Last Rites [Spell]

[Lysander]

It always pays to think ahead:

Last Rites
Abjuration [Good]
Level: Clr 1, Pal 1
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 30 ft.
Target: One creature/level
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Yes (Harmless)
Spell Resistance: No

This blessing protects the soul in case of death. If someone dies while protected by Last Rites their corpse permanently has the following properties:

*Magicians must have five or more caster levels than the person who administered the rites to animate the body as an undead creature.
*Undead creatures that turn victims into undead must have at least half as many hitdice as the caster level of the person who administered the rites or the corpse will not transform.
*Any undead creature the caster is capable of turning experiences agony when they touch the corpse and will try to avoid contact. Undead creatures can be bolstered to temporarily overcome this protection.
*The corpse has +5 to its will save to resist Speak with Dead.
*It reduces the number of rounds Soul Bind can be used on the corpse by 1 for each divine caster level. This prevents any chance to Soul Bind by casters of equal or lower levels.
*If the body is properly buried in Hallowed ground anyone attempting to desecrate the grave must overcome an effect identical to a Sanctuary spell.

Last Rites can be dispelled before the person dies, but in addition the normal dispel check each person is entitled to a will save to keep its protection. The Last Rites spell ends if the body is turned into an undead creature or brought it back to life. Otherwise nothing can undo the effect of Last Rites from a corpse except a Miracle or a Wish spell.

A body protected with Last Rites is not magical and does not have a magical aura, but does have a faint aura of good. Detect Good automatically reveals if a person or corpse has had Last Rites cast on it.

[DracoDei]

"magician's divine caster level" this line needs a better word than "magician".

Silly idea: Make a wand of this, administer slow acting CON poison to 50 porcupines, then release them in the castle-o-undead, hey, they are randomly placed, invisible caltrop-like "traps"!... of course I don't think porucupine quills erect in death much, but it is a fun concept.

[Lysander]

"magician's divine caster level" this line needs a better word than "magician".

Silly idea: Make a wand of this, administer slow acting CON poison to 50 porcupines, then release them in the castle-o-undead, hey, they are randomly placed, invisible caltrop-like "traps"!... of course I don't think porucupine quills erect in death much, but it is a fun concept.

Hehe. Well, an undead creature could still feel the porcupines and if it suspects there are more it could grope around on the floor for them. How much damage would stepping on a porcupine do to a zombie or skeleton anyway?

Also, what do you think of the spell power wise? Is it worth using? Should it provide more/less benefit?

[DracoDei]

I would at least allow Mordenkain's Disjunction remove the spell from a corpse... probably Wish, Miracle, and Reality Revision. Not sure either way about Limited Wish or Alter Reality.

Hmm... I guess the level is OK. I could see arguments for it being much higher level though... maybe even as high as 4th level, but at the same time, it seems like the sort of spell that as a plot point/roleplaying thing you would want to spam, but at the same time, isn't going to break many plots even if you put it at level 0 (which would be too low). I could see using this to have a party NPC or even PC be brought back in spite of, just to prove to the party how out-matched they are by a given necromancer.

And the thing with the porcupines was mostly just a joke, although as an annoyance tactic I could see it maybe getting used... still, you are blowing an entire wand on it.

[Lysander]

Instead of being invisible to undead, I think I'll make the corpse repel undead like a turn. The idea is to prevent creatures from eating or disturbing the body.

My reasoning in not allowing Disjunction to remove the protection from a corpse is that the spell isn't a magical item but an altered creature, even if it's a dead creature. Disjunction can't affect it any more than it could disjunct a zombie back into a corpse. I think you're right that Miracle should affect it though.

As for making it a level 1 spell, I figured that administering Last Rites is a pretty basic thing for religious figures. Even a weak cleric should be able to do it, although it won't protect against anything powerful.