This spell is a special blessing from the priest's deity upon an individual or creature the priest believes threatened. When the creature would otherwise die, a translucent hand appears to save him. A blow that would strike down the recipient misses, an object falls to block a gout of dragon's breath, and so on. The hand of fale intervenes only after all attack rolls and saving throws are resolved, and death (not just incapacitation) must have been the outcome or the spell is not released. A creature can be affected by only one hand of fate at any given time. The maximum duration of the spell is one hour, plus one hour per level of the casting priest.
Notes: Very rare spell. (Updated from Polyhedron Newszine.)
Castings of this spell are best granted only as a reward for exceptional service or to reinforce a priest confronting an exceptional challenge in which the power's interests are directly involved. Foes may have access to this spell, as well.
This spell (also known as divine justice) inflicts a fitting punishment for an act of cruelty upon a single living and intelligent subject of the spell. This cannot be ended by dispel magic or other magical effects. It lasts until the hand of Hoar has struck or the subject is dead.
Upon casting the spell, the priest of Hoar must touch the subject and then verbally accuse the creature of some particular injustice committed that caused harm (DM's discretion) to some other creature or to the spellcaster. If the subject fails a saving throw vs. spell, is actually guilty of committing the named injustice, and can understand the priest's accusation, then the spell takes effect. The priest has no way of knowing if the spell has actually taken effect (except to hypothesize if a fitting response occurs following the casting of the spell).
The vengeance of the hand of Hoar is swift and harsh. For example, if an assassin kills the wrong target and is then subject to the effects of Hoar's divine justice, it is likely the assassin will die while unintentionally foiling a rival assassin's attack on the original target. If a mage imprisons an innocent rival and is then subjected to the effects of the hand of Hoar, it is likely that mage's next spellcasting attempt will take effect within the radius of a spontaneously appearing wild magic region. The resulting miscast spell might result in the mage being imprisoned. The effects of the hand of Hoar vary on a case-by-case basis. They are adjudicated by the DM, but should be suitably ironic – a punishment to fit the crime.
The spell requires a small token once possessed by the subject and the priest's holy symbol. Neither is consumed in the casting.
Notes: Granted by Hoar the Doombringer of the Forgotten Realms setting.