Edena_of_Neith
First Post
On the RPG General Forum, I posted an article concerning the Faerunian Nation of Dambrath.
I commented that this was a particularly dangerous nation, that it was ignored at the peril of all, and that perhaps a very real horror would arise out of that land to strike at the heartlands of Faerun.
Here are some spells I believe might be at the disposal of those who rule the dark land of Dambrath.
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LOVIATAR'S ULTIMATUM
(This spell was meant to be darkly humorous, and it has few applications on the battlefield. It is unlikely to be a useful spell for a character.
However, those bent on hurting others, on revenge, and those with evil in their hearts may well find this spell suitable to their tastes, under the right circumstances.)
Level 3 (both clerical and wizard)
Spheres: Evil, Destruction, Pain, Hatred, Anger, Violence, Fear
Components: See below
Duration: See below
Casting Time: See below
Area of Effect: See below
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Normal
(I believe the spell description I gave for Loviatar's Ultimatum violates the rules of ENWorld, so I have not posted it here.
Unless the moderators say I can post it here, I will not do so. If they give permission, I will post it in this spot.
I refer you to the Nutkinland Message Board. To the Fun and Games Forum there. My description of Loviatar's Ultimatum is given in the Dark Spells of Dambrath thread.)
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LOVIATAR’S GIFT
(This spell was written with a dose of dark humor attached, although perhaps it will not come off as humorous, dark or otherwise. It is a shadowy spell, the kind of spell that could leave a good aligned or highly ethical caster feeling defiled from the casting.)
Level 5
Spheres: Evil, Darkness, Pain, Destruction, Hatred, Anger, Fear
Range: 100 yards, target must be in sight
Components: V, S
Area of Effect: One target creature of any size
Casting Time: 1 Action
Duration: See below
Saving Throw: See below
Spell Resistance: Normal
This spell is an improvement on Loviatar’s Ultimatum.
This spell is considered rather unethical by good characters and beings and is rarely used by them. Neutrals, however, find it a most darkly delightful spell to cast upon a foe.
This spell requires a successful Ranged Touch Attack. Otherwise, it fails and is wasted.
This spell will penetrate such defenses as Stoneskin, Fire Shield, Wall of Force (unless it completely englobes the target) and the like.
Spells that protect from acid will protect the victim if cast on him or her before this spell is used, but NOT after this spell has been cast and taken effect.
Prismatic Wall will generally not stop this spell, but Prismatic Sphere always will, along with Anti-Magic Shield, Spell Reflection, Mantle, and like spells.
This spell produces a sludge-like acid that covers a specific area of a target creature, if a saving throw (use the best category: Will for clerics, Fortitude for fighters, Reflex for thieves, etc.) is failed.
This acid will cover an area as small as a pixie’s fingertip or as large as a dragon’s tail, but it must be a specific area of the target, not the target in general or the whole target. The area of effect cannot be a large part of the target such as a whole leg, arm, head, or torso.
The acid will cover an area stated by the caster: hand, foot, finger, toe, eye, ear, nose, mouth, private area, or whatever it pleases the caster to name. If the caster names no area, the messy acid will cover an area of the target which the target prizes the most (a fighter’s sword hand, a dancer’s foot, part of the face, or some specially beloved area of the body, as the DM decides.)
Once attached, the acid cannot be removed by normal means. It cannot spread beyond the area it is sticking to, nor can it wipe off onto someone or something else (thus, a second person cannot be affected by the spell.) A Dispel Magic, Remove Curse, or the like is needed to remove the acid. Universal Solvent will remove it. It can be removed by the caster at any time with a flick of her finger.
The victim will IMMEDIATELY know the nature of the sludgy acid, and what it is going to do to him or her. The spell imparts that information itself. The clergy of Loviatar enjoy letting their victims have a chance to contemplate what the acid is going to do to them, before any actual physical harm begins.
At the time of casting, the caster names the delay time of the acid. This can be from instantaneous to 8 hours. Once the time is stated, it cannot be changed. At the end of the stated time, the acid goes to work.
Over a 2 to 8 hour period, the acid utterly destroys the area it covers. It does not destroy anything else, but that particular area is totally gone. Astronomical pain and severe system shock accompany this slow destruction. The target loses one quarter of his or her hit points, must save (best category) or lose 1 to 6 points of Constitution, and save (best category) or lose 1 to 6 points of Wisdom. Targeting certain areas can, in addition, force a save to avoid 1 to 6 points of lost Dexterity and/or 1 point of Charisma. For some reason, the acid cannot target the victim’s brain ... perhaps Loviatar wished the target to have all it’s mental faculties to understand just what had been done to it, with this spell.
The target must always save (best category) or be afflicted by a permanent, moderate to severe insanity. The save has a modifier of + 4 to - 4, depending on where this spell was targeted against him or her.
Finally, the target is incapacitated for as long as this spell is in effect. No walking, normal talking, spellcasting, fighting, observation, or coherent thinking, is possible while the victim enjoys the agonies of having a party of his or her body slowly incinerated by the vitrolic acid. Screaming is always allowed, of course.
The best part about this spell is what happens if a victim makes his or her saving throw, and is not affected by it.
The globby acid tries to materialize on the target and fails. Then, it materializes, on the person standing closest to the intended target. That person must save (best category) or his or her favorite body part suffers the fate intended for the original target (the DM chooses what is the favorite body part in this case, not the caster, since the spell did not affect the original target.)
If the person standing closest to the original target saves, the spell leaps to the next nearest person, who must then save. This continues indefinitely until someone fails his or her saving throw.
In other words, SOMEONE is going to get it. Someone, is going to be in a world of hurt. If not the intended target, then an innocent person.
Since the original target is not aware of this property of the spell, the FIRST TIME it is employed against him, there is no effect on his or her alignment or personality.
However, the target is made aware, by the spell itself, of it’s nature and intent (whether the save was made or not), and the target is ALWAYS aware of a second use of this spell against him or her (even if blind and deaf, but not if unconscious.)
When this spell is attempted a second time against a given target, he or she may WILLINGLY choose to forego the saving throw AND any spell resistance, and accept the impact of the spell - or he or she may attempt the save and/or employ spell resistance, and in making it willingly and knowingly dump the effects of the spell off on someone else.
This may or may not affect the alignment and personality of the target. It may or may not make the FRIENDS of the target happy or unhappy with him or her.
The clergy of Loviatar will ALWAYS throw a Regeneration to offset the effects of this spell, if the victim asks for one. The only price they ask is that the victim convert to the religion of Loviatar, take a solemn Oath to abide by the new faith (a ceremony under the supervision of the clergy of Loviatar), and adherence to the tenets of the faith thereafter. This will cause a change in alignment and eventually personality, if agreed to, of course.
If the victim of this spell attempts to seek healing elsewhere and succeeds in finding it (a Ring of Regeneration will not reverse this spell, by the way), the minions of Loviatar will be alerted to that fact. (Unless a mage cast the spell, in which case they will not know, and if they did know probably would not care.)
A Revenant will be raised by the clergy of Loviatar to seek out the person who dared to defy the will of Loviatar. The Revenant will take the victim, alive if possible, dead if not, and return him or her to a strong fortress controlled by the clergy of Loviatar.
There, the victim will suffer an Animate Dead or worse if taken dead by the Revenant, and if taken alive will be subjected to a slow and exceedingly painful death for his or her heresy, followed by Animate Dead or something of that nature.
If the target victim successfully saved, and the spell afflicted someone innocent, and that innocent finds healing from the effects of this spell, the clergy of Loviatar will not know of it, and no action will be taken at all.
This spell is regularly used by Loviatarian clergy of extremely high level (16th+) on each other.
For them, this spell is an ecstasy of delight, and if for some reason the high level cleric cannot handle the pain and goes insane from it, he or she will be healed, demoted, and his or her training in pain intensified, until this spell can be tolerated. (Of course, regeneration will be used on any cleric of Loviatar who receives this spell, whether they tolerate the pain or not. Loviatar expects her clergy to be useful, not crippled.)
Evasion of pain is not an option for the clergy of Loviatar. Only through transcension of pain can the ultimate triumph over themselves be obtained.
And as a result of this thinking of the dark faith, the casting of this spell on a non-believer is considered a gift, a blessing, a welcome to the exalted world of the specially blessed of Loviatar. Thus the name, Loviatar’s Gift.
It is quite rare for this spell to be used, by the clergy of Loviatar, in straight combat. After all, this spell is not really about killing anyone.
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LOVIATAR’S WILL
(This spell was meant to be digusting, sad, and horrible. Evil. No humor was intended here. Here is a spell for those with darkened souls and blackened hearts.)
Level 7
Spheres: Evil, Darkness, Pain, Destruction, Hatred, Anger, Fear
Range: Any being within sight range and within 1 mile, of which the slightest glimpse has been had up to 10 minutes prior to casting
Components: V, S
Area of Effect: One target creature of any size
Casting Time: 1 Action
Duration: See below
Saving Throw: See below
Spell Resistance: Normal
This spell is a much more powerful and destructive version of Loviatar’s Gift.
This is an Unholy Spell. Loviatar’s Will is strongly evil, the casting of it is an evil act, and no good being can attempt this spell. Neutrals do so at their peril; even one casting of this spell throws a deep shadow over that neutral, and multiple castings cause a change to evil alignment and a forced, involuntary change in personality.
When the spell description is considered, it seems unlikely a neutral would ever want to cast this spell, unless a strong desire for revenge, or strong hatred, or violent and irrational anger, had seized that neutral’s mind.
This spell works very much like Loviatar’s Gift. (see the spell above)
It produces an acid like that spell, the acid affects a chosen target, a specific part of the body is picked by the caster, and it must succeed with a Ranged Touch Attack to work. Also, the acid has a delayed reaction of instantaneous to 8 hours, as per the lesser spell.
However, the acid produced by this spell is much stronger magically.
Dispel Magic will not affect it, nor will Remove Curse. No spell of under 6th level will affect the acid or remove it, nor will spell-like effects from items of under 6th level affect it.
Monster powers of under 6th level (the DM must judge this, where it is in question) will not remove the acid.
Furthermore, once the acid goes to work, nothing can stop the pain afflicting the victim. The victim can be rendered unconcious, but will awaken in seconds from the pain. (In order to knock the victim out cold enough to render him or her beyond the reach of the pain, it is necessary to kill the victim.)
Cutting off the afflicted area of the body will NOT work - the acid will magically jump to the second most precious place on the target’s body, and continue it’s work.
Spells that numb parts of the body will work if they are 6th level or higher. 6th level spells or higher that remove magical effects (such as Mordenkainen’s Disjunction) will destroy the acid.
Spells that protect from acid will not work, regardless of their level, if cast after this spell is cast.
Powerful defensive spells, such as Prismatic Sphere, Anti-Magic Shell, and the like will block this spell (Mantle has a 50% chance of stopping it. Otherwise, it will penetrate that spell and work normally.)
The pain produced by the acid is astounding, pretty much beyond the imagination of those who are not so unlucky as to experience attacks of this kind. Being burned alive is a good comparison to what this spell feels like.
The acid takes 24 hours to complete it’s work (not the 2 to 8 for the lesser spell.) During this time, the victim is incapacitated. It is an Epic Feat of DC 80 (against Wisdom) for the victim to take any action while afflicted by this spell. A will save is necessary to avoid continual screaming, made every minute for the entire 24 hour period. (A successful will save stops the screaming, until the next minute arrives and another save must be made.)
Of course, the caster can choose to erase the acid from existence with a flick of his or her finger.
However, the profoundly evil nature of this spell is found in what happens if the target successfully saves.
With THIS spell, the target knows immediately upon the FIRST attempt to use Loviatar’s Will against him or her, what the spell is, what it does ... and what will happen if he or she succeeds in resisting it.
The target may choose to forego any save and any spell resistance, and accept this spell upon himself or herself, knowing fully well what that means; knowing just what is coming.
Or, the target may choose to make the attempt to save (using the best save possible, be it Will, Fortitude, or Reflex.)
If the target saves or employs spell resistance to stop this spell, it’s effect teleports - across the world if necessary - to the person or being most cherished in all the world by the target. The acid strikes this second target in the most painful, vulnerable, and harmful place possible.
And for this second target, there is NO saving throw. Spell resistance still works normally, if there is any, which means the target might or might not be affected ... certainly, the primary target will not know for sure!
So, if this spell targets a married man, perhaps his wife is the target. If it targets a married woman, perhaps her husband is afflicted. Or a special someone, if unmarried. Or a beloved child of the person targeted. Or a Familiar, if a wizard. A faithful and loving pet, a friend who saved the target’s life, a liegelord who has gifted the target with something special or made the difference in his or her life.
If the target has no family, friends, patrons or lieges, pets, or the like, this spell will next seek out and target the person or being the original target has done the most for. An orphan the target gave help to, a homeless person he gave shelter to, a wounded person he gave healing to. The feelings of the target towards potential victims are the primary means by which the spell selects the target; the stronger the target’s feelings, the more likely that being will be afflicted.
If, for some reason, the victim is unaffiliated with anyone (such as a person who has lived alone all his life) the spell will select an animal or sentient plant, or friendly creature the person has met (even if he or she only met that being once.)
The target creature will immediately and unerringly know who was afflicted by the spell, since he or she was not.
Choosing to avoid the effects of this spell is not a good act, obviously. Avoiding this spell’s effects could cause alignment or involuntary personality change. It will most certainly cause the target to suffer severe psychological trauma (if it does not, the DM is not doing his job.)
A paladin who refuses to accept the effects of Loviatar’s Will had better have a good reason for that refusal, or the character will lose his or her paladinhood.
The clergy of Loviatar who are of 20th level or higher, and who have attained Epic immunity to pain, will sometimes have this spell cast upon them, in a great and darkly grand ceremony of exaltation to the Goddess of Pain.
Otherwise, this spell is used for it’s obvious purpose: to truly punish, to truly hurt, to bring great and terrible suffering to the innocent.
The clergy of Loviatar never use this spell in straight battle. This spell is not about killing.
Unlike the lesser versions of this spell, no cleric of Loviatar will offer to ease the suffering of one they have afflicted with this spell.
However, if the target chooses to avoid the spell and makes his or her save, causing the spell to leap to the second and innocent person, the clergy of Loviatar will offer to allow the target to join their ranks.
If refused, they will sneer and allow the victim to go free, to face the consequences of not choosing to take the effects of this spell upon himself or herself.
Dark mages have their own version of this spell.
As with the clerical version, it is an Unholy Spell, and carries all the hazards of the clerical version. Quite a lot of Primordial Darkness briefly caresses a mage who employs this spell.
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LOVIATAR’S DOMINION
(I intended this spell to be frightful in the extreme, utterly devoid of humor, and the kind of threat that would terrify even high level characters who opposed the dark religion of Loviatar.)
Level 9
Spheres: Evil, Darkness, Pain, Destruction, Hatred, Anger, Fear
Range: 1 mile, reasonable knowledge of the target’s presence required, no actual detection required, extends to the astral, ethereal, out of phase, and temporal prime
Components: V, S
Area of Effect: One target creature of any size
Casting Time: 1 Full Round
Duration: See below
Saving Throw: See below
Spell Resistance: Normal
This is a far more powerful, and even more destructive, version of Loviatar’s Will and Loviatar’s Gift.
This is truly an Unholy Spell, in both it’s clerical and wizard forms. No good or neutral character can attempt it, and few would ever seriously consider committing such an appalling act as the casting of this spell. A person casting this spell will actually radiate evil, so strong are the Dark Forces drawn upon, and so hideous is the intent of the caster.
As with the lessen spells mentioned above, this spell requires a Ranged Touch Attack. Regardless of the distance to the target, and regardless of whether the target is physically detected, that target being is always considered to be at close range.
The caster uses this spell and his or her will and dark desire to hone in on the soul or spirit of the victim, so all that is needed is knowledge that the victim is actually present. Once the caster hones in on the target’s soul, he or she can see the target (body and soul) with absolute, frightful clarity.
Only a few special spells, such as Mind Blank (maybe), a properly worded Wish spell, and dweomers that shield the soul, have any chance of stopping this spell. A Periap of Proof Against Detection and Location will save the target from this spell.
Prismatic Sphere, Mantle, and similar physical defensive spells will not work. Anti-Magic Shell will not work. Dispel Magic, most certainly will not work. Even Contingency spells, will not work (the spell will simply chase the mage back to wherever and whatever state the Contingency spells leave him at/in.)
Even being in Temporal Stasis, trapped in a Mirror of Life Entrapment, hiding in a Bag of Holding, and the like will not protect the target creature, and Time Stop is rather quite useless - unless thrown on the attacking cleric, obviously.
Of course, Epic Spells created for the specific purpose of stopping this spell might work very well indeed. Artifacts and relics may protect against this spell.
Ironically, a being ensnared by a Trap the Soul spell is protected from this spell, along with one that has drawn the Void from a Deck of Many Things. It is indeed truly an ill wind that blows nobody any good.
This spell produces an spiritual vitrolic essence that attaches itself to the soul or spirit of the target being or creature. For the purpose of this spell, all living things and unliving things are considered to have a soul or spirit (except under the most EXTRAORDINARY of circumstances.)
The target creature will see himself or herself as being covered in acid. The target may attempt a save (use the best category, as per the lesser spells) and/or spell resistance against the attack. If successful, the spell is deflected from the target’s soul, the messy acid disappears, and the target is not affected ... not right then, at least.
The spell will inform the target that if it is resisted, it is going to affect the person or being most cherished by the target. The target will know this even as the acid tries to form upon his or her soul, and may choose to forego the save and/or spell resistance, thus taking this spell, knowing what is going to happen, what is coming.
If the target foregoes the save, he or she suffers the full effects of the spiritual acid.
Thereafter, the target is incapacitated (Epic DC 120 to act for one round, every round.) The pain of this spell dwarfs even that of Loviatar’s Will ... this is pain beyond all imagination. This is like burning in the deep pits of Hell. The target does not scream ... this pain is beyond mortal utterance.
There is no way to stop the pain. Rendering the victim unconscious will not help, for the pain is spiritual. Killing the target will not help, for the soul is the target, and it is not dead. Powerful healing spells are useless, for it is not the body that is afflicted, although the body certainly is feeling the pain.
Even Temporal Stasis will not stop the pain. The soul is in some ways outside of such realities as the time-space dimension, and the dark vitrol afflicting it is also beyond the physical realm.
A Wish spell will stop the pain, but will work properly only if the Wisher wishes it upon himself ... otherwise, the BEST result is that the Wish will cause the pain to affect a random creature.
A Mordenkainen’s Disjunction will stop the pain, if cast upon the target’s body. It has a 5% chance + 1% per level of the dark caster of killing the soul or spirit of the character, in the process.
An Epic Spell that is soul affecting or magic dispelling might halt this spell. It must overcome the dark spell itself, which has spell resistance equal to 10 plus the level of the caster of the Loviatar’s Dominion.
If the pain is halted quickly, the target loses half his or her hit points, and temporarily loses six points in all six stats.
Otherwise, the pain lasts for one day. At the end of that time, it stops, leaving behind a person forever scarred by it.
The being permanently loses between one quarter and three quarters of all hit points. Six to eighteen points are lost permanently from all six stats (Wishes and Epic spells can restore these losses.) The person is afflicted with permanent and extreme insanities of several kinds (healing spells of 6th level and greater will remove these, one by one.)
The being is incapacitated for anywhere from one week to ten years, depending on how much magical healing he or she receives afterwards, how strong in mind and body he or she was before this spell struck, and other circumstances related to trauma recovery.
Obviously, any magic or aid that helps the soul or spirit, will help the target being recover faster, since the injury is primarily to the soul or spirit, and only partially to the mind and body.
Regardless of help, the person will always remember the experience, and it’s effects and the memories of it’s horror will affect the rest of his or her life.
Needless to say, the character or being will not wish to undergo a repeat of this spell.
That’s if the person willingly allows himself or herself to be afflicted.
If the person chooses to save, that is an evil act, for the person is knowingly inflicting this horror upon a cherished innocent (only if that innocent is guarded by some extremely powerful defense, is there an exemption from this rule.)
The spell draws power from the evil act. It draws hideous might from the selfish (if understandable) choice of the character.
Then the spell attacks the soul or spirit of the cherished innocent. As with Loviatar’s Will, this will always be the most special and beloved person or being to the target creature, or if the target creature has no special or beloved creature it will be something that somehow causes anguish to the original target (if the original target is a mindless green slime that automatically attempts to repulse the attack, for example, the secondary target will be the unfortunate dwarf the green slime was about to fall upon, thus having supper.)
The innocent is allowed a save (although the spell will imply to the original target that no save is possible, within In Game terms). Use the best possible category of saves. The innocent does not realize he or she or it is under attack.
If the innocent fails the save, it not only suffers the entirety of the pain, but at the end of the 24 hour period it’s soul or spirit dies from the pain, and that creature is permanently destroyed.
The original target being is now evil. Whether he or she likes it, wants it, or believes it or doesn’t believe it, that is the new reality for him or her.
If the innocent makes the save, the spell rebounds with terrifically amplified force ... upon the original target.
This time, the original target being is entitled to no saving throw or spell resistance.
This time, the original target takes the full force of the spell, and at the end of the 24 hour period, the original target’s soul or spirit dies from the pain, and that character is gone.
This time, practically nothing - not even most Epic Spells - will stop this spell from running it’s course. Only Divine Intervention is a sure way to avoid the final fate decreed. (Getting Divine Intervention might be difficult, considering the character let the spell strike his or her most cherished Someone. Of course, Loviatar is sometimes open to pleas from the soul or spirit, if they are sincere and she has something to gain out of it. Other evil dieties might want a convert.)
The caster of Loviatar’s Dominion can end the spell, but it requires she throw a specialized 9th level version of Dispel Magic for even him or her to do it.
Of course, such an action will not be taken, unless something VERY GREAT is given first in exchange for such a favor.
Mercy, compassion, and remorse, are rare emotions among the clergy of Loviatar.
The terror of this spell would have prompted the archmages and high clerics of Faerun to devise counterspells, one might guess. One would be wrong, too.
The archmages and high clerics of Faerun are too busy watching each other to take the time to realize and appreciate just how great a threat the clergy of Loviatar have become, much less to do anything about it.
Thus, a true counterspell to this spell does not exist yet. Not at least, as far as the general spellcasting population is aware of.
The Chosen of Mystra ARE subject to this spell. There are few beings indeed who are somehow protected from the horror that the truly exalted of Loviatar are capable of inflicting.
There have been a few cases in recorded history of clerics of Loviatar willingly inflicting this spell upon themselves.
In most cases, it incapacitated even them, and Loviatar punished them for their failure to endure it (they most certainly did not obtain a second chance to have this spell thrown at them!)
However, in those extreme cases where the priest or priestess of Loviatar overcame the spell, finding pleasure in it’s immeasurable agony, it was the ultimate triumph of their faith. They are the great figures of legend among Loviarites, shining figures lighting the dark path for all others to walk down.
I commented that this was a particularly dangerous nation, that it was ignored at the peril of all, and that perhaps a very real horror would arise out of that land to strike at the heartlands of Faerun.
Here are some spells I believe might be at the disposal of those who rule the dark land of Dambrath.
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LOVIATAR'S ULTIMATUM
(This spell was meant to be darkly humorous, and it has few applications on the battlefield. It is unlikely to be a useful spell for a character.
However, those bent on hurting others, on revenge, and those with evil in their hearts may well find this spell suitable to their tastes, under the right circumstances.)
Level 3 (both clerical and wizard)
Spheres: Evil, Destruction, Pain, Hatred, Anger, Violence, Fear
Components: See below
Duration: See below
Casting Time: See below
Area of Effect: See below
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Normal
(I believe the spell description I gave for Loviatar's Ultimatum violates the rules of ENWorld, so I have not posted it here.
Unless the moderators say I can post it here, I will not do so. If they give permission, I will post it in this spot.
I refer you to the Nutkinland Message Board. To the Fun and Games Forum there. My description of Loviatar's Ultimatum is given in the Dark Spells of Dambrath thread.)
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LOVIATAR’S GIFT
(This spell was written with a dose of dark humor attached, although perhaps it will not come off as humorous, dark or otherwise. It is a shadowy spell, the kind of spell that could leave a good aligned or highly ethical caster feeling defiled from the casting.)
Level 5
Spheres: Evil, Darkness, Pain, Destruction, Hatred, Anger, Fear
Range: 100 yards, target must be in sight
Components: V, S
Area of Effect: One target creature of any size
Casting Time: 1 Action
Duration: See below
Saving Throw: See below
Spell Resistance: Normal
This spell is an improvement on Loviatar’s Ultimatum.
This spell is considered rather unethical by good characters and beings and is rarely used by them. Neutrals, however, find it a most darkly delightful spell to cast upon a foe.
This spell requires a successful Ranged Touch Attack. Otherwise, it fails and is wasted.
This spell will penetrate such defenses as Stoneskin, Fire Shield, Wall of Force (unless it completely englobes the target) and the like.
Spells that protect from acid will protect the victim if cast on him or her before this spell is used, but NOT after this spell has been cast and taken effect.
Prismatic Wall will generally not stop this spell, but Prismatic Sphere always will, along with Anti-Magic Shield, Spell Reflection, Mantle, and like spells.
This spell produces a sludge-like acid that covers a specific area of a target creature, if a saving throw (use the best category: Will for clerics, Fortitude for fighters, Reflex for thieves, etc.) is failed.
This acid will cover an area as small as a pixie’s fingertip or as large as a dragon’s tail, but it must be a specific area of the target, not the target in general or the whole target. The area of effect cannot be a large part of the target such as a whole leg, arm, head, or torso.
The acid will cover an area stated by the caster: hand, foot, finger, toe, eye, ear, nose, mouth, private area, or whatever it pleases the caster to name. If the caster names no area, the messy acid will cover an area of the target which the target prizes the most (a fighter’s sword hand, a dancer’s foot, part of the face, or some specially beloved area of the body, as the DM decides.)
Once attached, the acid cannot be removed by normal means. It cannot spread beyond the area it is sticking to, nor can it wipe off onto someone or something else (thus, a second person cannot be affected by the spell.) A Dispel Magic, Remove Curse, or the like is needed to remove the acid. Universal Solvent will remove it. It can be removed by the caster at any time with a flick of her finger.
The victim will IMMEDIATELY know the nature of the sludgy acid, and what it is going to do to him or her. The spell imparts that information itself. The clergy of Loviatar enjoy letting their victims have a chance to contemplate what the acid is going to do to them, before any actual physical harm begins.
At the time of casting, the caster names the delay time of the acid. This can be from instantaneous to 8 hours. Once the time is stated, it cannot be changed. At the end of the stated time, the acid goes to work.
Over a 2 to 8 hour period, the acid utterly destroys the area it covers. It does not destroy anything else, but that particular area is totally gone. Astronomical pain and severe system shock accompany this slow destruction. The target loses one quarter of his or her hit points, must save (best category) or lose 1 to 6 points of Constitution, and save (best category) or lose 1 to 6 points of Wisdom. Targeting certain areas can, in addition, force a save to avoid 1 to 6 points of lost Dexterity and/or 1 point of Charisma. For some reason, the acid cannot target the victim’s brain ... perhaps Loviatar wished the target to have all it’s mental faculties to understand just what had been done to it, with this spell.
The target must always save (best category) or be afflicted by a permanent, moderate to severe insanity. The save has a modifier of + 4 to - 4, depending on where this spell was targeted against him or her.
Finally, the target is incapacitated for as long as this spell is in effect. No walking, normal talking, spellcasting, fighting, observation, or coherent thinking, is possible while the victim enjoys the agonies of having a party of his or her body slowly incinerated by the vitrolic acid. Screaming is always allowed, of course.
The best part about this spell is what happens if a victim makes his or her saving throw, and is not affected by it.
The globby acid tries to materialize on the target and fails. Then, it materializes, on the person standing closest to the intended target. That person must save (best category) or his or her favorite body part suffers the fate intended for the original target (the DM chooses what is the favorite body part in this case, not the caster, since the spell did not affect the original target.)
If the person standing closest to the original target saves, the spell leaps to the next nearest person, who must then save. This continues indefinitely until someone fails his or her saving throw.
In other words, SOMEONE is going to get it. Someone, is going to be in a world of hurt. If not the intended target, then an innocent person.
Since the original target is not aware of this property of the spell, the FIRST TIME it is employed against him, there is no effect on his or her alignment or personality.
However, the target is made aware, by the spell itself, of it’s nature and intent (whether the save was made or not), and the target is ALWAYS aware of a second use of this spell against him or her (even if blind and deaf, but not if unconscious.)
When this spell is attempted a second time against a given target, he or she may WILLINGLY choose to forego the saving throw AND any spell resistance, and accept the impact of the spell - or he or she may attempt the save and/or employ spell resistance, and in making it willingly and knowingly dump the effects of the spell off on someone else.
This may or may not affect the alignment and personality of the target. It may or may not make the FRIENDS of the target happy or unhappy with him or her.
The clergy of Loviatar will ALWAYS throw a Regeneration to offset the effects of this spell, if the victim asks for one. The only price they ask is that the victim convert to the religion of Loviatar, take a solemn Oath to abide by the new faith (a ceremony under the supervision of the clergy of Loviatar), and adherence to the tenets of the faith thereafter. This will cause a change in alignment and eventually personality, if agreed to, of course.
If the victim of this spell attempts to seek healing elsewhere and succeeds in finding it (a Ring of Regeneration will not reverse this spell, by the way), the minions of Loviatar will be alerted to that fact. (Unless a mage cast the spell, in which case they will not know, and if they did know probably would not care.)
A Revenant will be raised by the clergy of Loviatar to seek out the person who dared to defy the will of Loviatar. The Revenant will take the victim, alive if possible, dead if not, and return him or her to a strong fortress controlled by the clergy of Loviatar.
There, the victim will suffer an Animate Dead or worse if taken dead by the Revenant, and if taken alive will be subjected to a slow and exceedingly painful death for his or her heresy, followed by Animate Dead or something of that nature.
If the target victim successfully saved, and the spell afflicted someone innocent, and that innocent finds healing from the effects of this spell, the clergy of Loviatar will not know of it, and no action will be taken at all.
This spell is regularly used by Loviatarian clergy of extremely high level (16th+) on each other.
For them, this spell is an ecstasy of delight, and if for some reason the high level cleric cannot handle the pain and goes insane from it, he or she will be healed, demoted, and his or her training in pain intensified, until this spell can be tolerated. (Of course, regeneration will be used on any cleric of Loviatar who receives this spell, whether they tolerate the pain or not. Loviatar expects her clergy to be useful, not crippled.)
Evasion of pain is not an option for the clergy of Loviatar. Only through transcension of pain can the ultimate triumph over themselves be obtained.
And as a result of this thinking of the dark faith, the casting of this spell on a non-believer is considered a gift, a blessing, a welcome to the exalted world of the specially blessed of Loviatar. Thus the name, Loviatar’s Gift.
It is quite rare for this spell to be used, by the clergy of Loviatar, in straight combat. After all, this spell is not really about killing anyone.
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LOVIATAR’S WILL
(This spell was meant to be digusting, sad, and horrible. Evil. No humor was intended here. Here is a spell for those with darkened souls and blackened hearts.)
Level 7
Spheres: Evil, Darkness, Pain, Destruction, Hatred, Anger, Fear
Range: Any being within sight range and within 1 mile, of which the slightest glimpse has been had up to 10 minutes prior to casting
Components: V, S
Area of Effect: One target creature of any size
Casting Time: 1 Action
Duration: See below
Saving Throw: See below
Spell Resistance: Normal
This spell is a much more powerful and destructive version of Loviatar’s Gift.
This is an Unholy Spell. Loviatar’s Will is strongly evil, the casting of it is an evil act, and no good being can attempt this spell. Neutrals do so at their peril; even one casting of this spell throws a deep shadow over that neutral, and multiple castings cause a change to evil alignment and a forced, involuntary change in personality.
When the spell description is considered, it seems unlikely a neutral would ever want to cast this spell, unless a strong desire for revenge, or strong hatred, or violent and irrational anger, had seized that neutral’s mind.
This spell works very much like Loviatar’s Gift. (see the spell above)
It produces an acid like that spell, the acid affects a chosen target, a specific part of the body is picked by the caster, and it must succeed with a Ranged Touch Attack to work. Also, the acid has a delayed reaction of instantaneous to 8 hours, as per the lesser spell.
However, the acid produced by this spell is much stronger magically.
Dispel Magic will not affect it, nor will Remove Curse. No spell of under 6th level will affect the acid or remove it, nor will spell-like effects from items of under 6th level affect it.
Monster powers of under 6th level (the DM must judge this, where it is in question) will not remove the acid.
Furthermore, once the acid goes to work, nothing can stop the pain afflicting the victim. The victim can be rendered unconcious, but will awaken in seconds from the pain. (In order to knock the victim out cold enough to render him or her beyond the reach of the pain, it is necessary to kill the victim.)
Cutting off the afflicted area of the body will NOT work - the acid will magically jump to the second most precious place on the target’s body, and continue it’s work.
Spells that numb parts of the body will work if they are 6th level or higher. 6th level spells or higher that remove magical effects (such as Mordenkainen’s Disjunction) will destroy the acid.
Spells that protect from acid will not work, regardless of their level, if cast after this spell is cast.
Powerful defensive spells, such as Prismatic Sphere, Anti-Magic Shell, and the like will block this spell (Mantle has a 50% chance of stopping it. Otherwise, it will penetrate that spell and work normally.)
The pain produced by the acid is astounding, pretty much beyond the imagination of those who are not so unlucky as to experience attacks of this kind. Being burned alive is a good comparison to what this spell feels like.
The acid takes 24 hours to complete it’s work (not the 2 to 8 for the lesser spell.) During this time, the victim is incapacitated. It is an Epic Feat of DC 80 (against Wisdom) for the victim to take any action while afflicted by this spell. A will save is necessary to avoid continual screaming, made every minute for the entire 24 hour period. (A successful will save stops the screaming, until the next minute arrives and another save must be made.)
Of course, the caster can choose to erase the acid from existence with a flick of his or her finger.
However, the profoundly evil nature of this spell is found in what happens if the target successfully saves.
With THIS spell, the target knows immediately upon the FIRST attempt to use Loviatar’s Will against him or her, what the spell is, what it does ... and what will happen if he or she succeeds in resisting it.
The target may choose to forego any save and any spell resistance, and accept this spell upon himself or herself, knowing fully well what that means; knowing just what is coming.
Or, the target may choose to make the attempt to save (using the best save possible, be it Will, Fortitude, or Reflex.)
If the target saves or employs spell resistance to stop this spell, it’s effect teleports - across the world if necessary - to the person or being most cherished in all the world by the target. The acid strikes this second target in the most painful, vulnerable, and harmful place possible.
And for this second target, there is NO saving throw. Spell resistance still works normally, if there is any, which means the target might or might not be affected ... certainly, the primary target will not know for sure!
So, if this spell targets a married man, perhaps his wife is the target. If it targets a married woman, perhaps her husband is afflicted. Or a special someone, if unmarried. Or a beloved child of the person targeted. Or a Familiar, if a wizard. A faithful and loving pet, a friend who saved the target’s life, a liegelord who has gifted the target with something special or made the difference in his or her life.
If the target has no family, friends, patrons or lieges, pets, or the like, this spell will next seek out and target the person or being the original target has done the most for. An orphan the target gave help to, a homeless person he gave shelter to, a wounded person he gave healing to. The feelings of the target towards potential victims are the primary means by which the spell selects the target; the stronger the target’s feelings, the more likely that being will be afflicted.
If, for some reason, the victim is unaffiliated with anyone (such as a person who has lived alone all his life) the spell will select an animal or sentient plant, or friendly creature the person has met (even if he or she only met that being once.)
The target creature will immediately and unerringly know who was afflicted by the spell, since he or she was not.
Choosing to avoid the effects of this spell is not a good act, obviously. Avoiding this spell’s effects could cause alignment or involuntary personality change. It will most certainly cause the target to suffer severe psychological trauma (if it does not, the DM is not doing his job.)
A paladin who refuses to accept the effects of Loviatar’s Will had better have a good reason for that refusal, or the character will lose his or her paladinhood.
The clergy of Loviatar who are of 20th level or higher, and who have attained Epic immunity to pain, will sometimes have this spell cast upon them, in a great and darkly grand ceremony of exaltation to the Goddess of Pain.
Otherwise, this spell is used for it’s obvious purpose: to truly punish, to truly hurt, to bring great and terrible suffering to the innocent.
The clergy of Loviatar never use this spell in straight battle. This spell is not about killing.
Unlike the lesser versions of this spell, no cleric of Loviatar will offer to ease the suffering of one they have afflicted with this spell.
However, if the target chooses to avoid the spell and makes his or her save, causing the spell to leap to the second and innocent person, the clergy of Loviatar will offer to allow the target to join their ranks.
If refused, they will sneer and allow the victim to go free, to face the consequences of not choosing to take the effects of this spell upon himself or herself.
Dark mages have their own version of this spell.
As with the clerical version, it is an Unholy Spell, and carries all the hazards of the clerical version. Quite a lot of Primordial Darkness briefly caresses a mage who employs this spell.
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LOVIATAR’S DOMINION
(I intended this spell to be frightful in the extreme, utterly devoid of humor, and the kind of threat that would terrify even high level characters who opposed the dark religion of Loviatar.)
Level 9
Spheres: Evil, Darkness, Pain, Destruction, Hatred, Anger, Fear
Range: 1 mile, reasonable knowledge of the target’s presence required, no actual detection required, extends to the astral, ethereal, out of phase, and temporal prime
Components: V, S
Area of Effect: One target creature of any size
Casting Time: 1 Full Round
Duration: See below
Saving Throw: See below
Spell Resistance: Normal
This is a far more powerful, and even more destructive, version of Loviatar’s Will and Loviatar’s Gift.
This is truly an Unholy Spell, in both it’s clerical and wizard forms. No good or neutral character can attempt it, and few would ever seriously consider committing such an appalling act as the casting of this spell. A person casting this spell will actually radiate evil, so strong are the Dark Forces drawn upon, and so hideous is the intent of the caster.
As with the lessen spells mentioned above, this spell requires a Ranged Touch Attack. Regardless of the distance to the target, and regardless of whether the target is physically detected, that target being is always considered to be at close range.
The caster uses this spell and his or her will and dark desire to hone in on the soul or spirit of the victim, so all that is needed is knowledge that the victim is actually present. Once the caster hones in on the target’s soul, he or she can see the target (body and soul) with absolute, frightful clarity.
Only a few special spells, such as Mind Blank (maybe), a properly worded Wish spell, and dweomers that shield the soul, have any chance of stopping this spell. A Periap of Proof Against Detection and Location will save the target from this spell.
Prismatic Sphere, Mantle, and similar physical defensive spells will not work. Anti-Magic Shell will not work. Dispel Magic, most certainly will not work. Even Contingency spells, will not work (the spell will simply chase the mage back to wherever and whatever state the Contingency spells leave him at/in.)
Even being in Temporal Stasis, trapped in a Mirror of Life Entrapment, hiding in a Bag of Holding, and the like will not protect the target creature, and Time Stop is rather quite useless - unless thrown on the attacking cleric, obviously.
Of course, Epic Spells created for the specific purpose of stopping this spell might work very well indeed. Artifacts and relics may protect against this spell.
Ironically, a being ensnared by a Trap the Soul spell is protected from this spell, along with one that has drawn the Void from a Deck of Many Things. It is indeed truly an ill wind that blows nobody any good.
This spell produces an spiritual vitrolic essence that attaches itself to the soul or spirit of the target being or creature. For the purpose of this spell, all living things and unliving things are considered to have a soul or spirit (except under the most EXTRAORDINARY of circumstances.)
The target creature will see himself or herself as being covered in acid. The target may attempt a save (use the best category, as per the lesser spells) and/or spell resistance against the attack. If successful, the spell is deflected from the target’s soul, the messy acid disappears, and the target is not affected ... not right then, at least.
The spell will inform the target that if it is resisted, it is going to affect the person or being most cherished by the target. The target will know this even as the acid tries to form upon his or her soul, and may choose to forego the save and/or spell resistance, thus taking this spell, knowing what is going to happen, what is coming.
If the target foregoes the save, he or she suffers the full effects of the spiritual acid.
Thereafter, the target is incapacitated (Epic DC 120 to act for one round, every round.) The pain of this spell dwarfs even that of Loviatar’s Will ... this is pain beyond all imagination. This is like burning in the deep pits of Hell. The target does not scream ... this pain is beyond mortal utterance.
There is no way to stop the pain. Rendering the victim unconscious will not help, for the pain is spiritual. Killing the target will not help, for the soul is the target, and it is not dead. Powerful healing spells are useless, for it is not the body that is afflicted, although the body certainly is feeling the pain.
Even Temporal Stasis will not stop the pain. The soul is in some ways outside of such realities as the time-space dimension, and the dark vitrol afflicting it is also beyond the physical realm.
A Wish spell will stop the pain, but will work properly only if the Wisher wishes it upon himself ... otherwise, the BEST result is that the Wish will cause the pain to affect a random creature.
A Mordenkainen’s Disjunction will stop the pain, if cast upon the target’s body. It has a 5% chance + 1% per level of the dark caster of killing the soul or spirit of the character, in the process.
An Epic Spell that is soul affecting or magic dispelling might halt this spell. It must overcome the dark spell itself, which has spell resistance equal to 10 plus the level of the caster of the Loviatar’s Dominion.
If the pain is halted quickly, the target loses half his or her hit points, and temporarily loses six points in all six stats.
Otherwise, the pain lasts for one day. At the end of that time, it stops, leaving behind a person forever scarred by it.
The being permanently loses between one quarter and three quarters of all hit points. Six to eighteen points are lost permanently from all six stats (Wishes and Epic spells can restore these losses.) The person is afflicted with permanent and extreme insanities of several kinds (healing spells of 6th level and greater will remove these, one by one.)
The being is incapacitated for anywhere from one week to ten years, depending on how much magical healing he or she receives afterwards, how strong in mind and body he or she was before this spell struck, and other circumstances related to trauma recovery.
Obviously, any magic or aid that helps the soul or spirit, will help the target being recover faster, since the injury is primarily to the soul or spirit, and only partially to the mind and body.
Regardless of help, the person will always remember the experience, and it’s effects and the memories of it’s horror will affect the rest of his or her life.
Needless to say, the character or being will not wish to undergo a repeat of this spell.
That’s if the person willingly allows himself or herself to be afflicted.
If the person chooses to save, that is an evil act, for the person is knowingly inflicting this horror upon a cherished innocent (only if that innocent is guarded by some extremely powerful defense, is there an exemption from this rule.)
The spell draws power from the evil act. It draws hideous might from the selfish (if understandable) choice of the character.
Then the spell attacks the soul or spirit of the cherished innocent. As with Loviatar’s Will, this will always be the most special and beloved person or being to the target creature, or if the target creature has no special or beloved creature it will be something that somehow causes anguish to the original target (if the original target is a mindless green slime that automatically attempts to repulse the attack, for example, the secondary target will be the unfortunate dwarf the green slime was about to fall upon, thus having supper.)
The innocent is allowed a save (although the spell will imply to the original target that no save is possible, within In Game terms). Use the best possible category of saves. The innocent does not realize he or she or it is under attack.
If the innocent fails the save, it not only suffers the entirety of the pain, but at the end of the 24 hour period it’s soul or spirit dies from the pain, and that creature is permanently destroyed.
The original target being is now evil. Whether he or she likes it, wants it, or believes it or doesn’t believe it, that is the new reality for him or her.
If the innocent makes the save, the spell rebounds with terrifically amplified force ... upon the original target.
This time, the original target being is entitled to no saving throw or spell resistance.
This time, the original target takes the full force of the spell, and at the end of the 24 hour period, the original target’s soul or spirit dies from the pain, and that character is gone.
This time, practically nothing - not even most Epic Spells - will stop this spell from running it’s course. Only Divine Intervention is a sure way to avoid the final fate decreed. (Getting Divine Intervention might be difficult, considering the character let the spell strike his or her most cherished Someone. Of course, Loviatar is sometimes open to pleas from the soul or spirit, if they are sincere and she has something to gain out of it. Other evil dieties might want a convert.)
The caster of Loviatar’s Dominion can end the spell, but it requires she throw a specialized 9th level version of Dispel Magic for even him or her to do it.
Of course, such an action will not be taken, unless something VERY GREAT is given first in exchange for such a favor.
Mercy, compassion, and remorse, are rare emotions among the clergy of Loviatar.
The terror of this spell would have prompted the archmages and high clerics of Faerun to devise counterspells, one might guess. One would be wrong, too.
The archmages and high clerics of Faerun are too busy watching each other to take the time to realize and appreciate just how great a threat the clergy of Loviatar have become, much less to do anything about it.
Thus, a true counterspell to this spell does not exist yet. Not at least, as far as the general spellcasting population is aware of.
The Chosen of Mystra ARE subject to this spell. There are few beings indeed who are somehow protected from the horror that the truly exalted of Loviatar are capable of inflicting.
There have been a few cases in recorded history of clerics of Loviatar willingly inflicting this spell upon themselves.
In most cases, it incapacitated even them, and Loviatar punished them for their failure to endure it (they most certainly did not obtain a second chance to have this spell thrown at them!)
However, in those extreme cases where the priest or priestess of Loviatar overcame the spell, finding pleasure in it’s immeasurable agony, it was the ultimate triumph of their faith. They are the great figures of legend among Loviarites, shining figures lighting the dark path for all others to walk down.
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