New descriptions for old spells

[LostSoul]

Let's come up with some descriptions for the casting of old standard spells.

Here's one for Summon Swarm (an Evil casting?):

The caster ingests a bug/rat head/bat head and begins to chant the words of the spell. As he carries on through the spell, he coughs and chokes more and more, until finally he vomits up a swarm of the same thing he ate.

 

[jgbrowning]

Let's come up with some descriptions for the casting of old standard spells.

Here's one for Summon Swarm (an Evil casting?):

The caster ingests a bug/rat head/bat head and begins to chant the words of the spell. As he carries on through the spell, he coughs and chokes more and more, until finally he vomits up a swarm of the same thing he ate.

and this takes 3 seconds?

joe b.

 

[LostSoul]

Re: Re: New descriptions for old spells

and this takes 3 seconds?

joe b.

(chomp)

"I call on the (cough) powers that (cough cough) bind mortals (cough cough cough) and shall be (cough cough cough) (puke)!"

 

[jgbrowning]

Re: Re: Re: New descriptions for old spells

(chomp)

"I call on the (cough) powers that (cough cough) bind mortals (cough cough cough) and shall be (cough cough cough) (puke)!"

where's the part about finding the componant, not spilling any of your other componants, while taking a 5 foot step away from a guy with a sword who wants to kill you bit?....

I always thought sensible componant rules would have provided an excellent limiter on wizards...

joe b.

 

[hong]

Oh, the things you could do with bat guano.

 

[Pseudonym]

Oh, the things you could do with bat guano.

My favorite is the Bat Accident spell from Kenzer's Villian Design Handbook.

 

[LostSoul]

I'm going to bump this up to the top.

How about a Flame Strike doing flame damage, but also a booming voice from the god in question that shakes the target to the core of its being?

Hmmm....

How about specialized Magic Missiles? The wizard in my campaign flings shards of glass (that magically form in his hand) at the target.

Or a Sleep spell that uses a child's lullaby as the Verbal component?

I think that we can think of a whole bunch of things that could put more flavour into a "typical" D&D campaign (is D&D ever typical?).

 

[CCamfield]

The DMG has a short section somewhere about this - essentially anything is fair game so long as it doesn't provide additional effect. For instance if the voice of the god is supposed to boom out with a flame strike, and that gives bonuses to intimidation effects or causes fear, that would not be allowed.

Shards of glass is good... so would be flying daggers of energy...

 

[Dave Blewer]

In my homebrew campaign I have devised something I call Fetishes these are a form of scroll, but with a more physical component. I envision these to be used by Adepts, shamen and Druids...

Here are a couple of examples:

Tears of the Mother
Spell: Cure Light Wounds
Appearance: Single crystal like a teardrop made of ice.
Effects: Placing one of these tears on your tongue and allowing it to melt heals 1d8+ level (max 5) hps
Drawbacks: You cannot consume more dice of healing than your Constitution stat in one day and night cycle. If you do so the later dice have no effect.

Spirit Veil
Spell: Invisibility to Animals (Duration 10 mins/level, effects 1 creature touched /level)
Appearance: This Fetish appears to be a collection of sticks and plants, bound into a stick figure. This is created from material upon which a humanoid creature died a natural death. Druids believe that the spirit of the dying individual inhabits the Fetish and shields the user from detection.
Effects: Animals cannot perceive the warded creatures. They act as though the warded creatures are not there. Warded creatures could stand before the hungriest of lions and not be molested or even noticed. If a warded character touches an animal or attacks any creature, even with a spell, the spell ends for all recipients.
Drawbacks: None known, but the creation of such a Fetish can be problemetic

I have a few more if anyone is interested...

 

[the Jester]

Well, sometimes little changes make a big impression.

For instance, in my campaign, a flame strike cast by an evil cleric doesn't come down from above- it bursts up from below.