The ethereal barrier is a defense against the passage of extradimensional creatures, including
characters or monsters that are phased, ethereal, or travelling via dimension door or shadow walk. The priest creates an imperceptible barrier of 10 square feet per level that
may be arranged in any fashion the priest desires. For example, a 3rd-level
character can ward six 10-foot by 10-foot surfaces, which would be sufficient to
guard a 10-foot by 10-foot by 10-foot room (four walls, a ceiling, and a floor
need to be protected.) Note that some monsters may be capable of abandoning
their ethereal approach in order to simply enter the barred area on their own
feet—the ethereal barrier only bars their passage as long as they are traveling in the Border Ethereal.
Also, while this spell can’t be worn down by any form of attack, it does not
bar teleportation, gates, or the passage of astral creatures.
Ethereal barrier may be cast as cooperative magic by several priests working together. As long
as all involved characters can cast the spell, the areas of effect of each
priest are added together. Total the levels of all priests involved and multiply by
two to find the number of 10-foot by 10-foot squares that may be warded. For
example, four 6th-level casters (24 total levels) can ward 48 10-foot by 10-foot
squares. The duration is determined by the highest level priest involved, plus
1 turn for each additional priest. In the previous example, this would be 6
turns plus 3 turns for three additional priests for a total of 9 turns.
This spell is also suitable for focus magic (see the spell focus in the Tome of Magic ). The material component is a special compound of rare earths and lead worth
at least 10 gp per application. One application is required for each 10-foot
by 10-foot square to be warded.
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