Re: SPELLJAMMER-L Digest - 1 Sep 2005 to 2 Sep 2005 (#2005-163)

OK, here's one for comment, a 3.5e spell, although it could easily be
adapted for others:

Shore Party
Conjuration (Teleportation)
Level:  Sor/Wiz 3, Travel 3
Components:  V, S
Casting Time:  1 standard action
Range:  Personal and touch
Target:  You and touched objects or other touched willing creatures
Duration:  Instantaneous
Saving Throw:  None and Will negates (object)
Spell Resistance:  No and Yes (object)

This spell instantly transports you to a destination on a planet from
your ship or back to the ship from which you departed.  You can bring
any objects you carry provided that their weight doesn't exceed your
maximum load.  Additionally, you can bring one additional creature of
medium or smaller size per three caster levels.  Each size category
above medium counts as two creatures of the next lower category (e.g. a
Large creature counts as two medium creatures).  All creatures to be
transported must be in contact.
        For a planet you have not visited before, the DM will generally
determine where you materialize, although you can specify the kind of
terrain you'd prefer (e.g. an unoccupied square of a town, a clearing
in a forest, or a glade).  Provided such a terrain exists near the
location directly under the orbit of the ship, you will be transported
to such a location.  Otherwise, the DM determines where you
materialize, usually in a location as close in nature to that specified
as possible.  You cannot use this spell to transport inside an
artificial structure, other than to return to your ship.
        For a planet you have visited before, you may either take your chances
and treat it as above, or return to a previous point to which you have
teleported that is approximately directly below the ship's orbit.  If
you choose the latter, there is a chance of error.  First, the ship's
pilot must attempt a DC 20 Piloting check, with a circumstance bonus of
+1 for every power of two times you have visited the location (e.g. +1
for one visit, +2 for two visits, +3 for four visits, etc).  If the
ship is without a pilot, your only option is to treat the planet as
unvisited.  If the pilot fails this check, which is a measure of his
ability to position his ship above the target destination (this
requires d100 minutes to perform as well, if time is significant), the
caster must attempt a caster level check against DC 20, with a -1
circumstance penalty for every point by which the pilot failed his
check.
        To return to your ship, you must go to the location to which you
teleported to the planet, and there is no chance of error.  If an error
occurs, the DM determines where you materialize alternatively, basing
the actual location upon the amount by which the error occurred,
according to the guidelines below:
        Miss By Result (where you materialize)
        1               Within the same city or within d20*100 yards
        2               Within the same region or within d10 miles
        3,4             Within the same country or within d100 miles
        5,6             Within the same continent or within d1000 miles
        7-9             Random location on the planet
        10-14   Random planet within the crystal sphere
        15-20*  Catastrophic failure - lost in the Flow
*       Or a natural 1 on the roll
Where, Miss By is the amount by which the level check fails, and Result
is the general place in which you materialize, in a random direction.
If you attempted to teleport to an underground (natural, of course)
destination, you will materialize on the surface rather than
underground.  Note that you will never materialize inside something
solid, nor in mid-air or within any non-breathable location, unless the
planet has no breathable atmosphere.  For the catastrophic failure
case, you are subject to all the consequences of being lost in the Flow
and cannot return to your ship using the Shore Party spell.  If you
materialize on a random planet, you also cannot use the spell to return
to your ship.