Summon Fetish Spirit
- SchoolConjuration/Summoning
- ComponentsV, M
- RangeTouch
- AreaSpecial
- Casting time5
- DurationSpecial
- SaveNone
The casting of this spell awakens a spirit of the caster's totem animal that which has been bound into a special item (called a fetish). The spirit then transforms a skeleton or model of the totem animal into a body it can use. The construct then tries to carry out one task required by the wizard, so long as it can finish the task before the next sunset or sunrise (whichever comes first). The physical construct has the abilities of an animal of its type, with Hit Dice according to the time the wizard spent constructing it (see below).
After at least one round of bickering, the spirit tries fairly to fulfill the task's meaning (for example, “Rescue me from these enemies” or “Guide me through the forest safety”). After the spirit completes the task, it tries to escape the wizard's power. If the wizard makes a successful Charisma check (Charisma or less on 1d20), the spirit is forced back into the fetish, and the wizard can retrieve the fetish from the construct.
Failure means the spirit is free and may attack the wizard or any companions, or simply escape. The spirit's physical form wreaks great damage until the next sunset or sunrise, whichever comes first Such damage works against the wizard's interests. Then the spirit vanishes with the fetish, never to return.
The first time the wizard summons the spirit, the Charisma check takes no modifier. On each subsequent summoning, the wizard incurs a -3 cumulative penalty to the Charisma check. In addition, the spirit grows more quarrelsome, hostile to the wizard, and slower to fulfill its task. The DM may impose additional penalties if the wizard summons the spirit more often than once a year.
A successful dispel magic or similar spell can destroy the fetish, but as long as it remains intact, the wizard can summon another totem spirit as early as a day later.
This spell requires a fetish containing a bound and sleeping spirit. Also, the wizard must build a skeleton or model of the totem animal and incorporate the fetish into it. This requires one turn per Hit Die the wizard wants the spirit fetish to have, from a minimum of the caster's level plus four, to a maximum of 10 Hit Dice.
Notes: Common for wizards of the Veiled Alliance in the Dark Sun setting, optionally common for Savage mages; virtually unknown elsewhere.
Sources: Wizard's Spell Compendium