Skull Trap

After minutes of concentration with your hand upon the skull to imbue the skull with raw negative power, its eye sockets flicker briefly with menacing, dark potential, and then is released gently from your grasp. Waiting…

This ward can be placed in two ways; either upon a non-living skull which then hovers in place at a height between 0 to 9 feet up (at the caster’s discretion, but usually at about 4’ to 5’) until discharged, or upon the skull of an undead skeleton which moves with the undead skeleton it is attached to until discharged.

A hovering skull trap remains dormant until the skull is touched by living matter from a creature of at least diminutive size or it is struck and damaged by non-living matter (e.g.: it is struck in combat or falls to the floor). The skull has AC12, hardness 1, and 1 hit point per caster level. A skull trap is indistinguishable from a skull watch spell. Only one active skull trap can be placed in any 5’ cube.

A skull trap spell placed upon the skull of an undead skeleton remains dormant, moving with the undead, discharging when the skull is touched by living matter or when the undead skeleton is destroyed. Dealing damage to the undead skeleton that is not sufficient to destroy it does not trigger the skull trap. Undead skeletons under the effects of a skull trap spell do not have glowing pinpoints of red light in their eye sockets.

This simple warding does not discriminate; it can be triggered just as easily by the wizard who cast the spell as by a curious rat brushing up against it (which is why a skull trap is usually hovering). They cannot be attuned to allow certain individuals to bypass them nor can they be keyed with passwords to disarm them even temporarily.

When the skull trap discharges, the skull flashes briefly with red or violet light and violently explodes, releasing a blast of energy drawn from the Negative Material Plane. The burst of negative energy inflicts 1d4 points of negative energy damage per caster level (maximum 10d4). All living creatures within 10’ of the skull must make a Reflex saving throw to suffer only half damage from the blast.

Because the trap is so easily triggered, the skull is often placed in its final resting place before casting the spell on it. A hovering skull trap may be moved without triggering the trap, but it must be moved very slowly and without contact with living matter. Gloves or any other thin material used to cover the flesh of a living being are not enough to prevent the skull trap from being discharged.

*Material Components: A pinch of dust from the physical remains of a corporeal undead being with strong ties to the Negative Material Plane, such as a wight or vampire and a 50 gp onyx gem.