House Rules - Glyph Eggs

Glyph Eggs (from Spells & Spellcraft)

A glyph egg is a small, hollow object fashioned from a fragile material such as glass or ceramic and imbued with a spell or spell-like effect. Its spell is activated when the egg is broken open or the sealed interior is otherwise breached. A glyph egg may only be used once, and the spell dissipates when it is activated.

Glyph eggs store and release arcane and divine spells that have an area effect. The character activating the egg does not make any decisions about the effect - the caster who constructed the egg has already done so.

Physical Description
Glyph eggs vary in appearance as well as function. The outer shell is fashioned from materiel that is both breakable and airtight. Glass, clay, and ceramics are common choices. Other materials are certainly possible, depending on the creator's inclination and available resources. Some druids, for example, use gourds or actual eggs. Those who live near the ocean have been known to use sealed seashells or water-filled dolphin bladders when constructing glyph eggs.

Glyph eggs may be finished any number of ways. Some are elegant scroll-size cylinders made of fine china or etched glass, while others are crude palm-sized slabs of clay. Some are disguised as mundane trinkets, sch as statuettes, while others are shaped like grenades and designed to be hurled into the midst of enemies.

A typical egg is Armor Class 13, 1 hp, and has a hardness of 1 with a break DC of 10.

Identifying Glyph Eggs
Most glyph eggs feature a seal, icon, or rune that denotes function and effect, and are therefore simple enough to identify for those who are familiar with them. A successful Knowledge: Arcana check (DC 25) allows an individual to identify a particular glyph. Some, either disguise as mundane objects, or intended for illicit use, may lack labels. In this case, short of using magical means such as identify, there is no way to determine function without setting an egg off, since external appearance is a matter of the creator's preferences rather than indicative of function.

Activation
All that is required to activate the spell within a glyph egg is breaking its outer casing. This is usually accomplished by smashing it to the ground, but anything that causes the outer shell to be penetrated sets it off. Anyone may activate a glyph egg spell, and doing so does not require material components or a focus.

A spell activated from a glyph egg works exactly like a spell prepared and cast the normal way. The spot where the egg breaks serves as the center or origin of the area effect. Centering the effect on a creature or movable object is therefore possible, as is centering it on a segment of wall or ceiling.

Crafting Glyph Eggs
A glyph egg can be crafted to hold any spell that targets an area. To craft a glyph egg requires that the creator have the Craft Glyph Egg or Craft Greater Glyph Egg item creation feats. The caster level must be of sufficient level to cast the spell and no higher than your own level. The base price of a glyph egg is its spell level multiplied by its caster level multiplied by 50 shilling. A 0-level spell is treated as having a spell level of ½ for the purpose of this calculation. To craft a glyph egg, the creator must spend ¹/₂₅ of the base price in experience points and use up raw materials costing half the base price.

The crafter must make all decisions relating to a spell's function - whether a plant growth egg will use the overgrowth or enrichment version, for example - at the time a glyph egg is created. Ranges, where applicable, must be set at zero. The spell's effect always centers on the point of impact where the egg's core is breached.

Any glyph egg that stores a spell with a costly material component or an experience point cost also carries a commensurate cost. In addition to the costs derived from the base price, the creator must expend the material component or pay the experience points when creating the glyph egg.

Glyph Egg Spell List
A glyph egg may be crafted with any spell that targets an area. The following is a nonexhaustive list of spells eligible to be made into glyph eggs:

0^th-Level
Flare (PHB)
Lengthen Shadows (BoRL)
Purify Food and Drink (PHB)

1^th Level
Alarm (PHB)
Bane (PHB)
Bless (PHB)
Cleanse Minor Vermin (S&S)
Entangle (PHB)
Faerie Fire (PHB)
Feather Fall (PHB)
Grease (PHB)
Lucius' Rustling Leaves (S&S)
Obscuring Mist (PHB)
Protection from Light (Gods)
Quakethrust (S&S)
Rattling Chant (BoRL)
Sleep (PHB)
Whirlwind of Ice (S&S)

2^th Level
Acidic Vapors (S&S)
Benediction of Lug (Gods)
Consecrate (PHB)
Desecrate (PHB)
Exhaust (S&S)
Fog Cloud (PHB)
Force Shockwave (S&S)
Glitterdust (PHB)
Inspire (PHB)
Scare (PHB)
Shatter [area effect only] (PHB)
Silence (PHB)
Silent as Rats (BoRL)
Small as Mice (BoRL)
Soften Earth and Stone (PHB)
Sound Burst (PHB)
Stench (S&S)
Summon Swarm (PHB)
Treasure Magnet (BoRL)
Warp Wood (PHB)
Web (PHB)
Weightless Cube (S&S)
Whispering Wind (PHB)
Zone of Truth (PHB)

3^th Level
Black Cloud of Horror (S&S)
Dessicate (S&S)
Diminish Plants [radius prune growth effect only] (PHB)

Dispel Magic [area dispel only] (PHB)

Doom Fog (S&S)
Fearsome Fortissimo (S&S)
Fireball (PHB)
Greater Sleep (BoEM)
Hypnotic Pattern [lasts 2 rounds] (PHB)
Inspired Aim (BoED)
Invisibility Sphere (PHB)
Hlín's Tiny Hut (PHB)
Magic Circle against Chaos (PHB)
Magic Circle against Evil (PHB)
Magic Circle against Good (PHB)
Magic Circle against Law (PHB)
Orgy of Halpas (UHB)
Paraphasic Pianissimo (S&S)
Plant Growth (PHB)
Prayer (PHB)
Pressure Sphere (RR)
Sleet Storm (PHB)
Spike Growth (PHB)
Stinking Cloud (PHB)
Trigger Trap (S&S)
Zone of Visibility (S&S)

4^th Level
Air Bubble (Gods)
Anti-Plant Shell (PHB)
Baal's Secure Shelter (PHB)
Black Mulching (BoEM)
Chaos Hammer (PHB)
Confusion (PHB)
Emotion (PHB)
Evard's Black Tentacles (PHB)
Floor of Fire (S&S)
Fortune's Bitch (BoRL)
Greater Treasure Magnet (BoRL)
Hler's Bead of Frost (RR2)
Hlín's Secure Shelter (PHB)
Holy Smite (PHB)
Ice Storm (PHB)
Maddening Babble (S&S)
Minor Globe of Invulnerability (PHB)
Order's Wrath (PHB)
Otiluke's Resilient Sphere (PHB)
Plague Ball (UHB)
Privacy (S&S)
Quench (PHB)
Rainbow Pattern (PHB)
Repel Undead (S&S)
Repel Vermin (PHB)
Solid Fog (PHB)
Spike Stones (PHB)
Þunor's Secure Shelter (PHB)
Wall of Fire [ring only] (PHB)
Wall of Ice [hemisphere only] (PHB)

5^th Level
Circle of Doom (PHB)
Cloudkill (PHB)
False Vision (PHB)
Flame Strike (PHB)
Hallow (PHB)
Halo of Vengeance (S&S)
Healing Circle (PHB)
Insect Plague (PHB)
Mind Fog (PHB)
Necrotic Blast (S&S)
Passwall (PHB)
Transmute Mud to Rock (PHB)
Transmute Rock to Mud (PHB)
Unhallow (PHB)
Wall of Force [sphere or hemisphere only] (PHB)

6^th Level
Acid Fog (PHB)
Angel's Redoubt (BoHM)
Anti-Life Shell (PHB)
Anti-Magic Field (PHB)
Blade Barrier (PHB)
Circle of Death (PHB)
Cleanse (Gods)
Gangyn's Poison Pillar (S&S)
Greater Dispelling [area only] (PHB)
Forbiddance (PHB)
Guards and Wards (PHB)
Hall of Fire (S&S)
Heim's Spell Inhibitor (RR)
Hler's Freezing Sphere [frigid sphere only] (PHB)
Iku-Tyrma's Freezing Sphere [frigid sphere only] (PHB)
Move Earth (PHB)
Pulsing Fireball (S&S)
Repel Wood (PHB)
Repulsion (PHB)

7^th Level
Blasphemy (PHB)
Delayed Blast Fireball (PHB)
Dictum (PHB)
Earthquake (PHB)
Fire Storm (PHB)
Forcecage (PHB)
Holy Word (PHB)
Phase Door (PHB)
Reverse Gravity (PHB)
Sunbeam (PHB)
Transmute Metal to Wood (PHB)
Word of Chaos (PHB)

8^th Level
Detoxify (ECS)
Holy Aura (PHB)
Incendiary Cloud (PHB)
Power Word, Blind (PHB)
Repel Metal or Stone (PHB)
Shield of Law (PHB)
Sunburst (PHB)
Surtan's Fire (RR2)
Unholy Aura (PHB)
Whirlwind (PHB)
Yng's Fire (RR2)

9^th Level
Meteor Swarm (PHB)
Power Word, Kill [area version only] (PHB)
Prismatic Sphere (PHB)
Teleportation Circle (PHB)
Wail of the Banshee (PHB)
Woda's Disjunction (PHB)

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