Divert Soul
NecromancyNecromancy spells manipulate the power of death, unlife, and the life force. Spells involving undead creatures make up a large part of this school.
Ritual Level 9
- Casting Time
- 9 hoursRituals take far longer than spells to perform — typically 10 minutes per ritual level, and sometimes hours or days. The ritual fails if its casting is interrupted.Spell rule: Casting Time ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Components
- V, S, M (black diamond worth 25,000 gp), F (a forked metal rod attuned to the destination plane, as that used for plane shift), SC (at least 6, up to 12)V (Verbal): Spoken incantations, often chanted by all participants throughout the casting.S (Somatic): Precise ritual gestures performed during the casting.M (Material): Physical substances consumed by the ritual. Costly components are listed with their price.F (Focus): A prop used but not consumed by the ritual — it can be reused.SC (Secondary Casters): Additional casters who aid the primary caster; the required count appears in the components line as "SC (…)".Spell rule: Components ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Range
- touchHow far the ritual's effect reaches from the primary caster, measured like a spell's range.Spell rule: Range ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Target
- one helpless creature or soul (such as a soul imprisoned by soul bind or trap the soul)How the ritual is aimed: a Target (specific creatures or objects), an Effect it creates, or an Area it covers. "Target or Area" means the ritual uses either, at the casters' choice.Spell rule: Aiming a Spell ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Duration
- instantaneousHow long the ritual's effect lasts once completed — from instantaneous to permanent. A trailing "(D)" means the primary caster can dismiss it.Spell rule: Duration ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Saving Throw
- noneIf the ritual allows a save, this lists which save and its effect. A ritual's save DC is usually fixed by the ritual rather than derived from a caster's ability.Spell rule: Saving Throw ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Spell Resistance
- noWhether a creature's spell resistance can block the ritual's effect (Yes/No).Spell rule: Spell Resistance ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
Skill ChecksThe heart of a ritual: during the casting the primary caster (and sometimes assistants) must succeed at the listed skill checks. Each entry gives the skill, its DC, and how many successes are required. Failing a check can trigger the ritual's Failure entry.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
| Skill | DC | Successes |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge (planes) Knowledge You are educated in a field of study and can answer both simple and complex questions. Like the Craft, Perform, and Profession skills, Knowledge actually encompasses a number of different specialties. Below are listed typical fields of study. View on Archives of Nethys ↗- Arcana (ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, constructs, dragons, magical beasts) - Dungeoneering (aberrations, caverns, oozes, spelunking) - Engineering (buildings, aqueducts, bridges, fortifications) - Geography (lands, terrain, climate, people) - History (wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities) - Local (legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids) - Nature (animals, fey, monstrous humanoids, plants, seasons and cycles, weather, vermin) - Nobility (lineages, heraldry, personalities, royalty) - Planes (the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, outsiders, planar magic) - Religion (gods and goddesses, mythic history, ecclesiastic tradition, holy symbols, undead) | 26 | 4 |
| Knowledge (religion) Knowledge You are educated in a field of study and can answer both simple and complex questions. Like the Craft, Perform, and Profession skills, Knowledge actually encompasses a number of different specialties. Below are listed typical fields of study. View on Archives of Nethys ↗- Arcana (ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, constructs, dragons, magical beasts) - Dungeoneering (aberrations, caverns, oozes, spelunking) - Engineering (buildings, aqueducts, bridges, fortifications) - Geography (lands, terrain, climate, people) - History (wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities) - Local (legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids) - Nature (animals, fey, monstrous humanoids, plants, seasons and cycles, weather, vermin) - Nobility (lineages, heraldry, personalities, royalty) - Planes (the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, outsiders, planar magic) - Religion (gods and goddesses, mythic history, ecclesiastic tradition, holy symbols, undead) | 26 | 3 |
| Spellcraft Spellcraft You are skilled at the art of casting spells, identifying magic items, crafting magic items, and identifying spells as they are being cast. View on Archives of Nethys ↗ | 26 | 2 |
BacklashHarm or strain the casters suffer simply from performing the ritual, regardless of whether it ultimately succeeds.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
For 1 week following the performance of the ritual, every psychopomp within 10 miles of a caster knows the distance and direction to that caster and is aware that the caster was involved in a ritual to thwart a soul's natural progression.
FailureWhat goes wrong if the ritual's skill checks fail — often dangerous, ranging from wasted effort to summoning a hostile creature or worse.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
A helpless creature is automatically freed and whisked away to a place it considers familiar and safe, as word of recall. An imprisoned soul is automatically freed. In addition, a memitim psychopomp appears adjacent to each caster and attacks the caster to the best of its ability. The memitim disappears once its designated caster is slain or after 10 minutes, whichever comes first.
Description
This powerful ritual attempts to shunt the target's soul to a plane determined during the preparation for the ritual. A key component of the ritual is a forked rod, just like that used for a plane shift spell. Any other device suitable for use as a focus component for plane shift is also suitable for use with this ritual. The casters form a circle around the target, each touching the shoulder of the caster to his left to form a ring representing the multiverse as a whole. The primary caster stands inside this ring with the target, holding the diamond in one hand and the forked rod in the other. As the casters chant, the primary caster walks around the target in a circle. At the conclusion of the ritual, the primary caster touches the forked rod to the black diamond, which shatters. If the ritual is performed successfully, the target's soul is immediately sent to the designated plane and manifests there as a petitioner or another appropriate outsider, just as if the designated plane were the soul's appropriate reward and regardless of the soul's actual alignment or outlook. If the target is a helpless creature, it is slain by this effect (no save). If the target is a soul trapped inside an object, the object is emptied when the soul departs to its designated destination.As this ritual bypasses the soul's judgment and natural passage to the afterlife, it is considered anathema to the psychopomps. Agents of the psychopomp ushers actively attempt to suppress knowledge of this ritual wherever they find it, but the psychopomps' enemies—such as daemons and sahkils—work hard to disseminate knowledge of the ritual to inquisitive mortals.