Spell: Indelicate Transposition

 

Indelicate Transposition

Conjuration (Teleportation)

Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 4
Components: V, S, M, F (optional)
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Effect: One magical sigil or glyph
Duration: Permanent until discharged
Saving Throw: Will negates (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes

Description

You inscribe an invisible, magically reactive sigil upon a surface or object. The sigil remains dormant until a specified condition is met, at which point it immediately activates.

When triggered, the spell targets the offending creature and applies the following effects:

• The subject is teleported to a fixed destination designated at the time of casting. This location must be on the same plane, within 1 mile per caster level, and must be a place the caster has personally visited.
• The subject arrives 10 feet above the nearest stable surface at the destination and immediately falls. This can include stone, sand or even water.
• All worn and carried items (including clothing, armor, and held gear) are removed and left on the ground nearest the fixed destination where they can be found by the target of the spell. These items land harmlessly and remain where they fall.
• The subject is dazed for 1 round upon arrival.

Trigger Condition

At the time of casting, you define a specific triggering condition, such as:

• Removing an item from a protected area
• Opening a container
• Crossing a boundary

The condition must be clear and observable. The sigil affects only the creature that triggers it.

Saving Throw and DC Scaling

The saving throw DC is calculated as normal:

DC = 10 + spell level + caster’s Intelligence modifier

Because this spell is bound to a fixed location and conditional trigger, creatures attempting a saving throw take the following penalties:

• –2 penalty on the Will save due to the spell’s anchored nature
• –4 penalty if the triggering action is performed knowingly in violation of the ward’s condition (such as deliberate theft)

These penalties stack.

Casters may increase the save DC through normal means, including but not limited to:

• Preparing the spell in a higher-level slot via metamagic (such as Heighten Spell)
• Feats such as Spell Focus (Conjuration) and Greater Spell Focus
• Increasing Intelligence through level advancement or magical enhancement

Material Component

A small engraved silver token worth 25 gp, attuned to the destination. The token is consumed during casting.

Focus (Optional) - Arcane Anchor

An arcane anchor is a specially prepared object worth at least 100 gp, placed at the intended destination.

If a focus is used:

• The destination must be within 10 feet above the anchor
• The caster must place the anchor personally at the destination
• The anchor is not consumed and remains in place

When an anchor is present:

• The teleportation is precisely fixed, and the subject arrives directly above the anchor point
• The subject takes an additional –1 penalty on the Will save

If the anchor is moved or destroyed, the sigil becomes inert until the spell is recast.

Lore

Among the merchants and mages of Ville des Marai, few spells are as widely recognized - or as widely feared - as Indelicate Transposition.

The spell is most commonly attributed to Kelwyn, proprietor of Kelwyn’s Emporium, whose protective magic has become something of a local legend. In his earlier years, Kelwyn is said to have relied on more conventional arcane defenses - wards of flame, lightning, and annihilation. These proved effective, but ultimately unsatisfying. Ash left no witnesses, and fear born only of rumor had a tendency to fade.

What emerged instead was a different philosophy of protection.

The first widely recounted use of this spell involved a would-be thief, a display case, and an abrupt, unclothed arrival above the rushing waters of the Rivière Tumultueuse. The man survived. More importantly, he returned to the city - cold, humiliated, and very talkative.

From that point on, Kelwyn’s reputation ceased to rely on what might happen to thieves, and instead on what had.

“A dead thief is a solved problem,” Kelwyn is rumored to have said. “A humiliated thief is a message.”

Since then, variations of Indelicate Transposition have spread well beyond his shop, studied and replicated by mages who appreciate its particular elegance. The spell does not destroy, nor does it permanently harm. Instead, it separates intent from outcome with surgical precision - removing the offender from the scene, divesting them of ill-gotten gains, and depositing them somewhere memorable.

Reports from across the region describe victims appearing in fountains, alleyways, rooftops, and riverbanks - often at inconvenient heights, and almost never with their dignity intact. Their belongings, meanwhile, are typically found waiting at the destination, as though the spell itself expects the lesson to conclude with retrieval rather than loss.

Scholars occasionally debate whether such magic is more humane than lethal wards, or merely more theatrical in its cruelty. Few dispute its effectiveness.

Those who experience Indelicate Transposition rarely require a second lesson.

And in certain circles, a final refinement of Kelwyn’s method is quietly repeated:

“If I wished you dead, you would not be wet.”