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I've been looking at this spell for a 'Defend this building from intruders' scenario and I'd like to know if I'm reading it correctly.
Here's the spell text:...
You gain a dim impression of the activities around any object bearing your face or form and can also project your consciousness into one such object at a time, allowing you to observe or even interact with nearby creatures. This spell allows you to leave your body and subconsciously monitor the immediate area around any depiction of your image whether one, hundreds, or even thousands. Each such image has the full range of your normal senses (sight, hearing, smell, etc.) and you can make a Perception check to notice anything occurring nearby. The DC of this check is always 10 greater than what it would be if you were actually present at that location, so even if you would normally notice something automatically (such as talking, normally a DC of 0), you would need to make a DC 10 Perception check to notice it.
You may, at any time, choose to fill one specific image within range with your consciousness. While inside an image you lose the ability to monitor any other images within range but remain fully aware of your own body’s surroundings. Your body is defenseless and helpless (always failing any saving throw) while your consciousness is filling an image, but you can return to it at any time as an immediate action.
When you fill an image with your consciousness it gains a limited form of animation. Statues and similar three-dimensional representations can move their heads, make gestures, and talk, but cannot attack or leave their square without assistance. Portraits or similar two-dimensional representations bearing your likeness can also talk and your image can move anywhere within the picture or even temporarily alter it (such as by picking a flower in the painting). You cannot use any spells or other abilities while within an image.
You may leave the image at any time, returning you to your body. Once your consciousness departs from an object bearing your likeness, it immediately reverts to the appearance it had before you entered it. If someone destroys or damages the image you return to your body unharmed. The spell lasts until you cease concentrating, or until it is terminated by some outside means, such as a dispel magic cast upon either the image or your body, or if your body is killed.My reading/questions:
- 1) If you are just trying to monitor an entire building (that you have filled with the appropriate artwork), you don't have any real need to enter a specific image, correct?
- 2) The part about your body being 'defenseless' is specifically for 'while your consciousness is filling an image' so does that mean you are not defenseless when you are looking through every image in range? The spell does initially state you 'leave your body' so I'm guessing you should be defenseless the entire time.
- 3) If you do enter a specific image, do you still have the +10 DC Perception Adjustment? It seems like narrowing your focus should help here, but there is no actual indication that this is intended.
- 4) If you do enter a specific image, you can only exit it by returning to your body, but returning to your body is not listed as something that actually ends the spell, so can you just return to the 'all images' mode as long as you keep concentrating?
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To me it seems you have 2 effects:
1) "You gain a dim impression of the activities around any object bearing your face or form" Not clearly defined what is the dim impression, but based on the following text, I would say something on the level of "you know that something is moving nearby or that something major (stuff being broken or burned, as an example) is happening nearby.
2) You can enter a specific image and act in that image. When you do that you suffer the increased DC for perception check.
It says:
" This spell allows you to leave your body and subconsciously monitor the immediate area around any depiction of your image whether one, hundreds, or even thousands. Each such image has the full range of your normal senses (sight, hearing, smell, etc.) and you can make a Perception check to notice anything occurring nearby. The DC of this check is always 10 greater than what it would be if you were actually present at that location, so even if you would normally notice something automatically (such as talking, normally a DC of 0), you would need to make a DC 10 Perception check to notice it."
As I read it, the whole paragraph allies when entering an image. Not when gaining "a dim impression of the activities around any object bearing your face or form".
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To me it seems you have 2 effects:
1) "You gain a dim impression of the activities around any object bearing your face or form" Not clearly defined what is the dim impression, but based on the following text, I would say something on the level of "you know that something is moving nearby or that something major (stuff being broken or burned, as an example) is happening nearby.
2) You can enter a specific image and act in that image. When you do that you suffer the increased DC for perception check.
It says:
" This spell allows you to leave your body and subconsciously monitor the immediate area around any depiction of your image whether one, hundreds, or even thousands. Each such image has the full range of your normal senses (sight, hearing, smell, etc.) and you can make a Perception check to notice anything occurring nearby. The DC of this check is always 10 greater than what it would be if you were actually present at that location, so even if you would normally notice something automatically (such as talking, normally a DC of 0), you would need to make a DC 10 Perception check to notice it."
As I read it, the whole paragraph allies when entering an image. Not when gaining "a dim impression of the activities around any object bearing your face or form".
I'm not quite certain what you mean by 'allies' in your last line: Did you mean 'applies?'
If so, you have a completely different reading than I do: To me, the 'Perception checks at +10 DC' is clearly the mechanical representation of the 'Dim Awareness' of activity around all of your images and may or may not apply when focused on a single image (detailing the specifics of 'Mode B' while discussing 'Mode A' and before even mentioning the existence of 'Mode B' makes no sense to me).
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I'm not quite certain what you mean by 'allies' in your last line: Did you mean 'applies?'
Yes, probably I misspelled it and the autocorrect changed it to "allies".
This spell allows you to leave your body and subconsciously monitor the immediate area around any depiction of your image
That seems to imply that your consciousness needs to leave your body to monitor a location. Granted, you can monitor "one, hundreds, or even thousands" of images when doing that, but your consciousness needs to leave your body.
Re-reading the whole description it seems that your consciousness is moved to the images as soon as the spell is cast.
If we rule that way, yes, you see/hear through all the images and only suffer a 10 point increase on the DC of perceiving specific things.