Blast Jewel - Dragon

By means of this spell, a dragon traces an invisible glyph on a prized gemstone worth at least 500 gp. The gemstone must be an individual, loose stone; it cannot be set into a piece of jewelry or embedded in a weapon. The symbol can be seen only by the dragon who traced it, though a detect magic will find a faint aura, while detect invisibility, true seeing, or similar magics reveal the glyph. A successful dispel magic negates the glyph before its effects can be activated without harming the jewel itself. Otherwise, the spell remains dormant until the dragon decides to activate it.

At the mental command of the dragon, the gemstone explodes with great force, showering a 20-foot radius area with a hail of shrapnel. The dragon can trigger the explosion from any distance, even if thousands of miles separate the dragon and the gem. If the jewel and the dragon are separated by a planar boundary or the dragon is slain, then the spell is immediately negated.

All creatures within the area suffer 5d4 points of damage, half that if a saving throw vs. breath weapon succeeds. Any creature holding or carrying the jewel when the explosion occurs receives no saving throw.

If, however, the gem was carried in a chest, metal box, or a similar rigid and sturdy container, then the explosion is contained and no damage is inflicted on any creature, though objects inside the container (and the container itself) must save vs. crushing blow or be destroyed. The explosion of magical force is sufficient to shred pouches, sacks, backpacks, saddlebags, and so forth, even if such items are made of leather or other durable fabric. Items such as portable holes and bags of holding receive a saving throw vs. disintegration to survive; if they do not, then any surviving contents are lost in an extradimensional plane.

Dragons use this spell as the proverbial “last laugh” against thieves. When the dragon notices that one of its blast jewels is missing, it simply activates the magic, thus, destroying the gem and sending a message to the creature that had the audacity to take it.

The material component is the jewel itself, which is completely destroyed in the explosion; nothing but dust remains.

Notes: Restricted to dragons; rare.