Can someone please help me better understand what Spirit Jars actually do?
I've read the entry, like five times, and I'm still having difficulty finding how it might be useful.
Insofar as I can tell, it's like having three magic jar focuses simultaneously, but I fail to see what good that does a caster unless somebody starts shattering them (leaving the caster with backup options).
Does it allow me to keep someone perpetually jar'd in some way? Does it allow me to store my physical body (turning it into a spirit and placing it into one of the jars) for safe keeping?
I just don't quite get it.
Looks like a relatively cheap way to extend the reach of Magic Jar. You just move your soul between jars, taking care you know which jar(s) are near your body. Or, you could set them up in a triangle in much the same fashion, except to extend your coverage over a large (set of) room(s).
By the description, you could permanently jar someone with these, except your spirit would be trapped with them ("If his spell expires while he is within a Spirit jar, his soul and those in the other jars are trapped.")
Trapped until someone opens the jar at least.
That's a strong possibility. And a good reason to try and not rely on these alone, as a party member or BBEG if you can help it.
Or, you could hide/bury the jars, since Magic Jar doesn't need traditional line of sight--"lifesense" out to 100+10*CL is a nice line of effect range with some pre-planning.
Now that I think about it, Magic Aura would be really nice to have permanently cast on these. Add in a traditional crypt dungeon crawl and these could hide in plain sight as simple funerary urns.
How does one permanently cast magic jar on them in the first place? Magic jar targets one creature, not inanimate objects.
I'm assuming you're referencing the creation requirements.
I honestly don't know. Part of me wants to feel the inclusion of Gentle Repose was a lazy attempt at a work-around (if the remains don't rot, they still count as a target, even if the soul is missing?) It seems a bit backwards if the only way to create them is to use a feature of the finished product, specifically this line from the second paragraph: "Alternatively, casting magic jar on an Spirit jar containing a spirit, rather than an individual creature, allows that spirit to swap bodies as if it were the target of the spell."
The way you make a permanent magic jar, is by creating this magic item... You don't cast a permanent magic jar on them, you make it permanent through crafting.*
This is the item you were looking for in the other thread, actually. So your body dies, or the spell runs out of range of your body? Well, simply take a rest in the soul jars, and wait for your minions to let you out, or give you a new temporary body.
Alternatively they can be used to grant magic jarred bodies to your party members:
1) You trap them in the soul jars. 2) You magic jar another creature (Rune Giant, troll or similarly nice form). 3) You cast magic jar on the soul jar they are in, and they are shunted to the new body.
*Bonus comment:
You can make a permanent magic jar though, through use of Summon Slave Crystal. Possessing a creature you summon, for the duration of the summoning.
Next thing needed: Permanently summoned creature.
Two solution: The obvious is a lvl 20 conjurer. My favorite is as Antipaladin, whose profane bond can be a permanently summoned creature.
Thank you so much HaraldKlack!
Though...if it makes magic jar have infinite duration, why does its description speak of duration running out?
So if it makes magic jar have infinite duration, why does its description speak of duration running out?
The Jars themselves has a permanent magic jar, not you.
This mean that anyone inside the jars, can be permanently trapped, or saved in case their bodies is dead. Unlike a normal crystal for magic jar, that release you, when the spell runs out.The caster of magic jar - to use the spirit jars - is affected by the duration of the spell. In that time he can keep possessing bodies or swapping between them. Returning to an empty soul jar allow him multiple possession-ready bodies while the spell is in effect, since he can leave them, without releasing the owner.
So it adds versatility? I don't have to fear one body coming awake and causing problems because I can keep his spirit trapped in one of the other jars? Awesome!
Also, is it possible to cast a silent, stilled, eschewed magic jar spell from within a jar in order to "untrap" one's self?
So it adds versatility? I don't have to fear one body coming awake and causing problems because I can keep his spirit trapped in one of the other jars? Awesome!
Also, is it possible to cast a silent, stilled, eschewed magic jar spell from within a jar in order to "untrap" one's self?
I am not sure about metamagicking it. I am not sure whether someone trapped in the spirit jar get any actions.
I would be inclined to say no, but it is one of those parts of Magic Jar that isn't very clear.
There's nothing that says you don't still get actions. You just can't normally do anything with them since you don't technically have a body.
Targeting may be problematic as well, since it doesn't seem like you sense the outside world in the traditional sense, but its probably safe to say you can always target yourself.
Until the base Magic Jar spell gets the rewrite, clarifications and/or FAQ answers it so desperately needs, speculating on how items based on the spell work might be futile.
Until the base Magic Jar spell gets the rewrite, clarifications and/or FAQ answers it so desperately needs, speculating on how items based on the spell work might be futile.
Truer words were never spoken
That's a strong possibility. And a good reason to try and not rely on these alone, as a party member or BBEG if you can help it.
Or, you could hide/bury the jars, since Magic Jar doesn't need traditional line of sight--"lifesense" out to 100+10*CL is a nice line of effect range with some pre-planning.
Pretty sure lifesense works like blindsight, and blindsight requires conventional line of effect (i.e. is blocked by walls and ground).