magma well below the surface of the world. So strictly speaking you could dig up and move a couple hundred tons of rock around your Sphere and the Sphere wouldn't go anywhere as it isn't anchored to the terrain it's anchored to the point of origin which is a game mechanic concept/term to describe a point in space (and probably even time if you wanted to take it that far :D ).
EDIT: Also if it isn't fairly obvious already this would be my interpretation as a GM of how it works. For instance I don't consider the spell to be blocked by the surrounding terrain ... it forms a complete sphere entirely around the caster at the moment of its casting (there's differences in terminology between the d20 SRD "excluded" vs PF OGC's "occluded" for example and both terms in my opinion leave all sorts of things 'weird' at best). I don't want to deal with the complications of things like is the caster now vulnerable to, for example, an Earthquake spell if they are standing within the sphere (vs flying and could they even be flying?). Obviously the intent is no an Earthquake spell won't effect them but then why the words excluded or occluded in the text - what is the meaning or reason behind including that wording in the spell? Is the caster essentially blind? They are surrounded by an opaque sphere after all, can they even see the ground? Okay I'm rambling ... the spell is in many ways vague but it hasn't mattered much as 1) most folks don't get to or play at that level or 2) they do but by then are quite comfy making up their own home rules to fill the gaps if and when they do reach and play at that level.
My word, that was quite the lengthy reply!
I guess this would tie in to what most people often tell me about how D&D, pathfinder included, tends to break rather quickly at levels beyond the tenth. It would have been simpler if they specified in the spell what it's "immobility" is in relation to, frankly. I mean, my Eidolon, with his current carry capacities, can handle thousands of pounds without going over his light load. The way I see it, I could cast the prismatic sphere as a "you" spell through him using the Summoner's share spells trait, and then just have him lift up the area wherever it's been "anchored" relevant to.
I mean, if you can cast it to a ship, and have the ship move in any way with the sphere moving with it, why not have him cast it while, say, standing on a pile of wood harnessed to him, and have it follow wherever he goes? Logically speaking, I could find a way to create a mobile shield of prismatic sphere, cast permanency on it, and have what would probably be the most ridiculous armour any dragon has ever worn.
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