From: gefagan@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Geoffrey Edward Fagan) Subject: RE: Secret Spells Date: 5 Feb 90 17:44:22 GMT Here are the secret spells of Ding Shu, the mysterious Sorcerer of the East. (born John Smith, but found that Oriental mages had a fiercer reputation...) Ding Shu's Marvelous Chopsticks (Conjuration/Summoning) Level: 9 Range: 120 yards Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 round/level Casting Time: 6 Area of Effect: See below Saving Throw: None This spell functions only in campaigns which use the optional rule concerning hovering at death's door. It brings into existence a pair of huge chopsticks, 30 feet long, which attacks all targets with the caster's THAC0 as if they were AC 10 (dexterity modifiers do apply, however). Victems weighing more than 2 tons are immobilized by the chopsticks, while lighter victems are actually swept off their feet and may be deposited, within the same round, at any point in the spell's range. Those who successfully roll to bend bars manage to free themselves, but they may suffer falling damage as a result. Most probably, the caster will choose to deposit his victems in a gar- gantuan mouth which appears above his head. This mouth can hold one creature of size L, two of size M, or four creatures of size S. Each round it "chews" its contents for 10 points of damage each, until they reach a hit point total between 0 and -10. At this point it "swallows" them into the astral plane, and is prepared to receive another victem. Normally, persons reduced to such a hit point score would die in a matter of minutes, but in the timelessness of the astral plane, they may remain unconscious but barely alive for thousands of years. Naturally, the material component is a pair of chopsticks. Ding Shu's Draconian Holocaust (Invocation/Evocation) Level: 9 Range: 60 yards Components: V, S, M Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 9 Area of Effect: 900 to 5,400 square feet Saving Throw: 1/2 This spell has the same effect as a swooping Celestial Dragon, spewing forth its fiery breath. The spell affects all within a swathe 30 feet wide and from 30 to 180 feet long. All victems within the area of effect receive 130 points of damage, reduced by 10 for every 30 foot segment of length beyond the first. Thus a 180 foot swathe would inflict but 80 points of damage to each character within it. Casting requires the scale of a fire-breathing dragon. Mental Ledger (Alteration) Level: 9 Range: 0 Components: V, S, M Duration: Permanent Casting Time: See below Area of Effect: The caster Saving Throw: None This spell actually enables the wizard to record spells in an unused portion of his brain, just as he would in a spell book. He can record three spell levels per wizard level, and he must re-cast mental ledger every time he wishes to change which spells are recorded. The material component is a dia- mond worth at least 5,000 gold pieces. Casting time is one hour per spell per level added to or deleted from the ledger. ============================ As long as I'm on the subject of secret spells, here are the others from my DM's grimoire, those these are not intended to be rare. In particular, I've tried to expand the schools of Abjuration (Protection from Cantrips is cuurently the only second level abjuration spell), Necromancy (presently an unplayable specialty), and Divination (plenty of spells, but not adventure material). This material will be continued in two subsequent postings, "Spells for Cops" and "RE:Necromancers." Incidentally, the Forgotten Realms supplement FR6, Dreams of the Red Wizards, expands all of the schools of magic, often by making clerical magic available to mages (at equal or lower spell level), or, in the case of Abjuration, with very specific protection spells (along the line of protection scrolls), Prot. from Werewolves, for example. The best new spells were for schools that are already overflowing. First-Level Spells ------------------ Find Water (Divination) Range: 1 mile, depth 10 feet/level Components: S, M Duration: 2 rounds/level Casting Time: 1 turn Area of Effect: 20x arc Saving Throw: None When casting this spell, the diviner grasps two ends of a Y-shaped twig. The remaining end twists around to point in the direction of the nearest source of fresh water within the spell range. The branch can twist but twenty degrees, and then the diviner will feel a tug in the direction of the water. The diviner can specify a minimum amount of water to seek (greater than the amount in a human body, for example). Inaudibility (Illusion/Phantasm) Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 hour/level Casting Time: 2 Area of Effect: Creature Touched Saving Throw: Negates This spell completely masks all sounds made by the recipient: bodily functions such as breathing and sleeping as well as sounds made by striking another object (walking, for example). Any object held by the recipient is likewise silenced. Objects thrown, dropped, or knocked over by the recipient are not under the effect of the spell, however, and these may make noise at the ends of their trajectories. An unwilling victem receives a saving throw against this spell. The material component is a bit of cotton. Protection from Rain (Abjuration) (from Warhammer FRP) Range: 0 Components: S, M Duration: 1 hour/level Casting Time: 1 Area of Effect: The caster Saving Throw: None After casting this spell, the wizard will remain dry even if standing in the midst of a torrent. The caster is protected from splashes and falling drops, but he is not protected from more concentrated bodies such as puddles. The water will simply bead and flow down an invisible field which surronds the caster and his clothing at a distance of about one inch. An oiled leather rag is the material component of this spell. Wizard Glue (Enchantment) (from Alchemist in Best of Dragon, vol. 3) Range: Touch Components: S, M Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 1 Area of Effect: 20 sq. feet/level Saving Throw: None Wizard glue will hold one relatively flat surface to another, a mirror to a wall for example. The strength of the bond is 20 pounds per level of the wizard, up to 120 pounds. Dispel magic will end the spell, and a strength of 10 or greater can break a 20-pound bond. A strength of 12 can break a 40-pound bond, a strength of 14 can break a 60-pound bond, and so forth. If the item held by the glue is brittle, it may be shattered in the separation. Honey is the material component of this spell. Second-Level Spells ------------------- Protection from Enchantment (Abjuration) Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 round/level Casting Time: 2 Area of Effect: Creature touched Saving Throw: None The recipient of this spell is partially immune to magical forms of sleep, charm, and fear. He automatically receives a saving throw even if one is not ordinarily permitted, and if one is permitted, he saves at +4. Note that this spell will not free the recipient from any enchantment already in force, nor will it protect him from natural drowsiness or femenine guile. Also note that protection extends only to actual charm spells, such as charm person or charm monster, not to enchantment/charm spells as a class. The material component is a lapis lazuli or more potent stone. Resist Paralysis (Abjuration) Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 round/level Casting Time: 5 Area of Effect: Creature touched Saving Throw: None For the duration of this spell, the recipient is immune to all forms of paralysis, including gaze attacks, paralytic poison, and hold spells, but it does not negate paralysis already in effect. The material component is a feather and an infusion of tea and ginger (to be consumed by the recipient). Sonic Barrier (Abjuration) Range: 0 Components: S, M Duration: 1 turn/level Casting Time: 2 Area of Effect: 10-foot-radius sphere Saving Throw: None This spell creates an invisible, spherical barrier through which sound cannot pass. The barrier remains centered on the caster, enabling an assault group to move in absolute silence without giving up inter-communication. How- ever, sound cannot pass into the barrier either, making the party deaf for the duration. The material component is a glass globe. Wound Closure (Necromancy) Range: Touch Components: V, S Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 5 Area of Effect: Creature touched Saving Throw: None This spell closes the wounds of the recipient to prevent bleeding and infection, incidentally curing 1-4 hit points of damage. All of the victem's wounds will be closed by a single casting, but further application is possible to increase the healing effect. The spell can be used on corpses to disguise the cause of death, but it does not work on non-corporeal or extra-planar entities. Note: A recent posting suggested that mages be able to cast healing spells using d6's instead of d8's. I believe the above spell description shows my opposition to that approach (see also DMGv2 p. 43), unless you intend to do away with clerics as a PC class. From a game mechanics standpoint, such an approach would destroy the balance between priest and mage, but there is a campaign background reason as well: Pseudo-midieval medical knowledge would be atrocious. Clerical healing is a gift from God or the gods, relatively omniscient and omnipotent fellows, but magical curing would depend upon the mage's understanding of the body and its functions. Thus you might find a wizard who can pull the edges of a wound back together, as described above, but you could not find one who could stimulate the replication of tissue of various injured organs, insure an increased blood supply to the affected regions, metabolise fat and increase respiration to enrich said blood, etc. You certainly could not find a mage to cure diseases before microbes are discovered. Just my tuppence' worth. Fourth-Level Spells ------------------- Broom (Enchantment) Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 hour/level + 1d6 hours Casting Time: 1 turn Area of Effect: Broom touched Saving Throw: None A witch uses this spell to enchant her broom with the power of flight. The broom flies with a movement rate of 30, minus 1 per 14 lb.s above 182 lb.s which it is carrying, and it can climb and turn at an angle of 30 in response to the verbal command of its mistress. While the enchantment lasts, the witch can summon the broom from up to 300 yards away. The material components are a broom, which is not used up by the casting, and a feather, which is. The long casting time is necessary to set the command words, but if the spell is recast on an already enchanted broom, it has a casting time of 3. Eighth-Level Spells ------------------- Power Link (Necromancy) Range: 10 yards Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 turn/level Casting Time: 10 Area of Effect: Creature Touched Saving Throw: Negates This spell creates a link between the caster and the victem through which magical energy can flow. Thus the wizard can cast spells centered on the recipient, as if he were a projected image. Also, the wizard can route malevolent spell side-effects, such as magical aging, to the victem. The material components of the spell are a chip of jet, an herbal tea of spearmint and devil's dung, and a wooden disc. The recipient must be an intelligent, living native of the wizard's home plane. Teleport Block (Abjuration) Range: 10 yards/level Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 hour/level Casting Time: 1 turn Area of Effect: 1000 cubic feet/level Saving Throw: See below This spell prevents teleportation into or out of the region specified by the caster, which may be of any shape and any size, up to 1000 cubic feet per level of the abjurer. No character can enter or leave the region by means of dimension door, teleport, or other-planar travel. Teleportation within the region is not restricted, and teleport without error has a chance of success equal to 1% per level of the caster, though it has the same chance of failure as a regular teleport attempted under normal conditions. A full wish will also provide transportation across the boundary, as of course will walking, riding, and flying. Any attempt to teleport or dimension door across the block will automatically fail; all memory of the spell will be lost; and the caster must make a system shock check or be killed by the shock of the rebound. Attempts at trans-planar travel will also fail, but not in so dramatic a fashion. The material component is a glass globe. ============================ A recent post asked suggestions for a necromancer character class, and I agree with one of the follow-up articles that the best necromancer would simply be the specialist mage described in the PH, with suitable expansion of the spells of that college. Never-the-less, I refer you to Best of Dragon, vol. 4, for a non-player class called the Death Master, an appellation that suits the necro- mantic wizards of the present rules equally well. The additional spells below are in the main adapted from that article, and together with the some of the spells of the Forensic Wizard (see previouis posting) should expand the school sufficiently to compete with the other specialties. In particular, I have tried to make sure that at every spell level, there is a necromancy spell that is suitable for use in combat, so that the specialist's ability to memorize one extra necromancy spell per level would indeed be an advantage. Spells of the Death Master -------------------------- Wither (Necromancy) Level: 1 Range: 30 yards Components: V, S, M Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 1 Area of Effect: 100 sqare feet/level Saving Throw: See below This spell kills all normal vegetation within an area of 100 square feet per level of the caster, who determines the shape of that area at the time of casting. Trees receive a saving throw of 11, and special plants such as treants suffer but 1d6 points of damage. The material component is acid, sprinkled over the whole area of effect. Casting time is exclusive of this administration. Death Armor (Necromancy) Level: 2 Range: 0 Components: V, S Duration: 1 round/level Casting Time: 3 Area of Effect: The caster Saving Throw: None While this spell is in effect, any creature who touches the caster with exposed flesh (to cast a spell, for example) will suffer 1d8 points of damage. The spell will not protect the necromancer from damage, nor does it have any effect on an armed opponent, but it will affect undead, and the death master adds one point to damage inflicted with his bare hands. Soul Safe (Abjuration/Necromancy) Level: 3 Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 day/level Casting Time: 1 turn Area of Effect: One creature Saving Throw: See below With this spell, the Necromancer stores the soul of the recipient in a piece of jet, the material component. While his soul is thus protected, a character suffers a penalty of -2 to attack rolls and saving throws, he does not heal naturally, and magical healing functions on him at only half normal efficacy. If the character is slain by undead while under the effects of this spell, however, his soul cannot be corrupted and forced to rise as undead itself (though the body can still be animated as a zombie or skeleton). If the soul safe is destroyed, or if the spell expires, the soul will return (across any distance) to its body, unless that body is dead, in which case it will journey to its final resting place. This spell affects only races with souls: dwarves, halflings, and humans. Hand of Time (Necromancy) Level: 4 Range: Touch Components: V, S Duration: Special Casting Time: 5-8 Area of Effect: Creature Touched Saving Throw: Negates After casting this spell, the death master's hand will bear a baneful curse, for the next creature he touches (possibly requiring an attack roll) will instantly become 4d10 years older. The spell lasts for 1 round per level of the caster or until discharged, and it cannot be reversed. Create Ghast (Necromancy) Level: 6 Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 2 hours Area of Effect: Special Saving Throw: None This spell creates up to one ghast per six levels of the caster, and these ghasts will follow the commands of their creator to the best of their ability. Each ghast is formed from the corpse of a human slain by a ghoul or ghast who has not yet risen as a ghoul itself. These corpses are the material components of the spell. As implied above, humans killed by a ghast will rise as ghouls to follow the pack. Create Mummy (Necromancy) Level: 7 Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 4 hours Area of Effect: One corpse Saving Throw: None This spell creates one mummy from the corpse of a human of at least 7th level fighting ability. The mummy follows orders to the limit of its low intelligence, but it must remain within one mile of its place of origin, so it is primarily useful only as a guardian. The corpse of the potential mummy must be properly embalmed with the appropriate proficiency (q.v.). Life Leech (Necromancy) Reversible (appears in Forgotten Realms Kara-Tur) Level: 8 Range: Special Components: V, S, M Duration: Special Casting Time: 8 Area of Effect: Special Saving Throw: + This spell allows the death master to steal 2d6 years from a victem and add them to his own life. The victem must be human and of a level equal to or greater than that of the caster. If the victem is of lower level, the number of years transferred is multiplied by the victem's level and divided by the necromancer's. Since the victem must be in the center of a pentegram at the completion of the casting, it is useful to have him held or immobilized in some way. The reverse spell works in the same fashion, except that the caster ages 2d6 years while the recipient becomes younger. In either case, the material components are a black candle, a white candle, a drop of blood from both parties, and a specially prepared glass screen. Summon Wraith (Conjuration/Summoning, Necromancy) Level: 8 Range: 10 yards Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 round + 1 round/level Casting Time: 5 Area of Effect: 10-foot cube Saving Throw: None This spell is identical to the fifth-level spell summon shadow, except that it conjures up one wraith for every three levels the death master has at- tained. These monsters are under the control of the wizard until they are slain or until the spell expires, but if the wraiths are turned, they continue to serve in any capacity which does not require them to confront the cleric who resisted them. The material component is a bit of jet. Happy Halloween, Geoffrey Fagan (gefagan@uokmax.uucp)