- This spell was replaced by Mind Tracker spell on the 2nd Printing of Tome of Magic.
Tome of Magic Version[]
This powerful spell puts the personality of a single human or demihuman into stasis, turning his body into a mindless automaton. The body will follow any telepathic order given to it by the casting priest. Elves and half-elves receive no innate resistance to this spell. Priest and subject need not share a common language.
The priest can force the subject into combat, but the subject's attack rolls suffer a - 2 penalty. The priest can attempt to force the subject to cast spells or use innate magical or magiclike abilities. This is a difficult procedure for which the subject receives a normal saving throw vs. breath weapon. A successful save means that the priest has failed to cause the subject to use a magical power; a failed save means that the subject casts the spell or uses the power as directed by the priest. The spell takes effect successfully only if the caster possesses any necessary material components. The priest can make only one attempt per round to force the use of magic.
The priest can force the subject to speak, although the priest cannot inject a full range of emotions into the subject's voice. At the DM's discretion, any character who is very familiar with the subject may make an Intelligence check to notice that something is wrong with the subject (and possibly suspect that the subject's will is not his own).
This spell does not give the caster access to the subject's thoughts or memory. However, the caster can see through the subject's eyes.
To control the subject, the priest must be within spell range (240 yards) of the subject. If the priest is 15th level or lower, he cannot force the subject to perform particularly delicate actions, such as picking a lock. At 16th level or higher, however, this restriction is removed. The priest could thus force a thief to pick a lock. Any such delicate actions suffer a —20% penalty (—4 on 1d20) to reflect the "remote control" nature of the action.
The subject's personality remains in stasis until the priest releases it with a mental command. It can also be released by a limited wish, wish, or a heal spell cast for this express purpose. If the priest ceases concentration on controlling the body or if the subject moves out of range, the subject collapses into a comatose state. With its personality in stasis, the subject's body will remain alive for a number of hours equal to the subject's Constitution times five. When this time period expires, the body dies and the personality is lost. The subject can be raised or resurrected, however.
When the body dies, the priest's control terminates. The body's death trauma is felt by the controlling priest as a wracking agony, potentially strong enough to unseat the priest's reason. If the priest has not released the victim prior to death, he must make a system shock roll at —15 to the roll. An unsuccessful check means that the priest becomes insane as if by a Mindshatter spell. Use of mindkiller is considered an evil act. Characters using this spell are subject to any and all consequences involving deviation of alignment.
The material component is a gem of at least 500 gp value, which is consumed in the casting.
Priest's Spell Compendium Version[]
This powerful spell puts the personality of a single human, demihuman, or humanoid into stasis, turning his or her body into a mindless automaton. The body follows any telepathic order given to it by the casting priest. Elves and half-elves have no innate resistance to this spell, and the caster and subject need not share a common language.
To control the subject, the priest must be within 240 yards. A priest of 15th level or lower cannot force the subject to perform particularly delicate actions, such as picking a lock. At 16th level or higher, however, this is possible; the priest could force a thief to pick a lock. Any such delicate actions suffer a -20% penalty (-4 on 1d20) to reflect the controlled nature of the action.
The priest can force the subject to speak, although a full range of emotions cannot be injected into the subject's voice. At the DM's discretion, anyone who is very familiar with the subject can make an Intelligence check to notice that something is wrong (and possibly suspect that the subject's will is not his own). This spell does not give the caster access to the subject's thoughts or memory. However, the caster can see through the subject's eyes.
The priest can force the subject into combat, but the subject's attack rolls suffer a -2 penalty. The priest can attempt to force the subject to cast spells or use innate spell-like abilities. This is a difficult procedure, for which the subject receives a normal saving throw vs. breath weapon. Failure means that the priest forces the use of the power. Any restriction or requirement for the usage must be fulfilled (such as material components). The priest can make one attempt per round to force the use of magic.
The subject's personality remains in stasis until the priest releases it with a mental command. It can also be released by a limited wish or wish, or by a heal spell cast for this express purpose. If the priest ceases concentration on controlling the body or if the subject moves out of range, the subject collapses into a comatose state.
With its personality in stasis, the subject's body will remain alive for a number of hours equal to the subject's Constitution times five. When this time period expires, the body dies and the personality is lost. The subject can be raised or resurrected, however.
When the body dies, the priest's control terminates. The body's death trauma is felt by the controlling priest as a wracking agony, potentially strong enough to unseat the priest's reason. A priest who has not released the subject prior to death must make a system shock roll at a -15% penalty. Failure means the priest becomes insane as if by a mindshatter spell.
The use of mindkiller is considered an evil act, and those using this spell are subject to any consequences that may follow.
The material component is a gem of at least 500 gp value, which is consumed in the casting.
Notes: Common for priests with major access to the sphere of Thought, uncommon for priests with major access to the Necromantic sphere (ToM).