Spell Description

This spell snatches the soul of a humanoid as it dies and traps it inside the tiny cage you use for the material component. A stolen soul remains inside the cage until the spell ends or until you destroy the cage, which ends the spell. While a soul is trapped, the dead humanoid it came from can’t be revived.

For the duration, you can exploit the trapped soul. You can exploit a trapped soul up to six times. Once you exploit a soul for the sixth time, it is released, and the spell ends. The spell also ends early if the material component is destroyed. You have the following options for exploiting the trapped soul:

  • Borrow Experience. You can use a bonus action to bolster yourself with the soul’s life experience, making your next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw with advantage. If you don’t use this benefit before the start of your next turn, it is lost.

  • Eyes of the Dead. You can use an action to name a place the humanoid saw in life, which creates an invisible sensor somewhere in that place if it is on the plane of existence you're currently on. The sensor remains for as long as you concentrate, up to 10 minutes (as if you were concentrating on a spell). You receive visual and auditory information from the sensor as if you were in its space using your senses. A creature that can see the sensor (such as one using see invisibility or truesight) sees a translucent image of the tormented humanoid whose soul you caged.

  • Query Soul. You ask the soul a question (no action required) and receive a brief telepathic answer, which you can understand regardless of the language used. The soul knows only what it knew in life, but it must answer you truthfully and to the best of its ability. The answer is no more than a sentence or two and might be cryptic.

  • Steal Life. You can use a bonus action to drain vigor from the soul and regain 2d8 plus your spellcasting modifier hit points.

Soul Cage

6th level, arcane (necromancy)

Casting Time

1 reaction*

Duration

8 hours

Range

30 feet (sight)

Components

V,S,M**

*a reaction you take when a humanoid creature dies within range
**this spell requires a small gem encrusted cage worth at least 500 gp