Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ratskinner" data-source="post: 5884547" data-attributes="member: 6688937">I think some of that can be left up to individual DMs and campaigns, rather than fixed in stone.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Honestly, though, is that any less illuminating than 3.5's "A missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertips..." It also has no description of appearance, sound, smell, feel, or ....I suppose taste would be silly.I think some of your problem here is that we're talking about Magic Missile. It doesn't really need a lot of description, as you said.I agree with your basic point, but I don't want to see long-winded spell descriptions that ramble on about the details of the spell like some 19th century author describing their mood. The 3e description of Featherfall, for instance, features this paragraph:Couldn't we just say: "You can cast Featherfall as a reaction, even if you fall unexpectedly." The second sentence in the 3e description appears to exist only for a DM who wants to pick on you for that one time in a million where you are falling and have already burned your Quickened spell this round. The third sentence is absurdly obvious, if you use the word Reaction. Of course, the "Action Economy" got in the way of the real economy of words.I can't speak for  @<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=21178" target="_blank">Szatany</a> , but I'd write them up:Suggestion - You Enchant a thinking being into believing and/or following a suggestion. The being must hear and understand you and be within Range: 20 ft +5 ft/level. If the being doesn't make a Save: Wisdom, they act in accordance to the suggestion for up to 1 hour/level or until any suggested activity is completed. The DM may penalize the saving throw for particularly reasonable or likely suggestions. No being can be ordered to directly kill itself "Fall on your sword!", but can be mislead into dangerous situations "That bridge is safe." Obviously suicidal, paradoxical, or impossible suggestions "Jump higher than you can." cause the spell to fail. Suggestion is a Still spell, though many users can't seem to resist slowly passing their hand in front of the target as the spell is spoken. The material component is a snake's tongue or drop of honey.Charm Person - You enchant a humanoid creature within Range: 25 ft. to believe that it is your friend and ally for 1 hour/level, unless it makes a Save: Wisdom. The target does not need to comprehend your language. An affected creature is not enslaved, but will act and react in your favor to the best of its ability to comprehend. Charm Person is a Spartan spell, but you must be able to speak and gesture at the target. Hallucinatory Terrain - As a Ritual, you craft illusions that make one type of natural terrain look like another. These illusions last for 24 hours unless dispelled, and do not affect creatures, equipment, or structures in the area. It takes about 10 minutes to affect a 30 ft cube, and you may take longer to affect a proportionally larger area. You may refresh the illusion at any time. You may Bind the illusions to a minimum 4th level spell slot, if you do the illusions are permanent. You may regain that slot and thus dissipate the illusion any time.Geas - As a Ritual, You Curse a humanoid creature with a task or quest. This curse lasts until the task is complete, or the Geas is removed by a Remove Curse or similar spell. If an affected creature fails to work towards the task for a day, or obviously forsakes the task, they must make a Save: Charisma or lose 2d4 hit points. This loss is not damage, but a reduction of their total. It is also cumulative for each day they forsake the task. A creature reduced to 0 hp by the curse dies, which lifts the curse. Any creature so penalized also endures a -4 penalty on any attacks, saves, or ability checks, so long as they are out of compliance. The creature recovers the hit points and lifts the penalty, after working for 24 hours towards the task. You must speak the Geas to the creature affected, which requires 10 minutes of pomp, circumstance, and speech making, which may not be interrupted or the curse fails. If the creature cannot understand (due to language or knowledge) you, the task, or if the task is logically impossible, the spell fails. A Geas Binds a minimum 6th level spell slot of the caster, the caster may not end the Geas prematurely by choice. Silent Image - You create a visual illusion of any object, creature, or force that you can imagine and which fits within 3 +1 10 ft cube/level. The illusion is solely visual, and you may move it anywhere within Range: 100 ft/level. A Silent Image requires Concentration, and dissipates quickly when you stop focusing on it. Casting Silent Image requires a bit of fleece, which is not consumed.Polymorph - N/APersonally, I feel that Polymorph is too broad a spell, which slows the game down too much to be worth it. Instead, I would include a small selection of more functional spells to replicate specific effects like:Seagull's Flight - You enchant yourself and your equipment to take the shape of a Seagull, and may fly. While in Gull form, you retain your mind, but may not cast spells or speak. The spell ends when you land. Seagull's Flight can be cast as a Silent Reaction,if you should unexpectedly be falling. However, you must be able to outstretch your arms. Casting Seagull's Flight requires a small gullfeather charm which is not consumed.Frogform Curse - With a word and a gesture, you Curse a humanoid within Range: 25 ft. with the shape of a frog, until some condition you specify is met, or the target dies. The target of the curse may resist with a Save: Charisma. The target of the spell retains their mind, but may not cast spells. At the time of the cursing, you may choose to allow them the power of speech or not. The curse is immediately broken if you, an ally, or anyone acting on your behest attempts to harm the cursed individual. The spell fails if you attempt to set an illogical or impossible condition or if the target cannot understand you or the conditions of the curse. Frogform Curse Binds a minimum 4th level spell slot. You may not end a Frogform Curse by will.  A frog has the following characteristics [insert stats here.]Deer's Run - Minimum Level: 2. You leap into the air and come down in the form of an enchanted bright green and yellow Stag or Doe as is appropriate your gender. While in this form, you retain your mind, but may not cast spells or speak. This lasts until you stop running. In Deer form, you run at 200ft/round and ignore all movement penalties in forested terrain. Deer's Run is a Silent spell, and requires a charm formed from a Deer's hoof that is not consumed during the casting. Except as noted for speed, the Deer has the following characteristics [insert stats here.] Those might even be shorter, but I'm not sure how much I'd want to keyword the way Curses work.</blockquote>

Verification