Word of Recall vs Interplanetary Teleport.

[2bz2p]

Am I missing something here? Does a Word of Recall travel interplanetary (6th level spell) while arcane casters need Interplanetary Teleport (at 9th)?

[Pizza Lord]

Word of recall can be anywhere on the plane, just like interplanetary teleport. They are functionally identical in terms of where they can go and who they can bring. The difference is that to use word of recall you must be very familiar with the location. That means you must not only have been there many times, but it should be a place you are comfortable enough with to feel like home.

Familiarity wrote:

“Very familiar” is a place where you have been very often and where you feel at home.

So you most likely have to have not only been to the sanctuary, but it must be a place that feels like home. A lawyer may visit the local prison often and know it very well, but may not feel at home there. One prisoner locked up in prison might know it well but also never feel at home there while another has adjusted enough to consider their cell to be a sanctuary (in the parameters of the spell). It also has to be a 10' by 10' designated area, so roughly a cell, or office, or maybe "The visiting area" (depending on its size). Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption was in his cell for years and well-adjusted to prison life, but it could be argued he would never consider it 'home' since his entire life there was him trying to escape it. After he escaped, if he prepared word of recall, it would be highly unlikely that it would be considered a valid location to designate.

Interplanetary teleport only requires that you have a reasonable understanding or idea of the planetary location, "Third planet from the sun", "The Moon", "The third moon of Jupiter", "Jupiter (though that's likely to be really uninhabitable choice, moreso than the others), or "Golarion". You also don't need a very clear idea of a specific location (though the more narrow you wish to make it helps). You can say "France", "The Sea of Tranquility" or "The Red Spot (on Jupiter)", before narrowing it down further.

So they both function identically, but one pretty much requires you to actually go to not only the red spot on Jupiter to be able to recall yourself there, but also requires multiple visits (or being there so long it is very familiar), but for you to feel at home there. The other can just take you there (which would then allow you to use word of recall later), assuming you stay there long enough to become very familiar.

Interplanetary teleport will also prevent you from landing on a life-threatening location if you choose it (like no air or a gas giant or the sun), whereas word of recall will not do so (in the case that your destination has either become inhospitable since you were last there or you forgot to prepare your spells that let you survive that location). You can also cast interplanetary teleport and go to any such location at any time (or just use it as a teleport if need be. Word of recall will only ever go to one location, the one you designate when it was prepared.

[Belafon]

Also, the giveaway is in the name and first sentence:

Quote:

Word of recall teleports you instantly back to your sanctuary when the word is uttered.

While nothing in the language specifically prevents you from using it as once-per-day transportation (designate a place in Akiton that you are very familiar with as your “sanctuary” just because you want to go there, then somewhere on Golarion the next) the intention is pretty clear: it is meant to take you back to your “home base.”

[Pizza Lord]

Also note one interesting aspect of word of recall is how it works on scrolls. Typically decisions like targets or locations are made at the time of casting, unlike with a potion where all such decision are made at item creation (which is why you have potions of resist energy (fire) instead of potions of resist energy.)

Word of recall's designations are made at preparation rather than casting. This means that a scroll of word of recall would either not work or, more likely, would have a preset location by the creator. In this case, that means they can make excellent plot hooks if found on a dead body for instance (and assuming the location was safe for the user to appear in, at least initially). So you could create scrolls of word of recall that designated your sanctuary at the time and give or pass them out to others that hadn't been there. Theoretically, an ill-intentioned person could have a prison or cell-like area prepared in their home that brought people using the scroll right into it. Then they might not be able to teleport back home if they're too far away, and would have to try and get out and escape, which depends on their level (since they could have used the scroll while being a much lower level than being able to cast word of recall normally).
So that's a bit interesting, in my opinion.

[Mysterious Stranger]

You are missing several things.

1.) Word of Recall can only take you to a place you are very familiar with. Interplanetary Teleport can take you anywhere, including places you are not sure exist. The description of spell gives the third planet from the sun as an acceptable target. You can easily just keep adding numbers without knowing how many planets are in the solar system. You can also target other star outside the solar system. So, I could teleport to the third planet from the sun in Alpha Centurial. There is also nothing that says you cannot use it to teleport to locations on the same planet. Doing so would allow you to teleport to a location you don’t know. For Example, I could teleport to the hidden tomb of a lich without knowing it exact location.

2.) Interplanetary Teleport is absolutely safe. If you teleport into a location that is going to be fatal it simply fails. Word of Recall does not have that have that feature. In most cases your refuge will be a safe place, but conditions could change that.

3.) The location of Word of Recall is set when you prepare the spell. You cannot change the destination once you memorize the spell. This also presents a problem for spontaneous casters as they do not prepare spells. Technically this spell does not work for a spontaneous caster.

You are looking at it from the standpoint that Interplanetary Teleport can do everything that Word of Recall can. What you are missing is all the things that Interplanetary Teleport can do that Word of Recall cannot.

[Diego Rossi]

Quote:

Word of recall teleports you instantly back to your sanctuary when the word is uttered. You must designate the sanctuary when you prepare the spell, and it must be a very familiar place. The actual point of arrival is a designated area no larger than 10 feet by 10 feet.

As the others have already pointed out, you return to a very familiar area that you designated as your sanctuary.

It needs to be a very familiar area.
From what I recall, in older versions of the game, the sanctuary needed to be some form of holy place for your religion. That requirement is no longer valid.

Personally, I would allow a single caster to have only one selected sanctuary at a time, so multiple instances of Word of recall would not allow you to choose multiple destinations.

The last row of the text of the spell is interesting:

Quote:

An unwilling creature can't be teleported by word of recall. Likewise, a creature's Will save (or spell resistance) prevents items in its possession from being teleported. Unattended, nonmagical objects receive no saving throw.

So, you can try grab and teleport tactics, touching key items in another person's possession, and using Word of recall to teleport away with them.