By means of this spell, the wizard and up to six other creatures joined by
linked hands become ethereal (along with their equipment). While ethereal, the group need not stay
together. The group’s presence can be detected only by detect phase, true seeing, or similar spells and effects. No physical, or magical attack can affect him,
unless his assailant is ethereal as well (although some monsters, such as the
basilisk, have gaze weapons whose power extends into the Ethereal Plane). The
spell recipients are actually in the Border Ethereal and can still perceive their
physical surroundings, but the world appears gray, misty, and indistinct to
them. Note that as ethereal creatures can perceive the physical world here, a
character could scout out his surroundings or make good an escape from the safety
of the Border Ethereal.
The wizard and his companions may remain in the Border Ethereal for up to one
hour per level; when the spell expires, they return to normal existence,
although the wizard can choose to end the spell before its full duration. The wizard
also has the option of moving himself or the group from the Border Ethereal
into the Deep Ethereal, in which case they remain ethereal when the spell ends. He
will have to use this spell again or find another way back in order to return
to his home plane.
The wizard can attempt to use etherealness to banish an unwilling subject. He must make a successful attack roll in order
to touch him, and the subject receives a saving throw vs. spell to negate the
effect. An unwilling subject automatically remains in the Border Ethereal for
an amount of time specified by the wizard at the time of the casting, but no
more than one hour per caster level. When used like this, etherealness does not
affect the caster, only the subject.
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