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Epic spells are spells developed from the ground up using a list of magical ingredients called seeds. Despite their power, epic spells still follow the basic rules for casting spells, except as specifically noted otherwise. Epic casters can manipulate the seeds of true magic, but knowing the seeds and how to manipulate them does not instantly grant ultimate power. Each epic spell must be laboriously developed before it can be used.
A character with the Epic Spellcasting feat may start acquiring epic spells immediately. Using epic spells is a two-step procedure: development and spellcasting.
Before it can be cast, an epic spell must be developed. The process of development can be a time-consuming and expensive process. It is during development that a caster determines whether a given epic spell lies within his or her abilities or beyond them. The basis of that determination lies in an epic spell’s Spellcraft DC.
The easiest way to develop an epic spell is to use one already given. The description of each of these unique spells gives the amount of gold, time, and experience points required to develop the spell. If a character pays a spell’s development cost, he or she develops (and thus knows) that spell.
For information on developing an epic spell completely from scratch, see Developing Unique Epic Spells, below.
Once an epic spell is developed, the caster knows the spell. A developed epic spell becomes an indelible part of the caster and may be prepared without a spellbook (if a wizard is the caster). Characters who cast spells spontaneously, such as sorcerers, can cast a developed epic spell by using any open epic spell slot. Druids, clerics, and similar spellcasters can likewise prepare epic spells using epic spell slots.
A spellcaster can prepare or cast any epic spell he or she knows as many times per day as he or she has available epic spell slots. A spellcaster who can cast epic spells has a number of open epic spell slots per day equal to one-tenth his or her ranks in the Knowledge skill appropriate to the spell and the caster’s class. Knowledge (arcana) is appropriate for arcane casters, and Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (nature) is appropriate for divine casters. The rules for rest between casting a day’s allotment of epic spells are the same as for rest required to prepare standard spells. If the caster doesn’t use up a day’s allotment of epic spell slots, the unused slots remain available whether or not the spellcaster receives appropriate rest.
Even if the epic spell has been developed and an epic spell slot is available, successfully casting an epic spell isn’t assured. The caster’s Spellcraft skill modifier is vital for casting an epic spell. To cast an epic spell, a spellcaster makes a Spellcraft check against the epic spell’s Spellcraft DC. If the check succeeds, the spell is cast. If the caster fails the check, the epic spell fizzles and the epic spell slot is used for the day.
Because epic spells require Spellcraft checks, a spell is beyond the caster’s ability if the final Spellcraft DC is greater than 20 + the spellcaster’s Spellcraft modifier. Epic spells with DCs higher than 10 + the spellcaster’s Spellcraft modifier are risky; a caster can take 10 when casting an epic spell, but he or she can’t take 20. When routinely casting epic spells, most spellcasters take 10 on their Spellcraft checks.
Epic Spell Levels: Epic spells have no fixed level. However, for purposes of Concentration checks, spell resistance, and other possible situations where spell level is important, epic spells are all treated as if they were 10th-level spells.
Metamagic, Items, and Epic Spells: Metamagic feats and other epic feats that manipulate normal spells cannot be used with epic spells.
A character can’t craft a magic item that casts an epic spell, regardless of whether the item is activated with spell completion, a spell trigger, a command word, or simple use. Only major artifacts, which are beyond the means of even epic characters to create, can possibly contain magic of this power.
The saving throw against a character’s epic spell has a DC of 20 + the character’s relevant ability score modifier. It’s possible to develop epic spells that have even higher DCs, however, by applying the appropriate factor.
Epic Spell: Spells that are different from common spells. Epic spells are usually custom-made. Epic spells do not take up normal spell slots, but instead are gained and used under a completely separate progression.
Epic Spell Slots: A character must have an available epic spell slot to prepare or cast an epic spell, just as he or she needs a normal spell slot for a nonepic spell. A character doesn’t gain epic spell slots by virtue of his or her level and class, however. A character gets one epic spell slot for every 10 ranks he or she has in the relevant Knowledge skill.
Factor: When creating an epic spell, a character can modify the basic use of a seed. Each modification is called a factor, and most factors increase the difficulty of casting the spell.
Mitigating Factor: The opposite of a normal factor, a mitigating factor modifies the spell but makes it easier to cast.
Seed: Every custom epic spell created by spellcasters begins with a base effect called a seed. Seeds are the fundamental building blocks of epic spells.
Spellcraft DC: For epic spells, the Spellcraft DC is a measure of how difficult the spell is for a spellcaster to cast. It also measures how powerful an epic spell is.
The following formulas are important to epic spellcasters.
Epic Spells Per Day: Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), or Knowledge (nature) ranks ÷ 10 (round down).
To Cast an Epic Spell: Spellcraft check (DC = epic spell’s Spellcraft DC).
Level of an Epic Spell: Epic spells are considered 10th level for the purpose of Concentration checks, spell resistance, and other determinations.
Saving Throw for an Epic Spell: DC = 20 + key ability modifier.
A lucky nonepic spellcaster casting greater dispel magic might be able to dispel an epic spell. The game mechanics do not change, and epic spells do not occupy any privileged position allowing them to resist being dispelled other than their presumably high caster level. Likewise, epic spells using the dispel seed can dispel nonepic spells. Such epic spells use the same game mechanic: The check to dispel is 1d20 + a specified number (usually dispeller’s level), and the DC is 11 + the spellcaster’s level.
Antimagic field does not automatically suppress epic spells as it does standard spells. Instead, each time an epic spell is subject to an antimagic field,make a dispel check as a 20th-level caster (1d20 + 20). The epic spell has a DC of 11 + the epic spell’s spellcaster level. If the suppression check is successful, the epic spell is suppressed like any other spell. If the dispel check is unsuccessful, the epic spell functions normally.
Each epic spell description follows the same format used for 0- to 9th-level spells. There are two additional entries for epic spells: Spellcraft DC and To Develop.
Spellcraft DC: This is the DC of the Spellcraft check required to cast the epic spell. When casting an epic spell, the character gains a +5 bonus on his or her Spellcraft check if the base seed of the epic spell is from the character’s arcane school specialty or primary psionic discipline. The character takes a –15 penalty if the epic spell seed is from his or her prohibited arcane school.
To Develop: The first part of this entry shows the resources in gold, time, and experience points a character must expend to develop the spell shown. If the character expends the resources, he or she develops the spell if he or she has access to all the seeds. Spells containing the life or heal seed are typically only available to those with 24 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (nature). The rest of the development entry details the seeds and factors used to create the epic spell. This information is provided as an example for characters when they attempt to create and develop their own unique epic spells.
When this spell is cast, enemies within range are dealt 10d6 points of cold damage. However, up to twenty of those victims that perish as a result of this blast are then instantly animated as Medium skeletons. These skeletons serve the character indefinitely. The character cannot exceed the normal limit for controlling undead through use of this spell, but other means that allow the character to exceed the normal limit for controlled undead work just as well with undead created with animus blast.
When this spell is cast, enemies within range are dealt 30d6 points of cold damage. However, up to five victims that perish as a result of this blast are then instantly animated as wights. These five wights serve the character indefinitely. The character cannot exceed the normal limit for controlling undead through use of this spell, but other means that allow the character to exceed the normal limit for controlled undead work just as well with undead created with animus blizzard.
Contingent resurrection returns the subject to life if he or she is slain. Once cast, the spell remains quiescent and does not activate until the trigger conditions have been met (but each day it remains untriggered, it uses up an epic spell slot, even if the character cast it on another creature). Once triggered, the spell is expended. If the subject is killed (the trigger), he or she is restored to life and complete health 1 minute later, so long as even a tiny bit of dust remains for contingent resurrection to act upon. A shaft of light shines down from the heavens, illuminating the subject and everything within 20 feet. The creature is restored to full hit points, vigor, and health, with no loss of prepared spells. However, the subject loses one level (or 1 point of Constitution if the subject was 1st level). Contingent resurrection does not work on a creature that has died of old age.
The character creates a construct known as a living vault to protect and hide his or her treasures. Upon completion, the vault initially measures only 5 feet on a side, but it gradually increases to its proper size over the following 4d4 days. The vault is attuned to the character, allowing him or her alone entrance and egress in a manner similar to a dimension door spell. When the character desires the vault to hide itself, he or she gives it a simple command. To summon the vault, the character may cast a sending spell or arrange some other manner to contact it.
XP Cost: 20,000 XP.
After casting crown of vermin, one thousand venomous, biting and stinging spiders, scorpions, beetles, and centipedes erupt from the very air around the character. This swarm forms a living aura around the character to a radius of 10 feet. The character is immune to his or her own crown of vermin.The swarm goes where the character goes at his or her speed, even if the character takes to the air or water (though water drowns the vermin after 1 full round of immersion, unless the spell is cast underwater, in which case aquatic or marine vermin answer the call and cannot leave the water). Each vermin in the crown of vermin bites a creature who enters the area occupied by the effect (or the character forces the effect into an area occupied by another creature) for 1 point of damage, and then dies. Each victim takes enough points of damage to kill it, destroying that number of vermin in the process. Victims get a Reflex saving throw each round to avoid the full press, and if successful, take only 10d10 bites (and 10d10 points of damage). A total of 1,000 points of damage can be dealt to those who fall prey to the crown of vermin.The vermin have damage reduction 1/epic, so the vermin’s natural weapons are treated as epic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. If there aren’t enough vermin to kill all the creatures in the spell’s effect, the creature with the fewest hit points is affected first, then the creature with the second fewest hit points, and so on. After all creatures that can be killed have been killed, any remaining damage is distributed among the survivors equally.
The character has utter control over the vermin in his or her aura, and can force them into areas that would normally deter common vermin. The character can completely suppress his or her vermin aura as a free action so that no vermin are visible at all. The time that vermin are suppressed does not count toward the spell’s duration. Alternatively, the character can roughly shape and move the vermin in any fashion he or she desires within the limits of the 10-foot-radius spread as a move-equivalent action. The vermin cannot be wrested from the character’s control through any means. The vermin make all saving throws to avoid damaging effects using the character’s base saving throw bonuses. They gain the character’s spell resistance, if any, and they get saving throws against spells that would otherwise automatically slay vermin. A character can see through his or her crown of vermin without difficulty, but gains one-half concealment against enemy attacks launched both outside and within the character’s crown of vermin.
The character sends his or her foe to hell. If the character succeeds at a melee touch attack, the target must succeed at a Will saving throw (DC = the standard epic spell DC + 15). If he or she fails this saving throw, he or she is sent straight to a layer of a lawful evil plane (or a chaotic evil plane, at the character’s option) swarming with fiends. The subject will not willingly leave the plane for 20 hours, believing that his or her predicament is a just reward for an ill-spent life. Even after the compulsion fades, he or she must devise his or her own escape from the plane. Unless the GM devises a specific location and scenario in the Nine Hells, the subject encounters a group of 1d4 pit fiends (or balors, if in a chaotic evil plane) every hour he or she spends in hell.
XP Cost: 2,000 XP.
The character instantly slays a single target and at the same moment animate the body so that it appears that nothing has happened to the creature. The target’s companions (if any) do not immediately realize what has transpired. The target receives a Fortitude saving throw to survive the attack. If the save fails, the target remains in its exact position with no apparent ill effects. In reality, it is now a ghoul under the character’s control. The target’s companions notice nothing unusual about the state of the target until they interact with it, at which time each companion receives a Will saving throw to notice discrepancies. The ghoul serves the character indefinitely. The character cannot exceed the normal limit for controlling undead through use of this spell, but other means that allow the character to exceed the normal limit for controlled undead work just as well with undead created with demise unseen.
The creature or object targeted emanates bitter cold to a radius of 1,000 feet for 20 hours. The emanated cold deals 2d6 points of damage per round against unprotected creatures (the target is susceptible if not magically protected or otherwise resistant to the energy). The intense cold freezes water out of the air, causing constant snowfall and wind. The snow and wind produce a blizzard effect within the area.
XP Cost: 10,000 XP.
This spell summons an adult red dragon. It appears where the character designates and acts immediately. It attacks the character’s opponents to the best of its abilities (on the first round, it prefers to breathe fire on an enemy, if possible). The character can direct the dragon not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions. This is a ritual spell requiring two other spellcasters, each of which must contribute an unused 8th-level spell slot to the casting.
This spell summons ten adult red dragons. They appear where the character designates and act immediately. They attack the character’s opponents to the best of their abilities (on the first round, they all prefer to simultaneously breathe fire on an enemy, if possible). The character can direct the dragons not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions.
XP Cost: 2,000 XP (per caster).
The character and any creatures he or she touches are drawn into the region of dreams. The character can take more than one creature along (subject to the character’s weight limit), but all must be touching each other. The character physically enters the land of dreams, leaving nothing behind. For every minute the character moves through the dream landscape, he or she can “wake” to find him or her self five miles displaced in the waking world. The character does not know precisely where he or she will come out in the waking world, nor the conditions of the waking world through which the character travels. The character knows approximately where he or she will end up based on time spent traveling in dream. Dreamscape can also be used to travel to other planes that contain creatures that dream, but doing this requires crossing into the dreams of outsiders, where the character is subject to the dangers of alien dream realities. This is a potentially perilous proposition. Transferring to another plane of existence requires 1d4 hours of uninterrupted journey. Any creatures touched by the character when dreamscape is cast also make the transition to the borders of unconscious thought. They may opt to follow the character, wander off into the dreams of others, or stumble back into the waking world (50% chance for either of the latter results if they are lost or abandoned by the character). Creatures unwilling to accompany the character into the region of dreams receive a Will save, negating the effect if successful.
With this spell, the character can create a limited eclipse, as though a heavenly body moves between the sun and the earth. The landscape within a five-mile radius of the character’s location experiences the dimming of the sun as a disk the character creates passes in front of it, culminating in a complete blackout and accompanying coronal ring. The eclipse follows the character across the landscape for up to 8 hours, or until the sun goes down, or until the character dismisses the eclipse. The character does not need to concentrate on the eclipse while it lasts.
XP Cost: 4,000 XP.
Upon casting eidolon, the character creates a duplicate version of him or her self as the character was when he or she was a 21st-level character, and the character gains one negative level while the duplicate persists. For each additional negative level the character bestow upon him or her self at the time of casting, the eidolon has one additional character level. No matter how many negative levels the character bestows on him or her self, the eidolon can never have more character levels than the character has (taking the negative levels into account). Treat the duplicate as the character with a number of negative levels conferred that would lower him or her to the character level of the eidolon. The eidolon is considered fresh and rested when created. It may cast any spell the character has access to, including an epic spell. Use the eidolon’s Spellcraft modifier as the basis for the number of epic spells it can cast in a day, and its effective character level as a basis for its skills, feats, and other abilities. The eidolon is effectively lower level than the character and probably can’t cast all the spells he or she knows. A powerful enough eidolon might conceivably cast the eidolon spell itself. The eidolon appears in whatever mundane clothing the character desires when initially conjured, but it has no other possessions. It shares part of the character’s soul, so it is the character for all intents and purposes. The character and his or her eidolon communicate with each other normally. Usually, the eidolon does not begrudge its brief existence, because it is still part of the character. If the eidolon is killed prior to the expiration of the spell’s duration, the character immediately regains the lost levels. Normally, the eidolon does not last long enough to threaten the character with permanent level drain.
XP Cost: 2,500 XP.
The character makes a permanent thrall of any living creature. The character establishes a telepathic link with the subject’s mind. If the creature has a language, the character can generally force the subject to perform as he or she desires, within the limits of its abilities. If the creature has no language, the character can communicate only basic commands. The character knows what the subject is experiencing, but does not receive direct sensory input from it. A subject forced to take an action against its nature receives a saving throw with a penalty of –10 to resist taking that particular action, but if it succeeds, it still remains the character’s thrall despite its minor mutiny. Once a subject makes a successful saving throw to resist a specific order, it makes all future saving throws to resist taking that specific action without a penalty. Protection from evil or a similar spell can prevent the character from exercising control or using the telepathic link while the subject is so protected, but it does not prevent the establishment of enslave or dispel it.
XP Cost: 2,000 XP.
To use epic counterspell,select an opponent as the target. The character does this by readying an action, electing to wait to complete his or her action until the opponent tries to cast a spell (the character may still move his or her speed, because readying a counterspell is a standard action). If the target tries to cast a spell, make a dispel check: Roll d20+40 against a DC of 11 + the foe’s caster level. If the check is successful, the character’s spell negates the foe’s spell.
An invisible but tangible field of force surrounds the subject of epic mage armor, providing a +20 armor bonus to Armor Class. Unlike mundane armor, epic mage armor entails no armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, or speed reduction. Because epic mage armor is made of force, incorporeal creatures can’t bypass it the way they do normal armor.
The character can create a permanent ward against a specific creature type. Any creature of the specified type cannot attack or touch the warded creature or object. The protection ends if the warded creature makes an attack against or intentionally moves to within 5 feet of a specified creature. Spell resistance can allow a creature to overcome this protection and touch the warded creature.
The character can create a permanent ward against all spells of 1st through 9th level that target the subject. These spells are reflected back on the caster. Spells that affect an area are not affected by this spell.
XP Cost: 9,500 XP.
The subject becomes permanently immune to the following specific spells, effects, and spell-like abilities: entangle, hold, imprisonment,paralysis, petrification, sleep, slow,stunning, temporal stasis,and web.This is a ritual spell requiring ten other spellcasters, each of whom must contribute an unused 9th-level spell slot to the casting.
XP Cost: 10,000 XP.
The character grants the subject touched spell resistance 35 until the duration expires. The spell resistance granted does not stack, but overlaps with, any previous spell resistance. This is a ritual spell, requiring two other spellcasters, each of whom must contribute an unused 6th-level spell slot to the casting.
The character deals 35d6 points of damage to a single target within range and line of sight. If the target is reduced to –10 hit points or less (or a construct, object, or undead is reduced to 0 hit points), it is utterly destroyed as if disintegrated. Only a trace of fine dust remains. XP Cost: 2,000 XP.
A hellball deals 10d6 points of acid damage, 10d6 points of fire damage, 10d6 points of electricity damage, and 10d6 points of sonic damage to all creatures within the area. Unattended objects also take this damage. The character takes 10d6 points of damage upon casting (in addition to burning 200 XP). The character points his or her finger and determine the range (distance and height) at which the hellball is to detonate. A sun-bright, fist-sized globe of energy streaks forth and, unless it impacts a material body or solid barrier prior to attaining the indicated range, expands into its full area.
XP Cost: 200 XP.
Once a character has cast this spell, he or she can absorb, store, and redirect the energy contained in any physical (melee or ranged) attack. The character absorbs 20 points of each separate slashing, bludgeoning, and piercing attack made against him or her, saving it for later. A character can absorb up to 150 points of damage in this fashion; however, if the stored damage is not discharged prior to reaching the 150-point limit, the spell automatically discharges, dealing the 150 points of damage to the character. The character keeps track of the number of points of damage he or she has absorbed (the character doesn’t have to keep track of the type of damage). At any time during the spell’s duration, the character can make a touch attack against another creature or object. If successful, the character deals the target some or all (character’s choice) of the points of damage he or she has stored. The damage delivered is considered bludgeoning damage. A character can absorb and discharge damage any number of times during the spell’s duration, so long as the character doesn’t absorb more than 150 points at a time. When the spell expires, any stored damage the character has not redirected is discharged into the character.
The character deals 20d6 points of damage to any creature grappling him or her. The damage dealt is of no particular type or energy—it is a purely destructive impulse. If grappled by a magical force the force is automatically destroyed.
The character develops a spell that he or she can cast; thereafter, the spell can effectively “cast itself.” When the character casts the spell, a stroke of energy deals 10d6 points of electricity damage to each creature within the spell’s area. Living lightning follows all the standard rules for epic spell casting when the character casts it. Living lightning is sentient and generally friendly toward the character. It has the character’s mental ability scores, but it has no physical ability scores. It senses the world through the character’s senses and communicates with him or her by thought. As a self-triggering spell, it isn’t truly alive but is a fragment of the character’s personality. It cares little for the world around it, but at the character’s urging (and sometimes at its own discretion) it casts itself at his or her foes. Casters who prepare spells before casting must prepare living lightning normally in order for it to cast itself. When the spell casts itself, it acts on the character’s initiative but does not count against his or her own actions in the round. The character cannot simultaneously cast living lightning while it is casting its own effect, even if it has been prepared more than once. Living lightning uses up one of the character’s epic spell slots for the day whenever it casts itself. When the character has used up all his or her epic spell slots for the day (or has cast all his or her prepared living lightning spells, if a caster who must prepare spells), living lightning becomes quiescent. It remains so until the character has rested to regain his or her epic spell slots for the next day.
The character is possessed by a dream larva. For 20 rounds, the dream larva’s body physically replaces the character’s, though the dream larva has the character’s equipment. The dream larva is free to call on all its own powers and abilities, or use the character’s equipment. The character’s consciousness and physical form are suppressed for the duration of the possession. The character has no way to dismiss the spell, communicate, or otherwise maintain awareness once possession has commenced. The dream larva, temporarily freed from its imprisonment in some distant nightmare, will attempt to slay and incapacitate any creature it can see or find, whether it is a friend or foe of the caster. Casting lord of nightmares entails some risk for the caster, since it’s unknown what a dream larva might do over the course of 20 rounds. The larva will dispatch all enemies it can find before turning to its own concerns. Sometimes a dream larva will attempt to place itself in a dangerous or precarious situation prior to the end of the spell, leaving the caster to extricate him or herself. If the dream larva is slain during the duration of the spell, the character’s consciousness is instantly restored to aware-ness within his or her own body. The character’s condition remains what it was when he or she completed casting lord of nightmares,regardless of what damage the dream larva received. However, magic item charges used, potions consumed, and other physical resources used up by the dream larva are permanent.
XP Cost: 1,000 XP.
This epic spell turns all Medium or smaller creatures in the area into frogs. The transformed creatures retain their mental faculties, including personality, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, level and class, hit points (despite any change in Consitution score), alignment, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, extraordinary abilities, spells, and spell-like abilities, but not supernatural abilities. They assume the physical characteristics of frogs, including natural size and Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores. (Use the statistics for the toad.) All the creatures’ equipment drops to the ground upon transformation.
As a free action that counts as a quickened spell, the character wills the target dead without a word or gesture. The character’s thought snuffs out the life force of a living creature of 160 or fewer HD, killing it instantly. The subject is entitled to a Fortitude saving throw (DC 30 + relevant ability modifier) to have a chance of surviving the attack. If the save is successful, the target instead takes 3d6+20 points of damage.
When the character sprinkles the dust of ground mummies in conjunction with casting mummy dust,two Large 18-HD mummies (see below) spring up from the dust in an area adjacent to the character. The mummies follow the character’s every command according to their abilities, until they are destroyed or the character loses control of them by attempting to control more Hit Dice of undead than he or she has caster levels.
Material Component: Specially prepared mummy dust (10,000 gp).
XP Cost: 2,000 XP.
Mummy, Advanced: CR 8; Large undead; HD 18d12+3; hp 120; Init -1; Spd 20 ft.; AC 20, touch 8, flat-footed 20; Base Atk +9; Grp +24; Atk +20 melee (1d8+16 plus mummy rot); Full Atk +20 melee (1d8+16 plus mummy rot); Space/Reach 10 ft./10 ft.; SA Despair, mummy rot; SQ Damage reduction 5/–, darkvision 60 ft., undead traits, vulnerability to fire; AL LE; SV Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +13; Str 32, Dex 8, Con --, Int 6, Wis 14, Cha 15. Skills and Feats: Hide -5, Listen +9, Move Silently +10, Spot +9; Alertness, Blind-Fight, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness, Weapon Focus (slam).
Despair (Su): At the sight of a mummy, the viewer must succeed at a Will save (DC 21), or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by that mummy’s despair ability for one day. Mummy Rot (Su): Supernatural disease—slam, Fortitude save (DC 21), incubation period 1 minute; damage 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha. The save DC is Charisma-based. Unlike normal diseases, mummy rot continues until the victim reaches Constitution 0 (and dies) or is cured as described below. Mummy rot is a powerful curse, not a natural disease. A character attempting to cast any conjuration (healing) spell on a creature afflicted with mummy rot must succeed on a DC 20 caster level check, or the spell has no effect on the afflicted character. To eliminate mummy rot, the curse must first be broken with break enchantment or remove curse (requiring a DC 20 caster level check for either spell), after which a caster level check is no longer necessary to cast healing spells on the victim, and the mummy rot can be magically cured as any normal disease.
An afflicted creature who dies of mummy rot shrivels away into sand and dust that blow away into nothing at the first wind.
Nailed to the sky actually places the target so far from the surface of the world and at such a speed that it keeps missing the surface as it falls back, so it enters an eternal orbit. Unless the target can magically fly or has some other form of non-physical propulsion available, the target is stuck until someone else rescues it. Even if the target can fly, the surface is 2 to 4 hours away, assuming a fly spell, which allows a maximum speed of 720 feet per round while descending. The target may not survive that long. Depending on the world where nailed to the sky is cast, conditions so far from its surface may be deadly. Deleterious effects include scorching heat, cold, and vacuum. Targets subject to these conditions take 2d6 points of damage each from heat or cold and 1d4 points of damage from the vacuum each round. The target immediately begins to suffocate.
XP Cost: 1,000 XP.
This spell creates a new creature: an achaierai. When first created, the achaierai is Medium, but it grows to Large size in 1d4 days. A created achaierai does not possess the treasure, culture, or specific knowledge of a normal achaierai. If released to be among its own kind, it quickly picks up achaierai traits and alignment.
XP Cost: 10,000 XP.
Ranged attacks targeted against the character rebound on the original attacker. Any time during the duration, five attacks are automatically reflected back on the original attacker; the character decides which attacks before damage is rolled. The reflected attack rebounds on the attacker using the same attack roll. Once five attacks are so reflected, the spell ends.
When pestilence is successfully cast, a wave of illness radites outward from the site of the ritual, instantly infecting every living thing in the area with the debilitating disease known as slimy doom. Within 24 hours, everything in the area begins to show signs of rot and decay.
Each day that a victim fails a Fortitude save, it takes 1d4 points of temporary Constitution damage. If the victim then fails a second save, 1 point of that damage is permanent drain. If the victim succeeds at the first saving throw of the day on consecutive days, he or she has recovered from the disease. This magical form of the disease is not contagious and will not spread beyond those initially infected. Fruits and vegetables infected with slimy doom are unfit for consumption, as are disease-ridden livestock. This is a ritual spell requiring two other spellcasters, each of whom must expend an unused epic spell slot for the casting. The primary caster must also burn 10,000 XP.
XP Cost: 10,000 XP.
This spell summons a swirling thunderstorm that rains fire rather than raindrops down on the character and everything within a two-mile radius of him or her. Everything caught unprotected or unsheltered in the flaming deluge takes 1 point of fire damage each round. A successful Reflex save results in no damage, but the save must be repeated each round. Unless the ground is exceedingly damp, all vegetation is eventually blackened and destroyed, leaving behind a barren wasteland similar to the aftermath of a grass or forest fire. The fiery storm is stationary and persists even if the caster leaves.
The character can literally raise a new island from out of the sea, bringing to the surface a sandy or rocky but otherwise barren protrusion that is solid, stable, and permanently established. The island is roughly circular and about 200 feet in diameter. Raise island only works if the ocean is less than 1,000 feet deep where the spell is cast.
XP Cost: 2,000 XP.
The character deals 20d6 points of damage to a single target within range and line of sight. If the target is reduced to –10 hit points or less (or a construct, object, or undead is reduced to 0 hit points), it is utterly destroyed as if disintegrated. Only a trace of fine dust remains.
XP Cost: 2,000 XP.
Safe time can move the character (or the target) out of harm’s way by shunting him or her into a static time stream. Once cast, the spell remains quiescent and does not activate until the trigger conditions have been met. Each day it remains untriggered, it uses up an epic spell slot, even if you cast it on another creature. Once triggered, the spell is expended normally. When the character would otherwise be subject to any instantaneous effect that would deal him or her 50 or more points of damage, he or she is instead transported to a static time stream where time ceases to flow. The character’s condition becomes fixed—no force or effect can harm him or her until 1 round of real time has passed. Thus, the character avoids the damage he or she would otherwise receive, but the character also misses out on one round of activity. To the character, no time passes at all, but to onlookers who are part of real time, the character stands frozen and fixed in space for 1 full round.
When a character casts this spell, he or she is temporarily able to take control of another sentient creature with whom the character is familiar (by meeting, observing, or successfully scrying the subject). The target receives a Will save, and if successful, prevents the character from making the telepathic connection. The target is aware of the attempted takeover as a strange, momentary tingling. If the Will save fails, the character is able to control the subject’s body as if it were his or her own, hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, and tasting everything the target senses. Once the character dismisses the spell or its duration ends, the target resumes control of its body, fully aware of all events that occurred, having been a helpless witness trapped inside its own body. The target knows the name and general nature of its possessor if it succeeds at an additional Will saving throw. A character cannot control undead or incorporeal creatures with soul dominion.
When a character casts this spell, he or she is temporarily able to tap the consciousness of another sentient creature with whom the character is familiar (by meeting, observing, or successfully scrying the subject), experiencing everything he or she does with all five senses. The target receives a Will save, and if successful, prevents the character from making the telepathic connection. Whether the saving throw is successful or not, the target is unaware of the attempted intrusion. Once the subject is tapped, the character is able to hear, see, feel, smell, and taste everything the subject senses. The character cannot control the subject, however. The character can only see what the subject chooses to look at, and the character tastes something only if the subject eats or drinks it during the spell’s duration. During this time, the character’s own body remains in a trance-like state. If the subject takes damage, the character senses the injuries, although his or her own body does not actually suffer any ill effects. If the subject is knocked unconscious or killed, the spell immediately ends.
On a failed save, the subject must spend a standard action each round abandoning his or her highest-level spell (or losing his or her highest-level unused spell slot). Each round, the subject eliminates another spell or spell slot, moving to lower-level spells once all the higher-level spells are gone. In the case of prepared spells, the subject decides which spells to abandon at each level. If the subject has more than one standard action allowed in the round, he or she may spend those actions as he or she desires. The subject doesn’t realize the spells or spell slots are gone until he or she tries to cast a spell and finds it unavailable. Abandoning a spell slot or losing a spell is standard action, but it does not draw an attack of opportunity. It is a purely mental exercise not obvious to observers.
The character can summon a behemoth to attack his or her enemies. It appears where the character designates and acts immediately, on the character’s turn. It attacks the character’s opponents to the best of its ability. If the character can communicate with the creature, he or she can direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions. Summoned creatures act normally on the last round of the spell and disappear at the end of their turn.
As greater dispel magic, except that the maximum bonus on the dispel check is +40, and the character takes 10d6 points of backlash damage.
The character snatches him or her self from 1 round in the future, depositing this future self in an adjacent space as a free action that counts as a quickened spell. The character’s future self is technically only a possible future self (the time stream is a maelstrom of multiple probabilities), but snatching that future self from 1 round in the future collapses probability, and the possible future becomes the definite future. The character and his or her future self are both free to act normally this round (the character has already used up the limit of one quickened spell per round, but his or her duplicate hasn’t). The future self has all the resources the character has at the moment he or she finishes casting time duplicate.Because the future self was previously only a possibility, his or her resources are not depleted as a result of whatever might occur this round (even if the character dies this round). Likewise, he or she doesn’t have any special knowledge of what might occur during this round. Because the future self is still part of the time stream, the round it spends with the character is a round it misses in its own future. Because the chracter’s future duplicate is also the character, the character misses the next round as well. He or she simply isn’t there. Tampering with the time stream is a tricky business. Here is a round-by-round summary.
Round One: The character casts time duplicate,the future self from round two arrives, and both act normally.
Round Two: The future self—the character—gets snatched back in time to help the past self. During this round, there are no versions of the character present.
Round Three: The character rejoins the time stream. The character arrives in the same location and condition that the future self ended with at the end of the first round. Any resources (spells, damage, staff charges) the future self used up in round one are gone for real. Record them now. Using this spell to snatch a single future self stretches time and probability to its limit; more powerful versions of time duplicate are not possible. A character cannot bring more than a single future version of him or her self back at one time, nor can a character snatch a version of him or her from farther in the future.
The target of this spell is subject to 305d6 points of damage (or half of that if a Fortitude save succeeds). If the target is reduced to –10 hit points or less (or a construct, object, or undead is reduced to 0 hit points), it is utterly destroyed as if disintegrated, leaving behind only a trace of fine dust. The caster is likewise dealt 200d6 points of damage
This spell creates a tsunami of grass, shrubs, and trees that overgrows the area like a tidal wave. The plant growth creeps and curls across every-thing in the area, ensnaring it and coiling around it as if it had been growing there for a century or more. Creatures in the area must make a Reflex saving throw to avoid the fast-moving growth, which otherwise deals 10d6 points of damage from the crushing press. Buildings are engulfed and they likewise take 10d6 points of damage. Those destroyed by the damage have their foundations uprooted and walls crumbled. The plant growth remains for 24 hours, after which it vanishes.
This spell creates a tsunami of grass, shrubs, and trees that overgrows the area like a tidal wave. The plant growth creeps and curls across every-thing in the area, ensnaring it and coiling around it as if it had been growing there for a century or more. Creatures in the area must make a Reflex saving throw to avoid the fast-moving growth, which otherwise deals 40d6 points of damage from the crushing press. Buildings are engulfed and they likewise take 40d6 points of damage. Those destroyed by the damage have their foundations uprooted and walls crumbled. The plant growth is permanent. This is a ritual spell requiring fourteen other spellcasters, each of whom must contribute an unused 6th-level spell slot to the casting.
XP Cost: 10,000 XP.
An epic spell is developed from smaller pieces called seeds and connecting pieces called factors. Every epic seed has a base Spellcraft DC, and every factor has a Spell-craft DC adjustment. When a desired spell is developed, the spellcaster spends resources and time to assemble the pieces that make up the epic spell. The base Spellcraft DCs of each seed are added together; then the DC adjustments of the factors are added to that total. The sum equals the final Spellcraft DC for the epic spell.
The final Spellcraft DC is the most significant gauge of the epic spell’s power. A spellcaster attempts to cast an epic spell by making a Spellcraft check against the epic spell’s Spellcraft DC. Thus, a spellcaster knows immediately, based on his or her own Spellcraft bonus, what epic spells are within his or her capability to cast, which are risky, and which are beyond him or her. Epic casters don’t commit time and money to develop epic spells until they are powerful enough to cast them.
An epic spell developed by an arcane spellcaster is arcane, and an epic spell developed by a divine spellcaster is divine. A character who can cast both divine and arcane epic spells chooses whether a particular spell he or she develops will be arcane or divine. If that same caster uses the heal or life seed in an epic spell, that spell is always considered divine. All the epic spells described here can be developed independently by a character who spends the necessary time, money, and experience points. Alternatively, a character can use those spells as a starting point when creating customized versions of the spells.
| Seed | Base Spellcraft DC | Seed | Base Spellcraft DC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afflict | 14 | Energy | 19 |
| Animate | 25 | Foresee | 17 |
| Animate dead | 23 | Fortify | 17 |
| Armor | 14 | Heal* | 25 |
| Banish | 27 | Life* | 27 |
| Compel | 19 | Reflect | 27 |
| Conceal | 17 | Reveal | 19 |
| Conjure | 21 | Slay | 25 |
| Contact | 23 | Summon | 14 |
| Delude | 14 | Transform | 21 |
| Destroy | 29 | Transport | 27 |
| Dispel | 19 | Ward | 14 |
*Spellcasters without at least 24 ranks in Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (nature) may not use heal or life spell seeds.
Resource Cost: The development of an epic spell uses up raw materials costing a number of gold pieces equal to 9,000 xthe final Spellcraft DC of the epic spell being developed.
Development Time: Developing an epic spell takes one day for each 50,000 gp in resources required to develop the spell, rounded up to whole days.
XP Cost: To develop an epic spell, a character must spend 1/25 of its resource price in experience points.
Adding Seed DCs: When two or more epic seeds are combined in an epic spell, their base Spellcraft DCs are added together. Both contribute toward the spell’s final Spellcraft DC.
Determining School: When combining two or more seeds to develop an epic spell, the school of the finished spell is decided by the caster from among the seeds that make up the epic spell.
Combining Descriptors: When two or more epic seeds are combined in an epic spell, all the descriptors from each seed apply to the finished spell.
Combining Components and Casting Times: Almost every epic spell has verbal and somatic components and a 1-minute casting time, regardless of the number of epic seeds combined. The only exceptions are epic spells with the heal and life seeds, which have divine focus components.
Combining Range, Targets, Area, and Effect: One seed might have a range of 12,000 feet, another seed might have a range of 400 feet, and a third seed might not have a range at all. Likewise, some seeds have targets, while others have an effect or an area. To determine which seed takes precedence in the finished epic spell, the character must decide which seed is the base seed. The seed most important to the spell’s overall purpose is the base seed, and it determines the casting time, range, target, and so on. The other seeds apply only their specific effects to the finished spell. It is occasionally difficult to determine a base seed by examining the spell’s effects. If no one seed is most important, simply pick one seed for the purposes of making this determination.
Combining Durations: When combining two or more seeds to develop an epic spell, the seed with the shortest duration determines the duration of the finished epic spell. If any seed of an epic spell is dismissible by the caster, the epic spell is dismissible.
Saving Throws: Even if more than one seed has an associated saving throw, the final spell will have only a single saving throw. If two or more seeds have the same kind of saving throw (Fortitude, Reflex, or Will), then obviously that will be used for the spell’s saving throw. If the seeds have different kinds of saving throws, simply choose the saving throw that seems most appropriate for the final spell.
Spell Resistance: When combining two or more seeds to develop an epic spell, if even one seed is subject to spell resistance, the finished epic spell is subject to it as well.
Factors: Factors are not part of epic seeds, but they are the tools used to modify specific parameters of any given seed. Applying factors to the seeds of an epic spell can increase or decrease the final Spellcraft DC, increase the duration, change the area of a spell, and affect many other aspects of the spell.
There are three kinds of factors:
1. Those that can affect a number of seeds.
2. Those that can only be used with specific seeds.
3. Those that reduce the Spellcraft DC rather than increasing it. These are referred to as mitigating factors. To calculate the final Spellcraft DC of an epic spell correctly, it’s important to determine the mitigating factors last, after all the factors that increase the DC have been accounted for.
Development Is an Art: Many times developing a completely new epic spell requires some guesswork and rule stretching. As with making and pricing magic items, a sort of balancing act is required. Often the description of a seed will need to be stretched for a particular spell. If necessary, assess an “ad hoc” Spellcraft DC adjustment for any effect that cannot be extrapolated from the seeds and factors presented here—the example spells use ad hoc factors frequently. In all cases, the GM determines the actual Spellcraft DC of the new spell
Approval: This is the final step, and it’s critically important. The epic spell development work and reasoning must be shown to the GM and receive his or her approval. If the GM doesn’t approve, then the epic spell cannot be developed. However, the GM should explain why the epic spell wasn’t approved and possibly offer suggestions on how to create an epic spell that will be acceptable.
| Spellcraft DC Modifier | |
|---|---|
| Casting Time | |
| Reduce casting time by 1 round (minimum 1 round) | +2 |
| 1-action casting time | +20 |
| Quickened spell (limit one quickened action/round) | +28 |
| Contingent on specific trigger1 | +25 |
| Components No verbal component | +2 |
| No somatic component | +2 |
| Duration2 | |
| Increase duration by 100% | +2 |
| Permanent duration (apply this factor after all other epic spell factors but before mitigating factors) | x5 |
| Dismissible by caster (if not already) | +2 |
| Range Increase range by 100% | +2 |
| Target3 | |
| Add extra target within 300 ft. | +10 |
| Change from target to area (pick area option below) | +10 |
| Change from personal to area (pick area option below) | +15 |
| Change from target to touch or ray (300-ft. range) | +4 |
| Change from touch or ranged touch attack to target | +4 |
| Area4 | |
| Change area to bolt (5 ft. x300 ft. or 10 ft. x150 ft.) | +2 |
| Change area to cylinder (10-ft. radius, 30 ft. high) | +2 |
| Change area to 40-ft. cone | +2 |
| Change area to four 10-ft. cubes | +2 |
| Change area to 20-ft. radius | +2 |
| Change area to target | +4 |
| Change area to touch or ray (close range) | +4 |
| Increase area by 100% | +4 |
| Saving Throw | |
| Increase spell’s saving throw DC by +1 | +2 |
| Spell Resistance | |
| Gain +1 bonus on caster level check to overcome target’s spell resistance | +2 |
| Gain +1 on caster level check to beat foe’s dispel effect | +2 |
| Other | |
| Recorded onto stone tablet5 | x2 |
| Increase damage die by one step (d20 maximum) | +10 |
Unless stated otherwise, the same factor can be applied more than once.
1 Each contingent spell in use counts as a slot used from the caster’s daily epic spell slots.
2 Seeds that already have an instantaneous or permanent duration cannot be increased.
3 When changing a targeted or area seed to a touch or ranged attack, the seed no longer requires a save if it deals damage, instead requiring a successful attack roll. Seeds with a nondamaging effect still allow the target a save. Area spells changed to touch or ranged attacks now affect only the creature successfully attacked.
4 When changing a touch or ranged attack seed to a targeted seed, the seed no longer requires an attack roll if it deals damage, instead requiring a saving throw from the target. On a failed saving throw, the target takes half damage. Area seeds changed to targeted seeds now only affect the target. The GM determines the most appropriate kind of saving throw for the epic spell.
5 Epic spells may only be inscribed on stone tablets or other substances of equal or greater hardness. Once a spell is so inscribed, another epic spellcaster can learn it without going through the process of development. Once an inscribed epic spell is learned by another epic spellcaster in this fashion, the tablet upon which it is inscribed is destroyed and cannot be mended.
| Spellcraft DC Modifier | |
|---|---|
| Backlash 1d6 points of damage (max d6 = caster’s HD x2)1 | –1 |
| Burn 100 XP during casting (max 20,000 XP) | –1 |
| Increase casting time by 1 minute (max 10 minutes)2 | –2 |
| Increase casting time by 1 day (max 100 days)2 | –2 |
| Change from target, touch, or area to personal | –2 |
| Additional participants (ritual) | see Table: Additional Participants in Rituals |
| Decrease damage die by one step (d4 minimum) | –5 |
Note: Mitigating factors are always applied after all epic spell factors (see above) are accounted for in the development of an epic spell.
1 The caster cannot somehow avoid or make him or her self immune to backlash damage. For spells with durations longer than instantaneous, the backlash damage is per round. If backlash damage kills a caster, no spell or method exists that will return life to the caster’s body without costing the caster a level—not even wish, true resurrection, miracle, or epic spells that return life to the deceased. Spells that normally penalize the recipient one level when they return him or her to life penalize a caster killed by backlash two levels.
2 When increasing the casting time of a spell in order to reduce the Spellcraft DC, a character must first “use up” the maximum of 10 minutes (for a total DC modifier of –20). After that, a character can continue to add days to the casting time, with a further modifier of –2 per day, up to the maximum of 100 days.
Additional Participants: Epic spells can be developed that specifically require additional participants. These spells are called rituals. An epic spell developed as a ritual requires a specific number of additional participants, who each must use up one spell slot of a specified level for the day. During an epic spell’s development, the spell’s creator determines the number of additional participants and the level of the spell slots to be contributed. If the exact number of spellcasters does not partake in the casting, or if the casters do not each contribute the proper spell slot, the epic spell automatically fails. To participate, each participant readies an action to contribute his or her raw spell energy when the primary caster begins the epic spell. Additional participants in a ritual spell reduce the Spellcraft DC, as shown on Table: Additional Participants in Rituals. Each additional participant may only contribute one spell slot. It doesn’t matter whether the additional participants are arcane or divine spellcasters; only the level of the spell slot contributed matters. A contributed spell slot is treated as if normally cast. A wizard may contribute either a prepared, uncast spell slot, or an open, unprepared slot. The Spellcraft DC adjustments for each additional participant stack.
Special: A ritual epic spell that takes longer than 1 standard action to cast requires all extra participants to stand as if casting for the same amount of time. If an extra participant is attacked while contributing a spell slot, the participant must make a Concentration check as if casting a spell of the same level as the slot contributed. If the attack disrupts the participant in the ritual, the epic spell is not necessarily ruined. However, the Spellcraft DC reduction that would have been provided by that additional participant cannot be applied to the final Spellcraft DC of the epic spell. Thus the ritual epic spell will be harder for the primary spellcaster to cast.
| Spell Slot Level Contributed | Spellcraft DC Reduction | Spell Slot Level Contributed | Spellcraft DC Reduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | –1 | 6th | –11 |
| 2nd | –3 | 7th | –13 |
| 3rd | –5 | 8th | –15 |
| 4th | –7 | 9th | –17 |
| 5th | –9 | Epic slot | –19 |
Each seed description hereafter follows the same format used for 0- to 9th-level spells. An additional line, Spellcraft DC, indicates the base DC of the Spellcraft check required to cast an epic spell with this seed.
Afflicts the target with a –2 morale penalty on attack rolls, checks, and saving throws. For each additional –1 penalty assessed on either the target’s attack rolls, checks, or saving throws, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. A character may also develop a spell with this seed that afflicts the target with a –1 penalty on caster level checks, a –1 penalty to an ability score, a –1 penalty to spell resistance, or a –1 penalty to some other aspect of the target. For each additional –1 penalty assessed in one of the above categories, increase the Spell-craft DC by +4. This seed can afflict a character’s ability scores to the point where they reach 0, except for Constitution where 1 is the minimum. If a factor is applied to increase the duration of this seed, ability score penalties instead become temporary ability damage. If a factor is applied to make the duration permanent, any ability score penalties become permanent ability drain. Finally, by increasing the Spellcraft DC by +2, one of the target’s senses can be afflicted: sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch, or a special sense the target possesses. If the target fails its saving throw, the sense selected doesn’t function for the spell’s duration, with all attendant penalties that apply for losing the specified sense.
This seed can imbue inanimate objects with mobility and a semblance of life (not actual life). The animated object attacks whomever or whatever the caster initially designates. The animated object can be of any nonmagical material. The caster can also animate part of a larger mass of raw matter, such as a volume of water in the ocean, part of a stony wall, or the earth itself, as long as the volume of material does not exceed 20 cubic feet. For each additional 10 cubic feet of matter animated, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1, up to 1,000 cubic feet. For each additional 100 cubic feet of matter animated after the first 1,000 cubic feet, increase the spellcraft DC by +1. For each additional Hit Die granted to an animated object of a given size, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. To animate attended objects (objects carried or worn by another creature), increase the Spellcraft DC by +10.
The caster can turn the bones or bodies of dead creatures into undead that follow his or her spoken commands. The undead can follow the caster, or they can remain in an area and attack any creature (or a specific type of creature) entering the place. The undead remain animated until they are destroyed. (A destroyed undead can’t be animated again.) Intelligent undead can follow more sophisticated commands. The animate dead seed allows a character to create 20 HD of undead. For each additional 1 HD of undead created, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1. The undead created remain under the caster’s control indefinitely. A caster can naturally control 1 HD per caster level of undead creatures he or she has personally created, regardless of the method used. If the caster exceeds this number, newly created creatures fall under his or her control, and excess undead from previous castings become uncontrolled (the caster chooses which creatures are released). If the caster is a cleric, any undead he or she commands through his or her ability to command or rebuke undead do not count toward the limit. For each additional 2 HD of undead to be controlled, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1. Only undead in excess of 20 HD created with this seed can be controlled using this DC adjustment. To both create and control more than 20 HD of undead, increase the Spellcraft DC by +3 per additional 2 HD of undead.
Type of Undead: All types of undead can be created with the animate dead seed, although creating more powerful undead increases the Spellcraft DC of the epic spell, according to the table below. The GM must set the Spellcraft DC for undead not included on the table, using similar undead as a basis for comparison.
| Undead | Spellcraft DC Modifier | Undead | Spellcraft DC Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skeleton | –12 | Wraith | –2 |
| Zombie | –12 | Mummy | +0 |
| Ghoul | –10 | Spectre | +2 |
| Shadow | –8 | Morhg | +4 |
| Ghast | –6 | Vampire | +6 |
| Wight | –4 | Ghost | +8 |
This seed grants a creature additional armor, providing a +4 bonus to Armor Class. The bonus is either an armor bonus or a natural armor bonus, whichever the caster selects. Unlike mundane armor, the armor seed provides an intangible protection that entails no armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, or speed reduction. Incorporeal creatures can’t bypass the armor seed the way they can ignore normal armor. For each additional point of Armor Class bonus, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. The caster can also grant a creature a +1 bonus to Armor Class using a different bonus type, such as deflection, divine, or insight. For each additional point of bonus to Armor Class of one of these types, increase the Spellcraft DC by +10.
This seed forces extraplanar creatures out of the caster’s home plane. The caster can banish up to 14 HD of extraplanar creatures. For each additional 2 HD of extraplanar creatures banished, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1. To specify a type or sub-type of creature other than outsider to be banished, increase the Spellcraft DC by +20.
This seed compels a target to follow a course of activity. At the basic level of effect, a spell using the compel seed must be worded in such a manner as to make the activity sound reasonable. Asking the creature to do an obviously harmful act automatically negates the effect (unless the Spellcraft DC has been increased to avoid this limitation; see below). To compel a creature to follow an outright unreasonable course of action, increase the Spellcraft DC by +10. The compelled course of activity can continue for the entire duration. If the compelled activity can be completed in a shorter time, the spell ends when the subject finishes what he or she was asked to do. The caster can instead specify conditions that will trigger a special activity during the duration. If the condition is not met before the spell using this seed expires, the activity is not performed.
This seed can conceal a creature or object touched from sight, even from darkvision. If the subject is a creature carrying gear, the gear vanishes too, rendering the creature invisible. A spell using the conceal seed ends if the subject attacks any creature. Actions directed at unattended objects do not break the spell, and causing harm indirectly is not an attack. To create invisibility that lasts regardless of the actions of the subject, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. Alternatively, this seed can conceal the exact location of the subject so that it appears to be about 2 feet away from its true location; this increases the Spellcraft DC by +2. The subject benefits from a 50% miss chance as if it had total concealment. However, unlike actual total concealment, this displacement effect does not prevent enemies from targeting him or her normally. The conceal seed can also be used to block divination spells, spell-like effects, and epic spells developed using the reveal seed; this increases the Spellcraft DC by +6. In all cases where divination magic of any level, including epic level, is employed against the subject of a spell using the conceal seed for this purpose, an opposed caster level check determines which spell works.
This seed creates a nonmagical, unattended object of nonliving matter of up to 20 cubic feet in volume. The caster must succeed at an appropriate skill check to make a complex item. The seed can create matter ranging in hardness and rarity from vegetable matter all the way up to mithral and even adamantine. Simple objects have a natural duration of 24 hours. For each additional cubic foot of matter created, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. Attempting to use any created object as a material component or a resource during epic spell development causes the spell to fail and the object to disappear.
The conjure seed can be used in conjunction with the life and fortify seeds for an epic spell that creates an entirely new creature, if made permanent. To give a creature spell-like abilities, apply other epic seeds to the epic spell that replicate the desired ability. To give the creature a supernatural or extraordinary ability rather than a spell-like ability, double the cost of the relevant seed. Remember that two doublings equals a tripling, and so forth. To give a creature Hit Dice, use the fortify seed. Each 5 hit points granted to the creature gives it an additional 1 HD. Once successfully created, the new creature will breed true.
This seed forges a telepathic bond with a particular creature with which the caster is familiar (or one that the caster can currently see directly or through magical means) and can converse back and forth. The subject recognizes the caster if it knows him or her. It can answer in like manner immediately, though it does not have to. The caster can forge a communal bond among more than two creatures. For each additional creature contacted, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1. The bond can be established only among willing subjects, which therefore receive no saving throw or spell resistance. For telepathic communication through the bond regardless of language, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. No special influence is established as a result of the bond, only the power to communicate at a distance.
At the base Spellcraft DC of 20, a caster can also use the contact seed to imbue an object (or creature) with a message he or she prepares that appears as written text for the spell’s duration or is spoken aloud in a language the caster knows. The spoken message can be of any length, but the length of written text is limited to what can be contained (as text of a readable size) on the surface of the target. The message is delivered when specific conditions are fulfilled according to the caster’s desire when the spell is cast.
A spell developed with the delude seed creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force, as visualized by the caster. The caster can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect by concentrating (the image is otherwise stationary). The image disappears when struck by an opponent unless the caster causes the illusion to react appropriately. For an illusion that includes audible, olfactory, tactile, taste, and thermal aspects, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2 per extra aspect. Even realistic tactile and thermal illusions can’t deal damage, however. For each additional image to be created, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1. For an illusion that follows a script determined by the caster, increase the Spellcraft DC by +9. The figment follows the script without the caster having to concentrate on it. The illusion can include intelligible speech if desired. For an illusion that makes any area appear to be something other than it is, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. Additional components, such as sounds, can be added as noted above. Concealing creatures requires additional spell development using this or other seeds.
This seed deals 20d6 points of damage to the target. The damage is of no particular type or energy. For each additional 1d6 points of damage dealt, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. If the target is reduced to –10 hit points or less (or a construct, object, or undead is reduced to 0 hit points), it is utterly destroyed as if disintegrated, leaving behind only a trace of fine dust. Up to a 10-foot cube of nonliving matter is affected, so a spell using the destroy seed destroys only part of any very large object or structure targeted. The destroy seed affects even magical matter, energy fields, and force effects that are normally only affected by the disintegrate spell. Such effects are automatically destroyed. Epic spells using the ward seed may also be destroyed, though the caster must succeed at an opposed caster level check against the other spellcaster to bring down a ward spell.
This seed can end ongoing spells that have been cast on a creature or object, temporarily suppress the magical abilities of a magic item, or end ongoing spells (or at least their effects) within an area. A dispelled spell ends as if its duration had expired. The dispel seed can defeat all spells, even those not normally subject to dispel magic.The dispel seed can dispel (but not counter) the ongoing effects of supernatural abilities as well as spells, and it affects spell-like effects just as it affects spells. One creature, object, or spell is the target of the dispel seed. The caster makes a dispel check against the spell or against each ongoing spell currently in effect on the object or creature. A dispel check is 1d20 + 10 against a DC of 11 + the target spell’s caster level. For each additional +1 on the dispel check, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1. If targeting an object or creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell, make a dispel check to end the spell that affects the object or creature. If the object targeted is a magic item, make a dispel check against the item’s caster level. If succeessful, all the item’s magical properties are suppressed for 1d4 rounds, after which the item recovers on its own. A suppressed item becomes nonmagical for the duration of the effect. An interdimensional interface is temporarily closed. A magic item’s physical properties are unchanged. Any creature, object, or spell is potentially subject to the dispel seed, even the spells of gods and the abilities of artifacts. A character automatically succeeds on the dispel check against any spell that he or she cast him or her self.
This seed uses whichever one of five energy types the caster chooses: acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. The caster can cast the energy forth as a bolt, imbue an object with the energy, or create a freestanding manifestation of the energy. If the spell developed using the energy seed releases a bolt, that bolt instantaneously deals 10d6 points of damage of the appropriate energy type, and all in the bolt’s area must make a Reflex save for half damage. For each additional 1d6 points of damage dealt, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. The bolt begins at the caster’s fingertips. To imbue another creature with the ability to use an energy bolt as a spell-like ability at its option or when a particular condition is met, increase the Spellcraft DC by +25. The caster can also cause a creature or object to emanate the specific energy type out to a radius of 10 feet for 20 hours. The emanated energy deals 2d6 points of energy damage per round against unprotected creatures (the target creature is susceptible if not separately warded or otherwise resistant to the energy). For each additional 1d6 points of damage emanated, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. The caster may also create a wall, half-circle, circle, dome, or sphere of the desired energy that emanates the energy for up to 20 hours. One side of the wall, selected by the caster, sends forth waves of energy, dealing 2d4 points of energy damage to creatures within 10 feet and 1d4 points of energy damage to those past 10 feet but within 20 feet. The wall deals this damage when it appears and in each round that a creature enters or remains in the area. In addition, the wall deals 2d6+20 points of energy damage to any creature passing through it. The wall deals double damage to undead creatures. For each additional 1d4 points of damage, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2.
The caster can also use the energy seed to create a spell that carefully releases and balances the emanation of cold, electricity, and fire, creating specific weather effects for a period of 20 hours. Using the energy seed this way has a base Spellcraft DC of 25. The area extends to a two-mile-radius centered on the caster. Once the spell is cast, the weather takes 10 minutes to manifest. Ordinarily, a caster can’t directly target a creature or object, though indirect effects are possible. This seed can create cold snaps, heat waves, thunderstorms, fogs, blizzards—even a tornado that moves randomly in the affected area. Creating targeted damaging effects requires an additional use of the energy seed.
The caster can foretell the immediate future, or gain information about specific questions. He or she is 90% likely to receive a meaningful reading of the future of the next 30 minutes. If successful, the caster knows if a particular action will bring good results, bad results, or no result. For each additional 30 minutes into the future, multiply the Spellcraft DC by x2. For better results, the caster can pose up to ten specific questions (one per round while he or she concentrates) to unknown powers of other planes, but the base Spellcraft DC for such an attempt is 23. The answers return in a language the caster understands, but use only one-word replies: “yes,” “no,” “maybe,” “never,” “irrelevant,” or some other one-word answer. Unlike 0- to 9th-level spells of similar type, all questions answered are 90% likely to be answered truthfully. However, a specific spell using the foresee seed can only be cast once every five weeks. The foresee seed is also useful for epic spells requiring specific information before functioning, such as spells using the reveal and transport seeds. The foresee seed can also be used to gain one basic piece of information about a living target: level, class, alignment, or some special ability (or one of an object’s magical abilities, if any). For each additional piece of information revealed, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2.
Spells using the fortify seed grant a +1 enhancement bonus to whichever one of the following the caster chooses:
-Any one ability score.
-Any one kind of saving throw.
-Spell resistance.
-Natural armor.
The fortify seed can also grant energy resistance 1 for one energy type or 1 temporary hit point. For each additional +1 bonus, point of energy resistance, or hit point, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2.
The fortify seed has a base Spellcraft DC of 23 if it grants a +1 bonus of a type other than enhancement. For each additional +1 bonus of a type other than enhancement, increase the Spellcraft DC by +6. If the caster applies a factor to make the duration permanent, the bonus must be an inherent bonus, and the maximum inherent bonus allowed is +5.
The fortify seed has a base Spellcraft DC of 27 if it grants a creature a +1 bonus to an ability score or other statistic it does not possess. For each additional +1 bonus, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. If a spell with the fortify seed grants an inanimate object an ability score it would not normally possess (such as Intelligence), the spell must also incorporate the life seed.
Granting spell resistance to a creature that doesn’t already have it is a special case; the base Spellcraft DC of 27 grants spell resistance 25, and each additional point of spell resistance increases the Spellcraft DC by +4 (each –1 to spell resistance reduces the Spellcraft DC by –2).
The fortify seed can also grant damage reduction 1/magic. For each additional point of damage reduction, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. To increase the damage reduction value to epic, increase the Spellcraft DC by +15.
A special use of the fortify seed grants the target a permanent +1 year to its current age category. For each additional +1 year added to the creature’s current age category, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. Incremental adjustments to a creature’s maximum age do not stack; they overlap. When a spell increases a creature’s current age category, all higher age categories are also adjusted accordingly.
Spells developed with the heal seed channel positive energy into a creature to wipe away disease and injury. Such a spell completely cures all diseases, blindness, deafness, hit point damage, and temporary ability damage. To restore permanently drained ability score points, increase the Spellcraft DC by +6. The heal seed neutralizes poisons in the subject’s system so that no additional damage or effects are suffered. It offsets feeblemindedness and cures mental disorders caused by spells or injury to the brain. It dispels all magical effects penalizing the character’s abilities, including effects caused by spells, even epic spells developed with the afflict seed. Only a single application of the spell is needed to simultaneously achieve all these effects. This seed does not restore levels or Constitution points lost due to death. To dispel all negative levels afflicting the target, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. This reverses level drains by a force or creature. The drained levels are restored only if the creature lost the levels within the last 20 weeks. For each additional week since the levels were drained, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2.
Against undead, the influx of positive energy causes the loss of all but 1d4 hit points if the undead fails a Fortitude saving throw.
An epic caster with 24 ranks in Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (nature), or Knowledge (religion) can cast a spell developed with a special version of the heal seed that flushes negative energy into the subject, healing undead completely but causing the loss of all but 1d4 hit points in living creatures if they fail a Fortitude saving throw. Alternatively, a living target that fails its Fortitude saving throw could gain four negative levels for the next 8 hours. For each additional negative level bestowed, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4, and for each extra hour the negative levels persist, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. If the subject has at least as many negative levels as Hit Dice, it dies. If the subject survives and the negative levels persist for 24 hours or longer, the subject must make another Fortitude saving throw, or the negative levels are converted to actual level loss.
A spell developed with the life seed will restore life and complete vigor to any deceased creature. The condition of the remains is not a factor. So long as some small portion of the creature’s body still exists, it can be returned to life, but the portion receiving the spell must have been part of the creature’s body at the time of death. (The remains of a creature hit by a disintegrate spell count as a small portion of its body.) The creature can have been dead for no longer than two hundred years. For each additional ten years, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1. The creature is immediately restored to full hit points, vigor, and health, with no loss of prepared spells. However, the subject loses one level (or 1 point of Constitution if the subject was 1st level). The life seed cannot revive someone who has died of old age.
An epic caster with 24 ranks in Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (nature), or Knowledge (religion) can cast a spell developed with a special version of the life seed that gives actual life to normally inanimate objects. The caster can give inanimate plants and animals a soul, personality, and humanlike sentience. To succeed, the caster must make a Will save (DC 10 + the target’s Hit Dice, or the Hit Dice a plant will have once it comes to life).
The newly living object, intelligent animal, or sentient plant is friendly toward the caster. An object or plant has characteristics as if it were an animated object, except that its Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores are all 3d6. Animated objects and plants gain the ability to move their limbs, projections, roots, carved legs and arms, or other appendages, and have senses similar to a human’s. A newly intelligent animal gets 3d6 Intelligence, +1d3 Charisma, and +2 HD. Objects, animals, and plants speak one language that the caster knows, plus one additional language that he or she knows per point of Intelligence bonus (if any).
Attacks targeted against the caster rebound on the original attacker. Each use of the reflect seed in an epic spell is effective against one type of attack only: spells (and spell-like effects), ranged attacks, or melee attacks. To reflect an area spell, where the caster is not the target but are caught in the vicinity, increase the Spellcraft DC by +20. A single successful use of reflect expends its protection. Spells developed with the reflect seed against spells and spell-like effects return all spell effects of up to 1st level. For each additional level of spells to be reflected, increase the Spellcraft DC by +20. Epic spells are treated as 10th-level spells for this purpose.
The desired effect is automatically reflected if the spell in question is 9th level or lower. An opposed caster level check is required when the reflect seed is used against another epic spell. If the enemy spellcaster gets his or her spell through by winning the caster level check, the epic spell using the reflect seed is not expended, just momentarily suppressed.
If the reflect seed is used against a melee attack or ranged attack, five such attacks are automatically reflected back on the original attacker. For each additional attack reflected, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. The reflected attack rebounds on the attacker using the same attack roll. Once the allotted attacks are reflected, the spell using the reflect seed is expended.
The caster of this seed can see some distant location or hear the sounds at some distant location almost as if he or she was there. To both hear and see, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. Distance is not a factor, but the locale must be known—a place familiar to the caster or an obvious one. The spell creates an invisible sensor that can be dispelled. Lead sheeting or magical protection blocks the spell, and the caster senses that the spell is so blocked. If the caster prefers to create a mobile sensor (speed 30 feet) that he or she controls, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. To use the reveal seed to reach one specific different plane of existence, increase the Spellcraft DC by +8. To allow magically enhanced senses to work through a spell built with the reveal seed, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. To cast any spell from the sensor whose range is touch or greater, increase the Spellcraft DC by +6; however, the caster must maintain line of effect to the sensor at all times. If the line of effect is obstructed, the spell ends. To free the caster of the line of effect restriction for casting spells through the sensor, multiply the Spellcraft DC by x10.
The reveal seed has a base Spellcraft DC of 25 if used to pierce illusions and see things as they really are. The caster can see through normal and magical darkness, notice secret doors hidden by magic, see the exact locations of creatures or objects under blur or displacement effects, see invisible creatures or objects normally, see through illusions, see onto the Ethereal Plane (but not into extradimensional spaces), and see the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things. The range of such sight is 120 feet.
The reveal seed can also be used to develop spells that will do any one of the following: duplicate the read magic spell, comprehend the written and verbal language of another, or speak in the written or verbal language of another. To both comprehend and speak a language, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4.
A spell developed using the slay seed snuffs out the life force of a living creature, killing it instantly. The slay seed kills a creature of up to 80 HD. The subject is entitled to a Fortitude saving throw to survive the attack. If the save is successful, it instead takes 3d6+20 points of damage. For each additional 80 HD affected (or each additional creature affected), increase the Spellcraft DC by +8. Alternatively, a caster can use the slay seed in an epic spell to suppress the life force of the target by bestowing 2d4 negative levels on the target (or half as many negative levels on a successful Fortitude save). For each additional 1d4 negative levels bestowed, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. If the subject has at least as many negative levels as Hit Dice, it dies. If the subject survives and the negative levels persist for 24 hours or longer, the subject must make another Fortitude saving throw, or the negative levels are converted to actual level loss.
This seed can summon an outsider. It appears where the caster designates and acts immediately, on his or her turn, if its spell resistance is overcome and it fails a Will saving throw. It attacks the caster’s opponents to the best of its ability. If the caster can communicate with the outsider, he or she can direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions. The spell conjures an outsider the caster selects of CR 2 or less. For each +1 CR of the summoned outsider, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. For each additional outsider of the same Challenge Rating summoned, multiply the Spellcraft DC by x2. When a caster develops a spell with the summon seed that summons an air, chaotic, earth, evil, fire, good, lawful, or water creature, the completed spell is also of that type.
If the caster increases the Spellcraft DC by +10, he or she can summon a creature of CR 2 or less from another monster type or subtype. The summoned creature is assumed to have been plucked from some other plane (or somewhere on the same plane). The summoned creature attacks the caster’s opponents to the best of its ability; or, if the caster can communicate with it, it will perform other actions. However, the summoning ends if the creature is asked to perform a task inimical to its nature. For each +1 CR of the summoned creature, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2.
Finally, by increasing the Spellcraft DC by +60, the caster can summon a unique individual he or she specifies from anywhere in the multiverse. The caster must know the target’s name and some facts about its life, defeat any magical protection against discovery or other protection possessed by the target, and overcome the target’s spell resistance, and it must fail a Will saving throw. The target is under no special compulsion to serve the caster.
Spells using the transform seed change the subject into another form of creature or object. The new form can range in size from Diminutive to one size larger than the subject’s normal form. For each additional increment of size change, increase the Spellcraft DC by +6. If the caster wants to transform a nonmagical, inanimate object into a creature of his or her type or transform a creature into a nonmagical, inanimate object, increase the Spellcraft DC by +10. To change a creature of one type into another type increase the Spellcraft DC by +5.
Transformations involving nonmagical, inanimate substances with hardness are more difficult; for each 2 points of hardness, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1.
To transform a creature into an incorporeal or gaseous form, increase the Spellcraft DC by +10. Conversely, to overcome the natural immunity of a gaseous or incorporeal creature to transformation, increase the Spellcraft DC by +10.
The transform seed can also change its target into someone specific. To transform an object or creature into the specific likeness of another individual (including memories and mental abilities), increase the Spellcraft DC by +25. If the transformed creature doesn’t have the level or Hit Dice of its new likeness, it can only use the abilities of the creature at its own level or Hit Dice. If slain or destroyed, the transformed creature or object reverts to its original form. The subject’s equipment, if any, remains untransformed or melds into the new form’s body, at the caster’s option. The transformed creature or object acquires the physical and natural abilities of the creature or object it has been changed into while retaining its own memories and mental ability scores. Mental abilities include personality, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, level and class, hit points (despite any change in its Constitution score), alignment, base attack bonus, base saves, extraordinary abilities, spells, and spell-like abilities, but not its supernatural abilities. Physical abilities include natural size and Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores. Natural abilities include armor, natural weapons, and similar gross physical qualities (presence or absence of wings, number of extremities, and so forth), and possibly hardness. Creatures transformed into inanimate objects do not gain the benefit of their untransformed physical abilities, and may well be blind, deaf, dumb, and unfeeling. Objects transformed into creatures gain that creature’s average physical ability scores, but are considered to have mental ability scores of 0 (the fortify seed can add points to each mental ability, if desired). For each normal extraordinary ability or supernatural ability granted to the transformed creature, increase the Spellcraft DC by +10. The transformed subject can have no more Hit Dice than the caster has or than the subject has (whichever is greater). In any case, for each Hit Die the assumed form has above 15, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2.
Spells using the transport seed instantly take the caster to a designated destination, regardless of distance. For interplanar travel, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. For each additional 50 pounds in objects and willing creatures beyond the base 1,000 pounds, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. The base use of the transport seed provides instantaneous travel through the Astral Plane. To shift the transportation medium to another medium increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. The caster does not need to make a saving throw, nor is spell resistance applicable to him or her. Only objects worn or carried (attended) by another person receive saving throws and spell resistance. For a spell intended to transport unwilling creatures, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. The caster must have at least a reliable description of the place to which he or she is transporting. If the caster attempts to use the transport seed with insufficient or misleading information, the character disappears and simply reappear in his or her original location.
As a special use of the transport seed, a caster can develop a spell that temporarily transports him or her into a different time stream (leaving the caster in the same physical location); this increases the Spellcraft DC by +8. If the caster moves him or herself, or the subject, into a slower time stream for 5 rounds, time ceases to flow for the subject, and its condition becomes fixed—no force or effect can harm it until the duration expires. If the caster moves him or her self into a faster time stream, the caster speeds up so greatly that all other creatures seem frozen, though they are actually still moving at their normal speeds. The caster is free to act for 5 rounds of apparent time. Fire, cold, poison gas, and similar effects can still harm the caster. While the caster is in the fast time stream, other creatures are invulnerable to his or her attacks and spells; however, the caster can create spell effects and leave them to take effect when he or she reenters normal time. Because of the branching nature of time, epic spells used to transport a subject into a faster time stream cannot be made permanent, nor can the duration of 5 rounds be extended. More simply, the seed can haste or slow a subject for 20 rounds by transporting it to the appropriate time stream. This decreases the Spellcraft DC by –4.
This seed can grant a creature protection from damage of a specified type. The caster can protect a creature from standard damage or from energy damage. The caster can protect a creature or area from magic. Alternatively, he or she can hedge out a type of creature from a specified area. A ward against standard damage protects a creature from whichever two the caster selects of the three damage types: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing. For a ward against all three types, increase the Spellcraft DC by +4. Each round, the spell created with the ward seed absorbs the first 5 points of damage the creature would otherwise take, regardless of whether the source of the damage is natural or magical. For each additional point of protection, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2.
A ward against energy grants a creature protection from whichever one the caster selects of the five energy types: acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. Each round, the spell absorbs the first 5 points of damage the creature would otherwise take from the specified energy type, regardless of whether the source of damage is natural or magical. The spell protects the recipient’s equipment as well. For each additional point of protection, increase the Spellcraft DC by +1.
A ward against a specific type of creature prevents bodily contact from whichever one of several monster types the caster selects. This causes the natural weapon attacks of such creatures to fail and the creatures to recoil if such attacks require touching the warded creature. The protection ends if the warded creature makes an attack against or intentionally moves within 5 feet of the blocked creature. Spell resistance can allow a creature to overcome this protection and touch the warded creature.
A ward against magic creates an immobile, faintly shimmering magical sphere (with radius 10 feet) that surrounds the caster and excludes all spell effects of up to 1st level. Alternatively, the caster can ward just the target and not create the radius effect. For each additional level of spells to be excluded, increase the Spellcraft DC by +20 (but see below). The area or effect of any such spells does not include the area of the ward, and such spells fail to affect any target within the ward. This includes spell-like abilities and spells or spell-like effects from magic items. However, any type of spell can be cast through or out of the ward. The caster can leave and return to the protected area without penalty (unless the spell specifically targets a creature and does not provide a radius effect). The ward could be brought down by a targeted dispel magic spell. Epic spells using the dispel seed may bring down a ward if the enemy spellcaster succeeds at a caster level check. The ward may also be brought down with a targeted epic spell using the destroy seed if the enemy spellcaster succeeds at a caster level check.
Instead of creating an epic spell that uses the ward seed to nullify all spells of a given level and lower, the caster can create a ward that nullifies a specific spell (or specific set of spells). For each specific spell so nullified, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2 per spell level above 1st.
The following adjustments should be made if taking psionic characters to epic levels.
Psionic characters take the Epic Manifestation feat, which works just like the Epic Spellcasting feat. The prerequisites for this feat are 24 ranks of Psicraft, 24 ranks of Knowledge (psionics), and the ability to manifest 9th-level psionic powers.
Just as spellcasters use no spell slots to cast epic spells, psionic characters use no power points to manifest epic powers. Instead, they freely manifest their known epic powers a number of times per day equal to their Knowledge (psionics) skill divided by 10 (round down).
| Base Psicraft DC | Base Psicraft DC | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychometabolism | Telepathy | ||
| Fortify | 17 | Compel | 19 |
| Slay | 25 | Contact | 23 |
| Transform | 21 | Delude | 14 |
| Heal | 50 | Psychokinesis | |
| Psychoportation | Dispel | 19 | |
| Banish | 27 | Energy | 19 |
| Summon | 14 | Reflect | 27 |
| Transport | 27 | Destroy | 29 |
| Clairsentience | Ward | 14 | |
| Afflict | 14 | Metacreativity | |
| Foresee | 17 | Armor | 14 |
| Reveal | 19 | Conjure | 21 |
| Conceal | 17 | Animate dead | 23 |
| Animate | 25 | ||
| Life | 55 | ||
| Psicraft DC Modifier | |
|---|---|
| Discipline | –5 |
| Seed within primary discipline | |
| Display | |
| Hide visual display (epic psionic seeds substitute one Vi display for V and S components) | +4 |
The spellcaster creates a finite plane with limited access: a demiplane. Demiplanes created by this power are very small, very minor planes.
A character can only cast this spell while on the Ethereal Plane. When he or she casts the spell, a local density fluctuation precipitates the creation of a demiplane. At first, the fledgling plane grows at a rate of 1 foot in radius per day to an initial maximum radius of 180 feet as it rapidly draws substance from surrounding ethereal vapors and protomatter.
The spellcaster determines the environment within the demiplane when he or she first casts genesis, reflecting most any desire the spellcaster can visualize. The spellcaster determines factors such as atmosphere, water, temperature, and the general shape of the terrain. This spell cannot create life (including vegetation), nor can it create construction (such as buildings, roads, wells, dungeons, and so forth). The spellcaster must add these things in some other fashion if he or she desires. Once the basic demiplane reaches its maximum size, the spellcaster can continue to cast this spell to enlarge the demiplane, adding another 180 feet of radius to the demiplane each time.
Material Component: A crystalline sphere
XP Cost: 5,000 XP.