3.x ed.--While Playing My 15th Level Wizard Last Night, I Realized Something...

[joethelawyer]

I would recommend things like Minor Magicks by Silverthorne Games for ideas in this vein RPGNow.com - Silverthorne Games - Minor Magicks

As for your original situation look in your Monte Cook Complete Book of Eldritch Might (I'm not sure if this was originally in the BoEM I or BoEM II) for object loresight:

That Minor Magicks is an awesome book, man. Are there any others like it out there?

The Monte Cook books had a lot of the other non-combat yet non-cantrip type of spells I was looking for. Pretty cool stuff in there. I spent a good chunk of the weekend hunting various books for the spells, but it was worth it. I have a decent selection of them copied and pasted out. Including the one you mentioned above, object loresight, which would have been exactly what I was looking for in the situation which prompted this thread.

Thanks again!

 

[Andor]

That's a complaint I've had for years. It's as though engineers on earth had developed weapons from the stone axe right up through the nuclear bomb, but were still only in the prototype stages of building a lean-to.

D&D magic. 500 ways to blow crap up, not one damm way to heat your house.

If you want a book with lots of utility magic check out worldtree. Although the magic system is basially a variant of Ars Magica and has little to do with D&D spellcasting.

 

[Vascant]

That Minor Magicks is an awesome book, man. Are there any others like it out there?

You can check out these two series...

Kressmer's Bizarre Grimoire (12 in total)
Lost Books (16 in total)

 

[Vegepygmy]

Remember, the 3e philosophy is that "These rules are how the world functions". NPCs operate the same way as PCs do. At least, that's what the 3e fans I've heard on these boards say: the rules are the world's physics.

Not true - at least not by the rules themselves. If that is actually stated somewhere I'd really like to see the cite.

Well, there's this:

3.5 DMG, page 16: Normally, NPCs should obey all the same rules as PCs. Occasionally, you might want to fudge the rules for them in one way or another (see DM Cheating and Player Perceptions, below), but in general, NPCs should live and die—fail and succeed—by the dice, just as PCs do.

And this:

3.5 DMG, page 173: Remember that what’s good for PCs is good for NPCs. NPC monsters can have classes, exceptional ability scores, and maximum hit points from their first Hit Die as well.

And this:

3.5 DMG, page 103: In short, the rest of the world doesn’t know that the PCs are, in fact, player characters. It treats them no differently from anyone else, gives them no special breaks (or special penalties), and gives them no special attention.

Admittedly, none of these sections explicitly states that NPCs earn XP exactly the way PCs do, but that's a fair inference. And it is certainly true that 4E has explicitly broken with the 3E assumption that the world treats PCs "no differently from anyone else."

 

[joethelawyer]

You can check out these two series...

Kressmer's Bizarre Grimoire (12 in total)
Lost Books (16 in total)

those are great spellbooks too. that's exactly the kind of weird-assed spells i was looking for. does anyone else know of anything else along those lines?

thx

 

[Jhaelen]

What I like about this thread is that it is about D&D 3E. If it had been about 4E I'd have sighed and moved on to the next thread

In other words: D&D regardless of edition has always focused on abilities, spells, etc. that are useful in combat.

If you're looking for a game that focuses on something else, you're better off looking for a different game. I'm glad Ars Magica was mentioned. It's clearly my system of choice when I'm not in the mood for killing monsters and taking their stuff.

 

[Voadam]

D&D magic. 500 ways to blow crap up, not one damm way to heat your house.

Actually here is a spell I wrote for Relics and Rituals II: Lost Lore by White Wolf/Sword Sorcery Studios

Continual Heat
Heats igneous rock to provide
ambient warmth.
Transmutation
Level: Brd 2, Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Target: 1 fist-sized piece of igneous rock
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Will negates (object)
Spell Resistance: Yes (object)
Description
The heat of molten flowing
rocks has long since died out in
many of the old lava tube chambers
of the Underfaust. In fact,
the underground passages are uncomfortably
cold despite the
blazing heat of the terrain above.
The necromancers of Hollowfaust
have made this forbidding network
of chill volcanic tunnels
their home, college, and fortress.
This is not a problem for the
undead that work and patrol underground,
but it presents a
problem for many of the living
wizards. Generally, the necromancers
bundle up in heavy robes
while traversing unheated corridors
and the occupied chambers
are often covered in tapestries and
carpets to insulate and retain heat.
Yet multiple fires would be impracticable
underground, and so
to combat the bone chilling cold
of their chosen home, the necromancers
developed magical means
to provide heat.
Spell Effect
This spell enchants a piece of
igneous rock to unlock some of
the heat that went into its creation,
warming the surrounding
area through convection. When
a fist-sized chunk of such rock is
subjected to this spell, it glows
red-hot and radiates heat sufficient
to warm a 20 cubic foot area
to 70 degrees. If the rock is touched
directly, it causes 1d4 points of
fire damage per round of contact.
Focus: A fist-sized piece of
igneous rock.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

OTOH if you want to lament the stripped-down, overly-combat focused wizard, have a look at 4th ed ... "we don't need no stinking utility spells"

Except, of course, for many 2nd, 6th, 10th, 16th and 22nd level spells and almost all of the rituals.

 

[Psion]

Remember, the 3e philosophy is that "These rules are how the world functions". NPCs operate the same way as PCs do. At least, that's what the 3e fans I've heard on these boards say: the rules are the world's physics.

I much prefer the "Everything not involved in the PCs works the way I need it to work because I'm the DM and it fits the situation."

This is a false dichotomy. Even a highly sim game should not waste page space on rules that are never going to be used. Rules that represent NPCs will be used; rules to advance them, not so much.

This is why I cocked an eyebrow over SKR's article on experience for commoners. It's all thought conjecture and DOES interfere with the GM doing their business, not helpful in any meaningful way (quite unlike noncombat abilities for NPCs and monsters, which are helpful to me in DMing.)

It's okay to pick you battles when taking a simulationist approach and focus on stuff you care to simulate.

MitFH is substantially correct. NPCs are normally assigned their xp. Even in the RAW.

 

[Andor]

Actually here is a spell I wrote for Relics and Rituals II: Lost Lore by White Wolf/Sword Sorcery Studios

Continual Heat
Heats igneous rock to provide
ambient warmth.
Transmutation
Level: Brd 2, Sor/Wiz 2
When a fist-sized chunk of such rock is subjected to this spell, it glows red-hot and radiates heat sufficient to warm a 20 cubic foot area to 70 degrees. If the rock is touched
directly, it causes 1d4 points of fire damage per round of contact.
Focus: A fist-sized piece of
igneous rock.

I love me some Hallowfaust. That was one of my all time favorite 3e books. I do hope that 20 cubic feet was a typo however. That would be a column of air 1' x 2' x 5'. It'd take an awful lot of hot rocks to heat a room that way.