D&D 1E Creative Uses for 1e Spells

[Greenfield]

then there's the cantrips.

a player of mine liked to hold his action to interrupt opposing mages by casting "sneeze" or "giggle" on them. *I was pretty sure this was a misuse but i let him get away occasionally*

He also liked to cast the cantrip "hairy" and then follow it up with "tangle" (or was it knot?) and sometimes "firefinger" (or spark?) to light the hairy tangled opposing person on fire. I usually let him do a couple damage just for giggles.

anyways there are probably rules for why these things don't work but perhaps your dm doesn't know them? hah.

The only real problem with this was that in 1e there were no rules for holding your action. When the Sage (Gygax at the time) was asked about this, he said that this was intentional.

Rounds were a full minute, and it was presumed that during this minute you were pretty busy. You were dodging, ducking, readying spells, swinging and parrying (if you were in melee) and generally trying not to get killed. Your initiative represented that moment of opportunity when you were free and/or your opponent was distracted, or had somehow left an opening for you.

It was clearer in melee, when multiple attacks didn't mean that you finally figured out how to move your sword arm more than once a minute. It meant that you had gotten better at spotting those openings, and could slip an attack through smaller and smaller gaps in someone's defense.

When spellcasters were confronted by a melee fighter, the rules said, "The fighter will use his initiative, or the spell caster's, whichever is applicable". When asked for clarification, Gygax said that that meant whichever is better. Casting a spell required you to stand still and concentrate, effectively granting your opponent that opening immediately. So if the fighter would go first, he goes first. If the spellcaster goes first, they tie. Ugly for spellcasters, but it made sense in the context of 1e's view of the combat round.

In any case, your initiative represented a window of opportunity. You miss it, you lose it until next round.

It wasn't until 3e that that changed and "Hold Action" and "Ready Action" became defined combat maneuvers.

 

[NotZenon]

and there is also the problem of the rules stating that cantrips cannot be used to interrupt the casting of another spell. (i'm pretty sure it directly said that)

But yes i am having a bit of edition confusion.

I remember (in second edition probably) that casters were assumed to be casting a spell from the beginning of the round until their initiative came up. Which is why the casting time of the spell became important. If that player was "hit" at any time before his initiative he would lose his spell (i could be wrong). Anyways i don't remember if they had casting times in 1rst ed, but we always assumed the casting time of a cantrip would be 1 or even 0, so it was fairly easy for this annoying gnome illusionist to just waste time interrupting the spells of other casters (provided we ignored the rules a little bit). I suppose it doesn't help that we used first and second edition interchangeably, since there was very little (on the surface) that seemed to be different about them.

 

[Mattachine]

Polymorph (all versions) because of the immense utility.

Summon monsters (all version)--test for traps, delay opponents, etc

Telekinesis--maintained, items can be made to orbit around the caster at amazing (and deadly) speeds

Disintegrate, because, well, it's disintegrate

Wall of fire--the mobile ring version is devastating when combined with fly or haste (or even polymorph into something small and fast)

Wall of force--super useful, and shapeable

Wall of stone--super useful, shapeable, though you need existing stone to make best use

Stone shape--get around locked doors, under walls, secret storage spaces, etc

Rock to mud--delay opponents, collapse ceilings, destroy stone bridge, etc

Fly--because, well, flying is nearly always an advantage

Spectral forces (or other illusions of level 3+) -- these spells are so flexible, and therefore very useful--hiding, disguises, fake creatures, and so on

Unseen servant--for swapping items during combat, testing traps, carrying items, fetching things, and so on

clairvoyance--it's half of scry-and-die; extremely useful for looking behind doors and inside of chests

Detect magic and detect evil--in AD&D, these spells are often as good as detect invisibility

silence--silence the enemy spellcasters, or silence your own party sneaking up on them

conjure elemental--druids don't need to concentrate, the elemental is really tough, and it lasts a very long time; elemental can fight, scout, guard, carry, and so on

shapechange--soooooo useful

limited wish--great backup "anyspell"; wish is too tough on the cater, generally


Also, does every form of magical aging require a system shock roll? I didn't do that when I ran AD&D, since I actually wanted folks to use spells with the aging penalties.

 

[Greenfield]

Well, thinking of Cantrips: In 2e they came up with the generic "Cantrip" as a spell, which eventually became Prestodigitation in 3.*.

Both of these have a disclaimer that says they really can't do anything at all. That disclaimer is the one that says they can't duplicate the effects of any other spell. So long as Wish, Miracle and Limited Wish exist, there is nothing at all that isn't covered by one or more of them.

That being said: Using the Change cantrip was fun for things like "Transmute Locks to Bagels". So much easier than Knock.

Then there was a weather controlling spell called Cloudburst. If you consider just how much water comes down in the area of that spell, to produce an inch of rain in a minute (1 round), it should be renamed Flash Flood. In the right terrain, casting that up slope of an enemy encampment can be devastating.

By the same token, Create Water produced volumes measured in cubic feet, had a range, and didn't require a container. One cubic yard (27 cubic feet) of water weighs a shade less than a ton, and can be dropped on people from a considerable height.

And yes, Polymorph Self was incredible. I recall a tournament at a convention in which we had a Potion of Polymorph. As written, the person who consumed it could change form every round for the entire duration. It was insane. (Going through a tower held by the enemy, my Magic User riding on the back of the Monk, who was a Rhinocerus at the time. We entered a room that turned out to be filled with guards, and we were supposed to stop and fight them. We had surprisehowever, so the scene went something like this...

DM: You surprised them. What do you do?
Me: We charge across the room and through the door on the other side.
DM: That door is closed and locked. Who's opening it and how?
Me: I didn't say we were checking or opening the door, I said we were going through it. I'm on a rhinocerus. We can do this.

The DM didn't forgive us for that one, but the hilarity at the table made it totally worth it.

Other odd rules from 1e: Alignment Tongue. It seems that they write in this thing where people/creatures of different races and/or cultures could still communicate if they were of the same alignment. Surprised a few DMs with that one as well. (In fact, I surprised that same DM with it. The rhino wasn't the only thing he didn't forgive us for.)

 

[Jack99]

Not sure it was possible in 1e (or got changed for 2e) but spider climb is a cool spell. Utilily and spellcaster killer all in one. Although not creative per say.

 

[winemaker81]

My players use Silence 15' Radius and Invisibility with great effect. Cast the Silence on a coin, it doesn't get a save and can be thrown at the feet of an enemy spell caster or just away when the party needs to cast.

Discuss the usage of Invisibility with the DM. I run it hard as it's easy to abuse, e.g., party needs to be roped together to stay together, can still make noise (hence Silence!), things can run into you, walking on uneven surfaces is difficult when you can't see your feet.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

We used to put Silence 15' rad on arrowheads & sling stones...

 

[DM_Wannabe]

If you've got a high level Cleric, Speak with Monsters in conjunction with Command could prove very useful.