Smoke Ghost (Priest Spell)

A priest can use this spell to affect smoke, drawing it into a wraithlike cowled form that flies or glides, drifting up to 150 feet per round in the direction the caster wishes. The smoke ghost is not a living creature or sentient force. It cannot wear clothing, carry things, or be made to speak. It is merely an apparition with one attack ability: It can envelop a being and suffocate it with thick, choking smoke and ash.
A smoke ghost is a cloud of thick, billowing gray smoke approximately 9 feet high by 2 feet in diameter. It is roughly man-shaped. It cannot achieve a greater stable volume, and its precise form is variable in accordance with the caster's wishes. A smoke ghost can rise into the air 10 feet per level of the caster or be made to sink to the ground, flowing along the earth like some sort of living blanket. It can seep and maneuver through cracks and crevices precisely as the caster wills. It can shift into a globe form or wall form in one-quarter of a round (15 seconds).
The smoke ghost attacks by attempting to envelop a creature. A saving throw vs. breath weapon must be made each round against the smoke ghost attack until the spell expires or the smoke ghost is moved to another target. If the saving throw is successful, the affected creature's attacks are at a -1 penalty, and 1 point of damage is inflicted upon the smoke ghost's victim at the end of the round. Affected creatures who make their saving throws are able to utter item command words, power words, or cast other spells that require only a single spoken word. Doing so wracks the affected creature with uncontrollable coughing fits for the following round, making them unable to take offensive action that round (but not affecting their saving throw).
The failure of this saving throw vs. breath weapon (either in the first round or a successive round) means the creature is enveloped. Enveloped victims are partially blinded; all their attacks are made at a - 2 penalty. They also take 1 point of damage at the end of the round. Enveloped victims find spellcasting and even normal speech impossible, resulting in violent retching and coughing when these are tried. These penalties and this rate of damage continue until the third round of envelopment.
Beginning with the third round of envelopment, a creature must make a successful saving throw vs. death magic each round or be rendered unconscious through suffocation. Each following consecutive round of envelopment adds another -2 penalty to the roll (for a -2 penalty on the fourth round, —4 on the fifth, and so on).
Assuming she or he is not killed through the accrual of damage (hit points reduced to below 0 or -10, if that optional rule is in use), an unconscious character eventually recovers. One-quarter (25%) of the smoke damage is actual, the rest is temporary.
The caster must be able to see the smoke ghost to direct it, and controlling the apparition requires the caster's full attention. The caster can cast no other spells nor take any other offensive action while controlling the smoke ghost, although the caster may voluntarily release control of it. An undirected smoke ghost hangs motionless until the caster takes control again, it is dispelled, or the spell expires. A victim who was being assaulted by a smoke ghost which becomes undirected is considered to automatically find himself or herself in fresh air (if such is available) on the round that the ghost becomes undirected. If subsequently reattacked by the smoke ghost, the entire attack sequence must be restarted from its beginning. Previous damage caused by the smoke ghost is assumed to linger until about a turn after the ghost finally disappears. A ghost that reaches the caster's maximum range stops and remains in place until directed elsewhere. The caster can will the ghost to disappear into nothingness at any time, an action that takes the smoke ghost takes half a round (30 seconds).
It can be destroyed by a gust of wind, dispel magic, or strong natural winds. Any magics that affect vapors also affect it. It is not affected by weapons.
The caster creates the smoke ghost by means of a pinch of dust and some mistletoe that are cast into an existing fire or cloud of smoke of magical or natural origin.
Notes: Granted by the god Silvanus, the Forest Father, of the Forgotten Realms setting.
Category:Priest Spells
Category:Spells from Faiths & Avatars
Category:Spells