Some Spells

By Yuko-Aldarion

So, I'm going through the spell lists to try to make them more appropriate for the shape that wizards are starting to take in Fellhold.  My good friend (Yllgrad's player, if you follow the play report posts at all) sent me some spell ideas (Troll Form, Create Familiar, Orb of Many Colors, Volsungr's Anvil, and Summon Spiders are all based on his stuff), and that got me started working on the spell descriptions.  The others are takes on other games' spells (Command is inspired by the LotFP spell of the same name, and Oak Skin is inspired by Oakenheart from Ambition and Avarice (which you should buy, it's great), and Sleep is my simplified version of the ever-confusingly worded classic).

Of these, Command and Create Familiar have the most of my work in them, but I think I like Volsungr's Anvil the best. It was the one my friend was most excited about and thought of first, and it doesn't immediately suggest a most-obvious use.  It looks like it could be insanely powerful in the right situations and useless in others, both largely dependent on how clever the player using it is being, which is great.

I'm working on a version of the LotFP summon spell that is less tentacular horrors from beyond Lovecraft and more demony and spirity (still rampantly dangerous and corrupting, just in a more anthropomorphic way) and generally trying to make a better distinction between what it is that worshipers of pseudo-Odin do and what "proper" wizards do.  At any rate, here are some spells:

Spells

Level 1

Command

The wizard utters a command with a maximum number of syllables equal to the number of Doom Dice he posses.  A single target must attempt to follow the command to the best of its ability if it fails a saving throw versus spell and can understand the language in which the wizard issues the command. The target will only attempt to perform the command for one round, and gains a bonus to its saving throw equal to 1 per syllable after the first the wizard uses.  “Die” will only make the target pass out for one round.

Sleep

The wizard causes up to 2d8 HD of creatures with up to 4+1 HD to fall into a magical slumber.  

Level 2

Troll Form

The wizard grants one target the form and strength of a troll.  He grows visibly larger and his skin becomes knotty and spiked.  He gains 4 HD of hit points and increases his strength to 19. He cannot cast spells and must make a save vs spell modified by wisdom every round to avoid becoming an uncontrollable rage monster.  Lasts 1d6+1 rounds and may target self. Apply all damage received in troll form to target’s normal HP when spell ends.

Create Familiar

The wizard may imbue some of his magical energy into a small animal to create a familiar.  No animal larger than a dog may be selected.  The wizard performs a ritual that takes all night long  and transfers a number of doom dice of his choice into the familiar.  The materials for the ritual cost 50 SP per doom die transferred.  The familiar will gain 1 HD and 1 point of intelligence per doom die spent.  

The wizard will be able to direct the familiar’s actions and sense what it senses.  The familiar can also be used as a hex to cast any spell the wizard knows. It has a spell level equal to the doom dice imbued.  Its integrity is equal to the sum of a number of d10s equal to the doom dice used, plus 2d4 per extra 50 sp spent on materials used in the ritual, to a maximum of 6d4.  If used to cast from a hex, roll as normal.

The familiar can be imbued with further doom dice at any time by repeating the ritual (same costs for materials).

If the familiar dies, the doom dice return to the wizard, but the trauma does an amount of damage equal to all of the doom dice rolled (for example, the death of a 3 doom die familiar would deal 3d6 damage to the wizard), and the doom dice cannot be rolled for doom points until after a full rest.

Oakskin

Improve your AC by your level for 1d6 rounds as your skin is covered in thick, gnarly bark.  You are more flammable and count as wooden target for axes, though.

Orb of Many Colors

The wizard creates a ball of ever-changing light and hurls it at a target (roll to attack as for a thrown weapon).  Depending on the color when the ball strikes, there is a different effect.  All effects have a radius equal to 10 feet per the wizard’s level.  Randomly determine the color:

1. White – Save vs spell +2 or be blinded for 1d4 turns

2. Blue – Everyone is healed for 1d4 hp

3. Purple – Save vs spell +2 or fall asleep for 1d4 turns

4. Green – Summons a giant insect who will attack anyone nearby.

5. Yellow – Everyone is teleported 30 feet away in a random direction (determine seperately for each individual, use a three dimensional method). If this places someone wholly or partially in a solid object, they are not killed, they are just fused with that object

6. Red – All metal (non-magical) items have a 1 in 6 chance of becoming rusted and useless.

Volsungr’s Anvil

The wizard touches an inanimate object no larger than a man and for the next 3d6 rounds, it becomes completely immovable to anyone else and remarkably light to the wizard.

Level 3

Summon Spiders

The caster summons forth a swarm of spiders to overwhelm anyone within a 10 ft radius. The spiders descend upon all caught in the area. Anyone caught by the spiders takes 1d4 damage per round from spider bites and must make a morale check the first round they are exposed to the spiders.  There is a one in six chance the spiders are poisonous and they will disperse normally (usually within 1d6 rounds).