Level: 7
Range: Special
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 7 segments
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Area of Effect: Special

When this
spell is cast, the magic-user causes an
oval, glowing ball of silvery hue to form
in the air over (1' to 2' above) his or her
head.

It floats there silently until the
spell expires, and need not be further
concentrated upon to maintain its existence.
Any spell, spell-like power, or
magical item effect that is cast directly
upon the magic-user (as opposed to
area-effect magics) will be attracted to,
and utterly absorbed by, this floating
spelltrap. This includes magic missiles
and other never-missing spells. Except
by visual observation, the caster of the
spelltrap will not know the precise
nature (and level) of any spells
absorbed by the trap, but will always
feel the absorption of each and every
spell absorbed by the trap. The trap can
only absorb spells of the sixth level and
lower, and spell-like abilities of like or
lesser power. During any round in
which the caster is awake, alert, and
not engaged in spellcasting, he or she
may mentally direct the spelltrap to
unleash one spell upon a target, who
must be within 1" per level of the caster.

The spelltrap unleashes the spell
exactly as it was cast (except for the
new choice of target and the abovementioned
range) and with normal
effects.

Only one spell per round can be so
unleashed from a spelltrap. At the
expiration of a spelltrap, its energies
(including any stored spells) dissipate
harmlessly and are lost. But if a spelltrap
is ever overloaded, it will explode with
deadly effect, in a burst of pure energy
that deals 6-24 points of blast damage to
all within 2", and stuns all survivors for
1-2 rounds thereafter. (All items within
this radius must save vs. fireball; no
creatures’ saving throws are allowed to
lessen or escape damage.) A spelltrap
can only hold spell energy in spell levels
equal to twice the number of experience
levels of the caster, at any one time.
Thus, a seventeenth-level wizard’s
spelltrap could hold a maximum of
thirty-four spell levels during any
round, and would explode if thirty-five
or more were taken in. A spelltrap can
absorb any number of spells during a
single round—if a party hurls a variety
of spells and item effects at it, all will be
tracelessly absorbed until the maximum
capacity is exceeded. Even a mage who
realizes the danger from overloading
can unleash only one spell per round
from the trap, and will never be aware
what is being released until the effects
begin. (Released magics could well aid
opponents.) Such releases are at random
once the controlling magic-user wills the
trap to let something out, never first in,
first out or any similar pattern. A caster
cannot will a spelltrap out of existence,
nor escape it by teleporting or employing
protective barriers; the spelltrap will
always accompany him or her. There is
one curious anomaly to spelltrap
absorption; the casting of a dispel magic
on a trap will always cause the trap to—
by itself, and in addition to any unleashings
d i r e c t e d b y the trap’s
wielder—unleash one spell at random
directly at the caster of the dispel magic.
(This is the only case in which a spelltrap
will release more than one spell in a
given round; if the caster wills it to
release a spell, both spells will be cast out
of the trap.) If no spells have been
absorbed by the spelltrap, nothing will
be unleashed, but in both cases the
spelltrap will absorb the dispel magic
and itself remain in existence.

Missile attacks upon a spelltrap have
no effect; direct physical attacks drain a
spelltrap of one spell, at random
(unleashed directly upon the attacker
in addition to any unleashings ordered
by the trap-wielder).

MC: A diamond or diamond fragment of not less than 2,000 gp value and
a moonstone of any size, both consumed in the casting.
 
 

Unique Mageries

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Books of the Forgotten Realms