This spell forces the creature's life force (and its material body) into a
special prison gem enchanted by the spellcaster. The creature must be seen by the
caster when the final word is uttered.
The spell can be triggered in one of two ways. First, the final word of the
spell can be spoken when the creature is within spell range. This allows magic
resistance (if any) and a saving throw vs. spell to avoid the effect. If the
creature's real name is spoken as well, any magic resistance is ignored and the
saving throw vs. spell suffers a penalty of -2. If the saving throw is successful,
the prison gem shatters.
The second method is far more insidious, for it tricks the victim into
accepting a trigger object inscribed with the final spell word, automatically placing
the creature's soul in the trap. To use this method, both the creature's true
name and the trigger word must be inscribed on the trigger item when the gem is
enchanted. A sympathy spell can also be placed on the trigger item. As soon as the subject creature
picks up or accepts the trigger item, its life force is automatically
transferred to the gem, without the benefit of magic resistance or saving throw.
The gem prison will hold the trapped entity indefinitely, or until the gem is
broken and the life force is released, allowing the material body to reform. If
the trapped creature is a powerful creature from another plane (which could
mean a character trapped by an inhabitant of another plane when the character is
not on the Prime Material Plane), it can be required to perform a service
immediately upon being freed. Otherwise, the creature can go free once the gem
imprisoning it is broken.
Before the actual casting of the trap the soul spell, the wizard must prepare the prison, a gem of at least 1,000 gp value
for every Hit Die or level of experience possessed by the creature to be trapped
(for example, it requires a gem of 10,000 gp value to trap a 10 Hit Die or
10th-level creature). If the gem is not valuable enough, it shatters when the
entrapment is attempted. (Note that while characters have no concept of level as
such, the value of the gem needed to trap an individual can be researched.
Remember that this value can change over time as characters advance.) Creating the
prison gem requires an enchant an item spell and the placement of a maze spell into the gem, thereby forming the prison to contain the life force.
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