"Everyday" Spells

[FoxWander]

GURPS Technomancer ( a modern day magical world setting) had some great ideas along these lines. I'll go dig it up and see what can be adapted to a D&D setting.

 

[Alzrius]

There's a feat, Hedge Magic, in Eclipse that gives you access to around six dozen spells of level 0-2 that have no combat utility, but would be very useful in the course of everyday life.

The spells are listed by name only, but you can find fuller write-ups over on the author's blog:

Hedge Magic Heroes I

Hedge Magic Heroes II

Hedge Magic Heroes III

Hedge Magic Heroes IV

Hedge Magic Heroes V

Hedge Magic Heroes VI

Hedge Magic Heroes VII

 

[Allegro]

Beer Goggles: this spell alters how the recipient perceives others. All members of the alternate sex receive a +4 charisma competency bonus with any interactions. The recipient of the spell must be willing.

Tiny bubbles: This spell carbonates any beverage.

Magic alarm: this spell can be cast on an object. The alarm will trigger if any magical force interacts with the object. This is useful for mundane locks or roulette wheels.

Harvest: this spell when cast will magically harvest fruit, vegetables, or berries from mundane plants. Each casting can harvest the equivalent of one bushel per spell caster level.

Grow hair: this spells will cause the hair on a creature to grow very quickly the equivalent of two weeks per caster level.

Cram: when cast lets the user recall perfectly for the next 24 hours anything studied. After 24 hours, half of the studied information is impossible to recall and after 48 hours all of the information is impossible to recall.

Know coin composition: this spell when cast lets the caster instantly determine the purity and composition of coins. This is useful for finding fakes.

 

[Alzrius]

The following are also sourcebooks filled with spells like these:

Minor Magicks

Octavirate Presents #3: Simple Tricks and Nonsense

 

[Iron Sky]

Gift Horse: ...

Just don't look it in the mouth.

I'm re-reading the Hobbit at the moment and I can think of a few "casual" spells that have already come up even though I'm only about 30 pages in:

[*]Thorin, the leader of the dwarves directs smoke rings from his pipe. Gandalf does the same thing, but has them come back and hover over his head afterwards.
[*]Hobbits are implicitly capable of almost supernatural sneakiness when they try.
[*]There is mention of dwarves making doors that only open in the right circumstances - lighting, time of day, when a riddle is solved, etc.
[*]The troll Bilbo pickpockets has a purse that talks when he tries to swipe it.

The coolest thing about all these is they are so commonplace that they are interesting, but not remarkable, about along the lines of someone telling a good joke or doing a "stupid human trick" in remarkableness. It's just "how it is".

 

[SnowleopardVK]

For the business owner or forgetful caster:

Close shop: Cleans a chosen room of filth and rearranges it into an organized state when the room becomes unoccupied for more than ten minutes. This includes closing any doors that were left open, and extinguishing any lights/fires that were left on.

 

[Thanael]

Break out the old "Greyhawk Adventures" book. Plenty of "every day" type spells in there.

3E conversions of those spells are available on canonfire here, though there many combat spells among them.

 

[Thanael]

And here's a nice overview of CANTRIPS AND ORISONS with 2E stats. (Though many cantrips are sourced/adapted from 1E, Orisons are from the 2.5E Spells & Magic.)

I think there are some Dragon articles that have even more cantrips.

 

[Stormonu]

And here's a nice overview of CANTRIPS AND ORISONS with 2E stats. (Though many cantrips are sourced/adapted from 1E, Orisons are from the 2.5E Spells & Magic.)

I think there are some Dragon articles that have even more cantrips.

Odd, I thought I had remembered seeing Orisons in the 1E Unearthed Arcana, but they're apparently not in there (perhaps I saw it in Dragon not shortly after UA was released - my memory sucks these days). However, Ceremony from that book is an excellent spell for this thread.

Some more spells:

Creak: Causes wooden floors to supernaturally creak when stepped upon.

Hush: Prevents an individual from speaking

Ravel: Causes cloth to unravel

Spin: Spins raw material into thread (perhaps into gold at high levels?)

Swoon: Causes an individual to become dizzy and possibly faint

Admire: Causes others to be attracted to your presence

Envy: Causes an individual to become envious of another

Float: Cause one or many small objects to float into the air and move at the caster's direction

Bouy: Causes an item or individual to rise to the surface of water

Leaden: Causes an item to become heavier or an individual to be laden down with magical force

Extend: Cause an item to grow longer, but it does not unwieldy (insert crude jokes here)

Paint: Paints an item in a color of your choice

Trap Words: draws spoken language into your cupped hands. By opening them, the words are released elsewhere

Wallfly: transforms the caster into a fly with acute hearing and sight

Wallflower: Turns target into an introvert, unwilling to socialize with others

Know Value: Know the monetary value of any item touched or in range

Podium: Causes the ground to rise to create a slightly elevated area to stand

Sheepdog: Create a dog-like force that attempts to herd other beings in a particular direction

Hound's Nose: Can track like a bloodhound

Fox's Ears: Better hearing

Eagle's Eyes: Can see many times further than normal

Cat's Tongue: Can identify things by taste

Mouse's Whiskers: Improved sense of touch

And a few spells from my own campaign:

Black Marentail's Craftsmen: Summons ghostly force skilled in a single craft, with appropriate tools

Kirk's Bestowment of Etiquette: Forces individual to act in a diplomatic and genteel manner

Kirk's Cheerful Aroma: Creates a pleasing, flower-like aroma around an individual

Kirk's Pleasing Breath: Masks halitosis with a pleasing scent of sweetened honey

Kirk's Checklist: Creates a mental checklist of tasks or tally of items

Kirk's Multiplicity: Causes an individual, non-magical, non-living item to duplicate itself (possibly multiple times)

Kirk's Systematic Synopsis: Evaluates the traits of an individual, summarizes books, produces odds or otherwise "evaluates" a situation or event

 

[Gantros]

Monte Cook posted some of his ideas for everyday spells here: Everyday Magic