Just a reminder of the Barrowmaaze II Spell Contest outlined below. There are some excellent entries so far. Feel free to enter more than once.
A recent OSR post brought the Jack Vance "Dying Earth" spell name generator to my attention.
This thing is magically delicious: http://generators.christopherpound.com/#dyingearth
I'd like to run a "Create a Spell Contest" for inclusion in BMII. I've already have a bunch of my own (including Baltron's Effusive Bloodboil and Fennril's Exquisite Strangulation to name two) but I thought it might be fun to run a contest. The winner(s) will receive a free pdf of Barrowmaze II. If you are already getting BMII I'll send you some extra custom dice. Cool?
Here's how you participate:
1. Go to the spell generator and pick a spell name that bleeds classic fantasy adventure.
2. Create a spell to fit the spell name. Don't be functional, be creative and feel free to elaborate.
3. Post it in the comments section of this post.
4. Help spread the word.
I'll choose the winners on August 1, 2012.
Let me know if I've forgotten anything.
Zurele's loyal flood
ReplyDeleteCreated by the water mage Zurele, this spell causes summons a veritable flood of water that moves subject to the caster's whim. It can also be cast on already present water which moves as the caster dictates. A pacifist, Zurele's most common uses were causing flood waters to recede and flooding a field during a drought. Later, more militant wizards discovered its offensive uses such as drowning a group of goblins or toppling siege engines.
Hitzeamun's blue foot
ReplyDeleteAs a boy, the Ice Mage Hitzeamun enojoyed going barefoot as much as possible, in fact, his teacher insisted that to master Ice Magic, Hitzeamun should be outside in the winter environment barefoot as often as possible. Hitzeamun discovered that his feet were not the proper type to be outside and bare during the winter, so he developed his blue foot spell, which made his feet immune to freezing. As a side effect, Hitzeamun found that he could use his blue foot spell to gain traction on wet and slippery surfaces. It was posited by later mages that the reason for the traction was that the surface occupied by the foot, froze slightly to the foot, allowing greater traction.
Requires Mageroot, Winter Ivy and Winter Wyrms Scale.
Cileourgi's Indefinite Waste
ReplyDeleteThere have been many mages with chips on their shoulders, but none so much so as Cileourgi. After being snubbed by the College of Wizardry, he spent six years developing the spell which would grant him his revenge, and ensure his name was never passed over again. Upon casting, the unfortunate target of this spell is immediately wracked by violent cramping, and any food in their system is passed out of every orifice. Until the spell is lifted, they are unable to eat or drink anything without expelling it immediately, and violently.
Requires oats, fennel and parsley. The ingredients are rolled together into a ball, soaked in cranberry juice, and placed under the tongue of the caster, and then spit out as they speak the name of the intended recipient.
Santzi's Verbal Duplicity
ReplyDeleteLevel: 2
Duration: 30 minutes per level
Range: Earshot
This spell is cast on at least one pair of earrings. While wearing these earrings whatever the wearer speaks is magically altered to sound like something else (that makes sense) to anyone that isn't also wearing an earring that has been enchanted in this manner. Wearing these earrings really does let someone say one thing and mean another. The wearer may also communicate normally while wearing the earrings if they wish.
Should maybe be level 1 with a shorter duration?
I've got a couple, just for fun.
ReplyDeleteBellore's slow gut
Bellore the Brazen, a mage obsessed with immortality or prolonged life developed this spell whilst studying the immense longevity of certain reptiles. Bellore discovered that by slowing one's metabolism, a person could ultimately make themselves live for quite a long time. unfortunately this spell hadn't worked out the way he had hoped, but it is still practiced by some mages for its other effects.
Level 2.
Duration 30 mins per level.
Single target.
While under the effect of this spell, the recipient only ages half as much as he would otherwise when afflicted with magical aging. In addition any poison that enters the blood is delayed for the spell's duration. The poison immediately takes effect once the spell ends.
As a side effect of the spell, the recipient's movement speed is cut by 5 feet for the duration of the spell.
just one more!
DeleteThe call of the inauspicious speech
The call of the inauspicious speech was originally developed by a shady mage whose name remains a mystery. the intention was to create a spell that would cause the subject to only speak the truth. Unfortunately the spell backfired, and unbeknownst to the shady mage caused the opposite effect. the mage was last seen wandering the wilderness, yelling incoherently about buried treasure "That was most certainly out there".
Level 3
Duration: 1 minute per level.
Target: Single
the target makes a save versus spells, if he fails then he comes under the effect of the curse. the spell compels the character to only speak lies. The character need not say the opposite of what is intended, as long as it is a lie. For example a rear-guard under the effect of the spell might say everything is clear even though a large bear approaches from the back, he might also say a small rat or a large dragon approaches.
Additionally due the chaotic effect of the speech, any spell casters under the effect of the spell must choose a spell at random when attempting to cast a spell. this effect is not know until after the first spell is cast at random.
Diffigott's conducive boredom
ReplyDeleteSome people are so cheery, so happy-go-lucky, so obnoxiously active that they just need to take a chill pill. Unfortunately for Diffigott, the three years he spent developing the so-called chill pill were wasted as his invention only wound up freezing its targets (great for preserving food, not so great for just getting someone to calm down).
Always one to be reinvigorated by failure, Diffigott went back to work to devise a method of calming down the over-anxious. What he wound up with was a spell so utterly droll its targets couldn't help but stop everything they were doing to do absolutely nothing.
Success! Or so Diffigott thought. Long-term side effects of the boredom spell include obnoxious whining about how there's never anything to do, pulling a sibling's hair, and kicking the back of the coach driver's seat.
Material Components: A bottled yawn
Jask-Dar's extravagant delicacy
ReplyDeleteThis unsuspiciously named spell is a rather dire curse, that Jask-Dar used on quite a few adversaries. It is said that Jask-Dar's life ended when this spell was reflected upon himself and he was thrown into his own kennel of pekingese dogs.
Level: 4
Duration: until dispelled or otherwise removed
Single target
If the curse takes hold, the being affected seems to be exceedingly delicious to every living creature.
Everyone in direct contact (within an arm's reach) with the cursed being has to make a save vs. spells or try to bite it. This bite makes normal damage (Humans and other humanlike beings bite for 1 pt of damage). Worse, everytime it is bit, an affected creature has to save vs. spell itself. If the save fails, it will bite itself, too! (Normal damage, automatic hit)
The spell can only be ended by magic.
Andavnass's Presumptive Pessimism
ReplyDeleteAndavnass often became incensed at the lackadaisical attitudes of her compatriots, who very rarely expected or planned for the worst, and took her to task for her dour mood. She created this spell to give them a sense of caution.
The target becomes convinced that anything and everything they attempt will go wrong, in any way possible. Rather than cause them to simply freeze in place and do nothing, this results in the target concocting elaborate schemes, containing contingencies within contingencies, for every action, from visiting the pub to feeding their cat. It can last for several days at a time, and there are rumors of entire villages caught up in week-long webs of scheming, all for fear of an inopportune mud puddle or unfortunate runaway cart.
Raised by beggars and thieves, Anulko knew abject poverty as a child. As a teen, he managed to apprentice himself to a mage, where he proved quite capable at spell research. His master had no concern for wealth, beyond that needed for his continued research, but Axulko longed for the life of the wealthy leisure class...
ReplyDeleteAnulko's Indiscernible Alteration (Illusion)
Originally created to help him "feel the wealth," this spell grants the recipient the ability to produce one perfect copy of a piece of artwork in any artform he's familiar with. When cast, the spell compells the recipient to copy the nearest piece of art. The resulting piece will radiate faint magic, and will look exactly like the original. The piece will remain enchanted for a month per level of the caster, after which it will revert to an obvious copy produced by the recipient of the spell.
Using the spell upon artists-for-hire in the homes of wealthy patrons, Anulko amassed a collection of perfect forgeries, decorating his home with some, and selling others. Later, as the magic began to wear off and his display of wealth proved false, Anulko was run out of the city by patrons who had purchased his forgeries.
Returning to his roots, Anulko teemed up with the Thieves' Guild, where he became quite wealthy helping produce forgeries that replaced art spirited off to other cities.
Mauntz's sinistral taste:
ReplyDeleteA useful spell for would-be assassins, this spell, when uttered, causes a target to unthinkingly dip their fingers into a substance, that the mage chooses silently, and take a taste, followed by swallowing.
If the target is right handed, they simply don't know what their left hand is doing. If they are left handed, they may notice what is going on before the fingers get to their mouth. In any case, a target may realize what they have done once something odd starts to happen, depending on the substance consumed.