Magic Jar: When is a Magic Door not a Magic Door?

Usable By: Wizard

Spell Level: 6

School: Necromancy

Casting Time: 1 minute

Range: Self

Duration: Until dispelled

Components: V, S, M (A gem, crystal, reliquary, or some other ornamental container worth at least 500 gp)

Your body falls into a catatonic state as your soul leaves it and enters the container you used for the spell’s material component. While your soul inhabits the container, you are aware of your surroundings as if you were in the container’s space. You can’t move or use reactions. The only action you can take is to project your soul up to 100 feet out of the container, either returning to your living body (and ending the spell) or attempting to possess a humanoids body.

You can attempt to possess any humanoid within 100 feet of you that you can see (creatures warded by a Protection from Evil and Good or Magic Circle spell can’t be possessed). The target must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failure, your soul moves into the target’s body, and the target’s soul becomes trapped in the container. On a success, the target resists your efforts to possess it, and you can’t attempt to possess it again for 24 hours.

Once you possess a creature’s body, you control it. Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the creature, though you retain your alignment and your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You retain the benefit of your own class features. If the target has any class levels, you can’t use any of its class features.

Meanwhile, the possessed creature’s soul can perceive from the container using its own senses, but it can’t move or take actions at all.

While possessing a body, you can use your action to return from the host body to the container if it is within 100 feet of you, returning the host creature’s soul to its body. If the host body dies while you’re in it, the creature dies, and you must make a Charisma saving throw against your own spellcasting DC. On a success, you return to the container if it is within 100 feet of you. Otherwise, you die.

If the container is destroyed or the spell ends, your soul immediately returns to your body. If your body is more than 100 feet away from you or if your body is dead when you attempt to return to it, you die. If another creature’s soul is in the container when it is destroyed, the creature’s soul returns to its body if the body is alive and within 100 feet. Otherwise, that creature dies.

When the spell ends, the container is destroyed.

Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

“So let me get this straight: your plan is to kill yourself by sticking your soul in a jar after spending a minute casting it, while next to the villain we’ve had to capture and pin down for a full minute, all so there is a tiny chance they fail a saving throw and allow you to posses them, gaining exactly zero of their cool abilities. That’s your plan?” - A reasonable party member to some bozo who thought it was a good idea to learn Magic Jar.

For the life of me I can’t figure out why this is a spell. Is it just because it existed in older editions or something? As written, this is literally just a trap a villain has to set up to attempt to possess a player or a beloved NPC. It sets the stage and everything; the player’s find the villain in their safe room cold on the floor, seemingly catatonic among their treasures. With said treasures is a beautiful vase easily worth 500 gold pieces. The rogue instinctively grabs the shiny, and bam! Now the villain, certain of their defeat otherwise, probably has a new body they can inhabit for a bit until they figure something else out.

From a player’s perspective, at its best this is the most convoluted way to control somebody. You have access to Suggestion, Seeming, Dominate Person, Polymorph, and so many more spells that give you the ability to look, sound, and feel like somebody you're not or control the exact person you want. I guess you could try to stick your wizard brain into a barbarian bod to get some bonus hit points and AC? That’s something you could try, but it seems like a flimsy plan that could irreversibly kill you if something goes wrong. Your body just limply sits there; it is catatonic, not dead, and still needs everything you’d expect a body to need. You can’t just bury it underground and wait, you need to eat, breathe, drink, all that fun stuff, meaning it's probably coming with you. Hope you enjoy carrying around the frail lifeless form you used to inhabit and now must protect.

I want to reiterate this doesn’t even feel like a spell. This feels like a curse, like a magic item, like a monster’s ability. Why this is a spell a player can take is beyond me; if you are playing an evil character and love the idea of carrying around your catatonic old wizard body from the now possessed shredded half-orc, go for it. Otherwise, it isn’t worth the risk or hassle.

5e Spells

Magic Jar: When is a Magic Door not a Magic Door?