"By the power of magic..." what is your verbal components like?

[Remathilis]

Why not, it seems to work in every anime style cartoon I've ever seen.

I've always been a fan of the spellcasting from the anime Bastard! where the say like a whole sentence followed by the spell name:

In the darkness of Hell... the fire of Hell. Be my sword and destroy my enemy. VENOM!

Deep Doomsday... To the spirits of land and air, bound by the pact, fulfill your obligation now. MEGADEATH

BRAIN DEAD BRAIN DEAD... Follow the ground's pledge. Come from the place of Avalon. Gejelan's exploding fire. Burn everything. EXODUS!

The Thundergod and wind. A sage of Hades. With those two keys, open up the gates of Hell. HALLOWEEN!

 

[azmodean]

I tend to leave out the verbal, but emphasize the somatic component.

"I cast sleep on him" *mimes a clubbing motion*

Did I mention this was a fighter?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Random sylables spoken with force.

With force?
Player "He fails his saving throw"
DM "Why are you waving at me?"

 

[VirgilCaine]

Lets not forget

"IA IA Cuthulu Fatagan"

Ia Ia! Cthulhu Ftahn!

Anyway.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Ia Ia! Cthulhu Ftahn!

Anyway.

Yum yum yum!

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

"Harryhausen" for Animate Dead (as a ray naturally).

Two of my fellow players use Latin (or a mangled version) for their spells while I'll go with (semi) descriptive names like "Corean's Hammer!" for a flamestrike, etc.

 

[Remathilis]

I once heard a player declare "Abra-Cadaver" for a casting of animate dead.

 

[Quasqueton]

a'nal nathrak, uth vas bethud, dokjel djenve!

I used to be able to say that from memory.

Can someone confirm or deny that these are also the words spoken (via phonograph) in The Evil Dead? I used to firmly believe there was a connection, but I never was able to double check it before Blockbuster started renting movies, and now I can't bring myself to spend $8-10 and 2-4 hours just to check one line in both movies.

I once created the words and gestures for the sleep spell. I was like 14 years old, and it was just for fun (no belief the words and gestures actually worked). I still remember the words: hilasa bilasa silkade.

I think having some simple words (pseudo Latin for arcane, English prayer for divine) to describe a character casting a spell would be cool for effect. I used to read a story hour where the author gave his arcane spells such phrases. You could tell the spell by the phrase, like, "flamus eruptus" or some such for fireball. (Actually, his phrases were much better.) I thought that was way cool. I don't know if the Player actually used the phrases at the game table.

For an NPC cleric in the party recently, I did say things like "Hextor's Blessing" or "Hextor's Strength". *I* thought it added a little to the game, but I don't know if my Players cared for it or not.

Quasqueton

 

[Hypersmurf]

I tend to leave out the verbal, but emphasize the somatic component.

"I cast sleep on him" *mimes a clubbing motion*

Did I mention this was a fighter?

Ahh, first level barbarian spells. Gotta love them.

Knock. Barbarian focus: a big axe.
Blade Barrier. Barbarian focus: a big axe.
Cause Fear. Barbarian focus: a big axe.
Sleep. Barbarian focus: a big club.
Charm Person. Barbarian material component: a bag of gold pieces.
Find Traps. Barbarian material component: a halfling on a ten foot pole.
Cure Serious Wounds. Barbarian focus: a cleric, and a big axe.

-Hyp.

 

[DM_Fiery_Fist]

On a more serious note, I've actually fleshed out verbal components somewhat with my custom spells. I started putting language requirements for my spells as the verbal component. If you couldn't speak Celestial, you couldn't cast this spell, etc. It gave a bit more meaning to the Speak Language skill. I think Dragon magazine published an issue with this idea not too long ago, so I don't know if it's mainstream now or what, but I thought I'd toss it out there. I definitely wouldn't want to have anyone intoning anything that even remotely sounded occult at the gaming table...though I am a practicing Wiccan, I'd rather not blend my religion with a game. Furthermore, it would probably unnerve my players. I do rely heavily on languages though, and I've put quite a bit of work into fleshing out the languages of my game world, so my players often find inscriptions in strange tongues (for example, I'll often use Latin as the language of Thorass in the Forgotten Realms). My players seem to go for that sort of thing, as it can be fun to immerse yourself in another culture. I once had a player playing a desert paladin who used a lot of Arabic phrases (I made it equivalent to Alzhedo in the Forgotten Realms) in character, and that was always fun. However, I'm digressing off of the main topic. Verbal components mainly correlate with known languages in my game, simply to add more weight to the Speak Language skill.