Maze

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• Level: 8
• School: Conjuration
• Class: Wizard
• Casting Time: Action
• Range: 60 feet
• Components: V, S
• Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You banish a creature that you can see within range into a labyrinthine demiplane. The target remains there for the duration or until it escapes the maze.

The target can take a Study action to try to escape. When it does so, it makes a DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check. If it succeeds, it escapes, and the spell ends.

When the spell ends, the target reappears in the space it left or, if that space is occupied, in the nearest unoccupied space.

Tactical Usage

Maze serves as an extremely powerful single-target removal spell, effectively eliminating dangerous enemies from combat for extended periods while your party deals with remaining threats. Target high-value enemies such as spellcasters, leaders, or creatures with powerful abilities that need immediate neutralization without requiring a saving throw. The spell excels against physically powerful but less intelligent creatures, as they struggle more with the Intelligence-based escape mechanism. Use it to isolate enemy commanders from their troops, creating tactical advantages by disrupting coordination and morale among remaining foes. The spell proves invaluable when facing encounters with one overwhelmingly powerful enemy supported by weaker allies, allowing you to focus fire on the supporters first. Apply it defensively when party members need time to recover, retreat, or reposition without pressure from the most dangerous opponent. The concentration requirement demands careful positioning and protection, but the payoff of removing a major threat justifies the investment.

Spell Combinations

Maze synergizes excellently with protective spells that help maintain concentration, such as Shield, Counterspell, or Misty Step for defensive positioning. Combine it with battlefield control magic that affects remaining enemies, allowing you to shape the encounter while the primary threat is removed. The spell works well with healing or revival magic, providing time to restore fallen allies without interference from the most dangerous enemy. Use it alongside summon spells to replace the removed enemy with allies, dramatically shifting the balance of forces in your favor. Pair it with divination magic to identify the most intelligent enemies who might escape quickly, helping you target appropriately. The spell complements other banishment effects by creating multiple removal options, though only one creature can be mazed at a time. Combine with buff spells for allies, using the breathing room provided by the removal to enhance your party's capabilities.

Material Component Details

Maze requires only verbal and somatic components, making it accessible without expensive material investments while remaining vulnerable to component restrictions. The lack of material components ensures the spell remains available even when equipment is compromised, though the somatic requirement demands free hand movement. The spell can be cast while holding an arcane focus or component pouch, as the somatic component involves complex gestures that weave the dimensional magic. Some wizards prefer to use focuses made from materials associated with extradimensional travel, believing they enhance the spell's stability and effectiveness. The straightforward component requirements make the spell reliable in most casting situations, though grappling or restraint can prevent the necessary gestures. The verbal component involves incantations that tear reality and create dimensional rifts, potentially alerting enemies to the magical activity taking place.

Creator Notes

Maze presents unique encounter design challenges as it can completely remove a major threat from combat, potentially trivializing encounters built around single powerful enemies. When designing encounters for parties with access to this spell, consider including multiple significant threats or enemies with high Intelligence scores that can escape quickly. The spell creates interesting tactical decisions about when to use such a powerful resource, as the concentration requirement makes the caster vulnerable while maintaining the effect. Be prepared for creative applications where players use the spell for exploration, information gathering, or problem-solving rather than just combat removal. The Intelligence-based escape mechanism rewards smart enemies and can lead to dramatic moments when powerful creatures unexpectedly escape or remain trapped longer than expected. Consider how the spell affects story pacing and whether certain plot-critical enemies should have immunity or special escape methods.

Environmental Interactions

The target disappears into an extradimensional maze, removing them completely from the current plane and making them immune to effects originating from the material plane during the banishment. The maze exists in its own pocket dimension, unaffected by environmental conditions, magical fields, or planar influences from the original location. Creatures with dimensional travel abilities might have advantages in escaping, though they must still succeed on the Intelligence check to navigate the maze's exit. Anti-magic fields on the material plane don't affect the maze once created, but entering such a field while concentrating would end the spell and return the target. Areas of dimensional instability might interfere with the spell's casting or make the maze less stable, potentially allowing easier escape. The spell functions regardless of the target's size or physical capabilities, as the maze adapts to contain any creature that can be affected by the magic.

Common Rulings & Clarifications

The spell targets a single creature that must be visible within range, requiring clear sight but not necessarily clear path to the target. No saving throw is allowed against the initial banishment, making it one of the most reliable single-target removal spells available. The target can only attempt to escape by using a Study action to make a DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check, preventing other escape methods while trapped. The maze persists for the full duration unless the target escapes, the caster loses concentration, or the spell is otherwise ended. Creatures with teleportation or planar travel abilities still must succeed on the Intelligence check, as the maze's nature confounds magical navigation. When the spell ends, the target returns to its original space or the nearest unoccupied space if the original is blocked. The spell affects creatures regardless of size, from tiny to gargantuan, as the maze scales appropriately to contain its prisoner.

Alternative Applications

Beyond combat removal, Maze serves various strategic and creative purposes throughout different campaign scenarios. Use it to temporarily remove prisoners or dangerous individuals who need to be contained but not harmed, providing secure holding without requiring physical prisons. The spell proves valuable for interrogation scenarios where you need time to search areas, gather evidence, or prepare for questioning without the subject's immediate interference. Apply it to protect important NPCs by removing them from dangerous situations, essentially placing them in temporal stasis until threats pass. The spell can serve as a dramatic escape mechanism for villains or important characters, removing them from scenes while maintaining narrative tension. Use it to buy time during complex magical rituals or item creation processes that require uninterrupted concentration and workspace. The spell provides opportunities for character development as trapped creatures might experience visions, revelations, or psychological insights during their imprisonment.

Related Spells

Maze belongs to the high-level conjuration tradition of dimensional manipulation, sharing thematic elements with Banishment, Plane Shift, and other extraplanar effects. Compare it to Banishment, which requires a save but can affect multiple targets, and Forcecage, which provides physical containment rather than dimensional removal. The spell relates to other single-target removal effects like Polymorph or Flesh to Stone, though with different mechanics and escape conditions. Consider it alongside other 8th-level wizard spells for strategic resource allocation, as it competes with offensive options like Disintegrate or utility spells like Mind Blank. The spell shares tactical applications with incapacitation magic like Hold Monster or Mental Prison, representing different approaches to neutralizing dangerous enemies. Imprisonment provides similar removal effects but with permanent duration and different triggering conditions. The spell connects to other concentration-based control magic that requires sustained focus to maintain powerful effects.

Scaling Analysis

Maze does not scale with higher-level spell slots, maintaining its base effects regardless of the spell level used to cast it. The spell's power level is already calibrated for high-level encounters where single-target removal becomes strategically valuable against powerful individual threats. Its effectiveness scales with the Intelligence of potential targets, becoming more valuable against creatures with lower mental capabilities that struggle with the escape mechanism. At the level where this spell becomes available, characters face threats that justify such powerful removal magic, including dragons, demons, and other high-challenge rating creatures. The spell's utility increases in encounters with multiple powerful enemies, as removing one significant threat can dramatically improve the party's tactical position. Consider the spell's strategic value compared to other 8th-level options, particularly in campaigns where intelligent enemies are common and might escape quickly.

Narrative Flavor

When cast, Maze begins with the caster weaving complex spatial gestures while speaking words that seem to fold reality around the target, creating visible distortions in the air. The spell manifests as a shimmering portal or dimensional rift that suddenly engulfs the target, pulling them into a labyrinthine pocket dimension that exists outside normal space and time. The target experiences disorientation as they find themselves in an endless maze of corridors, walls, and passages that shift and change according to magical rules rather than physical architecture. The maze appears differently to each trapped creature: some experience stone corridors reminiscent of ancient dungeons, others navigate hedge mazes that seem to grow and change, while some face abstract geometric puzzles that challenge their understanding of space itself. Throughout their imprisonment, trapped creatures sense the artificial nature of their prison while struggling to comprehend the complex spatial relationships needed to find the exit. The maze responds to their thoughts and attempts at escape, becoming more complex for those who approach the solution, creating a mental challenge that tests intelligence rather than physical prowess. When the spell ends or the creature escapes, reality snaps back into focus as they suddenly reappear in the material plane, often disoriented but otherwise unharmed by their extradimensional experience.