Thoughts on non-adventurer spells

[Greenfield]

An awful lot of the magic in D&D is designed for adventurer types. And that sort of makes sense. After all, many of the great advances in medicine came from doctors working on wounded soldiers.

But I was wondering about magic of a more day to day nature.

For example:

Mount and Carriage : Summons a draft horse and carriage to serve for 2 hours per caster level. Advanced version expands the carriage, and provides a driver. Caster may optionally substitute a cargo wagon.

Seen Servant: Like unseen servant, except the animate force isn't formless/invisible. Capable of following simple orders for routine household chores, and can cook a passable (but not gourmet) meal.

Cure Hangover - Mass: (self explanatory)

Clean Sweep: Dusts and cleans 1 10 foot cube of space per caster level. (Note - Prestodigitation can only do 2 square feet at a time)

Scholar's Aid: Animates a quill pen to take dictation, writing down any words directed at it by the caster, or designated person.

So what suggestions would you have for magic that would be useful around the home, town or business?

 

[xigbar]

An awful lot of the magic in D&D is designed for adventurer types. And that sort of makes sense. After all, many of the great advances in medicine came from doctors working on wounded soldiers.

But I was wondering about magic of a more day to day nature.

For example:

Mount and Carriage : Summons a draft horse and carriage to serve for 2 hours per caster level. Advanced version expands the carriage, and provides a driver. Caster may optionally substitute a cargo wagon.

Seen Servant: Like unseen servant, except the animate force isn't formless/invisible. Capable of following simple orders for routine household chores, and can cook a passable (but not gourmet) meal.

Cure Hangover - Mass: (self explanatory)

Clean Sweep: Dusts and cleans 1 10 foot cube of space per caster level. (Note - Prestodigitation can only do 2 square feet at a time)

Scholar's Aid: Animates a quill pen to take dictation, writing down any words directed at it by the caster, or designated person.

So what suggestions would you have for magic that would be useful around the home, town or business?

Can the Seen Servant spell be used like a city guard? I think that would have it's uses there too. If not, "Summon Guard-Functions like HD 1 Human Warrior with scale mail and a long sword, You can call CL of HD."

 

[Allegro]

• Repel mosquito - repels only mosquito and flies
• Purge foul odor - makes an area smell clean
• Shrink gut - fit into your old clothes
• Change money - changes gold, silver, or copper to an equivalent amount of another kind of coin
• Heat tea - heats your tea kettle
• Start Fire - a simple trick that replicates a using a candle to start a fire
• Miserly fire - slows the speed a fire burns
• Summon Accounting Imp - summons an accountant imp and binds him to the task of completing your ledger
• Curse/gift of infertility - makes a man or women incapable of conceiving for one year

 

[Greenfield]

I had seen "Seen Servant" as being a variant of Unseen Servant, just less likely to freak people out with things floating in the air. I supposed it would be subject to individual attack, which the Unseen Servant isn't, but I still wouldn't see it being able to fight.

"Summon Guard" is almost like a Monster Summoning spell. Good one, though I might form it like this:

Summon Guard:
Level - Varies (As in Summon Guard I, II, III, IV, etc)
Duration - Variable
Range - Short
Save - None
Spell Resistance - None

This spell summons one HD of humanoid foot soldier (Warrior) per level of the spell. This can be represented as either a single manifestation, or as multiple manifestations as the caster desires, with no one summoned guard having fewer than one HD. The soldier have will serve as a guard and/or lookout for one hour per caster level of non-combat duty, or one round of combat per caster level. As a guard, the soldier will have Low Light vision, and effective skill in Spot and Listen equal to his hit dice +1. He will be proficient in medium armor and shield, as well as sword or spear, and will come equipped with scale maille and either longsword and shield or long spear. The soldier and all equipment vanish upon the end of the spell, or upon the death of the soldier.

Stats will be average for the race, +2 on Strength, and Hit Dice render maximum (i.e. 8 hit points per die).

 

[Greenfield]

• Repel mosquito - repels only mosquito and flies
• Purge foul odor - makes an area smell clean
• Shrink gut - fit into your old clothes
• Change money - changes gold, silver, or copper to an equivalent amount of another kind of coin
• Heat tea - heats your tea kettle
• Start Fire - a simple trick that replicates a using a candle to start a fire
• Miserly fire - slows the speed a fire burns
• Summon Accounting Imp - summons an accountant imp and binds him to the task of completing your ledger
• Curse/gift of infertility - makes a man or women incapable of conceiving for one year

I like these. I might expand "Repel Mosquito" to include more insects.

What about "Flush Vermin", which acts as a Fear spell on insects, mice and rats (normal, not giant), to drive them from a home or storrom?

Perhaps a weather shield that keeps rain and/or other precipitation off the target creature.

And if you're going to have the magical version of Norplant (the Infertility spell), you also need it's counter, magical Viagra. (Though I believe that there is a spell called Unfailing Endurance that could be twisted to this purpose )

 

[xigbar]

I had seen "Seen Servant" as being a variant of Unseen Servant, just less likely to freak people out with things floating in the air. I supposed it would be subject to individual attack, which the Unseen Servant isn't, but I still wouldn't see it being able to fight.

"Summon Guard" is almost like a Monster Summoning spell. Good one, though I might form it like this:

Summon Guard:
Level - Varies (As in Summon Guard I, II, III, IV, etc)
Duration - Variable
Range - Short
Save - None
Spell Resistance - None

This spell summons one HD of humanoid foot soldier (Warrior) per level of the spell. This can be represented as either a single manifestation, or as multiple manifestations as the caster desires, with no one summoned guard having fewer than one HD. The soldier have will serve as a guard and/or lookout for one hour per caster level of non-combat duty, or one round of combat per caster level. As a guard, the soldier will have Low Light vision, and effective skill in Spot and Listen equal to his hit dice +1. He will be proficient in medium armor and shield, as well as sword or spear, and will come equipped with scale maille and either longsword and shield or long spear. The soldier and all equipment vanish upon the end of the spell, or upon the death of the soldier.

Stats will be average for the race, +2 on Strength, and Hit Dice render maximum (i.e. 8 hit points per die).

With enough castings, it could be more powerful than CL;HD ratios. And with Augment Summoning, you could make it effective in adventuring too. I might actually use this.

 

[Jimlock]

I agree how it's only logical that such spells can exist along the more powerful

battle-oriented ones, and I'm I willing to allow a few in my game, but...



Shouldn't Magic be powerful, mysterious and dangerous?

Shouldn't there be some sort of "personal cost" when using it?

I know how the rules do not necessarily abide to the above, but, personally

I tend to think of magic that way, and somehow manage to incorporate this "cense" in my game.

Of course, one plays as he likes, no objections made here.


Still there are a few things one should keep in mind if he wants to tread in this new territory.

There more you "allow" magic to be used in every day life, the less cense the world makes.

Certain professions wouldn't exist at all, certain items wouldn't exist at all, the medieval world as we imagine it would have been a lot different...

Not that magic, as employed in the game, does not create paradoxes! It does! and they are quite numerous if you really think about it....!!!

but pushing towards such a direction would probably create so many more paradoxes that the world would probably lose

all its cense of realism.

If one is willing to go that way, and that same one wants his world to keep in touch with "reality" (as much as he can anyway...)

...he should probably take the time to consider the chained reactions in a medieval society, and skillfully make the

appropriate changes.

I repeat... the changes are already big, and they are already hard to handle and cope with... how much more can we handle?


....that depends on the tastes of each separate game group.....

 

[kitcik]

If you're going to make non-adventuring spells, why make them all crappy zero level ones (other than the higher "Summon Guards")?

Let's make some rockers:

Snow Removal: All snow on the ground within a 1/2 mile radius is instantly melted, evaporated, and blown in a random direction. Any clouds currently in the area blow off in that direction.

Grounds maintenance: All grass within a 1/2 mile radius is cut to the desired length. All hedges within this area are trimmed. All existing dead trees are chooped into kindling and piled in a wood pile.

Party umbrella: An invisible barrier 1/8 mile in diameter appears 30' in the air. It is impervious to snow, rain, wind, sand, and similar weather related conditions.

Sorry, I am in a hurry or I would do a few more.

 

[Greenfield]

I feel your pain, Jimlock.

What does a court wizard do, when the castle isn't under siege by dark forces, and there aren't evil plans afoot? Stroke his beard and scowl at people? Retire to his tower and stir his huge cauldron all day? (Hey, if it were me, I'd pack a picnic lunch and head out for Elysium.)

There are low magic worlds, where the average person will see little magic in their lifetimes, and be glad of it.

There are also high magic worlds, where the village priest tends to the sick and injured with healing magic, enchanted vessels sail the skies, and one person in ten has some mystical talent. (That's actually the percentage I've heard quoted most often, by the way.)

Each DM has to decide just how common magic is in their world, and what flavor it has. I've played in game worlds where some kingdoms were very afraid of magic, and consequently mistrusted all casters, while the kingdom just over the mountains from them was rich with the stuff, and there was a royal academy for the arcane.

It's all part of the game. I was just suggesting some ideas for magic that wasn't ultimately intended to kill things.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

• Repel mosquito - repels only mosquito and flies
• Purge foul odor - makes an area smell clean
• Shrink gut - fit into your old clothes
• Change money - changes gold, silver, or copper to an equivalent amount of another kind of coin
• Heat tea - heats your tea kettle
• Start Fire - a simple trick that replicates a using a candle to start a fire
• Miserly fire - slows the speed a fire burns
• Summon Accounting Imp - summons an accountant imp and binds him to the task of completing your ledger
• Curse/gift of infertility - makes a man or women incapable of conceiving for one year

Several of those would be covered by Cantrip -- indeed, they were part of Gygax's original list of cantrips. Good additional choices, though.