I was intrigued by create soul gem and pondered what my NG witch could do with it that does not involve selling it to evil outsiders. It's an evil spell, but surely a good character can figure out a way to use it for good?
I pictured her casting a spell on a deceased creature that does not wish to depart to the afterlife just yet. If the soul resists the spell, she simply cancels it and lets the soul free. She then keeps the soul gem with her on her travels and protects it in a motherly way.
But is there anything she can do with it? Is there any way she can give it senses or ensure being confined to a gem isn't so bleak and miserable?
If the spell is evil then it is still an evil act, but as a GM I don't really worry about it, if the intent is good, but divine casters should be more wary of using such spells because they are supposed to not use evil methods on a consistent basis.
You would only know if they resisted if they made the save. If they fail the save you would not know if they resisted of just failed. There is really no way to know if the soul wants to move on or not before casting the spell. If the creature is dead it does not even get a save, so there is really is no way to know if you have kidnapped it or not.
Basically the spell has no good use. If the person wants to come back you will still have to pay for spell to bring it back to life, and if it wants to come back it can just come back at that time.
What blackbloodtroll said and variants thereof. You could plane shift to Pharasma's spire to ensure high value souls aren't stolen in transit and so forth. A person could request it and that their soul be given to a family member for safe keeping so they're literally with them always and so on for sentimental value. Be wary though, souls that aren't allowed to move on tend to be driven insane over long periods of time. You could be creating an evil way down the line depending on what you do.
I pictured her casting a spell on a deceased creature that does not wish to depart to the afterlife just yet. If the soul resists the spell, she simply cancels it and lets the soul free. She then keeps the soul gem with her on her travels and protects it in a motherly way.
So it's like a pet rock?
But is there anything she can do with it? Is there any way she can give it senses or ensure being confined to a gem isn't so bleak and miserable?
If being confined in a stone and treated like a pet rock is bleak and miserable, why is it preferable to passing on to the afterlife?
I suppose the soul kept in the gem could be that of an evil person, in which case afterlife isn't so hawt, and I suppose there would be good reasons for a good character to help a specific evil person out in that way, but, well, it is what it is (as in, it's already a step up from the bleak misery of becoming a larva, what else do they want? A velvet pillow, a palanquin and a servitor with one of those big feathered fans?). Perhaps the best solution in such a case would be to keep them in the stone until a means could be found to restore them to life if they're being kept around so they'll have a chance to redeem themselves.
Another alternative would be to enchant it as an intelligent magic item, I suppose. Then you could feel empathy from your pet rock, and perhaps even have conversations with it in the evening.