Stage Magic
When you think of magic and Pathfinder, you probably don’t think of the sort of magic that involves a top-hat and a black-and-white wand, but stage magic is none the less a great resource for wizards and sorcerers to draw on, as I think this week’s Obscure Arcana shows.
DRAMATIC ESCAPE
School conjuration (teleportation); Level bard 3, magus 3, medium 2, mesmerist 3, occultist 3, psychic 3, sorcerer/wizard 3, spiritualist 3, summoner 3, witch 3
Casting Time 1 minute
Components none
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target you
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Fortitude partial (object); see text; Spell Resistance no
Similar to dimension door, you transport yourself instantaneously from your current location to another spot within range. You always arrive at exactly the spot desired, whether by simply visualizing the area or by stating a direction and distance. If you were bound or restrained in any way when you cast this spell, those bindings remain behind, effectively freeing you of your bonds. If the bonds are magic items of some kind, they are entitled to a Fortitude save, and, if they succeed, they travel with you, and you remain bound at your destination.
EMBED OBJECT
School transmutation; Level bard 1, bloodrager 1, cleric 1, druid 1, inquisitor 1, mesmerist 1, occultist 1, psychic 1, shaman 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range touch
Targets two non-organic objects touched
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Fortitude negates (object); see text; Spell Resistance yes (object); see text
You cause one touched object to become incorporeal for a brief moment, allowing you to embed it wholly or partially within the second object. You must touch both objects to one another. Each target that is magical or attended is entitled to a saving throw to resist the spell, and spell resistance (if applicable). If either object succeeds on its saving throw or resists the spell, the spell fails.
Being embedded in this fashion does not damage either object, nor does it displace either of their mass: to the extent that the one object is embedded in the other, their mass simply coexists in the same space. The embedded object can be removed from the other object through normal means (which, depending on the two objects, may involve pulling it out with great strength, chipping away at one object with a hammer and chisel, etc.), and doing so damages the affected objects as normal.
Depending on the objects and the way they are embedded, this can have a variety of effects. A weapon embedded in a wall cannot be wielded, while a ladder embedded partway in a wall could potentially be climbed without needing to be held, etc.
Embed object can also be used to separate two objects merged together in this way. At the GM’s discretion, it may also be able to separate objects that were merged through other means, such as a stone shape spell.
SWALLOW OBJECT
School transmutation; Level bard 4, bloodrager 3, magus 4, mesmerist 4, occultist 4, sorcerer/wizard 5, summoner 4, witch 5
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (a miniature beartrap)
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 hour/level (D)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
You grab and swallow a single object, shrinking it down and transmuting it so that it can be stored safely inside you for the spell’s duration. As part of casting the spell, you can make a special disarm or steal combat maneuver, using your caster level in place of your base attack bonus and your primary spellcasting ability score modifier in place of your Strength score. This combat maneuver does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Whether you make a successful combat maneuver check or not, you may then choose a single object of Small size or smaller that is currently in your possession and swallow it. The swallowed item appears to go down your throat full-sized, but in fact shrinks as it passes into your mouth, and is stored in a protective magic bubble that both protects your insides and the item from harm. The object is considered to have total cover from all creatures and objects (except any that may have been swallowed by you). If you die or the spell ends for any reason, the swallowed object erupts harmlessly from your mouth.