Let's Fix Wish

Wish is a spell that enables the character to literally alter reality within the boundaries of their mental conception, allowing them to create, destroy, or change anything that they can fully visualise and understand. The power of the Wish spell, however, is limited in critical ways that have been outlined here as precisely as possible, with the caveat that it may be necessary, in game play, to further refine the language necessary to define this very difficult and badly mishandled form of magic.

| range = 360 ft.; see text
| duration = permanent
| area of effect = see text
| casting time = 5 rounds
| save = none
| level = mage (9th)

This said, the magic is not subject to linguistic interpretation by the dungeon master of the player's intentions, regardless of the player's language. When casting the spell, the player makes clear what is being wished for, without presenting a "phrase of wishing" for interpretation, and then the DM permits that result. The DM does not re-interpret, or create invented consequences that are in no way part of the spell or this description here of it, nor does the DM impose any "monkey's paw" thinking in the DM's interpretation. The only effect of the wish spell is what the player wished for on behalf of the player's character, period.

Limitations

When employing the spell, the caster is first and foremost limited by the range of the spell, in terms of what can be affected. Because of this, the wish spell cannot choose to wish away the planet, or a country, or any entity that is larger than the area of effected. The spell cannot be used to cause a country to cease its existence, since some part of that country will continue to exist outside the spell range. With regards to the limitations on "concepts," this point must be clearly understood.

Objects that exist at the time of the spell's casting must be within line-of-sight of the caster at the time they are acted upon. "All the creatures inside a building" that cannot be seen cannot be wished out of existence. All creatures within the character's line-of-sight, however, can be wished away in exactly that fashion. This applies to any other effect that is intended, contained within the vast number of possibilities present in the spell list and the compendium of the game setting's possibilities. Persons seen can be killed, brought alive, their ability stats improved, their wealth improved — they can be demon possessed or the reverse if so wished. But persons who are not in line of sight cannot be summoned to the caster, because they cannot be seen. The caster cannot have the King of England suddenly brought before him or her, because that individual is not in the caster's line-of-sight, unless that king is already in the caster's presence. For similar reasons, the caster cannot teleport to a distant land by wish, because that would be out of the spell's range.

Conception

The caster is limited by what can be conceived. The caster can improve another character's strength to make them "as strong as possible," but the caster cannot conceive of what an "18 strength" is. Further, the caster cannot conceive of "giant strength" — and therefore, while the caster can say the words, "as strong as a frost giant," the caster doesn't really understand what that strength would be like in the body of a character, or themself. Therefore, the wish would be fulfilled, by making the character the strongest possible that they could be, which in my game world is a 19 strength, which can conceivably occur through existing game modifiers. This change would be permanent.

In like manner, while the caster might wish to produce an enormous number of gold pieces, or merely an enormous amount of treasure, again, this defies conception. The player knows the number "one billion" but the human cannot literally conceive of this number; the player cannot, in fact, conceive of the number 351. Were I to pile that many apples in front of the player, their number would have to be physically counted, or my assertion trusted: one could not simply look at the pile and know. Thus, for things that are wished for (which are not brought from elsewhere, but literally appear of their own accord within range and line-of-sight), the idea counts, not the number. For a really large amount of wealth, the character could reasonably say, "As much as the largest horde in the world." But since the player does not know how large that actually is, the amount itself would have to depend on the character's actual experience. More or less, take all the wealth already controlled by the whole party, then double that and have it appear. Job done.

This line of thinking must apply to anything that is asked for, that does not already exist.

Single-use Realism

Once a thing has been wished for, it can never be wished for again. The caster cannot wish for another treasure the next day, or for any treasure, of any kind, ever again. If a character is made to be strong, no other character can ever be likewise affected, even to the tune of one ability point. This is a severe limit on the spell. It says that the caster must consider the use of the spell in any circumstance, since if one frost giant is obliterated out of existence, not only may no other frost giant ever be gotten rid of again with the spell, nor may any other kind of "giant" — because, and this needs to be very clear, "distinctiveness between objects affected only goes so far." Except for colour, one dragon is close enough to every other dragon as to consider the entire species as the same. The same goes for every demon, every snake, every spider and so on. A distinction can be made reasonable for a weretiger vs. a werewolf... those cannot be mistaken for each other. But a weretiger vs. a tiger? It would depend on what shape the lycanthrope took.

And yes, this applies to races also. The caster gets one wish obliterating a human or humans, one wish obliterating an elf or elves, one wish obliterating a troll or trolls. An argument cannot be made that the wish was to heal only humans named "Dave." No, not distinctive enough. The individual DM can choose where to draw the line, but there must be a line. If, therefore, one is going to use the spell to obliterate an enemy, it would be best not to obliterate a large number of mixed raced creatures at a single blow. Best to take out all the frost giants and then use other means to get rid of the rest. And the caster, yes, should consider, is this really as many frost giants as I might have to get rid of someday in one blow?

Uses

Possible uses for the wish spell include, and are by no means limited to, Restore hit points, resurrect a dead creature, cure disease, cure poison, remove curses, repair damaged magic items, create non-magical or magical objects or items, duplicate the effects of any spell except those not possible by the limitations above, make a given spell's effect permanent, grant immunity to a condition, enhance ability scores, grant proficiency in a skill, create buildings, dismiss a spell, push an enemy outside the range of the spell, dispel magic, create a protective barrier, grant the ability flight, take away or restore a memory, alter terrain within range, make a weather-type permanent. And many other things a player can think of.

Limited Wish

I've kicked this bugaboo down the road a couple of times, but I did add it to the wiki and today it did randomly come up.  Therefore, hopefully, I've addressed the subject definitively enough for my game world.  I wouldn't imagine this will please anyone else, but we'll see.  I'm posting it here because it has generated interest in the past, so I know some will be interested in its review.


Spell

Limited Wish is a spell of focused invocation, allowing the caster to alter reality within the constraint's of the dweomer's area of effect. Only that which exists within that range can be affected; this constraint defines the spell's function, preventing broad manipulations of time, history or distant events while still providing the caster with immense control over their present circumstances.

The spell is capable of reshaping the immediate environment, altering conditions or imposing changes upon creatures and objects at the direction of the caster. The injured may be healed, opponents weakened or killed, enchantments dispelled, truths revealed. However, in addition to the magic's area limitation, the caster must be able to specify that the effect is needed for some higher purpose beyond the character's whim. Nor can the spell fundamentally change circumstances that apply to the game's rules, which must be upheld for the purpose of playability.

Needfulness

This describes any condition in which the requested effect is essential to the caster's well-being, progress or ability to fulfill an obligation. If the caster is in physical danger, the wish can be employed in the interest of survival. If there is an objective at hand, and the character would have to employ other means to obtain that object — that is, fight or kill an opponent, cross a gorge, physically open a chest, preserve a life against threatening elements — then the wish can be made entirely effective.

However, the spell cannot function for the purpose of indulgent, frivolous goals. The caster could create a sufficient amount of wealth to save a kingdom from bankruptcy, but could not simply "invent" money out of the air, simply because it's wanted. A caster could turn aside a lava flow, but could not simply cause the ground to open up and start spouting lava, merely because purposeless damage is sought as a desire. The spell is only able to provide magic that is essential to the task at hand, not what is most convenient, most destructive or most profitable.

Game Rules

Within the fabric of the game, limited wish cannot ignore player and opponent hit probabilities or damage, or willfully change all of a character's ability stats, character class or fundamental knowledge relating to proficiencies or sage abilities. For the purpose of explaining this limitation — for it seems obvious that we might wish to be more attractive, stronger, bigger, a different race and so on, once again these things fall under the category of needfulness.

The player, wishing to improve the player's chance at success within the game, may wish to employ limited wish as a means of doing so — though it is only one 7th level spell, and should obviously not be the end-all manner of altering every intentionally placed functional game design inherent in Dungeons and Dragons — but we should suppose that the characters are comfortable and happy with whom they are. They have no knowledge of this "player," nor do they need these imposed changes from their perspective.

Additionally, the theoretical research and invention that led to the spell would have encountered limitations within the game world's reality that opposed such changes, simply because players might want them. The gods, the assumed laws and rationalities of the setting's existence... and of course the dungeon master — who chooses how to ruin and spoil the campaign they've constructed — may simply have no wish for one spell to be created that can ruin everything at a stroke. So, it turns out, after all the research was done, this was the very best that the magi could do. They just weren't able to fabricate a magic spell that would improve a character's ability stat by a single point.

Jump

The slow process of my wiki results from a desire to figure out possible ways a spell could be used, where no previous mention or explanation exists in relation to that spell from the original text.  This is a good example, where fitting in a movement spell into an established combat system becomes an enormous headache.

Familiars

I spent two days rewriting and expanding the explanation of this spell, now the longest spell page on my wiki:

What a headache ... and long overdue, though it's not the first time I've decided to increase the amount of detail.  This is one of those bits of AD&D that left way too much up to the DM's fiat, meaning that the exact benefits of the familiar was never available to the player in any real sense.  What exactly does "night vision" really mean?

Unfortunately, some of the needed back up links are still unavailable, as they need to be written, notably the pseudo-dragon and the quasit.  All I can say is that while the latter might be something like the original, the pseudo-dragon definitely won't be.  I've never understood the point in introducing a small dragon that's in no way like a dragon, and assuming the prefix "pseudo" is an effective handwave.  In any case, those monsters haven't been created because I have a LOT left to do.  They'll get done when I need them, or when they happen to come up.

I added six additional kinds of lesser familiar; obviously, I could have added more, as virtually anything could be one.  I considered "rabbit" but I'm not convinced on that one yet.  I marginally advanced the powers and knowledge conferred on the caster by the familiar and narrowed the gap considerably between what a lesser familiar can bestow and what a greater familiar can.  I think it's important for players to want every familiar for some reason, so that it's not just a lottery of winning big or getting the booby prize.  Personally, I'll take a chameleon, dog or mongoose quite happily.  I think the monkey needs one more small benefit, but I'm worn down by making this spell fit into the sage system and other parts of the game, and I can't think of something.

Anyway, have a look.  It's technically a first draft, so there are probably spelling errors and the occasional missing word.  Feel free to point them out.

Making Links, Improving Pages

I've been suffering through a series of wiki posts that I think are worth doing, but aren't much fun.  These are based on biological ranges or biomes; I'm not using that last word, however, because it doesn't sound very D&Dish.  Yesterday, I put together Savanna.  I found it quite frustrating.  I went looking around for a splat book that I could steal from, without much luck; I dug through some legitimate books about the savanna, but these were not very useful, either.  I even went looking through the Dragon, but nothing of use came up.  The problem with savanna is that its very homogeneous.  The most interesting thing about it are the animals and beasts that are there; the actual physical features or vegetation?  Not so much.  Everything is so consistently grazed that rarely does anything but grazing vegetation survive.

Pages like this are mostly an opportunity to create a list of links ... different savannas in the world, different common features.  Compare savanna with subterranean, which is a long list of things that we take for granted, such as doors and walls and halls.  Some stupid part of my obsessive compulsiveness says these things ought to have some kind of proper description; certainly one doesn't exist in any of the books.  Then again, do I want to spend all this time making pages to describe such mundane things?  Have I done anything except create a lot of useless work?

I don't know.  It seems fit to make these pages, so I duly create the link and wait for the day it comes up in the list.  No worries.  It isn't like this wiki is ever going to be "finished."

Another obstacle is a sense I have that each page should be made as best I can.  I find myself taking more and more time with pages that I would have once dashed off, or did dash off four years ago.  With spells, I've got this idea of including in the description a heading, "Bringing the Spell into Play."  This means, in addition to telling how the spell works, I feel like it would be useful to explain some of the things I might personally do with the spell, or which I would accept from the players.  I have only adjusted two of these so far, but then I only had the idea on Thursday.  Plus, I'm searching the blog randomly for one or two posts a day, upgrading whatever comes up; mostly, I'm focusing more on monsters right now than spells.

You can read my retake on Enthrall, or you can look at Lower Water, which I did today.  An image of the latter is below.  I'll highlight any of these that I think deserve it.

Baby, I Can Warm You Up, 'Cause I'm Your Weatherman

Today's most excellent wiki page, which I've effectively rebuilt. It looks so much better.

In AD&D, Control weather is a 7th level cleric spell and a 6th level mage spell that provides a loose organization of weather types with very little exact detail about what any of these conditions will produce.  It was difficult running the spell back in the 1980s, without the sort of gritty information that is presently available on the internet.

It is particularly annoying in phrases when we're told, "obviously," that the spell must meet appropriate climatic conditions, as though we are either supposed to believe the only sort of conditions the players will every meet will be those that occur in Wisconsin, or that we are blessed with perfect knowledge of what storm conditions are possible in conditions like the African Sahel, the Brazilian Caatinga or the Yunnan Rainforest.  In 1978, when the Players Handbook was published.  It's surprising there isn't a note beneath that reading,

* Watch National Geographic, stupid.

In 5th Edition, the spell is described as an 8th-level transmutation.  The duration of the spell is drastically curtailed (from an average of 26 hours to 8), the range is much expanded and the casting time remains unchanged.  Note, please, that I charge the caster only three rounds; I don't see how more makes the spell more powerful, except that it is clearly designed not to be used in a battle.  In other words, the very powerful spell should not help 3rd level druids from casting call lightning or enabling any other caster to produce a spell based on the weather conditions.  Gah.

If at all possible, I want to produce rules related to things like spells that precisely detail what the spell will do.  Control weather has been one of the hardest spells I've had to rewrite.  I'm tremendously pleased that I'm beginning to master mediawiki's layout sufficiently that this spell can look a lot better than it did, when I edited the page six months ago.

Three Spells

These three spells were commissioned yesterday, by Giordanisti, which should be a familiar name to most of you.  The spells aren't new ~ but this particular trio has inspired a great many arguments at game tables and my personal take has accumulated over time in order to suspend misunderstandings.

In particular I have always hated the web spell as written.  Under the right circumstances it is effectively a death spell, which is ridiculous for 2nd level.  A 5% chance of dying outright per round, after ten rounds is effectively a 50% chance.  So I have rightly toned the spell down to the level of mirror image, audible glamer and rope trick.  Still useful, but not the devastating spell that it was.

As I wrote yesterday, to have me do some writing for you costs a $12 donation for 800+ words (I generally feel inclined to keep going once I open up a subject).  This can be done through Patreon or the donate button you'll find on my side bar.  Talk To Me First, however, to agree on material before you send me any money.  Do remember that you're not just buying something for yourself, but for hundreds, perhaps thousands of other readers.

WEB

Range: 1 hex per level
Duration: 20 rounds per level
Area of Effect: see below
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: none
Level: mage (2nd)

Creates strong sticky strands that form a web curtain that is, at full extent, 40 ft. long, 15 ft. wide and 5 ft. deep. This may be attached to a vertical point or hung between vertical points, or doubled back on itself to create a thicker curtain. If sufficient surrounding structure exists, such as walls and a ceiling, the web will fill a space of 3,000 cubic feet. It is not strong enough to be climbed upon.

The web may be cast so that it passes through a combat hex with allies or opponents, so that creatures will be caught in the web. All caught persons will find themselves trapped, requiring effort to extricate themselves. Movement out of a webbed hex will cost 3 action points (AP) per hex. Attacking out of a webbed hex costs a penalty of -4 to hit.

A heated blade does not improve speed of movement, but the hex to which it is applied will be cleared of webs. Likewise, a torch and similar open flame will not set the entirety of the webs alight, but if it is applied while moving, again, the webs in that hex will be cleared.

See also,
Mage
Mage 2nd Level Spells

HASTE

Range: 60 ft.
Duration: 1 round per level
Area of Effect: one creature per three levels
Casting Time: 2 rounds
Saving Throw: none
Level: mage (3rd)

Advances the speed of movement for the recipient so that all actions require half the time they would normally require, while also doubling the recipient’s number of attacks. The recipient’s total action points per round are effectively doubled. Contrary to popular belief, the spell has no actual effect on time.

The spell has no effect upon a recipient’s armour class or ability to hit, though the probability of hitting is increased by the addition of more attacks. If the recipient normally has multiple attacks, these are doubled also: 5 attacks in 4 rounds would become 10 attacks in 4 rounds; 4 attacks in 3 rounds would become 8 attacks in 3 rounds, and so on.

Once a recipient has been affected by the spell, they need not remain inside the spell’s range.

Spellcasting is not, however, improved; while the caster may be able to perform the mental and physical actions of producing the spell more quickly, the actual coalescing of power, or the attentions of divine beings and such, cannot be adjusted.

The spell will counteract the effects of the 3rd level mage spell, slow.

See Also,
Mage 3rd Level Spells


LIGHTNING BOLT

Range: 40 ft. + 10 ft. per level
Duration: instantaneous
Area of Effect: up to three targets
Casting Time: 2 rounds
Saving Throw: ½ damage
Level: mage (3rd)

Evokes a powerful stroke of magical electricity that leaps out from the caster’s hands (both are required) as a bright flash. A crash of noise accompanies the bolt, but as it is about 110 decibels there is no affect on hearing. The lightning can be split so as to affect up to three targets; moreover, this targeting is accurate, so long as the caster has line of sight. Additionally, the course of the lightning outward allows pinpoint accuracy, so that friendly targets will be unaffected by the bolts created.

As the lightning is magical and not natural, it cannot be passed through a conductor, nor does the presence of water nor connection with the ground alter the spell’s effect in any way. Likewise, magical lightning will not rebound from mirrors or any other surfaces, contrary to popular belief.

Against living creatures, the spell causes 1d6 damage per level of the spellcaster, so that a 7th level lightning bolt will cause 7-42 damage. The damage is rolled individually for each target. Any struck individual is entitled to a saving throw against magic which, if successful, will half the amount of damage taken.

Whether a save against damage is made or not, from 5-20 random objects that are carried or worn by the target must make saving throws for items against lightning. Solid objects enclosed inside a container need not make a save, unless the container itself fails save. Liquids, such as potions, holy water and beverages, must make save regardless. A fail will spoil the magical effect; other liquids will merely acquire an unpleasant metallic taste but will be otherwise unharmed. Beverages should be counted as durables with regards to nutrition.


Post Script,

I have received a request for demon generation spells and demon monster descriptions, so that will be coming up on the wiki this next week.  To my American friends, have a pleasant Memorial Day weekend.

Redux Rules on Spellcasting

I've written this kind of post before.  But every time I struggle to expand the concept, I think I get a little closer to the detail I want.  My desire is to be able to describe the original purpose and play of AD&D spells, without changing the rules that I've accepted for 30 years.  I want the player character to have a better understanding of just what is going on with spellcasting and magic ~ not so much that the player can change it [these being rules] but in the sense that the player will cease to view learning, regaining, casting and discharging of spells as a singular, logical and scientific process, that can be used in role-play as well as in sound rules play.

I consider these two things perfectly compatible, the more so if the DM is ready to put in the work necessary to explain why the world works in a particular way, rather than running to the default that "it doesn't make sense."  I think it probably does, if we're ready to give it sense.

So, with this in mind ...

SPELLCASTING

Also known as an incantation, a spell is a means of controlling unnatural power in order to cause an effect. The acquisition, casting and discharging of a spell is a complex formula that certain classes are able to manage ~ though often generally spoken of as “magic,” there are in fact five forms of spellcasting: bardic, clerical, druidical, illusionary and magical, as cast by bards, clerics, druids, illusionists and mages. These are known by the general terms, “spellcasters” or simply, “casters.”

Acquisition of Spells

Spells are acquired through characters gaining levels and choosing spells from a list that can be found by following the links of the spell-using classes above. Different spellcasters receive different numbers of spells as they advance in level. Clerics and druids gain bonus spells through wisdom. Mages have many choices, but these choices are limited by the mage’s intelligence. Illusionists and mages both gain cantrips as well as spells. Some spellcasters have considerable more power than others, and the amount of experience needed to go up a level often reflects this. A spell may not be duplicated (i.e., the caster cannot possess two or more of the same spell at the same time).

On a daily basis, casters must reacquire spells they have used, a process often described as “forgetting” and “relearning” spells. Sometimes the latter is called “memorizing” a spell. These words should be taken figuratively. The English language lacks proper technical terms for what’s really happening, so these words serve as placeholders.

In actual fact, when a caster is organizing a spell in their mind, the process is like putting together a complex thought-puzzle, in which various mental pieces are fitted together in a fashion that can’t be fully understood by a non-spell using perspective. This process of mental manipulation is the art that spellcasters are taught for so many years before they succeed in becoming 1st level in their class. Moreover, the puzzle-making is different for each form of magic, so that a cleric cannot cast magical spells, having no more knowledge of how magical spells work than a fighter does. The process of assembling this puzzle takes time and must be done once fully rested.

Once the spell is in mentally place, it will remain there until it is intentionally dismantled, no matter how long that is. The caster knows the key order of phrases and thoughts that will dismantle the spell’s mental structure, enabling the spell to be employed and thus “forgotten” in the caster’s mind. To regain the spell, constructing it once again, requires a night of rest (minimum six hours). The caster simply cannot obtain the clarity and sensibility to reform the complex mind-puzzle once again without this rest.

The time necessary to reform a spell in the caster’s head, or to either “learn” or “memorize” it (the terms mean the same thing), is 15 minutes per spell level. Thus, a third level spell requires 45 minutes to learn as a spellcaster. Cantrips are considered half-spells, so each requires 7½ minutes to learn. The learning process requires concentration and cannot be interrupted; if it is interrupted, the caster must begin anew, with any previous effort being considered lost.

Spell Forms

Bards weave spells through performance or contemplation, depending upon the form of art which they practice. The mental structuring of the spell is similar to that which is described above; the bard dances or sings, feels a mastery over materials, juggles, writes or mumbles poetic lines … each amounts to the same thing, the slow puzzling together of spells so that they will be ready to cast. In each case, the focus is most likely an instrument of some kind, a tool or the bard’s own body, depending on the specific art.

Clerics pray fervently to gods or demi-gods for the necessary time period, while feeling the passion of these superior powers filling their minds and hearts. In effect, it is as though the cleric were a bottle being filled; once the spell is in place, the cleric mentally places a stopper over the top of the bottle and the spell’s power remains held within the cleric, until the metaphorical stopper is removed.

Any number of gods in a cleric’s pantheon may be called upon for specific spells; generally which god provides which spell is not pre-determined, but the character can be given this information if it is requested. A monotheistic character may still pray to more than one source. A Christian may pray to God, Jesus, Mother Mary or any number of Saints. A Moslem may pray to Allah or call upon the spirit of Mohammed. Most religions are flexible in this manner.  Naturally it is presumed that the cleric should seek to serve these deities and maintain their favour, since the cleric’s spell use depends upon it.

Druids seek to commune with the natural world on a deeper level than the five senses will reveal. In a way that’s difficult to explain, the druid becomes supernaturally aware of the movement of energy, living things, water and earth all around ~ even the heat and magma far beneath the world’s crust. This tremendous power is “tapped,” or gathered by the druid as the complicated form of the spell is constructed in the druid’s mind. These natural, elemental or even “astral” forces are always present, and therefore remain always available to the druid when forming spells for use.

Illusionists & Mages, who possess spells of greater power, rely upon spellbooks to store the complexity of their magic. To learn their spells, they must study the pages of these books. Illusionists and mages depend greatly upon the maintenance and care of these books; losing a spellbook is a very unfortunate affair.

Casting

Once a spell is acquired and learned, to unleash the spell it must first be cast. Casting is a time-sensitive process that must be done with great concentration and without interruption. If a spell’s casting is interrupted, and the caster’s attention is broken, even if for an instant, the effort to learn the spell is lost and the spell cannot be discharged. “Breaking” a spell while it is being cast can require as little effort as thumping a caster hard on the shoulder, giving them a push or shouting very loudly in their ear (though the last may allow an ability check for the caster’s primary attribute). Needless to say, damage from combat or some other source, an earthquake, a rush of water or heavy rain, a gust of wind or similar circumstance will also break a spell as it is being cast.

As such, spellcasters are very careful only to cast spells when they are fairly sure they will not be interrupted while doing so. This is made more difficult in that all spells have distinctly obvious verbal and somatic components. These cannot simply be performed subtly ~ they must be performed resolutely and at the appropriate volume, which means that any witnessing intelligent creature will know perfectly well that the spellcaster is “weaving” a spell (another way to describe casting). This will probably mean that an enemy will forego attacking a mere fighter a few feet away, preferring to hurl a dagger at the spellcaster to break the spell before it is ready.

Because of the nature of casting, the caster cannot dodge such an attack. In fact, the caster must be minimally conscious about what is going on all around, as the spell is everything. Therefore, if an attack is made against the caster, the caster’s dexterity is not applied to the caster’s armour class.

Take note that an ally who enters or passes through the combat hex containing a spellcaster must make an intelligence check to avoid disrupting the caster and ruining the spell. A +4 modifier is granted to this check.

1st and 2nd level spells usually require a full round to cast. As spells increase in power, they take more rounds to cast. Some spells, specifically not designed for the battlefield, may take hours to cast. Most cantrips take only a few action points in order to cast.

While casting, spellcasters are allowed to move no more than 1 combat hex per round, provided the ground is distinctly flat and free of obstacles. A caster would be presumed to trip over roots if attempting to move while weaving a spell amidst trees. Likewise, a caster could not move through water, or spy around a corner before walking into full view. A caster cannot perform any action with their hands, or use their voice to speak, as these are taken up with the process of casting the spell.

With cantrips, the time of both casting and discharging is included in the casting time, describe on each cantrip.

Holding Spells

On the threshold between casting a spell and discharging it, the caster may “hold” the spell for the right moment. While the spell is held, the caster continues to be vulnerable in the same manner as during the process of casting. However, with certain spells, the exact moment of discharge can be very important.

The concentration required, however, does have a time limit. The caster is able to hold the spell comfortably for as many rounds as they have points of constitution. For each round thereafter that the caster attempts to hold the spell, a constitution check must be made. If this check fails, exhaustion overtakes the caster and the spell is ruined.

Cantrips cannot be held in the manner of spells.

Discharging

Causing a spell to manifest itself in actuality is called “discharging,” or releasing the spell from within the spellcaster. Once discharged, the effects of a spell are real and cannot be taken back.

The act of discharge requires 1 action point. A new spell or cantrip cannot be cast in the same round that a spell or a cantrip is discharged. This also means that two cantrips cannot be cast/discharged in the same round.

Additional Notes

Spells do not require material components.

Gaining a new spell upon reaching a new level presupposes that the character has already given that spell a great deal of thought. They have memories of teachers explaining things to them about magic that have not yet taken root in the spellcaster’s mind. However, at the moment of reaching a level, the caster is assumed to have obtained an epiphany. At last, they understand the words of their teachers and comprehend how the spell is ordered in the mind, or otherwise obtained. This empowers the caster to expand their spells.

See Also,
Bardic Spell Acquisition
Clerical Spell Acquisition
Druidic Spell Acquisition
Illusionary Spell Acquisition
Magical Spell Acquisition
Player Characters

Spell Research Woes

Lothar asked me this past week if I could talk about the process of creating new spells.  Let's start with this breakdown from StackExchange (commenter Andras), since it will fit in one image:

This is not far from the original DMs Guide.

My first conflict addresses the utter incompatibility of the above design with any rational setting.  First, I would argue that all spells in existence had to first be researched.  And second, that all the possible spells in the world are listed in the 3.5 spell list.  Why would the game hold existing spells back from the players who had achieved a high enough level?  There is nothing in the books that there is a hidden list anywhere.

Looking it up, I find 49 ninth level sorceror spells in 3rd Edition.  That's quite a lot compared to 1st edition, but still.  I argue these are ALL the spells in the world of that level.  Yet I read above that a character can whip up a new spell for this list in just nine weeks, for the paltry base cost of 81,000 g.p.  Crazy.  Why wouldn't every kingdom, which surely must have this kind of measly coin to spare (kingdom finances rather outweigh character finances by about a million times, literally), be busy designing specific spells to aid their own specific mages in an incomparable cold war of constant expediture?

Rule 1.  Spell design can't be bought.  No rule that has as its base, spend this much money for this amount of time, makes any sense.  For one thing, who is this money being paid to?  What funnel is it filling?  There's only so much equipment, so much raw material, that can justify these costs.

How to research this spell: buy two medium-sized galleys.  Drag them up onto dry land and burn them both down to ash.  Collect all the ash in a hole, using it to cover one ordinary chicken egg.  Wait four weeks, keeping area constantly wet.  Dig down and find egg, without breaking it.  Carefully crack open egg and pour out the contents into a very large pan made of 14 pounds of gold bullion.  Swirl the egg in the pan for five hours.  Pour egg into glass.  Drop pan in the sea.  Eat egg. You may now cast the spell.

This might as well be the logic.  Any collection of ordered instructions amounts to the same silliness as the above, however desperately we try to make it believable.

What we want is an honest struggle on the player's emotion, not a calculation on the character sheet that can be fixed with eraser and pencil.  How do we do things in real life?  How were those 49 spells originally invented?  For that, I can go back to my RPG 201 class.

[oh, I forgot.  There are actually only 109 first level spells.  So even though a 9th level spell in the game costs 81 times a 1st level spell (and ought to at least take 81 times as long), there are still only 60 more 1st level spells than 9th level.  Does that make sense?]

First, research.  Usually, the player proposes the spell, the DM decides the level of the spell and tells the player, and the player starts to create it.  But remember ~ from the player character's perspective, there is no DM.  There is no voice in the sky saying to the player in a booming voice, "THY SPELL SHALL BE 1ST LEVEL ...!"  *crack of thunder*

So right out of the gate, the player has no idea what spell level the spell is.  To learn this, and whether the spell is even practical, the player will have to visit libraries, speak with experts, write experts if this is possible in your game world, spending time and effort to go around asking questions.  At best, three or four sources make a suggestion of about 10 different elements that should be attempted ... with an understanding that the actual spell may need all, some, or none of these elements.  The advisors don't know.  This book may suggest ambergris as a fixing agent, but another book may suggest wood alcohol.  This sage may suggest a stag's blood, but another may insist it has to be the boiled skin of a toad.  In all, the player gets a bunch of advice, writes it all down (who knows what might be useful). then moves onto step two.

How much money and time does the player have?  Do we want to get some ingredients or all of them?  What is the player's gut instincts on the use of crushed pumice stone as opposed to using talc?  Do we really want to start experimenting with the most expensive things?  And where do we want to put the laboratory, if it turns out we're going to need access to these mountains and that sea shore?  Glass is more expensive in this part of the world than that; we could haul the glass, but is is safe to  bring 300 lbs of glass and expensive laboratory equipment through this war torn country, or to a lab in a dangerous foreign country where help isn't available?  But damn, some of this will need to be done in a very dry, very tropical part of the world!

Very well, we've estimated our resources and our agenda.  Let's plan this thing.  I'll need this many people and assistants, and these people to make leather out of the hippopotomus skins, not to mention drugs to keep us healthy while we work and at least some means of communicating with the Sorceror Anders if I get stuck.  Damn, this is getting expensive.  Is there a way we could do part of the collection in the tropics and finish the research in a temperate clime?

Now we have to find the right people, interview them, supply them, possibly apply to a mage school for additional funding or some kind of research support, plus a ship, plus a crew for the ship and a reliable captain, not to mention food that won't go bad in the tropics and some means of resupply if we need it.

Wait, wait, wait.  Am I smart enough to research this?  Do I know enough about toads and hippopotomuses.  Is there a course I can take?  Books I can read on the journey there?  It wouldn't hurt to spend a month boning up on the material before going, to make sure it is fresh in my mind.  I could take notes that I'll bring along; damn, I sure hope I don't lose my notes after we get there.  I better make copies.

Okay, okay, let's go.  Damn, it's hot in the tropics.  Okay, take this mix and pour it into that one, then ... oh damn, I've poured it too fast.  Let's do it again.  Why is this sample turning green?  Let's do it again.  Ooo, that looks good, in the morning we'll ... what the hell?  It was fine last night.  Now it looks like ... oh well, let's do it again.  Attempt number nine.  Attempt number fifteen.  Attempt number thirty-one.  Maybe this isn't right.  Maybe it shouldn't even be hippopotomuses.  What's as big?  An elephant?  Okay, let's try it with elephant skin.  Hm, it certainly looks different.  Let's try it again.  Attempt number seven.  Attempt number sixteen.  Damn.  Damn, damn, damn, damn!

Now what.  This worked and this worked, only that produced the wrong result entirely.  Is it the fixing agent?  Or is it the tannin in the leather process?  Maybe it isn't hot enough in the room.  Or there's too much air movement.  Let's think this through.

Attempt number eleven.  Attempt number forty-seven.  Attempt number one hundred and thirteen.

Sigh.  Do I really need this spell?

I don't suggest this as a means of torturing a player out of creating the spell.  But rather, having the player recognize that invention is itself an adventure.  Some, I know, won't see it that way.  But for me, magic is science.  Science is magic.  And it doesn't come easy.  It shouldn't.  It should be a mystery wrapped in an enigma.  And in the end, what's discovered may not even be what the character was looking for.  It may be something ... amazing.

Which may be its own profound adventure.

From the Witcher

Reflections on Polymorph

Some things I just want to leave well enough alone. The polymorph spells are one of those. But a friend and Patreon supporter asked me to give my take on polymorph, pointing me towards this four-year-old post from Delta’s D&D Hotspot. The post pedantically quotes versions of polymorph from original D&D, AD&D, 2nd and 3rd editions and so on. It does not offer much insight and it does not produce a solution. The post spends a lot of time talking about how powerful polymorph is as a spell, ending with the effort to delete polymorph from the game. If you’re not familiar with why polymorph is a conundrum, take some time and read through Delta’s post.

Part of why polymorph has become so powerful has been a tendency towards fan-service ~ for a lot of gamers, the idea of being able to transform into a dragon and then lay waste to the enemy is just too tempting … and they believe that polymorph is specifically for that. This has produced an endless parade of rules trying to embrace that possibility while limiting it, at the same time. This has produced bullshit rules like system shock survival, losing intelligence, losing your mind and beginning to think like the creature you’ve been turned into, random hit point giving, limiting the number of attacks even though the transformed creature may normally have more, whether the polymorphed creature can “disguise themselves,” strength, dexterity and constitution gains, limitations of gaseous/ethereal forms, limits on which creatures can be transformed into and on and on. And since each is a stop-gap, and each dumb stop-gap hamstrings the player from becoming a marauding whatever, each new description of the spell eliminates some previous hamstring while imposing another. The end result has been a ghastly mess, with no clear consensus, no rationale, no certainty over which set of rules will be applied and so … yeah. Ban the spell. Not because it’s powerful, but because no one knows what the hell it does and the arguments … won’t … stop.

It’s a waste of time, since I’m only adding another layer of rules to the layers that already exist (and who the fuck needs that?), but for shits and giggles I’ll talk about how I’d run it. I haven’t had to employ the spell for 15 years, because none of my player mages able to throw 4th level spells were interested in it, but someday one might ~ so I’ll set the standard today.

First and foremost, a lot of the confusion comes from arguing that making me into a dog and making the other guy into a dog ought to be different things. If I cast a spell that makes me into a dog, then everyone seems to agree I should be able to go on thinking like a caster. But if I transform YOU into a dog, then you have to think like a dog (unless you make your saving throw or you resist the spell or whatever other endless reflexive horse-pucky we want to keep dredging up to make this spell stupidly complicated). I say no. If the science/magic exists that will change me into a dog, researched until we found the formula, I argue that the formula is unchanged when applied to someone else. I change you into a dog, you still think like you. But you’re a dog.

This will suck for people who want to punish others by transforming them into a dumb animal. We have literary precedents that say the victim ought to be a dumb animal and we have precedents that say the victim is still self-aware. I can see an option where a 5th or 6th level mage spell, improved polymorph other, exists … because then it is on par with magic jar or a feeblemind spell. But NOT at 4th level.

Two. If you are yourself, then you are still you, no matter what you transform into. Your strength is your strength, your other stats are unchanged also, I don’t give a damn how smart the dragon is or how dumb the ochre jelly. Your hit points are your hit points, so yes, if your 5th level fighter with 45 h.p. becomes a snail, that snail has 45 hit points. Step on it all you want; it’s going to take a lot of jumping to kill it.

That doesn’t mean your 18 strength fighting snail can lift a sword. Height rules vs. weapons and encumbrance still apply, so forget it! This is part of the problem I keep seeing where this particular spell is concerned. Just because you’re polymorphed into a tiger doesn’t make you suddenly proficient with claws, bite and raking. You’re a humanoid in a tiger suit; not a natural instinctive tiger born from its mother’s womb. You can swing that paw, but you’re definitely getting a non-proficiency penalty with it. If you want, you can build up and take your proficiency in feline paws-and-claws (I’ll be generous and let you have the whole package as one proficiency), but that doesn’t suddenly transfer to dragon claws, giant lobster claws, bird claws or bear claws. Sorry. Biology doesn’t work that way.

So, there you are: you decide you’re going to transform into a black pudding. Awesome. I’m totally willing to let you have full black pudding powers to eat metal and whatever else, including seeping through cracks and having immunities. How, exactly, do you move? What parts of your new body need to press against the floor and how does that work? Do you know? I’m guessing not … unless you’ve been studying black puddings or you’ve already experimented with the concept for a while. But your first time? Ha. You’re like a patient with two new prosthetic limbs that thinks you’re ready to jump out of bed now and run the hallways. Uh uh.

Take that dragon. How exactly does that breath weapon work? Do you swallow first? Do you contract your chest? How do you control the stuff coming out? Don’t say you’re immune to it because I can argue that easily. Spit out of your mouth and you’re fine. Ever cough some spit up into the back of your nose? Pleasant? Now imagine you’re a human mage in a brand new red dragon suit, and that spit is now burning fire.

The sheer idiocy connected to the polymorph spell gives me fits. You’re smarter, you’re dumber, you’re this, you’re that … but no one takes any effort to consider the simple limitation of needing practice. Which limits automatically how many creatures you can meaningfully transform into. It’s less a smorgasbord and more a mess of strange dishes that might give you terrible heartburn or worse. Approach the problem cautiously.

Very well, how many attacks do you get as a tiger? As a 7th level mage, you usually get one. But I’m willing to bend some on the fan service and let you accumulate to three attacks. Not the first time you’re a tiger, no; but perhaps there’s a simple side experience accumulation you can gain with each form of creature. As you cause damage or sustain damage in a particular form, you gain the same experience as always … but the experience you gain specifically as a tiger is mirrored into the tiger column. The same with the dragon column or the black pudding column or whatever. You need 400 x.p. to figure out how to manage a claw-bite combination and 800 x.p. to manage a claw-claw-bite. Then 1,200 to manage the raking skill. There. You’re a tiger. Your THACO is still that of a 7th level mage, and you’re still -5 to your attacks because you’re an unproficient mage, but you can’t have everything.

Still, if you really like being a tiger, you can build up. You can get that proficiency and reach 11th level for a tiger-comparable combat table and start to feel, you know, like being a tiger in a fight is fun.

But can you be everything?  Not effectively. It is, after all, just a 4th level spell. It’s not wish.

Faith is Tricky

I'm writing this because a reader asked me to address the common notion connected to fantasy worlds that knowing that the gods actually do exist must mean that faith is not a basis for religion.  I can understand how a lay person might come to this conclusion.  The term "faith" is used most often in our media as "proof" that the Christian god exists ... and so if we don't need proof, it follows for some that we don't need faith, either.

I promised I would address this.  I'm not a believer in any organized religion ~ in fact, I'm strongly opposed to any legal protection for organized religions whatsoever.  It is one thing for an individual to believe in something ~ to my mind, there is no justification for the "freedom of religion" to mean that any institution deserves the right to exploit that freedom.

Still, I don't shy away from the study of religions, as I don't have to believe to know how they work.

The "reality" of the gods has no effect at all upon the cleric's faith.  Faith is much more than just believing in the existence of god.  It is also believing in the agenda of that god, and that you as a cleric understand that agenda well enough to do god's work.  As a piddling little cleric in an obscure part of the game world, you're not blessed with opportunities to speak directly to your god.  You depend on writings which, however labeled perfect for the dumb masses, are a miasma of confusion for the devout cleric who doesn't want to fuck up and piss god off.  You wish you had perfect clarity; what you have instead is faith.

Suppose you're a devout orcish witch-priest and your god Gruumsh, and you have a precious scroll written by Garnag the Excessively Pious that tells you, "Dwarves are hideous and all deserve death; to touch a dwarf is to be infected."  This scroll tells you that Garnag received his knowledge of Gruumsh from a vision that was given to him on 37 consecutive nights, whereupon he wrote the holy words you're reading as a witch-priest exactly as the visions dictated.

Now, suppose you also have a scroll written by Othmash Who Died as the Gem of Gruumsh, which were the last 1,010 words of Othmash as he lay dying, having slaughtered 200 orcs before Gruumsh decided it was time to raise his spirit to the afterlife.  And 17 of those words read, "The witch-priest of Gruumsh has no greater task that to remain alive until called to death."

Okay, got it?  Now, here's the situation.  You've gotten into a fight with a dwarf on a high place and unfortunately you've slipped on the poor ground and now you're hanging by your fingertips atop a 500-foot drop.  And the dwarf, being a goody-goody, is reaching out his hand to save you.

You know from Garnag that you can't touch that hand, so you wait for Gruumsh to do for you what he did for Othmash ... but you don't hear a goddamn thing.  And your fingers are getting tired.  What do you do?  What?  Do you infect yourself with the Dwarf's touch or do you throw your life away before Gruumsh raises your spirit?  Pick.

That's where faith comes in.  The faith to guess what Gruumsh really wants you to do.  Understand: if right now you're weighing the sacredness of Garnag against that of Othmash, you're choosing what you should do on the basis of two mortals, neither of whom are your god.  Are you really going to put your faith in mortals at this moment?

Theology is full of these conundrums.  It's what makes theology fun.

Now, I was also asked if spells are proof of god's existence ... and I suppose they are.  That is a very minor point.  The more important "proof" is that the god's giving of the spell to the casting cleric serves to remind the cleric that the god approves of the cleric's will.  Think on that a moment.  Your faith in your god, as the being that's got your back, is reassured every time you cast and the magic occurs.  You live in terror of the day that you cast and nothing happens.  On that day, you know you've angered your god by something that you've done.

So you make up your mind and you reach out and take the dwarf's hand.  The dwarf hauls you up and then steps back, letting you catch your breath.  Your godentag dangles from your wrist.  The dwarf hangs his hand axe on his belt.  Together you watch each other.  Carefully, the dwarf lifts a small bottle hanging on a string from his belt and uncorks it.  While he steals a drink, you decide to cast a quick cure light wounds on yourself.

How are you going to feel if the spell works?  What if the spell doesn't?  It matters.

It's a question of faith.  Making decisions on the ground level that will please or displease a god that hardly knows you exist.

Chew on that for a while.

Ray of Enfeeblement

Giving some oomph to this long-considered weak spell:

Range: 10 ft. +5 ft. per level
Duration: 1 round per level
Area of Effect: 1 creature per level
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: negates
Level: mage (2nd)

Weakens an opponent by striking them with a magic ray, emerging from the caster's hands or eyes.  If the struck creatures fail to make saving throw, their strength will be sapped at once, causing 1 round of dazed weakness equivalent to the creature being stunned.

The strength lost will equal 2-5 points, +1 additional point per 2 levels of the caster above 3rd.  This would mean that a 5th level caster's ray would reduce strength by 3-6 points, a 7th level caster by 4-7 points, a 9th level caster by 5-8 points and so on.  The ray of enfeeblement is particularly effective on creatures with great strength, such as giants and warrior races.

When employed against creatures that crush or squeeze their opponents, whose exact strength is unknown, such as apes, boa constrictors, couatl and the like, the ray will lower the damage done by these attacks by 1 point per strength lost.

Creatures can be drained until they are at zero strength but no more.  Creatures so affected cannot move or act, and have not even the strength to speak.  They must wait until the effects of the spell pass before regaining their strength.

Strength that is lost is regained at a rate of 1 point per round after the ray's effect has passed. Therefore, if a 3rd level caster were to affect a hill giant with a 19 strength, reducing that strength by 4, the giant's strength would be 15 for a total of 3 rounds (while the spell was in effect).  It would then take four rounds before the giant's strength would return to normal.

The ray of enfeeblement ignores percentile strength.  Those with an 18/percentile strength are considered to have a strength of 18 ... and when regaining their 18 strength, the percentile is assumed to have been regained also.

Preservation (spell)

Just a little fun.  I've been rewriting 1st and 2nd level magic spells for my wiki and thinking on ways the spells could be adjusted and applied so that they are more interesting and slightly more practical.  The spell "preserve" has never been a particularly interesting spell, but I think I've put a spin on it that makes it interesting enough for this blog:

Range: touch

Duration: one month

Area of Effect: 1 cub.ft. per level

Casting Time: 1 rounds

Saving Throw: none

Level: mage (2nd)

Enables the caster to affect organic materials of every kind so as to remain fresh and whole for the spell duration, as though just harvested, cooked or baked.  Further, the affected matter will retain the temperature it possessed at the moment of casting: thus coffee or tea will remain hot, a cooked biscuit will continue to steam, a block of ice will remain frozen and so on.  Note that the heat released from an affected object cannot be used to chill or heat inert matter.  A plate sitting on top of a preserved cup of coffee would not be heated.

The heat or cold of the preserved matter will affect living senses, however.  A bowl of preserved soup would still warm and sustain a living body, a glass of cool water would still relieve a hot day and be pleasant to drink.  A pot of hot stew could be carried, as the pot would lose its heat once removed from the fire, while the affected stew would not.  Other circumstances may need ruling as they come up.

The spell can also be used to preserve a severed limb, or a body so as to extend the practical usefulness of the raise dead spell, or to preserve ingredients needed for laboratory use.

The spell will not preserve magically affected liquids or items, such as firewater or magic stones.

Jump

I've been working on redefining 1st level spells (AD&D) on my wiki.  This one is worth repeating here, as it adjusts a rather weak spell to be worth considering alongside magic missile or sleep:

Jump

Range: touch
Duration: 1 jump per level; see below
Area of Effect: 1 creature
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: none
Level: mage (1st)

Enables a recipient to make great leaps forward, backward, upward or downward, as desired. A forward jump can be anywhere up to six hexes, or 30 feet. If the character jumps opposite to their facing, the distance jumped can equal up to three hexes, or 15 feet. Jumping upwards enables a jump upwards anywhere up to 15 feet; and a jump downwards can measure up to 30 feet. All jumps regardless of distance or direction, cost 3 action points (AP), launch and sailing time included.

Landings are presumed to be safe, unless the recipient chooses to deliberately leap to a place where there is no sufficiently sized horizontal surface on which to land. If the recipient decides to rely upon gaining hold of, say, a tree limb or outcropping of rock, or similar feature, the recipient must make a dexterity check or fall. Naturally, additional skills such as surefootedness, scramble, mountaineering and the like are bound to be helpful in ensuring purchase is obtained.

Before jumping, recipients of the spell can change their orientation freely, just as with melee combat, unless the recipient has been stunned. If stunned, it is possible to make an automatic jump backwards, since stunning usually causes an individual to be thrust or thrown back; a recipient of this spell can take advantage of this situation and use the jump (as a reflex) in addition to the normal movement associated with being stunned.

While in the air, the recipient can hurl a weapon. It is also possible to fire a bow, sling or crossbow ~ provided that each has already been fully loaded prior to making a jump.

Enlarged

I would ask the reader to take the time to look over this post and remember that I am still seeking a much smaller sum of $4,762 in donations before the end of May.  That's just $50 a day; every small donation counts!


As I write my third post about the enlarge spell, I trust I won't be taxing the patience of my readers.  Trying to nail down the details of this spell's effects has been kicking my ass for a couple of weeks now (admittedly, I have been writing a book) and I feel like I'm finally on top of it.

I've introduced a few odd additions to the original description of the spell in trying to account for things the writers of the Player Handbook failed to consider.  For example, while the spell does transform a creatures' equipment in the effect (so that the player's friends don't rip out of their clothes and everything remains G-rated), where is the line drawn?  If the character picks up the end of a rowboat while the spell is being cast, is the rowboat is affected?  What if the character is holding the rowboat on the end of a rope that is run through a pully and the rowboat is clear of the ground?  What if the pully is being held by another character who has been made stronger and is wearing a pair of levitation boots?  If the character picks up a keg full of oil, which is then lit with a long fuse before the spell is cast, does the barrel and the oil, and the fuse, all increase in size?

If you think characters won't come up with questions like this, you don't play D&D.

My full spell description can be read on the wiki.  I had to include a downloadable file (excel) that can be used to calculate the new height and weight from a character's original size.  I have not included any table that will calculate an object's new weight and size - mostly because it is less important, since the object doesn't move, and because my players nearly always use the spell to make one of their own party a big bruiser - these adjustments to the damage done by creatures (both enlarged and shrunk) explains why.  Note that these tables bear very little similarity to the ones I posted last week:




In keeping with discussions last week, I've chosen to make all the space between 56 lbs. and 250 lbs. a sort of neutral zone where damage is always the same for everyone in that range.  Enlarged weapon damage is then adjusted for sizes of 250 or more (adjusted against a weight of 216 lbs, because it has a cube root of 6).  Shrunk weapon damage is adjusted for sizes of 55 lbs or less (adjusted against the cube root of 60).

I don't think that looks half bad.  It is possible for a character to be greater than 250 lbs. in weight and less than 56; and some of the characters in my campaign are.  The smaller characters should be fine; there's no real adjustment until the size drops below 49 lbs - and even at that, the sort of weapons that do 1-10 damage can't be used anyway because the length of these weapons is too long to be used by short, 50 lb. characters.  The shrunk table will mostly be used for determining the actual damage of weapons used by smallish monsters (kobalds and the like), the Monster Manual's numbers be damned (I think they were pulled from backside nether regions, anyway).

The bigger characters, on the other hand, will probably start carrying more massive weapons just so they can get the damage increases.

Note that I don't mind mixing and matching dice to get results with the right averages.  2-14 damage, for instance, is obtained by rolling a d6 with a d8, giving an average of 8.  I don't know why D&D players are particularly opposed to this mix, but they are.  I don't see what difference it makes.  It gives many more options to the amount of damage that can be done by creatures and smooths out that gap between 2-12 and 2-16 or 4-16.

I hope this means I can put the enlarge spell to bed now.  I hate this thing with a heat like a thousand suns just now.

The Spell Enlarge

Finding myself stuck on my book for a bit, I'm taking a few hours to go back to something that is old business.  This post is going to discuss AD&D, so if that doesn't interest you, please go check out the podcast I made available earlier today.  It has been described as,

"Clear and crisp . . . a lot of subtlety.  I was recently discussing with a friend how it's difficult to find D&D podcasts that are actually worth listening to."

Ozymandias

You don't want to miss it.

Meanwhile, 

I have always had trouble with the Enlarge spell as written in the original Player's Handbook, specifically because it totally fails where it comes to expressing the actual physical changes that occur in the character changing size.  Here are the salient bits (expurgated):

"Enlargement causes increase in both size and weight; the effect is to increase the size of a living creature by 20% per level of experience of the magic user, with a maximum additional growth of 200%."

The size of what, exactly?  Height?  Weight?  The spell description doesn't say.  However, it seems to imply that height is the adjustment, since it speaks of persons 12 feet and 18 feet tall.

If we increase the height of a human that is 6 feet tall and 216 pounds, by 200% (to a 300% total), then yes, we will have an 18 foot tall human.  However, in doing this, we will have increased the weight of the human to a total of 5,832 lbs.  The new height may be 6 feet x 3; but while the old weight was 6 x 6 x 6, the new weight is 18 x 18 x 18.

The writers of the Players Handbook don't seem to be aware that while height increases as an arithmetic number, weight increases geometrically.  A human that is 18-feet tall has not had its size increased a mere 300%.  It has actually had its size increased 2700% . . . the amount that would require a mage of 135 level to case (if no +200% restriction existed).

Thus, the spell is fucked up.  Logically, neither height nor weight should be adjusted, but mass.

I've decided to make two adjustments to the spell.  The first was that the increase of 20% per level should apply to everything about the mass of the character, including weapon damage and the distance the character should be able to cover.  Neither of these were discussed in the original spell description . . . though the point was made that a +1 sword would still be +1 - a really, really important stipulation, that, on a weapon that should be at least three times larger as the mage reaches 10th level.  It's clear to see from that rule what sort of arguments went on around Gygax's table.

The other adjustment I made was that there should be no limit.  20% per level, period.  No limitation except the number of levels a mage has.

We should therefore be able to start with the character's weight (216 lbs) and apply it to the character's height (6 feet) and see what happens when we increase mass per level of the mage.  The cube root given is for the character's weight in order to determine the character's new height.

Many players and DMs will actually hate this - because it doesn't sound near as sexy as being 18 feet tall.  This means that a 1st level mage can only make the 216 pound character weight 259 lbs (120% of the original weight) and 6'5" tall.  Which sucks, right?

I don't really think so.  I feel that adjusting the weapon damage ought to follow:

This greatly increases the amount of damage an individual can bring to the table once the spellcaster reaches 4th level - particularly if the spell is cast on a character with multiple attacks per round.

I think we should remember - this is only a 1st level spell - on the same rank as things like dancing lights and unseen servant.  The increasing capacity of the enlarge was always way over the top.

In any case, I have tried this with my players and they are just fine with it.

There are other issues here - the reverse of the spell, for one, and movement as I've already mentioned.  I'm not going to deal with these - in a while I will provide a fully updated version of the spell for my wiki and I will be sure to link that to the blog when I'm done.  For now, I should be returning to my book.

Please keep those donations coming!

  

Wildfires

As long as we're talking about the dangers of playing with fire . . .

I've been working on a rewrite of the 4th level druid spell, produce fire.  I've renamed it, since I've upped the area of effect to a 30 foot circle, greater than the 12 foot circle described in the AD&D Player's Handbook.  I'm calling it create wildfire.

It is a real horror of a spell - not because it does a lot of damage to individuals, but because of the terrifying speed with which the fire moves.  I am basing that on this Toronto firelab guidebook, which is based on grasslands.  I'm sure I must be reading some of the information wrong; of course, I'm grossly simplifying the numbers contained inside for game use.  Nevertheless, if it is dry, there's no rain, there's plenty of fuel and the fire gets started in a high wind . . . well, holy hell, a lot of stuff is going to burn.

I'm going to let the wiki handle the details of the spell - I suggest following the link above if the reader wants details on fire movement.  I'm also basing a lot of the spell's principles on my recent weather tables, which I am hoping helps keep many fires from skipping more than 20 hexes a round.  After all, any sort of weather that produces more than a light breeze will probably also produce precipitation, particularly in cooler, wetter climes.  Thankfully, hotter, dryer climes also tend to have fuel ratings that are very low.

Still, in perfect conditions, right at the cusp of there being plenty of fuel and in a month with low rainfall, I can see a disaster looming.

Will a player character pause and consider the implications of letting a wildfire break out just to kill a few enemies, if that fire also means a large burned out area covering hundreds of square miles.

At least we could be sure that a high level cleric or druid attached to the kingdom would probably get involved before vast territories were destroyed, potentially causing thousands to die from famine.  Too, there's always the reality that a fire started in a big city will have a higher percentage of 1st level mages, druids and clerics with precipitation spells who, by virtue of population density, will be a block or two away when the fire starts.  The player arsonist might find it hard to burn down a town when some do-gooder keeps wet blanketing the area.

For the time being, I'm going to leave these numbers and see.  They fit with the research I've done, though they are scary.  I doubt that an RPGer pulling numbers out of their ass would have arrived at numbers this high.  I wouldn't have.