Adding personal flavour to spells

[Lady Chaomii]

Noire, the god of hell fire reincarnate wizard, casts Evard's Black Tentacles, and instead of rubbery limbs, black chains burst out of the ground, and shackle their targets to the ground.

Bright, the quirky comedic relief Cleric, fires a sound burst spell and the voice of her goddess is conjured to issue forth a very loud "OMGz HAI!!!"

White, the deformed and sickly witch, casts her evil eye hex, by brushing away the hair that covers half her face and exposing her enemies to the power of the blood red orb that is her right eye.

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Most characters use their abilities in ways unique to them, based on their personality and based on the player playing them. So why not do the same with spells? Mechanically they could easily stay the same so long as propper thought was put into it. Effectively replacing one spell with another that would do the same thing, or other purely esthetic element. The only things that would need to be changed mechanically are the material components (For Noire's "Black Chains" spell, a short piece of chain would be used instead of an actual tentacle) but these matter as rarely as they are even mentioned. (i.e. never)

It would make the spellcaster's fighting style a lot more thematic than "generic caster A". This is important to any character in an RPG, making them an individual.

Edit: Kudos to my friends since I listed their characters and abilities in this ^^; though White Zero is mine

 

[amerigoV]

In spirit, I am all for it (I play Savage Worlds - that's exactly what you do - spell trappings). I recall doing this with an elf from a jungle tribe - everything had snake trappings. For example, Armor was not invisible, but visible scales. Web was a morass of constrictor snakes that would dissipate if you applied flame.

However, while I cannot speak to 4e, you can quickly ran into problems under 3e. The keywords (energy types, etc) can mess you up - not all energies are of equal value. For example, almost nothing has Sonic resistance, but many things have Fire resistance. So you have to make sure a sonic-themed wizard is not powering up his fireball spell with Sonic trappings.

As you say, with proper thought its doable and preferred.

 

[Lady Chaomii]

Very true, you would have to do it in such a way that the spell remains mechanically unaltered. And again, materials don't count as mechanics, that's the fluffiest fluff in the land of fluff.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

So why not do the same with spells?

That is why the Spell Thematics feat exists.

Personally, though, I just let people go with it as long as they aren't gaming the system.

 

[TKDB]

I do this a lot I play spellcasters. I'm actually planning to use refluffed spell descriptions for several major monsters and NPCs in a 3.5 campaign I'll be running in the near future -- for instance, one of the boss monsters will be a Halloween-themed scarecrow construct with (among other abilities) a Doom Scarabs SLA that manifests as a swarm of bats rather than beetles. Another one, a floral-themed air spirit (which I would really appreciate some further feedback on over in this thread /shameless plug ), will use a Waves of Fatigue SLA that I'll describe as a wafting floral aroma that leaves one feeling drowsy and languorous. And so forth.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-le...aluate-custom-boss-monster-2.html#post5907798

 

[Loonook]

Another one, a floral-themed air spirit (which I would really appreciate some further feedback on over in this thread /shameless plug ), will use a Waves of Fatigue SLA that I'll describe as a wafting floral aroma that leaves one feeling drowsy and languorous. And so forth.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-le...aluate-custom-boss-monster-2.html#post5907798

So they've turned into the genius loci of the poppy field in Wizard of Oz?

On the spell themes? I do not mind changing up spells at all. Personally I'd much rather use a system like Elements of Magic, but for games in which my players just don't enjoy having to figure out things themselves spell-system wise I don't care. Making someone spend a feat for 'unique thematics' always seemed extremely silly.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[TarionzCousin]

There is a feat in the 3E Forgotten Realms Magic sofcover book ("Magic of Faerun"?) that allowed a spellcaster to alter the visible elements of her spell like this. It made the Spellcraft DC to recognize the spell (for counterspelling, for example) two higher, I think.

That is why the Spell Thematics feat exists.

Is this the same feat I'm talking about? I don't recall the name, and my book is buried in storage somewhere.

 

[TKDB]

There is a feat in the 3E Forgotten Realms Magic sofcover book ("Magic of Faerun"?) that allowed a spellcaster to alter the visible elements of her spell like this. It made the Spellcraft DC to recognize the spell (for counterspelling, for example) two higher, I think.

Is this the same feat I'm talking about? I don't recall the name, and my book is buried in storage somewhere.

That'd be Spell Thematics, yeah. It does boost the DC to recognize a spell, but the most important effect is that it lets you designate one spell at each spell level as a "signature spell" or something like that, which gives you +1 caster level for that spell. I've found it to be somewhat useful for lower-level sorcerers.

Personally, I don't think it makes sense to charge a feat for a purely cosmetic thing, so I wouldn't make anyone take it just to change the descriptions of their spells.

 

[Electric Wizard]

IMC I've always assumed that every spellcaster has special flair that makes their spells unique. This justifies using the Spellcraft skill, because if every magic missile or stinking cloud looked the same, any magic user who had seen or even heard of them would be able to identify them right away. It takes a trained eye to see through the spell's personal trappings.

I also do it because customized spells are really fun. My wizards' magic missiles are always pencil-thin rays of flashing colors that bend and twist to find their target. One cleric's inflict wound spell involved his hand changing into a cobra. I played a warlock whose eldritch blasts were invisible to the naked eye, and induced painful spasms. He triggered them by throwing the horns, of course.

 

[Dioltach]

The one I've always used is that Power Word: Stun becomes "Ni!"