Animate Clothing
(Illusion/Phantasm, Necromancy)

Range:  60 yards
Components:  V, S, M
Duration:  Special
Casting Time:  4
Area of Effect:  One or more pieces of clothing
Saving Throw:  Special

By casting animate clothing, the cast can add body and substance to an illusion. The spell animates one or more articles of clothing, drawing its power from the vestiges of life energy left by the most recent wearer. The clothing fills out to the proportions of the previous owner, around which the caster can create an illusion, generally of someone wearing the clothing. The animated clothing moves, wrinkles, and stretches as if worn, and exerts tension and mild force. Should someone touch or come into contact with the clothing, it will feel as if someone was actually wearing the clothing. Attacks or forceful contact adds a +2 to disbelieving the illusion.
The material component is any article of clothing that has been worn within one week. Almost any article of clothing can be animated: shirts, pants, dresses, hats, boots, gloves, etc. One article per three levels can be animated at once, clothing that comes in pairs counting as one (gloves, socks), and can be mismatched, although mismatched articles filling out to different proportions could be suspicious. Even pieces of armour may be animated, however due to the heavier mass and lessen flexibility, each counts as two articles of clothing (a complete suit of plate armour is not counted as one item, but a leather jerkin is). Animated clothing can move and lift light objects, turn pages in a book, pick up a small gem, but cannot perform actions requiring dexterity, such as unrolling a scroll or picking a pocket. They furthermore cannot attack or wield weapons, not even daggers or darts. Any attempt exhausts the life energy fuelling the spell instantly and the clothing ceases to be animated. Animated clothing remains so as long as the caster concentrates.
The illusion of the creature is not a separate spell, but part of animate clothing. Additionally, an illusion of the creature who most recently wore this clothing is not automatically supplied by the spell.
The clothing used has to have been worn for at least 8 hours for there to be enough residual life energy to animate with. Once the spell has been cast on the spell (successfully or not), the clothing cannot be animated again until it has been worn again for another 8 hours. The clothing remains animated for as long as the caster concentrates, but, like phantasmal force, the caster cannot perform other actions.

