Quest

Spell — see Magic and Spellcasting for the rules and the Spell Index for the full list.

Arcane 6, Divine 6 Type: enchantment, esoteric

Range: 45’ Duration: special

This spell lays a magical injunction on a target creature, assigning it to carry out a course of action specified by the caster – the eponymous quest. After hearing the quest, the target creature can, but does not have to, make a Spells saving throw to resist it. If the save succeeds, the spell has no effect. If the save fails, or the target creature chooses not to make the save, the quest is laid upon it. There are a number of reasons why a creature might waive its saving throw against quest. For instance, it may be willing to accept the quest in exchange for some promised reward; it might be obliged to accept the quest to offer a sacred vow; it might be condemned due to crimes, with the quest offering its only chance of redemption; and so on.

A creature cannot be given a quest to kill itself or to pursue a course of action that would result in certain (not just likely) death. Apart from those limits, the creature can be given a quest to pursue almost any other course of activity, including harming its allies, giving away cherished belongings, confessing its crimes, and so on.

The affected creature is not compelled to pursue the quest it has been given, but if it does not do so it will face terrible negative effects (decided by the Judge) for failing to do so. The negative effects will progress from minor penalties on rolls, to loss of class powers and spells, to reduction in attributes, to injury, sickness, and, ultimately, death. If the negative effects become too much to bear and the creature resumes its quest, all of the accrued negative effects are removed after one day. However, should the creature later shirk its quest again, all of the accrued negative effects will return instantly and progress from there.

If the quest was ambiguously worded or vague as to its meaning, the affected creature might be able to subvert the quest. For instance, if the creature has been sent on a quest to “find and bring to me a mighty magic sword,” it might be able to fulfill its quest by returning to the caster with a copy of the popular fantasy epic “A Mighty Magic Sword.”

If the quest requires the affected creature to complete a task that is logically or physically impossible for it to accomplish, the quest ends after one day per caster level. For instance, if the creature has been compelled to “find the nine-fingered kobold who slew Athelstan’s parents,” but Athelstan’s parents are alive and well, the quest will not last long. However, the creature might undergo significant torment in the interim as negative effects pile up for his failure to pursue the quest.

A quest (and all effects thereof) can only be ended by a remove curse spell from a caster of higher level than the caster of the quest or by a miracle or wish. Dispelling does not affect a quest spell. A quest can be detected with discern bewitchment, but cannot be detected with discern magic.