Place 7: Planar Binding
- Price: 1,000 Gold
- Can be learned by any spellcasting class except sorcerers and paladins. Sorry.
- Spell level 5
No, you haven’t misread. Planar Binding is actually “more expensive” than Contingency and Force Cage despite the cheaper 1,000 Gold. It consumes its material component in the form of a gemstone worth 1,000 gold when cast.
This makes the spell only more affordable in the rare case that it is to be cast once, but its urgency is pretty much on par with the other examples.
With Planar Binding, you can bind a celestial, elemental, fey, or fiendish creature to the caster for a period between 24 hours and a year, depending on the spell level you use. The actual casting of the spell lasts an hour, during which the creature must be somehow constrained.
Once the creature is bound to the caster, it must obey the commands of the spellcaster – at least as well as it can. However, one must be very precise in choosing one’s words. A hostile but bound creature could twist your words to benefit from your command.
Place 6: Simulacrum
- Price: 1,500 Gold
- Can be learned by wizards
- Spell level 7
For casting Simulacrum, a wizard needs not only the powder of a ruby worth 1,500 gold, which is consumed upon use. This makes it therefore more expensive than the other spells costing 1,500 gold.
In addition to the ruby powder, the caster also needs enough snow or ice to create a life-sized copy of the creature to be duplicated. Also, some hair, a few fingernail clippings or another body part of the creature must be embedded in the snow. Delicious.
The duplicated creature is half “real”, half ice and snow, and can perform actions and commands given to it like a normal creature. It is friendly to the caster and the creatures designated by them, and tries to comply with their wishes as far as it is able.
The simulacrum “lives” as long as its HP does not drop to 0 and its snow does not melt. However, before that happens, it can be repaired in alchemical labs. The costs amount to 100 gold per regained hit point. A loyal but expensive companion.
